Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club was founded in 1877 as St Luke’s F.C. by John Baynton and John Brodie, two pupils of St Luke’s Church School in Blakenhall, who had been presented with a football by their headmaster Harry Barcroft. The team played its first-ever game on 13 January 1877 against a reserve side from Stafford Road, later merging with the football section of a local cricket club called Blakenhall Wanderers to form Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 1879.
Having initially played on two different strips of land in the town, they relocated to a more substantial venue on Dudley Road in 1881, before lifting their first trophy in 1884 when they won the Wrekin Cup, during a season in which they played their first-ever FA Cup tie. Having become professional, the club were nominated to become one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888, in which they played the first Football League match ever staged (against Aston Villa).
Molineux – Proper old football ground
They ended the inaugural season in third place, as well as reaching their first FA Cup Final, losing 0–3 to the first “Double” winners, Preston North End. At the conclusion of the campaign the club relocated for a final time when they moved to Molineux, then a pleasure park known as the Molineux Grounds. They have played at Molineux Stadium, capacity 32,050, since 1889.
In 1953, Wolves was one of the first British clubs to install floodlights, taking part in televised “floodlit friendlies” against leading overseas club sides between 1953 and 1956 before the creation of the European Cup in 1955. Wolves’ traditional kit consists of gold shirts and black shorts and the club badge one or more wolves. Wolves have long-standing rivalries with other West Midlands clubs, the main one being with West Bromwich Albion, against whom they contest the Black Country derby.
Major Frank Buckley
With Major Frank Buckley (1927-1944) at the helm the team became established as one of the leading club sides in England in the years leading up to the Second World War, as they finished runners-up in the league twice in succession (1937–38 & 1938–39), as well as reaching the last pre-war FA Cup Final, in which they suffered a shock defeat to Portsmouth. In 1937–38 Wolves came within a whisker of winning the club’s first English league title: a win in the side’s last game away to Sunderland would have clinched things, but in the event Wolves lost 0–1 and thus ended the campaign one point behind the eventual champions, Arsenal.
One of the things Major Buckley and his Wolves side attracted a lot of attention for in the last two full seasons prior to the outbreak of the Second World War was Buckley’s insistence that his players be injected with monkey gland extract to enhance their stamina and performance, a practice that the Football League elected not to sanction.
Still couldn’t beat Arsenal to the Title in 1937/8
Club Honours
Football League First Division:
Champions (3): 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59
EFL Championship/Football League Second Division (1892–1992)
Champions (4): 1931–32, 1976–77, 2008–09, 2017–18
EFL League One/Football League Third Division (Tier 3)
Jack Kelsey gets the ball before Roy Swinbourne – Molineux 1955
Chamakh opens the scoring in the first minute – 10th November 2010 – Associated Press
In the Premier League we have a perfect away record against Wolves; however since the arrival of their current manager, Nuno Espírito Santo in May 2017, they are a very different proposition and I expect that it will be a difficult game.
It seemed a strange team selection which smacked of gross underestimation of the opposition. Jenkinson, Elneny and Guendouzi in tandem through the centre plus twin strikers for a must win game at home. Hmmmm.
On the positive side, pre-match drinks with the boys and Peaches were excellent listening to updates from Goodison, just a shame they proved to be the high point of a day that slipped thereafter.
First Half
Mesut should have scored early on but for someone whose passing is so good, his shooting is abysmal.
Palace scored from a free kick which looked miles offside in the ground but probably wasn’t. (just looked at the goal and Jenko played Benteke onside – as you all would have known already)
The team seemed unbalanced and toothless, changes were required.
Second Half
Team selection mistakes were half rectified at the interval. Iwobi for Jenks excellent. Taking Mavropanos off when he had been one of our best players in the first half seemed weird. I suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing – if only one of our other centre backs had got the hook!
Superb start with Mesut scoring straight away.Iwobi on the left and Ainsley on the right were suddenly causing Palace problems on the flanks. It was surely only a matter of time before we scored a second.
Then things took a plunge. Mustafi gave the freedom of Islington to the Palace striker, Zaha and then seemed aggrieved at what? – Who knows? 2-1 down to a poor team but with lots of time to rectify the situation.
Getty Images
More shocking defending from a corner and we were 3-1 with little hope of a positive result all of a sudden. Auba played a one two off a defender and gave us some false hope. Alex Iwobi fluffed a great chance at an equaliser from a cut back but virtually passed to the keeper.
Conclusion
Bang goes fortress Emirates. A combination of poor team selection, dreadful defending and the lack of any real plan up front contributed to our own downfall.
Such a great opportunity to strengthen our claim for a top four place squandered. We’re still in 4th spot – well, until the chavs play Burnley tonight, that is.
Wolves at Molineux next up.
Ratings
Leno – kept us in with a shout with a great save just before half time … 6
Jenkinson – not much to say … 3
Mavropanos – no idea why he was subbed off – yellow card? … 6
Koscielny – struggled to make up for the deficiencies of those around him … 6
Mustafi – some around me in the ground were booing him touching the ball in the second half – inexplicable defending at times – thick as pig excrement unfortunately – the nadir of his performance was getting booked for diving … 1
Kolasinac – drove me bananas in the first half just passing the ball back from where it came – we could have kept Theo Walcott if we needed someone who could only do that … 3
Elneny – nah … 3
Guendouzi – yet again given too much to do with the lack of decent senior partner … 5
Ozil – a game tailor-made for him to dominate and he wasn’t up to it – a fine goal though… 5
Aubameyang – out of position and it showed … 5
Lacazette – huffed a puffed with little service … 5
Subs
Iwobi – had an immediate impact – should have been playing from the start … 6
Maitland-Niles – added much on the right flank but just couldn’t make that crucial difference at the end of the day … 6
Torreira – another who should have started if he was fit enough to be on the bench … 6
Managers
Emery – bound to have an off day every now and again – just a shame I had to witness it in person … 3
Wagnerson – must be so pleased we put up such a poor fight … 6
Referee
Moss – as dreadful a performance as Arsenal’s – just appalling … 2
A must win game especially with the spuds just losing the hardest of their remaining five fixtures. It’s given us the chance to go two points ahead if we can win and give them some cause for concern, while also giving us extra hope of seeing out these tricky aways we face on Wednesday and Sunday. After such a fine performance against Napoli, the lads should be feeling full of confidence – let’s forget the Watford match!
Laca wonders where the intimidating atmosphere of the San Paolo stadium has gone
Team news
Big Sok is serving the second game of his 2 match ban for being Greek. So, let’s put our hands together for squad player Shkodran. Three or four at the back? Three plus wingbacks would seem the best chance of providing the width necessary to get round the bus.
Granit is being assessed but maybe might not be risked if Matteo and the Terrier are both ready to go. So the midfield is sorted, with Guendouzi playing more in a deep Ramsey role with licence to roam forward a little, allowing the Terrier to excel at what he’s best at. (Update: it would appear from Jeorge Bird on twitter that both Granit and the Terrier were in full training yesterday 🙂 )
Rambo is definitely out for an unspecified period. Home against Palace is, perhaps, the perfect scenario for Mesut, so he’ll probably start. Back at home we need the variety that the left and right side wing forwards Iwobi and Mkhitaryan bring, so maybe that’s the way to go. However, with Mesut to definitely start, means him playing central midfielder which is unlikely (assuming a centre forward is chosen to play).
Perhaps Auba or Laca will be given some pine time – Auba would be the popular choice. If he is, he’ll be itching to come on for a cameo 30 minutes and score a couple.
Our home record against Palace is pretty good but nothing can be taken for granted at this stage of the season. Townsend always plays better against us and Zaha, Benteke, Wickham and Batshitcrazy are all useful on their day.
Roy Wagnerson usually likes his teams to play some football so Palace may not be the most adept at parking the bus which might produce a game of decent football at the Emirates today.
Getty Images
Ant and me will be suitably enthusiastic about the match by the time our train gets into St Pancras (bang on time, hopefully) soon after 12.30pm.
Heaven knows how we’ll entertain ourselves at Finsbury Park in the intervening period before setting off for the ground!
COYRRG
chas
p.s. Let’s hope Everton are up for the game against the red mancs
In 1895, the Football Association had found a new permanent home for the FA Cup Final at the site of the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building. Some years later the owners, who were reliant on tourist activity for their income, sought fresh attractions for the venue, and decided to form their own football team to play at the Palace stadium. There had been an amateur Crystal Palace team as early as 1861, but they had disappeared from historical records around 1876. The owners of the venue wanted a professional club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area. Although the Football Association disliked the idea of the owners of the Cup Final venue also possessing their own football team and initially rejected their proposal, a separate company was established to form and own the club.
Crystal Palace Football Club, originally nicknamed “The Glaziers”, was founded on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman. The club applied to enter the Football League alongside another newly formed London club Chelsea. Unfortunately for Palace, it was Chelsea that was accepted and the club found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. The club was successful in its inaugural season and were promoted to the First Division, crowned as champions.
Herne Hill Velodrome
When the First World War broke out the Palace and grounds were seized by the armed forces, and in 1915 the club were forced to move by the Admiralty. They found a temporary base at the Herne Hill Velodrome. Although other clubs had offered the use of their ground to Palace, the club felt it best to remain as close to their natural catchment area as possible. When Croydon Common F.C. were wound up in 1917, the club took over their old stadium located at the Nest, but in 1919 they began the purchase of the land on which they would eventually build Selhurst Park, their current home.
“The Nest” – Croydon Common FC’s nickname was The Robins
The renowned stadium architect, Archibald Leitch, was employed to draw up plans, and the club constructed and completed the ground in time for the 1924–25 season. It remained relatively unchanged, with only the introduction of floodlights and maintenance and updating until 1969 when the Arthur Wait stand was constructed. The Main Stand became all-seater in 1979 and more work followed in the 1980s when the Whitehorse Lane End was redeveloped to allow for a Sainsbury’s supermarket, club offices and a club shop. The Arthur Wait stand became all seater in 1990, and in 1994 the Holmesdale Terrace was redeveloped, replaced with a two tier Stand. Selhurst’s attendance record was set in 1979, with an official total of 51,482. After all the redevelopments to the ground and safety requirements due to the Taylor Report, the ground’s current capacity is 26,309. Proposals were put forward to move the club back to the Crystal Palace National Stadium in 2010, but after the club gained promotion to the Premier League in 2013 there has been a renewed focus on redeveloping their current home into a 40,000 seater stadium. Revised plans for a new 13,500-seater Main Stand (extending overall stadium capacity to 34,000) were approved at a Croydon Council meeting on 19 April 2018.
Palace has had several periods competing in the top level of English football. They enjoyed a successful period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which the club achieved its highest ever league finish of third place in the top division in 1990–91, and were only denied a place in Europe because of the partial UEFA ban on English clubs at that time following the Heysel Stadium disaster. The club were also one of the original founding members of the Premier League. Palace has reached two FA Cup finals, finishing runners-up to Manchester United on both occasions in 1990 and 2016.
The club’s traditional kit colours were originally claret and blue, but in 1973 they decided to change to the red and blue vertical stripes now worn today. At the same time the current nickname of the Eagles was established as Malcolm Allison took over. Allison’s Eagles also played under a new team crest as the club was reinvented to some extent.
Our home record against Palace is formidable –
Please come back to Palace – Graham Chadwick/ALLSPORT
Of our remaining fixtures this game should be our easiest; Palace have only beaten us once at home in the EPL and I fully expect Arsenal to win again. (though it’s always wise not to count your chickens before they hatch, especially at Easter)
The team selection looked ideal for an away game, compact in midfield and some heavy duty firepower up front to hopefully snatch that crucial away goal.
First Half
Napoli had a few half chances but many of their attacks were halted by the lino’s flag.
Rambo pinged a hammy and was replaced by Micki in preference to Mesut, presumably in the running about a lot stakes. Almost immediately Laca was fouled, a distance out from the Napoli goal. He stepped up, fooled the goalkeeper which side he was going and popped it over the wall into an empty net. 1-0 away from home and just what the doctor ordered.
Action Images via reuters
Napoli decided their best hope of getting back into the game was to blame the ref for their predicament in the hope of intimidating him into favouring them. During that first half he stood up superbly against their efforts.
Second Half
A couple of minutes after the restart Auba had the simplest of chances to make it 2-0 and take us completely out of sight. His 98% strike rate of early season has truly gone.
Napoli’s crossing, shooting and passing in the final third were so woeful during that second half that their best chance came when Nacho inadvertently diverted the ball towards his own net but Cech was right on the spot.
Highlight of the half was Big Sok telling Koulibaly that he was a cheating sod in Greek while making it look like he was counselling him on what a harsh world it is. Priceless.
Papa counsels Koulibaly
Conclusion
Excellent from The Arsenal.
Napoli’s first defeat at home to an English side and yet again we confounded expectations with a measured and controlled performance. Napoli were awful but let that not detract from a great team performance.
An away goal and a shut out – not many predicted that!
Valencia await in the semis.
Mertens thinks we weren’t very good. Ahem, we beat you both home and away without breaking sweat or conceding. I reckon you need to take a long hard look at yourself, pal.
Hopefully Rambo’s hammy doesn’t mean his Arsenal career is now over.
AFP- Getty Images
Ratings
Cech – great to see him kicking the ball rather than putting pressure on the defenders with that passing out from the back garbage – fine save from Monreal … 7
Maitland-Niles – a sound performance, covered well, attacked well, he continued his resurgent form since his ‘mare at Goodison … 8
Sokratis – a personal favourite – solid as a block of marble and with as much facial expression, though his counselling of Koulibaly was a joy to watch … 8
Koscielny – captain, my captain – class throughout … 8
Monreal – Nacho’s bandy legs covered a lot of turf and he played dependably … 8
Kolasinac – combative and useful in possession … 7
Torreira – terrier-like from first to last – was happy that there was a smaller player on the pitch … 8
Xhaka – did what was required before being subbed and his groin rested … 7
Ramsey – strived to create the goal which ironically came straight after he left the pitch … 7
Lacazette – looked fed up to go off – neither he nor Auba had held the ball up that well but it’s not their strength – ran his heart out … 7
Aubameyang – got better as the game went on – shame he missed the sitter … 7
Subs
Mkhitaryan – played reasonably well and nearly created that second goal with a timely challenge and then intuitive pass – so much better than Monday night (not that that was too difficult) … 6
Elneny – brought on to give Xhaka a rest – did what he’s good at … 6
Iwobi – presumably his ball retention skills were the reason for his appearance but couldn’t really hang on to it for long … 6
Managers
AP
Emery – superb – great team selection – outfoxed his opposing manager … 9
Wagnerotti – no answer to Arsenal’s superiority – bringing on a series of players whose final ball was just as poor as their predecessors was never going to work … 2
Ref – Pretty good game – not wanting to grab the limelight – Mike Dean take note, it’s not about you … 8
The prize of a semi-final spot (probably against Valencia) awaits the winner of tonight’s showdown in the Stadio San Paolo. Having won fairly comfortably last Thursday in North London, we must be favourites to progress so why is there such an air of trepidation about Gooners everywhere. Was it the fact that we should have won by more and put the tie to bed at home or maybe it’s because we just watched our team struggle against ten man Watford less than three days ago?
Napoli are odds on to win tonight’s game, but our odds to win the competition as a whole are a third of Napoli’s. What does this mean? Who knows – all that’s obvious is that an away goal should be priceless.
Harking back to 2008 and that away win in the San Siro, it was a completely different scenario on that occasion as the Emirates home leg had finished 0-0. No away goal for the opposition was more or less the only similarity. Fans’ expectations weren’t that high for the return in Milan but were superbly exceeded. Tonight is more of a ‘sh*t or bust’ situation – go all out for that away goal or play our best effort at Islington catennacio (haha, as if).
The more likely game plan will be somewhere in between as usual.
Paul Vaessen beats Juventus’ Dino Zoff with 2 minutes to go in the ECWC semi final 2nd leg in 1980
Team News
Papa is back available to play in Europe which gives the defence a huge boost as we miss his calming influence when he’s not prowling the box smiling. Kos and Papa in the centre and we start to look a whole lot more solid.
Other news is much harder to come by at the time of writing. There’s bound to be a certain caginess about revealing too much too soon. Aside from our long term absentees, only Denis Suarez has not travelled by the look of it.
Will Xhaka start after testing out his groin on Monday? A double pivot of Xhaka and Torreira would seem the most defensive and solid midfield selection, though if Rambo plays deeper we will have more chance of scoring that vital away goal.
Will we pack the midfield and use wing backs to add further stability or are wingbacks seen as a more of an attacking move since someone like Kolasinac usually plays well forward of the halfway line? Kola was given the night off on Monday which perhaps suggests he’ll play tonight and, for balance, that means a back three and Ainsley on the right.
Both strikers to start? Or will Unai use the left and right sided attacking options of Iwobi and Micki again? The latter option would appear more defensive but didn’t provide much in the way of either security or brightness on Monday (largely down to Henrikh’s poor performance).
Thierry Henry ties Javier Zanetti in knots before blasting past Toldo in Arsenal’s 5-1 demolition of Inter Milan in November 2003 Matthew Ashton/Empics Sport
Laca was also given the night off on Monday and didn’t look too cheesed off, so you would have thought he had been promised the no 1 striker’s spot against Napoli. Maybe Auba will start on the bench and be available to add extra bang if required in the second half. If he plays, it’ll probably be wide left which leaves that flank vulnerable with the Wardrobe behind him. I like the idea of both Laca and Auba playing as twin strikers but we haven’t really seen it so far under Unai.
How do you think Unai will set up to maximise our chances of progression?
The comments section below is ready and waiting for your opinions and score predictions!
We have only ever played one away game against Napoli – it was in Group F of the 2013/14 Champions League. We lost the game 0-2 after winning the home leg by the same score.
The San Paolo Stadium is a fearsome fortress and Napoli’s home record proves just how difficult this fixture will be for Arsenal.
Here is their home record for the last 9 seasons.
They possess a formidable home record in the league losing less than 2 games per season and they score an average of 3.29 goals per game while conceding only 1.39.
Their record against English sides at home is equally impressive with 4 wins, 2 draws and no defeats. In recent years, Liverpool managed a 0-0 while City, the chavs and us all lost. Perhaps it’s a record we can break just as in 2008 when we became the first English side to beat Milan in the San Siro.
Notice Carlo Wagnerotti in the background!
No matter how we look at it, we will find if very tough to get a result from this game but we are the Arsenal and it all depends on what version of our team shows up.
Two nil up after the first leg – what a strong position that is! An away goal will make a huge difference to the end result; that clean sheet at the Emirates may yet prove to be priceless. If we score, Napoli will need to score 4 to win the game. That thought will be in the backs of their minds constantly, gnawing away at their confidence to commit too many forward. What could possibly go wrong?
A very interesting team selection – a back four with Mavro partnering Kos and Shkodran and Nacho full backs. Heavy duty midfield with Xhaka fit, Torreira back from the sin bin , Rambo, Wobbly and Micki. Will Unai have got the balance right to see us do better away from home?
First Half
What a peculiar half of football! Watford set off all guns blazing, right up for it to the point where they were always going to tempt the ref into how much rough stuff he was going to allow. I suppose they thought that at home they might get away with a bit more than elsewhere.
After a fiery start full of Watford bluster, Auba was so rapid closing down Foster, the keeper was unaware of the danger of his clearance being blocked. One nil and the simplest goal you’ll ever see. A definite contender for Goal of the Month.
Mr Troy Weiner’s moment of extreme stupidity came moments later. Obviously still smarting from going behind, he swung an elbow at a much smaller man and had to see red. ‘But ref, we’re allowed to rough up Arsenal, every other team gets away with it.’ Both the Watford crowd and their players’ attempts to then paint Arsenal and Lucas Torreira as the villains of the piece from that moment onwards were laughable in the extreme.
To give their team credit, they made light work of the man disadvantage, still pressing for all they were worth and even had a scent of goal. Arsenal should have scored a second and third but couldn’t quite make the man advantage tell.
Second Half
Ozil for Torreira as a sub made sense in two respects – don’t give the ref a chance to even up the sides and let Mesut pick apart the team with a man short. Hmmmm. That was the plan?
To begin with the second period appeared to be a showcase for Mkhitaryan to illustrate how many ways he could screw up decent chances. The one on one with Foster was the worst – just take a touch and the keeper’s out of the picture.
Other chances came and went and Arsenal failed abysmally to make having the extra man pay. Mavro was obviously match rusty, though replacing him with Guendouzi and going three at the back without wing backs was off the wall management. It didn’t work as Watford hit the bar amonfst other chances and eventually Maitland-Niles was brought on to give us a back four – Rambo getting a breather before Thursday.
Watford looked the most likely to score in the later stages which gives them great credit playing for so long understaffed. Thankfully we hung on to majestically cruise to victory with the early Auba screamer.
Conclusion
A pretty poor performance against a team which fought for its life. Still, there isn’t a Gooner in the world who wouldn’t accept the present of the 3 points from Misters Foster and Deeney. Up to fourth, what’s not to like and hopefully the away curse is broken!
Hopefully we’re saving better form and game management for Thursday.
Leno – a great save from a Capoue free kick – thank heaven he stopped that ‘Jens shoving the striker’ bowlocks before he was penalised by the ref – gets an extra point for a clean sheet away from home which had become as rare as rocking horse excrement … 8
Mustafi – regardless of what any fan thinks of Shkodran, Unai kept him on the pitch in a variety of roles and he didn’t let us down in any of them … 7
Koscielny – battered once again but such class … 7
Mavropanos – a few nervy moments which was understandable – he’ll get better with game time … 6
Monreal – like Mustafi, he was asked to play a number of roles and his covering is often superb – almost like a sweeper … 7
Xhaka – it was surprising that Granit couldn’t impose himself more on that depleted Watford side, though he wasn’t the only one … 6
Torreira – made some fine challenges after the elbow from Deeney, but taking him out of the danger zone at half time was a good move … 6
Ramsey – further forward in this game, Aaron was less effective strangely – it seemed as if the whole team had one foot on the plane to Italy … 6
Iwobi – Alex is so skilful he sometimes tricks himself – shame one of his many good runs couldn’t result in that crucial second goal … 7
Mkhitaryan – anonymous in the first half and then star of a poor finishing show in the second – I’d move him on in the summer if there are any takers … 4
Aubameyang – magnificent desire to block Foster’s clearance and then he spent the other 80 minutes trying to get on the end of a second – save one for Napoli, Pierre – that’s the ticket … 7
Subs
Ozil – didn’t really do what he was sent on the pitch to do … 6
Guendouzi – where was he playing? – I’ve really no idea, one moment in front of the back four then seconds later on the right wing? … 6
Maitland-Niles – added stability to the right flank but worrying that he thought he was a wing back – was he, wasn’t he? Who knows? … 7
Managers
Unai Emery – I wish I’d known about his crushing superiority (hex) over Gracia before – 6 wins and a draw out of 7 previous match ups. Substitutions were interesting to say the least – you can’t sniff at 3 points, a clean sheet and an away win though … 8
Javi Wagner – set his team up as far too aggressive and paid for it – bet they don’t think they can clatter into City at Wembley and get away with it … 4
Ref
Pawson – removed Deeney and then spent the rest of the game trying to appease Mike Riley by giving Watford a succession of unwarranted free kicks … 6
Our competition for a top 4 spot is a Chelsea team who want their manager sacked, a giant portrait of Alex Ferguson with some candles beneath it and (lads, it's) Tottenham, and yet still we manage to look that unconvincing with 6 games to go.
In Greek mythology, Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen of Sparta (who was already married) and it all kicked off. Ten years of war later, a trick involving a massive wooden horse full of soldiers finally ended the siege of Troy, amid scenes of ransacking, pillaging and destruction. Wouldn’t it be great if that was the match report for tonight’s game!
Monday Night Football – what joy!
After a weekend which saw …..
the spud reserves beat Huddersfield (who haven’t won a game on a Saturday for a whole year)
Man U undeservedly beat West Ham at the Old Cowshed (2 penalties, one which was completely ludicrous and a Hammers goal incorrectly ruled out for offside)
the chavs expectedly lost at Anfield – the Salah goal a thing of rare beauty
….. and following our dreadful performance up in Liverpool last weekend, tonight’s game assumes even more significance in our attempts at CL qualification through League position.
Who’s available for the trip to Hertfordshire?
As far as team news goes, Papa is definitely out for tonight and also for Palace at home next weekend after picking up his 10th yellow of the season in the game at Goodison. At the opposite end of the suspension spectrum, Lucas Torreira can say hello again to his Premier League boots after finally finishing his 3 match ban for a supposedly dangerous tackle against the spuds in early March. Well, that’s if his slight niggle picked up against Napoli doesn’t mean he’s given extra recovery time before Thursday’s return leg in Italy, that is.
Xhaka is still being hampered by a troublesome groin (aren’t we all 🙂 ), but aside from that, team selection will see more juggling of squad members in an attempt to gain maximum advantage in both competitions. Our newly double-decaded Matteo Guendouzi may well start and should be raring to go.
Kos might need a rest if he’s to feature on Thursday, so Shkodran may come in as his replacement. Will Mesut and Aaron be rested also? It all depends on how Unai sees the big picture. Arsene was always slated when he fielded more squad players and results suffered but it really must be a tricky job to get the right balance. The manager will always field a team he believes is good enough to win if he can.
Mesut celebrates his goal in our 3-1 win at Vicarage Road in August 2016
As for Watford, maybe their eyes might be slightly distracted from the task in hand by the glittering prize of a Wembley appearance. No player ever wants to miss out and their mid-table League position is as secure as can be, though they are still in the hunt for 7th in the Prem and a possible Europa League spot.
The whole Deeney cojones thing is unhelpful in these circumstances because it seems to fire the opposition up in much the same way that the whole Stoke/Ramsey scenario often left us on the back foot.
Having said that, when Troy missed that penalty at the Emirates last season, it was definitely one of my mini highlights of last season. 🙂
Wagner has got the Hornets playing well, especially at Vicarage Road, so we will definitely have a game on our hands. In fact, they now seem like a side which has truly cemented its place in the Premier League. The first step towards greater achievements was the club reaching this season’s FA Cup Final. Who knows, they may well pull off a shock against the light blue Oilers – Wigan did.
Monday night football always makes it seem as though we’ve had a football-less weekend. The Newcastle home game 2 weeks ago went smoothly enough, as we might have expected with our excellent home form. But we really need to see something different in both tonight’s game and at Leicester away on Monday 29th April.
Things will seem a whole lot better if we can produce a performance worthy of the Club and banish our away day blues this season for good.
COYRRG
chas (BR is currently sipping Chianti in the cypress groves of Northern Italy)
Nineteen players have achieved the feat of scoring 100 goals for the Club over the past 96 years. The players are sorted by the number of games taken to reach the 100 goal mark. DB10 sits at number 16.
Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp – Born: May 10, 1969 Amsterdam, Netherlands was the fourth of four sons. He was brought up in a working-class suburb; his father, who was an electrician, played amateur footballer in the lower leagues.
He was named in honour of Scottish striker Denis Law but in order to comply with Dutch given name customs, an extra “n” was inserted into his first name, by his father, after it was not accepted by the registrar.
Dennis Bergkamp outside Nicolaas Lyceum School age17
He was spotted by Ajax and was brought up through their famous youth system, joining the club at age 11 and making his professional debut on 14 December 1986. He scored his first senior goal for the club against HFC Haarlem on 22 February 1987 in a match Ajax won 6–0. He went on to make 23 appearances in the 1986–87 season, including a European debut against Malmö FF in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners’ Cup, Ajax won the competition, beating Lokomotive Leipzig 1–0.
In later seasons he established himself as a first-team player for Ajax. This culminated in a period of success for the club, which won the Eredivisie title in the 1989–90 season for the first time in five years. Dennis scored 29 goals in 36 games the following season and became the joint top goal scorer in the league. Ajax won the 1992 UEFA Cup Final, beating Torino through the away goals ruling. He was the top scorer in the Eredivisie from 1991 to 1993, and was voted Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1992 and 1993. In total, he scored 122 goals in 239 games for his hometown club.
Dennis attracted the attention of several European clubs as a result of his performances for Ajax. He was insistent on playing in Italy, as he considered Serie A “the biggest league at the time” and preferred a move to either Juventus or Internazionale. On 16 February 1993, he agreed a £7.1 million move to Internazionale and made his debut against Reggiana on 29 August 1993.
In his first two seasons at Internazionale, the club changed managers twice and Dennis had a difficult time, troubled with stress injuries and fatigue from the 1994 World Cup, he only scored five goals in 26 appearances. Off the field, his relationship with the Italian press and fans became uncomfortable. His shy persona and his propensity to go home after matches were interpreted as apathy. Because of his poor performance on the pitch, one Italian publication renamed their award given to the worst performance of the week, L’asino della settimana (Donkey of the Week) to Bergkamp della settimana.
Dennis left Internazionale and signed with Arsenal in June 1995 for a transfer fee estimated at £7.5 million. He became manager Bruce Rioch’s first signing at Arsenal and broke the club’s transfer fee record of £2.5 million. On the opening day of the 1995–96 league season, he made his full debut against Middlesbrough. He struggled to adapt to the English game and failed to score in the club’s next six league matches, prompting ridicule by the national press. A brace against Southampton at Highbury broke the spell and he ended his first season with 33 appearances and a goal tally of 11.
The appointment of Arsène Wenger as Arsenal manager in September 1996 marked a turning point in his career. Wenger, who had moderate success coaching in France and Japan, recognised his talent and wanted to use him as a fulcrum of the team’s forward play. Both were advocates of a continental style of attacking football, and Dennis was happy with Arsene’s decision to impose a strict fitness and health regime.
Despite making fewer appearances in the 1996–97 season, he was more influential in the first team, creating 13 assists. The following season he was instrumental in helping Arsenal complete a domestic league and cup double. He became the club’s top scorer with 22 goals and recorded a strike rate of 0.57. In 1997/8 he was the recipient of the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, becoming only the second foreign player to be recognised by his fellow professionals as the outstanding performer in English football.
Bronze award in the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year award. Tied in 3rd place with Zinedine Zidane, behind Ronaldo in 1st and Roberto Carlos 2nd!
After 3 seasons of finishing second, more success finally came in the 2001–02 season. Arsenal regained the league, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season to complete the club’s second double under Wenger; Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2–0 to win the FA Cup four days prior. Dennis played in 33 league matches, setting up 15 goals.
After a 3 game red card suspension he made his return against Newcastle United on 3 March 2002. Early in the match, Arsenal midfielder Robert Pirès played a low pass from the left flank to Denis in the edge of the opponent area with his back to goal. Under pressure from his marker Nikos Dabizas, he controlled the ball with one flick and went around the other side before placing the ball precisely into the bottom right-hand corner to score. Arsene described the goal as “unbelievable”, adding “It was not only a magnificent goal but a very important one – I enjoyed it a lot”
Dennis reached a personal landmark during the 2002–03 season, scoring his 100th goal for Arsenal against Oxford United in a FA Cup third-round tie. On 20 July 2003, he signed a one-year extension at the club. The 2003–04 season ended on a high point as Arsenal reclaimed the league title, becoming the first English team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten. He committed himself to Arsenal at the end of the season, signing a further extension to his contract.
The team finished fourth in the league in his final season at Arsenal. After much campaigning from Arsenal supporters, the club designated one of its Highbury match day themes, organised to commemorate the stadium’s final season as home of Arsenal, to Dennis Bergkamp. “Bergkamp Day” took place on 15 April 2006 It celebrated his contribution to Arsenal; fans were given commemorative orange ‘DB10’ T-shirts – the colour of his national team, his initials and his squad number. Dennis came on as a second-half substitute and set up the winning Pirès goal moments after Nigel Quashie had levelled the score. Fittingly, his 89th-minute goal proved to be his last for Arsenal in competitive football.
He was the focus of the first match at Arsenal’s new ground, the Emirates Stadium. On 22 July 2006, a testimonial was played in his honour at the new stadium as Arsenal played his old club Ajax.
International Career
Dennis made his international debut for the Netherlands national team against Italy on 26 September 1990. He was selected for Euro 1992, where his national team were the defending champions. Although he impressed, scoring three goals in the tournament, the team lost on penalties to eventual champions Denmark. In the qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, hep scored five goals and was selected for the finals, staged in the United States. He featured in every game for the national team, getting goals against Morocco in the group stages and the Republic of Ireland in the round of 16.
Against Wales in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification on 9 November 1996, he scored his first hat-trick for the national team. The Netherlands finished first in their group and qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, held in France. Dennis scored three times in the competition, including a memorable winning goal in the final minute of the quarterfinal against Argentina. He took one touch to control a long 60-yard aerial pass from Frank de Boer, brought the ball down through Argentine defender Roberto Ayala’s legs, and finally finished by firing a volley with the outside of his right foot, past the keeper at a tight angle from the right, he described the goal as his personal favourite in his career. His international career ended with 37 goals in 77 appearances.
Honours
In April of 2007, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame by viewers of BBC’s Football Focus. A year later, he was voted second by Arsenal fans behind Thierry Henry in a list of the 50 Gunners Greatest Players.
This is a summary of his achievements in chronological order:
Dutch Football Talent of the Year (1): 1990
Dutch Footballer of the Year (2): 1991, 1992
Eredivisie Top Scorer (3): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93
UEFA European Football Championship Top Scorer (1): 1992
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament (1): 1992
World’s Top Goal Scorer of the Year (1): 1992
UEFA Cup Top Scorer (1): 1994
Premier League Player of the Month (4): August 1997, September 1997, March 2002, February 2004
PFA Team of the Year (1): 1997–98
FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 1997–98
PFA Players’ Player of the Year (1): 1997–98
Premier League Goal of the Season (2): 1997–98, 2001–02
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (1): 1998
FIFA 100
English Football Hall of Fame
His statue now stands outside Emirates Stadium honouring him as one of Arsenal’s legends.
Posted by D.I. Bongo 
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