A Mackem Mission

February 22, 2014

So here we are at the end of our first cluster of serious challenges. It didn’t go brilliantly, but didn’t go terribly for us either. We are still major contenders for the F.A cup, have a chance of progressing in the champions league, (against the odds admittedly, but bet against us at your peril!), and are still one of the 4 realistic teams that can win this years EPL.

We now face Sunderland F.C. In the Premier League, so what do we know about them?

Sunderland F.C were formed in 1879 which makes them one of the oldest institutions in football. They have a rich and ancient history, much like ourselves, so respect where it is due on either side, and that should lend itself to a vocal but respectful atmosphere at the game.

I have a couple of friends who emanate from Sunderland and they are good chaps, so if you run into any Mackem’s at the pre-match pub get together I hope you enjoy their company and here are some tips of things not to say :

1 Are you a Geordie?

2 I really like that stripey bar code look.

3 That Alan fellow from Match of the day, (not the smug Scottish one), seems a nice and well reasoned chap.

On to us and I would say that we should be moving ahead confidently. The Bayern defeat, and the way it transpired, really shouldn’t affect our overall confidence at all in any way and I fully expect us to dominate this game, BUT, it is a game against a team that could prove more difficult than we originally envision if we don’t get our act together from the start.

Sunderland are managed by Gus Poyet who, although may sound like Speedy Gonzales, I think is a good manager that plays the game in the right way, and has shown in recent games that Sunderland will not be an easy team to beat. We definitely need to be rid of any hangovers from Tuesday night and I am hoping for an early productive onslaught with a relaxing final twenty minutes rather than a tense finish.

We have Gibbs, Vermaelen, Walcott, Diaby, Kallstrom and Ramsey injured. These are some key players but we still have a lot of great available players in the squad which exemplifies our strength in depth. I also feel we may need to rotate a little, but not a lot, because we have a week off after this. As such my team would be :

arse v sund

I am not sure that this will be Arsene’s starting line up. If AOC is injured then I would put Gnabry straight in. I also think Arsene is likely to include Ozil, who I feel already is, and will increasingly be, a great player for us that will continue to become even better. I do however think he has maybe been somewhat overplayed in his first season in the EPL, and would take him out of this game, but I think Arsene will consider the Bayern game as the equivalent of falling off a bike and will push him back into the fray to re-establish himself. I can see the sense in that because the current British media would go into overdrive with their interpretations of Ozil dropping to the bench. If you are reading Mesut, don’t worry because the majority of us gunners have your back.

With no disrespect to Sunderland this really is a game we should expect to win at home. Whoever Arsene chooses to line up with, (even if it is against my most insightful and free of charge advice as listed above), then I feel we should have the necessary qualities to win the day.

COYRRG’S

Written by GoonerB

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A week of highs and lows ….. pants up and pants down

February 21, 2014

Last Friday:

Snippets from Le Boss at his press conference; On the title race…“It is very open, only Chelsea can lose it because they are in front and all the other teams can win it.” on why every other manager says they are not contenders…“It’s fear to fail”. On Sagna’s future… “No, he is not close [to signing]. It’s an ongoing process.”

Although there were no injuries due to Wednesday’s game, Cazorla is a doubt as he is in bed with Flo. Oops! Sorry flu! 😀 Flamini is back from suspension and raring to go. Just don’t get carried away again Mathieu!

Thanks to http://www.arsenal.com/

Robin van Persie

could be set for a dramatic return to Arsenal at the end of the season after his agent reportedly met with Arsene Wenger to discuss a move. Van Persie, who forced a move to Manchester United last year, enjoyed a superb opening season at Old Trafford – firing the club to the Premier League title. But the Dutchman has reportedly become frustrated with life under new manager David Moyes, and is now angling for a switch back to Arsenal.

According to Sky Italia

Wenger met Van Persie’s representative in London late last month where it was made clear that Van Persie wants to leave United – and go back to the Gunners.

Saturday:

The Chav’s despicable motor-mouth manager made a totally unwarranted attack on Le Boss, I’ll not dignify his words by repeating them here. Suffice it to say he got his comeuppance when City duly dumped his team out of the FA Cup.

Plenty of speculation about priorities prior to our 5th round tie with Liverpool. There’s bound to be a few surprises in the team selection.

Sunday:

Speaking ahead of the game Wenger said….“We have a very strong defensive record yet when we crack, we crack, but overall I must say defensively we have been very consistent and the real value of the team is the number of games that we have played [to get] that defensive record. On that front we have had a good stability.”

Arsene named the following starting eleven…

Fabianski, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Flamini, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Podolski, Sanogo.

A closely fought match ended with a 2-1 win for the good guys, goals from the excellent Oxlade-Chamberlain, and a sweet strike from Podolski saw us through to a home quarter final tie against the other Scouse team Everton.

Liverpool manager Rodgers, along with most of the Liverpool pensioners masquerading as TV commentators, pundits and sports columnists bewailed the decision by top referee Howard Webb to deny Suarez a second penalty, for a challenge by The Ox. Perhaps if the Uruguayan striker had merely “gone to ground” instead of doing so only after a triple somersault with half pike Webb may have been tempted to award the penalty. Two Liverpool players were lucky to stay on the pitch, the carthorse formerly know as Gerrard, and Sterling. The former escaped with just one booking for two bookable offences and a series of debatable tackles, the latter who actually put his hand on Webb’s chest while complaining bitterly about a perceived wrong. The lenient Webb called over Captain Carthorse and told him to “talk” to the young winner.

One other match went decidedly in Arsenal’s favour when Le Boss politely but firmly put The Despicable One in his place following Saturday’s ridiculous outburst, “I do not want to go into those silly disrespectful remarks” said Wenger “I am embarrassed for him. Honestly. I am more disappointed for Chelsea than for me.”

Monday:

The Cup win is now in the past, the quarter final is to far in the future, looming is the small matter of current European Champions Bayern Munich.

Olivier Giroud showed a degreeCelia Kay 4
 of naivety when he was caught in a tabloid sting, a “glamour” model Celia Kay “allegedly” entered his hotel room and the striker was photographed exiting the bathroom in his underwear. Giroud has publicly apologised to his wife, family and friends as well as to the manager, team-mates and Arsenal fans. Score a hat-trick on Wednesday Olly, and all will be forgiven….. at least by the manager, team-mates and Arsenal fans. Oh! In case you are wondering, this is what all the fuss is about.

Tuesday: Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich

The build up begins.

Wenger to make seven changes!

one headline screams. Well yes but, only to restore those players rested for the FA Cup tie and to replace the suspended Arteta.

Guardiola has problems as Ribery’s stand-in is ruled out!

yells another.

Pep Guardiola will be forced to reshuffle his attack against Arsenal after learning his Bayern Munich side would be without both Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri for the Champions League tie. Shaqiri tore a muscle in his right thigh on Saturday and is expected to be out for at least three weeks. That could mean he is also absent for the second leg of the last-16 game, which takes place in Munich on March 11.

The Balotelli rumours persist, another report say’s Talks are “ongoing” between the player’s agent and Arsenal. Meanwhile, the asking price has been dropped to just €40 million and with Puma willing to stump up £15 million towards the fee Super Mario is beginning to look like a bargain.

Wednesday:

A bright sunny day, at least it is here in Norfolk, a great game in prospect and endless speculation about the starting line-up. Will Giroud play? At home, not away! Will it be Wilshere or the Ox alongside Flamini?

As usual, the “experts” have written us off, as have the bookies, Ladbrokes quote 7/4 against a home win, 11/4 against a draw and 3 /4 on an away win.

In other news, Vermaelen’s agent has been quoted as saying our captain wants to leave the Emirates in the summer, That makes three defenders likely to depart, Sagna is no nearer to signing an extension and Fabianski has already signalled his exit. Injuries and loss of form have restricted TV to just a few appearances this season and last, so as long as Merts and Kos remain fit there seems little chance that Thomas will get much game time even when he regains fitness.

Sagna is out of contract in the summer and is free to “talk” to overseas clubs now. A report in Italy says Liverpool have made the player an offer in an attempt to poach Bacary from under the noses of Inter Milan. If this is the case then Liverpool stand accused of tapping up our right-back. Will UEFA do anything about it? Don’t hold your breath!!

Young right-back Hector Bellerin has been recalled from his loan spell at Watford and has been given the number 40 shirt and is currently listed as an Academy player. Sagna understudy?

Thursday:

Dream tie ends in nightmare for Wenger

Yes, as many of us secretly feared, our Champions League 1st leg tie with Bayern Munich turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. All seemed to be going well up to the point where Ozil’s weak attempt at beating Neuer, from the penalty spot, was comfortably saved by his former schoolmate.

That seemed to knock the stuffing out of Arsenal and give momentum to Bayern. Gibbs went off injured, Szczesny clattered Robben and was rightly red-carded. Even though Alaba hit the outside of the post with the resulting penalty Bayern had their tales up and the wind in their sails.

Down to ten men Arsenal, with the exception of Ozil, put up a defensive performance only bettered by the occupants of The Alamo, but like those heroes from the past, eventually they succumbed to superior forces.

2 – 0 down going into the 2nd leg at The Allianz Arena, a repeat of last seasons second leg would see us having to win on penalties. Would Ozil take one? Should Ozil take one?

Arsenal at home to Sunderland tomorrow offers the chance of redemption. A win and the resulting three points will help to put the Bayern game on the back-burner, at least for a while.

Everything is ready for the unveiling of the Dennis Bergkamp statue. It will take place outside The Armoury at 11.30 am on Saturday, Dennis will also make an on-pitch appearance at half-time. I’d prefer him to play the second half, but we can’t have everything.

TWTWTW

Norfolk Gooner

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Thirty Five Minutes of excellence, then beaten, but far from disgraced

February 20, 2014

Where does one begin in a game where Arsenal were written off by many before a ball was kicked and then to the astonishment of many the fledgling Sanogo was announced as leading the line, yet who was to believe what was to unfold.

You will either have attended the game or by now read numerous reports. The many controversial decisions will be discussed for days to come, so I will just offer a few personal thoughts.

There is no doubt we were fired up from the whistle with a fantastic support from the Home crowd which lasted the whole game despite the dramatic events that were to follow.

Apart from the excellent Kroos testing Szczesny after a few minutes we took the game to Bayern. We had their back line at sixes and sevens and then what we thought was the breakthrough. Ozil got tripped in the box, decided to take the penalty himself and to say he fluffed it would be an under statement. To be honest he never recovered his composure and that naturally affected his game.  We continued to press and the gulf in class between the two sides was negligible, and Bayern were worried.

Then the inevitable happened when Gibbs, who was having an outstanding game, once again got injured. It looked like a hamstring pull and he was replaced by Monreal.

A quick word on Sanogo . This was a huge game for the kid who is built like a tank, he showed good vision and that was clearly seen with his dinked through ball from the half way line for The Ox nearly to score .His time will come.

Bayern were getting more of the ball and nearly every attack was concentrated on our left side. To me, Monreal is not the answer to replace Gibbs and it showed.

In the thirty-fifth minute Szczesny was alleged to have brought down Robben. He was shown a red card and not for the first time his youth got the better of him and he made some gesture as he left the field. A penalty was awarded and there was another miss but now it was 10 versus 11 for over 50 minutes and that was always going to take it’s toll.

The second half was basically played in our half and we didn’t have to wait long before we were behind with second scored as injury time approached. In all probability the tie is now over.

Ozil is tired, he should never ever take a penalty again and needs to be dropped for his own good. Apart from Ozil, neither Cazorla nor Podolski are best at tracking back.  However, as a team we have improved dramatically from last year and I would say judged by their own high levels,Bayern aren’t as good as they were.

I thought taking off The Ox was the wrong decision but apparently he is alleged to have got a niggle. Flamini acted like a captain urging his team mates on throughout the game and Koscielny played his heart out and yet was lucky not to give away a second penalty.

I wonder if a fit in form Ramsey would have made a difference,but let’s not dwell as all is not lost and we still have an excellent chance in two competitions.

The photos provided by chas were fantastic and showed what a wonderful sight it is to be at The Emirates.. .

Written by kelsey

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Arsenal v Bayern: self-preservation …… the first law of nature

February 19, 2014

The long awaited moment has finally arrived. The Bavarian brigade have descended on London. Time for nervous anticipation and a bit of trepidation perhaps. Following their survival from the Group of Death, a fresh challenge awaits the good guys of Arsenal. What can be more daunting than to face Bayern Munich, the “best team in the world”, in the first leg of a dance unto death?

2 nil against bayern

Neither is this the first time. Last year as well, Arsene Wenger’s men played Bayern in a first leg at The Home of Football, and they lost 1-3. An outrageously superb return leg victory by 2-0 still saw Arsenal crash out of Champions League on away goals. Bayern Munich went on to win the Champions League in Europe followed by the World Clubs Cup.

However, daunting as the challenge no doubt is, there are some positive notes of encouragement this time round.

First, the away win against Bayern in Munich sparked a remarkable run for Arsenal, leading to an amazing record over the calendar year 2013; by and large, this run of performances and results still continues.

Second, Arsenal have had occasional indifferent performances, but the positive vibes from the FA Cup win against Liverpool are fresh in the minds and hearts. This is in sharp contrast to last year, when they went into the game against a disappointing loss to Blackburn. Quoting Arsene from yesterday: ““We have a strong team spirit, that is for sure, and a strong desire to do well and a united team. … We did not always have the belief, because belief is built by the results and on that front we are stronger.”

Third, Bayern were the champions last year, and are favourites this year. But they are not yet champions again, and the law of averages indicates they may falter at some step. And after the heroic display by our boys last year, it is quite possible that the massive fall from grace may happen here and now, against the mighty Arsenal.

Fourth, Bayern were a formidable unit last year, and they still are. But are they better than last year? Well, the core of the team is essentially the same, and the main difference is the new manager – the master craftsman Pep Guardiola. By contrast, Arsenal have a new magnificent wizard, Mesut Ozil, plus a lovely bunch of upcoming stars in The Ox, Wilshere and Gnabry. On balance, the relative changes in team strengths seem evenly matched.

On the injury front as well, it seems fairly balanced. Arsenal are missing two key players in Ramsey and Theo. Bayern have sustained injuries to Ribery, Shaqiri and Badstuber; Schweinsteiger is returning from injury and may not feature in the game.

Fifth, Bayern have been mighty impressive in the Bundesliga this year. But they get to play largely weaker teams in the German league. Whereas Arsenal has fought hard against the Oilers, and is therefore potentially better tempered by their fighting performances. The motivation and spirit within the team is very high. Yes, there was a minor incident involving the truancy of one Olivier Giroud, but that cancels off against the reportedly unsettled Kroos in the Germand side.

Overall, it looks even stevens. It remains to be seen who turns up on the night. Who has the greater desire to perform well. Arsenal’s defensive performance will be under particular spotlight. Not conceding an away goal will be particularly crucial.

On the line-up, the goalkeeper and defence select themselves. The primary objective to my mind will be to withstand an immensely potent Bayern attacking force, likely comprising midfielders Robben, Kroos and Muller and frontman Gotze. With this in mind, I would suggest Flamini and Wilshere as defensive midfielders, and an attacking midfield of Rosicky, Ozil and The Ox. Rosicky may moving back in defence and Wilshere likewise move up in attack.

And finally, here is the bombshell. Given disciplinary issues, including a disregard for team curfew the night before a game, I would not be averse to Wenger allowing Giroud some more bench warming time. Football is a team game, and no one is indispensable within the team. Podolski is the striker in my starting lineup. He has just scored a fantastic team goal against Liverpool, and so his confidence should be high. Santi scuffed shooting opportunities twice gainst Liverpool and does not appear to be fully fit. He will be on the bench as well, in preparation to launch a salvo when the need comes.

a v bm

However, the Boss knows best. We will see what team emerges. The bottomline is to fight hard in the midfield and break down opposition attacks, and a tight and compact backline to thwart any advances that may trickle through. The priority is not to concede an away goal to Bayern. There will be chances at the other end, and we should be eager to take these chances.

All to play for. Onwards and upwards!

COYRRG!!!!

Written by arnie

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Praise For Howard Webb

February 18, 2014

I never thought I’d write a sentence like this, but here goes: “Well done Howard Webb – you refereed really well at the weekend.”

It’s probably not a sentiment Webb hears all that often, particularly from a supporter of a team whose game he has just reffed.

Despite being recognised by the international footballing authorities as one of the finest referees of his generation, Webb has always come in for stick from English fans.

From the suggestion that he started shaving his head to avoid tickling Sir Alex’s back passage on the way in, to an alleged bias in favour of clubs from his native North of England the former copper has faced plenty of abuse over the years.

So the fuss surrounding his failure to award a second penalty to the Diving Uruguayan on Sunday will be like orange sauce off a duck’s back to him.

And, in this case, so it should be.

luis-suarez-action_2824833b

Let’s start with the context.

Arsenal v Liverpool in the FA Cup was a very good game of football played with plenty of commitment.

Liverpool had the confidence of having thrashed us just a week earlier and of being one of the form teams in the Premier League; we, on the other hand, had the incentive of getting revenge, putting our season back on track and making more than a few media pundits Neknominate their words.

I thought Webb handled the match well, showing some early yellow cards to stop things getting too overheated but generally allowing the game to flow.

And so to the big decisions that have brought him so much criticism in the last 48 hours (the Daily Mirror’s headline was: “Howard Webb Escapes Demotion Over His FA Cup Stinker”):

First there was Suarez dive Number One: Podolski undoubtedly tapped the Uruguayan’s ankle but, as someone said in comments yesterday, anywhere else on the pitch Suarez would have stayed on his feet. You can also see from replays that the Scouser threw himself to the ground a split second after the contact – not in the instantaneous way that would have happened had his fall been genuine.

Even so, I have no quibble with the award of the penalty. Podolski caught Suarez’s ankle, however lightly, and Webb was right to point to the spot. However, I also feel that Webb knew that Suarez has bought the penalty to some extent by exaggerating his reaction to the contact.

Then we come to Suarez’s second penalty appeal when the Liverpool striker toe-ended the ball away from himself (and away from goal) and Oxlade-Chamberlain clattered into him from the side.

It was a clumsy effort by The Ox, and even though Suarez had lost control of the ball there is a strong argument it was a penalty. (I also think there is an argument for it being a “coming together” and not a foul at all, but I may be alone in that interpretation).

What stopped it being a penalty (in my opinion) was Suarez’s impression of a freshly caught marlin on the deck of a fishing boat.

It was such a fake, over-the-top and comical piece of physical theatre that it must have sowed a seed of doubt in Webb’s mind as to whether Oxo’s contact merited a penalty at all. In the split second the ref had to make his decision, the Uruguayan’s fakery probably swayed the issue. Look at it from the ref’s point of view: if a player is clearly play-acting for part of an incident, how can you be certain he wasn’t play-acting for all of it?

Ironically if Suarez had just gone down naturally he might well have got the decision.

There were a couple of other controversial moments. We could have had a penalty when Skrtel caught Santi Cazorla’s foot with a high and late challenge in the Liverpool box. As the saying goes, “anywhere else on the pitch it would have been a foul,” and that may be true. But it would have been a bit of a harsh penalty (the ball had already eluded Santi before he was clobbered and Skrtel was going for the ball).

Finally, there was the argument that Steven Gerrard should have received a second yellow for a tackle on Oxo. Well, maybe. To be honest it was the sort of foul that sometimes results in a booking and sometimes doesn’t. This time it was not a booking and also not a big deal. I feel Arsenal supporters have been stoking up the outrage on this one purely to counter the Scouse squeals of victimhood over the Suarez non-penalty.

Webb also had a nice moment when Sterling “put hands” on him while disputing a decision. It was a chance for the referee to engage in his own bit of over-acting, feigning outrage and having a stiff word with the player and his captain.

All in all, “Fergie’s Rent Boy” had a good day and played his part in an excellent game of football with a particularly excellent outcome.

But Howard, don’t get carried away: it was only one game and in the balance of things you still owe us at least another 10 dodgy decisions in our favour to make up for all those years of being the 12th man at Old Toilet.

RockyLives

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Entertaining and Vital Arsenal Cup Win

February 17, 2014

I would not have been alone in having at least one eyebrow out of line after seeing the Team Sheet.

Liverpool were always going to field a strong side as they have no mid week European Games, and we all knew Arsene would have to make one or two changes. Talk about “who would be a Manager?”. Without doubt the biggest shock was the inclusion of Yaya Sanogo. I had thought Ollie would be rested, and this would have led to the inclusion of Nic, or the slim possibility of Lucas through the middle. When the Team was announced, all I could say about Yaya’s inclusion was that the Manager sees the Lads in training.

Poldi goal v Liverpool

This was a very big match indeed. We had to restore some belief and confidence, try and progress in this Tournament as well as leaving eleven men standing, fit and ready to meet the challenge coming from Bavaria in a few short days’ time.

I won’t dwell on the details of the game as you all saw it for yourselves. Certainly though, the returning Flamini helped to stabilize the defensive side of our midfield. The defence itself had a superb day with Fabianski producing a MOTM performance. The other two stand-in’s at the back, Jenks and Monreal, showed discipline and spirit.

Further up the field, Mesut was back to his best and orchestrated events in a way only he can with sublime timing and awareness.

For me, like many I suspect, Podolski is a total enigma. However, he is a goalscorer, and since the tragic loss of Theo and Aaron, these qualities are in short supply. He delivered.

Sanogo. Ok, I missed twenty minutes of the first half, and about ten of the second, but I really liked what I saw. Very impressive indeed, His performance highlighted the interchangeability of our squad, and this reflects on what is done on the training ground. It was very hard to believe that he had not played alongside Pod, Mesut and Ox on a regular basis.

Finally, The Ox. Always said he would be an Arsenal Great, and he will. Love everything about him, and his post match interview revealed his modest, mature and intelligent nature. A true professional with all the talent required to make it to the very top.

The Ox v Liverpool

A few short words on Liverpool. I really like the way they play the game. It was an enthralling and highly entertaining game, and it requires two teams to achieve this. Their “Three S’s Attack” is superbly mobile and fluid, and a joy to watch. I realize Suarez divides opinion, but as a footballer, he is terrific. I think we all know the Ox challenge was a clear penalty, but I think we also understand that had the victim been any other player, it would have been given. Never a clearer case of “What goes around”.

Overall, a memorable Cup game, a vital win for The Gunners, and we come away in great shape for Bayern. Back on track.

My MOTM: By a country mile, Arsene. That was some selection and tactical performance. Well played Sir.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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If at first you don’t succeed…….

February 16, 2014

Apologies in advance, I have no tub to thump, and no wish to anger today’s opponents, call me a superstitious pansy but I am beginning to see a pattern….the more incendiary the pre match the more likely it is we will not win. So with that in mind……..

Today we welcome the in form Premier League team and suddenly Championship rivals Liverpool to the Emirates to contest a FA Cup 5th round match. There has been much talk about prioritisation over the last few weeks, today we get to find out whether we are going to gun for them all, or are in fact prioritising one competition over the rest.

Some say the FA Cup represents our best chance of a trophy this season, I’m not so sure, whilst it is true that we only need to win four games to do it, there are still some tricky opponents that could get in our way, and on top of that we have in our own recent memory the League Cup Final defeat to Birmingham to remind us that on any given day anything can happen in a game of football, you can also ask Manchester City fans what happened last season. Would you really have us put all our eggs in the FA Cup? I certainly wouldn’t. I am very much behind the one game at a time mentality, although I understand why we might want to rest players before the visit of Munich on Wednesday.

What do we expect from Arsenal today?

Szczesny has been playing well of late but Fabianski has done little wrong in the other cup ties this season, so he will surely start. There is little option at centre back unless we were to launch a couple of youngsters into action, against Suarez and Sturridge that would be suicidal, they have scored 60% of Liverpool’s goals this season, stop them and we have a chance of stopping Liverpool, so the centre back pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny picks itself. I would go with Jenkinson at right back to give the ageing legs of Sagna a break and Gibbs at left back.

In midfield we have the luxury of Flamini returning from a self imposed spell on the sidelines, he surely starts to make Coutinho’s life a lot harder than it was at Anfield last Saturday, he will also help us win the ball back higher up the pitch as he is more proactive than Arteta in that respect. I would however keep Arteta alongside him, a blend of experience, passing and reading of the game should make us more competitive and provide more cover for our defence.

In attacking midfield is where we will possibly see the most changes, I would go Gnabry, Rosicky and Ozil. But I would give Gnabry and Ozil instructions to stay high up the pitch, and not to worry too much about defensive duties, Rosicky will be the man in the middle, he works hardest to win the ball back high up the pitch, and injects pace in attack by speed of passing and running from deep. This can only work if Gibbs and Jenkinson do not over commit, instead they should stay home to provide cover against Liverpool’s fast counter attacks.

My front man today would be Podolski, and that is another reason I would give Ozil and Gnabry the licence to stay up the pitch, he will need help a lot quicker than Giroud when playing with his back to goal, I also think the understanding between the three German’s could be the key to unlocking Liverpool.

So my starting eleven would look something like this:

arse v pool

Let’s hope we are celebrating an Arsenal win come this evening, and we can put this week behind us and start looking forward to an exciting run in to the end of the season.

Gooner In Exile

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FA Cup – The Freddie Final

February 15, 2014

Friday Afternoon 3rd May 2002.

At last the arrangements were sorted with me picking up JC from North London, Jon to travel on his own after a long shift and Ant taking my nephew, Matt via Loughborough (where Matt was at college). I’d persuaded my old man not to go to this Final, he’d been to the Scouse daylight robbery Final in 2001 and not really enjoyed himself due to all of the walking. His feet were not good by this stage. It meant we all had tickets (I’d luckily played the martyr and dropped out of the 2001 final).

1 (1)

I popped in to see him before picking JC up, armed with a bottle of rum to “assuage the guilt” (he only really liked Pussers Royal Navy rum but it was hard to get hold of). My old man had given JC £25 to buy us all a drink with the proviso that he’d have any change that was left. As Ant commented later, ‘Rest assured, Dad, there wasn’t any’! JC was full of beans on the journey, only pausing for breath on the journey from Brimsdown to Bristol at the M4/M5 junction. (Due to a shortage of rooms, we’d arranged to spend the Friday night at Cribbs Causeway just outside Bristol and then transfer to the Innkeepers Lodge in Cardiff on Saturday morning)

2

I never know why all of our football photos have pints of beer in them

Friday Evening 3rd May 2002.

By 7pm JC was convinced he’d had 5 pints already, not a good sign for things to come. We decided on some Gooner Survey type questions for entertainment. Most hated player meant that the spuds got a mention. I think it was a unanimous vote for a certain Mr Edward Sheringham. JC couldn’t understand why no-one seemed interested in his amazing fact that Ronnie Rooke had bow legs like Malcolm McDonald. Favourite game of the season featured the 3-1 versus Juventus at Highbury (bearing in mind a certain game at the Old Cowshed was still to come). Matt had feasted on two meals already, one on arrival and an early evening Early Bird meal, still he was a growing lad. His requests to have a southern comfort and lemonade because he was feeling a little bloated were greeted with, ‘he’s not having a f*ckin chocky drink’ from Ant. Matt didn’t look happy when a suggested departure time before midday was mentioned….so 8am it was.

Saturday Morning 4th May 2002.

All was well in the family room overnight containing Ant, Matt and me. Poor Jon had shared with JC who had been talking to Ralph for much of the night. He was decidedly white and shivering and we all felt a little guilty at allowing him to partake of so much refreshment. Anyway, Ant, Matt and Jon emerged from the hotel sporting Freddie’s red hair. Freddie had been superb in the run-in of the League, scoring virtually every game (with compulsory Dennis assists) and his song had become everybody’s favourite.

3

I remember JC looking paler than this!

The transfer to the Innkeepers was simple as the traffic hadn’t started to build yet. The car journey to Cardiff was one of the worst parts of going to the Millennium apparently, so we did well to avoid it. We got a taxi to the city centre and then had a healthy double sausage and egg McMuffin to raise blood sugar levels before indulging in a few take-outs as the pub we had in mind wasn’t open until 11. Preposterous!

4

An astonishing likeness

Finally installed in the pub we settled down to watch Soccer AM (these were the days when it was quite good). Jon left the pub on a pastie run as had become tradition. JC had at least 6 separate efforts at eating his pastie but still didn’t finish it. A little later he seemed to have perked up somewhat when telling the assembled toilet goers a joke about a bloke found dead in an expensive toilet who’d left a suicide note, ‘Here I sat broken-hearted, paid a pound and only…..’ He still thinks that one is funny!

We left the pub at 1.40 and took some photos of Jon’s magnificent Freddie banner outside the ground. The top of the capital ‘F’ even had the red hair quiff.

5

Jon’s magnificent banner which got on the telly

Saturday Afternoon 4th May 2002.

The seats were absolutely top notch in row 4 of Glanmor’s Gap in the North Stand (look it up) which effectively meant we were in the most expensive centre band of the stadium right behind the goal Arsenal attacked in the second half. The first half was fairly unmemorable, the second up there as one of the best 45 minutes of my life. Ooo Ahh Ray Parlour scored a 30 yard curler on 70 minutes. Edu warming up behind the goal, celebrated as the ball grazed Cudicini’s fingertips and then smacked the back of the net. Freddie scored ten minutes later with a 30 yard run and curling lob of exquisite beauty, having left John Terry on the deck munching grass. We saw the Freddie banner three times on the stadium big screen during the presentations and celebrations, later finding out it was on our TV recordings too!

6

When Tone goes up, to lift the FA Cup, we’ll be there

Saturday After the Game 4th May 2002.

Leaving the stadium, we gave the old man a call and JC pretended to be David Dein. We decided to hang about near to the VIP car entrance with some tinnies and fried chicken. Ant stood in the middle of the road directing cars the wrong way out of the car park. We saw several famous people, Sepp Blatter (or was it Lennart Johannson?, who cares) Ainsley Harriot and Graeme Le Saux, who was greeted by the assembled Arsenal fans with, ‘Do you take it up the a*se?’. Those sort of homophobic songs really have no place in modern football.

7

Great Trophy

We also saw Lineker, Lawrenson and Schmeichel before ambushing the Arsenal coach complete with FA Cup installed on the front dash. JC was definitely feeling better, even finding time to chat up a couple of local girls and have a photo taken (I’m not sure this one got back to his wife).

8

Smooth operator

Saturday Evening 4th May 2002.

Back to the Innkeeper’s and JC sensibly declined the evening’s festivities in Cardiff town Centre. The ‘boys’ had pizza, several more beers and then were refused entry to a club because I was wearing an England polo shirt. Not very tactful, I know. Some local girls started singing the Freddie song when they saw Ant’s hair, but they didn’t know any more of the song except for the ‘We love you Freddie, we do’ line. We decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel to watch as many re-runs of the goals as we could find.

9

It truly was a great weekend and wonderful result.

Celebrating the Club’s third double the following Wednesday, meant that we were floating on air for weeks to come. Wiltoooooooooooooooooooooooord!

Everton at home the Saturday following saw the presentation of the Premier League trophy and capped a pearler of a week to be an Arsenal supporter.

10

Champions Too

Written by chas.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Friday Newsround ……. Flood at Anfield, Drought at The Emirates

February 14, 2014

Last Friday:

“You always think about the psychological impact of the last result on the morale of the team, as well as the confidence and happiness of everybody. You think the only way to deal with it is to just focus on the next one and win it, then everything will be alright”. “And, if we can win this game, what about the next one? If we play at our best, yes we can win that, so let’s do it. It is very difficult to have a global plan because as we know we are in a job that is unpredictable. The best way to make it predictable is to win the next game”. ”

“Still” he concluded, “it is a good moment for us to win a big game because we have a tough predicted month. At the moment we are on a good run and the best way to continue that is to keep the confidence level high and, of course, stay in a strong position in the title race.”

That’s Arsène Wenger after being asked about his overall strategy for four massive matches in 11 massive days starting this weekend at Liverpool. So one game at a time then.

Reproduced courtesy of http://www.arsenal.com

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Arsenal announced the date for the unveiling of the next statue outside The Emirates, 11.30am Saturday February 22nd. Oh! I forgot to mention, the statue is of Dennis Bergkamp who will be in attendance and will be a guest at the match. I’d like to see Dennis make a fifteen minute cameo appearance, wouldn’t that be a treat?

Saturday:

Team news was pretty sparse, basically the same squad as against Palace, Wilshere is a “might be” and Arteta is “alright”.

Liverpool 5 – 1 Arsenal

Nightmare at Anfield

Sunday:

Following the fall from the top of the table, in his haste to leave the scene of his team’s humiliation, Arsene Wenger took a tumble while hurrying to catch the homeward bound train at Liverpool Lime Street station, he was helped to his feet by two of that city’s finest boys in blue. After quickly checking that he still had his wallet, watch and mobile phone, he made his way without further miss-hap to join his defeated squad in the guards van for a subdued journey home.

Monday:

Just like the flood waters on the Somerset levels the slurry from Saturday’s debacle is still washing around our club. With an important, and winnable, game coming up on Wednesday, Bob Crowe and his cronies permitting, it’s time to put The Great Liverpool Train Wreck behind us. So I will make no further mention of TGLTW.

“News” or speculation? However you look at it, it’s out there in the media, Sagna and Fabianski have both rejected new deals, so both could be moving on in the summer. Memo to AW, summer priority signing…. right-back.

Tuesday:

The Tube strike is called off so both our game and that of Fulham go ahead as planned. Why am I mentioning Fulham you ask? Well the Cottagers announced that should the strike go ahead they would postpone their game against Liverpool thus giving the Bin-dippers a rest before arriving at Emirates Stadium to get their come-uppance for inflicting a heavy defeat on our beloved club.

Wednesday:

Mesut Ozil is attracting unwanted attention from the sports hacks, Jeremy Wilson, in the Telegraph, asks if our record signing is just a mirage and cites some stats to back his claim, my well known detestation of stats prevents me from including them hear, suffice it to say that Ozil has scored less, and made fewer assists, had fewer shots, made fewer dribbles and put in fewer crosses since Christmas than before Christmas. A quick check of the top premiership suppliers of assists shows Ozil to be second to Rooney but ahead of Hazard, Silva, Coutinho, Oscar and Navas. So the mirage may well prove to a more a storm in a teacup and Mesut will soon emerge from his own personal Sahara.

In other reports, Ozil is working hard in the gym to build upper body strength in order to cope with the rigours of Premiership football,

Lukas Podolski has denied ever being close to leaving Arsenal in the last transfer window, and insists he has the complete faith of Arsene Wenger.

The German’s future was drawn into question in January, when he was mooted as being a possible makeweight in the Julian Draxler deal, however, the forward says there was no possibility of ever leaving the Gunners.

‘That was a myth. There was absolutely no truth to it,’ the 28-year-old said. ‘The coach told me as such, and I knew there was no truth in it.’

Thursday:

Oliver Giroud talking after the Man U stalemate…”I think we had a good reaction after the bad result against Liverpool,” the Frenchman told Arsenal Player. “I think it’s a good draw to be honest even if we could have scored at the end. It was maybe just about our confidence.

“We did well in the first half especially but after we looked a bit tired. It’s OK, we had a good reaction on the pitch and I think that’s the most important thing even if we wanted to win this game.”

No! the most important thing was to score a goal Olly then, we might have won. “I’m confident for the remaining games and we’ll know a bit more about our future after Liverpool and Bayern [Munich] because we want to play in every competition.” Is that the ambition? To play in every competition? What about winning every competition?

Quotes courtesy of http://www.arsenal.com

Arsene Wenger said….

‘I felt we were nervous tonight, yes. We are usually dangerous breaking through with speedy passing, but they defended very well. But it is not worrying because we care about what we are doing.

‘When you concede five goals like we did against Liverpool on Saturday, maybe that’s what you do. The team was highly focused on not conceding after Saturday.

‘We missed out on the chance to go top but a point keeps us in the race. We played with the handbrake on tonight. I hope and think the handbrake will come off.

‘We’ve had two bad results, but we are still in a strong position.’

Speculation? Maybe, A report suggests that Arsene has met with the agent of Mario Balotelli to discuss prospects of the player joining in the summer. See last week’s news round.

Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell, who joined Arsenal in 2011 but due to the lack of a work permit has never played for the club, is looking for a permanent £7 million move to Olympiakos where he is currently on loan. His agent said…‘Going back to Arsenal? He would not be happy sitting on the bench – even in a top league.’

That’s it for another week

I’m looking forward to “The Magic of the Cup”

Norfolk Gooner.

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Posted by Rasp

Cautious approach doesn’t pay dividends. The verdict.

February 13, 2014

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:

“Overall, we could have won it – it was a game of few chances. Our defensive focus was extreme as we conceded so many goals on Saturday.

“In the end, either side could have won 1-0. Manchester United are a good team, so when you go forward they can catch you.

“It is important to recover physically and prepare for the next game as we want to stay in the FA Cup. The title race is absolutely open for many teams.”

I don’t usually start a post with a comment by our manager but I got the feeling that not to lose was the priority last night.

Games between these sides in the last twenty years always had that bit of extra ferocity but overall this was a tame affair.

The game started and within a minute Arteta had an Anfield moment and gave RVP a gilt edge chance which he fluffed and then the game started to even out with misplaced passes by both teams and then we saw a glimpse of magic from Wilshere,threading his way into the box which on another occasion might have been a goal.

Neither team went gung – ho and all in all it was a tame first half.

We certainly started the second half with more momentum but not for the first time on many occasions we took that extra short intricate pass and the move broke down.

Giroud had two or three chances to work de Gea but the nearest we came to scoring was a header from Koscielny which was headed off the line by Valencia. Santi upped his game and at least was trying to test de Gea which he did twice but the keeper was equal to it and in a rare breakaway Szczesny produced a wonderful save from RVP yet for most of the game we were as predictable as ever,and that concerns me, as one can watch the game and nearly always know what the next move will be.

Often stated but where is Plan B? Subbing players like for like doesn’t work against the better teams especially with a squad lacking depth, but there were a few positives for me.

Ozil really showed his class and was forever looking to probe United’s defence but where was the support?

Koscielny was a rock yet again and Szczesny showed how much he has improved.

Gibbs, every time for me, has to play as opposed to Monreal.

Many will argue that an in form Ramsey and Walcott would have made a difference especially against ageing defenders such as Vidic and Ferdinand, but we can only play with the players available.

There is no point in criticising various players though I have said that if Giroud is meant to lead the line and lay the ball off, all well and good, but then he must have support instead of repeatedly being isolated.

Verdict : Two points dropped which may have a significant bearing to the run in as the gap between the top five narrows.

Written by kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

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