Just give Theo Walcott what he wants, before someone else does……..

December 30, 2012

Morning Gooners.

A 7-3 victory but there’s still cause for concern.

Would we have still turned on the style at the end had Newcastle been a team without so many injuries, or one who had more strength on the bench or indeed one who had not played just a few days before?

Sounds like us on another day doesn’t it?

We’ll never know now but as long as Arsene Wenger looks at the defensive frailties on display yesterday and takes them to the training ground to resolve, then ok. If he and Bould were watching the space gifted to Newcastle in the midfield and rectifies this by signing a DM in January, then ok  but if these two problems on the pitch continue, other sides will tear us apart.

Those gaping errors gifted Newcastle their three goals.

However….

We could only play against what/who we were up against and getting seven goals in the fashion we did in the end was a joy to behold..

All too often recently, the team have given us reason to moan,  moan and moan and as already said, they did it again yesterday at times but the difference was, they gave us a lot more to cheer about. The way we scored goals and finished the game off in so much style was simply stunning.

We scored seven goals and not one was a fluke…….

The first goal came after good work from Podolski on the left in our own area, he played a super ball down the left hand side into space, space  which Walcott was running in to. Theo then picked the ball up, ran on into the penalty area and curled his shot past Krul and inside the far post…

All done in front of the man he wants to emulate, Thierry Henry. Well that wasn’t a bad start!

Our second:

Sagna had pushed up and from just outside the penalty area, he played the ball to Podolski who was central and just outside the box. Podolski pushed the ball out left to Gibbs who crossed into the penalty area. Podolski totally goofed the return ball which then went onto Theo who had his back towards goal. A little turn, a little control followed by a placed shot into the roof of the net resulted in his second of the match!

Theo’s third was made of stuff which only pundits would brag about if scored by the Mancs or Chelsea… It really was stunning.

The last few days the world of football has had cause to question players attitudes, managers attitudes and cheats who try and earn penalties. (Bale tried again yesterday and got booked).

Walcott showed the better side of the game to grab his third and as Keegan said, ‘it was a combination of strictly come dancing and holiday on ice’. He did go on to say it was very good.

We had a free kick down the left, he played a quick one-two with Jack and with a defender left and right of him he drove through the middle, a sneaky tackle from behind floored him but he rode it well with a knee slide, got straight back onto his feet passed two more Newcastle players and chipped the ball passed Krul into the back of the net!!

Cant finish, isn’t a striker??

He also turned provider for Giroud with a wonderful cross at great pace from the right. The big Frenchman got himself into the right place, the Englishman supplied the right in-swinging ball..

Sublime…..

As was the strike from Oxlade-Chamberlain, a super struck shot into the corner of the net and to be honest, he’d not had the best of games but a goal will keep his confidence high.

Then of course there was the goal which Jack created from nothing really. Our loyal number ten burst through the final centre of the pitch after a ball played to him by Podolski. As he went into the penalty area, it looked like he’d lost his chance to cross but just before the ball looked likely to go out after pressure from a Newcastle defender, Jack whipped in a left footed cross right in front of the keeper. Coloccinii tried to clear it but his header hit the top of the bar and rebounded to Podolski who was there to head the rebound home…..

Giroud scored another for his second, another great finish and annoyingly for him, the woodwork stood between him and and his hat-trick..

We missed a few, we could, maybe even should have scored eleven but is anyone going to complain about that?

I didn’t think so.

What a way for the boys to end 2012 at The Emirates….

Much will be made of Theo’s celebration after the game and the way he thanked all the fans with the match ball in hand but ever since our young Englishman has been with the club, he’s always shown great appreciation for the fans, so yesterday was probably no different. If his contract renewal is being stalled just because he wants an extra £5,000 a week, surely it’s time for the club to give in and agree.

Sure as heck some other club will, especially after yesterday….

Now it’s over to the January transfer window….

Have a good day all…..

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Capoue & Van der Wiel want out! Could Victor Wanyama end Alex Song’s Arsenal career?

August 5, 2012

Morning Gooners,

What a day yesterday, and all without football!

Team GB won SIX Gold Medals and one of those went to Arsenal Fan Mo Farah for winning the 10,000 metres in style and all with our club’s name on his spikes.

It really was something special, especially the evening events and we will probably never witness such greatness again. Well not here in England anyway.

Sadly penalties were the undoing of the GB mens football team. Aaron Ramsey converted one but had another saved in regular time which would have been enough to win the game but then Daniel Sturridge couldn’t convert his in the shoot-out.

The tennis wasn’t bad either as Andy Murray and Laura Robson secured their place in the final so at least a Silver for them.

Ok, back to Arsenal……

Victor Wanyama lurks in the background of many current rumours linking every player under the sun to Arsenal and as much fun it is reading them, most are so far-fetched even PHW couldn’t make them up.

But this one surrounding Wanyama is a little more interesting.

His valuation sits around the £7 Million mark.

He’s a Mr Utility who prefers to play in the central defensive midfield position but can play centre back if required.

He’s young at just 21 years old.

He’s African.

The last comment is not any sly attempt by me to be racist, I am not so don’t even go there but we all know Arsene Wenger likes to sign French, Spanish and African players together with the odd English talent.

Why, well it’s obvious, English players are generally over priced and overrated, James Milner, Gareth Barry, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing are just a  few in a long list who prove that.

Spain of course is flavour of the season because of the ongoing problems in the world of finance but Victor Wanyama has been tried and tested in what many believe to be a tough, hard tackling, Scottish Premier League.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon isn’t in a hurry to sell him but as said yesterday, there is usually a price for any player that will tempt a club to sell, we Arsenal fans of all people know that and the Celtic manager admits:.

Every player has his price but we’re not a selling club – although every club sells players if they get the right offer, but it’s right that we are spoilt for choice in terms of talented young players in midfield.

Hardly convincing eh?

Over the last few days/weeks there has been many a story/comment in the ‘blog world’ about Alex Song.

Some suggest that Robin has told Wenger that we will never win anything with Song in the squad, some suggest that he has no intention of signing a new contract and wants to move on, other suggestions are that Wenger has told him he can go and of course there is this little interest from Barcelona.

Arsene Wenger has really been bigging up Abou Diaby, he’s even suggested he’d be the first player on the French Team Sheet when fit so does he see Diaby as the player to take Song’s place?

By that I mean to be the one who will make the forward runs and the over hit passes? (Please note irony!)

Diaby is quicker, he is not so clumsy either so he’ll be able to get back and help out without giving away silly fouls/free kicks in dangerous areas, something which Alex Song is very good at.

He might head in the odd own goal though. – Yes, I jest of course….

Many Arsenal fans want us to sign a defensive midfielder, I am one of them, but many also believe that our priority should be signing a central defender believing that neither Johan Djourou or Kyle Bartley are really good enough to step in should we suffer injury to the extent that we did last season. (Hopefully we won’t)

For Celtic, Wanyama has been mostly played in defence and he’s not happy but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind stepping into that position every once in a while if it meant he playing for a club like Arsenal.

If he does sign, surely that would spell the end of Alex Song…..

Mind you, so would the signing of Etienne Capoue of Toulouse, he’s valued around £10 Million and reports suggest that Barcelona and Arsenal head the race to sign him after the player admitted he wants to leave his current club in search of Champions League football.

Gregory Van der Wiel also wants out of his current club Ajax and with one year left on his contract he is hoping that Arsene Wenger makes a move for him according to The Sunday Mirror. Newcastle have allegedly already made Ajax an offer but the player wants to join us. The same article suggests that Manchester United will finally make a respectable offer for our captain, one which they believe will see Robin playing alongside Rooney this coming season!

Like I said at the beginning of the post, I love reading the rumours, just hope one of these turn out to be real and I know which one I’d prefer…

That’s it for another day, hope it’s a good one…

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Posted by rico

Is Martinez ready to take over? Robin replaces Cesc & Fabianski wants out…

May 19, 2012

When did we last have a summer without speculation that one of our players was about to leave – in search of silverware?

We had it with Vieira, then Henry and last summer it was all about Cesc!

Now of course, it’s all about Robin van Persie and it’s boring, so much so, no more posts will be about him staying or going until something is concrete from afc.com!

There is more to be thinking about than just one player, what about Theo Walcott and Alex Song – both of their contracts run out at the same time so why have no talks taken place with him yet?

Both RvP and Theo are off now to join their respective countries and won’t be back until the end of June at the earliest and then no doubt they will need a month off to rest so we will be heading towards August and the start of a new season.

All will unfold over the next couple of months no doubt but as we all keep saying, this should have been sorted out months ago.

Fabianski has been talking to Gazeta Wyborcza:

I hope that my adventure with Arsenal has come to an end, I intend to leave and play in a strong league. I wanted to leave in the winter, too, but Arsène Wenger did not give a green light.

So, with Almunia off and Fabianski on his way, will Arsene Wenger sign a keeper with experience or just keep ‘his money’ in his pocket and rely on young Martinez?

The young Argentine has impressed in the reserves this season and at just 19 years old he believes that he could be the one to take over from Fabianski. He has had two appearances on the first-team bench – against Shrewsbury and Leeds – and he is desperate to cement his place as the number 2 for his club.

“I have been training all my life and I am ready to play”.

However, surely it would be a step far to far to throw him into the squad in August, surely he needs a season, maybe more out on loan and get used to playing regular football and learning his trade elsewhere. The only way to learn at his age is by playing, sitting on our bench for the next few years will not do him or our club any good.

We need an older, wiser and far more experienced keeper in the squad, one who will push the sometimes erratic Szczesny for the number one spot, not a 19 year old rookie. He is not the solution and surely even Arsene Wenger would agree this time.

Martinez maybe tall, strong and called up for his country but that’s not enough, his day may come but not for a while….

Jussi Jääskeläinen is my choice, he is out of contract at Bolton this summer and is no longer their first choice keeper….

Snap him up I say, and with it comes our future goal keeping coach….

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Posted by rico

Rivals in for M’Vila & Martinez, Lehmann wants return & it’s squeaky bum time today…..

April 28, 2012

Titbits:

The Yann M’Vila saga goes on, now Manchester United are reported to be in the running for him, as they are for another Wenger target, Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez. Both are defensive midfielders so maybe we will get one and the Mancs the other. ;)

Just get in there Gazidis and get the one that Wenger REALLY wants, not the cheapest!

Steve Bould, Jens Lehmann and Tony Adams are all in contention to take over from Pat Rice in the summer if he retires, reports are that Wenger is keen to appoint someone who ‘knows and has worked inside the club’.

Enough of that!

Stoke City are todays test in just a few hours from now, the first of our remaining three fixtures!

Will we make that elusive 3rd place or will we be pipped at the post, I personally have my doubts of 3rd but I want to be proved very wrong!

We have had chances to have cemented 3rd place by now but we have let those chances slip through our fingers and with it, given a ray of hope to those closely following behind.

Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea all now have belief that if we stumble, they have a chance to nip in and take advantage and no doubt each of those clubs will be sat watching and waiting for us to fail today.

If we don’t get that 3rd place, we only have ourselves to blame!

This season has been has been a season full of ups and downs, not only for us but for the others as well.

When you look at the league positions at the moment we see both Manchester clubs miles in front of us but that is down to us, both of those teams have gone through tough times this season and had our own form been better, we would be sitting ahead of them, not behind.

Our last few results have been pitiful, a loss to QPR and  Wigan, then a no score draw with the Chelsea at home are all fixtures that we should have won.

As you know I, have always been a Wenger admirer but he sure does test my patience at times, and this is one of those times!

He  needs to now give his all, tell our players in no uncertain terms what is needed over the next three weeks, demand the performances and results that we clearly need!

Tell the players who stroll around like their only worried about what colour their latest motor car should be, that this is Arsenal, forget everything else, just get on and do what you get paid to do, show a bit of guts and pride!

Wenger should be instilling in these players that if we don’t get the results that we need to secure our place in the Champions League, otherwise they might just be buying their motor car at another club!!

We know that our footballers are paid substantial wages, we know that these young men are set up for life and we know that they can buy almost anything that they want,  except a good performance when we really need it.

Our players know that after the next 3 games they can go on holiday and get away from it all, grab themselves a nice tan, a trip on a lovely yacht maybe, lucky them eh! ..

Well I have just one thing to say about that!

If we don’t get the results that we need to secure our position in the Champions League, they can stay on their yacht and don’t bother coming back!

They will have let the club down, the manager down and most of all the supporters down, the ones who turn out week in week out and in all weather just to support them.

Today is a huge test, we haven’t won at Stoke for many years, today we need to put that record right. Stoke are a big strong side but if our players hearts and desire is bigger, we really can get the three points.

The pressure is on and it’s squeaky bum time….

Do it today Arsenal, do it for all of us!

COYG’s

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by rico

Do we really need Yann M’Vila? Hazard on his way to the Premier League….

April 26, 2012

Yesterday Lille confirmed that Eden Hazard will be leaving them in the summer, it’s believed his likely destination is England.

Many Arsenal fans are calling for his signing but it seems it’s straight forward battle between the two Manchester sides as £30 Million is his reported value!

Onto another player that many Gooners want us to sign…

Over the last few days, several ‘stories’ have been written about Yann M’Vila and how officials from Arsenal are currently in talks over a summer move to us.

This young French player certainly seems to be flavour of the month with many clubs and certainly many Gooners. There is no doubting he is a player with a lot of potential, but do we really need him???

To a certain degree, injuries to both Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin had fed the clamour from supporters, for the signing of the Rennes midfielder.

M’Vila himself is only 21 years old, marginally older than both Frimpong and Coquelin.

Last January Emmanuel Frimpong left on loan to join Wolves, Wenger knew that young Manu would gain experience in the high pressure environment of a relegation battle and PL games.

After a slow start Frimpong began to grow into his role and was fast developing into an important player for Mick McCarthy’s team.

You could see the benefit of the superior technical coaching he enjoyed at Arsenal as he became an important cog in the Wanderers midfield.

Of course, we all know that he suffered the misfortune of another terrible injury, but imagine if he could have stayed fit?

What kind of player would we be looking at now??

He may have been instrumental in saving Wolves from relegation, he might even have saved McCarthy his job?

Of course we’ll never know for sure, but during his sojourn in the Black Country, the Wanderers had shown real signs of a revival but all that came to a shuddering halt with his injury…

Coincidence???

Only McCarthy could give an answer to that question.

Had he stayed fit, wouldn’t we Arsenal fans be rubbing our hands in anticipation at his addition to our squad for next season???

Also, back in January, a succession of injuries to our full-backs meant that Vermaelen and Djourou had to fill in. This brought mixed results but the injuries opened up a great opportunity for Francis Coquelin to gain some valuable 1st team experience.

Into the emergency full-back role came Francis and he immediately looked the part, whether at left or right full-back.

Then just as he was establishing himself, Madam Injury decided to pay him a visit and ruined his chances of development.

He is now fit again and ready to come back…

Again though, imagine if he had remained fit, how would he have developed and what kind of player would we be looking at now?

Three months of regular 1st team football, some of which no doubt would have be played in his natural position in midfield, would he too not be close to being considered a regular in the squad for next season???

Had both Frimpong and Le Coq gained that experience, would we now be clamouring for M’Vila’s signing?

Or would we be looking forward to Coquelin and Frimpong driving Arsenal forward instead?

Written by Allezkev

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Posted by rico

Good news on Theo? Robin shows selfish side as we drop more points…….

April 22, 2012

Go on, admit it, when Theo Walcott hobbled off with what looked like a hamstring injury, you were smiling and thinking thank goodness.

Well I wasn’t, and watching Gervinho play in his position for the rest of the game, wasn’t enough to convince me otherwise.

I seriously worry about out next three fixtures and our chances of securing Champions League football for next season.

Wenger said after the game that Theo will probably not feature again this season, however, he should be fit for the Euros!

He wanted to stay on the pitch and carry on but I felt he should have moved off straight away

You are the manager Arsene, you should have told him to get off!

He also said that the game was a strange one, I thought it was a boring one, we looked like the team who had played midweek, not Chelsea. Ok, they weren’t exactly dynamic either but we were at home and we looked all out of ideas.

The game kicked off and we held onto the ball with ease, back, sideways, front, back, sideways and then back again.

Rosicky had our first shot on goal, but it was from a distance and Cech saved easily down to his right. Kalou tried to earn his side a penalty soon after but he needs to realise that the time to go over is when you are pushed, not half an hour later!! He was wise not to appeal for that one, Mr Dean loves dishing out cards!

Essien decided to hack down Chamberlain and Dean rightfully awarded us a free-kick, and what a cracking delivery it was too. Theo whipped the ball in towards the far post but Robin tried a fancy flick with his not so reliable left foot (these days) and his effort brushed the post. Shame he didn’t blast it with his right!

Chelsea had a shot through Boswingwa, but Szczesny saved comfortably and then Vermaelen tried to get his head on of a cross but missed it, he didn’t miss Terry though, no doubt he was aiming for his already cracked ribs…

We were on the back foot again, Kalou was given time to get his cross in from the left, one which was heading for Torres who was lurking at the first post but Koscienly showed his class…

Ramsey again got caught in possession, this third time though nearly cost us dear but Kalou’s shot deflected over the bar.

Chelsea saw another penalty chance waved away after Sagna made a clumsy challenge Bertrand….

Just before the break, Robin delivered the perfect free kick, Kosceinly lost his markers and was in acres of space to head past Cech, but the bloody bar stopped the deadlock being broken. Great set-peice! (Don’t very often say that do we?)

Chelsea then nearly made us pay for that miss, shagger was allowed to get his header in, but his wasn’t even close, it flew inches over the bar!

Robin had one more chance before the half ended, Song picked him out on the left with a super pass, Robin controlled the ball well but blasted his shot straight at Cech.

Second half…

Soon in an Malouda found himself in the book for a foul on Robin, then the latter followed after a silly tackle on Essien…

Koscienly showed just how good he has become soon after with a good tackle to stop Torres. Sturridge was the next Chav to get clean through but Vermaelen had other ideas and made the perfect sliding tackle to stop him on his way. Cahill then found himself in Deans book after a high challenge on Chamberlain.

Just before the hour mark, many Gooners had their moment to smile when Theo appeared to tweak his hamstring, despite trying to run it off, he left the pitch soon after and on came Gervinho..

Robin blasted a free kick high from twenty-five yards and soon after, Wenger replaced Rosicky with Diaby.

The game started to open up a bit, clearly both sides wanted that one goal to snatch all three points as Sturridge had a chance saved by Szczesny.

Santos then replaced Chamberlain, Diaby went into to Dean’s book for a challenge on Essien and Cashley came on for Kalou!

Robin then got bundled over in the penalty area, had that have been Rooney, I’m certain that would have been given! Soon after, the same player really made a mess of another shooting chance, this one was on Robin’s right foot!

We had another good chance before the end, Santos, who I thought was lively and more direct than others, manged to break up play and sent Gervinho on his way, he passed to Robin but our captain was unable to get his shot away. Maybe this was the time that one more pass would have been a much better option as both Gervinho and Diaby were free in the box.

We all know he can often do what others aren’t even thinking about but yesterday wasn’t his day and a simple ball to Gervinho, who had continued his run into the box, may just have nicked us the three points.

Chelsea had possession of the ball and were going forward, we managed to break the attack dow but then a sloppy pass from Song gifted the ball back and Kos had to make a great tackle to stop Sturridge from shooting, perfect timing, perfect tackle!

In the remaining four mins of added time, neither side could break the deadlock and as the whistle blew, we had dropped another two points.

Sloppy slow passing costs us those points yesterday, we look done in and Robin is playing on empty.

Next Saturday afternoon we face Stoke City away, a side that Newcastle battered 3-0 yesterday to go just three points behind us, and they have a game in hand.

It really is a case of needing to win our remaining fixtures now but will we have enough in the squad to see us secure third place?

That’s something I’m now starting to doubt…..

 

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Posted by rico

M’Vila & Hernanes set to join as Song heads off to Inter? Arteta is behind Santos big behind …..

April 19, 2012

How many of us have commented that Andre Santos could do with shedding a couple of pounds?

Many is the answer, our Brazilian winger left back is pretty dynamic going forward, doesn’t hesitate in having a shot on goal and he whips in a tidy cross too, but when it’s comes to getting his body back to defend, he often looks a big sluggish.

Well, it seems that the man who has been showing him the way since his arrival is fellow summer signing Mikel Arteta:

I get on well with every single one of the players, I treat and respect everyone equally and vice versa, Mikel Arteta is Spanish and our languages are quite similar so he is helping me the most.

This link with the club is very important, us players always go out for dinner and social events together.

See, that’s where it’s all going wrong, Arteta is taking Santos to all the wrong food places, he needs salad bars, not Subway baguettes. ;)

The Daily Mail is at it again, this time Alex Song is off to Inter Milan as we step up interest in Yann M’Vila, in other papers it’s Hernanes!

We know it changes on a daily basis and the transfer window isn’t even open yet.

How do they actually know that? Is Arsene Wenger calling them each morning and letting them in on his movements?

No of course not, it’s all bollox and spin from a paper which likes to stir trouble in the Arsenal camp. Alex Song is under contract until 2014, there is plenty of time for him to sort out a contract extension, IF that is what both he and Arsenal think is best for both parties.

Do they have info that Arsenal are indeed prepared to listen to offers for Song as he has already indicated he will not sign a new contract? As usual the media twist and turn every story to sell papers and to create a headline and all in the name of investigative journalism yet it seems most of these stories are always about Arsenal players, why is that, do they hate us that must or are we such a big club that we sell loads of papers?.

We all know that players contracts are running down, Theo and Robins come to an end in the summer of 2013, and Song, Gibbs, Chamakh and Rosicky all see theirs expire the year after.

We have seen Na$ri sold as he entered the last year of his contract, Fabregas ‘forced’ his move with a few years left on his but what is best for OUR club, forget the player, what they want or hope for, OUR club are the employer, so should it not be down to them to decide?

Both Theo and Robin could stick their fingers up to any contract offer this summer and if they do, what should the club do?

In my view, there are three options.

1) Sell them to the highest bidder.

2) Retain them under their contract conditions.

3) Retain them and play them in the reserves for the remainder of their contract.

Given the Clubs recent history would it be a surprise to anyone if we sold Robin and Theo if they are holding out for a huge pay packet or simply holding out full stop on signing a new contract?

Would anyone be surprised if we bought Podolski, sold the pair above and pocketed £20 odd million and then promoted a few of the young strikers we have?

I think this summer is the one which will tell us a lot about the direction our club is going to take in the next few years, will we look to be the big club we claim and aspire to be or will we merely look to compete for 4th again, looking for bargain buys and get by without actually competing at the very top?

Have a good day all…..

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Posted by rico

Vertonghen deal done? Today is about ‘Who wants it more’…..

April 8, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Happy Easter to you all….

Big one today against Manchester City, a side which many are calling them the team from Abu Dhabi but I like to look at it differently. Just because a team has rich financial backers who are not afraid to put their money where their mouths are, that shouldn’t be a reason to disrespect them.

We have rich owners, one Russian and one American, but sadly they have kept their hands in their pockets.

That is not the only similarity we have with City, eight of our ex players are now involved with their rolling machine, Gael Clichy,  Sami Nasri, Adebayor although out on loan at the moment and Kolo Toure who warms their bench and do they still have Stuart Taylor on their books?

Behind the scenes they also have Brian Marwood, Patrick Vieira, Brian Kidd and David Platt!

Amazing really that they haven’t got an ex Arsenal Manager in charge isn’t it??

Robin & Thomas - Get in......

So it’s Arsenal first 11 against Arsenals want away’s, but in reality this is a must win game, both teams will be up for this game and so they should be!

The stories in the newspapers suggest that Manchester City are worried about this game, maybe that’s because there is so much riding on it, and I wouldn’t have thought they are relishing playing us in the form we have been in recently.

City at the moment are in 2nd place, still in with a shout of the League title, we sit 4th behind the Spuds after their lucky draw yesterday.

Half an hour before our game starts, the Manchester United result will be known and that will no doubt have an effect on City but it shouldn’t on us! I find it strange that in these kind of situations, United often play their game first just to raise the pressure that little bit more, which is unfair in my opinion but then we know who the FA favour don’t we?

Anyway, back to today…

The last time we welcomed City to the Emirates in the league, they set themselves up for a draw. They were negative and stifled the game with their dogged defensive tactics but today, and with what’s at stake, I think we can expect a very different approach from the opposition.

This will be a more open game and both keepers and defence will have to be on their toes as they could be very busy.

Mancini must believe his job depends on a win today as a loss would no doubt make his bosses less than happy, they have had a few managers and if you’re not successful you are gone, so he’s under pressure as well as the players.

Who really cares what happens to City anyway, all we need to be concentrating on is us, we have to want this win more than they do!

No stats about us…..

No stats about them either, today is like a cup game, every game until the end of the season will be the same too, it’s do or lose Champions League football….

Forget the Arsenal horror show of last weekend, let’s get back to playing the way we all know we can. We are at home, on our own finely grown, watered and trimmed green grass which will be ready to grace our fine football.

Let’s get back to doing what we have all seen in the last couple of months, the spirit and passion we showed against the Swampies, the grit at Anfield, the absolute desire and commitment that we saw against Newcastle.

Way to go Tomas......

Add all that to the flair we witnessed when we absolutely battered AC Milan at The Emirates and we can beat the side we face today with ease.

Let’s just go out there and do what we did to Ibrah and his old cronies….

COYG’s

Written by Steve Palmer

Good Luck to the Ladies today, they kick off their WSL campaign with a home fixture against Everton. Kick off is 1.30pm.

Snippet from ESPN – looks like Vertonghen is definately leaving his current club, just hope that team he is 100% sure of joining is ours!

 

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Posted by rico

Chamakhs Pipe Dream over & Is Vermaelen’s Arsenal career under scrutiny??

April 3, 2012

If Marouane Chamakh had plans on staying at Arsenal after this season ends, he’s probably just blown them!

That's the wrong kind of Peace-Pipe'!

We all know Wenger does not put up with bad behaviour off the pitch and no doubt when he see’s this photograph, captured by The Daily Mail, he’ll be told to find himself another club, sharpish!

Couldn’t care less what he gets up to off the pitch as long as it’s within the law but we’d just been beaten by QPR, why is he out celebrating with Adel Taarabt? He should have been at home, watching videos of just how crap he was when he came on for ten minutes!

On to Thomas Vermaelen, after his performance on Saturday, some of the comments that have been made in the Arsenal world of blogging have been overly critical !!

Yes he had an off day on Saturday, but as we all know, he wasn’t the only one and part of our vice captains problem was the crappy surface he had to keep upright on, something he struggled with!

Vermaelen, together with Robin van Persie are at the root of all things good at our club, together they have galvanised the squad, got them out at night as a group and they even compete on the golf course and table tennis table.

This squad is full of good spirits guys, and I don’t mean Grey Goose or Ghosts!

One off day and many fans, not here I hasten to add, have put him through the mangle and hanged him out to dry for the two goals we conceded against QPR.

Well, I don’t get it, not one bit!

Thomas Vermaelen is a top class footballer, a great defender and a great professional in today’s game. He’s a player that many top football clubs would love to have in their squad and whilst the summer saw a few desert us for £$€’s signs, he didn’t join them. No, instead, he didn’t hesitate in showing his loyalty to his club by signing a new contract. We didn’t hear about any crazy wage demands, we didn’t hear about him needing us to sign marquee players to convince him to stay, he just quietly and quickly got on and signed on the dotted line.

Many could learn from him, Walcott, Song and van Persie being three!

So why don’t they?

Do they love all the media speculation?

Do they enjoy holding Arsenal Football club to ransom?

Do they even care about the fans view, especially Robin van Persie?

Our captain knows what we fans think of him, his name gets sung loud and proud each game, home and away so why has he allowed his contract situation to come to this?

We so often question how Arsenal have ‘allowed’ our players contracts to run close to being in the final year, we have very often criticised them for allowing players to leave for free but surely, if a player really wants to stay and be a part of the club we all love so much, why don’t they force the issue, why don’t they initiate contract talks a lot earlier?

Wouldn’t you, if you really wanted to stay?

I know many will just rebuff the idea, suggesting that players these days are only interested in money and as long as they earn a huge wage, they don’t care who they play for but…

That takes me back to Thomas Vermaelen, I’m sure Manchester City would love him in their defence, they could afford to pay him £200k a week, but did he want that?

I guess not, he’s just a great player who wanted and still wants to play for Arsenal…..

Blame him for the QPR result, to heck will I………

378 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

M’Vila wants to join Wenger! Questions that need answers & the truth will hurt!

April 2, 2012

Fans favourite, Yann M’Vila has made it clear he wants to join Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, talking to Canal+ he had this to say:

Inter, Arsenal, Real … I will take the fun everywhere! These are great clubs.

If the coach calls you and tells you he wants you to make you play, especially a French coach, it changes everything.

He goes on to say that the most important thing is getting playing time for France!

Ok, he’s not ruling out a switch to Inter or Real Madrid, but the latter comment about a French manager, well that couldn’t be more clear who he is talking about.

After Saturday, it’s clear we need a ‘proper’ defensive midfielder and finally I will hold my hands up and say Song is not that man. We need a player who will sit back and protect his back five when needed, not go gallivanting up the pitch thinking he’s Lionel Messi!

Onto todays post…

Saturdays fixture raised a few questions:

1 – Where will the TEAM be when Van Persie hits a blip?

2 – When teams start getting physical and refuse to allow Arsenal to play, what happens?

3 – Why does Wenger gets deluded and play Ramsey at left-wing when it imbalances the TEAM, leaving no rhythm and an entire midfield goes missing.

4 – When did Song get deluded and think he is the best thing after Cesc, the back four had no protection with him spending all the time trying to be that creative playmaker, making all those predictable lobs into the box that QPR defenders could afford to drink a cup of tea before intercepting and heading away.

5 – Pride goes before a fall. The players were just not focussed enough and failed to turn up for this match. No intensity, no fight, no guts to go in for all those 50:50 balls which QPR virtually won all of.

6 – Why were QPR allowed to make Arsenal look like a 2nd rate team?

7 – Our last 7 games? Will it be repeat of that 7 points out of 21 points in August/September when we last saw the kind of performance we witnessed at QPR?

8 – Nice symmetry as we play a Manchester team next, anybody ready for another 2-8 mauling next weekend?

9 – Lastly, Vermaelen couldn’t handle all the physical stuff from Zamora and Mackie who literally jumped into him to rough him up, to unsettle him and to force him to blow his gasket and lose his concentration It worked, and  yes folks, that is what Stoke City, Abu Dhabi City and the rest of our opponents are going to do to this team of softies!

Sadly we demonstrated yet again that we had no guts for a hard physical battle against a  team fighting for survival…

What is to be done?

First, get the balance right and field a TEAM that can battle it out physically and refuses to be run away like what QPR did to us.

Oh yeah…just drop Ramsey will you? He simply imbalances the TEAM……..it has to be either Gervinho or Chamberlain on left flank….or even Santos if Coquelin is fit, with Song-Coquelin-Rosicky protecting our soft CENTRE.

When Song trying to play like Messi high-up, Arteta was simply too “light-weight” to protect us against physical and powerful runners like Zamora, Mackie and Traabt, with Dialite driving behind them.

Abu Dhabi City has much better players than QPR…

All Chelsea need to do is beat us to regain 4th spot, as against Abu Dhabi City and Stoke City, I suspect we are going to drop points.

Robin van Persie has gone off the boil, he has been asked to play too many games and now it’s starting to tell on him….

Things need changing if we are to get 3rd, or even 4th!

Written by Merlin96

309 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

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