The centre-back conundrum that nobody mentions….

January 11, 2014
Since the beginning of the season, Arsenal has been solid defensively in most games (the game against Man City, remaining one important exception) as the team has learned to defend as a block but has also benefited from the strong defensive display of the “Per-Kos” pair and the discipline and dirty work carried out by Flamini and/or Arteta.
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However, Flamini, Metersacker and Koscielny are very much prone to injuries (all three of them!) and/or suspensions (esp. Kos and Flamini). With everybody calling our for a new striker or forward to enhance our bid for our first EPL title in a decade, one should not overlook the importance of having quality defensive players at our disposal…
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If Flamini can be somehow replaced by the likes of Arteta and even by Ramsey/Wilshere/Rosicky on occasion (Will Diaby ever get fit again?), it seems that at the moment, we are a bit short at the centre-back position. Vermaelen is not the “Verminator” anymore and although he is hard-working and committed, his injury and error-prone records in the past two years does not really make him a “truly reliable” back-up. As a result and since our team’s good form this season has been strongly based on our defensive strength, wouldn’t it make sense to (also?) look into purchasing a quality centre-back to give reliable back-up to the “Per-Kos” pair?
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If so, which players could be approached?
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Written by RC78

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One week for Arsenal …….. Six months for Walcott

January 10, 2014

Last Friday:

Le Professeur had little good cheer to offer on the injury situation at his Friday news conference. Giroud 90% out, Ozil, Bendtner, Ramsey and Gibbs definitely out. The one bright spot was that Oxlade-Chamberlain is expected to resume normal training next week.

Gilberto Silva was training with the first team, the last ex-Arsenal alumnus to do so was a certain French mid-fielder who then signed a contract and has been an important part of a successful first half of the season, could the “Invisible Wall” be back?

One important bit of news, whilst not exclusively Arsenal related was worthy of note, Mr. Blatter opened his mouth, and for once didn’t immediately put his foot in it, when he launched an attack on cheats.

In his FIFA Weekly column he urged a global crackdown on the “cheating” players who dive in football and even suggested “time penalties” to stop those feigning injury from immediately rejoining the game.

Blatter also reminded referees to continue with play “unless there is a serious injury”. “The ball is in the referees’ court” he said “The instructions are now clear on this matter: if a player is lying on the floor, the opposing team are not required to put the ball in to touch.

I don’t know about other AAers, but I for one would love to see a crackdown on the diving cheats and on the spurious injuries that waste so much playing time. I’m sure one of our stats fans could tell us how much of the ninety minutes playing time is taken up by such antics. I feel sure it doesn’t all get added on to the “injury time”.

Saturday:

Not even a hint of speculation about who we might buy, and Arsene ruled out any approach for Berbatov.

The dreaded sickness bug struck again, this time Giroud is suffering, is it time to buy the player’s lunches from a different kebab shop?

The pre-match entertainment on AA was supplied by Ant and Duck, on their alcohol fuelled  peregrination to the Emirates.

 

Sunday:

No question who has the NLD bragging rights, firmly fixed in the Arsenal camp!

There was a feeling of inevitability about the game from the very start.

Watching at home, it soon became obvious that the poor old Spuds were considerably less than the sum of their very expensively assembled parts. I had spent the early evening watching an excellent performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Little Theatre in Sheringham, a traditional Christmas pantomime, and later watching Spur’s twin strikers floundering and failing I felt I was again watching two traditional Panto characters, the Ugly Sisters.

One rather sour note towards the end of the game, as Walcott was being stretchered off he, and the para-medics carrying him, were pelted with coins and bottles and subjected to dog’s abuse by the Spurs “fans”. The selfsame “fans” who, last season, had jeered at Bacary Sagna as he lay pitch-side with a broken leg. Walcott’s response, a two fingered reminder of the score, was more than justified in my opinion. The FA would need to be entirely witless if they decide to take action against him.

Two more injuries to contend with, both Walcott and Vermaelen could be out for a while, while the latter is a cut shin, the former could well be a longer term ligament injury.

Hey Ho! Coventry at home is a good draw for the 4th round and will present le Professeur with more chances for squad rotation.

Monday:

There was no definitive news on the Theo Walcott injury, If it’s a knock he could make the Villa game, if it’s ligament damage he could be out for a month. Olivier Giroud is expected to be fit to play next Monday, as will Jack Wilshere who took a knock on an ankle. The scan on Thomas Vermaelen’s knee will be assessed this week.

One piece of definite news, we will not be signing Lewandowski either in this month or in the summer, he’s going to Bayern at the end of the season.

The FA are to consult with Police and “look into” the behaviour of the Spurs fans who hurled not only abuse but also missiles at Theo and the medics as he was carried off on Saturday. Obviously Arsenal were correct in reducing the Swamp Dweller’s ticket allocation for the game. If that’s the way they are going to behave the allocation should be reduced to zero.

The FA announced that they would be taking no action against Theo following his gesture towards the obnoxious crowd of loons purporting to be Spurs supporters.

Tuesday:

On a cold, wet and windy morning what could be worse than to wake up to the headline:-

MY WORLD CUP DREAM IS OVER

world cup over

Theo Walcott sidelined for six months with serious knee injury

Yep! The news we had all been fearing turned out to be worse than we thought, a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament means that Theo misses the rest of the season and almost certainly the chance to play for England in the World Cup Finals.

Dare we hope that Theo could emulate Roberto Baggio who, in 2002, returned from a similar injury in just 77 days? That entailed half day re-hab sessions eleven times a week.

At the moment the plan is for Theo to have surgery in the next week or so, depending on how quickly the swelling goes down, to be back running by June, complete a full pre-season programme and be ready to play when the new campaign kicks off.

Wednesday:

The FA Cup fourth round tie against Coventry City will take place on Friday 24th January, kick-off 7.45pm and will be live on BT Sport.

Coventry have already complained about the Friday evening spot, claiming it will make it difficult for their fans to attend, are so many of them subject to curfews?

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in full training, could he feature in Thursday’s U 21 game away to Fulham? Another run out in the following week’s U21 match away to Middlesbrough and all being well, he could be ready for the FA Cup tie against Coventry.

Arsenal U18s thrashed Peterborough 6 -1 in the FA Youth Cup on Monday evening.

Thursday:

Our midfield maestro

Mesut Ozil has been named Germany’s national player of the year following a fans’ poll conducted by the German Football Federation. Mesut has won the award for the third time in a row, beating Bayern Munich pair Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller.

Theo Walcott has been voted December Playmate I’m sorry PLAYER of the month.

In transfer speculation it has emerged that although both Arsenal targets Diego Costa and Jackson Martinez have release clauses in their contracts (£31.4 million and £33 million respectively) they do not come into effect until the end of the season. The Daily Mail seems to think that we are in with a chance of getting Real’s Alvaro Morata if we pay a £1.7 million loan fee.

Niklas Bendtner may be back sooner than expected, he could resume training in the next few days.

One piece of truly World shattering news, (not Arsenal related) is reported by Sky Sports, Fulham have not made an enquiry for Man City’s Joleon Lescott and, in case any doubt remains,nicole
 I can report that I am not dating Lewis Hamilton’s ex,

Nicole Scherzinger.

Bayern Munich received 18 thousand requests for tickets to the Champions League clash at the Emirates despite the price of £62 each, Bayern are to subsidise each ticket to the tune of €30 thus reducing the price from €75 to just €45. Perhaps other clubs could take a leaf out of the German club’s book and help out the away support. What about it Arsenal?

According to The Metro Arsenal teenager Serge Gnabry is a summer target for Borussia Dortmund as they seek to rebuild following Robert Lewandowski’s agreement to join to Bayern Munich. Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has been impressed by the attacking midfielder and is ready to splash out on his services as he transforms his side following the departure of the jewel in their crown. Well Herr Klopp Serge is one of the young jewels in Arsenal’s crown so keep your sticky fingers off!!!

That’s it for another week, enjoy the relaxing weekend.

Norfolk Gooner.

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That Was The Arsenal Week That Was

December 13, 2013

Friday:

Owner Stan Kroenke’s son Josh has been appointed to the board as a non-executive director. Announcing the appointment, on www.arsenal.com , Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick said:

“We are delighted to welcome Josh Kroenke to the board of Arsenal. He has great experience in running sports organisations and brings extensive knowledge of what is required to succeed as we develop our Club for the future.”

Mr Kroenke, 33, a financial management graduate of the University of Missouri, said:

“It is an honour to join the board of Arsenal. This reaffirms our family’s long-term commitment to the Club.”

“Arsenal is in a strong position on and off the pitch. We are enjoying a period of growth for Arsenal and the Premier League. We look forward to an exciting future that includes winning trophies, increasing our already impressive support around the globe and extending our commercial opportunities.”

Some new blood in the boardroom, as opposed to dried blood on the boardroom floor, can only be a good thing for The Gunners.

Recently retired Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has been honoured for his contribution to the Club with the unveiling of a bust at Emirates Stadium.

Mr Hill-Wood served on the Arsenal board for 51 years from 1962, following in the footsteps of his father, Denis, and grandfather Samuel in a family legacy stretching over 86 years. Even some of the oldest AA contributors don’t go back that far

Peter Hill-Wood took some stick over the final few years of his stewardship, much of it, in my opinion, was decidedly not deserved. It was good to see that he was well enough to attend the ceremony after his severe illness.

Aaron Ramsey was voted Player of the Month for November, the fifth such award on the trot for our Welsh Wizard. Who’s going to knock him off his perch in December, Mesut? Santi? Olly G? or who knows a rejuvenated Nicklas Bendtner. Whisper it quietly, he may not be on his way out in January!!!

Saturday:

Despite rumours to the contrary the Flamster is fit for selection ahead of Sunday’s game against Everton. Arsene Wenger talking to www.arsenal.com :

“Apart from Podolski being back in training, everybody else is available from Wednesday night. We had no injuries and the players who were available then will be available for Everton.” “Bacary Sagna is short so he will not be in contention”.

Now I know Bacary isn’t exactly a tall as the BFG but he’s done OK so far and surely Santi Cazorla is shorter than Bac.

Sunday:

The news that mattered to Arsenal was all about the chavs dropping three points and the Oilers dropping two, not to mention the unmentionables dropping three.

The prospect of playing three vital games in seven days prompted Arsene Wenger to call for an “ethics committee” to look into fixture congestion due to television rights. He claimed that teams should be allowed to decide themselves when they play, perhaps to bring a game forward to a Friday evening or to play on a Sunday rather than on Saturday at lunch time purely to fit in with TV broadcasters’ rights. It would give players a bit more recovery time, it happens in other leagues, particularly The Bundeslige.

Monday:

Woodwork saves Everton as Giroud’s injury time wonder volley smashes into crossbar.

That’s my headline for today and the only mention of Sunday’s game.

Looking forward to Napoli, Carl Jenkinson is in an up-beat mood. Asked if last month’s Dortmund result had given them the confidence to win anywhere, the right-back said:

“I think so. When we play to our peak, we can beat anyone so it is important that we go and do that on Wednesday”. “It is going to be a tough game — they are going to be battling because they want to qualify just as much as us. We will work hard and go out there with the confidence that we have from our recent results and, hopefully, come back with the result we want.”

The draw for the third round of the FA Cup took place and the Tie of the Round is undoubtedly that between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to be played at The Emirates in January.

Unusually for me, I have spelled out the full name of our opponents as they are a team that exist in the shadow of an illustrious neighbour and they may not have been instantly recognised if I had used the more common names for them.

Tuesday:

Bacary Sagna did not travel to Naples, he’s still recovering from a hamstring injury. There were no reports of other injury worries, apart from long termers Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo and Diaby.

Lot’s of speculation about the starting line-up, but only Arsene could answer that but was keeping mum.

Wednesday:

Arsenal were put on security alert, players and staff were advised not to leave the team hotel amid fears of violence by the Napoli “Ultras”. After threatening to have the game played “behind closed doors” following violence at the Napoli Marseille game, FIFA instead called for greater security in and around the ground. Well done Monsieur Platini, I bet that scared the life out of the hooligans.

Arsene was in an uncompromising mood:

“This match is the priority and there will be no weakening of the team ahead of back-to-back Premier League fixtures against Manchester City and Chelsea”.

“The other two games are not definitely decisive,” said Wenger. “We are five points ahead in the Premier League. The championship is a marathon. We will be in the race no matter what happens but those games will show our strengths hopefully”.

“We can’t afford to rest players. I rotate a little bit sometimes, never more than two or three because stability is important. Overall, we have no major sign of fatigue medically”.

The odds for the match; Home win 6/4 against. Draw 23/10 against. Away win 7/4 against.

Thursday:

By the skin of our teeth, yes it was that close, but we made it into the draw for the first knock-out round of the Champions League, albeit as runners up in the group. The post mortems have been carried out and the entrails examined it’s over let it go.

There were reports of “heavy handed” policing outside the ground which meant that many of the travelling Arsenal fans didn’t make it into the stadium until sometime after the match kicked off.

On the prospects of the draw Wenger said:

“That is the frustration (of not winning the group), because you feel there was room to do better, but it could have been worse as well tonight.

“Of course, to finish second makes the potential draw more difficult. In the last four or five years we have had very difficult draws, so maybe this time we will be more lucky.

“But if you look at the teams who are potentially there, at least we know we will have a difficult draw.

“On the other hand, we have now qualified for a 14th consecutive year for the last 16 and maybe number 14 will bring us a bit of luck.”

Amen to that Arsene!

A great match in prospect tomorrow, they just keep coming!

Enjoy the weekend

That’s it for this week

Norfolk Gooner

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“Always pick your strongest XI, Arsene”

December 7, 2013

So, here we are in December, and what a great month of football we have ahead of us, which continues with Everton on Saturday, I mean Sunday!

Couple of comments caught my eye the other day:

LB: “I expect Walcott, Rosicky and Flamini to start on Wednesday with Wilshere, Ozil and Arteta moving to the bench; we could even have something as radical as a start for Bendtner”

Followed by:

Rasp: “Nah, we have to start with near our strongest side on Wednesday, it would be dangerous to underestimate Hull. We can sub the likes of Ozil and Giroud if we build a commanding lead”

Well, I’m in the camp that says always pick your strongest X1, however, there must be times where one of the 2nd XI’ers will be more effective than a First XI’er when the latter is knackered. In other words, by picking the Former, you would still be selecting your strongest XI on that particular day.

Of course there are some players that just do have that Eveready Battery Syndrome, whereas some appear to have more complex wiring, and unless everything is fully operational, their performance dips dramatically. I don’t know whether this is a mental or physical failing, but it does appear to be true.

I guess that with every aspect of today’s game being so carefully monitored and scrutinized by complex computer models, then Red Zones would pop on our Leaders’ Screen, but these things can never take in the full picture.

I say always pick the strongest XI, but how do you work that out? Sure we have a multitude of options in midfield, while fewer in defence or as striker. Does Ollie really show signs of fatigue and a vulnerability to injury? I can’t see it. Yesterday there was some talk of That Dutch Bloke. Would Utd have won the League so easily last term without him playing every game. I doubt it.

What is our strongest XI? The one that will perform most effectively on the day given the variables such as type of opposition. Then, these variables will vary as the game progresses and create natural opportunities for change. We effectively rotate two or three players every game by way of substitutions.

The real solution is to charge into an unassailable 4-0 lead inside 20, then make the changes 😛

Written by MickyDidIt89

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The Weekly Arsenal

November 29, 2013

First of all an apology, I’m sorry but force of circumstances prevented me finishing the week before last’s news round-up, Peaches was kind enough to do it for me, and for failing to produce last week’s at all. Various situations have now been resolved so here goes with the next edition.

Friday:

A quick shufti at the morning papers revealed the most positive piece of news…“Walcott set to return from injury”. “He has not played even a reserve team game, but I will put him in the squad on Saturday,” said boss Arsene Wenger. “He’s completely fit again.”

Now that’s what I call good news! We’ve missed Theo’s pace and his ability to get behind defenders.

Both Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere were back in full training after interlull injury scares.

Wenger revealed that Tomas Rosicky had been ill and would be assessed later but could be in the squad. Remarkable news about Abou Diaby, he could be ready to play as soon as March. Whether or not that’s March 2014 was not made clear.

Saturday:

First vs Third at ThoF, a big raspberry to both Sky and BT Sport for not showing the game live. “I think I have proved a lot of people wrong”.

Aaron Ramsey speaking to Julian Wilson in the Telegraph revealed his quiet satisfaction at confounding his critics, chief among them being Piers Morgan who described Ramsey as an “utter liability”. “People are quick to jump on players who are not doing particularly well, I think I proved a lot of people wrong, hopefully made them look a bit silly because they knew what I was capable of before my leg break and then were quick to criticise”.

Arsene Wenger “I’m not against buying in January. I don’t say I never made a mistake – I certainly made some”.

Thierry Henry is training with Arsenal, our record goal scorer is maintaining his fitness levels during the MLS close season. Could he get into our present first team squad? If so could Arsene sign him on a short term loan deal in January? He’s done it before.

Sunday:

“Giroud double sends Arsenal four clear” The BBC’s headline says it all for me. Artur Boruc’s laughable attempt to dribble the ball around Giroud presented our striker with his first of the afternoon and a tug on Mert’s shirt was enough to bring a penalty which Olly put clinically past Saint’s Pole in goal.

There’s not much doubt that the doubters are being put firmly in their place and being served up large portions of Humble Pie. I’m lovin it!!!

Monday:

A quiet day on the Arsenal News front, no dramas, no contentious decisions to discuss, no pundits writing off our chances of trophies, no calls for the Owner, board of directors and manager to quit.

Speaking on http://www.arsenal.com Arsene Wenger said of Saturday’s victory “This win shows we are ready for a fight when it didn’t go as fluently as we wanted,” said Wenger. “That is the most pleasing thing. We were tested by being challenged for every single ball and we responded quite well.

“We always had the focus and I could never feel that we eased off. They made it very difficult for us.

“We could see a good togetherness to help each other out,” Wenger added. “We knew that we were sometimes in trouble and you felt that they were ready to fight for each other.

“That is the solidarity level that was needed. It’s very important.”

You just can’t argue with that.

Santi Cazorla issued a timely warning against complacency before Tuesday’s game with Marseille, speaking to the London Evening Standard he said:- “The main problem I see is everyone thinks it’s going to be an easy game for us to win, There is nothing at stake for Marseille because they have zero points but they are going to make things difficult for us. It may be tough and if we’re not careful we might slip up and then we might not be able to get through to the next round.

“We need to understand it’s a vital match, If we obtained a bad result then it would make things very complicated for us to go to Napoli and win there.”

One other tit-bit of news, not strictly Arsenal related, but I couldn’t resist it. Skinny chicken plucked, stuffed, trussed up and roasted after Hugo Lloris has an Artur Boruc moment.

Tuesday:

Team news ahead of the Marseille game was pretty positive, Arsene Wenger announced that :- “Everybody from Saturday is available and of course Flamini is available as well because he’s back from suspension”.

Naturally there was some speculation concerning how Marseille would approach the game, their record in the group, standing at played 4 lost 4, suggested they only had their pride to play for. As far as Arsenal were concerned it was vital that they should go all out for a win in order to avoid any Napoli Nerves in the final group match.

Ladbrokes were offering odds of 4 to 1 on for the home win, 5 to 1 against a draw and 9 to 1 against an away win. Meanwhile Borrussia Dortmund were 7 to 4 on to beat Napoli.

Wednesday:

The day dawned grey and damp but that was only the weather, Arsenal fans were rejoicing after another satisfying win in The Champions League, 2 – 0 against Marseille, a brace of goals by “Cracker” Jack Wilshere, the first after only thirty seconds, meant that even Ozil’s poor attempt from the penalty spot could be safely overlooked. Mersut later made up for his transgression by laying on the sweetest of passes for Jack to score his second.

It emerged that the Dozy Dane had been at it again, Bendtner was arrested in the early hours of Sunday, he was later charged with criminal damage after the door to the swimming pool, in the apartment block where he lives, was damaged. Bendtner was issued with a Police caution and released. Arsenal have “reminded” the 25 year old of his responsibilities.

Thursday:

Our former player and Assistant Manager Pat Rice has been admitted to hospital suffering from cancer. I’m sure all members of the Arsenal family will join me in wishing Pat a full and speedy recovery.

It was reported that the BFG was in talks with Arsenal over a contract extension. 27 year old Per Mertesacker who was close to an agreement on a contract that will keep him at the club until 2017 said. “I’m very delighted here with the club, especially after the first year was tough for me, a very tough challenge”. Sign da ting Merts.

It’s sad but true that some tabloids exist just to make trouble, when there is nothing detrimental to say about Arsenal they will pick on the slightest thing. According to that paragon of journalistic rectitude, The Mirror, Arsenal fans are outraged at Mathieu Flamini for cutting of the long sleeves of his shirt prior to the Marseille game. Shock! Horror! On the day when match fixing in the English (lower) Leagues rears it’s ugly head, this sorry excuse for a newspaper can only find a story about shirt sleeves to report.

That’s it for another week AAers thank you for your patience.

Norfolk Gooner

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We Did the Double and Missed the Train

November 21, 2013

Inspired by DidIt and BR’s Dortmund travelogue, I thought I might have a crack at writing a post about a day out at Wembley in 1998. Ant wrote a summary at the time so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I hope you enjoy it.

The day begins early for my old man and his ex-work colleague, JC, as they leave Edmonton, North London for Wembley at 8.30am for the 3.00pm kick-off. Whereas my brother, Ant and I leave Nottingham (100 miles further away) at 8.00am, still there’s nothing like being prepared.

1

Nottingham station still being built

We arrive at The Century at 11am to find Dad, JC and our nephew Matt already installed. (The Century on Forty Avenue, up from Wembley Park had become a bit of a family tradition with trips to Wembley in the late 1970s and 1987 versus Liverpool. It’s now a Texaco garage I believe).

2

Lovely Escort

The day is a bit of a scorcher and JC has decided early on to dispense with any sartorial elegance and protect his pate with a knotted handkerchief.

3

Nice hankie!

I’d made a whole loaf of mushroom and garlic pate sandwiches to soak up the early beers but there were a few noses turned up at the prospect of them at first. After the 3rd pint kicked in, they all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Ant decides a few fan photos might be in order, including a group of Terry McDermotts in full kit.

4

Charming FKWs

Dad looks quite red by midday and confronts Ant in the toilets with, ‘At my age, you have to hunt around for a while to find it and it drops off!’ This comment was later explained, ‘Well you have to remember that I was in the Navy and all the nice girls love a sailor and I’ve been married twice as well’. Both the beer and the sun were having an effect! N.b. if you ever wonder why Ant and me occasionally indulge in strange behaviour; well the answer is, ‘It’s genetic’!

I’d made some red cardboard fez hats and once on, my old man doesn’t take his off the whole day along with a shirt, cardigan and coat in 80 degrees of heat. The old boys decide the sandwiches aren’t sufficient and depart for the local cafe. It later transpires that my Dad refused to have any of JC’s fresh hot chips despite being offered them on several occasions but then proceeded to finish off someone else’s stone cold chips from another table. Filthy hound.

Ant, Matt and me enjoy the pre-match build-up with more beer, some rousing singing and a cavalcade of stretch limos, jags and an Arsenal open topped bus.

5

Nice crest

We get in the ground early, as was the tradition in those days, Ant and me in separate seats from Dad, JC and Matt (poor Matt). Having blown up dozens of red and white balloons, we realise we have no idea of the team line-ups, who’s fit or anything. I suppose 1998 was almost pre-internet days, certainly pre-blogs and 24 hour sports news coverage. Things seemed so much simpler even 15 short years back. The chap behind us was very complimentary about Mr Durkin, the referee and the whole Newcastle team, ‘ginger midget…..homosexual fish-face’ etc etc. Homophobia, what’s that?

Meanwhile, Matt and the old codgers are having a terrific time in their seats. After the game my Dad said ‘People kept jumping up anticipating a goal and I didn’t see either of ours’. Matt said, ‘Grandad nearly had a fight with the bloke in front when he was singing, ‘Stand up if you hate Man U’.

6

The match passes in a blur. Overmars scores in the first half. The half time chat seems to centre around how far out Marc was when he scored. Wembley at that time had no big screen. Blink and you missed it. It’s so different now at the Emirates, where you immediately see a reply from three different angles. Super Nic Anelka gets the second, but was he offside?, we’ll have to find out when we watch the highlights later. ‘We’ve Got that Double feeling’ and ‘Arsene Wenger’s Magic Hat’ are sung over and over again, joy abounds.

We meet up with Matt and the scrotes after the game and my old man has now added a Champions T shirt to his other 6 layers of clothing.

7

Those twin towers- ahhhhhhhhhhh.

The plan was to go back to The Century but the queues for the tube make this impossible. We decide to walk to The Greyhound on Wembley High Road. My Dad doesn’t like the idea of walking, especially as he’s going to have to walk back to the tube later. Even Arsenal’s second double can’t cheer the old bugger up! Eventually we arrive and the beer flows. The Geordies are excellent in defeat, determined to enjoy their day out at Wembley regardless of the result. A fire Engine in Newcastle livery turns up outside the boozer and a photo opportunity ensues.

8

Spot the Cockney

9

Spot the Muppets

Matt and the old boys call it a day at 7.15pm. Ant and me have until 10pm before our train is due to leave St Pancras. Several more beers ensue. We manage to find the highlights in one of the pubs and finally get to see how far out Overmars was and whether Nic was offside. We finally set off for the tube station at 9pm but Ant finds needing the toilet a problem, so we dive into an Irish pub. It’s full of Geordies singing away so we decide to have a swift one. The Geordies invite the ‘Cockneys’ to sing a song, so we bellow out ‘Arsene Wenger’s magic, he wears a magic hat’. Leaving the pub, we feel peckish again and decide to dambust a large doner kebab.

Getting to the train on time suddenly becomes an issue and we look to be doing ok until I get stuck at an automatic ticket barrier and am in too much of a state to leap it with the grace of a gazelle. Safe to say, getting on the platform to see the last train to Nottingham pulling out of the station wasn’t one of my highlights of the day!

We phone my Dad’s house and speak to my sister to arrange an overnight stop in North London. Apparently my sister struggled to explain to my old man what had happened. He apparently said, ‘Well, that takes the edge off it’ and ‘…but how did they miss the train, we left them at a quarter past seven? I really didn’t expect the day to end like this’…………………..and neither did we!

Written by chas

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Arsenal Players Demand Signings …. Fact

August 30, 2013

When it comes to publishing posts, this site can be as underhand as Darren Dein. Respected blogger chas, placed a comment during yesterday’s debate that we felt illustrated perfectly the way in which we are going to be tortured by the media in the next few days.

He wrote ……….

I’ve had a quick look and can’t see any of the current players “demanding” signings.

This from Giroud

“In my opinion, it’s necessary for the club to recruit another striker. Obviously, I think about it a little bit. It may change the play one day, especially if it’s a high profile signing. It’s useless lamenting this though. I know what I have to do and what I’m capable of. I’m focusing on me and my work. The coach is counting on me, so I don’t think too much.”

Obviously talking about his position as no 1 striker gets turned into this…..

“Arsenal striker Giroud broke cover to voice his concerns and Mirror Sport understands other players have been left bemused, unhappy and questioning whether Wenger really wants to make big signings.” by John Cross of the Mirror.

This from Arteta

“I’m convinced there will be signings this summer. We already have a very strong team – and if we get new faces they will be welcome.”

….. becomes this from EatSleepSport

“Arteta calls for new signings”

This from Wilshere

“You look at the type of players, like Higuain, we’re trying to bring in, and you’ve got to be encouraged. I think we need a few more – not to step right into the team but to add to the squad.”

……….becomes this from some other dick at the Mirror.

“Arsenal’s Gonzalo Higuain swoop is great but we need more like him says Jack Wilshere

chas’ observations are nothing new but should serve as a reminder to us all to just stop and think for a second before we rabidly stab our fingers into our keyboards and post vitriolic comments based on journalism that is calculated to mislead. We should avoid reacting in the way the authors of our discontent have envisaged. Let’s not give them the pleasure.

Rasp

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Do You Really Want Suarez …. Do Ya? … Your Vote

August 8, 2013

If you believe the media, Arsenal has invested all its hopes in signing Luis Suarez. I’m not so sure and wouldn’t be at all surprised if there isn’t negotiation for another player going on quietly behind the scenes.

Luis_SuárezBut assuming Suarez is the man we want, wouldn’t it just be so ‘Arsenal’ to pick a player whose notoriety means he further divides an already polarised fanbase.

It’s ironic that when we decide to announce our arrival amongst the big spenders we target a player who certainly doesn’t embody the high principles for which our club is renowned.  Yes sure, Bobby may have gone down a little too easily once or twice, but Suarez has been the butt of criticism by many Arsenal supporters in his time at Liverpool.

This is what one respected Arsenal blogger, 26May1989, had to say about the Uruguayan only 2 days ago:

…….in the past I detested Suarez. That’s certainly true, his cheating and general behaviour really got to me, and the one and only time I’ve edited a page on Wikipedia came after Uruguay’s win over South Africa in the 2010 World Cup – he dived several times that night, once winning a penalty and getting the South African keeper sent off, prematurely ending the keeper’s home World Cup. And later in the tournament, there was the famous goal line save against Ghana, after which the crucial penalty was missed which was celebrated by the player after being sent off.

Yet he later concluded  …..

……. But I’ve changed my tune. My logic is that recruiting a top quality striker this summer is vital for Arsenal – with that one player a good side could become an excellent side, and the signing would also cause confidence to flow through the club, the players and the fans.

So it seems that even the most objective of us is torn. I certainly am in the same camp as 26May1989. I’d love his skill and the goals he is likely to bring, but would be extremely uncomfortable if he continued to dive at every opportunity or worse still indulge in the occasional amuse bouche of a cannibalistic nature.

Is it right that a club that is continually lambasted for not having won a trophy for 8 years, should compromise its principles and take a chance on a supremely gifted but ultimately flawed human being in pursuit of the highest honours? It’s time to have your say.

So I’m going to invite you to examine your conscience and vote in 2 ways; first a simple Yes or No, and secondly for those who voted ‘Yes’, in a more qualified way.

In this second poll you can tick as many boxes as represent your view.

If none of the above represent your view, please feel free to express that view in comments.

Written by Rasp

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The Future Is Now …… Are Arsenal Still In The Past?

August 7, 2013

Arsenal by definition, have always represented the very best of British. We are diverse and multi-cultural, welcoming players and supporters from every corner of the world, whilst retaining a class that no amount of money can buy. Essentially, Arsenal are aristocrats through their assorted share-holders, many of them titled, and extremely wealthy.

Supporters too, particularly Brits, are very generous in spirit, willingly sacrificing their undying loyalty, and asking for little in return. Watching the Women’s Euro’s, after Germany had beaten Norway to claim their sixth successive Euro title, Guy Mowbray came out with a line that immediately reminded me of Arsenal – “Norway wanted it, Germany demanded it…” A strong aggressive powerful message of intent mixed with an arrogant confidence, the Germans are drilled to succeed. Arsenal are like Norway, they want it, but they don’t demand it. The most successful clubs demand a regular supply of silver-ware, and are quick to act if that supply dries up. Arsenal behave as if they don’t expect any silver-ware, but should any accidently turn up they can award themselves even bigger bonuses (not to say they don’t already, isn’t that so, Mr Gazidis?).

It’s nine years since Arsenal won the title, and despite making much noise between 2004 and now, they haven’t really had the stomach to go for it. It’s our sixteenth successive year of CL football, but we’ve only been to one final and two semi-finals, and as with the Premier League, we really are a long way from the quality needed to challenge, and a lot further away than we were in 2004.

The financial debate is pointless. We are forever turning up in the top four/five of Forbes and Deloittes richest global sports clubs, which can’t be a coincidence. Chelsea and Manchester City haven’t suddenly become bigger and wealthier than Arsenal, they are just prepared to invest whatever it takes to make their brand a winning one, which will in turn reap huge financial benefits from commercial and sponsorship revenues.

Arsenal are over-cautious with their short-term no risk approach, the philosophy is mirrored by the product on the field, everything at Arsenal is done with the hand-brake on. As if any proof of this were needed, Arsenal had more possession of the ball than any other side in the PL. Possession for possession sake. That isn’t a money issue, that’s flawed football. That’s having far too much of the ball and half the time not having a clue what to do with it having passed themselves into blind alleys and cul-de-sacs that lead nowhere.

We are in a place now where we go into every game against the top three hoping for divine intervention, but deep down fearing defeat.

Is that really who we’ve become?

Maybe it’s part of the French DNA, that in the final analysis, they don’t have the blood and guts for the battle. They’re philosophers rather than fighters, which is why they virtually laid out the red carpet for the Germans in WWII.

I stand by my conviction that Arsene Wenger has refused to test himself at the elite level. People like to cite his loyalty and love for Arsenal, but my guess is that had he moved to a big club and failed, his career would have been quite short. And who else would renumerate a manager as generously as Arsenal do for achieving the bare minimum?

Arsenal supporters are very generous in spirit, they are fiercely loyal and very forgiving in nature. We never demand trophies, NOR do we demand ridiculously expensive big-money signings, but we do expect our tactical frailties to be addressed and fixed, and I personally expect the level of quality in our players to be of the standard required to take the title to the wire, and seriously challenge in the CL, just as was promised seven years ago by our club’s hierarchy.

Arsene Wenger arrived fresh-faced from Japan, full of life, full of ideas to revolutionise Arsenal and English football. Wenger cleverly utilised the French market at a time when the French football was in the ascendancy, and building around Dennis Bergkamp he discovered the perfect mix. But just as French football declined so too have Arsenal. The last transfer that excited me a little was in January 2004, when Arsenal signed Jose Antonio Reyes, and even then only because the British Press – as always when these things happen – were a little too lavish in their appraisal of the Spaniard.

Since that time, in my opinion, Arsene Wenger’s judgement and use of the club’s resources has been poor, without any clear indication of improvement. How many times do we give the benefit of the doubt, hoping to see a dynamic change, something exciting happen, only to be left feeling deflated again? Arsene Wenger gave Arsenal fans back their belief, and he made us fall in love with football again, but that was a long time ago. And it doesn’t matter what the excuse or reason is, Arsene Wenger has nothing new or revolutionary to bring to the table, and his best days probably left along with David Dein. This isn’t an anti-Wenger campaign, this is a pro-Arsenal thing, and an honest opinion of where I think we’re at.

In six years time, we’ll be celebrating 100 years of unbroken football in the top flight (save for WWII), wouldn’t it be great going into that season knowing that we’re back as a genuine force! There are a lot of changes needed at Arsenal if that is to be so,

I only hope those charged with making that happen are brave and intelligent enough to make the right decisions for the club and it’s supporters.

Written by We are The Arsenal

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Do we have enough Quality or Depth in the Arsenal Squad?

August 6, 2013

We now have less than two weeks before the start of the Premier League season of 2013/14 and I find myself wondering about whether our squad has the necessary quality or depth.

This summer has been typical of other transfer transactions periods very quiet and with more rumoured than actual movements. Fortunately it looks like we are making more concerted efforts to move out the players, in both the 1st team and youth squad’s, that have not made the grade, hopefully this will free up funds for new acquisitions. Another thing to be pleased about is that all the players who have left this summer have been of our choice and we have not lost any of our key players.

So far the only addition to our squad has been Yaya Sonogo at 1.91m (or 6’4”) he will become a big physical presence in our attack, but will it be this season or later?.

It’s when I take a close look at the Arsenal.com 1st team squad who are currently the players we have to start the season with that I become concerned. Out of the listed squad of 29 players we only have18 recognised Premier League players who are fit and ready, we also have 2 untried players, 2 injured, 4 on the chopping block and 3 out on loan.

Therefore the 18 fit and ready players will, most likely, have to form our 1st team and our substitute’s bench, which is assuming we make no further acquisitions or suffer any more injuries. With time running out before the start of the season it will be a hammer blow to get any serious injuries and if we do make further acquisitions they will have little or no time to settle into the squad.

We have 5 games in the first 16 days of the new season starting with Aston Villa on August 17th and ending with Tottenham on September 1st and squeezed in there are our 2 vitally important Champions League qualifying games – not an easy start.

Without any more changes to our squad we are going to be heavily reliant on our Youth Academy to fill out our squad and allow the fit and able 1st team squad to be rotated and rested. From what little I’ve seen of the youth players we have quite a few with high potential but with little or no 1st team experience. Players like Miquel, Eisfield, Gnabry, Zelalem and Akpom are exceptional talents – but ready for the 1st team? I’m not at all sure.

Perhaps my biggest single concern is with our goalkeeping, we have 2 reacognized keepers in Szczesny and Fabinanski and if either of them gets an injury or suffers from a lack of form then who do we turn to? – in our youth team we have 3 keepers in Martinez, Vickers and Iliev but to my knowledge none of them have played in the 1st team.

I am seriously concerned about both the quality and depth of our squad and if we don’t make serious changes we may be looking at qualifying for the Chumps League and not the Champions League.

Ist Team Squad

1. Laurent Koscielny Center Back

2. Per Mertesacker Center Back

3. Kieran Gibb Defender

4. Carl Jenkinson Defender

5. Nacho Monreal Defender

6. Bacary Sagna Defender

7. Lukasz Fabianski Goal Keeper

8. Wojciech Szczesny Goal Keeper

9. Mikel Arteta Midfielder

10. Santi Cazorla Midfielder

11. Emanu Frimpong Midfielder

12. Aaron Ramsey Midfielder

13. Tomas Rosicky Midfielder

14. Jack Wilshere Midfielder

15. Olivier Giroud Striker

16. Oxlaide-Chamberlain Striker

17. Lukas Podolski Striker

18. Theo Walcott Striker

Untried in the EPL

Ryo Miyaichi Striker

Yaya Sango Striker

Injured

Thomas Vermaelen Center Back

Abou Diaby Midfielder

On the chopping block

Ju-Young Park Striker

Nicklas Bendtner Striker

Marouane Chamakh Striker

Gervinho Striker

Out on loan

Johan Djourou Center Back

Francis Coquelin Midfielder

Joel Campbell Striker

These are our youth and academy players as listed on Arsenal.com.

Who do you think is ready to step up into the 1st team?

Youth/Academy

Hector Bellerin Defender

Daniel Boateng Defender

Tom Dallison Defender

Zachari Fagan Defender

Isaac Hayden Defender

Ignasi Miquel Defender

Ormonde-Ottewill Defender

Leander Sieman Defender

Arinse Uade Defender

Damian Martinez Goal Keeper

Josh Vickers Goal Keeper

Deyan Illev Goal Keeper

Chuks Aneke Midfielder

Thomas Eisfeld Midfielder

Serge Gnabry Midfielder

Anthony Jeffrey Midfielder

Glen Kamara Midfielder

Alfred Mugabo Midfielder

Kristoffer Olsson Midfielder

Jon Toral Midfielder

Jack Webb Midfielder

Nicholas Yennaris Midfielder

Gedion Zelalem Midfielder

Benik Afobe Striker

Chuba Akpom Striker

Zac Ansah Striker

Tarum Dawkins Striker

Alex Iwobi Striker

Austin Lipman Striker

Wellington -Silva Striker

Out on loan

Samuel Galindo Midfielder

I hope that I’m just being paranoid – but I fear not.

GunnerN5

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