Apologies.

Sorry for the hiatus in our blogging, I've had more work then you care to know. At the end of this week there should be bi-daily blog posts at least for a good long while so look forward to it!

Arsenal win v Dortmund to top Champions League group F

Arsenal won 2-1 tonight against Borrusia Dortmund to secure top place in Champions League group F. Robin Van Persie (who else) was the man with the goals tonight for Arsenal, both coming in the 2nd half. Dortmund's goal scorer was Shinji Kagawa in stoppage time to pull a goal back that meant little. The game started off with Dortmund pushing Arsenal back and back, having possesion and looking dangerous. It seemed as if Arsenal hadn't really come out to play and Dortmund looked like they wanted it much much more. That being said, the game evened up significantly as the half went on, primarily down to the skill and graft of Aaron Ramsey who on a whole was my Man of the Match. The First half's best chances also fell to Arsenal the best of them being Theo Walcott's brillaint early cross punched out of the way of RVP by Weidenfeller. Apart from that chance though, it was a very tight and uninspiring Champions League affair. Arsenal were also given a good boost to their chances when Dortmund's wonder-kids Mario Gotze (a major transfer target for Arsenal) and Sven Bender were taken off before halftime. Sven Bender had the unfortunate displeasure of being Verminated by Mr. Vermaelen (he broke his jaw in two places.) The second half started very brightly for Arsenal, and Arsenal unlike Dortmund were rewarded for their bright start as they scored 5 minutes after the half. Alex Song, picking the ball up in the middle drove down the line and somehow, amazingly, beat 4 Dortmund players flicking the bal between them, showing off some amazing feet before crossing to RVP who picked the bottom corner out. Truly, it was one of the best Arsenal assist's I've seen, rivaling Walcott's v Liverpool a few years ago. The goal put Arsenal in the drivng seat and Dortmund seemed very shaken by the goal, creating very little. Arsenal's domination was helped significantly once more by Aaron Ramsey as well as Song who broke everything BVB created. Arsenal again created an amazing chance for Gervinho who being 1 v 1 with Weidenfeller, took it around the keeper but had the ball cleared off his foot before he could slot it home. It was a golden chance for Gervinho who has seemed to have problems finishing of late, hopefully its just a blip. Arsenal did score though off a corner kick in the 86 minute to secure to place in the group. A corner taken by Arteta was flicked on at the near post by Vermaelen who found RVP at the back-post, unmarked. Dortmund scored late on in the last second of extra time to give them a bit of a better scoreline but mattered not as the whistle blew immediate y after them scoring. All in all, a fantastic Champions League performance for Arsenal and also some bright news in the injury department as Abou Diaby made his season debut after a long time out. Arsenal return to action this Saturday to face Fulham at home in what should be a good chance for Arsenal to keep this winning form going. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!


Arsenal v Dortmund highlights:

Arsenal win again in tough Norwich fixture

Crisis? what Crisis? Arsenal have won once again- our 5th straight win in the League. This match was never going to a walk over and it wasn't, the scoreline shows that. However the scoreline could have certainly been given more gloss in Arsenal's favor had chances been taken early in the first half. One man who was clinical as ever however takes no introduction. Robin van Persie how now scored 31 goals in 29 games, an utterly phenomenal goalscoring record. The first 15 minutes of the match was 100% Arsenal. Arsenal's front three of Gervinho, Walcott, and Van Persie- particularity the first 2, terrorized the Canaries back line, there pace and ability in one v one situations was evident. The clearest chance fell to Walcott, who did well inside the box and fired it into the back post past Ruddy, but an absolutely amazing goaline clearance saved and goal, and instead gave Arsenal a corner. A few other big chances fell to Van Persie and Walcott once more. However, Norwich City would score a goal out of the blue, all down to Per Mertesacker's hesitancy. A meaningless longball over the top found its way to the edge of the box with Mertesacker trying to shepherded it back to Szczesny, who was not coming for it. Instead of hacking the ball away, Mertesacker took his time and was barged off the ball (a foul in my opinion) by Morison who slotted it past the outstretched Szczesny. I'll never know if Szczesny never gave Mertesacker a shout to clear, but there is absolutely no excuse for Mertesacker to not clear immedialty- a lucky break for Norwich. Arsenal responded the absolute perfect way, creating more and more goal socring chances (all cleared or blocked off the line) FInally, on 27 minutes RVP tapped in a wonderful driven ball by Theo Walcott, who had skipped past his man on the wing. The First half continued with Arsenal dominance but less cutting edge, 1-1 at Halftime. The Second half continued with extreme Arsenal dominance, again Arsenal missing big chances, the biggest being Gervinho's header off a Vermaelen cross and then Gervinho missing a one v one with Ruddy who saved well. However Arsenal struck on 60 minutes. Song won the ball wonderfully in the middle of the park, drove at the Norwich defense and found the brilliant van Persie who calmly chipped over Ruddy. Both of RVP's goal came with his so called "chocolate leg" After that goal, Norwich never troubled except for a decent chance on a low cross as well as the fucking twat Holt's play acting throughout the entire time he was on the park. This win hopefully can shut up all the people who have doubted Arsenal all season, and hopefully people realize as well just how truly amazing RVP is, he is simply put the best striker in the world. Arsenal move on to 6th in the table ahead of "title challengers" Liverpool, and play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Wednesday. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!

Rosicky's defensive display helps Czech Republic protect their lead, and snatch a late win against Montenegro.

Montenegro 0 vs 1 Czech Rep.

Rosicky's performance:


I was again very impressed with how well the Czechs defended in this game, specially in the first half. Montenegro barely had a sniff of Cech's goal. They made sure not to concede an early goal, and protected their 2 goal advantage brilliantly. Montenegro had to create chances at one point or another. When they did get past the Czech'd defense, Cech was in their way.

The Czechs approached the game cautiously, they did however attack with numbers when they felt they could score. Jiracek was my man of the match, but you could vote for more than half the team to be man of the match, they defended that well. reminded me of how they defended against Spain in their away game, they stole a lead early own only to lose the game in the final 15 minutes.

Rosicky had his share of tackles, interceptions and clearances during the game. I was impressed by the way he kept putting pressure on their defense which broke down Montenegro's attacks before they reach the final third. He showed that he could play in the center of midfield. His last run without injuries also improved his stamina. he was still chasing down players in the last few seconds of the game.

I can't wait for the Euros now. Just hope he keeps his current fantastic form :)

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain tekkers!

Great video made by the England National team's official YouTube video, showing The Ox on fire during finishing training ahead of the U21s game against Belgium that occurred on Monday (England unfortunately lost 2-1.) The video pretty much sums up all that I could say with words thankfully, being another wonderful reminder of the sheer talent that Alex Chamberlein possesses. Hard to believe there were so many Arsenal fans skeptical at the price paid for such a big prospect but im sure after recent displays (bar the Bolton game) hes making those who doubted him sit up and take notice. In case you haven't seen him in the Carling Cup below is a video made by the excellent "Batticomps4" featuring all of his touches v Shrewsbury back in September. Enjoy!

A Man of the Match performance by Tomas Rosicky against Montenegro

Another Brilliant Performance by Tomas Rosicky with the national team, he looks so confortable in the advanced midfield role. The MOTM was between him, Pilar and Jiracek. But with 2 assists and being in the center of almost every Czech attack, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise. He even defended well when needed although he was playing as an attacking midfielder who has the freedom of staying in the midfield to start a counter attack. Jiracek was great again, but gave away a bit too many fouls, kept the ball a bit too long at times and missed golden chances. Pilar looks like a brilliant player for the future of the Czech national team, very mature performance by him on the left. The Only criticism to Rosicky's performance was a mistake he made by giving the ball away in his own half. Other than that, his performance was Fantastic. A true Captain's performance :)

Welcome!

Welcome to the newest blog on the Arsenal/ football blog cycle, The Highbury Ramble! This blog is a place for me, the creator (aka Carl, aka Flash, aka Le God) and my two main contributors to post thoughts on Arsenal, football and anything else we fancy. My two contributors are, Mr. Rosicky Carpenter (as he likes to be know) who will keep us up to date with who else but Tomas Rosicky. He is a very accomplished compilation maker who will be posting his works up on the blog for your enjoyment. next is Armir (aka Bang Bang Bangladesh.) who himself is an amazing compilation maker who directs his videos towards an Arsenal focus. And lastly is my good friend William, who will be blessing us with his Arsenal wisdom as well. And for my contributions, I shall do Arsenal match reports, injury news, transfer news, etc. Basically anything you can relate to Arsenal FC or the football world in general, I'm your man. We hope to add many more contributors  to our blog here, and eventually we will get a url to give us a bit of credibility. We hope you enjoy what you read/watch and if you like what you see don't hesitate to share it with your friends. I Will also be making a twitter page for the site so you can get the site news/ stories on the go.  Thanks!