Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City: Boo Boys Compared

November 18, 2010

Booing, when you think about it, is a very funny sound.

It’s the sort of sound a cow might make if it had a bad head cold.

And right now, around the more charmless corners of the Premier League, there has been quite an outbreak of snuffly Fresian behaviour.

The pale blue herd up at Middle Eastlands have been booing their little hearts out because their £350 million squad can’t rustle up a goal for love nor money. Well, actually, just for money – there’s not a single player at Man City who loves the club, although they all love their pay cheques.

Then, down the road in the pastoral idyll that is London N17, the all-white herd are just as noisily petulant because, in their case, they are feeling let down and betrayed: this was going to be THEIR YEAR. It really was – that top four finish was going to be a stepping stone to the League title, while the Champions League trophy would be scooped up along the way. The white herd, as is well known, is strongly infected with mad cow disease.

In both cases the booing is truly absurd.

Look at Citeh: Booed off at the weekend against Birmingham; booed off after drawing with Manchester United and at half time and full time when drawing with Blackburn; jeered off the pitch at half time when nil-nil at home to Wigan. I could go on but there are just too many examples to mention.

Sky Blues fans – what are you doing? Are you mad? You have spent years of your life loyally supporting a rubbish team that hasn’t looked remotely like winning anything for a generation and now, just because someone has come in and flashed his wad at you, you expect the earth?

Did you really think that all it takes to become a team of champions is to pay over-the-odds prices for greedy players looking for a mega payday, throw them all together and see what happens?

Chelsea managed it with Abramovich’s cash because (a) the league was not as competitive then and (b) Chelsea had the nucleus of a good team (which had already won silverware and competed in the Champions League before the Russian arrived).

City would probably be doing better now if they had kept the likes of Given, Ireland, Dunne, Elano and Bellamy and added some quality imports to that strong core. And yes I know Given is still there, but he’s not exactly first choice, is he?

I used to always like meeting Man City supporters because they had a great sense of cynicism and dark humour about the fortunes of their beloved club. Even their iconic anthem, Blue Moon, with it’s wistful, yearning air, reflected their understanding that they followed a club destined never to be fashionable or successful. And you know what? They hardly ever booed their boys back in the pre-lottery win days. Now look at them. Frankly it’s sad.

And then we move to our noisy neighbours, from whom we hear the sound of booing echoing over the rooftops of North London on an almost weekly basis – most recently after drawing with Sunderland last week.

Unlike poor Citeh, whose fans have had their heads turned by all that dough, the Spuds supporters have a long tradition of booing their team. They booed them under Ramos and under Jol and Santini and Pleat; they booed them under Hoddle and under Graham and Gross and Francis; they were probably booing them all the way back in 1898 under Frank Brettell, first in a long tradition of managerial failures at the mighty Cocks.

But they, too, need to ask themselves why they are booing their team this season of all seasons. They are in the champions league – a feat they will never achieve again in the lifetime of many of their fans – they are in the top seven in the table and are getting to see some decent players on a weekly basis (Bale, van der Vaart, Defoe, Modric, Kranjcar).

Don’t you Spuds realise that this is as good as it gets for you? And you’re STILL booing? Really, you deserve the club you’ve got and it deserves you.

Finally there’s Arsenal. One of the things I love about our club is that we don’t collectively boo the players off the pitch. When some sections of the crowd booed Emmanuel Eboue as he experienced a mid-game mental breakdown it caused an explosion of self-examination that continues in the blogosphere to this day.

Yes, there’ll be occasions when the team don’t exactly leave the pitch to a standing ovation, but collective booing by a large section of the Arsenal crowd is almost unheard of. (I have read reports of Arsenal being booed off at the end of games where I have been present and there was no booing – just muted applause. I can only imagine that some particularly dopey individual who likes to boo happens to sit near the press box).

Liverpool supporters hardly ever boo their team (and God knows, they have had reason to in the last few seasons). Nor do the supporters of Manchester United. Along with Arsenal, what those two clubs and their supporters have is history, and a touch of class. They know what success is, they have had high highs and low lows, but they also know their jobs as supporters.

Manchester City used to have class in a peculiar, downtrodden way, but the glint of money has stolen it from them.

The Spuds have never had it and they never will, so the mournful sound of booing from N17 will long continue to rival the chimes of Big Ben as one of the traditional sounds of Old London Town.

RockyLives

The England team were booed off the pitch at Wembley  last night. The France team which had a poorer World Cup than ours managed to look more like a football team than we did. What is more frustrating, the coach, the players or the media feeding the expectation of the supporters?

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Posted by RockyLives

The Emirates Library …. sshhhhhh ……

November 17, 2010

Written by CarlitoII

Who wasn’t excited to hear about the Arsenalization process of “The Mothership” as I call our beautiful stadium? The reinstatement of the North Bank and Clock End, the murals and all that other jazz designed make the stadium more of a fortress was our CEO’s shining hope to create more atmosphere and add to the uniqueness of the stadium. Does anyone feel it worked?

I, for one, feel that the atmosphere at the Grove has been even flatter this year than in years past – the only game that really got going was the game against Birmingham. Now, we’ve never had the loudest fans at home but those away boys do us proud, don’t they? So why is it that the lads behind me barely murmer along to the songs even though they’re barely 20 years old? Why is it that the guys next to me comment to each other as if they’re watching the game in their front room?

Before I get into my explanation, it has to be said that it’s never a flat atmosphere when the spuds, chavs or manks turn up- but against West Ham, West Brom and in particular against Aston Villa last season I felt that the whole stadium and overdosed on Nytol on the way to the ground!

Reason 1: Ticket prices. I pay about a month’s salary for my ticket. In practice, a lot of the members in and around me sell their tickets on for the less glamorous fixtures and this means that we get a lot of football tourists – possibly not even Gooners – coming to watch a game. My choice of verb is important here. They do not seem to consider the need to support the team, and I often find myself becoming part of the show for these good people (“ooh, he’s a colourful character – look at him shouting”)! I won’t blame them or the season ticket holders for selling on. Anyone who likes football would want to come. But if true Gooners could afford to go every week there would be a far better atmosphere.

Reason 2: Easy access. You can get from outside the ground to your seat in about 90 seconds – except you can’t in the 5 minutes before kickoff when everyone’s had the same idea and the turnstiles get blocked. The culture of getting into your seat/ grabbing your spot on the terrace has disappeared so the atmosphere doesn’t build up.

Reason 3: Booze restriction. If you could take your pint to your seat you would stay there, wouldn’t you? The irony of a tournament being sponsored by Heineken and Amstel having a booze prohibition is a matter for a different blog – but I cannot see any reason why I shouldn’t take a beer to my seat for a premier league game!

Reason 4: Plastic fans. I hate to say this but there are too many fans who were not with us before Arsene Wenger’s revolution. The “sing when your winning” mentality has to stop. We need to sing louder when we’re losing. I think this is the main reason why we are doing better away than at home – the real fans sing louder.

This blog is a bit of a rant, but I really believe that the team shouldn’t always be held responsible for the atmosphere at the ground. It’s our part to support the team and inspire them to greater things – we really lack the 12th man. I hope the CEO will take look at some of these factors – even putting “Come on you Reds” on the screens like they used to a Highbury would be a start!

Finally- what is the deal with the food? North London has fantastic food from Bagels to Turkish food, Indian, Thai, Italian- you name it. What do we get inside the stadium? Nachos. Hotdogs. Popcorn in the name of all things holy! This is only going to encourage people to treat a match like a trip to the cinema. Let’s make the stadium a reflection of the supporters and not the corporate ideals of the board- murals schmurals – let’s get ‘em singing!

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal’s home form, is it a matter of concern ?

November 16, 2010

Written by kelsey

Having lost twice already this season at home to W.B.A. and Newcastle, I thought it might make interesting reading to compare our home form at the Emirates compared to Highbury.

When we played Newcastle that was our 83rd home league game at the Emirates (season 06/07 to the present day) and in this period we have won 48, drawn 18 and lost 17.Goals scored 162 and 87 against.

The last 83 league games played at Highbury (season 01/02 to 05/06) resulted in won 60 drawn 15 lost 8. Goals scored 200 and 87 against.

The figure that stands out is that we have won 12 fewer games and lost more than double the games at the new stadium, and there may be several reasons for that. Naturally one could argue that over this period the team has changed dramatically yet has always maintained a top 4 place.

Obviously the cost involved in the building of the new stadium has had a great influence in restricting our buying powers and at the same time the arrival of Abramovich and now the the Sheikhs at City have inflated the prices of players to a level never dreamed of some ten years ago.

Furthermore one would have to take into consideration a certain time frame to adjust from moving from one of the smallest pitches in the Premier League with an enclosed area to a modern state of the art far larger pitch at The Emirates, which many say lacks atmosphere which in turn doesn’t benefit the players.

One would have theorized that with the increased pitch size our style of play would have been tougher to defend against – which has not proven to be the case.

One could also argue that it’s not the size of the pitch that has been our problem and that it might be down to either long term injuries to our strike force or other teams using the Big Sam’s man-ball tactics, but W.B.A. especially disproved that point.

In conclusion I would say that the main reason that we are not a “fortress” is that defensively we are not as strong or organised as we were in the Highbury days.

I would like your thoughts , as we approach our next home game which is imperative for us to win to keep up our new found momentum.

In conclusion I would like to thank gunnerN5 for providing me with some excellent stats.

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Posted by kelsey

Roll on Spurs, we just can’t wait.

November 15, 2010

Written by kelsey

Those who are regulars on here would have read that I had positive vibes for the game at Goodison in my early comment yesterday morning. kelsey positive!!! Never they cried. Well the oracle for once was proved right.

This was never going to be an easy game, with Everton having strung together a sequence of good results at home after a somewhat shaky start, nevertheless I hoped after a tricky but deserved win at Wolves for once the momentum would continue.

The first twenty minutes were somewhat cagey but both sides were intent on playing football and though physical it was a test that we hoped would show that there was a new determination in the way we fought for every ball, and we weren’t disappointed.

The first goal came from an unlikely source through Sagna and then shortly after half time with as astute substitution of Wilshere for Denilson, he himself was instrumental in providing Fabregas with our second .

Everton are no pushovers these days and we knew that we had to be at our very best to await the onslaught on our goal, yet if Nasri had scored with his dazzling run through the middle or Chamakh had just stretched another six inches we would have been 3-0 up and the game would have been literally over. However it was not to be and the much maligned Fabianski yet again came to our rescue on more than one occasion, showing what amazing reflexes this young man has, and that his confidence is growing by the day.

A late scrambled goal inevitably by Cahill near the end made the score just about fair,though there was more than a hint of a foul on Song in the build up.

Webb had a strange game, again focusing on the inconsistency by referees, but one thing is clear Distin fouled Fabregas and the referee got that booking completely wrong.

Man of the match for me was Nasri, who is fast becoming an immense player for us. A special mention also to Djourou arguably our forth choice centre back, who had his best game of the seaon and his partnership with Squillaci stood in the main, firm.

Just a word about squad strength when we have RvP, Walcott, Gibbs,  Rosicky and Denilson starting on the bench today, Bendtner to return and Ramsey only a few weeks away from strengthening our squad even more.

So roll on Spurs.

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Posted by kelsey

Musings of a true Gooner, banishes doom and gloom

November 12, 2010

Written by RedArse

I fell to musing, in a slough of despondency, after the desperately disappointing results of the recent past, and wondered; why do I feel so desolate, so full of despair?

What was the cause of this aching void in my mind, and in my body, where the act of breathing, of existing from minute to minute was such a struggle? How could simple adverse results; shattering defeats, for my beloved team, Arsenal, cause me such extreme anguish?

I suppose it had its origins many years ago, back in my childhood, when, and I can be precise here, I first heard the word, the fascinatingly military sounding name, “Arsenal”. It was while sitting on my father’s shoulders at my very first visit to watch a game.

He had told me he was going to a match, and asked if I would like to go? I knew nothing about football, indeed, I had never heard of such a thing, but I would go anywhere with my dad, just to be with him. Little did I know that would be the beginning of a lifelong love affair with a club, a team who were to so dominate my very existence?

Ironically, the match he took me to was not played at Highbury, but the pre-Bates Stamford Bridge, to see something called a derby between someone called Chelsea and his arsenal. Young, I may have been, but I knew that word, arsenal. It was a place where guns, ammunition, and weapons of all sorts were made and stored. Oh yes, I was going to like my dad’s arsenal; it was every boy’s dream come true.

The old Stamford Bridge was a huge sprawling, open aired amphitheatre which was desperately in need of renovation, and we seemed miles from what was known as a pitch. Puzzled, and a little confused, surrounded by legions of people, I asked my dad where the arsenal was. At that moment there erupted around us a crescendo of sound, and there in the distance, what seemed to be little men, poured out onto the pitch in a tumultuous wave of red and white, and my dad yelled to me, over the cacophony, “there they are”, and gesticulated delightedly towards them.

My eyes opened wide in amazed comprehension that these were, in fact, the Arsenal, so beloved of my father, and who in turn would become the delight of my life.

Over the many years since then, the increasingly glorious victories, and great feats of derring do were to become the stuff of my footballing dreams. None of the vainglorious nonsense spouted by fans of other clubs, following their empty, meaningless wins, could stop me strutting around as proud as a peacock that I was a gooner and a follower of the greatest team the world had ever seen! It says so in the song even!

What cannot be denied is that those dreams, as a child, were occasionally suffused by both pain and ecstasy almost beyond my ability to bear them. A catharsis so intense, that the experience of Arsenal losing a game left me hopeless, helpless and near to tears, whereas the sterling victories achieved an euphoria impossible to describe.

There then lay the roots of my current misery, the counterbalance to the exquisite sense of well being when we win. No amount of alcohol, in my later years, could ever quench the pain of Arsenal losing.

Many gooners, I am sure, can identify with these sentiments, which helps explain the gloom evident in the Arsenal blogs of late. So let me leave you with this crumb of comfort.

Over the years, every Arsenal setback has been more than matched by a thrilling win, and the emptiness of losing has swiftly been consigned to the dustbin of history.

I would love to hear your own stories of how you treat those two imposters, defeat and victory, because whichever of them are currently in the ascendancy, our love of Arsenal will over-ride all.

We will always be Gunners!

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Posted by Rasp

No howlers at Wolves …….. please?

November 10, 2010

We have been through a miserable few games and tonight we have an opportunity to get back on track. Few will fancy us to defeat a team who appear to have transformed themselves from thug tactics to one that played Man Utd off the park at Old Trafford. Let there be no mistake, United were lucky to take the points and had Wolves taken their chances, they would have won, plus  (DanDan) United scored  on the stroke of halftime and in the 94th minute.

Perhaps it was the criticism of Murphy or the wise words from our Leader but whatever it was Wolves have become a team that plays football, admittedly with a physical dimension but not one that is beyond the rules.

In Matt Jarvis Wolves have one of the in-form players in the PL, a hard working tricky winger with a touch of the Freddie about him. Much has been written about Henry, a robust player and Wolves Captain, Hunt has returned to the team and the two wingers will cause our wayward full backs to concentrate fully on defending. Hopefully the referee (Mark Halsey) will have a good day and keep the game clean.

We have almost a full squad to pick from and are strong everywhere except at Centre Back where Djourou will continue his rehabilitation,  I have the greatest faith in JD having been a supporter of his since he showed so much promise as a youngster and still believe he has all the attributes to become our first choie CB alongside either TV or Kos.  JD has the physique and the pace to become a major player for us, what needs to improve, and improve rapidly, is his positional sense. The long term injury to Vermaelen has caused all our CB’s to play more games than expected and I assume AW would have chosen JD to restart his career in the CC team and from the bench.

Another conundrum is whether to play Cesc. He is a vital cog in the team, our heartbeat, but his performance against WHU was so poor that he apologised in the programme and he was even worse on Sunday with a pass completion of only 67% (the worst in his career.) Is he really unfit? Is he on drugs? Judging by his inability to judge the pace of play I would assume he had a crafty joint in the dressing room (or being very anti-smoking, a hash brownie!!). Whatever it is, he needs to recover form before our title challenge disappears before Xmas. I would rest him tonight and hope he is fit for the weekend game.

Thankfully we can play a midfield of Song, Denilson (Nasri, if fit), JW and Rosicky, who really ought to dominate.

Upfront we have started to stutter. After a superb opening to the season our strikers have forgotten where the goals are, though it has to be said that the service to them has been dreadful. We have two strikers who are formidable in the air and yet they have not received one decent cross in 3 games. Theo is sure to be double teamed at Wolves and he has looked our best attacking option, I fancy him to score when he gets on as sub. The recovery of RvP is very exciting, if only to give Chamakh a rest. In the absence of Nasri I would expect Arshavin to start.

We need these points, the complacency we witnessed on Sunday will garner nothing. It is certain that Wolves will give everything to gain another scalp and we have to show the same sense of purpose.

Come on Boys, show us that it means as much to you as it does to us.

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

The Last Time We Were This Bad We Won The Double

November 9, 2010

So how upset were you when the full time whistle sounded at the Grove on Sunday?

Were you saddened in the way you would be at the death of an aunt you vaguely remember but didn’t really know?

Were you fist-clenching angry, like when you find yourself in the wrong queue at the supermarket checkout (the one where the Vicky Pollard lookalike is chatting to her mate at the next till and checking through the purchases with all the speed of a Tai Chi master)?

Or did you do the full ‘man totally loses it in a hotel lobby’ thing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGlNzV0thGY

Me, I went outside and shouted at a squirrel.

It took no notice.

Since then I haven’t really been bothered to look at anything on the internet. The caterwauling of the doom-mongers has, I’m sure, been a sound to behold. No doubt we have all been urged to sack Wenger, sell nine-tenths of the team and declare Ashburton Grove a natural disaster area.

Haiti? Earthquakes? Tropical storms? Cholera? That’s nothing mate. We lost at home to Newcastle – now that’s what you call a tragedy.

Or is it?

Take a look at this sequence of results, produced by an Arsenal team in a season not too distant from now:

October 20: Blackburn Rovers, EPL (H):            3-3

October 24: Real Mallorca, CL (H):                     3-1

October 27: Sunderland, EPL (A):                       1-1

October 30: FC Schalke, CL (A):                          1-3

November 4: Charlton Athletic, EPL (H):           2-4

November 8: Manchester Utd, CC (H):               4-0

November 17: Sp*rs, EPL (A):                              1-1

November 21: Deportivo, CL (A):                        0-2

You have to agree that it’s a dreadful run of form. If we counted all of the fixtures as three-point games (including the Carling Cup match) our tally would be 9 points out of a possible 24. A mighty 15 points dropped in all competitions.

It looks familiar, doesn’t it?

In fact it looks very much like the run of results we have just had: some dodgy draws, home and away; a comfortable home win in the CL, but also a bad away defeat in the same competition; an easy Carling Cup win; an embarrassing home league defeat against humble opposition.

All the above results happened in the season 2001-2002.

Any team that could be so inconsistent and flaky must surely have been full of players without a winning mentality, right? Or players unable to concentrate? Or players managed by someone who just couldn’t motivate them? And look at the goals conceded – 15 in 8 games – clearly a team who can’t defend?

Well, that team included Seaman, Campbell, Cole, Lauren, Keown, Adams, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Henry, Wiltord and Bergkamp. And of course, they went on to win The Double that very same season.

So why am I telling you this?

Because we need a reminder that a bad spell does not mean that our team is doomed. A run of negative results does not make good players into bad ones. A poor points return does not transform a champion manager into a chump. A trophy-winning team can have a period when it looks more like relegation-fodder.

We have been here before, fellow Gooners. We may have moaned and groaned in 2001 but we were no way as disillusioned then as many seem to be in 2010. We supported our team and we kept the faith.

It’s time to dampen down the hysteria.

It’s time to look away from the most neurotic web sites, the ones who want to cry wolf at every passing poodle.

It’s time to tell the “Wenger Out” brigade to shut the fudge up and learn some perspective.

This Arsenal team will finish first or second in the league this season and will win a cup. And they’ll do it in style.

COYRRG

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Arsenal – a real firework display or just a damp squib

November 8, 2010

Written by dandan

It is Firework night as I sit here, bangs and flashes illuminate the sky, through the window behind me, the dog lies under the desk ,coming out occasionally to challenge the noisy night with a tirade of her own, before returning and spreading herself at my feet with a sigh.

Bit like the Arsenal really, they too on specific days illuminate the state of the art stadium they call home with the beautiful football that the world admires and knows as Wengerball. Next time out, the passes are a less than perfect the ball continually sent behind the intended target instead of into their stride,  shots are scuffed or  half-hit, crosses fail to clear the first man.  The whole process appearing a chore to these pampered athletes, who though paid a kings ransom from an early age, to hone just such basic skills, lack the motivation or desire it would seem on occasions to display them.

How then do we the long-suffering fans reconcile this, we who would pay for the privilege to wear the Cannon on our chest, even if it is the wrong way round and adorns a different shirt every year?

After all it is us who annually buy those same expensive shirts in huge quantities, from salaries that bear no relationship to those of our Heroes. Why do we do it?

Easy: It is simply because they ARE our heroes, living the dream we have nurtured since junior school, even if many of them are bits of kids themselves, and we are grown men and in many cases like my own, have grandchildren of their generation. Who through our influence probably support them too

How sad then that we feel cheated on these occasions when the team doesn’t perform. How angry are we allowed to be when our manager accuses our millionaire superstars of apathy as he did after Wednesdays European game? a game we should have won with ease, would we have been so laid back in our reaction if  it had been the spuds we were playing?

I am in many ways Arsene’s biggest fan and find the constant moaning that we have not won a trophy for 6 years petty, irritating and irrational, given what he has achieved along the way.

But to find us fielding a team, that to quote Arsene in his after match interview, was complacent, causes me to question whether these young men have the intelligence to understand the real world at all, or the important role they play in the well-being of so many people’s lives, outside the confines of their privileged circle?

If they don’t it is time they were made aware of the facts. Complacency has no place in a team that has promised much,but failed thus far to deliver at the highest level, potential is one thing success quite another.

It is now Sunday and we have just lost to Newcastle, another flat lacklustre performance against a team who in all seriousness shouldn’t get within three goals of us, it wouldn’t be so bad if we had an excuse,  but we don’t. We had the most experienced bench we have had in ages with only three Squad members missing. Sure we had a European game midweek and Flappy let in a bad goal but  one goal at home should never be enough, the truth is we were bullied out of it again, our first touches in many instances, were as the great George Best once observed “further than I can kick it”.

High balls constantly pumped in against that defence were never going to work as the ease with which they dealt with our corners showed. From the moment they doubled up on Walcott and blocked his every move, it was obvious that we were going to have to run and pass our way through middle, but Fab was only firing on two cylinders and the man marking on him was ultra effective. Song tried hard and Jack battled but apart from that we were ineffective and lethargic again.

So yet again the spectre of another  title costing  November rears its ugly head, that prospect at least as real  now, as last nights spent rockets, that litter my garden on this drab depressingly damp day.  But they unlike the Arsenal at least had their moment and reached the heights they promised.

Mr Wenger please take note we need more fireworks and less damp squibs.

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Posted by dandan

Are there just too many Arsenal Sites?

November 5, 2010

Written by kelsey

The Internet has seen an explosion of football sites in a comparatively short space of time, and at the last count I see there are  a hundred or more just dedicated to The Arsenal.

This got me thinking, as I am of an age when if one grew up in and around North London, one either followed Arsenal or Spurs. Many families were, and are still divided in their loyalty to one club or the other. There was practically no televised football,  let alone endless replays, multitudes of pundits, video technology or mobile phones and generally one had to attend games. In the main there was honest banter between the two sets of fans and no real hatred. One could sit in a pub and discuss football in a civil manner.

With the arrival of the Internet and the domination of Sky TV over the last twenty years things have changed dramatically, and I put it to you, not always for the better.

On the plus side it has opened up a way for fans from all over the world to log on and express their views about all things (in our case) Arsenal. We all have our favorite blogs, and in most there is a hard core of faithful bloggers who post on a daily basis.

Some sites are welcoming to anyone, whilst others use expletives when one first steps in and tell you in no uncertain way to get lost if your view opposes that of the site.

Others (which is a real pet hate of mine) scream abuse at our players and fairly frequently at our manager when things don’t pan out as expected,or we lose a game,yet when we invariably bounce back with a resounding win,these people magically disappear.

If one was really honest with oneself, would you give some of the posters two minutes of your life if you actually met them face to face? I doubt you would. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but some people try to justify their standpoint by suggesting that they are more intelligent than others, and therefore they are the “Football Managers” and the rest of us are complete idiots.

When you get sixty thousand people together in an environment one will always get differing cultures and different view points and reading some sites it gets rather racist or political that one forgets that the principal purpose is forgotten, that is to see the pros and cons of the team discussed on any given match day, but most importantly to support the club through thick and thin.

Of course it is a free world and everyone can do as they please. Many will disagree with me, but there are just too many Arsenal sites which are not carefully monitored and are only interested in the number of hits they receive.

Quality of post will always outweigh quantity.

This is my own opinion and does not represent everyone else’s feeling on this site.

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Posted by kelsey

Big Night for Theo

November 3, 2010

Still feeling that warm glow from the fairy tale ending to the home tie? Me too. The Eduardo goal was the icing on an excellent cake. Think that we will achieve the same scintillating performance tonight? No? Me neither !

It’s not the warning signs emanating from Wenger’s press statements, nor is it the absence of Cesc, Song, Diaby, Arshavin and perhaps Denilson. No, it is the fact that a decent team like Shakhtar cannot possibly play so poorly at home. We overwhelmed Shakhtar at the Emirates with a performance of staggering efficiency and panache; with 4 goals coming from our midfield Donetsk were left bamboozled. Yet Shakhtar are a side dominating their League and will almost certainly accompany Arsenal into the final 16.

The Shakhtar coach has been entertaining the press with his opinion that Shakhtar were the equal of Arsenal at the Emirates. Apparently the main difference was the referee – we were clearly watching different games. Their recent record is excellent with only 2 defeats in 30 games (one to us) and 18 wins out of their last 20.

It was my fervent hope that Mr. Wenger would send out our first choice 11 with the aim of taking the three points, thus negating the need to use his first team in the remaining League ties, however a few of the team need a week off.

Wilshere is back, much to the delight of Mr Capello, and I expect to see Theo start alongside Bendtner. Rosicky will almost certainly play in what will be his 5th CL game against Shakhtar, having played them with both Dortmund and Sparta. Who plays alongside Jack and Mozart is anyone’s guess, but here is mine …

Fabianski

Sagna  Squillaci  Koscielny   Clichy

Eboue  Nasri  Wilshere  Rosicky

Walcott  Bendtner

It must be admitted that we do not travel well in Europe, particularly to the frozen East. The win in Belgrade was our first in some time. However, with the above team I believe we can get a result in Donetsk. We must continue our defensive solidarity and rely on Theo’s speed to create chances for the Dane. Mr Wenger has been talking up Walcott in the press, saying that he is ahead of TH14 at the same age, one can only hope he develops in the same manner. Games like tonight are made for Walcott, and his early season form suggests he is ready to step up to the plate and become the player we all so fervently wish him to be (if only to shut up Hansen). Nasri will once again have to show his new found brilliance. Can Eboue play as a midfield enforcer, does he have the discipline or will Mr Wenger use young Eastmond?

Donetsk has had a short but troubled history, established  in 1869, it has been overrun by both Communist Russia and Nazi Germany. Prior to World War 2 there was a large Jewish congregation which was murdered when a concentration camp opened outside the city. Following the war the city was rebuilt using forced labour from the surrounding Communist held countries during which thousands died of malnutrition. The city remains an almost even split of  Ukranians and ethnic Russians (wiki).

Can we win? This will be more difficult than the home leg. Will we win? Depends upon Theo

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

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