Is Arsène a closet Trophy Hunter?

May 14, 2014

The most successful man I know is called Adam. He is very far from the wealthiest man I know. He has what I call a Cottage Industry and this business provides him with exactly the income he wants. He is one of the world’s leading experts in his field. He happens to makes a particular type of classical music instrument. He designed and made himself the machines that do the boring repetitive stuff, which operate on compressed air, thus enabling himself and his three employees to listen to the music they love whilst at work.

He happens to be one of the most amusing and intelligent people I know, but, and it’s a big but, he thinks the world is run by reptilian aliens. This brings me on nicely to people who are bonkers.

Some think Arsène lacks ambition, and that finishing fourth is the sum total of his aspirations.

For a moment, and for the sake of this article, I am going to make one assumption. Arsène is staying for two more years, and that’s it (I don’t happen to believe any such thing is set in stone, but hey, what do I know).

So, call me a nutter, but I believe Arsène would love to go out on a high, and that he’d like nothing more than another Premier League Title, with a Champions League Crown to top things off.

Therefore, my question is this. According to my two year assumption, he effectively has just two more summer transfer windows remaining, so will this alter the way he views his transfer strategy?

The “Arsenal Way” is in essence to run a football club for the long term. To ensure that we don’t sacrifice the long term for short term gain. This is not Party Politics, this is ensuring The Arsenal will be at the top of the game for future generations of Gunners. It’s always been a case of Club before Ego, and that present Owners, Staff and Managers are merely temporary “keepers” of an institution and way of life.

Right, back to Arsène.  Might he be thinking along these lines?

“I have managed responsibility. I have put The Club and future generations first, while sacrificing personal glory, but I’ve got two years left. You know what, I’m going to Chav Up, and buy some bling. I deserve it, and I’m not sure my bosses will even realize it. I’m going to buy a couple of over age big wigs with no resale value whatsoever. I’m going to make a whopping great loss on these boys, but they will power me to glory. Whoa ha ha ha”.

“Go Arsène”, I say. We have solid foundations, and the future’s bright and stable. It’s your turn now. Enjoy.

Written by MickyDidIt

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Everton’s Slump Shows The Value Of Wenger

May 13, 2014

Well that was unusual.

I actually enjoyed the last game of the season, rather than hiding behind the sofa anxiously hoping we would not get pipped at the post by the unwashed of N17.

As it was, we went into the final day knowing that we were going to finish fourth, regardless of the result against Norwich and regardless of whatever happened with the teams above and below us.

In a season that promised so much for so long it’s ultimately a bit disappointing, but let’s not undervalue the achievement of qualifying for the Champions League places yet again.

After we got spanked at Everton with only five league games to go it was understandable to think our proud record of top four finishes was hanging by a thread.

The Toffees suddenly had fourth place in their own hands: win their remaining games and they would be above us, even if we gained maximum points from our final fixtures.

They had the momentum of an amazing winning run (of the kind that powered us to Arsene Wenger’s first English league championship in 1998) and were relishing being part of the great Merseyside revival.

It all looked on: Liverpool would win the league and Everton would enter the big time by grabbing the last CL place.

But it’s not as easy as that, is it?

They started well – following up their win over us by taking all three points away at Sunderland but then…

Well, what did happen then?

Simply put, they caught a nosebleed.

It was a thrill being the chasing horse coming up on the rails, but suddenly they were out with the leading pack and things looked very different.

Next up was a home game against Crystal Palace – three points in the bag, surely? But no, Everton crashed to a 2-3 home defeat. A win over Manchester United briefly restored confidence and hope, but then an away loss at Southampton took the wind right out of their sails. By the time they faced Manchester City in the penultimate match of the season they knew the game was up.

None of this is meant to disparage Everton. They had a great season and Martinez showed what the club might have been capable of achieving in previous years if they had had a less negative manager than David Moyes.

But what happened to Everton also – for me – underlined the skill and importance of our own boss.

Year after year, despite the odds stacked against him, he has managed to get that top four finish.

(Incidentally, you have to be either Spudtastically stupid or willfully mischievous to buy into the canard that our manager thinks “fourth place is a trophy”. He correctly identified getting into the Champions League as one of the priorities of any season’s campaign, but clearly does not equate it with winning silverware. And if you doubt whether it should be considered such a priority, ask Totteringham, Everton or even Manchester United how much they would give to hold the “fourth place trophy” this year).

The truth is, when it came to the crunch, Wenger was better than Martinez at getting his players over the line.

Forget the relative abilities of the two squads: Everton were the form team in the Premiership with players coveted by the top clubs (Baines, Coleman, Barkley, Mirallas, the loanee Lukaku to name but a few).

But our manager got his injury-ravaged squad to do the business when Martinez was unable to do the same with his mostly fit squad.

Wenger’s experience, skill and ability to motivate his team came to the fore.

He has not had a flawless season – far from it. Those embarrassing away defeats at Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton are like snogging a Spudette – they leave a nasty taste in the mouth (or so I’m told). Serious improvement in our approach to the equivalent games next year is a must.

But we are in the CL spots for the 17th consecutive year. Just think about that – the SEVENTEENTH consecutive year. You don’t achieve that level of consistency without being exceptional, and Arsene Wenger is.

All of which goes to show that we are very lucky that he has decided to stay at Arsenal, regardless of what happens in the FA Cup Final.

While a noisy minority of our own fans would like him to leave, just about every other leading club in England would love to have him in charge.

RockyLives

 

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Ramsey’s 15th and Jenkinson’s 1st – match review

May 12, 2014

Many called this game a dead rubber but most were thinking first and foremost who would start and more importantly how to avoid injuries while keeping up the momentum of four successive wins in preparation for the Cup Final.

We weren’t disappointed. We started the first half in quite a cautious fashion and Ruddy made a couple of excellent saves, although I thought Giroud should have scored around the 32nd minute. Having said that, I thought he had a very solid game. Giroud has been improving as the season drew to it’s conclusion and the deadlock was broken when he lofted a beautiful ball for Ramsey to volley home.

What a player we have in Aaron Ramsey and one wonders how much nearer we would have been  to the title if he had remained fit all season.

Jenkinson settled the match with his first goal for the club and his facial expression on scoring will live long in the memory.

All in all the whole team did just enough that was required though I thought Ozil had a very quiet game. Maybe he is saving himself for next week.

With Fabianski starting one could presume that he was given his last game today and our Number 1 will be in goal at Wembley.

One can never second guess Wenger even after nearly two decades and when he said afterwards

“if you look at our overall season I think we need to focus first of all in keeping everyone together” and when asked about possible transfers in the Summer he said “World Cup transfer markets start after the World Cup, usually.”

We will see if those words run true.

Those who read my comments know I am a great Sagna fan and yet again he didn’t let us down playing with Koscielny in central defence, regardless that it was against Norwich, so keeping everyone together by the boss was an interesting comment.

To see Diaby back after a full fourteen months was greeted with loud applause from our fantastic away fans and he even applauded them as he came on.

Jack had a cameo and it was hard to tell if he is absolutely fit, though not spectecular,  it was good to see him come on and by all accounts we will have The Ox back midweek, so it will be really interesting as to who lines up for The FACup Final.

Finally Wenger said he would still be here next season. I just wish  he looked a little happier.His post match interview was very low key or even sombre and subdued, which frankly, surprised me.

kelsey

 

 

 

 

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An Arsenal Blast from the past …… The birth of the FA Cup

May 9, 2014

Original FA Cup 1872 - No.10 001

Although there are no official records it is thought that The FA Cup was a concept first proposed by Charles Alcock after official business had been concluded at a Football Association meeting on July 20, 1871 – Alcock proposed:

“That it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete”
last blast 1
The FA’s first minute book records that the proposal was approved unanimously. The seven man committee that approved the resolution included the captains of the first final, Charles W. Alcock and Francis Maridin its referee Alfred Stair and the games only goal scorer Morton Peto-Betts. The idea was generally well favoured and at a subsequent meeting on October 16th, 1871 the rules for the competition were drafted. The original committee could never have imagined the time when their concept would become one of the most loved sporting events in England and would be seen by millions of people around the world. Nor could they have foreseen that it would become the forerunner to all knock out competitions including the World Cup, which has a worldwide audience of over one billion.

FA Cup Resolution No.10 001

Fifteen clubs entered the first competition: Barnes, Civil Service, Clapham Rovers, Crystal Palace, Hampstead Heathens, Harrow Chequers, Hitchen, Maidenhead, Marlow, Reigate Priory, Royal Engineers, Upton Park, The Wanderers, Queens Park of Glasgow and Donnington School. It was a somewhat erratic affair with Harrow Chequers, Reigate Priory and Donnington School scratching without playing a single game. Queens Park was given an exemption to the semi-finals due to the distance involved and the cost of travel, sides which drew were also allowed to move on to the next round. Queens Park received public donations which allowed them to travel to Kennington Oval for their semi-final against Scottish pioneers the Wanderers and played to a draw, a lack of funds ruled them out of a replay at the Oval so they were forced to withdraw from the competition.

The Wanderers faced the Royal Engineers in the final which was played at the Oval on March 16, 1872. Two thousand spectators paid a shilling each when the average weekly wage at the time was under twenty shillings. The crossbar was either a piece of tape or rope, teams changed ends after each goal and the field was unmarked inside the touchlines. The Wanderers, who were captained by Charles Alcock, won the game on a single goal scored by Morton Peto-Betts of West Kent, he was a member of the FA committee that had approved the birth of the FA Cup. Wanderers went on to win five out of the first seven FA Cups.

Morton Peto Betts was the scorer of the games only goal and the very first FA Cup Final goal but early reports indicated that the game was won with a “well placed shot under the tape” by A. H. Chequer, however this was actually Betts who played using the pseudonym of A. H. Chequer because he had started the competition as a member of the Harrow Chequer side, who had scratched without playing a game.

Here is a picture of Betts which was taken at Bickley Park Cricket Club in Kent.
Morton Peto-Betts 002

The president of the Football Association, Ebenezer Cobb Morley was the first man to present the FA Cup. The cup presentation took place four weeks after the Final at the Wanderers annual dinner at the Pall Mall Restaurant at Charing Cross.

Ebebezer Cobb Morley No.10 001

Fast forward to May 17, 2014 for the one hundred and thirty third FA Cup Final – the game will be between Arsenal and Hull City. Arsenal is appearing in its record eighteenth Final and has won the trophy on ten occasions, the last being in 2005, while Hull City will be making their first ever appearance in the Final.

This is the last Blast from the Past.
GunnerN5.

 

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Arsène and Arsenal’s biggest mistake.

May 8, 2014

Our season went up in smoke on January 4th when Theo Walcott was stretchered off during our 2-0 Cup win over That Lot.

Regular readers of the site will know that I am no fan of that continental Total Football nonsense. For me, it’s an outdated throw back to the dope smoking hippy days, and has its home in the Coffee Bars of Holland.

What I mean is this. I get interchangeability and flexibility, but I firmly believe in specialists.

As far as I’m concerned, the moment Theo went off, there was only one course of action. Oxlade becomes his immediate and permanent replacement for every game, with Serge as his back up.

However, what happened was that Arsène did use Ox out wide, but not always. On occasion, he was to be found playing a more central role.

Early yesterday morning, both Arnie and Goonerkam made the excellent point about how different roles for players is part of their development and education. I do agree, and have always said that I believe Ox will ultimately end up more centrally, however, needs must, and the Team should come first.

The loss of Theo left a massive tactical void, that ONLY The Ox could fill. This was not the time for Arsène to muck about. Ox’s development was actually hampered this term in my book, as he did not have the consistent runs in any one position to develop key understandings, as much of our beautiful football is played in small triangles, and telepathic understanding only comes with continuity. Thus, Ox was less effective than he should have been.

Ox played central, so it came as no surprise to me that when shunted back out right, he became unsure, or perhaps simply unused to, his role. He drifted central leaving us lacking the vital pressure release valve.

Thus, to my mind, the biggest loss to our season was not the loss of Aaron, or even Theo, but rather not playing The Ox there as first choice every available game following the tragedy of January 4th.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Questions for the summer ….

May 7, 2014

Through all of the gossip, it is an established fact that Wenger tried to sign Suarez and Cabaye last summer, which demonstrates two areas of the pitch where he thought we should strengthen, but only with the best quality players. His comments about having a busy summer but not needing many new players reads to me like he wants to complete those tasks. It is always pointless to think about whether Wenger will spend big on particular players – when the money is there, he is willing to spend it, but he also doesn’t see the point of spending it on whichever players are the fashion of the moment. He could spend Ozil-like money on a player or two this summer or he might not.

But it is certainly true that we have the resources available, so if there is a chance to sign important players, the funds ought to be there. And it is also true that we have reached a stage in development where we should be above all else ambitious. We are a big club, with big revenues, some excellent players and a great manager – we can and should be getting closer to the oilers and their ilk.

As for what we need, that’s where it gets tough. Not so much because of finances, but because we could end up needing to bring in so many players that the squad dynamics become upset by too much change. Which I guess is one reason why Wenger might refuse to allow a player like Vermaelen to go, despite the obvious justification for a player like him to feel he should move. Another factor might be Mertesacker: he was excellent in the first half of the season but looked more lacking after the new year.

To improve the squad, we need to keep the forwards we have and recruit at least one top quality attacking player, and I would like to think we might go for two (doubt it will happen). Draxler would be great, as would Balotelli. From what I’ve seen (not a lot), Griezmann looks good. Vela is intriguing, and looks a different player to when we had him before – I can’t believe he would really return but he always had talent, so perhaps.

The DM one is the other area we can see might need to be improved (Arteta slowing, Flamini not good enough). Scheiderlin would be the one I would want.

A priority should be trying to convince Sagna to stay – I’m sure every effort is being made, but it is a critical one for a number of reasons: having had a poor season last year, he has been very good this year (with some duff performances in the mega defeats though); he is our fourth choice CB; and Corporal Jenks, love him, but he isn’t close to being good enough to a first pick. Plus having to sign a top quality RB (Coleman, Alves) would cost a lot of money.

We will definitely need to make at least one signing at GK. I haven’t seen enough of Viviano, but perhaps we should sign him permanently to be second pick. Even if we do, will Martinez (on loan at Sheff Weds) be good enough to be third? If we did go into the market, David Marshall at now relegated Cardiff would be good, but who knows if he’d be available. And at CB, will we need a new fourth choice player? Hayden (as suggested), Miquel? Go back for Ashley Williams?

There’s a lot of good in our squad but it’s not good enough yet. The idea of Cesc coming back is a really interesting idea – the trouble is it would require re-engineering the side. We are now built around Ozil (at least to my eye) – could we really accommodate a double engine of Mesut and Cesc? Would it leave us too soft defensively? I would also think it would mean the end of Jack Wilshere being a Gunner – some might think that would be a good thing. Where is LB, by the way? 🙂

All in all, a lot of questions for this summer. More than I’d like, to be honest.

Written by 26may89

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Has this season been a success or a failure?

May 6, 2014

Bit of both. We showed fantastic solidity and consistency until January, but throughout the season, we’ve looked more pedestrian than any of us would like. The goals scored column is testament to that. And then when it started to go wrong, it did it spectacularly.

4th place for us does look disappointing, and it is, but nobody foresaw Liverpool’s amazing last half of the season, not even them. My Liverpool mates were still saying in December that they were rooting for Arsenal to win the title, on the assumption that 4th was the summit of their ambitions. I don’t think we’ve gone backwards, and the emergence of Ramsey has been the highlight of the season, but I don’t feel too warm and fuzzy about where we have finished and how we got there. We could and should have done better, even with all the injuries.

Amazing to think that Everton, Spurs and Hull will be in the Europa League next season but not Man United. As the MotD highlights showed, whoever gets Moyes’ old office has an enormous job ahead: a new defence and a new midfield – you don’t get those from LIDL.

City certainly look like champions now. From a footballing point of view, it amazes me how they haven’t won everything in the last four years or so. Says something about a lack of character there that they make it such a competition, despite having so many superb players. But it does look like they’ll win now.

Stunning recoveries from Crystal Pulis and Sunderland, much respect. And it was good to see Roberto Martinez serving such a good apprenticeship for taking over from Le Prof in a year or two…..

Written by 26may89

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Lazy Sunday Afternoon ……………

May 5, 2014

With fourth spot cemented one wondered if Arsene would put out a strong team or rest a few players. In hindsight I was glad that he picked the strongest team available even though this was a dead rubber, yet it was blatantly clear how much we miss Ramsey.

Another three points gained, stretching our sequence to four wins on the bounce but as a performance, it was pretty flat.

One has to give the Man of The match to Giroud for his goal that won the game and his general overall play for the whole match. (There I have said it) His energy levels are not questionable but I still think we need another striker to compliment him. I am not sure if Podolski is the man as he didn’t impress as much and if you watch him carefully he doesn’t exert himself as much as he could. Monreal IMO is not the standard required at LB but with Gibbs in and out of the team through various injuries we have no other option unless Vermaelen stays.

There’s no easy way to say this – or an easy way to look at it. Mathieu Flamini cracked in a powerful drive from the edge of the box and Craig Dawson blocked it right between his crystals, that being the only other noticeable event of the first half  😉

Koscielny was as usual solid in defence and Mertesacker alongside him played his part. Sagna didn’t have his best game but showed 100% commitment and if he goes I am sure we all wish him well. The crowd made it clear that they want him to stay.

Källström caught my eye and was impressive in his twenty seven minutes on the pitch.

Özil is a great player but missed the new found telepathy he has with Ramsey. Maybe his thinking is too clever for some of the players, but he will be a huge asset next season and adding goals to his game though not imperative, would make an even bigger difference.

All in all it was a bit of a training session and having just watched Norwich we may well be in for a much more physical game next week as they fight possible relegation, and with the Cup Final approaching we may see changes to the side.

This is what Wenger said after the match.

“I’m happy with the attitude, the behaviour and the consistency of my players,”

“I’m frustrated as well because we were 120 days top of the league. When you look today it’s very tight and then comes through your mind here and there the points you dropped that we should not have dropped.

“The regret as well is at the most important period of the season we had two important players out. We have many players who have only played between five and 15 games. That’s where we want to improve for next season.”

Pinpointing a general lack of goals and his side’s defeats at their rivals as decisive factors he continued:

“I would just say to be brutal in our first analysis is we missed a few goals compared to the teams who scored the most goals and we missed some big away games by conceding two many.

“Apart from that our defensive stability was fantastic, we had 16 clean sheets but in some games we were not at the start of the game and we couldn’t get into them before we lost it. The defensive stability we had the whole season was not reflected in these kind of games.

“If you look at the overall performance of the team we have done until today well in the cup, we have done quite well in the Champions League where we had a difficult group, we played against Bayern with ten men and we didn’t fail anywhere.

“The attitude of the group was remarkably consistent and of quality. But we still have missed something to be decisive in the Premier League at the moment when we were in a good position.”

Pressed on the subject of his future, Wenger once again stressed that he’ll be at the helm come the new season joking:

“Look at me! You will see me again.” (that was aimed at Mr Syrup) 🙂

I think that alone is worthy of discussion.

kelsey

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In praise of Arsène Wenger but give him the funds to challenge

May 3, 2014

Morning Gooner’s

While reading Arnie’s post the other day, about other clubs Managers, I left a comment Praising Arsene Wenger. Now although I don’t go back on what I said, I believe I should clarify a few things. When I wrote why I like Wenger and why I feel he should stay, it may have given the impression that I am a happy Gooner. Now I am content with him, but that does not mean that I don’t expect expect him to try and do better in the future.

Arsenal supporters expect the team to be up there with the best in the league, and granted Wenger has managed to do that. But all supporters want to see us go that step further, and by that I don’t mean third. This season we headed the league to Christmas, yes the lead went from one to another, but that was because of television fixtures, but realistically we were the leading team.

Many Arsenal fans enjoyed the feeling of that position, and many myself included, also felt we had a chance, sadly that came undone by injuries, but it also brought home to me, the deficiencies our squad had.

Theo Walcott’s injury, left us with absolutely no pace up front. That was a major blow. Aaron Ramsey one player who broke through defences also went out, which left us toothless. Oliver Giroud did his best, but he had to hold the ball up, and had to wait for reinforcements, although Oliver is a tough nut to crack, he certainly lacks the Theo pace.

Jack Wilshere compounded our misery even more, and Koscielny’s short injury added to a depleted team. Our chance went right there, why? Because we didn’t have the same talent as back up. Our record signing also joined the walking wounded, so what were we left with? Our penetrating midfield out, our best through ball passer out, our fastest winger forward out, and our best central defender out.

Holes every where, and the talent on the bench was not up to the replacement standard. Oxlade Chamberlain, Serge Gnabry and Ya Ya Sanogo are players for the future, they just weren’t ready for a season of first team football. Had everybody stayed fit, we could have used all of these players sparingly, but we had to push them forward because we had too.

Wenger in all fairness has had to work on what seems a shoestring budget, he couldn’t have foreseen so many main players going out injured, so had to rely on these youngsters. Inexperienced, they had to take on some of the best teams in the league, if not the world, and all picked up injuries for their thanks.

Not many teams could have handled the amount of injuries that we had, and still have, with some players missing the end of the season. We took a few bad hidings that supporters are not used to seeing. Bad feeling crept in, accusations that the manager had not spent in the winter window, and how if he had brought five or six players in both windows, would have won us the league.

Unhappy supporters who’s pride had been hurt, can be very hurtful, when their Spud and Manc mates take the pee. But when they see the season out, and see what we have achieved, even with all the problems we have had, must see that this season is slightly better than last.

I have a lot of time for Wenger, but I would urge him to go to the board and say to them, I am only human you know, I need help and I need funds, we cannot keep buying kids, we have to have more Ozil’s, and we need them now, before the talent we have at the moment get itchy feet.

Wenger knows as we do, that sponsorship money has come in, yes we still have big debts, but we also have fans by the thousands, that deserve top players. They have had the big defeats, and now they want us to inflict them. Its time for our board to find the funds, as Wenger is needing that help now. We may not win the league next season but at least give us the chance.

Wenger if he signs, has 2 years left, give him the dammed money.

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

An Arsenal Blast from the Past No. 12 …… Players with the most club appearances. No. 1

May 2, 2014

Lets have a look at the only four players who have each made over Six Hundred appearances for Arsenal.

We start off with the only player to have played in over Seven Hundred games, David O’Leary; he is also the only player to have played for Arsenal in Twenty consecutive seasons. He appeared in an amazing Seven Hundred and Twenty Two games, from 1973 to 1993, a record that will be extremely difficult to exceed.

o leary

He was born in Stoke Newington, London on 2 May 1958 and moved to live in Dublin at the age of three. David played for Shelbourne as a schoolboy and signed for Arsenal as an apprentice in 1973. He quickly progressed through the ranks at Highbury, playing in the reserves at the age of 16. He made his first team debut  against Burnley on 16 August 1975, and despite being only 17, went on to make 30 appearances that season. For the next ten years he was ever-present in the Arsenal side, playing more than 40 matches a season (except for 1980–81, where he was injured and only played 27). When the former Arsenal manager George Graham was put in charge at Leeds United in September 1996, O’Leary was installed as his assistant. He remained in this position for two years until Graham moved to Tottenham.

David was voted into 21st position in the Arsenal Arsenal all time best players list.

Honours with Arsenal

Football League First Division

Winner: 1988–89, 1990–91

FA Cup

Winner: 1979, 1993

Runner-up: 1978, 1980

Football League Cup

Winner: 1987, 1993

European Cup Winners’ Cup

Runner-up: 1980

Records with Arsenal

Most appearances: 722

Most consecutive seasons 20

Youngest player to reach 100 and 200 games

400 appearances under the age of 26

These are some of his thoughts after Arsenal won the FA Cup replay in 1993.

“We did a lap of honour with the trophy and before I got to the tunnel I thought to myself “‘this is the last time I’ll ever wear the Arsenal jersey again”. It was an amazing night, a brilliant way to end 20 years, but it was such a sad night for me as well.”

It was a night that stretched well into the early hours as the players let off steam after making history. And O’Leary went home with an extra companion when the celebrations finally died down.

“That night – I’ll always remember this – I took the FA Cup home. No one else seemed to be responsible for it so I took it with me.

“My wife drove us home and I remember sitting in the front with the FA Cup in my lap and somebody pulled up at the lights, seconds before it went green, and he looked over and then looked over again, thinking ‘is that David O’Leary with the FA Cup?!’ We pulled away and I still don’t know if that guy thought he was imagining things.

“I remember getting home that night and I thought, if my house gets robbed they are not going to take the FA Cup, so I took the cup up to my bedroom. My kids were young then and the following morning they came in and saw the FA Cup there on the side of the bed.

“That morning I took it to the club and gave it to Ken Friar. I said goodbye to Ken, I actually went to the steps of the old directors’ box at Highbury, had a look out there for the last time, and said to myself ‘hey, it’s been a fantastic 20 years, I’ve been so proud to play here, thanks for putting up with me’.

“Then I walked away, and that was that.”

(Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc.)

The player with the second most appearances at Six Hundred and Sixty Nine is Tony Adams, he played for a total of 19 seasons from 1983 to 2002.

tony-adams 1
Born in Romford, London, Tony grew up in Dagenham, signing for Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1980. He made his Arsenal first team debut in November 1983 just four weeks after his 17th birthday and became a regular player in the 1985–86 season, winning the Football League Cup Final, his first major trophy, in 1987.

Alongside Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and Steve Bould, he was part of the “famous back four” that lined up in Arsenal’s defence – they became renowned for the use of their well-disciplined offside trap. On 1 January 1988, he became Arsenal captain at the age of 21 and remained as such until his retirement 14 years later.

Nicknamed “Mr Arsenal”, he was honoured by Arsenal with a testimonial game against Celtic in May 2002 with many Arsenal legends playing, including Ian Wright, John Lukic and Adams’s fellow back four stalwarts, Dixon, Winterburn and Bould. The game finished 1–1 with Lee Dixon, in his final appearance for the Gunners, getting their goal.

In 2004, Tony was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. A statue of Adams was placed outside Emirates Stadium in celebration of the club’s 125th anniversary on 9 December, 2011. He has also been honoured with the MBE for his contribution to football.

Tony placed 3rd in the Arsenal Arsenal best all time player poll.

Arsenal v Queens Park Rangers - Premier League

Honours with Arsenal

First Division/Premier League: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02

FA Cup: 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02

Football League Cup: 1986–87, 1992–93

FA Community Shield: 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999

UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1993–94

Runner-up:

Premier League: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01

FA Cup: 2000–01

Football League Cup: 1987–88

FA Community Shield: 1989, 1993

UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1994–95

UEFA Cup: 1999–2000

UEFA Super Cup: 1994

Individual Honours

PFA Young Player of the Year: 1987

PFA Team of the Year: 1994, 1996, 1997

Member in The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE): (1999 Birthday Honours)

Overall Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards: (1992-93 – 2001-02)

Fantasy Teams of the 20 Seasons – Premier League 20 Seasons Awards: (1992-93 – 2011-12)

The player with the 3rd most appearances is George Armstrong, he played in Six Hundred and Twenty One games, in 16 seasons from 1961 to1977.

george-armstrong

Born in Hebburn, County Durham, George joined Arsenal as a youth player in August 1961. He made his debut against Blackpool in 1962 while he was still 17 and by the 1963-64 season he had become a regular in the side.

Over his long career with the Gunners, George became one of Arsenal’s most consistent players, and was noted for the quality and accuracy of his crossing and corner kicks, as well as for his tireless running up and down the wing; he primarily played on the left, but was also effective on the right. As he matured, he became one of the few players of the Billy Wright era (along with Jon Sammels and Peter Storey) to become an integral part of Wright’s successor Bertie Mee’s Arsenal side, which ended the club’s long trophy drought.

After losing two successive League Cup finals in 1967-68 and 1968-69, George helped the Gunners win the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1970-71 League and FA Cup double; he was a regular in the Double-winning team that season, setting up a number of goals for his team-mates, which included teeing up Ray Kennedy’s winning header against Tottenham Hotspur, in the match that won Arsenal the League title. He was also voted Arsenal’s Player of the Year in 1970.

In 1990, before the Iraqi invasion, he returned to England and joined Arsenal as reserve team coach, a post he remained at for the remainder of his life, despite the many managerial upheavals the club underwent.  On 31 October 2000, while conducting a club training session he collapsed after an unexpected brain haemorrhage; he died in Hemel Hempstead Hospital in the early hours of the following morning.

George had a pitch named after him at the Arsenal F.C. training ground, in London Colney

The player with the 4th most appearances is Lee Dixon, Lee appeared in Six Hundred and Nineteen matches in 14 seasons from 1988 to 2002 .

Lee Dixon of Arsenal

Born in Manchester, he was signed by Arsenal boss George Graham in 1988 following the departure of England right back, Viv Anderson, to Manchester United. This was the first time that he had played in the First Division and it took a while for him to be given a first team role at Highbury. Nigel Winterburn had been a guarded success in the unfamiliar role of right back, though Lee did make his debut against Luton Town in February 1988 and played six times in total before the season ended. In the new season, Winterburn moved across to left back, allowing Dixon to take over the No.2 shirt, which he duly did for well over ten years.

He and Winterburn made the full back positions their own for the next decade or so, while Captain Tony Adams and the long-serving David O’Leary operated in the middle. Later in 1988 they were joined by Steve Bould who, like Dixon before him, had been spotted by Graham playing for Stoke City. These five defenders, often playing as a back five together and were the foundation stones of much of Arsenal’s success.

His career at Arsenal saw him collect four league champion’s medals, three FA Cup winner’s medals and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup medal. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year twice, for the seasons 1989–90 and 1990–91.

His retirement came at the end of Arsenal’s domestic double-winning 2001–02 season, their second in his time at the club.

Lee came in 18th place in the Arsenal Arsenal all time best players poll.

GunnerN5

 

 

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