Sometimes in football it’s the things you don’t expect that give you the most pleasure. I don’t think there was an Arsenal fan anywhere who would have predicted the emergence of Mathieu Flamini (NDP) as one of the players of the season. It looked like he was on his way out in the summer, thankfully it didn’t happen and we’ve been reaping the rewards since the first game of the season.
While others have seen their form dip a little bit he has been the model of consistency, week in week out he’s been excellent and last night against Newcastle was probably his performance of the season. He made one, scored a belter, tackled, chased, harried, ran up and down the pitch and was pretty much flawless in everything he did.
In the 40th minute there was some slick work between Hleb and Cesc on our right which set Flamini (NDP, FFS) free and his cross found the head of Adebayor who put away his 19th goal of the season. Just moments after that Newcastle had one of their few dangerous moments, helped by a linesman who failed to flag two offside players, but who was back there to make the vital tackle? You know it, it was that man Flamini (NDP, JHC).
Into the second half and with about 20 minutes to go Cesc fed Flamini (NDP, PP) who was about 30 yards out and slightly to the left hand side of the goal. He took a touch then launched a rocket of a shot into the top right hand corner. Reminiscent of Thierry’s goal against Man City a couple of seasons ago but from further out. He’s always been capable of getting goals but they’re usually as a result of him arriving late into the box and scrambling it home. It was certainly the best goal of his Arsenal career and absolutely no less than he deserved.
The third goal came when Nicklas Bendtner, on for Eduardo, beat the offside trap and laid the ball off to Cesc who slammed it home with his left foot. It’s good to see Cesc back on the scoresheet, his last goal having come around three months previously. That’s 12 for the season for him now and our 3 goals came from just 4 shots on target in the game.
As with the game on Saturday Newcastle hardly troubled us at all. Defensively we were very solid, Diaby had one of the best games I’ve seen from him in a while, Adebayor can’t stop scoring but the focus today should be on Mathieu Flamini (NDPNDPNDPNDPNDPNDP). It was the kind of performance that makes the fact he hasn’t yet signed a new deal all the more frustrating. He’s just 23 years old, he’s proving himself to be a very, very good player and it would be a big shame if he didn’t spend the best years of his career at Arsenal. He’s got his mates in the side, the fans love him, he’s now a vital part of our team so whatever’s holding it up, from whichever side, I hope it gets sorted and he signs a new deal. Come on Arsenal, come on Mathieu, sort it.
Afterwards Arsene spoke about Flamini (NDP etc) in glowing terms, saying:
He’s growing from game to game and getting stronger. He scored a great goal, but I like the time he took and the composure he showed on the cross for Adebayor.
We want him to stay, he wants to stay, it’s a question of patience and good positive discussions. I am hoping to finalise it. I am not especially concerned, because I believe what he tells me.
Well, that all sounds quite positive but I’m still going to keep my fingers crossed and I may even go out and slaughter a rabbit so I can use one of its feet as a lucky charm. Actually, couldn’t you keep all of his feet and four times the luck or is there only one lucky foot per rabbit? I think I may have strayed from the point a bit. The crux of the matter is that we’re back on top of the league. It might temporary as United entertain Portsmouth this evening and I suppose we can but hope that the south-coast retirement home inmates can do us a favour.
It was important not to slip up last night and the boss is impressed with the team and its title credentials. He says:
We can be patient, move the ball and keep our concentration, not making a mistake. Last year we were not capable of doing that. They can dig in, and I feel we are much more mature than last season.
And onwards and upwards we go. Next up is Man City on Saturday, a difficult game but one we should go into with a lot of confidence. We’re playing well, we’re scoring goals, not conceding too many and it appears that just like Madonna, we’re getting into the groove.
Abou Diaby talks about Lassana Diarra but says he won’t follow his ‘brother’ out of Arsenal. He was good last night, I thought, and there are unconfirmed stories that he’s signed a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2012. With Gilberto unlikely to remain at the club beyond the summer and Denilson still raw he could well find himself getting games in central midfield next season. If he were to go into them with the same enthusiasm and energy that he showed last night then I don’t think we would complain too much.
And that’s about that for this morning. Let us bask in the glowing glow of being top of the league again and let us light votive candles and set about the slaughter of rabbits to ensure our bonne chance.
Until tomorrow, Flamfans.
