A look at Arsenal Heroes ….. Charlie George

August 10, 2015

I thought I would take a look back at a few of our Arsenal Heroes and I’m starting off with a local player that you will all recognize and admire – Charles Frederick “Charlie” George

Charlie George 1

Charlie was born 10 October 1950 in Islington, North London.

Brought up deep in Arsenal territory, Charlie was just a nipper when he made his first trip to Highbury to see the Gunners play. His fiery nature showed up early in his life when he was expelled from a local school. As a young boy he played for Islington Schoolboys before he realised his dream when in May 1966 he signed as an apprentice at Arsenal and turned professional eighteen months later. In a short period of three to four years he had progressed from standing on the terraces watching his heroes to actually playing among them.

He made his debut against Everton in the opening game of the 1969/70 season and scored his first goal against West Bromwich Albion two games later. Unfortunately, ill-discipline marred his initial season and as a result he spent three months in the reserves. He was reinstated in the spring and as a19-year-old he helped the Gunners to European Fairs Cup glory. He brought a swagger previously unseen in a Bertie Mee side, and his impact meant he attracted much of the pre-season hype in the summer of 1970. It wasn’t a case of if he would be good but more a case of just how good he would become. Disaster lurked just around the corner when after scoring at Goodison Park on the opening day of the League season; Charlie suffered a broken ankle which kept him out until the New Year. During his absence he was replaced up front by Ray Kennedy. His skills and creativity allowed him to thrive in his new role as an attacking midfielder and from there he gave the team an added dimension that would prove to pay the ultimate dividend on a historic day at Wembley in May 1971.

Arsenal had wrapped up the league title at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane on the Monday when Ray Kennedy headed home a cross from George Armstrong – now just a short few days later they had to face Bill Shankley’s Liverpool in the FA Cup final. After 90 minutes the game was goalless but just two minutes into extra time Liverpool were ahead through Steve Heighway. Nine minutes later Eddie Kelly started what would be a remarkable Arsenal comeback. With eight minutes to go the game looked destined for a draw with both sets of players dead on their feet until George, Arsenal’s long-haired talisman, stepped up. John Radford squared the ball just outside the box and George took a touch to steady himself before lashing a thunderbolt of a shot past Ray Clemence into the Liverpool goal.

The game commentator described the goal as follows –
Radford to George – George –

HE SCORES!
GEORGE HAS DONE IT!
GEORGE HAS DONE IT!

His celebration is almost as famous as the goal itself as he dropped to the floor in exhaustion and lay flat on his back as his team-mates celebrated. It remains one of the most rousing and lasting images in Arsenal’s history as well as the history of the FA Cup.

 

charlie george 4

With the FA Cup win Arsenal completed their first League and Cup double.

Charlie George 5
He played four more seasons at Highbury, however the latter stages of his career with Arsenal were hampered with injuries and his rebellious streak which created issues with the club’s management; during the 1971–72 season he was disciplined by the club twice, first after head butting Liverpool’s Kevin Keegan, and then for flicking a V-sign at Derby County’s fans after scoring away at the Baseball Ground. He scored eleven goals in both 1971–72 and 1972–73 but his form declined and he only scored five times in 28 matches in 1973–74 and once again ill discipline caused a problem and he was dropped from the first team in 1974–75 after falling out with manager Bertie Mee. By Christmas 1974 he had been transfer listed, and he moved to Derby County in July 1975 for £100,000.

He spent three and a half years at Derby but, predictably, he fell out with coach Don Revie after being substituted and he was never picked again. He also had a loan spell at St George’s Budapest in Australia. After Derby, he went on to play for the Minnesota Kicks in the North American Soccer League, where he made 18 appearances in the1978 season. He then returned to England with Southampton and then he had a short period on loan to Nottingham Forest in 1980, he could not agree an extension to his loan at Forest and returned to Southampton, playing his last league game for them on 14 March 1981. In the summer of 1981 he left the club to move to Bulova in Hong Kong. A year later he returned to England to have short spells with Bournemouth and Derby County for a second time, and had a short time with Scottish side Dundee United before retiring in 1983.

Always a controversial figure, Charlie had his run-ins with the game’s authorities, but his supporters loved him no less for it. Sadly for him he never got the chance to fulfil his potential on the international stage and the hour he played for England against the Republic of Ireland in 1976 was to be his only cap. A disagreement with then boss Don Revie led to his substitution and a falling out with the England set-up.
After retiring from football he moved to New Milton, Hampshire to run a pub. For some years he had joint ownership in a garage business now he is back at Arsenal where he conducts “Legends” tours, and also acts as a match day host.

charlie george 3

GunnerN5

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Theo & Ox to Star

August 9, 2015

We have a treat as our season opening Pre-Match-, Young Bob has written another post. I hope you enjoy his analysis of today’s opposition ……

Big Raddy and I sat in a bar/restaurant in the Malmo sunshine last Wednesday eagerly anticipating Mission Impossible II (Malmo needing to win by three clear goals vs Red Bull Salzburg) and our thoughts turned to the season opener back in blighty where the mighty hammers are due to arrive at the Emirates as cannon fodder for the 2015/16 Gooners.

Following my article last year when I described 10 memorable Arsenal vs West Ham clashes, Raddy posed the question as to what I might like to write about this time.  “How about a look at players who have played for both clubs” I replied.  We then sat and named at least 10 players who had worn the finest silks of North and East London clubs (can you?).  And interestingly we couldn’t think of a single player who moved from East to North!  Anyway on my return home I decided to do a little more research and found some other smart arse had already written said article.  See link below.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2871/special/2010/03/19/1839103/premier-league-special-any-old-iron-the-arsenal-players-west-ham-

So, as an alternative, I thought it might be interesting to preview the game from the perspective of a die hard hammer.

The Hammers arrive at the Emirates with a new manager – ‘Honest Slaven Bilic’ (just ask Laurent Blanc) and the promise of a return to The West Ham way, something Big Fat Sam decided didn’t exist.  And the pre-season signs have been promising with build ups from the back and short passing through midfield.

At the back will be a debutant by the name of Angelo Agbonna, signed from Juventus for approx £6,000,000.  The jury is out as he’s looked a little ropey in pre-season, but an Italian defender can’t be all bad can they?  Joining Angelo at the back will be Arron Creswell (great going forward and average at the back) Joey O’Brien (just cack at everything he does) and one of James Collins, Winston Reid or James Tomkins with Reid being the pick of the three.

Our midfield is expected to feature two holding players in Mark Noble and Cheik Kayoute and three more forward thinking players in Mario Zarate, Matt Jarvis and Dimitri Payet.  Up front, ploughing a lonely furrow will be Diafra Sakho.

Noble will look like a decent player for 30 minutes or so, but for all his positive attributes, he’s incredibly one paced and chasing Arsenal’s quick moving passing game around the Emirates will end up with him looking like Hattie Jaques chasing Benny Hills Angels around a hospital car park.  Kayoute is an excellent player with leg’s longer than Jerry Hall’s.  I expect him to move on to better things within the year.

Moving on to the attacking prowess of the rip roaring hammers.

Jarvis used to be one of the best crossers of a football since Georgie Armstrong.  Now he just runs down blind alleys and the end product is non-existent.  Zarate could be anything, but most likely shit!  Signed by the porn brothers, discarded on-loan to QPR by BFS at the beginning of January, he was deemed unfit by Rangers, and nearly sent back to West Ham before the end of January.  Loves to pass, mostly to himself.  Payet however looks to be different gravy.  Top of the assists stats in France, he looks more like a Gooner than a Hammer, but if he sees enough of the ball, may just cause your lot a few problems.

And up front will be our outstanding success of last season.  Sakho could of course turn out to be a one season wonder, but I’ve got a feeling he’ll score another decent number of goals, ably assisted by Payet.

So, to my prediction.  Unfortunately I think Walcott and The Ox are likely to rip us a new one and I expect Arsenal to win by 3 clear goals.  However, in the spirit of last Wednesday when Malmo beat Red Bull 3-0 to progress to the next round of CL qualifying – you just never know!!

written by West Ham Bob

As to Big Raddy – well my initial focus this afternoon will be the team selection. Mr.Wenger has the “luxury”(?) of JW and Sanchez being unavailable, however when all are fit how will he arrange the team? Will we play with a front line of Walcott up top and Ozil, Sanchez and Ox zipping about behind him. Or will it be OG who is the fulcrum with Theo terrifying the opposition FB’s? Personally, I would pick The Ox as our right sided forward as I think he is about to develop into a true world-class player which will bring our complement up to 4 (Kos, Ozil, Sanchez or 7 if you include Santi, Cech and Aaron)

This is Cech first PL game as an Gooner, a fine signing and a top player. I wish him well.

Whomever lines up in the famous shirt will be expected to start the season in style and with 3 points. We need to win games like today and not give our rivals a head start as we did last season.

My hope and expectation that Bob is right ….. Theo and Ox will rip them a new one (but I expect OG to start)

BTW Can you think of any players who have moved from West Ham to Arsenal, we couldn’t!

COYRRG

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The Time Is Now : Season Preview

August 8, 2015

So today the 2015/16 Premier League season kicks off. The first game of the new season presents a tough one for Gooners to want anyone to win the fixture – Man U vs Spurs, I’ll be hoping for my normal which is 0-0, 22 man brawl, points deduction and suspensions, it would be funny to see ManUre lose on the opening day after spending £80m this summer, but wanting Spuds to start off with a win at OT, no thanks.

Enough talking about bile inducing teams, time to focus on us.

Looking through BBCs pundits forecast of the league placings most still put Chelsea as the team to beat, strangely quite a few think we are finishing second and four brave souls even put us down as winners, I say strangely because for the last four years we have been the pundits pick to drop out of the top 4, have the pundits finally woken up to the fact that Arsene has been steadily building a very good squad of players and are a lot better than many have given us credit for over the last couple of seasons.

Keymen:

Coquelin personally rediscovering his natural position was the turning point of last season, prepared to do a job that no one else in the squad can do, according to Arsene there was a time when Coquelin fancied himself as a bit more of a box to boxer, despite Arsene telling him to focus on being the best at what he could do well rather than being average in a more flamboyant role, the lad can do more than break up play, he is actually a good passer too long and short. But his aggression and will to get in the face of his opponents has been a real catalyst for others in the side. It also hasn’t done any harm that his selection and continued run in the side means no one at the club is guaranteed a place. No matter what the wages or assumed status within the team.

I also think the way Alexis approaches football will have been a wake up call to the squad, here is a player gifted with immense talents on the ball, but who is prepared to work his socks off when not in possession, it feels like he may have had a similar impact to that made by Bergkamp. I’m not saying before Alexis arrived that the team was full of drunks and partying types like Bergkamp found on his arrival, but Alexis shows that talent with ball at feet is only half of the equation, the other half is made up with how you play, with passion, with commitment but most of all intensity. Alexis showed up, every single game, that hust has to rub off on others, especially our younger players.

Squad

Last season as we all know was reasonably successful, a second FA Cup in as many years, and a fantastic run from February onwards apart from that Champions League game with good results against teams we have not always done brilliantly against in recent seasons.

At the end of last season the populist position was we were still a striker, a centre back and a goalkeeper short, we’ve added the goalkeeper and for some that’s enough to put us right in contention, Cech is undoubtedly good, is he really that good? Let’s hope so.

Perhaps we will still see another addition or two to the squad, but it is all ready quite full and would take some juggling, Arsene has already got his work cut out keeping the current squad happy.

Playing style/formation

After the Community Shield Maureen wanted to tell everyone that we left our principles in the dressing room and came to put ten men behind the ball, whilst I’m not really sure that’s true, do we need to sometimes play like that if we are going to win the title, or can we do it playing open attractive football every weekend? Some say that our trip to the Etihad last season was a sign that we are ready to change, whilst we may have sat deeper that day I still think we played the better football when we had the ball, and as soon as we got the ball we were making purposeful movements forward. We have played defensive against teams before, Barca would be one I could think of, but in those games when we got the ball we did nothing with it, so I don’t think parking the bus will be the answer, I think it’s collective defending and having players who can get the ball out of tight situations whilst still moving forward with adventure.

Other than those few games where we will have to worry more about our opponents in the main I expect us to continue with the possession football, and lots of little one twos, the key to this being successful is movement and speed.

4-5-1 or 4-3-3 have been our stock in trade formations for the last few seasons, I think this was altered slightly last season to more like 4-1-2-3, that formation has allowed us to be tighter at the back as full backs are not required to push on constantly, this left us a lot less exposed than in previous seasons.

I wonder whether that’s why Theo is being moved inside to compete with Ollie for the number 9 role, he is not the greatest when it comes to running the touch line with the ball with only an opponent or two for company 9 times out of ten he will end up overrunning the ball or crossing to nothing or stopping waiting for support and being relieved of possession compare that to Alexis, Ozil and even Ox we have better players to play those wide roles who do not require full backs to bomb up the pitch to help them out, they can trick their way past a couple of opponents and change the direction of play without losing momentum of attack.

Is this our year

Arsenes first squad post Emirates contained Cesc and friends and in 2008 we had a good chance of winning the league only for it all to fall apart in February, I think the current squad is at a very similar stage in terms of development and having grown together, the failure of that side to win a trophy plus increasing financial pressure eventually led to the break up of that squad before they had really achieved anything, this current squad whilst picking up a couple of FA Cups is at a similar stage, we need to really challenge this season, it’s ok if we come up short by a point or two, but we really have the squad to push Chelsea and City all the way. Let’s hope we can at least do that starting with West Ham.

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Jabba Says Arsene Wasted His Best Years – Do You Agree?

August 6, 2015

The ever-charming Alisher Usmanov has been speaking again.

In between appearing at Comicon as the world’s best Jabba the Hutt impersonator, Usmanov is also a major shareholder at Arsenal – albeit one who has been squeezed out of day-to-day involvement in the club.

His pronouncements are infrequent but usually serve to advance his agenda: namely to suggest that he would be a better majority owner of the club than Mr Kroenke.

This week he is reported as saying: “Arsene Wenger had a very, very difficult position when the club shareholders did not want to put their money to construct the new stadium. Because of this he lost five years – maybe the best of his career – without a trophy. In reality ten years.”

My first reaction was anger: from a certain perspective, those years of austerity can be viewed not as lost years, but as Arsene’s BEST years.

Sure, there were no trophies, but during those years he arguably performed his greatest miracles: he kept us in the Champions League positions year after year while spending less than net zero and while watching his best players waltz out of the door at the end of every season.

When people compare Wenger and Mourinho I always look at it this way: could Arsene have won Premiership titles with the squad that was bought for Jose – at eye-watering expense – at Chelsea from 2004 onwards? The answer is self-evidently “yes.”

Now flip it on its head: could Jose Mourinho have kept a team in the top four of the Premier League for eight years with the resources that Arsene had to work with in the period after we moved to The Emirates? The answer is again self-evident and this time it is “no.” In fact, “no, no and thrice no. Not a cat in hell’s chance.”

Hence my reaction to Jabba’s words. They are an insult to a great manager – and to our club and to all the people who kept supporting Arsenal during those leaner years in the hope of eventually seeing a brighter tomorrow.

But, on reflection, I realised that Jabba is also implying that, had he been the boss man, he would have dipped into his own pocket to build the stadium and would have kept the cash flowing for buying new superstars and retaining our existing ones.

Would that have been such a bad thing?

We could have avoided all those years of watching other teams lord it over us, of fans turning against fans, of vitriol poured over our greatest ever manager.

It does make you think…

On balance I’ll stick with my original instincts: I’m glad we didn’t become another sugar daddy club; I’m glad we are an institution that “pays its way” honestly and doesn’t engage in financial doping.

Somehow it feels right – it feels like the Arsenal way.

And how much more satisfying are the trophies when we have all been through a barren and frustrating period?

But that’s just me. What do you think?

RockyLives

 

 

 

 

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Will The Arsenal be successful this season

August 3, 2015

Morning Gooner’s

The 2015-16 season is about to start, will The Arsenal be better equipped this season, to mount a realistic challenge on not only the domestic trophies but the European ones as well?

Arsene Wenger has said, he feels we are where he would like us to be, and that if we make a better start this season than we did last, he see’s no reason that we could be a factor. Arsene it has to be said, says a lot of things that I feel  are just paper talk. Many times he seems to say things that confuses the interviewer and fans alike. Arsene is a very intelligent man, degree’s in this and that, he has had a very good education, but the degree I feel he shines in is Bullshit.

Arsene Knows we have a club now that can win things, he doesn’t want to come over as cocky, but seems to hesitate when asked certain questions, just how far the club can go. Pre season has been very successful, holders of the FA cup for the second season in a row, was a nice way to start off the pre season.

Firstly our tour in the Asian cup went very well, and we lifted  the cup against Everton in the final. We then hosted our annual Emirates cup, which we also won.  We then moved on to the Community Shield at Wembley against current League holder’s Chelsea. The usual Banter from the Chelsea Manager prior to the game, focussed all the attention on the special one, but sadly for him and Chelsea it was The Arsenal that lifted that trophy as well.

Most of the attention before that game, was about how poorly our manager’s record was against Chelsea’s present Manager, and how many times it has been since Arsene Wenger, has  beaten his rival. All over and done now as we are now the holders for the second season in a row, can I see a patten emerging here?

At the moment, we sit with the Asian cup, the Community shield, and the FA cup nestling in the cabinet, at the home of football. Two of those trophies are for the second season in a row, the talk has stopped of The Arsenal’s Barren years, but will swiftly start again as we kick off the new season, with cries of how long its been since winning the Premier league, and if we will ever win Champions League.  This of course will have to unfold as the new season get’s under way, but I have to say, The Arsenal have a bit of a swagger about them at the moment.

The Arsenal start their season on Sunday against West Ham, so will be playing catch up. I wonder just how many times that will happen this season, but the games will be played and as long as we start off well, we should be able to keep our points tally even, after all fixtures of the weeks games are played. Points will gradually add up, and I envisage it won’t be long before the leaders make headway, hopefully we can be up there leading.

Arsene Wenger has had a tough few years, the lack of funds and the change of stadium, the owners  seem to have left most of the football side with Arsene to handle, and it has to be said he has certainly done his part to get The Arsenal solvent and building. The owners have also done their bit with funding and running the club as all football clubs should be run, funding itself.

As far as the supporters are concerned, we will always be a couple of top players short, but every supporter says that about their club, but i have no doubts that Arsene will buy when he feels the need, monies are available, we have a very big squad made up of home-grown and imported players, we have a good talent coming through the ranks, and Arsene has been buying young talent for the future, we are in fact in a position to make our mark on world football, healthy club, good squad, a fantastic stadium  and a top  class manager, we are on our way. COYRRG’s.

Written by a proud Gooner Steve Palmer

 

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Community Shield pre match

August 2, 2015

At Last! The first truly competitive game of the 2015/16 season.

We’ve all, or at least most of us, enjoyed the pre-season tournaments, the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore saw us win the first bauble, The Emirates Cup provided us with the second. Good football, good performances and a chance to look at some of the stars of the future, all good fun.

Now we come to a match of somewhat more significance, the Community Shield against Premier League Champions Chelsea.

Some of us (37.1%) don’t rate the result very highly, others (62.9%) think it’s an MWG (must win game). Wherever you stand on the matter I’m sure 100% of you want an Arsenal win.

A win against the Champions would be a welcome boost to the morale and confidence of the squad, it might also put a bung in the mouth of the ever charming Senhor Mourinho. It would also put and end to the run of matches in which Arsene Wenger has been unable to claim a victory over the self-styled Special One.

Enough with the personalities, on with the team.

With an almost fully fit squad there can be no reason to suppose that Le Professeur will do anything but pick his strongest available starting eleven, so we should line up something close to this.

Cech

Bellerin   Mertesacker   Koscielny   Monreal

Cocquelin   Cazorla

Oxlade-Chamberlain     Ozil         Ramsey

Walcott

My one caveat with the above line-up is Bellerin, the street-wise Debuchy might be preferred as his greater experience may be required to cope with readiness of Hazard to go to ground a bit too easily.

I’ve really no idea how the opposition will line up, there are reports that Costa and Cahill are carrying injuries and so must be doubtful starters, perhaps Falcao will get the nod, it will be interesting to see if he can shrug off the memory of a less than scintillating season under van Gaal at Man U.

Their manager has made the predictable calls for referees to give greater protection to Hazard, it is to be hoped that they will also take heed of that particular player’s propensity to perform a triple somersault with pike at the least provocation.

The odds are with our opponents at the moment, they are around 6/4 for the win with Arsenal at 15/8.

Is it an MWG? Can Arsenal win? Give us your opinion.

Written by Norfolk Gooner.

 

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Is the Community Shield a big deal?

July 30, 2015

Morning all, for the sake of all of our eyes and as Eddie raised the question about the importance of the weekends game with Chelsea, with the dreaded question….is it a “Must Win Game”…..i decided i may as well put finger to keyboard and put something up, it has tables and a poll, whats not to like?

I’m already sick of the sight of Maureen and listening to him is too much to bear, so for that reason i’d love us to win, but from a point of view of our season going forward do we think it will have a great affect either positively or negatively?

After all last season we won the Community Shield only to finish third in the league, the optimism of July and August was crushed come transfer deadline day and a long queue outside the medical room was forming.

So i decided to have a look back to 2004 and the fortunes of the winners and losers of the Community Shield come the end of the season.

Year Winners Lge Position Champions League FA Cup League Cup
2004 Arsenal 2 Winners
2005 Chelsea 1
2006 Liverpool 4
2007 Manchester United 1 Winners
2008 Manchester United 1 Winners Winners
2009 Chelsea 1
2010 Manchester United 1
2011 Manchester United 2
2012 Manchester City 2
2013 Manchester United
2014 Arsenal 3 Winners
Percentage who won 45% 9% 27% 9%

So there you have it, less than half went on to win the league and its been a while since that happened, and others including us went on to win cups.

And what of the runners up?

Year Runners Up League Position Champions League FA Cup League Cup
2004 Manchester United 3
2005 Arsenal 4
2006 Chelsea 2 Winners Winners
2007 Chelsea 2 Runner Up
2008 Portsmouth
2009 Manchester United 2 Winners
2010 Chelsea 2
2011 Manchester City 1
2012 Chelsea 3
2013 Wigan
2014 Manchester City 2
Percentage who won 9% 0% 9% 18%

Well pretty appalling in reality.

So is Eddie right and it is a Must Win Game? Maybe the losers have statistically not done as well in the season compared to the winners, but there is also the possibility that neither side will go on to win anything.

What say the good readers of AA?

Gooner in Exile

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Who are North London’s best Football Team?

July 29, 2015

Arsenal and Tottenham have had an ongoing rivalry/enmity since 1913 when Arsenal had the audacity to move from Woolwich in South East London to Highbury in London N5 just up the road from Tottenham, who played at White Hart Lane in London N17. The Tottenham supporters were still reeling from actions taken by the FA in 1919 when they promoted Arsenal from League Division 2 to League Division 1 despite the fact that they had finished below Tottenham the previous season. Tottenham even went as far as accusing Sir Henry Norris of some sort of skulduggery – how could they possibly have believed that to be true?

Well who are the best team? Let’s explore the team’s records to help us make up minds.

The FA Cup.

01A

 

Arsenal has 12 victories while Tottenham have won only 8 FA Cups. Arsenal’s last win was just 2 months ago while it has been almost a quarter of a century since Spurs last tasted victory – How very sad!

 League Division 1

02A

 

Arsenal won League Division 1 on 10 occasions while Tottenham managed just 2 measly wins – How very sad!

Premier League

03A

Arsenal have won 3 Premier Division championships while Tottenham are still waiting to break their duck – as a point of fact it’s now been 54 years since they won any League title – How very sad!

Premier League Records.

04A

 

 

05A

 

06A

 

This table is absolute evidence that Tottenham can claim the crown of North London’s middle of the road average team that have to live in the vain hope that next year will be their year while Arsenal revel in the glory of being a perpetual top 4 team.

Since Arsene Wenger started as the Arsenal manger in 1996 he has won 3 PL Championships and has never finished outside of the top 4 places whereas in the same time period Tottenham have had 16 different managers and their combined achievement is 2 top 4 finishes – How very sad!

Based on the conclusive evidence we see when comparing the two teams record’s my conclusion is that there is not a rivalry but simply a bitter enmity and a very deep jealousy on the part of the poor deprived and underprivileged N17 dwellers –

How very sad!

They will most likely squawk about the fact that I never listed their record in the Tea Cup or Europe – but frankly who gives a damn about what they think, say or do – most certainly not this Gooner…….in fact I find them to be very sad indeed!

The shadow over White Hart Lane has never been bigger or darker……………while the sun continues to shine bright over the Emirates.

GunnerN5

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Pre-Season almost over.

July 27, 2015

The meaningless pre-season tour to Singapore is over, the Emirates Cup done and dusted. Just one more pre-season game to go before the real business starts.

I know that “Selling Arsenal” is the reason for playing two friendly games in hot and humid Singapore and luckily we got away without any injuries, but was the long trip worth it? I have my doubts.

The Emirates Cup provided an opportunity to look at most of the first team squad and one or two others and at least it was played in the weather conditions likely to prevail once the Premiership gets started. Although the opposition wasn’t too hot, a more than comfortable 6 – 0 win against Lyon and a much tougher game against Wolfsburg which was won by the only goal in the match scored by Theo Walcott.

One Arsenal youngster was particularly impressive. Jeff Reine-Adelaide looks to have the build, pace and technical skill to make it big in the Premiership. It was from his pinpoint pass that Theo scored. He is only seventeen and a lot can happen in a couple of years but hopefully he can become a star in the not too distant future.

Now it’s on to what I hope will prove to be a more competitive game altogether. The Community Shield against the Chavs. Could this prove to be the match where Le Professeur finally puts one over the charming Senhor Mourinho? How sweet that would be.

Looking at the all-round performance, there is definitely a feeling of confidence in the squad, goals came from a variety of sources, the various combinations in defence all looked sound, Petr Cech had no hesitation in ordering his defenders about at corners.

The transfer window is still open, money is available and Wenger has admitted that he could still make a signing or two, if the right player/ players became available.

All in all the future is looking rosy, I think we could do very well in the coming season, I might just have a bob or two on Arsenal winning the Premiership.

Written by Norfolk Gooner.

 

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Does Theo Walcott have a future with Arsenal?

July 21, 2015

Much has been written about Arsenal’s longest serving player, most of it half truths and outright lies no doubt.

Reading between the lines reveals some pertinent facts.

1) Theo genuinely wants to play as a central striker.

2) Theo genuinely believes he can succeed as a central striker.

3) Arsene Wenger appears not to be so sure.

4) Arsene Wenger has given Theo a few chances in his favoured position and Theo has taken the chances well, he’s scored goals and important goals at that. But the jury is still out.

Earlier in the transfer window there were all sorts of stories linking Theo with various Premiership clubs, Liverpool, Man United and Chelsea to name just three. It was “reported” that Theo was seeking talks with Wenger about his future playing position and the matter of his present contract was brought up.

Since then, there have been no bids and, apparently, no interest from any club whatsoever. So it’s hardly surprising to read in Monday’s Telegraph that Theo has put the matter of a new contract firmly on the table. “My agent has talked to the club, I enjoy playing for this club so I am just letting them crack on with things and I’ll continue playing football,” Walcott said. “We’ll just play the waiting game and see what happens but I’m sure it won’t be long. This squad, for me, is one of the best I’ve been involved in. I want to be part of that”. “There is something special in this group. We have got to keep this group together as well. I think successful teams stay together for a long time. I think this team can be very successful”.

Now I may be an old cynic but when there are no offers coming in angling for a contract extension, and no doubt a pay rise, seems the obvious thing to do.

Arsene Wenger is, as ever, playing his cards very close to his chest. Words such as “we would like Theo to stay at the club”, do not quite sound entirely enthusiastic. There is no mention of “we will not sell him at any price”.

We have just the one recognised central striker at the club, Olivier Giroud, a player who has yet to convince the Arsenal faithful that he is the answer to all our striker needs. Theo could well be an option but the rumours persist that Arsenal are ready to pay big money for a proven goal scorer. Would the arrival of a new first choice striker put Theo’s nose out of joint? How would Ollie react to moving down the pecking order?

At least Theo isn’t doing a Sterling and trying to engineer a move and Ollie has so far shown no signs of discontent.

Top notch strikers are hard to come by, they cost a lot and demand high wages, some fail to live up to their price and billing. Maybe we should give Theo a new contract, give him a few more chances in his favoured position and hope that it all turns out for the best.

Should he stay? Or should he go?

Written by Norfolk Gooner.

 

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