Arsenal should fight more often - win 7 out of 8

By Andy Strouthous
October 26 2004

Wenger and his team answered the press hype about fights where it counts - on the pitch with one of the teams best results againts the Addicks for a while

(Mind you have you seen actual footage of the fight? Two police officers board a coach with smoked class windows so all the action was clear as mud).
Three years ago we outplayed them and lost 4-2, last year we did the same beating them 2-1, but having a "squeaky bum time" last 20 minutes when they could have equalised.

This time there was no reason to panic, we were comfortably 1-0 up at half-time, and should have perhaps been two to the good, but Charlton had kept fairly tight on us. But the strain must have built up on them as 2 minutes into second half they snapped liked a rotten twig. In the end 4-0 flattered them, Henry, Reyes and Vieira could have all added an extra goal each to the final tally. Van Persie was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for Bergy wandering into an offside position.

The refereeing was apalling with Ljungberg getting no protection from constant barging into his back, in the end he could not carry on.

Mountain out of Molehill
The attempt of some of sillier press (see today's online Sun)to build all rumours up into a crisis failed miserably. Mark Lawrenson called it a non story, (I will forgive him those useless and extremely irritating commentaries on computer football games) and so it proved to be. Others thought they had spotted terminal decline as we had drawn one match, and only(sic)beat Man City 1-0 away. As I titled my preview they are "Vultures in Fantasy Land" any connection between their rantings and reality are pure coincidence.

Another tack is that Arsenal better tremble because Wayne Rooney is coming to get us. Yes he is a great player, but a team is 11 men, not one, and today Arsenal showed that Henry,Reyes, Bergkamp and Ljunberg are a great unit up front, but that is also because we had a magnificent seven behind them. No Pires, no Cole, no Edu, and no Gilberto demonstrated that we have strength in depth as well. We are not a one man team like Manure, lose that man (Ferdinand) and they start losing again. We also have two clean sheets in a row, the defence is sorted and we are purring like a roller again.
Stop, Start, Stop
What a pity that its the bloody International break again. Who will partner Rooney up front? I don't give a shite, get the team back fit and not too exhausted thats the important thing.