First defeat of the season...and why it isn't so bad.

Koscielny had a shocker in defense. Image: Mirror

Arsenal suffered our first defeat at the hands of Chelsea, in the first big London derby of the season. Chelsea are top of the premier league, and they have been playing really well, so this was always going to be a tough game for the gunners.

However it was a disappointing game. We conceded 2 goals cheaply, with poor defense, both off set pieces. Overall our defense this season has improved under Steve Bould, but we should have been better. Koscielny had a shocker, with two errors leading to the 2 goals.

Gervinho was good to get us back in it before the end of the first half.  We were fairly even in the 2nd half with a lot of attacking motion, but too many shots off target. It gets to the point where its great to have a shot, but shooting from too far out of the box and over the top of the bar is just pointless.  After the 2nd goal from Chelsea, which never should have happened, they parked the bus and just defended the rest of the game.

Olivier Giroud. His chance at 90+1 was disappointing. He really had a massive chance to score there, and once again he missed it. Giroud seems to be struggling in front of goal, and he never seems to be in quite the right place.  He had a beautiful bit of skill to get the ball into the box and into position, but the strike itself was...well...you saw it. It should have been the equaliser.

We cannot afford to get complacent and lose these big games.  While this defeat hurt, especially as it was the first defeat of the season, there are still positives to take from it.

Gervinho put in a good game. Cazorla was once again classy in the midfield, but he couldn't find a finisher, or someone to finish for him.

Carl Jenkinson is also a player who is starting to impress me. He had a few errors in that game, but overall his defense was fairly solid and he provided some good assists (which went to no-one, but there is promise there). A promising young player.

Ramsey had a good first EPL start of the season. He is maturing as a player and seems to be creating a lot of chances in midfield.  He works hard, he tries hard, and he doesn't give up when he is under constant criticism. He isn't meant to be a striker, and he does need to work on his accuracy, but he was really solid today in midfield. I am excited to see how he will collaborate when Jack Wilshere comes back.

Overall, a disappointment. I was pretty gutted. Giving away all 3 points was hard, when the two goals were avoidable and Arsenal didn't play horribly overall.

But its only the first loss of the season. We can build on this, learn from our mistakes and move forward. Come on you Gunners.

Keep positive.
Love,
KiwiGoonerGirl

First home win of the season!

Convincing win by the Gunners today. 6-1. We lost our clean sheet record, but we gained a lot of confidence, and most importantly 3 points and 3rd place on the EPL table!

Before the game, I was slightly worried. I personally wasn't thinking Southampton would be an easy win. Although they are the bottom of the table, they put up a huge fight against both Manchester clubs, and almost beat them both. So Arsenal did fantastically well to score 6, and I'm so happy we had a convincing home victory.

My personal highlight: Podolski's free kick. Arsenal? Scoring off a set piece? That's right, surprised? It was a great goal.

I was particularly impressed with several players.

Santi Cazorla: What a player. The way he passes the ball, prefectly weighted, always knowing where the gaps are, when to pass, when to hold on to the ball. What an influence in the midfield. He really dictated the pace of the first half especially, and while he didn't score he really made an impact to the team.

Gervinho: For once he was quick, sharp and on the ball. He created chances and scored 2 goals (the credit for the second should really be given to Ramsey, who made an immediate impact when he came on as a substitute). His finishing still needs to improve but I think scoring twice will give him the confidence boost he needs.

Kieran Gibbs: A lot of Gooners are saying Kieran Gibbs had a great game. It is true, and he could almost count two goals to his name, both own goals were created by him (if you've seen the game or the highlights, you know what I mean). My concern is that he is a Left Back, not a striker, and while it is fantastic he is getting up there, against a more penetrating offensive line up, such as our upcoming fixtures versus Manchester City and Chelsea, this is worrying.  Gibbs is not quick enough to get back and play in his position, as a defender. So he must be confident but cautious. Still, he is only young, and improving every game. Today, he had a good one!

I was disappointed with Wojciech Szczeny. He had a disappointing game, by his standards.  The couple of weeks off contributed to his poor form. Meanwhile Mannone did nothing wrong in the two games he started and put in a great couple of performances. Szczeny had a bad game today.  He conceded a goal he really should have saved, made a few poor clearances and was overall off his game. Against a better side, he would have been punished a lot more for his errors.

Until next time!
You know you love me,
xoxo Gooner Girl

Internationals

Diaby: Injured again...on international duty. (Photo: AP)

Ah internationals. A great time for the Gunners to represent their nation, and score some goals. And pick up injuries...

Diaby. After an absolutely fantastic, man of the match performance against Liverpool, he gets himself injured.

Muscle injury or "discomforts". This seems familiar, another Gunner with incredible potential struggling with injury. Maybe he'll eventually have a full, fantastic season and then leave us after 7 years? No, not funny, sorry. (Speaking of you-know-who, he is also injured).

I wish I got more into internationals, but half the problem is they're not really broadcast on New Zealand television. Also they're in the middle of the day, or the morning on weekdays, so I'm not at home to watch them.

I've only seen the All Whites - the New Zealand National Football Team, thrashing Solomon Islands 6-1 and Spain beating Saudi Arabia 5-0. Great return by David Villa, and the first goal by Santi Cazorla was fantastic.

Other than that I've had no football to watch, or blog about.

I did see the awesome goal by Arsenal Reserve, Conor Henderson. If you haven't seen it, its a long range goal and its absolutely fantastic.

Apart from that, no more international news. Internationals are over now, so we can all get back to the main focus: Arsenal!

Our next game against Southampton should be a good one. They're fighters, they want to win, and they want to play football. I don't think Arsenal fans should be complacent about Southampton, they put up a good fight agaist both Manchester clubs.

Looking forward to it! Maybe Giroud will do a Theirry Henry and break his duck?
Til then,
You know you love me.
xoxo - GoonerGirl

We broke the duck!

Podolski scores his first goal for the Gunners - (image: Arsenal.com)

0-2 to the Arsenal.

An away victory is always something to savour, especially against a team like Liverpool.

We are the only team in the premier league that has not yet conceded a goal. Excellent work, and pretty amazing considering we are on our third choice keeper and Koscielny and Sagna are still out.

Cazorla has been playing fantastically, and he deserved his goal (and provided a great assist too!). Podolski is good too, I am glad he seems to be more aware about where the gaps are, and where he needs to be to score.

As for our other new signing...Giroud seems to be struggling with the pace of the English game, and sometimes is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Half the time he wasn't where there was an obvious gap, and he did stray offside a couple of times.  I think he needs to score a goal before he will find his momentum.

So the new signings are settling in, and this result should give us a lot of confidence.

It is too early in the season to make bold predictions and statements like the one I am about to make, but stay with me.

Last season we had a fantastic away record. We played really well away from home. Our away fans are great too. Loud. Passionate. (Awesome chants by the way guys...especially the one "He plays up front, he plays up fronnntttttttt, we've got Podolski, van Persie's a c-u-next-tuesday." Top notch, gunners!).

At home we struggled. For some reason. I remember watching too many 0-0, 1-1 and 0-1 games at home last season. The Emirates should be our fortress, where people are afraid to come. But while our defense is mostly solid, we are better at scoring away from home. Still, too early in the season to say, and we have only had one home game.

Until next time,
You know you love me,
xoxo - gunner girl

(I'm sorry...couldn't resist).