Ajax 0 - 1 Arsenal

Arsenal's first win in the tournament. Ajax's first defeat for 5 years? Until 80th minute it seemed like we were heading for 0-0 draw. Arturo Lupoli came in and I thought let's see some of his touches.

I've seen a huge talent in Ajax's 18 years old forward Ryan Babel. And Caristheas who came on in the second half is an effective striker. Our forwards have been lacking in ideas. Henry wasn't giving his 100% and Bergkamp's touch still need some polishing. Reyes continues his bravado play which is good. Pires, as I expected, has been ineffective in the center of the park. Flamini was only as good as Edu defensively although he worked hard to be fair. I always think Flamini is most interesting when he make forward runs. He almost scored a goal but for his generousity to pass it to Freddie.
Freddie had several great chances which his blown away. That's alright as long as he is trying.
I was eager to see Hleb and Bentley play. And I got my wish. As soon as Hleb came on, Arsenal's attack on the left flank became more fluid (yes he played on the left today). And as soon as Bentley came on the replace Freddie, suddenly our attacking became dangerous.

So what of Lupoli? He didn't do much actually. His only contribution was to receive a great short pass by Hleb at the edge of the area and put the ball into the net with a typical striker's shot. How I wish all the other forwards, including our new captain, could do such simple thing. This kid can be our fox in the box.

Defensively we did okay. Senderos was shaky and bettered by Cygan who came on for him. Kolo, Lauren and Cole was their usual selves while Jens made a brave save. Eboeue came on for Lauren and apart from being tricked by Mitea once, was pacey and useful in attacking.

I talked about Heitinga being a talented centerback and seeing him tonight, I think Wenger should really consider him, and Maduro. Hatem Trabelsi who was once linked with us but for salary problem was playing really well, quick and skillful. He occasionally joined the attack too. Another attempt to lure him to Highbury would be welcomed.

Of course if Wenger is sincere with his goalkeeper search, he should try everything to sign Marteen S (okay I forgot how to spell his surname). I knew all along that he is a talented goalie. I knew it even before he was playing for Ajax's first team. But even now I bet some people would still be clueless about his quality.

By the way Hleb didn't disappoint. Indeed he can be the classic no 10.

A Real Beast

The confused Beast finally made up his mind and joined Real Madrid for the same amount we offered. Good. The last thing we want is to spend that much to get a player who come to training ground everyday with his mind on the Spanish passport.

What I don't understand is Real's sudden interest in the player. Sure they failed to get Robinho. But just because we moved from Robinho to Baptista doesn't mean they have to do the same rite? Are they just trying to piss me off? Maybe they have decided that the best way to find good players is to bid for players Wenger is interested in. With their status and money, they could probably outbid us 7 out of 10 times. Making sense.

Freddie signs

Yeah.. not a very surprising headline. Still, a good news considering how negative our pre season has been so far. We need Freddie's industrious play and never-say-die spirit to lift up this gloomy squad. And his Calvin Klein's underwear ad across the globe wouldn't hurt either. Till 2009 then.

Robert Pires' contract would be resolved sometime in January. As in Dennis' case, I am sure he will agree to the 1 year extension and our no 7 would still be there by the time we move to the Emirates Stadium.

Somewhere else, David Seaman was interviewed by Small Talk for his role in some kinda healthy lifestyle campaign. He talked about how Wenger's strict diet helped several aging players to play 2-3 seasons longer. He seems a happy man now with his kids and he wouldn't miss Martin Keown's jokes. He may not be the most fantastic goalie ever, but we would certainly miss his excellent judgement and positioning which made Arsenal's backline of the 90's such a formidable fortress to penetrate. Wish you all the best, Big Dave!

Onto the Amsterdam tournament. van Persie won't be playing as he is given time to prepare himself mentally. Expect to see more of Alexander Hleb. The following few games would give a better picture of how Wenger gonna change his gameplan with Vieira now gone. For all those who keep asking how he will replace Vieira, he gave an excellent reply by saying that he doesn't plan to replace Vieira. Had there been another player of Vieira's mould, Juve wouldn't bother to come to us in the first place. Wenger would adapt and change his tactical approach accordingly. Well said, Sir.

Typical Wenger

Good to know that Wenger finally acknowledge the need of another goalie. We won't be getting goalie of Reina quality, that's for sure. We would typically get another Almunia. The only time I was excited with Wenger's goalie purchase was when he bought Richard Wright.. but Wright couldn't really make it, his injury, coupled with Wenger's insistance to stick with David Seaman in the name of stability costed the young man his career. He was never the same since he came out of Arsenal. Many would argue he didn't have the quality anyway. I would say that he wasn't developed in the right way at Arsenal. The same goes to Upson, Hughes (still remember him?), and I dare to say, Jeffers. Sure, Wenger has been magnificent in how he developed Anelka, Vieira, Petit, Henry most notably. But that doesn't mean he has the right ingredient for everyone. Fair enough.

Which is why I don't think Wenger should get a goalie who is still learning his trade. Rumour has it that Dean Kiely is our target. Well, I can live with that. He is an experienced goalie who wouldn't concede silly goals. We were too late for Proto, a Belgian goalie who sign for Anderlecht. Typical Wenger. His over calculating can sometimes be a weakness. We missed out many many good chances to sign great players. We could've sign Petr Cech had we been more aggresive. On the plus side, he spares us the headache of Pool's fans over Diouf, or Man Utd's fans over Forlan. Although he is yet to spare us the headache off seeing Cygan.

Cygan was, if memory serves, the French league footballer of the year before Wenger moved for him. Such a drastic fall from grace. To be fair, I think he is never cut out to play in such a frentic league like Premiership. And to make things worse, he is playing for a club which emphasis is on attack. Many english clubs are the same, I agree. But the arrival of Mourinho shows us what the art of defense is all about, which remind us of George Graham's boring boring Arsenal. How I wish Wenger would invite GG for some enlightenment on that area. More than anyone I would love to see Cygan offloaded. But that has nothing to do with his inability. I am sure he could do pretty well when he plays in an organized defense. Just that.. he is the wrong player for the wrong club.

Freddie has 99% chance of signing new contract, the boss said. Freddie is a warrior who run tirelessly thruout the match. My favorite player. But his only asset is his well-timed run and pace and occasional useful backtrack to help Lauren, our professional yet slow right back. His most important asset isn't his footballing skill, it is his spirit. He couldn't dribble and he couldn't pass or cross particularly well. I could understand had Wenger wanted to sell him but as for now, missing him is the last thing we want. We are running out of midfielder.

With Sol injured, we are also short on centerback. Christanval is not a proven entity. Forget Baptista. Get Bonera, an Italian centerback who is playing for the struggling Parma. Or john Heitinga, a young talented Ajax player. Or Vincent Kompany, a highly rated Belgian.

REALity Sets In

All the hype surrounding Baptista saga are for nothing it seems. Real are ready to join the race, Marca said. They may not be able to match our bid but as in the Robinho's case, their past achievement made up for that. Can you think of any big player who would want to sacrifice his 10 million share of transfer free to play for Arsenal? Real know Baptista wants Spanish citizenship. Real know Sevilla are desperate to offload him while his value is still high. Easy eh? Blame the Sevilla's president for being too greedy for his own good.

So faith is the only thing left. You must never say never in football. Things happening recently made me realise that while those footballers could do amazing things with their feet, they could do less so with their head. Just look at Ashley. Or Reyes in the hoax phone call case. Of course there are professionals out there who know how to use their head properly. Dennis Bergkamp would be a good example.

Anyway, we just won 3-0 against our strongest preseason opposition so far, FC Utrecth. Check out www.arsenal.com for match report. It's interesting to see Wenger deploying Hleb and Freddie on both flank while Pires playing in the middle of the park. While it worked against FC Utretch, I still think Hleb should move to the middle instead. Pires is too afraid of challenges nowadays. Bentley has been lively in all the preseason games he played and that's good. Welcome back boy!

Wenger thought Alexander Song has talent, expect to see him featuring in our redcurrant shirt. Christanval, however, was only alright. Another Cygan? Given that he could adapt and stop getting injured, I believe he can be a great squad player for us. He was rated very highly few years ago.

So far Mark Howard and Manone have been the only keepers appearing for preseason training. Doesn't this alarm Wenger to get another player? I would want to recommend Sebastian Saja, a young Argentinian goalie but then he may not get work permit. I can't understand why Wenger doesn't fork out money for a good goalie. Lehmann is okay. But why settle for an 'okay' goalie? Get Isaakson, get Pletikosa, get Frey, or even Kiely. Anyone would do. I am not asking for a Peter Schmeichel.

Somewhere else, Reyes has claimed that Chelsea aren't that good anyway. I agree, except for their Robben, and Terry, and Lampard, and Cech, and Wright Philips.. yeah.. they are not that good anyway...
Okay.. let's face it. They are good. But there is nothing exciting in seeing that squad, full of players hungry for money-generated success. Boring..
Arsenal? We are club with tight budget board, awesome new stadium in progress, and exciting young talents playing for the first team... Wenger knows...

A New Beginning

Finally, a gooner blog in blogspot for me. I will try to update this blog as often as I can.
A quick background...
I wasn't born a football fan. I never understood what is so beautiful about football until one day I bought a game called Ultimate Soccer Manager 1995, it was an old football manager game that only allows us to play English League's clubs. Long before Championship Manager came up with its 2d simulation game engine, USM 95 has already come up with the 2d engine, despite a huge difference in their AI capabilities.
So to cut it short, having have to choose which club to try first, I looked at the list and inevitably, Arsenal was on top of the list. The name sounds cool to me and when I browse through the players, I just kinda like what I saw. So Arsenal was the first team I really tried to play with and from then on, I started to find out more about Arsenal.
And I never looked back since then.
Yeah.. we've been thru that amazing 97/98 double that I would never forget. Having Wrighty injured, people thought we were over. Who would have thought that there is a certain Nicholas Anelka that gonna steal the show and help us to the amazing late run to claim the double?
Yeah.. we've also been thru those barren seasons, there were time when we could only envy the treble Ferguson won, okay stop that summer break argument.
But as for now.. I am so thrilled at the chance of seeing this young guns showing us what they are capable of.. now that we have let Edu, Pennant, and Vieira go.
I don't care about what we would win in this last season at Highbury. I care about how hard they will fight for each and every point throughout this season, which gonna be much harder than the previous one, with Man Utd now hungry for a trophy, Liverpool now come back with full confidence, and Chelsea more formidable than ever.
Bring it on!!