Who needs Cesc Fabregas?

April 2, 2010

Wednesday night was a night that may define our season in many ways. Time will tell whether Arsène’s gambles with the fitness of Fabregas and Gallas will prove inspired or disastrous.

What is certain is that the squad have to prove that we are a great team, not just a handful of great players led by Cesc. Glancing at the back of the programme before the match, I noticed a very obvious difference between the squads. The Barcelona squad is 2/3rds the size of ours, yet they seem able to ride out injuries to key players. We can do the same and still be four points better than Man U and Chelsea in the next six league matches.

Fabregas – Nasri is surely the key here. His recent creative performances have shown signs of the playmaker we expected him to become. Can he perform in the away matches, especially at City? My bet is that the maturity he has shown recently will help him make the most of Cesc’s absence. With Denilson showing against Barça that he can keep his head against top teams after all, and Song and Diaby turning into the new Vieira and Petit, we have the stable platform to let Samir shine.

Arshavin – The Anfield heroics seem a long time ago to most fans. Some say he has become selfish and dispirited – I think they are wrong, but he is certainly playing well within himself. As a result, his absence for 3 weeks probably won’t be too damaging to us. It may be a chance for Vela to get the run in the side he has deserved for a long time and we aren’t short of goals.

Gallas – This could be a bigger problem than Cesc. We’ve all enjoyed Sol’s return but against pace even his reading of the game isn’t enough and that’s why he couldn’t be risked against Pedro et al. Against Spurs and City he could get turned inside out. Silvestre has never really convinced me but he is going to be the critical factor in turning 2 points into 6 in our two biggest games.

RvP – We’ve played without our main striker since November and even during that time Bendtner was injured. We clearly haven’t struggled to score goals but there have been times that we  know that van Persie would have brought some extra skill and guile to the team. Eduardo hasn’t managed to impress so far but without Arshavin for three weeks maybe he can find his goal poaching boots. How fit will van Persie be when he returns to the squad and will he have an eye on the World Cup and be protecting himself?

All the injured players are important components of our team.  Are their deputies good enough to carry us over the line? Who will be captain? The latest news is that Denilson and Clichy also picked up injuries on Wednesday night taking the tally to five players from that game alone. Our fearless captain possibly played with an already broken leg  if reports are to be believed – who else in our team has the mental strength, the guts and the determination of Cesc Fabregas?

Nasri, Diaby, Denilson, Eduardo, Walcott, Almunia – your team needs you to be consistent, to be focussed every minute of every game from  now until the end of the season. Cesc Fabregas is just one man, but boy what a man, what a captain.

Can we patch up the side, and crawl over the finishing line without him?

By Alfa and others

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Posted by Alfa

Support the Enemy…….come on you spurs

March 29, 2010

Yesterday was the weirdest of days in blogland. Some serious ranting took place on a  few blogs but here it seemed we were mostly stunned into silence, except for one or two who clearly wear their hearts on their sleeves.

As ever, with all things Arsenal, the camps were divided. Are we still in the race for the title or did the draw at Birmingham bring an end to our chance of winning the Premiership? Obviously, mathematically, we are still in the race as there is the possibility that the teams above us will drop points against sides that have their own goals to achieve.

In this important week, when we play Barcelona at home in the Champions Leaugue, those three points would have given us the security of knowing we are still in with a  realistic chance of landing the Premiership title. If only Almunia had pushed  harder and that ball had sailed over the bar …. as it is, we all need to push in the same direction…… or as the club motto puts it Victoria Concordia Crescit ” victory comes from harmony”

Undoubtedly, the pendulum has swung against us and in favour of the other two. Ironically we may well have to wish success on totnum, citeh and fat sam’s blackburn when they play our rivals even though they collectively represent everything we detest about the Premier League – delusions of grandeur, obscene money without class and blatant organised thuggery. For these games only, we will support the enemy.

We’re all gearing up to roast the spuds at ‘The Lame’. They think they deserve Champions League football and while they have been annoyingly persistent in holding on to 4th place thus far, I really don’t want them to get the idea that they are in any way deserving of a place in the top four.  They play the three title aspirants in succession, starting with us at the Lane followed by the chavs and then a trip to Old Trafford. Whilst I don’t want to us to drop any points against them, it would be useful if they drew the other games and take points off of the mancs and the chavs even if it meant their chances of finishing fourth were helped in the process.

Citeh will also play us and the mancs. They believe they should be playing Champions League football and when you consider the money thats been lavished on that squad – including the seriously overpriced Lazybayour – they probably have  a point. We must exact revenge for the game at Eastlands earlier in the season, but we should hope they triumph against the red mancs.  They’ll want to stamp their authority on the City of Manchester, and we’ll be the winners in terms of the title race. Are they more deserving of a top four place? I would prefer anyone but the spuds.

The chavs were held to a draw last week at Blackburn. Arsenal and the mancs will travel there in the coming weeks. Blackburn are nestled safely in 10th place so, who would Fat Sam be more likely to want to help out? Not us I reckon so we should expect a tough game from them. How important will the points be to us by then? – only time will tell

There are still a lot of twists and turns to come. This title race is destined to be one of the most exciting yet.  Arsène was clearly rattled after the game on Saturday and uncharacteristically gave the press a mouthful of very flowery language.

If only he’d bought a world class goalkeeper in the summer, he would probably have been smiling all the way home.

Think how bitter sweet it will be for spud supporters to beat the chavs and manure and in doing so help us win the title. So through gritted teeth, everything crossed, for those two games only  ………… come on you spurs…

By Rasputin and peachesgooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Think Brum ….. Barça can wait ….

March 27, 2010

We’ve had a weeks break after The Hammers and enter a huge week in our trophy hunt. Birmingham are a decent team, 9th in the PL,  and under the stewardship of Alex McLeish easily capable of upsetting our plans. Home draws against Man U, Chelsea and the Spuds show they are no pushovers at St Andrews. We beat them 3-1 at the Emirates despite a feisty showing from Birmingham in the second half.

The centre of defence is the conundrum for this encounter. As TV is banned for this game we are left with 3 choices of centre back – Sol, Silvestre and Song. Wenger has said that neither Silvestre or Campbell are fit enough to play two games in a week, and after Birmingham we have the big midweek game against Barcelona. As such, we will be forced to play Song at centre back. My guess is that AW trusts Sol more than Silvestre and therefore Sol will play midweek. Song was superb alongside Sol during the second half last Saturday, and I have no qualms at seeing him there, however he will be sorely missed as our midfield enforcer against a team who have already shown a battling disposition. Of course the news of Gallas’s “miraculous” recovery gives AW the chance to play both Sol and Silvestre , hence even more permutations

The CB’s can expect a busy afternoon. Cameron Jerome has scored 4 in his last 3 games and looks a fine player, and Chucho is a player with Tevez like energy (thankfully not the skill!). Plus the Blues have a super-sub in the ancient Kevin Phillips. Birmingham have a decent midfield led by Barry Ferguson, and the Spaniard Michel, a creative MF signed from Gijon in January. They also have McFadden and Lee Bowyer, who in recent games have been on the bench.

I see this as a key game in the run in. As we have seen, Chelsea underestimated a Blackburn team that wouldn’t lie down, and they are similar to Birmingham insomuch as they have only lost twice at home all season. Some inspiration from any of our attacking players is a must. Our forwards cannot afford to be profligate with our chances (are you reading AA and NB?) as we cannot continue to rely on our midfield, and in particular, Cesc to keep scoring. I believe this is a good game to start Walcott as his pace could upset an ageing Blues defence (Stephen Carr?) Apparently Nik will not be fit for the match and Arsène has been bigging up Eduardo for the main strike role. Obviously it is his return to the scene of that horrific injury, so the boss is right to focus on the positives rather than dwell on that day.

I envisage a team of:-

Almunia

Sagna  Silvestre  Song   Clichy

Eboue Denilson Cesc  Nasri/TR

Walcott  Eduardo

I see Cesc coming off after 60 minutes to be replaced by Nasri/TR/Diaby – we need to keep our team fresh for Wednesday. Arshavin on the bench as he is a vital player for us in Europe, and needs a rest. An  cameo appearance from Eduardo late in the game.

Clearly Wenger will have one eye on the Barcelona fixture, whilst at the same time focussing on what could be a banana skin. Three points at St Andrews and the world will start to believe this could be our year.

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Posted by Erik the Red

“I’d just love it if we beat them”

March 25, 2010

Alex Ferguson – Lord of the Sith or Rab. C Nesbitt?

We all know “Sir” Alex is supposedly the master of mind games and at the level of a Jedi master if you were to believe the entirety of the Man IOU worshipping media and pretty much all of TV sports channels.

The most obvious example often quoted to back this assertion being when Kevin Keegan famously lost his cool and let rip with the “I’d just love it…” tirade, which terminally branded him as a “bottler” in the 1995-96 season.

Take a more recent example of how ole 65% proof nose used his dazzling psychological dexterity to become a winner on Sunday against the Dippers. It was another “Old Traffordish” decision given to the Salford reprobates that resulted in an undeserving penalty duly converted by everyone’s favourite Dreamworks character, via the rebound, to gain his team three valuable points.

The referee was Howard Webb, another referee that Govan’s finest has previously criticised publicly and none too subtly. Take your minds back to the season before last when we met Glazers Gimps at our place when we twice came from behind to salvage a draw while allegedly benefiting from being favoured by Howard the Coward. Not only did the whiskey infested sour puss moan about the refereeing but he deemed the atmosphere at our place hostile – a few quips of “siddown Taggart!” enough to offend Fergie’s tender and fragile persona.  Incidentally you may compare Fergie’s whinge about nothing to the treatment handed out to our manager during the league visit to Old Toilet this season; sent to the stands for the heinous crime of kicking an empty water bottle so he could spend time amongst the slavering hordes of mono brain-celled mank glory-hunting numb nuts.

So, having publicly undermined Howard Webb our Whiskey enthusiast, who in common with all managers assesses the referees in his post-match report, let his displeasure be known in that public way.

OK, if a few FA disrepute charges come his way it’s a fair price for the later benefits (benefits such as the soft penalty for Valencia’s act of simulation that had more ham than Dewhursts) that arise from pressurising referees pre match. Of course every referee will say he is not effected by anything managers say, yet subconsciously Webb, and the likes of Riley before him, the need to get Sir Alex of Govan’s approval hangs heavily on them.

Earlier this season the FA finally attempted to reign in Fergie’s one man crusade against the “Respect” campaign when he said referee Alan Wiley “just wasn’t fit enough” to officiate the Salford Red Sox’s game against Sunderland.

It is significant that part of the judgement made by the FA committee on the disrepute charge subsequently brought contained this proviso “ Each member of the commission recognised Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievements and stature within the game.”

This implies that some degree of leniency was applied because of who the person being judged was – a clear and blatant example of footballing authorities falling over themselves to appease the mad old Scotsman’s rantings; what on earth has his achievements in the game got to do with what the appropriate punishment should be for bringing the game into disrepute? Furthermore, it suggests that managers who have not won trophies will get harsher judgements – what next, a sliding scale of penalties for managers based on how many trophies they have won?

by guest writer charybdis 1966

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Villains to Heroes ….. it’s been worth the wait!

March 23, 2010

Be honest with yourselves fellow gooners – how many of you at the start of the season would had expected to be in with a real chance of winning the premiership and have the mouth-watering prospect of playing Barça in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Not many I would guess, and if you’re in the mood for confession, how many amongst us have expressed serious doubts (in some cases vitriolic character assassination) over some of our present squad? I have, I’m ashamed to admit.

Song, Eboué, Diaby, Bendtner and Denilson are 5 of the 6 that have come in for the most flak; I shall come to the 6th later.

These 5 players were bought for less than £10m and probably have a combined worth in excess of £50m and rising – not bad business! Let’s look at them one player at a time.

Alex Song: made his debut in September 2005, scored his first goal against pool in January 2007; later that month he went out on loan to Charlton Athletic until the end of the 2006/2007season. From 2008 onwards he has featured in the Carling Cup and been integrated into the first team. He is now first choice holding midfielder. This player has probably caused more disagreement amongst fans than any other, but the quality and consistency of his performances this season have won over even his harshest critics.

My verdict: I can honestly say, I always felt he needed time and would become a great player. I wouldn’t swap him for any player in the world in his position.

Can he get better? – YES

Emmanuel Eboué: joined Arsenal in 2005 for a fee rumoured to be £1.5m. In 2006 he became the first choice right back. In the 2007/2008 season, Arsène announced that he wanted to move EE into right midfield following the signing of Sagna. He has made himself unpopular with some fans due to occassional diving and ‘Drogba-esque’ protest for seemingly innocuous challenges. The low part of his career came when he was booed off the pitch by a section of fans in December 2007.  Since that day, with the sensitive management of AW, he has rebuilt his popularity with the fans (the other players have always loved him) and become a key player at both right back and in the midfield.

My verdict: I had my doubts about his ability to play in midfield but he’s proved me wrong.

Can he get better? – if  he can further reduce his ‘histrionics’ and work on his finishing – YES

Abou Diaby: signed for Arsenal in January 2006 for a fee believed to be in the region of £2m. He had an early setback to his career suffering a broken leg and a dislocated ankle in a match at Sunderland on 1 May 2006. He made his return to first team action as a 74th-minute substitute in Arsenal’s 6–3 victory at Liverpool in the League Cup at Anfield on 9 January 2007. Diaby made progress through the 2008/9 season but lacked consistency and his tendency to dwell on the ball and sloppy passing often let him down.

My verdict: Even at the start of the season I had a few doubts, but he has moved up a level and produced some scintillating performances. His defending is more assured, his reading of the game has improved and he looks very dangerous going forward.

Can he get better? – YES, I expect him to be a world class player in 2 years.

Denilson: errrrr….. next…. No, I jest. He’s come in for some serious abuse at times. If a player is picked for his side and does his best, we should not criticise. He’s not going to say to the manager “sorry boss, I don’t think I’m up to it” His apparently amazing stats have infuriated bloggers who don’t get the same picture watching him on the pitch. He was thrown in at the deep end when injuries gave Arsène few other choices, but he has a great shot and is not afraid to let loose and he works his socks off.

My verdict: with the current crop of players, he’d be a valuable ‘bench player’ for most games. Ramsey would have overtaken him in the pecking order for the midfield slot. He needs to improve his strength in the tackle.

Will he get better? – YES

Nicklas Bendtner: joined in the summer of 2004 and made his debut on 25 October 2005, in a League Cup match against Sunderland. His first prem appearance against Everton on 29 December 2007 was marred when he was sent off for two bookable offences. In the 2007/8 season he was very much 3rd choice striker behind Van Persie and Adebayor who he clearly didn’t get on with as was evident when they had a much publicised dust up in the 5:1 defeat to totnum. This season, he has become something of a cult figure, missing easy chances but never giving up. His work rate and self belief has seen him prove many critics wrong and his goals have come at important times.

My verdict: often has a poor first touch, not always pleasing to watch and obviously needs to improve his strike rate.

Can he get better? – YOU BET, I think he will be a £20m striker by the time he’s 25.

The aforementioned players have all been bought for very little money, had the unwavering support of the manager and battled through adversity, criticism from the media and periods of poor form to become the HEROES who have got us to this unlikely stage of the season………. which brings me to the 6th, and in my opinion most important ‘villain’ – Manuel Almunia.

I am no great fan of the affable Spaniard as a keeper. He lacks the authority to be world class. His poor communication, indecisiveness and propensity to ‘flap’ have made our defence look vulnerable and jittery at times. He is the only one of our regular first teamers not to have played for his national side at some level. But oddly, he has the opportunity to be the greatest hero of them all. He has started with the penalty save against Wham. Can he make up for the howler in conceding the 2nd goal at his near post in the 2006 CL final? Of all the players mentioned, he is the one we need to see step up and prove the detractors wrong (myself included) if we are to pursue the dream of a prem and CL double.

My verdict: I really want to be proved wrong. We need Manuel to play the best football of his life for the next 2 months.

Can he get better ….. can he?

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Posted by Rasp

WHO DOES YOUR SON SUPPORT?

March 15, 2010

In my last post, I let it be known that I was that most that unlikely of things a Gooner residing in a spud household. How did that happen? Well, bloody mindedness and if the truth is told, the love of a good argument, combined to lead me down the path to salvation. I was a Walthamstow boy – you would have thought a natural spud. The back page of the Daily Express had a leader writer named Desmond Hackett, who threatened to eat his hat (a brown bowler I believe) if the Arsenal should win a certain game? This they duly did.

Whether or not he kept his promise I know not, but the very thought of such a hilarious conclusion was enough to put a then 7 year old reprobate at odds with his family and on the road to Highbury, if not quite ruin.

Later I was to learn this was a routine expression of Hackett’s. At a time when sports reporters had tremendous influence over huge circulations their utterances were perceived by a far more innocent readership to be based on some kind of knowledge and truth. Oh that we could dare to think that today

The upshot of this deviation from the collective family wisdom was not viewed as it might have been by some, as treason, but rather that the boy had a mind of his own which should be encouraged and challenged. Thus began many happy years of verbal jousting. But more than that, it helped lay down the vocal skills which were to prove such a boon through my business life.

Eventually I had two sons of my own, one born in Manchester and the other near Liverpool. Thinking back to the benefits of my defections from the family cause, I decided that they should do the same. Thus one was encouraged to support City and the other Liverpool and still do today.

Saturday evenings and Sunday breakfast times in the years before Sky became a war zone, when all the matches were played at 3 o’clock on Saturdays. But the kids quickly learnt to hold their end up, when dealing with me and one another. Consequently the verbal attacks of opposition fans among their school friends proved no problem.

These days, as I have all the football channels, we still congregate here and watch our own local derbies and the emails and texts in between are still as sharp and pointed as ever they were.

In fact my youngest the Liverpool fan said this weekend, bugger, if you lot win the league and city come fourth I am turning my phone off and not coming round again

So my question to you all is. Who do your offspring support and why, and if it different to you, do you care?

By our  Guest Writer dandan

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Danish Nick Saves Our Bacon.

March 14, 2010

This supporting a football team and watching them play malarkey is supposed to be an enjoyable experience.  Well, I don’t know about you, but with ten minutes to go the description of nerve racking nightmare struck me as being more appropriate. Stress, tension, anxiety, nervousness — the rollercoaster ride that is called our season was plummeting down towards destruction when just at the last minute Nicky scored sending our hopes flying back up. Suddenly, with adrenalin pumping like a steam train and Phil Brown’s priceless look utter despair; the world was, once again, a wonderful place to be.

Arsenal took to the field full of confidence picking up from where they left off against Porto, their fast, free flowing football left Hull chasing shadows. I liked the team selection it struck me that Wenger has done away with favouritism and is making his decisions on merit alone. There was a time when Walcott would have been a banker to start today but Eboue was far more worthy of a starting place. Sol seemed the perfect choice to deal with Hull’s slow lumbering attackers with their potential aerial threat and so it proved. The rest of the back line picked itself as did the midfield. There was only one choice for the number nine spot and then there was Arshavin.

It took our Russian box of tricks precisely fourteen minutes to not only highlight the gulf in class between Arsenal and Hull but fourteen minutes to show the gulf between himself and every other player on the pitch. Picking the ball up he weaved his way through the Hull defence, his low sense of gravity coming into its own, leaving two defenders in his wake, the ball sat up perfectly, crying out to be stroked into the net; the Russian maestro obliged and we were one up.

It was time to sit back with a cold beer from the fridge and that was exactly what Arsenal did, the result being that their level of concentration started to dip. Hull were still having rings run round them and realising that playing football wasn’t going to get them anywhere they started, oh so predictably, to try and kick us into the air. This in itself did not look like it was going to trouble us but when they were wrongly awarded a penalty, subsequently scoring, Hull’s renewed hope was tangible the result being that we knew we were going to have a game on our hands.

Relief came in the form of Hull’s captain, who after having picked up a yellow for trying to gouge Bendtner’s eye out, he then, only five minutes later, tried to break Sagna’s leg which fortunately he failed to do but was given a second yellow and off he went on the stroke of half time.

It has been said many times that every game from now to the end of the season is a cup final and I take that to mean that if we lose just one game our title hopes are over. We had forty five minutes to stay in the race.

Diaby, Nasri and Arshavin’s hearts may have been in the right place but they were now playing like strangers, casual, sloppy passing increased the growing tension. Hull predictably started time wasting succeeding in creating further frustration.

The game cried out for changes and Wenger obliged, on Walcott came who immediately added urgency to our attack: within one minute he had carved the Hull defence apart and set up Bendtner for an excellent opportunity which just like last week with all Theo’s offerings Nick had too much time to think and fluffed the chance.  Walcott continued ripping Hull apart, setting up Arshavin with a glorious opportunity that he sent flying over the bar. It remained level and time was running out. Eduardo came on the perfect sub when the area is crowded; he added decisiveness to the attack: every pass found its man and importantly he took the pressure off of Bendtner.

The added impetus from the substitutes worked to a point but it still didn’t look like it was going to be out day. I was mentally writing the obituary at this point when the forth official lifted his board indicating six minutes of added on  time……….and then, in the distance a trumpet was heard, there was no mistaking it, our lives were saved, the cavalry had arrived: Denilson fired in a speculative shot from twenty five yards which their goalkeeper spilled; Bendtner in the right place at the right time, yet again, had no time to think about htis one  and instinctively put it into the back of the net giving us all three precious points and dispelling any doubts that may have crept into my head as to why I love football and more importantly why I love Arsenal.

Player ratings:

Almunia: it has to be said that he is doing a lot better, looked a tad more decisive which has helped to dampen the screams for a new keeper. 7

Sagna: a quality defender, yet again he did his job well.7

Campbell: Hull should never have been awarded a penalty it was off side but then lucky to stay on the pitch after it was given. 7

Vermaelen: he is such a winner, must surely be made vice captain next season. 7.5

Clichy: another commanding performance from our Gael. 8

Denilson: the 21 year old filled in for Song to the best of his ability, if Eboue can turn it around so can he, it was his shot that led to the goal. 6

Nasri: wow this man does not travel, I am going to give him the benefit and say he was tired after his magnificent midweek display. 6

Diaby: although, he has earned his starting place and had a perfectly good game I now want more, he should be totally dominating the midfield. 7

Eboue: another perfectly respectful game, some good runs and no star fish. 7

Bendtner: the man of the match and not just because he scored the all important goal, he was focused all the way through, not a single pass went astray which was no mean feat on that meadow they call a football pitch. 9

Arshavin: while this player is on the field we will always have a chance of winning. 8

By London

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Posted by LB

Fans leave early …. Supporters stay to the end.

March 12, 2010

This is the second edition of ‘Rant Friday’. Last week some new bloggers mistook the piece for an attack on Arsenal. It is simply an opportunity for anyone with a gripe to write a paragraph and get it off their chest.

Rasputin’s Beef

On Tuesday night we witnessed possibly the most entertaining and uplifting display of ‘Arsenal Football’ in the short history of The Emirates Stadium. A game in which the ‘experts’ had said we would struggle.  A game that followed Ramsey’s horrific injury and Niklas Bendtner’s profligacy in front of goal the weekend before. The team were magnificent, everyone played their part. After the fourth goal, a carnival atmosphere enveloped the ground ….. so why oh why, with 10 minutes to go, did thousands of so-called ‘fans’ start streaming out of the ground?

They missed the drama of the penalty and Nik scoring his first hat-trick, but more importantly they didn’t stay to do their duty as supporters and clap our boys off the pitch. The goal celebrations showed how important this game was to them – it had nothing to do with earning £60k a week, it was about playing superb football (and being allowed to play as is seldom the case in the premiership) and winning the Arsenal way. I can have some sympathy for anyone with young children who wanted to avoid the crush, but to the rest who left early I say, shame on you, you are not worthy of our team.

Livers’ Beef

Right first rant and I know this is only speculation but it’s been brought to light that Roma are over here trying to get Gallas on a pre contract agreement, this caused as we know by Arsene’s policy of only giving an extra year extensions to players over 30. Now, in some regards this seems sensible in that players will have to earn a new contract each year but it does make me wonder if this should be extended to players of say 33 or over.

If a players “peak” is 27, 28 then 2 years later they are over the hill or past it? No not really and not in the majority of cases. Players that Wenger inherited when he first came like the back 5 and Ray Parlour were all hitting 30 or already over 30 and they played some of their best football past this age. More recently and the one that hurts the most was Robert Pires who I think we have never replaced. Granted this season he’s in cameo roles for Villareal and not at his best or ok, maybe past it. But it was 2006 we let him go with Wenger ok with this because we had Hleb. Now both have gone and Hleb, for all his trickery and ball control was never as effective as Sir Bob.

We let Campbell go on a free so he could play abroad…….all the way to Portsmouth. Sure his head wasn’t right but are you telling me we couldn’t have done something about it and not wasted 5 years to get him back… oh we’ve not won anything in 5 years right? Even Sol won the cup in 2008. Which now brings me to Gallas. Gallas has turned his career around at Arsenal and plays extremely well with TV so why won’t we just this once give a player over 30 a 2 year contract and if he’s still quality after that then issue the 1 year extensions. I bet Aluminia has 8 years left on his contract…….

All these players that possibly leave on a free because of our policies and there are more than I named (The Dennis 1 year extensions became a joke) leaves me to wonder why it’s such a problem. This never happened in David Deins day…..

Second Rant and a small one.. European games v League games. What are the frigging rules for time added on? 6 subs in the Prem is 3 mins. 6 in the CL is 1 min ..WTF ?

tommystout’s beef

My rant is not about  the Arsenal in particular but the way we are treated by that abysmal radio station Talksport and other associated broadcasters. Adrian Durham in particular has riled me over the years but needling away are the likes of Brasil and Townsend. Please Gooners don’t phone them up and give them the time of day, if they have no one ringing up and defending Arsenal then they will get the message. After all what would a radio station have to talk about if they have no Arsenal to talk about, they’d maybe have to turn on their beloved Man IOU or upsetting other supporters instead, this goes for Liverpool fans too who have had their fair dose of negative air time especially over the past year. Boycott the phone calls and they’ll target someone else, their loss, Arsenal are big news and an easy target, for now!

I’m addressing Talksport because I’m a glutton for punishment and listen to their “white noise” most days, but it isn’t just them,  Alan Green for 5 live has his two penneth. Then there’s Gary Linneker and Alan Shearer for the BBC and then we get to Sky; Smug faced Richard Keys and old hat Andy Gray to name but two, they look for any chance to stick the knife in. What’s difficult to comprehend is that Sky want the viewing figures and the neutrals and lovers of pure football want to watch Arsenal but these “pundits” always do their best to condemn us. Work that one out.

Until Arsenal TV get themselves into a position back on the Satellite medium, where they can screen all of their games live, until that time I will remain a sky sports customer…. Then Adios Amigo!


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Posted by Rasp

How many Bendtners does it take to change a light bulb?

March 7, 2010

Why do it the easy way when you can do it the Arsenal way. This should have been a game in which Vik Akars’ responsibility was not only to organise the kit but to also supply the sun beds. That’s to say Almunia should have spent the afternoon lying back on a sun lounger, in the goal mouth, sipping a cocktail with a little umbrella sticking out. Vermaelen and Silvestre should have been doing no more than chatting around a barbeque on the eighteen yard line. All this going on while the forwards scored an amount of goals so high that it would have made the usual score-line of an Arsenal Ladies drubbing of the opposition seem like a low scoring affair. That’s what we deserved anyway, I reckon, after the high anxiety that we have had to suffer in recent games but oh no, some how we managed to give the absolutely useless Burnley a chance of getting something from the game. What has become clear from yesterday’s game is that if we are going to win something this season we are going to have to suffer for it.

This game should have been put to bed within the first fifteen minutes, chances falling to Fabrégas and, of course, Bendtner! Where do I start? One of those jokes springs to mind: how many Bendtners does it take to change a light bulb, although, with the obvious adjustment, making it: how many great crosses does Theo have to send in before Bendtner puts one away? We shall never know the answer, of course, because Wenger substituted him to spare further blushes.

As Bendtner made his way from the field my anger changed to sympathy, I am not sure if they showed it on telly but there was one very moving moment just after Bendtner had missed his eighth sitter to which in normal circumstances the fans would been at his throat but to my complete admiration they gave him a loud, heart felt rendition of “there is only one Nikki Bendtner.” The Dane was visible humbled by the support that was being shown and clasped his hands together and bowed his head as if to say thank you Japanese style. Irony of ironies was that as soon as he went off we didn’t seem to be half the threat.

Still we got there in the end, three points are three points are three points and with those little gems added to our tally we are nicely poised to spring to the top when the opportunity presents itself.

There is, of course, a new injury concern, there always is: Fabrégas limped off midway through the first half. Just a few moments earlier he had gone over to the bench to explain the problem and asked to be withdrawn; I can only imagine that they said to him: would you mind just popping back for a bit longer and putting us ahead — which he dutifully did. Nasri sent in an exquisite chip landing inch perfect in front of Fabrégas who calmly slotted it through the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net. That was the last kick of his game and he departed to his customary and always justified standing ovation.

Fabrégas’ departure was the cue for the Walcott and Nasri show to begin. Neither has played as well as they did in ages. Nasri was weaving his magic in the middle while Walcott ran rings around Burnley’s left back sending in perfectly weighted cross after cutback after cross and cutback for Bendtner to squander.

It is some distance from Burnley to London which should have given the visitors plenty of time to read the script which clearly stated that we would take three points easily from this game; unfortunately, they didn’t study it thoroughly as they should have because just after half time the cheeky monkeys went and scored and that definitely wasn’t in the script. This gave rise to more anxiety than we deserved, Walcott continued teeing them up for Nik who continued to miss them and then, as if fed up with his fine work being wasted, Theo picked the ball up on the right and rather than send in another cross to be wasted he danced past three Burnley defenders before curling a low left foot drive along the floor and into the corner leaving the goal keeper spread helpless on the floor.

Two one up and the whole ground including Burnley expected the flood gates to open but no matter how many chances were sent over to Nik he just couldn’t give us that all important two goal cushion which as we all know would have been the cue for the party to begin. Instead we had to suffer Burnley coming onto us fuelled by the outrageous notion that they might get something from the game.

Nails being chewed all over the ground I noticed Wenger go up to the Burnley manager and point to something in a book, I can only assume that he was pointing to the script, the one that said that we end up winning by a two goal margin, it had to be that because shortly after Arshavin put us all out of our misery by scoring the third; we finally got our cushion but with only seconds left there wasn’t enough time to stretch out and enjoy Vik Akers’ sun loungers.

Player ratings:

Almunia: no complaints, a tidy game; had to deal with a few long range speculative efforts which he handled well, his distribution was noticeably better. 7

Eboue: not one single bit of play acting; he obviously read Friday’s post and decided to buck his ideas up, a very thoughtful performance today, impressive. 7

Silvestre: he’s not great, we know that but bearing in mind all the injuries we have I still say thank goodness we have him. 5.5

Vermaelen: he is so much part of the furniture that I am starting to struggle to remember what life was like without him. Had to work extra hard to cover for Silvestre’s lack of pace which he did in his usual brilliant way. 8

Clichy: was back to his best last week against Stoke and carried on where he left off. I feel secure having him around again. 7.5

Denilson: got better as the game went on, made himself available at the right time and in the right place. 6

Fabrégas: we can only hope that he is not out for any longer than it takes to buy a Mars bar from the shops and when I think about it even that is too long. The Master. 8

Rosicky: a tidy game, starting to give the impression that he really cares again, less flicks and tricks and more determined passing and shooting. 7

Walcott: by contrast to the dire Wes Brown, Eboue was a superb partner. Confidence led to a level of quality that we haven’t seen in his play, I was going to say ages but I should probably say ever, well done Theo. 8.5

Bendtner: he was so wasteful I just had to laugh in the end. 5

Nasri: man of the match today; this Frenchman is no winger. 9

By London

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Posted by LB

The ‘Ramsey Factor’ will prove too much for Burnley

March 6, 2010

I am reminded of the satanic mills, Bob Lord, and for some reason a young lad with a bicycle climbing up a cobbled street  to the sound of the New World Symphony with a loaf of Hovis underarm. Such are the prejudices of youth!!

Burnley are as Northern as one can get in terms of football culture. The Tyne teams may be geographically further North but not in terms of football mentality. I have no idea why I think this way, perhaps because Burnley were the most successful Northern team of my childhood and it seemed such a bleak place. Whilst Spurs employed Danny Blanchflower and Wolves had Billy Wright (both urbane and media friendly), Burnley had Jimmy Mcilroy – hardly a household name in North London!.

Of course this was Burnley’s golden era and since the early ’60’s success has remained elusive.  Over the following 40 years they suffered a descent to the bottom of the 4th division, narrowly escaping oblivion. Under the managership of Steve Cotterill and subsequently Owen Coyle, Burnley returned to the Premier division in 2009 – just being in the Premiership is huge testament to their progress. Unfortunately for Burnley they have only a few games left at the top table, and in all likelyhood will return to the murky depths of the Championship. Of course, Burnley fans would argue that they are just 2 points from safety, but sadly their away form of 1 point this season will secure their fate.

Currently managed by Brian Laws, Burnley play attractive football. I believe Laws has a decent future as an EPL manager, though taking over from Owen Coyle just 2 months ago was a brave decision on his part. Of their team, Chris Eagles has looked the most creative player –  raised at OT under the tutelage of SAF, he has pace and trickery but little end product. Eagles gave us some problems up at Turf Moor and in Robbie Blake he has a willing central runner. In Brian Jensen they have a Danish keeper to chat with Nik, and a man who is hero worshipped by the fans. You may recall that we squeezed a 1-1 draw away in December and were fortunate to escape with a point. We scored early (perhaps the only time this season) and then went to sleep. Backed by their very vocal fans, Burnley stormed back into the game and soon equalised. They then dominated the second half, hitting the woodwork and could consider themselves unlucky not to take all 3 points.

As to Saturday, we are as usual bereft of a number of first teamers, however, we are all aware of Burnley’s away form (one point in 14 games), the dire state of their defence (conceded at least two goals in every away game), and how potent we can be at THOF. And of course there is the Ramsey Factor which will surely spur our lads onto victory. If we drop a point in this one, I will flambé my favourite hat!

Few will know that David Lloyd George, founder of the Welfare State and Liberal Prime Minister in the 20’s, was a big football fan. It will further surprise you that my father used to stand next to him on the terraces of the Clock End (Lloyd George being a man of the people). And as everyone now knows David Lloyd George was a renowned Gooner…..

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Posted by Erik the Red

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