Everton thoughts. Great weekend for a Gooner

This was above all else an excellent win for our team, on a ground where Utd dropped points we battled hard and came away with the win.

Wenger was full of praise for his team saying:

"The most important qualities we showed at Everton were discipline, commitment, togetherness, desire and a 100 per cent focus for 90 minutes. That is what got us the points."

The points were definitely earned by 'Fab' today but not the normal one, not the Fab that scored our second and ultimately winning goal. Lukasz Fabianski put in a fantastic performance at Goodison and produced a number of top saves while the score was 2 - 0. The 25 year old keeper had another faultless performance and was definitely a core reason for our success, not only against Everton but since he came in to the side after Almunia's 'injury'. What's more impressive is hat during that spell when he made his only error that cost us points he came back and earned us wins in the next two, That is the sign of a world class keeper in the making.

Another player that has improved his reputation although somewhat more quietly was Denilson. His introduction at half time was a beautiful and clever move from Arsene Wenger, he replaced Jack Wilshere who in himself is a great player but he likes to have the ball at his feet, make runs, take people on and so on, Denilson on the other hand receives the ball, takes a touch, looks up and passes to the free man and that sort of quick link play was what was needed against a tough Everton team that enjoyed closing us down very quickly. A lot of fans have criticised Denilson for always passing sideways, not being attacking enough or just not being good enough. Hopefully more appearances like this can slowly keep changing the minds of those fans. Denilson's introduction also allowed Fabregas to concentrate more on the attacking side of his game, In the first half you could often see him step back while Alex Song made a forward charge but in the second half it was Denilson and Song who shared the responsibilities of defensive cover allowing Cesc to run forward just like he did when he scored his goal.

I was disappointed not to see Walcott involved, he is as far as we know fully fit and before his two game absence he was in form so his lack of involvement was surprising. The only assumption I can make is that Wenger doesn't trust Theo defensively and if that is the case, we may not see that much of him away from home.

I haven't seen many of the post game interviews so all I can give you is a tweet by Cesc Fabregas after the game he took the time to thank the fans, he tweeted "Great victory. All the lads were fantastic. Great support once again by the away fans. Keep it up Gunners!"

All in all This game provided the perfect build up for the Spurs game but of course we need to get through the internationals injury free first - I wonder what odds we'd get for RVP getting injured whilst playing for Holland?

Until then, Go forth and enjoy your week in the knowledge that we are potentially one win away from being top of the Premier League.

Short but sweet today so until next time,
Goonerfish

Must take advantage and take all the points: Everton Preview

Unbeaten in seven games, lost only three games in there last twenty three and the third best defensive record in the league this year falling behind only Man City and Chelsea. It all sounds great but that's not our record, it's Everton's.

This will not be an easy game. Our third game in seven days and we follow a home defeat to Newcastle and an away win at Wolves with a trip up north to the blue side of Mersyside.

Today marks the half way mark in our traditional bogey month which so far reads one win and two defeats. Better news though is that Cesc Fabregas has been declared as "back" by manager Arsene Wenger. Our captain has been a mixture of average and almost good. He has failed to reach his normal high standards but according to Wenger he's "back". He said:

“It took him a while to settle again. But I am 100 per cent convinced he is focused, motivated and determined more than ever to lead the team to victory.

“Stamina-wise, Cesc is there now. He has lost his restriction in his head and the fear of injury in his hamstring.

“He still lacks a little bit of zip in the decision-making and his acceleration in the final third. He is at 95 per cent.

“I felt we saw a different Cesc at Wolves – focused, motivated, wanted to give everything, no restriction. He was already a completely different player. That means in the next game he should be alright.

Having a fully fit and match sharp Fabregas will be a massive boost for any team. His vision, skill and commitment will earn us points on there own and the sooner he can get back to being the maestro we know he can be, the better.

As for the rest of our team tomorrow, Fabianski will be looking to get another solid performance under his belt, a little bit of me thinks he prefers playing away from the Emirates where there's not so many eyes waiting for him to mess up and not so many groans if he drops a cross. He is becoming a better keeper with every game and long may he continue to improve. At Fabianski's age he could find himself our number one keeper for the next ten+ years and with the rest of the team as young as they are, the understanding between everyone will grow every year and that can only be a big, big positive for the club.

The defense again picks itself, Koscielny remains suspended and Vermealen remains injured So Djourou and Squillaci will have the opportunity for their partnership to grow. The only question is between Clichy and Gibbs. Gibbs is available again but I don't see the tough trip to Goodison the right place or his return.

I have to admit, apart from Song and Fabregas, the rest of the line-up is almost a complete guess. We have so many options available to us that I don't know if Wenger knows his best XI so God help the rest of us who are trying to work it out. Personally I'd like to see Theo start. Baines is a very good player but he is very attack minded and I can' think of anyone else I'd prefer to be available to exploit all that space he will leave behind him.

Bendtner has apparently been mouthing off in he week, if you missed his comments I talked about it in yesterdays blog, he has been saying he believes he is fit and ready to be our main striker but after his brace on Wednesday, if he's fit enough in Wenger's eyes, Chamakh must start. I'd also like o see some more of Van Persie but expect if anything he'll be introduced from the bench. Arshavin has started to show a new lease of life and has really been showing an effort in his past couple of appearances, I've said it many times but I'll say it again, if Arshavin can match his work rate to his skill and ability he will become one of the best players in the world.

Goonerfish's line-up:

Fabianski


Sagna - Djourou - Squillaci - Clichy


Song


Fabregas (c) - Nasri


Walcott - Arshavin


Chamakh



Score Everton 2 - 3 Arsenal

This will either be a goal fest or will end up 1 - 0, thanks to my positive nature, I'm opting for the goal fest. We will need to wach out for the power of Cahill in the air but more importantly we will need to cut out the supply. I think if we have enough of the ball we can restrict Everton's chances. As I said Walcott (if he plays) should enjoy a lot of space behind the attacking Baines and could really hurt the toffees.

With Man Utd and Man City dropping points and Chelsea facing a tough game at the Stadium of Light (I fancy Sunderland to get a point BTW) today is a perfect chance to gain a couple of points on our rivals and finish the weekend in second place a maximum of only 5 points of the leaders.

Till next time Gooners,
Goonerfish.

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