Ok, as you can see to your right, there is a new poll. This is for no particular reason, as there is no way the Arsene will take any note of it, but it's just for fun, and to see the opinions of fellow Gooners. The questions are 'Who would you most like to see leave?', 'Who do you actually think is most likely to leave?', 'Who would you least like to see leave?', 'If only one position could be filled by a new signing, what position would you want it to be?' and 'Who, out of these likely potential signings, would you most like to see at the Grove?'.
Off you go Gooners.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Things that commentators say about Arsenal that annoy the hell out of me
I haven’t missed an Arsenal match this season (either by going to Ashburton or by watching on TV) and as such I have noticed some phrases that keep coming up about Arsenal. So I’ve decided to list a rough version of them, and get them out of my system. Let me know if you agree.
1) (When Eboue comes on as a sub with about 15 minutes remaining.) Commentator: “So Eboue comes on for Walcott/Sagna. Eboue was of course booed by his own fans and substituted after coming on against Wigan earlier on in the season.” I heard this against Stoke on the last day of the season. The aforementioned incident came at home to Wigan on the 6th of December. The above quote therefore has been said approximately once a week for five and a half months. Commentators are meant to know tit-bits of knowledge that hardly anyone else know. If they knew anything about Arsenal they would know that Eboue himself has moved on, and so have the fans. Plus the fact the fans have actually been fairly impressed with the way Eboue has conducted himself and the way he’s played ever since.
2) (When Bendtner comes on for Walcott in the second half, towards the end of the season.) Commentator: “So Bendtner has come on for Walcott, and he will be moving into a more central role upfront. Oh well, Bendtner appears to have moved out to the right side of midfield in a more direct swap with Walcott. That’s a different approach isn’t it?” No, no it isn’t you saps. Watch Arsenal more than once this season and you’ll realise that Wenger almost always utilises Bendtner out on the right. He’s pretty effective there too.
3) (Bendtner comes on as a sub, whilst Adebayor is also on the pitch.) Commentator: “So Bendtner comes on for Walcott and he’ll partner Adebayor upfront (presumably Bendtner will actually play on the right). These two of course famously had a clash on field last season against Tottenham.” Yes they did. But you said it yourself, that was LAST season. How many times have they played together since? How many times have they trained together since? You would have heard had there been any more conflict, so I think it’s safe to say they’ve moved on, so shut up about it.
4) “Arsenal have often been accused of trying to walk the ball in, but here they scored from a cross!” Conveniently forgetting that in the 2007/2008 season, Arsenal, along with the spuds, scored the most from crosses out of anyone.
5) “It’s so often been said that it’s men versus boys, but the boys have beaten the men today.” David Pleat (I can’t help but shudder with disgust every time I think of that man) said this after we beat Fenebahce 5-2. Shut up David Pleat, you are the worst commentator ever and you shouldn’t be allowed on TV. Furthermore think about the amount of games Arsenal have won this season, and the fact the average squad age hardly deviates. Then you’ll realise the boys regularly beat the men, if you want to call it that, and the above was not just a one off, therefore your comment was stupid and you’re stupid.
6) “Manchester United this, Manchester United that.” Admittedly not about Arsenal, but I had to get it off my chest. It must have killed every commentator and referee in the land when the mancs lost against the better team last night in CL final. Kudos to Clive Tyldesley though for the quote “Manchester United are not going with much grace here.” Brilliant.
7) Whenever anybody gets someone’s name wrong repeatedly. This is usually co-commentators rather than commentators. These guys are meant to be experts. Sure if they get it wrong once, that's fine everyone makes mistake but if they keep getting someone’s name wrong then they clearly aren’t experts and should be fired. The last example I can think of is Jack Wilshere being referred to as Luke Wiltshire by some half-wit parading as a Setanta co-commentator. And that brings me nicely on to my next point….
8) Setanta co-commentators. I know this isn’t a single example but they’ve just said so many annoying things I can’t keep track. First thing is first, they are usually from west London, or the north of England. Therefore by principle they hate Arsenal. And you can hear it when they commentate. Secondly they usually are very stupid, ex-third-rate footballers who can’t make a living for themselves after they’ve retired from football, so are given a life-line by Setanta. They also have a tendency to use the word ‘again’ in completely the wrong context. For example: “Eboue had been put through well by Fabregas but again his shot was tame”, when it was actually his first shot of the match.
That’s all that I can think of for now. It was good to get that off my chest. Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything good.
‘Til next time Gooners.
1) (When Eboue comes on as a sub with about 15 minutes remaining.) Commentator: “So Eboue comes on for Walcott/Sagna. Eboue was of course booed by his own fans and substituted after coming on against Wigan earlier on in the season.” I heard this against Stoke on the last day of the season. The aforementioned incident came at home to Wigan on the 6th of December. The above quote therefore has been said approximately once a week for five and a half months. Commentators are meant to know tit-bits of knowledge that hardly anyone else know. If they knew anything about Arsenal they would know that Eboue himself has moved on, and so have the fans. Plus the fact the fans have actually been fairly impressed with the way Eboue has conducted himself and the way he’s played ever since.
2) (When Bendtner comes on for Walcott in the second half, towards the end of the season.) Commentator: “So Bendtner has come on for Walcott, and he will be moving into a more central role upfront. Oh well, Bendtner appears to have moved out to the right side of midfield in a more direct swap with Walcott. That’s a different approach isn’t it?” No, no it isn’t you saps. Watch Arsenal more than once this season and you’ll realise that Wenger almost always utilises Bendtner out on the right. He’s pretty effective there too.
3) (Bendtner comes on as a sub, whilst Adebayor is also on the pitch.) Commentator: “So Bendtner comes on for Walcott and he’ll partner Adebayor upfront (presumably Bendtner will actually play on the right). These two of course famously had a clash on field last season against Tottenham.” Yes they did. But you said it yourself, that was LAST season. How many times have they played together since? How many times have they trained together since? You would have heard had there been any more conflict, so I think it’s safe to say they’ve moved on, so shut up about it.
4) “Arsenal have often been accused of trying to walk the ball in, but here they scored from a cross!” Conveniently forgetting that in the 2007/2008 season, Arsenal, along with the spuds, scored the most from crosses out of anyone.
5) “It’s so often been said that it’s men versus boys, but the boys have beaten the men today.” David Pleat (I can’t help but shudder with disgust every time I think of that man) said this after we beat Fenebahce 5-2. Shut up David Pleat, you are the worst commentator ever and you shouldn’t be allowed on TV. Furthermore think about the amount of games Arsenal have won this season, and the fact the average squad age hardly deviates. Then you’ll realise the boys regularly beat the men, if you want to call it that, and the above was not just a one off, therefore your comment was stupid and you’re stupid.
6) “Manchester United this, Manchester United that.” Admittedly not about Arsenal, but I had to get it off my chest. It must have killed every commentator and referee in the land when the mancs lost against the better team last night in CL final. Kudos to Clive Tyldesley though for the quote “Manchester United are not going with much grace here.” Brilliant.
7) Whenever anybody gets someone’s name wrong repeatedly. This is usually co-commentators rather than commentators. These guys are meant to be experts. Sure if they get it wrong once, that's fine everyone makes mistake but if they keep getting someone’s name wrong then they clearly aren’t experts and should be fired. The last example I can think of is Jack Wilshere being referred to as Luke Wiltshire by some half-wit parading as a Setanta co-commentator. And that brings me nicely on to my next point….
8) Setanta co-commentators. I know this isn’t a single example but they’ve just said so many annoying things I can’t keep track. First thing is first, they are usually from west London, or the north of England. Therefore by principle they hate Arsenal. And you can hear it when they commentate. Secondly they usually are very stupid, ex-third-rate footballers who can’t make a living for themselves after they’ve retired from football, so are given a life-line by Setanta. They also have a tendency to use the word ‘again’ in completely the wrong context. For example: “Eboue had been put through well by Fabregas but again his shot was tame”, when it was actually his first shot of the match.
That’s all that I can think of for now. It was good to get that off my chest. Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything good.
‘Til next time Gooners.
Barcelona - well deserved champions.
The best team throughout this years champions league won. I've been saying for a while that it would be a travesty should Barcelona not win (apart from if Arsenal won obviously). If you watch some of their previous games, particularly against Basel, every goal seems to be perfect. Despite them tapping up every Arsenal player at any opportunity, I'm glad they won, but more than this I'm glad at the manner in which the mancs lost. After Messi scored Barca's second, they just kept the ball, and the mancs did not like this one bit. They couldn't hack the fact that they clearly are not the best team in the world like they all thought with their swollen heads. So cue Ronaldo, Paul 'worst tackler I have ever seen in my life' Scholes, Rooney and Vidic throwing themselves into tackles with no intention of getting the ball. And they got properly shown up. Fantastic. You have to admire the little Barcelona players for their bollocks. Big techniqually worse, oafish players vent their frustration by kicking out at the little guys, and still they carry on. They do not get intimidated like perhaps Arsenal sometimes do (although our recent up turn in form against Bolton and Blackburn would suggest to the contrary). I am also glad for the sake of commentators that the mancs lost. Maybe they'll get off their little cloud decorated with topless Ronaldo posters and scarfs with silly little devils on it, and their 'ooh is this the best Manchester United team of all time?' and realise that they should stop brown nosing ManU so much, because they clearly aren't the best team in the world, and they are in fact leagues behind the spanish champions.
On to more Arsenal related news: Walcott has been called up to the England under 21 squad for the Euro championships. Wenger will not be happy about this, and this is because playing for the Under 21s, as well as playing for the seniors, means Walcott will get exactly 7 days of rest this summer should England Under 21s go all the way to the final. Although the Under 21s did pretty well during the last tournament, they haven't been playing well recently, so chances are, we may still have a fresh Theo. Well done to Kieran Gibbs by the way, who has made the England Under 21s again.
It appears that we're on the verge of signing 15 year old Jamie Edge from Cheltenham, to go with our previous signing of Angha. If you, like me, follow Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth, you would have noticed his name on team sheats for the last few matches as well as the Atalanta Cup. He's obviously impressed enough, so well done to him. Cheltenham will also reap a small financial reward for their part.
Right that's all for now. As promised there will be a Play the Gooner Way special on 'Things that commentators say that annoy the hell out of me' later.
'Til then Gooners.
On to more Arsenal related news: Walcott has been called up to the England under 21 squad for the Euro championships. Wenger will not be happy about this, and this is because playing for the Under 21s, as well as playing for the seniors, means Walcott will get exactly 7 days of rest this summer should England Under 21s go all the way to the final. Although the Under 21s did pretty well during the last tournament, they haven't been playing well recently, so chances are, we may still have a fresh Theo. Well done to Kieran Gibbs by the way, who has made the England Under 21s again.
It appears that we're on the verge of signing 15 year old Jamie Edge from Cheltenham, to go with our previous signing of Angha. If you, like me, follow Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth, you would have noticed his name on team sheats for the last few matches as well as the Atalanta Cup. He's obviously impressed enough, so well done to him. Cheltenham will also reap a small financial reward for their part.
Right that's all for now. As promised there will be a Play the Gooner Way special on 'Things that commentators say that annoy the hell out of me' later.
'Til then Gooners.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Silverware at last! and some more dribble.
Congratulations to the kids who absolutely demolished Liverpool's under 18s over both legs to lift the FA youth cup. This along with winning the Academy league means Arsenal have won a prestigious double, and the first team do have done so since the Academy was instilled back in 2002. How fitting it was that Steve Bould once again could lift a trophy at Anfield exactly 20 years after winning the premier league there. Liverpool needed to come straight out of the blocks after losing the first leg 4-1, however Arsenal coped well and soon began controlling things, particularly in the form of Henri Lansbury. Sanchez Watt netted our first with a smart dink over Dean Bouzanis, however Liverpool came straight back with Finnish Under 21 Lauri Dalla Valle calmly slotting the ball home. The final goal came courtesy of a Watt drilled ball across the box that Liverpool Daniel Ayala unfortunately (for him, to the delight of us) put into his own goal. Full match reports can be found at Young Guns and Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth. The kids went crazy at the end, and so they should. They showed that they are the most talented bunch in England, and by some way. As I said earlier Lansbury was very impressive. But he always is when I watch him, not only for Arsenal but previously for England Under 17s and now England Under 19s. Wilshere obviously was good, as was Emmanuel-Thomas but many still question his work rate, at any rate we destroyed Liverpool, so well done to the lads, and well done to Steve Bould.
So we've won silverware. If a chav or a manc ever take the piss saying about the lack of trophies in four years, just say 'What are you talking about, we won the youth double this year' and then proceed to put your fingers in your ears and shake your head from side to side saying 'it does count! it does count!' as they start protesting.
On to the future, and it looks promising for this bloke we've just signed. Well I say bloke I mean child. His name is Martin Angha-Lochter. He's Swiss, he's 15, and we poached him from FC Zurich, and he impressed in his first game for us, in the under 15s 2-1 win against Chelsea. Apparently he's most comfortable as a centre back, but can play anywhere across the back four. Sounds like we really wanted him because we offered him and his family an executive box for the match against Stoke. So we have another promising youngster, let's hope he gets immense.
In other news Patrice Evra just won't shut up. Does he not realise that no one in this world, presumably even ManU fans, give a damn about what he says? After saying the CL semi final was babies versus men and many other comments following, apparently Cesc tried to hurt him in a challenge at Old Trafford. Watch it again. It was nothing. Evra claims that he will see Cesc again off the field and there won't be any referee to give him a red card. Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to announce to the press. Hopefully other authorites will be alert. Evra went on to say:
"I was really disappointed. Everyone understood that he (Fabregas) wanted to hurt me."
No they didn't you imbecile, otherwise Fergie would have whined about it. The fact that a man who complains about everything didn't even complain about this shows how inocuous it was. Now stop crying Evra, you're just bitter 'cause you're not the best left back in the league.
Speaking about hated figures from Manchester, Ronaldo apparently is a late worry for the Champions league final. Good, I hope it turns out to be a Tomas Rosickyesque injury for him. Although realistically, if it's only a doubt then he will be risked, and probably score. Cue the moment that everyone in England who isn't a red manc, throws up everywhere.
Adebayor is in the news again. 'When is he not?' I hear you ask. Never, i respond, never. Although this time perhaps for the right reasons (at last). Ade has stated that although it is an honour to be wanted by AC Milan, he never wanted to leave, and he still doesn't (at least for a few seasons). Ade reckons he's given 100% this year, to which we all shout Noooo, but also took time out of counting his money to say a few things about his manager and his captain. About Wenger, Adebayor told Marca:
"It's impossible to see Wenger leaving, it would be like a father abandoning his sons."
When asked about Cesc, Adebayor seemed even more complimentary:
"For me it is an honour to play with him, he has quality, personality, he has made Arsenal and Arsenal have made him."
So Adebayor reckons the three of them will stay. Well that's good about Cesc and Arsene. It could be good about Adebayor too, as long he works hard next season, and proves he's worth more than the £20-odd million we could sell him for this summer. Ade couldn't help but adding that he wanted to play in the spanish league in a few seasons time, but for now he's happy here. That's good Ade, we're glad that we're the kind of club that'll do for now.
Well I guess that's all for now. Allow me to direct you to youtube where, if you haven't already seen it, there is a twelve part series showing highlights of every single one of Arsenal's 49 unbeaten games. As well as this there is another 12 part series showing highlights of the 03/04 season narrated by Peter Drury, including FA Cup, League Cup (where a certain Fabregas scores at the age of 16) and Champions League. Also allow me to direct you to Arsenality where there is a good article concerning Wenger, his legacy and the talk surrounding him and Madrid.
Stay tuned in the near future for a Play the Gooner Way special on 'things that commentators say about Arsenal that annoy the hell out of me'.
'Til next time Gooners.
So we've won silverware. If a chav or a manc ever take the piss saying about the lack of trophies in four years, just say 'What are you talking about, we won the youth double this year' and then proceed to put your fingers in your ears and shake your head from side to side saying 'it does count! it does count!' as they start protesting.
On to the future, and it looks promising for this bloke we've just signed. Well I say bloke I mean child. His name is Martin Angha-Lochter. He's Swiss, he's 15, and we poached him from FC Zurich, and he impressed in his first game for us, in the under 15s 2-1 win against Chelsea. Apparently he's most comfortable as a centre back, but can play anywhere across the back four. Sounds like we really wanted him because we offered him and his family an executive box for the match against Stoke. So we have another promising youngster, let's hope he gets immense.
In other news Patrice Evra just won't shut up. Does he not realise that no one in this world, presumably even ManU fans, give a damn about what he says? After saying the CL semi final was babies versus men and many other comments following, apparently Cesc tried to hurt him in a challenge at Old Trafford. Watch it again. It was nothing. Evra claims that he will see Cesc again off the field and there won't be any referee to give him a red card. Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to announce to the press. Hopefully other authorites will be alert. Evra went on to say:
"I was really disappointed. Everyone understood that he (Fabregas) wanted to hurt me."
No they didn't you imbecile, otherwise Fergie would have whined about it. The fact that a man who complains about everything didn't even complain about this shows how inocuous it was. Now stop crying Evra, you're just bitter 'cause you're not the best left back in the league.
Speaking about hated figures from Manchester, Ronaldo apparently is a late worry for the Champions league final. Good, I hope it turns out to be a Tomas Rosickyesque injury for him. Although realistically, if it's only a doubt then he will be risked, and probably score. Cue the moment that everyone in England who isn't a red manc, throws up everywhere.
Adebayor is in the news again. 'When is he not?' I hear you ask. Never, i respond, never. Although this time perhaps for the right reasons (at last). Ade has stated that although it is an honour to be wanted by AC Milan, he never wanted to leave, and he still doesn't (at least for a few seasons). Ade reckons he's given 100% this year, to which we all shout Noooo, but also took time out of counting his money to say a few things about his manager and his captain. About Wenger, Adebayor told Marca:
"It's impossible to see Wenger leaving, it would be like a father abandoning his sons."
When asked about Cesc, Adebayor seemed even more complimentary:
"For me it is an honour to play with him, he has quality, personality, he has made Arsenal and Arsenal have made him."
So Adebayor reckons the three of them will stay. Well that's good about Cesc and Arsene. It could be good about Adebayor too, as long he works hard next season, and proves he's worth more than the £20-odd million we could sell him for this summer. Ade couldn't help but adding that he wanted to play in the spanish league in a few seasons time, but for now he's happy here. That's good Ade, we're glad that we're the kind of club that'll do for now.
Well I guess that's all for now. Allow me to direct you to youtube where, if you haven't already seen it, there is a twelve part series showing highlights of every single one of Arsenal's 49 unbeaten games. As well as this there is another 12 part series showing highlights of the 03/04 season narrated by Peter Drury, including FA Cup, League Cup (where a certain Fabregas scores at the age of 16) and Champions League. Also allow me to direct you to Arsenality where there is a good article concerning Wenger, his legacy and the talk surrounding him and Madrid.
Stay tuned in the near future for a Play the Gooner Way special on 'things that commentators say about Arsenal that annoy the hell out of me'.
'Til next time Gooners.
Monday, 25 May 2009
2008/2009 Player Ratings
It's now the end of the season for Arsenal Football Club, and it's been a season of ups and downs. Despite the lack of silverware again, we managed to reach the semi finals in both the FA cup and the champions league. No mean feat for a side which obviously need a couple of additions to be at full strength. So i've decided to do a player ratings for this season. Marks are out of 10, with 10 being best and 1 being worst. Obviously. They are in squad number order:
1 – Manuel Almunia – 8
Came in to the beginning of the year as a doubt, but Manuel has really come to the fore. I can only remember one mistake (as in MISTAKE mistake) this year, and that was away to Chelsea earlier on this season. Manuel has shown everyone he is a superb shot stopper and has even become somewhat of a leader in the Arsenal camp thus I agree he is a fitting vice-vice captain. Definitely should be the next England keeper.
2 – Abou Diaby – 5
Well, I don’t really know what to say about Diaby. Sometimes, and just sometimes, I can see he is talented, for example the goal away to Aston Villa, and he is occasionally very difficult to dispossess. Despite this, I really REALLY don’t think he has what it takes to make it at a club the stature of Arsenal. He shies out of tackles despite his size, his first touch his very often abysmal, and he has no eye for a pass. He is older than a lot of more established players in our first team, and surely Wenger’s patience must be wearing thin. Sorry Abou.
3 – Bacary Sagna – 7
Probably our best defender this year, although I thought he had a better season last year. Like all defenders, makes the occasional mistake, but normally is very defensively stable. Bacary loses marks however in going forward, and is without a doubt the worst crosser of the ball in our team (his cross against Chelsea for Nikki B’s header was lucky). Despite this (and his god awful hair) he is a brilliant right back, possibly the best in the league.
4 – Cesc Fabregas – 7
The skipper. His mark would no doubt be higher if he hadn’t been injured for several months. He is the best passer of the ball in the team, and the league, by some distance (although he seemed a shadow of his former self in the last few games of the season) and probably all-round still the best player in the team. We really need to start winning trophies if we’re to keep Cesc otherwise he’ll start getting restless.
5 – Kolo Toure – 6
Something seemed to happen to Kolo at the African Nations all that time ago that caused his form to fluctuate wildly for the following year (could have been the malaria). Kolo was not his usual beaming self for the good first 4 months of the season, had obviously lost a yard of pace, and even handed in a transfer request which was unceremoniously rejected. Following this however he regained his form somewhat only to see it drop again at the climax of the season. Still, a complete legend.
7 – Tomas Rosicky – n/a
Poor old Tomas. Our little Mozart has been out of action for a season and a half with what at first seemed a minor niggling injury. I really hope he will come back and be as brilliant as he has been in the past, but age is no longer on his side, and the general consensus is that he may no longer have a future at Arsenal. Let’s hope he does.
8- Samir Nasri – 8
At the beginning of the season I thought our major summer signing was going to walk away with player of the year. He is a massive talent, with an eye for a pass, superb close control to match his pace on the ball, and a cool finish. As the season progressed though, his roaring start to the club simmered down somewhat, mind you the club form in general dipped around Christmas. Has been employed mainly on the left side, as well as centre mid and in the latter part of the season in defensive mid. I believe he’ll grow into the defensive mid role, but perhaps at his age, now is not the time. At any rate he has an exciting future at the club.
9 – Eduardo da Silva – 6
I admit 6 is a bit harsh because in the odd few games he played Eddie managed to bag 3 goals. Remember that one against Burnley? Lovely. He has done exceptionally well to overcome a serious ankle break, but alas succumbed to the inevitable post injury knocks at a worrying frequency. After perhaps only half a season of week in-week out football at his time at the club he has already achieved legendary status.
10 –William Gallas – 7
No matter how you look at Willy G, this season will be all about his stripped captaincy. His antics prior to said event were just silly. HOWEVER, I really appreciate how he has conducted himself since then and I still believe he is our best centre back. This is why he has achieved the rather generous rating of 7.
11 – Robin van Persie – 8
This has been RvP’s most consistent season yet. He is unfortunately injury prone, but has luckily stayed away from serious injuries this year. He has ended up our top scorer, and as usual has bagged some absolute gems. Not only gems though, he has scored us some crucial goals. To talk only of his goals would do him a disservice as his touch and vision are wonderful to say the least. Sometimes though he is very stroppy and his form dipped dramatically in the last couple of months save from the last game of the season.
12 – Carlos Vela – 6
Our little Wonderkid. Exceptionally talented but should have been used more. Hat-trick against Sheffield United was obviously the highlight but performances against Wigan and Portsmouth were also impressive. AW prefers him upfront but he can also be utilised on the wing, sometimes effectively, sometimes not. Had he been used more, his mark would no doubt be higher.
14 – Theo Walcott – 7
Theo really brings another dimension to your team, and never was that more painfully obvious then when he was out for several months. I still think his play is slightly too one-dimensional and often he takes too long thinking about what he’ll do next. However I believe his destiny lies up front where he’ll develop more all-round. Despite the few negatives, this season he has become essential to the team, and he was ridiculously close to getting an 8.
15 – Denilson – 6
Denilson has been given numerous opportunities to succeed this year at Arsenal, and his success has been somewhat limited. Sometimes I really like Denilson, he works the hardest out of almost anyone, he is tidy, and not afraid of putting himself into the tackle. His forward pass however leaves a lot to be desired. Almost every offensive pass is intercepted. I used to think of Denilson as a poor man’s Cesc but now he is almost growing into a Gilberto Silva character. That position however requires experience of which Denilson has none.
16 – Aaron Ramsey – 6
Similar to Vela in that Ramsey’s mark would have been higher had he been used more regularly. His range of passing is simply staggering for someone of his age, and as good as Cesc’s was in his teens. Unfortunately for Aaron, the unfair treatment of Cardiff fans on his return to the Welsh capital in the FA Cup seemed to shake him up and his form dropped as a result. He soon regained himself with a notably majestic performance away at Portsmouth towards the end of the season.
17 – Alex Song – 7
Had Alex not had such an awful mid-season his mark would have been an 8. It seems everyone was wrong about Song, but the question still remains: is he good enough to play for Arsenal? Only time will tell. Towards the end of the season Song as well as Arshavin and maybe Nik was our best player. Especially at home to Chelsea where he seemed to be the only one to give a damn when we went behind. His positional sense is developing nicely, his work-rate has sky rocketed and he can actually pick a pass very well.
18 – Mickael Silvestre – 3
Fish-Head, Alien-Head, whatever you think, the fact remains Mickael Silvestre has a very oddly shaped head and he is a god-awful defender to boot. The fact that we had to get a ManU reject in the first place is embarrassing enough, but some of his performances were just woeful. I can remember countless times (examples being 4-4 draw with Liverpool, FA cup loss to the chavs, humiliating 4-1 loss to chavs, and so on…) where Silvestre has single-handedly cost us goals. He is slow and crap and useless and needs to go. Please.
19 – Jack Wilshere – n/a
This looked like it was going to be a break-through year already for little Jack but unfortunately it didn’t materialise. Scored on his full debut at home to Sheffield United and a wonder goal against Stoke reserves. This along with his pre-season were his highlights in a term which saw his form dip around mid to late season.
20 – Johan Djourou – 7
By miles our tallest centre back, and that goes along way. I think Johan has a lot of potential and he started tapping into it this year. At his age he is obviously prone to the odd mistake but coped very well throughout the season especially against the big team.
21 – Lukasz Fabianski – 6
As soon as a Keeper makes a mistake it is suddenly his big weakness, and he is a liability. Until the FA cup semi final, Lukasz’s strength was coming off his line, as well as shot stopping. Obviously his confidence has wavered but Fabianski has the potential to be a truly great goalkeeper and it is a shame people have forgotten about some of his fantastic saves early on in the season (particularly the double save against Wigan in the league cup).
22 – Gael Clichy – 7
I don’t think there is much to say about Gael. He has made a few high profile mistakes this year but he oozes class, plus he can actually cross the ball AND he’s much better than Cashley.
23 – Andrey Arshavin – 9
To be honest had Arshavin been at Arsenal the whole term he probably would have achieved a 10. They might as well give him next year’s PFA player of the year now. What an incredibly gifted genius our little Russian is. His arrival invigorated the team out of their mid season slumber, and he has said there is more to come. Wow.
24 – Vito Mannone – n/a
It will probably be another year till Vito is our league cup keeper. To begin with I thought he was rubbish, but wonderful performances against West Brom reserves home and away in the last two games of the season, as well as his first team debut against Stoke has changed my mind somewhat.
25 – Emmanuel Adebayor – 6
And now we get to Adebayor. I was contemplating 5 but then realised that would be harsh on our second top scorer. But his attitude infuriates me. At least when he was crap he was the hardest working striker in the premiership. Now he has the aura of someone who thinks he’s made it. He is lazy, always offside, should finish more chances, and is constantly flirting with other teams. Notably now Milan, saying they are sexy as Beyonce. The next day, Adebayor says he’s definitely an Arsenal player for next season. I don’t believe a single word that comes out of that man’s mouth.
26 – Nicklas Bendtner – 8
I’m sick of Bendtner haters. Nik has had a really good season in my view. His only fault is his finishing, which will come with experience (saying that he has bagged 15 goals this season with an exceptionally good starts to goals ratio). I hope to god he will be at Arsenal next season in which I fully expect him to become a fixture in the first 11. I can understand why Bendtner can be frustrating, but despite his laid-back exterior, he works hard (Adebayor can take a leaf out of his book), he has exceptional awareness of those around him, and is always in the right position. I was toying with either 7 or 8, but decided to go for 8 in case Nikki is reading this (haha right). Hats off to everyone’s favourite Dane.
27 – Emmanuel Eboue – 6
Well good god didn’t he start the season off badly? However since the hairdryer treatment by the fans mid season he actually finished off quite well. He has been played constantly out of position, but as soon as he is reverted back to right back or even left back he is twice the player he is in midfield.
28 – Amaury Bischoff – n/a
Amaury arrived from Werder Bremen in the summer on a one year contract and as of yet has not signed a new one. He has done well to overcome a serious long-term injury, and has shown he has talent whilst playing for the reserves, but I’m not sure he has quite what it takes to make it at Arsenal. He could well be off, with Sporting in particular sniffing around him.
35 – Francis Coquelin – n/a
Cisqo as he is affectionately known is a huge talent, and although hasn’t made any appearances for the firsts, I thought it was well worth noting him down here. He is a formidable talent who operates in defensive midfield. He is fast, has a lot of stamina, is a good tackler, a good passer of the ball, and has a great touch. Can also play at right back.
38 – Jay-Emmanuel Thomas – n/a
Jay spent this year as Under 18s captain and also made a few appearances in the reserves. Jay is massive but has a fantastic touch for such a big guy. Question marks are now over what his best position is, as he seems to be able to play anywhere.
40 – Kieran Gibbs – 7
Chin up Gibbsy, no one blames you for what happened against the Mancs. In fact I think you played very well on both occasions and indeed every time you filled in for Gael. Kieran definitely has a bright bright future at Arsenal as long as Gael, Traore and Pedro Botelho don’t impede his progress.
42 – Henri Lansbury – n/a
Lansbury is the captain of England Under 19s. That achievement speaks for itself. Although Henri has the occasional injury problem, he is a tough yet flamboyant central midfielder who has just come off the back of a sensational loan spell at Scunthorpe United.
43 – Fran Merida – n/a
Merida in my opinion is the most talented of our reserves. Whenever I see him play I can’t help but think he is leagues above everyone else. Fran really should be pushing for appearances in the first team next season. He has a wonderful touch, and creativity and vision that honestly is only second to Cesc.
44 – Rhys Murphy – n/a
Rhys has the talent to be a clinical finisher at the very highest level in England. He now just needs to try and overcome frequent niggling injuries.
47 – Mark Randall – n/a
I for one, think Randall has no future at Arsenal. He is a scrawny central midfielder who is only chosen for that position ahead of the likes of the younger Lansbury and Frimpong because of his age. Every pass of his seems to be intercepted, his tackling is erratic, and he has a foul temper.
56 – Emmanuel Frimpong – n/a
Simply put, Emmanuel Frimpong is a beast. He seems to operate now mostly in defensive midfield. He has the ability and drive to succeed at a very high level.
Let me know what you think.
That's all for today. 'Til next time Gooners.
1 – Manuel Almunia – 8
Came in to the beginning of the year as a doubt, but Manuel has really come to the fore. I can only remember one mistake (as in MISTAKE mistake) this year, and that was away to Chelsea earlier on this season. Manuel has shown everyone he is a superb shot stopper and has even become somewhat of a leader in the Arsenal camp thus I agree he is a fitting vice-vice captain. Definitely should be the next England keeper.
2 – Abou Diaby – 5
Well, I don’t really know what to say about Diaby. Sometimes, and just sometimes, I can see he is talented, for example the goal away to Aston Villa, and he is occasionally very difficult to dispossess. Despite this, I really REALLY don’t think he has what it takes to make it at a club the stature of Arsenal. He shies out of tackles despite his size, his first touch his very often abysmal, and he has no eye for a pass. He is older than a lot of more established players in our first team, and surely Wenger’s patience must be wearing thin. Sorry Abou.
3 – Bacary Sagna – 7
Probably our best defender this year, although I thought he had a better season last year. Like all defenders, makes the occasional mistake, but normally is very defensively stable. Bacary loses marks however in going forward, and is without a doubt the worst crosser of the ball in our team (his cross against Chelsea for Nikki B’s header was lucky). Despite this (and his god awful hair) he is a brilliant right back, possibly the best in the league.
4 – Cesc Fabregas – 7
The skipper. His mark would no doubt be higher if he hadn’t been injured for several months. He is the best passer of the ball in the team, and the league, by some distance (although he seemed a shadow of his former self in the last few games of the season) and probably all-round still the best player in the team. We really need to start winning trophies if we’re to keep Cesc otherwise he’ll start getting restless.
5 – Kolo Toure – 6
Something seemed to happen to Kolo at the African Nations all that time ago that caused his form to fluctuate wildly for the following year (could have been the malaria). Kolo was not his usual beaming self for the good first 4 months of the season, had obviously lost a yard of pace, and even handed in a transfer request which was unceremoniously rejected. Following this however he regained his form somewhat only to see it drop again at the climax of the season. Still, a complete legend.
7 – Tomas Rosicky – n/a
Poor old Tomas. Our little Mozart has been out of action for a season and a half with what at first seemed a minor niggling injury. I really hope he will come back and be as brilliant as he has been in the past, but age is no longer on his side, and the general consensus is that he may no longer have a future at Arsenal. Let’s hope he does.
8- Samir Nasri – 8
At the beginning of the season I thought our major summer signing was going to walk away with player of the year. He is a massive talent, with an eye for a pass, superb close control to match his pace on the ball, and a cool finish. As the season progressed though, his roaring start to the club simmered down somewhat, mind you the club form in general dipped around Christmas. Has been employed mainly on the left side, as well as centre mid and in the latter part of the season in defensive mid. I believe he’ll grow into the defensive mid role, but perhaps at his age, now is not the time. At any rate he has an exciting future at the club.
9 – Eduardo da Silva – 6
I admit 6 is a bit harsh because in the odd few games he played Eddie managed to bag 3 goals. Remember that one against Burnley? Lovely. He has done exceptionally well to overcome a serious ankle break, but alas succumbed to the inevitable post injury knocks at a worrying frequency. After perhaps only half a season of week in-week out football at his time at the club he has already achieved legendary status.
10 –William Gallas – 7
No matter how you look at Willy G, this season will be all about his stripped captaincy. His antics prior to said event were just silly. HOWEVER, I really appreciate how he has conducted himself since then and I still believe he is our best centre back. This is why he has achieved the rather generous rating of 7.
11 – Robin van Persie – 8
This has been RvP’s most consistent season yet. He is unfortunately injury prone, but has luckily stayed away from serious injuries this year. He has ended up our top scorer, and as usual has bagged some absolute gems. Not only gems though, he has scored us some crucial goals. To talk only of his goals would do him a disservice as his touch and vision are wonderful to say the least. Sometimes though he is very stroppy and his form dipped dramatically in the last couple of months save from the last game of the season.
12 – Carlos Vela – 6
Our little Wonderkid. Exceptionally talented but should have been used more. Hat-trick against Sheffield United was obviously the highlight but performances against Wigan and Portsmouth were also impressive. AW prefers him upfront but he can also be utilised on the wing, sometimes effectively, sometimes not. Had he been used more, his mark would no doubt be higher.
14 – Theo Walcott – 7
Theo really brings another dimension to your team, and never was that more painfully obvious then when he was out for several months. I still think his play is slightly too one-dimensional and often he takes too long thinking about what he’ll do next. However I believe his destiny lies up front where he’ll develop more all-round. Despite the few negatives, this season he has become essential to the team, and he was ridiculously close to getting an 8.
15 – Denilson – 6
Denilson has been given numerous opportunities to succeed this year at Arsenal, and his success has been somewhat limited. Sometimes I really like Denilson, he works the hardest out of almost anyone, he is tidy, and not afraid of putting himself into the tackle. His forward pass however leaves a lot to be desired. Almost every offensive pass is intercepted. I used to think of Denilson as a poor man’s Cesc but now he is almost growing into a Gilberto Silva character. That position however requires experience of which Denilson has none.
16 – Aaron Ramsey – 6
Similar to Vela in that Ramsey’s mark would have been higher had he been used more regularly. His range of passing is simply staggering for someone of his age, and as good as Cesc’s was in his teens. Unfortunately for Aaron, the unfair treatment of Cardiff fans on his return to the Welsh capital in the FA Cup seemed to shake him up and his form dropped as a result. He soon regained himself with a notably majestic performance away at Portsmouth towards the end of the season.
17 – Alex Song – 7
Had Alex not had such an awful mid-season his mark would have been an 8. It seems everyone was wrong about Song, but the question still remains: is he good enough to play for Arsenal? Only time will tell. Towards the end of the season Song as well as Arshavin and maybe Nik was our best player. Especially at home to Chelsea where he seemed to be the only one to give a damn when we went behind. His positional sense is developing nicely, his work-rate has sky rocketed and he can actually pick a pass very well.
18 – Mickael Silvestre – 3
Fish-Head, Alien-Head, whatever you think, the fact remains Mickael Silvestre has a very oddly shaped head and he is a god-awful defender to boot. The fact that we had to get a ManU reject in the first place is embarrassing enough, but some of his performances were just woeful. I can remember countless times (examples being 4-4 draw with Liverpool, FA cup loss to the chavs, humiliating 4-1 loss to chavs, and so on…) where Silvestre has single-handedly cost us goals. He is slow and crap and useless and needs to go. Please.
19 – Jack Wilshere – n/a
This looked like it was going to be a break-through year already for little Jack but unfortunately it didn’t materialise. Scored on his full debut at home to Sheffield United and a wonder goal against Stoke reserves. This along with his pre-season were his highlights in a term which saw his form dip around mid to late season.
20 – Johan Djourou – 7
By miles our tallest centre back, and that goes along way. I think Johan has a lot of potential and he started tapping into it this year. At his age he is obviously prone to the odd mistake but coped very well throughout the season especially against the big team.
21 – Lukasz Fabianski – 6
As soon as a Keeper makes a mistake it is suddenly his big weakness, and he is a liability. Until the FA cup semi final, Lukasz’s strength was coming off his line, as well as shot stopping. Obviously his confidence has wavered but Fabianski has the potential to be a truly great goalkeeper and it is a shame people have forgotten about some of his fantastic saves early on in the season (particularly the double save against Wigan in the league cup).
22 – Gael Clichy – 7
I don’t think there is much to say about Gael. He has made a few high profile mistakes this year but he oozes class, plus he can actually cross the ball AND he’s much better than Cashley.
23 – Andrey Arshavin – 9
To be honest had Arshavin been at Arsenal the whole term he probably would have achieved a 10. They might as well give him next year’s PFA player of the year now. What an incredibly gifted genius our little Russian is. His arrival invigorated the team out of their mid season slumber, and he has said there is more to come. Wow.
24 – Vito Mannone – n/a
It will probably be another year till Vito is our league cup keeper. To begin with I thought he was rubbish, but wonderful performances against West Brom reserves home and away in the last two games of the season, as well as his first team debut against Stoke has changed my mind somewhat.
25 – Emmanuel Adebayor – 6
And now we get to Adebayor. I was contemplating 5 but then realised that would be harsh on our second top scorer. But his attitude infuriates me. At least when he was crap he was the hardest working striker in the premiership. Now he has the aura of someone who thinks he’s made it. He is lazy, always offside, should finish more chances, and is constantly flirting with other teams. Notably now Milan, saying they are sexy as Beyonce. The next day, Adebayor says he’s definitely an Arsenal player for next season. I don’t believe a single word that comes out of that man’s mouth.
26 – Nicklas Bendtner – 8
I’m sick of Bendtner haters. Nik has had a really good season in my view. His only fault is his finishing, which will come with experience (saying that he has bagged 15 goals this season with an exceptionally good starts to goals ratio). I hope to god he will be at Arsenal next season in which I fully expect him to become a fixture in the first 11. I can understand why Bendtner can be frustrating, but despite his laid-back exterior, he works hard (Adebayor can take a leaf out of his book), he has exceptional awareness of those around him, and is always in the right position. I was toying with either 7 or 8, but decided to go for 8 in case Nikki is reading this (haha right). Hats off to everyone’s favourite Dane.
27 – Emmanuel Eboue – 6
Well good god didn’t he start the season off badly? However since the hairdryer treatment by the fans mid season he actually finished off quite well. He has been played constantly out of position, but as soon as he is reverted back to right back or even left back he is twice the player he is in midfield.
28 – Amaury Bischoff – n/a
Amaury arrived from Werder Bremen in the summer on a one year contract and as of yet has not signed a new one. He has done well to overcome a serious long-term injury, and has shown he has talent whilst playing for the reserves, but I’m not sure he has quite what it takes to make it at Arsenal. He could well be off, with Sporting in particular sniffing around him.
35 – Francis Coquelin – n/a
Cisqo as he is affectionately known is a huge talent, and although hasn’t made any appearances for the firsts, I thought it was well worth noting him down here. He is a formidable talent who operates in defensive midfield. He is fast, has a lot of stamina, is a good tackler, a good passer of the ball, and has a great touch. Can also play at right back.
38 – Jay-Emmanuel Thomas – n/a
Jay spent this year as Under 18s captain and also made a few appearances in the reserves. Jay is massive but has a fantastic touch for such a big guy. Question marks are now over what his best position is, as he seems to be able to play anywhere.
40 – Kieran Gibbs – 7
Chin up Gibbsy, no one blames you for what happened against the Mancs. In fact I think you played very well on both occasions and indeed every time you filled in for Gael. Kieran definitely has a bright bright future at Arsenal as long as Gael, Traore and Pedro Botelho don’t impede his progress.
42 – Henri Lansbury – n/a
Lansbury is the captain of England Under 19s. That achievement speaks for itself. Although Henri has the occasional injury problem, he is a tough yet flamboyant central midfielder who has just come off the back of a sensational loan spell at Scunthorpe United.
43 – Fran Merida – n/a
Merida in my opinion is the most talented of our reserves. Whenever I see him play I can’t help but think he is leagues above everyone else. Fran really should be pushing for appearances in the first team next season. He has a wonderful touch, and creativity and vision that honestly is only second to Cesc.
44 – Rhys Murphy – n/a
Rhys has the talent to be a clinical finisher at the very highest level in England. He now just needs to try and overcome frequent niggling injuries.
47 – Mark Randall – n/a
I for one, think Randall has no future at Arsenal. He is a scrawny central midfielder who is only chosen for that position ahead of the likes of the younger Lansbury and Frimpong because of his age. Every pass of his seems to be intercepted, his tackling is erratic, and he has a foul temper.
56 – Emmanuel Frimpong – n/a
Simply put, Emmanuel Frimpong is a beast. He seems to operate now mostly in defensive midfield. He has the ability and drive to succeed at a very high level.
Let me know what you think.
That's all for today. 'Til next time Gooners.
Arsenal 4 - 1 Stoke City
Well we got a nice big score to end the season. It was a disappointing line up from the boss. I was hoping for fresher faces like Ramsey and Vela to perhaps start with the likes of Merida making the bench. But it didn't happen. I also had to stifle a shriek when the starting line-up was announced and Diaby and Denilson were in the same team. But it ended up alright. To be honest I thought we were good, but not fantastic like the scoreline would indicate. But that doesn't matter when Stoke knew we were going to win, and played like they knew we were going to win. All over the pitch we were winning individual battles (apart from maybe Diaby), and I haven't looked at the possession stats yet but they must swing hugely in our favour. The first half brought about all the goals. RvP and Cesc neatly worked a corner, with the latter drilling it low into the area for James Beattie to clinically slot home into his own goal. RvP then banged home a superb peno, and delivered an outstanding freekick for Diaby to power in a header for 3-0. Denilson then brought down Fuller for a penalty to stoke. Fair enough, that was definately a penalty and no complaints from the Brazillian. That kind of foul Denilson does all over the pitch, and normally it's ok, he's just letting the opposition know he's there, however, when it's in the penalty area Denilson, you don't go for those. There was no way you were gonna win the ball. Anyways, what's done is done. Fuller sent Mannone diving before dribbling it down the middle. We were gifted the fourth when trying to header it back to Sorensen, Rory Delap proceeded to head it straight to RvP, who chested up in the air, swiveled and volleyed it low into the corner. Clinical finish. We could have scored a couple more that half, notably when RvP smacked the woodwork with a ferocious free kick and Kolo was allowed to shimmy this way and that about 10 yards out before striking the ball left footed against the post.
In the second half, Stoke continuously had 10 if not 11 men behind the ball at all times. So we just set up camp outside their penalty area, and every now and then prodded at their backline to see if we could get through. Once or twice we did. RvP could have had his hat-trick after neat play by Bendtner, but Diaby's pass forced him too close to Sorensen. Diaby himself could have finished on a brace, but he flashed a header wide after an excellent Eboue cross.
And so on to the player ratings:
Mannone - 8. 8 perhaps is generous, as Vito didn't have much to do, but what he did do, he did exceptionally well. A very promising debut from the Italian.
Sagna - 6. Again Sagna is superb defensively, no one, just no one, beats him to the byline. But he is ridiculously bad at crossing. I'm beginning to think that at home games against lesser opposition, perhaps Eboue should start at right back.
Gibbs - 8. Brilliant as always. Starting to get better and better defensively, and going forward he was a real threat the whole afternoon.
Toure - 8. Didn't have much to do defensively so decided to join in with the attacking in true Kolo style. Hit the woodwork, and produced some nice lofted pass into the area.
Song - 7. Like Toure, Song didn't really have anything to do. Produced some nice incisive passes from centre back.
Walcott - 6. I'm just trying to remember what Theo did in this match. We were told by the commentators that Walcott prefers to play through the middle, like Fabregas. I don't know what channel I was watching, but they were retards.
Arshavin - 7. A good game from the Russian, but not outstanding like we're used to. Some very neat touches and some passes that indicate phenomenal vision.
Diaby - 6. I don't care that he scored. I still don't think he's good enough. His header was good, I'll give that to him, and he was better than he was against Chelski and the Mancs. His touch however is abysmal, his passing is abysmal and despite his size he shrieks out of physical confrontation, all of which were on display against Stoke.
Denilson - 8. Excellent game from Denilson. Inexperience showed when he gave away the penalty, but he had the stoke midfield in his pocket. Tackling was excellent, anticipation to intercept passes was superb, and neat passes to start attacks.
Fabregas - 8. I still think Cesc is a shadow of who he was this time last year. This match however he was running things, almost as well as he used to.
van Persie - 10. Man of the Match. Its easy enough to give man of the match to the player who scored the most, but RvP had an absolutely immense game. His deliveries from free kicks were consistently of the highest quality. He linked up exceptionally with the midfield, which was vital as he was playing up front by himself. As always he showed a superb touch, and great vision. He deserved both goals and should have got a hat-trick, as well as getting the assist for Diaby's goal, and the assist for the Fabregas cross that caused the own goal. Well done Robin, what a great game.
Subs:
Bendtner (for Walcott) - 7. Came on at half time, and immediately provided a link between midfield and RvP. Work rate was good as usual as were his touch and passing.
Eboue (for Sagna). Good contribution from Eboue when he came on, some good crossing and direct running.
Vela (for Arshavin). Unfortunately for Carlos, he wasn't too involved after he came on.
So that's it for the season. It was nice to see the lads run round the pitch at the end saluting the fans. That was a nice touch. The next game is the annual pre-season friendly against Barnet. Stay tuned on Play the Gooner Way for the 2008/2009 player ratings.
'Til then Gooners.
In the second half, Stoke continuously had 10 if not 11 men behind the ball at all times. So we just set up camp outside their penalty area, and every now and then prodded at their backline to see if we could get through. Once or twice we did. RvP could have had his hat-trick after neat play by Bendtner, but Diaby's pass forced him too close to Sorensen. Diaby himself could have finished on a brace, but he flashed a header wide after an excellent Eboue cross.
And so on to the player ratings:
Mannone - 8. 8 perhaps is generous, as Vito didn't have much to do, but what he did do, he did exceptionally well. A very promising debut from the Italian.
Sagna - 6. Again Sagna is superb defensively, no one, just no one, beats him to the byline. But he is ridiculously bad at crossing. I'm beginning to think that at home games against lesser opposition, perhaps Eboue should start at right back.
Gibbs - 8. Brilliant as always. Starting to get better and better defensively, and going forward he was a real threat the whole afternoon.
Toure - 8. Didn't have much to do defensively so decided to join in with the attacking in true Kolo style. Hit the woodwork, and produced some nice lofted pass into the area.
Song - 7. Like Toure, Song didn't really have anything to do. Produced some nice incisive passes from centre back.
Walcott - 6. I'm just trying to remember what Theo did in this match. We were told by the commentators that Walcott prefers to play through the middle, like Fabregas. I don't know what channel I was watching, but they were retards.
Arshavin - 7. A good game from the Russian, but not outstanding like we're used to. Some very neat touches and some passes that indicate phenomenal vision.
Diaby - 6. I don't care that he scored. I still don't think he's good enough. His header was good, I'll give that to him, and he was better than he was against Chelski and the Mancs. His touch however is abysmal, his passing is abysmal and despite his size he shrieks out of physical confrontation, all of which were on display against Stoke.
Denilson - 8. Excellent game from Denilson. Inexperience showed when he gave away the penalty, but he had the stoke midfield in his pocket. Tackling was excellent, anticipation to intercept passes was superb, and neat passes to start attacks.
Fabregas - 8. I still think Cesc is a shadow of who he was this time last year. This match however he was running things, almost as well as he used to.
van Persie - 10. Man of the Match. Its easy enough to give man of the match to the player who scored the most, but RvP had an absolutely immense game. His deliveries from free kicks were consistently of the highest quality. He linked up exceptionally with the midfield, which was vital as he was playing up front by himself. As always he showed a superb touch, and great vision. He deserved both goals and should have got a hat-trick, as well as getting the assist for Diaby's goal, and the assist for the Fabregas cross that caused the own goal. Well done Robin, what a great game.
Subs:
Bendtner (for Walcott) - 7. Came on at half time, and immediately provided a link between midfield and RvP. Work rate was good as usual as were his touch and passing.
Eboue (for Sagna). Good contribution from Eboue when he came on, some good crossing and direct running.
Vela (for Arshavin). Unfortunately for Carlos, he wasn't too involved after he came on.
So that's it for the season. It was nice to see the lads run round the pitch at the end saluting the fans. That was a nice touch. The next game is the annual pre-season friendly against Barnet. Stay tuned on Play the Gooner Way for the 2008/2009 player ratings.
'Til then Gooners.
Sunday, 24 May 2009
The kids, transfers, Arsenal vs. Stoke, and the end of gobgate!
Well, first thing's first, and didn't the kids do us proud on Friday night? An enthralling encounter against Liverpool that ended in a 4-1 trouncing. Of course there still is the second leg of the FA cup youth final to go (on Tuesday), but we've pretty much wrapped it up. Surely? Unfortunately we'll be without Emmanuel Frimpong for the second leg, however Sanchez Watt replaced him in the first leg, and did alright. Even bagged a goal. The other goals came in the form of Gilles Sunu, Little Jack Wilshere and skipper Jay-Emmanuel Thomas. Alexander Kacaniklic scored for Liverpool. The goals can be found at http://www.101greatgoals.com/ for those of you that haven't seen it yet, and as always there is a comprehensive match report at Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth. Stand out performances, I thought, were Kyle Bartley, Henri Lansbury, Little Jack and Jay-Emmanuel Thomas. Rhys Murphy was also impressive when he came on, and rather unfairly had a goal disallowed. A quick note on the setanta coverage of this match. The co-commentator regularly refers to Jack Wilshere as Luke Wilkshire, who by the way is a rubbish australian footballer who now plies his trade somewhere in Russia - Dinamo Moscow I believe. It's hilarious how Setanta co-commentator's just do not have a clue.
Right, what's next. Yes...transfers. After today's match against Stoke, there will be nothing to keep us entertained for 12 weeks apart from lots and lots of transfer stories. Although these stories can be entertaining, thrilling even for any Johnny Arsenal Fan waiting on tenterhooks for David Villa to sign for us, it can get a bit silly. Football-Rumous, I'm looking at you here. The News of the World is almost as bad, they are about as aware of what is going on around them as Mikael Silvestre. That has not stopped them thrusting copious amounts of rumours in our direction this morning. Not resigned to the fact that Adebayor might be leaving, NOTW have thrown Man City in the ring as potential £21m buyers of our offside prone striker. I'm really bored by Adebayor transfer stories, so i'll move on. Apparently Wenger has opened a door for Thierry Henry to return to Arsenal. Really? Apparently AW has said he would be open for any player of Henry's quality to come to Arsenal. This simply is not going to happen, so i'll leave that one there. There's more Xabi Alonso talk. NOTW have predicted a bidding war between us, Real Madrid, Juventus and Man City for the £18 million rated Spaniard. Yup, 'cause we're going to win that one aren't we? Interestingly enough, NOTW have dedicated 4 lines to Rui Fonte returning to Sporting Lisbon. Labelling him a flop striker who didn't bag a senior goal for Arsenal, funnily enough failing to mention he only played, what, 15 minutes? While i'm on Fonte, how is that he was loaned out to Crystal Palace whilst he was on loan to us? How does that work? Anyway, enough of News of the World, it's giving me a headache. And so on to the Evening Standard. Sigh. They reckon that due to Champions League revenue, our transfer kitty will be around £25 million. Add to that the sale of Adebayor, and that'll be around £50 million for us not to use.
Well done Wenger on telling the board to shut up. It is perhaps detrimental towards Le Boss that key members of the Arsenal board are continually saying to the press that Arsene can have £50m if he wants, or he can buy a £30m player if he wants. This news positively encourages Arsenal fans to expect big money signings that never happen. AW clearly doesn't have that much money to spend, and he's now told the board to stop saying we do. Good. Well done boss.
And on to today's match. Unless you've been in a Borneo jungle suffering from Amnesia for the last few months, you will be aware, i'm sure, that this is the last game of the season. So let's go out on a bang lads. Early news is that Samir Nasri will miss out with a slight knock, and both Almunia and Fabianski are 50-50 to play. This presumably means Vito Mannone will make his first team debut, with Wojciech Szczesny (whom many people already rate higher than Mannone) on the bench. I hope that Arsene plays a few youngsters. There has been talk that Wenger wanted to end the season with his strongest team, but I really don't see the point. A mix between first teamers and some youngsters will easily be enough to see off a Stoke team that will probably still be drunk from celebrations of staying up. A bit of Carlos Vela, Aaron Ramsey and Fran Merida wouldn't go amiss. Plus they're better than Diaby anyway. Adebayor will probably miss out, with Injury being the official excuse. Interestingly enough, last week I noticed that Wenger in his pre ManU match interview said that Adebayor was missing out with a hamstring injury, whereas the Sky commentators stated later that the official report was a groin injury. Interesting. Not sure whether that is significant or just human error on Arsene's part. Since then it has been confirmed that 'Groin injury' was the official reason Ade was left out. So as far as a starting XI....well I don't really know. I'm willing to stick my neck out on the line however, and it goes something like this:
Mannone
Sagna Toure Song Gibbs
Walcott Denilson Ramsey Arshavin
Fabregas
Bendtner
I don't know why I ended up on Bendtner playing up front ahead of an available van Persie, but there we are. Perhaps because as of late he has been one of our best players, and deserves a chance to add to his impressive goals to starts ratio. Also my choice of Ramsey ahead of Diaby is controversial I know, but Diaby is rubbish. Go on Wenger, give Ramsey a go. I have also opted for Song ahead of Djourou due to his impressive performance against the Mancs last week, plus the fact that Djourou is suffering at the mo from some niggling injuries. Vela will make the bench, and hopefully make an extended appearance. Merida will hopefully make the bench. There are various players coming back from loans, Barazite et.c. But they are likely to be rested after many first team appearances already this season. So I see a comfortable win today with some nice flowing football now the pressure is off. 4-0 perhaps. Make it happen.
Lastly, Cesc has been cleared of gobgate, and from walking onto the pitch after the final whistle in inappropriate clothing. Inappropriate clothing being his normal clothes. Normal clothes which by the way Rio Ferdinand also wore at the title celebrations at Old Trafford last weekend, and I didn't hear us complaining Phil Brown you perma-tanned second-hand car salesman.
Right that's all for now. I'll be back after the match.
Here's to a free flowing easy win Gooners.
Right, what's next. Yes...transfers. After today's match against Stoke, there will be nothing to keep us entertained for 12 weeks apart from lots and lots of transfer stories. Although these stories can be entertaining, thrilling even for any Johnny Arsenal Fan waiting on tenterhooks for David Villa to sign for us, it can get a bit silly. Football-Rumous, I'm looking at you here. The News of the World is almost as bad, they are about as aware of what is going on around them as Mikael Silvestre. That has not stopped them thrusting copious amounts of rumours in our direction this morning. Not resigned to the fact that Adebayor might be leaving, NOTW have thrown Man City in the ring as potential £21m buyers of our offside prone striker. I'm really bored by Adebayor transfer stories, so i'll move on. Apparently Wenger has opened a door for Thierry Henry to return to Arsenal. Really? Apparently AW has said he would be open for any player of Henry's quality to come to Arsenal. This simply is not going to happen, so i'll leave that one there. There's more Xabi Alonso talk. NOTW have predicted a bidding war between us, Real Madrid, Juventus and Man City for the £18 million rated Spaniard. Yup, 'cause we're going to win that one aren't we? Interestingly enough, NOTW have dedicated 4 lines to Rui Fonte returning to Sporting Lisbon. Labelling him a flop striker who didn't bag a senior goal for Arsenal, funnily enough failing to mention he only played, what, 15 minutes? While i'm on Fonte, how is that he was loaned out to Crystal Palace whilst he was on loan to us? How does that work? Anyway, enough of News of the World, it's giving me a headache. And so on to the Evening Standard. Sigh. They reckon that due to Champions League revenue, our transfer kitty will be around £25 million. Add to that the sale of Adebayor, and that'll be around £50 million for us not to use.
Well done Wenger on telling the board to shut up. It is perhaps detrimental towards Le Boss that key members of the Arsenal board are continually saying to the press that Arsene can have £50m if he wants, or he can buy a £30m player if he wants. This news positively encourages Arsenal fans to expect big money signings that never happen. AW clearly doesn't have that much money to spend, and he's now told the board to stop saying we do. Good. Well done boss.
And on to today's match. Unless you've been in a Borneo jungle suffering from Amnesia for the last few months, you will be aware, i'm sure, that this is the last game of the season. So let's go out on a bang lads. Early news is that Samir Nasri will miss out with a slight knock, and both Almunia and Fabianski are 50-50 to play. This presumably means Vito Mannone will make his first team debut, with Wojciech Szczesny (whom many people already rate higher than Mannone) on the bench. I hope that Arsene plays a few youngsters. There has been talk that Wenger wanted to end the season with his strongest team, but I really don't see the point. A mix between first teamers and some youngsters will easily be enough to see off a Stoke team that will probably still be drunk from celebrations of staying up. A bit of Carlos Vela, Aaron Ramsey and Fran Merida wouldn't go amiss. Plus they're better than Diaby anyway. Adebayor will probably miss out, with Injury being the official excuse. Interestingly enough, last week I noticed that Wenger in his pre ManU match interview said that Adebayor was missing out with a hamstring injury, whereas the Sky commentators stated later that the official report was a groin injury. Interesting. Not sure whether that is significant or just human error on Arsene's part. Since then it has been confirmed that 'Groin injury' was the official reason Ade was left out. So as far as a starting XI....well I don't really know. I'm willing to stick my neck out on the line however, and it goes something like this:
Mannone
Sagna Toure Song Gibbs
Walcott Denilson Ramsey Arshavin
Fabregas
Bendtner
I don't know why I ended up on Bendtner playing up front ahead of an available van Persie, but there we are. Perhaps because as of late he has been one of our best players, and deserves a chance to add to his impressive goals to starts ratio. Also my choice of Ramsey ahead of Diaby is controversial I know, but Diaby is rubbish. Go on Wenger, give Ramsey a go. I have also opted for Song ahead of Djourou due to his impressive performance against the Mancs last week, plus the fact that Djourou is suffering at the mo from some niggling injuries. Vela will make the bench, and hopefully make an extended appearance. Merida will hopefully make the bench. There are various players coming back from loans, Barazite et.c. But they are likely to be rested after many first team appearances already this season. So I see a comfortable win today with some nice flowing football now the pressure is off. 4-0 perhaps. Make it happen.
Lastly, Cesc has been cleared of gobgate, and from walking onto the pitch after the final whistle in inappropriate clothing. Inappropriate clothing being his normal clothes. Normal clothes which by the way Rio Ferdinand also wore at the title celebrations at Old Trafford last weekend, and I didn't hear us complaining Phil Brown you perma-tanned second-hand car salesman.
Right that's all for now. I'll be back after the match.
Here's to a free flowing easy win Gooners.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Wenger, Transfers, New Kit
First thing's first, the new away kit was released today (although it had been leaked some time ago) and I really like it. From reading other blogs it seems the consensus is that it's ok. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not sure why dark blue was chosen, on the Arsenal site it mentions something about celebrating London, but anywho I like it, so that's that.
Secondly, all this rubbish about Arsene Wenger leaving and jetting off to Madrid has been squashed by Mr Wenger himself. At least for now. Le Boss told the Daily Mail:
"There's nothing to worry about, it's not an issue for me. I'm staying here."
Good good. Now that's all cleared up. Wenger will have around £13 million to spend (which surely isn't very much) and he'll add to that by selling some players. The Mail also reckon we're after Joseph Yobo of Everton who is willing to run down the last 12 months of his contract to switch to the Gunners. I don't think the Mail have any proof that Arsenal will look to get Yobo apart from that a couple of years ago Wenger said he was kind of alright. To be honest, Yobo can't get into the Everton team at the moment, so I don't think there's any way Wenger will deem him good enough for us. The spuds and chavs want Edin Dzeko (hands off we saw him first) of Wolfsburg, and pretty much everyone in the world is certain that Adebayor is going to one of the Milan clubs.
That's it. A short one today as I have an exam and really should be off. Allow me to direct you to le Grove where Pedro has written a fantastic article this morning.
Have a great day Gooners.
Secondly, all this rubbish about Arsene Wenger leaving and jetting off to Madrid has been squashed by Mr Wenger himself. At least for now. Le Boss told the Daily Mail:
"There's nothing to worry about, it's not an issue for me. I'm staying here."
Good good. Now that's all cleared up. Wenger will have around £13 million to spend (which surely isn't very much) and he'll add to that by selling some players. The Mail also reckon we're after Joseph Yobo of Everton who is willing to run down the last 12 months of his contract to switch to the Gunners. I don't think the Mail have any proof that Arsenal will look to get Yobo apart from that a couple of years ago Wenger said he was kind of alright. To be honest, Yobo can't get into the Everton team at the moment, so I don't think there's any way Wenger will deem him good enough for us. The spuds and chavs want Edin Dzeko (hands off we saw him first) of Wolfsburg, and pretty much everyone in the world is certain that Adebayor is going to one of the Milan clubs.
That's it. A short one today as I have an exam and really should be off. Allow me to direct you to le Grove where Pedro has written a fantastic article this morning.
Have a great day Gooners.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Wenger to Real Madrid?
Hi all, hope you had a good weekend.
Just a quick note today. Various sources have claimed that Arsene Wenger is on his way to Real Madrid under probable future chairman Florentino Perez. Speaking on French TV, Wenger said:
"With Florentino Pérez in charge, the project he has put forward would be interesting for any coach but I would prefer not to comment on this....In general I usually stay until the end of my contract."
AW's contract expires in 2011.
I for one still think Wenger is the best man for the job, plus I don't think he would have built up this long-term project youth not to stick around to see how it works. Arsene has firmly reiterated his desire to stay in the past, and I reckon it's the same this time round, despite the impassiveness of his reply. However, I, presumably like many people, at times of madness (perhaps during a loss) have wondered out loud whether Wenger is the right man for the job. I am certain a new manager would have brought in some new faces, and experience, much sooner, which is what we desperately need. Conversely, if Wenger did leave, expect a lot of players to consider leaving aswell. The likes of Fabregas have in the past suggested, that should Wenger leave, he would also depart. I expect Wenger to stay, and hope he does.
In other news the Mail on Sunday reckon our transfer kitty is only at the £13 million mark this summer. Wenger has in the past said that for us to buy in, a fairly valuable player would have to be sold. But in all honesty our transfer kitty would be more than £13 million, even taking into account Adebayor's apparently imminent departure. Also consider the source of this quote. It's the Mail. It has the accuracy of a Bacary Sagna cross.
Gooner Talk have stated several interesting transfer rumours today. One is the older rumour that we are following Sebastien Bassong, who despite playing for Newcastle, has actually impressed this year. The second that, we could swap Mikael Silvestre for long-term target Mamadou Sakho of PSG. Because Silvestre is crap and Sakho is good, there is likely to be some money heading in PSG's direction aswell. Sakho's contract runs out next year so PSG may want to cash in while they can. However these are just rumours so lets see how they pan out.
Well done to the Under 18s who beat the spuds to become Premier League Academy champions. Despite Luke Ayling heading for an early bath for two bookable offences, the kids hung on after a Rhys Murphy goal. Henri Lansbury also made a return after a hugely successful loan spell at Scunthorpe Utd. A full match report can be found at Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth.
That's all for now. Until next time Gooners.
Just a quick note today. Various sources have claimed that Arsene Wenger is on his way to Real Madrid under probable future chairman Florentino Perez. Speaking on French TV, Wenger said:
"With Florentino Pérez in charge, the project he has put forward would be interesting for any coach but I would prefer not to comment on this....In general I usually stay until the end of my contract."
AW's contract expires in 2011.
I for one still think Wenger is the best man for the job, plus I don't think he would have built up this long-term project youth not to stick around to see how it works. Arsene has firmly reiterated his desire to stay in the past, and I reckon it's the same this time round, despite the impassiveness of his reply. However, I, presumably like many people, at times of madness (perhaps during a loss) have wondered out loud whether Wenger is the right man for the job. I am certain a new manager would have brought in some new faces, and experience, much sooner, which is what we desperately need. Conversely, if Wenger did leave, expect a lot of players to consider leaving aswell. The likes of Fabregas have in the past suggested, that should Wenger leave, he would also depart. I expect Wenger to stay, and hope he does.
In other news the Mail on Sunday reckon our transfer kitty is only at the £13 million mark this summer. Wenger has in the past said that for us to buy in, a fairly valuable player would have to be sold. But in all honesty our transfer kitty would be more than £13 million, even taking into account Adebayor's apparently imminent departure. Also consider the source of this quote. It's the Mail. It has the accuracy of a Bacary Sagna cross.
Gooner Talk have stated several interesting transfer rumours today. One is the older rumour that we are following Sebastien Bassong, who despite playing for Newcastle, has actually impressed this year. The second that, we could swap Mikael Silvestre for long-term target Mamadou Sakho of PSG. Because Silvestre is crap and Sakho is good, there is likely to be some money heading in PSG's direction aswell. Sakho's contract runs out next year so PSG may want to cash in while they can. However these are just rumours so lets see how they pan out.
Well done to the Under 18s who beat the spuds to become Premier League Academy champions. Despite Luke Ayling heading for an early bath for two bookable offences, the kids hung on after a Rhys Murphy goal. Henri Lansbury also made a return after a hugely successful loan spell at Scunthorpe Utd. A full match report can be found at Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth.
That's all for now. Until next time Gooners.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Manchester United 0 - 0 Arsenal
So Man Utd are champions, and it was at our expense. In truth though, it was a fairly good performance by us, and we should really have won. I know ManU were perhaps not as offensive as they would normally have been but we absolutely out-played them. It could have been different at the start. Ronaldo was put through but luckily decided to cut back as Gibbs recovered. The first clear cut chance fell to van Persie, as Arshavin's sumptuous cross/through ball found the Dutchman in a surprising amount of space. I think Robin himself was caught off-guard with the amount of time he was given, and he duly panicked his header over the bar. That chance set the tone for the rest of the half with Arsenal dominating, and although the match itself was exciting, chances themselves were few and far between apart from Rooney who flashed a header wide.
At half time Dave from Arsenality and I were saying that now we hadn't taken advantage of our dominance, Man Utd were gonna end up winning. If you don't take your chances against them, you normally pretty much end up on the losing side. But actually the second half was more of the same for Arsenal after a shaky start. There was a brief concern about 15 minutes from time as Song executed a perfect shoulder barge on Ronaldo who shamelessly threw himself to the ground, leaving Mike Dean completely fooled flashing the yellow at poor Song. Thinking about it, it wouldn't take much fooling to cause Dean to give Man U a freekick and book an Arsenal player. In a non-physical match entirely, 5 of our players were booked, one of which (Arshavin) actually made no contact with the Man Utd player, compared to the Mancs who didn't pick up a single card. Anyway, Ronaldo dusted himself down, applied some more grease to his hair, and sent the freekick just over the angle (I'm positive Fabianski knew where it was going). With minutes to go a good move saw Fabregas brush the fingers of Van der Sar before hitting the outside of the post.
I was happy with the way we played. We kept possession superbly (with a few exceptions), won most 50-50s and created a few chances. Maybe not as many as we should have done though, but that can be put down to good defending on Man Utd's part. Diaby was a problem again though, in match where I noticed he was actually wimping out of headers. The post match stats were in our favour, apart from the possession which somehow was 50-50. This in a match where Sky Sports were constantly flashing up graphics showing how Arsenal were dominating possession. Speaking of Sky Sports, Andy Gray's bias towards ManU sickens me. Plus the commentators should total inadequacy and lack of knowledge as to where Arsenal have been playing Bendtner recently, when they were bamboozled as to who would play on the wing as the Dane replaced Nasri.
One thing that delighted me was Wenger's decision to play Song at centre back as opposed to Silvestre. The place was going to go to Djourou but unfortunately the Swiss international was injured in training yesterday. Finally the message might be getting through to Wenger that Silvestre is just awful (but probably not). Speaking of training, Dave has informed me that Pat Rice didn't take the pre-match warm up. I don't know the significance of that.
And so on to the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7. Lukasz didn't have too much to do. He came and gathered a couple of crosses confidently and comfortably, and he did exceptionally well when Tevez turned Toure during the second half, to put off the Argentine.
Sagna: 5. I thought Sagna was just awful. Defensively he is ok, then again he usually is, but his attacking play (or lack thereof) infuriated me. Every cross was crap, and every pass in the final third was intercepted or mis-placed. I thought Eboue would have had a better game at right-back today.
Gibbs: 7. As usual Gibbsy gave a confident and assured game at left back. Getting forward whenever possible, and covering for whoever was on Man Utd's right side.
Toure: 8. Kolo had a good game today. He didn't have Silvestre as excess baggage next to him, and came up with a few vital interceptions.
Song: 8. Like Kolo, Song came up with a few brilliant interceptions, and had the Man Utd front line in his pocket. Played a better game at centre-back than Fish Head Silvestre ever would.
Nasri: 7. Was ok. Showed a few glimpses of quality but not his usual influential self.
Arshavin: 6. I didn't think this was Arshavin's best game today. Apart from a direct dribble into the ManU penalty area, and the brilliant cross for van Persie, he didn't really do much. I thought Kolo, Song, Gibbs, Denilson and Fabregas all had a better match than our little Russian. Was unfairly booked aswell.
Denilson: 8. Denilson was great today. Was stuck into tackles, was neat, and let the creativity be down to someone else. Usually Denilson annoys me when he tries to pick out tricky offensive passes, because he fails everytime. He didn't do this today.
Fabregas: 7. Either a 7 or an 8 really. Somewhere in between. Had quite a good game. Some nice passes, good tackles, and showed moments of really good strength on the ball not to brushed off by bigger Man Utd players.
Diaby: 5. Well he wasn't as bad as he was against Chelsea. That's the one positive I can think of. He just cannot pick a pass, and has absolutely zero awareness of what is going on around him.
van Persie: 7. RvP was fairly good today. It must have been tricky being a lone striker against a physical Man Utd defence, and he coped quite well.
Subs:
Bendtner (for Nasri): As usual was quite good when he came on, linking up well.
Walcott (for Arshavin): Very quiet, didn't see enough of the ball.
Eboue (for Gibbs): Was not on the pitch long enough for me to think of anything to say.
In other news, Adebayor was interviewed by Football Focus venting his frustration at the fan's lack of support to him. Ade said when a club want to come in for you, it's not your fault, and you shouldn't get booed for it. No Adebayor, when a club are interested in you, it's not your fault. Milking it for all it's worth and spraying it round the media, to get an increased contract offer, so you don't have to work as hard on the field, is. Adebayor also mentioned that the motivation from the fans is not the same as last season. That's because you're a lazy git. The motivation was the same at the start of the season, but we have just come to accept that you're lazy. It's not the fan's motivation that is the problem, lazy, we just don't expect as much from you anymore. You're an over-payed professional footballer for gods sake, make you're own damn motivation. We still sing at every match. To be fair to him, he did say that it was bang out of order that Evra called us babies after the Champions league semi-final because we didn't call them that after easily seeing them off in the league earlier on in the season.
Well that is all for today.
Until next time Gooners
At half time Dave from Arsenality and I were saying that now we hadn't taken advantage of our dominance, Man Utd were gonna end up winning. If you don't take your chances against them, you normally pretty much end up on the losing side. But actually the second half was more of the same for Arsenal after a shaky start. There was a brief concern about 15 minutes from time as Song executed a perfect shoulder barge on Ronaldo who shamelessly threw himself to the ground, leaving Mike Dean completely fooled flashing the yellow at poor Song. Thinking about it, it wouldn't take much fooling to cause Dean to give Man U a freekick and book an Arsenal player. In a non-physical match entirely, 5 of our players were booked, one of which (Arshavin) actually made no contact with the Man Utd player, compared to the Mancs who didn't pick up a single card. Anyway, Ronaldo dusted himself down, applied some more grease to his hair, and sent the freekick just over the angle (I'm positive Fabianski knew where it was going). With minutes to go a good move saw Fabregas brush the fingers of Van der Sar before hitting the outside of the post.
I was happy with the way we played. We kept possession superbly (with a few exceptions), won most 50-50s and created a few chances. Maybe not as many as we should have done though, but that can be put down to good defending on Man Utd's part. Diaby was a problem again though, in match where I noticed he was actually wimping out of headers. The post match stats were in our favour, apart from the possession which somehow was 50-50. This in a match where Sky Sports were constantly flashing up graphics showing how Arsenal were dominating possession. Speaking of Sky Sports, Andy Gray's bias towards ManU sickens me. Plus the commentators should total inadequacy and lack of knowledge as to where Arsenal have been playing Bendtner recently, when they were bamboozled as to who would play on the wing as the Dane replaced Nasri.
One thing that delighted me was Wenger's decision to play Song at centre back as opposed to Silvestre. The place was going to go to Djourou but unfortunately the Swiss international was injured in training yesterday. Finally the message might be getting through to Wenger that Silvestre is just awful (but probably not). Speaking of training, Dave has informed me that Pat Rice didn't take the pre-match warm up. I don't know the significance of that.
And so on to the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7. Lukasz didn't have too much to do. He came and gathered a couple of crosses confidently and comfortably, and he did exceptionally well when Tevez turned Toure during the second half, to put off the Argentine.
Sagna: 5. I thought Sagna was just awful. Defensively he is ok, then again he usually is, but his attacking play (or lack thereof) infuriated me. Every cross was crap, and every pass in the final third was intercepted or mis-placed. I thought Eboue would have had a better game at right-back today.
Gibbs: 7. As usual Gibbsy gave a confident and assured game at left back. Getting forward whenever possible, and covering for whoever was on Man Utd's right side.
Toure: 8. Kolo had a good game today. He didn't have Silvestre as excess baggage next to him, and came up with a few vital interceptions.
Song: 8. Like Kolo, Song came up with a few brilliant interceptions, and had the Man Utd front line in his pocket. Played a better game at centre-back than Fish Head Silvestre ever would.
Nasri: 7. Was ok. Showed a few glimpses of quality but not his usual influential self.
Arshavin: 6. I didn't think this was Arshavin's best game today. Apart from a direct dribble into the ManU penalty area, and the brilliant cross for van Persie, he didn't really do much. I thought Kolo, Song, Gibbs, Denilson and Fabregas all had a better match than our little Russian. Was unfairly booked aswell.
Denilson: 8. Denilson was great today. Was stuck into tackles, was neat, and let the creativity be down to someone else. Usually Denilson annoys me when he tries to pick out tricky offensive passes, because he fails everytime. He didn't do this today.
Fabregas: 7. Either a 7 or an 8 really. Somewhere in between. Had quite a good game. Some nice passes, good tackles, and showed moments of really good strength on the ball not to brushed off by bigger Man Utd players.
Diaby: 5. Well he wasn't as bad as he was against Chelsea. That's the one positive I can think of. He just cannot pick a pass, and has absolutely zero awareness of what is going on around him.
van Persie: 7. RvP was fairly good today. It must have been tricky being a lone striker against a physical Man Utd defence, and he coped quite well.
Subs:
Bendtner (for Nasri): As usual was quite good when he came on, linking up well.
Walcott (for Arshavin): Very quiet, didn't see enough of the ball.
Eboue (for Gibbs): Was not on the pitch long enough for me to think of anything to say.
In other news, Adebayor was interviewed by Football Focus venting his frustration at the fan's lack of support to him. Ade said when a club want to come in for you, it's not your fault, and you shouldn't get booed for it. No Adebayor, when a club are interested in you, it's not your fault. Milking it for all it's worth and spraying it round the media, to get an increased contract offer, so you don't have to work as hard on the field, is. Adebayor also mentioned that the motivation from the fans is not the same as last season. That's because you're a lazy git. The motivation was the same at the start of the season, but we have just come to accept that you're lazy. It's not the fan's motivation that is the problem, lazy, we just don't expect as much from you anymore. You're an over-payed professional footballer for gods sake, make you're own damn motivation. We still sing at every match. To be fair to him, he did say that it was bang out of order that Evra called us babies after the Champions league semi-final because we didn't call them that after easily seeing them off in the league earlier on in the season.
Well that is all for today.
Until next time Gooners
Manchester United vs. Arsenal
Morning all,
Today we travel to Old Trafford with the hosts needing only a point to secure the Premiership. We are without Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Eduardo, and despite his return to full training, Tomas Rosicky will also miss out. In turn ManU will be without Rio Ferdinand. Although Ferdinand is obviously key to the Mancs and his loss is discouraging, how come they only have one person out injured? (I'm not counting Hargreaves). It must be the same luck they have in the dying seconds of every crucial game.
Arshavin will likely start again after missing out with illness against Chelsea and after being ineligable against ManU in the champions league. There have been question marks over Djourou's fitness the last couple of weeks, but I hope to god he has recovered enough to play instead of Silvestre. The last thing we need is more embarrassing defending against a ruthless attack. As stated a couple of days ago, Merida, Bischoff and Fonte were not played for the reserves against West Brom on Monday, and with no word from Banfield whether they had a knock or illness, they could well make the bench today, although it is difficult to see who they would come in for. I believe Merida thoroughly deserves the chance to be in the first team squad, but Wenger is unlikely to remove Diaby, Denilson or Ramsey from the squad alltogether to include the young spaniard (even if he does deserve to replace Diaby). Fonte is the most unlikely candidate of the trio to make the bench, but you never know. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if none of them were in the squad, and in fact the only reason they didn't play the last reserves match was because of injury.
Right, as far as the match itself. Well I want to believe this team can snatch a win and delay the title celebrations for another week, but I just don't think it's going to happen. I reckon a draw. Perhaps 1-1 (although are our defence capable of limiting the Man Utd attack to just one goal?). Maybe 2-2 then. It doesn't matter, I just don't want to say I think we'll lose. Wenger could experiment and start playing these two last games as he wants to play next season, in terms of new players stepping up. But my inkling is that he'll save the experimenting for the last game of the season, at home to Stoke, who are now safe and sound and perhaps who therefore will have less drive.
Therefore my predicted starting XI is:
Fabianski
Sagna Toure Silvestre Gibbs
Nasri Song
Walcott Fabregas (capt.) Arshavin
van Persie
To be frank, I actually hope it's not that. I think Bendtner should play up front. I think Fabregas should play deeper, I think Nasri should be on the left, and Arshavin should be the supporting striker behind Bendtner. Although the above (with Arshavin replacing Diaby) is the team that started so promisingly against Chelsea on sunday, I don't think it works. 4-5-1 to begin with is obviously not the formation we're comfortable with, and secondly Cesc should clearly CLEARLY be playing deeper. He's a great player which is why he is Ok out of position, but he himself has said he lacks the pace to play in that advanced role. Cesc needs to be back in the centre where he can dictate play and be our quarter back.
Well that's all on the game. A quick mention about Martin Laursen. I feel for him. He was an excellent defender and it's a shame he's been forced into retirement. In one way it's lucky for us that he got injured, because (and there's no doubt about it) that was the major contributing factor to Villa's dramatic dip in form, but it is never nice to see a player forced to retire.
Also, well done to the people that prosecuted those spuds who shouted homophobic remarks to Sol at Fratton Park. They are clearly imbeciles who are covering up for their own insecurities.
Right then. I'll see you after the match Gooners. Have a good day.
Today we travel to Old Trafford with the hosts needing only a point to secure the Premiership. We are without Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Eduardo, and despite his return to full training, Tomas Rosicky will also miss out. In turn ManU will be without Rio Ferdinand. Although Ferdinand is obviously key to the Mancs and his loss is discouraging, how come they only have one person out injured? (I'm not counting Hargreaves). It must be the same luck they have in the dying seconds of every crucial game.
Arshavin will likely start again after missing out with illness against Chelsea and after being ineligable against ManU in the champions league. There have been question marks over Djourou's fitness the last couple of weeks, but I hope to god he has recovered enough to play instead of Silvestre. The last thing we need is more embarrassing defending against a ruthless attack. As stated a couple of days ago, Merida, Bischoff and Fonte were not played for the reserves against West Brom on Monday, and with no word from Banfield whether they had a knock or illness, they could well make the bench today, although it is difficult to see who they would come in for. I believe Merida thoroughly deserves the chance to be in the first team squad, but Wenger is unlikely to remove Diaby, Denilson or Ramsey from the squad alltogether to include the young spaniard (even if he does deserve to replace Diaby). Fonte is the most unlikely candidate of the trio to make the bench, but you never know. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if none of them were in the squad, and in fact the only reason they didn't play the last reserves match was because of injury.
Right, as far as the match itself. Well I want to believe this team can snatch a win and delay the title celebrations for another week, but I just don't think it's going to happen. I reckon a draw. Perhaps 1-1 (although are our defence capable of limiting the Man Utd attack to just one goal?). Maybe 2-2 then. It doesn't matter, I just don't want to say I think we'll lose. Wenger could experiment and start playing these two last games as he wants to play next season, in terms of new players stepping up. But my inkling is that he'll save the experimenting for the last game of the season, at home to Stoke, who are now safe and sound and perhaps who therefore will have less drive.
Therefore my predicted starting XI is:
Fabianski
Sagna Toure Silvestre Gibbs
Nasri Song
Walcott Fabregas (capt.) Arshavin
van Persie
To be frank, I actually hope it's not that. I think Bendtner should play up front. I think Fabregas should play deeper, I think Nasri should be on the left, and Arshavin should be the supporting striker behind Bendtner. Although the above (with Arshavin replacing Diaby) is the team that started so promisingly against Chelsea on sunday, I don't think it works. 4-5-1 to begin with is obviously not the formation we're comfortable with, and secondly Cesc should clearly CLEARLY be playing deeper. He's a great player which is why he is Ok out of position, but he himself has said he lacks the pace to play in that advanced role. Cesc needs to be back in the centre where he can dictate play and be our quarter back.
Well that's all on the game. A quick mention about Martin Laursen. I feel for him. He was an excellent defender and it's a shame he's been forced into retirement. In one way it's lucky for us that he got injured, because (and there's no doubt about it) that was the major contributing factor to Villa's dramatic dip in form, but it is never nice to see a player forced to retire.
Also, well done to the people that prosecuted those spuds who shouted homophobic remarks to Sol at Fratton Park. They are clearly imbeciles who are covering up for their own insecurities.
Right then. I'll see you after the match Gooners. Have a good day.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Wenger's question and answer sesh, is Adebayor actually going to Chelsea? and Rosicky
So it was Wenger's question and answer session yesterday with the share holders. Usually these things are drab formal affairs, where the questions have to be pre-submitted, yet yesterday Wenger threw away the rule book and allowed a more direct question and answer session. So what came out of it? Well nothing new really but it seems to have generated a lot of publicity. Wenger defended the players, mumbled something about 21 match unbeaten run and that the club won't change it's stance in the transfer market. However AW did state that should the team not win a trophy in the next 2 seasons, his policy would have been a failure. Sorry? Is that Arsene suggesting he could be wrong? Surely not. Admittedly he did give himself leeway of a couple of years.
Although much of this is same old, same old, it is good to see how passionate Wenger is about the current crop of players. Apparently it was getting fairly heated in the room. One questioner claimed that the players don't have the stomach for battle. I disagree. And so did Wenger:
"It is the easiest thing to sit in the stands and say they are not good enough, that they do not fight....It is always that negative way of thinking, that the players do not care."
Wenger turned some of the blame onto the home fans stating that the players were playing in a negative environment, and in fact the fans at away matches were much better than those at home matches. I have to say, I agree with him again there (obviously i'm not saying those who go week in week out do a bad job). I think the players agree with Wenger aswell. At the time of this article, Arsenal have scored 10 goals more away from home than at Ashburton. However it is unfair to criticise those fans who attend week in week out no matter whether home or away and extremely petty on Arsene's part.
I want to take a moment to pause here and congratulate the guy who labelled Silvestre as a 'geriatric'. Well done that man, and whoever you are you deserve a pat on the back. Although it is good to see Le Boss leap so vehemently to the defence of his players, extending it to Mikael 'Slower turning circle than a tank' Silvestre is just going too far.
Something unusual happened today. The Guardian (normally one of the most reliable papers, and not one to comment on dribble) started going crazy about Adebayor going to Chelsea. If you go to their football page (www.guardian.co.uk/football) not only is the main article (and this is actually the main article, not the ever amusing rumour mill section) concerning Adebayor's apparently imminent departure, but there is also a poll - Should Adebayor go to Chelsea? All of this on the back of a story that the Mirror seemed to have plucked from thin air. I can see the thought processes of a young go getter at the Mirror now. 'Drogba's getting a bit old isn't he? They might wanna sell him. Who's going to be the next Chelsea manager? Ancelotti? Where do I know that name from? Oh yea that's right Milan. Hang on, Milan wanted Adebayor last season didn't they? Arsenal fans don't really like Adebayor at the moment do they? That's it! Ancelotti will bring Adebayor to Chelsea with him as Drogba's replacement! I'm such a genius. They should have, like, an award for journalists like me who do good articles and stuff.' This actually lead to someone yesterday asking Wenger if he would sell Adebayor to another premier league club. To which Wenger responded:
"If I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four?"
That's a player mind, not necessarily Adebayor. So this apparently has paved the way for Adebayor's switch to the chavs. I for one, would love to see the club cash in on the lazy overpaid lanky git, but I know that if he goes to Chelsea, he'll suddenly become amazing, and he'll score a hat-trick everytime they play us.
So on to a summer of discontent, as Arsenal fans live in hope of the arrival of a few world class players that ultimately doesn't transpire. Despite all the talk of needing to bolster the squad, Wenger won't 'deviate from his cautious approach'. What Wenger wants is one or two players in defensive positions who have experience. Please Arsene, not the type of experience that comes in the shape of a 30 something reject of another big four club who is crap and the biggest liability since Pascal Cygan. A mid to late 20 year old with a proven track record would be fantastic, thank you.
Right, that was fairly long, and most of it was rant. So I'll end on a happier note. Tomas Rosicky resumed full training with the first team on thursday and apparently everything went swimmingly. Rosicky will drop plans for a summer holiday in order to work on being 100% for the new season. Good for you Tomas, and we hope to see you soon.
'Til later Gooners, have a good Friday.
Although much of this is same old, same old, it is good to see how passionate Wenger is about the current crop of players. Apparently it was getting fairly heated in the room. One questioner claimed that the players don't have the stomach for battle. I disagree. And so did Wenger:
"It is the easiest thing to sit in the stands and say they are not good enough, that they do not fight....It is always that negative way of thinking, that the players do not care."
Wenger turned some of the blame onto the home fans stating that the players were playing in a negative environment, and in fact the fans at away matches were much better than those at home matches. I have to say, I agree with him again there (obviously i'm not saying those who go week in week out do a bad job). I think the players agree with Wenger aswell. At the time of this article, Arsenal have scored 10 goals more away from home than at Ashburton. However it is unfair to criticise those fans who attend week in week out no matter whether home or away and extremely petty on Arsene's part.
I want to take a moment to pause here and congratulate the guy who labelled Silvestre as a 'geriatric'. Well done that man, and whoever you are you deserve a pat on the back. Although it is good to see Le Boss leap so vehemently to the defence of his players, extending it to Mikael 'Slower turning circle than a tank' Silvestre is just going too far.
Something unusual happened today. The Guardian (normally one of the most reliable papers, and not one to comment on dribble) started going crazy about Adebayor going to Chelsea. If you go to their football page (www.guardian.co.uk/football) not only is the main article (and this is actually the main article, not the ever amusing rumour mill section) concerning Adebayor's apparently imminent departure, but there is also a poll - Should Adebayor go to Chelsea? All of this on the back of a story that the Mirror seemed to have plucked from thin air. I can see the thought processes of a young go getter at the Mirror now. 'Drogba's getting a bit old isn't he? They might wanna sell him. Who's going to be the next Chelsea manager? Ancelotti? Where do I know that name from? Oh yea that's right Milan. Hang on, Milan wanted Adebayor last season didn't they? Arsenal fans don't really like Adebayor at the moment do they? That's it! Ancelotti will bring Adebayor to Chelsea with him as Drogba's replacement! I'm such a genius. They should have, like, an award for journalists like me who do good articles and stuff.' This actually lead to someone yesterday asking Wenger if he would sell Adebayor to another premier league club. To which Wenger responded:
"If I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four?"
That's a player mind, not necessarily Adebayor. So this apparently has paved the way for Adebayor's switch to the chavs. I for one, would love to see the club cash in on the lazy overpaid lanky git, but I know that if he goes to Chelsea, he'll suddenly become amazing, and he'll score a hat-trick everytime they play us.
So on to a summer of discontent, as Arsenal fans live in hope of the arrival of a few world class players that ultimately doesn't transpire. Despite all the talk of needing to bolster the squad, Wenger won't 'deviate from his cautious approach'. What Wenger wants is one or two players in defensive positions who have experience. Please Arsene, not the type of experience that comes in the shape of a 30 something reject of another big four club who is crap and the biggest liability since Pascal Cygan. A mid to late 20 year old with a proven track record would be fantastic, thank you.
Right, that was fairly long, and most of it was rant. So I'll end on a happier note. Tomas Rosicky resumed full training with the first team on thursday and apparently everything went swimmingly. Rosicky will drop plans for a summer holiday in order to work on being 100% for the new season. Good for you Tomas, and we hope to see you soon.
'Til later Gooners, have a good Friday.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Gazidis, Rice, The Board and Adebayor
There has been news aplenty off the field at Arsenal recently. The most shocking of which was the revelation that Pat Rice was going to retire at the end of the season. These rumours were swiftly rebuffed by Rice. I'm not sure about this one way or the other. Obviously Pat Rice is a legend who has been amongst the backroom staff since 1984 and was a player here prior to that. However it seems to me that Rice sometimes doesn't want to go against Wenger when Wenger is making a mistake. Rice needs to say at times 'No. No Wenger. Stop it. We're not going to buy a 8 year old Ivorian winger'. Or 'No Wenger, you ARE going to play Arshavin, for gods sake this is a FA cup semi final!'. And occasionally I don't think Rice has the personality to deliberately go against Wenger. Especially when le boss is having his stubborn tantrums. But then what do I know?
Speaking of which, Gazidis has come out in defence of AW saying he is not stuborn after all and is constantly questioning himself and asking for others opinions (before presumably ignoring them). Gazidis, who seems determined to fill a Dein shaped hole at Arsenal, has also taken time to comment on Arsenal's final position in the league and transfers.
"I am not happy where we ended up but I am pleased we are disappointed by it.....There are other clubs who would feel this is a good position"
Yes but we are not just any other club Ivan. To be fair to him he does go on to say we have expectations and that with our players' young age, we are in fact in a promising position. Gazidis then went on to say:
“Does it need to be supplemented? Quite possibly but it is a very, very promising situation for the next four or five years."
I agree Ivan, and its good to see a senior staff member saying we need signings.
Another backroom fat cat who has also come out and said we need new first team players with experience is Alisher Usmanov, who owns the second largest portion of the Arsenal stakes. Not only that but Usmanov is determined to get rid of the debt we have which is blatently getting in the way of competing on a level with the likes of Manchester Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. The debt generates £17 million interest a year. That is a lot. According to the Telegraph, Usmanov is so peeved by this debt that he has rallied to all the investors that they can inject fresh cash to try and reduce this debt.
Now that's good on the surface. This (at first) seems that Usmanov really cares about the state of Arsenal, and really wants to see the club compete at the top of the premier league and in major cups. Plus 'Red and White Holdings' maintain that they're only motivation is to reduce debt for the club not to increase its shareholding in the club.
Surprise, surprise the directors are reluctant to accept this because it doesn't fit into 'the model of self-sustainability'. And I can understand that, and I can see what kinds of mess ManU and the chavs are in now because of lack of sustainability. Apparently Usmanov is in fact a Man utd fan. As Arseblog (http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog) put very well. You don't put that amount of money into something that you don't personally like without expecting something in return. Usmanov is clearly trying to win the fans round to his side. Freezing ticket prices is one way to go apparently. Except that Arsenal anounced months ago they were freezing ticket prices for next season. Usmanov has a very sketchy past and yes his cash injection works in the short term but look at how much debt clubs like Chelsea have now. Luckily it looks as if it'll be a while before our board and Usmanov see eye to eye.
Lastly, the Mirror reckon Drogba will leave Chelsea in the summer and Adebayor will be the man to replace him. Shocking, I know. This article would be a whole lot more believable though if they had any quotes from either party involved.
That's all for now.
A good day to you Gooners.
Speaking of which, Gazidis has come out in defence of AW saying he is not stuborn after all and is constantly questioning himself and asking for others opinions (before presumably ignoring them). Gazidis, who seems determined to fill a Dein shaped hole at Arsenal, has also taken time to comment on Arsenal's final position in the league and transfers.
"I am not happy where we ended up but I am pleased we are disappointed by it.....There are other clubs who would feel this is a good position"
Yes but we are not just any other club Ivan. To be fair to him he does go on to say we have expectations and that with our players' young age, we are in fact in a promising position. Gazidis then went on to say:
“Does it need to be supplemented? Quite possibly but it is a very, very promising situation for the next four or five years."
I agree Ivan, and its good to see a senior staff member saying we need signings.
Another backroom fat cat who has also come out and said we need new first team players with experience is Alisher Usmanov, who owns the second largest portion of the Arsenal stakes. Not only that but Usmanov is determined to get rid of the debt we have which is blatently getting in the way of competing on a level with the likes of Manchester Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. The debt generates £17 million interest a year. That is a lot. According to the Telegraph, Usmanov is so peeved by this debt that he has rallied to all the investors that they can inject fresh cash to try and reduce this debt.
Now that's good on the surface. This (at first) seems that Usmanov really cares about the state of Arsenal, and really wants to see the club compete at the top of the premier league and in major cups. Plus 'Red and White Holdings' maintain that they're only motivation is to reduce debt for the club not to increase its shareholding in the club.
Surprise, surprise the directors are reluctant to accept this because it doesn't fit into 'the model of self-sustainability'. And I can understand that, and I can see what kinds of mess ManU and the chavs are in now because of lack of sustainability. Apparently Usmanov is in fact a Man utd fan. As Arseblog (http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog) put very well. You don't put that amount of money into something that you don't personally like without expecting something in return. Usmanov is clearly trying to win the fans round to his side. Freezing ticket prices is one way to go apparently. Except that Arsenal anounced months ago they were freezing ticket prices for next season. Usmanov has a very sketchy past and yes his cash injection works in the short term but look at how much debt clubs like Chelsea have now. Luckily it looks as if it'll be a while before our board and Usmanov see eye to eye.
Lastly, the Mirror reckon Drogba will leave Chelsea in the summer and Adebayor will be the man to replace him. Shocking, I know. This article would be a whole lot more believable though if they had any quotes from either party involved.
That's all for now.
A good day to you Gooners.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Round Up
So as all of you probably know this year has been exceptionally disappointing. Despite reaching the semi finals of both the FA cup and the Champions League with a squad with an average age of what 23/24 , I, and no doubt countless more Gooners, will be left dissatisfied. In our last two fixtures we have succumbed to defeat 3-1 against the mancs, and even more embarrassingly, 4-1 against the Chavs. A game which we frankly dominated. With the help of awful finishing on our part, clinical finishing on Chelsea's part, and awful referring by Phil Dowd, I had to walk back to Finsbury Park (no Picadilly lines above King's Cross ever seem to work on a Sunday) with many gloating texts coming in from chav friends.
And so on to saturday where lucky us we get to play ManU again. ManU win the title if they draw against us, after annoyingly just beating Wigan 2-1. So they'll be super motivated, and with us with nothing to play for other than our dignity, you're left to wonder if that sole reason is enough.
With various players back from loan and Fran Merida, Amaury Bischoff, and Rui Fonte being left out of the reserves game against West Brom on monday, le boss could be set to experiment. Arshavin should be back from his bout of flu (he hasn't been chummy with Vela's mates don't worry) and that will invigorate us no ends. What the players can think about though is how painful it will be to see ManU win the title at our expense. Lets try and stop that happening lads.
Stay tuned in the coming days for pre manU match write up, post match analysis, pre stoke match write up, subsequent analysis and no doubt other musings along the way. Also there will be a end of the year ratings system on our player's performances throughout the season.
'Til tomorrow Gooners.
And so on to saturday where lucky us we get to play ManU again. ManU win the title if they draw against us, after annoyingly just beating Wigan 2-1. So they'll be super motivated, and with us with nothing to play for other than our dignity, you're left to wonder if that sole reason is enough.
With various players back from loan and Fran Merida, Amaury Bischoff, and Rui Fonte being left out of the reserves game against West Brom on monday, le boss could be set to experiment. Arshavin should be back from his bout of flu (he hasn't been chummy with Vela's mates don't worry) and that will invigorate us no ends. What the players can think about though is how painful it will be to see ManU win the title at our expense. Lets try and stop that happening lads.
Stay tuned in the coming days for pre manU match write up, post match analysis, pre stoke match write up, subsequent analysis and no doubt other musings along the way. Also there will be a end of the year ratings system on our player's performances throughout the season.
'Til tomorrow Gooners.
First ever Play the Gooner Way blog
Hi all,
Welcome to Play the Gooner Way, a blog all about Arsenal. At the time of this blog, the 2008/2009 Premier League season has only two games remaining: away at ManU and at home to Stoke.
I am a university student who really likes nay worships Arsenal much more than he should do, and critically much more than he likes his course. I've been meaning to start a blog for a couple of years, but dammit all to hell if my gooner housemate didn't manage to set one up first. This has therefore given me the proverbial kick up the arse. (His site is http://www.arsenality.blogspot.com/ by the by).
I realise that due to the incredible number of Arsenal fan sites and blogs that most people won't get round to reading this (tactical labelling for posts is in order), however those of you who do get round to reading my blog then I hope you enjoy, and you're feedback and comments are more than welcome. As long as they are tasteful of course.
Have a great day Gooners.
Alan
Welcome to Play the Gooner Way, a blog all about Arsenal. At the time of this blog, the 2008/2009 Premier League season has only two games remaining: away at ManU and at home to Stoke.
I am a university student who really likes nay worships Arsenal much more than he should do, and critically much more than he likes his course. I've been meaning to start a blog for a couple of years, but dammit all to hell if my gooner housemate didn't manage to set one up first. This has therefore given me the proverbial kick up the arse. (His site is http://www.arsenality.blogspot.com/ by the by).
I realise that due to the incredible number of Arsenal fan sites and blogs that most people won't get round to reading this (tactical labelling for posts is in order), however those of you who do get round to reading my blog then I hope you enjoy, and you're feedback and comments are more than welcome. As long as they are tasteful of course.
Have a great day Gooners.
Alan
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