Ipswich 1-0 Arsenal (Carling Cup): This is why I don't gamble

Yesterday I placed a very minor wager on the outcome of today's Carling Cup semifinal first leg. I bet on Arsenal to win the match, and I bet on the under (with a line set at three total goals). Well, at least I won half of it.

Arsenal played a lackluster match to say the least, and they were not able to escape the deserved result as Ipswich struck again and again on the counterattack and finally were able to score a late breakthrough. Arsenal now will have more work to do in the second leg than they would have preferred.

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The result of the game didn't stem from unfair play by Ipswich or a howler by any of the Arsenal players, and that's what makes it most worrisome. Arsenal lost because, for the most part, they didn't really try. They took the opponent lightly and did not put in the effort necessary to come away with the result. I don't understand why this team does this again and again when there's plenty of evidence to show that doing that leads to a bad end. All they have to do is look at 2-3 West Brom, or 0-1 Newcastle, or any of several other matches. When they bring effort, like they did against Chelsea, they win. When they don't, this happens.

My biggest worry is the fact that the lack of effort appears to me to be centered around certain players, who again and again are given chances to prove themselves, and again and again they fail to do so in fairly spectacular fashion. Nicklas Bendtner has been vocal in the past about wanting more opportunities, but at the moment he's the third-best striker at the club, and that's in a system that plays one striker (and I'm leaving Theo Walcott out, as he plays on the wing almost exclusively at the moment). Andrei Arshavin has been a wizard in the past both in scoring and creating goals, and he's one of the most talented players in the side. But in this game and in the recent past, neither player has impressed in any way.

I can excuse not playing well - sometimes a player is unlucky and just can't come through. But those two players in particular were without any sort of influence at all. They weren't really bad, they were just invisible. When you have players who are out of form with superior talent ahead of them, you would think that when given the chance to play - especially against Championship-level competition - they would make some kind of effort. We had too many players today who did not.

There's really not a lot to be said about this aside from that. Fabregas and Walcott didn't have particularly good games, but they at least were making visible efforts. Sczcesny played relatively well, though he didn't have too many opportunities. Djourou and Gibbs playes well, Koscielny was decent, Eboue was pretty awful. If I think about this much more I may have a stroke, so I'm going to stop here.

Now let us never speak of this again.

Spurs 1-4 Arsenal: Are you watching, Tottenham?

Lansbury is really pumped about scoring against Spurs. (Tom Jenkins, The Guardian)

I've only been an Arsenal fan for a few years, but in those years I've grown to love the club dearly. As a person living on the far side of the Atlantic, and a person who didn't grow up with the club, it's taken a lot of effort to learn all about Arsenal - the history, the traditions, and all that.

It has taken no effort to hate Tottenham Hotspur.

I really don't know why. I don't know whether it's the players, or the manager (let's be real, 'Arry is pretty hateable), or the fans. Probably all of the above. It's just something that's come so naturally to me that it's almost disturbing. Naturally, I blame Spurs for this personal deficiency. See how easy it is?

So even when Arsenal play Spurs in a largely meaningless Carling Cup game (because honestly, nobody cares about the Carling Cup) I get amped up. It would appear that I'm not the only one, because Arsene Wenger - from on high in the director's box while serving his one-match ban for not just hauling off and punching a referee on Saturday - fielded a not-terrible team, which is unusual. There were only three overlapping starters from the Sunderland match, but players like Eboué, Gibbs, Denilson, and Rosicky starting and most of the first team on the bench, you could tell the match was actually being taken seriously. Even though Fabianski was in goal.

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The first half was extraordinarily one-sided. The scoreline wasn't, with Arsenal up only 1-0, but they had control of the ball for what seemed like about 90% of play. Spurs were getting passed into oblivion, but Arsenal couldn't finish but once; a great ball in the box from Jack Wilshere was bombed in by Henri Lansbury, both of whom are younger than I am. It was a game in which missed opportunities could have come back to haunt the Gunners, and it almost did.

Just after the half, Robbie Keane received a ball over the top in the box, and slid it past a diving Fabianski, who was honestly just there for decoration. It was a fine play, but would have been better had Keane not been criminally offside. The call wasn't made, the goal stood, and the score was leveled. (This was compounded by the fact that Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs had a chance fraudulently taken away for offside before the half, by the same linesman no less.)

The score remained unchanged through full-time, setting the stage for a barrage in extra time. Twice Arsenal were awarded penalties: once for a foul on Samir Nasri and again for one on Marouane Chamakh. Rosicky's penalty miss Saturday (along with many, many other things) cost two points, but Nasri wasn't as wasteful. He took both shots, and Spurs keeper Stipe Pletikosa guessed wrong both times. Andrei Arshavin finished the scoring with a solid shot, and Arsenal coasted to the finish.

Hopefully Gibbs won't end up being the biggest story. Reports after the game are saying that he may have a broken bone in his foot, which is similar to the injury that put him out for three months last year. It would be a major setback for a player who has looked better than first-teamer Gael Clichy so far this year, so hopefully it will not be as bad as is feared. More on that will probably be available today, so we'll see.

Here are some stats, courtesy of Orbinho...Spurs come first then Arsenal, as usual in football.

Goals: 1-4

Shots: 12-24

On target: 4-7

Possession: 36%-64%

Passing accuracy: 77%-84%

Fouls: 23-14

Duels won: 47%-53%

Man of the Match: I'm going to go with Koscielny, but that's primarily due to my slowly-developing mancrush on him. He's shown himself to be a supreme badass since coming over to the Gunners, and I didn't get to shower him with praise after the Sunderland match. Second star is Jack Wilshere, who's developed into a bit of a mini-Cesc. I'll give third star to Nasri for not missing any penalties, unlike freaking Rosicky (whose name is not pronounced the way it looks like it should be, if you're wondering).

Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool: Welcome to High School

I was about as happy as he was. (sportinglife.com)

Last week, Blackpool beat Wigan 4-0 to win their first top-flight league game since 1971. They were a Cinderella story all week leading up to their first ever voyage into the Emirates Stadium. A candidate for relegation from second-level football last year, they won their league to gain promotion, and shocked everyone with their grand first performance.

And today, they found out just how tough Premier League football really is. Wigan was a team in disarray, but even with a summer of transfer rumor -- Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, new keepers and defenders, just to name a few -- Arsenal weren't comparable, and defeated Blackpool fairly easily by a final score of 6-0.

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First off, all the credit in the world to Blackpool's players and manager. They were put to the sword and unlike many teams in the Premiership, they played class football and didn't resort to chippy tackling and time-wasting. They continued to play their game, knowing full well that it probably wasn't going to get them any points. They didn't go for injuries, in short. Ian Holloway, Blackpool's manager, said after the game that "Arsenal are class, their manager is class, the way they play is class, and they gave us masterclass." Thanks, and the same to you.

Last week against Liverpool, Arsenal looked pretty lame, to be perfectly honest. Though possession was rampant, they had no finishing skill, and the defense (while better than expected) wasn't particularly strong. Today was quite the opposite. Goals were available almost at will, and Blackpool had only two real chances at goal with the backline nearly omnipresent.

Speaking of omnipresent, Theo Walcott was amazing. He was able to match his England international performance against Croatia a couple of years ago with a hat-trick, his first for Arsenal. He also earned the distinction of being the first Gunner to score this season, so good for him. His speed carved up the Tangerine defenses, and for once he had the passing ability and the finishing touch to match that. If he can consistently manage that combination, he can be deadly.

Andrey Arshavin came off with about half an hour left in the game for Robin van Persie, but he more than made up for the poor effort he put forth at Anfield last week. He had a goal on a penalty, as well as at least one assist. He also had a few near misses, including one stinging finish in the box that was saved spectacularly. There were rumors last week that Arshavin was hurt or tired from the preseason; if that was the case, it looks to have been mostly cleared up.

The defense has been the source of a lot of talk (including some new rumors from L'Equipe today), and with Laurent Koscielny out this week due to his (absurd) red card against Liverpool, I was even more worried than usual. However, the back line was quite good. Blackpool chances were limited, and the gang did a good job in the attacking half as well -- the 4th Gunner goal was a Diaby finish from a Sagna cross, after he'd run the length of the pitch with the ball. Especially good was Alex Song, who usually is a midfielder but filled in for Koscielny today. I still think we need at least one center-half signing for depth, but the personnel we have are good enough to move forward, I think.

I'll wrap up with this: I'm almost always impressed by the players Arsene Wenger manages to bring in for this club. Last week I was thrilled with Koscielny's play. This week, I was thoroughly impressed by Marouane Chamakh. He had a ton of chances in front of goal and was unable to convert most of them (including one late heartbreaker in front of a mostly open net). However, he was perpetually in the right places to make things happen, and though the finishing was lacking, that can be improved, hopefully. Two plays stuck out. First, obviously, was the goal that he did score. van Persie looped a corner kick into the box and Chamakh put his head on it forcefully for a score. This is the kind of play I hope to see often from him, especially as it's something that's been lacking from Arsenal strikers since I've been watching them. Secondly was the breakaway where Ian Evatt was forced to brink Chamakh down from behind, drawing a red card and the penalty shot that Arshavin buried to make it a 2-0 Arsenal lead. Placement and presence are crucial in football, and Chamakh had both down pat today.

The game at Anfield was worrying; today's washed most of those worries away. The common Gooner refrain from this summer will make a return: if we can get another center-half and a new goalkeeper, Arsenal can definitely challenge for the title.

Man of the match: Theo Walcott
Second star: Alex Song
Third star: Marouane Chamakh