And I Am Grateful that I Am A Gooner

The other day I was asking myself how it feels to be supporting, say, Fulham. You begin every season hoping that your team will keep its place midtable and hopefully, in the best case scenario, win a League Cup. Maybe your wildest dream would be to see your team qualifying for UEFA Cup which, to be honest, is the League Cup of European Football. No one cares about UEFA Cup's result. I bet most of us can't remember who won the Cup two seasons ago.

In weekly basis, you would be too happy with one point most of the time. Simply the fact that Fulham's match is on the TV would have made your day. It must be hard to support Fulham.

And here we are, supporting Arsenal. We are gutted whenever we lost. There are times when we win and still we are not satisfied. And I blame the media for that! And ourselves!

The media made us believe that we are one of the very best in Europe and it's compulsory therefore for this team to be up there challenging for title every season. Either we are top or few points away from there, that's where we belong. Everytime we are kicked out of CL or lose to average team, we are deemed to be underperforming. And when we play well, they call us the best footballing team in the land.

And we buy that.

All over the forum, blog and message board, we are claiming that Arsenal are the best club around with the most intelligent manager, a captain who should have won European Footballer of the Year award four or five times, and some talented youngsters who could take on anyone.

Have we ever tried to be honest and consider the fact that we are simply not there yet?

We have problems everywhere, problems that need addressing. Lack of physical presence, inability to mark opponents during setpieces, and inability to maintain the same level of focus and consistency. These problems have been existing for years and it's no secret that average teams have been considerably successful in their attempt to exploit those.

Why didn't we address these problems?

Because our manager somehow believes that as long as his team plays his way of football, they will be able to negate all these weaknesses. And that is unhealthy pride.

I despise Chelsea and I don't really fancy Mourinho. But you have to realise that despite his cocky attitude, back in the training ground, he continuously tries to improve his team. Sure, everytime Chelsea lost, his reaction and comment are often childish. But deep down he knew his team needed to improve and they responded by winning 4-0 the next game. They learn from mistakes and they don't make the same mistake twice.

They are hard to beat not because they have top players. They are tough because they work hard to nullify all the chance of making stupid mistakes. When they lose, it's either because they are outclassed or unlucky.

That's what I expect from Wenger. To be openminded enough to acknowledge our weakness and practice on that. If the weakness has something to do with his football style, then he has to compromise that. That unless winning the trophies is not his priority.

It wouldn't feel bad if we lose because we are outclassed. I will be proud if we lose a match in which our players have given their all. I could accept us losing against CSKA because I know that it was a tough game. And the players gave their all to fight back.

And I would like to see that fight coming from our captain first and foremost. I would be happy had he won the Footballer of the Year award but I don't think winning the award would help him in any sense. Everyone knows that he is better than the Italians but not everyone believe that his Arsenal is better than everyone else. It's time for him to give his all and the manager needs to help him by reverting back to 4-4-2, beefing up the midfield and strengthening the defense.

Well.. I guess what I am trying to say is that we are not perfect yet. We shouldn't be expecting our team to be top of the table because they don't deserve it at the moment. Let's support this team the way they are. They will drop more point this season. Let's accept it. They are a new team shadowed by the Vieira's Arsenal which once dominated the Premiership. They are learning hard to catch up with that old Arsenal. Let's support them along the way.

I remember that the first time I supported Arsenal, it was not because I wanted to support a team that win the title every year. But I wanted a club that I can be proud of. And I think that has been the case all along. I am glad that I didn't choose Man Utd or gosh.. Chelsea. I am glad that I am a gooner

A poor draw against Newcastle, a great comeback against Hamburg, and a sickening defeat against Bolton. Really.. it's hard sometimes to write anything about our Arsenal in the last three seasons. You would see them destroy a good team one Saturday and get humiliated by an ordinary team the next Saturday. And you don't know why.

The way we lose.. it often feels like deja vu. So much so that you don't know what else there is to say with regards to the match. It's not exactly fun, for example, to reiterate for the 100th time the fact that we never learn how to defend set piece properly. Or that we only start to play with full determination after we have conceded.

And the worst is to listen to Wenger's post match comment where he keeps talking about how much potential the team have. He may be happy to know that three or four youngsters that he has are given -10 potential in Football Manager 2007, which means that those players will be world class in years to come. There are many others who have -9 potential which means that they will be some very very good players.. IN YEARS TO COME. If he continues to focus on how good his players will be and refuses to address the problem at hand, I can't see how his team could compete against Chelsea or Man Utd.

I know that Liverpool aren't much better. And Sp*rs are even worse. I guess you should be grateful when you consider that. But if that's how we measure ourselves, we should really stop talking about winning the Premiership and CL. And we have to stop addressing ourselves as the best footballing team around. That's ridiculous.

As I said earlier on, I don't think there is much to say for the Bolton game. Arseblog who is usually positive was surprisingly honest yesterday and I have to agree with him, we lack leadership. We don't have strong characters in the dressing room. We need some senior players who would make sure that this team focus and fight the battle for 90 minutes. Simple as that. Our captain and vice-captain are not ones.

The last thing we need is a Freddie Ljungberg who contributed more to Bolton than Arsenal. I used to say that he is a warrior and I love him but he was inexplicably awful. He still worked hard but he was so bad that he would not make it into the Bolton's first eleven I am afraid. I am sorry Freddie.. it's over.

As they say.. there is always the silver lining thingy, and that is Theo Walcott. He stood out and outperformed many of his seniors. If we could clone him to take Freddie's place, we could have won the game. Sometimes he made the wrong decision but he is still 17. He will be awesome IN YEARS TO COME.

On the Liverpool game

I did not write anything after our win over Liverpool. I was too happy and amused to write anything I guess. We struggled to win against the big boys last season but we have beaten Man Utd and Liverpool this time around. Liverpool are of course a much better team than the one that played last Saturday. But Arsenal too were not playing their best football.

I was thinking.. How could a team that lost to WHU a week before are now scoring three against a much better team? It was the same team, more or less. If anything, we were without Rosicky who was one of our better players at the moment. We did not play as well as we did against CSKA. But we scored three good goals.

I think it's down to the fact that we have extra man in defense as well as attack.

TH was surprisingly chasing balls, closing down, and helping out the defense all the time against Liverpool. Liverpool's backfour couldn't mark him because he was everywhere. His aggresive play also meant that Liverpool were under pressure the moment they got the ball. They simply couldn't pass it properly to Crouch.

And of course, the Kolo's goal happened because TH was down there exchanging passes with Cesc, while Kolo made his run into the opponent's area. No one noticed Kolo because Kolo was never part of their consideration. They only paid attention to the usual attackers and van Persie who was the most advanced player at that time, managed to steal their attention. His handball apart, I must credit van Persie for his performance. He managed to provide that pass to Kolo and he put in a good corner kick for Gallas to head home. He also worked hard generally.

The first goal was another case of extra man in attack. Neither Hleb nor Rosicky would have gone there to wait for the cross. They would have stayed outside the box trying to play another teammate in. But Flamini went straight to the area to put the ball in. I think we all know that Flamini is never going to be good enough to be part of our starting eleven. But his performance showed us how far someone could go if he is 100% dedicated. Flamini's direct approach gave us another dimension.

Another aspect that helps explaining our improvement was the fullbacks. Eboue and Clichy are now fully fit and both have incredible speed to attack the flanks. With both our wingers drifting inside all the time, the fullbacks are essential to provide us with more width. I never realised Clichy was that quick, or maybe I forgot that. His speed was unbelievable. Against Liverpool, I felt that he would only need to form partnership with someone down the left and we will have another deadly combination to break down the opponent's defense.

Overall.. it was a great disciplined performance from the players and I am glad for Gallas and Toure who seemed to be getting on well. Gallas' header was something we have been missing lately. More of those goals please!

Oh and glad that Wenger is back among the press =)

WHU 1:0 Arse

I am not happy that we lost. I don't think we deserve to lose. I am not happy with some of Alan Pardew's dirty players. I am not happy with Rob Styles, yes THAT WAS A PENALTY! Geez I even blame the pitch because I somehow feel that our players were not really comfortable tonight.

But to tell you the truth.. I think Wenger was being a bad loser there. I am sorry mate. He is, after all, the manager. The fans could go berserk, the players could too, but not the manager. I understand that he is so damn frustated but that's not the way man. I know Pardew might have gone over the top with his celebration. He too is guilty for that. But surely he is somewhat entitled to after his team's poor run this season. This win could be the one that save his job after all.

Pardew has come out to apologise to Wenger despite Wenger refusing to shake his hand. Pardew of course know that the ref was a joke and his players were kicking us out of the park. I hope Wenger will be graceful enough to say something that would repair their relationship. I don't see the reason to make enemy with such a decent manager. I wouldn't bother if it's Big Sam.

Anyway.. I don't remember seeing Wenger in such state. I don't think I have ever seen him losing it in such fashion.

So I can only assume that he is really angry now. I can only hope that his team will come back stronger, against Liverpool.

Arsenal could have won the last three games had Bobby Pires played. We could have won too had the old Freddie played. Henry misses Pires' run into the box and the team misses the old Freddie's run into the box.

But tonight.. I realise that there is another thing that we miss.

We could have won tonight had Parlour, Petit, and Vieira played. Harewood would not have scored if Adams and co. were playing. There is no way Dixon would suffer Flamini's fate.
We miss the type of players who could scare the opponents, making them think twice before they decide to play it hard.

I realise that you cannot have everything. There is no perfect player. Henry will not get red cards or nasty injuries but neither would he battle it out the way Rooney would.

This third generation team that Wenger assembles is full of technically gifted players. But they don't have enough character. And they don't stand up for their teammates. I am tempted to go on and get to the point where I think Henry does not deserve his captain armband but well.. we are all frustated now so let's just give it a rest.

This team will bounce back. They will learn and they will fight back.

Revenge of the King

SCV decided not to show the Arsenal-Everton game so I couldn't comment on the game. I watched Man Utd instead and was impressed by their display of attacking football. Their range of passing and movement off the ball was very good. Most importantly, they did not let Bolton intimidate them physically. Oh.. enough of Man Utd.

So Everton came and succeeded in executing their gameplan. They scored first and they did everything they could to stop our game. In Football Manager tactical term, that means you move your "time wasting" slider to the max. But as Wenger said, it's our job to punish them, to show them that attack is truly the best defense. Moyes' job was to earn points and he was not interested in gaining admirers. Not now.

The Moscow team are coming to the Emirates Stadium tonight. I think TH is still angry over the disallowed goal. I feel that his mind was on tonight's game when he was playing againt Everton. And he surely knew that the fans were not too impressed by his display last weekend. I have a feeling that he will teach the Moscow team a lesson or two tonight. The Russian team should prepare themselves to face the wrath of the king.

Come on you Gunners!

Eight out of Nine

So we have won eight out of our last nine games. What can I say? The lads.. they are amazing. We would be foolish to think that we will continue winning each and every game. But we can see that the team play with a real hunger there. They play with a real belief. Chelsea have not been convincing so far and while Man Utd have been peaking lately, we have beaten them at Old Trafford and all these give our players a genuine confidence that they can actually win the title this time around.

We didn't have that belief last season.

The 0-4 win against Reading was particularly special. It was delivered in the most Wenger-ish way possible. Many thought that it was as good as the unbeatable team. Both are equally good but they are different.

Cesc Fabregas is the difference.

The team is no longer symbolized by PV's powerful play. And while TH is still playing a very important part, it is Fabregas who dictates the tempo.

Cesc, Hleb, Rosicky, and TH are the four players who made our passing game such a joy to watch. Reading's players were simply in awe and some of our passes were simply unthinkable to them.

The second (Hleb's) and third goal (van Persie's) was very good in my opinion. Many claim that the third was the best. That certainly was the most Arsenal goal as Hleb could have attempted a shot and yet he passed the ball to the Dutchman who I thought was not playing as well as the other did. But we shall spare him any criticism given the goal and the win.

Another thing that we could observe from the Reading game was the difference it made when Wenger made the substitution. Almost instantly, our players lost the rhytm and we gave away balls. Arsenal's style of play count heavily on the understanding among the players. If there is no international football break and no serious injury to the key personnels for one season, I am certain that we will have great chance of winning the title on that season.

I didn't watch the Carling Cup game against WBA so I can't say much. But Aliadiere looked promising and his finishing was certainly as good as ever. He didn't lose his pace too. He has delivered almost every time he was called upon. Now it's up to the Professor to give him chance.

And let's hope that our youngsters win the Cup this time around!

Back!!

So I am back. Since the Man Utd game, we have already won the Charlton and Watford game. Of course there was THAT van Persie's goal, the highly impressive debut by Walcott, and THAT yellow card against Henry in the CSKA Moscow game.

The ref.. I dunno what to say. Stupidity knows no bound. Fact!

Many things have happened. Two great things today: ANR report on the Arsenal 2006's AGM and Arseblog's podcast. The podcast is especially awesome. Great job, Arseblogger!

With regards to the CSKA Moscow's game, I think the result was a fair reflection of the game. It was a bit cruel on our players who fought hard in such a cold wheather and playing on such a poor pitch. But CSKA did outplay us and if you are a CSKA's fan, you would probably think that you have every right to return home with the 3 points. Considering the fact that they would never have the chance to witness their team playing in the Final, let's just give them the three points. We will show them how good we are at the Emirates.

Our defense was particularly tested in the game. I was worried about Gallas for he didn't seem to be 100% fit lately. Djourou for once was shaky and had difficulty in handling Vagner Love, who in all fairness is a very good player. Hoyte played quite well in the last 20-30 minutes. This boy has good recovery pace and that saved him many times.

Gilberto? He gives away possession even when he plays on a perfectly fine pitch. His poor performance was rather expected.

What I am trying to say is.. the game was not a must-win, and the fact that we lost would have taught our young players some valuable lessons. It would also give Wenger something to work on. I believe we still need to work on the way to play against organized, technically good, and physically strong teams such as Lyon, Munchen, and now CSKA Moscow.

Many blame van Persie for his misses. Many say that he is not a team player and thus, shouldn't be starting. I think it's Wenger's challenge to accomodate van Persie. He is no Bergkamp. Bergkamp makes other play well. van Persie plays well when other play well. Technically, van Persie is undoubtedly one of the most talented players Wenger has ever bought. His left foot is invaluable. Give him time. The lad has a smashing attitude. Allow him to grow.

The next game is Reading on Sunday. I hate it when they play on Sunday. Anyway.. I feel sorry for Petr Cech. I always like him despite him playing for Chelsea. He is one of the best goalkeepers I have ever seen and to see him getting such a horrible injury is just sad. Even if he is one of the worst goalkeepers around, he is still human and a fractured skull is a serious thing. I won't go into the argument whether Hunt meant it or not. But I believe the FA should do something to protect the goalkeepers.

And above all.. the players should really respect each other more. What does winning/losing mean when compares to someone's life?