Arsenal 4-2 Bolton OR So That's Why They Call Them the Gunners
by Matilda Hankinson on Jan 22, 2010 2:02 AM GMT
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This is one of those games that's difficult to write about. Losing clearly hurts sure, but losing like that? That's what hurts the most. As I said in my preview, I was unable to watch the game, as I had to attend that pesky thing called high school. I did follow the game by texting the magic Google (for those of you unaware, in the States you can text Google for a wealth of information, including live scores, for free, check it out) and I had my Wanderers scarf in my lap the whole time. Unfortunately my passive support clearly wasn't enough. If you too missed the game, watch highlights here.
By all accounts Arsenal started the game horribly. Gary Cahill (a central defender) scored at 7 minutes after a horrorshow clearance by Clichy sent the ball straight to Kevin Davies' talented head, which subsequently sent the ball to Cahill's feet. Cahill took the shot off balance and with his weaker foot, but still powered it past Almunia. And that's how Bolton got the surprise lead at the Emirates.
On the 28th minute Denilson brought down dear Chung-Yong Lee in the box and Bolton were awarded a penalty. Matty Taylor stepped up to the mark, and while Almunia went the right way and got a hand to the penalty, it wasn't enough and the shot went sailing past. Taylor, who disappointed in our last clash with Arsenal had doubled Bolton's lead. His celebration was, as always, to kiss his wedding ring, which I think it terribly cute.
Bolton bossed the first half, dominating possession and looking like a legitimate football team, but Arsenal managed to get one in before half time. Zat Knight, who I so recently came to terms with, not only failed to properly mark Rosicky, but also managed to block Jaaskelainen's view, so that by the time he had realized that a shot on goal was taken, all he could do was watch the ball go in. Arsenal had put themselves back into the game just before half time.
The talking point of the match came shortly after half-time. Bolton midfielder, Mark Davies, was "tackled" by Gallas. 'Why did you put the word tackle in quotes Matilda?' I hear you ask. Well if you've watched the game and/or highlights you know. This was not a tackle as we know it. In the Premiership, especially Big Four teams, one expects a certain level of tackling. This is the kind of tackle I could have made. Instead of using the tried-and-true sliding in technique, Gallas merely stepped close to where he though the ball might be. In fact he stepped on Davies' ankle, causing it to bend in a way ankles are not supposed to bend. Now I've had a very similar injury (in rugby) and let me tell you, that hurts like hell. It has come out that it was not a fracture, which means he's torn ligaments (connective tissue from bone to bone) in all likelihood. The recovery time for this is variable (it took me 6 weeks to come back from mine) and it is incredibly easy to reinjure, once something like this happens the ligaments are pretty much permanently damaged.
Martin (as I'm pretty sure you'll be reading this) I'm about to disagree with you, which I rarely do. I think Gallas should've been sent off right there, not because the tackle was malicious, but because it was so astoundingly incompetent. Not only did he not come close to the ball, but even if the ball had been there, the tackle wouldn't have achieved much. It was dangerous and has a player, who only recently came back from a knee injury, on the sidelines. Regardless of the card it deserves, pretty much everyone can agree that it was a foul and that Bolton should have gotten a free kick, and Arsenal shouldn't have equalized.
What-ifs don't really get us anywhere though, and I'm not going to theorize on what would have happened had Wiley actually seen this, but it is fair to say it changed the game. Gallas will not face an inquiry by the FA, because Wiley has said that he saw the incident but deemed it to be a 50/50 tackle, disabling any action by the FA. While I think Coyle's cries of "assault" are melodramatic, it was undoubtedly a horrible tackle.
That's about all I have time for, but I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with our new feature Man of the Month and/or a news round up.
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Err .. for your information, Google doesnt only work in the ‘States’ and you aren’t the first getting a wealth of info as you call it from this wonderful search engine. Come out from under the stone.
Also, in your dictionary, does tackle mean kneeing someone on the neck and grip them by the hair?
Yeah, lets not deal with what ifs coz the midweek score should read 0-4 if we do.
Cheers.
by Syida on Jan 22, 2010 6:25 AM GMT reply actions
Sydia- No need to get catty, I’m perfectly aware the search engine works outside the States (I’m a British citizen and have used it over there) I was saying I’m pretty sure the text service doesn’t work outside of the States. Please read my article before trying to correct me. (Just for your information, I checked and the text service in fact works in 5 countries, Canada, Japan, China, India, and the US http://google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=40406 )
On the Taylor tackle, I never said that was a fair tackle. I don’t know why you assume that because I support Bolton I think everything my players do is right, but you’ve clearly never read my blog before as I’m extremely critical and I try to be as fair as possible to the other team.
In short, don’t talk if you don’t know the whole story ok?
by Matilda on Jan 22, 2010 3:55 PM GMT up reply actions
Yeah, let’s watch Bolton make those “proper” tackles. Let’s count how many are high, late (by, say, more than half a second), or studs showing. What, you ran out of fingers? And toes?
by ArthurDental on Jan 22, 2010 7:13 AM GMT reply actions
I’m a Gunner fan, and that was a crap tackle by Gallas, and should have been a foul. It doesn’t matter how many crap tackles Bolton players out in in the previous match. The ref isn’t going to take them into account, and neither should players or fans. But, as every school boy knows, you play the whistle. Bolton defenders worried too much about the tackle and we scored. Jaaskelainen should have had it, too. He also should have had the first, though I do see your point about Knight blocking his view.
by Brenton on Jan 22, 2010 8:18 AM GMT reply actions
To all people criticizing Bolton’s tackling:
I honestly think that the assumption that Bolton make a lot of dirty tackles is outdated. It was true about 3 or 4 years ago, but now I think they’re just very physical, which isn’t against the rules. They play hard, physical football but I think for the most part they aren’t dirty. Of course I am a Bolton fan, and prone to thinking the best of my team, but as I’ve said I try to remain fair. Brenton makes a good point, it doesn’t matter how dirty one team is, the ref should treat each incident equally. I also agree with the playing the whistle point, I never said Arsenal should have kicked the ball out (especially since Davies was behind most of them and they probably didn’t know he was writhing on the ground in pain) and were the roles reversed I would have wanted my team to be going forward all the time. Bolton’s issue is that they were waiting for the whistle instead of continuing to play full force.
As for the Matt Taylor incident, that was dirty, but I think Cesc reacted equally and it turned into a 50/50 incident. Also for the record Cesc was holding onto Taylor’s foot when he was kicked in the face. But that was extremely petty and unwarranted on Taylor’s part, and I did in fact yell “Grow up Matty!” (with some additional expletives) at the TV when I saw it . You can ask my dad.
Ok, I tihnk I’ve addressed everything in the comments, I do wish a fellow White would comment, I’m feeling a little cornered by all you Gunners!
by Matilda on Jan 22, 2010 4:06 PM GMT up reply actions
Damn I just thought of something else to say. Everyone calls Kevin Davies the epitome of a dirty player, and it’s true he’s always near or at the top of most fouls committed during the season. However people never mention the fact that he’s always near or at the top of players who have had the most fouls committed against him. You get what you give, and Super Kev always accepts the fouls made against him fairly, he just promotes a more physical style of play. Ok that’s all I have to say.
by Matilda on Jan 22, 2010 4:41 PM GMT up reply actions
I guess Matilda and I will just have to agree to disagree on this. Because, as I said, while it should have been a foul, and thus the goal should not have been scored, I think Gallas’s tackle was just late, not malicious, and was a yellow card at most.
And the fact is there were plenty of refereeing decisions that went against us, too. Cesc had too penalties which should have been given against Jaaskelainen (one in each match) that were not, and then the fact that, in the first match, Taylor literally knelt down on Cesc’s neck, pulled his hair, and kicked him in the face while he was on the ground. To me that was much closer to the kind of thing that deserves a sending off than Gallas’s clumsy tackle.
by Martin on Jan 22, 2010 12:56 PM GMT reply actions
I like your measured thoughts on the game. Gallas should’ve been carded, but only a yellow in my eyes. It was clearly a 50/50 challenge, and Gallas was late. No more than that.
I’m more surprised that you are blaming Zat Knight for that first goal. I thought he played it fairly well, forcing Rosicky to the outside, and protecting the cross goal shot from him. That is what a defender is supposed to do, giving the attacker less area to shoot from and force him to go short-side on the keeper. Jussi reacted late and it was a blinder of a strike. Blame Jussi, not Knight.
by Darren on Jan 22, 2010 5:50 PM GMT reply actions
Knight was gong through the motions of what a defender should do, but I don’t think the ball should’ve gotten around him if that was the tactic. He was directly in Jaaskelainen’s sightline, and it was a very fast moving ball, I think if Jussi had seen Rosicky strike the ball he would have gotten it, as he was properly positioned. Mind you I am not Knight’ biggest fan, and I love Jussi, so I’m probably usually going to lean to blaming Knight in a situation like this.
by Matilda on Jan 22, 2010 10:25 PM GMT up reply actions
So when Taylor kneeled on Fabregas’ neck, kicked him in the head three times as he got up, then pulled his hair (I’m sure Vinnie Jones would’ve done the same… all the ‘hard men’ pull hair), that was 3-4 years ago? Let’s not be myopic. While Diouf may be gone, this is still a team primarily constructed by Allardyce to rough up the opposition, commit professional fouls, cheat when necessary, and hopefully nick a goal.
What I will say in Davies’ defense is that at least if he is fouled, he doesn’t spend 5 minutes rolling around on the ground as has become so prevelant (unfortunately) in England. But of course he’s among the most-fouled. When you play roughly, others will play roughly with you. If he threw a few less elbows, he’d certainly have fewer fouls committed on him. The shame of Davies is that he’s so physically gifted but has relied on strength rather than developing the skill that would truly make him a deadly forward player.
by Comrade23 on Jan 22, 2010 10:11 PM GMT reply actions
Ok first of all Taylor did not kick him 3 times in the head, and calling it a kick is a bit precious, yes the foot came in contact with his face but not hard, and Fabregas was grabbing his foot at the time. That being said, I’ve said before (several times) that it was a petty and dirty tackle. But have you noticed it’s the only one being brought up? That’s because it’s the only one recently that was like that. That was an anomaly from a frustrated man who’s been having a bad season at a club that’s been having a bad season, let’s not all call Bolton dirty thugs because of one tackle.
I would also like to contradict that this is a team primarily constructed by Allardyce, going through the players of the 1st Arsenal game 11 out of 14 were brought to the club after Big Sam left and on Wednesday’s game 12 out of the 14 were post Allardyce. He left in May of 2007, this isn’t his club anymore.
I know when you play rough people get rough with you (hence the you get what you give thing) but I honestly don’t think Kevin Davies is dirty. Rough and dirty are not the same thing, I don’t think he throws elbows. I also think he has concentrated on his skill, but one of his skills is his physical presence. And honestly, I do think he’s fairly deadly, just last year Rio Ferdinand, one of the best defenders in the world (or he was then at any rate) said Davies was one of the two players he found it the most difficult to play against.
Ok I think that’ all I have to disagree with you about.
by Matilda on Jan 22, 2010 10:45 PM GMT up reply actions
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