Morning Gooners.
So its new years eve and and as we say goodbye to this year I'd like to do a brief note on the good and the bad that went on at The Arsenal in 2010.
The Good: Inspite of all the attempts by Cuntalona we managed to keep hold of our prized possession for another season and by the looks of things and by that i mean chances of winning silverware i imagine Cesc to remain at the Emirates for another season atleast.
Aaron Ramsey returning back to competitive football and currently plying his trade at Forest where he is on loan to speed up his recovery and ease him into the first team.
The emergence of a 19 year old wonder-kid JACK Wilshere. Too much has already been said and written about Jack so writing more of the same would just make you read something you already know of the young lad (plus I'm too lazy to type all of it out, can you blame me though ? its NWE and here i am sitting at my desk typing this out) All i can say is that we have a real gem in our hands, one who will just continue to mature and reach levels of greatness that we all know he can achieve.
Samir Nasri the goal scorer - This season saw the real reason why Sami was so highly rated when he first came here and the snub from the French national team plus the absence of Cesc for the start of the season proved to be a catalyst for Samir to actually show the footballing world the awesomeness that he is capable of. Here's hoping that there's more from where that came from.
Almunia finally driving Wenger to boot him out of the first team and giving fabianski a chance. I know most of you are yet unsure about the young Pole but honestly the guy has saved us atleast 8 points this season with some outstanding performances. When was the last time we could say that our keeper saved us points ?
Long term contracts being signed with the future of our club i.e Wilshere and Chesney. A tip of the hat to you Mr Wenger.
Two defensive signings in a transfer window. This one is for me the biggest achievement of the year. I know again that most of you are complaining that we are one Short in that area but if Wenger could have predicted that he would lose TV5 for half the season I'm sure he would have gone ahead and bought one more.
Wins at Manchester City and Chelsea. Lets hope these wins against the "top" teams instills the confidence that we so often have lacked against our title rivals.
Last minute goals against Hull, Wolves and West Ham which took me close to having a stroke and being hospitalised yet loving the boys for fighting hard right until the end.
Sylvestre being sold :)))))
The BAD: Easily the worst set back for us this season was the news that the Verminator has been injured. An injury which was diagnosed to keep him on the sidelines for a week has now made him miss half the season with still no definitive timelines on his return. I do know that he is back in training but the question still remains as to when and how will he be drafted into the first team again.
Aaron Ramsey's horrific tackle by Shrek's evil twin Shawcross. Its horrible for any professional footballer to undergo the trauma of a leg break but with Ramsey it was ever so unfortunate because he was building up a very strong case for himself to be one of the first names on the team sheet and was reminding us that the world would not end if Fabregas should leave.
Injuries to RVP, Walcott and the superb Frimpong at the start of the season. I cant imagine where we would have been had they all stayed injury free during the first three months of our title challenge.
The home support at the Emirates. This is one area which does not involve Wenger or the players but, us the Fans. There is a good reason why several teams in the PL are able to make their home grounds a fortress and the biggest reason for that is the home support. The crowd is meant to get behind the team for the entire 90 minutes and create an atmosphere of hostility. How often have we heard supporters of away teams sin louder than us at the Emirates, embarrassing to be honest. The same cannot be said of our away support who, as acknowledged by the players themselves are simply outstanding and manage to out sing or out chant the home team fans all year long. Three cheers to you guys, you know who you are.
Sylvestre playing in defense in the Champions League QF's against Barca. Need i say more ;))
And that folks for me are the few moments that i would remember this season by. Feel free to comment and leave your thoughts on what you thought was good or bad this year.
In a quick round up of some of the news going around, Nordveit has completed his move to the Bundesliga and is rumored to have gone without a fee but with a huge future sell on clause. Ljungberg has signed a short term contract with Celtic and will help them in their title push in the two horse race called the Scottish Premier League. Henri Lansbury has picked up some hamstring problem which will see him sidelined for a couple of weeks. Wenger is hopeful to try and find a loan move for Henri with a PL club the same way he got one for Wilshere with Bolton. Its rumored that there are interested clubs but playing time is what Wenger wants an assurance on with Henri. In injury news perma-crock Diaby has again been sidelined with a calf injury that will see him miss out on 3 weeks of action. Lets all hope that the new year keeps that lad injury free.
And that folks is your lot for today.
I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year which would bring you and your families luck, good health and success and to all the Gooners around a Cup or two would be fancied.
Have a good day wherever you are.
See you next year !
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Is Change always a Good Thing ?
Good Afternoon Gooners. Miserable is the word to best describe my emotions this morning. Even a quickie offered by the missus didn't do too much to lift my spirits.
So last night was the Jekyl and Hyde that Arsenal seem to be doing this season was at the fore and we witnessed a performance which one could call, rubbish. For the first 35 minutes of the game Wigan were the ones running the show and created chances upon chances and we should thank our stars that the scoreline wasn't more emphatic than the 1-0 lead that Wigan had. People will go on and say and that the penalty shouldn't have stood and we were undone but how many times do we need a kick up ourr arses to remind us that we are actually playing a competitive game and that the end result will lead to us gaining 3 points or losing them altogether.
Both our goals were thanks to contributions from Arshavin and that, sorry to say were his only notable contributions right until he was substituted. Arshavin as a player brings out such strong and conflicting emotions within me. He is a fucking genius but he cannot go through an entire game just pretending to be part of the team. I wished Wenger would push a rocket up the little Russians arse and send him to Russia to help build stadia for the 2018 WC. He would be of more use there than at Arsenal.
The thrill of getting two back in less than 5 minutes got to our heads post the interval and we thought the match would end at 2-1 when N'Zogbia was sent off. But as i wrote in my blog yesterday Karma is a bitch and can bite you in the Arse and that's what happened when a 10 man Wigan got the equalizer. Barring a Chamakh header before the sending off there wasn't much we could muster up in terms of an attack !
In terms of performances the only standout one's last evening were Wilshere, Denilson and Eboue. You know how crappy our performance was when Eboue makes it to the list of notable performers.
Most would also say that we did not get a penalty for handball and Walcott was fouled as well but i can only ask one question - Why the fuck do we need events like this to determine the outcome of a match ? Are we a team that lacks attacking talent or do we have no creative outlets that we need to wait for a penalty to swing the game in our favour ?
A lot of fans all around have been mauling Wenger for making too many changes to the squad. I ask you this, with the team that Wenger did put out last evening we still managed to come from a goal down and take the lead to 2-1. Its not the selection or the changes that Wenger made that is the problem but it is the attitude that needs correcting. We have got to stop taking the lesser teams for granted and consider matches against them as 3 points in the bag. This kind of attitude will just not work mister. Also, would you rather have the changes made yesterday or risk overplaying Song, Nasri and Djourou and have them on the sidelines come January. The only selection that i have a bone to pick on is, why wasn't Walcott given a start in this game ? He isnt going to make the starting eleven week in and week out, so why not play him in matches like these where he can be a complete pest for the 90 minutes on the pitch.
In other news the Nordveit deal has been reportedly concluded for a fee in the region of roughly 2 million pounds which is good money for a player with his experience. I wish him all the best in the Bundesliga.
We reportedly had a deal turned down by Lille for Hazard after putting 2 million as initial fees. Am sure that is something that we will hear more of in the days to come. Apparently Arsenal has the right to first refusal on Hazard, so he's not being sold to anyone unless we declare we don't want him anymore.
We should now focus our attention to Saturday where i am sure Wenger will bring back the same squad that played against Chelsea. More on that tomorrow.
Have a good day wherever you are.
So last night was the Jekyl and Hyde that Arsenal seem to be doing this season was at the fore and we witnessed a performance which one could call, rubbish. For the first 35 minutes of the game Wigan were the ones running the show and created chances upon chances and we should thank our stars that the scoreline wasn't more emphatic than the 1-0 lead that Wigan had. People will go on and say and that the penalty shouldn't have stood and we were undone but how many times do we need a kick up ourr arses to remind us that we are actually playing a competitive game and that the end result will lead to us gaining 3 points or losing them altogether.
Both our goals were thanks to contributions from Arshavin and that, sorry to say were his only notable contributions right until he was substituted. Arshavin as a player brings out such strong and conflicting emotions within me. He is a fucking genius but he cannot go through an entire game just pretending to be part of the team. I wished Wenger would push a rocket up the little Russians arse and send him to Russia to help build stadia for the 2018 WC. He would be of more use there than at Arsenal.
The thrill of getting two back in less than 5 minutes got to our heads post the interval and we thought the match would end at 2-1 when N'Zogbia was sent off. But as i wrote in my blog yesterday Karma is a bitch and can bite you in the Arse and that's what happened when a 10 man Wigan got the equalizer. Barring a Chamakh header before the sending off there wasn't much we could muster up in terms of an attack !
In terms of performances the only standout one's last evening were Wilshere, Denilson and Eboue. You know how crappy our performance was when Eboue makes it to the list of notable performers.
Most would also say that we did not get a penalty for handball and Walcott was fouled as well but i can only ask one question - Why the fuck do we need events like this to determine the outcome of a match ? Are we a team that lacks attacking talent or do we have no creative outlets that we need to wait for a penalty to swing the game in our favour ?
A lot of fans all around have been mauling Wenger for making too many changes to the squad. I ask you this, with the team that Wenger did put out last evening we still managed to come from a goal down and take the lead to 2-1. Its not the selection or the changes that Wenger made that is the problem but it is the attitude that needs correcting. We have got to stop taking the lesser teams for granted and consider matches against them as 3 points in the bag. This kind of attitude will just not work mister. Also, would you rather have the changes made yesterday or risk overplaying Song, Nasri and Djourou and have them on the sidelines come January. The only selection that i have a bone to pick on is, why wasn't Walcott given a start in this game ? He isnt going to make the starting eleven week in and week out, so why not play him in matches like these where he can be a complete pest for the 90 minutes on the pitch.
In other news the Nordveit deal has been reportedly concluded for a fee in the region of roughly 2 million pounds which is good money for a player with his experience. I wish him all the best in the Bundesliga.
We reportedly had a deal turned down by Lille for Hazard after putting 2 million as initial fees. Am sure that is something that we will hear more of in the days to come. Apparently Arsenal has the right to first refusal on Hazard, so he's not being sold to anyone unless we declare we don't want him anymore.
We should now focus our attention to Saturday where i am sure Wenger will bring back the same squad that played against Chelsea. More on that tomorrow.
Have a good day wherever you are.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
I'd like a repeat, Please !
Evening Gooners. Apologies for the late blog but the missus is unwell and needed me to have a chat with her rather than write this blog, which i did, so you know who's getting really lucky once she's fighting fit.
Moving onto the game tonight, we find ourselves playing Wigan two days after the epic display at the Emirates with the feeling in our minds, Can we do it again ? I personally don't think that we wont get a result tonight, what i would like to see is this Arsenal team approach the game at the DW stadium the same way we did against Chelsea. It would crush me to watch this team get into this game with a mindset of being able to walk over this Wigan side because Martinez's side is not one to allow us to walk over them. Does anyone need reminding of the 2 goal lead we blew after the 81st minute that Wigan went on to win 3-2. I still wet my pants thinking about that day.
Walcott has been making all the right noises about the fact that the performances from Monday night need to be put in day in and day out. He says
""We have to go on a run of wins," If you want to be champions and win the League you need to go to places like Wigan and win.
"We need to do it in every game (performances against Chelsea). It's difficult to do throughout the whole 90 minutes but on Monday there was so much energy the whole team had. Come Wednesday we need to do that again because it's going to be tough.
"We lost there last season so we don't want to do that again. We have to travel a long distance to get there as well."
Moving onto the game tonight, we find ourselves playing Wigan two days after the epic display at the Emirates with the feeling in our minds, Can we do it again ? I personally don't think that we wont get a result tonight, what i would like to see is this Arsenal team approach the game at the DW stadium the same way we did against Chelsea. It would crush me to watch this team get into this game with a mindset of being able to walk over this Wigan side because Martinez's side is not one to allow us to walk over them. Does anyone need reminding of the 2 goal lead we blew after the 81st minute that Wigan went on to win 3-2. I still wet my pants thinking about that day.
Walcott has been making all the right noises about the fact that the performances from Monday night need to be put in day in and day out. He says
""We have to go on a run of wins," If you want to be champions and win the League you need to go to places like Wigan and win.
"We need to do it in every game (performances against Chelsea). It's difficult to do throughout the whole 90 minutes but on Monday there was so much energy the whole team had. Come Wednesday we need to do that again because it's going to be tough.
"We lost there last season so we don't want to do that again. We have to travel a long distance to get there as well."
Well the lad surely knows the right thing to say and i hope Wenger runs a tape of our last game against them last season and gives a gentle tap on their knuckles reminding them of that display
On team news front there's very little that has come out from the website owing mostly to the fact that Wenger hasn't been able to give a press conference due to the packed schedule. From what we already know is that Fabregas will not make the trip owing to his 5th yellow card of the season which will allow him to rest up his Hammies to be fit against Birmingham. Djourou too might be left out cos i don't think the boss will want to put pressure on those knees. Likewise with Song and Nasri who put in a virtuoso performance on Monday night and will be on the bench. So I believe the team will line up as below
Fabianski
Eboue-Squillaci-Koscielny-Clichy
Denilson-Diaby
Walcott-Rosicky-Arshavin
Chamakh
Subs: Chesney,Sagna, Wilshere, Song, Nasri, RVP, Bendtner
Isn't it a lovely feeling to actually have the kind of bench strength that Arsenal has at the moment and have a look at the first team and they are guys in the team today and you know they'd walk into the first team of most premier league clubs. Did anyone actually notice the shite that was present on the Chelsea bench when they played us ?? Are any of them even names that we've actually heard of ? Thank You Mr Wenger for the gift of an academy and sensible and controlled spending. In Wenger we trust anyone ?
In other news Utd drew the game against Birmingham last evening which gave me an erection i was longing for all evening and which means we will be on level terms with them if we beat Wigan this evening. Fergie was busy ranting about the incompetence of the referee for not seeing that the ball was handled before the goal. Am sure out of work Big Sam would have given his master a relaxing blow in his chambers while Fergie spanked McLeish for daring to take a point from his former master.
There's the bit of Hughes and Pulis refusing to shake each others hand doing the rounds and the media is wondering who's a bigger Cunt amongst the two for refusing to shake each others hands. In my opinion they are both cunts who have reached such heights of cuntery that they give me a cunting feeling about them every time i picture the two cunts. Wow that's a lot of cunt used in a sentence, but what else would you expect when you're talking about the two cunts Hughes and Pulis in the same line.
So that's your lot for today folks and here's to a Repeat of Monday's performance. I predict the match to finish 3-0 in our favour.
The game isn't being aired live on TV in India today and is at a 3.15 a.m deferred telecast. Star Sports has preferred to show the relegation battle between Liverpool and Wolves tonight while ESPN is broadcasting the battle of Europa league spots between the Chavs and Bolton. Haha.
Follow me on twitter @Indigooner for streams which you could use to watch the game live.
Have a good evening wherever you are and enjoy the match. Come on you Gunners !!
Until Tomorrow
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
We could and we did
Waking up on a Tuesday morning after a big game against a title rival would usually have me trying to avoid any medium of information from TV, newspapers, blogs, etc, etc. But not this Tuesday morning. This Tuesday morning i woke up like a bloke who's just been informed he's won the fucking lottery.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, last night was a sheer masterclass performance from our team who have so often been written off by all and sundry as being too soft a team and one, that is unable to mix it up there with the big boys. and how we proved them wrong. I wrote in my blog yesterday that the result of this game would serve as a catalyst to either destroy our confidence or sky rocket it towards a title challenge in the second half of the season. How I'm glad its the former that i am writing about.
For me the writing was on the wall the moment i set my eyes on the team sheet. Wenger had put his neck on the line by drafting in JD, TW and RVP in the side at the expense of Squillaci, Shava and Chamakh. And boy oh boy did his selection pay dividends. This was the first time in the past couple of seasons that i have seen my beloved Arsenal step into overdrive from the word go and not go down a gear right until the final whistle. We dominated the game in its entirety and except the usual gift of a goal that we love slip by we were pretty much in control.
The first half did have have much to talk about until the goal finally arrived which came through a barrage of Chelsea defenders and as only Arsenal can do, passed the ball into the back of the net. So at half time it was game on and in the interval there was that feeling inside me about which Arsenal would turn up from the dugout. Lucky for me and the millions around the world it was the same Arsenal of the first half. The second goal was a brilliant ball that started off with Kos playing a pass from one end to the other to RVP was superb in holding it up and then a stroke of luck freed the ball and the rampaging and 'brainless' Walcott jumped on the chance and made a superb assist for Fab. 2-0 to the Arsenal. Almost immediately, again thanks to the brilliant work from the 'brainless' Walcottt, passed the ball into the path of Fab, who returned the favour of the earlier goal and Walcott took his chance superbly to make it 3-0. Was i dreaming ? I couldnt care, i did not want to wake up !
Then came the goal from Chelsea and again the head of nervousness in this team raised its cunting head but thankfully there was going to be none of that and we pretty much were in control for the remainder of the game. hell, we could've had a final scoreline of 5-1 had Nasri and Diaby hit the back of the net with their chances but I'm just being greedy now.
So there are plenty of positives that we can draw from the result last night and it would have to start with the brilliant attitude, grit, determination and resilience shown by this marvellous and young team. I said in my earlier blog that this team is a team that has just one thing that they are short on at the moment and that is confidence to do well against the Top teams. Last night we've set out on the road to banish that monster from our lives for good.
Individually stand-out performances came from Song who was the Song of last season, the beast and the enforcer. The two CB's were great and JD did a great job keeping Drogba in his pants all evening. We saw yesterday what a great player Clichy is when he gets the support from the mid field to win the ball back in our own half. A lesson for Shava perhaps ??? Sagna, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshere and RVP were immense putting everything they had in themselves to make the result matter.
Last but not the least I'd like to make a special mention about Theo Walcott. Often brandished as 'brainless' and someone who doesn't have breaking up play showed yesterday that both the balls that he pressed on in the Chelsea mid field he won and the final result were goals. So i would like to request the cunty, non playing, sorry excuses of humans, commentators to quit holding this bias against him and give him a fucking chance. He's only 21 years old for crying out loud !!
Also, there was one very important factor that had the team play with the kind of bravado that they played with, they were the - 60000+ Gooners inside the fucking Emirates. A special shout out to the crowd who not once in the game kept quiet like we know they can and kept singing even after we conceded. They got special mention from Nasri, Cesc, RVP and Chesney via twitter. Well done lads.
Well so that's in the bag and we now look at Wigan tomorrow evening. There isn't much time to bask in the glory of what we've achieved rather we've got to now put our heads together and play like we did yesterday for the remaining 25-30 (incl cup competition) games we have to play until the end of the season. If we can put in a shift like we did yesterday and pressed the way we did, i wouldn't bet against us not lifting more than two trophies this season.
Gooner around the world.
Enjoy your day in glory Gooner, its been a long time coming. Hell, sing a Christmas carol whilst you enjoy it "Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way, oh what fun it was to RAPE Chelsea yesterday" (repeat until giddy ;)
Have a good evening wherever you are. Come on you Reds !!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, last night was a sheer masterclass performance from our team who have so often been written off by all and sundry as being too soft a team and one, that is unable to mix it up there with the big boys. and how we proved them wrong. I wrote in my blog yesterday that the result of this game would serve as a catalyst to either destroy our confidence or sky rocket it towards a title challenge in the second half of the season. How I'm glad its the former that i am writing about.
For me the writing was on the wall the moment i set my eyes on the team sheet. Wenger had put his neck on the line by drafting in JD, TW and RVP in the side at the expense of Squillaci, Shava and Chamakh. And boy oh boy did his selection pay dividends. This was the first time in the past couple of seasons that i have seen my beloved Arsenal step into overdrive from the word go and not go down a gear right until the final whistle. We dominated the game in its entirety and except the usual gift of a goal that we love slip by we were pretty much in control.
The first half did have have much to talk about until the goal finally arrived which came through a barrage of Chelsea defenders and as only Arsenal can do, passed the ball into the back of the net. So at half time it was game on and in the interval there was that feeling inside me about which Arsenal would turn up from the dugout. Lucky for me and the millions around the world it was the same Arsenal of the first half. The second goal was a brilliant ball that started off with Kos playing a pass from one end to the other to RVP was superb in holding it up and then a stroke of luck freed the ball and the rampaging and 'brainless' Walcott jumped on the chance and made a superb assist for Fab. 2-0 to the Arsenal. Almost immediately, again thanks to the brilliant work from the 'brainless' Walcottt, passed the ball into the path of Fab, who returned the favour of the earlier goal and Walcott took his chance superbly to make it 3-0. Was i dreaming ? I couldnt care, i did not want to wake up !
Then came the goal from Chelsea and again the head of nervousness in this team raised its cunting head but thankfully there was going to be none of that and we pretty much were in control for the remainder of the game. hell, we could've had a final scoreline of 5-1 had Nasri and Diaby hit the back of the net with their chances but I'm just being greedy now.
So there are plenty of positives that we can draw from the result last night and it would have to start with the brilliant attitude, grit, determination and resilience shown by this marvellous and young team. I said in my earlier blog that this team is a team that has just one thing that they are short on at the moment and that is confidence to do well against the Top teams. Last night we've set out on the road to banish that monster from our lives for good.
Individually stand-out performances came from Song who was the Song of last season, the beast and the enforcer. The two CB's were great and JD did a great job keeping Drogba in his pants all evening. We saw yesterday what a great player Clichy is when he gets the support from the mid field to win the ball back in our own half. A lesson for Shava perhaps ??? Sagna, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshere and RVP were immense putting everything they had in themselves to make the result matter.
Last but not the least I'd like to make a special mention about Theo Walcott. Often brandished as 'brainless' and someone who doesn't have breaking up play showed yesterday that both the balls that he pressed on in the Chelsea mid field he won and the final result were goals. So i would like to request the cunty, non playing, sorry excuses of humans, commentators to quit holding this bias against him and give him a fucking chance. He's only 21 years old for crying out loud !!
Also, there was one very important factor that had the team play with the kind of bravado that they played with, they were the - 60000+ Gooners inside the fucking Emirates. A special shout out to the crowd who not once in the game kept quiet like we know they can and kept singing even after we conceded. They got special mention from Nasri, Cesc, RVP and Chesney via twitter. Well done lads.
Well so that's in the bag and we now look at Wigan tomorrow evening. There isn't much time to bask in the glory of what we've achieved rather we've got to now put our heads together and play like we did yesterday for the remaining 25-30 (incl cup competition) games we have to play until the end of the season. If we can put in a shift like we did yesterday and pressed the way we did, i wouldn't bet against us not lifting more than two trophies this season.
Gooner around the world.
Enjoy your day in glory Gooner, its been a long time coming. Hell, sing a Christmas carol whilst you enjoy it "Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way, oh what fun it was to RAPE Chelsea yesterday" (repeat until giddy ;)
Have a good evening wherever you are. Come on you Reds !!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Can we and Will we ?
Good afternoon all and best wishes of the festive season to all of you, wherever you are.
So the break from active blogging for a week was due to the festive season and the fact that football was non-existent like sunshine from Europe ! Doesn't make too much sense does it, well that's what an absence of football for two weeks does !
Anyways moving on to the match tonight at the Emirates, as things stand we sit 3rd in the League with Manure winning their game against Sunderland last night. I couldn't have expected anything less from them to be honest given the fact that Steve Bruce is an ex cock sucking twat of Ferguson and would do anything to roll over to earn some brownie points from his mentor. Am sure he and out of job Sam would have sipped a glass of wine with Fergie and given him a nice clean cock after their little threesome. Newcastle confirmed to the footballing world that they are indeed a yo yo team in terms of performances this season, beating Liverpool one week (Actually a team with my Mum and missus as strikers are enough to win games against the Reds these days) and losing to the Shitty in their next match with a performance as toothless as a one month baby. Spu*s as much as i hate to admit played Villa out of the park yesterday and were actually undone by a harsh decision to send Defoe out. But well, what else can you expect when the referee is Atkinson who pulls out Red cards faster than a Texan ranger would draw. Blah !
Anyways moving on to the game tonight against the Chavs, we are in a position to lose a lot more than the actual game tonight.
1. We sit 3rd in the league, one point ahead of Chelsea, losing this game would mean we would drop down to fourth.
2. While this would not mean the end of the world it would put us 8 points behind Utd (considering they beat Blackpool which is their game in hand), 3 points behind Shitty and 2 points behind Chelsea
While i believe that Utd have had their slump from the string of draws that they had earlier in the season, they have historically proved to be a pain in the arse post December and always move from strength to strength in the second half of the season. Tonight's game, if the result goes Chelsea's may also be the catalyst that they need to resurrect their season. Shitty do seem to be getting a good string of results together but they are in my opinion, one ego away from their next loss or training ground bust up.
I know over the past week about many fellow bloggers and writers talking about our mentality in big games and i even did a blog on it earlier and a lot of people are talking about our record against Chelsea and how we haven't won since 2008 against them. In fact some of the statistics show that the real reason for our losses there is because we haven't scored enough when we play our rivals. Our record against Chelsea in recent meetings reads something like Goals scored - 2 and Goals Allowed - 13 which is pitiful for a team like ours.
So this brings me to the subject of the blog which is Will we and Can We ? Can we, for fucks sake - YES WE CAN ! (thanks Obama for that one) C'mon, this is an Arsenal team that plays the most attractive football on the planet on their day and can pass the ball out of the bloody park. So there is absolutely no question of quality. Notice the "on their day" in bold ? That's where the problem lies for me. This team needs to believe as a unit that they have it in them to play the game that has been drilled into them from the academy and make it count against the big boys. We need to go out there tonight being fearless for 90 minutes and having it at the back of our minds that 'if we can play the football we know we can play for a full 90 minutes and chase the ball like our fucking lives depended on it' we will go on and win this game. I know for a fact that Chelsea will score today, but our test will be if we can actually respond to that goal and play like we know we can play. Trust me there wasn't much difference (barring the 2 goals) when we played the Chavs at the Bridge earlier this year and if we we up the work rate from that game we are looking like licking our Chops tonight.
What a win would do tonight for this Arsenal team would be indescribable in words (actually don't want to waste a topic for a blog by mentioning it here) but this would be similar to the catalyst that would raise our game from now until the end of the season.
Swiftly (rambling for 4 paragraphs would hardly qualify as swift but hey its my blog, i do and say as i feel like ;) moving onto team news for tonight, we know that Diaby, Fab and RVP are all back into the squad which leads me to believe that our line up this evening would be
Fabianski
Sagna-Squillaci-Koscielny-Clichy
Song-Diaby
Nasri-Fabregas
RVP-Chamakh
Subs: Chesney, Arshavin, Denilson, Djourou, Gibbs, Walcott, Rosicky/Wilshere
I've put RVP ahead of Shava in the starting line-up cos i feel we need to play today with two strikers. No logic and again its my blog so------------ Blah !
That's your lot for today. I do think that this will be a match where there will be goals involved and i am putting my neck on the line and going for a 2-1 win for The Arsenal. Come on you Gunners
Until tomorrow then, when i will have a chance to eat humble pie or gloat like a bloke who's recently lost his virginity to the hottest girl in school.
Enjoy the match and have yourselves a good evening wherever you are.
So the break from active blogging for a week was due to the festive season and the fact that football was non-existent like sunshine from Europe ! Doesn't make too much sense does it, well that's what an absence of football for two weeks does !
Anyways moving on to the match tonight at the Emirates, as things stand we sit 3rd in the League with Manure winning their game against Sunderland last night. I couldn't have expected anything less from them to be honest given the fact that Steve Bruce is an ex cock sucking twat of Ferguson and would do anything to roll over to earn some brownie points from his mentor. Am sure he and out of job Sam would have sipped a glass of wine with Fergie and given him a nice clean cock after their little threesome. Newcastle confirmed to the footballing world that they are indeed a yo yo team in terms of performances this season, beating Liverpool one week (Actually a team with my Mum and missus as strikers are enough to win games against the Reds these days) and losing to the Shitty in their next match with a performance as toothless as a one month baby. Spu*s as much as i hate to admit played Villa out of the park yesterday and were actually undone by a harsh decision to send Defoe out. But well, what else can you expect when the referee is Atkinson who pulls out Red cards faster than a Texan ranger would draw. Blah !
Anyways moving on to the game tonight against the Chavs, we are in a position to lose a lot more than the actual game tonight.
1. We sit 3rd in the league, one point ahead of Chelsea, losing this game would mean we would drop down to fourth.
2. While this would not mean the end of the world it would put us 8 points behind Utd (considering they beat Blackpool which is their game in hand), 3 points behind Shitty and 2 points behind Chelsea
While i believe that Utd have had their slump from the string of draws that they had earlier in the season, they have historically proved to be a pain in the arse post December and always move from strength to strength in the second half of the season. Tonight's game, if the result goes Chelsea's may also be the catalyst that they need to resurrect their season. Shitty do seem to be getting a good string of results together but they are in my opinion, one ego away from their next loss or training ground bust up.
I know over the past week about many fellow bloggers and writers talking about our mentality in big games and i even did a blog on it earlier and a lot of people are talking about our record against Chelsea and how we haven't won since 2008 against them. In fact some of the statistics show that the real reason for our losses there is because we haven't scored enough when we play our rivals. Our record against Chelsea in recent meetings reads something like Goals scored - 2 and Goals Allowed - 13 which is pitiful for a team like ours.
So this brings me to the subject of the blog which is Will we and Can We ? Can we, for fucks sake - YES WE CAN ! (thanks Obama for that one) C'mon, this is an Arsenal team that plays the most attractive football on the planet on their day and can pass the ball out of the bloody park. So there is absolutely no question of quality. Notice the "on their day" in bold ? That's where the problem lies for me. This team needs to believe as a unit that they have it in them to play the game that has been drilled into them from the academy and make it count against the big boys. We need to go out there tonight being fearless for 90 minutes and having it at the back of our minds that 'if we can play the football we know we can play for a full 90 minutes and chase the ball like our fucking lives depended on it' we will go on and win this game. I know for a fact that Chelsea will score today, but our test will be if we can actually respond to that goal and play like we know we can play. Trust me there wasn't much difference (barring the 2 goals) when we played the Chavs at the Bridge earlier this year and if we we up the work rate from that game we are looking like licking our Chops tonight.
What a win would do tonight for this Arsenal team would be indescribable in words (actually don't want to waste a topic for a blog by mentioning it here) but this would be similar to the catalyst that would raise our game from now until the end of the season.
Swiftly (rambling for 4 paragraphs would hardly qualify as swift but hey its my blog, i do and say as i feel like ;) moving onto team news for tonight, we know that Diaby, Fab and RVP are all back into the squad which leads me to believe that our line up this evening would be
Fabianski
Sagna-Squillaci-Koscielny-Clichy
Song-Diaby
Nasri-Fabregas
RVP-Chamakh
Subs: Chesney, Arshavin, Denilson, Djourou, Gibbs, Walcott, Rosicky/Wilshere
I've put RVP ahead of Shava in the starting line-up cos i feel we need to play today with two strikers. No logic and again its my blog so------------ Blah !
That's your lot for today. I do think that this will be a match where there will be goals involved and i am putting my neck on the line and going for a 2-1 win for The Arsenal. Come on you Gunners
Until tomorrow then, when i will have a chance to eat humble pie or gloat like a bloke who's recently lost his virginity to the hottest girl in school.
Enjoy the match and have yourselves a good evening wherever you are.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Is Mentality the last piece of the puzzle
To summarize a weekend without football in one word - STINKS ! Its actually got me contemplating watching tonight's game between Shitty and the Blue half of Mersey side - Shocking I know !
Interesting interview with the captain, on the UTD debacle, who presented the award yesterday for the Sports personality of the year to a fellow Gooner Tony McCoy. He said
I am tired of listening to the team ramble on and on about how their mentality was different than ours, how we dominated the game, its just one of those days and so on and on and on...and on.
This is the kind of talk that should be done in the team meetings and during training sessions. United's win against us was not down to their unbeaten streak or that they were not scared of winning. Its because we suffer from performance anxiety in the same way a Virgin groom suffers from it on his wedding night.
We play the most beautiful football, we have a midfield that is second to only Barcelona in terms of attacking and playmaking ability and on our day we can pass the ball out of the park and not give the opposition a sniff at the ball. So where does mentality come in ? Its a clear case of letting the past get to you. We haven't beaten them for a while and get bogged down because we let this history stick to us like a moth to a flame.
Its only when we bring a certain 'fearless' attitude to our game is when we will truly become world beaters. Look what Ian Holloway has done to a bunch of no body's at Blackpool, who currently sit pretty at 10th in the PL. How has he achieved this ? The answer is by making Blackpool play fearlessly and playing against any opponent the same way as they would play the next. And that for me is where the problem lies.
Enough on that rant now.
Reports in Italy suggest that Rafa Benitez has been sacked, yup the same guy who bankrupt Liverpool and was trying to do the same at Inter. Remember you heard it here first.
You can follow me on twitter @IndiGooner chatting Arsenal in the evenings ( I work a day job, cos thats what pays the bills)
Have a good evening wherever you are.
Interesting interview with the captain, on the UTD debacle, who presented the award yesterday for the Sports personality of the year to a fellow Gooner Tony McCoy. He said
"They (UTD) were more aggressive than us. They have the belief that comes from not losing at all this season. That gives you a lot of help mentally.
"I'm realising more and more that football is all about confidence and mentality. Sometimes you do the right thing but, if people tell you it's not right, you start believing it, even though you were right at first.
"I think the difference on the night was that we were scared of losing but they were not scared of winning.
"That was a big difference that played in our heads. Sometimes we seem scared of losing these big games – we don't really go for it and we're tempted to drop back and see what the opposition do.
"We look to see if we are capable of beating them by what they are doing and how good they are on the day, instead of us going forward, causing them problems and dominating the game ourselves."Its about time the team stopped giving us this kind of post match reviews of the game, that's what folks like myself are for. If you know where the bloody problem lies - FIX IT !!
I am tired of listening to the team ramble on and on about how their mentality was different than ours, how we dominated the game, its just one of those days and so on and on and on...and on.
This is the kind of talk that should be done in the team meetings and during training sessions. United's win against us was not down to their unbeaten streak or that they were not scared of winning. Its because we suffer from performance anxiety in the same way a Virgin groom suffers from it on his wedding night.
We play the most beautiful football, we have a midfield that is second to only Barcelona in terms of attacking and playmaking ability and on our day we can pass the ball out of the park and not give the opposition a sniff at the ball. So where does mentality come in ? Its a clear case of letting the past get to you. We haven't beaten them for a while and get bogged down because we let this history stick to us like a moth to a flame.
Its only when we bring a certain 'fearless' attitude to our game is when we will truly become world beaters. Look what Ian Holloway has done to a bunch of no body's at Blackpool, who currently sit pretty at 10th in the PL. How has he achieved this ? The answer is by making Blackpool play fearlessly and playing against any opponent the same way as they would play the next. And that for me is where the problem lies.
Enough on that rant now.
Reports in Italy suggest that Rafa Benitez has been sacked, yup the same guy who bankrupt Liverpool and was trying to do the same at Inter. Remember you heard it here first.
You can follow me on twitter @IndiGooner chatting Arsenal in the evenings ( I work a day job, cos thats what pays the bills)
Have a good evening wherever you are.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Snow snow Go Away
Well folks tonights post is going to be a quickie much like the quickie the missus hopes for after a drunken night out when i tend to mate like a rabbit.
The game last night was cancelled due to snow and that leaves us with a good period of rest prior to the Chavs visiting us at the Grove. Now if that is a good thing or a bad one only time will tell, but i feel the boys will surely be up for the challenge considering the defeat to manure hasn't been put to rest yet and what better way to voice your title ambitions than by beating John 'I shagged ur missus while u were away" Terry's Chelsea. Anyways more on that in the week ahead.
On Arsenal news the club has confirmed the signing of Japenese prodigy Ryo Miyaichi who is set to join the club in Jan 2011. While this was reported a few months ago, in the world of Arsenal alls not well unless its confirmed by the official site. Here's wishing Miyaichi to step up to the plate and make himself a reputation bigger than what Inamoto made for himself.
In other news Aaron Ramsey had a fantastic day coming off the bench yesterday with the forest manager being pretty gracious with his praises for the young Welshman. The supporters too were outstanding as they applauded him and sang his name. Not bad an impression to create by someone who is on a one month loan.
I had the chance to watch the brilliant Aneke-Afobe partnership via YouTube and trust me Gooners these guys are to the youth team what Pires and Henry were to our first team. Their understanding and positioning are simply superb and i am licking my chops in delight to when we will get to see these two in the Arsenal first team. Definitely two to watch out for the future.
And that's it from me for today. Back tomorrow with some sweet nothing.
Have a good evening wherever your are.
The game last night was cancelled due to snow and that leaves us with a good period of rest prior to the Chavs visiting us at the Grove. Now if that is a good thing or a bad one only time will tell, but i feel the boys will surely be up for the challenge considering the defeat to manure hasn't been put to rest yet and what better way to voice your title ambitions than by beating John 'I shagged ur missus while u were away" Terry's Chelsea. Anyways more on that in the week ahead.
On Arsenal news the club has confirmed the signing of Japenese prodigy Ryo Miyaichi who is set to join the club in Jan 2011. While this was reported a few months ago, in the world of Arsenal alls not well unless its confirmed by the official site. Here's wishing Miyaichi to step up to the plate and make himself a reputation bigger than what Inamoto made for himself.
In other news Aaron Ramsey had a fantastic day coming off the bench yesterday with the forest manager being pretty gracious with his praises for the young Welshman. The supporters too were outstanding as they applauded him and sang his name. Not bad an impression to create by someone who is on a one month loan.
I had the chance to watch the brilliant Aneke-Afobe partnership via YouTube and trust me Gooners these guys are to the youth team what Pires and Henry were to our first team. Their understanding and positioning are simply superb and i am licking my chops in delight to when we will get to see these two in the Arsenal first team. Definitely two to watch out for the future.
And that's it from me for today. Back tomorrow with some sweet nothing.
Have a good evening wherever your are.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Barca, a sense of Deja Vu and the liitle matter of Stoke
Good afternoon Gooners.
So we've arrived to Saturday morning sitting second in the Premiership two points behind UTD with them having a game in hand. Since they play tomorrow we do have a chance to go top of the league for the 3rd time this season albeit for a day. I've been reading over the internet on the favourable results that we could do with to maintain our league leadership. But if you asked me i'd rather the Chavs draw with Manure tomorrow and a couple from both sides end up limping out for the rest of the season ! Even though my heart wants a draw i think UTD have enough in them to beat the Chavs purely on the basis of form that they have individually carried into the match. Enough on that for now.
Moving onto our match today with Stoke 'Rugby' City anything other than 3 points will not do. Its time we began work on conquering the Emirates and making it our fortress. We simply cannot shy away from the fact that a team with title ambitions like ours has lost 5 games already 3 of which at home.
The team definitely seems to be up for the challenge with Shava being positive rather than his usual glass half empty views. On team news front Bendtner seems to be given the weekend off to celebrate the birth of his first born (Hope the kid doesn't land up with a head as big as his father's and gets the 'humble' trait from his mother) Fab is expected to have a late fitness test done on him, but even if he passes it i dont think Wenger would want to risk him with the Thugs we're playing today. A lot of people are of the opinion that JD should get a start over LK but methinks LK was superb against Blackburn who are also in the same rugby league as Stoke are in and he came away from that match unscathed.
The team for me should look somewhat like this
Chesney
Clichy-Kos-Squilacci-Sagna
Song-Fabregas-Wilshere
Nasri-Chamakh-RVP
Subs: Fabianski, Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin, Eboue, Djourou, Denilson
I've picked RVP to start ahead of Shava in this one to combat the aerial pressure from Stoke and give him some much needed match practice before the Chavs visit us a the Grove next weekend.
I expect this one to be a 3-1 to the Arsenal. I am usually wrong with these predictions so dont bet your pension fund on it.
In other news, Harvard Nordveit has decided to move on to the Bundesliga in the January transfer window for a reported fee of around 1.7 million. I do feel bad for the lad who according to many was actually pretty much top drawer. Hope this decision from Wenger to let him go mid way through the season doesn't come and bite us in the ass during our annual injury pile up ! All the best to a decent talent who honestly would be happier gaining playing time than warming the bench with us. That would make it 2 top talents that have moved on this year, Nordveit and Merida. So much for promoting youngsters eh Mr Wenger.
Elsewhere, the world of Gooners seem to be split in their opinions for the draw against Barca. I prefer to look at this rather objectively.
1. We had 8 of our first team missing in action when we met them at the Nou Camp last season and yet took the lead !!
2. Sylvestre was playing in defense !! Need i say more.
3. We'll have the Verminator, Fab, RVP, Wilshere, Chamakh and Nasri (who is in the form of his life) playing for us. (Injury gods permitting :)
4. Almunia was in goal. Shocking, i know !!
5. Messi was on fire at the Nou Camp. Barring him they actually did sweet fuck-all all night long.
So lets keep a sense of optimism guys, drawing Barca really isn't the end of the world and stop behaving like we've already lost. Even if we do lose it at least ensures that we do not have the added distraction of the CL to deal with and can concentrate and go all Cannons blazing in the PL run in.
Thats about it from me for today. Match begins at 20.25 IST and is being aired on ESPN.
Enjoy the match wherever you are and have yourselves a good day.
Till tomorrow.
So we've arrived to Saturday morning sitting second in the Premiership two points behind UTD with them having a game in hand. Since they play tomorrow we do have a chance to go top of the league for the 3rd time this season albeit for a day. I've been reading over the internet on the favourable results that we could do with to maintain our league leadership. But if you asked me i'd rather the Chavs draw with Manure tomorrow and a couple from both sides end up limping out for the rest of the season ! Even though my heart wants a draw i think UTD have enough in them to beat the Chavs purely on the basis of form that they have individually carried into the match. Enough on that for now.
Moving onto our match today with Stoke 'Rugby' City anything other than 3 points will not do. Its time we began work on conquering the Emirates and making it our fortress. We simply cannot shy away from the fact that a team with title ambitions like ours has lost 5 games already 3 of which at home.
The team definitely seems to be up for the challenge with Shava being positive rather than his usual glass half empty views. On team news front Bendtner seems to be given the weekend off to celebrate the birth of his first born (Hope the kid doesn't land up with a head as big as his father's and gets the 'humble' trait from his mother) Fab is expected to have a late fitness test done on him, but even if he passes it i dont think Wenger would want to risk him with the Thugs we're playing today. A lot of people are of the opinion that JD should get a start over LK but methinks LK was superb against Blackburn who are also in the same rugby league as Stoke are in and he came away from that match unscathed.
The team for me should look somewhat like this
Chesney
Clichy-Kos-Squilacci-Sagna
Song-Fabregas-Wilshere
Nasri-Chamakh-RVP
Subs: Fabianski, Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin, Eboue, Djourou, Denilson
I've picked RVP to start ahead of Shava in this one to combat the aerial pressure from Stoke and give him some much needed match practice before the Chavs visit us a the Grove next weekend.
I expect this one to be a 3-1 to the Arsenal. I am usually wrong with these predictions so dont bet your pension fund on it.
In other news, Harvard Nordveit has decided to move on to the Bundesliga in the January transfer window for a reported fee of around 1.7 million. I do feel bad for the lad who according to many was actually pretty much top drawer. Hope this decision from Wenger to let him go mid way through the season doesn't come and bite us in the ass during our annual injury pile up ! All the best to a decent talent who honestly would be happier gaining playing time than warming the bench with us. That would make it 2 top talents that have moved on this year, Nordveit and Merida. So much for promoting youngsters eh Mr Wenger.
Elsewhere, the world of Gooners seem to be split in their opinions for the draw against Barca. I prefer to look at this rather objectively.
1. We had 8 of our first team missing in action when we met them at the Nou Camp last season and yet took the lead !!
2. Sylvestre was playing in defense !! Need i say more.
3. We'll have the Verminator, Fab, RVP, Wilshere, Chamakh and Nasri (who is in the form of his life) playing for us. (Injury gods permitting :)
4. Almunia was in goal. Shocking, i know !!
5. Messi was on fire at the Nou Camp. Barring him they actually did sweet fuck-all all night long.
So lets keep a sense of optimism guys, drawing Barca really isn't the end of the world and stop behaving like we've already lost. Even if we do lose it at least ensures that we do not have the added distraction of the CL to deal with and can concentrate and go all Cannons blazing in the PL run in.
Thats about it from me for today. Match begins at 20.25 IST and is being aired on ESPN.
Enjoy the match wherever you are and have yourselves a good day.
Till tomorrow.
Friday, December 17, 2010
My First Blog
Its been on my mind for the longest time that i should start a daily blog for all things Arsenal..So well here goes nothing :)
A great day to lose my virginity on the internet, and by that i mean losing it by making my foray into the world of blogging. We've just drawn Barca in the last 16 of the Champions League and boy oh boy do i relish the prospect of laying the ghost of 2006 finals and last years QF to rest once and for all. Considering we played them last season without 8 of our first team sqaud in the second leg and played against them with 10 men for the better part of the 2006 finals i have feeling somethings gotta give this time around. More on that when we near the dates which if i have got right are the 15th of Feb at Home and 8th of March away.
Moving on to tomorrows game, all attention is towards Ryan "cuntface" Shawcross and his cuntface manager Tony Pubis who wants extra protection for that thug of a player. He thinks that poor ol' Ryan will be in for a hostile reception at the Emirates !! What else did you expect you fucking retard ?? A bouquet of roses and 40 virgins in his hotel room ?? Anyways i hope that the crowd really gets to him and boos the fuck out of him every time he even gets near the ball, let alone touch it.
On the team news front Chesey should be starting once again in goal with fabianski on the bench considering he still isn't 100% match fit. I dont remember the last time we had the luxury of having two top keepers at our disposal and boy do i enjoy it.
I fancy Song, Jack and Fab in midfield with Nasri playing out on the right andd Robin playing on the left with Chamakh as the lone man foward. Our formation should look more like a 4-3-2-1 for tomorrows game.
On other news, the Daily Mail has reported that Hazard would fancy us over Madrid. Thats one piece i would love to come true cos that boy os a top top talent. Lets hope for the very best on that front. Other news has us linked with Benzema and Clichy headed in the other direction. For me that is a story to which you should just hit the delete button on, wont happen !
More on the team line up tomorrow alongwith predictions on the scorelines at the Emirates and the complete Champions League round up to boot.
Have yourselves a good evening wherever you are.
A great day to lose my virginity on the internet, and by that i mean losing it by making my foray into the world of blogging. We've just drawn Barca in the last 16 of the Champions League and boy oh boy do i relish the prospect of laying the ghost of 2006 finals and last years QF to rest once and for all. Considering we played them last season without 8 of our first team sqaud in the second leg and played against them with 10 men for the better part of the 2006 finals i have feeling somethings gotta give this time around. More on that when we near the dates which if i have got right are the 15th of Feb at Home and 8th of March away.
Moving on to tomorrows game, all attention is towards Ryan "cuntface" Shawcross and his cuntface manager Tony Pubis who wants extra protection for that thug of a player. He thinks that poor ol' Ryan will be in for a hostile reception at the Emirates !! What else did you expect you fucking retard ?? A bouquet of roses and 40 virgins in his hotel room ?? Anyways i hope that the crowd really gets to him and boos the fuck out of him every time he even gets near the ball, let alone touch it.
On the team news front Chesey should be starting once again in goal with fabianski on the bench considering he still isn't 100% match fit. I dont remember the last time we had the luxury of having two top keepers at our disposal and boy do i enjoy it.
I fancy Song, Jack and Fab in midfield with Nasri playing out on the right andd Robin playing on the left with Chamakh as the lone man foward. Our formation should look more like a 4-3-2-1 for tomorrows game.
On other news, the Daily Mail has reported that Hazard would fancy us over Madrid. Thats one piece i would love to come true cos that boy os a top top talent. Lets hope for the very best on that front. Other news has us linked with Benzema and Clichy headed in the other direction. For me that is a story to which you should just hit the delete button on, wont happen !
More on the team line up tomorrow alongwith predictions on the scorelines at the Emirates and the complete Champions League round up to boot.
Have yourselves a good evening wherever you are.
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