Big game tonight at Everton, only a win will do here. After losing ground badly in the early part of the season we must get a positive result to maintain any hope in the league.
The next few weeks of fixtures are kind as they are the so called weaker teams not the big four type games, whilst the others will play each other. It is in this time that Arsenal must gain some ground and winning is vital in the next 2 months. Then at the end Arsenal will face a run in which is very tough but if they do what they need to do the next 10 games they may be in a position where they could control much of their own fate. These big games will decide who wins the title.
I am not predicting Arsenal will win the title, but to start with a win tonight would be a good start and come april and may lets see what can happen.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, September 5, 2008
Stephen could make me a bit Appiah.
“There are contracts, there are talks – I can’t say anything yet,” said Appiah, 27, welcoming Wenger’s renewed interest.
“I am not going to put people off, my agents are talking so I have nothing else to say.”
From the above quote it may seem like the only obstacle to this free agent aquisition may indeed be the Arsenal Boss. It certainly seems as though this player who has had some injury "issues" in the past is very keen to come to the EPL. As an ardent Arsenal fan and quite dismayed by the lack of activity in the final transfer deadline hours all I can say is that the team needs him, Fabregas needs him and I fervently hope Mister Wenger recognises this.
There are definite problems at Arsenal and they are probably connected to the stadium. In the past I have wrote about Wengers re-evaluation of the football landscape post Abramovich and how his approach was now going to be a dedicated production line of youth players who would mature into world class players. Now it seems like every year a number of the present stars will be sacrificed in order to make payments on the stadium. This begs the possibility of Fabregas leaving soon and the absolute possibility of Adebayor leaving next year, a move perhaps he wanted this past summer.
However lets get back to Stephen Appiah, an opportunity so great as this does not come along every day. A midfielder with more experience and quality than Arsenal already possess to be a partner to Fabregas, has come on the market. No transfer fee and no deadline apart from other clubs who may act more speedily. People wonder if he still has injury problems, I say lets get him in. Wenger played the part of poker Arsene in the final hours of the transfer window and got played by Rafa Benitez. It was very hard to see Liverpool letting us have Alonso although a bid in the region of 17-18 million would have been interesting, alas we will never know. Now Arsene has been granted a stay of execution if you will, he would be wise to take this opportunity if for no other reason than to give the team some depth. Wenger talks of giving youth a chance, yet in the first 8 years of his time at Arsenal he relied heavily on "established" players. The kind that would not be bullied. Stephen Appiah is a strong midfielder who would add depth. Its a done deal right?
Lets hope Arsene can realise this also. Just when it all seemed like a long season was ahead signing Stephen would really make me Appiah.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The kind of player Wenger should be looking for.
This guy is a class act and when things didnt go well for him he did not moan are you listening Hleb Flamini & Reyes(where are you now?)
Article follows:-
Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto has warned Alex Hleb and Mathieu Flamini they could live to regret leaving the Gunners.
The Brazilian has exited Arsenal for Panathinaikos this summer because he was not guaranteed first-team football, but Hleb and Flamini were first choices at the Emirates.
"When you win things, you achieve more than anybody else. You get better contracts, and more money, anyway," Gilberto told The Daily Telegraph.
"I can't blame a player who wants a good contract. But I believe if they stay at the club, they can earn good money and do a lot for the club and themselves.
"So if they win something, it means more and they are more appreciated by supporters.
"I don't know what the reason is for them leaving [Flamini and Hleb] but they could have stayed. If it's for money, I would think they're wrong.
"Most of the players who leave miss the club for lots of reasons. The lifestyle at Arsenal is fantastic. You get so well looked after."
Article follows:-
Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto has warned Alex Hleb and Mathieu Flamini they could live to regret leaving the Gunners.
The Brazilian has exited Arsenal for Panathinaikos this summer because he was not guaranteed first-team football, but Hleb and Flamini were first choices at the Emirates.
"When you win things, you achieve more than anybody else. You get better contracts, and more money, anyway," Gilberto told The Daily Telegraph.
"I can't blame a player who wants a good contract. But I believe if they stay at the club, they can earn good money and do a lot for the club and themselves.
"So if they win something, it means more and they are more appreciated by supporters.
"I don't know what the reason is for them leaving [Flamini and Hleb] but they could have stayed. If it's for money, I would think they're wrong.
"Most of the players who leave miss the club for lots of reasons. The lifestyle at Arsenal is fantastic. You get so well looked after."
Monday, May 19, 2008
Arsenal end of season review part 1.
This I feel will be a long post so thats why its gonna be a multi part post. Also bear in mind I have just been watching the Robert Pires video on the other page.
First some words about "that" team. Its obvious to me that this was a team bursting with world class talent. Pires was given the "we are not worthy" accolade by his fellow team-mates in 2002 after a spectacular year I believe ended in unfortunate injury and missing the world cup. The components of the team were all there, a fantastic goalscorer in Thierry Henry ably aided by prolific wingers Pires and Ljungberg who each would score in excess of 10 goals a year. Ljungberg was a grafter always working back and always in tune with the number 10. Pires worked the left side magnificently with Henry and cole attacking from the left back spot. Most of the play came through the left hand side. Number 10 Dennis Bergkamp was the orchestrator of this orchestra, while Pires could be the orchestator for the left Bergkamp with sublime slide rule passing worked the middle for Henry and the right for Ljungberg. All of this should be remembered when I get to talking about the present Arsenal midfield. Patrick Vieira was the ball winner and probably the main line of defense before the back four came into play. Vieira broke up play and set the others on attack mode a lot of the time counter attack mode. Edu was also the hard tackling silky skilled midfielder who was much a reason for the teams success as any of the other team. His story is a pre-cursor to a lot of the bad things that have been happening to Arsenal since. More on that later. The back four were tenacious and verocious and teams often gave up when faced with this lot, they were winners and hated to lose. The team had it all and mostly they were full of matchwinners in their own right. Either one player could win games by themselves.
Ok enough with the past, lets talk about the recent present.
On first inspection of the season 2007-2008 Arsenal finished in third place 4 points behind United and with an inferior goal difference so in effect Arsenal finished 5 points behind the eventual winners. Wenger will say this was a vast improvement on the last season, 15 points more and a place more. It is true that the team performed well. It is largely a matter of perception. Some say that the team fell away at the end and seemed to lose focus and stamina for the final run-in. Others will say that if they had been behind in the race early and stormed back late in the race then the whole perception of the team would be different. I of course believe that the former is true, This team was in position to win and with some key moments in the premiership race the prize was gone.
Of course over the course of a full season there can be points that are lost and you may hope later in the year they dont become critical dropped points. The draw with blackburn away and the draw with liverpool away (a game in which the team really played well). Getting to christmas in good shape and losing the first game at Middlesboro - a tough place to play. Then when most pundits expected the team to fail at Newcastle they played a creditable 1-1 draw with a team that played hard for their manager Sam Allardyce. Arsenal had taken only one point from 2 games and with Everton away things looked tricky. This is where Eduardo was starting to come into his own and two goals against Everton secured a 4-1 win. The team had come through a tough period. Through December wins against Chelsea and Tottenham move things along. Adebayor comes on strong now with more goals against West Ham and Man City. Eduardo chipping in with a goal against City. And then a win against Blackburn with United busy with FA Cup duty. The following week United lose to Man City and a 5 point gaps appears with Arsenal at the top of the table. At this point in the season all is not what it may seem.
First some words about "that" team. Its obvious to me that this was a team bursting with world class talent. Pires was given the "we are not worthy" accolade by his fellow team-mates in 2002 after a spectacular year I believe ended in unfortunate injury and missing the world cup. The components of the team were all there, a fantastic goalscorer in Thierry Henry ably aided by prolific wingers Pires and Ljungberg who each would score in excess of 10 goals a year. Ljungberg was a grafter always working back and always in tune with the number 10. Pires worked the left side magnificently with Henry and cole attacking from the left back spot. Most of the play came through the left hand side. Number 10 Dennis Bergkamp was the orchestrator of this orchestra, while Pires could be the orchestator for the left Bergkamp with sublime slide rule passing worked the middle for Henry and the right for Ljungberg. All of this should be remembered when I get to talking about the present Arsenal midfield. Patrick Vieira was the ball winner and probably the main line of defense before the back four came into play. Vieira broke up play and set the others on attack mode a lot of the time counter attack mode. Edu was also the hard tackling silky skilled midfielder who was much a reason for the teams success as any of the other team. His story is a pre-cursor to a lot of the bad things that have been happening to Arsenal since. More on that later. The back four were tenacious and verocious and teams often gave up when faced with this lot, they were winners and hated to lose. The team had it all and mostly they were full of matchwinners in their own right. Either one player could win games by themselves.
Ok enough with the past, lets talk about the recent present.
On first inspection of the season 2007-2008 Arsenal finished in third place 4 points behind United and with an inferior goal difference so in effect Arsenal finished 5 points behind the eventual winners. Wenger will say this was a vast improvement on the last season, 15 points more and a place more. It is true that the team performed well. It is largely a matter of perception. Some say that the team fell away at the end and seemed to lose focus and stamina for the final run-in. Others will say that if they had been behind in the race early and stormed back late in the race then the whole perception of the team would be different. I of course believe that the former is true, This team was in position to win and with some key moments in the premiership race the prize was gone.
Of course over the course of a full season there can be points that are lost and you may hope later in the year they dont become critical dropped points. The draw with blackburn away and the draw with liverpool away (a game in which the team really played well). Getting to christmas in good shape and losing the first game at Middlesboro - a tough place to play. Then when most pundits expected the team to fail at Newcastle they played a creditable 1-1 draw with a team that played hard for their manager Sam Allardyce. Arsenal had taken only one point from 2 games and with Everton away things looked tricky. This is where Eduardo was starting to come into his own and two goals against Everton secured a 4-1 win. The team had come through a tough period. Through December wins against Chelsea and Tottenham move things along. Adebayor comes on strong now with more goals against West Ham and Man City. Eduardo chipping in with a goal against City. And then a win against Blackburn with United busy with FA Cup duty. The following week United lose to Man City and a 5 point gaps appears with Arsenal at the top of the table. At this point in the season all is not what it may seem.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
One step forward, one step back.
Wednesday heralded the end of the old experienced Milan team and ushered in the new guard of an Arsenal team put together by the skillful Arsene Wenger. The two goals came in the last 10 minutes but in all honesty the tie should have been over 45 - 90 minutes before that from either the first leg or from just before half-time when the crossbar was troubled both times. That Fabregas should score the first and Adebayor the sealing goal was extremely apt. This was a big big step in this team maturing and they are in the draw for the quarter-finals.
However the 5 point lead Arsenal had is now reduced to a mere 1 point and that was due in no large amount to that late late goal by Bendtner. The league form has been a bit patchy with two draws and now tomorrow, Sunday is massive with United busy in the F.A. cup a win can spring Arsenal 4 points clear and one game less to play.
Typical that when I hoped United and Chelsea win that they each lose their F.A. cup tie and reduce the amount of games advantage that Arsenal would have had. Tomorrow against Wigan the team must win convincingly. True to say that the points are now most important but for confidence to flow again a big win is needed...at least a two goal margin 2-0/3-1 would be most welcome.
However the 5 point lead Arsenal had is now reduced to a mere 1 point and that was due in no large amount to that late late goal by Bendtner. The league form has been a bit patchy with two draws and now tomorrow, Sunday is massive with United busy in the F.A. cup a win can spring Arsenal 4 points clear and one game less to play.
Typical that when I hoped United and Chelsea win that they each lose their F.A. cup tie and reduce the amount of games advantage that Arsenal would have had. Tomorrow against Wigan the team must win convincingly. True to say that the points are now most important but for confidence to flow again a big win is needed...at least a two goal margin 2-0/3-1 would be most welcome.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Speedy recovery wished for Eduardo.
I predicted at the start of the season that what was in effect Thierry Henry's replacement, the signing of Eduardo would in effect be a good one. I felt that he could "weigh in" with between 15-20 goals. Well for this season at least he has signed off with a tally of 12 goals, I dont think that 15 goals as I predicted was going to be a problem for this player who with Robin Van Persie being out injured for a large part of the season. Indeed Eduardo had benefitted from the young dutchman being out of the side and he was starting to make his mark in the team. Eduardo may very well have finish with perhaps 18-20 goals-well within my expectations for a player who had bagged over 30 goals last season.
All of these things came to an end for Eduardo last Saturday when what I have come to terms with saying was now a mistimed tackle. Yes Arsenal are the kind of team that most people cannot let play their type of football, you do have to get amongst them and from time to time these things will happen. Its best now to leave it at that and let the emotions of a horrific tackle subside. It remains only to be said that perhaps the red card offence of three games for violent conduct is proper. The type of thing that has happened to Middleboro with Aladiere getting what was 3 games now changed to 4 games for a mere tap on the chin is absolutely ridiculous and Mascherano escapes all punishment for his inciteful initiation of the incident. It really beggars belief.
What now for Eduardo?... 9 months of rehab with some speculating that 1) he will never play again 2)if he does play agin he will never get back to the level he was getting to this season. and 3)psychologically will he ever be able to withstand a tough challenge again.
I for one hope beyond hope he can dispell all of these fears. I look forward to seeing him get back to playing, get back to the level he was at last Saturday and beyond and I look to see him take that first heavy challenge and get up again to will Arsenal on to greater glory. Now the team must come together and do it for Eduardo and take the premiership against all the odds of the start of the season and even against the odds of now.
Get well soon Eduardo and I will smile happily when I see you back on the field with your Arsenal team again.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Gap to united & chelsea remains close.
Whether it is perhaps due to the idea that Arsenal do not possess the killer instinct or just the sort of results that sometime come about the fact remains that united and chelsea remain quite close to Arsenal.
Dont misunderstand me, it is a gap I would have readily accepted with glee back in August when the league began with a 2-1 win over fulham at home, a game which in many ways have reflected the season Arsenal have had. It is tempting as a supporter to total up the points that perhaps should have been won 2 points dropped against some teams such as blackburn away and liverpool away and of course birmingham home and away.But it is true to forget the points that have been won when things might have suggested we would not collect as many as we have, most notably against everton away and the equalising goal in injury time against united and the home win against chelsea. I believe that the Gallas goal against united may be the defining moment of this league campaign.
The last 3 results have not been good if you support Arsenal. I tend to believe that the FA Cup was "sacrificed" in order to maintain the push for the league title and the champions league. The players were just not interested in that defeat. The Milan game as highlighted already was a close game that perhaps should have been won ....narrowly. A strange kind of result which makes the second leg hard to predict. This latest game against birmingham was just one of those results, I know that Adebayor did see Bendtner and should have squared the ball to him for a simple goal to make it 3-1 and game over. It was appalling to see Clichy make such a basic mistake for the penalty, no argument from me it was a definite penalty but Clichy had so much time to just hoof the ball anywhere, Clichy had been having an outstanding season as has the other full back Sagna, Clichy has made some very uncharacteristic mistakes and this was the worst of the season. So a draw and a display of weakness from the captain Gallas for united to feed off, with his outburst at the end of the game.
In November I was asked if I believed Arsenal would win the league....in my heart I felt that they would just fall a little short. I am now thinking that with 11 games now to go that this team has come too far to now fail. I have fears of a Newcastle type implosion and with some games coming up which are winnable the Arsenal must win the next 3-4 games and then have a cushion to take to the difficult run of games where we will face liverpool and chelsea and then finally united. I have wrote alot about the cushion and gaps to the other teams and now I beleive more than ever that those gaps will be needed. I dont really beleive that the team will implode but rather will rally around the terrible injury inflicted to Eduardo. Now is the time to come together and be a team have Walcott step up and get Van Persie back for the run in. Everything still to play for and those teams have to catch the Arsenal.
Dont misunderstand me, it is a gap I would have readily accepted with glee back in August when the league began with a 2-1 win over fulham at home, a game which in many ways have reflected the season Arsenal have had. It is tempting as a supporter to total up the points that perhaps should have been won 2 points dropped against some teams such as blackburn away and liverpool away and of course birmingham home and away.But it is true to forget the points that have been won when things might have suggested we would not collect as many as we have, most notably against everton away and the equalising goal in injury time against united and the home win against chelsea. I believe that the Gallas goal against united may be the defining moment of this league campaign.
The last 3 results have not been good if you support Arsenal. I tend to believe that the FA Cup was "sacrificed" in order to maintain the push for the league title and the champions league. The players were just not interested in that defeat. The Milan game as highlighted already was a close game that perhaps should have been won ....narrowly. A strange kind of result which makes the second leg hard to predict. This latest game against birmingham was just one of those results, I know that Adebayor did see Bendtner and should have squared the ball to him for a simple goal to make it 3-1 and game over. It was appalling to see Clichy make such a basic mistake for the penalty, no argument from me it was a definite penalty but Clichy had so much time to just hoof the ball anywhere, Clichy had been having an outstanding season as has the other full back Sagna, Clichy has made some very uncharacteristic mistakes and this was the worst of the season. So a draw and a display of weakness from the captain Gallas for united to feed off, with his outburst at the end of the game.
In November I was asked if I believed Arsenal would win the league....in my heart I felt that they would just fall a little short. I am now thinking that with 11 games now to go that this team has come too far to now fail. I have fears of a Newcastle type implosion and with some games coming up which are winnable the Arsenal must win the next 3-4 games and then have a cushion to take to the difficult run of games where we will face liverpool and chelsea and then finally united. I have wrote alot about the cushion and gaps to the other teams and now I beleive more than ever that those gaps will be needed. I dont really beleive that the team will implode but rather will rally around the terrible injury inflicted to Eduardo. Now is the time to come together and be a team have Walcott step up and get Van Persie back for the run in. Everything still to play for and those teams have to catch the Arsenal.
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