Yes, that’s right: a quiet beach a million miles away from the hurly burly of Premiership football and the unforgiving scrutiny of the media.

A blue sky, a blazing sun and a long, golden beach as empty as Abou Diaby’s head.

Obviously Arsene shouldn’t go there right now – that would be rude. He should at least wait until we’ve played our remaining games.

But when his team has kicked the final ball in yet another season of flattering to deceive, he should give the players, the board and the media a cheery wave and head off with a small suitcase containing only his Speedos and that bottle of sun cream that Phil Brown left behind in the away dressing room at The Grove last year.

And while I know his many critics will hope he never comes back, I beg to differ.

What our manager needs is some time to get his head straight and take stock. I mean REALLY take stock.

And to do that he needs to detach himself from the day-to-day craziness of his job. There are so many immediate demands on him that there is no possibility of him ever getting perspective on the big picture.

He is known to make decisions over every aspect of how Arsenal is run, from the colour of the loo roll in the London Colney toilets (white, with a cock-and-ball logo in blue as it happens) to the aroma of the massage cream in the club morgue treatment room.

Plus, we’re always reading how even on his ‘days off’ Arsene is to be found glued to a TV, watching some game in the Azerbaijani Third Division. Well that’s got to stop too.

He needs to go to his deserted beach for three whole weeks – with no Blackberry or mobile phone, without a lap top and with no access to television.

There have to be no calls from agents; none from journalists; no texts from Emmanuel Eboue with links to funny videos involving chickens. It needs to be total media silence.

Yes, he might miss out on a transfer opportunity or two while he’s incommunicado. So what? There is no point doing transfer business until he has fundamentally decided what he needs to do to turn Arsenal into a trophy-winning club again.

He also needs a complete break for his health and sanity. Personally I think the media have been over-egging the ‘man on the edge’ stuff lately because it fits the narrative they’ve chosen for Arsene (when Ferguson rants on the touchline it’s passion; when Wenger does it it’s a mental breakdown). But even so, the pressure and scrutiny must take its toll and he has looked frustrated at times.

I’m not going to speculate on what conclusions he might reach while his hammock sways from side to side with the calming monotony of Denilson’s passing range.

Oh alright, I’ll speculate a little: maybe it will involve re-thinking the youth policy; maybe he’ll decide he needs a proper defence coach; perhaps he’ll conclude that certain players need weeding out (and I mean weeding – not the full-on napalm attack that some of the more excitable web sites are demanding).

Other areas he might ponder are whether 4-3-3 is worth persevering with; whether to go all out for the domestic cups again or revert to using them as a training slope for the up-and-comers; and, perhaps most difficult of all, whether he has the heart to carry on.

I hope he does all this, because I firmly believe that he can make us great again. And when he does, I want to be there to watch the media lickspittles shovel humble pie down their gullets until they burst.

RockyLives

Written by Harry

All I ask of you in my hour of need, after the unexpected defeat at the hands of Bolton, as I sit here distraught and frustrated, even angry at the events of this season, I ask that you address the faithful the hordes of fans that support and follow this club of ours as soon as is practical…….

What do I want to hear?

1. Admit you have made mistakes.
2. Admit that you have been restricted in the transfer window since our move to the Emirates, but now you have the funds available to make the moves you truly want and if needed you will pay what it takes.
3. Admit that some players that you have supported vehemently have let you down.
4. Admit that we do have specific areas of concern that need fresh players in to improve us and take us up a level.
5. State categorically that you will address all of the above points, that we will keep all of our star players and have a real and proper title tilt next season………

Hands Up, My mistake……

In the aftermath of the defeat today which ends any lingering hopes that we had in winning the title this season, it is so hard to put into words the events of the match, and how I am feeling……..

The Blogosphere is awash with AMG’s, Fire Him, Sack Him, Walk now, Do the right thing, I understand the frustration and indeed I have anger inside, but I believe we are so close, to being what we all want that we must manage our expectations and get behind the boss and the team that he has built, as I stated above he has made some errors and needs to address certain areas……….

So today started with a real belief that we had an outside chance of still winning the title, some doom merchants will crawl out saying we never had a chance and it was all over before today, well mathematically there is still a 150/1 chance even now, but even the most optimistic fan knows, that the silver polish will not be needed this season……

The match started bright and the team seemed to start with the same vigour that they tackled the Spuds with, Walcott seemed pivotal to our day, but after the first few attacks, Bolton’s resolve not to lose seemed to take hold and they harried and fought, giving little space for our players to exploit…….

I don’t want to dwell on the match too much but will just give detail on the key moments@

On 38 Mins:  Bolton took the lead when Cahill lost his marker Alex Song as a corner come over, his header was cleared from the goal by Nasri, but straight to Sturridge who just nodded in from point blank…….1-0……..

On 45 Mins: Fabregas flashed a 30yard low drive against the left hand upright to see it deflect back away from danger……..

We had other moments in the first half, but failed to counter Bolton’s aggressive pressing game……Sturridge and Davies were proving to be a handful…..

On 46Mins: No sooner had we all sat down ready for the 2^nd half, Sturridge turned Djourou and pushed into the box from the left, Djourou was unlucky to see the Ref point to the spot as Sturridge fell over with no contact made…….

Kevin Davies stepped up and hit a poor penalty just to the right of centre, Szczesny held strong and saved well with his legs, the ball for once went to safety……..Game on? Well the players did seem to up their game……

On 48mins: Van Persie comes in from the left and touches the ball into Fabregas, who feeds back, Van Persie, curls a sweet shot into the bottom left  hand corner of the goal……1:1, game truly on?

Arsenal now really stepped up and created numerous chances that should have been converted, Nasri and Chamakh missing gilt edged chances……..

On 89 Mins: Another set piece sees Tamir Cohen nod in a glancing header at the near post……….2:1….Season over, 5 minutes of injury time, just prolongs the agony……

Ratings:

Szczesny: 7.5 …Saved a penalty and two other saves of real note, so did well but fumbled a few……..No chance for either goal….

Sagna: 7…I thought he did well defensively, but could do more in advanced positions……

Djourou: 5… Truly shocking, he is a liability at the moment, I have stuck up for JD many times and still have high hopes for him, but he is struggling at the moment……numerous mistakes, weak and poor positioning…….

Koscienly: 6…Steady but still learning to deal with the premiership, will develop, needs a bit more aggression for me…..

Clichy: 4…The root cause of our defensive fragility, harsh to blame one in all entirety, but I wanted him dropped weeks ago, he has no positional sense, slow in thought, restricts our play constantly and cannot cope with any pressure……..

Wilshere: 7…Jack tried and had some good moments, needs to be more selfish in front of goal, he has a great shot with minimal backlift needed, but never uses it…..Subbed first…

Fabregas: 7…Had a good game, but just not quite influential enough to get us a result, but at least he was having some shots, key role in the Van Persie goal……..

Song: 5…Has regressed alarmingly since about Christmas, but he has struggled with injuries, perhaps it has restricted hum?

Walcott: 7…Tried and looked good early doors, when the team was playing to his strengths, but as Bolton pressed, the team stopped trying to put Theo through…..

Van Persie: 8…A new record of 7 away games in a row with a goal, so well done to Robin, did well and dropped deeper when Chamakh came on and set up some good chances…..Didnt deserve to lose…..

Nasri: 7…Played well until when near the goal where his goal-den touch seems to have deserted him…

Subs:

Chamakh: 4….Poor, Poor. Looks lost of any belief…….

Arshavin: 6…Better, but still he is a wasted talent…….

Ramsey: Not enough time

Manager:

Wenger: 6: I thought he selected his best team (aside I would have dropped Clichy) for the start. But again his use and awareness of substitutions was lacking. I would agree some players have let him down today and through the season, but rightly so, arsene retains a responsibility to sort this out…..

Overall:

I do understand people’s thoughts on why they feel time has come for a change and not for one second do I see mediocrity as acceptable, I don’t think 3^rd or 2^nd can be truly seen as a successful achievement, So do I feel we have improved this season…?

Maybe, a little, but maybe we have a regressed in some areas..? But do I feel, Wenger for now is the one who I think should be allowed to continue to lead this team…..?

As long as  he heeds the advice at the beginning, by making the necessary changes, then yes, as disappointed as I am, he should continue with our full support………

.

A trip up to the north west beckons our weary team and our magnificent travelling support.

Some would say we’re a team traumatised by recent setbacks in the league: the loss of a two goal lead last time out, the late, late penalty equaliser against the ‘dippers last weekend and the pair of home nil-nils against Blackburn and Sunderland.

Suffice to say on paper the results don’t suggest a team brimming with confidence. Having said that it can be argued that save for the last thirty minutes of the NLD our attacking and midfield play showed genuine endeavour and self-assurance, even if the defensive frailties continued to persist.

It is fortunate that a feature of previous league campaigns is that most trips to the north west would be in the bleakest portion of the season where a trip to Lancashire would be about as welcome as a cold shower to start the day, however travelling to Bolton will, for the outstanding travelling Gooners, not be an arctic affair on this occasion.

Traditionally most Bolton games have been bruising encounters, who can forget the game where we had player after player stretchered off after the good old British values of “getting stuck in” got their due reward?

Of course this was in the halcyon days of Big Fat Walrus-face Sam, Jose Mourinho’s successor in waiting. It has been said that Owen Coyle has been attempting to get his team to use the grass on the pitch a bit more, rather than the air above it exclusively and in one way Bolton’s last game against a team with a manager that makes Allardyce look like Pep Guardiola, Stoke, showed they couldn’t compete with a “robust” approach as they crashed out of the FA Cup 5-0 to Pullis’ pugilists.

Form wise prior to the FA Cup semi Bolton beat West Ham convincingly at home (3-0) but lost away to Birmingham city (2-1) and before that a narrow loss at Old Toilet to ManUre 1-0.

The Bolton striker to look out for is Chav loan player Daniel Sturridge, who has scored six goals in eight appearances, and the reasoning for the loan is obvious when you look at the performance of Bolton’s other striking options: Elmander (one goal in thirteen) and Kevin “Elbows” Davies (one goal in eighteen).

Just to show that Davies has not changed his ways there is only one player in the Bolton squad with more than his seven yellow cards for the season, namely Paul Robinson, with nine yellows. This constant feature of Bolton’s play at least reassures us that even in a rapidly changing world some things just don’t change, and for that we must be thankful.

League wise, while Bolton sit in eighth place and we are third, they have scored twenty goals less than our sixty six yet have let in nine more than our thirty four so in theory an away win is a formality, right?

Turning to our beleaguered boys in red and white we have, barring the Verminator, pretty much our full complement of first choice players available, so in my opinion the match will hinge on whether the desire of the Trotters to bounce back after their drubbing at Wembley last weekend is greater than our wish to avenge the surrendering of two points to Stratford Spurs.

Not only must we enter the last quintet of fixtures fighting for a win to avoid our season fizzling out but it may well be vital we finish second to avoid the potential need to play a pre qualifier to the Champions League group stages should we stay third, as there are mutterings that that only the winners and runners up of the premier League will automatically go to the group stages.

Selection wise I have a dilemma for midfield as a few weeks ago Jack would have been an automatic pick; however Diaby’s last two performances have made Jack a less obvious pick. Having said that, Cesc must have Song with him if Diaby, less defensive in nature than Jack, is to play.

Up top is the question of whether Nasri should play left wing or Arshavin, with neither player being especially consistent recently. Right wing should be Theo’s place but hopefully with licence to play through the centre to give the Trotters something to think about.

In my opinion a free flowing, flexible formation playing at a high tempo is the best way to approach this Bolton team so for that reason, and reasons of sentiment, my team would be:

On a tenuously related matter, if any Gooners are looking for an IPL (Twenty20 cricket) team to follow can I suggest Kings XI Punjab as their owner is a passionate Gooner and he specifically ensured their jerseys were as close to Arsenal’s home strip as possible, they are even both sponsored by Em****es Airlines.

They also have another owner who is worth attention, Preity Zinta, but that’s just me doing my Cosmo Smallpiece impression.

A final point, listen out for the magnificent away support, they consistently do us proud time after time; always outnumbered, never outsung.

COYRRG !

Charybdis1966

This was going to be a very involved, well researched post about how many times we’ve clawed victory from the mouth of defeat this season or what happened to one nil to the Arsenal? But the sun is shining and although it was a lucid articulate article at 3am it still needs to much work and time is running out.

We used to be the team that clawed victory or a draw from the mouth of defeat but now we’ve become the team most likely to lose or draw in the final minutes of a tense game.  I used to be certain that we could hold onto a 1 goal advantage gained in the 80 something minute but these days it seems that the only certainty is that other teams know we might crumble if they apply the pressure.

Many have cried out for the ‘smash and grab’ that we used to see regularly, three goals up at half-time and then exhibition stuff for the second half. I actually like the roller coaster ride and coming back from being 1 or 2 goals down always feels very satisfying if a little scary. I always knew we would score ……….. not now though 😦

Although the season isn’t over, to see out the remaining games as if it is would be a waste of a season that has promised so much. There are five games to show that we have the fighting spirit, the mental strength and the players to snatch a few points from the remaining games.

As Arsène is fond of reminding us, we were written off at the start of the season and have spent the most part of it in second place!!!! Yes, we have underachieved, as the Carling Cup should definitely be shining bright in our trophy cabinet but maybe the disappointment of losing that final was just too much for this group of players.

Five games, fifteen points from these will let us finish four points ahead of last season and we can still mathematically win the league. The season isn’t over yet, I hope our boys aren’t already on the beach.

Have a nice day in the sun all.

Written by peachesgooner

It seems an eternity ago that Reina scored an own goal following a Chamakh header in the 90th minute to gain our first point of the season. It was to be a pre-cursor to the season  – Arsenal have all the play, the opposition score a superb goal (without question Ngog best PL goal) and we have a player (Koscielny) sent off by an insane referee.  Liverpool went on to have a dreadful few months and looked in deep trouble until the return of King Kenny.

Much water has flowed since those days. January gave Liverpool an belated Xmas gift when they swapped a misfiring Torres for two fine young attackers. I fear for our CB’s today because Liverpool have once again  formidable attacking options. Carroll has terrorised us before and scored at the Grove this season, Suarez looks a fine player and Kuyt has found his scoring boots. Thankfully they remain shaky at the back and are suffering from a minor injury crisis. No Gerrard is a plus but Meireles has improved enormously and against Man City Liverpool’s midfield totally dominated.

If Liverpool play the same expansive game at the Grove as they played at the weekend, this will be a terrific game. With only Sagna definitely out we have almost a full squad to choose from and AW will be racking his brain to sort out who starts. Should he play Diaby in light of Carrol’s height? Should he play Bendtner to take advantage of Liverpool’s frailties? In my opinion, No, to both 🙂  We must play our game and see how Liverpool cope.

My team:

I expect a tight game, much will depend upon us stifling the supply to the front men. A concentrated Song is essential as Blackpool exploited us through the middle thanks to Diaby’s poor positioning  – he isn’t a DM and it showed. As ever Theo’s pace will be a big threat and more of the long balls from Cesc to RvP would be good – he is sure to score from one of them.

Let us hope for a strong referee to curb the excesses of the mad Carragher  (I used to have a dog that had Mad Carragher’s Disease – it got put down soon after the diagnosis).

Should we win today the League is still on, the confidence gained will boost the side ahead of the trip to the Lane, and renewed belief will build in the Grove. To those who are lucky enough to have tickets, please make some noise and show the team the support they deserve. This game could be tight and nerves may fray, don’t take it out on the players – start singing and then sing some more.

You can will the team to victory.

Remember 26/5/1989.

Today be the 12th man ……

COYRRG

Written by BigRaddy

A message from peaches

My very beautiful number 1 daughter Rachel is running the London Marathon today on behalf of the National Autistic Society. As a family we have a lot to thank the NAS for as my youngest was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, a condition on the Autistic spectrum, when he was just four years old. We spent years battling the education system to get him support and learning how to teach him to be a sociable young man. The information that the NAS was able to pass on to us was invaluable. There is a much better understanding of all Autistic Spectrum disorders now and that is due to the gathering of information by this extremely hardworking worthwhile organisation.

We’ve flagged up a couple of charitable causes in the last few weeks but if you feel you would like to support Rachel and her Marathon Run for the National Autistic Society you can go to her giving page here. The Marathon Run is a pretty mega thing to decide to do and I’m immensely proud of her, even more so because she said it was fine for me to go to football on Sunday. What a girl huh!

Only, last night she hoped I would be at the finish and so I’ve given my ticket to Rasp for the game but hope to catch up with the second half at The Tollington on my way home.

Right chaps, I’ve got some info that’s going to make your day. Have you ever worried about your testosterone levels? Well, I’ve been doing some research on all of your behalfs and there are some very simple ways for you to make sure you never have to worry ……….

What actually happened was, having been banging on about the perceived ‘lack of testosterone’ on show from our team I went delving into the depths of male hormones on the internet to see what I could discover.

Obviously, raised levels of testosterone and other performance enhancing hormones are detectable by testing but what if the reverse was happening to our players? I quickly dropped the idea that some sort of doping was going on although when you see how the team come out after half-time it would be easy to suggest that they’ve definitely had something slipped into their tea.

Red meat. How much Red Meat do our men get to eat?  Now I know that everything about red meat points to unhealthy diet but lack of fat affects concentration, something that we’ve long worried about with regards to some of our players.  Our chaps do lead a pretty healthy existence so why deprive them of the calories and the taste. Reduced fat is all very well if you have sedentary job but these guys burn up calories for a living and so I say give them meat.

Not wanting to bore the pants of you with too much science you’ll know that testosterone is useful for ensuring that you have a fulfilling sex-life, deep voices and hairy chests. Many of you already know the perils of having too much testosterone as that is responsible for hair loss in men.  Here’s a little test you can all do. Research has shown that women – who have low levels of testosterone, generally have their index finger the same size as their ring finger, whereas in men the ring finger will be longer than the index finger because they have higher levels. Have you all had a look?

Now, while it was great fun to think about the size of the fingers all the men I knew it wasn’t exactly the truth I was looking for. I don’t know enough about the strict eating regime that Arsene instills at the club but I do know that many of our chaps are bred to be lean so that they are quick. Maybe it’s only the girls that notice that some of our players physiques change dramatically during their time at the club but I feel that maybe the lean, low-fat approach is damaging to our fighting spirit on the pitch.

Seriously, this isn’t as mad as it sounds, research into the effects of testosterone and competitive behaviour suggests that testosterone increases competitiveness and risk taking and surely that’s some of what we’re missing. I’m not criticising the players here, maybe it’s not their fault entirely.

We know that Arsene’s new regime extended the playing careers of several players when he joined the club and I’m all for healthy eating but we have witnessed a dumbing down of assertiveness, tenacity and sheer bloody minded fighting spirit and something needs to be done to reverse this trend.

So, Arsene if you’re reading, Zinc is the most natural way to increase testosterone levels and can be found in oysters, beans, red meat, turkey, brown rice and cottage cheese. Do men even eat cottage cheese? Foods rich in vitamin A and B also bolster testosterone levels these include apples, pineapples and citrus fruits and spinach, carrots and red peppers, salmon is filled to the gills with it, eggs contain it and bananas have the added benefit of potassium which helps to produce testosterone.

Alternatively food parcels should be sent to The Arsenal Training Ground, London Colney, Hertfordshire.

Written by peachesgooner