Arsène outwits ‘Arry – written by London

September 23, 2010

Seems as though quite a few were surprised by the strength of the team Wenger put out against spuds including many of our own and certainly many of theirs  most notably of which was Twitchy himself who, judging by his team selection, was no where near anticipating who he would face.

My only guess as to why he got it spectacularly wrong was that for a moment he must have thought he was in the big league, the one he read about in news papers for years in which managers of the big four put out weakened teams in the fizzy cup to preserve key members for imminent Champions League duty, well, talk about misunderstand.

“Arry” you got it laughably wrong to the point that you, your team and all your inbred fans were humiliated during the game before then being unceremoniously dumped out of the only cup final that you are ever going to get near this season.

It was totally predictable that Wenger would put out a strong team, the pattern over the years is there for every one to see: we do not go out in the first round. He also gave us a clue before the game in which he made quite clear that he always puts out a side that he feels can beat the opposition. This is true but only to a point.

It is commonly thought that he doesn’t care about the CC which is true in one sense but false in another: Wenger cares about it up until the quarter finals which happen to be just before Christmas and more significantly in football terms just before the transfer window opens.

By caring about it up until then, he achieves many things, most importantly it gives the youngsters an opportunity to play in a competitive game. Players like Jet, Eastmond, Nordtveit and such need to have some sense of belonging to the club and playing in the CC gives them exactly that before, more than likely, going out on loan in the New Year transfer window.

If they had played on Tuesday night we probably would have been beaten; they would have got a game but what real good would that have done? Far better to beat the scum then hope for a nice home draw against Brentford or someone like that in which the aforementioned players along with the Lansburys and the Gibbs can have a go.

Wenger continues this policy into the quarter finals at which point he throws the completion to the wolves. There is no way he would have picked that team in the quarter finals even if it was against spuds — for the simple reason that they might win, the result being that there will be a two legged semi final to deal with in very early January, that is, just after the exhaustive Christmas playing period and just before the all important Champions League restarts.

No, we definitely do not want that; the plan makes sense, we progress in this competition until the quarter finals and then it is time to say goodbye to the fizzy cup.

When this happens I will wave good bye and say good riddance because I am one of those who agrees with the priorities of the club, those being the EPL followed by the CL then the FA Cup but only if we have been knocked out of the CL, if we are still in that competition then damn the FA Cup as well.

I just don’t understand this call to win the CC, it makes no sense to me, it weakens us in other more important competitions, as to those who say we haven’t won a trophy in 5 years, ask yourself this: would you really want the name of the CC on display in our shiny new ground, you know where I mean, around the pitch there is the long list of trophies Arsenal have won over the years and then the gap……….do you really want the next one to be the CC……..how tacky.

We are the Arsenal, a cut above; I want the European Champions League to be the first trophy to be painted on our stadium……now that would be classy.

Written by London, pictures by Rasp

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Posted by LB

Into the House of Darkness – WHL – written by BigRaddy

September 21, 2010

Let us start here. There is light and there is darkness, there is good and there is evil, there is N5 and then there is N17. N5 is blessed with parks, glorious architecture, fine restaurants, great bars and the finest football stadium in Britain; whereas N17 is a total toilet, the parks littered with dogshit,  litter and hoodlums, the architecture can only be described as urban wasteland, the restaurants vary from appalling to mediocre, the bars imbue such depression that suicide is an attractive alternative, and the football ground (it cannot be called a stadium) is a complete joke.

If you win the Lottery you may well choose to live in Highbury, if you have descended into a life of crack and crime, you probably live in Tottenham.

(N:B: The above is written in jest, but there is a little truth in there…..)

And the football teams reflect their surroundings. Arsenal have an urbane, intelligent manager, Spurs a semi-literate “wheeler-dealer” (Sky tm), Arsenal have a team who play with brio and flair, Spurs have Huddlestone and Crouch, Arsenal have a warehouse full of silverware, Spurs won the league in Black and White.

And so we come to the Carling Cup. When we drew the mugs from N17, I despaired because the Carling Cup is a meaningless trophy for us but any game against the forces of evil is big, and the potential of losing to them hurts, plus we know how Mr Wenger views the CC with his attitude towards playing only the youth and fringe players. The last time we played in the CC at the Lane, we left humiliated (though the 5-1 scoreline hardly reflected the game).

However this time could be different because somehow Spurs have found their way to the top table and have to prioritise just as we do. In other words we will find out by Harry’s team selection whether Spurs really are a Top 4 side or just pretenders who know they will get bounced out of the CL and finish outside the Top 4. Will Redknapp play any of his first team with West Ham away and Twente at home inside a week?

If not we could be in for a treat because we have such strength in our reserve and youth teams. Unfortunately the injuries to so many of our first team precludes AW from playing some of the second string (JW, Vela Kos/Squil,Denilson, Ramsey etc), but we are sure to see Gibbs and Djourou. Perhaps an outing for JET who is set to cause havoc.

The Young Men in the White Hats……

My team is made up from a process of elimination, with the plethora of injuries in the forward positions we will have to pack the midfield, plus many of our best youngsters are out on loan.

To me the games rests upon the team Harry plays, has he the courage to play a reserve team in front of an expectant full house at WHL? He knows that the record breaking win (as in they broke our undefeated record) set Tottenham up for their late run to the CL, and also how important a win is to his knuckle dragging acolytes –  Harry is nothing if not pragmatic. I expect Spurs will line up with some big players, Keane, Jenas, Palacios, Hudson, Krankjar, Dos Santos, Corluka and who knows maybe our mates David Bentley and William Gallas – all Full Internationals. They will not want to be beaten by kids

The final word must go to Bobby Smith who died on Saturday. I was raised in a Tottenham loving home, my father was Spurs and took me many times to WHL to watch the Double team of 60/61. In a side of hugely divergent talent from the silky skills of Blanchflower to the destructive aggression of Mackay one man stood out for me, his name was Bobby Smith. A proper centre forward , hard as nails, great in the air, a tremendous shot and no mean skill on the ground, a natural goalscorer.  Bobby Smith was my first hero , at this very moment I expect he will be scoring hatricks  on the Elysian Fields. Gone but not forgotten.

Can we win? Of course. Will we win? Unlikely

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Arsenal get it right …. the Press get it wrong

July 29, 2010

 

What is it about the Daily Mail? No matter how much I try to ignore Fleet Street’s greatest embarrassment, I can’t help finding new things about this fear-mongering, xenophobic, Thatcherite rag to annoy me, usually via a Newsnow link. This time it wasn’t some load of nonsense about how we’ll all be mugged by Kosovan asylum seekers if we even dared to step outside our front doors into the warzone that is 21st century British suburbia; it’s just another piece of journalistic sloppiness about football.

MJC posted a very good piece a little while ago about how the new 25-player squad rules will work – to recap, he explained that essentially (a) any player who is born on or after 1 January 1989 doesn’t count towards the 25-player limit at all for the coming season and (b) of the 25 “older” players, eight places are reserved for players who spent at least three seasons in England and Wales between the ages of 16 and 21 – these are “homegrown players”.

Importantly, but apparently beyond the wit of the Daily Mail, homegrown players can have any passport, it’s just where they trained in their early years that counts.  So, Owen Hargreaves, as a Bayern Munich trained player, isn’t homegrown despite being English (sort of), but Nicolas Anelka is homegrown despite not being English and having played in France, Spain and Turkey as well as England. Clubs can have more than eight homegrown players, it’s just a quota to protect against importing too many established players from other leagues.

MJC explained that Arsenal are in pretty good shape for the new rules, but I wondered how that stacked up against our principal rivals. My nerdy curiosity got the better of me, and I checked the current first team squads of our principal rivals for the coming season (Chelsea, United, Spurs and City – sorry, I didn’t bother with Liverpool, they just don’t seem relevant…). I had to make some assumptions about which young players at each club would be serious senior squad contenders, but my conclusion is as follows:

* Arsenal: Squad of 33, of which 13 are under 21. We therefore have five spaces left for non-homegrown players aged over 21.

* Chelsea: Squad of 27, of which five are under 21. They therefore have three spaces left before they reach the 25-player cap, two of which are for homegrown players.

* United: Squad of 33, of which eight are under 21. United therefore have no spaces in their squad, so can’t make new signings without omitting existing squad members.

* Spurs: Squad of 29, of which four are under 21. They also have no space left in their squad for senior players.

* City: Squad of 31, of which six are under 21. But not only do City have no space left in the squad, even before making any further signings, they will already have to omit seven existing senior players.

Of course, none of this matters if our regular first choice players aren’t up to it, but we are clearly in great shape to get the best out of these rules. Only Chelsea come close to being in as good a position.

But what did the Daily Mail say? They of course said that United are doing well because they have lots of English players, but thought Arsenal and Chelsea would have to omit players. In fact, it’s the other way around, United are the worst positoned of last season’s top three. It’s a shame that there are so many people paid to write about our game who don’t know enough about it, or are too lazy to check.

Written by 26may1989

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Unbeaten This Century

April 14, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

GK

Sagna  Sol  TV   Clichy

Song/Eboue  Denilson  Diaby  Rosicky

Theo  NB

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted by Erik the Red

Little Mozart vs New Zidane

April 13, 2010

Today’s post is by our newest guest writer samflu.

Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri – two extremely talented players capable of filling the rather large hole left in Arsenal’s midfield three following Cesc’s injury. Elegant, graceful, and creative, these two players are not only a joy to watch, but they also posses the quality required to get the Gunners’ creative juices flowing.

It is rather strange to think that both have almost the same number of appearances seeing that Rosicky joined Arsenal Football Club two years before Nasri. In 90 appearances since 2006 for The Arsenal, Tomas has scored 16 goals and made 10 assists. Nasri, only joining the club in 2008, has scored 12 goals and made 8 assists in 73 games. This season, both have played 29 games in all competitions, and both have played a part in 8 goals. Rosicky has scored 3 and created 5 while Nasri has scored 5 and created 3.

Not only are these players similar in stats, but also in style of play, height, and weight. Both are blessed with exquisite touch, terrific vision, and wonderful dribbling skills.

With players so similar how could you possible choose one over the other? Or are these similarities merely hiding the defining differences?

Wenger has already stated that he is ready to put his trust in young Samir to fill in for Cesc, but is this the right choice?

We saw how devastatingly good Nasri can be when played centrally against Porto. He put in a top performance which was rounded off by one of the best goals scored in the Champions League this season. He linked up well with the other midfielders and strikers, and he was a constant threat going forward.

But we have also seen how little he can contribute when played centrally. The games away at Hull and Barcelona come to mind. Of course, these were no easy games, but Nasri was almost nonexistent in both. The Hull game presented the French midfielder with an extremely physical game while the Barcelona one presented him with an extremely technical game. Against Hull, Nasri could do very little as he was often out muscled by the Tiger’s more physical players. Arsenal won it thanks to some Russian magic and Danish opportunism, not Nasri’s contribution from midfield. Against Barca, Nasri faced the most technically gifted midfield in the world. Not only was it almost impossible for him to snatch the ball from them, but once he did receive the ball, he had around 0.31 seconds to think about what to do with it before being pressured by two or three Barca players.

Of course, there are many different ways to look at Nasri’s performances, but I don’t believe that the Frenchman is the one who should step in for Cesc.

After the Barca game last week, Rosicky was getting a lot of negative reviews. Yes, he had a bad game, but come on… People were and still are screaming for Arsene to sell him, but that’s just ridiculous. Rosicky is a fantastic player; I’d even say he’s the most technical and creative along with Cesc. Some of his passes are out of this world. In the Czech national team, Rosicky plays centrally, and just as we have seen a couple of times at Arsenal, he plays amazing there. Just ask any American after the 2006 World Cup. He absolutely destroyed them. At Camp Nou, Wenger should have left Nasri on the left and played Rosicky centrally. Nasri played excellent against Barca on the left at the Emirates, and he should have stayed there. As mentioned before, Nasri was often crowded out in the middle and he doesn’t have enough bite in him to fight for the ball unlike his team mate with the number 7. Rosicky could have made a huge difference for us if he would have played centrally. He’s got a crazy edge about him. I could see him in elementary school yelling back at the 2 metre tall bully without an ounce of fear in him. He would have run the midfield like a bulldog, always snatching at Busquets, Xavi, and Keita’s feet. And going forward, he could have worked magic with Diaby. But the past is the past, and now Wenger must look ahead.

Does he stick with his decision to play Nasri centrally rather than on the wings, or does he let Rosicky play the Cesc role?

I would choose Rosicky, no questions asked, especially at this stage of the season considering all the pressure the Arsenal players are facing in these last five games.

Rosicky has immense mental strength. Anyone that comes back from a 20 month layoff to play at the top level again has a purely winning mentality in my book. But this is not all. Rosicky is also a natural leader, not afraid to let his voice be heard. We have seen him get in other players’ faces time and time again, and his leadership status was reaffirmed when he was appointed captain of the Czech national team. Rosicky also brings experience. Turning 30 this year, Rosicky is one of the few experienced players at Arsenal FC, and his experience will be vital in the upcoming weeks.

Mental strength, leadership, and experience. That’s where Rosicky wins, in my opinion. And that is why Wenger should let him play in the midfield three. Let Nasri torment the wings. If you think about it, his superb goal against Porto did not start from a central position, but from the right wing.

If we play like this, I believe the trip to White Hart Lane will be no problem. Of course, the Spuds haven’t really posed any real threat to us in the League since ’99, but this way we could beat them by an even larger margin.

Agree? Disagree? Who do you think should fill in for Cesc?

Stay classy, fellow Gooners.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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

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

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