Let us start here. There is light and there is darkness, there is good and there is evil, there is N5 and then there is N17. N5 is blessed with parks, glorious architecture, fine restaurants, great bars and the finest football stadium in Britain; whereas N17 is a total toilet, the parks littered with dogshit, litter and hoodlums, the architecture can only be described as urban wasteland, the restaurants vary from appalling to mediocre, the bars imbue such depression that suicide is an attractive alternative, and the football ground (it cannot be called a stadium) is a complete joke.
If you win the Lottery you may well choose to live in Highbury, if you have descended into a life of crack and crime, you probably live in Tottenham.
(N:B: The above is written in jest, but there is a little truth in there…..)
And the football teams reflect their surroundings. Arsenal have an urbane, intelligent manager, Spurs a semi-literate “wheeler-dealer” (Sky tm), Arsenal have a team who play with brio and flair, Spurs have Huddlestone and Crouch, Arsenal have a warehouse full of silverware, Spurs won the league in Black and White.
And so we come to the Carling Cup. When we drew the mugs from N17, I despaired because the Carling Cup is a meaningless trophy for us but any game against the forces of evil is big, and the potential of losing to them hurts, plus we know how Mr Wenger views the CC with his attitude towards playing only the youth and fringe players. The last time we played in the CC at the Lane, we left humiliated (though the 5-1 scoreline hardly reflected the game).
However this time could be different because somehow Spurs have found their way to the top table and have to prioritise just as we do. In other words we will find out by Harry’s team selection whether Spurs really are a Top 4 side or just pretenders who know they will get bounced out of the CL and finish outside the Top 4. Will Redknapp play any of his first team with West Ham away and Twente at home inside a week?
If not we could be in for a treat because we have such strength in our reserve and youth teams. Unfortunately the injuries to so many of our first team precludes AW from playing some of the second string (JW, Vela Kos/Squil,Denilson, Ramsey etc), but we are sure to see Gibbs and Djourou. Perhaps an outing for JET who is set to cause havoc.
The Young Men in the White Hats……
My team is made up from a process of elimination, with the plethora of injuries in the forward positions we will have to pack the midfield, plus many of our best youngsters are out on loan.
To me the games rests upon the team Harry plays, has he the courage to play a reserve team in front of an expectant full house at WHL? He knows that the record breaking win (as in they broke our undefeated record) set Tottenham up for their late run to the CL, and also how important a win is to his knuckle dragging acolytes – Harry is nothing if not pragmatic. I expect Spurs will line up with some big players, Keane, Jenas, Palacios, Hudson, Krankjar, Dos Santos, Corluka and who knows maybe our mates David Bentley and William Gallas – all Full Internationals. They will not want to be beaten by kids
The final word must go to Bobby Smith who died on Saturday. I was raised in a Tottenham loving home, my father was Spurs and took me many times to WHL to watch the Double team of 60/61. In a side of hugely divergent talent from the silky skills of Blanchflower to the destructive aggression of Mackay one man stood out for me, his name was Bobby Smith. A proper centre forward , hard as nails, great in the air, a tremendous shot and no mean skill on the ground, a natural goalscorer. Bobby Smith was my first hero , at this very moment I expect he will be scoring hatricks on the Elysian Fields. Gone but not forgotten.
Can we win? Of course. Will we win? Unlikely
COYRRG
Arsenal News 24/7
Morning all
I have to agree Raddy that probably we won’t but what I do hope is that whatever team Arsene sends out will be up for the challenge. Having three English boys will obviously help enormously and Eboue is pretty passionate at the moment so I hope he’s el capitano.
Come on Arsenal
I think Wenger will go with a more experienced team. Two bad results on the trot (especially the second being against the spuds) would shoot down the confidence even more.
Wel lsaid about Bobby Smith. Just to clarify, you list “some big players, Keane, Jenas, Palacios, Hudson, Krankjar, Dos Santos, Corluka and who knows maybe our mates David Bentley and William Gallas”
Out of those only Huddlestone is a first team regular. The rest are big names but squad players just like Arsenal’s who will play at least one first choice CB.
Tonight will be interesting as our (spurs) big names individuals will be coming up against your young team.
PS Tottenham may be a poor area but don’t try and pretend Woolwich Arsenal are actually from Highbuury.
Eboue as captain!!!!
Quote from old ‘arry.
Redknapp wants to use the match to give first-teamers such as Gareth Bale and new signing Rafael van der Vaart a rest while he intends to give David Bentley a chance, as well as looking at third choice goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.
Redknapp denies that by playing youngsters and reserves he is disrespecting the tournament.
“If we weren’t in Europe, I would have a real go to win the Carling Cup,” he said.
Did he say BENTLEY 😉
Not a foregone conclusion that the spuds will win.This will be like a reserve fixture and it is absolutely impossible to imagine how it will pan out.
Morning Bektas
I’m not sure that if we play a changed side tonight it has any real effect on how the first team perform.
Everything points towards Wenger playing his usual Carling Cup side – I can’t see why he would do anything else.
I found yesterday a particular interesting day in blog land on here.
I don’t know how many times Rasp mentioned that we are different from most other sites in that we are a varied group of authors, over a huge age span and some attend and others don’t.We all have our own opinions and to an extent they differ.
If only people would actually read the article before commentating ,it would help.
Maybe we should have a more elaborate section at the top of the header to make this clear.
Hi kelsey 😀
What’s wrong with Eboue being captain???
Its nice that their DB gets a chance to play some football, they’re paying him a lot of money and don’t seem to be able to unload him.
kelsey – we know that people don’t always read the whole article, its what happens ………….. if we had a large banner that said about us having lots of different writers they probably wouldn’t read that either.
Morning all, I like the fact that even though we are from Woolwich, we are still kings of North London both footballistically and trophy-wise.
Morning chary – looks like everyone’s keeping their heads down today 😉
Peachy, I’m sure we’ll get some more Spuds on soon enough telling us “We’re the new football powerhouse in London” and “there’s a power shift” and “Spurs are a top 4 club now” , then we’ll get a second phase of them who’ll no doubt start lowering the tone further.
I’d like to be proved wrong on this, but I don’t think I will be.
However on to the match itself and I’m expecting us to lose 3-1. We’ll get a good early goal, we’ll concede on half time and as we’re pushing forward to equalise we’ll get caught on the counter and then Flappy will make his customary clanger on 70 minutes.
Maybe if you put the comments section first, it would solve the problem?
Morning,
Congratulations Raddy on a characteristically pithy pre-match report 😉
I’m pleased you put in the bit about Bobby Smith. I wonder how the intensity of the rivalry in those days compares to now? It’s amusing that after all this time, spuds fans still harp on about the Woolwich connection.
I’m not as pessimistic as many and certainly would rate our chances if AW puts out the team you suggest – but actually I think he’ll field a weaker side than that and I can’t see LJ and Denilson both playing. Fab2 in goal is a worry.
Hi kiwi,
Unfortunately the rigid framework that WordPress provides excludes your suggestion.
Superb pre match BR
My only criticism is why did you hold back on your condemnation of N17?
😆 London
A very, very tricky team to call tonight
————–Fabinaski
Nordtveit,Squillaci,Djourou,Gibbs
—-Denilson,Eastmond,Rosicky
——-Eboue,Vela,Arshavin
Every game I have thought that Wenger would rest Wilshere and every game he is there.
Morning Peaches
Yup, well done re the comments re Bobby Smith, not just because it’s respect where it’s due but because Raddy’s reference to having gone to Spurs as a kid etc is an example of something that we see less of in North London these days, i.e. fans from each side of the divide who have some affection for the other side. I grew up in the Wood Green and Muswell Hill area and it was all pretty much 50:50 between the two clubs. Plus plenty of the Arsenal fans once in a while went to WHL and vice versa. I even recall one or two older guys who had season tickets at both. Seems to me there’s less of that now, perhaps because a much smaller proportion of both clubs’ fans are actually from North London. Personally, I like Spurs, I just want them to have the good grace to lose every game they play against us (they usually oblige) and finish below us in the league (ditto).
Will be fun tonight. Harry the Twitcher has been contradictory about the type of side he’ll field, having said a few days ago he would be making lots of changes, yesterday he suggested he would prioritise progressing in the competition. Bit cowardly that, especially when Harry chose not to enter Spurs in the Reserve League, meaning his younger players are already being starved of regular action at that level, and now it sounds like he’s going to limit the chances for them in the League Cup, all because he’d be embarrassed if we won the tie.
For us, I really hope JET gets a game. He could destroy them. I think the starting line-up will be something like:
Fabianski
Eboue, Djourou, Nortdveit, Gibbs
Denilson, Eastmond,
JET, Lansbury, Aneke
Vela
I have rose tinted specs, no doubt about it, but I could see a side like that winning tonight, even if Harry does bottle it and field only a couple of youngesters.
In fact, if Wenger plays Wishere instead of Eastmond that team starts to look very strong.
Woolwich Arsenal……not bad coming from you lot who are looking to take over the Olympic stadium…..in Stratford!!! You’ve failed miserably in North London, you can fight it out with the bubble blowers to be the kings of the east end. Much fairer contest.
That’s what we need more of, some good old fashioned gooner fighting talk.
Morning 26m,
I agree about JET, I saw flashes of destructive genius from him in the pre-season games. Sometimes he looks just plain clumsy and other times he looks like a cross between Vieira, Henri and Kanu. He has more tricks in the box than Bendtner, but his finishing is about the same.
Well said Rocastle.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of walking out of WHL as an opposition fan knows the perils of N17.
But I recall one balmy evening in ’71 strolling up Seven Sisters Rd having won the League at WHL. Magical days.
And then we went and did it again!!
RAsp. You mentioned early rivalries – I will write a post about them.
Is it different now? I cannot say but as 26 May says, fans seem more marginalised than 20 years ago. The introduction of all-ticket games has stopped fans going to games on a whim. I would look at the fixture list and go to any of the London teams – just get on a bus and queue.
The Taylor report changed football in so many ways and not all for the best.
Rasp
I really do think JET is a major star of the future, for Arsenal and England – the real problem is identifying his best position, as he can pretty much cover every outfield position (and is big enough to be a keeper too, so you never know!). I see him in the Gerrard mould with a splash of Vieira, a marauding midfielder who plays most effectively behind the front line.
You do him a disservice on finishing, his beauty in the recent reserve match against Man City being the first evidence that comes to mind. He does look clumsy at times but that can be deceptive, his big guy physique masks someone with good touch (though not in Kanu’s league) and great vision.
As you can tell, I like JET…….
“I would look at the fixture list and go to any of the London teams – just get on a bus and queue.” You and me both, Raddy. And did likewise when I went to university in Leeds, ending up as a neutral at grounds like Bradford, Huddersfield, Bury, Leeds, Leicester, Sheff Utd, Middesbrough etc.
Thanks Raddy,
I will look forward to reading that one.
Sadly none of the ‘unhappy’ new bloggers challenged yesterday to write a piece for the site have accepted the offer so far.
We should pass a landmark 400,000 hits today – not bad for a site that’s only been up and running since mid February.
Aha 26m,
Did I say that Bendtner was crap at finishing? 😉
Fair point Rasp, I guess I assume everything that is written about certain of our players (Nik B being one) amounts to a criticism! I apologise for misreading your post!
You didn’t may26, I was joking 🙂
Niks finishing is OK but not his strongest point I’d say. When he bundled in those late goals at the tail end of last season, he was in the right place at the right time and he had worked his socks off so credit to him for that.
Great article again BR. Like you I regret the way we dont go to other stadiums these days.. I guess because back then with the terraces it was much easier to get tickets. My best friend was a Chelsea fan so I sometimes went with him but I usually didnt go to other first divison sides [as it was called then] but went to the lower leagues. Charlton was a favorite on away days if I didnt travel. My Dad was also a spud and he took me a few times to WHL as well as came to see Arsenal at Highbury with me. We were probably at many of the same games as we are from the same era!! When I brought my kids over to see Arsenal I also took them to other grounds to try to catch the flavour of local derbies, eg Watford v QPR.
These days when I plan my trips I look at our schedule and Orients and try to catch a game in each, if Orient are away then I look at QPR, Charlton etc etc
NIce one BR. It’s funny how your reference to turning up at other teams’ grounds to watch a game has struck a chord with us older ones. I would occasionally go to any of West Ham, Charlton, Millwall, Palace and Chelsea just to see a good game. And when I went to Uni in Manchester it would be Citeh one week, Utd the next.
If Big B had been given his chance as a youngster instead of Wenger persevering with cloggers like Henry,we could well be lookin at the worlds best striker.Let’s hope that Chamakh is benchbound when Big B returns
James
I’m going to take a wild guess and say you come from Denmark?
He may come from Denmark, but he’s way wide of ‘De Mark’ if he thinks Henry was a clogger, I’m putting it down to that famous Danish sense of humour 🙂
No london,
try Australia, but close 🙂
Yes I’m from a lovely little town called Takendapiss on the sunny northern coast of Denmark.Like the article
Lol James….you should have been spreading that humour around here yesterday!
Good post Raddy. Is there no early team news for tonight yet. Do we really not even know the squad yet..??
Clearly James hasn’t read the post.
What disturbs me is that I agree with the him (apart from the Henry remark). I would love to see NB become a major player for us but RvP and Chamakh are way ahead of him in terms of technique and pace.
Just havin a laugh pal,I really like NB who can forget that goal at stoke away last season as good a header as you’ll ever see,
AW accepted the ban and will sit in the executive boxes tonight…..
At least you like the article James.
A stupid ban.
I know so many have said this but how on earth can the FA fine and ban AW for touching a 4th official yet allow Robinson to walk away from a career damaging tackle on Diaby?
Madness.
The mind boggles….
I knew I had heard of James’ home town before: it’s the FA’s head quarters.
Given what we know about availability my squad would be:
Hat Stand in goal, (better than Flappy)
Back 4 of Nordtveit, Djourou, Scillacci, Gibbs
Midfield 3 of Lansbury, Denilson and Randall
Front 3 of Jet, Aneke and Vela
I really hope that we don’t see Mark Randall tonight. I just feel its time someone else got the chances he keeps getting.
I’m astonished that he himself has not had thoughts of moving on, as he appears to be completely stagnant at Arsenal.
Maybe he’s being polite, maybe he’s running his contract down, who knows..??
anyone seen shezzers comments – i fear that will be the end of him before he’s even got started. Kids should shut their mouthes, they’ll play when the manager deems them ready!
At least Randall can get his foot in S Sure, but what are your predictions for the score? Taking off my rose tinctured specs I’d say we are looking at a 3-1 or 4-2 loss.
i agree sharkey, he’s obviously a well paid kid!
He’ll move on im sure – and also come back to haunt us like they all do at least one time!
I thought Nordtveit was injured ?
Link to the comments TS
Sharkey. May I respectfully agree with you about Randall. I can only imagine that no-one wants to buy him. As you say it is highly unlikely he has a career at THOF. but then again if he is on €15k a week he may not want to move.
Tommy. Yep. Very disappointing, whilst he probably does have a valid point, airing his thoughts in this way will not help him.
Chary. I never predict losses for the Arse. Even when the odds seem insurnountable, I still hope that the fickle finger of fate will somehow prod and point us towards an improbable win (or draw).
Tonight is far from insurmountable…far far from it in fact.
4-2 to the good guys !
http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2010/09/szczesny-launches-attack-on-wenger/
Chary. I don’t predict scores, but I fear the worst.
Can we draw tonight or is every game played to a conclusion?
Chary..re Randall. Yeah he’s a tough little so and so with a good dose of a nasty streak.
He may play well tonight (and I really hope he does) but I want to see the future Arsenal first teamers in the CC not a bloke who’s playing maybe his 4th or 5th season in it.
loved your preview BRaddy although i think you were more harsh on location sunderland as opposed to location spuds.
Hi guys,
I think our team will be as strong as totnums tonight in terms of first-teamers and youngsters – so on the basis of that, I can’t understand why you are predicting a loss?
Thanks TS. If and it is a very big IF , the quotes are genuine the young man is going to get a harsh awakening. To slight your boss in public and accuse him of lying is a sure way to damage his future.
If true, Cesc needs to give him a slap and remind him that a run of games in Div 2 counts for nothing at AFC
Okay, I;m back from Wiki now:
Randall is not 21 til Sept 28th, so maybe I;m being a little harsh on him, but he dis actually play in the Carling back in Oct 2006…a full four years ago, and hardly a kick in the PL first team since.
His Wiki page stats don’t really provide any evidence of a kid who’s making good(/any? progress.
3.08 – *”He may play well tonight (and I really hope he does *WELL*)
they are true, youngguns is a tweeter “Szczęsny quotes come from ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, an outlet he’s spoken to loads of times before. They’re certainly not fake. “
Silly boy …. but at least he shows ambition and confidence in his ability
Raspers, if I’m being a neutral observer and not a fan I’m predicting a loss for the obvious reason that we have Flappy in goal. He’s a 2 goal start for the Oppo as soon as we kick off.
The question is will the Spuds defence be worse?
Last week it was Le Scrouge (sic) …this week its Flappy.
I just think that name calling our own, no matter how benign is a path this site doesn’t want to go down.
Some names like the PassMaster for Eboue are a little ambiguous in their intent to denigrate to or not, others aren’t.
Of mi soapbox now….
S Sure – my plan is that I’ll put my head on the block that our GK tonight will have a blinder and make me look foolish.
I’d have looking foolish as a worthy price to pay to beat the Spuds, however there is a degree of preparing my self for the worst by downgrading my expectations.
chary,
It will be interesting to see how he gets on as he is clearly Almunia’s number two in Arsène’s eyes. I think that in Poland, Sczcesny is regarded as a better keeper than Fab2 so maybe that’s why Sczc was so incensed at being left out of the squad. It seems that our keepers are favoured in age order.
SS – individual styles of blogging, and there is a humorous intent. It might be different if chary was not known to us and new to the site. It’s OK for us to have a gentle dig at our own, but woe betide anyone else who dares criticise our boys 😉
Fair do’s Rasp re the names.
I never want to say ‘I told you so’ about anything bad ANY of our players do. NEVER.
Therefore this ‘Flappy WILL make a mistake’ position is not one that I will ever adopt. If you predict something that then comes true you’ve got to be happy about that right..??
Be happy with the ball sat in the back our net…?? No thanks. Especially not tonight.
I’d much rather pray that the Wookie does well tonight.
No S Sure, no way do I want to be right about the GK tonight. I take no joy out of any defeat we suffer no matter how clever I may look as a by product.
Who is the Wookie by the way ?
Does he hate to lose at space chess, especially to protocol droids ?
Good evening, quick point,
Nice comment about Bobby Smith..
In his days the Spuds fans had a good team. I bet they never had to resort to going on about ‘Woolwich’ then.
Still, I suppose if thats all they’ve got now, let them go on about it.
Well said Chaf, it’s a mark of desperation I suppose going on about a 90+ year old event(us leaving Woowich)
Ah, just the words of an eager youngster. The loans will come in January for all those who need them and Sczcesny will almost certainly be one of them. As for leaving, in his dreams, too many reports of him being too good will prevent that.
Fair do’s Chary.
Fabianski is the Wookie….apparently in Polish his name is pronounced a Wookash. Perhaps Wookie isn’t gonna catch on.
You do know who the Somali Pirate is though right….??
Clue: he speaks fluent Korean !
Hi Chaf
How ya doin?
Yeah S Sure – I saw a bit of the Pirates programme on Sky – Eboue is a leg-end amongst those guys.
Hello London
Fine thanks. Totally pissed off saturday night but not sure we did enough to deserve a win in retrospect. Even if I am biased to think the ref was making a point for 95 minutes. Thought he was a star.
I love watching the kids, so its eyes down for tonight, at Spuds, the top team in N17. We might come from a southern area but were never in the Southern League…
Cheers Chary …I think it might also have been you who confirmed it for me about 18mths ago over on ‘the other site !
Found this re earlier remarks:
Wojciech Szczesny is angry at not playing in the tie. Says leaving Arsenal is a possibility:
http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2010/09/szczesny-launches-attack-on-wenger/
http://www.sport.pl/pilka/1,73556,8403721,Wojciech_Szczesny__Zasluguje_na_wiecej.html?as=2&startsz=x
Reading what he said in Gazeta Wyborcza (Im Polish), he doesn’t speak of his relationship with Wenger breaking down specificaly, but he does sound pretty pissed at not getting any game time and being fourth choice. Also pissed at not being allowed to go on loan. Apparently before the season Wenger said Szczesny was needed at the club, but now is only playing in reserves.
His contract is until June 30 next year, and although he said that still wants to be Arsenal #1, it seems like that is just not to get anyone upset, and he is seriously thinking of a move to another club.
Strangely, despite 3 sets of negociations taking place, the club has not offered to extend his contract.
Also, he is very surprised Almunia is #1 keeper ahead of Fabianski, “If you want to win, then you need to put out the best players, not the oldest ones. If you want to win the title, then the best keeper at Arsenal needs to be in goal”
If gallas plays and scores I will eat my ****
by the way,dandan is not on the net, he just posted the other day from an internet cafe.
anyone seen franchise.
Kelsey…re Franchise – yeah I have, big scruffy looking black fella.
Also, many thanks for the Polski transl.
Kelsey. Are you really Polish? – you look more Hungarian to me
Any team news?
You are welcome, SS
Actually, no team news as the coach driver has lost his way.
Actually half portugese and half russian BR
apparently 3 yougsters start. JET Lansbury Eastmond
My mnephew’s mate at Al Jazeera says Nasri, JW, Vela, Eboue and Rosicky start
I thought lansbury was still recovering his fitness from injury.
BR is that your mate James 😉
Tottenham
Pletikosa, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Palacios, Naughton, Giovani, Bassong, Livermore, Sandro, Assou-Ekotto, Caulker
Arsenal
Fabianski, Koscielny, Djourou, Eboue, Gibbs, Rosicky, Nasri, Denilson, Wilshere, Lansbury, Vela
Much better team than I expected !!
David Bentley has a terribly annoying face…
This referee is a tit, there have been several fouls against us not given, but that was definitely a penalty. Wanker.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Hi all
Great start huh – how are you Irish
What a great goal.
Come on…..
They’ve got the passing game together beautifuly tonight, exactly the reverse of Saturday. Need to make the best of this dominance though…..
1 nil to The Arsenal..
Hiya Peaches – I’m good thanks 🙂
Wilshere is full of confidence.
Great passing, but Djourou is proving exactly why I have little faith in him. 26m is correct, we need another goal or two with the dominant possession.
wilshere great cross had to be on the ground. all the more inexperienced players have started off well, but djorou is a weak link. get that second goal and who knows.
Wankers keep at LJ – why the fuck do they think we sent him to Bolton, he can take it now.
the more wilshere plays the better he will get.
Looks like team fouling of LJ is the order of the day.
That was close, need to concentrate at the back.
When did Vela last touch the ball?
Wilshere getting hammered. Come on ref, they are targetting our boy
Bassong used to be a quality player. Made a big mistake going to the Spurs reserve team
Linesman denied us another one there. If Spurs make a recovery, we’ll be having words.
Wilshere is absolutely on fire tonight, epic half of football.
This ref is worse than saturday’s, Gibbs was clearly onside and would have scored.
Great interception by Djourou.
You’ll be fine Tom… come on need a second, boys.
Nice to see Wenger with his Blackberry there, shows what touchline bans really mean.
This ref won’t be happy until half of our team is maimed.
Even Arsene leaves early at half-time 😆
But then, Rasp, he does look like Phil Brown. He really is very, very poor, like Stoke’s dream referee.
3 yellow cards already? Arry absolutely taking advices from Fat Sam n Co before the matches..
Wow what a first half – poor Jack he’s getting hacked to pieces, I hope Cesc warned him that’s what happens when you’re the puppet master.
If that Livermore hurts anyone I’ll be knocking on his door tomorrow
Let’s just hope this isn’t going to be like the second half at Anfield, we need to come out strong and expect Spurs to really pile into us for the first 15 mins.
Jeff Stelling is nuts if he thinks that this is our Carling Cup side – its against spuds and Arsene has been a man and doesn’t want to get beat there again.
See, he can change his mind, not so stubborn afterall 🙂
Someone needs to tell Ian Wright that that shirt is not allowed, he looks like a lost member of Big Country.
Superb first half from JW & TR, they are bossing the game.
Ref & Linesmen pisspoor as usual. But you can be sure the media won’t notice
Peaches. Only TR and EE are over 23 …
If we can keep it tight for the next 15 mins Spurs will run out of steam, particularly if we carry on having so much possession.
COYRRG
Raddy, I think Kozzer is 24 or 25.
Fucking Fabianski!!!!
And he was offside!
Clearly offside. Dreadful linesman
Should have been 2 nil up in the first half. Keane was offside for their goal and Fab2 should have saved it … same old, same old…..
*rolls eyes*
That was offside you blind little fuck… Arsene will have to serve another one match ban after having a go at these shower
FFS Arsène, give up on Fabianski, how many times does he have to fail for the boss to get the message.
HOW IS THAT NOT A YELLOW???
Ridiculous!
I’m sorry, I really do think he’s got some ability hiding in there, but that really has to be goodbye Fabianski, surely. If he and the linesman manage to hand this tie to Spurs, it will be outrageous.
And now the ref lets Bassong off a booking. What a dick.
And it wasn’t a marginal offside, it was at least a yard. And I hate Robbie Keane with a passion, always have ever since he was at Wolves.
How much of a kicking is JW going to get before a red gets shown?
More than anything, this referee is just naive, he doesn’t understand the tactics Spurs employ in breaking up and destroying the game using foul play.
Got to get the passing going again.
We stand no chance if it goes to penalties that’s for sure. It should definitely not be Sczcesny going out on loan in January – Fabianski is the only candidate.
Who is this ref?
Hope Arsene has reception 😆
Must be time for a substitution maybe to take off Lansbury,
Kos is a hard man !!
Well done Kozzer
I’m now 5 minutes behind as I had to pause the TV, so will have to duck out of the conversation till after the game. Enjoy.
COME ON……..
We’re better than them
Get in…….woohoo
Cool as you like from Samir
How rubbish are they …… 2 penalties in 5 minutes hahahahahahahaha
1-6 would be nice 😆
Bentley 😆
But still stay awake Arsenal
Rasp is hiding with London I assume 😉
Come on Chamakh you need to notch a goal against spuds
Anyone fancy the match report?
Chamakh has been a breath of fresh air for us – works so damn hard all the time.
Too easy
Oh Arshavin – you little magician, you’ve made it 4 and they’re all going home 😀
Want me to do it Peaches?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah we put out a stronger team than i expected…. this is just sooooooooo good. Still what 15 more minutes to go.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
What a great result, revenge for the 5-1 almost(but as it was at Shite Hart lane an away victory counts for more)and great to hear the Spuds were leaving early -wa-ha-ha !
I don’t know who played well or badly, but well done the lads.
It’s almost made up for the 2 points dropped on Saturday.
Have a look at the banner at the top of the page Neamman – I’ve put a pic of you in 😆
Absolutely fantastic performance, well done the boys, made us proud – christ, I’m looking forward to getting to the office…..
You have to ask, without the help of the referee and one linesman, where could Spurs have ended up? And, having given the penalties, just how did the referee not send the two players off? Those were as obvious goalscoring chances as you could want to see, nailed on red cards.
Just watching the post match interviews – very funny to hear the interviewer doing a Basil Fawlty and speaking very sloooooowly for that Jonny Foreigner, Samir Nasri, only for Samir to respond in fluent and confident English.
I remember hearing people tell me all of last season that we lacked depth in the squad. Well, we started with three players who could be described as first choice, plus we have a mammoth injury list, including our talisman, and yet we dominated the game.
To play a strong side like that with a game on saturday and CL next week tells me that Arsène wants to win this cup. Does anyone have any knowledge of Gibbs’ injury?
Great banner Rasp 😛
Apart from Fab’s error and the dreadful linesman that was a flawless performance.
Once Cham and AA came on we were sure to win!!
JW and TR were magnificent.
And so was £15m David Bentley 😀
Confirmed 😉
Why would he want to win this cup – only to get everyone off his back – its worthless
See, even Arsene agrees he gets a better view of his fabulous football from the stands. If he sat with me he’d have someone to talk to too 🙂
Another fantastic performance from Koscielny I thought. And an 11 out of 10 performance from Wilshere. All of the outfield players played well – Djourou looked rusty but, while I don’t put him any higher than 4th choice CB, it was his first start in more than a year. The less said about Fabianski, the better, let’s just lap up a great night.
He wouldn’t get a word in edgeways peaches 😕
Our defence did well and as 26 says Kos was superb.
Can’t wait for tomorrow to give it to my Spurs mates….
Not only did Jack play superb football, but he took all the fouls and just got on with it – there was no way they were going to kick him out of the game.
Just seen the other results, and more good news there: Millwall are out, Burnley beat Bolton and Brentford did the giant-killing act on Everton. The only disappointment was Stoke beating Fulham.
Blank DVDs for sale at ridiculously cheap prices in the Tottenham area Arsenal Opinion (Weblog) 22:30
Great headline 😆
……and how did Wham get a result at Sunderland!!!!!!!
Rasp – cheeky 😛
ahem, I thought Denilson played quite well.
You’re the man Rocky 😆
I thought Denilson played quite well too, he was a really good buy don’t you think 😉
ha ha, excellent Rocky!
He he he
There are very few things better than beating spuds and right now I can’t think of a single other.
kozzer was my man of the match followed only by a nats breath away by Wilshere.
Peaches, I have read all the comments, this one is made for Irish, I can’t wait to read it tomorrow.
Now that is funny, nice one Rocky.
Post is in drafts, I’m off to my bed with some sweet dreams 🙂
Catch ye tomorrow evening.
ARSENAL……………. wooohoooooo
Old ‘Arry made a pigs ear of his post match interview,making every conceivabvle excuse about players not being fit or experienced and never played in aa derby before and that others had long term injuries.In a sentence he just looked plain embarrassed.
Our lesser lights were the stars for me,in particular Lansbury and Gibbs, but above all Wilshere,who is a precious talent,yet only 18.Some think he needs a gentle introduction,I beg to differ.He improves with every game and relishes the chance to play.On the other hand there is Fabianski.The master plan was to leave it all to Pat Rice whilst Arsene fiddled with his mobile,up in the stands.
Morning Kelsey
I am doing a 180 on my concerns about Wilshere, last night showed just how close he is to running the show.
I think AW was in the stands calling London and Rocky asking what they thought of JW and Denilson.
London I might be wrong but isn’t that a 360 turn, or are you only half concerned now..
He thinks he’s Phil taylor 😉
not so good news about gibbs, maybe his metawhatits.
No Chaf a complete volte face is 180degrees….360 puts you back where you started !
Morning All.
That was the only black spot on the night….Gibbs going off.
Is that confirmed Kels..??
SS
Thanks for that, teaches me to try and be smart!
Mind you he might have thought Jack was great when he started!
No worries Chaf…..especially not today !!
Battered in their own back yard with a tenma tha cost kless than hlaf theirs. Palacios £14m, Pavlova and Bentley £16m each, Krancjar £8m.
Money well spent there ‘Arry, you toadie little wheeler dealer….oops s’cuse me, I meant ‘top football manager’
It sure was SS. Though if i am critical Vela and Rosicky weren’t up to scratch and being subbed was the right decision.
maybe Arsene should stat high up in the stands and therefore get a better picture of the game.
Kelsey. We disagree again !!
I thought TR had a really good game and that Lansbury was out of his depth. Plus Vela put in a good night’s work, couldn’t get behind Spurs defence but was always available for the pass, which is what a lone frontman has to be.
Another injury – the only negative of a fine night.
Magnificent victory – I blame Pat Rice, did you see how he kept refusing AW’s phone calls just so he could run the team his way for once 😛
New post ……
Agree with Raddy, TR did well, Vela worked hard and did fine and Lansbury was good but struggled to keep up with the pace of the game.
Hopefully the news re Gibbs will be ok, would be a real shame if he was out again for a while.
Why didn’t Ivan Gazidis ok the purchase of a little two-way radio set for Wenger, everyone knows using mobiles at footy grounds is a mare? Or Wenger could have called his fellow top quality manager and rival for top European jobs, Sam Allardyce, and asked to borrow his set for the night.
Teniis Court Maintenance…
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