Wenger taking Div 4 side seriously but injuries stacking up…..

December 11, 2012

Are you ready to Rock n’ Roll Gooners?

Because it’s back, yes, It’s the League Cup again tonight and on the menu are Bradford City, a team that Arsenal have never faced in this competition. In fact, the Bantam’s are a club who Arsenal have faced on very few occasions and only ever in three previous cup-ties which were all FA Cup…

We have to go back some 110 years to the very first time these two clubs faced each other and in that League Division Two fixture, Harry Bradshaw’s Woolwich Arsenal beat Bradford City 4-1 at the Manor Ground, in front of a crowd of 18,000.

Four month’s later, the Gunners travelled to Valley Parade in Yorkshire, which has been Bradford’s ground for the clubs entire history, which at that time was quite a short, as they were formed in 1903!  Woolwich Arsenal duly won their first visit to Valley Parade 3-0 on the way to being promoted to the First Division during that memorable 1903-04 season.

Five years later, a newly promoted Bradford City joined a mid-table Woolwich Arsenal in Division One. Harry Bradshaw had left, Phil Kelso had been and gone and George Morrell was trying manfully and ultimately unsuccessfully, to keep Woolwich Arsenal in the top division.

During those five struggling seasons Woolwich Arsenal’s record vs Bradford City was quite mixed P 10  W 3  D 3  L 4  F 8  A 13.

Arsenal’s best result against tonight’s opposition was a 2-0 victory during the 1911-12 season, the goalscorers were Alf Common and the jewel in Arsenal’s crown, Andy Ducat, the Cesc Fabregas of his day.  He was eventually sold to Aston Villa to help clear debt’s.

Some thing’s never change at Arsenal it seems!

Woolwich Arsenal were relegated for their one and only time at the end of the 1912-13 season and duly moved to Highbury, eventually changing their name to Arsenal in 1914. During  that brief sojourn in Division Two, prior to the Great War of 1914-18, the Gunners faced the Bantam’s in their first ever cup-tie and that was in the 1913-14 FA Cup, 1st Round. (know today as the 3rd Round) Bradford City of Division One, entertained Woolwich Arsenal of Division Two at Valley Parade and there would be no giant-killing as an 18,000 crowd roared the Bantam’s to a 2-0 victory.

Following the First World War, Arsenal found themselves elected back to the First Division at the expense of some unimportant club called Tottenham Hotspurs.

Whatever happened to them?

Then, for the next three seasons Arsenal vs Bradford City was again on the fixture list. The 1919-20 and 1920-21 saw Bradford win three and draw once as Leslie Knighton’s team struggled to maintain their status in England’s top division.

The Gunners got the upper hand in 1921-22 with a 2-0 win at Valley Parade and the clubs first ever victory over the Bantam’s at Highbury by 1-0, a goal scored by Billy Blyth and witnessed by 32,000 spectator’s. Bradford City were relegated at the end of that season.

It took 40 years (1961-62) before these two clubs would be paired again. This time 40,232 watched Mel Charles (2) and an own goal, put pay to Bradford City in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup at Highbury, the Arsenal manager was Bradford born George Swindin.

Another 10 years later, (1971-72) the Bantam’s visit Highbury again, this time in the FA Cup, 4th Round. 40,407  watched on as Bertie Mee’s side won 2-0 with Charlie George and Alan Ball getting the goals.

Valley Parade is still synonymous with that terrible fire that killed and maimed many fans during the mid 1980′s but with a new stand replacing the old wooden one, Bradford City returned to the big time., by winning promotion to the EPL in 1999 after 75 years of lower division obscurity.

1999-2001 saw two 2-0 victories for Arsenal at Highbury, whilst at Valley Parade the Gunners suffered a 2-1 defeat in Bradford’s first season back followed by a 1-1 draw, before Bradford City were relegated.

Bit of injury news for us:

Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Laurent Koscielny, Andre Santos, Ignasi Miquel, Nico Yennaris and of course, Abou Diaby are all out for tonight but surely we should still have enough to get a result.

This season, Bradford are currently 4th in Division Two (Division Four in old money) and have  lost twice at home this season, 0-1 to both Port Vale and Exeter .

They have accounted for Notts County (a), Watford (a) and Burton Albion (h), so far in the League Cup. That run was expected to end at the JJB against Wigan in the last round, but the Bantam’s pulled off a memorable 0-0 draw before beating Martinez’s team 4-2 on penalties…

So we better not underestimate Phil Parkinson’s team, or we’ll come a cropper.

Their danger man is 22 year old Bermuda striker Nahki Wells whose scored 14 goals in 26 appearances.

Wenger has said he wants to win this one, so do we Arsene!

COYG.

Written by Birthday Boy Allezkev…..

About these ads

419 Comments | Match Preview | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Henry ‘debut’ pencilled in & Is it time to put the League Cup ahead of the rest?

December 10, 2012

Morning all,

According to The Daily Mail, talks over a new loan deal for Henry are going well and a ‘debut’ for the old boy is pencilled in for January 6th when we face Swansea in the FA Cup. Doesn’t really take a genius to work out that that is our first game after the transfer window opens and the first one he’ll be available for does it?  IF he joins us again of course.

Lazy eh?

Talking of which, there is another article in the same paper which is quite good, it really knocks the lazy Match of The Day pundits. It’s worth a read.

Today’s post about the League Cup.

I have very fond memories of league cup encounters from years ago, when it was still regarded as a competition worth winning. It’s always been the poor relation in terms of domestic trophies but it still got people excited when we had a sniff of winning it. I still smile when I think of Perry Groves dancing down the left wing and Charlie Nicholas trying to miss but still scoring to beat Liverpool to it. It was a huge deal then. Likewise when we did the unprecedented cup double. I went just as bananas with us winning the league cup as I did winning the FA cup a few months later.

Of course, the evolution of domestic and European competition has seen its status downgraded to the point that even small clubs are likely to field weak teams to rest their better players for more important league games. It doesn’t help that winning the competition only gains the victors entry into the Europa league which is another sad evolution in the domestic calendar. But that’s a different subject.

However, I feel the league cup is still a pot worth the effort. That victory against Liverpool in 1987 came in George Graham’s first season in charge. Given our woeful form before he took over it was the perfect platform from which to build up not only the teams confidence but also the hunger for more success.

Jose Mourinho did the exact same thing at Chelsea. After winning that league cup they went on win everything albeit not exclusively under the arrogant one. But it stayed with the squad.

That leads me to this question. If Arsenal were to win this seasons league cup would it have the same effect?

Given the manager’s tendency to use the competition as a platform for up and coming youngsters with a smattering of experience thrown in for good measure, just what would the benefit be in terms of pushing on?

Yes, the club would have won its first trophy in 7 years, shaking the monkey from off it’s back, but on the face of it it would only be good for the confidence of the young ones.

What would our first team players get from it? Reflected glory?

Would they feel the pressure to win a trophy lifted from their collective shoulders?

Personally, I doubt it. If I was one of them it would make me feel under even more pressure to do the same.

So what’s the answer?

Do we carry on with the competition priorities as they are or should we go for it first team style in the league cup and see if we can’t just get a little taste of success and the momentum that might accompany it?

What do you all think?

COYG’S

Written by Bendtnersgone.

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

Huntelaar close to agreeing personal terms with Arsenal? Gustavo linked & Charity begins at home…..

December 9, 2012

Morning all,

Snippets first up:

According to The Daily Mirror, Arsene Wenger has added midfielder Luis Gustavo to his wanted list for next month’s transfer window. The 6′ 2″ Brazilian defensive midfielder/centre back is reported to be anxious for a move away from Bayern Munich. He only joined them in 2011 so unless he’s really unhappy, I can’t see there being much truth in this. £10 million is the suggested price tag.

The Huntelaar rumour wont go away either, in fact now it’s ‘hotted up’ a bit. The Sunday version of L’Equipe, the same source which started the Cazorla and Giroud rumours back in the summer, has suggested that personal terms are close to being agreed with Arsenal.

Lukas Podolski and the boys decided to pound the streets of London last week in order to raise cash for Arsenal and before any jokes, the cash being raised was for charity not players. On top of any money they managed to raise, the players were donating a day’s wage to The Arsenal Foundation, which funds education and sports projects to transform young people’s lives.

Arsenal also dedicated yesterdays match against West Brom to the same charity and Podolski said:

As players, we know we are in a privileged position and can help people who are less fortunate than us.

To donate a day’s wage is an easy choice to make.

Hopefully the club will raise more money on Saturday than I managed when I walked around Hampstead.

Good on them all I say, mind you, just a day’s wage. Bit tight aren’t they?

Talking of charity, yesterdays referee Mike Jones was full of goodwill for us wasn’t he?

Neither penalty should have been given. The first was a big piece of ‘Swan Lake’ performed by Santi Cazorla and, although the actual decision was spot on for the second, there was a foul in the build up. However, we have had plenty given against us when one of our players has been fouled during the build up, so tough, blame the ref!

Nice to see Mikel Arteta step up and bury both….

Maybe we needed a bit of good fortune to give us a kick-start and that came on 26 minutes through the first spot kick.

Team line up and substitutions:

Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Coquelin – 77′ ) Cazorla (Podolski – 87′ )  Giroud, Gervinho (Rosicky – 81′ )

Back to the game, one that we should have taken the lead much earlier in. Cazorla curled one chance wide of the post and volleyed another  over the bar. The latter would have been quite spectacular had it been on target.

Oxlade-Chamberlain had a shot blocked and then we nearly got caught out when Mulumbu won the ball just outside our penalty area, fed Brunt who fired a shot just wide of the top corner.

Then, that moment came.

Olivier Giroud found Santi Cazorla on the left side of the penalty area and as he tried to take the ball on towards the goal, Steven Reid tried to nick the ball away from him. Cazorla went over, not sure why as there was no contact whatsoever!

Referee Mike Jones pointed to the spot and up stepped Arteta to make the penalty count.

It was the first spot-kick we had converted at The Emirates since Robin van Persie’s against Liverpool in April 2011!

Jack Wilshere almost made it 2-0 before half-time but that would be one of a number of chances that went begging. Gervinho was the next, his shot was saved well by Myhill.

West Brom then had a penalty appeal of their own turned down when Per Mertesacker got his hand in the way of the ball but just prior to that, out big fella had been tugged back by Jonas Olsson. Phew!

Just before the half-time whistle Oxlade-Chamberlain put one over the bar.

Hal-time came and went and second half started as the first one ended and that was with an Oxlade-Chamberlain chance. This was from a tight angle and his shot got the slightest touch on the bar. Gibbs fed Wilshere into the left-side of the penalty area and the latter played in a good cross to Gervinho, who somehow managed to send his header wide! Centre Forward? I don’t think so!

Within minutes, Gervinho missed another chance, this time he totally miss kicked his shot.

Chances were coming and going and despite the one goal lead, it was never going to be enough to satisfy or settle the home fans, or the fans sat at home….

On 64 minutes, we got our second. As said earlier, the penalty was clear-cut when Oxlade-Chamberlain burst into the box with the ball but was sent all ends up by Brunt. Blame the referee for missing the push on West Broms Popov in the build up, not our young Englishman.

Arteta stepped up again and got the same result.

2-0 and to be honest, the way West Brom were playing, that looked to be enough, even for a shaky side like ours….

We had a few more chances, we missed a few more chances – Podolski being the worst offender. He had time to pick his spot from close distance, but yesterday that was row z behind the goal!

West Brom also had a couple of chances before the final whistle, but like us, they missed theirs too.

That was pretty much it, we finally stopped our rot with a victory at The Emirates. It was hardly a convincing display but as I was reminded yesterday, we did create chances.

But we can create as many chances as we like, if we don’t take them, what’s the point? We have to start making our chances count.

Yesterday we were fortunate that a Premier League referee favoured us for the two penalties and trust me, that won’t happen again this season. To be fair though, Jones was poor full stop. Poor old Mertesacker found himself in the book after a perfectly well-timed tackle on one of the West Brom players. Not sure exactly what Giroud did to deserve his yellow card either.

Inevitably, Arsene Wenger was asked about the penalty incident and he confirmed he’d spoken to Santi Cazorla because he knew that the topic would be raised:

Santi told me there was contact. I have not seen the replay, but if it shows there was no contact, I will speak to him after I have seen the ­replay. I will look at it, don’t worry.

If it shows he was not touched, I’ll say to him I don’t want to see that.

Well trust me Arsene, none of us want to see that….

Don’t mind seeing a few more clean sheets though, wonder if Steve Bould been allowed back onto the training field?

All in all it was better performance yesterday, the game was played at a much higher tempo, the players gave more and we created chances. Now to start taking them as I said before.

Next up is Bradford City in the Carling Cup, a huge game and a victory would take us a step closer to Wembley…..

That’s it from me

 

186 Comments | Match review | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Wenger ready to bid for Mohamed Diame? Time to stop the rot…….

December 8, 2012

Morning all,

Got to love them:

Sources have told Goal.com that the clause is “close to £4 million”, a sum that Wenger regards as good value.

Mohamed Diame is the player and he is reported to have a get out clause of £4.5 million in his contract. Right now he would be a fantastic addition to our squad and he wouldn’t break the bank would he!

Does that sound desperate?

Injury news ahead of today’s game:

Walcott, Podolski, Sagna and Koscielny are all reported to be out as well as the long-term sickies of course.

Ben Foster is ruled out for West Brom which is good, he always plays really well against us.

Since last weekend we have heard/read comments from the players about how much better they are, how tired they are, how they have to defend better and of course create and take their chances better than they have been of late. None of them profess to be happy at recent performances and I should think not either, they have at times been dire but then we all know that.

At some stage though, this rot has to stop doesn’t it?

The players haven’t suddenly become rubbish overnight have they?

And surely, Wenger hasn’t really lost his mojo of the late 90′s and early 2000′s has he?

Most of today’s expected starting eleven have had a few days off to rest their tired and weary legs so we should see a bit more enthusiasm and a lot more energy in today’s performance.

We are up against a West Brom side who have started the season much better than us, they have a manger much younger than our who has different ideas. ideas which have helped his side to 5th in the league to date.

But don’t be fooled, yes they are doing well but that was earlier in the season and now things are different. They have lost have lost their last two Premier League matches and nerves could be setting in.

Their manager has said:

I’m not looking for a reaction, I’m expecting it.

Well our manager must do better than that, he has to get a response after our recent horror shows and it’s about time we started winning again, especially at The Emirates.

The home fans will be nervous, all Arsenal fans will be nervous but if we start and finish like we mean business and the players finally get their act together, we could actually stop the rot.

We have to……

183 Comments | Match Preview | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Arsenal Fan tells Wenger where we are going wrong!

December 7, 2012

Morning all.

Tomas Rosicky played a huge part in us ending up 3rd in the Premier League last season and to be honest, we have seriously missed what he brings to our side so far this campaign. On Tuesday we witnessed his ability to finish, unlike so many around him that night and we saw just how committed he is.

Not bad for a player who is one of our oldest!

Finally he is over this seasons injury and he’s ready to roll up his sleeves and give 100% to the club that has stood by him through thick and thin. And let’s face it, there’s been more thin than thick!

I want to do the same this year and to contribute. I will do my best to help this great club to be much better again. To feel sorry for yourself is the worst thing you can do. I have to fight constantly and as I said, that is what I am able to do. As a team we are not in a good position and we have to stick together and fight.

I can contribute. I was out for a long time out and I need to regain my match fitness. Of course I would like to help. 

Let’s see how.

He, like all of us is a huge Arsenal fan. Well, he says he is and where we are right now is hurting him. Tomas believes, just like we all do, that the confidence is shot to pieces, the ball is passed sideways and backwards too much and we don’t keep the ball as well as we should, there have been far to many misplaced passes of late and they have cost us.

It is a matter of confidence. You can see there are more back-passes than we used to do. You have to gain confidence by winning the next game. Maybe I can bring calmness – sometimes we don’t keep the ball as we used to.

Most of the time I hope to contribute. I still think we have some very good players and we are better than what we are producing. We are good enough. We are not happy about things and we have to sort it out quickly.

We have another game this Saturday. It is a good opportunity to start all over again. I can understand the frustration from the fans, as I am an Arsenal fan as well. It is understandable sometimes. We have to understand they feel frustration.

Rosicky has been looking back to last season and how things were similar, we were down the table, struggling to find any consistency and were being written off by most, including many Arsenal fans. Many thought we’d finish mid table but somehow, someway and through others muck ups, we climbed the table and finished 3rd.

That is what we did last season, when everyone wrote us off and we came back stronger. We produced some great atmospheres in the Emirates – against Milan and Tottenham. I have been in professional football for a very long time and it was the best atmosphere I have ever played in.

We have a challenge. As I said, we did it last year so why not do it again? It will be difficult, there is no doubt about it, but we are okay to do it again.

If we are all on aboard, it is a great place to be and a great place to play football but we must stick together and fight.

And fight they must of course and I am glad he didn’t mention ‘for a top four place’ because quite frankly that means very little to most fans. Surely, what we need to be really fighting for now is the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup because in both of those competitions, we have a chance to win a trophy, especially the Capital One Cup.

Top Four, Pff, what’s the point?

Champions League football is meant to attract the better players to clubs and I am sure it does but we don’t sign that kind of player too often do we?

That’s it for another day, I’ll save the injury news for tomorrow…..

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

Lampard linked to Arsenal! Wenger won’t quit, but he WILL spend in January after watching Arsenal get beat by a bargain signing….……

December 2, 2012

It was all going to start in December he said….

We’d make our home advantage count he said…..

Well neither happened yesterday did it?

We were outplayed by a style of football we once watched OUR club play and well beaten by two goals from a bargain £2 million Spanish signing, the type of player which Wenger would have once been envied to have spotted and signed.

Just three victories in ten home fixtures which we all know is nearer to relegation performance than it is a side looking to challenge for silverware.

It’s simply not good enough!

After the game, Arsene Wenger said:

We gave it away by not being creative, it’s a concern because we didn’t create a lot, we ran against a wall, our passing was not sharp and was not quick enough. We looked jaded.

It’s a big blow because we wanted to start December well. Games come quickly and we have to find the quality of our game. The way we played today is not how we want to play football.

Speaking about the fans booing the team and him off:

Fans have an influence on us, but it is down to the team to get the fans behind them, the way we play has to create that. I can understand that [the boos] when we lose games the way we lost that.

Yesterday should have been an open, entertaining game with plenty of goals for both sides with the meanest defence coming out winners.

Well, what should have been never was.  While one side entertained, the other, us, were poor. Yet again!.

Swansea started the game as if they were in front of their home fans, they were slick, their passing was crisp and we couldn’t do anything about it. Angel Rangel forced Szczesny into a double save just after the fifteen minute mark and soon followed that with another chance after Walcott was easily dispossessed just outside of the area. Thankfully, that chance went begging!

Cazorla and Podolski both had chances as the half carried on but Swansea always looked the better side and the more likely to open the scoring. Thomas Vermaelen made a vital tackle to stop Dyer from breaking the deadlock and soon after, Williams saw his free kick brush the top of the net.

Half time came and went and I wondered if Wenger or Bould could find some magical words to wake us up.

We started the second half a little better and soon in, Cazorla drew a save from Tremmel. But it wasn’t long before Rangel again nearly opened the scoring. He dodged his way past three players and then unleashed his shot which Szczesny saved well.

Olivier Giroud, who had by now replaced Gervinho appeared to be fouled by a Swansea defender but Mark Clattenburg waved any appeals away.

Ashley Williams nearly grabbed a goal for Swansea near the end, Vermaelen nearly grabbed a goal for us near the end too, but he didn’t.

However, Spanish signing Michu was given two chances right at the end of the game….

He took both.

Wenger huffed and puffed, zipped up his sleeping bag, had a quick shake of a few hands and then stomped off down the tunnel….

There is little point in blaming individuals for yesterdays result, the team were poor full stop. The best player on the pitch was Szczesny and he was beaten twice but through no fault of his own.

The afternoon began with the BSM march which attracted many fans who wanted to voice their own views about what is going on at OUR club. Most of criticism was directed at Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke although one fan said:

 I’ve been an Arsenal fan for 20 years and I do have a gripe with Wenger. It’s a joke that he is paid £7.5 million and hasn’t won anything for years.

Wenger said he is concerned about how we are playing but  not about where we are right now in the league:

Of course. But I’m not as worried about the places. We need to get the quality of our game back.

Will he quit?

Not at all. You make your assessment at the end of the season. I know we’ve got unrest everywhere. It’s a good opportunity to stick together and show we’re a strong club.

He also went on to suggest that he should be judged at the end of the season which we have heard before..

He said he’d spend money in January too when asked if he needed new players:

It’s difficult to comment straight after a defeat like that but I can’t say No. I believe the board are there for us to spend the money if we can find the players.

We have heard that before too, but even if he does spend money in January, will he sign who we NEED and play them where they should be?

Frank Lampard is linked to us in the Sunday Mirror, is he the kind of player we need?? I think not!

Best I stop writing now, too much and I’ll start feeling jaded……!!!

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

Bendtner considers Totts move! Walcott set to stay & lose the nerves!!….

November 19, 2012

Let’s start with Theo Walcott, none of us need his contract situation explaining but it seems like he’s going nowhere, well not in January.

When asked if Walcott would be staying until the end of the season, Wenger replied:

Yes, my intention has always been to keep Theo. We continue to talk and the ambition is to find an agreement.

At the moment, we don’t have that agreement, but we have until the end of December to resolve this. I am always optimistic. I talk to Theo every day, but not always about his contract. I let his agents deal with that.

Well I think that is sensible, what is the point in selling him for a pittance when we need him? We’d only have to replace him and that would cost a lot of money. In any case, he may yet sign on that dotted line, he certainly looks happy enough but then so did you know who before he left.

According to Sky Sports, Nicklas Bendtner wants to return to London when his current loan spell comes to an end, and he would not rule out following in the footsteps of William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Bendtner told bold.dk:

History is filled with examples of players moving between rival clubs and I can’t rule out clubs due to where I might have been in the past, it might not be the best idea but if the project matches my ambitions I would have to be interested.

Good luck there to Nik, he is certainly trying to ensure he never plays for us again.

Whilst talking about Tottenham, let’s go back to Saturdays game.

Many Gooners were whooping and cheering after the game no doubt. Before the game, many fans had little doubt that we  would send the pretenders home with their tails between their legs. Many said they were not in our league and the same fans suggested they never will be.

We can boast a good victory now that the game is over but whilst the game was 11 against 11 I didn’t think we looked very convincing. In fact we had gone a goal behind and could have quite easily conceded a second. We weren’t looking looking that good to me.

After Arsenal reject Adebayor got himself sent off, for what the referee thought was a straight red card tackle, the scales started tilting our way.

I am not going to argue whether I thought the challenge deserved a sending off or not but for a first tackle at such an early stage in the match, I was a bit surprised to see the red card being branded.

Personally, I have never thought that Adebayor was a dirty player he always seemed to me to be a very sporting kind of fella but it was a high tackle and rules are rules but I felt the ball was there to win.

Pundits and commentators were quick to point out that Adebayor was really pumped up for the game they felt that was the reason for the tackle. They also said straight away that if we went onto win because of the one man advantage it would be solely down to Adebayors rush of blood challenge.

I felt as if they were trying to tell viewers that there was possibly unfinished business between him and Arsenal FC which I don’t believe for one minute.

The game went on and of course the sending off made a difference, we came into the game, started to take control and we equalised fairly quickly and soon scored a second as Tottenham looked very shaky. They hadn’t come to terms with being a man down and despite doing all they could, they went in at half time 3-1 down.

During the break, AVB made a couple of substitutions but instead of trying to beef his defence up he set up to be more competitive and they did manage to stem the Arsenal flow for a while.

Inevitably though, we got a 4th goal  and at this point, I thought the opposition would collapse but credit where it’s due, they continued to attack our goal and managed to beat Szczesny to make it 4-2.

Arsenal players and fans were a bit surprised. I certainly was after our poor defending was again called into question and once Bale had scored, I was thinking that the game could yet end up being drawn. That is what our defending has done to my confidence or rather, lack of it.

Our fifth goal made me relax a lot more, knowing the points were in the bag!

Tottenham deserve full credit for never giving up they despite having been under the cosh since the sending off.

Arsene Wenger said after the game that he was very happy with the result. He praised several players but he also said that our confidence has been low of late and we were nervous out there.

5-2 with ten minutes to go and we still looked nervous, we tried to slow the game down, we tried to play keep ball and we even tried time-wasting tactics but the thing is we still looked vulnerable on the break. The result will go a long way towards boosting confidence but I still think we have problems which need addressing.

We should be confident, especially at 5-2 with ten minutes left of the game. We should have been battering on the Totts door, not allowing them to keep lightly tapping on ours.

Many supporters were singing the praises of Giroud but his lack of pace is very noticeable, the same can be said of Mertsacker, who was at fault for their second goal. His lack of pace cost us dear and I think it will again in the future.

We must lose our nervousness and let the free flow of our game rise to the surface again and get the pace back in our game that we found at times on Saturday, only when we are facing eleven players!

After all, we can’t play against ten each weekend can we……!

Written by Steve Palmer

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

Jenkinson pay rise & Huntelaar up for £7 Million. Thirty Years of Arsenal, but this is the worst!!

November 16, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Children in Need today, so fill those buckets for Terry and the gang. Wonder if Wenger or Gazidis will be giving up any of their hard-earned pennies?

Bit or gossip to kick off with as usual:

It’s believed that Carl Jenkinson has signed a new six-year contract with Arsenal and his salary has increased to £32,000 a week. Well if that story is true then credit has to go to the player, one who clearly just loves playing for the club he loves. He’s now an England International and is tipped to be a really good, if not great footballer in the years to come.

Wonder what Theo Walcott, who allegedly wants £100,000 a week, thinks about that? He should be embarrassed!

The Sun report that Huntelaar is available for £7 Million in January, Go on Arsene, you know we want you to!

This is the last moan and groan in a post, well, for this week. Tomorrow is the NLD, the big one, the one that matters more than any other and we have to win it!

I’ve supported Arsenal for over 30 years now and this is by far and away the most frustrated I’ve ever been as a gooner. It’s been building for some time but my thought patterns since Saturday, and after listening to Wenger’s subsequent turgid drivel, have both worried me and made perfect sense to me in equal measure.

It’s no secret that the manager and the board see CL qualification as a successful season. Better than some pots on offer but most of us beg to differ. Our best players want to leave year on year because we’re not competitive and when they do they’re rarely replaced adequately. Yet ticket prices remain ridiculously high. The message seems to be that we should be grateful for what the club achieves and should happily pay through the nose for the privilege. It’s insulting. Our loyalty is being ruthlessly exploited. More and more I’m realising that my loyalty is to the Arsenal of yesteryear. The Arsenal that didn’t insult its fans with ridiculous notions like winning trophies isn’t important. The Arsenal that signed some of the best players we’ve ever seen and that loved playing for us. How and when the hell did that change?

My recent thoughts have centred around what must happen for this dreadful cycle to end. It strikes me as simple. We must finish the season in a league position the likes of which we haven’t seen for many years. The 1994-95 finish ought to do the trick. That was the season George got the sack and Stewart Houston took over for the remainder of the season. We finished 12th. Only then can I see the arrogant fools in charge of OUR club being forced to change their doctrine of mediocrity for profit.

I’ve seen enough. I’ve spent enough. I’m getting nothing back. It really hurts to say this but if we lose to Tottenham at the weekend I’ll simply see it as another nail in the coffin of that colossal fool Ivan and his cohorts. Believe me, defeat to ‘them’ has never been something that’s taken less than a week for me to get over.

So long as the team manage, by hook or by crook, to scramble a top four finish we’ll never see the end of this dross. I want my Arsenal back. The Arsenal back. The Arsenal that wanted to win trophies and show their fans what they meant to them.

All I feel like is the back end of the cash cow they’re milking. And I would honestly suffer a seriously bad league finish if it meant change would occur. Be it the board, the manager or dare I say it a change of club policy regarding transfers, players contract negotiations and attitudes to competitions?

Written by Bendtnersgone

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

Potential signing on show tonight & Struggling to find something positive about Arsenal…..

November 13, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Today’s gossip page first.

Arsenal are understood to have made tentative contact over a possible deal for Derby’s 17 year old midfielder, Will Hughes and has already received a glowing report from chief scout Steve Rowley! Hughes is set to play for England under 21′s this evening in a friendly against Northern Ireland.

Also on show this week will be Wilfried Zaha. He’s been called up for England and should be involved for England in a friendly against Sweden. Unless a deal has already been done, we won’t be signing him after Palace valued their played at £20 Million!! Pfff

Onto today’s post:

With Christmas just round the corner, it’s made me think of those little glass things filled with water, you know what I mean – they have a nice Christmas scene inside and when you shake them a snow storm begins. It’s lovely to watch.

Well, Wenger, his coaches and players are like the Christmas scene, only Wenger is protected by the board of directors rather than the glass and unlike the nice snowy scene, the one they portray is looking quite awful.

Wenger talks as if we are not watching the team play. He talks rubbish. Before we play he tells us how well the players have trained, how hard they have worked and its only a matter of time that Arsenals talent’s will raise its head and start to perform to the standards we would all like to see.

Well I for one am struggling to find a good word to say about our team, realistically, I struggle to say a good word in favour of the club right now and I feel like we are being robbed blind by high-priced tickets to watch such poor performances.

No pressure seems to be on Wenger to get results and I wonder at times why qualifying for Champions League is so important when we all realise that we will never win it. Lets face it we can hardly get a result against some of the average sides in the Premier League, so I don’t know why we expect us to beat top sides from other leagues around Europe.

Regardless of what fixture we are playing, I would field the strongest side available if I was Wenger as our supporters deserve nothing less. Our travelling fans are magnificent, they turn up in all weathers, sing their hearts out and spend whatever it costs to watch the team of they love. I have noticed that the travelling fans are on the increase and I suspect a lot of them do not bother with the home games, after all, why give money to a club who will not invest in a better squad?

Whatever we are playing for, the players have to battle from beginning to end and 100% is the level of commitment needed. If players need a rest then get enough goals in a game first and then they can get it by being subbed and if that doesn’t materialise then tough, players have to give their all until the game is over. Then they rest.

Make those loyal fans in attendance glad to have turned up to support the club and let them go home knowing that every player gave their all. !

For £40,000 a week, I would work my socks off and then go home to rest.

Our players have no excuse to be as bad as they are right now, they have fantastic facilities, they are well paid and with a bit more effort they could all play for their country. But the most important thing is to be as good as you can be for your club first and if you cannot make a commitment like that then maybe they should go home now and stay there!

Supporters have hearts, they watch a player and as long as they give their all they will speak well of them, give up and they will have them down as a quitter and they will never forget that.

This weekend we host our most bitter of rivals and it’s no time to be thinking about having a bad game. Players can become heroes or villains very easily during this fixture. If our lot can’t get themselves up for this one, supporters will call for heads to roll as losing to arch rivals is a big no no!

Whether players are a seasoned pro or a newcomer, they lose this one and they will definitely not be forgotten!

No glass vessel will save them……

Written by Steve Palmer

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

Wenger wants Uruguay’s Cavani!! 2-0 and we mucked it up – AGAIN!!!

November 11, 2012

Morning all,

Eleven minutes into the game and we got what we all hoped, an early goal. Walcott fired in a corner and Giroud headed home. simples!

The perfect start got better just over ten minutes later. Arteta pulled the ball back across the six-yard box and Podolski got ahead of the Fulham defender to poke the ball past Schwarzer.

Why couldn’t Dowd have ended the game their and done us all a favour?

Shocking defending yet again allowed Fulham to equalise just before the half an hour mark when from a corner, Berbatov was given a free header which he buried into the net.

Our heads seem to go down, we were struggling to win anything in the midfield and no doubt I wasn’t the only one fully expecting another goal soon, and not for us either. Five minutes before half-time, that goal came.

Berbatov was given far too much space down our left, he crossed into the box and Kacaniklic headed into bottom corner past the diving Vito Mannone.

John Arne Riise gave us all a scare just before the half-time whistle went, but thankfully his ball across the box failed to find a player in white.

Fulham sniffed a victory yesterday afternoon and they started the second half strongly.

Walcott fired a cross in from the right which was fractionally too high for Giroud and shortly after, the Englishman broke with the ball and drove on towards goal before firing a curling shot which just missed the target.

Francis Coquelin, who had not have a great time out then on the turf, was replaced by Aaron Ramsey just before the hour mark.

Fulham should have been down to ten men soon after when Steve Sidwell, who had been cautioned in the first half, upended Santi Cazorla 25 yards from goal, but was given a final warning by a very lenient referee Phil Dowd. No surprise eh!

Dowd had little choice but to award Fulham a penalty though when Ruiz robbed Arteta on the right side of the penalty area but our Spaniard then pulled the player back. Up stepped Berbatov who sent Mannone the wrong way. Moments later Mannone saved well to prevent Kacaniklic from making it 4-2.

Twenty minutes of the game left and we needed some of the spirit we saw in the League Cup, but would we get it?

Well we soon drew level through our big number 12. His first shot hit the far post and came out to Walcott who crossed the ball back into the box. There was Giroud, who made no mistake this time, to head past Schwarzer. 3-3.

Ruiz fired a shot goal bound but again, Mannone kept it out.

We were putting pressure on Fulhams goal but the away side were causing us problems on the break, and Koscienly had to make a outstanding tackle on Berbatov to prevent him from having a chance to get his third for the afternoon.

With 15 minutes left, Podolski, who again didn’t live up to his reputation, was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Giroud then had a chance to get his own hat-trick and would have done but for Schwarzer making a very good save.

Walcott, who appeared to not want to play for England be injured, was replaced by Andrey Arshavin. Giroud had another chance but his free header went wide and then in the final seconds of the game, Arshavin’s cross hit Sascha Riether on the arm and Dowd pointed to the spot. Tad harsh I thought but hey, we get them like that given against us.

When was our last penalty at The Emirates?? Answers on a postcard please!

Up stepped Arteta, which to be honest, surprised me. I thought Giroud would have taken the chance to walk off with the match ball, or even Cazorla would have taken the responsibly but no, it was our vice captain…

Anyway, you know the rest. The whistle went and another two points dropped after surrendering a two goal lead.

I’ll leave you all to chew the cud, all I will say is anyone who believes that we don’t need a midfield enforcer hasn’t watched us this season.

Mind you, I strongly suspect there is only one person out there who thinks that and we all know who that is…

The same man who said this after the game:

In the second half we gave absolutely everything and I have to give credit to the players, in the last three games what they have done physically is amazing.

Even at 3-2 down we didn’t give up and continued to go forward and we had the chances to win the game.

No wonder our players are going through what they are!!

How can any side get any credit for surrendering a two goal lead, twice?

Finally a rumour from the Sunday newspapers and that is Wenger wants to sign Uruguayan Edinson Cavani. The 25 year old striker who plays for Napoli is value around the £30 Million mark so I strongly suspect there is little truth to this story.

Anyway, he won’t stop us leaking goals and he won’t stop us losing the battle in midfield will he?

That’s it for another day…..

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

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 477 other followers