At least the first week of November is behind us. However, we still have three more weeks remaining in a month that this side has traditionally gone off the rails. Is it a coincidence? I do not think so. We still have too many issues that have not been rectified – issues that are undoing us yet again. Our last game in October (West Ham) was a warning sign; a sign that seems to have gone unheeded. Some of us may have gotten carried away with the wins at Man City and over Shakhtar Donetsk, but many of us are just a little bit jaded by this side – we have seen these flashes before, and know this team is just as capable of the reverse. And so it proved yesterday…
Make no mistake, what started as a bad run of form has become a bad run of results. The October 30 1-0 win over West Ham was a poor performance in which we were able to get three points from. We were not so lucky in Donetsk this past Wednesday, both playing poorly and coming away with nothing. Now this…Last season’s title challenge was built on solid home form, and an ability to beat the sides we were expected to. Early returns suggest we have neither aspect this season. By the second week in November, we have lost three league matches, including two at home to newly-promoted sides. Our other loss, at Chelsea, saw the champions simply allow us to chase our tails and punish the mistakes they knew we eventually would make. Naturally, our loss means we cannot capitalize on Chelsea’s subsequent loss at Liverpool in the late kickoff. I suppose that not falling further behind Chelsea is a blessing in disguise…Or is it??
Not a lot to say about the match itself. We started in the overly casual fashion that many of us have come to know and loathe. Cesc hit the bar with an early free kick, but for all our possession, we did not trouble Newcastle’s second-choice goalkeeper (Tim Krul, deputizing for the injured Steve Harper) until around the 40th minute, when Nasri forced him into a fine save – that may well have been our best opportunity all match. This is the second consecutive game that we conceded immediately before the interval – anyone notice a trend? One related to concentration?
Fabianski is getting killed for allowing Carroll to head unguarded into the net – even Arsene seems to be blaming our keeper on that one. Fair enough, Fabianski could certainly have done better, but his defenders seemed to think that the goalkeeper should have been the one marking the player we knew was going to be Newcastle’s biggest threat on crosses and corners. I see this goal as an entire team mistake. Fittingly enough, not only did it come from Newcastle’s first shot on goal, it came from their first shot, period!
As usual, Arsene changed nothing at halftime – despite the fact that we were playing without a forward, so poor was Chamakh’s performance – it seems apparent that he desperately needs a rest here. A nice Wilshere pass sprung Theo and he hit the underside of the bar with Krul beaten. That was basically as good as it got. Just before the hour mark, Arsene brought Arshavin on for Nasri, and then he later followed with Robin for Chamakh, and finally Bendtner for Wilshere – who was probably our best player on the day. None of the subs had much effect – if anything, they were quickly infected by the malaise engulfing the Arsenal starting eleven. Newcastle did not try for a second goal, but did they really need to? By the end, we were reduced to panic attempts, none of which troubled Krul much. Koscielny was sent off in stoppage time for bringing Ranger down – as the last man, he did what he had to, and the red card was in accordance with the laws of the game.
Now Djorou gets a run of at least three league matches to start alongside Squillaci.
So frustration abounds. Based on our body of work, however, should we really be surprised? We struggle in November, we are not mature enough to immediately bounce back from defeats, and we seemed to show a-not-too-disappointed attitude towards losing in Donetsk in midweek. I think we should have seen this coming…We all thought the players would learn – for once – how coasting through matches and taking specific opponents (i.e. newly promoted ones) for granted can kill momentum and confidence. Both home losses against newly-promoted sides – including one we beat 4-0 in the league cup a couple of weeks ago – indicating the attitude that we can win certain matches just by showing up is, sadly, alive and well. Eradicating this attitude once and for all would be a very good start. I would have thought the players would have learned from the West Brom debacle – yesterday’s performance shows they have learned little, other than perhaps they are not accountable for such “efforts” and results.
Now is not necessarily the time for us supporters to demand Arsene’s head, or to “blow this up” and start all over. The “sack Arsene” brigade is back in full voice – I have never been one of them, and do not intend to join their ranks now. Yet even the most optimistic must concede that things that have undermined us in recent years are doing so again. I speak of a collective sense of “comfort” and complacency amongst the players and a glaring lack of the leadership necessary to turn bad situations into good ones. Simply put, this team has won absolutely nothing as a group, and (I think) shows that they do not yet understand the commitment, application and mature attitudes required to win. Coasting through matches, shrugging off bad results while not applying themselves in the next match, and maintaining the comfortable “pass first, pass second, pass third…” philosophy, with seemingly nobody interested in taking responsibility and shooting on goal.
I have long argued that maturity, responsibility, accountability and leadership are sorely lacking within the Arsenal dressing room, and this afternoon’s performance only serves to underline these suspicions. Unfortunately, changes in culture and Arsene’s management style are what I see necessary to fix these things – and I don’t see this happening. Not while Arsene serves as enabler by publicly calling the team “unlucky to lose”. Not while his “eleven captains” have nobody to grab the players and match by the scruff of the neck and drag them to a win. Not when style takes priority over achievement in everything the club does.
As much as I personally dislike Chelsea and Manchester United, it is no coincidence that those two sides have shared the last seven league titles. Sunday evening, who should top the Premier League table? Yep, those two, just like it has been. Week after week, month after month, year after year. While us Arsenal supporters – and perhaps players – look towards the day when Chelsea’s spine can no longer play at this level, and United’s financial house of cards finally melts down, these sides continue winning. With very few exceptions, they play each competition to win it, and have retained a core of players that have won domestic and European competitions and show their teammates how to win.
We do not have this – like everything else about the current Arsenal model, we have to build it from within. But we have missed a trick by not prioritizing winning the domestic cups as a springboard to success. Other than Arshavin, Campbell, Gallas or Silvestre, I struggle to think of players we brought to the side that have won either European Cups or the Premiership. Without such an infusion of success, the only option is to build winners – but our players cannot yet get over the proverbial hump because they still don’t understand the commitment, attitude and application required. Arsene is now saying the club will make an effort to win all competitions. Perhaps if he had emphasized this a few years prior, we would have won a cup or two by now, and the players would have tangible success to fall back upon when things get tough.
A quick word on two of our players: Marouane Chamakh has had very good start to his Arsenal career. But Arsenal is not Girondins de Bordeaux and this is not Ligue 1. It is evident to me that he badly needs a rest – this was his second consecutive dire staring performance, sandwiched around a similarly ineffective substitute appearance at midweek. He does not look alert, and although he seemed to be trying his best, he could not keep the ball, and was unable to react quickly to the meager service he received. Arsene has overplayed Cesc over the past few seasons, and I would hate to see him do the same with Chamakh. There is no reason to, now that Bendtner is fit and Robin is also back. So give Chamakh a rest, Arsene – he clearly needs it.
I also wish to comment on Lukasz Fabianski: I maintain that he should have done better for the goal, but also had no help from his defenders. Regardless, this was the mistake that we knew would eventually come, and now we will see if he has really turned the proverbial corner. It was impossible to tell in the second half of this match, as Newcastle did not even test him, so we will have to wait for his next start.
Before I address Newcastle and what next, it was not as good to see Robin on the pitch as it should have been. Was he really named to the bench and used as a sub on the basis of a couple of training sessions? Or has he been fit for more than just a day or two? I suspect the latter, and if so, we lose the high ground in Robin’s international selection issue. Now that Robin has appeared here, I do not feel we can justifiably argue that the Netherlands team should not play him – if they are so inclined – for the November 17th friendly versus Turkey (barring another injury, of course). Robin’s selection for the friendly suggests that Van Marwijk knew he was fit – Robin himself probably told him so. If Arsenal were less than forthcoming about his fitness, then all we have accomplished is to pick a fight with the Netherlands FA for no good reason. I would further suggest that his playing in the friendly may help him get match fit quicker. For all our aversion to his playing for his national side, history shows he is more at risk playing for Arsenal, last season’s friendly in Italy notwithstanding. We can use this to our advantage: let Van Marwijk pick him and play him. If Robin comes though unscathed, then he will have another xx minutes of match action under his belt. If he gets hurt again, then he may not have been ready anyways – and then I will assert that Arsene made the first mistake by naming him in the side today. But as long as Robin saw action today, we have completely undermined the argument that the Netherlands should not play him on the 17th.
I would characterize the League Cup win at St. James Park as the most difficult 4-0 Arsenal win I have ever seen. We knew that Newcastle United would bring a stronger side today, and would be even more difficult. What I did not appreciate going in is how effective they are away from home – a win at Everton, and I think more points on the road than at St. James. Yesterday, they did well and deserved the three points in my opinion. Never mind they have only a single chance (two total shots on goal, compared to our three) – they took it and played comfortably in the second half. I thought they counted on our players getting frustrated and petulant and we did not disappoint them. I expect this will not be their last good away win, and if they can sort out their home form, they should do quite well this season. Despite his Spud links, they have the right man in Chris Hughton and I fully expect them to have a very good season.
So, where to from here? We have a midweek league fixture at Molineaux, against a Wolves side that I thought outplayed Man United at Old Trafford on Saturday, and deserved at least a point. Wolves were not easy home or away last season, and I do not expect that they will be again. I am hoping that a quick turnaround and being away from home will help us put in a performance with more intent and effort. Arsene can help the players help themselves by not starting someone (Chamakh) that clearly needs a rest. He can hold players who coast through matches accountable by dropping them. He can be proactive, and change either a player or formation (or both) once we concede a goal, and not wait until the 60th minute. He can stop babying our players (“we didn’t deserve to lose”) – maybe some of them will actually start to grow up. He cannot make the players care enough to do what needs to be done to win, but he can identify the unwilling – and find new clubs for them. He can do a lot of things – much of this starts with him – but not much will change if he does nothing.
Inconsistent? Check. Still immature and collectively mentally weak? Check. Capable of the highest highs and lowest lows, sometimes in the same match? Check. Still incapable of taking that next step from “maybes” to genuine title contenders? Check. Carrying some players that just may not be too bothered about the recent results and efforts? Check.
That is this Arsenal side. That is who we are. We do not have to be this, we should be so much better. But until we first correct the collective team attitude, and then work on the other things, we are who we are.
Written by Oliver
Ah there you go Lady of the House, My earlier comment on the previous posy…!
sammynelsonsbum says:
November 8, 2010 at 9:05 am
Yes thank you for reminding me of the waste of money kind Lady. It was indeed woeful at times, two yard passes sideways and backwards no width to stretch a team well disciplined and who played deep to not allow us the space we like and yet we didn’t have the knowhow to then make the space or create it, very sad for players with so much technique. All far to predictable as usual trying to walk the ball into the net passes through four players, so tedious at times yes the pub was calling me long before the fianl whistle I must say.
Thanks sammy…
oliver, that is some fine piece of work following a dire performance, hats off to you, thanks…
Well written round up of the game Oliver, I agree with most of your assessment although I think I’d be a little more forthright in my criticism of our keeper. For me he’s still only been a msitake waiting to happen even though he has been ok for the last 5/6 games, yesterdays mistake was a basic error the kind your tought as a young kid. Catch the ball at it’s highest point, the defenders are not to blame at all they clearly stopped on hearing him call for the ball and then his basic error is then waiting for the ball the come to hand while Carroll nips in ahead of him, unacceptable i’m afraid simple as that. No striker on the planet can out jump a keeper yet when a keeper waits for teh cross he is asking for trouble and thats exactly what Flappy did, if your not going to command your box and take crosses at the highest point or even punch then time and again you will get found out.
Where to start???
Fabianski – Joey Barton has said he was the target, he said the tactics were to draw Fab off his line knowing Carroll would get his chance. the first few times it didn’t work but then they got the goal right on the stroke of H/T…
concentration is the key as the post points out, i am not sure whether the defence can be atributed to the actual goal, if Fab has made it clear he’s coming out they would have left it to him….
sammy, i think newcastle were very clever, they knew Fab was a ‘weak’ spot, despite his better performances recently.. oliver is right thjough, we will see his true character now, he either comes back strong or shrivels as he has done in the past…
wenger for once was critical about fabianski in his i/v, surely he wouldn’t drop him after that would he??
Rico, my thoughts are that the keeper controls the box, he has indeed made very good saves the last few games and has warranted his praise and yet I have always felt the flaws in his game were still there and basic catching of a ball from a cross is one thats common sense, its the same for an outfield player don’t wait for the ball to come to you if it can be interecepted, as a keeper use your hands and arms to get the benefit and thats to catch the ball above any and all strikers waiting for a cross like Fabianski did as can be clearly seen is suicidal and a possible goal to be scored everytime he tries to catch like that. Poor coaching or a lack of basic technique?.
Yesterday we had the strongest squad in ages.the talent is never in question since we have one of the best squads in Europe.Some will say tactical indiscipline,positional awareness but for me the most worrying trait is the lack of heart.the likes of Adams,rocky,parlour…despite not being the most talented always bled for the shirt.who can forget the Adams goal against everton where he spread his arms.he wasn’t adored for his quick feet but the heart he showed.even players like Pires who were very talented and greater than most of this lot left everything on the pitch.if they did that despite the result we would always adore them as they were champions in our hearts.this lot need to pull their heads out of their arses and smell the coffee;we are a big club and far greater players have doned that shirt that they wear so casually-its disgusting!The Arsenal i know would have made the ball go in against all odds even if it meant smashing the bar 10 times.The Arsenal i know would have started the game like possessed men and even after the break mounting swarms of attacks on the barcodes.manure and pool won because of the heart and commitment…am VERY disappointed and hurt…
sadly, i think many realise he was an accident waiting to happen, i just think it would come so soon… its a school boy error he made yesterday, as soon as that cross was coming in he should have been out like a rat up a drain pipe and made the catch look simple….
and to hear wenger critisise him is unusual…
if wenger had more balls i would believe that cheseny’s chance is not far away…
Well well well, morning all.
I predicted defeat at Shartak but i also called attention to our uncomfortable win against West ham which was a game against Sharktak.
But i must confess that i didn’t see this one coming: Losing to Newcastle at Emirates ?
I must say, the whole team wasn’t sharp, only Arshavin looked sharp when he came in the rest just couldn’t find their feet.
We should take heart and hope the team gets something from this busy November schedule because every team are going to be affected, except the useless ambitionless teams that are just joy spoilers.
Blackburn, Bolton, Stoke ,Sunderland, Newcastle(not interested in keeping a good coach),Wolves just to mention a few. This above mentioned teams just want to kill any joy, they are not interested in winning anything or qualifying for anything. They just want to beat Arsenal, Chelsea and MAn Utd.
So we made ourselves victims.
Morning KT, that’s exactly my view too, no heart, no fire, no grit, no desire to win, gutless!!
The best player yet again was an 18 year old English boy!!!
Spot the obvious…..
Hi SD, never looked at it like that before… we still should have won though regardless of how much they wanted to kill us. we went to their ground, played with a ‘lesser’ side and thrashed them…
Complacency, that’s their problem…..
SD-London, I can see where your comment is coming from but its obvious that any team that wants to win things must be capable of beating what ever team is in front of them, we were just not at the races yesterday the players were out for a sunday afternoon stroll, it’s absolutely unfogivable when players look like they just really can’t be to bothered. I thought Newcastle were very well organised played decent football and pressured us in all the right areas we were never in control and never made them panic of put them under anywhere near enough pressure. very frustrating and very poor from the players.
I hope when you say “immature” yu ar enot refering to age coz we have been hiding behind age for too many seasona. We cannot remain immature for so many years. most of those player have been playing the premier league for up to 5 seasons. The new signings are not young either.
To sum it up ….I will just say we are not good enough to win anything. We have average players all over the pitch and they will not win us anything.Its as simple as that.
Our defence is one of teh weakest i have ever seen….Kosclieny falls over in almost evry other challenge…..Squilaci and Djorou can alo be easily bounced off the ball…its a joke. While Fabisnski was at fault for the goal’ he was due a howler anywere….we all know we dont have a gud goalkkeeper…..The whoel team played crap. Cesc was not even interested …
jena, no, not at all, immature in their attitude, not age…
cesc was one of the worst on the pitch, how he stayed on and wilshere came off, i’ll never know….
Fabianski was certainly at fault for the goal, costing us at least a point. But that shouldn’t detract from the fact that our ten outfield players produced virtually nothing of note.
Heavy legs following the long trip to Donetsk would be understandable. But the lack of urgency and effort from many of our players, even in the last 15-20, needs to be addressed.If things aren’t happening for Cesc, it seems that too many others just give up. When Arshavin is one of your hardest-working players at the end of a game, you know something isn’t quite right. We lack United and Chelsea’s bloody-mindedness at times like this.
http://thearmchairsportsfan.com/2010/11/07/carroll-steamrollers-flat-arsenal/
WE lack authority in the team. we have no authoritative figures who can taake responsibility and do something out of nothing in need. Even Fabregas lacks authority. its a joke….they all look to pass it to the next guys even when they have a chance to shoot.
Tim, but some of them didn’t even travel to Ukraine, let alone play…
Cesc is the captain, if he can’t boss things on the field when things aren’t going well for him then he’s not much of a captain in my book… This side is not all about Cesc fabregas, it’s about Arsenal and yesterday very few wanted to play for that…
jena, thats what frustrates most, pas pass pass and no bloomin shot, yesterday their defence was packed, especially after the goal yet we still try and pass the ball through… AA was the only one who managed to do that but every time got closed down before the shot…
some will say wenger should have changed tactics but these are all international footballers, do they really need to be told to try something different??
they should darn well know to shoot!!
I agree there Rico, tactics are one thing but as highly paid footballers they must take the responsibility to change things on their own account, you don’t need to be told whats not working you can see it’s not so use your footballing brain and mix things up do it differently but noone wants to do that, there is noone willing to drive the team on and we are so lacking a leader and players willing to roll their sleeves up and grind out results.
we need striker with guts like Henry, and brains like Dennis.. dare to shoot from distance or dribble past defender with penetrating run inside the box. None of our forward possess that property.
Newbie here. Excellent blog post.
1. Does Wenger change tactics to counter the strengths and exploit the weaknesses of individual opponents or does he just employ the same tactics week in, week out? It seems like the latter.
2. Do the team spend proper time practising set pieces and corners (both attacking and defensive)? I fear not.
I’ve been a loyal Gooner since the 1960’s but am beginning to despair for all the reasons you have set out.
just take a player like Stevie G for example… he doesn’t need telling what to do, he just gets on and does it sammy…
cy, no disagreement here…
hi jockdownsouth, thanks re the post, oliver is based in the USA and won’t be around for a hour or two…
Extremely valid point Jockdownsouth, we had what, nine corners yesterday and apart from the abject normal delivery which means half the corners never clear the first defender we just do not pose any kind of threat whatsoever from a corner and very rarely from a free kick close to the box. We have two full backs whose crossing leaves a lot to be desired and our delivery from free kicks even though we now have a number of players who you would describe as useful in the air is cringeworthy. Maybe we can’t kick these new lightweight balls and need to go back to proper leather.
nine corners sammy 😉
i changed it for you 😆
Thank you very miuch kind Lady.
Our corners are shocking!!
When we get a corner your mood is one of resignation to the fact that our chances of scoring are virtually zero!.
my pleasure… it naffs me off, squilli is good in the air but we never get the ball to him, robins corners are better… maybe now he’s back…..
Surely a corner from Jack or Arshavin is the answer the two smallest players who are hardly likely to win headers or score from a corner, a ball to the penalty spot would be so appreciated and not the first defender or straight to the goalkeeper. Back in a while I need to look as if I am actually working today.
bye for now sammy, neither of them can clear the first defender though, robin seems to be the only one who does… i just don’t get it though, how can player who strikes a 30 yard free kick not whip a corner in??
In my Arsenal shirt today i’ve met loads of gloating mancs and i can’t tell you how bad it has been but i’ll always support my club and its the high time they earnt the right to wear that shirt.
Chamakh is a fantastic talent but he needs to learn how to shoot.it would take his game to another level.
Morning Peeps, 🙂
You guys all sound the way I feel!
Nice Post Oliver, calm, analytical and cohesive, as usual.
Furious with the gutless display yesterday, I tried to think who from our team would get into the Manure, Chelsea or even the Spuds teams.
Frankly, I don’t think any of them would be able to get in these other sides. Even Cesc was useless.
As Rico said, it is the endless attempts at eye of the needle passing (usually failing), or the endless tippy tappy passing, without shooting, all done at a snail’s pace that gets you down. 🙁
KT,
You might be right about Chamkh, but to see him passing the ball when he was within the goal area was absolutely baffling. Even a toe poke could have scored.
KTR7, good on you too, just because we got beat doesn’t mean the support and the love for the club goes does it… it’s just frustrating and makes us all pretty angry…
As much as i will agree with the fact that the team should have done better , i always look at why did that happen.
That was a very complete Arsenal team but we were worse than the team that got beaten by Sharktar.
So what happened?
We are mostly spectators, we only just watch and read about this players.
With the way they all played, i only have two assumptions;
1) Something happened before the game and whatever happened probably didn’t get resolved during the half time.
2)The rest, most of the team got didn’t help at all because we have always lost whenever most of the first team were rested a game before.
I only hope there is nothing happening internally because that game was just weird very weird.
Hi RA, yes, feeling pretty poop really….
SD, I hope you are way off the mark with that one, i really do… we sit and chuckle at the goings on at citeh, it would be horrid to think there is unrest in the camp…
Why are you so kind to Wenger??? He asembled this lot of overpaid fancy dans.He can go on all day that they are not mature enough but some of them have played more then 200 games for Arsenal a disgusting laid back performance like the one yesterday is down to Wenger not waking them up in the second half and a sign of some very bad habits in the Creche.Wenger will never understand that to win certain games you have to counter measure your opponent,Graham understood that,Fergie,Ancelotti and most of all Mourinho understands it.It might be cynical to a purist like Wenger but it is the truth.As long as he keeps playing Wengerball all the time we will have days like this,the emperor have not clothes and it is starting to show.
It seems AW now says Cesc has a mental block regarding his recent injuries, what twaddle…! If he wasnt fit then why did he play him, I blame Wenger for playing unfit players putting RVP on the bench which he now says he was short so why take the risk, the fact he didnt buy a keeper and a centre half or a ball winner in midfield in the sumemr transfer window but I can’t blame him for the players looking uninterested yesterday and not taking the responsibility on their shoulders to alter the course of the game. Some of the comments blaming Wenger are just pathetic from some quarters they sound like spoilt little school children. god-forbid they had to grow up watching the Arsenal of old like I did the only thing then was you knew what drivel you would get week in week out BUT the players always put in effort how ever poor they were and the one thing was always constant, we always had a good keeper.
I don’t think wenger was perfect yesterday DG but i don’t think for one minute he is to blame totally for yesterday…
That side yesterday beat a strong citeh side and thats because they showed heart, yesterday they just ‘turned up’…
They shouldn’t need to be told to shoot during a game, they should need to be told to get the corners in the right place etc etc…
Yes his subs were strange, why take jack off? Cesc should have gone off, not jack and why bring on an unfit RVP and Nik, why not move theo into the middle….
wenger is no saint, but we played newcastle yesterday not barcelona, had that eleven stepped up to the mark we would have won….
mental block, cesc?? for what… Fabianski has to take critismn for his error and cesc has to take it too and the others on and off the pitch…
an unfit, unprepared cesc on a football pitch is as usful as a chocolate fireguard…
I tried endlessly to console an Arsenal crazy friend of mine that it could have being worse because at least Chelsea lost.
He didn’t want to hear any of it he was just generally distraught.
That now took me to the media attention a week ago: They reckon we are challenging for the title and the way we are playing should worry Chelsea that we have won 4 or 5 games in a row.
Then we lost, cheaply.
That now took me back to last season where we had 11 games unbeaten after trailing Chelsea by 11points all of a sudden we were 2points behind Chelsea and the media picked on it and said we are up to something – then we lost after that, Fabregas got injured, and Barcelona killed off our season.
I see a trend; our players read too much tabloid and interpret too much tabloid and it gets to them and they got complacent because they thought they are becoming invincible.
Good thing we lost to Newcastle who are not going to win or qualify for anything.
I can confidently say we will get a decent run of 5games now.
SD-L, I like your optimism but would not surprise me in the slightest if we lost on wednesday either. Your totally correct with the media reactions but they have never ever been any different they praise a side only to knock them down when they fail and don’t they just love doing it when its The Arsenal.
but then you watch us get injuries in the silly break SD, i keep telling myself it will be ok and we start again at wolves, but in all honesty i fear that game now…
back in the days of petit, adams, keown, paddy, dennis etc etc, every week i used to ‘know’ we would win, now it’s oh so different, i now just hope we can win….
BUT, we are third, how i don’t know, but we are third…
All the players should go and shove their heads into a public toilet…thats how we are feeling right now.
Actually, we are ok away apart from the chavs, maybe it’s one of those seasons where we do well away for a change…
but, we cannot afford to lose at home again this season, not only for the points but also for the psychological side of our game…
and flush it too KT…..
K-TR7. . . A tad harsh on young Jack to want to flush him down the loo and beware he is that small we may well lose the little fella!.
sammy, little jack was head and shoulders above most, i didn’t think kos and squilli were too bad though, just those in front…
In all honesty House Lady the back 4 had almost nothing to do the whoel game and all the keeper had to do he didn’t..! Nasri and Jack for me were the two that looked up for it, how many times did you see Jack look up and almost shrug as if to say “well who wants it” and noone was making space or runs.
sagna had a dodgy first ten minutes and i thought clichy did what he had to do well, especially after his mid-week shocker….
nasri always looks up for it these days, he slowly becoming far more reliable than our captain…
both however need to learn to cross, what though is there to learn??
Jack should flush the toilet then…
It’s amazing how many modern day footballers actually cannot kick a ball properly !!
If he can reach KT 😉
In my day sammy……….
Pires has been offered a player/coach role at Villa…… ???
‘morning all. thanks for fielding the comments, rico. twenty one hours later, it does not feel any better. we will accomplish nothing playing like this.
now arsene admits bringing back both robin and cesc before they are ready. if either should break down again, the responsibility for this rests squarely with arsene…poor player and man management.
Well i wonder as well Sammy, how difficult is it really.
I dont think Lampard tries to aim when he shots he just shoots as hard as he could and leaves the rest to the weird ball, the wind , the flood lights and the usual lazy deflecting defenders(Which accounts for 80% of Lampard’s Goals)
But our players seems not to share that method except of course Denilson who always tries to shot from outside the box.
SD-L, the old adage of if you don’t shoot you don’t score just sums us up perfectly and you are 100% correct re Lampard his goals come purely from the fact he is prepared to try his luck from anywhere and the “luck” is paid off with all those deflections. Why don’t we score because we don’t shoot.
Despite the fact that we dont shot we still have almost the same goal tally with Chelsea.
Now imagine if those Arsenal players now add shooting to their game .
hi oliver, as usual its been a pleasure, great write up awell, i really don’t know how you did it….
and no, it doesn’t feel any better…..
SD, good point re denilson, he hasn’t had the brazil taken out of him… yet, for once i wish he had played yesterday….
at least we have a quick turnaround – wednesday is only two days away. something tells me that cesc will not feature. theo needs minutes, but two starts and two very, very poor team performances. use him as a sub. start arshavin and bendtner. shoot on goal when the opportunity arises – good things occasionally result…
sammy, i meant to ask you before but didn’t want to in case i scared you away but here on HH, we welcome bloggers to write a post, or as many as they want about Arsenal – if ever you would like to write a post, please let me know? It would be good to read a different fans view….
My email address is in the contacts us page…
no pressure tough…
oliver, i think newcastle just played so defensive they snuffed theo out as did they do with all our silly passing game…
personally i can’t single theo out for the last two games, we were poor all over…
the quick turnaround is just what we need as long as we can make it do us good…. wolves will be no pushover though…
perhaps…i am still annoyed with theo for his blithe “no big deal” attitude towards the loss in donestk, and that is probably influencing my view on his performances. still, the attitude is inexcusable – and yesterday showed exactly where such an attitude leads.
thats fair oliver, well theo is wrong, very wrong… should we lose our last to CL games and Braga/Shakhtar win, we will not qualify….
Good day to you Oliver, I think you’ve hit the nail on hte head with the comments from Theo but would maybe say thats the problem with most of the team that he merely expressed what they all thought?. that would also explain their lack of “anything” yesterday. Theo did not receive a decent ball all day apart from the reverse from Jack into the box where he hit the bar, the rest he received silly 5yard passes wide on the halfway line where he simply had nowhere to go save pass backwards. Very frustrating when he isn’t fed properly but also time for him to hold his hands up and also demand the ball more into the areas where he wants and where he will threaten and punish teams. Again it’s more of the players taking the responsilility upon themselves to change the course of a game.
morning sammy…i agree with you, and i think that too many of our players are comfortable and may not necessarily be all that bothered about losses. theo did not get much service, agreed, but it must also be said that he supplied nothing to his teammates either.
i felt our players went through specific stages yesterday – starting out “we’ll score sooner or later, as it is only newcastle”, to “so we conceded a goal, we’ll switch on when we are ready”, to “this looks like it may be too difficult today”. very, very, very disappointing, and it keeps happening.
sammy, i have that kind of opinion too, oliver is right about his stupid comments but now is his time to step up, be a bit more confident with himself and start telling others wher he wants the ball.
If he is to stay as a winger at the moment he needs the ball played in front of him not tippy tappy passes near the corner flag where he has nowhere to go…
I still say play him in the middle in a 4-4-2 and forget playing 4-3-3 without the right players to play that way…
I hear what your saying Oliver does seem that the players change their mind set as and when a certain point or action occurs during the match. I also agree with the 4-4-2 Rico although lets be honest again in modern football all this 4-1-2-1-2 4-4-2 4-5-1 4-3-3 is utter rubbish you attack as a team defend as a team cover a team mate and work for each other far to much for me is made of this formation twaddle.
sammy, i disagree, we don’t attack or defend as a team 😉
did you see my earlier comment sammy or are yu politely ignoring me 😉
Squillaci is a very good defender though.
as is Kos KT, i don’t blame them for the goal at all, other than the silly error, we dealt with them awith ease defensively…
My sincere apologies Lady of The House, I had skipped off to grab some lunch and a cup of tea, I have read your comment and maybe I’ll send you something through that you can either use as bin material or use and throw my thoughts out to the wolves to chew on.
thanks sammy, i look forward to reading it….
Well i think we did great against Man city and we probably scared a few teams.
I cant believe i am going to say this but Jose Morinho always have a first 11 and he will use them for all games until one is injured or burned out .
Wenger disrupted that setting and i think it has affected the flow. I hope they will remember in training today and get their flow back by tomorrow before playing Wolves back on Wednesday.
We dont need RVP yet, he should heal properly and unleash him towards December.
SD, what does he have in reserve though??
Agree re RVP, should never have played him yesterday… now he’ll go off, play for holland and come back injured again…
i guess Wenger was worried we were losing and he panicked and played RVP.
he got it wrong there for me SD, should have just kept Jack and Theo on….
Rico if you have watched madrid:casillas;ramos,pepe,carvalho,marcelo;khedira,alonso,özil;di maria,cr7,higuain has been mou’s 11 in most games and have not lost a single game in all competitions because of it.when rvp is fit:fabby/szcesny,sagna,squilli,vermy,clichy;song,diaby/jack,cesc;AA,nasri/theo rvp should get a run of consecutive games and we’ll be very hard to beat.
We should play theo in open games while nasri should play against park the bus teams.
Yesterday fabianski acted like fabianki
not the first questionable sustitution arsene has made. not only did robin give us (understandably) little – chamakh should have come off at halftime, but with bendtner coming on – but arsene seems to be conceding robin is not yet fit. but as he has played yesterday, we no longer have a valid argument to prevent his playing for the netherlands on the 17th.
arsene got this one badly wrong in my opinion…we bang on and on about players “not learning” from their mistakes. perhaps that is a little too much for us to ask, seeing as arsene is similarly incapable of learning from his previous mistakes. should robin – and cesc break down because of playing when they were not ready – arsene and arsene alone will be responsible, and i absolutely will not defend him over it.
AA looked hungry for the first time in ages.it looks like being benched helped as he looked very dangerous and direct.get rvp fit and we’ll be rocking!get a settled 11 as most top clubs do.start games at 110km/hr to rattle them invincibles style not at a snail’s pace that isn’t helping us at all.
i admire your optimism k, but we won’t rock anything without some real on-pitch leadership, and a professional attitude. i do not care what eleven we field – if they adopt the disgusting, casual, unconcerned attitude that we saw yesterday – we lose…
I haven’t watched madrid KT… we will only starting winning if players stand up and be counted…
Hi STV, he certainly did
KT 110km/hr that will be Flash standard blazing.
Oliver! Oliver! if we can get KT mentioned line up fit and going on like 7 good run of games we will surely be unbeatable especially with the option of Wilshere, Walcott and Charmarkh to change things round with and Rosicky on bench as well.
We will be fine Oliver.
I wish I shared the vision and optimism of K-TR7 and SD but right now i cannot 🙁
Be cool Rico be Cool
no…i do not care who we line up with, we will not be fine – unless we change the mindset of the players, a real leader steps us, and this squad takes every opponent seriously. not so much to do with individual players, as with the collective mindset. we will have our good games, but unless we toughen up and get professional we will have too many bad games like yesterday.
surely you are not suggesting that having all our players available for selection is our cure-all? it will help in giving us other options, but i struggle to see just how having a stronger bench will automatically prevent us from starting games at walking pace and thinking we win just by showing up. those are our real problems – and they have been problems for a while, mainly because we lack dressing room leadership and winning culture. a larger bench will not make a jot of difference if these other problems are not dealt with…that is our reality.
SD, I can’t, we were dire and with nearly all our players back, only a win, a good win against wolves will help ease such dissapointment…
Oliver i get your point but it will help since it will forge a winning mentality like Mourinho has done in Madrid.rvp has more urgency than all our forwards and if he hits thunderbolts from the first minute it will rattle the opponents unlike chamakh.again oliver i understand your point of view but i don’t understand how AA(Russia cpt), TV(Belgium cpt),rosicky(czech cpt),cesc(wc and euro winner) and squillaci can fail to provide leadership when we need it.most teams don’t even have as many captains as we do.
Be Cool Oliver be Cool.
I didn’t suggest having a stronger bench will automatically win us games.
What i meant was , with guys coming back now , Wenger should stick with the best 11 until they are burnt out or injured then replace with any of the strong bench that we have. Walcott, Rosicki, Eboue, Bendtner, Wilshere etc. This will not be a bad bench.
Wenger should stop experimenting.
Rico i’m pissed as hell.Apparently Aw has even cancelled his pre-match press conference which may be because he is pissed at his players.i’m a pessimist but i can’t shake off the feeling that they will come good IF and only IF they change their attitude towards the game.we play wolves and everton away next and its time we show some balls!that being said we are better away from home this season.
captains in name, k. how many of them have ever dragged us back from the brink? how many have ever led their sides to silverware? not been part of such teams, but actually led their sides to a trophy win?
it is there for all of us to see – our players persist with this “show up to win” attitude, stroll around the pitch, and show no urgency. robin was on for around 30 minutes – didn’t see any thunderbolts from him…
we have serious cultural and leadership problems. ignore it if you wish, but i think it is there for all of us to see. until we resolve these issues, we will accomplish nothing…
Oliver we have always had a personnel problem.now we have attitude problems!its very difficult being an Arsenal fan as we have as many personalities as rico’s shoes but i really think if that mindset changes we can have a truly special team.
KT, Thats what worries me, the IF seems all too big right now…
wenger has a right to be angry to a degree, you could tell as its the first time he critisised one of his players in an i/v…
When they will change the attitude KT 🙁
oliver, thats just it, captains in name, they need to lead on the pitch….
KT, i agree if the mindset changes, but its whether or not they are prepared to change, they need a rocket up their bums, a darn good talking to and a few fines dished out!
..the moment we think it’s all get right , tey let us down
Oliver AGAIN I get your point.rvp wasn’t ready so don’t blame him,blame Aw.i said if we get him FIT.On the captains’ bit i was wondering how we can have so many national team captains but they fail to show up in our colours.AA was sensational for russia and Zenith but not that kind of leadership for us.it seems you have misunderstood my points.i don’t think all is well and rosy and my opening rant will prove that but if we can change this ‘casual’ mentality we have a chance.its easier said and done but Rome wasn’t built in a day.if we start rebuilding that we’ll be fine as personnel is no longer an issue.i hope i have made myself clear and we are now on the same page.
Can’t argue with anything you say Oliver, where is the fist clenching grimiaced face look of a pissed of captain rallying his troops for not doing what they should…. The only one who comes close for me would be Vermaelen and yet I thin one is not enough either. You need someone who looks and acts genuinely pissed off and upset to lose a match.
think we need a roy keane like attitude from our captain
come on guys, lets chill a bit, none of us are happy about yesterday and i think in the main we agree, the attitude needs to cahnge otherwise we won’t improve….
and after all, we all want us to improve its just not knowing how/when we can get there….
Rico Aw’s resigned look chewing his zip told me alot.he was disappointed and it hurts him that the players he so often wrap in cotton had let him down again.he tried with early subs but it didn’t work.he slated fabianski which for me was a surprise.i hope they got the hair dryer treatment from now on as they are grown ups.cesc has nearly 200 pl and 60cl games,over 50 spanish caps and a winner of wc and euros should drive on this team.AA should,rvp10 should,squillaci should and Tv too.Aw should get ruthless from now on.he shouldn’t reward mediocrity and if anyone is underperfoming sub him and bench him.you saw how fired up AA was and i hope we develop that culture.
Or an Adams STV 🙂
from next match onwards rico..
Well i think Wenger cancelled the press conference because he might be asked about his personal life.
Oliver , give RVP some time he just came back from injury. When he is sharp he his our best player,Free kick, Penalty kick, player link up, 1-2s,Corner kicks and motivation
(remember when he came in the Carlin lose against Spuds and he changed the game except for Gomez we would have won that game.)
ya adams or a vieira atleast.. infact he was one of the best capatains for me @ arsenal
KT, we have been crying out for wenger to drop players who are poor, he doesn’t… and when he does, ie Almunia, he protects them again by saying they were injured…
5-1 lose?
or last match of pm
spot on, that’s all we can do STV, we can’t change what has gone by…
I hope wellington Silva is worth they hype.a direct winger can make a HUGE difference to this team.JET is another very direct player.with us chasing Miyaichi i hope Aw is taking into consideration of introducing direct players to our system.to prove my point Di maria has been phenomenal for Madrid and this has made them difficult to contain.their counter attacks are also a delight to watch as they slice opponents to bits in the blink of an eye.
our full team showed yestrday rico, that they can also do it
SD, he just has to say nothing… and the press should be told not to mention it…
SD Aw has already said he won’t answer questions regarding his personal life as the media will hung him with the allegations so i don’t think he’d avoid a press conference because of that.
you and me both KT, i think he will aswell…
STV, i think we could see a few changes for wednesday….
one man who can make defference now is RVP.Hope he will find the form soon..
Well rico et al, even though wenger said he wouldnt answer any such questions does not prevent jounalists from asking and it will upset him.
That could affect him and affect his preparations for Wednesday.
Whatever was responsible for yesterday’s defeat wasn’t because there was no true shouters on the picth .
They just didnt play very well and whatever was responsible for that should be sorted out before Wednesday.
I hope.
JET has hit a brace against Everton reserves in a 4-1 win.surely he deserves a chance as he can do no worse at the moment.
STV, i honestly don’t see him making a difference for a while, he’s not fit… maybe another appearance from the bench or start and subbed after 40-50 mins…
just put that in my post for tomorrow KT, the second was pure class apparently….
Hi guys
I’m new here…Well it’s exactly 24hrs and the wounds from the loss are still raw. I need a pick me up from some Arsenal fan somewhere who has an inkling of optimism left in their body. I’ve been an Arsenal fan from South Africa since the late 80’s, not that we were much of a force then, but I loved the club. In came Wenger and suddenly we were very big boys, got used to winning things, then the Invincibles…and now little chicken brains. It’s been five years of each year hoping “we will lift the championship this year” then heartbreak. And the trend has carried on but we’ve always had a reasonable excuse for not winning things (young squad, Emirates move, that horrible month of high-intensity games last season)…never the spate of embarrassing home defeats like we’ve had already…only 11 games into the season! How then will we be sure Chelsea will not come and totally eclipse us on our own patch. As I’ve said before I need some coaxing coz I’m at the crossroads with our club! It’s been a difficult 5 years going on 6!
what i see as the roots (poor leadership, attitude and little accountability) of our problems have yet to change…a lot of these problems stem directly from arsene and man management techniques. i am discouraged because i do not expect him to change anything, which means that i expect us to carry on as we are…win a few games, look good in the process, raise supporter hopes, and then undo everthing with a lazy, arrogant, uncommitted gutless performance. too many of these in recent years.
i am not, in any way shape, or form, advocating changing the manager. there are plenty of “supporter” blogs that exist solely to push the narrow “arsene out” agenda. but neither will i absolve him of responsibility for the team’s attitude and recent performances. i see him, more than anyone else, as responsible for the atmosphere in which such attitudes, indifference and lack of leadership and committment continue to thrive.
BYe All 🙂
Be cool Oliver there is light at the end of the 🙂 tunnel , you will see 🙂
🙂
i think the only way a lot of that is going to change though oliver is from within the players themselves… i think we are all born as either competitors with a never say die attitude, those who participate and try hard but accept second and those who just couldn’t give a flying doo dah about what they do as long as they get their wage….
all i will say is that i think we have a few too many who don’t fit in the first category….
later sd…seeing is believing…unfortunately, what i see now, i don’t believe in. losing matches is one thing – losing matches, to these teams, in this fashion, is quite another.
SD, it seems moare like some b*****d with a torch right now 😉
see you soon, enjoy your evening……
but the tunnel is soooo long. 🙂
Rico today i had to endure gloating from fans of many teams since i was one of the few to wear my kit today.i didn’t mind since i will always love Arsenal but the players must take responsibility for it.my mates have been taking the piss out of our club which hurt for me to listen to all day long.after that game i was shell shocked as i couldn’t even move as rivals cheered.the players got their pay cheques but we were the ones to eat up the poo the left at the Emirates.most fans have had a very bad day because of this and the players should know that perfectly well.Aw is a bad loser and i like it because at least we know he cares.i’m so pissed right now…
Oliver, you are the one who kept faith when every one lost it.. just hope 😉
STV :P:
Rico, researches say sports fans have a great mental strength.. You know why? esp arsenal fans 🙂
Hi SA Gooner, sorry for the delay, first comments always go into moderation..
Its good to see you here, we are all trying to find something positive from yesterday but its hard…
i agree rico – and that is another thing i am laying squarely at arsene’s doorstep. in his haste to secure the futures of the best young talent available, i now think he went to far in giving promising, yet unproven, players too much too soon: great wages, secure in the first team, playing a pleasing style in an atmosphere where how the team plays is more important than actual results, a manager obscenely quick to deflect blame for mistakes and cover the players with “injury” excuses. is it any wonder that we did not see too many players with the stomach for a fight when things got difficult yesterday? is it any wonder that mistakes continue to happen? “i may have messed this up big time, but the boss will cover me, and i will keep my spot in the side” is it any wonder that there was nobody to lead a comeback? the roots of these problems are all in the culture arsene has developed here…
rico, i get your point about being a born competitor, but i also think that the competitive edge can be sucked out of a player through comfortable surroundings. comfort leads to complancency, complancency is a lack of desire to turn a bad situation around. kind of what we saw yesterday…
Certainly do STV, but we could be supporting Oxford 😉
i suppose that all depends on how he deals with it behind the scenes too oliver, we know too well how fergie deals with and i can’t honestly see wenger being loud and angry, apart from that dipper game…
you could be right, too much too soon for them but then Jack argues that point to a degree, i know he is different in the fact that he is a great player already. also, i think the fact that so many have left for free he has tied them down..
i certainly don’t understand how some players can get picked time after time when they are shocking yet the likes of vela doesn’t get a fair chance…
Oliver the players themselves should take responsibility.Cesc and all our leaders should sit down together to re-evaluate themselves.this loss has caused a meltdown in the Arsenal blogosphere and i hope it causes the reaction it needs.as crazy as it may sound this loss may actually prove to be a tonic to our season or so i hope.winners bounce back from setbacks with style as it shows character.Fabby needs to comeback stronger from that blunder since all goalies make blunders.Casillas had a howler against Milan but showed character to bounce back with a fantastic display against Athletico yesterday.Fabianski is getting lots of stick but Chamakh should get as much.fabianski cost us a goal he gets slaughtered but very few mention how many goal scoring chances have passed us by because of Chamakh.its very unfair the difference in criticism between a defender/gk and a forward get after a loss/bad game.
oliver – i am slight disagreement with your last, look at Sampras, Federer, McEnroe, Navratilova, Graf etc etc…
When they were at top of their game they were made of money, still are. They wanted for nothing but everyday they were in the gym, paying a coach, looking for a way to better themselves and all that jazz… A real winner never rests on his laurels….
We have launched koscielny red card appeal.
KT, i mentioned that the other day too, a defender/keeper will always get roasted if his error leads to a goal…
strikers misses seem to fade a lot quicker…
not surprised KT, Squilli was coming accross to stop the player… just hope the FA don’t think its frivolous and add an extra game to his ban….
Am off.. I was fuming with the loss but relived finding that people here are as gutted and more angrier.. look for light s SD does.. Night al..
A keeper makes a mistake and it’s a goal and he is useless… A stiker misses and everybody claps and says unlucky mate….! Who’d want to be a keeper, problem is ours make basic errors and don’t get rectified hence we are going to harp on about them not being good enough. Most important man on the pitch is the keeper.
Night STV, enjoy the rest of your day, maybe tomorrow a little light will shine 😉
k, agree…our “leaders” need to sort this out. the problem i see is that our leaders – particularly cesc – prefer to lead through example, as he did at stoke and in the first leg versus barcelona. when the leader is having an absolute stinker, they are not much of an example to follow. our players can, if they want, police themselves. by not tolerating passengers, by not letting heads drop, by barking at chamakh when he opts for a pass with a clear sight of goal. such things will definitely help our situation…
Rico frivolous appeals only happen in case of violent conduct…the atmosphere at the Emirates is shocking!!!
sammy, he is and yet the one our club pays so little interest in really…
we should have a world class keeper at a club like ours…
Glad to hear that KT…
rico, i see the tennis player that you cited all as exceptional cases, players who could not afford to get comfortable, knowing how long a slide down the rankings can be. the very nature of their sport demanded they never rest for an instant, knowing that several players were waiting to replace them. it is not quite the same at arsenal fc. i would argue that many players have shown desire and hunger to make the first team squad, but may have quickly fallen foul of the comfortable surrounding, believing they had “arrived”. jack really seems to care – in these two losses, he was the one looking to make something happen, trying to drive the team on. i just hope that it is not sucked out of him.
for every michael jordan – who trophies, individual awards and accolades were never enough – there is the albert haynesworth, who signs a huge contract and then coasts.
Sammy the double standards applied when judging keepers is appalling.when bendtner had a stinker he was lauded for ‘getting in the right places’ but he ultimately missed loads of chances.Fabianski came for the ball meaning he got into a great position but missed it like bendtner in the other end.Guess what?bendtner will get support: ‘one of those days’ ‘he had workrate’ ‘great positions’ but fabianski ends up being called flappy with an indian sign over his head.
they were just an example oliver, and some are my sporting heros but i guess i’m just trying to say that if you have it in you to be a true winner you fight to win….
Its slighty different in a team game though, as the jacksons sang…
one bad apple……
don’t start me on Bendtner KT, I’d have sold him a few seasons ago…..
Oliver jack has been with us since he was 9 and he knows how it hurts to lose in that manner as he is a local lad.he even apologised over his twitter account.i wish more players would take responsibility.hats off to jack.
i just hope this will is not sucked out from him.
interesting discussion on the keeper versus striker perceptions. i was not impressed with bendtner’s casual approach to the match when he came on.
you know what i would like? i would like arsene to take some responsibility – “i picked the wrong team” or “i failed to adjust our tactics once we went behind” i wouldn’t think any less of him for being forthright and human…
oliver/KTR7 – did you see my earlier about jack, i compared him with the difference and sadi, spot the obvious difference….
that difference is he is at the club he loves and had has played for for many years, the place where he will hopefully end his career…
You’ll have a long wait oliver, wenger never admits he got it wrong, maybe if he did we wouldn’t all be talking about a loss today….
Oliver has a point regarding that comfort zone.most players refer to Aw as their second father which is great since it shows they respect him but it also shows they feel Aw will always protect them.its upto that point that the players themselves should take it upon themselves to justify Aw’s faith in them.i really hope this loss has sent the message to all our players and if they read the correspondence in the Arsenal blogosphere that fans have had enough…
oliver, nik is always the same, he thinks he is so great yet for his club he seldom delivers…. mr arrogant in my book….
I didn’t think about that oliver/KT, very good point
Rico have you ever heard anyone claim mourinho/benitez as their second father?…nuff said.
K-TR7 again spot on with the Fabianski – Bendtner comparison the only thing I would say is that the keepers mistake yesterday wasn’t a misjudgement it was a choice to not come and catch the ball at it’s highest point hence bad technique which left himself open to a striker nipping in ahead of him. That in itself leads to criticism where as Bendtner did get himself into good positions was just crap to finish the chances, both not good enough but maybe for differeing reasons?.
K-TR7 think the father figure thing is also linked to them being totally pampered at The Arsenal. They are papmpered and wrapped in cotton wool maybe thats also whats wrong? to much to young don’t appreciate what they have and don’t fight for it when it goes wrong because basically they don’t have to, back to the comfort zone you and Oliver have mentioned.
never kt…..
Rico thats exactly my point.Aw can only be your second father upto a certain point only.a real champion will take it upon himself to take maximum use of the faith and protection of Aw.Cesc has done that and i hope more follow.
Guys and Gals, I am off for the day, catch you all tomorrow, stay safe all…. Nighty night…
So do I KT but I also won’t mind if a few don’t…..
Goodnight Lady of the House. Chat soon.
Evenihang all,
Has anyone heard about Wenger’s mistress??
http://www.footylatest.com/arsenal-plead-for-privacy-after-arsene-wenger-tabloid-allegations/17853
ra, if you should pop on and read this, dallas has just fired wade phillips as head coach. from super bowl favorites to 1-7 cellar-dwellers. unfortunately, they are at the giants on sunday. with wade, i would be confident of a blowout win for the giants. with a new coach (offensive coordinator, former cowboys and giants backup qb jason garrett), dallas may play much harder than they would have for wade. a difficult game just got even more difficult.
It’s ok Oliver, maybe I’ll wait for a reaction at Wolves tomorrow…though I must say I’m a little skeptical, seeing as Wolves outplayeed Man U in their backyard. We’ll just have to see. Maybe that game will lift all the apathy!
Thanx mates, I’ll catch up with you later!!
Morning all, new post up