a gooner's diary

And I Am Grateful that I Am A Gooner

2006-11-29T17:31:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-27T09:49:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-17T16:00:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-05T23:37:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-01T11:55:00.000+08:00

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

2006-10-25T15:41:00.000+08:00

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!!

2006-10-20T17:13:00.000+08:00

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?

Man Utd 0 - 1 Arsenal

2006-09-18T01:12:00.000+08:00

Hah!!

What a match! The last 20 minutes was unbelieveable. In the last 20 minutes, Arsenal played the way a champion should play. Full of energy, full of desire.

Jens Lehmann. The majestic tower behind a makeshift back four. The save against Ronaldo and the full stretch save against Solsjaer- magnificent.

Kolo Toure. He was obviously not fit but his performance today was heroic. I may be a minority here but I believe that Kolo and Jens are more important than Thierry. We just can't afford to be without both of them!! And I do believe that Kolo will make a great captain.

Of course the other players were superb too. Rosicky in particular was our most dangerous player. You have to admire Adebayor for his workrate even if you find him a bit frustating at times. And he did score THAT goal!!

Well I am sure others will give all the detail and analysis and there is no need for me to talk too much. I just want to enjoy this win.

Getting the first three points at Old Trafford; what else can you ask for??!

First Three Points!!!

2006-09-14T22:33:00.000+08:00

And it comes from a Champions League away game that would have been interesting but for the unnecessary red card.

Hamburg may not be a popular name but if you care to look at their squad, they do have good players. Daniel Ljuboja (not sure the spelling), Vincent Kompany, and Nigel de Jong are few quality players they have on their side. I am especially interested in Kompany, the young Belgian who, if memory serves, rejected Chelsea and chose Hamburg. Wise lad.

I didn't watch the game so I won't comment on anyone's performance. But I will praise Gilberto for taking on the captain armband and having the nerve to convert the penalty. Rosicky's goal is about time. He admitted that he won't be as prolific as Bobby but I am fine with that as long as he fights for the team and provide assists.

The 1-2 score and the red card tell us few things.

They tell us that this young team needs to be more disciplined and focused no matter how easy the game is. They will learn.

They also tell us that the most important thing this team needs at the moment is confidence. Continuing last season's form, this team know they could do well in CL and they got the result.

They still have doubt over their ability to win domestic games.

The Man Utd game will be massive. A win will give us an invaluable boost. Frankly speaking, I think we are still a level below Man Utd at the moment. We need to step up and give our 120% to silence Old Trafford. Can we do that? Of course we can!! The Arsenal that I fell in love with had this unyielding spirit that fear no one. I wish to see that in this young team.

And by doing that, proving to Cole that these young players can actually fight. Cole may have lied many times but no one lies all the time. I read his story on the lack of bonding and fighting spirit in current team. Anyone who remember how our players showed that "one for all and all for one" spirit during our unbeatable season will realise that Cole did say something right though the purpose of him saying that is wrong.

CL Campaign Kick off

2006-09-12T09:59:00.000+08:00

Now that I am calm, I shall look back at the match against Boro with more positive attitude.

To begin with, Wenger's post match response was making a lot of sense. He often said useless post match stuff but this time he was spot on.

Le Prof said:
"I feel it is terrible for us because we could not win against a team who had one shot on goal but it is like that and we have to redress that problem by using the width of the pitch, by being more penetrative from deeper positions and by being sharper in front of goal."

Yes, yes, and YES! Use the width, more penetration from deeper position. That's what we need. Redress that Sir! Thank you very much.

He also said that there was a huge potential within the team (I think he also said this last season), and this time it makes sense to me. Ian Grant of ANR said that the team towards the end of the match was a totally different team. I agree 2/3 of his comment. Rosicky and Baptista looked interesting but Adebayor was clueless.

I said before that in the situation where the opposition are happy to sit back, we should take Gilberto out and bring Baptista in. The big no. 9 was still adapting to his new teammates last Saturday but I am glad that the idea was there. Wenger's substitution made sense for once.

If it's up to me, I would have kept van Persie though. I would send Rosicky upfront, playing 4-3-3 with Henry on the left and van Persie on the right. Hleb and Cesc would support the attack from deep while Baptista will play Lampard role. Well.. what do I know? I am only a mortal after all.

I have no problem with us not winning. That is football. But I have problem with us not addressing the obvious problems. Now that Wenger has said that he would take care of them, I am a happy man.

Tomorrow we will kick off our CL campaign and I am sure everyone expect Arsenal to repeat last season's trend. It won't be as easy though. We started off last season CL campaign as a big team known for their luckless history in the competition. But today, we are a force everyone are aware of. We have tougher group too. But I reckon we will win our first match.

Arsenal 1:1 Boro

2006-09-10T00:04:00.000+08:00

I was really tempted to say nothing as I really do not know what to say with regards to our result. The players tried, they really did. But we know what the opposition would do and we know that as long as we are not in our 100% condition, most likely the opposition's plan would work. Simple as that. Too obvious that it's boring.

I don't need anyone to tell me that we would eventually win points and er.. be free from relegation battle (unfamilar situation?). But is this our target for the season?

I also don't need Wenger to remind me that the way we play is the very way that won us the title during the unbeatable season. But the simple truth is that many weaker teams have found way to counter our game, and many times it works.

There is this wonderful theory that a manager who has brought you all these titles and a great revolution to the club will never go wrong. He knows. He always does.

And it goes without saying that anyone who dare to question such manager is an ungrateful glory hunter who could only whine when we are not winning.

But I simply can't bring myself to say that "given the possesion, we deserve to win today's game". I can't bring myself to blame the International games or the referee or Boro players or the pitch.

Arrogance.. that is really the word that comes to my head.

Finally, A Settled Side

2006-09-05T16:59:00.000+08:00

Though Chelsea are still attempting some stupid bite at Gallas in response to his comment that Mourinho has mistreated him. Well.. Victor Predictor said it well that if everything said about Gallas was true, why then were Chelsea trying so hard to keep Gallas? If Buffon says that he will deliberately concede goal unless he is sold, I am sure Juve will be more than happy to sell him the first day they are allowed to do so.

Also, Gallas is a France international and he knows well that scoring an own goal is never good for his reputation. When you consider every player wanted to do their best to earn their place in World Cup, there was no way Gallas would attempt such stupid thing last season. I am not saying that Gallas is the most loyal servant around but I believe Chelsea were not saying the exact truth there. Not that they should say anything to begin with.

I'm still waiting for Mourinho to come up with his arrogant comment though. It just isn't complete without a quote for him.

That aside, we are now having a settled camp fully focused on the new season, hopefully.

Defenders

Assuming that Gallas is genuinely happy to play for us, we now have the kind of centreback partnership that I always yearn for. Two quick and strong centrebacks with authority. They may need time to understand each other but the moment they adapt, they will be our rock.

I am not forgetting Djorou whom I rate above Senderos. In three years time, Senderos may grow into a superb defender but at the moment, the big Swiss is still not completely ready. Gallas will not harm his progress. Gallas is an experienced world class player who will help our young defenders to progress. They only need to be patient.

I reckon Wenger will still look for a quality left back as Clichy is injury prone and apart from him, we do not have a natural player in that position. Djorou should be able to play in that position though. Flamini too has proven that he is reliable. This guy seems to be happy to play anywhere; precious soldier indeed. Eboue needs polishing but he has the potential.

Farewell Cygan. I am sorry for all the criticism from me and many other fans. You are definitely a professional and humble player who was genuinely proud to play for Arsenal.

Attackers

I wanted to separate midfielders from strikers but it seems that they affect each other.

Many seem to worry about Adebayor and van Persie now that Wenger has brought in Baptista who, according to le boss, will be playing as half striker or attacking midfielder. Surely Gilberto's coverage is essential in our attacking play and Cesc is the conductor. Baptista has shown that despite the claim that he is versatile to play anywhere, he is not too effective playing as winger. Therefore, it seems logical that Baptista's presence will only affect Adebayor, van Persie and probably Aliadiere.

I disagree though.

I think Baptista is a wild card who gives Wenger more option in his tactical approach. There are times when teams are just staying in their own half and this is the time where we could afford to take Gilberto out and send Baptista in to cause some damage from the midfield.

There are times when the priority is to avoid conceeding. We could play 4-5-1 with Cesc-Gilberto-Baptista in the centre midfield. Baptista's physical presence will give Cesc more protection and take away some attention from the Spaniard.

I think Wenger knows that van Persie is a very special player. He will have his chance this season. He needs to improve his teamwork though.

Hleb still struggles to find consistency but I think he will recapture his previous season's form in few weeks time.

Now Rosicky is a tricky one. I still believe that he is much much better playing in the centre midfield, Fabregas role. I know almost all Arsenal fans (apart from Anti probably) will not want to see Cesc's place challenged by anyone else. If Wenger were to bid for Kaka, probably most Arsenal fans would ask 'What will happen to Cesc?'. Yes.. we love him that much.

But Rosicky is a very good player and he deserves his chance to play in his best position. Sometimes Cesc does not play well and that is the time Wenger should try to move Rosicky to the centre midfield and allow him to impose himself there. Rosicky is not at his best playing wide. Don't we have Walcott and Ljungberg to play left wing?

It seems that we suddenly run out of winger this time around.

Conclusion

I have not talked about Lehmann, Almunia, Lauren, etc. I think they will have no issue. Denilson get no.15 and I wonder if he will follow the previous no.15's path to become a revelation this season.

All in all, this season will not be less exciting. We are theoritically much stronger this time around. We have adapted to the lost of Vieira, we have young talents who have matured significantly, and we have some top addition to the squad.

Bring on Boro!

The truth is..

2006-08-31T17:39:00.000+08:00

Wenger has finally explained to us the problem that has kept him occupied lately. Apparently he's working extra hard to sign Sho Ito, an 18 years old Japanese starlet with exceptional talent. How such a talent is without club at the moment is beyond me.

"I like him, I want to sign him and we are applying for a working visa for him on the basis of exceptional talent," Wenger said.

"Last season we had an exceptional talent visa for a Cameroon international, Alex Song, and this player looks another exciting prospect."

Hey, Song actually qualified for an exceptional talent visa. Wonderful..

Don't get me wrong. I do find it exciting to have an Asian to play for Arsenal. I was excited when I found out that Inamoto signed for us. But it's helplessly depressing when you see how other teams are busily addressing their weaknesses with established players and yet your manager is happily pursuing an unknown 18 years old Japanese who, if signed, I doubt will feature this season anyway. Another Carlos Vela, another Fran Merida.

Regarding the one year loan at WHU for Tevez and Mascherano, many are saying that Roman is involved in the whole issue and when Roman is involved, I guess I can forgive Wenger for missing out on the players.

I will talk about Baptista the moment it's official that he is playing for us.

Here we go....

2006-08-31T15:51:00.000+08:00

Someone please tell me that this website is fake:

http://www.carlitostevez.com.ar/por/index.php

Or please tell me that the West Ham banner there isn't indicating that Tevez has signed for West Ham.

I can't read Spanish but there seemed to be something about Javier Mascherano there and don't tell me both have moved to WHU, while Wenger is sitting happily in his office admiring the collection of his hugely talented youngsters.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I don't need anyone to tell me that we have enough forwards, quantity-wise. But Tevez is a top, top quality and when such player is available, WELL... never mind. I am not the manager anyway. Even if Wenger decides to play Cygan all season, what can I do? Even if Wenger decides that Almunia will be our no.1 next season, what can I say?

He decides whether to spend or not. He decides how the team play.

Sigh..

Final Days

2006-08-29T12:28:00.000+08:00

It gonna be hectic, it gonna be full of surprise moves and ops.. suddenly the transfer window ends and we've got no new signing to be excited about. Typical Arsenal's summer? I have said that I wouldn't waste my time in speculating and I am glad that I didn't because it was proven that we have bought no one apart from Rosicky and neither did we sell anyone up to this point. So much for the Cole and Reyes saga. Both may well end up as Arsenal players.

Cole played in the Reserves' 4-0 win against Charlton and I think that signal the end of the saga, for this season at least. Restoring his position in the first eleven is as good as telling other players that they can always mess with the club, attempt to engineer a move and should it fail, they will still be forgiven by Wenger as long as they are good enough. Bad example. I am afraid we will see more of Cole and Reyes' case happening in future.

But I think we have to accept that Wenger's hands are tied. We know teams have singled out Hoyte as our weakest link and even if Flamini were to play, he too is not as good as Cole. Wenger will not spend 15-20 millions for a LB unless he has received the money from Cole's transfer and therefore, we are unlikely to get Cole's replacement as long as he is not sold.

Now that Cole has decided to stay with us, the only logical option for Wenger is to play him. He needs Cole to win matches.

As for Reyes, this guy has gone as far as telling us that he won't be playing in England anymore. These words came from a guy who has just signed a contract that will keep him for the next... 5 years? I am open to the suggestions that he may not be a popular member in the dressing room, that he has been suffering from Henry's humiliating stare, that he just isn't happy at the moment. But why did he sign such a long extended contract then? Surely he was not forced to sign?

For all this excellent techniques, he really has problem with his brain department. No wonder he tends to make the wrong decision on the pitch. Between him and Walcott, I believe Walcott will grow into a bigger player.

With regards to the incoming players, the names are encouraging really. Tevez and Mascherano are the most exciting ones. Myles talked about the possibility of Buffon coming to us but I doubt that really. There is this young Scot forward on trial with us for two days. He won the young player of the year award so he will be very interesting too.

As far as forward/striker is concerned, Tevez and Torres are the only two I really wish to see Wenger buying. But what we really need at the moment is Javier Mascherano. A tough tackling midfielder with good reading of the game, pace and skill, he is a perfect holding midfielder we are missing on.

As I said earlier, we may well end up with nobody so don't take the rumours too seriously. It's exciting though.

Once in a blue moon

2006-08-27T02:15:00.000+08:00

Bad ref? Yes. Unlucky? Yes. Dirty City? Yes.
But, here comes the question. Do we play like a title contender? NO!

Do we want to keep on blaming the lack of preparation? The lack of fitness? We might be lacking on fitness but I really think that this is not the reason why we lost.

I could really go through all the problems. But I don't feel like reiterating what have been said for hundreds of time. Nothing new. We know what's wrong with this team, even Pearce knows what is wrong with Arsenal. And he rightly exploited our weaknesses.

Let me try to end this post with a positive thought...

Our Brazilian was impressive tonight. Thank you and good night.

Arsenal 1-1 Villa

2006-08-21T15:09:00.000+08:00

Myles Palmer was confident that we will be able to repeat that 5-0 scoreline against Villa, and to be honest I never thought of losing points in this game. But a new manager often has that luck of getting some result in his first few games. Credit to Villa for their effort in defending against us. They were certainly outplayed in every aspect of the game but they did not give up.

We lost two points but I was upbeat because the performance was a very good one. It was encouraging to see this young team played in such a dominating way despite losing some key players over the last two seasons.

Few things that caught my attention.

Djorou looked very composed though he still need playing time with Kolo in order to understand each other better. I do like Senderos but somehow I still feel that two quick centrebacks suit our games better considering we defend high up the pitch. There were situations in the game where we were saved by Djorou's pace. Senderos might be superior positioning wise, but similar to Hypia, he is always in trouble the moment the opponent manage to get past him.

Cesc looked stronger, much stronger. He held off challenges and he joined the attack more. He was very much involved and of course, his stepping on Poll is always appreciated. Gilberto, Ljungberg, and Hleb was okay. I guess they will be much sharper next week.

Theo Walcott- I guess I have nothing to add other than what have been said. I would only like to point out how he had done what our other players failed to do for the first 80 minutes. A decent cross into the box. His cross was nowhere as good as Giggs' cross that was converted by Saha against Fulham. Yet that was good enough to catch Villa offguard. A direct run, a cross. Simple. Much simpler than all those one touch passes we made right through the heart of Villa defense.

We had wider pitch but we didn't make use of it. We insisted on passing the ball short and through the centre. I agree that the quick interchange was beautiful and breathtaking to watch. But there are times when you have to vary your approach. Man Utd may not play as beautifully but to me, there is more dimension to their play and they were certainly more effective in stretching the opponent's defense. They were more lethal.

That said, we are still adapting to the new pitch and it's never easy. I believe our players will learn to make use of the pitch size the more they play and we will see a much improved performance the moment they start to feel at home. May that begin with the Man City game next week.

I don't forget that we still have a CL qualification game midweek but certainly we are not going to lose 4-1, are we?

On Community Shield

2006-08-14T09:57:00.000+08:00

Oh just realised that I made mistake with regards to Cole's contract. He still has 2 years it seems. But his value will be reduced significantly come next year so yeah.. It's still better to sell him now. I will give him my honest appreciation when he is finally sold.

I know this is my Arsenal blog but I believe it's good to look at other teams now and then, especially now that the new season is about to start.

The Community Shield was nothing more than a try-out for both managers with Benitez once again proved that he is a Cup specialist. Riise's goal was terrific, typical Riise's run, typical Riise's long shot. Chelsea were stunned. Sheva's goal was a reminder to his ability. One good chance, one goal. He almost scored the second later on from corner. This guy could be that 30 goals a season player for Chelsea.

Benitez added Bellamy, Mark Gonzalez, and Pennant into the squad and the three of them have one similarity: Pace. Mark Gonzalez is especially quick, very quick. We will have to be careful with him. Bellamy could be a success now that he finally plays for a quality team. These three players will inject pace into their attacking force.

Their defense remained solid. Apart from the Sheva's goal, Chelsea were practically unable to break through. Sissoko was amazingly tenacious, Vieira-like. He was everywhere! Agger formed a solid partnership with Carragher, probably signing the end of Hypia.

Overall I think Benitez has done well this summer apart from the persisting need of another quality striker. I can see him buying though. He stated that his priority is to buy players who deserve to wear the Liverpool's shirt. Exactly the reason why he brought Folwer back.

It's not only about quality. It's about their attitude. He is trying to look for players who would be genuinely proud to play for the club. Of course you could argue that Bellamy and Pennant are not exactly the kind of players with the right attitude. I agree that he was taking a bit of gamble there.

Apart from these two new players however, you can see that Liverpool has done well to keep the players with the right attitude. No Cole or Reyes there. They have filtered out those with problems: Cisse, Morientes, etc. Alonso was direct with his rejection towards Real's approach. It's good to see that there is quality Spanish player who can resist the temptation of playing for Barca or Real.

I believe Wenger could do the same by letting go players whose mind is not in the right place. It's important that we avoid buying players who have clearly stated their preference is elsewhere. I am glad that Rosicky was one who has stated that his preference was Arsenal from the start.

Coming back to the Community Shield, Chelsea were not convincing last night but they are still experimenting with their new players I believe. Kalou was not that impressive to me and the same goes to Ballack. Essien was as irritating as ever with his style of play. I like Mourinho's hairstyle though =D

Although it was just a trivial game for both teams last night, the result underlined the importance of midfield. The battle was intense and Chelsea lost the game there. What about us?

Back from Hibernation

2006-08-11T11:34:00.000+08:00

I have distanced myself from the transfer speculation. I have learned throughout the years that it's best to leave the media to do their work and ignore anything the players would say during the transfer window period. Especially, it's important to ignore what Arsene Wenger has to say because the only thing about him you should believe is his utmost determination and desire to deliver the beautiful football to us Arsenal fans.

The only thing I would like to say with regards to Cole's situation is this: He only has one year left in his contract. Either we get him to extend his contract or we sell him. We can afford to live without him but we can't afford to let him go for free next year. We need the money to strenghten the squad. And if an outsider like me understands this, surely David Dein too understands this.

The same thing goes to other players. I hope Wenger has learned from the Edu situation that whenever an important player reach the final year of his contract, we should make sure he sign a new contract before the summer transfer window ends. If the agreement can't be reached, we have to sell him and get his replacement.

Cole's situation will have a conclusion very soon. I guess most of us can only think of one possible outcome but let's just wait and see. I will talk about Reyes when it becomes clear where he will play this season.

I am more concerned with the fact that almost everyone has accepted that Chelsea will be the champions again. We have not even played a single game and everyone has given up the title. Similarly, everyone in the French league has accepted that Lyon will be the champions again, for the sixth time!

I am not an optimistic person but I still believe that we could challenge Chelsea for the title. If I were supporting Aston Villa or Wigan then yes.. I would be crazy to say that. But I have seen this young team played and prevailed against the best sides in Europe. We have a thin squad, yes. We have less glamorous players, yes. But playing football as a team, our best eleven is not inferior to their best eleven. In fact we are not inferior to any other team's best eleven.

Therefore, we have a chance.

We lost to the big teams last season (Chelsea, Man Utd) because they outplayed us tactically. We couldn't cope with long balls and physical forwards. That can be sorted out. Solid centrebacks partnership is the key.

We lost to the bully teams last season (Blackburn, Bolton) because our young players were still adapting to their rough approach. Towards the end of the season, I saw the sign that we have adapted and could cope with such teams. Adebayor and Diaby (when he returns) will be very important for this type of games.

Three senior players singled out for their inability to perform last season: Pires, Ljungberg, Campbell.

Pires has gone and Rosicky has come in. Rosicky is tenacious and thus, will solve the problem that came with Pires. I don't count Reyes in because his future is unclear at the moment.

Ljungberg was unable to score but towards the end of the season, he has found another dimension to his play. He was proven to be highly effective in 4-5-1 formation, taking the centre midfielder role.

Enough has been said of Campbell. He is gone.

The remaining seniors : Lehmann, Kolo, Lauren, Gilberto, Ljungberg, and Henry; they are all commited players who would help the youngsters to improve. More importantly, they are all professional and loyal to the club (at least for now).

More on the squad later.

What Comes Free Goes Free

2006-07-13T10:19:00.000+08:00

So another great player has gone for free. Sol Campbell, at the moment, is nothing more than an average centre half but few years ago he was one of the best in Europe. He was the only established centre half Wenger has ever signed for Arsenal. And I feel that he would be one of the best free signings Wenger has ever made. I still regard that as one of Wenger's best moves in transfer dealing, ever.

I have expected Wenger to sell him but then Wenger has that tendency to let his players go for free. Anelka, Petit, and Overmars are but the only group of players who Wenger sold for a good amount of money. But that doesn't really matter when you consider Wenger's ability in unearthing raw talents.

I understood that we have signed Song for 4 million fee and I can tell you I still can't believe it. If Wenger is willing to gamble that amount of money on such a player, why did he not bring Carrick or Mascherano in when he had the opportunity to do so? Carrick cost Spurs less than 4 millions and the only reason they got him was because we withdrew our offer. Rumour has it that we are interested in the now 15 millions Carrick. How strange is that?

Wenger's move in the transfer window is still very much unknown but there has been reports on us bidding for certain players.

Let's start with Saviola, who could cost us 2-3 millions. Now that is a good business for me. I don't heck know whether that little Argentinian could cope with Blackburn or Bolton's brute force but you can't go horribly wrong with that amount of money for a player with such skill. Of course I would love to get Tevez instead but you know Chelsea are into him as well. I won't talk too much now.. let's wait and see.

What about that 10 million bid for Ribery? It is said that Real have 26 million bid for him and I sincerely hope that Real would get that man. I am sorry but I really wasn't convinced by him, not yet. Even Myles was excited with Ribery and Henry was singing him praises but.. Ah well, Wenger might as well prove me wrong and bring in Ribery, who Myles described as Freddie in the making.

And 8 million bid for Curtis Davies? Honestly I felt that he is rather overpriced but he is a good player who no doubt will form a good partnership with Kolo. So I would love to see Wenger get the player. We are in need of one quality centre half to replace Sol. Surely we can't expect Cygan to do that.

Oh, and Yaya Toure? There is no report of Wenger bidding for the player but if he can really come for 7 millions then by all means, please bring him in. Of course Hargreaves could also be a welcome addition.

I still feel that a centre half and a holding midfielder are our priority at the moment.

World Cup is over

2006-07-11T10:34:00.000+08:00

Yeah.. World Cup is over. When I saw Italy's first two games' result, and upon tracing the path they need to take to win the holy grail, I have sensed that they would be in the final. But I had no idea who the other team would be, and I definitely wouldn't expect France to be there. When I knew that it was Italy vs France, I told my friends that I would back Italy to win.

I suppose any Arsenal fan would back France to win. In fact I would love to see Zizou winning the Cup for one last time. But this Italy side has got the luck as well as mentality and therefore, deserved to win it. Domenech was as clueless as a certain Swede yet Lippi was tactically in par with Mourinho. No contest.

Speaking of Zizou.. surely everyone are condemning him right now, with the local newspaper all asking the big "WHY". Some even went as far as questioning whether he was a saint or a devil. He was definitely not a saint but if that headbutt is good enough to make him a devil, we would certainly have many devils playing football at the moment. Think about the tackles that break players' leg (some of them were intentional), or those bloody elbows that flatten the opponents' faces (players such as Shearer or Essien are experts in this).

It's a fact that there is no reason solid enough for a player as experienced as Zinedine Zidane to do that. And I should make it clear that I truly agree that he was wrong there and then.

He shouldn't do that even if Materazzi scolded his mum or, as some sources say it, called him a dirty terrorist (Zizou is a Moslem). No, he should have kept his calm and seek the chance to stamp on the Italian during play. That way, he might get away with a mere yellow or even if he was sent off, his reputation would not be tarnished. That is the coward way of football, isn't it?

I don't know what has happened between him and Materazzi but I was sure that Zizou is not someone who would react easily. It will be interesting to hear Zizou's explanation.

In any case, I personally found it a fitting finale for a footballer whose skill earned him the status of 'deity'. The final showed us that he was a mere human with emotion, after all.

I don't believe it but..

2006-06-26T20:06:00.000+08:00

It's just too much for me to resist commenting on. I mean..this is Buffon. Those agents, and papers.. they are just too creative sometimes. Wenger signing Buffon, how realistic is that?
There are at least several strong reasons why Buffon will not sign for Arsenal

1. This rumour started because there was possiblity that Juve will be relegated to Serie B due to the referee fixing scandal, so they said. But Juve are just about too powerful and it's almost unthinkable for the Old Lady to be relegated. And if Juve remain in Serie A, there is no chance they would sell their no.1 goalie who is basically one of the best goalies in the world.

2. Even if Juve were to be relegated, and Buffon does want to leave, I believe he would prefer to stay in Serie A. Those Italian footballers still believe that their league is still the best and Milan will be most interested to sign Buffon to replace the inconsistent Dida.

3. This might be the weakest reason but I believe it is worth considering. Wenger is a manager who believe in investing big money on attackers but never defenders, or goalkeepers. He would never pay the money Man Utd paid for the service of Rio Ferdinand, and he would never pay more than 10 million for a 28 years old Buffon's service. That is unless he does have so much to spend that he can afford wasting that much on a goalie while he still has Jens Lehmann. Neither Buffon nor Lehmann would want to be the no. 2 and that would be another headache.

Having said that, I think Wenger did say that the reason why he never managed to replace Seaman was because top goalies are most of the times unavailable. Should Buffon become available, there is just a slight chance that Wenger would spend his transfer kitty on the Italian no. 1. And I imagine most of us would be over the moon should that happen. Don't expect too much though.

More of Transfer Go Round

2006-05-30T14:40:00.000+08:00

Shall I begin by telling you how Chelski ruin not only the real world football but also the football manager game I am playing? They are just unreal. They got Lukas Podolski and Fernando Torres now playing for them, with the rather useless Ronaldo as backup striker. All bought with inflated price. And they just tempted me to sell my Cesc so I teased them back by asking for 40 million pounds. Not that I would sell Cesc if they really come up with that money.

Well the real Chelski are now trying to buy Kolo Toure it seems. Let's just hope that Kolo doesn't ask for Cole's suggestion in this matter. Actually, I wouldn't mind if they want to swap Campbell with Terry heh. Anytime.

Speaking of Campbell, it seems certain now that he would move on. Looking back, Sol Campbell is the only established centreback with international reputation Wenger has ever brought to Arsenal. When he came, he was still one of the best defenders in Europe and his solid partnership with Kolo served us extremely well for some time. It is said that defenders have longer career span than attackers but Sol Campbell was declining fast. He has lost much of his agility and more importantly, his concentration and mentality.

Probably his argument with Wenger in last year FA Cup Final was the sign of an end. Arsenal have wanted to sell him and with that West Ham drama, it finally comes full circle. Poor Campbell. I think he is not a bad guy, just an emotional guy with too much pride for his own good. How could he accept losing out to Senderos? Going to Newcastle Utd might be good for him, considering they don't have many good defenders there. Oh I would love to see Taylor coming our way though. But I guess that it is Nzogbia that Wenger after.

Other than that, we have quite a number of players linked to us, as usual. Nuri Sahin is an exciting young player while Adil Chihi is someone I never heard of. But the most exciting among them gotta be Lukas Podolski. That guy is possibly German best young striker. I don't know about that Rooney comparison but I think Rooney is more of an all rounded playmaker forward while Podolski is more of a striker. Rooney is more creative and Podolski is possibly more clinical.

Of course nothing beats signing Fernando Torres but let's not expect too much.

There is another news on Fran Merida but that one is really like the Carlos Vela we signed. You won't get to see him for 1-2 years at least. So I am not too excited about that.

They say that PV might just return to England but I doubt Wenger would want to sign him. We do need a very good midfield general next season, that I know.

Buy Him, Sell Him, Release Him... Transfer's Fun

2006-05-24T12:06:00.000+08:00

For some clubs, especially the ones in transition, transfer period is always fun and interesting. Suddenly your club are linked with players here and there. Unlike the previous seasons where Wenger left it late to clinch deals, he moved fast and swift this time around. One reason would be the World Cup. Players' price can soar if they perform well in the competition so Wenger would naturally want to buy his men before World Cup. Another reason could be the previous Summer experience where we were left with no one as Baptista and Robinho chose the greatest underachiever in La Liga.

Obviously I was glad with this as we all wish to see a well prepared Arsenal squad by the time we face the CL qualification rounds later on.

So the transfer parade begins with the arrival of Tomas Rosicky who probably will take the no. 7 shirt left by the departing Robert Pires. Rosicky arrived from Dortmund for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around 8 million pounds. Pires will be joining Villareal on free transfer for a two years contract.

During his six years with us, Robert Pires has mesmerized us with his left flank combo play along with Cole and TH. All too often he would make that crucial run into the box and score the simple goals other Arsenal players fail to score. He was so good in his second season that he won the Player of the Year award despite being sidelined for months due to THAT injury. I remember how excited I was seeing him pulling the string in the midfield with unparalleled mastery. His passes into the box were deadly and he could just make that killer pass from almost anywhere.

Sadly, the injury seemed to have taken away a part of his game. He still scored many many goals after that but he was just not as deadly anymore. But let's not talk about his decline. Let's just remember the man as one of the very best no. 7 to ever play in Arsenal shirt. He is simply one of the most elegant players we have ever had, and he definitely has that footballing brain you could never teach. That's why TH loves to play with him that much. Magnificent.

It may be a bit unfortunate that we have to see him go on free but considering what he has given us over the years, the money we paid to Marseille was well spent.

With regards to Rosicky.. well.. I suppose those who have watched him playing know how good he is. He is in a way similar to Cesc but I reckon he has better finishing rate than Cesc and physically he is stronger. I would not be surprised to see him featuring as withdrawn striker in our 4-5-1 formation come next season. One thing for sure, Rosicky will be part of the starting eleven considering his talent. He is not a finished article but he is almost there. This is the kind of signing Wenger needs to bolster the squad.

I have to rush now, more on transfer stories later.

It's Been Great

2006-05-18T09:10:00.000+08:00

So it was finally over. I am sure there will be many who will give in-depth analysis of the game, what went wrong, who the culprit was, etc. Surely the ref would not be spared for his poor judgment. So I don't think there is a need for me to go into all these details. After all, it will only remind me of the pain and most importantly, it will divert myself away from the single major feeling that I have right now.

I am sad, yes. But that feeling is totally eclipsed by the pride I have right now. I am proud because we lost the match, but never the battle. I am proud because our young players didn't lose their cool and courage when we were at disadvantage. I am proud because although the captain was effectively missing during the match, the other players defended vigilantly and fought hard. Yes, they FOUGHT hard. I am proud because they have made such a great journey right to the final. I am proud because this is the club I supported. Are you watching Sp*rs? Are you watching Roman?!

I believe we have what it takes to play our way into another CL final with these young players we have. If there is one thing I'd like to point out with regards to our failure to stop Barca, I would say that it is down to the inexistence of one type of player, a ball winner. A box-to-box midfielder who can win the ball and charge into the opponent's area. Mentally speaking, we need a midfield general with never-say-die attitude. You can't defend near your own box for 70 minutes against such a good attacking team without conceding. You have to stop them before they are even close to your box. You can't just wait when you only have one goal advantage, especially when you are 1-1 draw with 10 minutes or so to go.

Having said that, I don't think we would need to defend that deep if we were 11 against 11. In fact, all the neutral would tell you that we were more than capable of hurting Barca and especially from the left flank. Of course, it turned out that we had to do the heroic of keeping Barca at bay. The old Arsenal were able to defend and break with 10 players because there was a certain Patrick Vieira playing. Again, I am not criticizing anyone here, and definitely I am not suggesting that PV would have won us the game.

I said before that I have considered our CL campaign this season a great success regardless of the final result. This is more of my thought on how Arsene Wenger could improve our team for next season's campaign.

So we do need a 'Steven Gerrard', in other word an old 'Patrick Vieira', and in other word a 'Wayne Rooney'. Abou Diaby was expected to fill in that role but he is now suffering from THAT injury.

That's the main thing we need to solve this summer.

So the season is over. We are fourth, and we were in the CL final, were 15 minutes away from winning it. It has been a great and memorable season for me. It has been one of the most unforgetable ones. It has been great. Thank you Arsene Wenger, and thank you Gunners.

Tonight

2006-05-17T09:32:00.000+08:00

I didn't have the courage to touch my blog and write any post for couple of days. As the day drew closer, I came to realize all the more how important tonight's match is. No disrespect to my own team but it's not given that we are playing in the ultimate competition's final. Behind that was failure after failure, so much so that many started to believe that Arsene Wenger's Arsenal will never win Champions League. I am the first to admit that I was one of them. Nothing seemed to be right when we played in Europe, not even when we won the Premiership unbeaten all season. So it's not given that we will be there in the final again next season, or the season after.

It's normal that we, fans, get all excited over the Final. But when our star players, for all their international football and world cup experience (Henry and Gilberto has even played in and won World Cup final), stated that this could be once in a lifetime moment for them, you can tell how much this CL final means to them.

When you are with England, German, France or Brazil squad in World Cup, it's an expectation rather than wishful thinking for you to fight your way to the Final. But when you are playing for Arsenal, it's a dream date with destiny to play in CL final. And to win it would be nothing short of miracle. We are talking about a team that was written off even before the CL competition begin. And we are talking about a team of youngsters who earned their place tonight by defeating Real Madrid, Juventus, and Villareal fair and square. Such a fairy tale.. who would believe it? Even now.. everywhere I go, and I mean EVERYWHERE, people would say that Barca are the one who DESERVE the trophy. Underdogs to the end, eh?

The magnitude of tonight's match is exactly the reason why I found it strange that some people took the trouble to worry about Barca's players crap about Henry's future. I personally can't even be bothered now. I don't think Henry would even bother to read the papers. And no.. Henry is not a person whose decision can be influenced by tonight's result. He, of all people, know very well that whatever the result going to be, this team has shown what they are capable of.

Back to the topic.

I don't feel like talking about the match itself because I think I can't really give any better insight apart from what have been written in other sites. We all know defense is the key. We all know Victor Valdes and the two fullbacks are Barca's weaker link. But most importantly, we all know that this can be a match determined by the brilliance of some of the very best players that will no doubt turn into legends in years to come. Of course, judging from the fact that the last two FA cup final and the last CL final was won through penalties, there is a chance we will have to endure 120 minutes match and penalty horror. Arsenal's revival of late was largely due to the fact that the spine of the team, Lehmann - Toure - Cesc - Henry, have played magnificently. Should these four players perform at their very best tonight, Arsenal will have good chance to win the match in 90 minutes.

With regards to the team selection, Sol Campbell seems to be starting ahead of Senderos. We all wish the Swiss will play but maybe Wenger feels that Sol will be more capable of dealing with big match's tension. Cole should also start ahead of Clichy or Flamini. Of course it's a bit unfair to Senderos and Flamini who have played their part when their senior counterpart weren't available. Only the final score will decide whether Wenger has made the right decision.

And in the end, all I can do here is to cross my fingers and pray. The next time I touch my blog will be when the match is over!

Highbury

2006-05-09T09:35:00.000+08:00

Thierry Henry said sometimes ago that there was something special about the stadium, the pitch. And so it proved. A special player needs a special stadium and a special occasion to show his genius. A great football game against the brave Wigan that showed no fear for us, a thrilling 90 minutes where everyone can't stop checking on the Upton Park situation, a hattrick from the deadliest no. 14 the world has ever seen, a win that see us leapfrogging Sp*rs, of all team, into 4th spot. Man.. that 90 minutes was surely not suitable for those with heart problem. A fitting finale, a grand finale for Highbury.

When we were about to start this season, I said that its gonna be a great and thrilling ride. It was just a gut feeling. I never thought it would really turn out to be one of the most memorable seasons I have had as a supporter. In fact it could just get better with a 1-0 win against Barca next week but let's leave that for now.

Let's just congratulate the team for their spirit and effort to fight till the last minute. When we were down 2-1, instantly we switched into top gear and for all Wigan's spirited play, they just couldn't cope with Arsenal. Many have been said with regards to the match. A thrilling 4-2. The winning game was actually a gift from Thompson who was responsible for the two goals they scored. He did a 'Gerrard'.

And the last goal was of course interesting in a way considering it was a foul by Johansson against Ljungberg who came on at exactly the same time. It was just such a great script that we could make movie out of it.

And speaking of the departing players.. I'd just like to tell you another gut feeling I have. We all feel that TH would stay and maybe you can consider him kissing the Highbury Turf as a declaration of his intention to stay. But it's not just Henry, I felt that Ashley Cole will also stay with us. I don't know. Looking at the way he played, his gestures.. I just felt that he will stay. I know that his mistakes make it impossible for us to be proud of him the way we used to be but still.. he is a very very good fullback and his experience (on the pitch experience, of course) will be very important to lead the young players. Just as long as he does not teach them to meet other club's manager in some hotels. As for Pires.. he seemed to be at the crossroad. He knows he won't be first choice anymore come next season but he loves the club and fans and he would love to be there at the new stadium. .

One player I would not hesitate to part with is Campbell. I don't want to criticize any player during such a good moment but I just can't help pointing out his performance. He was out of pace and he struggled so badly at times. Pairing Campbell with Cole who make forward runs all the time is suicidal. If I were Barcelona, I would invite Cole into my area. I would let him run unopposed and when Campbell begin to move into the flank to cover the area, I would try to snatch the ball away and launch a counterattack. Giuly will be more than capable of outpacing Campbell. Once Campbell is taken care of, I will only have to take care of Toure. With Ronaldinho and Eto'o up there, I should have a good chance to make something out of it.

Let's just hope that we will see a fully fit and focused Campbell in the CL final. We know he is a good player. He just needs to bounce back for one last time.

Enough of criticism. I am sorry for those negative parts. I guess in the end the lads have really gave their all and deserve the credits. And the fans.. the noise they made, the singing, everything.. I was so proud and jealous of them. That sight of Ian Wright and other Arsenal legends in the midst of supporters. The red and white shirts in the stadium.. It was just magical. Everything, everything, was just magical. It was something the Russian money can never buy. Let's just hope that if there is one thing that we can bring to the new stadium, it's the spirit.

Man City 1 - 3 Arsenal

2006-05-05T09:26:00.000+08:00

Now this was a game with many good news for us. Ljungberg's 30th minute goal was his first of the season. I am really glad for the Swede. His determination and hardwork deserves that. And of course, Henry's pass for him was sublime. The fact that Henry was the man of the match without scoring a single goal was a proof of his complete game. A player with that many goals and assists every season, I wonder how anyone could replace him if he were to leave.

I think we will all agree that we can forgvie Jens and the defenders for Sommeil's goal. And I would say that Man City deserve that one goal for their effort in the first half.

And then we come to Reyes. I truly don't know what to say when it comes to him. I almost believed that Reyes' mind would turn blank everytime he reaches the penalty box. He just never seemed to do anything right when he was around the box. But last night, he played like a striker Wenger wanted him to be initially. Coming on as a sub, he scored two goal to ensure that the race for the 4th spot is still pretty much on. His second goal, an Henry assist, was class. It reminds me of the day when he scored that rocket goal against Chelsea.

Two years have passed and throughout this period, he has had hard time with the tackles and treatment by the opposition players. He has had hard time receiving that angry stare by Henry. But I can see that Henry was angry with him because the captain knew how good the Spaniard was. Henry just couldn't understand the decisions Reyes make at times.

Reyes has come good though. The brave young Spaniard has not lost his smile I like to see despite the struggles. He has shown that he cares to track back and defend and unlike Pires, he is not afraid of tackles. But Pires is still better when it comes to keeping the possession and making the right pass at the right time. That is something Reyes may learn as he matures. Technically I believe Reyes is still somewhat better than the departing Frenchman.

Of course when it comes goals, Pires is still much much better than Reyes. I believe that is why many fans wish that the Frenchman stays. His goal contribution has been vital for us in previous seasons. That is one thing Reyes needs to pick up fast.

The fact that Ashley Cole completed his 90 minutes was another good news for us. I suspect that Wenger will play Cole in Paris final should the player regain his 90% fitness in time. Although I would not mind to see Flamini play and in fact I think the young man deserves to play in the final, Wenger will probably opt for experience this time around.

And talking of experience, quite a number of fans would wish to see Bergkamp play in the final. It will be sweet to see him coming on as a sub with the score at 1-1, and in the injury time, he scores that Bergkamp goal to win the match. That will be a dream but who knows?

An article by Victor Predictor talks about the possibility of Wenger offering our no. 10 another year and it seems that Bergkamp is keen to play for another year. To him, it's either Arsenal or retirement. I would personally not mind to see him in the squad for yet another year. His presence and experience can only help our young players to grow. While many expect van Persie to follow his path, I expect Cesc Fabregas to take on the Dutch legend mastery in playing as second striker.

All in all, it has been a good day and good win for us. This Sunday will be massive. It has been a hard season, for Wenger especially. But the last two match can turn it into one of the most unfortgetable season for Arsenal. Fight on!!

What if you are the footballer?

2006-05-04T17:48:00.000+08:00

I was not in the mood to talk about the Sunderland game for many reasons. To begin with, the game was largely dull despite the 3-0 scoreline. I can tell you that I love the Cesc's goal but then it was not enough to compensate for the loss of Diaby in the second half. I have read numerous articles on that tackle, and the comments made by fellow gooners and the attempt by Sunderland fans to defend Dan Smith.

To be fair, I do think that Sunderland are never a dirty side. I've never seen them counting on the tactic Bolton use to win games. I've also never seen them use players such as Savage to survive. I might be wrong but I do feel that Dan Smith's tackle was very much a desperate attempt rather than a planned assault. I don't know the lad but I can't see him planning it the way Roy Keane planned his revenge. Yes there were many reckless tackles in the second half but when you are playing a game against a top side that makes you look like a bunch of useless footballers, I think the frustation level can sometimes be unbearable. Naturally, they would turn physical.

The fact that you don't get much punishment for fouling Arsenal players nowadays make it even more tempting. So what if they are redcarded? Their season is finished anyway.

That's the most I can think of on behalf of Sunderland.

BUT... the way Dan Smith came out to apologise was RIDICULOUS! His heartless comment took away any sympathy I have for the young lad. He seemed to think that it was just a reckless tackle that often happen. He seemed to think that the injury Diaby had was down to his own bad luck rather than the tackle. He seemed to feel that it is just normal for footballer to suffer injuries, even if that is an injury that could threaten the player's career. I just wonder what he will say if he is the one who was tackled. Can he come out and tell Diaby that he doesn't blame Diaby because it is the risk of being footballer?

My goodness.. I feel that people begin to confuse footballer with gladiator. Look, I was not happy when Diaby broke Campo's foot despite him playing for Bolton. I will not be happy to see any Arsenal player break someone else's leg no matter what the circumstances are. Even if we are 1-1 against Barcelona in the CL final with 10 minutes to go, I still think it is wrong to do such thing. These footballers are human. They are paid ridiculous wages, yes. But still, they are human.

I can accept it when someone is injured accidentally. But Dan Smith's case was never accidental. He probably did not know such tackle could cause such serious injury but he surely knew that he was going for the player's legs rather than the ball.

Of course the Roy Keane's planned revenge was even more unacceptable. That's why I would never want him to play for Arsenal even when he was available for free few months ago. Such people should just become martial artists rather than footballer.

While I think it's wrong to target Sunderland as a club, I do think that FA has to do something about this. A solid rule has to be defined to avoid such incidents in the future. Should Gilberto intentionally break *cough* Drogba's legs in the future, I would still condemn him. A heavy fine and serious ban should be imposed so that the players would think more than twice before they attempt such assault.

And please, for the other clubs' fans that bring up the van Nistelrooy's incident in an attempt to justify Dan Smith's tackle, you are just not making sense. You are just as vain as the FA. What did Keown and co. do to van Nistelrooy? Did they break his leg? It was ugly, yes. I never said that Arsenal are the most disciplined side ever, with no bad record whatsoever. But that shouting and pat on van Nistelrooy's back and even the pizza throwing are nothing compared to a situation where a young man's career is threatened in such a way.

OOOH YEAAHHHHH!!!!!!

2006-04-26T15:35:00.000+08:00

I have tried my best to play down my feeling of seeing my beloved team winning the semi and getting into the CL final for the very first time in history. Yes I have tried that when I wrote my previous post. I have tried to act cool until I see Henry holding THE CUP... BUTTTT... I can't!!!!

I can't believe that this Arsenal has made it to the final. The invicible Arsenal failed. The Arsenal side which won the domestic double failed. But this Arsenal side..

We lost Julio Baptista and Robinho to Real Madrid in the summer and yet.. we beat them at their very own stadium.

We sold our captain to Juventus in the summer, he scored few goals at the start of the campaign and Juve looked almost invicible in Serie A and yet.. we outplayed them totally in Highbury.

And Villareal.. they may not be in the elite group but they have got more energy in them compared to the two old elite teams. I have thought that this is the type of team that could beat Arsenal. But things seem to be going for us and not even a soft penalty could ruin the script.

I really like the picture of Wenger celebrating as the final whistle went. And that picture of Lehmann hugging the players. Sol Campbell, for once, stood up to the challenge and fought to the end. And Jens Lehmann, what can you say about him? The man who was dropped a season before has proven to us how good he can be. Kolo Toure should be running out of steam at the moment yet he marched on. Ljungberg was carrying injury and pain yet he worked harder than ever.

Warriors.

Villareal 0 - 0 Arsenal

2006-04-26T09:25:00.000+08:00

Totally outplayed, totally overwhelmed. But that matter not as we kept another clean sheet and we have now gotten our ticket to Paris. Can't really complain, eh? I realise that we football fans are very demanding. When we dominate a game and lose it, we hate it. When we struggle the way we did against Villareal and win, we also hate it.

Surely Arsenal players are only human who can't always perform at their best. Villareal are also a solid team with players who have as much hunger for the game. I expect us to overcome them with our superior quality but in the end we were caged inside our own half for most of the time. We rode our luck and Lehmann was at his best.

Jose Mari dived to earn the penalty he didn't get in the first leg but Lehmann saved. Mad Jens has really been a revelation this season. He has shown his strong character in almost every game we played.

As I said, Villareal dominated the game and we could barely have a shot on goal apart from Henry's attempt toward the end of the match. There is nothing much to say. Let's just congratulate the boys for their spirit and effort. Great job gunners!!

On a side note, soccernet has this article that compares Bergkamp, Shearer, and Duncan Ferguson. I like the closing paragraph:

Statistically, Shearer is an astonishing player. Aesthetically and technically, Bergkamp is. But while Ferguson's notoriety guarantees his ongoing fame and Shearer merits his place in both the record books and Geordie hearts, Bergkamp will live longest in the memory.

Wise or Arrogant?

2006-04-25T09:54:00.000+08:00

That will be proven tonight when we end the 90 minutes game against Villareal. Whether Wenger was being wise by resting his key players against Spurs, we will see. We all know that before the Spurs game, it was far easier to claim the fourth spot than to beat Villareal and Barcelona or Milan. But it was not only about the next season's Champions League spot. For Wenger it was about winning it NOW. This is one cup that he has failed to win for years. TH wants the 'Champions League Winner' title to be in his CV, so does Wenger.

So I can understand that selfish thought.

But Wenger has to understand that you cannot throw in two forwards who are yet to form any kind of understanding between them. He played Reyes and Bergkamp against Spurs in the first meeting and we were struggling. Only Pires' goal saved us that day. This time, he played Adebayor and van Persie. It's the same situation. But I will not dwell on the Spurs game.

And I will definitely not dwell on the Keane's goal. I don't know if Jol or Spurs players are lying but trying to be objective, I would say that Wenger lost it. He should have known better that you can't expect justice everytime. And this is not even as close as the penalty that Villareal should have gotten for that Gilberto tackle. But to take it positively, it just goes to show how much he wants to win.

Doesn't matter. Henry's goal was good enough to wrap up the last derby we play at Highbury. Now it's all about Villareal. Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal 1 - 0 Villareal

2006-04-20T09:47:00.000+08:00

This squirrel must be one of the travelling Villareal fans who tried its best to test our defense with its low gravity, pace and trickery. Of course Lehmann was up for the task of ushering the invader away; he is the best goalkeeper in the season's Champions League anyway.

Villareal are above all, a team. They showed that last night with their tight defense and good communication among teammates. David Platt wrote an interesting piece in the Guardian on how Villareal, by crowding the centre of the park, managed to halt Arsenal while at the same time eliminating spaces needed by their very own playmaker, Riquelme, to operate. But they seemed satisfied with the result. They believe that they could keep cleansheet and score two against us at their own home. To be honest, I believe they could. So does Wenger.

We need to be at our best defensively to protect the lead and try to score a precious away goal early in the second leg. Villareal, on the other hand, will play more attacking football and Riquelme will be unleashed to roam more freely. Riquelme can dictate the tempo of the game and we must not allow that to happen. We will probably see the best of Riquelme in the second leg. So we will need the best of Gilberto to deal with him.

Gilberto earned praise for his performance and as much as I dislike him, I have to say that he has played very well lately. He has taken up the responsibility of being the senior player. His passing is still awful at times but he shields the back four excellently. He was even involved in our attacks last night. If Wenger says that the quiet Brazilian is a leader, then he probably is. Well done, Gilberto!

Wenger thought that there should have been another goal and I agree. We created quite a number of chances. Henry's precise timing and Arsenal's fast pace once again 'backfired' as Henry had a good goal disallowed. Villareal themselves had a rather sound penalty claim not given. But no one can disagree that Arsenal deserve the win. And what an Arsenal goal.

Henry's clever pass found the industrious Hleb who made a run into the goalline and cut it back for Toure to score. 1-0 to Arsenal. What a precious goal. And Toure, of all, deserves to be the scorer. He has been giving his all and never stop fighting. A friend of mine asked me few days ago 'Who is your favorite Arsenal player at the moment?' That man is Kolo Toure.

I just love this pic. Looking at Senderos, Cesc, and Flamini hugging the goalscorer. They are all our future. They are the bunch of kids who have grown unbelieveably in the last few months. Senderos took a huge blow for his mistakes against Drogba but the big Swiss kept his head down and worked hard to improve. He showed that above all, he is not a quitter. So was Cesc who was expected to replace PV. Flamini has of course been even more exceptional. He is the one with limited talent but he has been our new Ray Parlour. I said this before and I will repeat this. Flamini is a great soldier Wenger has to keep in the side. A man who knows his limit and play to his strength is one who can win the battle.

And in Kolo Toure, these kids have a leader whose passion and determination is there for them to see week in week out. Awesome.

*pics taken from the Sun's website

Arsenal 3 - 1 WBA

2006-04-17T09:47:00.000+08:00

I have to admit I feared for two points lost when Quashie equalished seconds after we took out Henry, van Persie, and Hleb. 'Oh no.. here we go again', I thought. For them to score straight from a goalkick was rather pathetic. It showed our lack of focus. But with so many games being played I think it is understandable.

And that equaliser was just right for Dennis as he made sure that those who came in orange didn't go home with no particular moment to keep in their memory. And what a moment. That Dennis Bergkamp goal that cemented our three points was the Ice Man trademark in every sense. To be honest there has been many times in the past where his curling shoot didn't go in. But this was Dennis Bergkamp day so it had to go in. And of course you can't forget that determined run by Eboue who cut inside and with most WBA players attention diverted to him, DB had the space to take his favorite shot once he got the ball.

And before that goal, there was the second goal, the winning goal. Robert Pires' calmness to take his second attempt and score was something worth praising. The Frenchman replaced Hleb who scored a beautiful first goal. While Hleb's twist and dribbles are amazing, Pires' ability to link up the attack and position himself in the box to score the so called simple goals are equally valuable. Adebayor will have to learn from Pires to score the simple goals.

All in all, I was really satisfied with the team's effort, especially after the equaliser. They worked hard and kept their belief. It wouldn't be too nice to not win the game in such a special day.

The Villareal game will be interesting. Some people call for Bergkamp's introduction for our next CL game. But I personally prefer to see us playing our 4-5-1 which has so far worked in CL. Cesc will return for the game and with Reyes suspended, I think Pires will play.

It's a big big week ahead.

West Brom tonight

2006-04-15T12:27:00.000+08:00

This is the kind of match Adebayor should be able to impose himself on. I really hope to see Toure rested but it's a bit risky now that we have made things difficult for us with the draw against Porsmouth. I expect West Brom to fight, the way Sunderland did against Man Utd last night.

It seems that the title race is all but over now and Chelsea are the champion again. But let's just hope that Man Utd still have enough hunger in them to beat Spurs come Monday. We need them to play the way they did against us.

Finally, some proper Arsenal football for me after two weeks of being away.

Bring on the last five

2006-04-13T16:20:00.000+08:00

Didn't get to watch the Juve, Man Utd and Porsmouth game so I couldn't comment much. I only get to see a small article in Japan's newspaper with a picture of Flamini tackling a Juve player I couldn't quite recognize. Didn't expect the game to be a 0-0 but all is good. Villareal are flying high at the moment and it will take a disciplined performance by our five men midfield to silence Riquelme who is easily their Rooney. I still believe that we have what it takes to go into the final of CL.

I didn't expect us to beat Man Utd but I must admit that I began to believe that we could get the three points last week. We were just playing so well that you start to believe that this team could overcome anyone. It proves that we couldn't. But it's alright. That goes to remind the manager that we still need another 2 or 3 top players in the summer.

People are criticizing Adebayor for wasting two good chances against Porsmouth but I think it is clear from the beginning that Adebayor is not a finisher. He plays in the box and he is willing to shoot but he hasn't got that predator instinct. His technique isn't the best but did we not praise his strength and workrate few weeks ago? I think it's unfair to blame him. He is just an average player who is good at few things and bad at few other things. You can't expect him to be as good as TH.

If we want a complete forward then it takes more than 7 million really. You can't get a Rooney or Torres with that amount of money nowadays. But Adebayor is young and depending on his talent, he could still grow into a good player.

As for van Persie, I have always loved his knack for scoring good goals. I always think that he is better than Adebayor. But you have to admit that he is not as strong as Adebayor and he doesn't work as hard. He will fluorish when his teammates play well and dominate the game. He will make sure that we turn the dominance into goals. But when we are struggling, he won't be able to fight for the ball the way Adebayor would.

So it all depends on Wenger's judgment now. The manager has to be able to predict the kind of game we would get into and choose the right players.

Now we are back to the situation where we need Spurs to drop points. We have five games to go and we can't drop any point anymore. I don't know if we could do that but hey, it costs nothing to keep your faith!

Revenge of the Old Lady, Return of the King

2006-04-05T09:18:00.000+08:00

Sigh.. I will be midair on my way to Japan when the match at Turin kicks off tonight. I don't think the plane has ESPN and I can only hope that I can somewhat get connected to the internet the next day. I can't get anyone to sms me because Japan use their own CDMA which is different from the GSM phone I am using.

Juve will be without PV, Camoranesi, Zebina, and very likely, del Piero. It will take great great performance from the Italian club to overturn the tie. But considering the humiliation they received last week, each and every one of their players will want to give their 120% for this match. Nedved will be very dangerous and we will hope the rested Hleb will be be at his best to stop the great winger. Eboue who will most likely play is probably only at his 70% and therefore, Hleb will be vital to cover for Eboue.

The key, as we all know, is the first goal.

Arsenal will logically try to attack from the start. We will press for the first goal because once we score the first goal, we know that it is 90% over for Juve. They know they can't score four goals against us. They know what we want to do yet they can't just sit back and defend because even if we don't score they still need to score.

But football is a strange game. What if Juve manage to score the first goal? This will make the match very interesting. Juve will grow in confidence and Arsenal young players will be under pressure. Our players have to keep their focus because the rule is still the same. They have to try to score one away goal while keeping the defense compact.

King Henry is back at Turin, this time for a much bigger game. He reckoned that this is going to be the biggest game yet for us this season. It is a good sign when our talismanic striker says so. He lives for big games and his inspiration is at its best in big games. Just witness his goal against Real.

This will be a big night for the travelling gooners. I wish them a great night at Turin.

I will still be in Japan when Arsenal go to Old Trafford to halt Man Utd's winning run. Both teams are in good form in the league with Man Utd back at their best. This is unlikely to be a 0-0 game with Man Utd now having the chance of catching up with Chelsea and Arsenal needing every points to secure the fourth spot. Let's just hope that the ref won't spoil the game.

The fact that Spurs and Bolton losing last weekend means that our fate is, to borrow Wenger's favorite phrase, mathematically in our own hands. If we keep on winning the remaining games, we will secure the fourth spot.

This ride is getting more and more exciting. Come on you gunners!

Being A Distant Fan

2006-04-04T13:01:00.000+08:00

Is not Fun. At all.

Distant fans are, by my very own definition, those fans who only relate to the club through the matches they see on TV and news they read on the media. Their financial contribution to the club is but the limited purchasing of merchandise, e.g. buying the new jersey annually. Some of them don't even know what Highbury looks like. And I am one of them.

I have never been to Europe, let alone Highbury. My love for football started only ten years ago, thanks to my younger brother. The first match I watched on TV was Serie A's match featuring Juventus and the other side which I totally forgot. At that time in my country, Premiership was second to Serie A. Everyone was talking about del Piero and Super Pippo. The only English club actively reported on the news was obviously Man Utd. Those who dislike Serie A's slow game, they worshipped Cantona.

I am never shy to admit that I am one of those fans who have never seen the pre-Wenger Arsenal play. Although I follow Arsenal a year before Wenger arrived, I only get to watch Arsenal on TV regularly during Wenger's first double season. And I liked what I saw. Adams and co. impressed me with their toughness and Anelka was a great surprise to everyone.

It was such a coincidence that Arsenal won that famous double that year.

Fast forwards to 2006. Yet to attend any Arsenal match, I am still a fan who could only follow his team through TV and media. Yes I get involved in forums and I try to write my own blog but that's all.

People would think that this is such a cheap and easy way to follow a team. Monthly ESPN subscription is much much cheaper than match tickets. And when the team is losing or playing badly, you don't have to suffer the mocking from the opposition fans. While the fans have to brave the rain and travel across cities and countries to follow the team, we distant fans only need to have the remote control with us.

You know what? I agree! Indeed it is much easier to follow your team that way. But guess what?! It is not the most satisfying way. And it is not as if we would like to follow our team this way.

It hurts therefore when you got shot down by the fans who claim themselves to be the true fans with season tickets to show and impressive knowledge of Arsenal Football Club to prove and better still, they stay next to Highbury. I don't blame them. I think that is very human. You would feel that you have better right to have your say because you of all those sacrifices and geographical association. I can only regret that Singapore isn't located next to London.

Sometimes I began to wonder myself whether I have the right to critize the team when they play badly. I give nothing to the club so how could I critize the manager and how could I got angry with Cygan? But in the end I decide to carry on with writing my thought here because I care. I would still write about Arsenal and I would still support the club even if Wenger goes, TH goes, and we turn into midtable team.

And I grow to accept all these. It's not that bad anyway as there are some fans who welcome these distant fans as part of them. I would definitely like to meet up with them and walk alongside them to the new stadium. I had this crazy plan to book a plane ticket to London and try to attend one of the remaining games at Highbury but I guess I can never get a ticket.

I have said so much and yet, all those are not the major reasons why I say that being a distant fan sucks. The most important reason for that is the fact that we can never experience what you guys experienced when you saw in flesh the game in which the mighty Arsenal fought hard and prevailed against Juventus. Such a magical night. Or the night when they battled out the 0-0 draw with Real. And all the other historical nights Arsenal have had. TV can show you replays but it can never gives you the atmosphere even if you get yourselves the most advance and expensive TV set. We can shout like crazy in the pub or living room but the feeling is different. It is not even close.

I envy each and everyone of the gooners who have faithfully attend Arsenal's matches and sing on top of their lung week in week out. It makes me proud when I listen to the noise in the TV. I am dying to be part of those noise. Believe me you wouldn't want to be a distant fan.

Chris Kirkland

2006-04-03T15:03:00.000+08:00

I don't usually quote or even paste fully article from others, especially non arsenal article. But this is so good, imho, that I just want to put it here. I would bring Kirkland into our squad if I were Arsene. Only because the lad has such a big heart.

========
Oliver Holt (Mirror Football)

KIRKLAND CAN MAKE IT BACK TO THE TOP ..BET ON IT
29 March 2006
SOME years ago, around the time he made a 100-1 bet that his 13-year-old son would keep goal for England, Eddie Kirkland was told he had 24 hours to live.

A cancerous cyst had been growing undetected in his stomach for nearly two years and it had swelled to the size of a small football.

Doctors told his wife Marie that he needed a major operation and he probably would not make it through the night. Even when he survived the surgery, the best guess was that he would only last three more weeks.

But Eddie Kirkland did not die. He had to retire from his job as a crane driver and Marie had to quit work to help care for him.

The debts built up and sometimes they teetered on the brink of despair but Eddie did not give up on life. And he never stopped encouraging his son.

Chris Kirkland only found out a few years ago how hard his father fought to cling to life.

Somehow, his parents had managed to keep the seriousness of his dad's condition from him.

But Kirkland has thought about his courage constantly in the last couple of years as a succession of serious injuries have blighted his football career.

A few months ago, when a collision with Bolton's Kevin Davies injured his kidney and ended his run in the West Brom first team, he thought about quitting.

For a couple of days, he felt overwhelmed by all the setbacks he had suffered and the havoc it had wreaked on his England prospects.

He was exhausted by the gruelling, soul-destroying cycle of injury and recovery that ruined his Liverpool career and had now followed him to his loan spell at The Hawthorns.

He was tired of being known as the unluckiest player in football even though he was still only 24. Tired of people saying he was just too brave when he injured his knee in a collision with Dele Adebola playing for Liverpool against Crystal Palace.

He'd had enough of pity and sympathy and lying flat out on the West Brom team coach after the Bolton game because of the pain in his side, knowing his team mates were looking at him and thinking 'not again'.

A week earlier, he had turned in the best goalkeeping performance of the season against Arsenal and reminded everyone that when he's fit, he's England's best goalkeeper.

He was so desperate not to yield to this latest blow that he did not tell anyone at the club the next day when he started to urinate blood.

It was only when a specialist told him he could lose the damaged kidney if it took another hit that he had to bow to his bad luck. He told himself he was sick of the heartbreak. He had always wanted to be a fireman when he was a kid. He thought now was the time to pursue that dream instead.

Then he spoke to his wife and his mum and his agent. And then he spoke to his dad. And he changed his mind.

"I thought about what my dad had been through with his cancer," Kirkland said. "I thought 'my dad's beaten that so a few injuries aren't going to beat me'.

"He is a great inspiration to me and so is my mum. My mum held everything together when my dad wasn't well and times were tough.

"I'm proud now that I am in a position where I can help them out and that's one of the reasons why I'm so determined my career is going to recover from all this.

"I know there's nothing wrong with me that a change of luck can't fix. People have talked about me having brittle bones but believe me, I have had all the tests to check my bone density and everything's fine."

A finger injury Kirkland sustained last week ended what slim chance he had of forcing his way into Sven Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad.

You want an irony: he did it saving a shot in training from West Brom's other goalie, Tomasz Kuszczak.

But this time, Kirkland is not dispirited. This time, even though Liverpool plan to offload him in the summer, he's counting his blessings and desperate to make a fresh start next season.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me," he said. "I've even stopped thinking about myself as being particularly unlucky.

"An unlucky player is someone like Paul Lake who had to give up the game because of injury.

"After I hurt my knee at Palace, I got a letter from Alan Shearer telling me not to be downhearted. He said he'd had 14 operations and he was still going strong. That meant a lot to me when I opened that letter.

"I hope now that the injuries just disappear as quickly as they started coming. I'm hoping I have the next seven years injury-free.

"Next season, I want people to stop talking about bad luck and start saying 'this kid can play, he's a good goalkeeper and he's back to his best'.

"I know I'm a risk for a club at the moment. It's going to be a gamble for them but whoever does take me, they'll see how hard I work and how determined I am."

Kirkland is such a genuine, honest, dedicated man and such a talented keeper, he could easily be the biggest transfer steal of the summer.

Something tells me that next season, his dad's finally going to collect on that bet.

And that the fire brigade may have to wait a little longer for a new recruit.

Arsenal 5 - 0 Villa

2006-04-03T10:16:00.000+08:00

Another good piece by Amy Lawrence: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1744910,00.html
Though I would like to encourage you not to get carried away by all these good press, especially with Juve and Man Utd on the horizon. While the Wednesday match will be extremely important, the Man Utd game will be an ultimate test to our ability in reclaiming our superiority in the league. Probably I was a bit more concerned with Man Utd because we have 2-0 lead against Juve and all in all, as I have said, our CL progress has surpassed all my expectation.

As for the 5-0 trashing of Villa, the scored could have been 6-1 or 7-2. Villa had some good chances wasted and so did us. I think we played with slower tempo at times, which is good. Another game where I have hard time picking my man of the match as almost everyone excelled. But I will pick Adebayor. It takes a special player to work well with Henry.

He looks like a forward who can be up there on his own and link up well with the rest. His first goal was typical Adebayor. I think Hughes did well to anticipate Henry's attempt on goal. Unfortunately for the lad he ended up having part in the first goal as he tried to clear Adebayor's header that hit the bar.

The second goal was the combination of Reyes' quality pass and Henry's magnificent touch and quick thinking. Sublime.

The third goal was a long pass. Yes.. A LONG PASS. We have been scoring goals from long passes this season. Again, who teach them to do that?! Thank God we have finally vary our play. Adebayor make a run into the penalty box as if he was trying to receive a long ball from Eboue. I think two Villa defenders followed him and they failed to notice Henry who was waiting outside the box. Adebayor excellently back-heeled the ball for Henry and now he has all the time in the world to think of what to do.

When Henry has the time to think of what to do, you are in a big trouble. And so it seemed as Henry sent the ball into the top right corner of the net. Sorensen was beaten completely.

Apparently this is the reason Wenger bought Adebayor for. He has impressive work rate, strength, and technique. He has got some pace and most importantly, he gets inside the box. He draws defenders away and create space for his teammates. My only concern is that he still need to work on his shooting. But that can be trained.

van Persie then came in as Henry was given rest. I have always wanted to see how well van Persie-Adebayor partnership can be. I didn't see enough this time but at least I was treated to that van Persie's goal. Any other Arsenal player would have pass that ball but not van Persie. van Persie is van Persie. Scoring from that kind of angle with Sorensen and a defender in front of him. A true striker.

The fifth goal reminds us of PV. Diaby was at times playing so much like the young PV. Again Adebayor, who made the assist, was involved heavily as he drew to defenders away and they failed to see Diaby's run.

Our only concern ahead of Wednesday's game is Cesc and Eboue's injury. But I think we should be okay without Cesc if Diaby plays like this.

A Champion League material, finally?

2006-03-30T14:35:00.000+08:00

Emerging from a relatively easy group as the clear no.1, outplaying the then on form Real Madrid and now, outplaying the Serie A leader in the first leg of quaterfinal- Suddenly everyone begin to believe that Arsenal have what it takes to go all the way and do a 'Liverpool' this year.

In previous years, Arsenal would usually drop points during the group phase no matter how 'easy' the group was. We would sometimes have to wait till the last group game was played to know whether we qualified. We would enjoy some glorious months where we found ourselves sitting on the top or second place of the Premiership table, with prospect of winning League Cup, FA Cup, and CL. Everything were great.

Then February would come, fixtures started piling up and Wenger would start complaining while losing points here and there. And come the end of March we would find ourselves so expectedly kicked out of the CL for various reasons. The press would come up with those familiar stories of how Arsenal were looking like a totally different team in the CL. And by then the least prioritized League Cup would have been out of picture as well.

But this season everything was different. We never had such glorious moments but for the first month of the season. We are getting ourselves used to checking out on Bolton, Blackburn, and Spurs' result. We have neither League Cup nor FA Cup to fight for. But hey, are we not over the moon at the moment? Had there been any season in the last 9 years which equal this one in terms of the emotion and excitement that it brings?

The calculative Wenger suddenly turned adventurous. He sold his captain before finding a replacement. He could have bought an emergency leftback during the January transfer window but no, he threw Flamini in. He started believing in the need of strong forward and bought Adebayor. The worshipper of 4-4-2 formation has suddenly turned to 4-5-1 for numerous times this season.

Many of us criticised Wenger's negative approach. I remember how I criticised our performance against Spurs, playing without any players in the final third of the pitch for the entire first half. But the 4-5-1 has slowly evolved. I don't know how Wenger did it but suddenty the 4-5-1 was no longer negative. They suddenly defend and attack like waves. When Juve had the ball, no longer did our players look like some headless chickens running here and there, chasing the opponents. They tracked back with discipline and the backfour were so calm that they could almost always read Juve's intention. Who teach them all that?!This team have and are still evolving.

Myles Palmer compares our current team with the 1998 one (quoted from www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk):
"This team can dominate a game with sheer running power, as the Petit-Parlour-Overmars team did in 1998.But this team's passing style is more intricate, less dynamic, than eight years ago. They cannot win the ball early in the same way, but they have more variation, more angles."

I have to agree. Completely.

This explains our good form in the CL this season. We had players such as Petit, Parlour and PV in the past. Players who could break up play and carry the ball forwards. The 1998 Arsenal played with power and pace. Awesome. But in the CL they were often outplayed by continental teams who play with well planned tactic and better techique. Teams who attack with purpose. Teams who let you come at them and then make interception at the most critical moments.

Fast forward 2005. Arsenal now have Pires, Henry, Cesc, Gilberto, Reyes, and Hleb. They are players capable of playing continental football. But they still fail in the CL. Why? Because they are a young side. Bayern were not much better but Bayern knew how to exploit our inexperience.

Added to that, this young gifted side also suffer in the league. Teams know that we dislike physical games. They play rough. Wenger complain, we complain. But we have to thank those teams. Yes, we have to thank Bolton and Blackburn.

They complete us.

We were times and again bullied out of the park but his young team refused to give up. They knew they were superior technically. They only had to mix that with some physical approach. Players such as Cesc and Reyes were nurtured in the more technical Spanish football world. It was never easy to accept the fact that they have to get used to being kicked every week. But they persevered. And they reap the reward.

Real had expected that it was the case of your players technique against our plyayers technique. They could not have guessed that we would challenge for every ball. We close them down all the time and once we got the ball, we turn into the technical Arsenal with our crisp passing and movement.

The old galacticos couldn't play that way. They were either too 'elegant' or too fat to do that.

Juventus suffered the same fate in the first leg. PV couldn't believe his eyes when he fell and realized that Pires has just robbed him. The Robert Pires he knew couldn't do that. Even Pires was surprised with himself. The gutso young players have rekindled the flame in our senior players' heart. That long lost passion. For once he forgot about his contract. He only knew that this was the kind of match footballers live for. The fourth muskeeter was back for the night.

I personally enjoyed watching Eboue's battle with Mutu. The young Ivorian silenced Mutu all night. They are so used to the bullish Bolton and Blackburn that Juventus pale in comparison.

And here comes the final key. Cesc Fabregas. He makes our passing and movement intricate. Always involved in every attack, he was often like someone who plays the console football game. He seems to have that bird eye view of the pitch in his head. He has also learned to control his temper. He knows that he has become our midfield pivot. Great boy, great professional.

We have finally got it. Personnel-wise we are still somewhat lacking. We have so far made up for that with determination. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't win the CL this season. But the fact that no one would be surprised should we win it says a lot.

Nedved said that he believed Juve's CL campaign is over. Don't believe that. The Turin club are not called Old Lady for no reason. Anything could happen. Even if we beat Juve, we still have three games to go in order to do a Liverpool. Let's not expect too much. We know that this team have gone beyond our wildest expectation this season. They have made us proud to call ourselves gooner.

I can't believe how hardworking I was yesterday. My boss should really pray for Arsenal to win the CL. I could probably work overtime for one week if that happens.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Juventus

2006-03-29T09:48:00.000+08:00

What can I say? Arsene said last year that "this young team will surprise you". Up until yesterday, I always considered that as something he said out of faith rather than fact.

I was thrilled when we won against Real but I maintained that this young side wouldn't have done so well against a more compact and disciplined teams such as.. Juventus. In Capello, they had one of the very best tacticians in the game. They know how to grind results and they are efficient.

But last night? I was totally dumbfounded. This young team surprised me, big time!

You sense the fear in those black and white army. THIS JUVENTUS TEAM, CONSISTING OF PLAYERS WHO HAVE SEEN ALL, FEAR THIS ARSENAL SIDE. Yes we had quite a good history against Juve but I am sure that was not the reason. These old veterans had fear for our young side simply because we were playing against them without fear.

How could players such as Flamini, Eboue, Senderos and Cesc play without fear against them?
Camoranesi probably never heard of Flamini two months ago. Mutu probably never knew about Eboue as well.
Makeshift defense? what makeshift? This is our best defense line this season. They have surpassed all expectation, so much so that you could hardly miss Campbell, Lauren, and to certain extent, Cole.

I predicted that Juve would be able to force Arsenal into playing their cautious game. I was wrong. Horribly wrong. We forced them into catching up with us instead. The Juve side who have played on Saturday were slowly exhausting themselves in the process.

Although, as Capello said, that was not the reason why they lost. Gut and determination were the reason. The gut you never expect would come from Pires as he dispossessed his ex-captain, passed it to Henry who in turn fed Cesc who didn't even notice that he was up against the great Thuram. One twist, one shot, and Highbury went crazy.

Pires has got his fair share of criticism this season but he proved last night that he was still the Pires who was always up for such big games. He did very well to compensate for the loss of Ljungberg. Partly I believe he was motivated by this little 18 years old Spaniard who played with such determination.

Cesc Fabregas is one of the major driving forces who carry the team forward. Liam Brady said that he has always been the brain of the team. More than that, he has been the heart of the team. Heck we should have got him under contract till 2020!

Reyes, though not as spectacular, was hugely impressive, playing the way he did against Real. I said that Camoranesi would be a great threat down the flank. Again I was proven wrong. He was under great threat instead. He even got himself a second yellow for a foul on van Persie later on. I don't know when Reyes would start scoring but his spirit and hardwork alone are good enough for me at the moment.

Kolo's pace, as I said, was essential as he times and again denied Juve's attempt to score. Senderos was equally solid and overall the defense was magnificent.

This Arsenal side, they are different from the one which played against Real. They have grown in such a short space of time. The joy of witnessing how fast a child can pick up language.. can you see the similarity? This young side learn fast. They are willing to learn from mistakes and change.

I don't know how the Turin game would turn out. It is in our hands now but everything is possible in football. I don't want to talk about it now. Let's savour the great moment and that's it. Players such as Eboue, Senderos, Flamini, Cesc, Reyes, Hleb, and van Persie- they will be the first generation of the new stadium era. Three years down the road, they will be the backbone of the team.

I have not talked about PV so far. There were so many things in the game that seem to underline the fact that we have really moved on. It's sad that he was booed. I believe he was hurting. Yes many footballers nowadays are playing for money and fame. But PV is different. He might have looked cold during the press conference but you can't expect him to be in tears right? He has to look strong even if he is in turmoil. When his contract with Juve ends I would love to see him return to his spiritual home, the way Brady did, and get involved in coaching. Cesc is a prodigy but PV is a legend. Cesc is a Catalan but PV is a GOONER.

I wish him many great perfomances with Juve ahead (as long as it is not against us).

Bolton, Juve, and PV

2006-03-27T09:28:00.000+08:00

I don't usually comment much on other club's match but Bolton are gaining my attention lately. Point-wise, they can potentially be more dangerous than Spurs in the competition for 4th place. I said yesterday that our match postphonement could work for us because, and this is only my stupid psychology theory, they would go into the Boro game getting all excited that a win would see them climb above us with a game in hand. They unintentionally created a pressure to themselves. Had we played Porsmouth and won, things would be different.

But of course that was my baseless theory that I create for fun, and of course as I said yesterday, we can only tell whether indeed the postphoned match work for or against us after all the "Ifs" are fulfilled.

The first "If" would be "if we prevail in tomorrow's match". Nedved and Camoranesi are two players who can hurt us seriously considering we are playing with makeshift fullback. But Nedved was suspended. He may be the more dangerous of the two but I somewhat wish that Camoranesi, who operates on the right flank, is the one who won't play tomorrow. It is no secret that Flamini-Senderos partnership is much much weaker than Eboue-Toure's. Camoranesi is an experienced and skillful player who knows exactly how to handle inexperienced defenders. Flamini will need to stay back and mark Camoranesi closely for 90 minutes. In fact we will need the left winger to help out the defense.

This is not to say that Juventus' left wing can be totally abandoned due to Nedved's absence. I have not watched Juventus for a long time and correct me if I am wrong, but do they not have Ruben Oliviera? A young Uruguay midfielder who I once hoped we would buy. Wenger would love him.

In the wake of the clash, PV explained that he was not at his best during the last few seasons at Highbury due to the lack of "hunger" and "winning mentality" within the Arsenal camp, something which he finally found in Juventus. How he remained not at his best and even considered Juventus' weak link by some despite the "hunger" is beyond me.

Admittedly, he may have read Wenger's remark on him being past his best and now our ex-captain is trying to restore some pride. Fair enough. Everyone are free to say what they want but in the end the result of tomorrow's match and the April 5th's second leg is the one thing that matters.

The Granted Wish

2006-03-26T20:59:00.000+08:00

I said that I wish we don't have to play Cesc for 90 minutes against Porsmouth and guess what, it was granted. The match was postphoned. And well, depending on many "Ifs", this could well be one of the most critical events to ever take place for us this season.

If the extra freshness after resting for more than one week proves good enough to win us the Tuesday's match..

This could also proves crucial in our race for 4th spot if you really think about it.

Let's wait and see.

Wenger the Tactician

2006-03-25T01:43:00.000+08:00

So Wenger has finally revealed his true feeling regarding the decision of selling PV. He said:
"It is always difficult to tell a player he is no longer wanted when you have been in battle together and given everything together."

So you would expect PV to be extra motivated when he comes to play against us. You can only hope that Gilberto is good enough to handle his ex partner.

The Juventus game will be very interesting. I feel that both teams will be playing cautiously, trying to exploit the opposition's mistakes.

Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic are no Drobga but they will nonetheless pose serious physical threat with their size. With Sol not playing against Porsmouth, Wenger would logically play Senderos. While Senderos is quite good against aerial attack, he must remain alert for the whole 90 minutes. Both strikers are extremely dangerous once they got inside the box. You can't even allow then half the chance. They are no Peter Crouch. Kolo's pace will be essential. I am afraid we will have to endure some last ditch tackles and desperate clearances from our young back four.

This is the kind of game that requires Wenger's tactical ability to bring us through.

Ljungberg won't play against Porsmouth so there is chance he will play against Juventus and, fingers crossed, score against them one more time! This is probably the best time for our Super Swede to break the duck. His presence will be massive against the Italian. I would expect him starting in the left with Hleb taking the right wing position.

We will be missing Henry's partnership with Adebayor but probably van Persie will take the chance to prove that he is more than a match for the Togolese. Competition is always good.

I have concerns for Cesc though. I will hope that we don't need to play him for 90 minutes tomorrow. He needs to be at his best physically and mentally against Juve. His passing can be the key to our attack.

So I will hope the formation to be this way (R to L):
The back four will remain the same, i.e: Eboue, Kolo, Senderos, Flamini.
The midfield will be: Hleb, Gilberto, Cesc, Ljungberg.
And van Persie partners Henry upfront.

Of course Wenger may well start with his now preferred 4-5-1 formation. But Juve is not Real. Their players are capable of sending out quality long balls if they are given room. They don't need to go through our midfield barrier to launch an attack. We must pressurise them from the front (if only Adebayor can play). We must make use of Highbury's narrow space to force them into making mistake and counter attack.

And therefore, we need van Persie and Henry to be aggresive and alert upfront. van Persie, the king of cage, is often amazing playing in narrow space.

If it remains 0-0 for the first 45 minutes then we can probably send in Reyes to replace Ljungberg. The Spaniard at his best may just be the right player to change the game. But I would still favor Ljungberg to start if he is fit.

As for tomorrow's game, I will expect us to win. Not because Porsmouth is not good enough, but Arsenal are not in the position to let any point slip off their hands. We just have to win each and every remaining league game.

Adebayor will score again tomorrow! Well, I hope so.

Players Here and There

2006-03-21T09:39:00.000+08:00

Sometimes ago, I was amused upon reading the news that Wenger was targeting a Greek striker called Samaras. I thought he was quite handsome but seriously, can Greece ever produce a quality striker?
Now that he is scoring goals for Man City, I must admit that he is indeed a quality player. The one that got away.

But of course we bought Adebayor instead. He hasn't won me over, but if he keeps on scoring such un-Wenger goals for us, I must say that he can turn out to be the missing piece we long for.

With regards to Spurs' form, I believe Edgar Davids is the one player that makes the difference for them. His existence raises their standard. Another person who has been instrumental for them is Michael Carrick. Another player we could have bought.

Now that Chelsea have stocked their midfield with so many players, we should have no problem in pursuing midfielders on the next transfer window. Didier Zokora and Javier Mascherano are both linked with us in the past. I rate both players.

As for our ongoing transfer target, Yobo's name has been added to the list recently. Yobo was, few seasons ago, one of the best defenders in Premiership. This season he lost his place to senior defender as Everton seeks stability. Yobo is typically athletic. Most African defenders are. But he, in my opinion, is somewhat erratic. Why not get Yaya Toure instead? I am sure the lad can play as centreback. For the reported 6 million fee, I think we can even get Milito. Is Mexes available by the way?

What I know for sure is that Senderos is not ready. If Sol Campbell fails to bounce back and perform, we really need a strong and experienced defender come next season.

What about keeper? I can't really think of anyone who is better than Lehmann at the moment. Shay Given is top quality but he is not available.

Anyway, our reserve won 2-0 against Charlton with Theo Walcott scoring the first goal. I can't wait to see him playing.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Charlton

2006-03-20T10:04:00.000+08:00

TH has this to say when asked about our performance:

"I don't know about that because in the second half we forgot the basics of the game. When you play football you have to pass the ball and try to put in the other guy who is in a better position rather than try to go on your own all the time. So the second half was pretty boring. I don't evven know if we put them under trouble. Whether it's 1-0. 3-0 or 6-0 we should still respect the game and then the game will give you something back. If you don't release the ball early for the striker to try to cross the ball back for the midfielder coming in, then it's more difficult to score. When we were 3-0 up we stopped doing it. Why change?"

While the score was convincing, I thought the game was indeed pretty boring at times. Charlton were not posing any real threat and as Wenger said, it was too easy in a way.

On Hleb, who was the man of the match, he said:
"He's on fire. It takes time to get used to the English game, he had an injury, then he came back and wasn't really playing, the team wasn't playing so good. What I like about him is that he is always turning, going forward and always have a go at the left back and willing to attack. That is what defenders hate the most."

I thought Pires was slightly better this time and he even scored a goal. Rumour has it that he will move to Ibrox this summer. If he does, I can only wish him all the best, and thank him for the great moment he has given us. To me, Robert Pires will always be one of the finest players Arsenal have ever had.

The Adebayor goal- The way he held off the defender as he took the ball. Was it my stupid imagination or did he actually resembled Drogba somewhat? Anyway.. three goals out of seven games played, and some wasted golden chances.. we've got our Andy Cole? It's too early to judge the player. Let's see how he turns out next season.

Glad to see van Persie returning to the team. His touch was still a bit rusty but he will get better. It will be a headache for Wenger, Adebayor's physical presence or van Persie's finishing?

On Thierry Henry

2006-03-16T16:49:00.000+08:00

Yes.. after PV is gone now it's TH's turn. I never like to speculate on whether he is going to stay or not. Actually, I don't think he would leave. But for the sake of keeping my mind busy, I'd love to look at this news saying that Wenger would sign Fernando Torres if Henry were to leave.

I believe that won't work.

At least for the first season after Henry leaves, it won't work.

This team has been counting on Vieira to win the ball and Henry to score, we have been doing this for years. That's why it takes so long for us to rediscover our form this season. But we are still up there because we still got Henry. His presence alone is enough to keep the opponents from going all out against us. In this season where some of our most experienced players fail to perform, Henry's ever presence has been vital. He had bad games as usual but he won us points as well.

There are parts of Henry which I don't like, his attitude towards teammates for example. Or his tendency to lose interest in certain games. I know that it is a trait you often find in brilliant people. Still I wish he can change that habit.

But there is one thing about him that I have to admit we can't do without. Where else can you find such a fit striker? Playing in almost all games and very very seldom substituted. His luck with injury has also been quite good. And this is not the typical striker that just sit and wait for chance. He may not be always running about the way Reyes does but when he does, he pulls no break.

This is one aspect where you just can't replace easily. Torres won't be able to take on that responsibility. He has no idea how teams in the Premiership play and he won't survive the first 6 months uninjured should he play week in week out.

This is not to say that Torres is not good enough. He may be a better finisher in fact. But Henry is not only about finishing. It will take some time for Torres or anyone you can name to take over Henry's role in this Arsenal team. And the only way he can ever grasp the idea is by playing alongside the maestro.

Yes. Torres should be bought to play with Henry. Only then would we know whether he can replace Henry or not. Reyes, van Persie, and I dare to say, Adebayor, are not the ones with the right material to replace Henry. Excluding the impossible such as Ronaldinho and Rooney, I believe Torres and probably Tevez are the only two I know who may fit the bill. I am sure there would be someone else who I fail to remember.

You don't sell your best player without knowing whether you have the right person to replace him. If we were to do the same mistake again, we will certainly suffer a more serious setback next season.

But of course I didn't factor in Wenger's ability to turn things around. He has always been very good with that.

I Love Gerrard

2006-03-13T23:21:00.000+08:00

Arsenal Muse had just mentioned the Liverpool captain in his post and I just want to say this one more time. Steven Gerrard is one of the greatest players I have seen playing ever since I started watching football.

Yes he doesn't have Zidane's skill, or Vieira's power. But he has that kind of driving force that is capable of lifting the whole team. His technique is of course, nearly flawless. I said that I would pick him over Beckham anytime. In fact I would also pick him over Lampard or even Rooney. But that is unlikely to happen because he is really, really, the one player that Liverpool should never part with no matter what.

Liverpool's fans deserve to be proud of having such a captain. The fact that he was the product of Liverpool academy (wasn't he?) makes it even more meaningful.

Please Gerrard, I would love to see you continue on playing for your beloved club but if you ever contemplate on moving, don't ever ever go to Chelsea. You will be wasted there. Let Ballack go there. Better still, come to us =)

Arsenal 2 -1 Liverpool

2006-03-13T09:45:00.000+08:00

It was the nine times European champion few days ago and yesterday, it was the five times European champion. Things do look good at the moment but here comes the most important part of the season. Let's pray that Arsene and his boys can give their 100% focus right to the end.

We totally deserved the three points last night. I sincerely hope that van Persie is back with the team. We wasted so many chances. But then Adebayor's physical presence was important too. The problem with the Togolese is that he just doesn't have what it takes to convert the chances.

Rafa Benitez criticized the ref for Alonso's second yellow and I can only say that his other unpunished foul has earned them the goal so at least it wasn't too bad.

As for Steven Gerrard, I think we should symphatize with him. He is a great and honest player. He was the first to admit his mistake and the fact that they didn't deserve to win. His thunderous shot that opened the chance for Garcia to score almost earned them 1 point. I know our fans were mocking him with that "One Steven Gerrard" after his dissasterous backpass but really, there isn't many players who has such a big heart like his. I will take Gerrard over Beckham anytime.

Anyway, it seems that the Beckham to Arsenal story is picking up. Initially I didn't think that would happen but probably I was wrong. I would rather Wenger getting younger and faster wingers but as many have said, Beckham is probably still the best passer of the ball at the moment. So I can't really oppose the idea, can I?

Now let's get back to our players' performance.

The first person that comes to mind is Flamini. He was massive last night! He was rarely beaten and he closed down very well.
Hleb was again industrious and Cesc.. well.. his passings were simply top notch. His assist for Henry left me breathless.

Which makes GIlberto looks much worse. This guy is just horrible when it comes to passing the ball. He earned is credit though by making some important interceptions and helping out the back four to close down the gaps. He also made some useful tactical fouls.

As for Pires, he is still good at making attacking runs but he was totally useless (or not interested) in defending. Did he not say that he wants to learn to defend? He can learn from Hleb.

Lehmann and the rest of the back four was doing well. Adebayor was working hard and Henry was taking the game seriously and his luck was extremely good. I couldn't believe my eyes when Gerrard made that backpass and Henry snatched it. Amazing. Bergkamp came on for Adebayor but didn't do much and his touches was quite poor by his standard.

I remember Pardew was complaining about our lack of Englishmen so I hope he watched the game last night and caught the appearance of two Englishmen who supposedly play in the first team. One was injured and the other one was even worse, injured and brokenhearted.

In the end it was a well-deserved three points then. Great job gunners!

My Thougt On..

2006-03-10T09:38:00.000+08:00

Jens Lehmann

I was among those who strongly criticized the German few seasons back. I was never convinced by his tendency to rush off his line and his temperament was not what you'd like to see in a keeper. But I always remember that David Seaman once said that 'Lehmann is a bloody good keeper'. I also remember how Lehmann was once interviewed and asked what he considered as his weakness. He typically answered 'Weakness? No. I don't think I have any weakness. I just have to perform'. Well not the exact words but something along that line.

And this is the season where he has proven his remarks. He had no significant weakness. He made many costly mistakes in the past and that was because he couldn't find the right motivation for him to concentrate fully and perform. This season he had found the right motivation, the World Cup. We benefit from his competition with Kahn. This is the season where the German proves that he is the worthy successor of Big Dave's gloves. But can he still perform at such level after the World Cup?

Mathieu Flamini

Not once but twice he managed to survive the Real's 90 minutes attack. I always considered him as the jack of all trade who is probably decent enough to play in various positions. But all the same time I thought he lacks mastery in any particular aspect or skill. The only thing I couldn't have predicted was how much determination this kid had in him.

He put all his heart into his game. It doesn't seem to bother him how he was played out of position. Nor does it concern him that he won't be playing there anymore the moment Cole and Clichy recovers. He was like an elite soldier who only cares to get his tasks done. A humble soldier. He makes mistakes now and then but how could you even blame him when he gives his everything week in week out? A real gem.

Alexander Hleb

I had said much about him in my post few weeks ago. I am not the best of judge when it comes to player's potential but I always believed that Hleb will be awesome the moment Wenger find the right way to play him, and play him often. The Belarussian has got his confidence back now and began to show us what a great midfielder he is.

Of course he still has problem in scoring and I have to say that I don't think he will ever turn into a goalscoring midfielder. Not that it should hinder us from playing him. All we need is a striker with first class instinct (what we thought Jeffers would turn out to be) to play with him. Maybe van Persie can be that person. Or Lupoli. But Adebayor certainly isn't one.

Hleb's main asset is his ability to tackle, hold up ball, and dribble extremely well. His problem apart from scoring is his tendency to make difficult passes which often don't come off. He has a good vision though.

Freddie Ljungberg

Another person who I mistakenly judge. I never knew he could play in a different role that well. I thought his asset has solely been his run into the box and his fine finishing. Now that he plays this well in the centre midfield, I can only conclude that determination can indeed do wonder.

Wenger should fill his squad with these type of players. At the moment, he has Toure, Flamini, Cesc, and Ljungberg who show that kind of determination consistently.

Arsenal 0 - 0 Real Madrid

2006-03-09T09:23:00.000+08:00

Urm.. er.. what can I say? There are times when words are just not good enough. The way they defended, the way Lehmann played, the way the football was played. It was all Wenger could ever ask for. As for us, the fans, it was simply heroic. Into the last eight!

Fulham 0 - 4 Arsenal

2006-03-06T09:19:00.000+08:00

It could have been 7 or 8 and Chris Coleman had his goalkeeper to thank for the scoreline. Such was Arsenal's dominance. Fulham was missing their holding midfielder Diop badly. They are a good side but they conceded 4 goals for the second time this season against us. Does that mean Bolton, Blackburn, and Newcastle are far superior? Or does that mean Arsenal have improved significantly? I think it just means that no matter who you are, once you allow Arsenal to play you are going to be in trouble, a big one.

Nonetheless, I thank Chris Coleman to let us play (finally, some proper football for Arsenal in EPL), and my salute to Fulham fans who applauded Henry as he was substituted.

The first goal was interesting because Henry usually would aim low at the farpost. The keeper anticipated that pattern and went down fast, too fast. Henry's reaction was at his best though as he hit the ball high with his left foot. Nice one.

The Adebayor goal was ordinary but the through pass that Ljungberg unleashed was perfectly measured. The Fulham game indicated one thing with regards to Adebayor; he is not a goalscoring machine. Our best finisher in the first team may still be van Persie. I would love to see Lupoli in action though.

The 4th goal was my favorite. It was such a team goal. Flamini, as my brother put it, did a Cole by making that crucial run as probably every Fulham defender's attention were fixed to Ljungberg. Admittedly, I was a bit unsure when Flamini took the ball. I totally forgot how he had made such assist from the right flank before. He did it again this time as his low cross went pass Reyes and found Cesc who tricked Warner into the wrong way as he buried the ball into the left corner. Now Adebayor better learn from that Spaniard. It was really kind of embarassing the way Adebayor missed his chance when he was one-on-one with Warner.

Of course I couldn't complain much.

Apart from Gilberto who is just okay, almost everyone were really having one of their best games of the season. My special praise for Ljungberg who really worked hard, extremely hard. We were 4-0 up and yet he was still making spirited attacking runs. He wanted that goal, badly. He was really angry with himself. He knew all too well why he was in the squad and he wanted to make sure he deserved his place. It warms my heart. It made me proud. To me that means more than the two goals Henry scored. I said before that he is no longer the 24-25 years old super swede who scored goals like a striker would. But he is really making it hard to part with him, the way he played. Such a fighter.

Blackburn 1 - 0 Arsenal

2006-03-01T09:25:00.000+08:00

Nothing to analyze. As I said, Real's game WAS different. It was a great victory but probably 80% of the teams in EPL don't play like that against us. I wasn't unhappy with the players and I feel for Senderos. He was really trying hard but he is still too young. He has been playing in games where not even one mistake is allowed.

We are now seventh, and probably there won't be CL next season for us. But maybe that is better. Teams adjust their approach depending on opponents they face. Some are very good at that, some are very bad at that. Arsenal are very bad at that. When you don't know how to:
- defend against set pieces
- defend against long balls
- win aerial and physical battle
- send in crosses
- score from corners
I guess there is only very limited options for you to vary your play and there will be ways for others to exploit all these weaknesses.
Arsenal are indeed in transition period but very much will depend on how Wenger sees the future Arsenal playing. I hope he bears in mind that we are not playing in Spanish League.

Real 0 - 1 Arsenal

2006-02-23T10:39:00.000+08:00

First of all, let me say this. I was so damn proud of our players. Amazing!! Speechless!! We defended and counterattacked like the good old unbeatable Arsenal. They could have come up and play with fear but NO, they were enjoying themselves. This young bunch of players had no fear for the galacticos. One of my best moments as an Arsenal fan. Not that Real are THAT amazing as they got beaten very often in their league but considering the fact that we were playing with such a young squad. And who was that little boy who dominated the midfield like a veteran would? His name is Cesc Fabregas, you better remember that!

'Kay, now let's try to look at it more objectively.

Having watched the first half, and TH's goal, it was obvious that these are two teams that play football with almost similar style. Short passes, one touch passes. Technique over physique, speed over strength. Lovely to watch. Of course Real has Beckham who adds variety to their attack with his crosses and deadball mastery.

In that game, Real have at least two players who can do wonder: Robinho and Zidane.
Arsenal have one: TH.

But Robinho was attacking the wrong side of Arsenal. On the right flank, we had the excellent Eboue and Toure, much much stronger than Flamini and Senderos. Robinho couldn't do much against our two Ivorian towers.
Zidane was also very much subdued by our compact midfield. Gilberto was for once visible and did his duty well in covering the gaps. Cesc was up and running, passed the ball around with confidence. He is not as good as Leo Messi but he is definitely a very very very very good player.

TH's goal may not have happened had he played against Liverpool. Gerrard won't trail behind like Guti and Carragher won't give TH space the way Sergio Ramos did. But it was still not easy at all. You can see his determination as he worked his way to the box. He had no intention to look for foul, pass to someone or whatever. From the moment he started that run, his only intention was to put the ball behind the net. Now if only we could see that kind of TH in every match.

Reyes was tormenting Cicinho but he still lacked in his finishing. Freddie did really really well. I thought he was working really hard to prove that he is still good enough for Arsenal. I have no intention to belittle our players' performance but you got to realize that they could play that well only because we were given so much space by Real. They weren't half as compact as Chelsea or Bolton. I think there isn't a team in this world who can afford to give Arsenal that much space without getting themselves punished. We had so many clear cut chances that 0-1 score was in a way, unfortunate.

Defensive wise, it is clear now that we have got Lauren's replacement. Did you see Eboue's energetic run as he brought the ball into the opponent's half? Magnificent. Flamini was doing really well to cope but I see him as the next Grimandi, a great squad player. Great to have Kolo back. He was majestic!

How we wish that we are playing against such technical team every week but the truth is we are going against yet another bullish team come this Saturday. Let's not talk about the second leg. There is important mission for us and that is to overtake the 4th position.

It's Real tomorrow, but I'd rather not think about it

2006-02-20T10:04:00.000+08:00

Is Hleb a misfit? I don't think so. I think Hleb's main strength is his instinctive play, creative passing and dribbling skill. Post injury, he has somewhat lost his confidence in his dribbling. I thiink he watches Pires on training too many times. But that confidence will return. What about his sloppy passing? It's amusing how the supposedly one of the best passers in the team has now turned out to be this sloppy. But we forget that almost all Arsenal's players have suffered with their passing this season. Though not everyone manages to go as low as no.19 could, thank goodness.

The problem is there is no more dynamic and fludity in the team. Opponent's close marking disrupt our movement and with so many disillutioned senior players and inexperienced young players around, we tend to go forward for the sake of going forward at times. While Cesc is notably always trying to move into a good position to receive pass, so often the other seem to make useless run into difficult position to receive passes. Also, there is this urgency in the team to pass the ball quickly, as if they are afraid to get tackled if they hold onto the ball for a bit longer. It's fine to play one-touch passes but only if your team is full of good passers with good teamwork. Otherwise you are just giving away possession. Just ask no.19.

On top of all that, Hleb has been getting so little playing time to adjust himself during his first season. After all, he is so clearly a centre midfielder with flair so why force him to play winger and expect him adapt immediately? To me Hleb is quality and it is Wenger who does not use him in the right way. Not that Wenger doesn't want to, but he couldn't do so.

Wenger has and maybe, will always get his team to play for Henry. He doesn't buy strikers to form partnership with Henry, he buy them to play for Henry. He doesn't retain good crossers such as Pennant for he knows such players can't help Henry. The whole intention, when Arsenal move forwards, is to give the ball to Henry. Once the maestro receive the ball, it's up to him whatever he wants to do. This season and many times in the previous seasons, such strategy backfired because Henry isn't always fully interested in the games. He loves Arsenal and the fans, that I am sure. But he is just human with flaw, a genious with flaw.

You don't count on a striker who, when playing to his 100% potential, is the number one in the world. You don't count on one player to make differences season after season. But you have to count on a team consisting of quality players who can and want to work for each other. I like Henry to stay but he really needs to stop acting like a bigshot and respect his teammates.

I say, if Henry still hasn't signed come May 2006, Wenger should sell him instead of persisting with his faith. Pires should just pursue what he wants and move to Spain. Ljungberg is keen to stay but it's sad that he is just not good enough to carry on. The determination is there, and I respect that. But he may not be good enough for Premiership, let alone CL come next season. Campbell could probably be the one that has better chance to recover and rediscover his form.

And now we come to the remaining two senior players whose replacement should also be considered. Lehmann has been great but he will be 36 next season and unless Almunia is the person Wenger has in mind as the successor, the new keeper should really be bought before the start of next season. The next person is no.19. I think he will be useful as a squad player. There is no need to sell him but there is a need to replace his position in the first eleven with an established holding midfielder. Yaya Toure or Didier Zokora can fit the bill.

So it seems that 2006-2007 will yet be another season of transition.

Liverpool 1 - 0 Arsenal

2006-02-15T09:34:00.000+08:00

Not that I expect us to win 4-2 but seriously.. we are far from convincing. Wenger's response has been worrying lately. Sometimes I wish he would show his rage, telling the rest of the world that he thinks his players' performance was simply not good enough. Lehmann, of course, is the exceptional case last night.

Next up, Real Madrid. That name surely sounds familiar.

No hattrick for Bolton

2006-02-14T09:34:00.000+08:00

Seeing us getting Bolton-ed for the third time in one season is the last thing I want so I would say thank you to no.19 for taking the responsibility of a striker by moving into a goalscoring position and hit a perfect firsttime from Cesc's cross on injury time. That was a great goal though Nolan's goal was even better. I couldn't believe that, seeing them scoring from open play.

But Bolton are starting to get into my nerve. And I can hardly bear Big Sam's face, his face says it all. I don't mind seeing them excelling in all kind of setpieces and i don't mind seeing them playing physical. That's ugly but they need to survive and that's fine. They have inferior quality after all. But they are getting more and more into the dirty part by trying to get freekicks near the box, and they try that by all means. And as Wenger rightly pointed out, they have also mastered the time wasting technique. The refs.. what a joke. So when Arsenal's players go down it was because we were inadequate physically but when the opponents' players go down it was because we were fouling them? Why don't you just give them the points and spare us the frustating 90 minutes?!

I am afraid the only way Wenger can tip the scale towards us is by signing some strong players to change our public image of being soft.

It's such a shame that Nakata plays for Bolton, such a team. I am an Asian and I like Nakata. I still remember that day he first played for Perugia, against Juve, where Nakata really impressed me despite Perugia losing 4-3. Good player, bad team.

On the team's performance, I thought Pires did well with some shots on-target. Bergkamp in particular was a threat with his perfect passes that put Adebayor into good position but the new Kanu is no Shearer. Cesc was also doing really well while I would like to remind Wenger to stop that stupid move of playing Ljungberg at rightback in search for goals. Against top teams, that can really backfire, badly.

Anfield tonight. Liverpool's strikers are not exactly the sharpest ones but their defense are seriously first class.

Birmingham 0 - 2 Arsenal

2006-02-05T19:32:00.000+08:00

When was the last time you felt that tense upon watching Arsenal playing away against relegation battler? When was the last time you jumped and shouted like mad when you realized that we have just won that game and kept a clean sheet? It really was such a moment to savour. Winning is not a default anymore. It's something to fight for this season, no matter who we are up against.

Birmingham made their intention clear from the start by deploying two physical forward, Heskey and Sutton. Their approach was direct but their midfield wasn't overly physical. Their marking wasn't particularly tight, thus giving us some space to play our passing game at times.

My thought on each player..

Lehmann - Arsenal's best player of the night for me. His commanding presence and alertness, including a superb save from Jarosik, ensured the clean sheet.

Senderos - Played reasonably well though looked unsure at times. Still, I believe he needs another 2 seasons before he grows into a mature defender with enough quality as Arsenal's first choice centreback.

Djourou - Lively and good positioning. Did well in covering for Flamini and was never afraid to tackle. Once skinned by D.J. Campbell but all in all, a good performance by the youngster.

Seb. Larsson - Arsene converted two of his undersized centre midfielder into fullbacks. But Larsson did quite well in marking the dangerous Pennant and distributed the ball with his good passing skill.

Flamini - Julian Gray was not as dangerous as Pennant fortunately. Flamini was really trying his best to play in that unfamiliar position but he was quite out of place. At times he simply threw his body into tackle and when challenging for aerial ball he would often got blown away by the opponents. Poor Flamini.

Diaby - Doesn't tackle as hardly as Viera did but contributed more to the attacking moves, involved heavily in the first goal. Held up ball and brought the ball forward with total composure. Played with great enthusiasm. Promising indeed.

No. 19 - Had a slightly better performance but still didn't look convincing to me.

Cesc - Ensured that Flamini was covered well and made a great assist for Henry's goal. Not a great performance by the Spaniard but was good enough considering that he played out of position.

Reyes - He seems to get bulkier. A great midfield engine as usual, producing some great passes including the one Adebayor wasted away. With his great vision, he was many times the starting point to launch the trademark Arsenal lightning counterattack, Reyes will be vital to Arsenal's revival.

Adebayor - Bad haircut, great physical and aerial presence. His first goal shows that he is an opportunist, which is great. Doesn't possess van Persie's technique and finishing but is better at decision making.

Henry - Quiet most of the times but took his chance well. I didn't really enjoy his gesture after scoring his goal but if he can keep on scoring I think I can't really complain, can I?

Hleb - Disappointing, lack of confidence. Didn't do much when he came on.

Overall, I think we still need Kolo and Lauren to return to the side. I can't be bothered to think about Campbell. That big guy doesn't seem to be ready for this final lap as he is still struggling with his personal issue.

A good three points away and a good team effort by these bunch of youngsters. Wenger deserves to be proud of them.

Nothing Is Wrong When Your Timing Is Right

2006-02-02T09:04:00.000+08:00

And nothing is ever right when your timing is wrong.

Wenger has had problem with his timing this season. It's true that we need to sell PV sooner or later, but not this season. He should have sold him a season ago or a season later. Why did he sell his most influential midfielder when he himself knows that it is not easy to buy good player a year before World Cup? But let's forget about PV.

Let's talk about Bentley and Quincy.

Many people think both of them are not good enough to stay at the club. Bentley, who was never given proper chance to play with this team, was deemed not good enough based on his performance with Norwich and Blackburn (at least before he scored hattrick last night). Let me tell you something. If it was Reyes who went to play with Norwich, he would not turn out better either. And had we sent Henry to Blackburn, he would all the same suffer with his performance. How can you judge Bentley's performance based on that? He is, above all, a technically gifted player. He is suitable for Arsenal and not Norwich or Blackburn.

What about Quincy? I have watched him playing for first team quite a few time and I agree that he was full of tricks but lacking in final product. But so was Joe Cole for so many seasons, and so was Christiano Ronaldo during his first season. Those players need time and strict coaching to mature. But the talent is definitely there. Quincy was always one of the best talents in the youth tournaments he participated with Holland.

If Wenger could bear with watching Reyes playing so badly at times, and could still give Hleb chance to play despite his poor form at the moment, why could he not give these both players chance?

And why sell them now? Do you seriously think that Ljungberg is far better than Bentley at the moment? There were time when we had to play Ljungberg upfront due to lack of attacking players. We are now severely depleted and a not-so-good player is better than no player, isn' it?

Don't talk about Vela or Walcott because the former is now still loaned out to Spain and the later is a 16 years old who haven't got Premiership experience. Did Wenger not want to have some experience in his squad? Well he got Bentley; he used to anyway.

I often wonder why Wenger always wants to have thin squad and then complains about his squad's lacking in depth. And why did he fill his firstteam with technical players and then complain about other's physical approach? He is a bit naive sometimes.

One of the reasons Arsenal grew complacent almost every season after they won the Premiership was probably due to the size of the squad. These players have no one in the reserves to challenge for their spot and they could afford thinking "Now that I have helped the team to win the Premiership, my position in the team is 200% safe. Wenger likes stability and even if he wants to meddle with the team he doesn't have quality players in the reserves to do that anyway." Okay, I made up that theory and of course may not be true.

The only logical reason why they were sold was that probably Wenger had secretly offered them a new deal which they rejected.

I have nothing to say for last night's game. Campbell stormed out of Highbury and Wenger, as usual, defended him with good words. This Arsenal team, you just get the feeling that they would concede in one way or another.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan

2006-01-25T10:14:00.000+08:00

Wigan are through and justice prevails. They deserve that historic final for all the hardwork. Arsenal are just an average side at the moment and being an average side, we played well last night. van Persie's goal was class and I wonder had we been the one that need to score one goal with 12 minutes left, would we have succeeded? Or would we end up getting all frustated and fall into opponent's provocation the way we did against Everton?

The Wigan goal was a bit like Beattie's goal and I reckon this will not be the last. Maybe our centreback have to go through the American Football training for the players in Line position.

Man Utd or Blackburn, either of them would not be easy for Wigan. All the best of luck to this admirable team.

Cesc to be fined. What are you thinking Sir?

2006-01-24T00:42:00.000+08:00

Cesc, one of few players who seem to try their best whenever playing, is about to get fine for his red card. I don't really keep track of the records but this is either his first red card or his first red card after God knows how long. For those who keep records, tell me something. Did Vieira get fine for his first 10th red card?

What are you trying to do, Wenger? Trying to act tough like Ferguson? Then let me tell you something; try harder! Fining an 18 years old who got frustated seeing his team losing to a weaker opponents, who got betrayed by his senior partner THAT no.19, and probably went clueless seeing his captain playing without any passion; and above all, APOLOGIZED for his mistake, is a BIG MISTAKE. Just because he is a young and humble player doesn't mean you can use him freely to set example.

Seriously, I would have no argument had Wenger always been this tough in disciplining his players, any player. But I think this fine is really too harsh on Cesc and when it comes to our problematic season, it doesn't help and it is not the best of times to do that. Why don't you fine those seniors who earn so much and play like some clowns? You can always start with the invisible worldcup winner who play alongside the Spaniard.

Wrong player, wrong time, wrong decision. I just hope that this article on Cesc is just something the reporters make up. I sincerely hope so, Wenger.

The Unreliable Tips to Win Away Match

2006-01-23T11:51:00.000+08:00

I feel sorry for Wenger when I saw his depressed gesture during the Everton match. So I have decided to list down some tips for Wenger to start winning away, or physical, matches.

1. Stop blaming the sun or the pitch or the opponent's tactic or the star constellation when you lose match. It's okay if you can't bring yourself to point out your own players' poor performance but there is no need to blame everybody else. You have been in the Premiership for almost 10 years so it's about time to do something with your whining reputation. Maybe Ljungberg can then learn from you and get up quicker instead of sitting and protesting for so long everytime he is fouled.

2. Do something with a certain no.19 who must not be named. Bench him and, if possible, send him to Neil Banfield to play with the Reserves. Oh as for his training, get Keown and Bouldie to kick his arse thrice a week and the rest of the time, let him join the junior gunners to learn a thing or two about passing.

3. Consider sending Campbell and Senderos to Keown also for some basic defending lesson. Feel free to keep them both in the squad though. It would be great if you can bring in an uncompromising and experienced centreback but if you can't, consider doing that in the next transfer window.

4. As many have pointed out, either use Pires or Ljungberg but not both. At the moment Ljungberg is too inconsistent that he surpassed Pires. Try playing Reyes on the left and Pires on the right. Hey you can even throw in Walcott and see if it works out. It's unfortunate that Cesc got redcarded but when the Spaniard is back, play him with Flamini/Diaby in the centre.

5. If you really want to play 4-5-1, get yourself a fiery striker who can bully defenders and hold up ball. TH is not one and will never be one. With him drifting to the left flank most of the time, your 4-5-1 looked like a terribly blunt spear. It takes so much time for your players to get into scoring position that when they do, the opponents would already drop back and start crowding their own penalty box.

6. As I've always said for so many times, get yourself a good defense coach and a good tactician. That Gilbert-Hleb substitution in the Everton game is one of the most bizarre ones among your many bizarre substitutions. One, Gilbert was your only defender who perform and is able to defend as well as bringing the ball upfront. Two, by keeping the 4-5-1 and asking Ljungberg to play rightback you are not anywhere more offensive and if anything, you are more vulnerable defensively.

7. I am not sure how you can do this but please, just make sure your players realize that they need to get stuck in and play like they care.

Don't take it too seriously, I just need to release some of my disappointment.

Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal

2006-01-21T22:44:00.000+08:00

Awful defense. Another sad sight of Senderos being ridiculed by strong forward. Another laughable performance by no.19. Outmuscled in the midfield. Bad refereeing. The team acted like a bad loser.
Those are things I want to forget.

Another good performance by Kerrea Gilbert. Good 10 minutes show by Abou Diaby.
Those are things Wenger should be happy about.

Nothing much to talk about. Same old story. Arsenal were tamed by a hardworking physical side who played as if their life was depending on the result. Indeed the referee didn't help but in the end Arsenal are just not good enough.

If there is one position that Wenger should not be worried about this season, it gotta be the rightback position. In Lauren, Eboue and Gilbert he has three solid defenders who are up to the challenge. Seems like Hoyte will indeed have to switch to leftback.

Cesc was redcarded and I am interested to see if Wenger would throw Diaby into the next game. The lad looked composed and useful, better than a certain no.19 but then 10 minutes was too short to make any judgement on the player.

As to how this Arsenal side could end their poor away form, I think there is only one way, GET STUCK IN FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

PS: Welcome to Highbury Walcott! Will talk about you when I feel better.

Morality of Football 2

2006-01-19T11:47:00.000+08:00

Now although you can't get too ethical in football, surely you can still try to be reasonable with your act. That's what separate us from Chelsea after all.

I despise them when they snatched SWP away for it's obvious that Mourinho did that just to make sure that his most serious opponent didn't get the guy. He didn't need SWP for goodness sake and he knew that we need SWP very much as we have always been too leftsided. He did not give a damn on the player's future career.

Mourinho made use of Roman's money to dominate the transfer market, without caring for others by buying overpriced players. Nowadays everyone waits for Chelsea's move without deciding to sell their good players. That is destroying football and that, regardless of whether is ethical or not, is not wise.

What about Arsenal? Did we not snatch Cesc away from Barca? Well yes we did but by the time we took him away, he was still very much raw material, good one nonetheless. And most importantly, we needed him and played him. He wouldn't be in Barca's first team action has he stayed. And we never used money as a bait. Cesc came to us on his own, believing that he could improve under Wenger's supervision.

I dare not talk about Flamini as I am not really clear about his situation.

Now we got to Walcott. This is really amusing. I still remember sometimes ago that some articles complained about how Premiership clubs are buying from clubs outside the league instead of buying English players from lower division clubs, while the Premiership club are arguing that English talents are often overpriced.

So now, while we can 'unethically' agree with Walcott to bring his transfer into tribunal, the player has stated his preference for us anyway, we decided to do this more properly by offering Southampton 5 million initial fee. That would raise to 12 million based on performance, which is again fair, considering that despite the hype Walcott is still very much a raw potential.

And here's three important questions. Do we need him? Yes we do. Because he can one day be as good as Rooney and when he is priced at 30 million, we can never buy him. Wenger, being such a stingy manager, will never buy someone just to make sure the talent doesn't go elsewhere. He has even let go Mascherano just because PV decided to stay on last season. He hates to destroy a player's future.

Second question: Do Southampton actually want to sell him? Yes they do. Can't you tell? They are just trying to get as much money as they could by playing the waiting game. Surely they played with the wrong opponent as Wenger is not someone who can be lured into buying overpriced player.

Third and probably most important one, will this move benefit the player? Again, yes! He can train with more superior training facilities at Arsenal, alongside superior players and supervised by quality coaches.How can he not improve? He will become a better player even if he may not play for us for his entire career.

And for the sake of everyone else, I think it benefits England too as this player may well be one of the future stars of England.

So what's the moral problem here? The moral problem here is Mourinho who again tries to unsettle the player by getting involved in the whole transfer saga. He did that with Diaby too. Seems like the special one still can't get over the christmas card incident.

Morality of Football 1

2006-01-19T11:08:00.000+08:00

Upon reading some interesting comments on how our attempt on signing Theo Walcott has been unethical, and sticking to my standpoint that I won't get into this whole Walcott craze until he has actually signed, I would like to touch on the ethical part solely.

Let's begin with this question: do you happen to think that today's top level football respect ethics and moral?
In case we've forgotten, football, and Premiership football in particular, is a multibillion business. Though we all fans would like to believe that we are supporting a righteous football club with board who hold integrity with high regards, and manager and players who are loyal to the club, we've got to start realizing that is just not going to happen, not when you are supporting a club in top flight football competition where unthinkable amount of money is at stake.

Just look at Ericsson. And when Ian Wright made that comment that he would consider leaving if he was TH, I bet he didn't give a damn on how much he is adored by the gooners. Of course when it comes to football players talking, you know that sometimes they are just lacking in the neuron department. And what about Sol Campbell? That was like Tony Adams moving to Spurs. And Tony Adams said he would love to be Ferguson's no.2 few months ago. Now shall we call them all traitor? But no.. they are just trying to make a living, just like us.

And the board is even worst. You just have to look at Edelman's comment on how the Emirates Stadium is going to bring in huge income due to the pricy ticket. It's all about the money, pal.

You don't meet professional such as Dennis Bergkamp everyday. I am not saying he is a man with integrity whatsoever but at least he knows how to conduct himself. That's why I respect the player. Not only is he irreplaceable in terms of skill, his personality is also one of a kind in today's football.

So we should really wake up to the reality and realize that corrupt characters are all too common in today's football business.

I had a laugh upon reading a Spurs' fan blog where he talked about how Dein had played dirty in getting Adebayor by talking to the player months ago, thus beating Spurs to the player's signature. I wonder what his reaction was when he read Spurs' official denial on their interest for Adebayor. Adebayor may not be a smart chap but why the heck does he has to lie about meeting Spurs' official if it never took place? It's obvious that Spurs are just trying to cover their own asses by denying their interest. Do they even bother about being ethical? Does Wenger ever bother about that when he denied his interest in so many players we are linked to? He just has to do that to avoid price war on the players he wants.

And finally, part 2 on this Walcott case.

Arsenal 7 - 0 Boro

2006-01-16T08:52:00.000+08:00

I think objectivity is one aspect that is lacking so badly within the media that you could tell how they would write beforehand. For example, consider the following cases

Chelsea 7 - 0 Sunderland
They would say, "Chelsea once again shows the rest of the league that despite their boring football branding, they are capable of playing such a beautiful passing game that was too much for Sunderland. They can be just as entertaining while keeping their winning form. This 'boring football' has brought them 16 points clear with most goals scored."

Man City 7 - 0 Man Utd
They would say, "If there is one club that is capable of challenging Chelsea in the Premiership, it would be Man Utd. Needless to say, despite Chelsea's dominance, Man Utd are still probably the best when it comes to attacking football. Rooney was again magnificent as the team's main engine, setting up goals for this teammates in the demolition of their local rival. Crisis? What crisis?"

But when it comes to Arsenal, they focus on how Mclaren would find his team struggling to stay in the Premiership. They are trying to tell you that Boro are so bad that they got beaten 7-0 by this Arsenal side. Arsenal were playing with two young centreback, Senderos and Djorou, but no, they focus on the inability of Boro's young players to cope instead.

You gotta love them.

Back to Arsenal.

Just like the 5-1 win over Inter, this is another moment where you just couldn't find the right way to express your emotion. This is different from the 7-0 win over Everton simply because we were just so bad in the previous games and we even lost 2-0 Boro Away that 7-0 scoreline is just too good even in your wildest dream. You can't help asking what is the true potential of this team? How could they be that bad in one game and this good in another game?

I understand that Boro were playing with some inexperienced players but surely their quality are not that far off from Wigan's players. And those passings, how can you not be spoiled? I won't mind Reyes not scoring should he play this way in the rest of the games. His movements and passings were class. Henry were roaming free like a wild beast. Both of them were just such a joy to watch.

I think Djorou played well in his probably first premiership start? So did Senderos in organizing the defense. The lad even got a goal as his reward. Cesc was doing fine in distributing the ball as usual. It was such a relief to see Cole returning to action without any significant setback. Well done for the defense.

Ljungberg really needs to stop his underwear advertisement while Hleb finally got his first goal. Apart from inability to score, Ljungberg improved much in his overall attacking play though. Pires' goal is among my favorite. It isn't something too difficult for the skillful Frenchman but it is something that takes a lot of confidence to do. We need our no.7 and no.8 to get back their confidence and form. It is clear that Wenger didn't buy any winger and that shows his belief in them. Of course we all know too well what both of them are capable of when they are on form.

the exceptional case

2006-01-14T19:46:00.000+08:00

This season has turned out to be exceptional in almost every aspect. The latest one would be Wenger's involvement in January transfer dealings. Despite him saying that the opportunity of signing these players is just too good to let pass, our current form and situation must have partly forced him to take action. I don't know if Henry's contract talk has anything to do with this though.

I would have thought that he won't sign more than one player but at the moment we alreay have two new players in our book. I won't talk about Theo Walcott until he has actually signed.

The first and the most exciting one I believe would be Abou Diaby, the France U-19 captain. He may not have made great impact in Auxerre but this player may just be the kind of player who need a special mentor, just like PV.

The nicest thing with his transfer is the fact that he rejected Chelsea. It takes some character to do that, something SWP should have done instead of listening to Ian Wright.

And it just made my day when the Auxerre's vice president, Gerrard Bourgoin said
"It was a choice that belonged to the player. But Wenger has been better than Mourinho, that's all." Good one. In truth I guess Mourinho has made it clear to him that with Chelsea's midfield quality, he is seen as one for the future. Arsene could obviously offer him faster path to the first team action just by showing him the video of our match against Wigan.

Everyone is comparing him with PV and I think he can be the complete midfielder who is perfect to partner Cesc in the midfield. As long as he is strong, aggresive, brave, and can pass the ball, he is good enough for me. So here you go, our new no 2.

Emmanuel Adebayor may not really be what most of us have in mind when we talk about getting another forward. I really couldn't think of him becoming our main attacking force for year to come. But you never know. He looks strong enough to hold up ball and since Wenger compares him with Kanu, he must have some skills. Anyway, we'll see. That 7 million is a bit too risky for a gamble though.

On Gilberto

2006-01-12T09:38:00.000+08:00

I couldn't help wondering what Gilberto had in mind when he blamed the poor performance on the difficulty of playing with youngsters. While I do agree that it isn't easy to play with youngsters when you are used to playing with worldclass players, I think it's wiser to shut up when you play like an inexperienced youngster yourself. His performance of late has been rather embarassing to watch.

I used to question his contribution to the team. But when he got injured last season, I was led to believe that his invisible wall was indeed vital to our defense. That would be a big mistake as it turned out that while he does possess a sound positioning sense, he is not good enough for anything other than intercepting pass.

He can't tackle hard enough and he doesn't have enough strength or pace to stop strong and skillful players such as Rooney, Gerrard, or Lampard.

When he does get the ball, his passing would often let him down. What's the point of being able to intercept opponent's pass if the next thing you do is to pass it back to your opponent?

That he was doing well when PV was around is probably because what he needed to do back then was only to intercept passes after all. And that's why he seemed to be invisible during our glorious year. PV would make the tackle and bring the ball forward. Occasionally we would lose the ball or need to pass the ball back and that's when Gilberto's positioning help. He helps us keeping the possession with his simple football.

But that was Arsenal of the past. Opponents would just sit back and let us play in their own half. Today's Arsenal are different. To begin with, we don't have that box to box midfielder who does all the things anymore. We don't intimidate others anymore. On the contrary, teams such as Bolton or Blackburn would come at us and try to intimidate us.

Gilberto can't afford to remain invisible anymore. He has to get involved in the midfield battle and in going forward. That's why he seems much much more visible this season. And that's why we begin to see how bad his passing is. He isn't playing his game at the moment, simple as that.

So do we need to get rid of him? That depends. It's clear that Gilberto needs an all-round tough midfielder with skill, someone like PV or Gerrard. But it's obvious that Cesc will never be such player. So Cesc-Gilberto partnership will never work. By sticking with Gilberto we are forced to either sacrificing Cesc' development or playing with three centre midfielder.

And we have not even begin to consider Hleb who I think is playing out of position at the moment. He was forced to play left wing and sometimes right wing. But isn't it obvious by now that he brings most impact when played in the centre? And Hleb is yet an entirely different player compares to Cesc or Gilberto. Dillema indeed.

Wigan 1 - 0 Arsenal

2006-01-11T13:13:00.000+08:00

I didn't watch the game and don't intend to watch the replay. I am afraid Wenger has never wanted to win the Carling Cup in the first place. He wants the CL place for next season, and he wants FA Cup. But we were already in semifinal that it's just sort of a waste to lose it here.

Arsenal World suggests that we were playing one of our worst football games ever since Wenger arrived. The thing is that we have witnessed quite a number of games this season which could qualify into our top ten worst display of football. Four or five years ago, I remember how often I got disgusted over the fact that despite playing very well Arsenal were losing or more often, drawing. Our defense were solid and our midfield were dominating. We created chance after chance. During that time, I would always pointed out that Arsenal only need a clinial striker to bury all those chances and we would be complete.

Only now do I realize how lucky we were then. It's much more painful to watch your team losing games they don't deserve to win. There are too many weaknesses within the team that I don't even know where to start.

But I know for sure that we do need good defense coach. I do know that we do need good tactical coach to advise Wenger. And I do know that we do need to start letting go the naive approach where we would always attack through the middle.

Score from crosses, long passes, corners, free kicks, headers. Exploit all the possibility in attacking and stop being one-dimentional.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Cardiff

2006-01-09T09:45:00.000+08:00

Well done Bobby! Now improve on that.
It's clear now that Lauren is solely a rightback. Let's hope for a fast recovery by Cole and Clichy.
Now that TH has stated his desire to stay, let's hope that Wenger can match his ambition by bringing in few world class players and therefore enticing our captain to up his game. TH needs to play with good players for him to be able to express fully his ability and creativity. At the moment he couldn't seem to trust his teammates enough.

But these teammates of him are showing tremendous improvement. Reyes is going strong and so is van Persie. Cesc's talent is unquestioanable.

van Persie's signing new contract till 2011 is another good news. With Senderos, Cesc, and Reyes all have signed new contract extension, Wenger seems to have laid down a strong foundation for the future. There is a feeling in me that he may leave after we settle in the new stadium, probably two or three seasons after the next season. The man will come to a point where he thinks he has fulfilled his goals for Arsenal and by then, let's hope that he has got the CL cup he so much deserves for building such a formidable team that play like no other teams do.

Into the Second Half of the Season of Transition

2006-01-06T09:16:00.000+08:00

Looking at Bergie's comment on how we should be alright by taking one step backward this season if we could take two steps forward next season, it seems that the common agreement within the camp is that "This season is over. Let's try our best to qualify for CL next season"
As such, Wenger approached Man Utd game aiming for 1 point. He seemed prepared to even let go the second place, or even third place. His realistic aim was to finish fourth.
At the beginning of the season some people said that fourth place is the realistic target. I thought we were good enough to finish third behind Chelsea and Man Utd.
But never did I expect Benitez' squad to be so formidable this season, defensively.

Good job there Rafa!

Whereas Arsenal never seemed like scoring against good sides lately. Frustating it is.
But I still believe all the same that this team is capable of finishing third, let alone fourth. We are yet to face Liverpool and we still have to face Man Utd at Old Trafford. Tottenham is yet to visit Highbury. We've still got many crucial games left in the second half of the season many would like to forget.
It's time for players such as Campbell, Pires, Henry, and Ljungberg to rise up to the challenge. It's time for them to justify the 'senior' status they have earned at this club. When they do, they will in turn inspire Van Persie, Reyes, Cesc, Flamini, and Senderos to give their all.

If they have some pride for wearing the Arsenal shirt, I hope that pride is so damn hurt now that they would fight for that.

Jose Mourinho's team is all about the manager. He is the brain. He is the motivator and conductor that makes his team win. He is the discipline master that makes sure they don't slack off when they are winning.

But Arsene Wenger is different. He is like the backstage technician who makes sure his players are tuned to play to their potential. Whether they could win and keep on winning depends not on that one manager. It depends on the 11 player that he sends out. More than any other team, this is a team where teamwork plays crucial part.
They play by intuition and moments of brilliance. They are not restricted by formation and positioning. They flow like river when they click.
Will we see that Arsenal team on this second half? I don't know.

As far as transfer window is concerned, I believe Wenger needs a class holding midfielder and a centreback who is better than Sol Campbell and Senderos to partner and lead Kolo. If he has enough money for the attacking department, I would say right winger will be useful.

I will let Henry and Persie play together upfront. Reyes should continue on his good form on the left flank. Cesc or Flamini should occupy one of the midfield slot.
The defense line will be fine when Cole and Clichy return.

Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal

2006-01-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

Wait a minute.. was it Arsenal? That team that played against Villa was certainly wearing Arsenal's shirt but there is every reason to suspect that it was a Championship side in disguise.

Okay that was a bit too much. After all a draw can be considered good result when you look at our away games record this season right? And of course you expect Villa to play better football than, say, Charlton.

The positive of the game? Cygan, in my very own opinion, was having a better performance as a leftback. If he can improve on this performance he could well have a chance of surviving the Man Utd game.

The most frustating part of the game? Ljungberg. Apart from his good effort that hit the post he was so easily dispossessed that not even Reyes in his first season could match that.

Enough said. I won't waste my time on the transfer rumour until I see a news saying that we have COMPLETED a signing. And I won't waste my time on how Wenger should approach the Man Utd game because I don't believe he knows and cares about tactical approach. Should we win the game it will be because the team plays with their 120%.

Arsenal 4 - 0 Porsmouth

2005-12-29T09:30:00.000+08:00

Our true test will come when we play Man Utd next week but nonetheless, there is plenty of positives from this game.

Jose Antonio Reyes continued on his fine form with an assist, a goal, and a penalty he earned. The Spaniard, when on form, can give you anything you want. Tackles, crosses, long passes, short passes, goals, headers, and er.. dives. Well it's good to see him playing with such physical presence. The brave kid's tail is finally up. If he can adapt well, we will witness many beautiful moments coming from Reyes and van Persie in years to come.

Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp found the net. I still don't think Dennis should be starting but when Robin van Persie is injured, he is our best choice. TH's goals are missed but more importantly, we need him to grow up into a good captain. So stop showing that disgusting gesture towards your teammates when we are losing, captain!!

And while Porsmouth's midfield players aren't exactly of the highest quality, Flamini did well last night. He generally contributed significantly in our attacks. Is it the haircut?

The Aston Villa game will not be as easy and considering the Man Utd game, Wenger must ensure that his players can focus fully in the next game. Arsenal are still a good side when they are confident. But they must also learn to bounce back quickly when they hit bad patch.

Charlton 0 - 1 Arsenal

2005-12-28T14:15:00.000+08:00

Not to belittle the precious three points but consider these
Point no.1 : Charlton are not exactly on good form themselves and even when they are on good form,
Point no.2 : Charlton do not play physical football the way Bolton and Newcastle do, probably because they don't have the necessary players to apply that kind of tactic.

So the victory against Charlton did nothing to suggest that this Arsenal side have regained their shape to challenge for the top four finish. Yet I have no doubt that WE WILL BE among the top four come the end of this painful season.

Campbell looked sharper in the Charlton game and Toure was very much himself. Hleb needs to adapt and Cesc was energetic as ever. His tackle on the Charlton's defender was awful though. TH looked so obviously hampered by his Achilles injury and thank God Reyes was, as TH put it, magnificent. He tackled like a fullback, made the overlapping run Cole used to do for us, and made some great assists that were wasted.

That fantastic move down the left flank that ended up with Freddie wasting his one-on-one chance with Myhre was one of the few moments worth remembering this season. Chelsea? They can buy anyone they want and win all the game but their fans will never see such things.

Cygan, Gilberto, and Freddie were playing like under 18s who were rushed into first team action. Now we know what Cygan was all about but it's okay because he is a backup. But Gilberto? I lost count on the bad passes he made and he is our first choice centre midfielder. Some may like to point out on Gilberto's goal against Doncaster and the assist Freddie made to TH that resulted in the winning goal by Reyes. But in my opinion both of them contributed virtually nothing apart from those.

I can give Freddie time though. I believe he just needs his confidence back. And when we have quality players around him, he can be back to his original game, making those trademark runs that few other could do. Yet time is not on his side.

As for Gilberto, I say, thank you for that unbeaten season and please Wenger, find his replacement.

Next is Porsmouth and with our current situation, each and every remaining Premiership game is a must-win. Exciting!

Arsenal 0 - 2 Chelsea

2005-12-19T14:30:00.000+08:00

Had we played that way against Boro, Bolton or Newcastle, we would have won all the three. But against Chelsea it was simply not good enough. I think the players have given their all; they fought bravely and tried all they could to get back. I was proud of them. Sure the referee wasn't helping us but the two goals Chelsea scored were good ones.

The first goal showed just how poorly disciplined our defense are. We have given them too much space to run into. We pushed the defense high up the pitch as usual but that was a suicide given the fact that we were up against a team with good long balls and that we play with two relatively slow centrebacks. I can't really blame Lauren for his mistake as he really was adapting to the new position. Senderos was superb against Drogba and that to me is one of the positives. Campbell was too easily beaten at times and I think it's time to find his replacement.

Flamini and Cesc did enough to match Chelsea's midfield. Shall we start with Flamini instead of Gilberto for the next match?

All in all, this is a game that shows us how we were outdone tactically once again. Yes we lack quality but that isn't a big issue. We have enough money to solve this. It's Wenger's inability to match Mourinho's tactical game that worries me.

I am resisting the temptation to talk about how Chelsea have gotten two of the most disgraceful players in Drogba and Essien. Let's just focus on how we can qualify for CL next season.

The Biggest Game

2005-12-15T11:32:00.000+08:00

Anything less than three points would not be good enough. I hope that's what in our players mind as they play Chelsea this weekend. Expect hard tackling Essien to silence our midfield. Had Cole and Clichy not injured, Wenger could have moved Kolo or Lauren to the midfield. I can't see how Wenger could do that now unless he entrusts Eboue to fill in the rightback position and move Kolo to midfield.

We are underdogs this time. But we often turns out good when we are underdogs.
Let's hope for the best.

The coming January transfer window will be a make-or-break for Wenger's 2005 season. Wenger doesn't like to purchase during the January transfer window. He always get everything perfectly calculated before the season starts. But his perfect judgement failed him last Summer. He was too naive to believe that other clubs would play fair football game against Arsenal. Arsenal nowadays rarely pass and move like they used to do. They can't move much as there isn't much space. Sometimes they can't even make proper pass because there are too many missing links.

That missing links are the now gone Vieira and Edu. And the faltering Bergkamp, Pires, and Ljungberg. None are as good as they were two or three years ago. Henry is too big for the team now and can sometimes be a bit like Gerrard. He doesn't trust his teammates enough and want to try things on his own.

These are the players who deserve their place this season: Lehmann, Lauren, Senderos, Cesc.
Cesc may at times look terrible but the right way to play this kid is to surround him with few physical players who take care of all the dirty works. When he has space this kid can do serious damage to the opponents. But now he even has to cover Gilberto's ass. That's too much to ask for.
Lehmann has been superb despite his occasional stupid act. Lauren is Lauren and Senderos is solid against most of the opponents.

van Persie is only great when his teammates could boss the midfield and send him good passes.

Newcastle 1 - 0 Arsenal

2005-12-12T10:56:00.000+08:00

You can go on and on, whining about Shearer's physical approach, but you know all too well that you are getting nowhere with that.
Yes, I dislike Shearer's dirty game. Yes, I dislike the fact that everyone starts doing this against us.
But hey, you are playing in English Premier League, where you used to be feared for your ruthless backfour who wouldn't have even the slightest of hesitation to make strong and hard challenges.
You used to have the most intimidating central midfield pair of Vieira and Petit who would bully lesser opponents into submission by winning around 80% of the midfield battle.
And now you replace them with kids and softies who play continental football.
What do you expect other teams to do?

Fans can take defeat and fans can give Wenger time. But he got to help himself by stop whining and start fixing the broken parts. He knows he lost the plot this time.

Why Arsenal Deserve It

2005-12-03T23:51:00.000+08:00

I write this on halftime break of Bolton game. We are 2-0 down thanks to a poor defending inside the box and a stupid mistake by Gilberto.

From what I saw, Bolton's defense are not that fantastic either and we could make a strong comeback and win this game 3-2 or even 4-2 if we can get our defenders' head right. I will single out Lehmann for praise as he superbly kept us in the game.

Now I don't care if we win this game 4-2 or 10-2 later on. The truth is I have just witnessed two things that convince me that should we find ourselves without trophy and finishing behind Chelsea, Man Utd and even Liverpool come the end of this season, we deserve it!

The first thing is our defence. Poor concentration and poor discipline. Mourinho would have benched Gilberto for his mistake and he would have crossed Cygan out of his squad for such displays. Wenger? Well he couldn't because of the second thing which is Wenger's greatest flaw as a great man.

He is stubborn. The more you tell him that the idea of playing Cygan as a leftback is a stupid one, the more he wants to show you how right his judgment is. Cygan constantly failed to pass the ball up the field and there is one time where Henry needed to trace back to cover Cygan's area. I would love to see us losing 4-0 in this game if you ask me. I would love to see another 2 goals conceded because of Cygan's mistake. I would love it and I would hope Wenger will learn from that.

I am not blaming Cygan or Gilberto here. And I am not saying that Wenger isn't a good manager. But he has flaws which he refuses to fix and a person who refuse to learn from his mistakes deserve failure.

Perfect November

2005-12-02T10:11:00.000+08:00

Few years ago November wasn't exactly a friendly month for Arsene Wenger as we often had a dip in form during that particular month. But November 2005 has seen Arsenal winning match after match, culmulating in the comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Reading at Highbury. Reading are currently on top of Championship division table and that goes to show how much talent we have in our youngsters.

Reyes scored the first goal from the position he was familiar with. I remember watching the clip on his goal against Real Madrid when he was at Sevilla. And that goal against Liverpool last season. He is just so good at scoring from those positions. Of course in normal situation Henry would have occupied that position. Reyes' best bet is to improve on his play as a left winger and replace Pires as Henry's ammunition supplier.

van Persie and goal has so often been mentioned in the same sentence nowadays that we don't even realize that our midfield has contributed so few goals this season as compared to the previous seasons.

And the highlight of the game, to me, was the introduction of Lupoli whose goal tells everything we need to know about this sensational youngster. He is an out and out striker who is ready to punish you for any lapse of concentration. Whenever he is on the pitch, his whole focus is just to make run into good positions and score. Our very own Michael Owen?

I won't bother to talk about Real's interest in Wenger as I believe it's all press talk. I am interested, however, to see if Capello could be drawn into managing the galacticos. And talking about galacticos, it seems we won't be signing Casillas now that he has just signed his new contract. But then Ashley Cole could probably do the trick.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Blackburn

2005-11-28T16:49:00.000+08:00

So we maintained our 100% record at home. So Pascal Cygan was still playing leftback and everyone knows now where to attack us from. So we were again saved by our excellent attacking players for in truth Blackburn could have scored a few but for their poor finishing.

I am glad that Cesc scored but having watched him many times I believe that he has tried that kind of shot so many times and they never came off. I'd still prefer seeing him making the run into the box and polish his finishing from inside the area. After all he is no Scholes. He is pretty good at timing his run as we could see in that goal against Liverpool last season. He just lacks composure but then Reyes is worse.

Now Henry's goal was interesting. It seems that Pires has, for whatever reason, gradually improved on his form. He hasn't reached that consistency yet but at least he began to pass like the old Pires did. It's Henry 100th goal at Highbury but records are just numbers and it's the three points we earned that really matters at the moment.

I don't understand why Bergkamp was starting but since it was against a team with Savage in it, I guess it's better that we rest Persie. I liked the way Reyes reacted to Savage's antique. I don't know how Savage's teammates could live with this kind of player. He literally goes into the match to kick people instead of ball.

It was mentioned that when we were 2-0 cruising, people were still crying for van Persie. Now that was special. And the boy didn't disappoint. Ten minutes to score is it? So be it. And what a goal! Taking the ball at the far right touchline, he effortlessly went past Gray and Savage, making a run into the box. While other Arsenal players would have passed the ball, this boy was different. He saw a goal. That curler that went in off the post was as good as any other goals scored this week.

I mentioned before that Wenger has got so many goal makers that he really need a goalscorer in the team. Now he got one, a true striker with flair and technique on top of his sublime finishing skill.

And that is the player that cost Wenger probably one-third of the money he paid for Francis Jeffers and one-fifth of the money he paid for Jose Antonio Reyes. Ironic.

Thun Gunned Down, Casillas to Fly Emirates?

2005-11-23T10:27:00.000+08:00

Five win out of five. That is really something. As always we had an easy group but still we have improved over the years. We are now looking more like seasoned campaigner. We know how CL games work better. Good for the team's confidence. I didn't watch the game so I couldn't give my comment. But Eboue, which I like a lot, started and played well. Not so for Song who was later injured and replaced by Cesc. Cygan retained his place ( he is experienced, you see) but was unable to help the 10-man-Thun to grab the three points. It's good that he was replaced by Lauren later on (ah.. Wenger finally saw into it). In the end van Persie won as the crucial penalty on the 88th minute which Pires converted (no smart plan this time).

So it's one of the worst Premiership starts and it's the best CL Campaign start.

Iker Casillas has yet to sign his new contract with Real Madrid though I doubt he will opt for Arsenal even if he does leave. I do hope Wenger will do anything possible to bring Casillas to Arsenal. He is a great goalie. His height is a bit concern though. You've got to be good in handling crossed and aerial threat in Premiership, something which Lehmann is good at most of the times. If I were to choose who we should sign, it won't be Casillas. It has to be Shay Given.

Update: Read from arseblogger that Jose Antonio Reyes has again failed to convert his amazing pace and technique into goals. I think he must be the most amusing player Wenger has ever signed. He has all the skill in the world to take on anyone and he has a strong left foot capable of that kind of goal he scored against Chelsea two seasons ago. So why, as the arseblogger put it perfectly, did his brain seem to stop working whenever he got into the final third? I think the answer is 'confidence'.
I think this must be Wenger's biggest challenge to date; and I hope he can tranform Reyes into a deadly goalscoring winger with great vision we know he is capable of.

And Even Barnebeu Applaud Him

2005-11-21T13:39:00.000+08:00

That man is Ronaldinho. The maestro who made Ronaldo, Raul and Zidane pale in comparison. Robinho was Real's only hope against the mighty Barca but even Robinho couldn't quite pull off the needed miracle to save Real. Eto'o, a Real reject and once almost bought by Wenger, showed us just how dangerous he can be with that pace and finishing. But Ronaldinho was even better.

Sergio Ramos is a great, great, right back who Real bought from Sevilla. An elegant defender with technique and pace. But even he couldn't stop Ronaldinho. One moment he was still marking the Barca man closely and the next moment he found himself trying to catch up with Ronaldinho who suddenly accelerated and before he could do anything, the ball has already left Ronaldinho's feet and slid past Casillas into the net. The two goals Ronaldinho scored were almost like carbon copy that I couldn't remember the one I mentioned was the first or the second.

But I definitely remember the moment after he sealed the 3-0 win. Barnebeu stood up and applaud him. Barca and Real may well be rival but I guess you just can't help clapping when you witness such a beauty on display.

I couldn't imagine what would happen if Henry does move to Barca. But I guess I can understand if Henry wants to move to Barca. They were playing different level of football. And the fact that Spanish League does allow you more space when playing gives these football wizards chance to show off their surreal skill.

Oh and Leo Messi looked every bit a legend in the making.

Wigan 2 - 3 Arsenal

2005-11-21T13:07:00.000+08:00

What a game that was. I have been spitting out my frustation for the last two days at other people's blogs so I guess it's time to try to look at the game the way a neutral would. It was in every way a thrilling game where you'd just hope that the brave Wigan would earn something out of it. They didn't play like a newcomer; they didn't play like the last season's Everton; they played like a honest English team that deserved their spot just by the merit of their spirit. And they were no thugs; while some tackles were hard, none is particularly dirty.

When Wenger praised Wigan for their intelligence, I think it wasn't the case of being generous. Wigan were indeed playing with discipline and purpose. While Arsenal's defense was almost like a joke bar Lauren, Wigan were organized and composed. Our first goal was the combination of van Persie's good shot and the goalie's poor concentration. Our third goal was Henry's moment of genius. There were nothing they could do about. The only time we managed to break through their defense and score was the second goal. Again Cesc showed his excellent passing skill, sending a perfect through ball to Henry who slipped it in to the farpost with calm. Cesc closed the opponent down, tackled, passed and moved like a veteran midfielder. He was everywhere while the invisible Brazilian wall was at times, nowhere to be seen. When Gilberto did get the ball, he occasionally gave away possession. I wonder if Wenger realized that.

Camara was Wigan's best player as he times and again beat Kolo or Campbell to the ball. Kolo was, as always, too close to the man he marked and Campbell, as Wenger once said, a heavy machine which take longer time to get going. I don't remember us playing a leftback. Seems like we played with 10 men, which explains the space Bullard was allowed to score the second goal.

No I don't blame Cygan for that. We all know how bad he could be. You should instead ask why your manager played him. Why he replaced Pires with Flamini while we were not even threatened at the right flank. Or why he replaced Persie with Bergkamp while we need to try to score another goal. How many lost points it takes for Wenger to know his defenders (and his defense system, if any) are not good enough to hold on to 1 goal lead?

So Wenger needs a tactician. A George Graham. Someone who would teach his creative players how to be disciplined in defending.

Rumours Here and There

2005-11-14T10:09:00.000+08:00

Finally, the end of another stupid international football break. I don't really care about the results but I shall say that I didn't like what I saw in the England-Argentina game. Wayne Rooney was too damn good. The boy's skill is unreal. He will be an even bigger threat when we play Man Utd again.

I have actually decided to ignore all the transfer speculation going on, considering Wenger's transfer dealing history. But well, for the sake of blogging something..

Ashley Cole going to Real Madrid for 8 million cutprice next summer- I know his off-the-pitch attitude sucks lately but on the pitch, he is still one of the remaining few who give their 100% in each game. I don't think we are better off with Cole leaving but if he desires so then.. Anyway, that leaves us with Sol Campbell as the only English in the first 11.

Wenger going to Holland- Some claim that he was there to watch Hossam Ghaly, a Feynoord midfielder, but Dirk Kujt believes Wenger was there to watch him play. Well, he could be there to watch both but I believe Ghaly is the more likely target at the moment. Dirk Kujt, at 12 million, is a feasible target though.

Steve Rowley going to Spain- Yes, we all want to see Fernando Torres playing for Arsenal. The player himself also fancy a move. But I think Wenger will only go for him if TH does leave us. The player has got too much reputation to qualify as Wenger's buy. He has not been scoring regularly lately by the way.

Another Ivory Coaster- Didier Zakora of St. Etienne, a Man Utd target, is linked with us. We could well be into the midfielder for real. I don't know how good he is.

Robert Pires sings- Our Frenchman tries to remind us how valuable he is by claiming that he is still with us only because Wenger blocked his transfer to Juve last summer. Still, I don't think he will get anything other than a year extension contract offer.

It excites me to see us linked with players such as Torres but really, I think we should've signed Mascherano and Tevez instead. Now both are at Roman's disposal. January transfer window is just around the corner. Let's wait and see.

That Unbeaten Run

2005-11-09T17:17:00.000+08:00

It was such a pity when I saw those fans celebrating Chelsea defeat. Many say 'We still hold the record, that 49 games unbeaten run'.
Hey, I was too hoping that Man Utd would defeat Chelsea. Nothing to do with the record though. They need to lose in order for us to catch up with them. They need to lose in order for other teams to have more belief when they meet Chelsea. Simple as that.
I would even give them that record if they would draw the next 9 games. Oh but that wouldn't do because they will come to Highbury before that 49th game and we would beat them.
So why the excitement? We would halt their run anyway. Or do all of us have more confidence in Man Utd beating them rather than us beating them?
The truth is: Man Utd are at their best when they are wounded. Had Man Utd not lost to Boro and Lille the week before, we would've seen a slightly different Man Utd.
I don't know whether this has got to do with Keane's comment but I believe that reaction is what you expect from Ferguson's team, as much as we dislike him.
Arsenal should learn from them. Arsene should learn from them. As Beckham put it 'You need to scare players sometime'

And what of Mourinho? He would get his squad all fired up in no time. He too, is a good loser. Learn from that Arsene. Stop moaning.

That Persie Moment

2005-11-08T09:20:00.000+08:00

The game against Spurs was the one I'd like to forget. It hurts to see how Arsenal played in the first half. We gave away possessions like a first division team and when we get to attack, no one is in the box. With Dennis playing alongside Reyes upfront, you just know we were not going to score. And surprise surprise, our players was back to their ball watching habit in defending set pieces, allowing Ledley King a free header which he converted nicely.

I didn't get to watch the 2nd half but apparently Pires and Persie made the difference in our attacking. At the end of the day, as Myles Palmer of ANR put it, Pires saved our day with the goal that only he can score. Only Pires would know how to get into such position and that's about the only invaluable asset he still consistently offers to the team. So it was 1-1 and we are yet to win our away Premiership game for quite a while.

And the next two home games was really about this guy
We all know what Henry can do when you give him space and his goal against Sparta Prague was a typical Henry goal, a curling shot from just oustide the box. Awesome. We love his magic but I am sure Wenger would realise that what he really needs at the moment is the effficiency of a young Dutchman who came on for the last 20 minutes, replacing the captain.

I sprung to life the moment van Persie entered the pitch. He has been such a supersub that we just know that he is going to create something when he comes on. Reyes has been hardworking attacking and defending-wise but we know now that he is really a winger who lacks the confidence to shoot. So when he managed to block a Sparta player's pass, I was glad to see the ball fell to Bergkamp who in turn made the perfect pass across to the right side of the area where Persie was left free.

You just knew the boy was going to score. And so he scored. What a lethal left foot.

The third goal involves another player I have been looking forward to see the more of. Eboue made a great run down the right into the box, cut back sharply and fed Persie who, unlike many other Arsenal players, bury the ball instantly into the net with his right foot. Just the right attitude for a centre forward.

It was 3-0 and we qualified into the next round of CL. A perfect start to the competition so far.

The game against Sunderland will probably be remembered for Henry's overhead which hit the bar. But the lasting impression for me was that of Campbell's long pass which was chested down perfectly by Persie as the no.11 ran on and with Stubb making a chase, he wasted no time in unleashing a powerful left-footed strike which went pass the goalkeeper. 1-0 to the Arsenal. A route 1 goal. How often have you seen such goals scored by Arsenal recently? How often have you had such a confidence when an Arsenal forward got into such a position? Normally we would have expected the player to try driblling pass the goalkeeper before passing the ball to another player to score that 'perfect goal'.

We all know what happened later. Sparta may not be the strongest of opponents and Sunderland may well be the weakest side in the Premiership but five goals in four games is an encouraging statistic for a forward who has begun to get his captain's respect. Let's see how far our no.11 can go.

I don't want to talk about Mourinho-Wenger feud. I think it's a waste of time. I was tempted to smile reading PV calling van Nistelrooy 'son of the bitch'. Well the best thing is to know how much PV still loves us. He still addresses the Arsenal as 'we'. A true gunner, a true gooner. We will welcome you back anytime, PV.

Sunderland 0 -3 Arsenal

2005-10-26T14:16:00.000+08:00

Wenger was probably right when he said that Sunderland might find it easier to face our first string. Despite lack of experience and maturity in playing together, our second string played with passion that players such as Robert Pires may like to take note of. After all these youngsters know that Carling Cup is their only chance to shine. Be it for their career at the Arsenal or, more likely, for their chance of impressing the other club's manager.

Robin van Persie's properly taken penalty and fine second goal ensured our superiority in the match where both teams field their weakened side. It should be clear to Wenger by now that Robin van Persie can be the man who scores for us. He can play with Henry given that we don't focus our passing too much on the Frenchman. van Persie is an intelligent player who knows how to position himself to score. He may not have that kind of awareness Pires, Henry, Bergkamp and Ljungberg share with each other. But he will better them given time and opportunities.

Eboeue is a fullback who possess more skills and pace than Lauren does going forward. He can be an option when Ljungberg is injured. Ljungberg's ability to time his run into the box is incomparable within our squad but Eboeue has proven that he has got ability to score from outside the box to offer us different option. His winning goal in the Sunderland match was a 25-yard-screamer by the way.

I am glad to see Cesc rested. He needs that. Larsson seemed to play part in our goals and Lupoli earned us the penalty van Persie converted. Quincy showed his usual frightening pace but he lacks the finishing skill as usual.

I have not watched the match but I would love to. I would like to see Lupoli given another chance to lead the line along with van Persie. I sense that the Italian striker has something really special in him. We'll progress well into probably the semi-final stage in this competition as long as we don't get to meet Chelsea or Man Utd I reckon.

Way to go kids.

Reflection

2005-10-25T12:00:00.000+08:00

It took Pires' penalty mess-up to open my eyes. I've lambasted Pires and Henry in my previous posts and I think I need to apologize.
I've forgotten what it means to enjoy football.
We've been so competitive in the last 9 years that all I could think of was how we could reach higher ground.
But I am only a fan who at best could only follow the Arsenal's matches on TV, whose biggest sacrifice to date has only been some sleepless nights to watch our midweek games.
I couldn't change a thing by pointing out all the weaknesses we have. If those fans who have been season ticket holders for 20 or 30 years could do nothing to change things, what makes me thing that getting mad over my beloved club's board, manager, and players could do wonder?

So I might as well take everything in moderation. There's no need to be frustated when I witness another suicide substitution move by Wenger. There's no need to be amused when I read the name 'Cygan' on the line-up list the next season. There's no need to pull my hair when I see no one coming during the January or end-season transfer window.

That's the board's job. The frustation and hair-pulling part belong to the board and the shareholders and the manager and the players. And if they couldn't give a damn, why should I?
I should savour my part as a fan. Enjoy it when we win. Forget it when we lose.
Yes those Man Utd and Chelsea supporters would mock at us for probably one or two days. So what?
And I can be grateful that Spurs don't even have enough supporters in Asia to claim their existence.
Yes those press will have their fun in attacking us. So what? I would just avoid reading football news for a week.

Talking about press- I believe they're the reason why we have so many bitter fans nowadays. The papers always blame it on the manager or players. They do their best to twist every word a player says. And football players, to be honest, are not among the most intellingent folks in the planet. They could easily be trapped into saying something they don't really mean.
And we, the Sky generation fans, would buy those craps.
We would discuss and argue like mad in the forums or blogs nowadays.
That's wasting time. We've been manipulated.

The truth is that football, and especially the Premiership, has turned into an unthinkably huge business. There's so many hidden agenda within the whole structure that not even the players themselves may know what's going on. What makes us think the press would have a single clue? And us? We are just speculator at best.

It's nice to analyze what went wrong or right in the last match. It's fun to speculate on who we should buy the next summer. It's interesting to come up with all those fantasy team ideas but that's it. In the end it's up to those who run the club to decide.

Our part, as fans, is just to support and enjoy the football our Arsenal are playing. If we come to the point where we really couldn't take it anymore, well, just switch to other team. Those Man Utd fans who couldn't stand the sight of Glazers just walked away from Old Trafford and made their own club. They are Red Devils to the bone but there is no point in forcing yourself in supporting a club that has gone so far from the day you began to identify yourself with the club.

After all, becoming a club's supporter isn't anything like getting engaged with a woman. No one has the right to say anything to you if you decide to support West Ham from today on. That's your choice. Football is, as Henry put it, just a game.
Anyone who tell you that football is his religion is a sad creature.

As for this moment, as far as I am concerned, I am still a gooner.

Arsenal 1 - 0 Man City

2005-10-24T11:52:00.000+08:00

People in the forums kept talking about how we shouldn't have criticized Pires and Henry that harshly for the penalty incident. Some say we should take it as an entertainment. Some say we would've plauded them had it worked. Yes, they are damn right that the press and others would've plauded the two Frenchmen had it worked.

But not me, not when we were only 1 - 0 up, not when we were more than 10 points behind Chelsea, not when it was intended to celebrate TH14's 186 goals. Did he think he own the club? And that's the part that I was most annoyed with.

I can't blame Pires for his 'numb feet', we all know how unreliable he has been lately after all. I can't blame Henry for being so cocky. I can only blame Wenger for failing to stamp his authority. When he came out few days ago too admit that he fears he would lose Henry, I thought it was a joke. That was sign of weakness. Mourinho, even if he isn't managing Chelsea, wouldn't have done that. And when Wenger came out to defend his Frenchmen, I thought he is totally hopeless in the toughness department. Ferguson, for the life of him, wouldn't have done that. Wenger has himself to blame for getting Arsenal labelled as softies.

Wenger will never learn. He will never BUILD a solid defense system. We can only hope that he can BUY a solid defense system. Defense is all about discipline after all. Give them freedom and you'll be Cygan-ed every now and then.

I think Wenger is a great manager. I think we will catch up with Chelsea the next season. I think he has what it takes to lead us to become one of European football elite by winning the CL. I think he was the key to our new stadium. But I think he can really let go his stubborn act a bit and learn something new.

Now that we've just gotten our three points, let's move on.

Sparta Prague 0 - 2 Arsenal

2005-10-21T14:37:00.000+08:00

Still not getting any chance to watch the highlight. Will watch it soon though, thanks to the arseblogger. By now everybody are raving over Thierry Henry's amazing achievement. I wasn't surprised that he broke Ian Wright's record but I was surprised at how good he can be when he really wants it. Out for so long and seriously lacking match sharpness as well as fitness, he scored such an excellent goal in less than 10 minutes on the pitch. It was such a great day for the gooners who are suffering from our current domestic form. I don't want to spoil it by pointing out on our defensive problem.

I would instead like to point out on the good news such as..

Pires' remarkably rose from his dead once his pal was on the pitch. It's clear that Pires was kept on the side because he is one of the trio with whom Henry works best with. While Cole can still perform without Henry, Pires and Bergkamp are now two old maestro whose remaining asset is their surreal vision and imagination. They could see what others couldn't even't imagine. Unless you are of Henry or Rooney type, which is rare. And when you are that type of genius, only teammates with such surreal vision could understand where and when to find you. Having said that, I will stick to my belief that Henry needs to learn to work with others and we need to learn to play without Henry.

Reyes' injury isn't serious. He will be back and let's hope for a better partnership between our two quicksilvers this time around.

Henry mentioned how he wished to play alongside Nicholas Anelka and Ian Wright. He even saw himself playing on the wing or behind the strikers. Now that would be delicious. I always think he will do great job playing deep orchestrating the attack. That is provided we have intelligent and quality forwards who could read Henry's mind and earn the captain's respect. Someone such as Fernando Torres? Or Carlos Tevez? As if we are Chelsea. Well what matters is we are safe knowing we might still be cheering his name three or four years later when another great forward has stepped up to take his mantle. Seems like the lad is not that arrogant after all. He just needs his genius equals to share the pitch with.

Fab-Flam were sharing their responsibility to cover the midfield well enough in a CL away game which is never easy. They may still be too lightweight to face Premiership sides which are full of Savage sort of players but they mature up quickly.

We have had one of the best starts in our CL campaign and one of the worst starts in our Premiership campaign. I am sure should we be told that we are going to win the CL this season but finish fifth in the Premiership, we would take it willingly. Of course we have had a weak group but we have an extra motivation to win the CL now that the Premiership is somewhat beyond our reach. Wenger's team is anything but predictable when it comes to results. So let's just wait and see.

Meanwhile, congratulation to Thierry Henry's 186 goals achievement. Long live va va voom!!

Wind of Changes

2005-10-18T11:32:00.000+08:00

This is the first season where Wenger's stubborness is really tested. Never had we had such a formidable title challenger in the shape of Chelsea. I will always despise their policy and the money Roman made. But on the pitch they are bunch of commited and consumate professionals who discpline themselves so much that they hardly make any mistake and when they do, they have the confidence and spirit to turn things around. I don't know what the halfime team talks were like when Chelsea were 1-0 down against Bolton but apparently whatever it is, it worked wonder. They demolished Bolton 5-1. Mourinho must have been inspirational. Without Mourinho they won't be that formidable. Without Abramovich they will be rubbish.

But Wenger, of all people, should have what it takes to at least keep Chelsea sweating over their lead. Instead, it is the old dog Ferguson who proves to be the only also-run so far. While we don't look that bad on the table compares to Man Utd, we are significantly lacking on the pitch. We have been owing our goals to our defenders of late. We are too dependant on Henry, our superstar who often run out of idea in big matches. Chelsea's key to their form has been their ability not to depend on one player. One may argue that they depend on Makelele a lot. But take Makelele out and I dare to say they will still be winning matches.

Chelsea do have unrealistic budget that result in their impressive depth of quality. Have Wenger not been given funds, I will have nothing to say. But he does have 60 over millions to spend and while it's not all wrong to be selective, he has to realize that he needs to at least throw in some experienced players, may not be world class, to sustain the team when injuries hit.

He thought that would be a bad sign to our talented youngsters. He thought this is a season to give those youngsters chance to shine. So why do I see Bergkamp, and especially Pires, playing week in week out?? A certain Dane and Italian strike partner are scoring goals for fun in the reserve league lately and why are they not featuring despite our injury crisis?? A certain Dutch forward who can operate well in the wing with his pace was doing great in the last European youth cup and why didn't he replace the useless Pires?? Wenger was just making silly excuses. The fact is that he doesn't have the gut to use them.

I don't think it's easy to manage a team controlled by some stingy board members. I don't think it's easy to compete with the world richest football club and the bank of Abramovich (sorry they are not football club) for the league title. I don't think we can call for the head of the man who constantly lead us to the top two position for 9 years. But I do there are things which he could've done to minimize the damage. I do think he is hampered by his stubborn and rigid way of thinking. I do think he needs to be brave and when it comes to give the players some sticks, he has to do it.

We are at our best when people really dismiss us. And that's the reason why I believe, for one reason or another, we will see an impressive Arsenal side very soon. I just hope that it does not come too soon. Let us be in this mess until Wenger learns.

And one last thing. Don't tell me we are pure unlucky for failing to perform in CL for years and for being in the position we are now. Champions don't blame things on luck. You can blame your luck when you are competing for a midtable position. But at the top you have to control your luck; you have to prepare your team for the season by considering the worst-case scenario.

WBA 2 - 1 Arsenal

2005-10-17T14:30:00.000+08:00

It's only football.

Arsenal 1 - 0 Birmingham

2005-10-04T11:02:00.000+08:00

Apparently Birmingham's biggest chance happened in the first few minutes which I missed out on. The three ex-gunners did well in their return to the Home of Football. Jermaine Pennant was easily their most dangerous player and I wasn't surprised. The boy has always been a very talented player. The kind of wide player we are missing at the moment. Reyes is our best crosser now that Pennant is gone.

Reyes was playing in Henry's position against Birmingham. His directness and pace troubled Birmingham throughout but his finishing let him down. Maik Taylor has been superb, I agree. His most impressive save was probably the one where he tipped Ljungberg's shot away. Reyed made a great run down the left and made a perfect pass for Ljungberg to shoot. I thought he would score because Ljungberg always scores in this kind of situation. But he didn't. That is probably the bigger miss than the penalty shot Pires wasted away. After all I don't expect much from Pires now that he is only probably 1/4 of his old self.

I always thought we could score before 75th minute and probably nick another one late in the game. I kept my calm until Bergkamp came on. I thought 'Wenger has again made a pointless substitution. It's clear that we are good enough to penetrate Birmingham's defence at the moment. What we lack is the cutting edge. Bringing on Bergkamp wouldn't help. He should've brought Persie in." When he eventually brought Persie in I thought it was a bit too late as Birmingham began to play 10 men behind the ball. But van Persie being van Persie, he has again proven how valuable he is as a super sub. It is amazing how often this boy came out from the bench and scored the winner for us. He can really be a great player. I just hope that he doesn't turn into another Kanu. The winner took some deflection but in truth three points is what we deserve. I don't think Birmingham would've earned anything even if Cunningham wasn't redcarded.

This was a game where Lauren played exceptionally well, much better than Hleb who was obviously out of position. He should've played behind Reyes instead and Ljungberg should roam in his usual right flank. Gilberto fought and tackled well and Cesc was so hardworking that he was involved in defense as much as he was in the attack.

It seems that Cesc-Gilberto and Kolo-Sol will be Wenger's first choice pairings for the season unless he brings in someone else during the January transfer window. The questions now therefore:
How can we accomodate Hleb who is clearly a class playmaker but not a winger in any sense?
How can we accomodate Persie who is now our best finisher?

I don't know the answer to the first question but I've given my answer for the 2nd question. As I said before, Reyes should take Pires' place when Henry plays. And Henry MUST learn how to partner Persie upfront.

Ajax 1 - 2 Arsenal

2005-09-30T09:35:00.000+08:00

I didn't manage to watch the game and as such could only draw conclusion that:

1. Freddie's 80 seconds' goal was a typical Freddie's classic which started from Flamini's good work in disposessing an Ajax player. Flamini then fed Reyes who made bursting run into the box and spotting Freddie's movement, our no.9 passed to Freddie who controlled the ball well, advanced and as the keeper went down, chipped the ball pass the keeper.

2. Reyes was again instrumental in our second goal. He was tripped by Ajax's makeshift keeper and Reyes being Reyes, he went down and the referee awarded the penalty which Pires, who otherwise didn't seem to do much, converted. Reyes probably wouldn't get the penalty if the ref is a EPL ref who knows him well but even without this goal I believe we had the quality to win this game.

3. Ajax's only reply wasn't Almunia's fault because Lehmann would probably have conceded all the same. Ajax wouldn't concede two goals if their no.1 is playing though. Well, probably. I rate him highly.

4. We earned the three points thanks to our solid defending rather than clinical finishing. Sol Campbell was again majestic at the back.

5. Flamini and Cesc didn't have excellent game but they seemed to improve as they play. Hleb was impressive but he really needs to play in the centre midfield where he will get more ball and bring more damage.

So overall, a good professional performance by our young squad inspired by our veteran fighter Freddie Ljungberg. Ajax may well be depleted but so were we. We've fought even worst team in CL and came back with one point. Let's hope that Wenger has really learned how to win CL games. The league appears to be somewhat beyond us at the moment. The cups are the only realistic hope.

By the way, the Mancunian captain seemed to be prepared to leave. He is no longer the fiery general who dominates the midfield so I don't think that makes a whole lot of diffferences. Now if only Man Utd's no.7 says he wants to leave.

West Ham Utd 0 - 0 Arsenal

2005-09-27T10:28:00.000+08:00

It took me few days to figure out what to write as I was running out of comment. Same story, same problem. I have finally decided to make this my last blog entry with regards to my opinion on:

1. The fact that almost everyone else know how to stop us from scoring and how to exploit our defense. Alright their plan might not always work but when they are decent there is more than 60% chance and that is more than enough to see us faltering by 11 points by September.
2. The fact that Wenger has been too stubborn with his gameplan and that FA Cup Final proved to be exceptional case instead of sign of Wenger's acceptance of the need in adjusting tactic and varying attacking option. But then maybe the man just doesn't know how to play tactical game. He lives to preach the beauty of total football.
3. The fact that Wenger has developed a team of very talented players who could pass very well at times but has problem with taking the risk to shoot. We might well be the team that scored most goals last season but that was only because we played risky game by throwing almost everyone into the opponent's half most of the time. Had Man Utd got as many chances as ours last season they could probably top the table.

Against West Ham we seemed attack without any purpose. Some nice flicks and passes and we ran out of idea. Some risky passes and West Ham counterattacked the next minute. At least West Ham played well so as to help me endure the 90 minutes.
Tonight we will be facing the Ajax team who are just as troubles as we are at the moment.
Both managers have been admitting their willingness to play for a draw so unless Reyes, Ljungberg or Hleb comes up with moment of brilliance a draw is what you gonna get, a 0-0 draw probably.

An Interview with Lee Dixon

2005-09-23T09:15:00.000+08:00

Of course I didn't interview him. This article appears in The Independent. I think the interview with Dixon is so interesting that I will just paste the content here. All right belong to The Independent.

Lee Dixon: 'Chelsea have changed every aspect of English football, for the worse'

Brian Viner interviews the former Arsenal and England defender reveals his problem with Abramovich's millions and gives a fascinating insight into the coaching skills of Wenger and Graham

Published: 23 September 2005

It ill becomes a pundit on Match of the Day to say that Premiership football is becoming harder to watch. But 41-year-old Lee Dixon is an engagingly honest Mancunian who tells it like it is. Besides, maybe he's being counter-intuitive. The way the Premiership seems to be going, maybe edited highlights will soon be all anybody wants to watch.

"When you have a product to sell, which is less than exciting and the prices are going up, it's no wonder that people are turning their backs on it," says Dixon, who knows a bit about giving value for money. We are sitting, in glorious sunshine, on the terrace of the manifestly thriving restaurant he co-owns, the Riverside Brasserie overlooking the Thames at Bray Marina.

"There has been a distinct lack of goals," he adds, "and I've never heard so much mention of 4-5-1 so early in the season. It's as if there's so much fear of losing that teams are settling for a point, especially away from home. But the game's about players, not systems. I watched West Ham v Fulham last Saturday, and West Ham played a kind of 4-2-2-1-1, one of the weirdest formations I've ever seen. You could call it defensive, but it was a brilliant game, end to end, and West Ham had three, four, five players in the opposing box every time they attacked. It's about players, and how they interpret a system."

It is interesting, I remark, that Dixon is holding up promoted West Ham as an example to the rest, when the rest includes Chelsea, Manchester United and his own beloved Arsenal, for whom he played 623 games in 14 intermittently glorious years, scoring 27 goals. "Yeah, well, I know Arsène [Wenger] came out the other day and said that we have a duty to entertain, having a slight pop at Chelsea. But Chelsea play a style of football that's highly effective for them. Maybe, instead of having pops at Chelsea, everyone should put their own house in order."

Meaning, heaven forfend, that the Arsenal house isn't in order? "Well, last season was a transitional season, and I'd hoped they would push on from there, but it looks like this is going to be another transitional season.

"[Patrick] Vieira was a massive loss, both as a player and a role model for the younger lads. Arsène thinks the young lads can cope on their own, but I've got my doubts. I don't think we'll win the league, anyway. I think we're short in defence, lacking experience in the centre of midfield, and short of a striker. Basically, Arsenal have been blown out of the water by [Roman] Abramovich's millions."

It doesn't take long, even for an ex-Arsenal player who believes that it's wrong to take pops at Chelsea, to take a pop at Chelsea. When I ask Dixon whether he thinks that Abramovich's millions devalue the success that Chelsea have had, he does not equivocate.

"As a purist, yeah, I do. You can't deny they've bought the championship because without the money they wouldn't have won it, it's as simple as that.

"And in doing so they've completely changed every aspect of English football, for the worse. It was good to have another team to break up the Man United-Arsenal dominance, definitely, but the transfer market has been completely distorted. Everybody else is signing players Chelsea don't want.

"I know Arsène was very interested in Shaun Wright-Phillips, but he had to see whether Chelsea wanted him first. That can't be good for the game."

Could it be, I venture, that critics of Chelsea among Arsenal and Manchester United fans in particular are simply recoiling at the taste of their own medicine? After all, when Wenger was shelling out huge money for the likes of Jose Antonio Reyes, there were plenty of Premiership managers looking on with envy, unable to compete for such a hot property. The rest of us can hardly be expected to shed tears for Wenger and Alex Ferguson just because there's a bigger moneybags in town.

"No, point taken, but there's always been a bit of competition, and that's not the case any more. A monopoly situation in any industry is not good, and as a player I don't know whether I would want to be involved in that.

"Obviously it's great to get 80 grand a week, but at Arsenal we always felt that if we worked hard and played well we would be rewarded with a new contract. We had to earn the right to feel part of something, and I'm not so sure that players at Chelsea have that feeling. [Jose] Mourinho can change whoever he wants whenever he wants. What kind of security does that bring as a player?"

Dixon's career, it occurs to me in the light of yesterday's reports that the Wigan chairman Dave Whelan wants Premiership players' wages to be capped, coincided almost exactly with football's salary explosion. It is one reason why he keeps being asked if he will write his autobiography, but keeps refusing, preferring to keep his fund of stories for the golf club bar. A three-handicapper and self-proclaimed golf obsessive, he has formed a company called Back Four Productions, which specialises in small corporate golf days, at which he and one of his famous mates such as Tony Adams, David Seaman or Will Carling, will take out half a dozen businessmen for 18 holes, followed by dinner.

The company name, of course, refers to the great Arsenal defence of which he, at right-back, was a key component. Not that he foresaw such distinction on the day in 1988 that he sat in George Graham's car at Watford Gap service station, discussing a possible move from Stoke City.

"I went down with [his manager at Stoke] Mick Mills, who had about 159 million England caps, so I believed him when he said 'you've really made it now, you can't earn less than £1,000 a week in the First Division'. I was on £500 a week at Stoke, so those figures blew me away.

"Anyway, George was waiting there with Steve Burtenshaw, his chief scout, and when we arrived Mick and Steve went in for a cup of tea, and I got into George's car. He went into this big opportunities speech, about me being part of something he was building, and in the end he offered me 50 quid a week more than I was earning at Stoke. I was shocked. I said I was expecting a better offer, and he said 'what do you want?' Well, I'm 22, I've been to London twice in my life, I've no agent. I'm like 'come back Mick!' I said 'I want £1,000' and he burst out laughing. He said 'I've got internationals not on that'.

"Mick nearly crashed the car when I told him what the offer was. And when I got home I phoned George and said I couldn't go, I couldn't afford to move my family to London on that. He put the phone down on me. Then Steve Burtenshaw phoned Brian Talbot, who was at Stoke, and said 'we've got Lee all wrong, we didn't know he was just money-orientated', which broke my heart, because it's not true. I phoned George back and said 'I need to see you.' I'd been offered £650 to stay at Stoke, and in the end he made a revised offer of £750. So I sold my house in Stoke for £35,000 and bought one in Hertfordshire for £174,000. My mortgage went up five-fold overnight.

"I was so broke. I kept having to phone my dad and say 'I'm a bit tight this month, dad'."

Not only did Graham hate to spend the club's money, he was a notoriously harsh taskmaster. He was also, of course, a brilliant manager who delivered exactly what he had promised in the car at Watford Gap. So when Dixon later found out that the manager had been taking "bungs", he felt conflicting emotions.

"He'd made us work our socks off and earn every penny, so to learn he'd been taking backhanders, that tainted it a bit. I've never spoken to him about it. I've bumped into him half a dozen times since, and we get on well, but it's still a teacher/pupil, sergeant-major/soldier relationship. I couldn't imagine him giving me a hug."

Surely he didn't get hugs from Wenger either? "No, but you get hugs in other ways from Arsène. His bond with the players is based on total respect, both ways, which is warming. I should add that George was the best coach I ever played under. He taught me how to defend, while Arsène allowed me to become more expressive. George would never let me go over the halfway line if the ball was wide on the left. But Arsène gives you the confidence to make up your own mind. He says 'you're actually a very good footballer. If you think it's right to go, then go'. His teams pass the ball and move, and his strength is picking players to fit into that framework. Obviously he makes tactical changes but in general we used to coach ourselves."

Dixon chuckles. "That first pre-season after Bruce Rioch [Graham's successor, another hard taskmaster] left, Arsène came in and on the first day of training we did two 12-minute jogs around the pitch. And he kept stopping us because we were going too quick. Then we had a rest, then a stretch, and he said 'off you go'. We're like 'er, when do we go on the 15-mile hike up a hill and be sick?' After 10 days we pulled in Tony Adams.

"We said 'you've got to see him, the season starts in two weeks and we're nowhere near fit enough'. He told Tony [cue a convincing impression of the Frenchman], 'it will be OK'. And Tony says, 'with due respect boss, you don't really know us. We need to do more than this.' Arsène goes 'it is OK. You will be fine.'

"Then we played the Charity Shield against Man United, and on the Friday I'm saying to Tony 'there's no way I can get through 90 minutes'. I hadn't played one full game in pre-season. But Arsène kept saying everything would be fine, and sure enough we beat them 3-0. We were running for fun, and I thought 'I can't understand where all this fitness is coming from'. It blew me away, how he knew. I played in the Premiership until I was 38, and there was no way I could have done that without him."

The same omniscience does not extend to all foreign managers of outwardly calm demeanour, however. Dixon, who won 22 England caps, believes that Sven Goran Eriksson is "a lovely bloke" without the skills required to lead England to World Cup glory. "I met him years ago when we played Lazio, in the tunnel before the game. He made a point of shaking my hand and saying that it was really nice to meet me, and nothing's changed my opinion of him as lovely bloke. But whether he can inspire a team to win the World Cup I have deep reservations.

"There have been times when the team has needed inspiration that didn't seem to be forthcoming, times he's made substitutions that staggered me. Nobody would pick different players, it's what you do with those players when the opposition are forcing themselves. I'm worried that he hasn't got an answer, and if those doubts are in my mind, in your mind, then they're in the players' minds too."

All of which is easy enough to say on a warm afternoon watching swans glide along the river, but Dixon says it articulately. He might yet prove to be as good a signing for Match of the Day as he was for Arsenal. And I don't suppose he had to quibble about the money.

Lee Dixon appears on Match of the Day tomorrow at 10.30pm on BBC1

Arsenal 2 - 0 Everton

2005-09-20T14:16:00.000+08:00

We have scored FIVE goals from set pieces, four of which were headers. And another goal from a long pass albeit DB10's excellent technique was needed to finish off that one. I still can't believe my eyes. This is something many fans have been asking for. We are proud of the fact that we are the only top Premiership side at the moment that play football the way the beautiful game should be played. But we need to be more deadly in set pieces now that almost every other teams decide to play the boring 4-5-1 against us. Everton came with the same boring gameplan. Without Thierry, they are almost guaranteed to return home with one point in the bag, or so they thought.

But we were totally different from the side that face FC Thun few days ago. With Sol gradually regained his composure and authority, our attackers were more confident in their play. Reyes seemed determined to prove his worth this season and in this game his form eclipsed that of van Persie who was apparently still affected by the sending off. Ljungberg was fighting hard as usual despite still lacking in his finishing touch. Pires has again started the game and I believe Wenger did so by considering his seniority and experience. So it's good that he was out injured and replaced by Hleb midway. Hleb needs more game if he were to give his best this season.

There are times where we win with comfortable scoreline and yet I criticise the team. There are times where we lose and yet I applaud the team. To me it's never about the scoreline. It's about how we play. This 2-0 win is the one where we win and I applaud the team. We haven't develop that killer instinct upfront but we know unless we got a decent centre forward such as the Newcastle no. 10 everyone thought to be too lousy to play for Arsenal, we would never have that killer instinct. TH was top scrorer last season but when you look at his convertion rate you know he too has got problem with his finishing.
So stop complaining about the 'killer instinct' stuff. We were doing great for the rest of the department, even in set pieces. Things begin to look good at the moment.

Arsenal 2 - 1 FC Thun

2005-09-16T09:32:00.000+08:00

I didn't get to see Gilberto's wonder goal (when Arsenal players score using their HEAD from a CORNER KICK, that's wonder goal). But I heard it was a powerful header allright. And our second goal came from Sol Campbell's long pass. Yes, LONG PASS!!! How I wish we carry on practicing on our set pieces and long passes. Sol Campbell's long pass wasn't an easy one to receive but Dennis, by divine intervention, was back to his old magical best for few seconds. And did you see how glad the lad was? This is his final season and definitely it's a shame that a player of his pedigree don't have a CL medal to show despite his illustrious career and achievements. But even if he does fail to win any CL medal, we know that he is and will forever be a legend.

van Persie's high boot earned him a red card many thought was too harsh a decision. I think when you play for Arsenal you should know that you are judged rather differently. If you play dangerously, though not maliciously, you know you gonna get it from the ref. Considering the amount of stitches the Thun's player got I think we should feel sorry for him instead of booing him. Of course another Thun's player's remark on how van Persie could make Bruce Lee proud goes to show that Cantona or Roy Keane weren't really famous in Swiss. All in all, a good lesson for our youngster.

I thought we played and attacked well. Reyes was marvelous leading the line and Gilberto handled the midfield with ease. Arsenal being Arsenal, we let in another freak goal. I didn't see the goal but seems that it has got to do with Lauren or Kolo or both. Why wasn't that surpise me? Sol seemed solid and Cole seemed purposeful in that game. Freddie missed some very good chances but glad you are back, Soldier.

Next up, the troubled Everton. But with Arsenal you just know anything could happen.

Swiss Army Tonight

2005-09-14T10:53:00.000+08:00

Nothing seems to be right for us at the moment. We are playing Thun tonight at home but my mind is elsewhere. I don't really care about our tonight's Champion League result. I'm more concerned about the long and hard league season that awaits us. TH could possibly be out for 6 week. van Persie had a bust up with Eboue who apparently tackled him quite hardly during training. van Persie should be alright for tonight's match though. He better be fit as he is the only forward with decent finishing skill among the ranks at the moment. Many claim that Bergkamp should be rested whenever TH is not playing. I think even if TH is playing we should really use Bergkamp much lesser as this is his final season. TH NEEDS to learn to adapt and work with other forwards. Otherwise he should as well be offloaded. What's the point of having the best forward in the world if he can't work well with anyone but Bergkamp and Pires, both are players who could be brilliant for one or two games and turn mediocre for the other six or seven games.

Many times the so-called 'true fans' claim that Wenger knows what he is doing and if we do know something he doesn't we would already be managing Premiership club. I think that argument is baseless and childish. The truth is Wenger has frustated many because the problems within the squad are the supposedly obvious and simple ones. Yet our manager refused to address the problems.

Example?

1. Pires CANNOT play as center midfielder or forward. He CANNOT take corners. And he CANNOT take on tough tackling opponents anymore. He CAN ONLY read Henry's movement, link with him, and get to the end of Henry's pass and score goals. Many think it's stupid to bench your midfielder who, despite did nothing much to help the team in any other area, scored 17 goals last season. Yes I agree that if you have one player who could give you 17 goals and nothing else you should try to keep him. But wait!! We have another similary type.
2. Ljungbeg. He CANNOT play as forward either because he can't really take on defenders. He is better than Pires coz he has the gut and engine to run tirelessly for 90 minutes. He also links well with other players beside Henry. But he DOES NOT cross or pass well. He is also another goalscoring midfielder who doesn't provide us with creative ideas and penetrating passes to break the opposition.
3. Reyes is dangerous as forward but he is DEADLY as winger. Playing at the left flank give him more space and chance to shoot using his left peg. He also has great vision and given time he will supply our forwards with killer passes from the middle.
Solution? Keep Ljungberg and bench Pires. We can only have one midfielde of their type in the team. Reyes should occupy Pires' position and if Henry doesn't like it he can ask Wenger to sell him.

4. Cygan will disappoint you sooner than later. He is bound to make critical mistakes. Lehmann could avoid his mistakes when he is really focused. Cygan couldn't.
5. Kolo is probably a good centreback but he could really be a great fullback. His pace and attacking sense is wasted. In fact he lacks the physical presence a Premier league's centreback needs.
6. Lauren is strong but he is slow. The problem is he is most of the times playing against wingers who are faster than him. His strength should really be used to play in the centremidfield instead.
Solution? Forget Cygan. Slot Kolo into rightback position and try Lauren in the midfield. This may not work but at least we should try given that current's setting doesn't work. Sol-Senderos partnership is worth trying and we needs another solid centreback to give them competition.