….and we think its tough being a Gooner

April 23, 2010

The following post was forwarded by Chaf and is an actual rant from a Grimsby supporter. While there has been a lot of chest-beating, ranting and vitriol this week on the blogs it has been coupled with  passion, delusion and optimism and maybe thats what being a supporter is all about.  Although not successful in our quest for silverware we  have been competetive and putting things into perspective could you support any other team?

Subject: Grimsby fan bemoans potential life in the Blue Square

Poojah
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Now I’m as optimistic as anyone when it comes to this twát of a football club, but after this afternoon’s latest capitulation it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee – we’re ****ed. Down. Goners. Non-league. To be honest I didn’t know how it would affect me, it’s not like it hasn’t been coming, but tonight I just feel absolutely deflated. Absolutely ****ing devastated.

I can’t get away from these emotions, I just want the whole world to just **** off and leave me alone. To help me come to terms with this whole mess, I’ve decided to compile a list of everyone and everything I want to **** off most of all.

For starters, work can **** off. If they think I’m going to be there on Monday morning they’ve got another thing coming. No way am I going in to spend time dealing with ****s that I can barely stand being with when I’m in a good mood, let alone this crushing feeling of anger, frustration and outright metaphorically-kicked-in-the-b*llocks .

Plastic Premier League fans can **** off. I just spoke to my Manchester United supporting neighbour (who incidentally, has been to Old Trafford before – twice) about Town’s predicament. You know what he said? “I know how you feel; it’s like when we failed to win a trophy in ‘95”. NO IT FCUKING WELL IS NOT.

He no longer has a face.

The girlfriend can definitely **** off. Her best attempt at consolation – “I don’t know why you’re bothered; you knew they were shít anyway”. Yes love, but they’re MY shít team. They’ve been MINE for pretty much as long as I’ve been able to wipe my own árse, and they’ll be MINE for as long as I’m alive (or at least, until I’m no longer able to wipe my own árse). Truth is, watching my team win does things for me that no woman can. If push comes to shove and I’m horny, I can always have a wánk.

Barrow can **** off. I’ve been all over the country and beyond to watch my team, but frankly I just don’t have the stomach to visit any town which makes S****horpe look like ****ing St. Tropez.

Dad, you can **** off. This is your fault. Your idea. You introduced me to this shower of shít. “Come with me to Blundell Park”, you said, “Come and support the boys”. What could I do? I was ****ing four, what choice did I have? Why not get me hooked on Heroin whilst you were at it? I could have gone with mum shopping for bras and knickers at British Home Stores, but no, you knew best.

Granted, I’d have probably grown up a homosexual but surely even being simultaneously búggered by two guys named Seth and Quentin couldn’t hurt like this.

Seeing as we’re on the subject of homosexuality, Gok Wan can **** off. No particular reason, I just plain don’t like the annoying, goggle-eyed ****.

The F.A. can **** off. Not for supplying us, week-in, week- out, with inept referee after inept referee, but for imposing sensible financial rules on all clubs in League Two. How many clubs in this division have been into administration this season? Not one. How many points deducted? Not one. How the **** else are we supposed to avoid relegation – footballing merit? We didn’t have to last season, so why spoil the fun now?

The World Cup can **** off – I don’t care anymore.

My local pizza shop can **** off. I ordered a 12” Pepperoni over an hour ago, and where the **** is it? Are they trying to ****ing fly it to me or something?

Sky Sports can **** off. Nothing personal, but there’ll be little need for me next season with no Town to be found anywhere. Ooh, Bolton versus Wolves, LIVE. I think I’ll pass…

The radio can **** off. On my way home from the match, whilst driving down the M180, I caught three completely separate stations playing ‘Down’ by Jay Sean at the exact same ****ing time. The song’s the best part of a year old, how the **** does that happen by coincidence!?

My nan’s old lucky Buddha that used to sit in her front room can **** off. When I was a kid I held it in my hands and wished for Town to be in the Premier League. I meant the proper one you fat ****, not the one occupied by Histon, Eastbourne and for ****’s sake, Ebbsfleet, wherever that is.

Tonight can **** off. I’ve had enough of trying to cope with my emotions; the time has come for oblivion. I haven’t kept any booze in the house since an occasion known only as ‘That Night’ by myself and the missus, but suffice to say that the toilet duck and luminous blue mouthwash are looking like stronger propositions by the minute.

Most of all though, the last 10 years can **** off. In that time I’ve watched my team fall from the top of the Championship into non-league nothingness. We’ve gone from one great big **** up to the next without even coming up for air, and today is just the big, **** off cherry on top.

One thing I’m sure of though is that we WILL be back. When it comes down to it, a football club is basically just a set of supporters, and frankly what I’ve learned in the last few years is that this one has some of the best. We’ve had to put up with some shít, haven’t we boys, but in spite of all of that the future is still bright – it’s ****ing black and white.

Grimsby ‘til I die…

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arselona is Closer Than We Think

April 16, 2010

Wednesday night has left all right-thinking Gooners rightly depressed. Another season with no silverware, lots of debate about whether we’re moving forwards or backwards, whether Arsene has taken us as far as he can.

The following thoughts were penned after the second Barcelona game but before we played the Spuds. They are shamelessly optimistic but, even after this week’s despair, I still stand by them:

What was your reaction to our mauling at the hands of Barcelona? Most of the Gooners I know fell into two camps. The majority – philosophical sorts that they are – took it on the chin. They felt we couldn’t have been expected to do much more against the best team in the world, particularly with so many key players injured. They shrugged their shoulders, smiled ruefully and put it down as one of those things, before turning their focus back on our battle for the Premiership Title.

The other camp – the minority – saw, in the huge gulf between Barcelona’s performance and our own, a damning indictment of the Wenger ‘experiment’. “The Invincibles wouldn’t have rolled over like that,” they howled. “It just goes to show that Wenger has spent five years building a house on foundations of sand.” (I’m not a builder, but apparently building houses on sand is not a good thing. Not sure how they manage in Dubai, but that’s another issue altogether).  On the face of it these were two very different views: one fatalistic, one pessimistic, and the sparring between both groups spilled across the blogosphere for days.

But were they really such different viewpoints? In fact, on closer analysis both the shruggers and the shriekers were agreed on one thing: the current Arsenal team and style of play is a million miles behind Barcelona’s: at our best, we may be the sexy pretty things of the EPL, but when we share the catwalk with the supermodels of the Nou Camp, we’re revealed for the Essex slappers with ladders in their tights that we really are.

And this is where I would like to offer a different angle, a Third Way, as Tony Blair might put it.  After much thinking, pondering and scratching of the head after the two Barça games, I find myself reaching a tantalizingly optimistic conclusion, and it is this:

We are nearly there. We are not far from being Barcelona.

I reached this conclusion by thinking about what was really different between the two sides. The trite answer is that Barça have more money, better players and their players work harder.

But let’s examine those points: More money? Yes, they have been spending more than us (almost £100m in the last year, let’s not forget), but thanks to judicious management Arsenal are about to enter a period where we will have solid cash to spend on players and a sound financial footing for the club.

Better players? Messi is a marvel, Iniesta is incredible, Xavi is something very good that begins with X… all their players are comfortable on the ball. But think of it this way: If Tomas Rosicky was dropped into that side at the expense of, say, Pedro, would Barcelona become shit or would TR slot right into their pass-and-move footballing ballet? Cesc in for Iniesta – disaster for Barca, or business as usual? Nasri in for Keita? Clichy in for Maxwell?  Would the player weaken the team or would that amazing team accommodate the player?

With an Arsenal shirt on, Rosicky had a stinker in the second leg, but he is a player of real class, great technique and a footballing brain as we have seen on many occasions. So, too, are Nasri, Cesc, Song, Vermaelen and others. If Arshavin was playing for Barcelona we would be drooling over his performances. True, we don’t have a Messi and, on balance, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and co are a little ahead of our players – but not by much.

Arsène has assembled a group of players who, with one or two exceptions, have the ability to play in the style of Barcelona. So why aren’t they? Why are they less than the sum of their parts?

One answer is that, good though our players are, we’re really missing maybe two truly world class players – a striker and a midfielder – players at the top of their game and at the right age – 25 or 26. Well, with the improving financial situation at Arsenal I fully expect Wenger to sign them this summer (and I mean two world class players in addition to a keeper and a central defender). I believe AW has hinted in his post Barca comments that he’s ready to do just this.

The third point is that Barça’s players work harder, and that one’s difficult to dispute. But in the early part of the season we, too, harried and pressed our opponents whenever they had the ball – it led to us outplaying ManUre at Old Toilet, even if the points went astray. After seeing Barça’s style up close, I believe Wenger will place greater emphasis on this part of our game in the future. He will add work rate to technique.

But there’s one big, big difference between Barcelona and Arsenal that I have not yet mentioned, and it is the most important one of all: Barcelona have won things, this Arsenal team have not. Barça’s team swept all before them last season and this year it has allowed them to play with even more confidence, even more freedom, even more swagger. It explains why they work so hard and it partly explains why they’re so good when they have the ball.

If Arsenal had that collective self-confidence, Rosicky-Cesc-Nasri-Arshavin-Song would be running up possession stats to equal the Barça boys.

The current Arsenal crop is very, very close to breaking its duck. Even though, following that oh-so-painful defeat at Sh*te Hart Lane, we’re not going to do it this year, it’s really important not to despair or turn on Wenger and the squad, because next year will be even better.

Wenger will bring in new, mature players this summer who have the required technical ability but who also have the engine for a high tempo pressing game. No other team in the Premier League could remotely hope to get close to Barcelona’s level of playing simply by the addition of two new players, but we can. We are streets ahead of other English teams in the style we play, and with a few modest adjustments we’ll no longer be bullied out of games by the Chavs and Mancs.

Arselona, here we come.

RockyLives

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

No Case For The Defence

April 15, 2010

It’s never easy when you lose to your local rivals and I guess we’ve had our 10 years and it had to end soon, but how many of you knew the game was over once Thomas Vermaelen went off. I thought it was that’s for sure, especially with Fish Head coming on in his place. This may be a little harsh on Silvestre but he does nothing for my confidence at all.

Anyhow, onto the game and Arsenal started brightly without causing any problems to Gomes. A harmless corner from Spurs and a half decent punch out by Almunia and wallop Rose with his only touch in the first half scores a worldy (is it just me or was Almunia a little lapse in getting up quick enough). Onto the game and Arsenal had what seemed like 70% possesion of the ball, all pretty passing ……….until the final 3rd.

Bendtner had a great chance but the ball got stuck under his feet, I’m sure I’ve seen that before somewhere. Again more and more Arsenal pressure, Eboue passing to a spud defender when it was easier to shoot and test Gomes. Rosicky goes through on goal after a smart touch round the defender and Kaboul blatently brings him down…only a yellow.

So, onto the second half and game over as Sagna fails to do the basics and keep his defensive line and Bale is through and passes home easily. More and more pressure by Arsenal and Theo puts Nik through only to pass wide again. Enter Van Persie and oh my god how we’ve missed him. He was the best player on the pitch by some distance when he arrived, a free kick from Robin and Gomes pulls off a great save to keep it out and another keeping out Sol via a deflection. The goal just wasn’t coming despite the huff and puff. Then Robin puts Theo through on the line and squares to Nik to pull one back, game on but too little too late. Spurs celebrate their cup final with a first league win this Millenium.

Analysing a game after a defeat it’s easy to get on the bandwagon and question basically everything. The only thing I’d question and now it’s clear, is Almunia, as good as he is, is he a great keeper? The same and controversially I would say about Sagna. How many times when we attack are you worried we’ll be left short at the back despite having 4 back ? I am a lot and against a better side we may have been punished more. We gift sides goals like the second and too many to mention over the course of the season. We didn’t miss Song too much but Denilson passes to opponents whilst trying osmosis far too often.

I’m saying nothing new about the defence but with Silvestre and Sagna in there I’m never confident.  Special word for Sol as I think he was awesome as was Clichy but with no TV we seem to have no defence. It’s time for a right footed TV to come and give Sol a one year extension, he deserves it.

This season we’ve been clinging on and clinging on and finally now it’s over. We can be proud of what we have achieved over the season considering the injuries to key players and especially RVP. The problem is the replacements especially in the defence.

Player Ratings

Almunia – 6  Punched the ball out well for their first goal but was slow to get up in my opinion.

Sagna – 5  Steady in the first half and bombed forward a lot. Gifted the Spuds the second goal and that was schoolboy stuff, where was he looking at along the defensive line ?

Campbell – 8  No fault of his for both goals and looked a threat in an attacking sense, was pumped up and it showed. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side

Clichy – 7  The man had so much puff and sometimes was not giving the support when in an attacking position

Denilson – 5  Seemed to try and pass the ball through players all game. Started off neat and tidy and faded

Diaby – 5-5  Started slow and looked lazy on the ball, grew into a bit but faded and final ball not up to it

Nasri – 5.5  Tried to instigate moves in the first half looked deflated after the 2nd Spuds goal

Rosicky – 6.5  At the heart of everything first half but didn’t have the players on his level most of the game

Eboue – 6  Energetic but no real threat in attack, maybe better as full back instead of Sagna

Bendtner – 6.5  Hard to criticse too much as he does score time and time again and lacked any real support until the subs came on

Subs

Theo 6 – looked a threat on occasion but thsoe were too and far between
RvP8 – Best player on the pitch when he came on and wished he’d started until he was puffed rather than coming on too late
Silvestre– 6 Could have been in a better position for the second goal. His time is up for me

Time for the old 4-4-2 to come back if you ask me….

By our guest writer Livers

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Unbeaten This Century

April 14, 2010

When do you think was the last time Spurs beat us in the league? Here’s a clue – they haven’t beaten us this century. When was the last time they beat us at White Hart Lane? Again, not this century. The Spuds have beaten us twice in 15 years! Should we win or draw tonight, we will record a record breaking 21 games without defeat against another team. Does this entitle them to be considered rivals or laughing stocks.

The Spuds sit in 5th place, 4 points behind Man City with a game in hand – this is a vital game for them in their (hopeless) quest for a CL spot. Harry is already “bigging up” his team, talking his usual nonsense about how our North London neighbours ( I hesitate to use the word rivals) are on a par with the Arsenal, and how they have closed the gap on us (13 points and counting). What is in Spurs favour is their home record, they have been very strong at the Lane, unbeaten in 8, and conceding only 10 goals all season – the best in the PL. Add to this our lack of punch upfront, the absence of our top scorer, and a low scoring game is predicted – what price a last minute Bendtner header?

Spurs real hope in this game lies in our desperate injury list. With Fabregas, Gallas, and Arshavin out, we have lost our 3 world class players. There remains the possibility that Song will not be fit which will be another major blow to us. Can we win with half a team? Will the sight of RvP on the bench (I cannot believe he will start) spark us to victory? Can Sol overcome what will undoubtedly be a torrid reception to deny Crouch and Pavlyuchenko? Absolutely – we are the better team, end of!

I expect Spurs to start with Defoe and Crouch and bring on Pav in the second half. They are missing Palacios which is a big plus for us. Also missing will be Krankjar and Lennon. Back for the NLD is our old friend David Bentley, who is sure to be desperate for a big game. I am still smarting from his fluke last season at the Emirates and his celebration which relegated (or elevated) him high into the Gooners hate list. I wish him a frustrating night, and a long dejected walk back down the tunnel when he is subbed after an hour.

This game is a season breaker for Spurs. The loss to a dire Portsmouth will have sapped not only their enthusiasm but also their physical strength – 120 minutes on the dire Wembley pitch will exhaust any team, and they will wilt in the last 20 minutes, which is when we are at our most dangerous. I expect us to line up as follows, though I am rarely correct…..

GK

Sagna  Sol  TV   Clichy

Song/Eboue  Denilson  Diaby  Rosicky

Theo  NB

Eboue could well start ahead of Theo, it depends upon how brave AW is feeling and if Song is fit.

I have many WHL memories dating back to Black and White days, most involve escaping their neanderthal fans, but despite the annual avoidance of flying bottles and coins in Paxton Road, it is a ground with positive memories. One of my faves was a 0-0 draw (1997) when Spurs absolutely battered us and Seaman showed why for a few years he was the World’s best GK (if only we could find another like him). And who can forget the Liam Brady left footer in a 5-0 in ’78?

Those were the days when Spurs were proper rivals. At Highbury when the chant “Stand up if you hate Tottenham” started, virtually the whole ground rose as one, now it is just the hardy few. Is this due to song-fatigue, or because Gooners no longer harbour an intense dislike of our neighbours? I applaud Harry’s attempts to bring Spurs to the top table. I want them to challenge us, it is good for North London, good for both clubs and good for the fans. It seems wrong that we “hate” MU and the Chavs, they are not the traditional enemy – it is the blue bellies from the Lane. Think of the songs …… The W***y Tottenham Hotspur went to Rome to see the Pope”, “My Old man said be a Tottenham fan, I said FO etc” “We hate Totteham”, “You won the League, In Black and White”. These are proper Arsenal songs, fashioned in the heat of the ’70’s and earlier. We don’t have songs for Chelsea, and those we have for MU are borrowed from other grounds. Football needs the comedy villain and Spurs over the past decade have just been the comedy  –  who can forget the commemorative mugs when they beat our youth team at WHL in the Carling!!

I fear that when we beat  Spurs tonight they will roll over in their games at MU and home to the Chavs. It is important to us that they do well in both but which would the Spurs fans prefer – Chelsea or Arsenal to win the title? No brainer is it!

The North London Derby is always a feisty affair and a draw in this game effectively ends the prospects of both teams (can anyone really expect the Chavs to drop 6 points?). We need the victory and that is what I expect.

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Posted by Erik the Red

Arsenal Odds On To Win The Title

April 11, 2010

I picked the winner in the Grand National yesterday. It was, I have to say, an informed bet, not my usual pin in the names, red and white riding gear or ‘Red’ in the horses name. I had been casually listening to talk of the race the previous day and heard that Tony McCoy had not won the National in 15 attempts and was riding a horse called ‘Don’t Push It’.

It was a great race especially if you had money on the winner as he was nowhere until about the 4th fence from the end. Conna Castle went out in front pretty early on and was tagged by Black Apalachi and at that point I considered not watching any more as two of my other horses had already fallen. Then I heard his name and that of ‘State of Play’ which I also had a bet on and so watched the remaining few minutes as ‘Don’t Push It’ came storming through to take the race.

It was in fact a very exciting race but it was over in about 12 minutes. My horse came from nowhere to win even though he was one of the favourites. I began thinking about whether its more exciting to be leading a race from the start or to come through the ranks to be the winner.

So far, Arsenal have won the premiership three times under Arsène Wenger – 1998, 2002 and 2004. In 1998 Arsenal went on an unbeaten run of 13 games to take the title from the manks by one point finishing on 78 points. That was exciting.

The 2001-2002 season  was even more exciting as the race appeared to be wide open at the start but in the end we won it comfortably, taking the title from the mancs, winning at Old Trafford in the penultimate game to be crowned Champions with 7 points spare.

In 2003 we had a pretty cool team and our manager had set down the unlikely marker of going unbeaten for the whole season the year before. This team were magic, they oozed class, they were wonderful to watch – everyone said so and we all basked in their glory. The nouveau riche chavs were our main competition as they now had a sugar-daddy who’d given them £100m to spend on players but we went unbeaten and in May 2004 were champions with 90 points from the chavs 79.

There were seasons in between where we came close but had thrown away large leads early on to end up runners-up. Do we remember those? No, we don’t even want to think about them. How much more exciting is it as a supporter to be in it at the end? This time last year although we were in the semi-finals of the champions league we were out of the title race. Come April I’d much rather be in with a shout for the premiership, how do you feel about it?

So here we stand with 5 games to go, five season defining games. There’s no margin for error now, we just have to crack on and show the kind of determination that Bendtner did when heading home the winner against Wolves last Saturday and power our way through the pack just like my horse did yesterday.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A Question of Sport – if we can’t beat ‘em, should we join ‘em?

April 10, 2010

Our little Russian doll Andrey Arshavin was a guest on A Question of Sport last night. I don’t think he understood half of what was going on, but at least managed to recognise Jack Wilshere and get an answer or two right.

It got me thinking about football (just for a change), is it a sport, a game, a way of life, an obsession?

By definition, it is a game. It involves teams, a set time for play and scoring. But should it be played in a ‘sporting manner’ or should we accept that ‘gamesmanship is part of the tactics? Beyond that, there is the question of whether we should continue to strive to create a spectacle involving elite sportsman or should we join the majority of teams who treat it as a game where tactics and other less virtuous practises can be employed to give an advantage?

I watched Stevie-me win a couple of free kicks for pool on Thursday by pushing the ball ahead and running into the defender in front of him and then diving spectacularly; the referee fell for it every time, but the slo-mo showed it for what it was; gamesmanship/cheating. Eboue has done the same thing for us and been soundly rebuked by fans as ‘letting the side down’. Barcelona outplayed us on Tuesday, but they also out-cheated us too. The quality of their fouls was far superior to ours. How many times have we  persistently been fouled by the opposition with no cards in evidence and yet, the first time one of our players deliberately brings an opponent down, out comes the card. We’re not very good at fouling – could this have a bearing on the number of injuries we suffer?

A few people have commented lately that we need a midfielder or defender who strikes fear into opponents, an enforcer in the mould of Patrick Vieira. We were once criticised for the number of red cards we collected in Wenger’s early years (coincidentally, the years when we were winning trophies). Which is the more effective weapon against the opposition….. team spirit, or aggression?

Vermaelen is the best ‘fouler’ we have, Song is not very good, he holds his hands in the air in a plea of innocence before he’s even committed the offence – bit of a giveaway! Sagna’s too nice to foul deliberately, although Clichy does like to mix it. Since the Invincible’s, we’ve recruited/developed players many of whom are just too ‘nice’. Look at the way Fabianski handed the ref the ball when told to do so in the CL game against Porto – Lehman would never have done that.

Reading this you could be forgiven for thinking that I’m in favour of our players being dirtier and I could ask, what would you rather win – the Fair Play League or the Premier League?

The problem is that it is not Arsène’s style, therefore it is not Arsenal’s style. In general we play by the rules – that includes the rules of business that stipulate that you have to balance the books, it’s a shame that nobody else follows suit. I think Chamakh will add some much needed muscle to our forward line albeit with the ball skills to compliment his tempered aggression and it looks increasingly likely that we will have to buy a CB. Most of us are praying for a new keeper who doesn’t look terrified, but terrifying. Perhaps we are about to enter a new era in Arsène’s thinking that combines the steel of the Invincibles with the mobile ball skills of the current squad and has ALL the elements necessary to bring to an end our famine of trophies.

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Posted by Rasp

Ritchie, Blair or Messi? You decide………

April 7, 2010

Alright, I know he scored four goals of great individual skill and single-handedly dumped us out of the Champion’s League, I know he’s the new Messi-ah and he’s going to light up the World Cup this summer, but bloody hell, didn’t Messrs Gray, Tyler and Keys have the hots for young Lionel? By the end of the game I was gagging on the great dollops of statistics they’d been shoving down my throat about the wonderboy; four hat tricks since January; Fifa world player of the year by the tender age of 22; already Barcelona’s equal highest goal scorer in the Champion’s League.  At any moment I was expecting Tyler to tell us that he is now officially the most famous person ever to have been called Lionel:

Tyler: “Surely the best Lionel of all time, would you agree Andy?”

Gray: “Don’t get me wrong. I loved Lionel Blair in Give Us A Clue and as for Lionel Richie, well… he could do it All  Night Long… but this little Argentinian – he’s something else.”

And he was. But that’s going to be documented just about everywhere else today, so I want to talk about the Arsenal.

There’s no getting away from it, we were well beaten over two legs by a team that is superior to ours. Yes, we were missing Cesc, Robin, Arsh, Gallas, Song and the rest, but even if we had had every member of our squad fully fit we would still have been beaten. Barcelona are a team who play football the way Arsenal play it, but do it better.  Strangely, I don’t find this depressing, I find it encouraging. The fact that the best team in the world plays our type of football is a vindication of what Wenger is trying to do, albeit with fewer resources and in a more hostile environment  (if Barca played in the Premier League I wonder how many broken legs they would have suffered over the last couple of seasons).  I believe it will fire up Arsene to move us up a level in our team play and we will reap the benefits next year. And we may even reap some of them this year if the players show the same positive reaction to this setback that they did to defeats this season by Chelsea and Man Utd.

Despite the 4-1 scoreline we put in a better overall performance than we had a week ago when we drew 2-2 at the Emirates. This time we didn’t stand off the Barca players and admire their pretty passing patterns, we chased and harried them from the off, with Nasri in particular putting in an almighty shift.

Messi gave an early warning of his menace with a snap shot that was going wide but was sensibly turned round anyway by Almunia and followed up a few minutes later with a shot that dipped onto the roof of the net, but those chances aside it was a cagey start.

And then, on Oh My God! We’ve scored – we’re one nil up at the Nou Camp. Great determination by Diaby to win the ball in midfield and release Walcott running in behind the Barca defence. Theo did his best to mess it up with a lame pass to Bendtner but when his shot came back off Valdes, Bendy was first to react and poked it home – a finish of great determination.

I’m sure all Gooners really started to believe at that point, but the euphoria was cut cruelly short.  A quick Barca attack, the ball rebounding perfectly to Messi off  Nasri and Silvestre and it was 1-1.

To their credit, the lads kept battling, although every tackle seemed to bring a foul to Barca (Denilson was hard done by to get a yellow for a great ball-winning tackle on Messi). Then the Argentinian struck again on 36 mins, Abidal sending a low cross in from wide left and the ball again falling kindly for Barca. Pedro helped it on to Messi who took a lovely touch before placing it past Almunia.

At this point you’re thinking – if we can hang on at 2-1 until half time we’re still in it, but it wasn’t to be: Messi charging through a massive gap in our defence after Vermaelen was caught forward and dinking a sublime chip over Big Al.

The second half was a less spectacular affair.  We continued to chase but our final ball usually let us down and Barca were fanatical in their attempts to win the ball back when we had possession. On a couple of occasions where we were stringing passes together we ended up going backwards towards our own goal, such was Barcelona’s pressure.

Pep Guardiola, keen not to repeat the mistakes made at the Emirates, brought on Yaya Toure to keep things tight and for most of the second half Barca played at a slower tempo, keeping the ball.

We had a couple of half chances – Bendtner’s touch letting him down in the box, Rosicky firing high from the edge of the area and Bendtner hitting the post with a header (which wouldn’t have counted as he was flagged for offside), but it never seemed likely that a goal would come.

Eboue came on for Silvestre, with Sagna moving to central defence; Eduardo replaced the tired-looking Rosicky, but nothing really changed and Barcelona’s and Messi’s fourth goal was not a big surprise. He did well to hold off Vermaelen in the box, but when Almunia saved his shot the ball again fell kindly for the Argentine and he slotted between Al’s legs.

Full time 4-1, aggregate 6-3 and you couldn’t disagree when Arsene said Barelona were better than us.

But this team can push on and get better. We clearly need a world class finisher – let’s hope Chamakh is that man (if the rumours are true) and some of our young players need more experience, but if we take one lesson away from these two games it’s that pretty football is not enough on its own. Barcelona play like thoroughbreds but they work like shire horses – and we need to start doing the same.

Next stop, the terrible Totts. A win there will soon put this honourable defeat into perspective.

Player Ratings:

Almunia: Can’t fault him for any of the goals (he was particularly unlucky for the fourth) and he made a couple of decent stops.   He kicked long too many times when he could have played it to one of the defenders, thereby ceding possession to best ball-holding side in the world. 6

Sagna: Worked hard, made a couple of good forward breaks with little end product. 6

Clicy: Good game, constantly trying to get forward and coped moderately well with the waves of Barca attacks. 7

Vermaelen:  Was stranded up field for Messi’s third. He and Silvestre struggled with Barca’s movement (but so would most defenders). 6

Silvestre: Did OK. Unfairly blamed by some for Messi’s first (check out the replays: it bounced off Nasri an instant before MS played it). 6

Denilson: Worked hard, but was occasionally caught in possession and final ball not great. 6

Diaby: Much improved performance compared with his showing in the first leg. Battled hard and set up Bendtner’s goal. 7

Nasri: It didn’t always come off for him and his final ball was sometimes wayward, but he worked his socks off, closed down the Barca players all night and was involved in some of our better forward moves. MotM (for us – there might just be a different candidate for overall MotM). 7.5

Rosicky: I thought he was our best player on Saturday, but looked leggy in this game and was responsible for a lot of lost possession. 5

Walcott: Started brightly but faded. 6

Bendtner: Never stops trying and took his goal well, but just lacks that bit of class in games like this one.  6.5

Subs:

Eboue: Did his best but the game was already lost when he came on. 6

Eduardo: No real chance to get in the game. N/A

By our guest writer RockyLives

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Something About Henry

April 6, 2010

As The Arsenal’s pending trip to Camp Nou draws closer, let us spare a thought for the largely unsung heroes, The Away Fans, always outnumbered, but never out gunned. Week in, week out, they follow their beloved team around Blighty & Europe, always providing that little piece of home for the players and management when away on their various crusades.

On Tuesday April 6th 2010, a few thousand Gooners will set up their battle standards in a small pocket of enemy territory, somewhere in Catalonia, and with this, I cannot help but draw upon another famous date in English history, Friday 25 October 1415 The Battle of Agincourt.

For those who are not familiar with the Battle of Agincourt, it was a major English victory against a larger French army during the Hundred Years’ War. The battle occurred in northern France. The victory brought France to its knees.

The battle is notable for the use of the English longbow, which Henry employed in very large numbers, with English and Welsh longbowmen forming the vast majority of his army. The French army numbered some 50,000, whereas the English and Welsh amounted to only 8 to 10,000.

One English account describes the day before the battle as a day of remorse in which the English soldiers cleansed themselves of their sins to avoid Hell if they died. By contrast, the French were confident that they would prevail and were eager to fight. The French believed they would triumph over the English not only because their force was larger, fresher and better equipped, but also because the large number of noble men-at-arms would have considered themselves superior to the assembled commoners (such as the longbowmen) in the English army.

The French suffered heavily.

Fast forward some 595 years. Barcelona, although they won’t admit it publicly yet, believe they will triumph over The Arsenal not only because they are a bigger club and their players are better equipped to play total football, but also because they think La Liga  is superior to the Premier League.

So, I say, bring it on Barcelona. History proves that a Champion Team will beat a team of champions. And for those few thousand Glorious Gooners who stand proud at the final whistle, may we salute your conquest as we would have the long bowmen all those years ago. Give’em the old V sign, complimented by a nice big raspberry.

But may we also give praise to the name Henry, even though this time round  he will be on the losing side.

Regards GG9

Footnote: The French claimed that they would cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of all the English longbowmen after they had won the battle at Agincourt. But of course, the English came out victorious and showed off their two fingers, still intact.

I wrote this piece prior to the Brum draw, & things have changed since, especially with respect to personnel. With respect to this, may I add the line made famous by Winnie the Pooh (Churchill)

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few”

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Sol …. Man of Steel….

April 5, 2010

I admit it, when Wenger announced in January that he had signed Sulzeer Jeremiah Cambell, I was less than elated. I would go as far as to say that I thought Mr. Wenger had lost his senses. At that time we had a fine first choice centre back partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen, with Silvestre and Senderos as back up. Wenger clearly mistrusted Swiss Phil to take an active role in the run-in, and Silvestre had shown that despite being a fine player, the years were taking their toll. But a 35 year old has-been?

Wenger had stated that the reason he didn’t sign the much needed Anelka in Jan 2009 was because he did not like to re-sign players, so to sign a 35 year old Sol was a major surprise. When we first heard reports that Sol was training with the team in order to regain fitness, I assumed he would be trying to get a berth at, say Charlton, with a view to becoming player-coach, and then go into management. But I was shocked when Wenger gave him a contract. A contract to a man who had walked of the pitch at half-time claiming emotional problems – an act never repeated before or since, a contract to a man who left to go to….. Portsmouth!

In my eyes Sol was finished, a washed-up a relic of a past and glorious time. Sol had the turning circle of a supertanker, he had an arse the size of France, he was too heavy to jump, was slower over 10 yards than Pat Rice and slower over 30 yards than Peter Hill-Wood. Sol was too old, heavy and unfit to play 45 minutes, let alone 90+.

And yet, and yet ……. the Campbell signing has proved to be one of Wenger’s masterstrokes.

Sol returned in the FA Cup defeat at Stoke and was probably old enough to father most of his Arsenal teammates. Yet, he held the backline and looked good. Next up an excellent performance at Aston Villa –  an away clean sheet. With this appearance Sol became only the third player to play in all 18 PL seasons (alongside Giggs and David James). Sol was settling into the team.

The goal against Porto will be long remembered as the phoenix rising from the ashes. When was the last time he scored like that in Europe (another 2-1 defeat)…… that’s right, the last time he played for us before leaving in 2006.

Then Stoke away. His reaction after the Ramsey injury showed us just why Wenger signed him. He was not just solid but inspirational. Lifting heads, getting fired up, geeing up his team. When the third goal went in, who was pumped up, fists clenched, celebrating with the away fans?  It REALLY matters to him.

Almunia has grown in confidence since the arrival of Sol because he can rely on him to organise the defence at set pieces. The Spaniard actually looks a decent GK again! Whether this is solely down to Campbell’s arrival is a moot point, but is the timing of his improvement only co-incidence?

We now know that Sol will be there in the trenches, giving everything to the Arsenal cause.  Should we win the title, Sol will become an even greater figure in Arsenal folklore than he already is. The man who caused the most virulent outpouring of hate and aggression ever seen at White Hart Lane, will be a true Arsenal Great 🙂

It must be said that some on here completely disagreed with my despair at the Campbell signing, and in deference to them I eat a huge slice of humble pie. Opinions are divided as to whether Sol should play against Barcelona. One thing is for sure, whether he’s on the pitch or sitting on the bench, his mere presence will be felt,  instilling a strength of purpose and steely determination through those deep dark eyes that will be urging the team on with every inch of his being.

As to those, like our very own peachesgooner, whose heart goes aflutter and weak at the knees at the sight of the hunk in the  XXXL shorts….   “Sol’s a Gooner … De de de duh”

By BigRaddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Gunners Must Send Wolves Packing……

April 3, 2010

Now the full extent of our latest glut of injuries is clear (Cesc out for at least six weeks, Gallas at least three and Arshavin possibly back for the Man Shitty game, on April 24) our beleaguered team entertain Wolves at the Grove today.

Were I a hopeless romantic, I would interpret the fact that the last time the Wanderers made their only previous foray into the Premier League we were Champions, as a portent of our crowning as Champions this season. However, not only have recent setbacks on the injury front and crucially, two dropped points at Ginger McLeish’s ploughed field, soured my view of our chances, but as an engineer by education, I’m fairly unromantic (as many ex-girlfriends will confirm).

Wolves, as original founders of the football league, were formed nine years before us and therefore their glory days are well behind them; a League Cup win in 1980 being their last silverware. Having been promoted this season as Championship winners, it would seem they are safe from joining Pompey, and hopefully Hull, in the Championship next year, lying as they do in fourteenth place, five points above the drop zone. Their form has been indifferent, three losses, two draws and two wins in the last seven games points to a home win for us however one of those two wins was away at West Ham.

The Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, will no doubt be quietly confident of  catching us on an off day, with an “after the Lord Mayor’s show” kind of lethargy he will hope to exploit.

The press will portray McCarthy as an honest, blunt-speaking type – a typical product of a Barnsley upbringing; his flat, Yorkshire tones would not go amiss on an episode of Emmerdale (farm). I enjoyed him taking down the Mank mad dog Roy Keane a peg or two after he had a pre-pubescent style hissy-fit during Irelands 2002 world Cup campaign.

The danger man will obviously be Kevin Doyle, their top scorer with seven for the season, their next highest scorer being defender Jody “Fanny” Craddock who has chipped in with five strikes– clearly a player to watch out for when the referee awards a free kick against us near the penalty area for the first foul we commit tomorrow.

As for us, we know in all likelihood we won’t see Cesc till the World Cup at the earliest, however I harbour a secret hope he’ll be back for the last league game and the Champions League final – so maybe I am a tiny bit romantic! Wenger has bluntly denied rumours circulated by the mischief-making press that Cesc was played with a leg already broken by one of McLeish’s muggers last Saturday.

Nasri would be the shoe in to take Cesc’s place but the centre back partner for the Verminator is a conundrum I am glad I don’t have to solve. The question is Campbell or Song? Assuming Sol is only good for one game a week, and then if he plays today he is out for Tuesday’s return leg at the Camp Nou.

The problem is, do we risk a less mobile Sol on Tuesday or save him for League games only? If we play Song at centre back on Tuesday, we’ll lose his midfield drive against the Catalans and that could be crucial as only a win (or an unlikely a score draw of 3-3, or above) will suffice. Being radical, one could argue for Song to be at centre back today as Wolves do not have the midfield brilliance of Iniesta, Xavi and Keita, add to that the fact that we don’t play next Saturday then conceivably Sol could play on Tuesday and be able to return for the NLD (where the assembled masses of cro-magnon Spuds will give him a sporting welcome back to the Lane, of that I’m sure), on the fourteenth of April. The caveat there would be that we would then have the away game at Wigan on the Sunday after the NLD and that would surely test Sol’s fitness.

Assuming the minor strains attributed to Clichy and Denilson clear up, I would guess Wenger will select the following 4-3-3:

Almunia
Sagna Sol Verminator Clichy
Nasri Song Denilson
Eboue Bendtner Diaby

My own selection would be with an eye to Tuesday:

Almunia
Eboue Song Verminator Clichy
Denilson Nasri Diaby
Walcott Bendtner Rosicky

One thing’s for sure, if we see a draw at Old Toilet before we kick off, then it’s game on for our title chances and a much jollier pre match Peroni (or four) at the Arsenal Tavern.

So to all of you going today, crank up the volume to 11 for our Wednesday night heroes – “Come on you rip roaring Gunners!”

By our guest writer charybdis1966


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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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