I’m sure every football fan in England, barring Arsenal fans of course, probably expect us to suffer the first of many losses today and actually, I suspect that a few Arsenal fans feel we won’t get all three points in the bag away from home.
Well, not this one.
All the news in the sporting world about Arsenal has been negative, the immanent sale of Fabregas, the strongly suspected exit of Nasri and of course a few others could be on their way too – Bendtner, Eboue and Almunia…
When Paddy left, Fabregas stepped up, when Henry left, Robin stepped up and when Lauren left, Eboue came good and when Eduardo left, Nikki B stayed the same – lost!
My point, well as another few look to depart, others will step up, as they always have done.
Just like when Henry was in his final years with us, every game was based around him and just like these last few seasons, when Cesc played is been all about him, well now it’s time to become a team again and not just rely on one player to work that bit of magic.
Today is the start of a new era at Arsenal, a new Captain and a new beginning for all.
When Henry left for Barcelona, you could almost see the players grow two inches; the weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
They had been set free and today that freedom begins all over again.
Cesc is pretty much gone, a new Captain will begin his reign and our season begins –our younger players will step up, they’ll play with freedom and they’ll enjoy themselves…
Gervinho, Ryo, Jenkinson and Chamberlain are all out to prove themselves and no doubt, prove themselves they will…
Ok, we have Wilshere out but so what, let’s not start worrying about one mans absence again, football is a team game and we have a squad for a reason…
Yes the squad is still missing a couple of players, certainly a defender but with the money we get from impending sales, hopefully Wenger get those sorted out.
If we do, then let the so called pundits eat their words……
For us, it’s a new day, a new season and we will not be far off from being a new team….
May that team bring us joy…..
So, as many feel sadness about our Spaniard leaving, don’t forget there’s always another to step up and make his mark…..
And not all of them will be out injured too often and not all will be thinking about returning to their boyhood club……
Now all Wenger needs to do is spend what money he has from any sales and if he gets the right ones, this season could be a special one….
On a lighter note and as allezkev pointed out last night, afc.com announced the new squad numbers yetserday and Gervinho is listed as wearing the number 27 on his back…
Add to that, Eboue is not even included in the squad, surely that’s no way to tell a player he’s leaving is it?? 😉
After all the talk about exits, we have signed another young player – yep, it’ s the one who failed to turn up for his medical after he heard Old Red Nose was sniffing around, if he ever was!!
Joel Campbell is a 19 year old striker and the first thing that springs to my mind is ‘What now for Vela’ ?? Another loan no doubt….
Wenger had this to say about his new boy:
Joel Campbell has already shown that he is a player with great ability, and has also performed well on the international stage at a young age. We look forward to the formalities of the transfer being completed and working with Joel when he joins us at Arsenal.
Enough young uns now Arsene, go get us a few ‘Men’, talking of which….
The ever reliable Sun newspaper report that Arsenal have told Citeh if they want Nasri, we’ll have Tevez! He wants to be nearer to home and as London is closer to Argentina than Manchester a deal could be on the cards. 😉
Wouldn’t that deal be a cracker…..
That’s it folks, footie is back and are you ready……….
Morning…….
Rico. Good morning. Optimism? Yes, I will go along with that and hope that we can do the business today. Only hope that any success doesn’t get Arsene thinking that we don’t need any more signings though.Tevez sounds unlikely but nice.
Tevez has to be the most crazy story ever!! Arsenal should have swopped fabregas with alcantara. I can see fabregas being sold by barca with 3/4yrs as surplus to requirements. Then what??? New York red bulls??
Hi Adam
Optimism is all i have right now, hoping that a new dawn will break and this squad will gel together and have a bit more fight in them.. I know we still have gaps, massive gaps but i’m hoping those will be filled once we get the money from Barca and maybe City. Wenger has said again he wants a defender and i hope thats Cahill and Dann….
Tevez is just typical of the garbage The Sun write….
I’m confident about today. We’re by far the better side and since we’re away there won’t be as many idiots shouting abuse at our players. Come on Arsenal!
Morning….
Arshavin to be the man this season…without cesc and nasri am hoping/thinking he will enjoy more team responsibility… well he is the russian captain, as i said heres to hoping cos if he does things will be better, and when he is when bothered its one hell of a player
Tevez to arsenal one of the funniest things I have herd in ages
The King, I know but all the time we tell them it makes people realise that the press are gutter and they are there to fabricate stories…
In fact, credit to Tony Pullis yesterday, in his press conference he was continually asked about which players he wanted to buy and told the i’v that he does his buisness with clubs, not with reporteres…
Then he something like, i’ll leave you to go and make it all up….
Good post!
Jonas, the away fans are normally in really good voice, they’ll certainly be behind the side today…
Hi robbie, it is, blame The Sun reporter not the messenger….
Wenger’s conference yesterday was a bit mixed up, but if you read his word on defenders he’s saying two things:
– The affordable ones aren’t good enough for the club
– The good enough ones are too expensive
He gave the first indication yesterday that he might not get a defender.
Morning Reds, and he looks a bit leaner, he’s overdue a big season..
Another who seems to be looking good but can’t last 90 mins is Rosicky…
Tevez makes sense in a lot of ways. It probably aint gonna happen but I can’t think of a team where he would fit in better or be more useful. We are getting bulldog spirit all over the park now and Tevez would be the icing on the cake.
If Wenger said: “You give us Tevez, we will give you Nasri” then that was a stroke of genius.
Also, the usual rumours about us not being in the top 4 abound. It makes me happy cos when people start saying that you know we will make a title challenge. Lets just hope that Dowd or Dean aren’t anywhere near St James’s Park today.
Optimistic? Of course. Why wouldn’t you be.
5:1. 2 for RVP, 1 for Gervinho and 2 for Arshavin. 1 Red Card for Barton (long overdue but very welcome!).
Come on you Gunners!
Cracking post mama bear…..I actually believe we ll tear them a new one. This team is missing fabregas and nashit. There is an element of surprise about it…we ll be unpredictable today…and when u look at the subs bench you just have to but smile….AOC and theo coming of the bench….oh my! Am creaming my pants already…COYG. Morning all
Thanks Aa
Hi Savage, i don’t believe a word AW says if i’m honest….
Good post that balances the + & -,hoping for the 3 points coz i think arsenal is by far the better of the 2 teams no matter what the anti arsenal brigade want to make us belive.Though we still need some signings but am sure Arsene wont let us down,good moning all.G4LIFE
Enjoyed watching the Joel Campbell video over on Arsenal Action – this deal is a big one from the Costa Rican point of view. But you have to feel sorry for supporters of a club that has “BIMBO” as it’s main sponsor !! LOL.
Observed that number “32” is not taken up, proabably reserved for Tevez.
The stumbling block will be his 200k weekly salary
Morning all,
nice post rico as all ways, top of the league would be a good start, as i hear it we have been doing defensive work in training which strikes me as funny, If it deserves a mention, does that mean we haven’t before. Ryo is apparently in Japan getting he’s visa sorted, so we will be without his services tonight, he is also not named to play in the first leg of our game against Udenese, so by the time he pulls the shirt on he will be raring to go, hopefully by that time we will be top of the league and a few goals up against Udenese. We have a good squad so no problems there.
Shaka,
I’d be chuffed to punch if we pulled off a deal for Tevez, according to ‘an insider’ at Citeh, he’d consider the move too 😉
Morning goonster, thanks re the post, shame Ryo is not playing today – he’s back in Japan…
I agree with the earlier post about arshavin. Everyone raves about Nasri, but arshavin had better stats for last season and was rated poorly. AA23 has never been played in the role where he is most expert. With fab leaving, and hopefully Nasri too (he goes missing for large parts of every game, I don’t understand the love affair with him), Arshavin might be given more authority to control the midfield. That is what he does best, and nobody else in the squad has his vision and control to set up plays.
Aa,
I’m not convinced Wenger will buy the defenders we need but something makes me wonder if he is hanging on in attept to get Cahill a bit cheaper in the last week of August, IF, the Chavs or Totts haven’t nipped in for him….
eric, i wouldn’t look to close to the squad numbers, they mucked up over Eboue 😉
Morning Steve, thanks
Shame about Ryo but at least we know he will play in the next couple of weeks, too right he’ll be raring to go, as will Chamberlain, Gervinho and Jenkinson..
Its a shame ryodinho won’t be available for selection. I would love to see newcastle attack us in the second half with him on the pitch…..come on you reds. We don’t need fab or nashit we are the GUNNERS!!!
Hi Cynik,
Not everyone here has raved about Nasri so much to be fair, first half of the season he was on fire, then when we needed him to step up, he faded, he obviously knew than he wasn’t going to stay….
Blanc has not been impressed with his attitude either…
Nasri has a bug according to reports, he caught it when in France…
More like a citeh bug…..
Is campbel gonna be eligible to join at 19 or would stil a case for permit as a special talent?
yes well said, and i think we will make the pundits eat there words this year, tevez would be good but v, persie fit is better
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/08/13/2617767/arsene-wenger-reveals-to-close-friends-that-he-is-preparing
I know Goal.com talks rubbish but….
I must admit Tevez, is a little terrier but i would personally not want that deal, get our centre back and let Tevez go home, we have just got rid of one home sick play we don’t need to be saddled with another. I can see the headlines now.
heu gooners,i dnt gve it a damn let nasri nd cesc go nd it ll make the rest of the team to get the load on their shoulders…..fab made us lose the barca game the last leg of uefa….so he can easly sell us more….samir is a trait so let him go……bt let them put this to mind,the issue of flamin,hleb,adre,reyes nd adebayor to mention but a few…..i wish them welll….watchout for clich down fall
Busy day again today, on and off for a bit…..
Spot on steve….we don’t want any disruptive force in the team. Tevez is not wanted in arsenal….he ll want out only after a season..let’s go get benzema instead.
Great post!! If you look at Wengers body language when he says things in his press conferences he gives away a lot. yesterday he was asked if he expected players to leave. He said “I never expect players to leave.” This has been spun into him saying he expects them to stay. Not what he meant clearly. When he was asked about Scott Dann in the exclusive interview on Arsenal Player his smile said all you needed to know. I think we will sign a CB but I would eat my hat if Tevez joined Arsenal.
Can wenger really be planning to walk away and be buyin players for the future?
I can see where your coming from Goonster but I’ll settle for a defender as our swan song
Positivity is needed now so great to read this post, unlike so many of the whinging doom mongering fan sites and so many others that seem to want Arsenal to fail and post article after article saying the same boring moan so they can attract more internet ‘hits’. Obviously Arsenal fans but It does make you wonder whether they actually want Arsenal to succeed? It’s like listening to Talk Sport.
Tevez would be a great swap, though he’d only stay one or two seasons before he wanted to leave, it might be a great short term signing. Komapny and De Jong would also be very useful to us.
We’ve bought some exciting young talent recently and all we need now is two players with proven experience and we’re all set.
Can’t wait for Cesc and Nasri to leave. They have both acted like unprofessional brats this summer and the club have acted as best they can under the circumstance and they really need to go now so that we can focus on getting in players that actually want to play for the Arsenal. I’m so sick of these guys spreading their negative crap to the other players.
Nice one mate. 3 points today gooners!
Wenger fuck you…bcs you need to buy two more defender for us like SAMBA ,GARY GAHIL….PLEASE MR WENGER OR ELSE YOU WILL LOSS YOUR JOB….!!!
Yeah steve but we need to replace the two “wantaways”….we have to.
Just a CB won’t be it for me….we need to replace fab and nasty
Morning rico, good post.
what I noticed about the press conferance yesterday is Wenger said nobody is leaving – we all know Nikki B and Eboue amongst others will be leaving. So when wenger says were not after mata,jadson and any other player we know not always to believe what he says. After all he is responding to the journo’s (playing them at their own game) and not talking to the fans directly.
On a sombre note, what Arsenal (and Liverpool) need to have hope this season is fairer referees. The refereeing last year was bad enough that in most leagues in Europe the Refs would have been sacked. You think I’m joking? This is absolutely the truth. Luckily a couple of the big hitters in the press have got their teeth into this and so to avoid embarassment we may hopefully see an improvement. Then we will see fair treatment during the run in. Hopefully also, Sir Alex will be told not to intimidate referees. It is such a joke that only United fans don’t think its happening. If it wasn’t for Dowd and Dean last year, we would have taken the title fight to the last day. They should hang their heads in shame!
great post…
we are THE ARSENAL keep the faith………..
I agree that people reacting to Wenger’s comments like he’s giving it to us straight is absurd, and stupid. We’re are trying to buy and sell players. To be in a good negotiating position we have to act like we don’t want anyone going out and we don’t need anyone coming in. Wenger’s going to reinforce that shit over and over until the season closes…. And then he’s going to switch gears and refuse to say anything that undermines the confidence of the team or individuals within the team. It’s part of his job.
Gary Cahill is in the last year of his contract.
Interested clubs can talk to him in January.
Liverpool are reported to be talking to him now.
Why pay £17million for a guy, when you can get him for nothing next summer?
Cittie and Chavs are probably waiting until then, safe in the knowledge that they can blow any financial package out of the water, offered to Cahill, from Arsenal or Liverpool.
The biggest losers here are Bolton….
The closer to August 31st the more like Harry Rednapp they’ll get….
In 18 days time, Bolton will be left with a valuable player and no way of making any income out of him.
Last minute transfer for Cahill anyone????
nice 1, wenger did d ryt thing by saying nasri will go nd tevez will come……but we fans can’t wait 4 d deal 2 be done……i want wenger to sign juan mata, chris samba, jedson, jagielka, maybe benzema if he agreeZ, with these players in that squad, i see arsenal as the epl champion
Tevez is good if wenger wil do that
Hi again guys 🙂
Morning kev, have a look at my 09.27 😉 😉
Phil Jagielka is 29.
A few weeks ago, he must have thought he’d won the jackpot, when Arsenal came in for him.
A talented, hard-working pro, who had done ‘his bit’ in the lower divisions.
And now he had the chance of a high-profile move to a top-four club.
Champions League football, a bit of glamour, helped in his quest for a regular England spot with better quality coaching.
But Everton’s unrealistic valuation has taken that away from him.
Will he get a similar chance elsewhere???
Do you think he’s very happy???
Everton stuck with an unhappy player…
Morning Rico, very upbeat post, excellent work boss 😉
Morning Gooners. I’d be happy with a narrow 1-0 win…
Rico, i’ve never thought that Wenger ‘had’ to do his work before today.
I can understand why many fans wanted that to be the case, and in an ideal world that’s what AW would have done.
I ignore what he says to the Press.
Do you think he ‘respects’ them?
Are they professional in their work or just liars?
If we sign a centre-half at 23.59 on August 31st, then i won’t be cutting my wrist…
Rico, what about Tevez then??? 😆 😆 😆
Thanks Kev, got to be done on matchday 😛
Jags can take a hike… i read he didn’t want to join us…
Morning to those just joining….
In a flash Kev 🙂
Cant wait for today’s game, really looking forward to the team sending out a clear message. We are here and we aint going nowhere. Let’s be honest the team did very well without Cesc for 90% of last season. and Nasri for 50% of last season.
RVP, Theo and the rest want to play for Arsenal and will give everything to do so. I am backing them all to show what this club is all about this season!! Come on You Gunners, Join the positive revolution and Positive Gooners on Facebook!!
Re: Jag. Is that right Rico?
Must lack ambition then…
Does he expect Cittie or Chavs or ManUre to come in for him then?
Liverpool are gonna finish 5th, so a move there is just sideways.
But like you, i wasn’t really excited by the thought of him joining us.
I was just wondering how happy he is, at his age, to have his ‘Big Move’ go down the Swanny…?
Lee will smile todaye, Goal.com link us to Marvin Martin….
They must have been reading Lee’s comment yesterday 😉
Rico, i’m sure Lee will also smile, when he has a curry in front of him…. 🙂
Marin Martin….sounds like he sings for the Motown label…..
Marvin…!
Don’t fret guys we ll do them…as long as the officiating is fair. We were on the receiving end of some harsh calls last season notably the game against everton at home. Morning Kev…how are you doing?
Guys, back later, cooking to be doing 🙁
😆 Kev
Morning Stan.
Now promise me you’re gonna stay calm today… 🙂
I did read that Peter Walton is the referee today….
Not sure how we’ve done with him in the past?
Forget the optimism this team cant defnd for its life and have the tortoise in midfield aka Alex Song they will dominate us and win 2-0.
Arsenal will generally struggle to win in any of the first games.
sounds as if yuor almost wishing that to happen?
We may struggle to defend but we can be pretty handy on the offensive so I expect us to score. Gervinho will get one I reckon
Good read.Wenger has said we aren’t going for Mata.i guess in his mind he expects ryo/oxo to replace nasri/fab.thats where i don’t get him.he said we lacked maturity last year but instead he replaces our experienced players with kids who have never played in the PL.i’ll give him till the end of the window till to see if he’ll buy what we need using the possible £60mil of cash.if he doesn’t…
i think not losing this game is very important,otherwise all hell will break lose…..
even it is a 0-0 draw or a 1-1 it is ok….not losing many games is important…
but 1-0 will be super…..
India 62 for 4.
Reel em in boys…
Where’s Shrek..?
Marvellous Marvin Martin Magnificent….Morning HH, let’s give it to the magpies today! Swift counter-attacking football, Gervinho on the score sheet….COYG!!
AK looking forward to your celebratory ruby tonight? Hopefully a double celebration….with the cricket!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
At this rate Arsene is digging his own grave.if we fail to beat udinese/newcastle the pool game will be tense and pool score first…
Wenger rules out bringing in £20m Mata
By Sam Wallace
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Arsene Wenger delivered more bad news to Arsenal fans yesterday when he announced that the club’s interest in the Valencia midfielder Juan Mata was officially over, as the club braced themselves to complete the sales of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri with the manager refusing to discuss either player.
Wenger would not offer any insight on the departure of his captain to Barcelona or the impending deal with Manchester City for Nasri, even claiming at one point that he did not “expect” any player to leave. All he could say for definite was that Mata, the £20m-rated Spain international, will not be joining Arsenal. He said: “We will not do Juan Mata. I don’t have to give you a reason, I just said to you we will not do it.”
There is an expectation that Arsenal could complete deals for Fabregas and Nasri, worth a total of around £60m, at any point this weekend. Neither player is in the squad for today’s game against Newcastle United. Wenger claimed that Nasri has the flu while Fabregas is in the puzzlingly ambiguous situation of being “not injured, but he is not match-fit,” according to his manager.
Last night Arsenal refused to confirm reports that Fabregas was on his way to Spain to sign for Barcelona.
The closest Wenger came to admitting that his team is facing up to the prospect of the new season without two of their key performers was when he contended that the team was not reliant on one individual. “You always hear that but football is not about one magical man who can make miracles when things go badly,” he said.
Earlier he said: “We are all replaceable. All the centuries are full of replaceable people. Sometimes when you lose a big player the game changes. A big player attracts the game to him. Sometimes [when he leaves] other people stand up and take more responsibilities and the game is a bit different, but not less efficient. But you do not want to lose big players, if that is the question.”
The one player whom Wenger conceded will be leaving the club is Nicklas Bendtner, who is not included in today’s squad. Bendtner’s departure has been messy which was reflected in Wenger’s ambivalence towards him when asked where the Dane was going. “He looks like he knows but I don’t know,” he said. On Jadson, the £12m-rated Brazilian midfielder at Shakhtar Donetsk he said, “We are nowhere near doing that.”
Nevertheless there was a promise to buy a centre-back by the end of the month. He said: “We will have a new centre-back by the end of the transfer window because [Thomas] Vermaelen only played five games last year. To buy just for the sake of buying you won’t find me there. If I’m convinced the player has the qualities I will always do it if he’s better than the players we have.
“If I’m convinced that the player brings some extra qualities to the squad, we will always [buy] him. If we overpaid a little bit… but to pay three or four times the price you must really be convinced that this is the player you need. At the moment we have not found that player.”
While refusing to talk in specifics about Fabregas’s departure, Wenger defended the time it has taken to sell the captain to Barça. “It does not depend only on me. You have three parties in the deal and the pace is not necessarily set by you, it is set by people who want to buy, by how much you resist to how much you defend your property. That is logical [to negotiate hard]. If I didn’t do that I would be unprofessional.”
[www.independent.co.uk]
__________________________________________________________
Apparently, the last peice of jig-saw puzzle to 2011/12 team is a “reasonable-prized” CB who will be better than Squillaci, Djourou or Koscielny.
Koscielny was bought at £10m?
Squillaci at £5m?
Guess we are looking at the price range of £5m to £10m for the new CB.
Think Dann may ticked all the boxes at £6m to £8m if he is willing to join Arsenal over his hometown club Liverpool.
Replacement for Nasri?
Wenger has Arshavin, Rosicky and now Gervinho, RYo Miyaichi and even OXalde-Chamberlain comes to a push.
of corse, all the newbies will come in as supersub with Gervinho, Arshavin and Rosicky fighting for a slot in left-midfield and left forward.
Replacement for Cesc?
None other than Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky and even Oxalde-Chamberlain.
Pity Henderson and Diaby are injured, and Lansbury has yet to sign his contract.
Well, Wenegr can always field a defensive 4-2-3-1 in away matches against teams that will defend with 4-5-1 under the impression that we are vulnerable to hoof-ball as well as our very predictable play of Crab Football like last season.
But my feeling is that withotu Nasri adn Cesc, Wenegr will revert to more direct football like played with teh french Spine, a directness with no fear of shooting outside the box, instead of “walking the ball into goal”.
I think it was someone had pointed out – how many assists had Nasri last season? One actually.
Like what Wenger did with a 18-year-old Cesc in 2004/05 season, we will see a chnaging of guard with 19-year old WIlshere and Ramsey as the nucleaus of his FOURTH TEAM.
That THIRD TEAM with Fabregas as the FULCRUM – 2004/05 to 2010/11 – ended with a whimper when both of his key players in Cesc and NAsri expected to leave by August.
Perhaps, I see 2011/12 “A” Team as:
…………………Szczesney
…Sagna…..Koscielny…..Vermaelen…..Gibbs
…………..Song……….Frimpong
…Walcott………..Wilshere………..Gervinho
…………………Van Persie
We need Song-Frimpong as the defensive shield and sweep that space betwen Back-4 and MIDFIELD when we are playing a high-line and as the 1st line of Defence against counter-attack.
WIlshere should be in attacking mdifielder settign up plays with Walcott-Van Persie – Gervinho interchanging posiitons and Van Persie in “Bergy’s Hole” to paly one-two to run clear, plus all those thru balls and short passes for speedster in Thoe and gervinho to do blind-side running into the box.
But our “B” Team this weekend with Wilshere out injured?
Then it is time for all those senior players to satndupa nd be counted.
I see “B” Team as:
…………………..Szczesney
…Sagna……..Koscielny……Vermaelen…….Gibbs
…Walcott……..Song………..Rosicky……Gervinho
………………………….Arshavin
……………..Van Persie
We attack and attack, using the tenacity of Rosicky to add bite in midfield in tandem with Song. And Rosicky has the experience as CM to go against the expected Tiote-Chabaye pairing.
But if this team is expected to score 4 goals, this defence is solid enough and should not collapse so shamefully like last season.
A true leader like Vermaelen will not allow it.
I reiterated, I had already resigned to Wenger not bringing in more players now.
But hey, any players he buys before AUgust 31 is just a pleasant surpirse to me.
________________________________________________
Oh yeah, I am willing to stick my neck even though by evening, I may very well ended with eggs on my face.
India 87 for 5.
Hi Lee. that would make for a perfect day mate.
KT, very interesting game AFC vs LFC, considering that all the ‘experts’ are predicting that LFC are gonna take our place in the top4.
Dalglish has spent almost £100million. He is also under pressure…
All out by tea Lee and a big win up North 😉 🙂
I’m off to look at a Boston Terrier….my kids have been on my case and I’ve finally buckled! Then the pub for the match so, catch you guys/gals later, hopefully after we’ve given the garibaldis a drubbing!! 😉
Laters Lee, you have a cracker 🙂
I’m off again too… 🙁 🙁
There is no way wenger can justify us not going for experienced players after getting £60mil from cesc/nasri,£10mil from bendy and £3mil from eboue.don’t forget he also had a transfer kitty which we don’t know how much it was but that shows we have lots of cash.there is no room for penny pinching.am tired of him lying to us all the time.if we go to the season without adding experienced players i want wenger sacked.am hoping that goal.com article is true about him leaving.he is done and past it.we need fresh blood not a bloody lunatic running the club. i,£10mil from bendy and £3mil from eboue.don’t forget he also had a transfer kitty which we don’t know how much it was but that shows we have lots of cash.there is no room for penny pinching.am tired of him lying to us all the time.if we go to the season without adding experienced players i want wenger sacked.am hoping that goal.com article is true about him leaving.he is done and past it.we need fresh blood not a bloody lunatic running the club.
You know, in recent seasons, when LFC are out of the Champions League, we always get the Scouse Mafia in the media, predicting the demise of AFC at the expense of their ‘little darlings’….
Blimey KT, you are on a downer buddy.
Tendulkar run-out.
India 96 for 6
AK there is a reason cesc is leaving,he doesn’t believe in Arsene anymore.don’t believe the ‘going home’ crap.nothing would’ve meant more to cesc than leading his team to glory but he knows thats not going to happen under arsene.the look on cesc’s face when b’ham netted the winner in the cc final said it all.then we have arsene grinning like a cat all smug and cocky yesterday in his press conference lying to us again.he thinks he is so damn clever to spin doctor everything that came his way.i have 0% faith in him right now as we look set to go into the season with massive gaps all over the team again.im beginning to believe in spectrum’s catch phrase ‘In Arsene we rust’.
Ramsey has yet to rediscover the form he showed prior his leg break.you also never know what to expect with rosicky.if Arsene thinks those 2 can replace one of the best CMs in Europe then we are in for a long and hard season that will see us not even making it into channel 5.rvp/theo/AA will have 1 year left on their contracts by the end of this season.if they have good seasons do you expect them to renew their contracts?…Arsene always says we are very close to the title but in reality we are even closer to being the new everton/villa.
Mata has no interest in joining Arsenal. That’s why Wenger has ruled him out; an agreement is impossible. If you look at the time — right after our fairweather fans booed our team in a friendly — you can make your own assumptions as to why Mata decided to stay at Valencia and wait for interest from elsewhere..
Kev, I had a look at ACLF today and saw yesterday’s post. Seems our friend went down there as he did here.
Afternoon guys…
England win 😛
Kev, i said it would be over by tea time 😉
An innings and 242 runs is huge.
afternoon all
are we excited or what..
Rico. Did a super class player sign for us this week? Or was this another Arsene Wenger fantasy? Perhaps next week then.
Hi jj.am not excited at all to be honest.
I knew you’d appear today jj 😉 how are you??
Sure is massive victory..
Adam, in a word, no…. Next week?? I doubt it….
im good thanks rico.
yeah ust had a little HH break..come back all refreshed for the new season..
ktr im nervous mate our squad isnt good enough..
i cant believe what ive heard and witnessed so far from the club..
total let down..
this will be the demise of wenger hes saying things and doing things that the fans wont accept anymore..if this goes wrong its his job this time..
all summer ive heard we will be buying big stars and keeping nasri and cesc and its all been bollox..another shitty window eh..
Fabragas is a great player, but Let’s not over rate what he brought to the team. First of his presence on the field last year certainly didn’t guarantee us a win. In fact, looking at last season only on a purely statitical basis, I think his presence had very little impact at all either way. We were actually slightly worse with him.
A great player – and many of you insist he is great – lifts his team and makes them all better. The best example of that would be what Maradona did for Napoli, but we see it all the time in many sports at every level. Great players are supposed to make those around them better. Fabragas has never done this.
To add insult to injury, Fabragas was an invisible Captain who hung his head with an air of defeat 1,000 times more often than he rallied his team. He hardly even spoke to struggling players. Never gave a word of encouragement or warning. Where was he to step in and break things up when players began to loose their cool on the pitch? I’ve seen real Captains run 60 yards to break things up before they get out of hand. The truth is that Cesc is a follower, not a leader. He will do a fine job under a strong Captain, but should never be given the arm band again.
So I’m convinced we are better off without him. He’s obviously a quality player, but he’s been overrated, especially on the basis of last season. We will indeed be better off with 2 average players with spirit and drive.
I read an interesting piece, probably speculative, which suggested that Wenger knows his reign is coming to an end. If that is the case I wonder wh he would be spending on players for the future when it seems obvious that th club needs players for the present.
I’m up for this season too jj, i think it’s going to be a very interesting one….
I actually think Jack and Rambo will be better than Cesc.
adam
ive often thought wengers ambition for trophies had gone and he was just putting the club in a decent financial position for the future..his egos massive..there has to be some logical explaination..only problem with this is that he would be destroying his legecy in saving money for the next manager and making himself look like a right nugget..
so i dont think hes doing that
he actually thinks what hes doing works..
Wenger is just stupid and stubborn jj.
Is that the goal.com article Adam, they suggest AW has told friends his reign is coming to an end….
Just back from the gym
Hi Will, yeah, i had to laugh at the Extremist, i don’t think the guys on ACLF knew what to do with him. 🙂
KT, i saw what you wrote mate… Don’t give up on them yet.
I can fully understand your frustration, but lets see how we go over the next 18 days….
Cahill has scored for Bolton….
JJ. Point taken. How many times have I heard an Arsenal fan over the past few season (and especially lately) begin a conversation with the words “I can’t understand how a man as intelligent as Wenger…blah, blah blah”. We all see him as this slightly professorial man, highly educated and keenly bright don’t we? And yet he has thrown away at least 2 championships in the last few years, in my opinion, because of a lack of either insight into what the team needed, a fear of getting it wrong or perhaps an arrogance that he knows best. Whatever the case, he has been wrong, as the trophy cabinet so painfully illustrates. I also believe that Cesc and Nasri lost belief in him. Not because of what he did but rather because of what he didn’t. They wanted to see world-class players coming in because they thought they should be playing next to them. Cesc will achieve that soon. I haven’t heard one Arsenal fan, in possession of a brain, call for Wenger to buy £30 million players or bankrupt the club in some wild spending spree which is an attitude that he always flags up as being the sole alternative. On the other hand I haven’t spoken to one Arsenal fan who I could respect who believes that our defense is anywhere near good enough for a serious tilt at the title. Perhaps all will be sorted in the coming few weeks but I fear it will need a sudden awakening on our manager’s part for that to happen.
Adam, you make some good points, but Nasri is leaving for the £££s.
Read an interesting article about Nasri’s agent, apparantly he was Bernard Tapies No.2 [spelling?] when Marseilles were corrupting Ligue Un, back when Wenger was at Monaco and Primorac was at Valenciennes.
Apparantly he took a lot of the rap for what Tapie did.
So maybe a bit of ‘payback’…?
Kev. It may suit our egos to believe that but no-one really knows that to be true. Nasri was on message and ready to sign apparently, up until recently. What changed his mind? Money? Possibly. But I believe it goes deeper. After all, didn’t Arsenal offer him over £100k a week. On the other hand, perhaps you are right.
Rico. Yes, that was the article I saw.
I think this is the piece…
http://miostadium.com/node/17448
Hope that’s right…
Adam, i agree with most of what you have just written there but the nasri and fabregas bit – nasri is a money grabbing toad and fab just wants to go home…..
Goal.com talk rubbish though Adam…
Adam, we offer him £100k a week, City are offering £185k a week. That is an extra £4420000 a year. why do you think he is going?
Rico. I doubt if the reasons are that clear cut and I doubt if there are single reasons. But, in life, we each believe a combination of the truth and what we need to, so perhaps you are right. Or as right as me anyway.
Maybe Adam, if Gazides had got his arse in gear, we would have had Samir signed up?
Maybe a couple of big signings could have swayed him?
But once Cittie saw a chink, man they were in like Flynn with £185k pw [if true]…. that would have turned anyones head…
Mate it’s just a shit sandwich….
I blame the Board, slow off the mark, and not doing their job…
Rico. Most sites talk rubbish. A honorary exception to your good-self of course.
where in the world will we afford tevez’s weekly wages?
I suspect part of what you say is right too Adam but i’m convinced with Nasri it’s the money, he’s not be with us long enough to give up on the team….
Afternoon Rico…. btw
Great result by the cricket team. Number One in the World.
Where is Shrek…?. 🙂
Rico, i see that JJ has come home at last, after staying out all night. 😉
Believe me Rico. It is NOT all about the money.
Scott Dann on the bench, for Birmingham………..???
Adam, are you saying it is for the prestige of playing for Man City?
Afternoon guys…..any one seen the squad yet?
£20million Jordan Henderson, substituted…….
kev haha
im a dirty stop out..
wengers time is nearly up kt
theres no way he will win anything with this squad and theres no way thefans will forgive him for this summer alone,never mindthe last 5
Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, Arshavin, Gervinho, Van Persie
Cracking result kev, at least one side we support has won today, now for the Gooners 🙂
Adam – like i say, i’m sure some of it is being naffed off with not winning and not signing major players but nasri should have realised we aren’t that kind of club, we should be 😉
and oh yeah
nsri for tevez would be a great deal..but it wont happen
tevez wages are too high
and tevez is a winner he wont come to arsenal he doesnt need a stepping stone and unless we sell tevez after a year theres no resale value..
other than that he would be immence for us but we know wenger wont do it..gazidis is just as bad as well..
good start to stans reign too,usmanov will be rubbing his hands together..
That’s a funny one Kev, they haven’t got many defenders, he’s on his way to london maybe 🙂
£22.8 million Suarez.
£35 million Carroll
£20 million Downing
And a 1-1 draw after taking the lead….
King Kenny under pressure?
will
howdy mate..thats not a strong squad i can still remember what we were like last year.. im looking forward to the game but im not convinced we will get the points
You all watching ESPN??
Hiya JJ.
Are you gutted that Eboue is joining Galatasaray???
Rico. I am just off to a mate’s place to watch the game with some friends. Fingers crossed for a good result.
Subs:
Fabianski, Chamakh, Djourou, Frimpong, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott
Chat later then Kev, hope its a good un too…..
I have a good feeling about today.
im even more gutted that we still have almunia and we could only get shut of denilson on loan..
they’ll be gone jj, almunia, eboue and nik, all very soon i’m sure….
🙂 Rico
Almunia is off to Malaga on loan i heard…. more rumours 😆
Right i’m off to find a link, fingers crossed……
On loan Kev, more likely to be on holiday 😉
i think if we buy mata and cahill we would be a better team next year without cesc and nasri
i dont think we’ll get mata jj, not now he’s too expensive but i’m still hoping on a cheaper cahill deal this week….
Herer we go then…. 🙂
Can’t believe that pip squeak is playing… 😮
So, 20 gone, are we happy?
Why does Gibbs keep cutting in whe we are on the attack?? ramsey is off down the wing yet back we go….
Song, same old clumbsy tackles….. 🙁
Not a bad half, Gervinho can’t find a ‘final ball’ and RvP is struggling on his own….
Not a bad first half, a few more shots would be nice.
I’ll be happy with 1`-0… lata
Song needs off now.
Naughty Song, that’s a retrospective ban coming up….
Agree Will, that spat is far from over with Barton….
Same old reffing.
I hate Barton !!!
Walton had his back to Barton when he grabbed Gevinho, another for the FA to review… But, Gervinho should not have struck Barton…
Barton is a dirty little git, none of that would have happened had he not poked his nose…. And Taylor, he’s just as bad….
Struck? My mum has hit me harder.
Makes no odds Will, a raised hand is enough…..
The red card is correct… but Brton and taylor and one other should have all seen red too….
What narks me is how barton, who started it all is still on the bloody pitch….
Do we ever get fair ref decisions?
I would say shocking but we are used to ref’s cheating us like that and it is time Gazidis started to publicly ask questions.
we arent doing anything this year with that team
Will, i think we got lucky if i’m honest, Song should have had a red card for stamping on Barton, Gervinho’s red card was correct and Barton, the perpetrator should have also seen red but, Wlatons back was to the incident.
Both Song and Barton should get retrospective bans….
Maybe even Steven Taylor…
Yadda Yadda Barton this Barton that, yea we all know he is the scum of the earth, everyone knows that, so lets not act so shocked okay? And how about we look a little closer to home.
What does Arron Ramsey do for that team? Answer is, NOTHING, he bring nothing to the team and never has, so can we all stop pretending that he is the second coming?
I completely forgot Theo Walcott had actually come on, and as per usual did nothing… another player we all pretend is just fabulous because he is English, enough is enough, Theo should be sold on, lets cut our losses.
Alex Song is another that can follow him out the door, a DM who can’t defend??! I have new seen someone so slow on ponderous.
How about we spend some money, bring in Yoann Gourcuff play johan djourou as the DM beside him with two wingers, ENOUGH with the 4-5-1 formation, we need two strikers.
What must Robin Van Persie be thinking, having to play with such clowns..
SPEND SOME MONEY
jj – yep, i agree – we lack a goal scorer big time as today proved that when RvP isn’t firing, we struggle… gervinho was good but lacks the final ball or shot on goal…
Definately need a playmaker but then we were without Jack, Ches had a very good game and his kicking was so much better…
We need three players to be in with a real chance imho….
Wenger is wringing the life out of the club and it’s supporters and the saddest and most frustrating thing about it is that it doesn’t have to be like this.
I said this today.ramsey/sicky aren’t threatening enough to replace cesc.
Rico. Three new players yes. But what about some of the dross we are carrying? How stupid is Alex Song? He saw Barton and Diaby last year and he stamps on him. What a bleeding moron!
Blimey ESP, we weren’t that bad….
But, for a chance at something this season, yes, Wenger needs to spend some more money…
Walcott should have started, he seldom makes a difference from the bench and in his defence, he’s just been out for ten days or so injured….
Jesus, did we just get battered and I watched the wrong feed?
Kt, but Ramsey and Jack together are very different, i think we all agree that when nasri and fabregas are sold we need to buy – if wenger gets the money and doesn’t invest, then lets berate him…
Song is a pratt and now he’s going to be banned Adam, but Frimpong sill come in – for sure I would much rather we bought a big beast to play in DM and we should – but AW probably won’t…
Imho we need a spine, a CH, DM and a goal scorer… minimum requirement in my opinion………
We didn’t get battered Will as you know but now our next league game against Liverpool we will have no Gervinho and no Song….
But, neither did we batter newcastle and if we can’t do that, how will we fare against the top sides??
Adam,
I agree re Song, he was an absolute idiot!!
Rico you have no idea how annoyed I was watching todays match!
It seems like Wenger has learned nothing from his past experiences.
Teams figured us out years ago, we are so predictable. we need a tall, strong, mobile defensive midfield player, one that can command a midfield like Vieira did. And we need an already finished product to play along side him. no more 19 year old boys would struggle to pass the height requirements on their local fun fair rides. I believe Gourcuff is that player, hell even Chamackh knows it.
We pack our midfield so we can pass like crabs all day, and leave RVP on his own up front, how about we do demand Tevez?!!! certainly couldnt hurt to try.
Evening all,
I must say i have just witnessed complete domination of our side against Newcastle, i said to rico this morning that lightning does not strike in the same place twice, how wrong i was, Gervinho sent off for what, defending himself from a nasty uncontrolled idiot,. This has highlighted everything that Arsenal supporters have been saying for many years, there is a conspiricy against Arsenal football club without question, Backed up by the FA, Arsenal must be one of the fairest teams in the Premiership, and they treat us abysmally every week, Gervinho turned and felt the challenge and went down, the referee must have seen the incident very clearly. Barton raced to where gervinho was spreadeagled and hauled him to his feet and manhandled him, claimed that gervinho had punched him before he threw himself down on the ground, video evidence shows that Barton lied, but the referee deemed that gervinho deserved the red card, and Barton a yellow. this will be the end of the incident and we have yet again been cheated by the FA’s referee. This incident has proved to everybody that the FA and their officials are playing Arsenal to a very diferent set of rules to every body else in the league. This may sound like an Arsenal fan whinging but it is as clear as day that there is a conspiricy against us. The media and the press are all saying that the Arsenal will not make the top four this year, as if they know that the authorities are fixing the games. Barton as we all know, is a loose cannon and has showed that again today, but stay’s on the field of play while a talented newcomer has been blatently cheated, i think this situation has been allowed to carry on long enough and it is now time that Arsenal Football Club ask for an investigation into this bias, they are all on a witch hunt for Wengers head . four a week now on talk shite the only team and the only manager who is being hounded is us and Wenger its time for our hiereichy to ask for fair play.
Paul stop it, Vieira was a one off, just as Henry was and Bergkamp was. We need to give players a chance before saying things like that.
I must of watched a different game, I saw quick incisive play only let down by the last pass which will get worked out during the coming games. I see far more balls over the top from us for Gerv and co to chase after and I thought our defence was fantastic against the high ball against them.
Come on people, stop letting negative people form your opinions for you.
ESP, Trust me, I can imagine, i seldom hurl so much abuse at my television other than on days like today….
You won’t find me arguing, i have been saying similar for years now but, i won’t right off ramsey, jack and theo just yet and i also think chamberlain and jenkinson will be good additions
BUT
Right now and as we have done for 4/5 seasons, what we need is experience, no more young ones and personally i don’t want us to buy another player from outside the PL, we need them to be used to the game here so they make a difference from the off… We cannot afford them time to hget used to the game…
Well said Steve P.
we dominated that game and several times have their defence all over the shop. I feel far too many people are letting their preconceptions could their judgement.
Evening Steve…
Domination in the first half yes but we couldn’t score…. 🙁
i must have seen that barton incident differently, gervinho was in the wrong – just like diaby last season….. song was wrong… barton was terribly wrong as was steven taylor….
If Walton hadn’t have turned around, i’m sure he would have sent barton off….
Regardless of all that, we still lacked the killer pass and a finish today….
A friend who went to the game just rang. Said Wenger took a caning all game. I fear it will just harden his resolve though. Song will get retrospectively punished by the FA too. When is Wenger going to realize that the bloke is a liability? If you have limited skill. That’s one thing. But couple this with a complete lack of self control and you have Song. Surely Wenger must have told the team in words of one syllable that Barton would try the same thing as last year when he got that other idiot Diaby to bite. So what does Song do? If we can’t get through against a shower of shit like this Newcastle team and can’t even make their goalie make a save then we are about neck deep in shite already. Shocking performance really although the excuse mongers will be out in force. For me this is a sign of how Wenger has lowered expectations to such a level that we grasp at straws and convince ourselves that it wan’t that bad. It was. It was really, really bad and no progress has been made- at all. A storm is coming. I can feel it.
But that pass will come Rico, it was the first game of the season.
First half i thought we were good, second half we faded imho
Adam, I feel you are too harsh on Diaby, he had already been the victim of a career ending tackle and Barton had hacked him down all game, I am sure if someone was trying to break your legs for the entire game you would eventually snap.
Adam,
I am peed off with Song, I cannot believe he did such a stupid thing to such a waste of space of a footballer, now we will be without him for three matches.
Will that force Wenger to buy?? I suspect not, he’ll play Frimpong.
I honestly thought we would get off to a great start and beat a newcastle side that has lost a few of it’s better players, we couldn’t and we didn’t…
Yes we have the majority of possession, we made twice as many completed passes than they did no doubt but those stats are easy to obtain…
We did it with denilson, we are still doing it now…
Rico. Yes we were better in the first half but what did we create? Nothing. No progression through midfield, no guile. No one providing any ammunition. RVP is not a lone striker especially without Cesc to pick him out. Where and what is Wenger’s plan? Where is the quality from the super players he promised. If we had played at most other PL teams today, they would have undone us once and defended for the rest of the game.
Will, we shouldn’t have to wait for ‘the pass to come’ that is what pre-season is about…
Buy the time the league begins, we should be ready…..
Anyway. I am fed up with what I saw today already as was every other Arsenal supporter I watched it with. I am off to crack open a bottle of champagne and try to forget the whole thing. Night Rico and all intelligent Gooners.
Pre season is not competition. I do understand what you mean but no amount of pre season games can get that precision down.
I posted during the game Adam, ‘Robin is stuggling on his own’….
I get what you are saying but we looked comfortabl in the first half, like i said just now, we lacked the killer ball or a shot on goal….
We just seemed obvious, we had nothing special when we needed it…
That is what worries me too, we have a very difficult few weeks ahead…
Next up, CL qualifiers…. part one…
All i can say in response to some of your comments is you are now accepting these bad decisions as the norm now, and while we accept this and say nothing it will contnue. Personally i thought we fought hard chased the ball all game dominated the home side but lacked the killer touch, but of course i must have been watching a diferent game to you lot
Champagne Adam, nowt to celebrate after that match…. Enjoy though, see you soon….
Rico ramsey isn’t the answer no matter how much we want him to.we have to buy a top no.10.ramsey can’t be counted on for 40+ games.
Will, it should do though, it should be about putting the plans into place on the field, watching them perfect what they do in training etc etc…. Ok, I am not silly enough to believe every ball will be inch perfect, or every shot on goal will go in the goal but…..
How many passes around their box found a player only for the first touch to see the ball go to the oppo…?
Maybe i’m being fussy, but three points were there for the taking but sadly, we didn’t come away with them….
Steve,
what bad decisions, other than Barton should have been sent off?
I have to go before I get really depressed. See you guys tomorrow.
Kt,
But you know Wenger won’t see it that way, Paddy went, Cesc came in, Cesc goes, Ramesy steps up, thats how it is and if he and Jack can play as well as they did against the mancs last season, he’s good enough imho 😉
I think he would benefit from a proper hard tackling DM alongside him… Jack, Aaron +1
Sagnas booking for one, what did he do
Will I personally think we have given players 6 years of a chance, with nothing to show, its time to stop thinking we can buy cheap and expect gold.
And Vieria and co are not once offs, there are players of similar quality (well maybe not Bergkamp!) all over, they just don’t play for us. I just think enough with the small players, enough with the 4-5-1 formation and enough with the constant side to side passes.
There were positives today, TV5 looked solid and I think with out a doubt should be captain.
Szczesny didn’t put a foot wrong, didn’t have much to do, but did it well.
Gervinho showed great ambition to go forward. Sagna, did well, no shocks there, quality RB.
And even Rosicky played well, thinks he can sometimes lack confidence but the guy had a footballing mind and it really shows on the pitch.
Rico what formation do you think we should play?
At the risk of being banned from this site forever 😉 … this game oddly makes me want us to sign Barton. Sure he is a horses ass, but I like his spirit. He has a desire to win. I want to see that attitude on our team. Of course Wenger will be so incensed there is no chance it will happen now, if it was ever a credible rumour to begin with.
Anyway, I’m OK with this result. The back four were pretty solid, with some nice plays by everyone at times. Gervinho seemed intimidated. I hope he gains some confidence and takes on his targets a bit more directly.
Oh yeah. Rosicky looked good. That is a happy surprise.
Rico cesc at the time was showing great promise and had not spent a year out after being shawcrossed.we must sign a no.10 or else we’re screwed.
Doc Brody, Barton has a desire to rile up the other person so that the other guy reacts to him.Thats not the same as the desire to win.
Steve, i can’t remember but at the time, i din’t think much of it… Remind my old grey matter please 😉
ESP, 4-4-2
😆 Doc but we don’t want that little scum bag with us, he’s poison….
I thought Rosick and AA looked good – but they get tired and it shows….
Kt, we have a number ten, it’s RvP and i don’t mean his number either, and what about AA??
allezkev I am here . Congrats the the English Cricket team. They have outplayed my team. Enjoy your victory (for now). Coming back to football matters ,I am highly disappointed with the result. Some Arsenal blogs were saying 1-2 weeks ago that we should have signed this chap known as Barton . I guess today we all know now why any top club in England doesn’t want him. I cannot believe the refs can be so stupid & incompetent. Just curious as I have never been to a football stadium before, doesn’t every stadium for PL teams have a huge screen inside ?
hi shrek, he’s poison…… i bet even Arry wouldn’t want him….
I still think we should go for Parker….
Yeah RVP is a perfect no.10, we need a number 9 i think!
-Rico. Do you believe Wilshire and Ramsay are good enough to be the midfield pairing in a 4-4-2?
I think Parker is OK for the PL but I feel he is not suited for CL . Hey rico, please answer my question ,” Do football stadiums have screens inside the arena?
With a beast of a defensive midfielder in with them, yes ESP…
I think so shrek, most anyway if not all…
Some of my perfect 10’s are Del Piero,Rivaldo,Ronaldinho,Zola,Totti,Bergkamp
Thanks rico for answering that, do the refs not even bother to look up at the screen when there is a questionable call?
They are not allowed to shrek…. same with cricket, they cannot use the screens to make their decisions…
It is Sad because what happens is that the ref inevitably looks at a wrong decision after he has issued it on the screen or misses a foul which is highlighted on the screen thus adding more pressure to get the next decisions right or reverse the injustice
I’m not sure many of them bother looking to be honest shrek, the games gets going again usually before the replay is shown…
Shrek if Totti had played for a bigger club he would’ve gotten more recognition and maybe a ballon d’or along the way.
Sure the game gets going , but I am sure it plays on their minds, they are humans after all
I’m not sure shrek, i think todayas game showed exactly why we need technology bought into the game…..
Guys, i’m done for the day, catch up tomorrow sometime
Night all
Thank you Shrek, glad your back.
To be fair, you was missing your best bowler…
Went straight out for a nice meal, after the game, and a few pints, so i missed all the post match chat.
Now i’m feeling mellow.
But i saw/heard Pardew on MotD, and that guy is an 18caret cnut.
How Barton stayed on the pitch is a total joke after ripping Gervinho’s shirt off of him.
Gervinho was caught, as those tossers on MotD showed, so maybe it was a penalty..?
Steven Taylor is responsible for getting Gervinho sent off, he ran straight to the Lino and influenced his input.
If Gervinho went, then it was an absolute scandal that Barton didn’t go. That was the officials proving to us all that they are cowards.
Alex Song should have gone, what a mug!
Now both he and Gervinho will be suspended.
As for the game… Well Newcastle parked the bus.
Did Szczesny have a difficult save to make? I don’t think so…
Arsenal had to be the home team, even though they were away!
I thought the defence did ok. Did we miss Clichy. I don’t think so!
Sagna, Kos And Verm all had solid games. Gibbs was Very good.
Midfield lacked creativity. Ramsey dovetails best with Wilshere.
I don’t see Rosicky as a regular, although he didn’t do much wrong.
Song was, well, Song. A mixture of good stuff and ponderous clumsinesss. Frimpong could have an opportunity now. But i’m not sure he’s ready yet, hope i’m wrong…
Gervinho had a game to forget. Still adapting to the EPL, he needs a suspension like a hole in the head. I saw some promise in him while he was on the pitch.
RVP and AA have had better games.
Walcott? I wonder when he’s gonna live up to the hype?
Last season, Arsenal might have lost this game. So it’s not all doom and gloom, as far as i’m concerned.
Sorry fellas [that’s some of ya], i’m not ready to take an overdose yet… 🙂
Gervinho looks like all flash and no substance…just another “Arshavin Mark 2”.
Gibbs is the weakest link. When caught high-up on the ptich, he does not have the energy, quickness nor that CLichy Engine to patrol left-flank up-and-down.
He and Arshaivn did not track bakc, leaving left flank exposed and thanks to better integration of Back-4 and MIDFIELD, we were not punished.
Arshavin and Walcott had no impact on this game.
Consolation:
Last season, we would have lost this game to a sucker-punch.
But this season, we showed mental toughness and steeliness to grind out a result and kept a clean-sheet.
By Sept 4, we will know whether we are title-contender on a mediocre team.
But my feeling is that this team is tough and will keep clean-sheets even against Liverpool and ManU.
The problem is scoring at the other end.
New Post up….