So disappointed with the belief seemingly held by Dick, some here on our blog, and so called “knowledgeable commentators” on other sites, that pressure to produce results in the Premier League prevents the Manager from blooding youth regularly.
Instead Suarez, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Micky, Elneny, Jenkinson, Chambers to name a few of the non controversial ones, labour to make a mark, to make a difference, and rarely achieve. Saka and Amaechi may yet have seats on Arsenal’s extended bench for the Europa Final – but is it enough?
Mavididi playing for Juve
Stephy Mavididi signed for Juve u23s in 2018 and is now on the verge of the first team. Ismael Bennacer’s performances at Empoli have caught the eye of Napoli. Chuba Akpom has won the title in the Greek league. Donyell Malen is a regular in a PSV Eindhoven side that pushed Ajax close for the Dutch title.
Arsenal have one of the most talented set of youngsters in their Academy and U18s that we have ever had. They are the legacy of Liam Brady and now the future under Freddie. But only if they are given a proper window of opportunity. Scouts from all over Europe are ready to snap them up, are visiting each and every game they are involved in. They understand the Arsenal system, the Arsenal family, and they want to succeed big time.
Well, I’m sorry, the Club is doing them a disservice.
Reiss Nelson celebrates his 19th birthday today 🎂
He's currently averaging a goal every 64 minutes in the Bundesliga this season 🙌
Nelson, Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Willock, Amaechi, John Jules, Pleguezuelo, Medley, Thompson, Saka, Mavrapanos are all worthy of significant game time. This is a serious watershed moment.
We are close to losing potentially top class talent, but at the very least, better quality than many who have gone through the motions this season. Give ’em a (proper) go, Dick, and save the money on bigger gambles you are considering.
A needs must team selection with Mesut and Nacho ‘injured’.
First Half
A few good saves from Leno and one over the bar from Steptoe.
from Arsenal twitter
A difficult chance for Laca and a much easier one for Iwobi were our only decent chances.
The sending off was ridiculous. Sent off for two nothing challenges, the second a blatant case of Maddison attempting to get a fellow professional sent off. Rolling around clutching his shin when there was no contact on his shin whatsoever. A fine player but a cheat. He should be ashamed. Michael Oliver gave us nothing in that first half apart from a good shafting.
It seems even more of a waste of time watching football if your team is playing poorly, when the ref is allowed to ruin a game to such an extent. Pathetic.
Second Half
Our best ten minutes of the match followed halftime but a headed goal by Tielemans made it 1-0 soon after.
Leno made a series of decent saves as Arsenal’s ten men struggled in adversity.
All hope of a sneaked equaliser disappeared when Vardy bounced one in after it came back to him off the bar. Didn’t see the third as I’d started this.
Conclusion
Leicester were the better side but in the context of our poor away form, playing 10 men against 12 was an impossible task.
The turning point in the game was Oliver wanting to take centre stage. After that it was game over.
On a personal level, I wish Arsenal’s season was over right now. With a Europa semi-final coming up on Thursday, that is ridiculous way to feel. I just wish the crushing disappointment was over and done with. Then again, I’m sure I’ll feel different come Thursday evening. 🙂
Ratings
Leno – MOTM by a country mile … 9
Maitland-Niles – unlucky to be Oliver’s chosen target … 5
Sokratis – struggled with Steptoe’s pace, as Arsenal have consistently done in the past … 5
Mustafi – no glaring errors – brought in to give Kos a rest, I suppose, but Oliver put paid to that plan … 5
Kolasinac – not really a left back but didn’t disgrace himself … 5
Torreira – beaten black and blue with no protection – his early season partnership with Xhaka hasn’t really progressed … 5
Xhaka – often too slow to shift the ball and seems to think giving away stupid free kicks is part of his job … 5
Mkhitaryan – terrible in the first half – we needed someone to keep the ball and he didn’t – dispossessed far too easily always … 4
Iwobi – his left foot chance in the first half needed him to cut back on to his right as Schmeichel would have been left on the floor – not picking on him but he seems symptomatic of Arsenal’s away form – at home he’s great but away a bit of a luxury … 5
Aubameyang – neither him nor his strike partner hold the ball up, so it’s bound to keep coming back – his commitment was ok though … 5
Lacazette – difficult chance in the first half, the rest was just hard work … 5
Subs
Kos – three at the back made a difference – we could have done with him rested for Thursday though … 6
Eddie – nearly had a chance to equalise – I bet he’s looking forward to being brought on when we’re two or three up for a change … 5
Managers
Emery – a bit like King Canute at the moment – that flippin tide keeps coming in … 5
Brendon Wagner – his team played well albeit helped by the man playing for Leicester in the black shirt … 6
Referee
Oliver – a complete disgrace – Mike Riley will probably recommend him for a knighthood after that corrupt performance … -1
Formed in 1884 by a group of old boys of Wyggeston School as “Leicester Fosse”, the club joined The Football Association in 1890. Before moving to Filbert Street in 1891, the club played at five different grounds, including Victoria Park south-east of the city centre and the Belgrave Road Cycle and Cricket Ground. In 1919, when League football resumed after World War I, Leicester Fosse ceased trading due to financial difficulties of which little is known. The club was reformed as “Leicester City Football Club”, particularly appropriate as the borough of Leicester had recently been given city status.
Courtesy of John Hutchinson
On 21st April 1930 Leicester drew 6-6 with Arsenal in the highest scoring draw ever recorded in the top flight. The following is an extract from a book by Paul Donnelley entitled ‘Firsts, Lasts & Onlys of Football: Presenting the most amazing football facts from the last 160 years’
Leicester City V Arsenal
At City Stadium, Filbert Street, Leicester, Easter Monday 21st April 1930
The highest-scoring draw in English football history at that time was a feast of goals watched by 27,241 fans towards the end of the 1929-1930 season and five days before the FA Cup Final (which Arsenal won). In a tactic that would be recognised today, Arsenal rested some players before the Final.
After just two minutes David Jack had the ball in the net, only for the referee to disallow his effort for offside. Arsenal scored first through David Halliday (in his only season in the Arsenal first team), but by half time Leicester were leading 3-1.
By the 62nd minute Arsenal were 5-3 to the good. With around 11 minutes left on the clock, Arsenal were leading 6-5 – all goals coming from Halliday (four) and Bastin (two) – and then Leicester equalised. Arsenal had two more chances in the final minutes, but could not convert them.
Despite his four goals, Halliday did not play in either the FA Cup Final or Arsenal’s last two League games and left the Club soon after.
Leicester City FC moved away from Filbert Street in 2002 to a new 32,500 all-seater stadium. The stadium was originally named The Walkers Stadium in a deal with food manufacturers Walkers. On 7 July 2011, Leicester City confirmed the Walkers Stadium would now be known as the King Power Stadium. In 2015 their vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha stated plans were in place to increase the capacity of the stadium to around 42,000.
The club’s home colours of royal blue shirts, white shorts, and either white or royal blue socks have been used for the team’s kits throughout most of its history. The first sponsorship logo to appear on a Leicester shirt was that of Ind Coope in 1983. British snack food manufacturer Walkers Crisps held a long association with the club, sponsoring them from 1987 to 2001.
The club have three main nicknames – The Foxes, The Blues and City. “The Foxes” is the most common nickname for the club, whereas “The Blues” and “City” are more local terms, usually used by supporters. Other names include “The Filberts” and “The Fossils”. An image of a fox was first incorporated into the club crest in 1948, as Leicestershire is known for foxes and fox hunting – this is the origin of the nickname “The Foxes”.
A previous version of the Leicester City FC crest with the more obvious fox-hunting symbolism
The club mascot is a character called “Filbert Fox”. There are also secondary characters “Vickie Vixen” and “Cousin Dennis.” Since 1992, the club’s badge has featured a fox’s head overlaid onto a Cinquefoil; the Cinquefoil is similar to the one used on the coat of arms of Leicester. Prior to 1992, the club’s badge had a range of designs. In the 2009–10 season, the club’s 125th anniversary year, the home kit featured no sponsor and a new central crest with “125 Years” written beneath it.
Leicester won the 2015–16 Premier League, their first top-level football championship. They are one of only six clubs to have won the Premier League since its inception in 1992. A number of newspapers described Leicester’s title win as the greatest sporting shock ever, considering at the start of the season they were favourites to face relegation. Multiple bookmakers had never paid out at such long odds for any sport. As a result, the team was dubbed “The Unbelievables”, a spin-off harking back to Arsenal’s undefeated team “The Invincibles”. The club’s previous highest ever finish was second place in the top flight, in 1928–29, then known as Division One.
The club hold the dubious record of having been defeated in the FA Cup Final on four occasions – in 1948–49, 1960–61, 1962–63 and 1968–69. This is a tournament record for the most defeats in the final without having won the competition.
Our away record –
Walcott slides the ball past Schmeichel in the 5-2 demolition of September 2015 during their title-winning season
Our away record against Leicester in the EPL has been favourable only losing twice in twelve visits, one of which was our last visit in May 9th, 2018 when we lost 3-1.
A must win game especially with the spuds just losing the hardest of their remaining five fixtures. It’s given us the chance to go two points ahead if we can win and give them some cause for concern, while also giving us extra hope of seeing out these tricky aways we face on Wednesday and Sunday. After such a fine performance against Napoli, the lads should be feeling full of confidence – let’s forget the Watford match!
Laca wonders where the intimidating atmosphere of the San Paolo stadium has gone
Team news
Big Sok is serving the second game of his 2 match ban for being Greek. So, let’s put our hands together for squad player Shkodran. Three or four at the back? Three plus wingbacks would seem the best chance of providing the width necessary to get round the bus.
Granit is being assessed but maybe might not be risked if Matteo and the Terrier are both ready to go. So the midfield is sorted, with Guendouzi playing more in a deep Ramsey role with licence to roam forward a little, allowing the Terrier to excel at what he’s best at. (Update: it would appear from Jeorge Bird on twitter that both Granit and the Terrier were in full training yesterday 🙂 )
Rambo is definitely out for an unspecified period. Home against Palace is, perhaps, the perfect scenario for Mesut, so he’ll probably start. Back at home we need the variety that the left and right side wing forwards Iwobi and Mkhitaryan bring, so maybe that’s the way to go. However, with Mesut to definitely start, means him playing central midfielder which is unlikely (assuming a centre forward is chosen to play).
Perhaps Auba or Laca will be given some pine time – Auba would be the popular choice. If he is, he’ll be itching to come on for a cameo 30 minutes and score a couple.
Our home record against Palace is pretty good but nothing can be taken for granted at this stage of the season. Townsend always plays better against us and Zaha, Benteke, Wickham and Batshitcrazy are all useful on their day.
Roy Wagnerson usually likes his teams to play some football so Palace may not be the most adept at parking the bus which might produce a game of decent football at the Emirates today.
Getty Images
Ant and me will be suitably enthusiastic about the match by the time our train gets into St Pancras (bang on time, hopefully) soon after 12.30pm.
Heaven knows how we’ll entertain ourselves at Finsbury Park in the intervening period before setting off for the ground!
COYRRG
chas
p.s. Let’s hope Everton are up for the game against the red mancs
A very interesting team selection – a back four with Mavro partnering Kos and Shkodran and Nacho full backs. Heavy duty midfield with Xhaka fit, Torreira back from the sin bin , Rambo, Wobbly and Micki. Will Unai have got the balance right to see us do better away from home?
First Half
What a peculiar half of football! Watford set off all guns blazing, right up for it to the point where they were always going to tempt the ref into how much rough stuff he was going to allow. I suppose they thought that at home they might get away with a bit more than elsewhere.
After a fiery start full of Watford bluster, Auba was so rapid closing down Foster, the keeper was unaware of the danger of his clearance being blocked. One nil and the simplest goal you’ll ever see. A definite contender for Goal of the Month.
Mr Troy Weiner’s moment of extreme stupidity came moments later. Obviously still smarting from going behind, he swung an elbow at a much smaller man and had to see red. ‘But ref, we’re allowed to rough up Arsenal, every other team gets away with it.’ Both the Watford crowd and their players’ attempts to then paint Arsenal and Lucas Torreira as the villains of the piece from that moment onwards were laughable in the extreme.
To give their team credit, they made light work of the man disadvantage, still pressing for all they were worth and even had a scent of goal. Arsenal should have scored a second and third but couldn’t quite make the man advantage tell.
Second Half
Ozil for Torreira as a sub made sense in two respects – don’t give the ref a chance to even up the sides and let Mesut pick apart the team with a man short. Hmmmm. That was the plan?
To begin with the second period appeared to be a showcase for Mkhitaryan to illustrate how many ways he could screw up decent chances. The one on one with Foster was the worst – just take a touch and the keeper’s out of the picture.
Other chances came and went and Arsenal failed abysmally to make having the extra man pay. Mavro was obviously match rusty, though replacing him with Guendouzi and going three at the back without wing backs was off the wall management. It didn’t work as Watford hit the bar amonfst other chances and eventually Maitland-Niles was brought on to give us a back four – Rambo getting a breather before Thursday.
Watford looked the most likely to score in the later stages which gives them great credit playing for so long understaffed. Thankfully we hung on to majestically cruise to victory with the early Auba screamer.
Conclusion
A pretty poor performance against a team which fought for its life. Still, there isn’t a Gooner in the world who wouldn’t accept the present of the 3 points from Misters Foster and Deeney. Up to fourth, what’s not to like and hopefully the away curse is broken!
Hopefully we’re saving better form and game management for Thursday.
Leno – a great save from a Capoue free kick – thank heaven he stopped that ‘Jens shoving the striker’ bowlocks before he was penalised by the ref – gets an extra point for a clean sheet away from home which had become as rare as rocking horse excrement … 8
Mustafi – regardless of what any fan thinks of Shkodran, Unai kept him on the pitch in a variety of roles and he didn’t let us down in any of them … 7
Koscielny – battered once again but such class … 7
Mavropanos – a few nervy moments which was understandable – he’ll get better with game time … 6
Monreal – like Mustafi, he was asked to play a number of roles and his covering is often superb – almost like a sweeper … 7
Xhaka – it was surprising that Granit couldn’t impose himself more on that depleted Watford side, though he wasn’t the only one … 6
Torreira – made some fine challenges after the elbow from Deeney, but taking him out of the danger zone at half time was a good move … 6
Ramsey – further forward in this game, Aaron was less effective strangely – it seemed as if the whole team had one foot on the plane to Italy … 6
Iwobi – Alex is so skilful he sometimes tricks himself – shame one of his many good runs couldn’t result in that crucial second goal … 7
Mkhitaryan – anonymous in the first half and then star of a poor finishing show in the second – I’d move him on in the summer if there are any takers … 4
Aubameyang – magnificent desire to block Foster’s clearance and then he spent the other 80 minutes trying to get on the end of a second – save one for Napoli, Pierre – that’s the ticket … 7
Subs
Ozil – didn’t really do what he was sent on the pitch to do … 6
Guendouzi – where was he playing? – I’ve really no idea, one moment in front of the back four then seconds later on the right wing? … 6
Maitland-Niles – added stability to the right flank but worrying that he thought he was a wing back – was he, wasn’t he? Who knows? … 7
Managers
Unai Emery – I wish I’d known about his crushing superiority (hex) over Gracia before – 6 wins and a draw out of 7 previous match ups. Substitutions were interesting to say the least – you can’t sniff at 3 points, a clean sheet and an away win though … 8
Javi Wagner – set his team up as far too aggressive and paid for it – bet they don’t think they can clatter into City at Wembley and get away with it … 4
Ref
Pawson – removed Deeney and then spent the rest of the game trying to appease Mike Riley by giving Watford a succession of unwarranted free kicks … 6
Our competition for a top 4 spot is a Chelsea team who want their manager sacked, a giant portrait of Alex Ferguson with some candles beneath it and (lads, it's) Tottenham, and yet still we manage to look that unconvincing with 6 games to go.
In Greek mythology, Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen of Sparta (who was already married) and it all kicked off. Ten years of war later, a trick involving a massive wooden horse full of soldiers finally ended the siege of Troy, amid scenes of ransacking, pillaging and destruction. Wouldn’t it be great if that was the match report for tonight’s game!
Monday Night Football – what joy!
After a weekend which saw …..
the spud reserves beat Huddersfield (who haven’t won a game on a Saturday for a whole year)
Man U undeservedly beat West Ham at the Old Cowshed (2 penalties, one which was completely ludicrous and a Hammers goal incorrectly ruled out for offside)
the chavs expectedly lost at Anfield – the Salah goal a thing of rare beauty
….. and following our dreadful performance up in Liverpool last weekend, tonight’s game assumes even more significance in our attempts at CL qualification through League position.
Who’s available for the trip to Hertfordshire?
As far as team news goes, Papa is definitely out for tonight and also for Palace at home next weekend after picking up his 10th yellow of the season in the game at Goodison. At the opposite end of the suspension spectrum, Lucas Torreira can say hello again to his Premier League boots after finally finishing his 3 match ban for a supposedly dangerous tackle against the spuds in early March. Well, that’s if his slight niggle picked up against Napoli doesn’t mean he’s given extra recovery time before Thursday’s return leg in Italy, that is.
Xhaka is still being hampered by a troublesome groin (aren’t we all 🙂 ), but aside from that, team selection will see more juggling of squad members in an attempt to gain maximum advantage in both competitions. Our newly double-decaded Matteo Guendouzi may well start and should be raring to go.
Kos might need a rest if he’s to feature on Thursday, so Shkodran may come in as his replacement. Will Mesut and Aaron be rested also? It all depends on how Unai sees the big picture. Arsene was always slated when he fielded more squad players and results suffered but it really must be a tricky job to get the right balance. The manager will always field a team he believes is good enough to win if he can.
Mesut celebrates his goal in our 3-1 win at Vicarage Road in August 2016
As for Watford, maybe their eyes might be slightly distracted from the task in hand by the glittering prize of a Wembley appearance. No player ever wants to miss out and their mid-table League position is as secure as can be, though they are still in the hunt for 7th in the Prem and a possible Europa League spot.
The whole Deeney cojones thing is unhelpful in these circumstances because it seems to fire the opposition up in much the same way that the whole Stoke/Ramsey scenario often left us on the back foot.
Having said that, when Troy missed that penalty at the Emirates last season, it was definitely one of my mini highlights of last season. 🙂
Wagner has got the Hornets playing well, especially at Vicarage Road, so we will definitely have a game on our hands. In fact, they now seem like a side which has truly cemented its place in the Premier League. The first step towards greater achievements was the club reaching this season’s FA Cup Final. Who knows, they may well pull off a shock against the light blue Oilers – Wigan did.
Monday night football always makes it seem as though we’ve had a football-less weekend. The Newcastle home game 2 weeks ago went smoothly enough, as we might have expected with our excellent home form. But we really need to see something different in both tonight’s game and at Leicester away on Monday 29th April.
Things will seem a whole lot better if we can produce a performance worthy of the Club and banish our away day blues this season for good.
COYRRG
chas (BR is currently sipping Chianti in the cypress groves of Northern Italy)
Nineteen players have achieved the feat of scoring 100 goals for the Club over the past 96 years. The players are sorted by the number of games taken to reach the 100 goal mark. DB10 sits at number 16.
Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp – Born: May 10, 1969 Amsterdam, Netherlands was the fourth of four sons. He was brought up in a working-class suburb; his father, who was an electrician, played amateur footballer in the lower leagues.
He was named in honour of Scottish striker Denis Law but in order to comply with Dutch given name customs, an extra “n” was inserted into his first name, by his father, after it was not accepted by the registrar.
Dennis Bergkamp outside Nicolaas Lyceum School age17
He was spotted by Ajax and was brought up through their famous youth system, joining the club at age 11 and making his professional debut on 14 December 1986. He scored his first senior goal for the club against HFC Haarlem on 22 February 1987 in a match Ajax won 6–0. He went on to make 23 appearances in the 1986–87 season, including a European debut against Malmö FF in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners’ Cup, Ajax won the competition, beating Lokomotive Leipzig 1–0.
In later seasons he established himself as a first-team player for Ajax. This culminated in a period of success for the club, which won the Eredivisie title in the 1989–90 season for the first time in five years. Dennis scored 29 goals in 36 games the following season and became the joint top goal scorer in the league. Ajax won the 1992 UEFA Cup Final, beating Torino through the away goals ruling. He was the top scorer in the Eredivisie from 1991 to 1993, and was voted Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1992 and 1993. In total, he scored 122 goals in 239 games for his hometown club.
Dennis attracted the attention of several European clubs as a result of his performances for Ajax. He was insistent on playing in Italy, as he considered Serie A “the biggest league at the time” and preferred a move to either Juventus or Internazionale. On 16 February 1993, he agreed a £7.1 million move to Internazionale and made his debut against Reggiana on 29 August 1993.
In his first two seasons at Internazionale, the club changed managers twice and Dennis had a difficult time, troubled with stress injuries and fatigue from the 1994 World Cup, he only scored five goals in 26 appearances. Off the field, his relationship with the Italian press and fans became uncomfortable. His shy persona and his propensity to go home after matches were interpreted as apathy. Because of his poor performance on the pitch, one Italian publication renamed their award given to the worst performance of the week, L’asino della settimana (Donkey of the Week) to Bergkamp della settimana.
Dennis left Internazionale and signed with Arsenal in June 1995 for a transfer fee estimated at £7.5 million. He became manager Bruce Rioch’s first signing at Arsenal and broke the club’s transfer fee record of £2.5 million. On the opening day of the 1995–96 league season, he made his full debut against Middlesbrough. He struggled to adapt to the English game and failed to score in the club’s next six league matches, prompting ridicule by the national press. A brace against Southampton at Highbury broke the spell and he ended his first season with 33 appearances and a goal tally of 11.
The appointment of Arsène Wenger as Arsenal manager in September 1996 marked a turning point in his career. Wenger, who had moderate success coaching in France and Japan, recognised his talent and wanted to use him as a fulcrum of the team’s forward play. Both were advocates of a continental style of attacking football, and Dennis was happy with Arsene’s decision to impose a strict fitness and health regime.
Despite making fewer appearances in the 1996–97 season, he was more influential in the first team, creating 13 assists. The following season he was instrumental in helping Arsenal complete a domestic league and cup double. He became the club’s top scorer with 22 goals and recorded a strike rate of 0.57. In 1997/8 he was the recipient of the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, becoming only the second foreign player to be recognised by his fellow professionals as the outstanding performer in English football.
Bronze award in the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year award. Tied in 3rd place with Zinedine Zidane, behind Ronaldo in 1st and Roberto Carlos 2nd!
After 3 seasons of finishing second, more success finally came in the 2001–02 season. Arsenal regained the league, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season to complete the club’s second double under Wenger; Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2–0 to win the FA Cup four days prior. Dennis played in 33 league matches, setting up 15 goals.
After a 3 game red card suspension he made his return against Newcastle United on 3 March 2002. Early in the match, Arsenal midfielder Robert Pirès played a low pass from the left flank to Denis in the edge of the opponent area with his back to goal. Under pressure from his marker Nikos Dabizas, he controlled the ball with one flick and went around the other side before placing the ball precisely into the bottom right-hand corner to score. Arsene described the goal as “unbelievable”, adding “It was not only a magnificent goal but a very important one – I enjoyed it a lot”
Dennis reached a personal landmark during the 2002–03 season, scoring his 100th goal for Arsenal against Oxford United in a FA Cup third-round tie. On 20 July 2003, he signed a one-year extension at the club. The 2003–04 season ended on a high point as Arsenal reclaimed the league title, becoming the first English team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten. He committed himself to Arsenal at the end of the season, signing a further extension to his contract.
The team finished fourth in the league in his final season at Arsenal. After much campaigning from Arsenal supporters, the club designated one of its Highbury match day themes, organised to commemorate the stadium’s final season as home of Arsenal, to Dennis Bergkamp. “Bergkamp Day” took place on 15 April 2006 It celebrated his contribution to Arsenal; fans were given commemorative orange ‘DB10’ T-shirts – the colour of his national team, his initials and his squad number. Dennis came on as a second-half substitute and set up the winning Pirès goal moments after Nigel Quashie had levelled the score. Fittingly, his 89th-minute goal proved to be his last for Arsenal in competitive football.
He was the focus of the first match at Arsenal’s new ground, the Emirates Stadium. On 22 July 2006, a testimonial was played in his honour at the new stadium as Arsenal played his old club Ajax.
International Career
Dennis made his international debut for the Netherlands national team against Italy on 26 September 1990. He was selected for Euro 1992, where his national team were the defending champions. Although he impressed, scoring three goals in the tournament, the team lost on penalties to eventual champions Denmark. In the qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, hep scored five goals and was selected for the finals, staged in the United States. He featured in every game for the national team, getting goals against Morocco in the group stages and the Republic of Ireland in the round of 16.
Against Wales in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification on 9 November 1996, he scored his first hat-trick for the national team. The Netherlands finished first in their group and qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, held in France. Dennis scored three times in the competition, including a memorable winning goal in the final minute of the quarterfinal against Argentina. He took one touch to control a long 60-yard aerial pass from Frank de Boer, brought the ball down through Argentine defender Roberto Ayala’s legs, and finally finished by firing a volley with the outside of his right foot, past the keeper at a tight angle from the right, he described the goal as his personal favourite in his career. His international career ended with 37 goals in 77 appearances.
Honours
In April of 2007, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame by viewers of BBC’s Football Focus. A year later, he was voted second by Arsenal fans behind Thierry Henry in a list of the 50 Gunners Greatest Players.
This is a summary of his achievements in chronological order:
Dutch Football Talent of the Year (1): 1990
Dutch Footballer of the Year (2): 1991, 1992
Eredivisie Top Scorer (3): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93
UEFA European Football Championship Top Scorer (1): 1992
UEFA European Football Championship Team of the Tournament (1): 1992
World’s Top Goal Scorer of the Year (1): 1992
UEFA Cup Top Scorer (1): 1994
Premier League Player of the Month (4): August 1997, September 1997, March 2002, February 2004
PFA Team of the Year (1): 1997–98
FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 1997–98
PFA Players’ Player of the Year (1): 1997–98
Premier League Goal of the Season (2): 1997–98, 2001–02
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (1): 1998
FIFA 100
English Football Hall of Fame
His statue now stands outside Emirates Stadium honouring him as one of Arsenal’s legends.
Unfortunately we are getting closer to the Emery in or Emery out debate, I feel reassured that this site has risen above the playground name-calling on other sites to date from the usual suspects.
I have been trying to put into words by way of comparison how I feel about Unai Emery right now. I know in the past I was one of the most loyal of Arsene Wenger supporters, the reason for bringing that up is that I just want to make clear that I am nowhere near reaching that level of devotion; AW had a bank of great Arsenal memories to refer to and as such people like me probably carried the torch a tad longer than was good for all concerned. Unai Emery has no such bank of Arsenal memories………..yet?
The comparison I came up with to describe our Basque is that of a master carpenter having been invited to work on a prestigious London project only to find on his arrival that the project managers expect him to do his job without making available a saw, a hammer or a chisel.
Did you ever wonder what is going through his mind during a game when the camera cuts to him standing in front of the dug out with that pained expression on his face? I do, and the caption I see coming from his mouth is – What did you expect?
The recent Chelsea game seems to be frequently reappearing with both ends of the spectrum being debated: Chelsea are poor so that reduces the significance of the win or that the win shows that we really are not far off where we want to be.
The truth, as is often said, lies somewhere in the middle and that certainly seems to be the case with this game.
It is correct, of course, to say that Chelsea do not offer the same threat that they have in recent seasons but they offer more of a threat than Bate for example so why the difference, why doesn’t Emery set his team up in such a way that replicates that winning formula?
The answer in my opinion is personnel, or in this example, the lack of them because as much as he might want to play the same line up or the same system, he can’t and that is through no fault of his own.
This was the line up against Chelsea.
———————-Leno
Bellerin, Sokratis, Koscielny, Kolasinac
—–Torreira, Xhaka, Guendouzi
——————Ramsey
—–Aubameyang——–Lacazette
I know I have said this before but I am going to say it again, the biggest loss has been Bellerin; he gave us goal scoring options from the right; he also enabled Kolasinac to do his magic on the left, this is subtle – no Bellerin = no Kolasinac magic. It is now too easy to crowd the Bosnian out and nullify his threat.
I know that GN5 justifiably points to the earlier part of the season when Bellerin’s sorties into the opponent’s half left gaps behind, but look above and notice how Torreira is set up to cover such gaps.
I don’t really need to explain the loss of calibre to the team having Sokratis replaced by Mustafi but the loss of Ramsey is underestimated. If you look at that team above again you will notice that there is a connection with London buses, we have been crying out for a defensive midfielder and now we have three, how else would you describe Xhaka, he may not be a very effective DM but he certainly isn’t a AM.
Ramsey is the only person from that midfield who could augment the front two; he is the only one who is capable of getting a goal from midfield. Unfortunately I don’t expect to see him play at THOF again, we got a flurry of determination for what looked like a final push to secure his lucrative Juve contract but from now on his foot will be off the pedal as I suspect he worries more about injury than our success.
What of Ozil? I see no reason why Ozil simply couldn’t be swapped for Ramsey in the above set up, there certainly is enough defensive cover to give Mesut a free rein; the problem is as I see it is that is like a house of cards.
No Bellerin, no effective AMN, no effective AMN, no effective Kolasinac, No effective Kolasinac, no effective Ozil all of which equates to: Arsenal 0 Bate 1
Personally I have very little hope of coming 4th, I don’t think we have the personnel to achieve that goal, I would be happy of course but I am not holding my breath. However, I do not think the responsibility for that misfire sits squarely on Emery’s shoulders; although that said, I might not be quite so sympathetic if we are in the same position this time next season after Emery has had an opportunity to buy his own saw, hammer and chisel.
Cardiff City was founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C. In 1905, Cardiff was granted city status by King Edward VII, and as a result the club put in a request to the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football Association to change their name to Cardiff City, but the request was turned down as they were deemed to be not playing at a high enough level. To combat this they arranged to join the South Wales Amateur League in 1907.
In 1908 the club changed their name and in 1910 they entered the Southern Football League – in 1920 they joined the English Football League. Since 1908, the club’s home colours have been blue and white, leading to a nickname of The Bluebirds, with the exception of a period between 2012 and 2015 when the club’s owner, Vincent Tan, changed the home colours to red.
They are the only club from outside England to have won the FA Cup, doing so in 1927. They have also reached three other cup finals in English competitions, the 1925 FA Cup Final against Sheffield United, the 2008 FA Cup Final against Portsmouth and the 2012 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool, suffering defeat on each occasion, and have won the Welsh Cup on 22 occasions.
Ninian Park – 57,893 fans crammed in to watch the League clash with Arsenal in 1953.
The team’s longest period in the top-tier of English football came between 1921 and 1929 and they have spent nine seasons in the top-flight since this period, the most recent being in 2018–19.
I’ve written about their 1927 FA Cup win on several occasions; suffice to say they beat Arsenal 1-0.
This clip is from 8th January 1955 the next time we played Cardiff in the FA Cup. The Cardiff kit was exactly the same layout as the Arsenal kit but in blue. Thank Dennis real life wasn’t in black and white!
Here is our home record in the League.
Arsenal 2 Cardiff City 0 – 1st January 2014
The last time Cardiff were in the Premier League, we sneaked past them with two goals in the last 3 minutes of the 90, courtesy of Lord Bendtner and Theo Walcott. Solskjaer was watching from the stands and took over as the Bluebirds’ manager shortly after. He couldn’t save them from relegation though and was sacked after a poor start to their following season Championship campaign.
Another home victory for Arsenal is the most likely result. GunnerN5
Recent poll here showed overwhelming support for a CB in Jan
First up, the bleeding obvious. Real Madrid and Juventus are always looking to strengthen/upgrade. All teams, from Barcelona to Bognor are always two players short. We will never be any different.
The CB? If talk of limited budget and only loan deals is to be believed, where’s the benefit of signing some short-term aged colossus? One of the essential ingredients of a good defence is understanding between the back three/four. I reckon we’re better off with what we have until a sensible budget is available. Also, we may get some top level experience for the promising Mavro and therefore have a clearer understanding of CB requirements for the summer after the return of Holding. We may well need a quality CB, but I don’t believe a stop gap loan is going to make any significant difference this season and I ‘d rather we wait.
Oh, and by the way, in that poll, I voted (twice) for an attacking midfielder.
Throughout this first half of the season, we’ve been plagued with the repeating pattern of a game of two halves. As I said earlier, our Goals For column is ok, unlike the Goals Against and the temptation for many is to assume that automatically implies the need to strengthen at the back.
BUT, throw in the fact that our defence has been ravaged by injuries, and I come up with another explanation.
Bloggers have mentioned our rope-a-dope sixty odd minutes of containment before invariably only landing the knock-out blows late in the game. This means the defence are under pressure for too long in every game. To be expected when playing the better sides, but we’re subjecting our defence to this every game, and this may explain the high casualty rate.
This brings me back to the Goals For column, which I described as Ok. Of course you can never score enough, however, we lie joint third in this column, but here’s the problem. We don’t score a higher enough percentage of these in the first forty five against the lower calibre sides. We don’t finish ‘em off before oranges. The problem this side has is not how many we score, but when.
In short, the attacking midfielders are not performing.
Unai is clearly still evaluating his largely inherited squad, and I’d expect a cull before significant quality replacements are brought in to compliment HIS ideas and vision.
I’d be ok with no arrivals this window, unless of course, Stan unearths a stash to……nah.
Posted by Bongo Hedge 
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