Unjust Criticism Pt.1 : The case for Diaby

May 13, 2010

Some players attract criticism, others are “marmites”. We all know who I am talking about, those players whom Wenger trusts yet divide the fans. It is my intention to make a case for those players over the next few weeks.

Vassariki Abou Diaby is a player who can infuriate the blogworld. The man appears to have all the attributes to make a super player, physique, power, wonderful technique, an accurate shot, heading ability  – who can forget that wonderful header at Old Trafford? – and high workrate, yet half the fans would have him removed from the team immediately and sent to Coventry (or Wolves or anyone who could afford him).

However, let us take a closer look. Diaby is 24, just coming into his prime, and at last fully recovered from the horrific injury sustained at Sunderland. His season has been stop/start due to a mid season injury (against Wolves), yet he scored 7 goals and made 5 assists, which should be compared to Walcott’s 4 and 4. More to the point Diaby has been played all over the pitch. His natural position is as a deep lying attacking central midfielder, but as we possess the best in the world in this position (and others who crave it), he has been moved  to the left, the right, to defensive left, defensive right and recently as the holding defensive midfielder. This is clearly not his game.

Diaby’s season highlight was the home game against Porto when he and Nasri ruled the Emirates. Why? Because Song was playing DM, and therefore both Abou and Sammi were able to roam without needing to concentrate upon their defensive duties. Similarly, when Denilson is playing Diaby improves creatively. The horrendous end of season injury list which saw Ramsey, Song and Denilson injured led to our recent decline and highlights the importance of a disciplined DM, a role in which Diaby struggles. 6 of Diaby’s 7 goals came prior to Xmas and the injury epidemic, proving that given the freedom to express himself Abou can be a destructive attacking presence when played in his natural position.

It should also be pointed out that Diaby is not a first team starter when the squad is fully fit.  That he has started over 30 games this season is testament once again to our injury problems. Wenger clearly believes he has the talent to become an important cog in the team, though my gut feeling is that Abou is unlikely ever to get a starting role in our first 11, yet as a squad player, we will struggle to find his equal.

Sadly for Diaby his physical similarity to Vieira has been problematical. He is not and never will be a player of Paddy’s stature – he is a different style of player and should be recognised as such.

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Posted by Erik the Red

To Think, Two Irishmen Could Have Won Us The League!!

May 12, 2010

If ifs and buts were pots and pans The Arsenal’s cupboard would be full to the brim and I’m about to add my own set to push it to bursting point.

This season’s Premier League was more exciting than most, I don’t think anyone will argue with that. However, it has also been distinctly average. Chelsea were the best of a bad lot, there is no two ways about it. They had the best squad on paper but often times turned up as if they had the game already won and ended up losing to the likes of Wigan – hardly the sign of great Champions.

Manchester United are not a patch on their former great teams. Rooney carried the weight of the team (as he will do with England) that for a finish his body broke and he could do no more. Nani is an overrated acrobat, Carrick is a hyped up English player (again) and Giggs and Scholes are coming to the end.  They hung on in the title race by virtue of Chelsea dropping points – a bit like us really…

Thing is with the signing of two players Arsenal would not only have hung on till the last month, I actually believe we would have won it.

Meet my pot and pan.

"Richard, I don't want to be the pot"

"Richard, I don't want to be the pot"

Now, we’ve all known for some time that Shay Given had been wasted at Newcastle United. He gave them many years of his career with little to show but lucky for him a goalkeeper normally has a longer career and he could move on for another challenge. Like most players that would be the Champions League. Now what team that constantly hovers around the Champions League could have done with  a top ‘keeper over the last few seasons?

Congrats you win the Tupperware, it is of course Arsenal.

Watching Flappy One and Flappy Two flap about in goals all season was a joke. To make it even worse its not like this is a new problem. Many, many, many of us said at the time that Shay Given should have been signed. He had been a top player for Newcastle for years and with them heading for the Championship he was always going to seek a top team. Despite their riches, Citeh had to fork out relatively little to get their man.

Just as at Newcastle, Given often saved the bacon of the City defenders this season. It must be a sense of deja vu for poor Shay to see such a mediocre bunch of defensive players in front of him. Imagine how much happier he would have been at Arsenal and how much happier we’d be to have him?

City’s defence was an insult to the deepening economic crisis. Kolo Toure was past his prime – we knew that. Lescott was carried for many a season at Everton by the talented Jagielka – he got found out. If I wrote down how much they cost together I might vomit…

The hilarious thing is that Citeh made way for these two by selling my pot because he didn’t have a “global” name.

Yes, Richard Dunne might not be everyone’s favourite player but I think the guy is a class act.  Before the desert dollars, Dunne was City’s best player and as soon as the money came he was dumped. He reacted though as the best do – by having the season of his life. Villa may have fallen away towards the end but Dunne was immense for them throughout the campaign.

Along with Vermaelen, he has been one of the buys of the season – now imagine if both had been in the same team with Shay Given behind them!

Not alone would we have two experienced players, we’d have had two players who know each other very well through playing for the Rep.Ireland, a Rep.Ireland whose ship Trapattoni has really steadied.

Arsenal’s problem this season wasn’t our inability to score goals, it was our crass stupidity at defending that cost us so we ended third with no silverware.

Imagine the signing of an Irish pot and pan could well have changed all that!

Now the question must be asked as to who this season’s pot and pan will be…

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Posted by criochnaithe

Poll: How should Arsène spend his warchest?

May 11, 2010

As the season draws to a close we are all turning our eyes and blogs towards the off-season version of fantasy football – speculating about who we are going to buy. Anticipation is growing that Arsenal FC are in their strongest financial position for many years and even better that the board are ready to unleash Arsène onto the most benign transfer market of recent times. A combination of recent massive spending by the Spanish clubs, financial hangovers at Liverpool and Man U (even Chelsea to some degree) and the tightening of credit around the world mean that some of our traditional rivals for top players are not quite so ready to snatch the prize players from under our noses. Set against that, new rivals like Man City and the Spuds will have their own attractions for the stars that emerge from the World Cup, and our tax regime has to be the least attractive in Europe for the big guns.

The speculation is that we have £30m, £40m, maybe even £50m to spend on players this year, beyond any money recouped from player sales. The more cynical or realistic among us might doubt that the board is really ready to change the habits of a lifetime, or indeed might think that our manager is genetically incapable of splashing out. Others can point to his eye for a player (Vermaelen surely the best buy in Europe in the last 12 months and Chamakh could be a bargain free transfer) and the recent, persistent bullish announcements from our manager, our Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis and the Board which all indicate that they are ready to bring in the experienced talent that we need to move from good to great again.

We want to gauge the mood of Gooners everywhere – if Arsène really does have £50m in his back pocket, what should his priority be? Should he focus on one really top signing? A Torres or Villa – the type of player who can take us on to the next level and be part of a strategy to build the best squad in the world over the next few years, then spend the change on short term signings where necessary. Haven’t we bought enough ‘promising’ players already?

What about getting the spine right with a GK, CB and DM in the range of £10m – £15m each? They won’t necessarily be the world’s best but might be a better balanced way of strengthening the whole team. On the other hand, will that give us a team capable of consistently beating Europe’s best in the future?

Another option is to invest in what Arsène has called the strongest squad he has worked with. Up to £17m has been spent this year on extending contracts within the squad – should this continue to be the core strategy? It isn’t just the young players, what about upping Cesc’s contract again to fend off the temptations of Spain?

Alternatively, why spend the money just because it is burning a hole in his pocket? If the right players aren’t available, should he hang on to the cash and roll it over to the next transfer window, when Arsenal’s financial strength and footballing class along with the further demise of our rivals might make us even more attractive?

Vote in the poll below and let us have your comments about how he should be spending the results of five years of prudent financial management, and on whom.

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Posted by Alfa

Come on You Rip Roaring Gunners…..

May 9, 2010

I have end of season blues. The past few weeks have been tough but are nothing compared to the cold turkey that starts on Sunday evening. Every close season is tough, but with the prospect of having the “scum from the Lane” gloating for 6 weeks, and the media circus that surrounds the World Cup,  this summer  is going to be grueling.

However, we have the little matter of tying up 3rd place and automatic qualification to the CL. For goodness sake Arsenal please do not blow this…. the consequences are unthinkable. Fortunately today’s opposition have bigger fish to fry in just 4 days time.

If we could have picked who to play today, there can be little doubt Fulham would be at the very top of the list. Fulham have never beaten us at home, and have won only one away game all season – to Pompey on the first day of the season!

In my early childhood Fulham were famous for paying the then England captain, Johnny Haynes the amazing sum of 100 pounds a week. The furore was all over the back pages of the papers. How could a humble footballer be paid such an outrageous amount of money?? If only they knew what was to come!! The 60’s saw Tommy  Trinder and Jimmy Hill.  Then there  was a fine season when Rodney Marsh, George Best and an ageing Bobby Moore played at The Cottage, three of the greatest entertainers ever to grace a pitch. Unfortunately putting two huge party animals together was never going to be a recipe for success and Best’s alcoholism ended the fun, but I was lucky enough to see them play.

It says much about Fuham that no-one I have ever met has Fulham on their hate list. No-one dislikes them. Even with a Chairman of such dubious background that he still awaits a British Passport!

It is difficult to find enough praise for Fulham’s achievements this season, and it would be a fitting testimony to the work of their manager and team should they win the Europa Cup. None of the Fulham team would get in our first choice team (OK  – the GK ) and yet with hard work, excellent tactics and what AW calls “spirit”, Fulham have had the most exciting season in their history. It would be understandable if Hodgson rested some players today, Zamora is out as is Duff. Hangeland is expected to play and is a supposed Arsenal transfer target. It is interesting to note that Wenger says he has never put in a bid for Hangeland despite the media telling us that Fulham had turned down a substantial bid last summer …. who do yo believe?

For Arsenal, Clichy could make a return which would help the team after Traore was so anonymous at Ewood.  Bendtner, Rosicky, Cesc, Vermaelen, Gallas, Song, Ramsey, Almunia and Denilson are all injured. Will Vela or Eduardo get another start? Could Arshavin be playing his final game at THOF? (I do not believe all the transfer talk). It will certainly be Silvestre’s last appearance. Some may say that he has been a poor signing, but nonetheless he has been wearing an Arsenal shirt and as such deserves support and thanks for his input.

The Craven Cottage game  earlier in the season saw us gain a 1-0 victory thanks to a RVP first half goal (in the days when we could hold a lead!), but the stand out player that day was our goalkeeper, the 21 y.o. Vitto Mannone.  Could he get a chance to repeat his heroics this afternoon? The goalkeeping issue has been covered at enormous length in the blogs, suffice it to say that Fabianski doesn’t inspire confidence with the fans, but Mr. Wenger will surely continue with The Pole in Goal.

As this is my final preview of the season, it would be churlish not to supply some facts about the London Borough of Fulham. Called Fulham because the tiny  hamlet was owned by a man named Fulla- it was home to the Bishop of London in the 12th century. By the 18th century Fulham was known as a haunt for gambling and prostitution, which is appropriate considering the other football club within Fulham’s boundary!

I expect us to end the season on a high, winning with style and brio. RvP will definitely score today.  One last time this season…… Come on you Rip Roaring Gunners.

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Posted by Erik the Red

May 2010 – A Team Chasing Shadows

May 4, 2010

Sadly, I remember London saying how difficult it was to write the match report after the 2nd defeat by the chavs earlier this season.  Yesterday’s game is not deserving of a match report – if someone else wrote one I probably wouldn’t read it –  and as a result of that poor display, I’m going to have to wrap my Arsenal heart in cotton wool for a few weeks and probably not talk football as I’m not sure that I can make any sense of the last three defeats we’ve suffered.

In all three games against the spuds, Wigan and Blackburn there was a team wearing the red and white of Arsenal but they didn’t seem to be Arsenal footballers. Obviously they were getting paid to be Arsenal footballers but somehow they didn’t really know what they should be doing. They were, by and large, a collection of not very good footballers who weren’t trying very hard to play the Arsenal way. A couple of exceptions in van Persie and Sol Campbell who seemed to be the only Gooners on the pitch yesterday.

Why is this Arsène? When the Carling Cup team of 1st team elect players comes up against a premiership side they pull out all the stops and play with freedom and no fear. Some will argue that yesterday’s team was part Carling Cup team of old and possibly it was but where was the passion? where was the desire? It was embarrassing to watch.

Arsène complained about the pitch, complained about the treatment that was metered out to Fabianski, complained that we could have had a penalty. Blackburn’s captain Samba stood head and shoulders above  everyone in our penalty area – why was our goal-keeper muscled out of the way, why was he sitting in his goal when Samba headed home the winner? Because he’s not big enough and not strong enough. Arsène, if you think that we can go another campaign without a world class goal keeper then I’m sorry for you because you must have contracted a very strange illness that stops you seeing what thousands of Gooners see.

Most of us accept that a player can have an off day, that players returning from injury are not going to be sharp or match fit but at least if they try, if we can see that they want it, that they’re disappointed for the team when things go badly then on the whole we’ll be forgiving. A defeat is always hard to accept but yesterday’s game wasn’t even two teams competing. We are pale shadows of the Arsenal team that existed 6 years ago and the small nimble players we have now cannot compete against the big lumps of Blackburn or figure in the ranks of most other Premiership sides.

When we come up against a team that wants it more than us we have no answer and no bottle for the fight. Our ‘clever passing football’ appears incapable of penetrating a 10-man defence and no-one seems to have the ability/desire/confidence to shoot from outside the box.

We looked like a team of school boys out there yesterday, no sophistication, no slick passing game and no ideas. Your put these players in Arsenal shirts, you have shown faith in their abilities but when are you going to admit that they aren’t capable of repaying your, or our patience? Sometime soon please Arsène.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Blackburn Preview

May 3, 2010

Ewood Park. Hardly inspires a sense of excitement , does it? Sam Allardyce? Seems a marriage made in Northern hell. Work ethic, win ugly, they don’t like it up ’em, let them know you are there, passing football is for soft southern poofs, hit hard and hit often, we will score from set pieces…… the epitome of anti-football.

But is that a fair summation? Am I being Southcentric? Only you can decide. I have been to Ewood Park, to the shabby Northern streets of Blackburn, and it was exactly as expected – though the pies are excellent!

The stats: One point and we are guaranteed third place. Blackburn have lost only 2 of 17 home games, they have won just 2 out of 18 against top half opposition. Arsenal have scored 16 goals in the last 4 meetings between the clubs. Van Persie has scored 9 in 8 games against B’burn. The usual suspects are missing for Arsenal, though there is a small chance that Arshavin could play. Allardyce has a full squad to choose from. We will have the opportunity to check out Phil Jones (CB) and N’Zonzi (MF) both talked of as potential AW’s targets (though AW has been his usual non-commital self).

Writing this I feel a sense of apathy, and really fear the team will feel the same. The Fulham home game will secure the 3 position and a trip to Ewood is hardly an enjoyable experience. I am concerned the team will just go through the motions and look to escape without injury prior to the World Cup selections. However, as these are men who are paid a huge amount of money to play for The Arsenal, will they give their all for the cause against a fired up Blackburn team? – because there is no doubt Allardyce will want his team to give 100% and mirror his gum-chewing, snarling self. When the first thumping tackle goes in will our lads fight fire with fire or will they roll over and avoid the confrontation? We have some players that undoubtedly will give as good as they get (Sol & RvP to name but two), but we also have players who go missing in the heat of battle and in a meaningless game like this, I would not play them. So, I would continue the Eastwood experiment and play Bendtner instead of Theo. Maybe let Eduardo show us the improvement AW has seen in training.

There is not much more to say about Rovers. We know their style of play, exemplified by El Hadji Diouf – a serial bad boy and a man even his own fans are ashamed of.

Blackburn was the centre of the textile business during the Industrial Revolution with 43 mills and 43,000 looms! Real Lowry country. The spinning Jenny was invented in Blackburn. What else…..? Carl Fogarty was born there. It has the highest percentage of Muslims in the UK. And of course, as most of the world knows, there are 4,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire but what that means I have no idea!

Expect a physical battle. Be happy to escape injury free with the point to secure 3rd. My personal target is to stay awake until the final whistle, but I will be recording the game just in case……..

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Posted by Erik the Red

We Would Have Won The League If………….

May 2, 2010

The radio just announced that the chavs could win the league today if they beat pool and the mancs fail to beat Sunderland. Three weeks ago it was a three-horse race and so with 2 games left and nothing to play for lets have some fun and think about how, if things had been different, we could be in that exciting position of playing for a trophy.

Feel free to share with us any other factors you think could have been influencial.  Rasputin wrote a post a few weeks back that alluded to how important certain players were going to be in the run-in. You can read it again here https://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/villains-to-heroes-its-been-worth-the-wait/ not too hard to guess where Rasputin’s vote is going to go.

Hopefully in the last two games we’ll play some fantastic football that will get  the juices flowing and we can look forward to next season with relish.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal-esque

May 1, 2010

I was recently watching a Bolton game (how sad!) and Bolton started to play the ball around using intricate passing, fast movement off the ball, and accurate cross field play. The commentator said ” Bolton are playing “Arsenalesque” football ! In the old days it would be called “champagne” football. We Gooners take it for granted, in fact there are many who believe we should be far more direct and cut out the intricacy. To them I say look at Bolton. Their fans are thrilled that Coyle has stopped the kick and run tactics of Allardyce, Lee and Megson, they love to see the ball played on the ground, and the introduction of one of our own has lifted all Bolton fans spirits.

No-one ever mentions United-esque and certainly not Chelsea-esque. As to Dipper-esque – you must be joking!!

We all know what the commentator was referring to, we call it Wenger-ball, and it is to AW’s credit that an attractive and entertaining style can be created whilst maintaining a level of success. Before I am reminded (once again) of the fact we have won nothing for 5 years, I would point out that Barca win by playing Wenger-ball  – they are just better at it than we are  (and they have Messi).

When Mr. Wenger arrived at the club we had been through a decade of some of the most boring football ever seen on the green fields of Highbury. Not for nothing was “Boring Boring Arsenal” sung at every Premiership ground, nor was “1-0 to the Arsenal” our anthem for any reason other than the scoreline was George Graham’s modus operandi. I can honestly say that had GG not left I would have given up my season ticket – it had become that dire. Sure we won Cups, but take Wrighty out of the team and there was nothing to entertain us – no wonder he was such a hero to us in those gloomy days. For anyone who doesn’t believe me when I write how appalling our football was, I refer them to the 3 games at Wembley v Sheffield Wednesday. I challenge you to sit through all 300+ minutes without yawning. Yes, we won the Cup Double, yes we celebrated long into the night, but we knew we were watching tedious fare. Whilst the Spuds thrilled to Ginola and Gazza, we were watching yet another brilliant defensive performance.

Bruce Rioch was clearly a stop-gap until a long term replacement for GG was employed, and it is thanks to Rioch’s foresight that DB10 was signed. He and David Platt gave us fans the indication that the Board, and in particular David Dein had  ambitious plans for Arsenal’s development..

Then Wenger arrived. Bergkamp flourished, Vieira was signed showing what AW thought was a decent midfielder after the years of Morrow, Selley, Jensen, etc etc. We started to play football!! The best back 5 in history learned to pass through the midfield instead of hoofing it up to Wrighty. Other stars were signed to suit the method of play that Wenger promoted. Skilful, pacy, technically adept and instinctive players. Can anyone imagine that Graham would have signed Bobby Pires? The football played by The Invincibles was better than anything seen in the past 50 years and we have been privileged to witness it.

Whatever the opinions of the British (Sky) pundits, Arsenal are considered the entertainers of the Premiership, our football is admired worldwide. From Africa to India to Australia, we are the team that people turn on their TV’s to watch. MU v AFC is the most watched PL game (and probably the second most anticipated game in World club football). Football fans love Wengerball – it is how fans imagine the game should be played. Sure, there are doubters, those who believe that power is more valid than skill, that good old-fashioned British cut and thrust is more successful, and that if AFC had enforcers we would be Champions, but that isn’t Arsene’s way. His way is the Beautiful Game and thank goodness for that. That said, I believe there is room for a more direct style occasionally, who can forget those sweeping movements starting from an opposition attack, two passes through midfield onto an onrushing scorer (think TH, Freddie, Bobby).

We are entertained, and if we aren’t it isn’t because of Wenger’s football ethos, it is because the players don’t hit the heights every week (or sometimes every month!).

I know that many fans would give up the entertainment for a piece of silverware, but this writer hopes for the same as Wenger –  to win with great football, to play with brio, to mesmerise the opposition.  It can be done, Wenger has proved it, and Guardiola has shown how to do it at Champions League level.

Arsenal-esque indeed.

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Posted by Erik the Red

Man City? Spuds? Villa? Who Should We Want To Finish Fourth?

April 30, 2010

By RockyLives

Barring disaster, Arsenal look set to finish third this year. The first and second spots remain to be contested between two equally odious outfits (frankly, who cares?), so that leaves the battle for fourth.

Spuds and Citeh are in the driving seat, but Villa are in their slipstream and even the Dippers have a chance, although if it’s a Formula One race for fourth place, they’re the ones on the bicycle (a stolen one, natch).

The only interest I have in this contest (apart from the usual visceral desire to see failure and humiliation heaped on Sh*te Hart Lane) is that I want the outcome to be the least damaging to Arsenal’s future prospects. So what is that outcome? I have heard different opinions expressed by fellow Gooners, the most popular being a late dash by Aston Villa. Others would take Citeh over Spuds. But some, through gritted teeth, even say they would rather it was the Spuds than Citeh.

Well, in truth, every right-thinking Gooner should be hoping against hope that the fourth spot is secured by those pikeys-who’ve-just-won-the-lottery, Manchester City FC. Here’s why:

Whoever gets fourth will get the chance to pre-qualify for the Champions League. Yes, it’s possible that any of them could drop out at this stage (and Citeh, Spuds and Villa all share low Uefa ratings, risking a tough draw), but we cannot rely on this. They are all teams with good squads and they will reinforce like billy-o if they get the chance of CL football.

It follows, therefore, that the fourth place team can expect to get to the group stages, where six guaranteed games bring in a lot of new revenue. Meanwhile, having qualified for the CL, they will have been able to attract significantly better players during the close season. They will be a stronger team in the EPL as well as in Europe, and more likely to be our competitors for the league title and the cups as well as the CL.

So who do we want to get this leg up? Not Spuds, that’s for sure. They already spend like drunken gamblers every year anyway. And if they can attract players with the carrot of Champions League football they will really splash the cash. Mystifying though it may be to us, there is no doubt that some world class players may actually want to go to N17 if it means playing in the CL.  We cannot have our historical enemy in this position. If they finish fifth again this year I think the blow to their morale will see them really struggle again next year and our dominance in North London will remain unthreatened.

What about Aston Villa? For those in favour of Villa for fourth, the reasoning is simple, and relies more on emotion than cold calculation. Martin O’Neill is deranged, Agbonlahor was obnoxious when they beat us at the Emms last season but, on the whole, we don’t hate Villa. In fact most of us probably think they’re a well run club. But so far they have not been at the ‘top table’ of English football – and we don’t want them joining it now. If they fail to secure fourth (and all the extra cash and top players that go with it) they will stay where they are – a good team who are not a long term serious threat.

As for the Dippers, well, unless something dramatic happens on the ownership front they are facing a period of decline – one that might only be halted if they get CL football next year. However, their chances of getting fourth are so slim it’s not worth wasting time on them.

Which brings us to Citeh – and here’s the rub. If they DO get fourth, they will spend a fortune and buy some of the best players in the world and be real contenders for all trophies next year.

If they DON’T get fourth, they will spend a fortune and buy some of the best players in the world and be real contenders for all trophies next year.

Fourth or fifth makes no difference to Citeh. In terms of being bankrolled they are the richest club in the world and nothing is going to stop them spending for success.

Sure, there will be some players who will not go to ManCity if they’re not in the CL, but many world class players will be prepared to join them because of the money and the near certainty of CL football the following year. They’ll seriously abuse the cheque book to recruit players like Torres.

If Citeh finish fourth, we have the new Big Four: ManUre, Chavs, Citeh and Arsenal.

If Villa, Spuds or the Dippers finish fourth, we risk the creation of a Big Five: the four CL qualifiers, plus Citeh.

From a selfish Arsenal perspective I want to be competing against only three other power-houses in the EPL, not four. It’s as simple as that.

RockyLives

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

It was 40 years ago today …..

April 27, 2010

It was 40 years ago today Arsenal won their first European trophy, a 4-3 victory over Anderlecht of Belgium. A few of our fellow bloggers were there that famous night and I would like to describe the evening for those who couldn’t attend.

At the time I was a fresh faced, long-haired lad, fully loaded with Arsenal fanaticism following a decade of dire football. I arrived at the ground at least 3 hours prior to kick-off having taken the trusty 210 bus to Finsbury Park. The walk down St Thomas Rd was, as always, a slow meander past the death-burger stalls, the guys selling rosettes, scarves and rattles, and the paper salesmen. The early evening air resonated to shouts of “Wear your colours” and “Matchday Programmes”. The aroma of dung from the police horses mingled with smell of hotdogs, beer and cigarettes. The Highbury area was packed with expectant, excited fans. I bought my programme from the Arsenal Supporters Club stall (very lucky), and then went into the sweet shop under the North Bank to buy a bag of lucky Everton Mints before joining the immense queue to get in the ground. I took my place midway up the North Bank as central as possible. And waited in one of the noisiest crowds I had ever experienced.

It was a typical early Spring English evening. My recollection is that there had been much rain that week and the pitch was heavy. As darkness fell the ground was illuminated by the cold glare of the spotlights, and the fog from 30,000 cigarettes lay a few feet above the players. In those days almost everyone smoked and the pall is one of my outstanding memories of those evening games at Highbury.

Over 51,000 packed into Highbury, which should be compared to the attendance limit of 39,000 when we left our wonderful old stadium. The ground was humming. The marching band came out to “entertain” the fans, some fat chap sang a couple of songs. The team came out to warm up in front of the North Bank. We chanted and the players responded with a wave and a smile. All 12 players had their own chants from Scotland’s Number One  to Big John Radford, all were sung with equal gusto, though the North Bank darling was of course Charlie George – one of our own.

We started with 7 English and 4 Scottish players and an English manager.

Having lost the first leg in Belgium 3-1, we were underdogs but I was very bullish about our chances. If I am honest, I cannot recall too much of the game apart from Sammels winner and the insanity of that moment. Words cannot explain the feeling – you all know what I mean, when the logical process gets left behind and the emotions take over. Time stops. It’s a type of petit mal. There is only one thing like it (wink wink).

People were praying for the final whistle (Sammels scored with 15mins to go). The noise at the end was ear shattering. Frank McLintock received the Cup and then all hell broke loose. The entire North Bank invaded the pitch, followed by everyone else – even the East Stand Upper! I stayed on the pitch dancing with strangers for what seemed like hours until we were shepherded out. I cannot recall another occasion when the pitch was invaded and it remains the only time my feet have touched the hallowed turf.

This was our first trophy for 17 years, yes, 17 years! It was the first trophy I was privileged to see us win. The joy was unbridled. In those far off days I was teetotal yet was persuaded to take pint or two, which accounts for my having little memory of the celebrations that followed!

The names of that team will go with me to my grave. It is THE Arsenal team to me, much as the Invincibles are to the current generation of young Gooners.

Thank you Messrs Wilson, Storey, McNab, Kelly, McLintock, Simpson, Armstrong, Sammels, Radford, George and Graham, and last but definitely not least, Mr Mee. Thank you.

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Posted by Erik the Red

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