Wenger should be happy that we are being decisive in front of goal this year - especially against the lesser teams like Portsmouth, Wigan at home. The next two home games against Blackburn and Birmingham are easily winnable. With Chelsea and Liverpool facing each other and one or both sure to drop points Wenger will fancy gaining on one or both come mid October. Toward the end of October we have a couple of potentially tough games with West Ham (away) and Tottenham (away) as well. Both teams are in some decent form especially Spurs. Good news is that ManU face Liverpool during this period as well. Arsenal could well find themselves up into 3rd or 4th with a game in hand and off the pace by 3-4 points only. Plus we won't have to travel too much in this entire period with home games and London derbies.
October Fixtures (PL)
Sun Oct 4th - Arsenal v Blackburn
Sat Oct 17th - Arsenal v Birmingham
Sun Oct 25th - West Ham v Arsenal
Sat Oct 31st - Arsenal v Tottenham
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Adebayor - get off his back Arsenal fans
Emmanuel Adebayor. A great striker for Arsenal who scored 62 goals for the club in 3 seasons. Now villian for Arsenal fans - so much so that he was heavily booed in the match against Manchester City. Was it justified ? I think not.
THE NEW HENRY?
Adebayor has modeled himself on Thierry Henry. Inspite of the fact he was the central striker for Arsenal you often saw him drifting to the left in a Henry-esque way. He did not have the electric pace of Henry but was reasonably fast. Moreover he was a great aerial threat that Henry never was. He was a menace to opposition defenders on corners and free kicks.
2006-2007
In his first full season at Arsenal in 2006-07 Adebayor was in the shadow of Henry. Every player at Arsenal was. You could see the pressure Henry put on them to pass the ball to him. He never really got the chance to express himself fully. But I think he learned a lot from the way Henry played the game during this time. In Henry's absence Adebayor even scored to beat ManU at Old Trafford. This showed he could lead the line for Arsenal
2007-2008
The almost season for Arsenal. Adebayor was a giant in this season - scoring at will. It helped that he was getting great service from Fabregas, Hleb, Rosicky, Flamini and co. In PL 36 games he scored 24 goals - an excellent tally. Moreover most of the goals he scored were of the highest quality. None more so than the goal against Tottenham at White Hart lane - a brilliant volley from outside the box. He scored with headers, left foot, right foot, volleys, low shots, all kinds of goals. In Europe Adebayor was not as good. He missed chances as Arsenal went out to Liverpool in CL quarters. But overall it was a brilliant season for the Togo striker. He won the PFA player of the year and his wonder goal against Spurs was the Goal of the year!
Adebayor nets past Robinson - Goal of the Season 2008-2009.
However Adebayor got into a fight with Bendtner on the pitch during the Carling Cup match with Spurs. An ugly moment which was totally avoidable.
Adebayor and Bendtner - not the best of friends!
2008-2009
Just before the 2008 season began Arsenal were in turmoil with experienced playes leaving left right and centre. Flamini began the rot as he decided to go to Milan. Hleb followed by leaving for Barcelona. Now these moves were linked to Arsenal's lack of money and the players wanting to leave London. Fabregas was heavily linked to Barcelona and Adebayor to Milan and Barcelona. He made the mistake of coming out and commenting on these links and apparently being in favour of the move to Milan. Now if players were leaving Arsenal and none were coming in Adebayor was within his rights to feel that he too should leave the club. He however made the mistake of slagging his mouth off and this would cause problems later. He was not sold and signed a new contract that his performance deserved.
The season began badly for Arsenal as we went down to Hull City, Stoke, Fulham and Man City in quick succession. All Arsenal players were performing badly and Adebayor was totally off colour. However he found himself to be the subject of Arsenal fans' ire who were angry after his comments in the pre-season. Infact in this season most fans were looking for players to boo and criticize as frustration at the team's performances rose. Eboue and Bendtner were heavily booed for some average performances. Adebayor was not playing badly - he just did not have the right service. Plus the team spirit that characterized the 2007-2008 season was missing. Gallas was stripped of captaincy after an ugly incident. van Persie made disparaging comments on his team mates. Arsenal were unlucky with injuries as Fabregas, Rosicky, Walcott and Adebayor himself were out for long periods. Arsenal seemed to be a lost club to us supporters and also the players at times.
HIS PERFORMANCE - QUITE GOOD!
Adebayor did try. He played well after coming back from a 2 month layoff in early April especially in Europe. He scored an excellent goal in the away leg against Villareal which sealed Arsenal's progress to the Semi finals. 9 games in CL saw Adebayor scoring 6 times! In 27 PL games he scored 10 times.
All in all he did well and deserved some credit for Arsenal's progress especially in Europe.
Adebayor against Villareal - great goal!
2009-2010 - SOLD OFF
This summer he was sold to Man City for a tidy sum of 25 million pounds. We saw Arsenal fans welcoming the move. Why were fans rejoicing when their top goal scorer for the last two seasons was leaving the club ? I always felt an Arsenal side with a fit and firing Adebayor was almost impossible to beat.
The negative appraisal by the fans and some wrangling within the team was the possible cause of Adebayor leaving. Was it justified - I think not. He deserved his place at Arsenal and the fans were wrong to critisize him because of one statement made at a time when it seemed Arsenal were falling apart. You can't blame him for wanting to jump ship when it seemed everyone else was. Maybe he was told Fabregas was leaving too and Wenger to Real Madrid or some place. He is an emotional man so instead to staying mum like the other players he made some candid comments based on hearsay and rumours. How many times have we all done such things? He is only human!
MAN CITY and THE ARSENAL MATCH
After moving to Man City Adebayor has showed great goal scoring form. Unfortunately his behaviour at the match with Arsenal was very bad. Deliberately stamping on van Persie was not on. However when he played football during the match he was excellent and scored the decisive goal. The celebration before the Arsenal fans was wrong too. I think someone needs to talk to him - he is young and aware of his great ability - maybe that is getting to his head. That can happen sometimes but that does not make him a bad player or a dishonest man. There are worse offenders than Adebayor - Wayne Rooney for once is guilty of stamping 4-5 times in the season. Paul Scholes as well.
Here's wishing all the best to Adebayor - except against Arsenal!
THE NEW HENRY?
Adebayor has modeled himself on Thierry Henry. Inspite of the fact he was the central striker for Arsenal you often saw him drifting to the left in a Henry-esque way. He did not have the electric pace of Henry but was reasonably fast. Moreover he was a great aerial threat that Henry never was. He was a menace to opposition defenders on corners and free kicks.
2006-2007
In his first full season at Arsenal in 2006-07 Adebayor was in the shadow of Henry. Every player at Arsenal was. You could see the pressure Henry put on them to pass the ball to him. He never really got the chance to express himself fully. But I think he learned a lot from the way Henry played the game during this time. In Henry's absence Adebayor even scored to beat ManU at Old Trafford. This showed he could lead the line for Arsenal
2007-2008
The almost season for Arsenal. Adebayor was a giant in this season - scoring at will. It helped that he was getting great service from Fabregas, Hleb, Rosicky, Flamini and co. In PL 36 games he scored 24 goals - an excellent tally. Moreover most of the goals he scored were of the highest quality. None more so than the goal against Tottenham at White Hart lane - a brilliant volley from outside the box. He scored with headers, left foot, right foot, volleys, low shots, all kinds of goals. In Europe Adebayor was not as good. He missed chances as Arsenal went out to Liverpool in CL quarters. But overall it was a brilliant season for the Togo striker. He won the PFA player of the year and his wonder goal against Spurs was the Goal of the year!
However Adebayor got into a fight with Bendtner on the pitch during the Carling Cup match with Spurs. An ugly moment which was totally avoidable.
2008-2009
Just before the 2008 season began Arsenal were in turmoil with experienced playes leaving left right and centre. Flamini began the rot as he decided to go to Milan. Hleb followed by leaving for Barcelona. Now these moves were linked to Arsenal's lack of money and the players wanting to leave London. Fabregas was heavily linked to Barcelona and Adebayor to Milan and Barcelona. He made the mistake of coming out and commenting on these links and apparently being in favour of the move to Milan. Now if players were leaving Arsenal and none were coming in Adebayor was within his rights to feel that he too should leave the club. He however made the mistake of slagging his mouth off and this would cause problems later. He was not sold and signed a new contract that his performance deserved.
The season began badly for Arsenal as we went down to Hull City, Stoke, Fulham and Man City in quick succession. All Arsenal players were performing badly and Adebayor was totally off colour. However he found himself to be the subject of Arsenal fans' ire who were angry after his comments in the pre-season. Infact in this season most fans were looking for players to boo and criticize as frustration at the team's performances rose. Eboue and Bendtner were heavily booed for some average performances. Adebayor was not playing badly - he just did not have the right service. Plus the team spirit that characterized the 2007-2008 season was missing. Gallas was stripped of captaincy after an ugly incident. van Persie made disparaging comments on his team mates. Arsenal were unlucky with injuries as Fabregas, Rosicky, Walcott and Adebayor himself were out for long periods. Arsenal seemed to be a lost club to us supporters and also the players at times.
HIS PERFORMANCE - QUITE GOOD!
Adebayor did try. He played well after coming back from a 2 month layoff in early April especially in Europe. He scored an excellent goal in the away leg against Villareal which sealed Arsenal's progress to the Semi finals. 9 games in CL saw Adebayor scoring 6 times! In 27 PL games he scored 10 times.
All in all he did well and deserved some credit for Arsenal's progress especially in Europe.
2009-2010 - SOLD OFF
This summer he was sold to Man City for a tidy sum of 25 million pounds. We saw Arsenal fans welcoming the move. Why were fans rejoicing when their top goal scorer for the last two seasons was leaving the club ? I always felt an Arsenal side with a fit and firing Adebayor was almost impossible to beat.
The negative appraisal by the fans and some wrangling within the team was the possible cause of Adebayor leaving. Was it justified - I think not. He deserved his place at Arsenal and the fans were wrong to critisize him because of one statement made at a time when it seemed Arsenal were falling apart. You can't blame him for wanting to jump ship when it seemed everyone else was. Maybe he was told Fabregas was leaving too and Wenger to Real Madrid or some place. He is an emotional man so instead to staying mum like the other players he made some candid comments based on hearsay and rumours. How many times have we all done such things? He is only human!
MAN CITY and THE ARSENAL MATCH
After moving to Man City Adebayor has showed great goal scoring form. Unfortunately his behaviour at the match with Arsenal was very bad. Deliberately stamping on van Persie was not on. However when he played football during the match he was excellent and scored the decisive goal. The celebration before the Arsenal fans was wrong too. I think someone needs to talk to him - he is young and aware of his great ability - maybe that is getting to his head. That can happen sometimes but that does not make him a bad player or a dishonest man. There are worse offenders than Adebayor - Wayne Rooney for once is guilty of stamping 4-5 times in the season. Paul Scholes as well.
Here's wishing all the best to Adebayor - except against Arsenal!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Fulham 0 Arsenal 1 - Hard fought win and a "Soft Left"? (video highlights added)
Lets get the obvious things out of the way first. They are the ones that count for today as Arsenal make a happy trip back to North London from Fulham. A good away win for Arsenal in a London derby match. van Persie the lone scorer after 50 odd minutes. Held on the the lead thanks to Mannone - excellent performance from the young keeper.
FORMATION
Ok now lets go through the game in more detail. Arsenal came into the game with a 4-3-3 formation that Wenger has preferred for this year's PL matches.
Mannone
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy
Song Fabregas Diaby
Bendtner van Persie Arshavin
Now I'm a great fan of this formation- it promotes attacking football as opposed to packing the midfield more - which tends to make the game more a of a midfield scrap. The problem is with the players manning the key positions in defence and midfield in such a formation. More on that in a minute.
MATCH ANALYSIS
Arsenal started the match very slowly -Fulham seemed up for the match with their wide players and Andy Johnson making good runs and troubling the Arsenal defence. They also pressed Arsenal very fast and aggressively causing mistakes and misplaced passes. Even Fabregas and Arshavin seemed harried and could not control the game as they would have wanted to.
Fulham almost made Arsenal pay for the slow start with a double chance falling to them after 14 odd minutes. A cross in from the left of Arsenal's defence found an unmarked forward and Mannone did brilliantly to keep the header out. From the follow up Dempsey almost made it 1-0 but Mannone got up quickly from the 1st save and made himself big on the near post deflecting the well struck shot.
That seemed to spark Arsenal into life as Fabregas started to take control in the midfield. He found himself with a shooting opportunity at the edge of the Fulham box but blazed over. Also Arshavin had a great chance when he latched onto a through ball but the little Russian was unlucky with a bad bounce causing him to shoot over. Another chance fell to Fabregas who should have troubled Schawzer but the skipper was not in great shooting touch today.
During the half Gallas picked up a knock as he collided with Mannone but overall he did well to keep Fulham at bay. The Verminator (Vermaelen) too had a solid half I think. Clichy was not too good on the left letting in crosses and making silly errors. Going forward too I felt he did not link up well with Arshavin who was quiet.
More disappointing were van Persie. Robin was hardly seen doing anything positive in the first half. A free kick in a good position was an excellent opportunity for him to give Arsenal the lead but he did not even hit the target. Fabregas deliveries from free kicks and corners were extremely poor also.
SECOND HALF - Decisive
Arsenal needed to step up their game in the second half. And they did. Fabregas and van Persie combined beautifully for the first goal. A misplaced pass by the Fulham left back found it's way to Fabregas who hit a wonderful ball to van Persie who was heading to the right of goal with a Fulham defender on his back. After taking a first touch which took the ball away from the defender he took a low shot toward the far post with his chocolate leg ( right foot) beating the keeper.
Great goal from van the Man who had been very quiet till then (highlights below). Bendtner was doing most of the running up front and had a good shot saved. But then stepped up Vitto Mannone. As the match progressed we could see that Fulham were having no joy with through balls or dribbling through defenders. Their best bet was to gain free kicks and send in crosses especially from Arsenal's left flank.
Two brilliant saves from headers by Mannone saved Arsenal. Elsewhere Arsene Wenger had replaced Arshavin with Rosicky and the little Czech dynamo added spark to the left. He looks in excellent touch and put in some slick passes. Eboue came on later for van Persie as Arsenal pushd for the 2nd. He added some pace to the counter attacks but his finishing needs a lot to be desired. His best chance was saved well by the Fulham keeper. A burst of pace took Eboue past two Fulham defenders and to the edge of the opposition box. A neat 1-2 with Fabregas saw Eboue with a chance to shoot but Schawzer denied him.
5 minutes of added time and we could see that Fulham will continue to push for aerial balls into the box but Gallas, Verminator and Mannone did well.
SOME THOUGHTS
Questions marks over Clichy and Diaby in this game. Two of the worst players for Arsenal. Diaby was downright horrible. He seemed slow today and did nothing when he had a ball except give it straight back to
Fulham. Danny Murphy had him in his pocket all evening. To top it off he was lazy to get back to help Clichy. Clichy too was guilty of making some silly errors of judgement. 3-4 times he was caught in possession which resulted in dangerous crosses by Fulham to trouble Mannone and the central defenders. Also he seemed to have trouble with the bouncing ball at times. Crosses by Clichy were too low and easily cleared. He need to improve that area of his game. Ashley cole was a great crosser of the ball and we need Clichy to do better.
Sagna was solid defensively. He was no nonsense and never tried to overplay like Clichy does on occasions. Keep it simple was his mantra and maybe Clichy should adopt it too.
Song had a good game. I feel he is coming up very well. Couple of times he gives up silly fouls he doesn't need to. He was good in possession today with good passing and ball control.
Ok so a good away win - sorely needed after the Manchester disasters. Fulham are a tough side at home and we did well. A word on the ground - Craven Cottage. One of the last small old grounds left in the Premiership. It makes for a very pretty sight. Atmosphere was excellent too. I felt the game was played in good spirit. Just an issue with the ref Mr. Atkinson - he seemed to be giving soft free kicks to Fulham that he wasn't soing earlier in the game as the game got tight. Give them a chance on set pieces perhaps. It did look like bit of a conspiracy at times as there was minimal contact and on one occasion Fulham had the chance to play on.
Arsenal travelling fans were in good voice. They got behind the Gunners well especially after the goal. 4 yellow cards in the game all to Fulham.
Team ratings
Mannone - 9. Excllent saves and judgment. Needs to work on ball collection. Man of the match !
Gallas - 8. Solid.
Vermaelen- 6.5. Got tangled up with Clihcy a coupla times.
Sagna - 7. Solid again. Did not do well with crosses.
Diaby - 3. Shocking game for him. Bad in attack and defence.
Song - 8. Good game.
Fabregas - 6.5. Good pass for Robin's goal. But nothing special except that. Squandered a good chance as well. Free kicks and corners were disappointing as well with the ball hitting the first defender on 3-4 occasions.
Arshavin - 5.5. Just back from injury so maybe a bit rusty. Looked out of sorts but made a couple of good runs in the 2nd half. The touch was there the sharpness missing slightly.
Robin van Persie - 6. Nothing except the goal. Lacked zip and did not take free kicks and corners well too.
Bendtner - 7. Did well as a target man on the left. Held up the ball. Not good finishing as he had a decent headed chance late on.
Eboue - 7. Has improved but needs to work on his shooting.
Rosicky - 8. Looked great and can see him starting once he is fully fit.
CONCLUSION
So Arsenal move to 12 points from 6 games. They are 6 points behind Man United with a game in hand. BTW Man United lead the table after today as Chelsea lost to Wigan (of all teams) away 1-3. Wigan played well after getting a pasting from Arsenal at the Emirates. The turning point was at 1-1 when Cech got sent off and Wigan converted the penalty. Chelsea first loss of the season and shows that away from home nothing can be taken for granted.
Man United have to thanks Ryan Giggs for their win today. He replaced the wasteful and selfish Nani (i don't like him at all) and immediately set up Berbatov for the first goal. He had a hand in the second goal as well, taking the free kick that was flicked on by O'shea. So ManU 2-0 winners at Stoke. A tough match it was for them. Hope Giggsy gets his 100th Premier league goal soon - he deserves it and has been a brilliant player over the years. Ferguson deserves credit for using him well these days.
VIDEOS
The van Persie goal - http://soccerupdated.blogspot.com/2009/09/video-highlights-fulham-vs-arsenal-0-1.html
Ok so I sleep well after a good win for Arsenal. Next up the Champions league!
FORMATION
Ok now lets go through the game in more detail. Arsenal came into the game with a 4-3-3 formation that Wenger has preferred for this year's PL matches.
Mannone
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy
Song Fabregas Diaby
Bendtner van Persie Arshavin
Now I'm a great fan of this formation- it promotes attacking football as opposed to packing the midfield more - which tends to make the game more a of a midfield scrap. The problem is with the players manning the key positions in defence and midfield in such a formation. More on that in a minute.
MATCH ANALYSIS
Arsenal started the match very slowly -Fulham seemed up for the match with their wide players and Andy Johnson making good runs and troubling the Arsenal defence. They also pressed Arsenal very fast and aggressively causing mistakes and misplaced passes. Even Fabregas and Arshavin seemed harried and could not control the game as they would have wanted to.
Fulham almost made Arsenal pay for the slow start with a double chance falling to them after 14 odd minutes. A cross in from the left of Arsenal's defence found an unmarked forward and Mannone did brilliantly to keep the header out. From the follow up Dempsey almost made it 1-0 but Mannone got up quickly from the 1st save and made himself big on the near post deflecting the well struck shot.
That seemed to spark Arsenal into life as Fabregas started to take control in the midfield. He found himself with a shooting opportunity at the edge of the Fulham box but blazed over. Also Arshavin had a great chance when he latched onto a through ball but the little Russian was unlucky with a bad bounce causing him to shoot over. Another chance fell to Fabregas who should have troubled Schawzer but the skipper was not in great shooting touch today.
During the half Gallas picked up a knock as he collided with Mannone but overall he did well to keep Fulham at bay. The Verminator (Vermaelen) too had a solid half I think. Clichy was not too good on the left letting in crosses and making silly errors. Going forward too I felt he did not link up well with Arshavin who was quiet.
More disappointing were van Persie. Robin was hardly seen doing anything positive in the first half. A free kick in a good position was an excellent opportunity for him to give Arsenal the lead but he did not even hit the target. Fabregas deliveries from free kicks and corners were extremely poor also.
SECOND HALF - Decisive
Arsenal needed to step up their game in the second half. And they did. Fabregas and van Persie combined beautifully for the first goal. A misplaced pass by the Fulham left back found it's way to Fabregas who hit a wonderful ball to van Persie who was heading to the right of goal with a Fulham defender on his back. After taking a first touch which took the ball away from the defender he took a low shot toward the far post with his chocolate leg ( right foot) beating the keeper.
van Persie scoring the decisive goal
Great goal from van the Man who had been very quiet till then (highlights below). Bendtner was doing most of the running up front and had a good shot saved. But then stepped up Vitto Mannone. As the match progressed we could see that Fulham were having no joy with through balls or dribbling through defenders. Their best bet was to gain free kicks and send in crosses especially from Arsenal's left flank.
Two brilliant saves from headers by Mannone saved Arsenal. Elsewhere Arsene Wenger had replaced Arshavin with Rosicky and the little Czech dynamo added spark to the left. He looks in excellent touch and put in some slick passes. Eboue came on later for van Persie as Arsenal pushd for the 2nd. He added some pace to the counter attacks but his finishing needs a lot to be desired. His best chance was saved well by the Fulham keeper. A burst of pace took Eboue past two Fulham defenders and to the edge of the opposition box. A neat 1-2 with Fabregas saw Eboue with a chance to shoot but Schawzer denied him.
5 minutes of added time and we could see that Fulham will continue to push for aerial balls into the box but Gallas, Verminator and Mannone did well.
SOME THOUGHTS
Questions marks over Clichy and Diaby in this game. Two of the worst players for Arsenal. Diaby was downright horrible. He seemed slow today and did nothing when he had a ball except give it straight back to
Fulham. Danny Murphy had him in his pocket all evening. To top it off he was lazy to get back to help Clichy. Clichy too was guilty of making some silly errors of judgement. 3-4 times he was caught in possession which resulted in dangerous crosses by Fulham to trouble Mannone and the central defenders. Also he seemed to have trouble with the bouncing ball at times. Crosses by Clichy were too low and easily cleared. He need to improve that area of his game. Ashley cole was a great crosser of the ball and we need Clichy to do better.
Sagna was solid defensively. He was no nonsense and never tried to overplay like Clichy does on occasions. Keep it simple was his mantra and maybe Clichy should adopt it too.
Song had a good game. I feel he is coming up very well. Couple of times he gives up silly fouls he doesn't need to. He was good in possession today with good passing and ball control.
Ok so a good away win - sorely needed after the Manchester disasters. Fulham are a tough side at home and we did well. A word on the ground - Craven Cottage. One of the last small old grounds left in the Premiership. It makes for a very pretty sight. Atmosphere was excellent too. I felt the game was played in good spirit. Just an issue with the ref Mr. Atkinson - he seemed to be giving soft free kicks to Fulham that he wasn't soing earlier in the game as the game got tight. Give them a chance on set pieces perhaps. It did look like bit of a conspiracy at times as there was minimal contact and on one occasion Fulham had the chance to play on.
Arsenal travelling fans were in good voice. They got behind the Gunners well especially after the goal. 4 yellow cards in the game all to Fulham.
Team ratings
Mannone - 9. Excllent saves and judgment. Needs to work on ball collection. Man of the match !
Gallas - 8. Solid.
Vermaelen- 6.5. Got tangled up with Clihcy a coupla times.
Sagna - 7. Solid again. Did not do well with crosses.
Diaby - 3. Shocking game for him. Bad in attack and defence.
Song - 8. Good game.
Fabregas - 6.5. Good pass for Robin's goal. But nothing special except that. Squandered a good chance as well. Free kicks and corners were disappointing as well with the ball hitting the first defender on 3-4 occasions.
Arshavin - 5.5. Just back from injury so maybe a bit rusty. Looked out of sorts but made a couple of good runs in the 2nd half. The touch was there the sharpness missing slightly.
Robin van Persie - 6. Nothing except the goal. Lacked zip and did not take free kicks and corners well too.
Bendtner - 7. Did well as a target man on the left. Held up the ball. Not good finishing as he had a decent headed chance late on.
Eboue - 7. Has improved but needs to work on his shooting.
Rosicky - 8. Looked great and can see him starting once he is fully fit.
CONCLUSION
So Arsenal move to 12 points from 6 games. They are 6 points behind Man United with a game in hand. BTW Man United lead the table after today as Chelsea lost to Wigan (of all teams) away 1-3. Wigan played well after getting a pasting from Arsenal at the Emirates. The turning point was at 1-1 when Cech got sent off and Wigan converted the penalty. Chelsea first loss of the season and shows that away from home nothing can be taken for granted.
Man United have to thanks Ryan Giggs for their win today. He replaced the wasteful and selfish Nani (i don't like him at all) and immediately set up Berbatov for the first goal. He had a hand in the second goal as well, taking the free kick that was flicked on by O'shea. So ManU 2-0 winners at Stoke. A tough match it was for them. Hope Giggsy gets his 100th Premier league goal soon - he deserves it and has been a brilliant player over the years. Ferguson deserves credit for using him well these days.
VIDEOS
The van Persie goal - http://soccerupdated.blogspot.com/2009/09/video-highlights-fulham-vs-arsenal-0-1.html
Ok so I sleep well after a good win for Arsenal. Next up the Champions league!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Theo and Arshavin are back
Well good news on the injury front. Seems that two of Arsenal's best attacking players are back in the mix. Andrey Arshavin - the pint sized destroyer from Russia and Theo "Usain Bolt" Walcott will be in the squad to face Fulham this weekend according to Arsene Wenger.
Quick word on Arshavin. Arsenal legend already. 4 goals at Anfield last season and a string of mesmerising runs (remember one at the Emirates where he also finished from a tight angle) has ensured he is the darling of all Arsenal fans. Add to this his candid comments (Once said women are really bad drivers and I'm scared of Arsene Wenger etc.).
Four at Anfield - look at the reaction!
The goal against Manchester United this season is the one of his best. Speaking of that match - Arshavin was hacked down by Fletcher (cheat!) in that match. Fletcher also handled the ball in the same incident. Where was the ref ? Probably counting all the money Sir Alex had given him. No penalty for Arsenal. Later Rooney took a dive and the ref gave a pen. Sir Alex would have been happy.
Fabregas has blamed refs for not giving Arsenal penalties and dishing out more cards to Arsenal players. Well I agree with our club captain totally. We had two clear penalties not given against both ManU and ManCity. The fouls/card ratio has to be lowest for Arsenal in every match we play. Fab thinks it's because of the Eduardo incident - but I think this has it's roots farther than the CL game against Celtic. The years when Arsenal challenged ManU for the title it was almost France v England in the Premier League. And guess who got the dodgy decisions ? Remember the van Nistelrooy penalty in 2003 (Invincibles run). Very bad piece of referring. Luckily van Nistelrooy was so ashamed of his antics that he missed. The very next year Rooney got a penalty after diving blatantly.
Anyways ranting about penalties won't help much.
Let's talk about Theo Walcott - hasn't played at all this season. Started last season excellently but got injured badly (shoulder). Came back later and was ok but never regained his early season form. Here's hoping he does well on his return. He gives us something extra on the right side of midfield. Eboue has done well in this position lately but Walcott adds some extra zip.
Till tomorrow (Arsenal v Fulham preview next)
Quick word on Arshavin. Arsenal legend already. 4 goals at Anfield last season and a string of mesmerising runs (remember one at the Emirates where he also finished from a tight angle) has ensured he is the darling of all Arsenal fans. Add to this his candid comments (Once said women are really bad drivers and I'm scared of Arsene Wenger etc.).
Four at Anfield - look at the reaction!
The goal against Manchester United this season is the one of his best. Speaking of that match - Arshavin was hacked down by Fletcher (cheat!) in that match. Fletcher also handled the ball in the same incident. Where was the ref ? Probably counting all the money Sir Alex had given him. No penalty for Arsenal. Later Rooney took a dive and the ref gave a pen. Sir Alex would have been happy.
Fabregas has blamed refs for not giving Arsenal penalties and dishing out more cards to Arsenal players. Well I agree with our club captain totally. We had two clear penalties not given against both ManU and ManCity. The fouls/card ratio has to be lowest for Arsenal in every match we play. Fab thinks it's because of the Eduardo incident - but I think this has it's roots farther than the CL game against Celtic. The years when Arsenal challenged ManU for the title it was almost France v England in the Premier League. And guess who got the dodgy decisions ? Remember the van Nistelrooy penalty in 2003 (Invincibles run). Very bad piece of referring. Luckily van Nistelrooy was so ashamed of his antics that he missed. The very next year Rooney got a penalty after diving blatantly.
Anyways ranting about penalties won't help much.
Let's talk about Theo Walcott - hasn't played at all this season. Started last season excellently but got injured badly (shoulder). Came back later and was ok but never regained his early season form. Here's hoping he does well on his return. He gives us something extra on the right side of midfield. Eboue has done well in this position lately but Walcott adds some extra zip.
Till tomorrow (Arsenal v Fulham preview next)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Arsenal 2 West Brom 0
Well sounds like a regulation win. But the truth was that Arsenal had to sweat a bit for this one.
As expected Arsenal played Senderos and Silvestre as the two central defenders.
Carlos Vela was not risked by the manager from the start. He has just recovered from ankle injury and this meant Sanchez Watt (Watt's his name ? Watt - the commentators were having fun with this one!)
The squad lined up as -
* 53 Szczesny - Polish keeper. Broke both arms in a gym accident last year.
* 06 Senderos
* 18 Silvestre
* 28 Gibbs
* 30 Traore - Back from Portsmouth (Barazite 69)
* 42 Gilbert
* 16 Ramsey - welsh midfielder
* 19 Wilshere
* 35 Coquelin - French defensive midfielder who played rather well(Randall 58)
* 51 Sunu (Vela 58)
* 54 Watt
The formation was a 4(defence)-3-3(attack).
West Brom had the best chances early but their spirits were deflated by the 37th minute sending off of ex-Arsenal man Jerome Thomas.
Wilshere was downed by Thomas. Thomas proceeded to offer his hand to Wilshere in an effort to say sorry and pick him up. Wilshere refused the hand and said something to Thomas. At this point Thomas shoved the prone Wilshere prompting the ref to dish out a straight red card.
A moment of madness by Thomas - something like Zidane on Materazzi in the 2006 WC final. In football you don't hit the opponent intentionally on the field. All madness, frustration and anger is to be unleased on the ball only (and in goal celebrations
like Adebayor - oh that got him into trouble too :))
Whatever Wilshere said Thomas has only himself to blame - it was stupid and it is great to know that he has apologized to his team who suffered the most from this moment.
11-10 is never easy. You have to make up for the 11th man. West Brom tired. Wenger brought on Carlos Vela (i talked about him yesterday).
First he smashed a low shot which Kiely (West brom keeper) parried. The ball fell for for Sanchez Watt, who slotted in the rebound long before anyone else knew what was happening.
Pic of the opening goal (on 68 minutes by Watt)
Now Arsenal did need a second goal - a one goal lead is never enough especially with a opposition that was fighting hard.
Vela delivered in 77th minute. Mark Randall hit an exquiste chip that hit the cross bar. The rebound was fumbled by the West Brom defender and Vela slotted the ball home. A poacher's goal but hey they all count. Arsneal need to score all the opportunities they get. Set pieces, ugly scrambles.. coz all of them are the same on the scoresheet.
And guess what we kept a clean sheet! 2nd of the season so far - so well done to the defence. BTW the average age of the side was 21 years. Eight of the starting line up was below 18 years old! Scary thought that ! For Arsenal's future opposition. I'm loving it!
All in all a fun night at the Emirates. 55,000 guys and gals turned up - not bad for the Carling Cup. Wait till Manchester United get there and we'll have people in every lil seating or standing place. Till then enjoy a brief write up of Arsenal's best young players (courtesy Daily Telegraph, England)
Jack Wilshere; Age 17: Arguably the most exciting talent in English football. A powerful attacking midfielder, whose vision and ability to run directly at defences have evoked comparison both with a young Paul Gascoigne or Wayne Rooney.
Wojciech Szczesny; Age 19: Produced two outstanding saves against West Brom and has been on the bench for the senior team in recent matches following injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski. Made his debut at the age of 15 for Liega Warsaw, although his season was cut short last year by a freak training ground accident in which he broke both arms.
Sanchez Watt; Age 18: An emerging forward who was a key part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup earlier this year. He has already featured in pre-season for the first team against both Barnet and Rangers and scored on his debut last night against West Brom.
Kieran Gibbs; Age 19: Came to prominence at the end of last season when he replaced Gaël Clichy at left-back in the final matches of the season. Gifted Manchester United a goal in the Champions League semi-final with an unfortunate slip, but Arsène Wenger believes that he is a future England left-back.
Armand Traoré; Age 19: Back at Arsenal after nine months on loan at Portsmouth. A France international who joined the club from Monaco in 2006 and was a regular in the team that reached the Carling Cup final of 2007.
Aaron Ramsey; Age 18: Scored his first Arsenal goal in the Champions against Fenerbahce last season and regarded as one of the club's outstanding prospects. Joined from Cardiff, whom he played for at the age of just 16. He was also part of the Cardiff team that reached the FA Cup final of 2008.
Emmanuel Frimpong; Age 17: Has already trained with the first team and was on the bench for the Premier League game against Portsmouth last year. Grew up in Ghana, but was taken on by Arsenal at the age of nine and has featured in the England youth teams. Also played in the pre-season friendly against Barnet.
As expected Arsenal played Senderos and Silvestre as the two central defenders.
Carlos Vela was not risked by the manager from the start. He has just recovered from ankle injury and this meant Sanchez Watt (Watt's his name ? Watt - the commentators were having fun with this one!)
The squad lined up as -
* 53 Szczesny - Polish keeper. Broke both arms in a gym accident last year.
* 06 Senderos
* 18 Silvestre
* 28 Gibbs
* 30 Traore - Back from Portsmouth (Barazite 69)
* 42 Gilbert
* 16 Ramsey - welsh midfielder
* 19 Wilshere
* 35 Coquelin - French defensive midfielder who played rather well(Randall 58)
* 51 Sunu (Vela 58)
* 54 Watt
The formation was a 4(defence)-3-3(attack).
West Brom had the best chances early but their spirits were deflated by the 37th minute sending off of ex-Arsenal man Jerome Thomas.
Wilshere was downed by Thomas. Thomas proceeded to offer his hand to Wilshere in an effort to say sorry and pick him up. Wilshere refused the hand and said something to Thomas. At this point Thomas shoved the prone Wilshere prompting the ref to dish out a straight red card.
A moment of madness by Thomas - something like Zidane on Materazzi in the 2006 WC final. In football you don't hit the opponent intentionally on the field. All madness, frustration and anger is to be unleased on the ball only (and in goal celebrations
like Adebayor - oh that got him into trouble too :))
Whatever Wilshere said Thomas has only himself to blame - it was stupid and it is great to know that he has apologized to his team who suffered the most from this moment.
11-10 is never easy. You have to make up for the 11th man. West Brom tired. Wenger brought on Carlos Vela (i talked about him yesterday).
First he smashed a low shot which Kiely (West brom keeper) parried. The ball fell for for Sanchez Watt, who slotted in the rebound long before anyone else knew what was happening.
Pic of the opening goal (on 68 minutes by Watt)
Now Arsenal did need a second goal - a one goal lead is never enough especially with a opposition that was fighting hard.
Vela delivered in 77th minute. Mark Randall hit an exquiste chip that hit the cross bar. The rebound was fumbled by the West Brom defender and Vela slotted the ball home. A poacher's goal but hey they all count. Arsneal need to score all the opportunities they get. Set pieces, ugly scrambles.. coz all of them are the same on the scoresheet.
And guess what we kept a clean sheet! 2nd of the season so far - so well done to the defence. BTW the average age of the side was 21 years. Eight of the starting line up was below 18 years old! Scary thought that ! For Arsenal's future opposition. I'm loving it!
All in all a fun night at the Emirates. 55,000 guys and gals turned up - not bad for the Carling Cup. Wait till Manchester United get there and we'll have people in every lil seating or standing place. Till then enjoy a brief write up of Arsenal's best young players (courtesy Daily Telegraph, England)
Jack Wilshere; Age 17: Arguably the most exciting talent in English football. A powerful attacking midfielder, whose vision and ability to run directly at defences have evoked comparison both with a young Paul Gascoigne or Wayne Rooney.
Wojciech Szczesny; Age 19: Produced two outstanding saves against West Brom and has been on the bench for the senior team in recent matches following injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski. Made his debut at the age of 15 for Liega Warsaw, although his season was cut short last year by a freak training ground accident in which he broke both arms.
Sanchez Watt; Age 18: An emerging forward who was a key part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup earlier this year. He has already featured in pre-season for the first team against both Barnet and Rangers and scored on his debut last night against West Brom.
Kieran Gibbs; Age 19: Came to prominence at the end of last season when he replaced Gaël Clichy at left-back in the final matches of the season. Gifted Manchester United a goal in the Champions League semi-final with an unfortunate slip, but Arsène Wenger believes that he is a future England left-back.
Armand Traoré; Age 19: Back at Arsenal after nine months on loan at Portsmouth. A France international who joined the club from Monaco in 2006 and was a regular in the team that reached the Carling Cup final of 2007.
Aaron Ramsey; Age 18: Scored his first Arsenal goal in the Champions against Fenerbahce last season and regarded as one of the club's outstanding prospects. Joined from Cardiff, whom he played for at the age of just 16. He was also part of the Cardiff team that reached the FA Cup final of 2008.
Emmanuel Frimpong; Age 17: Has already trained with the first team and was on the bench for the Premier League game against Portsmouth last year. Grew up in Ghana, but was taken on by Arsenal at the age of nine and has featured in the England youth teams. Also played in the pre-season friendly against Barnet.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Arsenal v West Brom
Date : 22nd September 2009
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Competition : Carling Cup third round
Competition background:
Carling Cup is also known as the League Cup. The competition is contested by 92 teams from the English leagues (20 from the Premier League and 72 from Coca Cola Championship, League 1 and League 2) and is played on a knock out basis. Draws are held after each round to determine which team will play which in the next round. Semi finals are played over two legs (Home and Away). It is the least significant competition for Arsenal and traditionally Arsene Wenger has blooded emerging young players in the competition. Fabregas Walcott, van Persie etc. have benefitted from playing in this Cup.
Current holders: Manchester United
Arsenal have won the League Cup twice - the last time in 1992-1993 season. They finished runner's up to Chelsea in 2006-2007 in an ill-tempered and close game. Arsenal had Adebayor and Toure sent off and players between the two teams were involved in a mini brawl in the final minutes of the match. It ended 2-1 to Chelsea.
2006-2007 League Cup final - Fabregas and Lampard tangling - both got yellow cards (only!)
Last year Arsenal beat Sheffield United 6-0 at this stage so expect goals and lots of action.
West Brom are a midlands team currently playing in the Coca Cola Championship (2nd tier of English football below the Premier League). They have a young dynamic coach - Roberto Di Matteo. He is a former Chelsea and Italian midfielder. West Brom are currently top of their league and in excellent form. This makes them a dangerous team and Arsenal's young players should play to their best to win.
Their club captain Scott Carson is an excellent keeper who has even been picked for England before. Olsen the Swedish defender, forward Luke Moore and the New Zealand striker Chris Wood are the other threats to Arsenal.
Arsenal should line up with Gibbs at left back, Silvestre as central defender along with Senderous (both senior players in need of match practice) and Ramsey and Wilshere in central midfield. Look out for Wilshere - a dynamic fast midfielder with strength and terrific shooting ability. Spanish man Fran Merida should also play probably at the left side of midfield. Up front look out for Mexican Carlos Vela who ignited the competition with his excellent goals a couple of seasons ago. He seems to have recovered from injury and can play his first game of the season. As goalkeeper I would suggest that Wenger sticks Mannone between the posts again - Almunia is recovering fast and could be available soon so Mannone needs all the practice he can get. Right now Arsenal is spread rather thin in the goalkeeping department with Fabianski the second choice out for 6 months at least.
And he's a jolly good Vela (it's an Arsenal chant - no laughing :))
CARLOS VELA
winner with Mexico of the Fifa U-17 World cup in 2005. Won the Golden boot for scoring the most goals in that tournament.
KIERAN GIBBS:
Left back player. Pacy 19 year old player who impressed me a lot last season when he took the place of Gael Clichy who was out injured. He contained established strikers like Drogba, Rooney and even stood up tall to the great Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately a slip in the UEFA Champion's League semi final allowed Park-ji-Sung to score and was his only big mistake last season. Come on Gibbsy!
.jpg)
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Competition : Carling Cup third round
Competition background:
Carling Cup is also known as the League Cup. The competition is contested by 92 teams from the English leagues (20 from the Premier League and 72 from Coca Cola Championship, League 1 and League 2) and is played on a knock out basis. Draws are held after each round to determine which team will play which in the next round. Semi finals are played over two legs (Home and Away). It is the least significant competition for Arsenal and traditionally Arsene Wenger has blooded emerging young players in the competition. Fabregas Walcott, van Persie etc. have benefitted from playing in this Cup.
Current holders: Manchester United
Arsenal have won the League Cup twice - the last time in 1992-1993 season. They finished runner's up to Chelsea in 2006-2007 in an ill-tempered and close game. Arsenal had Adebayor and Toure sent off and players between the two teams were involved in a mini brawl in the final minutes of the match. It ended 2-1 to Chelsea.
2006-2007 League Cup final - Fabregas and Lampard tangling - both got yellow cards (only!)
Last year Arsenal beat Sheffield United 6-0 at this stage so expect goals and lots of action.
West Brom are a midlands team currently playing in the Coca Cola Championship (2nd tier of English football below the Premier League). They have a young dynamic coach - Roberto Di Matteo. He is a former Chelsea and Italian midfielder. West Brom are currently top of their league and in excellent form. This makes them a dangerous team and Arsenal's young players should play to their best to win.
Their club captain Scott Carson is an excellent keeper who has even been picked for England before. Olsen the Swedish defender, forward Luke Moore and the New Zealand striker Chris Wood are the other threats to Arsenal.
Arsenal should line up with Gibbs at left back, Silvestre as central defender along with Senderous (both senior players in need of match practice) and Ramsey and Wilshere in central midfield. Look out for Wilshere - a dynamic fast midfielder with strength and terrific shooting ability. Spanish man Fran Merida should also play probably at the left side of midfield. Up front look out for Mexican Carlos Vela who ignited the competition with his excellent goals a couple of seasons ago. He seems to have recovered from injury and can play his first game of the season. As goalkeeper I would suggest that Wenger sticks Mannone between the posts again - Almunia is recovering fast and could be available soon so Mannone needs all the practice he can get. Right now Arsenal is spread rather thin in the goalkeeping department with Fabianski the second choice out for 6 months at least.
And he's a jolly good Vela (it's an Arsenal chant - no laughing :))
CARLOS VELA
winner with Mexico of the Fifa U-17 World cup in 2005. Won the Golden boot for scoring the most goals in that tournament.
KIERAN GIBBS:
Left back player. Pacy 19 year old player who impressed me a lot last season when he took the place of Gael Clichy who was out injured. He contained established strikers like Drogba, Rooney and even stood up tall to the great Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately a slip in the UEFA Champion's League semi final allowed Park-ji-Sung to score and was his only big mistake last season. Come on Gibbsy!
.jpg)
Guide to Arsenal
Arsenal F.C - I fell in love with this football club from North London (which is thousands of kms from my home in New Delhi) in the year 2000.
Why? Honestly it was because Manchester United were the overwhelming favorites in the English league with a fast growing fan following in India. I love to support the underdog. Love to be different. Arsenal were the underdogs and they were different. They played football on the ground as opposed to Manchester's reliance on crosses. (from Beckham and co.)The lovely one touch football coupled with a great team spirit between the players was mesmerizing. That's how it started.
The French manager of Arsenal - Arsene Wenger. A brilliant intellectual and a philosophical man who oozes class and brilliance. As opposed to finger wagging, expletive uttering madmen type football managers that populate the English league, Arsene Wenger is a quiet, patient manager who likes Arsenal to play the game as it should be played. Attacking football with defenders joining into attacks and fast flowing moves where individual brilliance and team work are blended to form a heady cocktail that leaves fans dumbstruck and opposition players cursing their incompetence. Such football idealism may sound stupid in a game where money and winning is all that matters but try telling that to Le Professor (as Wenger is called). Add to this his unmatched ability to make nobodies into world beaters by polishing raw, young players into cultured, fast, skilled footballers and you will know why he is called one of the best coaches of all time.
Traditionally football in England has been dominated by the Northern clubs- Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle. Football is primarily a working class game in England and is more physical and faster than the game elsewhere in the world. Arsenal is the most successful London club in English football and is part of the Big 4 of English football today (Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea and Liverpool form the Big 4). Being the first Southern club to join the English first division Arsenal has been in the first division continuously since 1919 - an unmatched record.
Another great manager of Arsenal was Georger Graham.
The greatest Arsenal players of the past few years are Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Kolo Toure, David Seaman, Patrick Viera and Tony Adams (in no particular order).
Thierry Henry - the club's highest ever goal scorer. Lighting fast forward with great touch and shooting ability. Played on the left wing to cut inside and score from his right boot.
Dennis Bergkamp - Dutch forward player. Widely regarded as one of the English Premier League's all-time greatest players. In 2007 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. Excellent passer of the ball blessed with great vision and tactical awareness. Scored some wonder goals and gave some amazing assists in his time with Arsenal.
Did you know Dennis has a fear of flying? He was nicknamed the "Non flying Dutchman" (as opposed to the infamous ghost ship "The Flying Dutchman"). He used to travel by car to all of Arsenal's away games in Europe.
Proud records, league titles, great present and former players and managers Arsenal has all this. And it also has famous, unforgettable wins of 1989 and 2003. The 1989 league season is brilliantly portrayed in the book (and later the 1997 film) Fever Pitch by an Arsenal fan Nick Hornby. Arsenal go into the last game of the season needing to win against Liverpool by 2 clear goals. If they don't Liverpool will win the title. Arsenal led 1-0 going into the last minute of the match and Michael Thomas (the man in yellow) scored the 2nd goal with just seconds to go giving Arsenal a famous win.
In 2003-2004 the club went unbeaten throughout the league season - a rare feat only accomplished once before way back in the 1800s. Some of the goals and plays from that season are simply breath taking. The team was called the "Invincibles" and consisted of Arsenal and football greats like Henry, Viera, Bergkamp, Toure and Pires.
The team went on to stay unbeaten for 49 consecutive league games. In the 50th match at Old Trafford Wayne Rooney was he villian as he took a blatant dive to win a penalty for Manchester United. That moment of cheating denied Arsenal it's 50th straight unbeaten game and is regarded as one of the most tragic and sad days in Arsenal F.C's history. Arsenal is a big victim of diving and play acting. Ironically one of Arsenal current players Eduardo was embroiled in a diving controversy due to the silly Anti-Arsenal British press.
Wayne Rooney in a seperate dive! I'll give it 9.5/10!
Highbury (home of Football like Lord's is the home of cricket) was Arsenal's home ground till 2007. It had a modest capacity of about 38,000. Famous stands included the Clock end and East end. It was also known as the Arsenal stadium and featured in two movies - Fever Pitch (1997) and The Arsenal Stadium Mystery.
The famous Clock end
Ashburton grove (or the Emirates Stadium) is the new home of Arsenal football club. It has a capacity of 60,500 and is truly one of the best stadiums in the world.
Today Arsenal has a new look team with many youngsters. Majority of the Arsenal players are home grown i.e they have been enrolled in the Arsenal academy since a young age and are playing for the senior team now. Arsenal's young guns include Mexican forward Carlos Vela, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Fran Merida. Some of them are sure to be big star footballers of the future.
The club's youth policy is nurtured by Arsene Wenger as a way to remain competitive as well as financially viable. Rising age, The construction of the new stadium and economic crises have forced Arsene to sell or retire all of the 2003-2004 Invincibles squad. Notable moves were Pat Viera to Inter, Henry to Barcelona and Pires to Villareal. Dennis Bergkamp retired. The last of the Invincibles squad Kolo Toure was sold to newly rich Manchester City in 2009.
In spite of not winning any major trophy since 2005 (Arsenal won the FA Cup then) Arsene Wenger's policy is considered a great success. It has resulted in Arsenal becoming one of the most profitable clubs in England giving value to it's shareholders. Also the supporters have been treated to wonderful eye catching football at all times as Wenger has not compromised on quality of play.
What has been disappointing is the losses suffered by Arsenal in crucial matches like the Semi finals of the champions league and FA Cup (2008-2009) and crucial matches at the end of the 2007-2008 League season (when Arsenal blew a 6 point lead in the league). This is put down to lack of experience in the young squad. Also luck has not been on Arsenal's side. In 2007-2008 when Arsenal were leading the league by 6 points a horror tackle broke Arsenal striker Eduardo's leg. Arsenal drew the match due to a dubious penalty given to their opponents that day and went on a drawing spree as they lost steam and confidence.
Also the same year a bad penalty decision in favour of Liverpool cost Arsenal a place in the 2008 Champion's league semi final.
Arsenal has the unique distinction of being the only top 4 club not owned by a non-English billionaire businessman. This means the club is English owned and is not subject to the whims and fancies of some non-footballer billionaire. Arsene Wenger (the manager for the last 13 years) has major say in most decisions and this has ensured stability and proper management of finances as well as ethical, clean business practices esp. involving transfers and player wages.
Arsenal is also known as "The Gunners". There is a London tube station named Arsenal - the only tube station named after a football club.
The club crest with a canon pointing towards the right is a great advert for the clubs which loves attacking beautiful football.
You will often find that Arsenal's nickname - The Gunners - is used to describe their fortunes. "Gunners blast through Everton" "Gunners misfire at Milan get only a draw", "Gunners fire 6 past Manchester United".
Arsenal greatest rivals are neighbors - Tottenham Hotspurs. Matches between the two teams are called North London derbies. Close behind in terms of rivalry are Manchester United and Chelsea.
Arsenal also has the distinction of having the best footballing pitch (in terms of grass quality) in the English league with the Arsenal grounds men winning many awards for their fine work.
The Arsenal ladies team is English football's most successful team ever.
I will give previews and reactions of all Arsenal games for the 2009-2010 season. Hope that Arsenal will break it's duck this season.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
