Arse good as it gets!

Arsenal v Dynamo Kyiv today in the CL

2008-11-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

No time to get down a post of any kind today. Just time to say that we are very depleted heading into this one, with Nasri and Diaby missing as well to our already large injury list. Like my mate quipped, it's almost like we miss Eboue now! Tough times, tough times indeed.

It's Cesc's first one in charge, however. And I really think it will be a good game for us today. A good result here at home will set us up well for the fiercer battles ahead, the first of those being Chelski on Sunday.

As usual with the CL kick-offs it's a 19.45 kicoff at Ashburton Grove, London time and that is a 01.15 for those of us in India and it's on Zee Sports in this region.

So here's to the start of the Cesc era, and long may he reign!

Come on you Gunners!!

Cesc: the light at the end of the tunnel!

2008-11-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

What a day for the young man taking over the reigns at Arsenal Football Club. What a day for us, and collectively what a momentous day for Arsenal Football Club.
Francesc Fabregas - the captain of Arsenal Football Club, and who among us could say that we couldn't see that coming.

Announcing the new captain Arsene said-

“Gallas will play against Kyiv. But he will not captain the team, it will be Cesc Fabregas"

"This is a permanent thing. But I don’t think I especially have to explain why. I have given you information but I do not have to explain to you why I make these decisions.

“This subject is now closed. You have to respect a little bit of the team’s privacy.”

Sure, I was all for Kolo Toure trying the armband on for size first before handing it over to the young Spaniard. But really given more thought and having read Arseblogger's piece today and Amy Lawrence in the Times, I must admit that without a shadow of a doubt we could not at this point of time find a better man for the job of cappy at Arsenal Football Club.

I don't think we had a true leader for large portions of time after Tony Adams barring the last No. 4 ofcourse. There may have been big characters, but not the men most suited to lead a team on the pitch. And certainly, the last incumbent at the post ,Gallas just didn't cut it at all. He wasn't Arsenal through and through, Cesc on the other hand is. He was ushered in to the ways of a Gunner. The tradition, the culture and the legacy. He lives and breathes Arsenal, much the same way we do, and it's such a delight to see him at the helm.

It's proud day for all of us associated with the Club. We've all seen the boy blossom into a man, and how. Seen him as a 17 year old. Seen him step up to those big Vieira boots. Seen him put in vital performances, notably against Juventus and Milan last year and what about that goal against Spurs last season when the chips were down. And so many countless others. Who really can dispute that he is the real talisman once Henry departed? Who can also dispute that he didn't shoulder the responsibility of leading a young team, albeit without the armband in recent times? Who can also say with a great deal of confidence that he is not the most important player we have on the pitch?

He is the real deal, and I find myself gushing immensely ever since I found out that it was him that would lead the team out henceforth. Everyone from the players to the fans needed a lift after the goings on recently and who can deny that this wasn't it. It would be churlish to think that things would be all A-ok from here on in. But it's a start, and the most positive one we've seen in sometime. We need re-inforcements to the team, some real quality needs to acquired. Some positions on the pitch need to be strengthened. It's been a dark, doom-laden sort of with almost everything at Arsenal. As messy as you will probably ever see, but with this latest development, you can see the doom and gloom lifting.

A fresh start. The slate wiped clean, and maybe with the more realistic knowledge of the ability and depth of our squad we can re-asses our strengths and weakness and likewise take another look at what can be realistically achieved this season. But atleast we need to wonder no more who it will be that will lead the team forward. Cescy has the confidence of the players, the fans and now that's quantified by the manager who allows him to lead his young squad out.

Fab has the fire power, the right attitude, the mental toughness and most importantly the respect of the players, and the world you would have to say.

Maybe we are asking too much out of young Cesc, maybe the weight of expectation will weigh heavily on his young shoulders. But I really don't see that happening. And I'd hate to be proven wrong, again. I will just remind you of another great captain who took the reins of the Arsenal team a little while ago, much the same age of young Fabregas here, and is one of the most distinguished men ever to put on the Arsenal shirt. If Cesc can even go on and emulate half of what Tony Adams did (if your still guessing, that is) he will long be remembered.

Take a bow Cescy! (Rather prematurely, I know but can you blame me?) Really it's a great day, and a new beginning, I can feel it in my bones! Come on Cescy you have the complete Arsenal Community behind you. It's the Cesc show from here on in ( No pressure then.. heh), and we wait in anticipation for the first episode. Over to you...

And, come on the Arsenal!!!

Update!

Speaking about his new role as club captain, Cesc said-

"It is a proud moment. I know it's a big responsibility but together with my team-mates, I know we have the spirit and commitment to get back to winning ways and fulfil our potential."

And will direct you to what Gael Clichy who was also in the running for captain as you would believe, had to say about Cesc being handed the armband, that's here.

And im outy!

What the Arsenal need right now

2008-11-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

There are somethings in life that make you scratch your head in disbelief, others that leave you with a sense of bewilderment and there are still others that throw you on to the the floor and leave you lying there in utter and complete bafflement. The Arsenal performance against Villa at the Grove last Saturday would definitely fall into the last category. Another late take on the game, as I didn't want too much of a knee-jerk reaction. Sadly though the gloom still hasn't lifted, yet.

I'm sure all of us Gooners the world over would have been beaming, uncontrollably so and taking the piss out of any Mancs in sight after the game just two Saturdays ago. I think it was Arseblogger who said 'what a difference a weeks makes' after the Manchester United mauling, this on the back of a pathetic draw to the Spuds and a defeat to Stoke. But it couldn't be more poignant to say 'what a difference a weeks makes', now more than ever. Wasn't this the same team to a man that controlled the game so well against a Manchester United team, and won all the plaudits? As rapturous as the win gainst the Manky Shite was, there were large portions of the Arsenal support who were happy, but more than happy we were hopeful. Hopeful that the team could kick on from here. That the confidence would be at an upswing after the uplifting win. We were not going to come a cropper after this? Were we? We hoped not. But normal service had resumed againstVilla, atleast normal as this season goes.You could also replace the word 'normal' with 'unpredictable', and you know it.

The Villa game would be the litmus test of whether we had turned the corner and would kick on on from here on in . I think it would have been plain to any observer to see the sheer determination and drive lacking right from the off against Martin O'Neil's men. You could brush it aside , like i tended to do in the early stages and say "Well, its not Man U this time round, so the boys will be up for it eventually, and get the job done".When Almunia made the save you would get the feeling that maybe it was going to be our day. Or so I thought. I cannot really comment of the rest of the match till about the 70th as I could not catch a glimpse of it owing to some 'electricity difficulties'. But I am informed that it wasn't too much better from what I had seen. I was hoping to see a revitalised Arsenal come out second half, and take control of the game. But sadly, all momentum from the Man u game had just fizzled out, much like it had 'fizzled in' before the ManUSA game.

Even at 1 nil down in the 70th, we didnt create too much. There was 20 mins on the clock, surely more than enough time to get an equaliser and a winner too! But we lacked the verve and desire to realy push on from there. A complete wet blanket . It can't be a personnel problem, can it? Surely not, atleast I am wont to say, that it isn't. So what is it?

I think our inconsistencies are born out of two things we sorely lack in this squad. And it's not for the first time that I am voicing these concerns. We lack leadership. And the other being sheer desire and drive. There's no other conclusions that you can draw from it. Especially since we know what they are capable off after the Manky Shite encounter. I winced after Billy Gallas said something to the effect of him being a good captain after the big Manure win. He is so far away from the truth. I really think the leadership issue needs to be sorted out now, even at the cost of Gallas being slighted. It really is the need of the hour. And come on, it's not like any of the lads look up to him too much, so it can't really have a detrimental effect on the squad. That in effect could then see Gallas dropped to the bench, and Toure take his place. We've tried the Gallas-Silvestre combo at the back, with mixed results at best. Maybe it's time to try out the Toure-Silvestre combo, surely it can't be much worse.With Gallas being stripped of the captaincy and subsequently dropped to the bench this idea could see the light of day. I would give the man replacing Gallas on the pitch the captains armband, and I think he should atelast be give a go. Toure is Arsenal through and through, and he is worth the experiment if not anything else. You would have to say that since Toure has been an Arsenal boy for so long he definitely needs to get a look in as captain, the lads look up to him, and well he's the man for the job at the moment. There are some theories that Cescy would make a good captain, and surely you couldn't do much better than getting the young Spaniard to wear the armband, but I would definitely like to try out ol' Kolo first. Kolo could instil some old fashioned Arsenal pride and drive in the lads, and man do we need it right now. Arseblogger in response to to the performance against Villa wanted us to buy a 'leader' in the January transfer, I am at best sceptical with the most agreeable Arseblogger.I think we cannot go out shopping for someone like that. The leader has to be an Arsenal boy, and an old head at that. I think if we can do this and maybe get one or two key players we could get some more consistency.

I think we are very much an outside chance for the Prem, at best and even with just a third of the season done and dusted with. I have not seen 'Champion' material from this team thus far. As euphoric as it was dispensing the Manks with disdain, it is the four losses , against, with due respect the lesser lights of the league that are seeing us languishing. We may not be too far away from the top, bieng a long way to go and all that. But the inconsistency and performance thus far has not warranted a rightful title challenge.That said a quick couple of wins could get us up and running, but maybe, just maybe we may end up paying for past sins this season as far as the Prem goes.

I am however looking forward to our CL challenge this season. We could go far in the competition, the team we have now is strung in this way. More often than not it's going to some European big shite that we take on, and the boys will definitely be up for it, won't they? I sure as heck hope so.

Heads up Gooners! Always. And a special shot out to all the fans who lingered to sing at the end of the Villa game at the Grove. You lads rule. All.

We get off our Arse, and how!

2008-11-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

My last post was after the disheartening fiasco of a week against the Spuds and then the subsequent loss to Stoke. It was shattering, and I was looking to the Fenerbahce game to get some of that frustration out, a release I thought we definitely needed ,and heck wasn't it the Manks who come a visiting on Saturday? But as it panned out, we were not really keyed into the game and it was another frustrating performance.

So it wasn't the best lead up by any stretch of the imagination to a day I would 'ring in my calender', to quote Le Prof. We were seriously depleted going in to the game. Already without Van Persie who was suspended, we would also be without the Togonator who should be out for three weeks. To add to that, a big cloud also hung over Theo, Billy Gallas and Bacary Sagna. Didn't really know how the boys would react to the visit of the defending champions. Would we step up? Or would we roll over? I hadn't the faintest idea. "Right , let's 'ave it then", was the most appropriate thing for me to say then going in to this one. A loss would re-affirm all that has been said in most Arsenal forums including this one, about the lads inexperience and general lack of quality in key areas, and oh the character, or the lack of it thereof. A win on the other hand would set us back on track, would help us forget some previous sins, and let us focus on the rest of the season ahead. Some Gooners we're likely to accept a draw as a good return for us, given the recent outcomes.

It does not require infinite wisdom to work out what formation Wenger would adopt for this game. Unsuprisingly it was the lone Dane striker, Nicklas Bendtner deployed upfront, unsuprisingly also the 5-man midfield. But suprisingly though, Theo was declared fit to take his place on the right wing, and so also Sagna behind him on the right and Cap'n Gallas was partnered at the back by Silvestre. Diaby, Denilson and Nasri made up the other numbers in midfield, while Gael Clichy marshalled the most despicable of all divers, an unholy diver if you will at left back. While on the subject, give this a go, it won't disappoint. And oh Almunia resumed his position between the sticks.

Here in Bangalore, we got some of the Gooners together to watch the big game at SBX Sports Bar, Marathalli. There were plenty of the poseur 'Untied' fans as well. So the atmosphere was unlike any other I had witnessed at a pub before. Right from the off it was tingly neck stuff. But some things were different from the Arsenal performances we were accustomed to in recent weeks. We were right up for it, right from the off, getting stuck in , putting a foot in, fighting for th 50-50's. We were not going to let them boss us, not on our home patch! We showed desire, steel and resolve and were going to go down, if we were that is with a fight. If The Manky Shite, expected an easy outing against a young Arsenal side, who were in the worst form in years. They definitely had another thing coming. There was a scary moment early on when a dodgy back pass from Silvestre was handled was Almunia. Luckily nothing came off the subsequent free kick. We created chances early on with Nasri dancing his way along the left, with Clichy to back him up on the overlap. Two good crosses with Bentdner as the target were floated in to the box from the left, but one missed the target narrowly and the other was put over by the young Dane. Agonising. I could feel a goal coming for us though. The crowd was much bouyed by the response of the Gunners and were in good voice, the best I've probably heard at Ashburton. Needless to say I was really thrilled to bits about the response by the team. It really was so awesome, after all the dark days we've witnessed in the recent past, not to mention the criticism.

The Mancs had their chances as well, but suprisingly their sharp shooters were a bit shite all nite, fortunate for us! When the doubly damned ( A Spud and then turning out in ManUsa colours, what a hideous combination) Berbatov did get the ball past Almunia in goal, it was from an offside position. It was going our way so far. We pressed and probed as both teams forayed forward. The visitors more on the break. They had one beautiful move where they cut our defense to ribbons, and that was really worrying. But it was soon all forgotten when a Fab freekick on the right was Cleared by Vidic, whose header found Samir Nasri in the box who took a couple of touches and drove it goalward past the crowd. The ball took a deflection off Gary Neville and beat the flapping Van Der Sar. Cue Chaos! 'Insaneness'. Absolutely. And Completely. One nil to the Arsenal! And Oh, Manky Shite nil. Many people think it was a fortuitous goal. They better be kidding! It was a goal fair and square and on the balance you would probably say we were more deserved leaders than the Manchester lads. This was in the 22nd. You will have to depend on the match report here for a better, comprehensive account of the game. Manure did have a couple of chances, Park forcing a save out of Almunia, who I thought was outstanding at times. As the minutes ticked by though, you get the feeling it was going to be our day. The signs were there, our "shambles" defense improved with every passing minute, Rooney failed to hit the target when presented, and we were mixing it toe to toe and even bossing it for large periods of the first half with Fergie's lot, no mean task, i'll have you know. Sample this, the average age of our front six was just 21, eat that!

So we went in at the break with our heads held high, and a well deserved lead. That was just half the job done, ManUSA are known to be a second half team. So we all knew, as nerve racking and end to end the first half was, it would be a walk in the park compared to the second half. Amazingly young Nasri, a debutante in the Man U-Arsenal Ruckus' had other ideas, latching on to some neat work and space created in midfield by Fab, he found himself just inside the box with Van Der Sar to beat. And he drilled it past the Dutchman, into the top left hand corner! Oh, now your talking!! 2-0 to the Arsenal and Nasri wrote his name up in lights, again in the 48th. Well, well well, an unlikely result looked well and truly on now.What ointment this win would be, if we pulled it off, could we? A nervous 40 some minutes ensued, some decent saves by Almunia helped us along the way. Some Suprisingly astute defending by the back four, played a pivotal part. A revitalised midfield stood defiant, as they broke forth in search of more goals. While they all played a part in preventing us from conceding. Some of the most biased refereeing I have seen by Howard Webb ensured that the Shite always, and I do mean always got their decisions, and broke up our play. Aargh!!

The manks did have their chances though, Ronaldo, the unholy diver cited above, missed from close- on. It was nervy stuff, but the manks never really looked like scoring. But this was the Manky shite at two goals down, of course they were going to come at you and they did. In fairness we really did our bit to keep them at bay. We survived all until the 89th when sub, Da Silva unleashed a rocket past Fabianski, who came on for the injured Almunia who took a boot to the face from the shite kicker Carrick, also doubly damned you might note.

Hmmm you thought, as you wrung your hands and shook your head in utter and sheer fright! The celebrations were put on ice, could we collapse again. The palpitations ensued, 6 minutes of injury time? 6 whole minutes!!! It was the longest six minutes. We survived, we learnt something from the Spurs game, and didn't attack, not as much anyway and protected the ball better.

That's it! Full time. We had kicked the Mnaky Shite where it mattered most, and how! What a game! What a result. Pandamonium. Delirium. The Manky dissing that was on all game reached a crescendo. We really let them have it in the pub. And it was pure, unbridled joy! It was one of those feelings that you will savour for the rest of your life. You live for these sorts of days!

I was so happy. Happy for every Arsenal Supporter who stood by the team through the harrowing last weeks. The players who pulled it off. Brilliant. And for Arsene, how sweet it must be for him. How sweet indeed!

The press wrote us off, some of us Gooners didnt think the team had it in them. But the players showed the strongest character to prove their detractors wrong. A real dagger it was. A complete performance by the young Arsenal team. Absolutely proud of the lot of them! while Nasri will rather deservedly get all the plaudits, it was a proper shut up and dominat job by the entireArsenal team. Each one of them did us proud!

The past disappointments were forgotten. The felling of the Manure will be long remebered. And now for me two days on, I still can't stop smiling!

It's a bit late to say savour it, Gooners but I know some of yal still are! Come on you Gunners, lets kick on from here!!

Cheers!!

We really need to get off our collective Arse

2008-11-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

It's been the toughest week for me personally being a Gooner. And it has taken it's toll. I avoided all the shite that would have been flying about following the two 'defeats' in a row. Yes I do, (and most of you will agree) consider the Totscum result a defeat.

The thing I was thinking about prior to these games was whether we had the bottle to compete for the title this season. While those credentials are at best 'questionable', I think another issue has to be addressed as well. The players, and their quality.

We all knew the average age of the squad. Yet we did know that they were a bit more experienced than their age betrayed. But as we have discovered in our last two displays, we lack the leadership and the steel to really put up a strong challenge. Are the players good enough? Earlier on in this season and in posts like this one here, I had reposed faith in this 'young squad', albeit maybe with the addition of proven or quality DM.

I must admit however that I was wrong. Man for man we do not measure up to the so called rest of the 'big four'. As each team proves the depth of their squad, we come out looking sheepishly miserly in that department. I'm not calling for wholesale changes, but some players in the squad are just not going to cut it at the highest level. Will not name players right now, because I think each is as woeful as the other and should take responsibility for the goings on last week. Wenger really needs to get that cheque book out in January, and splash the cash, we are short in plenty of spots on the pitch , and that needs to be plugged, heck it's almost a gaping hole!

Can't even imagine how it would've been at the those who were at the Grove , after the Scum went a goal up so early on with that 'Bent' shite-kicker, us going two clear and then the Scum coming level with nothing on the clock. Aargh!

It was an absolutely shattering result against Tottenham. Leading by two goals and chucking it all away against the sworn enemy. I know i said that anything could happen in these sorts of derbies, but heck that was downright unacceptable. That's the word for it unacceptable. And then when we expected a propah result against Stoke, well it was such an insipid display and a most damaging loss.We expected a result and we absolutely needed one, everyone concerned at Arsenal FC needed one. But then we all know what happened. Well, I have never experienced something of this proportion in all of my time being an Arsenal fan.

Than in itself has to sum it up for all of us doesn't it. After 'losing' up in midweek to the Scum the team should have been so riled up and up for it that they absolutely kicked the shit out of Stoke. So where is the leadership, the steel that we so desperately need. And we are not great in the quality department as well, not by any stretch of the imagination.

We need some proven quality, and some real steel and leadership if we are going to remain in the top 4 this season. Will Wneger do what is needed? I mean he has said the stuff we'd expect him to say, but will anything be done about it. I understand that he can't buy anyone now, but that is his problem, no one elses.

We have really tripped up at the start of the season, we've dropped points against teams we would expect to beat. We are capable of beating a few teams on our day, granted, but consistency is what we suffer from, and that comes with determination and real quality. I could be totally wrong and the boys could really whip everyone in front of them, from here on in! Oh please let that be it!

We play Fenerbahce today in CL action, a chance for Wenger to set some records straight and get the most disbelieving of us back on his side. A very capricious, thinking aloud type of post today, but that's exactly how I feel. And this post is absolutely last minute as well.

It's a 19.30 kickoff at the Grove tonight and that's 01.00 in India and it's live on Zee Sports. The players will have to get themselves up and deliver for the their coach, their fellow players, and for the undying fans!

Stand up you gunners!!! Come on ...The Arsenal!!

Let's kick Totscum when they're down!

2008-10-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

Yes it's that time again. The time where two London Clubs set aside any other ambitions to wholly focus on one. It's North London derby time again. That means that we as Arsenal FC almost set aside our title ambitions to channel all our energies on the annihilation of Totscum, while our less worthy opponents try and avoid the drop. Heh! It's going to really something, and it more often is . And don't let the league positions fool you. It will be all hammer and tongs. It may pale in comaprison to the mayhem that goes on in Galatasaray and Fenerbache derbies or indeed Independiente and Racing Club in Argentina, but heck, it's our derby and the need to win this one is as good as any other in the world.

Tottenham have been through hell and they will be looking to get their season back on track and could there be any other way than beating their bitterest rivals.They need a bit of impetus. There's no such impetus as beating Arsenal at their home ground for our disillusioned neighbours. Their pride has been hurt immeasurably, some of it though can be salvaged.

We on the other hand can hand them out a thrashing, they never would have received at their mother's knee. And prove, as we have done time and time again of their gross inferiority. Arsenal fans as you can imagine have been at the forefront of taking the piss out of the recent misfortunes of Tottenham, and another Tottenham disaster will give us the licence we have never really needed to go overboard with the dissing. Oh wouldn't that be lover-ly!

It's also time to wipe away those memories of the 5-1 Carling Cup defeat, it was the kids I know, but still we need to dish it out today. The good thing about it too, is that we really will, in my opinion there's no way the Scum could weather the storm. Totnum are just back from their most important result all season. They're first win, they also have Harry Redknapp pulling the strings as coach. But is it going to be good enough to beat an Arsenal side at Ashburton Grove. Naw! I really don't think the Spuds have it in them.

We know they want to beat us so bad, so that's enough for us to piss all over them! Fab gets it going pre-match saying that Spurs would find it tough going to beat our ladies side, and there's stuff about Ade winding them up too. And if you ever need to be reminded of our dominance in this particular fixture have a gander here.

Then again anything could happen in these sorta games. Only one way to find out now innit? It's a 20.00 kickoff at the Grove and so turns out to be a 1.30 kickoff in India and it's live on ESPN in the region.

Let's kick the shite outta Spurs!!

Come on you Gunners!!

3 points and we are back in the mix!

2008-10-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Apologies for no game preview blog yesterday. My internet connection was acting up yesterday and that put paid to any attempts to get anything up . Was a bit of a laboured Arsenal performance yesterday at Upton Park. All three points nevertheless and that's all that matters.

We started brightly enough in the opening minutes yesterday, enough for the Arsetard to think that we were going to run riot. But that was not how it panned out. Van Persie and Theo came close on occassion and Almunia had to make a fine save off Bellamy who was put in by Scott Parker I think it was, to completeley open us up. Another shot from distance brought about another fine save from our number one. A super run by Theo on the right channel ended up with him in the box and hitting the bar. Another time we came close was when Fab floated a ball in for RVP in the box to beautifully chest down for Theo to beat the keeper, but Green pulled out a decent save to deny us. A couple of half chances for us and some pops from distance from the home team meant that the half time score remained at nil. I think it was more a case of us being less penetrative than West Ham being overly good. We did pick up the pace towards the latter stage of the first half, but nothing was forthcoming. Our central defensive pairing of Silvestre and Gallas did have theior "moments" but I would have to admit it was much better than most.

We failed to pick up from where we left off in first, we were bossing the possesion but failed to produce too many clear cut chances. RVP hit the post from a free kick and that was pretty much it until Ade who came on in the 67th for one of the two wingers who were both substituted, the other player to come on was Diaby. Ade danced his way into the box, past a couple of defenders to put in a cross/shot which Faubert turned into his own net for the opener. And you will have to admit it, Ade was the spark we needed to get the win and he proved it with a well worked second after a sublime pass from Bendtner, who didnt have his best game by any stretch of the imagination.A more detailed match report is here.

After the game Arsene remarked that we couldn’t afford to drop points today

“It is a big win for us because if we had come out of it with a frustrating 0-0 draw, we would have felt that we had wasted an opportunity to get closer to the top.

For us it was important not to make a mistake and to take one of our own chances. We gambled a lot and fortunately we had some strikers on the bench and in the end that made the difference.

We knew before the game that we couldn’t afford to drop points today but I must say that West Ham can feel frustrated because they defended very well and gave absolutely everything today. In the end we got a little opening, maybe they got a little bit fatigued in the last 20 minutes.”

So three vital points it was, especially since two of the usual suspects dropped some this weekend. We are now 4 points behind Liverpool who conquered the Russians in their own backyard, 1 behind the Russians and 1 ahead of the Manks who dropped two points at Goodison on Saturday.That puts us right back in it. We did drop points early on this season but we are hanging in there, tough games await us and we will have to step up.

Before that howeever its the rejuvenated Spuds up next at Ashburton. Our meek North London rivals picked up their first win and will be rearing to go when we take them on this Wednesday. More on that later.

So long mates!

Cheers!

Arsenal 5 - Fenerbache 2, shite defending and commentary to match

2008-10-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings Gooners, quite a washout it was then yesterday huh? What with seven goals being scored,and all that. A win at Istanbul against the Fenerbache is definitely something to savour, and we will.

We set up with 5 in midfield, with Ade the lone man up front. The back four consisted of a central pairing of Song and Silvestre, while Eboue (thankfully) slotted into right back, and not midfield. It was good strategy by Le Boss to strengthen the midfield and it did pay dividends.We settled pretty early on in the piece. Fabregas setting Ade on his was for the opener after some nifty footwork by Diaby. The second came literally seconds after when Theo was sent bounding down the right by our young Spanish maestro, to slot home. 2-0 Arsenal, and really it was just what we wanted to shut up the home fans. Easy -peasy, really. If we thought our defence was shite then we have to be thankful we don't have Fenerbache's.

Feberbache though were not completely on the backfoot, some solid goalkeeping by captain on the night, Almunia ensured that our 2 goal advantage was preserved. Our defences, however were breached when Guiza's shot was deflected past a hapless Almunia, and you were thinking hmmm. But we were back in it, this time Diaby made a run down the left and whacked it home with aplomb. 3-1 , to the away team, but we were always under pressure with our slack defending. It was very nervy at times.

We scored early in the second through Song and at 4-1 we were cruising. You'd have to think it would have to be some sort of out break of the Ebola virus at the back to let this game slip. We controlled most of the possesion in the second period, but we were in dangerof conceding at times when we played a high line, and one such time we were caught by Guiza and paid the price. But we were no real danger of losing the game even at this stage. The cherry on top moment was when young Aaron Ramsey made it 5 for us when he scored in the closing minutes. 5-2 and that's that! A full match report is here.

A fine win, especially with the record that the Turkish team have at home. But that said the defending left a lot to be desired. It was really nerve-racking at times. And you really wonder if we would survive with a performance like this against stronger opposition. In a way it was the same old Arsenal , brilliant going forward, but not so great at the back. I know it was this back fours first time out, but we need to sort out the defensive frailities now.

Besides that I think Diaby had a fine game, the 5 man midfield suited us well and Almunia was worth his weight in gold at times. And Cescy was beginning to find the form we all know him for and Theo was dazzling again with hi9s pace and movement. 7 points, that gives us. and top of the table. We play Fenerbache in the reverse fixture at Ashburton Grove in two weeks time. Our next 2 matches are London Derbies - an away trip to West Ham and then the Shite come a visiting. Should be a real cracker, what with them being the bottom dwellers we always knew they were. Ha!

The commentary on Zee Sports yesterday was horrendous! Absolute rubbish it was , worse than the Fenerbache defense. Sub-standard nonsense and we also get step-motherly treatment by the networks in India. The Manure and Chelski games always, always get prominence over ours. They even have the original commentary, but we had to settle for some leftover drivel by some nincompoop, who kept seeing RVP on the pitch every time Cescy or Nasri was on the ball. It was just a joke. The commentary added nothing to the game, he had no extra information to add to that which we could not see or decipher for ourselves. And will leave it there not going to waste anymore spittle on that. I'm never envious of Manure or Chelski fans, but this time I am. Heck, no way just kidding you! Never jealous of that lot, no way!

I'm in a real hurry so will resort to linking you to Arsene's post match comments, what Ade and Almunia had to say.

And that will have to do for now. 5 goals scored, 2 let in. A big win but our defence is just not the most assured. It's hard not to be pleased after a win like this, but we definitely need to work out our defense. That's something Arsene can think about while he celebrates our win and his 59th birthday.

Happy birthday Arsene!

and im outy!

Everton review and Fenerbache preview

2008-10-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hello again! How goes it wherever you are? Much better after the real footbal back and the Arsenal win against Everton on Saturday. Wasn't the most convincing win by any stretch of the imagination. But three vital points and we hopefully can get our season back on track after the stop start stuff so far.

I think a big factor which is going to determine if at all we are successful at all this season is mental toughnesss. And Van Persie deals with it here -

"At this time, in football, the mental aspect is really important, maybe more than 30 or 40 per cent [of the game]. If you look at the matches against Bolton and Blackburn, the mental aspect was more important than the way we wanted to play.

“I do not think it is a real big problem for us but every single time we have to prove it again.

“Last season we played fantastic for three-quarters of the season and then suddenly everything fell down.

“I do not know if the reason was mentality, maybe it was a bit of everything, but we learned a lot from last year.

“The season is long. We've lost some points but we've won some as well so we just have to stay positive.”

While the lads did have to come back from a goal down, to win the game, it wasn't by far against the toughest of opposition. We were sluggish in the opening exchanges and indeed for most of the first half. It was only in the second half that we began to take control after the crucial goal by Samir Nasri. Maybe it was all the international travel, but maybe it was lack of real thrust and drive. And thats what I think will determine if we do win any cups this season. Do we have the drive? The team still needs to convince me of it. Again I am nit-picking a bit especailly after they came back to win against Everton. But I can't help but wonder if we do have have a determined driven bunch at the moment. We need some heads with real character to lead the young 'uns. To say we have no experienced campaigners in the squad will be stupid, but then again will they step up sufficiently? Well I haven't seen enough of that yet. We are just into the season, but we could have had a better starts, and can't afford too many more slip ups in the Prem. We need to show that we have real character from here to bomb on, even this early on.

Post Everton Le Boss speaks about Samir Nasri, who I think is one strong character and a vital cog in the present set up. Wenger is pleasantly suprised to note that he is settling down so well, saying-

"When you look at the impact he had already here you can say he’s ahead of what I planned for him.

"He’s 21, goes from France to England, and I must say I’m quite pleased with his attitude and his performances. He’s doing extremely well and he is already becoming an important player for us and that is why you do not want him to get injured."

Fabregas dismissed speculation that he had refused a contract at Arsenal with this here, read all about it , if you haven't already that is.

It's back to CL action for us tonight as we take on Turkish powerhouses Fenerbache in their own backyard. The fans there really create a 'cauldron' like atmosphere and is one of the toughest places to go to. I think we should be able to deliver there though, and I fancy us to come out on top. While a draw won't be too bad, I really think we can do one better.

The complete squad for this game is available here. We will have Djourou and Bendner back for this one, but missing all but Clichy of our starting back four. That could mean a Djourou and Silvestre partnership at the centre, while I really hope that Arsene deploys Eboue at right back, if he gets into the team at all that is. We all know that Eboue will though.

That's about that for now. A win today will put us well on track and restore a lot of much needed confidence. The game is a 1945 kickoff Uk time and a 0015 kickoff for viewers in India, who can watch it on Zee Sports.

Come on you Gunners!

Everton today as the real football returns!

2008-10-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow Gooners! I arise from the every depths of the international break to salute the return of real football. And it's the Arsenal once again in action, Everton provide the opposition this time.And needless to say we need all three points. The mood in the camp understandably has been better.

And all that had definitely got our midfield general thinking.The man who rescued a point for us last time round, Cesc Fabregas had stated earlier in the week that this team probably was too young and not as skillful as earlier teams. But he 'clarified' those statements saying-

“Arsène has built an unbelievable squad here,” said Fabregas.

“We have great spirit and I have complete trust in the manager’s policy.

“Arsène is the best at giving youngsters a chance. No-one else comes close to him for that. He doesn’t care how old you are, as long as you are good enough, and has the confidence to give young players a chance.

“Anything said to the contrary is simply not true and I would like to reiterate to all Arsenal supporters that I am 100 per cent behind the team and the manager.

Well it's plain to see that Cescy shares the same opinion that we all do as stated earlier this week. But like him we have to get behind the team and get some spirit going. A win today will be a good start, if not we could be in for a long season.

Le Prof is well aware of the situation we are in saying-

"I believe that this is a new start,” he said. “In fact it is the real start of the season because there is now no interruptions anymore. It looks like to me there is a new championship starting.”

I watched the Invincibles DVD yesterday, and was reminded that the 49 game winning run started from a disappointment. They stated thir run as if they were beginning a new season and thats what this present lot has to do as well.If we can capture some of the resolve and consistency into this team, then I think we can go a long way this season. I definitely agree with all the opinion out there that central defence needs some chopping and changing and that we need a DM. But besides that I think the squad is all in place. Most of all though, we need some unshakeable steel, once we get that then I think we can be unstoppable. Maybe im getting a wee bit carried away after watching the Invincibles. But heck, they proved that anything is possible!

We are walking a bit of a tight-rope from here on in. Arsene adressed that saying-

“I think if you ask me how many games I think we can lose I would say zero. I always start a season thinking you cannot lose a game, but we have lost two already and we are in a position where we have given ourselves a handicap."

“I still think it is manageable to get back to the top. I know that there is not a lot of margin of error left but I still think we can do that.”

Hmm a long way to go come may and rot like that, but we need to get our act together pronto. And It could all begin today for us.

We will be missing Gallas, Sagna, Bendtner and Djourou all out through injury. So this will mean plenty of mixing and matching with the back four and will also provide Sylvestre a chance to slot in and show us what he's got. On the good side of things though,RVP ( quick galnce upwards and 'thank you' to the heavens) has returned unscathed from the international break and Cescy should play with a broken nose. And what do you know ! Diaby is fit again. Could he be be the missing ingredient in our deficient midfiled? Well we'll just have to see won't we.

The game is a 1500 kickoff in the UK and therefore is a 1930 kickoff here in India. A couple of mates and I here in Bangalore are really trying to unite all the Gooner faithful in Bangalore and eventually the whole nation. To begin with join the Google group (link alongside on the right) and come over to SBX Sportsbar in Gopalan Mall on Mysore Road to watch the Everton game. Even if you can't make it this weekend, join the group and maybe we'll catch up later for a game. But game watching is not all, we have plenty of other grandiose plans, so do sign up and you will receive regular updates and much more. This is your chance to be part of an Arsenal Community in India.

Hope to see you at the game and Come on Arsenal!!!!

Sunderland today and all three points please!

2008-10-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Back to Premier League Action today it is for the Arsenal after the 4-0 histrionics against Porto in midweek. Our opponents this tine 'round are Sunderland, as we visit the Stadium of Light today.

I'm really pressed for time, so will point you in the direction of all the stories, and on the double. First up team news, it looks like we will have Alexandre Song back for selection and Silvestre as well. Fair play to the Cameroonian, he's looked good so far this season in the opportunities presented to him. And that's seems to be all as far as team news goes. Le Prof talks about passing on his philosophy and there's a fuller match preview here.

Needless to say that we can't afford to lose this one. We will be expecting a strong showing and all three points please. Roy Keane is not the easiest of adversaries and the boys will have to do more than just show up like they did against Hull. We are a two points off the top and we'd like to be there and there abouts atleast till February or so and then look to kick on.

The game is a 1500 kickoff in the UK which makes it an evening kick off at 19.30 for viewers in India and it's live on ESPN. A couple of my mates and I are watching the game at the Sports Bar at Cosmos Mall in Marthahalli, Bangalore. It's opposite Brookefields ( HLL office). We'd like it if more Gooners, or any one else interested dropped by. We are trying to get a regular place where fans can come together to watch week in week out. So do drop by if you are interested. And oh, we checked with the management at the Sports Bar, they ARE showing our game.

And that's about all. Hope to see you at the game!

Cheers!

Come on you Gunners!

Porto 0 - Arsenal 4

2008-10-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's 4-0 whitewash of Porto was just what we needed to get the Arsenal spirits back on an upward spiral. I'm sure the community is well satiated with the performance at Ashburton grove in the matchday 2 encounter at Ashburton Grove.

2 each for the frontmen Adebayor and Van Persie. And it was nice to see them both get well amongst the goals early on this season. Four scored yesterday, but really it could have been so much more as we created a whole truck load of chances especially in the second half. I may sound a little harsh but, I'd like to see us more clinical in the final third.

On to the performance and now as must be clear was much improved from last Saturday. The lads looked up for it and wanted to atone for the disappointment against Hull. We dominated the play from the 10th minute of playonwards or so. But we were never quite penetrative enough. Theo was a live wire on the pitch and was wreaking havoc in the Porto ranks. His lightning pace is really something to behold, incredible. Porto were dangerous on the counter though a rasping shot from long range prompting a diving save from Almunia, and another corner which was not dealt with resulting in a frantic goal line save from Clichy and clearance from Ade , helping out the defence. The openner came in the 31st when Adebayor was put in by Cesc, who squared for an on rushing RVP to slide in past the Porto keeper.1-0 to the Arsenal, as Arsene got off the bench to celebrate. Arsene was all smiles and he had a look of satisfaction writ large on his face. He spoke about feeling 'physically sick' when the team do badly and now we could see the opposite. Back to the goal, it was super instict that saw RVP at the right place at the right time to slot home the goal, absolutely brilliant! The second came when RVP took one of the many corners in the first period, a nice delivery which founds it's way to our big Togolese striker , who then headed it into the ground to beat a flapping Porto GK and the man on the line. 2-0 and we were cruising, and in to the half time break we were comfortable.

All we had to do is probably ride out the early storm from a seasoned Porto side, who are no mugs. The storm was not forthcoming though, as we increased our lead through RVP. a loose ball picked up by Theo (?) who played it into the path of RVP who powered his way into the box to poke home for his second. A wonderful goal, and something we are not accustomed to seeing too much at Arsenal. 3-0, and if there was any doubt of the game being sewn up, it was made completeley clear that it was. We were completely in control of the game by this stage, the game being completely played in the Porto half. The fourth came when Bendtner who came on for RVP around the 60th had his legs taken in from under him. Ade stepped up and delivered from the spot . 4-0. We created a whole lot more after this, but sadly no more goals were forthcoming. One note of caution though-It was not the most assured performance at the back though, and we really need to clear this up.A full match report is here from .com.

After the game Arsene said-

“We were focused. I thought at times we were a little bit too tense, especially at the start of the game. But we were focused and at that level, whether it is the Premier League or the Champions League that is vital. I believe that on Saturday we were caught by a lack of focus.

“I think the team is maturing and there is big potential in the side. We want to be intelligent and in the end you measure that on how well we do together.”

Well the Arsenal rollercaoster goes up again. Good to get back to winning ways again. We needed a commanding performance yesterday, and the lads delivered, and really theres not too much more you could ask for after a 4-0 performance. We needed a response yesterday, and we got it. I'm going to leave it here for the time being, work calls and rot like that.

Have a good one, Gooners!

Porto today in CL action and Arsene speaks

2008-09-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

The second post of the day? I know! I'm as shocked as anyone else! Well the previous one today was something I wanted to pen for some time. But had not got down to doing. I just seem the time is apt now. Any hoo give it a read.

We play Porto in match day 2 of the CL and this game is at Ashburton Grove. A must win game I think for us. We need to instill some belief in the team and the fans , and a win is always a good way to this. A brief round up stories from the fallout of the Hull game and stories building up to the Porto game now as I'm pressed for time.

Arsene speaks about the Hull performance here and gets it right as he does all the time-

"I believe we had the chances to win the game as you have seen. I feel the commitment was on Hull's side. They fought for 90 minutes and I believe from the start onwards we were not completely switched on to the level that you need to be to win the game."

Arsene also admits that he takes some if not all the blame for the performance on Saturday-

“I always look first at myself after defeats,” he said. “Don’t worry about that. We do that with all the staff.

“You think about the game and, if you can watch it, you watch it again.

“But there were certainly enough ingredients in the game to make me physically sick again.

“We had an opportunity to go top of the League and in that situation you have to be right in your intensity and in your concentration level. That ‘electric level’ in our head was not high enough.

“I don’t know if we can’t afford to lose again but what we delivered today was not good enough. We know that. So the important thing now is not how many games we can lose this season but preparing well for Tuesday night.”

Le Boss also speaks about changing things around for the Porto game and you can read all about it here. He also talks about Champions League focus. But hearteningly he also speaks about turning the corner defensively and mental strength.

And that's about all I have time for and about all that's doing the rounds. The game is a 1945 kickoff UK time and 0015 in India. It's live on Ten Sports in India so look out for that. A win will be just what we need.

Come on ....The Arsenal!

The basic difference between Arsenal and Man U

2008-09-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it. The Hull loss has hit me really hard. It's hard to stomach. So much so that I've avoided any Arsenal news and therefore have had nothing to write about the last couple of days.

Was chatting to an Arsenal mate prior to writing this, who was less perturbed by Saturdays goings on, less perturbed than yours truly at least. He almost brushed it away- (like the Fulham result) another bad day at the office for Arsenal. But I beg to differ. The Fulham result could probably be dismissed in this manner, but not two defeats in six games. One of the primary reasons for my friends naivete attitude was that Manchester United lost early on in the season last time round and still ended up champions.

This brings me to my whole point of mentioning this conversation. Man U have the attitude and the resilience to come back from setbacks which we do not quite have. Even if we do have the 'bounce backability' more than past seasons probably it cannot be compared to the (now) second best team in Manchester. Arsenal plays wonderful football, easy on the eye and probably the most entertaining.

We perform really well when we get a string of great results going, and then we build from there. Usually it takes one bad result to set us back. Granted that we did bounce back really well after the Fulham game, but it still cannot be compared to the resolve that Manchester United has. That unshakebale resolve, I believe is largely down to their Manager Alex Ferguson. He instills such drive in them and this is where he excels most. This is also where our own Gaffer falls short a bit. That is also why I think that with Ferguson gone they will fail to be as successful as they have been in recent times. Wenger has his own methods and am, not talking them down, not at all.

That is why I think while Manure can bounce back, we can't, not quite. This is the strongest difference in my opinion between us and the Manky Shite. Maybe a lack of experience counts too and should be permissible when discussing this issue.

This doesn't mean that the Arsenal can't bounce back from here, for my sake and Arsenal fans everywhere I really hope they do. What it does mean is that Arsenal and Manchester United follow different principles, and what can be applied to them cannot be applied to them.

I don't know if The Arsenal will ever have steel like that, maybe it's not quite our way, it's not something we absolutely depend on. But some resolve to the present team could make all the difference. Once this is done, consistency will be a by product.

Once again we flatter to deceive

2008-09-28T01:16:00.000-07:00

I'm writing immediately after the Hull result. A crushing defeat as we come crashing down to earth. Our second loss of the season, and I'm really gutted, I really am. Ahuge dose of reality we received today after all the lofty remarks all this past week.

If you had a read of my post leading up to the game, you would have noticed that I was confident of getting the result, but not completely convinced of the consistency of the team. We are capable of playing the most dazzling football of anyone on the planet some times. Granted we can't do this week in week out. But we atleast expect to get the result, something this team has shown it can do. Actually I really think it's consistency issue. If we can go to Bolton, our bogey team and get the result, almost against the odds then it's not really personnel problem is it?

We weren't good enough for all three points today and that's exactly how our luck would have it.Credit to Hull though, they were organised, tough to breakdown and took their chances when presented to them.

I think we have a decent enough squad. I really do, maybe we need a DM, but that's it by my book. This team has really played some superb football this season, but they are given to off days. Case in point being this Hull game and the Fulham game our two losses this season.I don't think it's personnel

This result is the impending bubble burst. Maybe I saw it coming, maybe we all braced ourselves for when the bubble would burst. We had another good start to the season, barring Fulham of course thus far. But I still had a sneaky feeling that we still would come up short to the high standards that the premiership displays these days. This post is not meant to be an " I told you so". I think it was just an opinion that was held by some proportion of the Gooner population.

So this brings us to some really poignant question. Is the team good enough to compete for honours? I know I've said we don't have a personnel problem. What I mean is that the players are good. But do they have what it takes to mix it with the Chelskis and Manky Shites of this world. Do we have the tenacity and mental tougness to put in consistent performances week in week out. I'm not completely convinced. No I am not.

You could look at the table and say, oh we are just 2 points off the leaders at the moment. But we need to take into account that the games we have were with all due respect against the " lesser lights" of the premiership. You look at our run in pre-season and you went " oh that will be 18 points then thank you". But that's when reality comes to bite you back in the arse. As it stands we have already dropped 6 out of a possible 18. Will this be good enough to compete for the title this season. I don't think so, but I sure as heck hope so.

Is this loss suprising? Yes. But it still was on the cards. Rather it happen now than later on in the season.

Very raw post from me.. but there you go.

So long

Hull at Ashburton today and 12 glorious Wenger years

2008-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there you lot! And happy Saturday too you! I'm sure you are all coming back down to ground level after the Carling Cup antics on Wednesday. I finally got my hands on the full game and it really is a joy to watch. After our three away games on the trot it's a return to the Grove and Premier League action today.

Hull are our next opponents and they've given a rather impressive account of themselves this season. Losing just one in their opening exhanges so far this season. They are striking up some good form, but we are doing rather well ourselves. It will definitely have to be a major upset if Hull are to get anything from this game today. I can't see us losing this game, the first team have been well rested and will have to 'fight' to keep their starting positions, knowing that there are a bunch of kids, waiting in the wings to usurp them. So nothing but three points is what i expect from this match, and cement our place on the top of the table.

Call me a bit foolish or whatever, but I wouldn't like us to be top at this stage too much ( I contradict myself, i know, just hear me out though). Well for one, it puts uneccessary pressure on the young team. It lulls the supporters into thinking 'yeah this is it, we're going to do it this time'. It makes the papers gush over how good we are and on and on till the break of dawn....You get the picture. I'd rather we stay within touching distance of the top, 2 points or so off the top so we can plod on and put in steady performances is away from the eager, over expecting eyes, and then surge to the top in the latter stages of the season. Nit-picking I know, but I don't want it to fall apart like last season, when so much was expected of us and then it well, fizzled out.

Lot to get through today so let's keep it going. Michel Platini has retracted his comments on Wenger. In all fairness, they were way off the mark and Arsene was due an apology. This was brought about on account of the older Platini spanking the younger, and it was well deserved. And I see you nod your head in agreement. Arsene Wenger, who is just absolute genius speaks about Jack Wilshire, likening him to the great Liam Brady. High praise indeed for someone so young, but he is a class act, as were all of the kids in the CC match midweek.

Arsene had plenty to say yesterday and some if it had to do with him completing 12 illustruous years at the club on Sunday. He says he never thought about leaving and gets a touch philosophical and also thinks we should not rest on past glories but strive for more in the future and we should have no complaints really. Congrats Arsene, and thanks for everything so far, more to come we hope! Wenger rather relentlessly said-

"I’m not very happy to speak about my anniversary because what interests me in life is what is in front of me and not what is behind me.If you came to my house you would not find anything from the last 12 years, because I’m only interested in what’s happening in the future. There are no photos.I don't even know where those trophies and mementos are. I am interested in history, but not my history. It's something strange. I'm always oriented forward, forward, forward."

When asked about whether he thought about leaving during his tenure, Le Boss said-

“I was offered the chance to leave but I never considered leaving."

"The longer I stay the more difficult it becomes to envisage leaving. But I know one thing - you have to prepare yourself.

"You have to work inside the Club like you will spend your whole life there. But as well you have to accept the idea it can stop from one minute to the next.

"But that is basically life as well - you expect to live for 100 years but you can die from one minute to the next."

There's also a bit more about Wenger's decision to continue after 2011, when his contract expires at Arsenal and you can read about that here. The Manager also talks about the kids and the faith he places in them.I know everyone's going to town about the kids, but I really hope the lack of experience doesn't trip us up again. Feet on the ground folks it is, a long way to go and all that.

Back to the game today at Ashburton Grove, the team news is that we are without Samir Nasri again this weekend, while we do have Mr. Resilient aka Gael Clichy back , and Silvestre is in contention again for the first time. Tomas Rosicky is still out though, leaving Wenger 'speechless' and us as well I'm convinced. We joke about it, but here's hoping we see Tomas back on the pitch soon.

It should be a reasonably good test for us I think tonight. The Tigers will come at us with all they've got, and we can prove our strenghth and more importantly our consistency. We all know that we have the talent, but do we have the bottle to do this week in week out. Well, lets find out the only way we can. The game is a 1730 kick off in the UK and it's live on Star Sports for viewers in Asia at 2200 India time.

And that's your lot today..

Come on...the Arsenal!!

I love the kids! I'm not a paedo!

2008-09-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

The kids are definitely alright! 6 goals against Sheffield United as Arsene Wenger's youngest team ran riot at Ashburton Grove. A Nicklas Bendtner brace, a Carlos Vela hat trick on his full debut and a Jack Wilshire goal, the second youngest goalscorer in our colours were enough for us yesterday!

With an average age of just 19, it was Djourou, Song, Fabianski and Bendtner who were the elder statesmen in the team. All the networks conspired against us and we couldn't catch a stream anywhere all last night. Gooners in the UK had some consolation with BBC5 providing live commentary, something we had tom do without in India. The match report is here. And you can Read Le Gaffer's post match gushings here.

Any hoo will end this with the goals.
Warning: This could leave you Arse-gasming!

Fantastic result, questions answered and Bolton hoodoo laid to rest

2008-09-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has followed Arsenal in the recent past, knows that the football we play is a thing of beauty. If you have followed Arsenal long enough, another thing would we plain to you, beauty does not always win. But beauty did win yesterday at the Reebok. It wasn't the most complete performance. We had our harried moments, especially in defence, but but we rode them out to come out on top.

A complete match report is here, so I won't go into details of the game.Three sublime goals it was that put Bolton to the sword, and 3-1 was the final score. We laid many of our demons to rest with the performance yesterday. Can we mix it in a hostile place like Bolton, with them kicking you for 90 minutes on the pitch, where the fans will bite your legs off given half the chance off it? YES. Are we going to get bullied off the ball, so much that we lose our rhythm. NO. Can we get a result away from home? YES. Was the Fulham result a one- off? YES. Do we have belief in our abilities as a team to come back strong from a setback? YES. Are we really title challengers this season. OH YES!

If you really think about it, it really is a kick in the teeth for the ' ugly' version of the beautiful game. Bolton's hoofing the ball forward and hard man tactics were effective, and we were in many a precarious situation either side of the break, but we still held firm. Holding even firmer to the belief that we could score more than we let in. I really believe we could score at will in this game. As usual there we squandered chances, but that's almost a given with the present set up. We will have to learn to score off of them against tougher oppositionwhen the chances do dry up.

It must be said that as irresistible as we were going forward we very quite vulnerable at the back. Maybe it was just Bolton's physical prescence and their strength in the air, but we were found wanting every now and then, and that clearly has to be sorted out.

Stand out players yesterday- Almunia, Song, Adebayor, Denilson and Walcott. Also, the battler Clichy seems to be ok.

In the end though it was a fantastic, battling win for the Arsenal.It was a win of character. The boys put mind over matter, knowing that they were the better side, and just well did the job. Will forget about the jitters at the back and say it was a very satisfying result, many things proven, and also puts us atop the table for the first time this season. You could see it meant a lot for the lads too. And it gets better, who is at the bottom of the table you ask.. well who indeed. North London isn't the biggest place in the world, but if you look at the table you get the feeling there's enough room for about 18 teams between Arsenal and Totscum.

Enjoy your Sunday lads, and look out for Chelski , Manky Shite game at 1830 in India and that's 1400 in the UK, a draw would be an ideal result, as usual.

Cheers!

Bolton Preview, Kroenke, Financial results and other bits and bobs

2008-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings Gooners! How goes it? It's another working Saturday for yours truly. I work alternate Saturdays. Isn't that one of the biggest tragedies you would ever encounter. Anyway, the prospect of football later on today keeps me going. The last of the three away trips on the trot for us it is today, and away we go to the Reebok to take on Bolton.

Bolton hasn't been a happy hunting ground for us. They are probably no where near the type of shit kickers they used to be, but that's not saying much. A glance at the table shows that they are lodged in mid-table with four points having won one and drawn another while losing 2 of the other games away. We on the other hand have managed to put the Fulham away disaster behind us with our away win at Blackburn last weekend. But fatigue will surely be a factor, after our more recent excursions in the Ukraine on Wednesday. But Arsene is not making room for any excuses, especially fatigue-

“It will not be an issue because we don't put that in our brain. You want just to keep the focus as we had it at Blackburn and Kyiv then let's get the maximum out of the game."

“When you are a competitor you want competition so you cannot complain when you have that competition and you are tired. This is a fantastic opportunity because when you are a football player you want to play football matches.”

All I have to say is that if we have any title ambitions it's weeks and games like this we will have to endure and come out on top off. The Manager also spoke about the recent encounters at the Reebok, with special reference to the last game there between us-

“I felt it was always very good or very bad. Rarely inbetween. But then for years they had a very good side and to be honest they still have. Nobody likes to go to Bolton because everyone knows they give you a tough commitment.We are preparing ourselves for another away game and one where we need mental resources to get the result."

“Only this time we want to win the game without being 2-0 down.”

Hmm while it was quite a rollercoaster last time 'round, I would prefer something a bit more sedate. Speaking about the team we might expect today Le Prof said-

“Nobody has come back from Kyiv with any knocks. But we will rotate a little bit because it was a very physical game.”

So that still means that Nasri, and Silvestre will still be out for this one.

In news at the board room level, Stan Kroenke who holds about 12.4 % shares has accepted the invitation to become a Director on the Board. He is not party to the 'lockdown' agreement which binds the other directors but, 'Mr Kroenke has confirmed that he will not increase his shareholding beyond 29.9% of Arsenal's issued share capital within the twelve months'. This is the American we'd rather have and NOT Fat minus the Orange.
Arsenal have also recorded their second highest profit, owed largely to the new stadium, and Peter Hill-Wood speaks about this, Kroenke and more. One poignant thing he does say in this interview, which gives you an insight into the state of mind of the club, and it's this utterance by PHW-

“We are committed to operating the Club as a business which is financially self-sustaining. This is clearly demonstrated having achieved our second highest ever pre-tax profit of £36.7m."

The financial Results were announced as well yesterday and you can give that a once over here.
Wenger speaks about Gallas, Denilson, Walcott and Song, and you can read all about that at those respective links.

Will end this fairly longish one with this- Jens Lehmann has annoyed someone, and not for the first time. Man, do I miss his finger wagging and whatnots. Keep at it Mad Jens!

So here's hoping we get the result today to end a fairly succesful week for Arsenal Football Club. The game kicks off at 17.30 Uk time so that makes it 22.00 and another late kickoff for us here in India . It's on Star Sports for viewers in the sub-continent.

Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal 1-Dynamo 1: Could have been better

2008-09-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

One goal scored and one let in means one point gained for the Arsenal. It wasn't the worst result ever, but it could have been better against Dynamo Kyiv in our first outing in the Champions League proper yesterday. The .con match report is here. You will have to admit to being just a touch chuffed with the performance.

Song coming in for Eboue was the only change from the team that started against Blackburn, .Song displaced Denilson to wide left and he sat in the DM slot.We started brightly enough in the first half RVP having two chances working the home 'keeper Bogush ( man! he wasn't bogus at all), Ade coming close. But the best chance of the half was when Theo passed to Ade outside the box, who then looped a pass for Van Persie also in the box just outside the left hand post. RVP then laid it into the path on an approaching Fabregas to shoot from point blank range, but he wasn't able to convert.

Dynamo had decent spells of possession, and frustrated us. Maybe it was because they played five in midfield to our four, but our passing game deserted us and we never really got it going throughout the game. But we still had the pick of the scoring chances in the first period.

The second half was more of the same stuff. Almunia who had little to do so far in the game, was beaten by a shot on goal. Luckily enough for all of us, it came his left upright and did not nestle in the back of the net. Instead, it rolled in front of goal for our number one to smother. They went ahead in the 61st though. when Sagna was adjudged to have brought down Dynamo lone frontman Bangoura in the area. It was a horrendous decision, if it was a foul at all, it was Sagna who was the victim, as he was held by the Dynamo striker. Bangoura then dispatched the kick from the spot. 1-0 Dynamo. After this as hard as we tried, we could not really get our game together and the home side we bouyed by their lead. All this meant that we failed to create clear cut chances. Song who was really good on the night made way for Bendtner on 70 mins and RVP me way for Vela on 84. They failed to improve the situation though. We got ourselves in decent positions but failed in the scoring third. It was not until the 88the that we scored. And it was another low cross from Walcott that Ade got a touch on infront of goal. It probably was heading goalward anyway, but Billy Gallas was not taking any chances, he stabbed it home, to cue huge sighs of relief amongst the travelling fans. And for us indeed. There wasn't enough time for a winner and that's how it ended.

I know Gallas has come in for plenty of stick for his defensive frailties. While they are true, he does chip in with some really pivotal goals for us. I'm convinced it was his touch that brought us up on level terms last night. 3 goals for us this season in Europe if I'm not wrong and absolutely vital ones. So credit where it's due and rot like that.

Arsene got it spot on after the game when he said-

“The game is a mixture of frustration and relief. The game should be over at half-time because we had clear chances in the first half, but it is a relief because with three minutes to go we were 1-0 down. I felt our level dropped in the second half and we did not create as many chances as we would have liked to. We feel we have lost two points today."

The point we got sees us level our opponents on the night, while Porto saw off Feberbache with a 3-1 victory. So Porto it is then who sit pretty atop the group. On hindsight it was an important point, and well we can build from here. It's not the easiest group to progress from. We will have to battle at the away games and try and get maximum points from our home games, and that's not beyond us. Will leave it there for now, but Bolton away, another historically bad place for us in recent times is up next . Bulid up to that later.

So long!

Dynamo Kyiv, our first hurdle in Europe

2008-09-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's Champions League time for the first time again this season. A possibly tricky away trip to Dynamo Kyiv is first up on the horizon for us. That said, I'm expecting the lads to come through victorious.

A win would be the ideal way to start things off in Europe's most prestigious tournament. We are in a fairly rich vein of form having scored 11 without any in reply in our last 3 games. The two frontmen have been amongst the goals, the defence while not filling us up with confidence has failed to leak in any goals. And Almunia has been assured between the posts. While the jury is still out on the midfield, it has been a bit of an experiment which you will have to agree has worked for the most part. We would definitely like a DM to be included, I really don't think it's going to happen now though.

Eboue and Clichy who we feared would miss out today have been included in the squad and that's good news. While Nasri and Silvestre are still injured and have been left out. Kieran Gibbs makes way for Carlos Vela in an other wise unchanged squad that was named for the Blackburn game the past weekend. And that's the team news ahead of this one.

Le Boss says a draw would be good result, but really I fancy us to win this one. Wenger said-
“It is a tough place for us to go. It is maybe a little bit better for us to play earlier but I am convinced it will still be a massive challenge. We’ll go there and try to win the game but even if we take a point then for me it will be a good start."

Commenting on the group that we are in Wenger had this to say , and you would have to agree with him-
“Our group has four teams who are all used to playing in the Champions League – Fenerbache, Porto, Dynamo and us. Anyone can take points off anyone that’s why for me it’s very important we start well in this game.”

Hatrick hero over the weekend Ade, seems to have won back some of the support- following the scoring goals and working hard method. On hindsight it was good for us that he didn't go, he will have to continue to put his head down and get the job done though. He had a great deal to say ahead of the CL, and can all be found here, do give it a gander.

And that's all there is for today. So here's to a good start in Europe for us today.

Come on ... The Arsenal!!!

They're having a larf mate!

2008-09-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

I watched the Spuds fall to another abysmal defeat to Villa at Shite Hart Lane yesterday. Their worst start to a Premiership season. Ha! Spurs top four and Champions league football .. hilarious!!
After all the money they blew up, and Modric and Bentley and Geovani, and the pre-season hue and cry about how they would displace us... It's just so pathetic.

Otherwise, there's nothing besides some post match reaction from the Blackburn game. Arsene speaks about the title race, and thinks we could see a few suprises here-

"With the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham investing heavily over the summer, Wenger feels there is more pressure than ever on the so-called ‘Big Four’. As a result he predicts the title will once again go down to the wire."

Hmm I know it's kind of premature to slag off the Spuds, but I ask you now, is there ever a bad time? What I thought!

The buildup to the Kiev match hasn't really kicked off, maybe there will be more later in the day. More on this when there is more.

Anyways, have a look at the table as it stands above. Nuf said!

Have a good one you lot!

A fine, controlled performance

2008-09-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's trip to Blackburn was supposed to be a game where we could show that we could mix it away, at not just at home. It would also be a well laid out stage to show the doubters that the Fulham game was just a blip, and that we could contend for the title this season. Yesterday's game proved all of that. 4-0 winners we ran out at Ewood park yesterday, thanks to 'trick hero Adebayor.

A full match report as usual by .con is here. It was a fine performance by the team yesterday. Controlled. Accomplished. And never pushed. Blackburn had a few chances yesterday, but we were never in any real danger. The back four looked strong yesterday, Toure deflecting a Santa Cruz shot over the bar in the first comes to mind. And that summed up the chances the opposition had. Almunia had very little to do, one finger tip save I remember, but really nothing really of too much consequence.

Theo made the first goal for RVP, with a dazzling run and RVP slotted home the openner after a super first touch to take it away from the defender. Ade's first came close in on half-time after a fine display of keepball by the Arsenal. A beautiful cross by Denilson was met by tyhe Togonators head, unmarked in the area. 2-0, and game over in my mind.The home team however didn't thinks so and stepped it up in the second period. We weathered the storm just a wee bit for about 7 minutes of the re-start and then went on cruise mode. We created some chances but nothing extraordinary. Calm controlled stuff I thought it would be till the last 10 minutes or so, and that's what transpired. We were alloted a slightly dubious penalty in the 78th when Eboue was brought down in the area. Ade to take the pen , this time and it found the back of the net. The final goal came in the 88th, when 17 year old sub, Ramsey delivered a fine throughball for Ade to round the 'keeper and stick in the back of the net. Wilshere came on for a cameo , and will go down in the record books.

It was a facile win yesterday. We were never under any pressure throughout the game. We controlled the play and performed well within our limits.Fabregas while being the fulcrum, was not the only play maker, infact the chances were created by a host of others , such as Denilson, Walcott, Eboue and Ramsey. I can't imagine the fireworks when Cescy does step it up, but all said and done he didn't need to yesterday. Ade was hardworking, Eboue and Denilson had good games, as everything clicked for us. It was another clean sheet for the defence and Almunia as well. It was not as euphoric as the Newcastle game, our last game in the Prem. But it just showed us that we could get a result without having to run circles 'round the opposition.

After the game Arsene said-

“Blackburn are a team that can be dangerous going forward and I feel that, as well as our good offensive performance, we had a good defensive performance. On crosses they can be extremely dangerous but we kept [Roque] Santa Cruz quiet. I am happy we didn't concede and that we always looked fluid going forward. It was a well-accomplished away game.”

The Manky Shite went down at Anfield yesterday, capping a fine weekend!The look on Fergie's face after the Babel's goal was priceless, well maybe not as priceless as Ade's goal celebration dance. What was that all about??

I'm off for now, remeber the CL kicks off midweek with out away trip to Kyiv or Kiev or whatever. Where we could be without 3 of our first team regulars. More on that later.

Blackburn, the first of three away trips today.

2008-09-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hello there from sunny, cloudy and then sunny again Bangalore. It's the first of the 3 away trips in a week at Blackburn today. The others being Dynamo Kyiv in midweek and those shit kickers Bolton in a week from now.

Blackburn have one of each result in their first three games and won't be the easiest team to get a result against. The Ewood park outfit are coming off a stinging defeat against the Hammers in their last outing and their new boss, Ince and latest signing Robbie Fowler will be looking to impress. In short, we will have to rotate the squad as Wenger has said.

"I don't know [if Walcott will be involved]. I will have to rotate the squad in the next three games. You cannot expect the players who have played in their national teams can play three times in a week. We have a very compact squad and people are interchangeable...

This week is a tough obstacle. I am convinced we can be successful in all the three games. Let’s prove that we can switch on quickly, use the positive experiences [from the internationals] bring them in-house and be efficient at Blackburn.

After Mark Hughes, they have another tough boy in with Paul Ince. So we don’t expect any changes. Blackburn is always a difficult game but I believe it is down to us, how good we will play and most importantly how we switch on.”

We will have to 'switch on' and be on the top of our game. Regarding our squad, we will have to wait on a late fitness test for Samir Nasri, while Silvestre is 'doubtful' and Vela won't be included too because of his late return from international duty. Besides this, Le Prof should have a full complement of players to choose from, other than the usual suspects of course. One of the most impressive players in pre-season, Wilshere should make it to the squad.

Let's be clear about this, if we do have to harbour any title ambitions, it's these sorts of games that we need to get a result in. I know this is too early to talk of titles and rot like that, but wins here all make a big difference. We have shown that we can do it at home, but we did slip up at Fulham away. We should use this game to prove that we can do the business away as well.

The Mineiro talk continues, let's reserve comment on this till something concrete happens. But he played for us in a reserves game against Fulham. The report says that Wenger is to assess him and then ... well let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

The Manky Shite take on Liverpool in an earlier kickoff ( 12.45 UK, 17.15 IST) and should be a good game to watch. Our game kicks off at 15.00 UK time and 19.30 here in India and they're both on ESPN in the Indian sub-continent.

Come on Arsenal!!

Theo and other stuff that happened in the interim

2008-09-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hee haw, I says hee haw, not coz I've suddenly turned into a braying animal, but because the football is back again, the real football this time. The internationals are a thing of the past, for the time being atleast and it's back to the good old Arsenal. What would we do without it? I don't know, I really don't. What did we used to do before some of us were Arsenal fans, nothing much really, nothing much at all.

Alright, the drivel alert went off for a brief moment there. So what has happened in the the interim since I posted? Well lets get this out of the way first, we didn't sign anyone, not even Stephen Appiah, who is a free agent and to whom the transfer window fiasco doesn't apply to. Note- No Appiah doesn't own a coffee estate or play hockey in his freetime .

Appiah would be a good signing, but I'm not going to have a moan about us not signing him because it's not going to do us any good now. Though he could be just what we wanted. Arsene denied having any interest, though the rumours have been flying about thick and fast. There has been some noise about the Brazilian known as 'Mineiro'. At 33 years old, he probably does not fit the bill unless its a stop gap signing, but smacks of an un-Wenger signing.

In other news 'Trio Walcott' seems to be coming in to his own after the hattrick against Modric and Croatia. Now hoping he can do the business in red and white, but really there's hardly a better way to announce yourself to the world. Arsene speaks about the young striker's exploits, and is especially pleased of his mind, in a manner of speaking. Really happy for the Theo though. Here's some pics courtesy arsenal.com

All the lads have returned from International duty unscathed so far, so we should have all avilable for selection for our first of 3 away trips at Ewood park. It's not going to be the easiest trip ever. The players will be feeling the effects after turning out for their national teams , and with the CL returning next week, Wenger may want to rest some players. We will have more light shed on this in the customary pre match press con.

Before I go, I just want to inform you that the Arsetard has started an Arsenal-India group on Yahoo, and we would be delighted if you would join too. The easiest way to do this is to click on the side panel o the right and it will take you right to the group page.

That's all there is for now.

Have a good day, and it's Friday again! Phew!

Patience, Frantic F5ing and then ...nothing.

2008-09-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of us braced ourselves for some last gasp transfer action. And well there was, sure there was. Manchester United got their man and Berbatov now will play in their despicable colours. Man City a much more respectable outfit from those parts, much to everyone's suprise got the prized head of wantaway galactico Robinho. The Scum signed 2 players I'm lead to believe and Liverpool have added Ribeiro to their ranks. So you see, quite a bit of frenzied action, but none of this at Arsenal Football Club. None.

Oh wait a minute we did sign someone and good luck to the lads.

Rumours abound that we had tried to sign Alonso at the last minute, but well whether this is true or not, the end result is that we have not added to our squad and more importantly in the DM position. Wenger had said that he would add a player or maybe two, then saying that a signing would appear before the second leg against FC Twente, none appeared. Then he said that we would probably sign someone before the transfer window closed, if in fact they are good enough. And well.. again we still have no new players to talk of. Wenger's reluctance to use the money we supposedly have to sign anyone baffles me (in DM especially).

I'm hoping the manager's reluctance is on account of the faith in the youngsters and reckons that we have enough depth in the present lot. Also, that one or two from the present squad slot in and play the holding midfielders role. Something that we cannot or don't see. I think most of us would be suprised that someone could fill the void we have at DM. We have to hope that Wenger knows and well let it go. But if our chances of silverware are affected by the lack of squad depth , Wenger will have a lot of answering to do.
Wenger has suprised us before, and we can hope that he does again. Fingers crossed.

So long!

A chest thumping win!

2008-09-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

It was really quite a performance by the Arsenal on Saturday last. It was absolutely euphoric, and heralded our return to form, sweeping aside the doom sayers as well as Newcastle in one dazzling display at Ashburton Grove. It was very much an Arsenal performance, and just what the doctor ordered after the disappointment at Craven Cottage a week ago.It was the finest performance, I dare say since the Milan result.3-0 then it finished up on Saturday. a complete match report is here.

We dominated the entire match and Newcastle hardly had a look in. Remember this is the same outfit that held on for a draw at that shite hole in Manchester on opening day. We were in no danger of losing the game once RVP picked up a brace. One off a penalty for a straightforward handball off N'zogbia and another off a pull backfrom ... wait for it... suprise suprise Eboue, who I must admit had a good game today playing wide right. A fine return to the scoring side for Van Persie, worryingly though he did pick up a knock in the second half but phew and a huge phew it is, seems to be ok.

The third was a culmination of some typical Arsenal passing that any Arsefan is rightly been spoilt by. Denilson slotting home past Given who fell back helplessly, and not for the first time. Walking the ball into the net has it's critics, I'm all for it though every now and then if it is even as half a s good as this. There were a couple of such delicious moves as well. One which Theo on for Eboue in the second period put wide, Vela was also introduced with some time on the clock, and he showed us what he was all about with some deft passing and movement.

One important thing that emerged from this game that Cescy wasn't the lone enforcer, there were plenty of others who gelled together to put on a commanding performance. I'm not dissing the Spanish genius, he probbably is the glue that holds us together, all I'm trying to say was that he had a quiet game by his own high standards. Nasri has slotted in really well in to the team, RVP adds a whole new dimension when he's on, scoring and turning provider. Ade ran his socks off. Eboue had some powering runs one resulting in the second goal. Denilson looked much improved from last week. Clichy was all persistence and one his runs took him almost to the edge of the box where he took a swinging shot on target, the left back is still waiting for his first goal in Red and White. The rest of the back were solid, and another clean sheet it was in two games for them.There's no Arsenal football for the next two weeks , but the performance should leave us with good memories going through this agonising international break.

There was a bit of an altercation between Nasri and convicted criminal Joey Barton, who came in with a crunching tackle on the young Frenchman. A stare was exchanged, Barton trying to signal his return. Nasri though, was out to prove apoint himself, picked himself up and made the Newcastle man bite the hallowed Ashburton turf a minute later. This trip off the ball by Nasri earned him a yellow card, but he showed that he won't be pushed around. Nasri is soon to attain cult status for if he continues in this vein.

The goals are also being spread around and we are not dependant on one or two for goals. The first team looks good, a few injuries in midfield could trip us up though, and thats where Wenger has a few hours to settle that problem. As usual though, held his cards close to his chest on the issue. I really hope Wenger adds to the team. Wenger praised the attitude of the team and had this to say after the game-

"I am very pleased with the performance because it was a complete one. Offensively and defensively, we had a good balance in our team. Great movement and, apart from 10 minutes at the begining of the second half, where we suffered a little bit, we were always in control.

"We played the game we love, the game we know how to play and could have scored more. I am pleased that we didn't concede any goals."

All in all a very satisfying win, and a proud Arseish says- We are the Arsenal!!

Cheers!

A point to prove today

2008-08-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Greetings there! How goes it with the weekend and such. It's a working weekend for yours truly, but it's not nearly as bad as you think. On the Arsenal side of things we have an important game with Newcastle at the Grove and a must win.

Before we dwell on the EPL game against Newcastle let's get news of the CL draw out of the way shall we?

The draw as it turns out, wasn't the best we could have hoped for. We drew 2004 CL Champions Porto, Turkish giants Fenerbache and Dynamo Kiev, who swept aside Moskva in the previous round. So it's tough opposition and away trips . As has been said, the lads will definitely clock up the air miles. This combined with tough times in the domestic season makes for a dificult period for us. Le prof though seems to think we can cope , I am somehow a touch less confident. The squad and the team has a lot to prove to me, and beginning today against Newcastle.

Our squad is definitley a bit light in midfield especially and there are just a bit over 2 days to set that right. Arsene has quite a relish for deadline day deals as we've seen before and said-

“We are ready to stay up all night if it is needed. This season it is at midnight on September 1 so you never know. We have still a long time to go...

“We are out to look, if we find the right player we will do it. But I believe it's more interesting for us to focus on our strengths and quality rather than looking outside. I know that makes headlines but it doesn't make you win games."

“We do not need to strengthen but maybe for the numbers in the squad we can take one more player but no more.”

Eduardo's rehabilitation seems to to be going really well and is slated to bolster the squad sooner than expected, his return could be pivotal to our chances in the larger scheme of things. A more direct approach will do very nicely for us, don't you think?

On to the game today, it's a chance for us to prove that the Fulham game a week ago was just a blip and nothing too overly worrying . I'm also going to desist from overanalysing the midweek Twente game, we need a performance and result today to restore my faith. I think that definitley is a measure of the damage that the result last week had on everyone concerned with the Arsenal.

Speaking ahead of the game Wenger touched upon consistency, and he's spot on-

“For me success is consistency. I believe that the most important thing to achieve in the game is to be consistent at the top level and move forward in the way you play and with your results."

Consistency will definitely be the watchword from here on in, and always has been. It will guarantee that we do win something big and shiny this season. So let's hope we can kick- on from the Twente result and go on a 'invincibles' style run. I need re-assurance today, I need to know that the squad we have are good enough, especially since Arsene may not possibly add to it

The manager has named the same squad that was FC Twente's conquerors midweek. It will be wonderful to see Cesc back for us domestically, he adds so much to our game. Newcastle has a decent squad and start to the season, including a draw with the Manky Shite on the opening weekend. We will have to be on our guard and deliver. Something we are capable of, lets hope we can. It's a 19.30 London time which makes it another 22.00 kickoff in India and it's live on Star Sports. Keep a look out for that then.

Have a good weekend, and Come on you Gunners!!

On our way to completing the comeback.

2008-08-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Our record this season in all competitions has been WWLW and a fine performance it was yesterday of which I saw very little of due to an intermittent stream, (yeah tell me about it). Not really in a position to give you my tuppence on the intricacies of the goings on at Ashburton Grove. So I thought about it ... urm ... video blog? Well, yes why not!

It finished 4-0 to the Arsenal against Steve Mclaren's FC Twente. There were only 2 changes to the team that put up such a dismal show on the weekend. Cescy was restored to his position in the the centre of the park, partnered by Denilson. And Djourou partnered Gallas at the back. Nasri , Gallas, Walcott and Bendtner got on the score sheet and in that order. the pick of the goals were the first and the third. Nasri really looks like some player, and the fact that he settled in so well makes all the difference. We were slow to praise him after his outing against WBA, but I think he deserves some adulation now. Theo took his goal really well yesterday for our third , a nice confident shot to beat their keeper. Here are the goals-

Update- I've tried everything, but I've still been unable to embed the goal vids, but I can do the next best thing. Here's the Nasri, Gallas, Theo & Bendtner goals.

On an aside, We have not progressed towards adding to our midfield. 4 days to go before the transfer window is closes. I know we would all feel a lot more comfortable with a player or two added to the squad. What's keeping you Arsene?

It is definitely worrying when Le Prof says-

“I think Denilson had a good game tonight. We have as well as Aaron Ramsey - for me he will be a very good player - and we have Alex Song and we haveAbou Diaby . Even Nasri can play central but we have to see.”

Speaking of Le Prof, he had plenty to say about the game yesterday. The goalscorers came in for particular praise as you would expect. Cescy who is really a class act, gets a mention too . The Spanish jem adds to the fluency of the team, something that no one else can. A sentiment not lost on the Boss who remarked that Fabregas brings "calm and confidence" to the team. An understandably relieved and elated Wenger said, post game-

“It was a big game for us and I felt we were well organised, disciplined, focused and basically never really under threat from FC Twente. What was most important was not to make mistakes, be patient and score our goals.

“I felt the whole team was sharper and physically we were much better than on Saturday afternoon. Maybe that is why we made it easier. It was a game that gave us the same problem as in the first game, by man marking us all over the pitch. When they had the ball they didn't take many risks - they were more focused on possession. We had to be well organised because they played a little bit with our patience."

The players yesterday put on the performance we required , to lift the fans and restore the fast waivering faith in the present bunch.It was a good performance and something we should translate into performances domestically. That said it would be foolhardy to get carried away by a one-off performance. Cups can only be won by consistent performances. We are on our way to a good comeback after the defeat at Craven Cottage. But the comeback can only truly be complete with a win against Newcastle. Lets see if the lads can really deliver.

Have a good day you lot!

Arsene knows, right ? Twente tonight.

2008-08-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a really tough and arduous couple of days, some of the toughest as an Arsenal fan. The performance last Saturday has really stirred up a hornet's nest among supporters. There have been plenty of solutions that have been pandered about. The most common of the lot being adding to the squad, and quickly, before the transfer window closes. While losing is bad, the manner of the loss also adds to it, and the spirit in the Arsenal community has definitely been better.

We all seem to know what was wrong or indeed missing from the performance in Craven Cottage. It was the spirit, as well as the ability. The ability was missing not just at the back, who could primarily be held guilty for the goal, but especailly in the centre. That aside the players lacked drive , to go in for the kill, to bounce back.

Contrast this with the frustrations of last season which could be summed up in not being able to score (or score enough) and over-playing. Our deficiencies in the back kicked in only towards the latter part of last season. So what is the solution? Do we really need to splash the cash, while there's still time. Arsene does not think so, and probably incited some sections of the support by actually reducing the squad by allowing Senderos out on loan to Milan. Ostensibly, it is a loan move that could be made permanent after the end of the season. Arseblog and Gunnerblog have written extensively on the importance of Senderos, and I agree completely. Previously I had stated how the rumoured loan move for Djourou would detract from the team, despite the arrival of Silvestre. The same can be said about losing Big Phil. Senderos has made his mistakes, but he's still a WIP, and just 23 for crying out loud. I hope we see him back in our colours, and I know this is not the popular opinion among Arse fans.

Ok, I seemed to have digreesed a tad, now back to the squad. Understandably the opinion amongst fans has been split primarily between anger and disappointment Mine was mostly disappointment, but there you go. So what is the solution. Should we just sit back and leave it all in the hands of Le Gaffer, afterall Arsene knows, doesn't he?

Arsene was quite shaken up after the performance saying-

"I don't remember being that angry after a game. I was furious because we didn't create a lot."

After the debacle on Saturday this interview in the Times Arsene says that we do not have to panic buy-

“It’s not necessary to make a revolution. “Last year we had four players in the [PFA] team of the year, they have not become bad players. Why should we worry? Let everybody talk and let’s show how good we are on the field.”

But we will worry. It's plain to everyone that the young guns do not quite cut it, not on their own atleast. We need some quality and some experience, and we need that yesterday. We have no drivers or shouters if you will to rally the troops, and I'm seriously doubting the leadership qualities of Gallas. We are clearly lacking in midfield and Arsene has failed to plug the gaping hole in this part of the pitch. We missed Cesc, and how on Saturday, but what if he does go injured for large portions of the season? Do we have enough to fall back in the assembled squad. The answer would have to be no.

While it would be hard on the team to judge them after one performance, it would be equally stupid not to seek change in areas that need to be adressed. We are not quite sorted out at the back, especially in the centre. Maybe Djourou paired with Toure/Gallas would be a good move. The much touted signing of a DM has not been carried out, yet. And we do need another attacking midfielder who could slot in and do the same job as Cescy does. While this Cesc type player maybe asking for a bit of a luxury from a a manager shy of adding to the squad, it still raises serious concerns over the depth of the squad. Gallas as captain hasn't worked out , the player's seem to paying just lip service to him. And well for more than one reason doesn't seem to be doing the job as captain. He does not drive the team to performing on the pitch. You could argue that the palyers need to have their own drive to perform, but every now and then you need some one to rally the troops when the going is tough. We don't have that at the moment.

I do have plenty of faith in the manager. I know he will do just what is needed to push on after the wake up call last Saturday. But some of the issues raised above will have to be adressed. If success does come our way despite them being adressed, I would be delighted , but very , very suprised. Over to you Arsene...

Ok after the fall out after the Fulham game, you could be forgiven for forgetting that we have a game on tonight. The return fixture of the CL qualifying tie is on tonight at Ashburton Grove. Do we really need to state how important it is for us? No not really. Early news suggests that Fabregas is in the squad for this, but may not start. We carry a 2 goal advantage into this one. The Dutch side will have to score a minimum of 3 goals without conceding. I would be devastated if we do not qaulify for the CL, we will have to be up for this. I suspect the lads will be up for this though. This is the time to show us why the manager continues to preserve unwaivering faith in the young squad. To shut up the critics. But most importantly restore the jangled nerves of the fans, like you and me.

The game is a 20.05 kick off, London time so thats 00.35 kickoff India time. As it's not on the telly in these parts could I suggest justin.tv as a decent stream. So here's hoping for a good performance tonight.

Come on you Gunners!!!

No doom-mongering, just an honest opinion

2008-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Very uninspiring, pedestrian stuff it was by an Arsenal side at Craven Cottage yesterday. Fulham managed to get a goal and held on for all three points. And we can have no complaints about the result.

It was a very dull game overall and as about as insipid a performance as you I can remember in recent times. It was Denilson and Eboue again in the heart of midfield, and that in itself sums up our inadequacies in that part of the pitch. Everywhere else we were almost full strength, but over inability here showed. We had to resort to long balls and crosses, which is not how we have played in recent years. Just goes to show you how much we miss Fabregas in the engine room, dishing out stuff to the front men. That clearly wasn't happeneing yesterday, ad Ade and RVP were fed on scraps. We did have the odd chance though, Ade hit the post in the first half, RVP had a shot whistle wide in the second, and he also had 3 free kicks in decent positions, but failed to capitalise.

All game long we looked as dangerous as the opposition did, and that's not saying much. I've never seen this many passes going astray in one game. No one in the team took it upon himself to lead the team by example and drive the rest forward. Eboue looked bright in patches in the second, and I think Ade had a good game, Nasri as well looked good, but overall as the result states we lacked cutting edge.

I'm too depressed to read any of the papers or reports today, quite sure they will be full of doom and gloom. We've got to realise though that Cescy is such an integral part of our game. We need him there. That said Denilson who played in his stead yesterday will have to step it up a bit if he's going to cut it, or we just might be in for a bad season if Cescy goes away injured.

Of course we can't attribute the result yesterday completely to Cescy absence. Maybe it was the midweek interantionals or whatever, but we clearly lacked sharpness yesterday. We didnt push for it, till maybe the 80th or so.

We will have to rise from this one quickly coz Twente come a visiting soon. Still, as bad as it is to lose, it's much better to have a wake up call such as this early in the season, when it can be heeded to and the situation rectified. And it definitely can.

Heads up , Gooners!

In and out and Fulham tomorrow.

2008-08-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hello again there Arsefans. I'm going to attempt to roundup of the week's stories. There's no better place to start then the Sivestre story.

As must be old hat to you by now Mikael Silvestre has crossed the great divide from Manchester United and is now a Gunner. Would you believe it? It happened on Wednesday and there was talk of it before, and it all sounded like a lot of trosh. For once we can say that stranger things have not happened. He cost us something in the region of 750 k and is definitely on the cheap. There are many amongst us who think that he was the first player to come over to our ranks from Manchester United in 30 odd years, .con clears all that up for us.

The jury is out on the signing of Silvestre and it all doesn't have to do with him looking oh so 'unnatural' in our colours. There are many amongst the Ashburton faithful who detest Arsene shopping in the bargain basement, those who think he's a washed up player, and those who think he is not the answer to our problems. I do relate to these views and they definitely have some credence.And besides, will The old Red nosed one ever sell us someone who will strengthen our squad?? My take on the whole think is that he is a risk worth taking. He has been injured way too often in the past 2 years. But that said he will not be a first team regular and hopefully will be given to fill up any inadquecies we face due to injury at the back. He is versatile and could slot in left back and in the centre of defence when called upon. He has won pretty much everything and will not take time to settle in as a foreign player would. He brings bags of experience as well, to a team not teeming with it at the moment. He is a bit of a gamble, but a less expensive one if you will. On paper he is a decent player, and only his performance can judge his usefulness. So we will just have to wait and see, won't we? Another shrewd move from Le Gaffer, let's hope it pays off. With this signing our problems at the back have significantly reduced.

Speaking of the latest addition to the squad Arsene said-

"We have a strong squad but a young squad and Mikael’s versatility, experience and calibre will provide the extra depth we need to reinforce our challenge for honours this season. His defensive adaptability will serve us well and it’s a big plus that Mikael has top level experience and a great understanding of football in the Premier League.”

With Silvestre on board we have allowed Armand Traore to hone his skills on loan at Portsmouth. Derby also snapped up another one, and are the latest to benefit from one of our promising youngsters in the shape of Nacer Barazite, also out on loan. A big Arse to both the lads and hope they battle for first team places on their return. There was talk of Djourou being sent out on loan and even Senderos being sold, that would have been a travesty. And would definitely weaken the us at the back, Silvestre having signed or not.

With the back seemingly being added to the most obvious of in our squad is DM. Wenger said we would have someone by the time we play Twente in London, and time is running out a wee bit on that, the transfer window also slams shut in a little over a week. A certain Gareth Barry's name has cropped up again. Wenger had also made the trip to watch Inler take part in the Intl. friendlies midweek. Could it be one of them? Who knows, but it's something that Wenger needs to address at the earliest. I'm sure he will though.

Speaking on player's being cup- tied with reference to Barry, Arsene said-

"I believe once somebody cannot play for you in Europe, it devalues the player for the season - but it is not necessarily stopping you from buying a player,”

"I can surprise you sometimes, as I got one in whom you did not expect, and there still might be one more player coming in,"

"There is interest always. But I do not want to give you any names.”

We have an away trip to Craven Cottage tomorrow in our second EPL match of the season. Early team news on this is that Cescy will not be fit enough to make it, he might be fit in time for Tewnte's visit on Wednesday, though. Nasri also looks to miss out. The other additions to the squad that took part in our opening Prem clash are Song and new boy Silvestre.

And that will have to do for today. Another big weekend of football looms , lets hope the results were a lot like last weeekend.

So long!

Weekend results ease the Moanday blues!

2008-08-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

A bit of a short one today as there is pretty much nothing happening. It was a fine weekend for us, results wise that is, the Manky shite tripped up against Newcastle yesterday, collecting just a point while the Scum lost. Brilliant stuff. That after we collected all 3 points on Saturday. Nothing to go overboard about , not by any means, but I can't help feeling smug.

Arsene had a few things to say about the Ade booing situation-

“We have to get behind him and support him because he is of tremendous . What happened in the transfer period did not always reflect his deep desire [to stay] and there was manipulation from agents on both sides.”

I'm not one to forgive and forget too easily, and also a bit neutral towards the boo boys as well. One thing I'm sure about is if the booing is going to affect the way Adebayor performs on the pitch , then we'd have to give it up in the interest of Arsenal Football club.

Arsene speaks about the latest Gunners sensation, Nasri likening him to Bob Pires. He really is one to look out for when we line up. And after the long drawn out will-he-won't-he saga, it's nice to know we got some quality.

We were in for some praise after our opener on Saturday against West Brom propmting their manager Mowbray to remark thusly-

"Arsenal's philosophy does not change... it is the individuals who change, they are the benchmark."

High priase indeed, as it was not our best performance by far. Well that's about all I could dig up today. There are international friendlies on this week. Finger's crossed that all those from our squad who participate in these meaningless matches , come through unscahted and ready for our next assignment this Saturday. Meanwhile, let's hope Arsene secures the services of the midfielder we so desperatley need. He said the player will be here by the time the second leg of the Twente tie rolls by, and thats the 27th, so that gives him less than nine days!

Signing off now. Can't quite believe that the season's back and that we are already 2 points ahead of Manure and 3 ahead of the Scum. Lets hope it gets even better from here on in.

Cheers!

One nil to the Arsenal!

2008-08-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Arsenal 1- WBA 0, was how it finished up at Ashburton Grove. The very impressive Samir Nasri scoring on his premiership debut. It was the decider as it turned out in what was a tasty move and wraps up a rather good week of competitive football for us.

It was not the most commanding performance by an Arsenal team but it still is three valuable points and a good start to the domestic campaign. I missed the first 38 minutes of the match due to circumstances that can best be summed up as " following football in a non-footballing country". Any hoo will leave it at that. I was more suprised than shocked that Arsene started Eboue as holding midfielder along side Denilson. Nasri played wide left and Theo right. The usual back four was missing Kolo Toure and Djourou took up his starting position next to Gallas. Ade had Bendtner up top for company, and the rest was more familiar.

From the highlights of the first half I gathered that we created a few chances in the first half after scoring as early as the 4th. It was neat move down the left with Clichy in the thick of it. A through ball in the ox was collected by Denilson for him to cutback to Nasri yards away from goal and was slotted into the goal, all one touch stuff. Good awareness and positioning by the young French winger. The finish reminded me so much of the way Freddie used to play for us. After that we created a few chances. Bendtner's header off a corner, Ade had a couple of pops goalward and Nasri and Gallas had some long rangers. I don't remember Almuni having too busy of a first half. He was called upon once though, making a fine finger-tip save. We failed to really go for the jugular and put it to bed. But will reserve further comment on the first half as I missed the majority of it.

In the second half we had more of the ball, but weren't as decisive as we should have been. Nasri showed us what he was capable of, good skills on the ball with upper body strength to match. A fine signing indeed and MOTM in my opinion. Nasri it was who played a delightful ball to Adebayor who was one on one with the goalkeeper but failed to squeeze the ball between the keeper and the post, his shot ending just wide of the right upright. Van Persie came on for Bendtner and his simultaneous spin and shot in the box missed the target by a samll margin. A splendid move and he just might be the name I would get on my new jersey. These were as about as close as we got to doubling our lead. Meanwhile while we had the majority of the possesion, West Brom hit us on the break and there were one or two heart in mouth moments, including a goal mouth clearance by Djourou. But we survived it all. Arsenal.com as they are wont to do have put up a more comprehensive match summary and can be found here

I expected us to score maybe one more goal, but in the end it was the result that mattered. We were missing some key players and with maybe one more signing in central midfield we could do the business this season.It was a rusty performance, but Im not perturbed at all. It's just the start of the season, and I'm sure we will click in to gear in due course. If the pre-season was all about performance and not the result the regular season is more about the result than anything else. And that's three points in the bag, thank you! And oh the Scum lost, after all that pre season talk and signings ( 7 mill we made off Bentley, remember) ! Fine start to the season for them innit? Brilliant stuff!

After the game Arsene said-

"I am pleased with the fact that we didn't concede a goal. We scored two on Wednesday, one today, so it's better than the reverse. Overall it was a good week for us. A winning start, a win in the Champions League, so yes a good week."....

On our prospects this season, Le Gaffer said-

"We made 83 points last year and lost only three games. We have stability in this Club that allows us to feel that we can improve on last year. We lost three games and in two of the games we were leading 1-0 with 20 minutes to go. We lost some big names but what is important is what we produce on the pitch. Last year we were four points behind Man United and we didn't win a trophy. However we won the trophy of the most unlucky team. We had injuries to players for very long periods too. We lost [Tomas] Rosicky, [Robin] van Persie and Eduardo."

We don't want to win the trophy of the most unlucky team again this season again, so let's see how this one pans out, a long road ahead though!The Hull City manager remarked after their win yesterday that " one swallow doesn't the summer make". This win yesterday really made my weekend though. A fine Arsenal week it was, and dear goodness me the footers back, for crying out loud!

Have a good one arsefans!

Thoughts ahead of the EPL start.

2008-08-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there arseurs, a more thinking aloud sort of post today....

Today's the first day of the premiership season and arguably our most important pursuit this season. Do we have what it takes to end our trophy less seasons by winning the premiership? Well I think so!

Well not a suprising opinion from a Gooner you say. Well that is true and must be taken in to consideration as is everything else that I say here. But honestly, we fell just a little short last season. I'm not going to say it was 'just four points', the chasm was just a bit wider than that. But we were bossing it for most of the season and our lack of depth and inexperience caught us out. Alright, this is where I walk a bit of a' belief tight-rope', if you will.

If it was inexperience and depth that led to our undoing, have these issues been sufficiently addressed this season? Well you would have to say, no not really not yet atleast. We have let some experienced players go this season. Some quality as well. Hleb has been replaced by a Samir Nasri, a better player, with more intent and end product. We have let Mad Jens leave as well, but I think we are pretty strong in the goalkeeping department. What we haven't replaced as yet are what Flamini and Gilberto bring to the team. Our midfield, as cited before is down to it's bare bones and shorn of real experience and so reliability. Don't get me wrong the kids are really amazing and lads such as Wilshere have really shown us what they can do, but we shouldn't be relying on them, not us, not Arsenal.We have Cescy still unavailable for the clash tomorrow and that's enough to send panic waves across the Arsenal community. central midfield is something that must be strengthened, and must be strenghtened as of yesterday, so you do understand the urgency in this regard.

Central defence is another worrying area for us. Toure and Gallas are two of the best in the business, but when paired together they seem to subtract from each other. Maybe a pairing of Toure with Senderos or Gallas with Djourou will do the trick? Perhaps, I'm not too sure. That said, I really don't think it's beyond Gallas and Toure to forge a strong partnership this season. With Senderos and Djourou we have reliable back up I think. I would definitely feel more comfortable if we were to invest in a central defender who could play left back if called upon. Traore it is behind Clichy in the pecking order at left back, and not quite first team material, not yet. Sagna and Eboue in the rightback slot are less worrying. So if you understood all this, what we need at the back is a sort of 'jack of all trades' type who could do a job when called upon.

Going forward, I think we are locked and loaded, and by far the least of our concerns this season. Ade and RVP it is who should be first choice. In Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela and possibly Theo we have enough firepower. Injuries here could provide a bit of a jolt and not too much else, I feel. By far our strongest area on the pitch.

So this is how I see it, if we can get the quality and experience in central midfield, player/s who can complement Cescy, then we have all the trappings of having a successful campaign, on paper that is. One more central defender would be perfect, but not as essential a central midfielder. The lack of depth in midfield , I must admit has robbed me of some of the optimism at the start of the season. Wenger however said that he will definitely add one player to the team, and it's plain for anyone to see that it should be a central midfielder. This gives me sufficient confidence that we could have a good season indeed. While we have not splashed the cash this season, none of the others have as well or significantly so atleast. Chelski have, but that's a given innit. Our opponents are not much stronger than they were last season, and well that can only be a good thing for us.

The kids could suprise us again and provide valuable support to the first team, so I'm really looking forward to that. We have some really quality player's in our squad, match winners at that. It's all in place, well most of it atleast. So let's jump onto the roller coaster and back the lads!

Wenger talks about " winning something every season" and who could argue with him. It's just a few hours away now!

We kick off our campaign at home today and it's West Brom first up. If we are to be in the mix for silverware this season, we should overcome them, and I'm confident we will.In team news we do not have Fabregas back yet, so it's just Toure and Nasri who will be added to the squad who turned out against Twente in midweek action. Ramsey and Denilson it will be in the centre of the park. The game is a 12.45 kickoff , London time at Ashburton Grove and that makes it a 17.15 kickoff India time and its live on ESPN here . So looking forward to a good startto get the ball rolling. Did i forget anything, uh... well....

Come on you Gunners!!!

A winning start and a job done.

2008-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

2-0 to the Arsenal, that's how it finished up in the first leg of the qualifiers against FC Twente yesterday. We go away with two precious away goals, and you would have to say more than half the job done. A full match report courtesy of the kind sirs of .con is here, who I hasten to add is donning a new refreshing look.

As expected , it wasn't the easiest outing ever and it was made tougher with a few first team regulars missing for us. The most probable pairing in midfield given our shortcomings was Denilson and the 17 year old Aaron Ramsey. Theo and Eboue it was on the wings, and Djourou lined up where Toure would have normally have been.

We started a little bit on the back foot, and failed to stamp our authority during large portions of the first half. A makeshift midfield contributed in large part to this. Our characteristic passing game was not quite there and our distribution to the front men suffered a bit too. Denilson and Ramsey put in a decent display without doing anything spectacular.But I'm sure the lads will learn from all this, doesn't get much bigger than the CL does it?

We did not have any real opportunities in the first half, I remember Clichy taking a pop from long range, which their 'keeper found too hot to handle and parried away to Sagna of all people inside the box, who shot wide of the left upright. As you can tell it was a bit of a curtailed performance. By comparison they had a bit more of the running. Almunia coming out to the edge of the box to thwart a one-on-one opportunity of one of their strikers. Another when another one of their players ( don't ask me who, I really couldn't be arsed) turned Clichy the wrong way on the edge of the box and turning goalside only to shoot over. The back needs to be sorted out a bit, I thought in my musings after the first half.

I was probably right to think that it would finish 0-0, with neither side showing the necessary tenacity. The opposition were all verve , save for the final third. And that's how it turned out for FC Twente in the end. We had a better second half showing than the first, our passing improved and we had more control over the game. They had a couple of chances, but we weren't in perilous territory by any means. On to the first goal now-it was a freekick out left, near the halfway line that RVP curled into the box, which a streaking Cap'n Gallas bundled over the line with his knee, and I was ecstatic! 1-0 to us in the 63rd, and the all important away goal. After this we were more assured and the home side had their belief broken a bit. Eboue I must say found himself in some decent goal scoring opportunities in the second half, and then not suprisingly spurned them. Why won't he just pass the ball? Oh, it's one of the mysteries that will plague anthropologists and Gooners alike!

The second goal came 20 minutes after the first. An over the top ball found Theo beating the offside trap out left to square for Adebayor in the box to put past their 37 year old keeper.2-0 and a job done, and rather well.

I think we should desist from over-analysis of the performance, it was a bit rusty and not the prettiest thing ever or even the most effective indeed. We had a few key players missing , and with them back, we should be up and at 'em. We still need shoring up in the midfield department. The pairing last night would have have raised some questions in the mind of Le Gaffer, while answering some as well. Do get that chequebook out Arsene.

It was a good start of the season, an important result, and a closed tie as far as I'm concerned. FC Twente need to beat us by 3 goals with none in reply, and I think it is beyond them. Did the performance fill me up with confidence, not completely is the answer. But we could only get better when all the boys are back. The footer's back though, and it's a winning start for the Arsenal and that's all that matters now! After the game Arsene said-

"We were a very young team and we did not lose our nerve, did not panic and in the end maybe our technical superiority allowed us to score two goals. That is a massive advantage for the second leg but we will be on our toes."

And in closing I would like to add that Tommy Smyth is the most despicable chump! Any one who caught ESPN's coverage of the game yesterday will know just what I mean.

So long Gooners, have a good one!

The first day of the season-FC Twente-I'm Back!!!

2008-08-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Is it coincidence of sorts that I'm back to my ramblings on the first day of the season?? Well I'd sure like you all to think so. My last regular post was at the end of last season, and now ostensibly my back at it! A lot has happened in the interim, so lets get stuck in, shall we?

Hleb was packed off to to Barca for a tidy sum, and the Nasri signing completed. We also signed another French kid, Coquelin and of course Aaron Ramsey, the latter who may be pushing for a first team status in the forthcoming season. Gilberto left on very amicable terms to Panathinaikos. Ideally we could have used his presence, as our youngish team got even younger, but oh well.A big welcome to the lads who have arrived and so long to Gilberto, thanks mate. And well, about that other fella who went to Barcelona, we won't miss him too much, naw we won't!

So just to sum up on the transfer business so far in the closed season, Flamini, Hleb and Gilberto are out and we have brought Nasri, Ramsey and Coquelin into the squad. Ade is still playing in our colours after probably the most annoying and long drawn transfer saga of all time. The offers from AC Milan and then Barca running cold , the lanky Togolese had to cut his losses and grow up! He put in some good performances in the pre-season notably against Real Madrid(and Ajax), where he was all verve and dedication, culminating in a penalty scored, and he resorted to " badge kissing" after sticking the ball past Buffon . This after he was received a mixed reaction on his return to the pitch after what could be mildly termed as a turbulent summer.

I have a very strong dislike towards Adebayor, while he was a bit of a revelation last season, we were more suprised to the manner in which he held the club to ransom in the closed season. It was murky goings on for a good deal out there especially where Ade on one occasion declared his love to Arsenal and in another interview a few minutes later being as ambiguous as possible about his future. In the end when no one seemed interested in his services, Ade then said he was never really interested in a move, and signed a new deal for reportedly double the salary.

It was a very unplesant affair, I just felt that Ade should go, I mean who the 'eck does he think he is? We were getting good money for him 25 mill if reports are to be believed, and we could replace him with someone else. In the end analysis however I have to concede that as despicable as Adebayor's behavious was last season, and as much as he rudely snatched away all the love and apprecaition he received from the Gooners, and replaced it with quite the opposite really, it would easier in the interest of the team if he did much the same as last season or better. A replacement would take a bit to get used to the system and such.I'm not one of Adebayor's biggest fans, even when he was banging them in for us. He wastes too many chances, and well that could make all the difference in the pivotal clashes. That siad he could only get better. and he will have to get better-fast. And put his head down and put in those performances, frequently if he is even going to begin to reclaim the faith and respect of the Ashburton Faithful, and indeed my own. 'Nuf said!

The strength and depth of the squad this season,as has been debated all summer long lacks a bit in experience, especially in the centre of the park. We need someone to partner Cecsy in midfield. Diaby, who was primed for the job is injured way too often and then there is only Denilson. Don't get me wrong, im not slighting the Brazilian, but as you'd expect he doesn't quite bring the experience, and also is more a 'Cesc', than say a 'Gilberto', if you know what im on about. So thats the place we definitley look lightweight in, Arsene looks to strengthen it though, and the names of Gareth Barry and Alonso have been thrown in to the mix also the latest the Swiss Inler. But then no one knows Wenger's mind. I would also like to add another centre back, it was defence that let us down more than anything else at key moments in the latter half of last season. The Kolo - Gallas combo doesn't quite fill me up with confidence and after that we have Senderos and Djourou.

Going forward we have very little problems though, the kids and the additions to the squad have lit up our pre-season. ( winning us our first bit of silverware at the Ajax tourney) The brightest amongst them would have to be Jack Wilshere, Carlos Vela with Ramsey, Nasri, Theo and Bendtner earning a very honourable mention. With Ade, RVP, Eduardo ( back soon, not sure when though, a safe date would be sometime in November'08) Bendtner, Theo and Vela, we do not need to add to the squad.

Ok so it's the first day of the season it's Steve Mclaren's FC Twente in the CL qualifying that we are up against. We will be without Cescy, Ramsey the 17 year old Welshman looks to take his place.Than in itself will inform you of our lack of midfiled players. We are also without the services of Nasri and the other key absentees are Toure, Diaby and Rosicky. It looks like Ramsey, if handed a start wil be partnered by Denilson in central midfield. A full available squad list for tonights game is here.

It's our most important clash at the start of the season, more important than even the first few EPL matches. We will have to play CL, can you imgine us languising with the lesser likes in the UEFA cup? Right , you get the picture.We will need to come through this unscathed, to fill the lads with confidence, the fans with confidence and shut up the tabloids and the other shit-stirrers! I was quite devastated to learn that Cescy wouldn't be part of the squad for the Twente match, but after it festered on the old bean, I think we still have a bit too much for the Dutch team anyway. It won't be a rout by any means, but we need to come back with a healthy advantage for the second leg, or if possible finish the job in Holland.

It's here Gooners, good old football, is there anything else quite like it!!? Naw you would have to say, naw not quite! Let's get this off to a good start, us to win the treble, why not??

For the first time this season, COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Update-The FC Twente game is at 19.45 London time which is a 00.15 kickoff in India. It's not on TV here, but you can check for streams on justin.tv
Can't seem to locate any sure-fire streams at the moment. If any of you lot do, write me up!

ps.I have tried to keep this as comprehensive as regards our closed season happenings, but I well could have left out something important. Would appreciate it if you would rub my nose in it and let me know if I did!

Absolutely arse-licious!

2008-06-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hey you lot, everything's gone a bit quiet here like the Hleb to Barca stories. I really regret not being able to post more often on this space, hope to sort things out and get in to a regular blogging routine.

This is something my mate over at hypnotype.blogspot pointed out to me and it's downright hilarious, thanks for this Abhishek.

Ok now wipe yourselves off as the Nasri will he won't he saga continues.

So long you lot, have a good summer.

Till next time then!

Arsenal 1-Sunderland 0

2008-05-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hello there Arseurs! So thats the season done and dusted, and for the third time running there's nothing to show for it. The Red Chumps it was who rounded it off rather well yesterday, with 4 points separating first and third place in the final standings.

On to our away fixture yesterday against Sunderland.Didn't get to watch the game yesterday as we here in Asia only got to watch the top two play out their games live. It ended with a 1-0 scoreline, and it was Theo who got on the score sheet for us with his 24th minute effort, a fine pass from Gilberto to set the young man on his way, and another national team callup. So that finishes it up for us with 83 points and with a sense of yearning for more. A sentiment not lost on Arsene.

Arsene spoke about the performance yesterday-

"It was an anticlimax. But part of our role is to do the job when it is less prestigious and glamorous. We did that well. We scored and we should have scored more. We had a very young side out. The average age was 22.3 without the bench. With the bench that would have gone done to 20."

And about the season in general-

"There is disappointment. We don't fight and work as hard as we did all season to finish third. But there is hope for the future if you can make 83 points with such a young side."

A future which the Chairman backs him up on, and us indeed. I'm sure we will do the business next year. I really don't know if it will be in Europe or domestically, but we are nearer the finished product, I think. Arsene though will have to add to this squad, and with some real talent, and experience, and quality, in the right areas. A fit RVP was something we lacked for the majority of the season, and he is someone else who sees us adding to the trophy cabinet next season. He is someone who will have to be a prime figure you would have to say for us next season, now only if he could stay out of the blood bin...

Arsene also has it in for Milan saying that trophies are not everything-, and comparing the histories of Flamini's current employers to our own club-

“I’m not sure that in the history of Milan you’ll find the same values this club has.

“And, for me, that is a big club, a club that comes out of people’s desire to respect values. Look at our whole history, it’s clean.”

This story here claims that we are close to signing Mario Gomez from VFB Stuttgart, he's a 22 year old striker , scored a bagful of goals and was player of the year last season in the Bundesliga. His Wiki page (I've checked) says -At the end of the 07/08 Bundesliga campaign Gómez is said to be joining Arsenal FC. I somehow don't really think that a striker will be on Arsene's shopping list this summer, considering all the talent we have in that area already.Maybe Wenger will turn him into a centre half or something.

And I will have to leave it at that today... the post season has begun and now over to the rumour mongers... and I would get used to it if I were you!

Cheerio!

A last hurrah!

2008-05-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

I’m back once again for the last day of the season, and what a summer we have in store, and I do by no means mean the Euro. The rumour mills are on over drive, rather sooner that we expected, and I’m back here again laying before you the latest goings on of a certain north London club.

So Alex Hleb is leaving according to his agent, most probably destined to leave English shores to join the Flamster in Milan, on opposite sides of course. Hleb looks set to turn out for Milan's cross city rivals, Inter. This leaves me far less perturbed than when I heard that Flamini was on the move. While Flamini was our engine, Hleb was just one of the cogs. It’s one thing to lose one’s engine, quite a different thing to lose a part of it, which in my opinion is replaceable with a better fitting component.

Speaking about the Hleb situation in particular Le Prof said-
“It has been suggested that Hleb may employ the new Webster clause and buy out his own contract. "That is not as simple as it looks," retorted Wenger. "And you should not forget that what players can do to us we can do to them. "The Webster clause is not easy, you can't come in next day and buy out. There is no rule that says what it is all about.
"You have to go to a tribunal and then to FIFA and if you don't agree with FIFA [you] have to go to ACAS. It takes a lot of months. And you can be banned for the whole period if it is not done in a proper way."

But his agent made it sound a lot easier than that, and made it sound like it was signed and sealed that Hleb would be a Gunner no more. Well.. well indeed, more waiting and watching and rot like that.

Arsene addresses the rumours saying that players want to join Arsenal not leave, saying that 220 players were all vying to play for us next season
At least we are not losing out on Fabregas and Adebayor both of whom have pledged their foreseeable futures to Arsenal Football Club. The rumours however will continue all through the summer. Groan, I say… groan. Drat and double drat!

But rest assured Arsene’s got it all covered saying we should see some new faces at Arsenal, which will make us forget all about losing Flamini and Hleb. Arsene said today-

"I know what I want and I am very confident,"
"I hope to turn that around in the next two or three weeks. They (fans) should be re-assured by what they see.
"It would be better to buy someone who has played in England because they are less risky, but it costs more money if they are from The Premier League," he went on.
"Maybe I will try to do both."

The names of Kranjcar, Ben Arfa and Makoun have surfaced and resurfaced recently, lets see what construes.A busy summer ahead of us, but before we focus on the upcoming season we do have to negotiate a trip to play Roy Keane’s Sunderland, who I must say I continue to hate from his playing days much into his managerial career! He’s right up there with the most hateful of Manks! I hope we stuff them, and I think we will for sure! A full match review is here from .con.
Arsene says he will let the likes of Kieran Gibbs and Mark Randall show us what they’re made of in this trip to Sunderland. Also he went on to speak about the English talent at Arsenal, especially the up and comers-

"...But there are lot of English talents in the squad overall. We have Gibbs, Randall, the younger Hoyte, Jack Wilshere and Henri Lansbury, who might be included in the group next year.”

Those who said that we are not English, coz we have no home grown talent, they can now line up and receive their spanking from the Professor.That said Le Prof reckons that the current set is his best since he was at the club. I know most of us will have mixed opinions about this, but I for one wouldn’t want to mess around with Arsene, no siree bob! He said-

"I believe that this team was beyond expectation from the first day of the season," said Wenger. "Unfortunately they don't get the credit they deserve at the moment for the quality of their displays.
"I think we have learned a lot. We were very close to winning the European Cup and the Premier League. We were unlucky with some bad decisions from the referees' consistency since the Birmingham game.
"And maybe when we were under pressure we lost a bit of freedom in our display. That's what we have to learn.
"But I feel it bodes well for next season because since I have been in England this has been the unluckiest team I have had. But as well this is the best team I have had."

Right then, he will have to do his best to keep them all together, a task I think he will accomplish.
According to the Manager, Rosicky will most likely miss the Euro, and looks at what lies ahead for Mad Jens after this season. Gilberto ,who has endured quite a bit this season and one of the players who is rumoured to be on the move in the summer speaks about how much he likes it here and his future. The Brazilian captain said-

"I want to stay at the club.I enjoy being at Arsenal - the people, the atmosphere, the football, everything about it here. I don't know if the club have received any offers”.“The situation could change if the club gets one. I hope to stay, but I don't know what the club are thinking. Manager's make plans, but then things happen as the end of the season that they didn't expect to happen."

And that's as far as the roundup goes.Sunderland it is today and I don’t think we will get to watch the game live in the Asia region, and I'm informed by the Arestard that it's not even on delay here. Those sneaky Manky, Chelski loving twerps over at ESPN Star!! So if you want to see some poxy shite faced idiot hold up the premiership trophy you will need to know that all games kickoff at 19.30 India time and that's 15.30 UK time.

Before I go now…

… Jenas must be ‘aving a larf…again! Have a good Sunday! (even though most of us in Asia will probably have to make do with highlights of our game)
So for the last time this season- Come on you Gunners!

Fare thee well Flamster

2008-05-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well it's been all over for a while now, and it was finally confirmed yesterday that Mathieu Flamini has signed for AC Milan ending months of speculation and torment for all concerned with Arsenal Football Club.Flamini signed a fouryear deal worth in the region of €5m (£3.9m) a year. Though we'd have loved it if he had stayed, his leaving is far from acrimonius and is not at all suprising. Money it would've been that was the deciding factor, not to mention the opportunity to play for the great Milan.

Flam has really been the backbone for us this year, the anchor which enabled us to do all the stuff we've done upfront. He really was a pivotal player for us. He always had this never give in spirit, and the hardwork he put in on the pitch is the stuff of legend. The Flamster was also the kind of character that drives the rest of the team. He will be missed by one and all. All the best Flamster!

Now that that's a part of the past, Arsene must look to replace the terrier , but you would agree that's not going to be the easiest thing in the world. Vital Football takes a look at who from the current team could possibly step into the Flam's vacant position now. However any replacement from within our fold will have to be temporary, ideally we will have to acquire someone.You never though, Wenger could spring one , another one on us!

Jens speaks here about his tearful farewell,and about what he leaves behind at Arsenal.

A couple of days and a couple of players lost, and important players at that. Arguably we wouldn't have to replace Mad Jens right away, but the Flamster we would need to replace pronto!

Well Flamini's departure has been a downer , could I stick my neck out here and say Arsene's got it covered? Yes I would.
Till tomorrow then.

A game of not that much consequence,Abschiedsspiel Jens!

2008-05-05T14:44:00.001-07:00

Speaking after the game, Wenger commented about the performance-

"The fluency was a bit difficult sometimes. You could see that it was a little bit an end of season game, especially with the fact that they didn't open up at all. They played with Johnson up front, but we were sound at the back. We didn't create as many chances as usual but we scored a great goal and, in the end, I think we just deserved a win today. They didn't create a lot and overall we deserved to win this game."

I'm not sure if we really deserved to win the game, but like Isaid maybe we just edged it.Arsene also confirmed Jens Lehmann departure-

"It was a farewell, yes. I wanted him to say goodbye to the fans and to show him that we respect him for what he has done for us. He was a 100 per-cent professional, not always an easy character but you take that if the guys is committed every day."

We are really going to miss Mad Jens between the sticks, he was a good servant, and we had a few succesful years with him as the last line of defence. He was a volatile figure on the pitch, often given to altercation with the opposition, and causing more than a few ruffles in the opposition camp. He was a steely character, and was dependable. The fact that he was not getting any younger and the two mistakes at the start of the season cost him his starting place. That was met with some deragatory remarks by the big German and added to the humour he provided , not to mention his finger wagging at opponents and referrees. Here's wishing him all the best! Thank you Jens!Here's a litlle glimpse of the Mad man at work- More of what Arsene said about Mad Jens lower down in this piece.

Arsene's complete post match comments are here, including him talking about Bendtner's progress and the Flamini issue. Wenger also said he will sit with Gilberto and discuss his future, also saying he hoped the Brazilian stayed a Gunner. Arsene said-

"I would like Gilberto to stay. But I have to sit down with him to see what he wants to do. Gilberto is like Jens Lehmann, you can rely on them, they are fantastic professionals. Gilberto is a fantastic guy. We won trophies with Gilberto and Jens because they are special human beings, you know? You do not win with average people."

Arsene makes a good point abolut winning things and the kind of people we need to win stuff, thats whywe need to add a few to the team, and retain some of the ones who plan on leaving. While we are on the subject, this report in the Telegraph speaks about Flamini travelling to Milan on Sunday evening to sign a contract. Well what's to say now? Huh? Mathieu did not play yesterday, and this pic in the report shows Flamini waving goodbye to the fans, but I caught nothing of this on TV. Flamini's departure or impending departure or whatever it is now has not been confirmed on .con.

Arsene sums up the situation rather well here-

"At some stage you have to make a decision and if he goes we have to look at our options. We can't wait until July. You could lose players if they come on the market." "My ideal solution is that he stays so I am not happy if he goes - but we have done everything we can."

Today's the day I think where we will finally find out how this story ends. That was the last home game of the season, and we remain undefeated all this season at home. Maybe we could have had a more swashbuckling display, but anyhoo...

Oh well, see ya and G'day!

A game of not that much consequence,Abschiedsspiel Jens!

2008-05-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

It was a game of little consequence to us, atleast that's what the performance proved in the game against Everton at Ashburton Grove yesterday. Quite a dull outing, Everton would hardly ever come out to play and we did just enough in the end to get the three points. A super Traore cross and a nice towering header by Bendtner late on in the piece sealed the win for us. There was not too much rhythm yesterday but our rhythm deserted us.I was expecting a bit more from the lads, but you have to keep in mind that the team was missing seven of the usual starters, and " it was and end of season game".

Speaking after the game, Wenger commented about the performance-
"The fluency was a bit difficult sometimes. You could see that it was a little bit an end of season game, especially with the fact that they didn't open up at all. They played with Johnson up front, but we were sound at the back. We didn't create as many chances as usual but we scored a great goal and, in the end, I think we just deserved a win today. They didn't create a lot and overall we deserved to win this game."

I'm not sure if we really deserved to win the game, but like Isaid maybe we just edged it.Arsene also confirmed Jens Lehmann departure-
"It was a farewell, yes. I wanted him to say goodbye to the fans and to show him that we respect him for what he has done for us. He was a 100 per-cent professional, not always an easy character but you take that if the guys is committed every day."
We are really going to miss Mad Jens between the sticks, he was a good servant, and we had a few succesful years with him as the last line of defence. He was a volatile figure on the pitch, often given to altercation with the opposition, and causing more than a few ruffles in the opposition camp. He was a steely character, and was dependable. The fact that he was not getting any younger and the two mistakes at the start of the season cost him his starting place. That was met with some deragatory remarks by the big German and added to the humour he provided , not to mention his finger wagging at opponents and referrees. Here's wishing him all the best! Thank you Jens! More of what Arsene said about Mad Jens lower down in this piece.

Arsene's complete post match comments are here, including him talking about Bendtner's progress and the Flamini issue. Wenger also said he will sit with Gilberto and discuss his future, also saying he hoped the Brazilian stayed a Gunner. Arsene said-
"I would like Gilberto to stay. But I have to sit down with him to see what he wants to do. Gilberto is like Jens Lehmann, you can rely on them, they are fantastic professionals. Gilberto is a fantastic guy. We won trophies with Gilberto and Jens because they are special human beings, you know? You do not win with average people."

Arsene makes a good point abolut winning things and the kind of people we need to win stuff, thats whywe need to add a few to the team, and retain some of the ones who plan on leaving. While we are on the subject, this report in the Telegraph speaks about Flamini travelling to Milan on Sunday evening to sign a contract. Well what's to say now? Huh? Mathieu did not play yesterday, and this pic in the report shows Flamini waving goodbye to the fans, but I caught nothing of this on TV. Flamini's departure or impending departure or whatever it is now has not been confirmed on .con.

Arsene sums up the situation rather well here-
"At some stage you have to make a decision and if he goes we have to look at our options.
We can't wait until July. You could lose players if they come on the market."
"My ideal solution is that he stays so I am not happy if he goes - but we have done everything we can."

Today's the day I think where we will finally find out how this story ends.
That was the last home game of the season, and we remain undefeated all this season at home. Maybe we could have had a more swashbuckling display, but anyhoo...
Oh well, see ya and G'day!

A game for the fans

2008-05-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

So that’s that. Our smallest bit of hope anything bright and shiny that resembles a cup this season was well and truly snuffed out yesterday. That though shouldn’t stop the lads from putting in good display in front of the Ashburton faithful. This could possibly be the last time Flamini will be seen in our home colours, we will know for sure tomorrow or by Tuesday or so.

It’s been a very topsy –turvy season, the troughs dominating as the season drew to a close. We have been treated to some really fantastic football and with our start and with a bit of luck could have had a successful term. The squad was a bit light in some areas and that could’ve been one of the reasons for our season coming apart .But none of that talk today, let’s just go out there and enjoy ourselves and hope the Gunners put on a show for the fans who have got behind the team at all times (atleast the real fans, and not the fair weather poser shite ). If you haven't had a gander of what some of the Gooners did at that shit hole at Manchester after the game this season have a little look below.

These games are for them, for us, for those who accept that a result is just how a game ends, and not whether they will support the team tomorrow, result irrespective. Of course we’d love to win, that will be sheer delirium, but if we lose that doesn’t mean that we turn our back on the team. The fans are what separate football from other baser sports. It is this impassioned support that is football. That’s what makes it what it is.

Ok I was digressing a bit. We have quite a few injuries, and that should see a few kids thrown in to the cauldron we call the Premiership. Hoping we come up with the goods today, and put on a performance which we can savour for some time to come. A full match preview available here, courtesy the kind sirs at .con.
Before I run away- Sagna reportedly has earned himself a new deal,andArsene speaks about how the new stadium could have prevented us from making big money signings. And so for the last home game of the season…

…Come on you GUNNERS!!

And 'appy Birthday Cescy!

Arsene assures that there will be no Arsenal exodus

2008-05-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well kicking things off today, Arsene assures us that no only one player will be allowed to leave this season and that player will be Mathieu Flamini. This comes in the light of speculation that we might lose quite a few players in the summer, of them possibly Hleb,Ade, Gilberto and Mad Jens. Let's hope he keeps his word, and adds this summer to a team that looks like reaching it's true potential next season.
Continuing about Flam he said- "We have have only one player who is free, that is Mathieu Flamini. He can go where he wants but he can as well stay.”

Arsene also mentioned in his Friday press conference that Flamini willhestaywillhego issue will be put to bed early next week, as he has extended the deadline for the midfielder till the coming Monday.That should be enough to consume the Flamster over the weekend, or not, if he's made up his mind already. Don't forget that Flamini should take his place in midfield again tomorrow, back from injury, in what could be the last time he plays in from of the home fans. I have a gut feeling that he will stay though, but we should all know really soon.

And about Hleb Arsene added-
“Alex Hleb has two years’ contract .He is not for sale.”
Arsene is also furious about the Inter-Hleb-ice cream thingy. Arsene says that recently some more details of the meeting have emerged which have got him incensed. Le Prof said that he will take this up with FIFA but did not divulge anymore details. You have to be really pissed-off with what Hleb did, it really gets my goat, unacceptable behaviour from the Belarussian.

Arsene says the strength of a team can only be measured over time , he added -
“I feel you have to take a distance from immediate results.What is important is to make the right decision, have the right philosophy and the decision you make today is the one you still make if you want to be successful in 10 years."
“You must take distance from the immediate game that was won or lost. That can sometimes be down to the decision of the referee and not your skill."
“The only way to show some quality is over the longer distance. We can all win one game and over six months be strong. The manager can show his strengths if he makes stability for eight, 10, 15, 20 years, Ferguson at Manchester United."
“The quality of a club and strength of it is more judged on a longer distance. It is a marathon to lead a club and I believe this particular club has always shown different strengths to other clubs.
“For the rest I am not involved in the politics.”

Hmm... let's hope all the hard work in previous season comes to a head and we walk away with a treble or something. But fair play to the Professor, we know where he's coming from, we are patient, and will continue to be patient. Arsene also talks about the wage structure we have in place at Ashburton Grove. Saying that we have it or go bust. I think that more than anything the players at Arsenal will have to stay here with a paycut, and it could be a quite a considerable paycut. There are so many things on offer at Arsenal Football Club, but money is not one of them. Players know this and no amount of holding the club up for ransom is going to change anything. I'm sure all of us would like to pay our players more, this also ensures that we keep them at the club for longer, but unfortunate as it is we can't do that at this point of time. That said it's not like the players are starving or something. I'm glad we are sticking firmly by the wage structure.The wage structure is here to keep us from going down the tube, and that's reason enough. So there.

We maybe in the market for Portsmouth's Kranjar, as his father Zlatko confirms, more on that here.

Our last home fixture of the season sees Everton come by, they have a UEFA cup place to play for, so it really should be something. It's a 13.30 Kickoff London time, and that makes it a 18.00 kickoff in India. It's on in Asia on ESPN, so now you know. But before that, can West Ham do us the hugest favour ever, when the destroy the Manky Shite find out today that's on in a little while from now, while Chelski take on a beleagered Newcastle also today. Two matches any Arsenal fan will be keenly following.

In a followup story to the Edelman departing story, Arsene says that he is suprised by his leaving. Some one here is terribly irritated that Edelman was shown the door only at this late stage, but that's just his opinion, read all about it here.
And thats has to do it for today. Here's hoping that Chelski and Manky Shite can commit suicide or something!

Arsene assures that there will be no Arsenal exodus

2008-05-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well kicking things off today, Arsene assures us that no only one player will be allowed to leave this season and that player will be Mathieu Flamini. This comes in the light of speculation that we might lose quite a few players in the summer, of them possibly Hleb,Ade, Gilberto and Mad Jens. Let's hope he keeps his word, and adds this summer to a team that looks like reaching it's true potential next season.

Continuing about Flam he said- "We have have only one player who is free, that is Mathieu Flamini. He can go where he wants but he can as well stay.”

Arsene also mentioned in his Friday press conference that Flamini willhestaywillhego issue will be put to bed early next week, as he has extended the deadline for the midfielder till the coming Monday.That should be enough to consume the Flamster over the weekend, or not, if he's made up his mind already. Don't forget that Flamini should take his place in midfield again tomorrow, back from injury, in what could be the last time he plays in from of the home fans. I have a gut feeling that he will stay though, but we should all know really soon.

And about Hleb Arsene added- “Alex Hleb has two years’ contract .He is not for sale.”
Arsene is also furious about the Inter-Hleb-ice cream thingy. Arsene says that recently some more details of the meeting have emerged which have got him incensed. Le Prof said that he will take this up with FIFA but did not divulge anymore details. You have to be really pissed-off with what Hleb did, it really gets my goat, unacceptable behaviour from the Belarussian.

Arsene says the strength of a team can only be measured over time , he added - “I feel you have to take a distance from immediate results.What is important is to make the right decision, have the right philosophy and the decision you make today is the one you still make if you want to be successful in 10 years." “You must take distance from the immediate game that was won or lost. That can sometimes be down to the decision of the referee and not your skill." “The only way to show some quality is over the longer distance. We can all win one game and over six months be strong. The manager can show his strengths if he makes stability for eight, 10, 15, 20 years, Ferguson at Manchester United." “The quality of a club and strength of it is more judged on a longer distance. It is a marathon to lead a club and I believe this particular club has always shown different strengths to other clubs. “For the rest I am not involved in the politics.”

Hmm... let's hope all the hard work in previous season comes to a head and we walk away with a treble or something. But fair play to the Professor, we know where he's coming from, we are patient, and will continue to be patient.

Arsene also talks about the wage structure we have in place at Ashburton Grove. Saying that we have it or go bust. I think that more than anything the players at Arsenal will have to stay here with a paycut, and it could be a quite a considerable paycut. There are so many things on offer at Arsenal Football Club, but money is not one of them. Players know this and no amount of holding the club up for ransom is going to change anything. I'm sure all of us would like to pay our players more, this also ensures that we keep them at the club for longer, but unfortunate as it is we can't do that at this point of time. That said it's not like the players are starving or something. I'm glad we are sticking firmly by the wage structure.The wage structure is here to keep us from going down the tube, and that's reason enough. So there.

We maybe in the market for Portsmouth's Kranjar, as his father Zlatko confirms, more on that here.
Our last home fixture of the season sees Everton come by, they have a UEFA cup place to play for, so it really should be something. It's a 13.30 Kickoff London time, and that makes it a 18.00 kickoff in India. It's on in Asia on ESPN, so now you know. But before that, can West Ham do us the hugest favour ever, when the destroy the Manky Shite find out today that's on in a little while from now, while Chelski take on a beleagered Newcastle also today. Two matches any Arsenal fan will be keenly following.

In a followup story to the Edelman departing story, Arsene says that he is suprised by his leaving. Some one here is terribly irritated that Edelman was shown the door only at this late stage, but that's just his opinion, read all about it here. And thats has to do it for today. Here's hoping that Chelski and Manky Shite can commit suicide or something!

Edelman quits, Flamini to follow suit? 5% chance of the title?

2008-05-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

So Flam hasn't put us out of our agony, but I think most of us have more of than an inkling of how this story ends. Still something more concrete which ever way it is would be a lot more helpful, and we are post the deadline that Arsene set. The closest we have ever come is a hint that Flamini told his mates at the club we all love that he's on his way. Fed on scraps we are , aren't we?

The supposed exodus, or news of an exodus is not limited to the players (Hleb, Gilberto, Ade?) as well. As most of you know by now ,Keith Edelman, Managing Director at Arsenal tendered his resignation in yesterday. Saying that he was in search of a "fresh challenge". Edelman said-

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Arsenal. I am proud to have contributed to the club's many off-field achievements ... not least the Emirates Stadium project."
“Now that we have completed our second season at Emirates, I believe it is the right time to seek pastures new and embark upon fresh challenges.”

We are led to believe by The Sun that Edelman quit over a fallout with Arsene, but you also know of the shit stirring shite that they are. Other than that though there's no real reason as to why Edelman quit, I'm just brushing aside the "fresh challenges" bit, in case you didn't notice. Edelman played a part in our move to a bigger stadium, and the Nike and Emirates deals. He will continue for another 12 months to ensure a "smooth transition" of his responsibilities. While the search is on for a replacement, Ken Friar will be the Acting Director . Meanwhile Edelman's departure has no doubt added fuel to the takeover talk.

One source close to the club said last night: “Keith was viewed as not being right for the job. He did well getting us into the stadium but the board thought he couldn't take things any further.”

This story here continues that-But Edelman was seen as cost-conscious to the point of penny-pinching and insiders say that he was not liked by Arsène Wenger, the manager, a close friend of Dein. Fans have wanted big-money buys and, although there was much talk of a massive war chest, Wenger has not waded into the transfer market, leading to worries that Arsenal, who have not won a trophy for three years, were being left behind by Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

I will refrain from going on about Edelman's departure as this is an issue as I have very little authority on, suffice to say that it is quite an unpleasant happening in the life of Arsenal Football Club. Write me up on your views on this, and educate me, please!

With the Flamster situation as unclear as it is this story here looks at who we could look at as a replacement for the Frenchman. This story here says that we are looking at a Man City youngster, Michael Johnson, as another replacement for the AC Milan bound Falmini. Wenger is af an of the City youngster who is part of the England U21 set up. Also we have our eye on Australian player Mark Milligan, but it's too early to tell, as the story explains.

Toure says he will try to convince Thierry to return to the club, coz he will be welcomed back with open arms. Toure said-

'He'll be very welcome to come back, because I think he's an Arsenal legend, he can still score a lot of goals, and we will be much better.
'So of course we will welcome him with a lot of joy and happiness because we all know that with him we'll be better.
'I'll try to speak to him soon, we'll try and convince him to come back to his home.
'I think he'll come back to play in England, at Arsenal, because he did so much for the club and I know that the fans still have him in their heart.'

Well I'm not too sure about Thierry coming back, really haven't given it too much of thought. I feel the club has changed so much since he left and his return could well throw a spanner in the works. Like I said though haven't let this one fester for too long on the ol' bean.

Arsene reckons that Gallas could still be holding the Prem title aloft, still giving us a 5% chance of picking it up. I have to admit that I'm not giving up on the title too, stranger things have happened and rot like that, but this will have to be the strangest if we are to win it this season.

And in the build up to our game on Sunday against Everton, we are informed that RVP won't make it. But before we throw our hands up in the air and say " I told you so", the story also goes on to say that he will miss the game only as a precaution. That means that we are liable to see some more of the fringe players take centre stage on Sunday. Arsene said-

"We have a big game on Sunday. They go for something, we go for something. I want to see them again."

..And Id like that too, thank you , I find myself saying. And that will be all today.

Have a good weekend you lot!

Put an end to the agony Flam!

2008-04-30T01:06:00.000-07:00

The Flamini will he won't he issue has gone on for way to long, but we should know one way or the other today. There have been rumours that he's already signed for the Red and Black half of Milan, nothing confirmed though as of now.

This reminds me so much of the time when Thierry left last year. I'm really worried, as the Flamster would be nigh replaceable. But you never quite know do you. We haven't replaced Henry, but we have discovered another 30 goal hero in Manu Adebayor. Wenger is pleasantly suprised by the big mans performance this season, and kudos to the Togolese frontman. Wenger said-
"I didn't think Adebayor would reach 30 goals this season .I thought he would get 15. "
"In this team you can score goals when you play up front because we always go forward and you get good service. "
"But, I feel there is more in his locker than what he is doing at the moment. You cannot ask a striker to score 50 goals but if he repeats this amount every year, that is a mark of class."

Ade has stepped up this season, he should form a lethal combination with RVP in the next season (if he's fit for more than 13 starts ). RVP was removed midway in the previous game purely as a precautionary measure. But that don't mean much now does it? As Gunnerblog reckons-"presumably that’ll be about six months on the sidelines."

According to this here we have signed Levski Sofia midfielder Nikolay Dimitrov for £700,000 rising to £1 million.He's Bulgarian, plays on the left wing and at 20 is just how Arsene likes them. And the liking was rather instant we are told and Arsene started the negotiations soon after.

Wenger said that we were one game away from premiership glory. According to him if we had done the businees at Old Trafford we will be right in the mix now. But in with arseblogger on this, I think it was the draws that did us in.

And that's all there today, unless you want to discuss the Manky Shite going to the CL final, I thought not! Now there's just the agonising wait on the Flamster, but I think at this late stage it's all a fore gone conclusion. Will update this space As soon as I find out.
Till the next time!

Derby 2-Arsenal 6, No news on Flamini, Hleb

2008-04-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

We ran out easy winners yesterday against bottom club Derby yesterday. It finished 6-2, but frankly it could have been a lot more goals for us.

It was Derby though who started out the better team, and were a lot sharper in the opening 20 orso minutes from the start. We lacked rhythm early on, but that was all to change. A bad pass by the Derby defence allowed a neat one two from the frontman on the night Bendtner and RVP, with Bendtner slotting home past Carroll for the opener. Some more sloppy defending allowed Derby back on level terms few minutes after we took the lead, which is beginning to be an all too familiar pattern for us, especially towards the latter half of the season.
The last few minutes of the first half saw us take the lead when Toure delivered a well timed overhead pass to a streaking RVP who chested down and crashed into the back of the net. This after he missed another easy chance one- on -one with Carroll.

The second half was all us, Earnshaw though scored one more for the already relegated Derby, who were just cut to ribbons . Ade scored 3 when he came on as a second half substitute for Van Persie who went off injured on the half way mark. His first was made by Theo Who capped a fine run on the right hand side, beat a defender in the box and squared for the telescopic legs of the Togolese to slide home . Theo scored a fine goal this time running down the left side and smashed home almost immediately after Earnshaw scored their second. The score was then 4-2. Adebayor added two more before the close to round off the rout. He scored goal no. 28,29 and 30 in this one, and is a splendid achievement for the striker. He has looked a bit non-plussed in recent months, but it was nice to see him the goals yesterday. this was his second hatrick of the season, his first coming in the reverse fixture. Ade is not quite in the highest bracket as yet, but maybe we won't be saying that for long.

While it was a splendid display going forward, the defending still leaves a lot to be desired. To concede two to the bottom club and a club who is struggling to score puts things in perspective. We really need to spruce it up if we are going to challenge for the title next season. Maybe a certain Tony Adams could help us out.

While even the most ardent Gooner have given up all hopes of the title, Cescy still believes. The PFA young player of the year winner said-
"Nothing is impossible. We have to win the last two games and then we'll see. We are not the favourites, but you never know."

You have to admire his optimism, but really it would have to be like a huge miracle and the most unlikeliest of possibilities for us to win from here. But it would be dashed wonderful wouldn't it?!!
Cescy continued here and again pledged his future to the Gunners, saying-
"I'm very happy at Arsenal and thinking about next season already.I'm sure we will be up for winning trophies again next year, and I cannot wait for the new season to start.
"It is disappointing how we were leading the Premier League at one stage and then lost our way. That should not happen at a club like Arsenal, but I still think we have been improving. It didn't happen because we didn't play well or didn't give 100 per cent - it's just a better team won."

Wenger saluted the performance yesterday saying that we are now stronger than we were at the start of the season, and saying we are paying now for a rough patch in March, he added-
"I feel in this team you can score goals. You will always get good service, it is not only down to the strikers. Everybody tries to make life easier for the strikers."
"I think he (Ade) took advantage of the work the team had done in the first half, it was easier. We know he can score goals, he has now scored 24 in the league but Van Persie played well and Bendtner played well as well."

And there's more post match comments from the man they call The Professor here.
There are no updates on the Flamini to Milan and Hleb to Inter story. Arsene has given Flamini time till tommorow, and I can only assume that no news is just the worst at the moment and we will not see the Flamster turn out in our colours next season. As stated before, Arsene's prime objective after it all fell apart for us this season was to keep this team together, but that looks in serious danger with the impending moves of Hleb and Flamini, and we may lose out on Gilberto as well. While Hleb maybe replaceable with some one with more end product, I will be suprised if we manage to fill those big boots of the Flamster. Anyways we should find out if we do need to find someone for the Frenchman.
Until such time keep those fingers gnarled. So long!

Back with a Monday round up!

2008-04-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hello there Arsefans, It's been so long since my last post that I've forgotten how it feels like to get a post done. That said it's increasingly ditressing to viewthe blog and find out that my last post was all of a week ago. I'm trying to keep the posts as regular as possible and here I go with another crack of the whip.

With our third (could we go up to second) place sewn up we have a rather tame end to the season, with everyone already focussing on the season to follow. There are just 2 days left for Flamini to extend his association with the Gunners, and don't you get the feeling that if he was to sign for us he would have by now? Earlier the Flamster had cited that he was too involved in performing in an Arsenal Shirt to think about the future.But he has had a long sat on his arse and there is no positive news. It's less than two days now.

The Hleb situation doesn't look too much clearer as well. His rumours to Milan and Inter continue to do the rounds.It's all pretty much up in the air. Arseblogger raised a wonderful point about Hleb ,Rosicky, Flamini and Cescy all being such great mates off the pitch as well. I'm hoping this will contribute in some part in Arsene keeping this team together.

Here Arsene speaks about losing belief in himself. The manager has always said the right things and stood behind his team under all situations. I'm sure most of us would have lost some belief in Le Prof's methods and the team during this rollercoaster ride of a season, and it shows more of Arsene's human side.

There has been some news of Henry's return to England, and Wenger adresses this issue but not so much as providing for full blown speculation. Arsene said-

"I read the statement," said the manager. "He said he is happy at Barcelona but if he comes back he will only play at Arsenal. I find that a really very good statement.
"But although you can never say never, at the moment I do not think about [re-signing him].
"However I still think he has a lot to offer as a player. The whole team in Barcelona has not worked completely this year, they were never in the race for the championship. Every player has been a bit devalued. But I still think he has a lot there."

Stranger things have happened, indeed. I watched the MankyChumps and the Chelski Chumps go at it over the weekend. It was the chumps wearing blue that came out on top, and was nice to see lots of kicking and a pushing and shoving going around. Ballack and Dogba having a go at each other, priceless.

Clichy come out in support of his captain Billy Gallas. But really we will have to consider our options on who will wear the armband next season. Clichy gets Arsene's pat, Arsene said-

"There was a question mark about whether Gaël would last the season. He had three operations on his metatarsal and had already undergone hernia surgery. The big victory for me this year is not that he has played well - I expected him to play well - but that he could absorb a complete season at the top level without any rest," said Wenger. "The best left-back in the Premier League? I would say yes. I am very positive with Gaël, because he loves the game and, every day after training, he's out there practising to improve."

And I would say he is the best, and has left a poxy twit called Cashley far behind! Speaking of best, We doff our cap to Cescy on winning the PFA award for the best youngster in the country, and as usual the Spaniard bigged the team effort more than anything else-

"I am very proud because it is always satisfying for yourself, but all the team worked really hard this season and it's been disappointing at the end."

The team of the year also sees four Gunners in the starting line up, well we can take some consolation from that.And it's kind of mood in the camp right now innit, we can take it a bit easy and blood some youngsters for the final 3 games of the season. With Sagna out for the season and Hleb banned, there's plenty of opportunity for some one to give us a preview for next season. Beginning today with Derby at Pride Park, but sadly couldn't dig up any team news . It goes without saying that we need a strong end to the season.

And we'll complete the roundup with some youngster called Pjanic on our radar and Eboue looking to cement his place in the starting 11. Good luck Eboue with that, you have very little going for you!

And that's all.Come on You Gunners!

Keeping this team together is priority

2008-04-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

A late post it is again, and it's becoming the norm rather than the exception. Work is to blame , but you don't want to hear about that. So straight in to the Arse news it is. With this season done as far as anything bright and shiny goes, the focus swings to the season that is to follow. Arsene spoke last week saying how his priority was to keep this team together , and build on it for next season, and it's that sort of news that dominates.

Arsene echoes the praise that young Thunderbolt Theo has received over the last week, calling him a 'man', but not a 'monster'. Interesting innit? Wenger explained-
"It was his most complete game.One where he looked most 'the man', the most mature."

"At the start of the season, when Theo was on from the beginning, you did not see a lot from him. There were only glimpses when you could say 'there is something there' and you wondered when he would come out. Now he is starting to show that."

"Theo is not a monster, but he has great body power. When he starts on the first five yards, it is like you throw him away. You do not see him, he is gone. That is more important than just more power. But the way we play, we can take advantage of his qualities."

He really is coming in to his own, and just might have earned him self more starts. For our part we must be patient and let the lad come on without heaping to much expectation on him, you know the press has blood on their hands over this. Wenger continued on the young Englishman saying-

"I feel next season began on Saturday for him. I don't know yet if I will start with him for the rest of the season, but there is a good chance yes.
"It is down to him now, how much he wants it. But I hope he continues to produce this type of performance and on his account are 10 or 15 goals, because that is what you should aim for."

Theo is huge positive to come out of the last game. Another player who we could be seeing more than we expected of in the first team is Lukasz Fabianski.Well that all but sounds the death knell for Mad Jens. He probably played his last game for us this past Saturday, and we will miss him.

Another player who we expect will be on his way will be Gilberto. He put in one of his best performances this season against Reading at Ashburton last week, and most Gooners would have been gald to see him be amongst the goals. The stripping of his captaincy and his relegation to the bench have been much discussed in Arsenal circles. The man for allhis hardship this season , has always been a model pro. He continues in this same vein (what else could you expect from him), saying that he will have a chat with Arsene about his future and that he wants to stay a Gunner-

"I will sit down with the boss at the end of the season," he said. "But for the next few weeks, I will keep focused on doing my job and try to help the team as much as I can. Whether it's on the pitch as I was on Saturday, or whether it's on the training pitch working with the players.

Arsene also warns Alex Hleb about resisting the charms of the Ice cream man and believes that the potential of the squad at Ashburton Grove should keep the Belarussian here. If Hleb does decide to move on in the summer he could have played his last game for us just like like Mad Jens, as this here explains.

Of all the players we are likely to lose over the summer really think that if we can hang on to Flamini and maybe Hleb and Gilberto,to a lesser extent, we can really build a strong squad for next season.

It's not yet the summer but transfer news is rife . Take your pick from this or this maybe this here or indeed this which states that the Milan And Juve have our big Togonator in their sights.

So long, and speak to you tomorrow. By the looks of things, there will be a huge change in the time I update the blog everyday.I will be more inclined to write in about this time everyday, so check in about this time everyday, or indeed the next day. Thanks.

We want to win but with our own style

2008-04-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

I'm back at it again after giving yal the silent treatment over the last few days. Nyhoo I'm sure you are all doing quite well after the win yesterday. It does feel really good to get a win under our belts and also a clean sheet, it also helps in getting that horrible feeling out of the pit of your stomach.

It was a rather facile win yeterday, with Reading being just off the drop zone. I missed the first half, but caught the whole of the second. It finished 2-o, both being scored goals scored in the first half. The first was a well taken goal by Ade, he was put in by a fine ball by Kolo Toure and then handsomely slotted past Hahnemann. The second one was through Gilberto . Playing in place of an injured Flamini, Gilberto's shot from outside the box got a lucky deflection and nestled in the back of the net. Our luck seemed ti be turning, and for the better this time. From the first half highlights it looked like we had quite a lot of possesion , and controlled the game. The Arsetard however told me that we were playing like a pub team. But that was prior to the goals, so I'm guessing we stepped on the gas a bit after that.

The second half was all us, but with some luck and maybe a little more co-ordination we could have had a more convincing scoreline. RVP's freekick hit a combination of the bar and the post but still stayed out, while Theo had his left-footed shot from inside the box cannon of the bar. We were a lot more assured in this game, and put in a fine performance. It was all passing and movement, but still I would saythat we lack a little more penetration in the final third. But it was super performance overall, and a great way to get back to winning 3 points.

Fab had more verve, RVP looked close on getting back to his best, Gilberto had a more solid performance, and Theo was all energy and quick feet. The backline included Song , who had one or two sticky moments in the second half, but recovered to put in a decent performance.

There's not a lot left on offer for the boys, but Arsene calls it rightly when he said after this after the game yesterday-

"Yes, we responded well after massive, massive, massive disappointment. We responded quite well, I must say I was worried after last Saturday over how we could finish the season, the disappointment was so big that I was not sure we'd be capable to respond, so on that front we did very well. Overall you could see that there is a strong link in the team to play the quality of game we want to play. We have shown some pride and some mental strength not to get ourselves down until the end of the season, and that is very important. The next season starts now and we want to finish as well as possible - you never know. We can make 83 points, it will not be a shame for us, and that is still reachable."

Wenger continued his praise saying he wants to win with style, saying-

"Yes, I think the collective technical display is the best we have played in the last twelve years, I would stand for that, but we have not been... If you look a little bit back with distance you could say that at the start of the season we had nothing to lose. When we came under pressure in March maybe we were a bit unlucky, we dropped some points because every problem we had to face we lacked a little bit of maturity, but overall there is a lot of hope because if you see the game today, what kind of quality football we can play, I believe this team has to stay together and to win - to convince completely people. We want to win but with our own style."

I agree wholeheartedly with Arsene when he says that the next season starts now and that we should win with our own style. I'm sure that we will be able to do this. We've been a patient lot waiting for Arsene to deliver success, and with style, lets hold on to that patience for a while longer, we are getting ever so close now.

While we are on about next season Cescy rubbishes stories of him moving from North London saying-

"My future belongs to Arsenal, and it is the truth.I do not know why [it was brought up]. It is always the same with my situation, always putting my name in another team."

"I have always said I want to play for Arsenal, it is the best team I can be at, the best club for me. Before I even say anything, people put me in another club and I don't understand that.

"But I have always wanted to play for Arsenal."

Good lad Cescy, stay right here, you are well on you're way to being an Arsenal legend that is if you aren't one already. While Wenger says Cescy could have 'one or two real quality' teammates next season, and you can read all about it in this one here.
Arsene also pointed out that he would not be looking to sign Valencia star David Villa in the summer. More ineteresting though in the piece Wenger hinted that he might not strengthen the attack, saying he has enough faith in his young strikers, preferring to strenghthen the back instead. I will say this much- that the back end of the pitch needs a lot more work than the front. Hopefully the strike force we have will gel well next year, that is if indeed Arsene does not buy anymore attacking players in the closed season.But who knows the mind of Le Prof?

One player we need to hang on to, (and it's getting very repetitive now, but it's looking grimmer than ever) is Flamini. Wenger has given him till the end of April to sort it all out. It' looks alike an absolute deadline and that's about 10 days away, fingers are so crossed right now that they are almost gnarled!

And that will have to do. My most discerning readers will notice that I have been quite irregualr with my posts the past month or so while it reached a real crescendo of sorts or is it an anti crescendo, or whatever it is over the past week where I did not break my silence for about 3 or four days.Well it's all down to me switching jobs, and err... getting a bit tied up with the proceedings in the office. Will definitley try and keep this going as regular as possible and will keep try and keep it at a post a day.

So long folks and thanks for putting up with me, a Good Sunday to you all!

Wednesday round up

2008-04-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hello there! How yal doing? I've just switched jobs and that has accounted for the irregular posting. Will try to keep it going as often as I can, but I'm not making any promises.

Our title chase came to a grinding halt with the loss at Old Trafford, and this is another trophyless season for us. As disappointed as we all are, we must take heart from the fact that this team can get better from here. We are not so much behind the pace as people think, and our performance against Manure will bear witness to that. The important thing would be however on building on what we already have at the club, and the first thing is to keep this team intact. While we have had plenty of rumours over Flamini heading to Juve when the season comes to a close and these are here and here are heartstopping!

We cannot overemphasise the quality and energy that The Flamster puts in in the engine room. Flamini is probably the only player in the world who can overshadow Gattusso as we saw in both legs of the pre-quarters in the CL this season. The void he will leave , if we believe the rumours will be emmense. He is irreplaceable according to my book, and we have to hold on to him at all costs. What will happen? We will just have to wait and watch, as helpless as that sounds.

In a bit of catching up with yesterday now-Lee Dixon says that he has his doubts over Cap'n Gallas and that we need a new leader in the teem, and makes a good arguement to back it up, it's here.

Wrighty thinks that Wenger should get out his cheque book and 'splash the cash' in the summer. He said-

"Not since Dennis Bergkamp have Arsenal signed an established, world-class player and it is frustrating."

Also continuing to say-"In midfield, I'd like to see them trying to sign Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery or AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo.
"In defence, maybe someone like Roma's Philippe Mexes,"

Ribery's name had come up last season, but Pirlo? I don't think we can prise him away from Milan's grip. Will decline to comment on Mexes, as I haven't seen too much of him to comment on whether he is what we need or not. Wenger says stuff he has always been saying. On asked whether he was scared to spend money , he said-

"Scared of what? I would not be scared. We couldn't afford him(Ronaldinho) now so we have to forget it.
"But the money (we have paid out) is not comparable to what other teams have spent on players.
"For example with Reyes we got a big part back and for Jeffers a little part back.
"If we have the money and I am convinced it is worth it, we will do it."

There's quite a bit of work to be done in the closed season but Ade reminds us that our season is not over, not quite and you can read the full story here.

...And that will have to do, more tomorrow.Have a good day you lot!

The future's bright, the future's Red and White!

2008-04-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Any lingering hope of the Premiership title us Arse fans permitted ourselves ahead of the game at Old Trafford, were extinguished by the result yesterday. It finished 2-1 in favour of the Manks. The game brought to the fore some of the deficiencies in our squad, and the way forward.
It is by no means all doom and gloom for us. We gave it our all, and in the end analysis it was their experience and the ability to control the game which decided the final outcome. Personnel aside, I think we lack the ability to take charge of the game, this is a quality which both Man U and Chelski possess. Our wins are achieved by last ditch efforts often coming in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the match. We are resilient no doubt, but seldom fill the fans with confidence that we can take the lead and hold on to it for 30 odd minutes or so. We were guilty of letting the opposition right back into the game, immediately after we delivered a telling blow, some misfortune was involved no doubt. Still we do need to look into this.
This said, it was clear to every onlooker yesterday, that our problems were not confined to the defence alone. While our midfield put on a fabulous show and provided for the frontmen, it was Adebayor and Co who failed to come to the party on the day. Ade missed at least 2 clear cut chances in the first half, where we had much the attacking threat. We lack a clinical finisher, and that makes all the difference upfront. We need someone who will take atleast 50% of the chances provided. In the fortress that Old Trafford is, any opposition needs to take whatever they are presented with, and that didn’t happen yesterday. Possibly a proven finisher needs to be procured, especially since RVP is injured so very often and Eduardo will not be back for a long time. Adebayor has looked forlorn in the last couple of months, after his scoring spree very little has been forthcoming. I am probably being a bit harsh on the Togonator, but I’m comparing him to the likes of Drogba, Rooney and Torres and he is not in that bracket, not quite.
The lads gave it their all on the night, fighting and hustling, and the midfield was in the thick of it , especially in the first half. I thought all of them, had a good game, and that is something we are doing right at the moment. Theo for Eboue definitely would be my choice though.
The Manky shite , looked comfortable during the game. They were not overstretched or over awed by our brilliant display in the first. They always have that air of invincibility about them, while we fail to take the game by the scruff of the neck. This is brought about by their confidence and our lack thereof. We are going through a really rough patch, and morale is low in the camp while they are on a high. Their players and fans are confident of their abilities, while we are short on belief at this time.
We will live to fight another day. While it is too early to prescribe what needs to be done and what avoided next season (some of you may argue and say "season? What season ? Ours is done and dusted"), I will say this- We need a clinical striker, a person who can take charge and motivate a team ( A strong character, with proven abilities) and a central defence that is dependable.
I may have sounded down and out speaking to you through this post, but in truth I am far from it. We were by no means played off the park yesterday, in the potential champions own lair, but were beaten, and there was respectability in our defeat.
We have overachieved this season, and have dampened the spirit of many a doom monger. It was a great season till the last 2-3 months where it all unraveled rather dramatically. If our deficiencies are suitably addressed, and they are not a lot at al,l we will put on a much better display next season. I’m confident that with some fine tuning and the addition of players in the right areas we will be the finished product in the coming term. The future looks good! Over to you Le Prof.
A proud Gooner signing off with plenty of optimism and his head held high!

Hope hinges on this one

2008-04-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

I loathe the phrase 'make or break', but sadly thats what aptly sums up the Arsenal encounter with Manure today. A victory earned today will put us back into contention for the premiership. For me though, I'm shying away from title talk for the time being. The title is a mathematical possibility, as Le Boss himself admitted. Maybe if we get the result today , maybe then some hope for the premeirship crown will be restored. That said a victory tonight alone will not do, we will need a few other games to go our way. We are 6 points behind Man U, with 5 games to go, and Chelski are 3 points behind Man U completing a three way race.

Lets however take it one game at a time.Morale is on a downswing after a tough couple of weeks for the lads, but a win got today will change things drastically for us, and send a shiver down the spine the heart of the Ol' Geriatrics charges. After that though anything could transpire.

A defiant Wenger sees the toil of a whole season culminate in this 90 minute escapade at Old Trafford, and who could disagree with the professor. Adebayor and Cescy understand how monumental the game is. Ade said ahead of the game-

"I think if we win at Old Trafford we can win the title because it will bring our confidence back fully.For us to go and win there will be a huge thing. We are not so far away for that. Every morning in training, no matter what, our football is attacking.

"We are not going there to sit back. We cannot. Arsenal football is to push forward all the time. Everyone knows that.
"We are going to put them under pressure, we will show them what we can do. We have a big chance against (United) to show people that what happened in the first and second leg against Liverpool was a mistake by the referees."
"From this season, I can tell you how much we have learnt They will not be going the same again."

"Next year if we are five points ahead in March, for sure nobody will catch us."

Cescy offers his tuppence, saying-

"Being knocked out of the Champions League is still in our minds, but this Sunday, Arsenal have to give everything to win and to fight for the Premier League. I am not mad, but if we win at Old Trafford, the title is possible.

"A point has no value. We want only three points and to fight for the title until the last moment.

"A match at Old Trafford is special for many reasons. A victory in this stadium will always be sweet for me, personally, and for the team. The FA Cup defeat was hard to take and the team are dreaming of sporting revenge at a crucial time."

RVP echoes Fab's tone here. Hoping we could get a 2 upfront where Ade will partner RVP, while Gilberto could step into the position that Flamini made his own. The rest of the side should look the same from midweek, I think. RVP will be vital in this game methinks, if he has a good game he could win it for us. A Theo spark as well could do it for us.The lads we have manning the backdoor will also have to step up against potent Manure attack, a typical team effort is required. In a bit of an aside now the team could see some changes in the coming season as Peter Hillwood says Wenger will have as much money as he wants for signings next season. But we heard that last season as well, will Wenger bring the cheque book out is the big question, but it's an ill timed one, so will dissect it another time.

We are perfectly capable if going and getting the three points today. This is probably the most important three points of the season, and as reported yesterday, the Manks will be up for it. The other side of the proverbial coin is that if ManUSA do go down today, it could see their race in tatters, with Chelski hot on their tails. 3 points are up for grabs, and it could make all the difference to both of teams. Yesterday it was Fergie who said that they will be wary of us, and now it's Ryan Giggs turn.

A win is possible today, and when that will take place title talk will ensue and of course some euphoria. Lets show them all!!! There's no time better than this!

Come on you Gunners!

A glint of hope could emerge on the 'morrow

2008-04-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Another late one today it is. I was in a workshop all day, and that pretty much drained the energy out of every sinew. Will run through all the hapennings today, at break neck speed now!

It's probably the last big game of the season for us tomorrow as we travel to Old Trafford to take on Manure in their backyard. We showed quite a bit of heart in the Champions League second leg against Liverpool. If some of that could be replicated tomorrow, we just might be able to throw our hat back in the ring for the contenders for the Prem. But thats quite a big if.

I have to hand it Arsene, despite all the disappointments in recent weeks he has always said the right stuff ,and backed his team when the world turned their back on the team and some of the 'supporters' did as well. He knows what he's got here, he knows what he's doing , and he will back it to the hilt, devil may care. He has made his share of mistakes on the way, but who hasn't? We all hope that it will come good for us someday. Arsene said ahead of the game tomorrow-

"When you are a winner you continue to fight when others give up, and that's what we want to do."

"We have a big game on Sunday now and we want to focus on that. I think we have gained a lot of respect for the quality of our game. Now we can gain a lot of respect for the quality of our behaviour on Sunday, show how much we are winners and respond in a very strong way."

He's right the manner of the loss, (if it does occur ofcourse) will show the true spirit and underbelly of the squad. It's not beyond us to get the result tomorrow, and we know it. Morale is not at it's highest, but we do have a knack of delivering when are backs are to the wall.

Wenger continued saying-

"I can't understand people who say the team's season is over. Why is it over? We are not too far behind. It depends on what happens on Sunday - if we win then we can win the title and that's what it's important to focus on."

"What is at stake on Sunday is the work of a whole year as long as we go there and don't believe then it is over. But do you really think that we will go to Manchester United thinking that our season is over? That would be ridiculous. We have worked so hard since the first day of the season. We will fight until the last second of the Premier League."

I'm guilty as well of thinking that the season is pretty much 'over' for us. I think we are a bit behind the top two in quality. So thats where I'm coming from. But my belief could drastically change if we destroy them tomorrow.

Now onto other news, John Terry says that we are lacking an 'English backbone'. He said-

"You need an English backbone - one with that force, that togetherness, that pulling together. That's what the English players have. It's why Arsenal might come up short in the run-in."

Well what else could you expect from him? He's full of shite. Can't be arsed to comment any further on this. Moving on The Geriatric is expecting a Gunner backlash tomorrow, read it here.
We are linked with a Brazilian 'keeper who currently plays at PSV, more on that here. David Dein thinks we need foreign investment to bolster our team. Well that's an insight if I ever saw one! We all know the motive behind his statements. Who the heck does he take us for? Hleb has once again been linked to inter, and you will have to read it here.

And thats all I could put together today. Man U it is tomorrow, 16.00 UK time and 21.30 India time. It's live in Asia on the ESPN Ster network. It should be a humdinger. More as usual tomorrow.

Ciao!

The heart always wins!

2008-04-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

A late late post for you today. I'm just in the process of switching jobs , and that has prevented me from posting at the usaul time. Will definitely try and keep it regular , and on time from here on in. It's going to be a short one today, as I try to cram all the Arsenal proceedings down into this post for you lot. There's a lot going on, so will point you in the direction of the stories.

The big news today is that we will be without the services of Mathieu Flamini for the next 3 weeks. That as you would imagine is a huge blow for us. He is a real terrier in midfield and his never say die spirit is infectious. This would mean that Gilberto will have more to offer in an Arsenal shirt, as he seems like the logical replacement to the Frenchman. Gilberto did not look half bad in the game against Liverpool in midweek, and here's hoping he can step into the worn out shoes of the Flamster.

Le Prof speaks about the season and particularly regarding whether he made a mistake in not making any new signings in the January transfer window. Arsene said that he did make mistakes but not necesaarily any big ones-

"Of course, I'm not pretentious enough to say I didn't make mistakes. Even if I managed for 150 years I would still make mistakes. In this job, you can never prove afterwards that you were right and nobody can prove you were wrong. Only results prove that. I'm humble enough to accept I make mistakes and I will every year. But I don't know if I made a big mistake this season."

You don't really need to be a genius to see that we are lacking some quality in some areas of the pitch, and I think that needs to be adressed in the summer. More thoughts on this will be valid in the closed season. Arsene reportedly has a large warchest at his disposal, now only if he will use some of it...Obafemi Martins may remove himself from our shopping list if this is to be believed. There were rumours of him making the switch to Arsenal last season, what really does transpire though we will all have to wait and see.

While we are on the topic of the squad and strengthening it, Arsene thinks that we have not done too badly , considering the cash splashed by the other big 'uns.Arsene says that he will sign just one experienced player in the summer, it's here. It sounds a bit worrying don't you think, we will need more than one player, but as always we must weigh in that Wenger is always very cagey when it comes to signings. Preferring to keep his cards really close to his chest.

Wenger has replied to Mad Jens' outburtsts and you can find it all here
Arsene also came in to support Senderos. The Swiss defender has had his detractors and his up and down performances. Wenger said-

“He is good enough. He had a bad game but he played well against Milan earlier on. Also we lost four goals at Liverpool last year with Kolo Toure and William Gallas in defence. We win and lose as a team."

We win and lose as a team, nice innit? Ahead of the game at Old Trafford. Le Boss called it a must win, and said winning the title from here on in will be his greatest achievement. It will be his greatest don't you think, considering we are a bit down in the dumps at the moment. Arsene had this to say-

"It will be the greatest achievement of my career because we are swimming against the stream at the moment. But I still believe this team can produce it."

"For us the game on Sunday is the game of the season. If we do not win this game we have no chance."

Quickly now, as I resort to do quick roundup of the stories doing the rounds.Wenger has replied to Mad Jens' outburtst and you can find it all here

Arsene speaks about letting Thierry go last season. As great a player as the Frenchman was, I think the team has made plenty of progress this season in his absence . Arsene says he has no regret over letting Henry leave, and I will have to say I agree. Arsene has not completely ruled out a move for an Henry return, but chances of this are at best slim, so I wouldn't hold my breath. The man at the helm also comments about the criticism of the club, saying that some of it , especially those that question the ethos of the club are bit 'over the top'
Cescy and Ade are in line for the PFA award, and you can read all about it here.

We have a big game on Sunday at Old Trafford. My head says that we may win, and even though we win , I really don't see us winning the title. My heart though says, that we will beat the Manky Shite and bomb on to re-claim the title. In these sort of situations the heart always wins! If not, I might as well follow cricket!

Come on Arsenal!!

Happy Endings?

2008-04-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

A Thursday Arse to you all. The weekend is close at hand but is not here,quite. We have another pivotal game coming up on the weekend as the Manky shite play host to us in the Premiership. It may not be quite as huge as previously thought. Many of us think that a win over Man USA on the weekend could spark a late burst, and push us on to the title. I however think that we are playing more for pride and the fact that we should never ever give up till the rather pudgy lady sings. The title, as Arsene puts its is only a "mathematical" possiblity. A win in enemy teritory though will apply the much needed balm, I think.

Most of the news today surrounds the CL game at Anfield, and looking forward to the Man U clash.Our big Togolese striker Adebayor beseeches his Gunner bretheren to forget about the tragedy of a game against the Scousers and focus on the Premiership game on hand-

"The most important thing now is to stay focused on what we can achieve this season,"

"We are still playing for the title and we still believe we can win something at the end of the season.Sunday will be another big game for us and we will see what we can do.We have learned a lot of things this year, but the boss has more experience than anyone here."

"He knows the words he will use so that we can come back on the pitch to be more successful and want it more."

Billy Gallas has blamed the team's inexperience for the loss in midweek, saying-

"We lacked experience.You can't concede a penalty 30 seconds after equalising."

Really, I think Gallas should shoulder some of the responsibilty for the defeat. It wasn't for nothing that the Kop stuck 4 in the net.Enough of all this talking down shite. Our defence was a bit crap, and that did us in , when it all came down to it. A new captain in the new season? What do yal think about that. Well that's stuff we will be left to ponder over in the closed season, so will leave it at that.

Arsene will have plenty to roll over in his head come the end of the season, this piece takes a look at what Wenger might do in the build up to next season.
A lot of folks, Arsenal "supporters" and others have had their knives out for Arsene and trhese stories such as this, and indeed this fly in the face of general opinion.

Before I runaway will tell you that Gunner Legend Dennis Bergkamp, is all set to take up a diplom a in the coaching of the beautiful game. He has all the raw materials in place according to me.

Dennis said-“I'm starting to get the itch to get back into football.” Le Prof is set to take him under his wing, as this report suggests. Cheers Dennis! Would love to see you back in any capacity at The Arsenal. A current Legend at the club, Cesc Fabregas' remarks have sent some of the press to read too much into what he said, and have lead them to churn out stories like this. Cescy allays all such fears here.I wouldn't worry too much if I was you.

As far as expectation at the start of the season goes,we overachieved a bit . Our disappointment though stems from how it all fell apart in the last few weeks.We could only get better from here on in , right? A little more patience Gooners, this story has a happy ending!

Ecstasy to agony in a minute

2008-04-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

We will feel horribly done by the result yesterday. The score-line shows a comfortable 4-2 Liverpool victory, but I can assure you that it wasn't. It was a cruel, cruel way to get dumped out.

"Shite referee.Sad Ending. Theo Rules." That was how Kedarse summed up the game in a text to me at the end of the 90. Sums up the game rather well from an Arsenal perspective, methinks. In the end the Gooners across the globe would have gone through the whole gamut of emotions in a minute. Unbridled ecstasy to see Ade put us on level terms , after a dazzling box to box run by Theo who turned provider. Utter despair when Gerrard blasted beyond Almunia from the spot. The challenge by Toure on Babel was no where near a penalty going by the standard set in the home leg of the fixture. Kuyt's chalenge on Hleb last week was a clear penalty and the ref was a few yards away, while this was just Toure being slightly clumsy was trying to avoid contact with Babel. Not a penalty!

However, we would be wrong to say that it was just the referee that was to blame for our being dumped out of the Champions League. Our defence has been shaky in recent weeks, and we have leaked quite a few on vital occassions. Once agian they came unstuck when Hyppia was allowed to head in the equaliser on the half hour mark to cancel out Diaby's goal in the 13th minute. The marking on Torres also left plenty to be desired, the man they call El Nino was afforded time and space in the box, only for him to swivel and rasp a shot into the top right corner.

The boys gave it their all in the whole trilogy, I thought . A more direct approach on occasion, and a more stifling defence could have made all the difference. Our defence needs shoring up for sure, not so much the left and right backs, but Toure and Gallas have to be more solid. We also lack a striker who can clinically put away the chances we create. RVP can be that striker, if injury free, but he's been on the treatment table for too long.Get out that cheque book, Arsene.

After the game Arsene blamed the refereeing decisions as well as the fallacies in defence for the result-

"It's down to a dodgy decision by the referee I believe but also to a lack of concentration straight away when it was 2-2. We found Babel in the box straight from the kick-off and that's where the concentration dropped a little bit. I believe over the two games it's very difficult to swallow because it's a double disappointment. All the big decisions went against us and with three minutes to go we were qualified against a Liverpool team we feel we created more chances than."

"I believe that we have to live with that and sometimes you have to swallow it. It is like that but it is very difficult to understand it because it was not a penalty tonight. I watched it clearly again. Last week [the challenge on Hleb] was a real penalty but we have to accept it. As well we have to accept in a game like that where we had so much control, but we were too naive. We lacked a little bit of maturity defensively."

Arsene's complete post match remarks can be found here.There is a fair deal of optimism on other Arsenal blogs and forums regarding our chances in the premiership. As stated in this space before, I am not one of them. Like I've said before as well would be loved to be proved wrong. And will end it with that.

More fallout tomorrow. Keep it together, Gooners.

The time is now!

2008-04-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

It's here..it's finally arrived. This is the game our whole season hinges on, atleast thus far. After performing so exceptionally well for pretty much the whole season, our premiership challenge is at best slim, and even though Wenger says we are chasing trophies on two fronts, he knows that our only real chance of winning anything big and shiny this season lies in Europe.

To win anything big , shiny and that resembles a trophy in Europe we will first have to dispose of a Liverpool team at Anfield, who find themselves in the similar quest of glory in Europe and who are just as determined as we are. It will not be easy, no it won't, but in my biased eyes there will be only one team that will progress- Arsenal. Whether we win in order to do this or just manage a high scoring draw remains to be seen.

RVP after initially appearing to miss out on this game has been included in the squad, and that will seriously bolster our chances going in to this one. I would play a 4-4-2 with Ade and RVP(if fully fit) leading the charge. The midfield would comprise of Fab, Flam, Hleb and Diaby. I also think that we could bring Theo on for Diaby in the second half with the Liverpool defence more weary by this time. Senderos would partner Gallas in the centre of defence, Toure pushed wide right and Clichy will keep his place at left back, and of course Almunia in goal. But who ever knows who Wenger will play, and where?

Tomas Rosicky though won't be in Arsene's plans till possibly the next season, and is a big blow, he does offer a considerable threat when fit.

Both managers have had their say ahead of this 'Mount Everest of games'. Arsene reposes faith in his young team (while Rafa disagrees that they are young ) and said-

“I know we can qualify because we have the quality to do it.We have made progress compared to last season because we have been challenging for the title and we are in the last eight in the Champions League."

"The young players have done remarkably well and carried the team. Now we need to prepare physically and mentally for Tuesday. This team have given everything against a very good Liverpool defence."

Wenger as mentioned before continues to hold out hope for the league and CL double-

“I still believe we’ll be champions in this league. Manchester United’s result at Middlesbrough on Sunday helped a lot."

“If they had won, I’d have thought we couldn’t do it but now I still believe we will. We have belief we can win everywhere.”

Both our goals against the Scousers have come through set-pieces, and this is something Rafa will be paying particular attention to.

Cescy, Ade and Alonso have their say on the game ahead.

The game is a 19.45 kickoff UK time and 00.15 India time. In India it's live on Tensports.

It's going to be a rather cagey affair at Anfield today. If Liverpool do manage to score first, I hope it's early on in the piece, or we could really struggle a bit. We need to push for the first goal, and beware of their attacking prowess on the break. We will have to give it absolutely everything, it's our season we are playing for. I'm excited already.

Let's go Gunners, the time is now!!!

Tomorrow's the day

2008-04-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

The sultry summer has reared it's head finally here in the city I call home. After plenty of overcast skies, gloomy days and rainy weather over the last two weeks it's nice to see the sun out. As nice as the sun looks today, I would much rather see a vintage Arsenal performance at Anfield in the return leg of the Champions league quarters tomorrow.

It is us who have undoubtedly played the better football. But don't we almost always play the better football , without getting the goals? We go into the game with some confidence, however we will have to raise our game in the attacking third, a more direct approach will have to be the watch word.

Liverpool can go through with a 0-0. I do think however that if they do plan on sitting back for the complete 90, it will be something close to suicide for the home side. As good as their defence has been in the last two encounters, I think they will see a little more than the kitchen sink thrown at them to get the result.

Wenger will have to resort to a 4-4-2, and hopefully will play Theo for a half, if not the full game. Why on earth is Eboue in the starting 11, really I'm miffed, as I know all of you are too. I don't think RVP will be fit to play and is more likely to return for the clash against Manure, and the same goes for Sagna as well. While Big Phil could get the nod ahead of Toure to partner Gallas in the centre of defence, and Toure may find himself in the position that Sagna has made his own this season. Ade to partner Bendtner up front you think? I really don't know about that. We should get more team news tomorrow , so will wait for that.

Catching up with a bit of yesterday's news, where Theo Walcott has said that he has spoken to Le Prof about his limited opportunities at the club, saying-

“Sometimes, it’s been frustrating.There are times when I haven’t deserved to play because I wasn’t playing well enough but there have been times when I have been playing well and not been involved and that struck me a bit. So I actually went up to him for the first time and asked him what I had to do to start.I initiated the conversation and walked over to him on the training ground. It was a difficult thing to do. I was nervous. But I’m glad I did it."

“And he was fine. In fact, I think he thought it was really big of me to go to a top manager when I was 18 and ask what I had to do to improve.”

“Not many 19-year-old players are doing what I’m doing."
“And it’s an honour even to sit on the Arsenal substitutes bench. And when I come on, I like to think it lifts the team and lifts the supporters.
“But now I want to push on. I want to be starting and starting regularly.”

Theo has looked quite dangerous when he has come on, and I think he does definitely merit a start tomorrow, even it is on the wings.

In the news today, Arsene remains confident as ever that we will overcome the Kop at
Anfield tomorrow. Our season hangs on this game,even though the Manky shite dropped the points yesterday it's all washed up for us in the premiership . So it really is crunch time.

Stan Kroenke has acquired a 50% holding in Arsenal. But relax it's only in Arsenal Broadband Limited, and is no real cause for concern, is it?

And that's all there is today. Tomorrow is probably our biggest game of the season yet.Let's hope the boys are up for it.

Another game another draw

2008-04-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Another draw it turned out to be, this time Liverpool held on firmly at Ashburton Grove. So that's another two points dropped,and any slim chance we had of premiership glory has vanished in a thick puff of smoke.

I've had a very energy sapping day so far, and it doesn't look like it's coming to an end any time soon, so will keep this post to the point. Prior to the EPL game against the Scousers, I read on one of the Gunner blogs that we need to play our best 11, even though we have a CL game coming up soon enough. The rationale behind this was that we have our two most important games coming up both domestically and in Europe and if we don't play our best 11, we will have nothing to show for what has been an eye opening season for the most part. The writer also continued to say that resting players was not the way to go about the two games as the players could get all the rest they wanted if we found ourselves dumped out of both tournaments. Now, I understand that we need to rotate the squad and things like that. But I could not agree more with the writer, who I can't seem to place or locate.

Sadly arsene did not agree, and played a team shorn of real quality from the start and failed to take advantage of the below par side the Kop had sent out. We were bouyant after the rare win at Bolton last week, and the smallest glimpse of the prem title re-emerged. Soon enough though, it was rudely snatched away. Wenger though is still remaining upbeat over our chances, but I really think he knows it's all done and dusted as far as domestic silverware goes this season.

The game on Tuesday is out very last chance of silverware. We will have to overcome a Liverpool side who managed to hold us to two draws consecutively in our own back yard. They will take much heart from their performances in both games, and the Anfield 12th man is the stuff of legend.

That said I'm still confident of our chances, and not completely bummed that we are out of the hunt for the premiership. May be thats because I never believed we were really in it after we picked up all those draws , while the Manky shite continued to bang them in. We are a lot more resilient and 'devil may care' in Europe, and we will need all of that if we are to progress. It's boiled down to this. I'm convinced we will rise up to the challenge!

Thats all today. More tomorrow. So long.

Could we turn Kop killers at the second time of asking?

2008-04-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hope the weekend got off to a good start for all of you wherever you are. This evening's proceedings though could well decide whether it gets any better, with the Scousers coming by for round two of the epic triple header. There was no post yesterday, as I was a little caught up with other things, but all of that is behind me, and it's an early post for you today. So let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Robin Van persie has picked up another knock , and will be unavailable for the game today. Really now, if you could stay injury free for more than three games running, he will be a real asset for us, but sadly that's not quite happening at the moment. We will have to look for more striking options in the closed season, if RVP is to be injured this frequently. He may be back for Tuesdays away trip to Anfield, fingers crossed now. The good news however is that Adebayor is back and fit to start, after picking up an ankle injury. Wenger has some selection problems he has to sort out before today's home game, and he says-

"I'll base my decision [on who else plays] in the position, the number of games they have played recently, whether they finished the game well physically, if they are fatigued and if they have bruises or knocks," he said. "It is hard to predict how the players are because it was a very intense game the other day but we have 24 more hours to see how the players are. But there are no problems with Adebayor."

Le Prof thinks that the Kop will rest some of their players for this game, saying the likes of Torres and Geerard may not figure in their ranks today. I can really see this happening, as the Champions League is their main focus, and with the games in quick succession it might be the case. That said Liverpool have a large squad and can afford to drop one or two players. This is one of the luxuries we can ill afford at the moment, not with the smallish squad that we have.

In other news Manu Almunia extended his deal with us, more on that here. Manu has been good for the most part of the season, and has been consistent enough to keep Mad Jens out of the reckoning. In the summer though, we need to strengthen the goal keeping position. Our current No. 1 betwee the stcks said-

“I am very happy. I have extended my contract and I hope to be here for a long, long time."

From one Spaniard to another, Cesc believes that Flamini will sign new deal with us and said that he has persuaded his partner in midfield to sign up quick saying-

“Yes I must say I have. I keep telling him to do it quick because we need him.”

Back to today's clash, I think we will have the upper hand in this game, much like we did in midweek. We really dominated possesion, but lacked a bit more penetration. If we could be a bit more incisive it could well be a good win for us.I would really like to see Theo come on for a longer period, and maybe even start. He really is a live wire, and could cause the stubborn Liverpool defence to come unstuck. Also, no more injuries today please, we are running low on resources and could well do without it. We can do this, I really think we can. Liverpool will consider the game at Anfield higher on their list of priorities, and will definitely have one eye on that game. This should definitely work in our favour. That said, I do not today's result affecting the teams too much for the CL game second leg.

It's an early kick off at Ashburton Grove today At 12.45 UK time to be exact, and at 5.15 India time. Coverage in India (Asia as well I think) is live on ESPN. So here's a to a good game today and three points!

Come on Arsenal!!!

All to do in the second leg

2008-04-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

With yesterday's 1-1 at Ashburton Grove, it's the Scousers who will be the more satisfied team. They came here and got exactly what they wanted from the north London clash, an away goal.

We started off well, and as usual had all the possesion and creating a few chances. RVP missed one early on, with only Reina to beat.After Ade's opener in the 24th, Liverpool almost immediately got back on level terms, through the ever impressive Steven Gerrard, who slid a cross through for a combination of Kuyt and Clichy to scramble home. Bad defending again on this one, I feel Gallas should have gone for the loose ball, before Gerrard could repossess, and the run of Kuyt again was not dealt with adequately. The defence has been suspect in recent outings , and is definitely a cause for concern.

The equaliser unsettled us ,and we struggled to shake it off for the remainder of the first. Going into halftime you felt that we could always score more, as Liverpool had very limited penetration up top, and it was us with all the possesion.

At the start of the second half , Theo was introduced and RVP withdrawn, apparently he's got a thigh strain। Extent of the injury is yet to assesed, but we are led to believe that his waithdrawal was pre-cautionary. It was us again who started brightly on the re-start, we had all the verve , and at times the penetration to go through an astute Liverpool defence, who employed the 'away team tactics' as an experienced exponent of the art.

We trudged on, and Kop were lucky on two occassions. The first of them was when the Dutch referee refused to give a penalty when Hleb was held ,and muscled to the ground by Kuyt in the box. It looked a sure shot penalty, but we have seen these not given. However, we have only seen them not given when the ref was unsighted, in this case though he was all of a few feet away and in clear view of the incident, and refused to give it. Terrible referring , I must say appalling! The second was when Bentdner who came on for Eboue (why does Arsene pursue with Eboue , you wonder?) and seemingly cleared a Cescy shot off the line. But in the Dane's defence, he had his back to the goal. And tried to get out of the way, sadly though he couldn't.

We were hands down the better side on the day, and just a touch unlucky. I think we bossed it and it was Liverpool who were on the ropes for the majority of the game. We played well for the most part, but once again failed to get the result. I'm not letting my head drop though, I feel we can do the job at Liverpool. In an ideal situation we would have liked to go into the Anfield game having won this, that would ensure that Liverpool do not sit back.A scored draw suits them quite perfectly. That said, it would be harakiri for the Scousers if they expect to sit back for the full 90 at in the second leg. We have breached their lines yesterday, and will be more determined to do it come the second leg.

I really hope RVP's situation isn't too bad. Despite him spraying his shots in the last couple of games, he possibly could make the difference with his passing and movement, let alone his shots on goal, yesterday.Wenger was pleased with the performance yesterday while feeling a little cheated with the result and said-

"Well yes, I feel we were not well paid for what we produced tonight. To finish a game like that 1-1 is, of course, disappointing. But we produced a performance we wanted, overall we had the chances to win the game and Liverpool created very little tonight."

As it stands though we have it all to do at Anfield, but I'm doggedly sure we will do it. Before that though, both teams will have to put in a repeat performance at Ashburton on the weeekend as we build up to the 2nd of the three games. I feel that the EPL game though will have little impact on the way the CL tie will pan out.

More on the ongoing Kop saga tomorrow. Take it easy.

The "Highest Challenge" kicks off today

2008-04-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Arseish is feeling very optimistic, very optimistic indeed. For some reason I'm extremely upbeat about the game today, and not just the game today, the games after as well. Wenger christened it his " highest challenge", more on this later in the piece.

We have had the measure of Liverpool in the recent past barring a forgettable performance towards the end of last season. As mentioned prior to the draw, If I had to draw up a list of all the English teams left in the draw that I was confident we could get past, the Scousers would No.1 on that list.

Liverpool seem to put up good performances which they are unable to replicate in the premiership, and we will have to wary of the master tactician that Rafa is.At the end of the day though I can see only one team going through to the next round, and that team is wearing red & white. We are shading it and going in as the slight favourites by the general reckoning, though much could change during the course of this epic week.

Rafa believes that the Gerrard-Torres combine can power the Kop to victory. Rafa said-

"Arsenal will know that Fernando is on fire. He is scoring goals and will be a problem for them...
...Here he has Steven Gerrard behind him so he can play higher and that is the reason why he has scored more goals."

Much has been made of Torres and rightly so. I just feel we have a master goal-scorer ourselves in RVP. He is off the pace at the moment, but he could still come into his own and put in telling performances in the next few games. Come on Robin!

Benitez also thinks us winning the game against Bolton could work in Liverpool's favour, since will have the league to think about as well, indirectly tipping us as outsiders to the title, and you wonder why I feel so buoyed today. Chasing two titles will be tough on us, but heck we will have to do it. And here's a view into the rival camp and what they think of the game.

And now onto our camp,Wenger expects a tight couple of games, he said-

“Every goal is so vital that the focus and intensity is naturally a bit higher.Liverpool will make it tight and play on the break more than in the league. We both play at a high pace so it should be an exciting game. The surprises will come with the quality of the players and the talents of the teams.”

Arsene also believes prevention is better than cure, saying-

“Torres is not the most important, it is the team. He is a good player but if he does not have a good Steven Gerrard, then the game will be much easier for us. If we can stop him, we can stop Liverpool. They understand each other - the way they play, pass and move. We have to keep them quiet. They are good in the air and on the counter-attack on the flanks. When they get crosses in for Torres, he is dangerous.”

Toure echoes the affer's thoughts , it's all here .Calling the upcoming weeks his highest challenge Arsene explained saying-

"If you look at the next 10 days or so it will define our season because I strongly believe that we are in the title race. Our next two games in the Premier League are Liverpool and Manchester United and then, on top of that, we have two Champions League games against so this next period is vital. And the impact of the first game is also vital."

Le Prof, also provoked the lads to be fearless, and said-

"We are really focused and believe in our quality.I want them to play with no fear, just with belief that we are a great side and we can achieve it.”

Wenger was also quick to dismiss any 'Flamini to Juve' stories and said-
"No, that is not true. Juventus have called me and told me they are not interested in Mathieu Flamini."

So thats put to bed, now if only Flamini will sign, and now please!

It should be pretty much an unchanged team from last weekend, Adebayor I should expect will start up front with RVP, while the back four could see a re-shuffle with Sagna's absence, rest of the team pick themselves. Hoping we have a lead which we can take with us going in to Anfield, while Liverpool put in a text book away team performance and try to hit us on the break.

All big games coming up for us now, I hope you're all geared up, it's getting extremely exciting and I have a great vibe about the upcoming fixtures.

Strap up people, it all starts today!

Come on you Gunners!!!

More stuff ahead of the Kop game tomorrow

2008-04-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

So whats the mood in the camp? Everyone all set for the 'Liverpool trilogy' as they are calling it now. It's almost a given that this tie will be probably the most important for both sides. This especially in the light that it's realistically now both teams only chance of silverware this term, with Liverpool languishing in fourth while we are 6 points off the pace in the Premiership.

I would expect a high octane affair at the Grove tomorrow, maybe we will be a bit more adventurous, but quite obviously, aren't we always circumstance independent? It would be important that we set the tone for the remaining games against the Kop by putting on a cammanding display, that would be half the job done you would feel , going in to the next two encounters. Do I even have to say that we need to keep a close eye out for Gerrard and Torres and the keen partnership they have forged. Also, Babel looks dangerous too.. sigh I wish he was a Gunner.

Adebayor should be restored to his starting position partnered by RVP tomorrow, and they represent the first choice pairing for us up top. There is a little poll running that asks whether Wenger would be right in starting Adebayor against Liverpool or not, stop by if you wish to air your views on this.

Steven Gerrard , as you all know is one player with a heck a lot of character with skills to boot. He is one of the non-Arsenal players who I truly admire, a real firecracker on his day as Milan will bear witness. Gerrard reckons that Liverpool have put enough distance between themselves and Everton and can now concentrate on the Champions League, saying-

"For the time being the pressure is off because we have got the five-point gap, but we have a lot of hard games to come.

Although we are going to put all our focus on the Champions League, for the league game in between the two matches we still have to put in a big performance and try to keep the gap of five, if not improve it."

Hmmm maybe we are in a for a bigger battle than previuosly thought. They are quite more formidable an outfit in Europe, but who cares we have looked the best side in Europe and we can beat anyone, and that's not an idle threat believe you me! Toure looks like he's up for it tomorrow saying that Liverpool are scared of us-

"It is going to be really tight, we know that, but we have the quality and I think they will be scared to play against us"

There's more from Toure in this piece here. Cescy who you will imagine will have to be in some sublime form over the next couple of weeks prefers European opposition to English opposition, and so would I, some how it takes the edge off the CL nights, but anyhoo. Cescy said-

"I would have preferred to play a European team. To play in the Champions League against the same players that you play every week and see on the television, well, I would have preferred Barcelona, Madrid, an Italian team."

Cesc is reportedly being offered a deal that will keep him at Ashburton Grove for the next 6 years and wages to the tune of 100,000 quid a week. More on this when confirmation is received. Frankly after that whole Darren Dein thing that broke earlier, this bit of news is like balm. Also we look all set to bring the Feyenoord youngster De Guzman to North London, more on this here.

Dudu's recovery looks to be on course as the club released a statement on his progress, that's here .And Mad Jens gets the thumbs up from his national team coach. So maybe Jens will not wag his finger at him or refrain from punching him too hard at practice the next time , heck I said maybe.

And thats all I could dig up for you lot. More tomorrow. Before I run long I will tell you that the Liverpool clash at Ashburton is at 19.45 UK time and 01.15 India time tomorrow, coverage is live on Ten Sports in India. The pre- game is at 23.30 India time, but you don't want to watch that, it's just Manky Shite supporting shite , talking ...well shite.

Till tomorrow then.

First of the Liverpool games on the horizon

2008-03-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Hey there from sunny now rainy 10 minutes later Bangalore. That was a fine result over the weekend wasn't it, I'm sure most of you have this grin on your face you can't quite get rid off.

Other results not going quite like we had hoped for means that we are back in third after Chelsea sneaked a win over Boro , and Liverpool hung in there for a 1-0 at the Merseyside derby at Anfield. We are still six points behind the Manky shite, with six games to go.

For the time being though the Premiership will take a back seat, with the first leg CL clash against Liverpool at Ashburton looming large. I watched Liverpool play yesterday, and they looked lethal at the off, and scored early through the ever dangerous Torres. It was understandably a much more determined Kop out there from last week, it was a derby after all. I quite feared for us , as we are to take them on in a few days. My fears were soon soothed, as Liverpool went off the boil and rarely looked anywhere near as menacing after, barring a few Gerrard shots.

I was quite confident of progressing thru to the next round when we pulled Liverpool out of the hatin the CL draw. That confidence has not dipped since. Furthermore the victory over Bolton when the odds were stacked up against us at halftime, will have lifted us immeasurably after the string of disappointments. With seemingly the Champions League looking like the most likeliest chance of winning any silverware this season, I'm sure we will go at them all guns blazing.

More on the Liverpool game tomorrow.The lads and the manager must be still relishing the comeback win as it's gone silent on the Arsenal front. Will point you then towards the little that's doing the rounds. We are interested in signing Feyenoord attacking midfielder Jonathan De Guzman according to this. So interested are we, that we have dispatched scouts to check him out, which is not out of the ordinary, I think. De Guzman is only 20 , so do any of you have an idea if he's any good, I sure as heck don't. This report says that Cescy has vouched for a certain winger from Mallorca, but we have to get in line with the Spuds and Liverpool in the hunt for him as well.

And that's all there is today, so will leave you with this nice piece which suggests that Arsene is most deserving of the Champions League title, and I nod in agreement, do i ever!!

Have a good week ahead!

What a comeback!

2008-03-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's been six years since we've broken the hoodoo at the Reebok, and we had to make it tough on ourselves didn't we? But it was a splendid comeback, and a thoroughly enjoyable game considering of course that we came out on top on a rainy day in Bolton. After being down and out after the first half, I did not expect to us to end this game with a win.

We bossed it in the opening few minutes of the game,the midfield and the two forwards on the day RVP and Bendtner looking to forge a partnership. The goal for Bolton came against the run of play and caught us off guard. Steinson curling in an superb cross for Taylor to head home in the 14th. 1-0 Bolton. From then on we sputtered and sort of went off the boil a bit, the frustration reached to a crescendo when Diaby's tackle on Steinson in the 33rd caught the Bolton man on the ankle and was sent off with a straight red. Oh no you thought! Oh no indeed! All this was compounded by Bolton's second goal in the 44th when Taylor's shot deflected off Gallas and beat Almunia.

I thought it was all over for us at this point, I saw no spirit or determintaion in the team bar a few players."Wenger needs to go shopping in the summer and needs to buy big", I thought as well. Despite the performance , I still think we need to buy a couple of qaulity players , and some one who can marshall the lads. Anyways this is a discussion for another time.

On to the second half, Bolton had all the running early on and looked like increasing their lead, but we held on. The minutes ticked by and we won a corner , which Cescy took , the ball took a touch of the head of Ivan Campo and found an unmarked Gallas in the box. Gallas stroked it home and we had finally come to the party in th 63rd. We were looking more the part after this ,and some good play ended when Hleb was brought down in the box to win a pen 6 minutes later. The pen was duly despatched by RVP, and we were back on level terms! The Gunners now smelling blood went for the kill and we were rewarded in the 9oth when Hleb in the box on the left , squared for Cescy whose shot took a touch off Samuel and rolled in to the net. The comeback was complete and what seemd nigh impossible at half time was done. I never thought it was possible , thought we never had the bottle to rise from being 2 goals down and a man down to win! Was I ever pleasantly suprised?

The team showed real character to come back and score a well deserved win. Hleb played a big part in the last 2 goals and had a good game. Cescy was good in patches , but he did come up with the last goal for us. Flamini was the usual tenacity and energy. RVP looks like hes getting a bit closer, he had a lot of chances , but his shots were all over the place. One was from close range after super sub Walcott squared for him after a fine run.Theo has looked dangerous almost everytime he has been brought on and deserves more playing time.

The victory belongs to the boys , but it was Wenger who rang in the changes in the second half, bringing on Theo and Ade, and the complexion of the contest changed after that, a real master stroke it was! Cheers Le Boss!!After the result an extermely pleased Wenger calling the comeback his best since being with the club said-

"Well, because we didn't give up. "It was a mental test: we were 2-0 down, 10 against 11 and half an hour to go.
We knew as well that even 2-2 was not good enough and you could see that when we scored the second goal and took the ball quickly back.
We wanted absolutely to win to stay in the race as only three points was good enough. I'm very proud of the team tonight.
We will fight until the last second of this championship and it's a long way to go. We have 70 points - let's see how far we can go."

Cescy thinks we can do the business at Old Trafford, sure we can , but will it all be too little too late?

A superb comeback win ,and will possibly be just the fillup we need with the cahellenges ahead, notably the triple header with Liverpool.

I have plenty of things to get done by the end of the day and I must be off, have a good Sunday you lot and savour the win!

A win will do us good

2008-03-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Weekend wishes coming your way today and I'm sure you've got plenty planned for the next 2 days but pretty sure as well that yal are setting sometime aside for our trip at the Reebok today. Couldn't get my head 'round to write anything testerday, anyhoo no such problems today. Stories from yesterday are Sagna out for a minimum of three weeks and Wenger's rant on the futility of the international friendlies.

I think there is some initiative that is concerned with the upkeep of the environment and such, which is calling for the city (or is it the whole world?) to switch off our lights at 20.00 for an hour. Now thats going to be nigh impossible for yours truly with Arsenal playing Bolton at the Reebok pretty much at that time. Then again you can switch off the lights while keeping the room illuminated with the glow of the telly, well then go for it!

If any hope is to be retained of success in the Premiership this season, 3 points away today will be a miniscule step forward.Unable to garner 3 points in the last 5 games it's almost a given that we will take a win today any which way it is achieved. Speaking of the game and it's significance prior to the absorbing triple header against Liverpool, Le Boss said-

"We want to do well in the Premier League and not dream about the Champions League - we have to fight back,"

Wenger had also reposed faith in the recently much maligned William Gallas but that's yesterday's news and today Wenger said ahead of the Bolton game that a performance is needed-

"On Saturday, the team just wants to focus on a top-level performance, and then we will win. Not the opposite when how you play does not matter as long as you win. It is important how we perform, then we win the game.

Well a performance is needed and possibly that would lead to the 3 points today, but 3 points any which way will do it for me. Le Boss also comes out to explain and support Gallas comments concernig a certain Theo Walcott and it's all here. We may also see Ade rested today, possibly in the light of the big games coming up, with Le Boss saying-

"I believe he has given a lot this year and so he would need a little breather, maybe . He has played a lot on his own up front and has had to fight very hard. So at the moment, to refresh him a bit would do him some good."

Yep, a rest should help the big Togonator after leading the line non-stop for so long , we could possibly see RVP and Bendtner up top today.

In other news Wenger is looking to seal the Flamsters deal by the end of April, and possibly looking at new signings. Also Cescy 's new agent is now Darren Dein, whose father indeed his whole family is a bad word in Arsenal circles prompting stories like this. Cescy also wonders why everyone hates us here.

That will have to do it for today. So three points today at a venue where we have not done the business for sometime. It's a 15.00 kickoff in the UK and a 20.30 kickoff in India , live on the ESPN in Asia, so keep an eye out. Enjoy your Saturday!

Come on you Gunners!!

Lots to be done

2008-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's all International news doing the rounds today as international freindlies take centre stage, and I could not even be half -arsed to go into it. I'm going to do something different today and reproduce a comment to my post yesterday titled " Gael thinks anything is possible". The comment was posted By Dimitry on bleacherreport.com. I think it makes a lot of sense, and pretty much nails what all arse fans are feeling right now.And oh, Thanks Dimitry!
So in Dimitry's words-

Here is what needs to change at Arsenal

Aresene - needs to stop kidding himself that you can find diamonds in the rough and buff them to a EPL trophy holding glimmer, or come up with a formula for a "grow-your-own" Premiership winning side. He was clearly kidding himself that Toure and/or Gallas could match Drogba and stop him; Senderos would of been the neutralizer required. Transfer markets are there to be used, and Arsene has to wake up to the reality of not just matching other teams in terms of physical size, but also in terms of spending power. He needs to spend to bring in seasoned players to support his young proteges.

Gallas - I feel that the only reason WG is at Arsenal is because of the Cole "trade" with Chelsea. I know Arsene decided to pick Gallas over Gilberto for captain, but I expect WG has proven again and again to Wenger that he is no leader. Leaders don't sulk. Leader's also don't get blank looks from the rest of the team in a pep talk (thanks Sky Sports!). Flamini should be captain, unless there is a Gallas replacement that can come in and be the next Tony Adams. But that man is John Terry, so enough of that kind of hoping.

The right midfield - Lets face it, Eboue needs to go; Rosicky needs to mend, and Walcott just needs to get more confidence. But that is not going to do. If Alex Song were not a burgeoning holding midfielder, I might hold out hope for him, but alas, he's not in the 'fantastic dribbler; superior crosser" mold Arsene is hoping for. But then who is? Transfer market rumours anyone?

Depth - the bench is, well, not something that you rest for the odd Carling Cup match. Bench players are there to be used, and Arsene seems to have too little quality to chose from. Arsenal play such fantastic football and the club is so first rate that there are surely a multitude of seasoned players that would love to come and join the club - but alas, they have all been bought up by the bigger purses at ManU and Chelsea. Someone once said there was a war chest for Arsene to have access too. Why then does he not access it?

Doing what must be done, vs doing what you want to do - Arsenal seem to pride themselves on playing the beautiful game. But all the style in the world won't win you a match unless you do what you must do to win. If that means switching things up and doing the long ball, then fine, do it! Dribble and pass and pass and dribble is not the same as shooting. Just look at Hleb. When you watch ManU highlights, you can see a buildup, a strike, and a goal. Its like manifest destiny. Its imposing. Arsenal are dazzling. The last time I checked, no one won a war with fancy swordsmanship. Arsenal need to return to firing guns, vs being a team of young firecrackers.

Lots still to be done.

Gael says "anything is possible"

2008-03-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Pleasant weather here in Bangalore once again after the gloomy rainy fare we have been treated to in recent days.And folks 'round Arsenal Football Club are seeing visions of the dark clouds lifting after the bad results in the last couple of weeks as was plastered all over the papers yesterday.

Arsene continues to echo that our campaign is not over , not yet. Also saying that the team will not solely concentrate on the Champions League and will continue to do battle in the Prem as well.

"We want to do well in the Premier League and not dream about the Champions League," the French tactician told the club's official website.
"We have to fight back. It is five games now since we have won and we want to come back to winning ways."

Gael Clichy who has been overly impressive over the duration of the season still believes "anything is possible" saying-

"Seven games mean there is a lot to do for them and for us," said Clichy. "We just have to play the best football we can. If we win all the games anything is possible.

"We have to go to Bolton on Saturday, win there and try to make something happen. It is going to be difficult. We have to dream and believe in it.

"There are seven games to go. We have to think positive. Maybe if we can win all those seven games then something can happen. We know we cannot afford to lose anymore points now."

Maybe I was too downcast after the the Chelski game to think that our goose was well and truly cooked as far as the title race was concerned. While I think that the team and the managers have made the right noises after the weekend about our campaign this season and are not willing to give up, I will still not detract too much from what I've said earlier. I still think the top two have too much firepower for us and it was poignantly on display over the weekend. But it's still a funny old game, innit? In all honesty though before I let my heart skip too many beats would like to see a decent string of results put together before I have the briefest of flirtations with us challenging for the title this season.

Arsene who was critical of his central defensive pairing after the game at Stamford Bridge on the weekend saying-

"We have to become more efficient defensively because if you look at the goals we have given away recently they have been inefficient."

Gunnerblog delves into our frailties at the back and thinks that maybe Gallas and Senderos would make a better match than Kolo and Billy. I think he makes a valid point, give it a go.

In a follow up to yesterdays story this report reckons that Arsene is considering signing Ben Arfa and his teammate striker Karim Benzema from Lyon at a combined cost of £40m. It's not Arsenes way, but maybe he will suprise us in the closed season. Another player we have show interest in is Zdravko Kuzmanovic who plies his trade at Italian outfit Fiorentina

Cap'n Billy who has reportedly come in for criticism by some of his own in recent days, will perhaps find some solace in the support shown by the man who was the previous owner of the armband. Gilberto said-

"Sometimes when things don't work well some people try to create some problems,"
"I'm sure we don't have any problems in the dressing room at Arsenal. We still have friendship between all the players and he (Gallas) has the support of everybody."

We need to keep it all together if anything is to take place this season, and I'm done here!

Heads up then!

Talking and thinking +ve

2008-03-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings, once again it's me bringing you all the goings on with Arsenal Football Club. A lot going on today . Let's get stuck in then, shall we?

We will kick things off with Arsene saying that he's not throwing in the towel just yet in our pursuit of the title.After previously saying that we have to win the upcoming games before we can even 'dream' of the title Arsene said-

"We will fight until the end and we are not worried about the future but are disappointed now obviously...It is disappointing because we gave everything but now the priority has to be the next game."

Wenger is staying positive and has got it spot on again.We still do have a chance of coming up trumps but its more mathematical than realistic at the moment I feel, but we will have to keep at it, and take it as far as we can.

William Gallas sings the same tune as Le prof saying that it will be tough for us to win-

It will be difficult for us to come back, because Manchester United now have six points (lead) - but we have to,"

"We must play until the end of the season and then see. Maybe they can drop some points because of the Champions League - they can be tired, Chelsea too.
"We have to give everything until the end. Why do we have to be down? Football is like this. You never know. You can be back. They can lose some points. We have to be ready for the next game and do not give up."
"We can still win it. It is not finished yet, so we have to believe."

I agree with the we must still believe bit, but what is he on about the Champions league and they can drop points ? Huh? What's all that all about Billy? Don't we have to play CL too? We could drop points and be tired as well, couldn't we? Or have you forgotten about the CL, Billy? Billy?

The Flamster has ripped out a page in his dictionary, page 249, the one which has the word quit on it. He put in another stellar performance at the Bridge he was all over the park, he thinks that if we can win our last seven games we can pip the Manky Shite to the title, saying-

"It's going to be difficult but in football you have to believe, so we will believe until the last game,We now have to win every game. We know it will be very hard, but I am sure we can do it. We have the quality, we are a very strong team.We have to keep going, work hard in training and win the next game."

Well so we are staying quite positive, innit? One man who has had a ring side view of all our performances is Jens Lehmann. He's not too sure about his future, saying that he might retire in the summer or play a couple of years, saying that it's tough for him to sit on the bench. Mad Jens said-

"It is very difficult (to be on the bench), very hard, particularly when I see the performances on the pitch. Sometimes you have to accept it - even after I played a couple of games and was dropped again."

I feel for the hot headed one sometimes. Maybe he needs to get in a look in some time now that Almunias performances have been far from perfect. Jens also said that he stayed in North London to win trophies, now if only it could happen.

Dudu speaks about his injury, recovery and things like that and believes that his recovery will require him to be mentally tough and will not be rushing himself back in to action. As always we wish him the the very best and hope to see him soon, banging them in for us.

We are in the market or for more youngsters and I'm really too drowsy to say much else about it and you can read all about it here and here.

Thats all there is today, I'm feeling extremely drugged and I must be off, so long. Have a good rest of the day Arseurs.

Next season then?

2008-03-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well well well quite a Grand Slam Sunday it turned out to be. Both results yesterday did not go quite as we had hoped it would. A loss away to Chelski and a comfortable Manure home win against Liverpool leaves us languishing in 3rd place, a point behind Chelsea and 6 behind Man USA.

Will not go into the game too much. But quite honestly I think the boys gave it their all and just came up a bit short at the end. I don't think there was any lack of motivation, we dominated the game at times, while Chelski bossed us about in snatches. We played as well as we could I feel and have very few complaints from the players performances overall.

Chelsea were forced to play long balls and thats what they resorted to for the large part.And in the end the goals they scored could be put down to some deficiencies in defence for us. Will say this again with the risk of sounding repetitive that we really gave it all they had if we we take the entire 90 into consideration. A satisfying performance without a satisfactory result.

Wenger speaking post match spoke about the team and the defence-

"I don't worry about Chelsea. I worry about Arsenal and the way we play the game. We were 1-0 up and had it all in our hands. We needed a bit more defensive authority as the game was there to be taken. We had plenty of chances on the counter-attack when they went 4-4-2. It was just a matter of time to score the second goal. We were not serene enough defensively."

Le Profs other comments on the game are all here, but most of them are below-

"It is a big setback for us when you add the four games we drew and today's loss. Now we just have to come back and win games before we dream of the title."

"It was a game we should have won, but we paid for some lapses in concentration. It is difficult to swallow because we played quite well and were in control of the game. What was left to Chelsea was to play long balls, and we did not deal well enough with it."

"The spirit was right and the mentality was fantastic, over all the team played very well but at the moment, I feel we have some defensive problems which we need to sort out. We got caught on the long balls and the physical battle. But we were a bit unlucky because the first goal was offside and it was also a foul from Terry before that. That has a big impact in the game, and recently we have been badly done by things like that."

I feel the games yesterday showed the gap we will have to bridge next season to win the title. New personnel? Yes! We will have to strengthen certain areas come August next season. Eboue is nowhere near good enough, and Hleb cannot be counted on for too much other than cavorting in the centre of the park. Too often there isn't too much end product from the Belarussian. Wingers definitely need to be procured, the players we have playing on the wings just don't cut it. More goals from midfield, whether that means reshuffling the pack a bit with maybe a new player or two, or just that the current set have to take more pop shots at goal needs to be worked out. Don't get me wrong, I think the present crop is good, but we will need quality in certain areas to push for the title next season, some players who we can count on who will deliver for pretty much the whole season. Maybe a few strong willed old heads will be just what we need.

With me talking so much about next season, begs the question is our title challenge over for this season? I'm not too sure about you lot but I think it is. I would be over-the-moon-delighted-shout -it -from -the-rooftops-ecstatic if I'm wrong about it. Oh how i wish I am!! Realistically though, I think the top two have a little too much in certain areas of the pitch which quite frankly we do not possess for us to mount a challenge at this late stage.

It's not doom and gloom at the moment though, a few results could just go our way and put us back in contention, you just never know but that will demand a dramatic collapse by the Manky Shite and I do not see that happening at the moment quite honestly. Besides this we still have the Champs league to look forward to, maybe that will yield some silver ware.

Without making it sound like an excuse, it probably was a season too early for us.I think we overshot everyone including the most optimistic Gooners expectations this season. It was a bit of a re-building exercise. More like a prototype with a final product being presented to the world in the following season. Without sounding too much like a Spuds fan.. maybe next season...

Keep your head up Gooners...this too shall pass.

Can Arsenal rise today? Yes we can!

2008-03-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

A quick one today ye arsefans, and oh Happy Easter. The big four have a go at each other today and the excitement is palpable.

As uninspiring as our performances have been lately in the Premiership, I think we can come away with 3 points from Stamford Bridge today. We have always stepped up and delivered when it has really mattered this season, and it really matters today. It is against the 'weaker' teams that we are at times lacking motivation and desire. I'm sure the boys know how huge a victory will be today to the morale of the team, and I believe we will see the goods delivered today. If results today do not go our way, it will not be doomsday for us, but we will be making it exponentially difficult for us.

Needless to say, everyone will have to play out of their skins and forget about the recent results. Arsene reckons that we will play more wide today, as compared to previous performances in the process calling Eboue a natural wide play actor.. errr player.

There's a whole lot about Cap'n Gallas today , a possible insight on why he does the things he does and this one here about him being proud to be the skipper at Arsena l. I can't be arsed to go in to this anymore at this time, so have a read. Gallas says this in that second piece -

"Being Arsenal's captain has changed everything. I have to be the one that leads the team to victory."

It's been a bit of a mixed bag from ol' Billy, his goal was decisive the last time we played Chelski, maybe he will be the one to step up this time too.
Benitez thinks that Liverpool can do the job today. Really, I hope he's right.

While a win today will be just what we need. Wait I take that back a win for us and a Manky shite loss will be just what we need today,I think the performance today will show us if we indeed are Premiership champion material or not. But that said we are running out of time, and will make things easier for us if we get the three points today. If we don't get the win today we will have to depend on other results to go our way if we are to power to the title. If we can go level on points with Man U today, that will send out a message to the rest of the Premiership, and they will quake and oh you better believe it!

Come on, the Arsenal!!!

Arsene says we have the strength and character to see us through

2008-03-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

It’s Easter tomorrow, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t notice since it’s ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ as well on the day after today. The first of the two mammoth games sees Liverpool travel to Old Trafford, while we take on Chelski at Stamford Bridge.

A lot of intense, high pressure, nail biting stuff in prospect till May and Le Boss calls the last eight games the ‘final sprint’. Arsene also feels we have been the most consistent side all season so far and said-

"I feel that since the beginning of the season we have been the most consistent team ,We have lost just one game, and that was under very special circumstances, so that consistency will come out for good at the end of the season.”

"If we win our big games and if we continue to be consistent then I am sure we will finish in front of the other sides .I cannot imagine we will lose the league if we have lost only one game at the end of the season."

"We have got the strength of character to win the title, believe me. That is my firm belief and at the game on Sunday you will see.”

"There's always a first time and until you win people have doubts about you, they're questioning you - but the strong ones keep going."

Those are strong words from a manager who has recently seen his team reach such dizzying heights at Milan, while drastically underperforming in comparison in the Premiership. While my faith in the team has taken a knock or two, it is definitely heartening and encouraging for the man at the helm to keep the faith and instill belief into a team that is a bit short of it at the moment.

Gunner legend, Thierry Henry who says that he still loves his former North London club and is still in touch with some of his mates at Arsenal believes that we are a good bet to the title-

“I have this feeling Arsenal will win the Premier League. They are playing well against the big four and I do think they play the most attractive football, though Manchester United have also played some good stuff.

“So far, Arsenal have lost only one game and, if they remain unbeaten from now on, it would be very unusual not to win the title. “Obviously, I love Arsenal. But that’s not the reason why I think they will win the title. I just feel they have the quality.”

A nice touch from a former player who has given us so many good memories over the years, cheers Titi!

The Hleb-Inter issue update it is now with Arsene commenting on the quality of ice cream that is available in Italy , and also adding his how incensed he was over the whole 'meeting'-

“I was concerned and I didn't like that it happened,If the agent came to the team hotel then he should have asked me for permission to see the players. You cannot just see the players like that."When asked if the meeting was worthy of concern, Wenger replied: "All the rest we will keep secret.”

"But Italy is well known for having good ice cream!"

Arsene had a bit to say about Cashleys challenge on Alan Hutton against Totscum in midweek. Arsene said that Cashley was not a ‘dirty player’. Again what a display of class from Le Prof again…after all that we’ve been put through by money hungry twerp

From players who have left us on to players that we are hoping won’t leave, Arsene said that he is not looking for replacements for Mathieu Flamini and speaking about contract signing and such , he said-“We are on course there, negotiations are going well and we hope to sort that out in April." We’ve been on about it for a fair bit now with little or no progress, but the final result of the negotiation doesn’t change much. The sooner we see the Flamster put pen to paper the better.

It is going to be quite a day tomorrow. Though the results tomorrow will have a large bearing on the final destination of the title, the title will be far from sewn up come Sunday. But would we love to see the Manky Shite bite the dust, while we come away from the Bridge after laying low the Blues?? Oh yeah we would!!

Our game kicks off at 16.00 UK time and that’s 21.30 India time, while the game at Old Trafford is at 13.30 UK time and 19.00 India time, both games are on ESPN in the Asia region.

We need to perform under pressure!

2008-03-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report in to you today. I'm just settling a bit into the long weekend and its an early post for you today.

Gael Clichy says that he still believes in the 'quality' of the Arsenal Team can see us through to the top, saying-

“We have had the experience of being on top and the pressure has been on. It is good to be top, it shows the quality is there – but it is not bad to be second or third. It will be an interesting end to the season and we hope we can come out in first place.”

We may need a few more addtions to the squad in the closed season, the 'quality' we always knew we had, but the bottle? Ah now tha'ts the key, the kids will have to deliver under pressure.

Johann Djourou who was out for two months with a groin injury is back in the reckoning . He played for Arsenal reserves against Blackburn reserves on Wednesday night. Johann speaks abuot the bright future that awaits Arsenal and the 'Arsenal Way' which trickles down to every team we put out.

Arsene says that there are no new injuries nor are there any new additions to the squad this week-

"At the moment nobody is back, No, there are no additional injuries to last week.
But Abou Diaby has still not joined the group. He is still in special training. And it is very difficult to say with Tomas at the moment."

I'm doubting Tomas, really I am! I'm guessing we won't see him till next season. It's a big weekend as far as the title race is concerned, lets hope we can deliever the goods under pressure!
And that is all there is for today, have a good weekend , speak to you tomorrow!

Cheers!