We will play in the Champions League 2012-3 Tournament, but wow, it was close.
We were limping down the final straight, and had it not been for a stunning turn of pace from Mr Gibbs, we would have probably ended up in the next race.
Sure we recovered from a dreadful start, and this was followed by a few truly memorable games against the likes of Chelsea, Spurs and City. However, all this good work was so nearly undone by apathetic displays against Wolves, Wigan and Swansea.
See a pattern? Yip, me too.
So, enter S. Nas$ri. I read a comment on here where he apparently stated something along the lines of not leaving us for the cash, after all he could have stayed at Arsenal picking up the weekly envelope without having to put in much sweat and toil. He then stated, most alarmingly, that he wouldn’t have been the only one!
I am not going to point a finger or two, but merely make a suggestion. When it comes to motivation you can look at The Manager, but I’m not sure this is completely fair. Did players like Keown or Adams need a little chat from their managers? Of course not. Can you imagine any player in a team with one of those two not pulling their weight, as I don’t think it would have been The Manager putting the boot in at half time.
Arsènes’ greatest side was littered with Fighters and Leaders. Since the departure of Vieira, I am convinced it has been the lack of a true leader that has cost us unnecessary dropped points. Being “up” for the big games is easy, but I’m afraid there have been far too many Match Reports and Comments on here this season where the implication has been that it was our concentration and commitment over the full 90 minutes that has been questioned.
We all have differing views on where holes need to be plugged and the type of player to do the filling.
The one signing that for me would make the biggest difference is less about the footballing qualities and more about leadership qualities.
Written by MickyDidIt89
Arsenal News 24/7
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[…] Was Na$ ri Right?. […]
We’ve been steadily filling the team with players who have the right character for a few years now, Vermaelen/Koscielny/Szczesny/Wilshere/RvP/Sagna/Arteta all have that grit and determination and most of the remaining players aren’t lacking in character ether. I do tend to think that the money was only half the reason Nsri left, like half the gooners these days he thinks that you simply cannot compete with a team who has that amount of money at their disposable, calling him a coward and a weak character woulld probably be as accurate as calling him a money grabber; he chose a winners medal, good for him but he’ll be back in France before long or out in Spain where his technical ability counts for nowt, maybe even stuck in the Europa league.
I honestly have a lot more respect for Nasri than Fabregas. We never loved Nasri so he never owed us love in return. We all opened our hearts and poured our love out to Cesc, he took it and bathed in it, pissed in it and flushed it.
Nasri – we paid him and liked him so he likes us but had a chance to get paid more.
The reaction of the fans to him vs cesc, vs clichy, vs toure vs vieira is strange. Why do we hate him for? his honesty?
Remember he played against Liverpool at the start of the season and was our best player in that game, trying as hard as i have ever seen him, he also seemed willing to play in the CL qualifier.
Cesc the heart and soul of the club, wouldn’t risk his move by putting on the shirt one more time. even in the pre season.
Remember that.
I agree with Dick. Slowly we have filled the team with more and more fighters, especially verm, szcz and rvp. I think that is Nasri’s way of sleeping better at night, an attempt to justify him leaving us. Just like when he looks at himself in the mirror with his shirt off and says ‘i’m not fat, i’m not fat, i’m not fat.’ All the positive self acceptance in the world isn’t going to make him any lighter.
Nasri did what any one of us would when not working for the family business.
Offered double the salary and a position which almost guarantees large bonuses plus a tasty addition to your CV, wouldn’t you leave your current employment?
I think his leaving says more about ARsenal than about Nasri.
As to the Leadership, I must agree with DickS and Oz. We are a different club from the one who let the PL slide in ’08.
Na$ri was like an insidious poison that seeped into the Arsenal Football Club veins hell-bent on undermining its host. Even now, his legacy remains like the after effects of a dose of syphilis. Only now in the summer of 2012 can we really say we are free of his disgusting pestilential presence.
He had 3 or 4 good months for us over 3 years. The rest of the time he barely looked as though he could be bothered to shift his fat arse around the football pitch. He caused dressing room unrest and still feels as though he needs to stick the knife in, even though he chose to go to a club where others would win a medal for him.
However, it would be nice to have a real motivator and organiser in the team who can pull everyone together at crucial moments in matches so that the team refocusses on the task at hand. Robin may be superb at helping to foster a team spirit and unity, but how can a striker captain really get hold of his cohorts at crucial moments in a game? To me a captain (or true leader to be more precise) has to be a centre back or defensive midfielder at the very heart of the team.
Against Wigan, Arteta got injured, a big hole emerged and the opposition scored twice in two minutes.
Against Swansea, we dragged ourselves back to 2-2 by hook or by crook and then lost concentration to gift them the winner within one minute.
Against Norwich, again we dragged ourselves back into a winning position, only to shoot ourselves in the foot with some comic ‘holding on to a lead’ defending.
These are the moments in games where a real leader would come into their own.
@ BR
there is more things in this world than money! At the end of the day he took the easy option and when to the team that bought a trophy, as opposed to sticking it out with Arsenal and achieving something special. I know what would of tasted sweeter. Looking back on your career I’d like to think I was loved and adored by fans and did the right thing.
This isn’t swansea or wolves we are talking about here, it is Arsenal! So we took a step back if anything, team wise and career wise!
Interesting Micky, leadership is definitely an issue, no matter how good a captain RvP has been he by position is unable to lead deep in our half. Arteta gave us that leadership when he played harassing the opposition which led to others also pressing higher to win the ball back. As too did BFG, I certainly felt a lot more sedate with him calmly reading the game and not wasteful in possession.
So there’s a start of a spine.
BFG, Arteta and RvP…soon to be joined by Pod. Surround that with Jack, Ox etc and we start to have the makings of an exciting team that could not only score goals but find solidity too.
As for Nasri he chose the easy option (like Cesc) join a team that can carry them rather than be the man who carries the team.
Nasri is a big mouthed money grabbing tosser. Hopefully, someone in the Euros will snap his achilles. He got what he wanted-a money fuelled move to Citeh. Shame he has such a short memory, because when we bought him no one in europe would touch him as he had a meningitis type bug. Wenger rescued his career and all he has done since is shit on us. Great that he wins something – just enjoy it without bad mouthing the club you left. As I said-a tosser who needs a slap.
Leadership..It’s one of those intangibles. I tend to think that our view on leadership is often distorted by either very visible signs of it like shouting, fist pumping etc. and also very much by results. If we win, the leaders on the pitch helped us get over the line. If we give up leads and lose, we had no leaders. Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone knows our team in the early 2000s was simply fantastic, and the likes of Tony Adams, Keown, Vieira etc showed great leadership and commitment. But when you look back, we were giving up leads and losing or drawing games we shouldn’t have even then. The 3-3 Leicester draw, the loss in the 2001 FA cup.. The loss to Chelsea in the CL, and ugh..the 99 FA Cup semi final.. We tend to look back more fondly on the players of yore because we won some memorable games,and of course trophies with them. Yet I’d argue that they had slightly easier conditions than we’ve had for some time. Would we still think of them as great leaders if they didn’t have great players playing with them and weren’t great players themselves? If they didn’t win as much?
Consider what this team fought against, and I think you’ll see we have some great leaders. Nasri was one of the weaklings who was given an easy out by Vieira tapping him up, and he took it 6 months before he left us. Winning medals doesn’t make someone a winner. It’s what you do for it. Sure, it would be easy to sit at Arsenal and take the money. It’s far easier to sit on the bench, or play under lesser responibility and collect a bigger paycheck. City, were 30 seconds away from not winning anything. You think those 30 seconds justify Nasri being right all along? No..He doesn’t either, is why he keeps on about it. Nasri quit on us in February last season, and contrary to what Double98 thinks, Nasri was terrible in the Liverpool match getting dispossessed 8 times in the game. All he did was give us one good dribble. The rest of the time, he couldn’t be arsed.
I do agree with double98 about Cesc though. Cesc screwed us in every way possible. And I think with him and last season, we CAN question leadership (His body language even more than his performance at the Nou Camp REALLY annoyed me) Our captain wanted to jump ship, an important midfielder wanted to as well. Those that should have been leading the way were obviously wanting out. The rest of the team followed their example I imagine. Denilson said as much and was slated for it. Cesc is no leader. He could have been. But he decided to follow Xavi and Iniesta rather than follow their example and lead a team under fire, to glory.
So.. No.Nasri is not right. And players with leadership qualities is always welcome, but what exactly are those qualities is something unknown. Also, leadership is something which develops among a group. If we take a leader from one team, and put him in another, he may not be the leader there. It depends on how the group interacts, and what they feel they need that determines who they turn to. In that sense, I think we already have our leader in RVP. He has everyone’s respect and I think they turned to him when they needed him after losing Cesc and Nasri and all that it entailed. And he responded. Can we keep him though? That’s a different issue.
Holy Shardeo Tolstoy…. Sorry.. I didn’t mean for it to be that long..
An interesting and thought provoking article Mickey, well done.
I was thinking about AA and the different people that preoccupy it the other day, the Nasri’s, Adam’s and Wenger’s for instance, together with the calls for change that appear here regularly from frustrated fans. Whilst I and many of the older posters: not all of course: see stability and continuity as the essential building blocks of a team or our club.
My reaction to Nasri’s supposed pronouncements was, wait on Samir, things in life tend to even themselves out young man. Then out of interest, I Googled that thought and found this quote.
“Time has a way of evening things out, the simple ways endure, and the fancy pants with his smart new way fall’s by the roadside. The best way to tell how long a thing will last is ask how long it’s been around for. The newest things end soonest. And things that have been around for a good long while will last awhile to come.”
We as a club have been through a period of intense changes, to numerous for me to list, but known to all who follow the club with any degree of real interest. The mercenary has been part of that, but it has not always been so and as FFP is now due to be added to the equation, I believe his day is nearly done. Financial constraints will I believe to some degree return football to a time before those parasitic agents spread their avarice through what has become known, as the want it now generation.
Talent will be rewarded in the new order as will loyalty; old fashioned leaders will emerge well versed in the ways and love of the club. It won’t happen today but five years from now IMHO the football world will be a different place and Arsenal will be standard bearer for class and continuity as it always has been. Whilst the Nasri’s and his ilk become a footnote’s in the history of how a great club stood its ground in the face of blatant financial doping
Ask yourselves the following questions………..
Would you really stay with your current company if another company came along and offered you three times your salary?
Would you stay because your current company had the “potential” to set new sales records?
Would you stay because your manager taught you everything you know?
Would you stay and deprive your family of the benefits of the higher salary?
Would you stay because you were too loyal to leave?
Would you stay due to being liked by your peers and companies supporters?
Would you stay if you were within 3/4 years of the end of your career?
Would you stay to avoid the backlash if you did leave?
Shard. Another superb comment. I do not agree about Cesc. IMO he gave his all for us and despite being in the minority on AA, I remain a huge fan.
Furthermore, I cannot understand the hatred towards Nasri. He isn’t and never has been an Arsenal fan. He is a millionaire who wants to earn as much as possible. That he dissed the club was stupid but unsurprising from a man who is poorly advised, uneducated and from Marseilles.
DD . Have you read my post in the Loading Bay? Uncanny
I was glad to see the back of Nasri.
3 good months in three years and we got 25 million……brilliant business.
He showed in the second half of that season that he was no good under pressure.
A 25 million dollar man would have stepped up when required,but he faded into the background.
I was hoping we’d have Vermaelen as captain his season,but I understand why he wasnt given the job after an injury riddled previous season.
Gunnern5,don’t make excuses for Nasri taking the cash,that’s not why he left…honestly….ask him lol.
If he’d said he was leaving for the money,I’d have said good riddance and never given the guy a second thought.
What pisses me off,and plenty of other Gooners,is he lied to everyone about it.
We offered him a pay rise which he knocked back.
He came back with a figure he wanted……..that tells you right there that it WAS about the money.
If it wasn’t,why would he ask for more???
BR no mate I have not peeped, Mickey’s fine post just added to how I have been thinking since the post a few days ago when Rasp was going for it 🙂
Sorry if I have caused a problem
@ shard 12.14
bloody brilliant, couldn’t agree more!
Sorry for my late arrival, thanks Micky, it is obviously a topic that divides us.
Knowing what we know about Na$ri now, we wouldn’t want him. When he was having a purple patch before in the first half of last season, we were literally singing his praises.
It appears we want the player not the man.
On another subject, once again I question whether it was necessary or wise for PHW to say his piece about RvP.
I have read the transcript and what he says is OK, but its a shame he hasn’t learnt the value of keeping schtum. I don’t believe he will have done anything to help keep RvP even though he states that is his wish. I can’t imagine he connects with the players in any way with his ‘old school’ approach.
shard, I’ve tried to tempt you to write a post for us before …. but you didn’t respond. Today’s excellent comment was a post in itself again. You do the work when you write such comments, the only difference would be to email it to us rather than push the ‘Post Comment’ button 😛
Shard a clever and well written analysis,
I agree Rasp, i just read it an my first thought when i saw the headline was “oh dear what has he said wrong now!”
Thankfully not as bad as some of the things he said last season
True oz, obviously Ivan’s control of the PR machine doesn’t extend to PHW. He usually uses the Star as his mouthpiece, but this time it was the Daily Mail. – you’d think as an old Etonian, he’d use the Times or the Telegraph 😆
Rasp what you trying to say, I read the times. 🙂
haha I thought the star would be the only ones who would want to post his mumblings
😆 well that makes you a cut above PHW then dandan.
in age or intelligence Rasp? haha
We risk going in ever decreasing circles, as we have repeatedly discussed this ‘question’ about players who are/are not loyal, who are/are not *****, etc, etc.
The reason for the difference of opinion is straightforward.
Fans support and are loyal to their club for life.
Complaining/moaning etc are OK. Disloyalty, disrespect etc are not.
Players from all over the world are recruited.
Youngsters will be trained to make the best of their abilities for the benefit of themselves and the club.
The kids’ deal?
— We (the club) will train you, pay you, sell you as we see fit.
— If, after being trained, we (the club) think you are not good enough – we will let you go.
— If after being trained, we (the club) think you are good enough we will pay you buckets of cash.
— If we (the club) later on have someone better, or get someone better, we (the club) will sell you for buckets of cash.
[Is there is a common theme here? Doing what the club decides? Cash being king?]
For mature/established players there is something similar.
The established player deal?
— We (the club) will spend a fortune buying your contract.
— We (the club) will pay you oodles of cash.
— If we do not want you — we will sell you for cash.
— If you decide not to stay — we will sell you for cash.
[Is it just me, or does the club’s decision and cash figure prominently in all this?]
Just occasionally, a player might decide, sod all the above, and that he does not want the club to extend his contract and indicates he wants to leave for a better paying club or because another club appeals more– that’s how we (Arsenal) got many of our players in the first place.
So what? Players are rarely fans — they are mercenaries.
The Clubs and the players all know this is the case. It’s life!
The above is true of all clubs, and all players, in all sports.
I am with Bug Daddy — Cesc made his choice, let it go, no need for animosity.
Nasri, Henry, Viera, Cole, Keown, Wright, etc, etc, all made similar choices over the years [or did the club give them a little nudge, because it suited?]
Some fans of every club will never accept this.
Others are bemused by the fuss. The clubs can and will look after themselves, and will still be around years after today’s players are long retired, or pushing up the daisies. 🙂
Umm, —- “Bug Daddy” should be “Big Daddy”.
(Altho’ I quite like Bug Daddy!) 🙂
Good comment Red Arse,but fans are simply reacting as Nasri keeps mouthing off.
I said earlier,I was happy to get good money for,apart from three months,just a decent player.
He keeps needling our club,so of course people will react.
I think Cesc leaving was taken more personally by fans.
Still,let’s look to our new signings,not our old departures.
You are right, of course, Scott. 🙂
Nasri as a player we can all take or leave. But he does have a dreadful habit of yapping on about us, and his ‘brilliant’ decision to leave our club for Shitty.
I find that comes from an immature, and pathetic personality.
If I was his advisor I would tell him to shut it – and move on.
Afternoon all.
Had no idea you were publishing one by him!
Brilliant comments from Shard and Dandan, and some bloody good ones from everyone else.
I do apologize. I had no intention of it sparking a distasteful debate about that loathesome creature, rather one about leadership and self motivated players.
Just shows, that with so many bright commentators on this site, you could write anything in a post and away would go civilized and intelligent debate.
GiE,
Thing is, the little snake will probably have a brilliant Euros and then engineer a highly lucrative move to PSG 😦
Still, I really couldn’t care less about him.
I do agree with Dick and Oz that I detect a shift in policy with AW gunning for more self-motivated players. Whatever I said the other day about the wasted talents of Arshavin,I think his lan away from the club is indicative of this.
Red Arse – your 1:57 bang on the money. What is the difference between Nasri leaving for more money and a better chance of winning medals than Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving Southampton for…more money and a better chance of winning things? The only real issue is Nasri has shown a complete lack of respect to you and me, who have paid his wages with our hard earned cash for 3 years or so. The Ox? Respectful and professional and I would imagine all Saints fans are willing him on at the Euros and are thankful for the money they received to improve their squad.
The only other real difference is our perception that players should never want to leave us as they can’t do better anywhere else. Maybe it’s time we woke up and smelt the coffee?
Hi Illy, 🙂
That is our real cause for complaint with Nasri, he is an odious little creep, with a big mouth and no class.
It annoys me that I occasionally sang the “Nasri nan, nan Song” — still, more fool me! 🙂
RA – with goofy teeth and fat arse 🙂
Mr DidIt – very fine post!
Of course he was wrong, he caused the unrest in the dressing room and still wants to stir trouble.
I said it before, but I will reiterrate because I’d like everybody to dispise Na$ri :
– he played best football since he joined in the beginning of 2010/2011 season. He really worked hard, but not to please us, oh no, that was to attract buyers with lots of money.
– he was in negotiations with both Mancunian clubs and in January he knew he was going to one of them. So he stopped working hard. He sat on his fat backside and waited. Our season collapsed around that time.
– is he to blame for moving? No, I’d do the same. It is the way he’s done it. We could have won the leagea in 2011.
Evonne, 🙂
You leave my goofy teeth and fat arse out of it!
RA – you didn’t do a dirty on Arsenal, so your teeth and bum look ok to me 🙂
Scott got it right. Nasri had a great half season, then disappeared. When i think of him, i think of someone with a lot of football skills,and potential, BUT. he so rarely has any effect on a match. Few goals. Few assists. No intangibles. He was the same for city this season, which confirms it. Hes too old to be all about potential, and we would have been very wrong to give him the raise we were offering. Arsene almost made a mistake there, and we are lucky he didnt accept our offer. We are also fortunate city paid that much. Good selling job.
we have already moved on and im happy, we just have some work to finish this summer in strengthening a bit, and we will show everyone who left recently that we didnt need them.
The phrase “no one is bigger than the club” is rattled out whenever a good player wants to leave a club. On reflection, it is absolutely true and something we all should base our expectations on. We have won trophies without any one of the current squad in the team and will win trophies (eventually) should ANY of them choose to leave.
RVP is a great player but we’ve never won much with him in the team (very forgettable ’05 FA Cup maybe). If his heart isn’t in the club then get someone in whose heart is. I would like to think he is using his status, however, to force the club into buying some quality that we all (except Arsene) know we need.
I would have Nasri back. He would have to work for my love again, but i never say never.
Gonerjake…its not hard, just force the words from your lips….N.E.V.E.R.
Is it me or are Spain playing a 4-6-0 formation? Unless Cesc is their new No.9??
Just confirmed by ITV…ok if you have Messi playing for you I guess. Million pounds on 0-0 90 mins then…
Weird that Spain who have Torres and Llorente in the squad choose to play without a CF.
Very enjoyable game so far.
Enjoying this game. Will ballotelli ever grow up though. Then again he keeps you guessing
Very interesting game. Trouble with Torres is that given the choice Spain like to pitch camp on the 18 yard line and there’s no space for Torres to run into.
Still mighty odd not to have a striker.
Cesc scores and now they bring Jesus on, cant bring on Dennis though !, game on.
Fine post Micky, some excellant comments. Who is this Shard geezer ?, he`s good isn`t he !. 🙂
blimey, if Torres scored that would be the goal of the tournament
best game so far, no?
Mr Glic – Shard is 26 in disguise
Glic. can you please get out the cheque book for Iniesta?
Enjoyed the game but Champion and Burley do my head in. Especially when Torres came on and all they wanted to do was follow the party line on an out of form player. They gave no credit to the Azzuri defence or Buffon for snuffing out the attacks early.
Iniesta just simply wow.
EVONNE: – Yes best game so far.
GIE:- I hate Burley he is a gigantic……..! and Inesta is fantasic
TORRES:- Ever thought of retiring? Only joking I would still like him in Arsenal colours I believe he still has loads to offer.
I thought Italy looked good. Maybe well setup enough to win the tornament.
Raddy, How much shall I go up to ?. 🙂
Torres should have crossed It to Jesus ( I`m sure there`s a pun somewhere there ) when he tried the chip, Jesus was in a better position , open goal !.
I still don’t think we have seen the eventual winners. They take on England tomorrow 😦
Being wrong will be nice, but expensive!
Bad start for the Paddys….Soft goal to be sure
Rasp,
Sorry about that. I didn’t realise you meant to mail you instead of leaving a comment. Thank you for your kind offer. If I feel I have something worthwhile, I’ll give it a shot. Looks like you have a great community going here. It was Micky’s post (I think it was him) about international gooners that first got me to this site. Glad I found you guys.
What do we think to Al Jazeera as a news source?
https://twitter.com/darrenarsenal1/status/211878536208842753
I’m delighted that my prostituting myself got you here Shard 🙂
Really, your comments are superb.
Bloody excellent GiE 🙂
Looks like some people have decided to play silly buggers with his wiki page to see what the blogs report….apparently you should know the following:
Date of birth 30 September 1386 (age 625)
Height 4.92 m (16 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Micky,
That was you prostituting yourself??!! Well, you’re a high class hooker then 🙂
He might be a bit tall for us, here’s his Wiki stats
Full name Olivier Giroud
Date of birth 30 September 1386 (age 625)
Place of birth Chambéry, France
Height 4.92 m (16 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Ooops, someone got there before me 😳
Another leftie, though his chocolate looks ok.
Will he be playing tomorrow tea-time?
Hope it isn’t true because if it is we need yet another Captain
Sort of thinking the same thing myself Raddy 😦
BR maybe these are the signings RVP asked for, Pod + Oliver certainly gives us some options with RVP in the DB10 role and two strikers of that quality. Perhaps Theo will be the most likely leaver with the Ox being given starting role.
Nah it just means the Cham deal has gone through (apparently we offered Cham + cash previously)…fear not my friends.
OK. I will trust in your positivity
😀 Raddy at the end of the day we are worrying over an Al Jazeera report at the moment.
Posted on Facepalm,
“not sure what Jamie Carragher is saying but his voice is upsetting my cats”
George Galloway probably told them it was gospel. LOL
Shame the Irish got beaten, they gave a brave performance.
Haha..Only Arsenal fans can find something to get worried about over the possibility of a new signing 🙂
Agreeing a fee with a club is only part of the job…agreeing terms with the player is where we usually bomb
Irish – 😦 never mind, only the first game xx
Nice one Micky, you have a knack for writing short stimulating posts that lead to very fine comments! 🙂
The team is bursting with leadership and desire to work their arses off, and it was the main reason we finished third this season, after that horrible January. So, I am afraid I cannot agree with the final conclusions of your post.
The spine of Sz, Koz/TV, Mertesacker, Song, Arteta, RvP is the best in the PL. Lets keep it together and make sure we get a strong 15-18 players core-squad, and we can go all the way next season.
Iniesta did ok, but I thought Pirlo was simply peerless tonight.
It’s the way Iniesta moves with the ball at his feet, takes my breath away how easy he gets past players. It’s the thing I like most about Wilshere.
Hi Exile, don’t you think the tempo has been low until now? The heat and the quality of the pitches really seem to slow the game down.
To be honest first game I have watched full 90minutes and wasn’t expecting mad pace with Italy v Spain. But at the end of the day international football is always a little slow. It’s what causes England problems as without 100mph football technique and intelligence is on display, and ours isn’t good.
By the way think Norwich appointment of Hughton is a very smart move. Even though he is a Spud I do respect him as a coach and manager and most importantly a person. He explained to me why Beckham was so good when I was rubbishing him…..lesson learned about my knowledge of football and how to value players….and not to debate football with people more qualified than me 🙂
what’d i tell you Micky? Our search before January pulled out a winner in Giroud! International, good finisher, and on the cheaper side! We did it! You are welcome Arsene.
If it’s true this bloke is going to be immense! God rvp, pod, and giroud start engraving Winners: Arsenal FC now!
I think Italy have a very good chance of winning the competition.
The goal for di natale is everything I approve in with a goal. Pace, perfect pass, perfect run, placed shot. Simply superb. Reminds me of happy gooner goals from henry.
He was dangerous against us in the qualifiers. I’m very surprised the spoilt brat gets the nod over him
If you want to see a leader(s) at Arsenal, our new acquisition, Herr Podolski is a winner. I watched him at Koln and he was their sole leader on and off the field. He never stops trying and was loyal to a shite team even when it was obvious they were headed for relegation. He ended up being their top scorer and having watched him in person over 2 years, I say that with RVP, Szcesny, Song , Vermaelen,Arteta and Wilshere, we have the core of a very strong, determined team.
I cannot agree with the premise of this post and would rather say that Nasri did what any opportunist would do….grab and snatch the cash, get a medal and hope that you won’t be benched too often but who cares…you get the same wage one way or the other!
Fine debate starter Micky.
Much as I enjoy fulminating against Na$ri and his greed, Redders really summed it up perfectly at 1.57pm.
No matter how much a young player loves Arsenal, the club will boot him out if they don’t think he’s up to it. We can’t be too surprised when players act just as ruthlessly.
damn you RA and your rationality! I cannot argue with a word of it, because as rocky and others have said it sums it up to a T. If we broke things down like that all the time we’d be the calmest generation ever. Your way is definitely correct but i prefer chucking in some passion (not at all saying you are not passionate, far from it) now and then with some blind hatred. Heck if I didn’t have hatred for things i’d never complete a gym session, so thank you punching bag nasri!
Weedonald and Rocky,
Oh dear. I pomise to spend more time on a post to make myself clearer.
The premise or gist of this post had nothing to do with Nasri and money, simply his comment about current players and their committment.
Please don’t tarnish me with a brush that says I care about the reasons Nasri left.
Now then….moving on. Giroud!!! Oz, where are you?
As I lay in bed last night, I pondered the future of Robin if there’s any truth in the Giroud story.
Thank goodness for Shard and his comment that “Only Arsenal fans can find something to get worried about over the possibility of a new signing”.
Then I thought about how any doom thoughts I had merely contradicted everything I say about only buying better than we have and improving the first team squad.
We had Park and Cham as back-up fron men. Now we have Podolski and hopefully Giroud. 🙂
Have we signed any world-class ready-mades yet? 🙂
Another belter from whenhewants…..
http://heblogswhenhewantsto.wordpress.com/
Very good Chas, and good morning
G’Morning to you, Sir Michael of DidItland.
I’m not even sure I said how much I enjoyed your post, but I surely did. A little bit of Na$ri rage is so cathartic! Even if the post was about leadership. 🙂
Impossible to argue against Monsieur RA’s rationality, but since when has supporting Arsenal involved such a thing? We can despise the N17 swampies for being Neanderthal cave dwellers but not detest the FFBWarmers of the world? Impossible.
Chas 🙂
Every time I tuned in yesterday, I read comments about Sami blinkin’ Nasri, and kept thinking “what have I done.? This was not in the plan at all”.
Must be more careful with the the title I think. My next post on tactics will be titled “Hot Babe and The Arsenal attack”.
Hehehehehehe.
Nigella’s Serves Up Some Hot Tactical Bollix.
You got it 🙂
Anyone believing that we have received offers for Djourou of between £8-10m? Seems like there shouldn’t have been so much complaint about his new contract after all (and apparently the new contract was automatic due to appearances or something).
Pretty much certain that I will miss the England game as I’ll be motoring northwards, and somewhat oddly, I’m not getting those feelings that I’m about to miss out on anything.
Certainly, I’d be more interested in watching some of the French players than our mob.
GiE,
You post the tweeterage and I’ll choose which ones I like to believe 🙂
Giroud will be called Giro by opposition 😦
Spaniards are furious about state of the pitch in Gdansk. Cesc said that it was very poor and it made their game difficult.
It might be that the grass was a bit too high and in spain they play on almost bare soil
Mind you, it is easier to dive into high grass
might as well blog in polish
nikt mi nie odpowiada, albo spia, albo im sie nie chce
albo czekaja do wpol do dziesiatej
trudno, ide z psami do lasu, pozniej zajrze
That’s disgusting Evonne.
Jeepers, you of all people 🙂
Shard 🙂
Micky. Really looking forward to the Nigella post.
evonne. Very early in the game we noticed how poor the pitch was. Spanish complaints were understandable, just as Arsenal’s are when we play at Stoke. If a team plays tippy-tappy they need a quality pitch.
Micky – oh, my boring days would be unbearable without you 🙂
Raddy – that’s not good then, they had plenty of time to get the pitches in tip top condition. Spaniards were better anyway; I hate when teams like Italians defend with 10 men and a just have a poacher waiting for a lucky turn
Raddy,
I really have had another tactical epipheny, and yip, its going to be a sizzling bonkbuster of a post.
oopps, there’s an “a” in that 😦
Right lads. Off to Manchester. Wheel nuts extra tight. Enjoy the game today.
evonne. I thought the Italians played very well. What could they do when the Spaniards hog possession?
Hi Shard,
Sorry I keep missing you. Micky’s post brought in a lot of international gooners and was surprisingly successful. We’re in a catch 22 situation. We’ve amassed a great bunch of regulars who blog in a very friendly way and that gives the impression of being a bit of a closed shop – but nothing could be further from the truth.
It would be great to publish a post from you and any other new blogger who feels inclined.
Out of interest, whereabouts are you based?
Haven’t quite left yet Rasp. Micky’s post was “surprisingly successful” was it? 🙂
Pretty sure Shard said Bahrain. Could have been Egypt though.
Now off, but I’ll be watching!
Raddy – hog possession, never heard that before 🙂
😆 Micky, only because it flushed out so many new bloggers, not because it wasn’t a masterpiece as we’ve come to expect from you.
…. New post ……