The world of football has changed in so many ways since first I clambered up the steps at Highbury and looked down in awe at the scene before me; an oblong of green set at the bottom of a man made bowl, the concrete sides towering above it. There it was the home of my schoolboy dreams, the canvass on which I had for all my growing years drawn in my mind’s eye the daring deeds which I, “Roy of the Arsenal” had performed heroically, defeating all and sundry with magical skills and wondrous last minute goals.
It had not been easy being a gooner, raised in a family of spuds and living many miles from the ground despite having been born In Walthamstow. Indeed in those days I don’t remember being called gooners, we were the Gunners and proud of it.
But in the fullness of time a gooner I became, the umbilical cord of that born again experience, when first I discovered the team that played with the cannon on its chest, still keeps me joined some sixty years later to the wonderful club that has meant so much to me over the years.
Still from those far off days, it is the humour I remember from watching the Arse, the banter with the oppositions supporters was, pointed, cutting and at times downright hilarious . We had the morons of course, but they were few and far between and usually dealt with by the crowd itself.
The days of the football hooligans that led to all seated stadia lay well in the future, these were the days when we didn’t win anything but still the humour remained, It was a scouser who I first heard tell an Arsenal player “he was as much use as a chocolate teapot” and another as “useful as a third tit on a nun”.
Arsenal fans at King’s Cross to catch the special trains to Huddersfield for the FA Cup semi final against Grimbsy, 21st March 1936. Arsenal won 1-0
So where I wonder did the hatred come from, the obscene chants that are classed by many as funny these days. Even our refined, cultured, intelligent manager is bombarded on a weekly basis by brainless choirs regurgitating accusations far too vile and scurrilous for repetition on any blog with aspirations to quality.
Tribalism is fine, it helps the common cause and binds the supporters together in a collective quest to play their part in motivating and driving the team onwards and upwards, supports them through tough times and rejoices in their success.
But why the sectarianism, racism and the vitriol poured on rival supporters, particularly in our case the spuds and Chavs
Yes I know there are those that will say football grounds are not the home of knitting circles. But where is the respect for the skills of opposing players, who if the truth was told, we would love to see in our shirt, and the supporters who had they been born, like us in different places would in all likelihood support some other team.
I have never been to the Emirates, but read constantly the comments of those that do, that we don’t support or cheer our team enough, maybe, and here I can only surmise, maybe the trend to abuse more than support, and attrition rather than respect, is what keeps the much derided corporate customers embarrassed and quiet.
When the draw was made for the group stage back in August, there was mixed reaction from the gooner faithful. Dortmund were deemed the strongest of the pot 4 teams and Otelul Galati perhaps the weakest. No surprise when Arsenal got Dortmund and the mancs were drawn with Otelul. Suggestions of United paying for an easy group were obviously wide of the mark (let’s hope they kept the receipt). The Mansour mercenaries seemed to have a tough group but most thought the £82m they spent in the summer to add to the £130m they spent the previous summer plus January would mean they would be strong enough to progress.
Esteemed blogger RA had a punt at the final 16 and was unlucky to predict only 9 of them correctly.
Who would have thought that both teams from the north west would get dumped into the Europa League and the London clubs in crisis would both finish top of their respective groups?
Today we could be drawn against FC Vaslui, FC Metalist Kharkiv……..no, hang on a minute, these are possible opponents for the Manche5ter teams in the Spursday Challenge Trophy. (draw to be held after the important business is finished)
The UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw in Nyon will be streamed live on UEFA.com from 11am GMT. Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 14/15 and 21/22 February and at home in the return matches on 6/7 and 13/14 March. No team can play a club from their group or any side from the same association.
The draw for the remainder of the competition will be held on 16th March with the Champions League Final to be staged at the Allianz Arena München on 19th May 2012.
Our possible opponents in the Round of 16 are Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Zenit St Petersburg and AC Milan
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli
Vanquishers of the Lancastrian Oilers, Napoli are the most successful club in Southern Italy. Reputed to have been joint-founded by two English sailors in the 1900s, the club was threatened with bankruptcy and extinction in 2004 until Neapolitan film producer Aurelio De Laurentis stumped up the cash to keep the SS Napoli afloat.
Napoli looked sharp in the group stage finishing behind Bayern on 11 points. Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani looked dangerous and is their current top scorer (El Cashico derby participants are both said to be interested). Both the stylish Slovakian Marek Hamsic and Argentinian Ezequiel Lavezzi also impressed, especially on the counter attack.
Would Naples be a delightful place to go in the early spring?
CSKA Moscow
The ‘A’ in CSKA stands for Army but the club is no longer a section of the Russian military’s CSKA sports club. However the Russian Ministry of Defense is a still a CSKA shareholder and the club benefitted from a major cash injection from Sibneft (Abramovich) in 2004. Nicknamed ‘The Horses’ ( their first training facilities were located in a building previously used as a Prince Yusupov’s stable) or the ‘Army Men’, CSKA finished the group stage as runners up to Inter with 8 points with both Trabzonspor and Eden Hazard’s Lille close behind.
It is reported that CSKA have retired the shirt number 12 as the supporters are regarded as the club’s 12th man. Romanian Ianis Zicu is current top scorer.
How would Arsenal respond to a chilly trip to Moscow in late February?
FC Basel
Founded in 1893, FC Basel are one of the most successful clubs in Switzerland having a fierce rivalry with both Zurich teams (FC Zurich and Grasshoppers). In the 2001–02 season the club reached the UEFA Intertoto Cup final, losing to Aston Villa. One of the early club captains was Joan Gamper, who later founded FC Barcelona in Spain.
Basel played well at the Theatre of (Howard Webb’s wet) Dreams and perhaps should have won. Current top scorer is Alexander Frei and Fabian Frei has also chipped in with a couple of goals from midfield.
Basel knocking the mancs out the CL has to be one of the highlights of our shadenfreude season so far. Listening to Fergie’s voice mail the day after Basel’s victory may help you re-live the unbridled joy of that night.
Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon only came to prominence in France in 2002 with their first Ligue 1 championship followed by an amazing six more successive titles. Managed by ex-gooner Remi Garde, Lyon are very popular in France on a similar level to PSG and only beaten in the popularity stakes by Marseille.
There was nothing dodgy at all about their 7-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, allied to Ajax’s 3-0 defeat to Madrid which resulted in Lyon’s qualification for the last 16. They are a classy French side who regularly develop players and then sell them on at a large profit.
Current players include Jimmy Briand who apparently makes a nice steak at his chateau and current top scorer Bafétimbi Gomis. Yoann Gourcuff runs their midfield and is often touted as a possible Wenger signing.
Maybe the short trip to France would be seen as a good draw for the Gunners?
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Leverkusen play at the BayArena which has the reputation of being one of the most family-friendly football stadiums in Germany. Ironically, Bayer 04 was the first Bundesliga club whose fans identified themselves as Ultras.
The club and their fans have started to be proud of their industrial origins, calling themselves “Werkself” (Engl. “Factory team”, “Millhanders”) or “Pillendreher” (Engl. “Tablet twisters”).
This, in response to taunts from fans of the traditional clubs who denounce Bayer Leverkusen as being a “plastic club”, without traditions or a committed fan base, existing solely as a creation of their rich pharmaceutical company sponsor – Bayer AG. (Engl. “shit club, no history”)
Leverkusen were runners up in group E to Roman’s gimcracks, pushing Valencia into 3rd. Top scorer this season is Eren Derdiyok who is a 6’ 3” Swiss striker of Turkish descent. Michael Ballack is still lumbering around in Leverkusen’s midfield looking haughty.
Perhaps another trip to Germany is in the offing to warm us up for a return trip in May?
Zenit St Petersburg
Zenit’s history is closely linked to the steel industry in Saint-Petersburg and the club seems to have resulted as a merger of several clubs including Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod nicknamed the “Stalinets” (stal means steel in Russian) and the Zenit sports society which was the All-Union Voluntary Sports Society for workers of the arms industry.
So far Zenit’s finest achievement in Europe has been to win the UEFA cup in 2008 playing some fine football and beating Rangers in the final when the man of the match was declared as our very own, Andrei Arshavin.
They finished second to Apoel Nicosia in group G, perhaps the hardest group to call, with Porto reduced to Europa League football and Shakhtar Donetsk out of Europe altogether.
They are managed by an Italian, Luciano Spalletti and play at the magnificent-looking Petrovsky Stadium built on an island in theNeva River. (Looks lovely in the sun, might be a touch parky at the end of February)
Maybe this tie would spark our Russian powerpack back into life?
AC Milan
Milan was founded in 1899 by Nottingham-born lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others.
Herbert in his Milan strip and Alfred carrying the match ball
The association with England resulted in the Cross of St George being incorporated into the Milan badge.
Milan has a squad full of household names and are currently a close third in Seria A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on a good scoring run, aided and abetted by Robinho (when he gets a game) and Kevin-Prince Boateng amongst others.
In Conclusion
I’m not sure who I’d prefer in the draw. When we reached the final in 2006, we drew Real Madrid in the last 16, so who knows?
Picture this. Its 18th Century London and crime is rife in the capital. Muggers and looters stalk the wealthy Streets and Avenues of the City Centre. The biggest killer? Not the small pointy blades of the outer city Hoodies. No. It was the Gentlemen who still sported the longer reaching swords, and could thus pick off their chosen Hoody from a safe distance. The Cads. Or were they?
This is the same merry bunch who thought up the worlds’ greatest games and sports, and then enshrined those in Codes and Rules ensuring fair play and gentlemanly conduct. It is also from these roots that the English developed their sense of justice in the sporting arena. The idea that it was in the taking part that the sport was to be found, and from here we developed our affinity with the underdog.
I like to think that everything about The Arsenal encompasses these principles. Or do I?
You know what, I don’t really. There’s nothing I like better than a touch of underhand dealing. A little skullduggery. We know there is underfloor heating beneath the pampered feet of the home dugout, but not so for our guests. We know about the shrewd dealings of one Sir Henry Norris. So what’s next?
At this point I need to fess up that the inspiration for this post came from a quite brilliant comment yesterday by GiE (7:43 am). We all know that City pay for Adebeyor to play for that lot. Well, GiE’s masterplan was for us to get the bloke on the same terms, then effectively short weekly loan him out to play for whoever is taking on the Spuds that week. Genius, simple and effective I thought. For me, this is Sir Henry Norris level thinking, and frankly, I’d like The Arsenal to start thinking more laterally.
It appears to me that there are two pressing areas in which we should direct our plans. The first is, quite obviously, to ensure home advantage to the max. To this end, we have to optimize the effects of Winter. We all know how darkness descends the over the land as the first half draws to an end, and the cold easterlies explore our exposed extremities. Perhaps we need to exaggerate the effect with thermal control over the visiting dressing room, while pumping in relaxation sound effects to weaken their resolve.
The second is to land the striker that we cannot afford. Now bungs seem a little old hat, so perhaps there are “extras” we could be offering our selected targets. The Leveson Inquiry would appear to offer some inspiration here in ways that may make “persuading” agents, managers and players to believe that the right thing to do would be to jump ship to The Arsenal at vastly reduced expense. A rigged photo here, an incriminating phone call there. Just thinking aloud here.
So come on. Think up lads. I know I’m not squeaky clean in this department. The lighting in the Wiff Waff Club is heavily rigged to favour one end, and I know where to start the “eeny meeny miny moing” to win the toss, and as back up I also own a double headed coin. There is room for some shrewd thinking here. I happen to know there are many fish eaters on this site, with correspondingly enormous brains. So let’s put it to good use. Any ideas?
Ever since the departure of Fabregas and the long-term injury to Wilshire, I have been trying to figure out how the ‘New Arsenal’ will play this season. For quite a while I was convinced Arsène wanted to continue with his 4-2-3-1 formation of the previous seasons, and as such, he was trying to get Ramsey to play in the Fabregas position/role, with Song in the more traditional DM role and Arteta in the box-to-box ‘Wilshere’ role – which is effectively a second DM (most of the times).
I figured that at soon as the back-five would have gained enough strength and consistency, we would ‘evolve’ and start playing with one DM, and two attacking midfielders – very similar to Barcelona’s 4-1-2-3 system (pressure high up the pitch and boxing in the opponent, whilst pin-balling around till a gap is found for a deadly attack. I was convinced that as soon as Wilshire would return we would start playing Song as sole DM and two of Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta or Diaby as our attacking midfielders. This seemed the logical, final, evolutionary step of the Wengerball project.
5-3-3 System, with the three ‘mini-teams’
This might still happen, but I am starting to think that Arsene is developing a new system that is here to stay: 5-3-3. More than ever, I feel the team consists of three sub-teams: the back-five, the middle-three and the front-three. The back-five focus very hard on becoming a defensive wall that keeps clean sheets and helps out midfield and attack – especially through our FB’s – as much as possible.
The three attackers up front focus on creating and scoring goals and help out with supporting the defence and midfield as much as possible. The middle-three primarily focus on bossing the midfield, help out defence and support attack. Nothing new there, you’ll say: every team will work amongst similar lines. True, but for Arsenal this is still a shift away from what we have become used to and it seems to have helped us in becoming more focussed, and take on more responsibility, by those three ‘mini-teams’. Of course, a team functions best when all 11 positions are interlinked and work as one team. This will be the next step for Arsenal, and that’s one of the reasons I believe this team is only working to 70% of its full potential at the moment – not as a result of a lack of work-rate, but simply a lack of time of having been together/ getting used to each other as a team.
I love the way our regular front three: Gervinho, RvP, Theo work together to create scoring opportunities for each other, which, at the moment, are mainly taken by ‘Het Wonderkind – Boy Wonder’. They are becoming quite the package with a mixture of creativity, unpredictability, an all-round attacking skill-set, and an end-product to relish. It is great to see the way they take joy in helping each other to score, and the way those with the assists are celebrated just as much as the goal scorer himself.
I love the way the defence really wants clean sheets, and gets so annoyed when it is not achieved. With Szczesny and Vermaelen we have strong extravert leaders, and with Mertesacker, Sagna, Koz, and Santos we have truly focused professionals who’ll fight for the cause till the end. There is plenty of talented back-up as well.
The Wall of ARS
But I am most excited at the moment about our new midfield. Arteta, Ramsey and Song: ‘ARS’. They have become a three-dimensional wall; the fulcrum of the new Arsenal. Like any good midfield, their tasks are to shield the defence, to boss the midfield, and to support the attack with assists and goals. ARS does this fantastically well, and there is plenty of growth/improvement still to come. ARS is not yet scoring enough and should produce more assists, but it is getting better and that’s where the additional 30% for our midfield will come from eventually.
What I like most about ARS is the unpredictability of these players. Arteta, Ramsey and Song are multi-disciplined and multi-skilled. Each of them have a great engine, each can shield the defence like a traditional DM, each can do box-to-box, each can produce a killer-pass, and each can score goals. They are total (football) midfielders.
Admittedly, Song is the better DM, and Ramsey is the best option in the more advanced midfield position of the three, and Arteta is possibly the best finisher of them all, but we have the luxury of quality midfielders who can play anywhere, and can do anything. Add to that their ability to swap positions between them during a game and this is exactly what makes us unpredictable: just think about Song’s incredible assist for RvP opening goal against BD: who saw that one coming? It also makes us extremely adjustable: just think about Arteta’s recent goals and his ability to help us ‘play-out’ a game by keeping hold of the ball at the latter stages when we are winning the game. Ramsey is so young and yet so incredibly talented: he is perhaps the best example, or the purest – if you want, of a total midfielder, out of all three of them. This is some midfield we have now and it is likely to become stronger and stronger during the next few months.
So what will happen, now that Diaby appears to be fit again, and especially when Wilshire returns? We also witnessed during our CC game against Citeh that Coquelin and Frimpong are ready to play more first team football. What are we going to do with all these fine midfielders? Just imagine the dilemma Wenger would be facing now if he had not sold Fabregas and Nasri? How times can change!
My view is that we will not change our formation at all this season: Arsenal’s multi-functional midfield within the new 5-3-3 philosophy is here to stay. Diaby and Wilshire will have to compete with ARS to get themselves in there, and for Coquelin and Frimpong the challenge will be even bigger. Wenger likes his midfielders and he is not known for easily changing things that are not broken within the same season. And this, is what makes me believe we will not buy another midfielder like Goetze or Hazard during the next TW. Arsenal might be buying another winger, and/or a striker, especially if and when one or two players are asked/decide to move on, but unless Wenger would see in them a future winger (which I doubt), for Goetze and Hazard there is simply no space at the moment.
The system of 5-3-3 is working fantastically for Arsenal and the wall of ARS is an integral part of it: I just cannot see Wenger making any changes this season and this will suit us just fine.
If ever you needed evidence of the newly improved team spirit at New Arsenal, you just have to read some of the recent match reports.
Here on AA yesterday Harry’s excellent dissection of the victory over Everton was comprehensive and entertaining.
He plumped for Koscielny as Man of the Match, but clearly did not feel his performance was way out ahead of the rest of the team (Kozzer was one of four players whom Harry gave an 8 out of 10. He also gave 7.5 to three others).
If you scan around the Arsenal blog world you will see other writers picking out Ramsey, van Persie, Song, Vermaelen, Arteta and Walcott as their choice for MoTM from Saturday’s game. The same has been true in other recent performances, where there has been no concensus as to who was the stand-out player on the day.
If you’re Blackburn, not having a stand-out player probably means you had 11 equally inept piles of hippo dung stinking up the place.
But in the happy situation of being the Arsenal, it means that we had an outstanding team performance with players working so selflessly for the greater good that it’s hard to pick out an overall star.
Last season Cesc was usually MoTM in the games he played. Sometimes it was Na$ri and, on a few occasions, Wilshere. But there always seemed to be a player whose efforts exceeded those of his team mates.
The difference this year is not that our “stand out” performers have dropped to the level of the players who were just putting in a shift. It’s that the whole team is playing better together, with the result that in any given match most players have raised their level at the same time.
Fun to watch, but a nightmare if you feel the need to single out a Man of the Match.
Clearly we have an out-and-out star performer for the season so far in Prince Robin. He is probably the best striker in world football right now and would be the stand-out in any team (even the Catalan diving squad). But Robin’s amazing achievements are very much built on the solid foundations that are now firmly in place following the chaos at the start of the season.
Personally, I’m thrilled that in recent games it has been so hard to pick out a MoTM. When Cesc was our regular MoTM we were a poorer team overall.
Perhaps there was an element of “Thierry Syndrome”, with players feeling that they always had to pass to our former Number Four even when better options were available.
Or, more likely, we functioned less well as a team last year because we lacked team spirit and togetherness.I think we all know that Cesc was not a great captain. And with the constant “will-he-won’t-he” background noise of his move back to Barcelona, it can’t have made for stability in the changing room.
Na$ri, meanwhile, was clearly a malcontent and trouble-maker who did not get on with some other members of the squad.
When those two left (for love and money, respectively) and we acquired the likes of Arteta, Mertesacker, Santos, Benayoun and Jenkinson instead, not many people believed we were a stronger squad than before.
But what about now?
How are you feeling after eight wins and a draw from our last nine EPL games?
How did you feel when Prince Robin went over to celebrate joyfully with the bench when he rifled home the winner against the Toffees?
We lost our two best players (supposedly) and gained what some have described as a bunch of journeyman pros.
But which team do you think is more likely to actually win something?
I know my answer. It’s obvious to me that New Arsenal, with its mix of precocious young talent and seasoned experience, will have a better chance of grabbing some silverware. At the very least I don’t expect New Arsenal to wilt when the pressure mounts, like last season’s model.
You may feel differently, in which case make your views known in this poll:
Arsenal brought together an array of legends to help them celebrate the history that is Arsenal, 125 years of history to be precise, from the days of Dial Square, Plumstead common, Henry Norris getting us into Division one after WW1, the Chapman Era, the 70’s double, moving in more recent history with George Graham’s titles and cups, right upto Wenger’s invincible’s and some of the best football I have ever seen.
With the statues that were unveiled on Friday, the talk of the Pubs pre-match, there was a feel good buzz about the place. 3 pivotal legends had been immortalised and all rightly so, but everyone I spoke to, believed there was a place for a Bergkamp statue.
Anyway into the ground, the fans trundled to see who had come to say hello, many legends from the recent history memory banks had come to join in with the celebrations, as Tom Watt spoke with Thierry, a rendition of “Sign him up” rang around the ground.
To the game, Everton were the sideshow to the celebrations, but as I said pre-match, the most important thing today was 3 points, so after all the fanfare could the players perform and focus on the job in hand? Everton after all were not going to roll over, always a worthy opponent, they work hard and give little away.
The only other worrying thing to consider before kick off was that Fergie’s rent boy was the man in the middle. Arsenal needed to add to the recent haul of 19 points from 21 and couldn’t afford to let Webb ruin our day.
It was a slow start and Everton were defending by holding a highline and pressing Arsenal, but this highline was breached on numerous occasions throughout the first half, but we failed to capitalise, if indeed we managed to get passed the razor sharp reflexes of the assistant referee who had his flag waving around throughout the game, did no one tell him the celebrations were all pre-match…………
The first real chance came about 15minutes in when Arteta, played a lovely ball down the inside right channel for Walcott to run onto, Theo unselfishly, but perhaps he should be more often?, anyway his pass was just a little too square, and it got between Gervinho and Ramsey, Gervinho managed to get control eventually, but the easy chance had gone by then…..
A few minutes later and Gervinho managed to break through from inside left, and he released Robin, but he seemingly had just strayed offside, a tight call, had the linesman put his flag down yet, I wasn’t sure. Everton got forward occasionally, but they failed to test Woijech, who collected or cleared any ball that came near him, his distribution was spot on.
On 29 mins, Song puts Ramsey through, the gap narrowed to the right, so he swivelled and curled a shot just over the top left corner.
Arsenal certainly were on top and looked like the only team trying to score, but we lacked a sharpness in front of goal and Robin was having a quieter than normal game. It was starting to feel like the Fulham game again. Although we were solid and didn’t look like conceding, it looked like we had as much chance of scoring as Na$ri does of playing Champions League football this season……..
Arsenal continued to dominate and had a flurry of corners, but still no break through, 3 mins of injury time and Saha unleashed from distance, but it didn’t test our young pole. Half time 0-0 and the party feel good factor was a little flat now….
Second half the game continued in the same fashion, about 5 mins in and Cahill loses his boot whilst on the attack, Webb stops the game much to the annoyance of Everton as that was a good break. Even funnier when Cahill threw his boot down in the direction of Moyes, as he left the pitch to sort it, who didn’t look happy.
Walcott was having a good game and getting plenty of the ball, but he wasted a good opportunity to get a strike on goal on about 55mins. Moments later and he drives forward and manages to bustle his way passed a defender and unleash a ferocious drive that Howard saves well.
On 60 mins, Baines, delivers a peach of a cross right to the far side to Cahill who is holding back and coming in late, but Vermaelen has smelt the danger and managed to get in between and head the ball clear, Szczesny praised Thomas. Cahill would have scored there, brilliant work by our Belgian Gladiator.
Everton take off Saha and bring on Distin, a point looks a good point to Moyes, although Neville puts the ball just over the goal on a rare Everton attack. As Arsenal continue to toil Wenger readies Arshavin and Rosicky.
But just before they come on, Song delivers what I can only describe as a perfect pass, that had Xavi done that, the press would be creaming themselves. As the ball came over from a diagonal right footed pass, the ball perfectly weighted and with a deceptive curve on the flight path as the ball spun in the air, it was watched down intently by Van Persie who got round the back of his marker, Jagielka, and on the volley, with both feet in the air, he lashed it with a precision strike across the goal and into the bottom right corner off the post with a hapless Howard, left looking like another statue…….Quiet game by RVP standards, but the goal was top draw……..Rosicky and Arshavin sit down….70mins 1-0……
Rosicky came on for Gervinho who had a very quiet game and Miquel replaced Thomas Vermaelen who had taken a knock. Everton now started to push forward but really failed to test Woijech, Frimpong came on for Theo.
On 86 Gueye breaks free but shoots wide, nerves were starting to manifest. As we moved into injury time, McAleny a young 19yr old has a delightful volley from the left, and although Szczesny stretches long, it goes wide.
Game over and Szczesny kisses the left boot of Van Persie, as the day ends as it started smiles all round. Another moment in our 125 year history as Robin scores a truly sensational goal which will be up there with the best of Wright and Henry to name a few, I am sure they were impressed with that goal and its true beauty.
Ratings: –
Szczesny: 7.5 Calm and assured, his distribution is getting better and better. Not really tested, but did his basics well.
Djourou: 5. Indecisive and prone to too many errors. Did ok in patches, but he worries me.
BFG: 7. Thought he had an all round good game, but made a couple of errors that he got away with, even saw him jump a couple of times ` .
Koscienly: 8. Outstanding, strong and quick, reads danger well and snuffs it out, gets better every game. My MotM.
Vermaelen:8. Great game, played well at LB and gave Everton little space, his defensive header that kept out Cahill was amazing and kept it 0-0.
Song: 8. Strong and powerful, ran about breaking up attacks, continually looking to get players through and pick them out. His pass for Robins goal, was almost as good as the goal itself.
Ramsey: 8. Works and doesn’t hide, makes the odd mistake, but works hard to make up for that. Needs a goal and deserves a goal. I read on one website, Ramsey was deemed the worse player on the pitch, complete pony; he was very good and close to MotM for me. How anyone can berate him is completely beyond me…….
Arteta: 7. A quiet game today, but still looked the part, a few more than normal wasted passes, got confused perhaps with his old team mates.
Gervinho:6. Added little to the team today, woeful up front and loss the ball way too many times. Very frustrating at times.
Van Persie: 7.5. Was probably a 6, but that strike was amazing, simply sensational. You could argue giving him MotM for the goal, but equally Vermaelen stopped a goal been scored against us.
Walcott: 7.5. Involved throughout, made a few wrong decisions, great strike just after the break. Just needs to start scoring more regularly now.
Subs:
Rosicky: 6.0. Little time
Miquel: . 6.9. Little time
Frimpong:. Only on the pitch for 3 or 4 minutes.
Mr Wenger: 8. Has the team working hard for each other and showing real promise. Has his favourite line up, but it is hampered by his injured fullbacks. Subs at the right time.
Overall:
A hard fought contest, but we got three points, from a solid team performance. Which like many games this season, we all feel we would have probably lost last season? Wenger really has turned this team around and ok its top four till Chelsea play, but we are in there on merit…..
Not the most exciting game ever, agreed, but 3 points and the chant that is recognised around the world, 1 nil to the Arsenal, 1 nil to the Arsenal………is somewhat fitting on day of nostalgia…….
125 years! Hell of a long time, so long ago that Spurs title win was in the future and even Kelsey hadn’t been born :-).
And what a tradition our wonderful club has, what history, and always (apart from Mr. Norris) a club with honour and class. To those lucky enough to be going today the opportunity to share in the celebrations is one not to be missed. Get there early (and smuggle in a Peroni or two)
Would you trust this man? (Henry Norris)
Henry Norris is an interesting man. He appears to have been something of a Harry Redknapp type character. As Arsenal Chairman he was accused of bribing Charlie Buchan (the Messi of his day) to come to Arsenal, he was also known to use the club’s money for a private chauffeur and car. In 1929 an FA investigation found that he had sold the Arsenal team bus for £125 and pocketed the money. He sued the FA and lost, subsequently to be banned for life from football (according to Wikipedia). But he was the man who bought Highbury and the man who kept us in the First Division. Sadly, no statue of Henry nor of George Graham!
The choice of statues was in my opinion controversial; does Thierry Henry mean more to the history of the Arsenal than Frank McLintock? Or David Jack or Wee Alex James or Ted Drake? I could go on but I really think that due to our magnificent history there is a need to put more statues around the ground. Yes, TH is our top scorer and the best player I have seen in an Arsenal shirt, but Frank and his team are such an important part of our history. Still, today is not a day to be churlish, is it?
Onto today’s match, one we have to win to keep up our challenge and to enhance the festivities. The fallout of AW’s controversial decision to play first teamers in Athens is that we lack a left back, Vermaelen can play there but he is such a fantastic CB it is a waste of his talents, plus he lacks the game to be of assistance to Gervinho. We shall see how he fares as there is no obvious alternative.
My Team:
Big game for Arteta, who has been outstanding in recent games. He will want to impress his former colleagues.
Everton have selection problems with Rodwell out (thankfully) but expect a return for Saha. They are not in a good run of form, nor do Everton have a good record at THOF. Nonetheless, they are a decent team and as Fulham showed, any team that is well organised can cause us problems.
Today’s Gooner: It is fitting to go back into the mists of time and find one of the original fans. One of our earliest fans was a chemist who worked at the Woolwich Arsenal and was involved in the Dial Square team, his name – Frederick Augustus Abel (1827-1902). Frederick was football nuts but also found time to develop Cordite for which (amongst other inventions) he was rewarded with a Baronetcy. Top Man. Top Gooner.
Fred showing off his fine Facial Hair.
Like all fans of The Arsenal I am proud to be a Gooner, and proud that the club I support is By Far the Greatest Team the World Has Ever Seen.
Whilst browsing the comments on AA a few days ago I was quite taken by an exchange between FGG and GN5 about the importance of football. How important is football and in particular Arsenal to me I asked myself? Pondering the answer I could only come to one conclusion…. “ A hell of a lot”.
Ray Kennedy heads title winner against Tottenham in 1971
I suppose it all started in the early seventies when as a kid my old man used to take me to Highbury and I would sit on his shoulders. I quickly became intoxicated with the majesty of the stadium, the lush green turf and those glorious red and white shirts. This wasn’t a problem then, after all I was just a kid, and when we lost and I cried (it was the mid seventies and I used to cry a lot in them days), adults would afford me sympathy and a kind word.
My addiction to Arsenal probably bought its first problems when I hit secondary school. My school was mostly West Ham but there was a sprinkling of Arsenal and Tottenham. There was one kid in particular, ‘Andrew’, who was afflicted with the same passion as me, problem was he was Spurs. Needless to say I spent the next 3 years of my life arguing and fighting with this kid at every opportunity (despite the fact that he must have hit puberty aged six or something coz at age eleven he was about a foot taller than me and I swear he was sporting a beard). Subsequently my grades suffered and I was classed as an “under achiever”.
Did I learn any lessons from my fanaticism to Arsenal during my school days? Of course not. In my late teens and early twenties I took my madness to new levels. I discovered the joy of away games and the incredible buzz of going into “foreign territory”. At this time I was known to family and friends as an “Arsenal nut”, and my dad who started my addiction in the first place, would berate me at very opportunity, usually along the lines of “Do you think Arsenal will give you a living you f…..g idiot”. It was during this period that I would routinely miss things like weddings and christenings if they clashed with Arsenal games and am sure that to this day some people have still not forgiven me (I mean come on, who organises such an event knowing that Arsenal have Wolves away on the same day)
By the time I got married in my mid twenties I thought my addiction was over. I had a lovely wife, a good job, stopped going to away games, and if push came to shove would even miss the odd home again. Was I cured? No.
Looking back now I realise my addiction was still there but it was much more subtle. Every time Arsenal was playing, I still needed some form of contact, usually via the radio. I had to have my fix however inappropriate. This need manifested itself rather horribly on one occasion round my in laws, (who had several other guests around at the time), I had sneaked in a radio to listen to the 2nd leg of the semi against PSG in the ECWC and when we scored I suffered the inevitable tourettes moment “F…..g Kevin Campbell” To say that my wife or in laws were not best pleased, well that would be an understatement.
Yes , she divorced me a few years later, and upon receiving the papers from her solicitors (whilst I was examining the league table and upcoming fixtures to try and work out were we would be if we won our next few games), I was shocked to see that she cited “Arsenal Football Club” as one of the reasons.
All stories should have a happy ending folks and so does this one. I am very happy in my current relationship, have two wonderful daughters (who don’t like football) and a dad who still berates me at every opportunity. My current partner is very understanding of my “Affliction” and we tend to do things around the Arsenal timetable. (She’s an auditor so I would describe our relationship as very “Professional”, hahaha)
I suppose when you ask yourself “How important is Arsenal and Football”? to know the answer you should really ask “How has Arsenal and Football impacted my life”? In my case, probably too much, but what the hell “I love my Arsenal”.
With so much grief given out to our esteemed manager during pre season, and with another transfer window just around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to see how Wenger’s apparent ‘panic buys’ have compared to the big money signings of some of our closest league rivals.
There were many comments written on this blog, and loads of others, slating Arsene’s dealings during the last window. Fans were worried that he had lost his touch and that the likes of Nasri, Fabregas and Clichy were not being sufficiently replaced. But with a good chunk of the season passed, what do we think of these signings now?
First up we have the defenders. Mertersacker, Santos and Jenkinson were drafted in by AW as replacement for the outgoing Clichy and the mistake ridden Squillaci, all for the price of £17m.
In contrast, Chelsea paid £24m for Luiz in January, Man Utd went for Jones for a princely sum of £17m, Liverpool snapped up Coates for £7m and Man City threw £9m the way of Savic.
If we look at the centre backs, none of the above have really set the premier league alight. Mertersacker has been a calming influence for Arsenal but prone to the odd mistake, whilst Jones, Coates and Savic have all been used sparingly by their managers. David Luiz has however become a bit of a joke figure at Chelsea due to his awful defensive displays and his ability to start a fight in an empty room.
On the other hand, Santos and Jenkinson have both proved real bargains for the Gunners. If you think that AW paid just £7m for the pair, compared to the £17m Man City forked out for the inconsistent Kolarov last year, you can see that Arsene’s touch in the market is very much in tact.
For defenders, Wenger has definitely done better than his rival managers.
Moving on to midfield, Arsène had a massive job to fill the huge hole left by Fabregas and the even fatter, I mean bigger, hole left by Nasri. In the end he opted to draft in Arteta for £10m, Gervinho for £10m, Oxlaide-Chamberlain for £12.5m and Benayoun on loan. His rivals on the other hand splashed out on the likes of Nasri (Man City) £22m, Mata (Chelsea) £23.5m, Downing (Liverpool) £20m, Henderson (Liverpool) £16m, Mereiles (Chelsea) £12m and Young (Man U) £16m.
For Arsenal, Arteta and Gervinho started relatively slowly, but after finding their feet they have started to show the quality they possess. Arteta espescially has grown into a real force, oozing class and running games from start to finish. Ox has shown glimpses of the star that he is no doubt going to become, but Benayoun has so far struggled to get playing time.
The stand out players for our rivals have been Mata at Chelsea and Young at United, though neither has yet to live up to their hype. Nasri, Henderson and Mereiles on the other hand have all failed so far at their new homes, espescially the fat Frenchman, whos arse must have more splinters than a joiners finger!
I have no doubt that Mata and Young will prove successful purchases, but I reckon the £20m for Downing and £22m for Nasri just goes to show the value AW has found in his purchases.
For midfielders, I think AW loses points for missing out on Mata, but overall, his signings look like value for money. Espescially Ox, who looks like a future star.
Finally it’s the strikers. With Chamakh misfiring and RvP still prone to injuries, AW needed to strengthen. In the end he paid out £3m for Park and just £1m for Campbell. Other clubs were relatively quiet in the striking department so we have to look back at January for comparison. City paid £38m for Aguero, Liverpool spent £30m on Carroll and £23m on Suarez, whilst Chelsea blew £50m (yes, that’s right, £50m) on Torres.
Wenger opted to send Campbell straight out on loan to earn his stripes and his visa, whilst Park has only really been seen in the Carling Cup. It’s difficult to compare these to the others mentioned as they are not first choice, big money signings.
Looking at our rivals additions, Torres and Carroll have so far been very expensive flops, between them they have been firing £80m worth of blanks. On the other hand, Suarez and Aguero have both lived up to their huge fees. Suarez, though, has been the pick of the bunch. He may be a cheating prick, but the kid can play!
I think the real comparison may be made in January as Arsene needs to dive into the market to find a replacement for Chamakh. Watch this space.
I’m sure you will all have your own view on Arsène’s dealings this season, but for me, he has once again proved his doubters wrong. If you look at the price tags attached to some of the rival players mentioned, you can see that Arsene has lost none of his ability to spot a bargain. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t fall into his old habit of hanging onto sub standard players for too long. If Chamakh and Arshavin can be moved on in January and then adequately replaced, this new look Arsenal squad could be a real force heading into next year.
Well that was pretty poor, wasn’t it? A performance we can happily stuff down the back of the sofa, and hope no-one notices. Of course, we can (and will) wheel out the line about it being a dead rubber, and say that we’d won the group already, so no worries. But let’s be honest, it was pretty rubbish.
There are plenty of negatives to take from the game, but chief amongst them is the nigh-on disastrous news that our fourth and final senior fullback is injured and will be out “for some time”. There are going to be some interesting questions about whether Vermaelen or Miquel plays in place of Santos and Gibbs.
Olympiakos wanted to win tonight and they dictated the pace virtually from the first moment to the last. We were out-thought and out-fought. It was just a shame their thoroughly deserved victory didn’t earn them a place in the knock-out phase. But then I also have a lot of time for Marseille.
Our first half performance this evening was dreadful, pretty much the worst we’ve seen since the cataclysmic August-September period. The defence was carved open time and again, and we gave up possession with our failure to deal with Olympiakos’s high energy pressing game. Our players failed to adapt and lacked the guile to look for the space that the multiple pressing players vacated when they were ganging up on the Arsenal defenders and defensive midfielders. It was that failure more than anything that handed the initiative to our opponents.
To make matters worse, there was no cohesion amongst the four defenders and they were nervous in their dealings with each of the keepers behind them. Djourou was woeful throughout the game, Squillaci only marginally better and both Santos and Vermaelen well below the standards we know they can play at. But above all else, their coordination was absent, they played like ships in the night.
Matters were hardly better higher on the pitch. Coquelin and Frimpong created nothing but more problems for the defenders with misplaced passes and sacrificed possession. And the attacking three were generally starved of the ball, with Oxlade-Chamberlain and to a tiny extent Arshavin providing only rare attacking force in the first half. Chamakh was once again dreadful, and in the first half Benayoun was ineffectual.
I have to admit, when Fabianski, who had looked decidedly nervy, was injured, I was a little bit pleased. The first goal wasn’t entirely his fault, a pass having ricocheted off the hapless Squillaci and Djourou before breaking perfectly for Rafik Djebbour, who finished from a tight angle with cool authority. But Fabianski seemed to have sold himself, and made it just little bit easier for the striker than it needed to have been. So, being something of a fan of Vito Mannone, I wasn’t too upset to see the Joaquin Phoenix lookalike come on in the 20th minute. But bloody hell, how wrong was I, to have such faith?
Olympiakos’s second goal was one of the most embarrassing goals I can remember Arsenal conceding, ever. Mannone bravely and sensibly came and headed a ball that had broken after Frimpong was caught in possession (again). But unbelievably, Mannone failed to do the simplest thing and catch David Fuster’s soft mis-hit shot that came back from his header. In his panic, Mannone tried to scissor-kick the ball away, it apparently not having computed that he was now back in his penalty area and could safely use his hands. His attempted kick failed and failed miserably. The ball gently bounced past him and into
the net. An aberration, and that’s being kind.
The second half was a shade better than the first, with the defence discovering some poise and cohesion, especially after Miquel came on for Santos. Mannone made one or two reasonable saves, and Vermaelen seemed to remember what it takes to be a defensive leader. But Djourou’s game continued to be of the lowest standard, and he was constantly caught out of position, was ponderous without the ball and consistently poor with it. Likewise, Frimpong and Coquelin continued to play badly. Benayoun started to offer something, and that culminated in the only bright moment of the evening, his lovely volley for our consolation goal when he was played in by Chamakh (who appeared to be more interested in diving to earn a penalty, so missed the Israeli’s lovely hit). But that goal was completely against the run of play, we didn’t deserve it.
That said, Olympiakos began to run out of puff after the 70th minute, and finally we had space in midfield while they dropped off instead of pressing us. Not a lot was produced by way of openings, though Rosicky and Chamakh did combine well at one point, and had the Little Mozart lofted the ball over the Greek keeper, we could have drawn level. However, justice was served when Olympiakos scored a decisive third in the closing minutes, following two free-kicks given away in quick succession near the by-line by the already booked Frimpong. Olaf Mellberg, well known to us as the scorer of the first competitive goal
at the Grove, rose higher than the four Arsenal players around him and headed the ball onto the post, past the sprawling Mannone. François Modesto was perfectly placed to pick up the pieces and he slotted the ball to make the result safe for the Greeks.
The fact we lost tonight is no cause for concern in itself. But the way that pretty much the same side that outplayed Man City last week was utterly off the pace tonight is disappointing, I for one expected more. And now, with Santos’s injury, we’ll have to see if we pay a higher price.
Arsenal fans at King’s Cross to catch the special trains to Huddersfield for the FA Cup semi final against Grimbsy, 21st March 1936. Arsenal won 1-0
Posted by dandan 
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