Tag Archives: Top 4

Arsenal, can you do me a favour?

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Right, Arsenal, here’s the thing:

My the enjoyment levels of my weekend are significantly improved by you winning football matches. I know, I know, it seems silly for a grown man to have so much emotional investment in a collective of other grown men playing sport, but I’ve been doing this ‘supporting’ thing for longer than anything else in my life and it’s kind of ingrained into my personality and as such I cannot help myself. I love you Arsenal, I really do, and because of that, I really do need for you to turn up to that corner of the Midlands and put on a sporting performance that results in three points and more pressure on the other teams that are above us. I’m not going to name the teams – you and I both know who they are and that should be incentive enough to give everything against West Bromwich Albion and get the win that we desire.

I’m off out to a pub tonight for a birthday in West London and I could really do with going there with a happy feeling in my head and heart knowing that you have done the business and we have two home games coming up against Norwich and Everton where we could potentially close the gap to the ‘unmentionables’ above us in the league to just one point. Please don’t cock this up. Not that I think you will actually. You’ve been playing well recently and, dare I say it, last weekend you had an extra bit of swagger about you like the old days. Do you remember those? Boy were you stunner. You’d stop others dead in their tracks. You didn’t even care what others thought. You just breezed by them with an air of confidence that was so delightful to see as a lover of what you are. But even before you had that swagger, you’ve had class, and you knew how to grind out results. I know we won’t get back to that after a few games, but you can at least lay the foundations for getting back to that by finishing this season with your ‘swag-o-meter’ on full blast. It would give people like me a real boost and hope for the future.

I don’t know what sort of knocks you’re carrying, what your state of mind today will be, or even how you will set yourself up. But I hope you play with the same team that has been so good and on form recently. That Rosicky fella should probably start and I also think it might be worthwhile playing that crazy skinny-legged massive foreheaded dude Gervhino too – yes, I know he would trip over his own shadow if he could, but that unpredictability could be an advantage. And of course, if it isn’t working by the halfway point, you could always haul him off.

You’ve got to be up for this today Arsenal. IT’s no good just one part of you being up for this, you need all sums of your parts to be ready for these ‘Baggies’. Their recent form belies the team that they are and I think they will be wanting to prove a point that their recent form is not who they are and what they are capable of. they’ve got a bit of a bruiser at the sharp end of themselves in Lukaku and he’ll throw his weight around, but at least that mental ‘I don’t want to play with you any more some I’m going to have a tantrum and pick the ball up and kick it at you before I walk off’ chap Mulumbu is suspended. They’ll have other threats like Long who will run his arse off all day and you’ll need to be mindful of Brunt’s set piece delivery, but if you show all of the desire and strength of – dare I say it – mental character that you did on your recent day trip to Wales, I’m hopeful that you won’t get your nose bloodied.

This game is very important today because you’ll get the chance to leapfrog over the oil whores if you do the business. They don’t play until tomorrow so laying down a marker like this will be all important. There are some potato-based Spuds that would also probably not like it should you achieve your objectives, as it will make the ‘gap’ quite narrow for them to mind I have to say.

Anyway, you know what I’m after and I have many of my kinsmen that would also fancy a victory, so if you could just do this small thing for me, that would be great.

Kind regards

Chris

Festive rest might be good, but we’re already playing catch up

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Hi-diddly-hi goonerino’s! Hope the festive period finds you in fine fettle. The weather certainly isn’t, eh? Feels like rain of biblical proportions in the UK at the moment, with flooding left, right and centre. But where biblical times had Noah and his penchant for vast wooden vessels, we have Noel and his penchant for empty red boxes with numbers in them. Oh well. I’ve been offline for quite a few days actually, taking in the Christmas cheer, but more importantly Christmas beer. I won’t even go into detail over my eating habits – it would make Mike Myer’s Scottish character ‘Fat Bastard’ blush.

This has been a very strange Christmas holiday for you and I, hasn’t it? We’ve had the phrase ‘busy Christmas football schedule’ so far embedded into our culture in the UK, that any kind of prolonged time without football feels a little alien. But it was probably made worse by the fact that every other team played yesterday, so we all had to watch like the little boy who Santa Claus forgot, goodness knows we didn’t want a lot – just three points.

Of course, it was far too much to ask that any of the teams around us dropped points whilst we were not watching, so the footballing gods transpired against us as best they could, offering success and merriment to the Spuds, Everton, Chelski and West Brom – the net result being that where we found ourselves in the Champions League positions on Christmas Day, by the end of Boxing Day we had slid down to seventh. It’s frustrating because you hope that having a game in hand can be seen as the potential bonus that means you could go points clear of your rivals when you do actually play it, but as we find ourselves three points away from all of our nearest rivals at the moment, the extra game in hand has become rather quite redundant. In fact, its put more pressure on the team because it means that anything other than victory on Saturday would put us even further behind the pack – a pack which had seemed to have been stumbling over the last few weeks. But now it appears as if they’ve all found their feet and so we will need to ensure that we don’t lose ours if we want to ensure we are in that pot for European riches next season.

But whilst we now have the pressure on the team, I’m actually trying to look at the lack of action yesterday as a positive. Firstly, selfishly I might add, I actually couldn’t go to the game yesterday because of family commitments and Christmas related activities. So with the game postponed until a later date, I can actually now make the West Ham game when it does eventually get played. Secondly, this idea of a ‘hectic Christmas schedule’ for the Arsenal players should have pretty much been thrown out of the window. What it means is that the players themselves will have had three solid weeks of just playing once a week and therefore there can be no excuses when they take to the field against Newcastle or Southampton on New Year’s Day. All of the other teams in the league have all had to play a series of games over that period – including Newcastle who were involved in a thrilling 4-3 defeat, but Arsenal players rested their bones ready for Saturday. Therefore, I expect, no - demand – that a performance is put on in front over the home fans on Saturday. Our players will be fresher, they will be on the back of a good run, plus the team has an injury list which is far shorter than the Magpies. It all should point to a vastly improved performance to the one away to Wigan. It’s time for the team to set down a marker and show that we mean business to the rest of the league.

I’ll do more of a match preview on Saturday morning I think, but just wanted to put those thoughts out there for now.

Because it’s Christmas there’s not really a lot more happening at the moment. There’s some stuff on the Arsenal website from Jack saying that the break last season that he had might do him good in the long run, but I’m not sure I buy that to be honest. I understand that the season before he played plenty of games, but to then lose over a year of your career (hey, that rhymes!) through injury only to then start-up where you left off, doesn’t really make me think that it is good for you. Footballers careers are so short that any kind of prolonged absence can’t really be seen to be good for you. However, if it means he’s far from burnt out this season and we start to see the best of him – which is undoubtedly happening right now – then that’s good in my book. Jack’s drive, desire and motivation to yank the team forward with his passing and forward movement is becoming a joy to watch again, and we can only hope that it proves as the catalyst for some success in the very near future for the team.

That’s it from me today, I’m off to find the nearest scrapping of Christmas Ham and Turkey and make an almighty sandwich.

Have a good one folks.

Judgement Day: The Arsenal Way

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And now, the end is here

And so we face the final curtain

My friends, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state our case, of which Champions League is not certain,

We’ve lived a season that’s full

we’ve traveled each and ev’ry stadium

And more, much more than this, we did it The Arsenal way

Regrets, Arsene’s had a few

But then again, too few to mention (except Almunia)

He did what he had to do and saw it through without exemption,

he planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

 And more, much more than this, he did it The Arsenal way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew

When we bit off  more than we could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

the North Bank sang, and shouted out,

We faced it all and stood tall and did it The Arsenal way

We’ve loved (the goals), we’ve laughed (at Harry) and cried (in Manchester)

I’ve had my fill, my share of losing

And now, as fears subside, with West Brom left, it is amusing,

To think we did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way, “Oh, no, oh, no, not me, we did it The Arsenal way”

For what is a Gooner, what has he got? If not other Gooners, then he has naught

To sing the songs he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels

The record shows we took the transfer blows and did it The Arsenal way!

Yes, it was The Arsenal way.

Today is Judgement Day people. No more false dawns. No more waiting on others. Destiny is in the hands of the Arsenal players that play today, and whilst I cannot be at The Hawthorns shouting myself horse, you can be damn sure I will be doing the same from within the Emirates watching on the big screen. A big performance is needed. The acrobatics of Szczesny will be needed. The good form of Koscienly is needed. The strength and determination of the Verminator is needed. The power of Song, coupled with concentration on the defensive duties is needed. The direct running of Gervhino is needed. The trickery of Benayoun is needed. And the goals from Robin Van Persie is needed. Once more into the breach el Captain. One final push to secure Champions League football next season please.

Arsene’s job should have been done already. He has had a week to focus the players minds, to make them battle-ready for today’s game and to instil enough desire for victory that the players are positively salivating for the taste of success in today’s match. Will we get it though? That is a different question entirely. In terms of league points, West Brom cannpt catch Fulham in the place above them. But what they will want is to see Roy’s final game before moving in to the England post as a success. They will be up for it tomorrow. They will not lie down and go quietly into the night, and the Arsenal players need to be ready for it.

Last season at the Hawthorns was the proverbial straw that broke the goalkeeping camels back, as Almunia went crazy and, coupled with his partner in crime Squillaci, contrived to set us two goals down within the first thirty minutes. That day we managed to claw ourselves back into the game, finishing with a 2-2 draw. I fear that a repeat result of that scoreline will not be enough, and will mean another week waiting to see if Champions League footbll will be at the Emirates as we all become Bayern fans for one night only.

West Brom have Brunt out and Odemwingie doubtful, but in Shane Long they have a great forward that will run all day and is bound to fashion some chances. Coupled with the unpredictable duo of Fortune and Scharner in the side, we will not find this an easy trip. There will be ‘heart in the mouth’ moments and there will be deep breaths as chances go begging at either side, but we need to see that this Arsenal team is burning with desire to prove this season is not a complete white-wash.

I’ve already listed the players that I think need to be standing up to be counted today this week. But every player in the starting eleven knows exactly what is at stake and we need each one to play as if it was their last game. Ever. Securing Champions League football will have an inevitable bearing on our summer transfer activity, so this game is, quite simply, a must-win.

Sing your heart out for The Arsenal. Wherever you are.

Is that the sound of momentum?

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Morning you fabulous people. I’m sure you’re all waking up to a lovely day today, irrespective of the weather. For gooners everywhere, tis a grand Sunday after a great victory yesterday.

We travelled to Anfield off the back of a thrilling victory against our arch rivals last weekend and ploughed head first into another very tough match against a team with aspirations of a top four finish. Liverpool were also coming off the back of a morale boosting cup final victory and so their confidence will have been just as high as ours. As the team sheets were read out on the radio before the match yesterday, we were boosted by the knowledge that the Liverpool side playing against us would have to cope with the absence of Glen Johnson, Stephen Gerrard and the injured Daniel Agger. As we drove from the Management’s family home pre-kick off I couldn’t help but muse that this is a similar situation that we found ourselves in when the Scousers visited the Emirates earlier in the season, albeit theirs was a scaled down equivalent – many of their first team players were still available. But the absence of a few key ones, plus Bellamy on the bench, meant for a happy man pre-kick off.

As the first half wore on the happiness turned to frustration, as Liverpool edged us in pretty much all elements of the match. Apart from a good save by Reina from Theo Walcott within the first ten minutes, the Liverpool goalkeeper was a spectator, which was certainly more than you could say about our young stopper in between the sticks. Wojcech Szcsceny had clearly decided he needed a double helping of his Weetabix before the game started, because he was in fine and commanding form, denying Liverpool on numerous occasions and most certainly keeping us in the game. Of course we are Arsenal, which means there is a cast iron guarantee that one of two things will happen – we get unlucky, or we shoot ourselves in the foot. Of course, both happened in that first half. Even the heroics of the young Pole couldn’t stop that.

After around 18 minutes of sustained pressure, the world’s biggest reprobate Luis Suarez decided he wanted to add ‘diver’ to his list of ongoing unfavorable personality traits. Working hard to get through the Arsenal defence with a neat one-two, he shifted the ball past Sczsceny and decided to swan dive over the youngster to try to get his side in front. The only thing that was worse than his blatant cheating in my mind was the fact that Sky have tried to exonerate him by claiming that there was contact. Even if he was tickled on the shin by Wojcech, there is no way there was enough contact to warrant his movement. It was a dive. Plain and simple. Thankfully however, the Pole was doing his best Gandalf impression and told penalty taker Kuyt “YOU SHALL NOT PASS” saving first from the penalty, and then from the rebound. Brilliant stuff.

Suarez

Suarez attempts a triple pike with a twist

 Liverpool were ahead shortly after however, through that other cast iron Arsenal guarantee: Lady luck being unfaithful. As Gibbs got lost further up the field, Liverpool broke, finding Henderson on the right hand side, who put a low cross into the box for Koscienly to slice into his own net. It was pretty basic stuff and the Frenchman will be disappointed with the end result.

Liverpool pressed for a second and possibly should have had it when Suarez hit the post first, then Kuyt flicked the ball past Scz only for it to trickle against the inside of the far post from a Downing cross. In boxing terms, we were on the ropes. But in keeping with the boxing analogy, we have a sucker punch in us. A real good one too. He’s called Robin Van Persie. On 31 minutes Sagna found the Dutchman with a great cross and in got beyond Carragher to head us level. At half time we were level and as Wenger pointed out afterwards, we probably should have been a couple down.

The second half didn’t see Liverpool put us under as much pressure as the first, but they were still a threat and always had me nervous. So when the added time board came up saying eight minutes I feared a last-minute Liverpool goal to break our hearts. And had they got it I don’t think many would have complained. However, having seen our team dominate games and get sucker punched enough time, perhaps we finally got to see what it looks like on the other side of the fence, as RvP volleyed home an exquisite finish from a ball over the top by Alex Song. He is getting a lovely little habit of popping up with assists at the moment. Lets hope it continues.

Job done. Six points from two games. And with Chelski being beaten at West Brom the day would have been perfect were it not for the two injuries – one from Arteta as Henderson (deliberately in my opinion) clashed with the Spaniard. He was stretched off with suspected concussion. Lets hope he’s back soon and its nothing serious. The other injury was to Abou ’Mr Glass’ Diaby who came on for Arteta only to hobble off with five minutes to go with a suspected hamstring. I have to say, it does look more and more likely that we will never see Diaby establish a regular position in the side and with the wage bill already as sky-high in the side as it is, we have to look at offloading him soon.

Another slightly saddening thing to see is the Theo Walcott conundrum. He was largely anonymous today and after a great second half on Sunday it would have been nice to see him have back-to-back stellar performances. But sadly his form is like his sprinting, in very short bursts deadly, but he just can’t do it enough.

RvP is something special though, isn’t he? At times he’s carried this team on his back single-handedly and once again yesterday he proved his importance. New deal please Arsenal. Come on guys and get it sorted. He has helped to craft out some form for us and dare I say it, perhaps even whisper it, but it looks like we’re finally building some momentum. I’ve said previously that we need to win a couple of ‘big games’ in a row and we’ve done that this last week or so. It’s vitally important we carry our momentum to Newcastle at home in just over a week and then Everton away a few weeks later.

So today we sit three points clear of chelski having played two much tougher games than them, and we’re on the coat tails of the spuds. Good stuff and making for a happy way to start the working week tomorrow.

Until then.

Back Our Boys!….Yes Arsene as well!

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To describe Wednesday in one word……dire !!

The expletives coming out of my household were very impressive….

A quite big statement to make, but that game was one my worst Arsenal experiences EVER….AND We have a lot recently… but it really hurt. I was slapped across the face with the reality of our ‘crapness’ (yes several slaps). We had nothing to offer…. No Leadership, No organisation, No attacking flair, No desire, No Nothing….Nada. Simply not good enough.

We have gone backwards massively this season….Last season we were two to three players off winning something…Anything. But this year, Six maybe Seven players :/

This is going to sound silly but BUT FOR F^%K SAKE ARSENAL SORT IT OUT !!

We are just going round and round in circles… But for a laugh let’s go over it again !!

  • Average squad who are over paid
  • A very stubborn manager
  • A board not willing to give Arsene any money?
  • Two billionaires fighting to own the club – for their egos.

oh and SOME fans who boo their own players when things aren’t going our way….. All adds up to a club spiralling down the drain.

The last six years have been nothing but a struggle for us as fans. The pain and anguish. The ridicule… BLAH! Arsenal why do you hurt us so. We Love you!!

One thing for sure – I am absolutely sick of people saying “Wenger needs to go”. Why?! Seriously what else could he have done ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT? Please let me know your opinions but with our current situation I think we need him to stabilise the ship….Yes you could say the ship he has helped sink, but Imagine if he goes go at the end of the season, we’d probably see:

  • RVP would go
  • Theo would go (personally I would pack his bags…BUT if we aren’t going to sign BETTER players we can’t afford *no pun intended* to lose any of the current bunch)
  • Real Madrid style youth transfers would disappear….
  • We would be left with a manager having to use Arsene’s players with no money ‘available’ for new additions…

Arsene DOES CARE about Arsenal F.C. Did you see him after the game? He looked like he was going to jump off a bridge. The man looked so despondent it was beyond belief. It was very refreshing, which sounds silly me saying this, but finally criticising his players and not passing the buck, he seems to be finally taking some ownership. Better late than never I suppose.

Maybe he/Arsenal needed this spanking to learn. I know it’s a silly way to do it but as long as we learn from this I think we can all agree it will be a good thing.

I think one of his major problems is that he isn’t questioned and is left up to his own devices. He must be questioned to keep him on his toes. The man isn’t untouchable he just needs some help. For whatever reason he has been given to much responsibility and it’s clearly effecting him now.

I think there is going to be some major changes at the club in the summer on both fronts. Only time will tell but lets hope we can finally move ‘FORWARD’.

Listening to some plonkers on TalkSport the morning after did cheer me up a little… saying Wenger has to go BLAH BLAH BLAH – they just don’t seem to think past the knee jerk reaction. Of corse we where a shambles and have been for a very long time BUT he has got us into the Champions League for the last 15 years on a shoe string budget PLAYING stylish football. Not many can hold their hands up to doing that. Who else would you have in charge of our club?? Please come forward and let The Suburban Gooner’s team know! My Vote is Arsene all day long.

All im saying is don’t push him out because he deserves so much more than that and you’d regret it….

Lets cheer up this morbid blog and talk about something we all love… TRANSFERS…. hooorarrrrrh I hear you cry.

Lets be positive for a second. IF we manage to get into the top four we could see a positive summer. Who would you like us to sign Ben? ahhh you guys!! My wish list…

Ben’s Wish List

  • Mario Gotze – 18-year-old Attacking midfielder plays for Dortmund
  • Siem De Jong – 23-year attacking midfielder plays for AJAX
  • Yann M’Villa – 21-year-old Defensive midfielder plays for Rennes
  • Jan Vortongen – 24-year-old Centre back plays for Ajax

A very unrealistic list but we need to show some intent. In my opinion these players could do it for us.

Cheers People apologies for the Rant just needed to vent. Get involved,let me know your feelings on the manager, the club and the players you want in and out. Cheers.

Be Happy
BEN

Please follow the Suburban Gooners team @BenLeeder , @chrishoward982 and @oaf12

Rumour Mill – Daniel Sturridge

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Hey party people, oaf12 here,

This is my second time writing for Suburban Gooners with hopefully many more to come.

The topic I have chosen for today is the ever changing rumour mill that constantly surrounds our club. This time focussing on Daniel Strurridge.

I read recently on one of the ‘We purposely made up a story with an intersting title so that you click on us’ sites that Mr Daniel Andre (yes Andre) Sturridge was getting rather concerned about being played out of position and would be seeking a move in the summer. It also suggested that a move across London to the Emirates may be on the cards.

I like Sturridge as a player, and have done since his younger days at Money Citeh. I was generally gutted when, as his contract had expired, he moved to Chelski in July 2009. As young Daniel was (and still is) under 24, and with the clubs unable to agree a fee, a tribunal decided that the transfer value would start at £3.5m with various appearance based add-ons which (including £1m for the first full England cap) have now all been met. Meaning the total value of the deal was £6.5m, plus Citeh get 15% of the transfer fee should he ever leave the Russians. (source – good old wiki).

I also remember thinking how (in my opinion) he had made the wrong move, I feel he was right to move from the blue side of Manchester as with all the money being pumped into the club his first team chances would have been slim at best, however the same could have been said about the blue side of London. This leads me to believe that money was a large decision maker, potentially even over football reasons, when deciding his destination.

Is Sturridge playing? Yes. Would he have been playing a lot earlier under le boss? Certainly, and the thought of Sturridge over the last fee years instead of Bendtner is an interesting one………

One of my Chelski friends asked me what I thought about the decision to send him on loan to Bolton. My answer was I was unhappy, as it meant they would get to see just how good he is, and with 8 goals in 12 games they certainly did.

So, do I think this is a likely transfer……..no, unfortunately not. My main reasons are the fact that although he isn’t playing down the centre (his preferred position I believe), he is playing. Plus Chelski still retain the ability to just throw money at a problem should it arise.

On the other hand, if we manage to hold on to fourth place and Chelsea miss out on Champions League who knows. It would certainly become more possible should we finally manage to get rid of some of our over paid (not even in the) squad players like Bendtner, Almunia and Denilson (aka the jogger). The issue when these players elect to go to one of the clubs that pay over the odds on wages is if it doesn’t work out the list of clubs willing, or even able, to match their salary is getting smaller by the day.

So my conclusion is, as with many of these rumours, as much as I would like it to happen……….I don’t think it will. I see the more likely outcome will see Sturridge offered a new contract giving him yet more oil money each week.

Thanks for your time Gooners, keep the faith, and lets hope we can at least finish above the Russians.

oaf out.

Can it be done?

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Howdy People, I hope all is well!

I would like apologise for the lack of blogs from me recently, a lot of things have been going on in the life of @benLeeder.

Arsenal HAVE upset me….

Swansea 3 – 2 Arsenal

Arsenal 1 – 2 Man Utd

Arsenal 3 -2 Aston Villa

Bolton 0 – 0 Arsenal

Simply not good enough….

….I attempted to watch the Bolton game on a stream last night..I thought I was at sea! The french commentary didn’t help either ;) I threw a few tantrums and had to walk away from the computer on several occasions. AHHHHHH Arsenal! I do love you. Your like a money grabbing beautiful woman toying with my heart-strings.

I think Mr Ramsey summed up the game last night - tired and lethargic. I’m not have a dig at him. Just too much pressure put on his young shoulders way to soon. Personally I don’t think he is ready yet.

Our starting XI is being pushed to its physical and that dreaded word ‘MENTAL’ limit. I’m really surprised we didn’t make a more crucial signing in…*Shakes Head*… no I’m not. Seriously tho, with the players we have available a top four place isn’t looking likely.

I was daydreaming at work today….*drifts off*………..

*Arsene, Stan, Hill-Wood rolling around in a swimming pool of money, with t-shirts saying ‘How am I driving? You Don’t get a Fu£king Say’!

Sorry…

Like Arsene said our remaining fixtures are like cup finals (And we all know how that went). The Blackburn game is now huge. Three points or top four is history…

Arsene will be having his pre-match presser today and no doubt there will be some mentions of the game and what his expectations are for the rest of the season. As for us fans, I do think our expectations have been lowered drastically somewhat. Although I don’t think they are quite at the sensationalistic level that The Mirror is talking about today – black bin liner protests? Somehow i’m skeptical that we’ll see that. Although it does make us chuckle here at SuburbanGooners – Spurs fans set fire to their surrounding area and loot, we politely turn up with the materials that will be used to dispose of rubbish?? I doubt we’ll see a fan protest. Things are pretty low at the moment but they’re not THAT low. Are they?

Player Watch – Lewis Holtby

The 21-year-old German attacking midfielder plays for Schalke. He has an English Farther who is an Everton fan and he is a massive fan of the premiership. At youth level he played for Borussia Mönchengladbach but he was released for what they saw as having physical deficiencies, too small and too slow. :s Doesn’t sound to good. Holtby signed for Aachen in 2007, making 33 appearances and scoring 8 goals. In 2009 he signed for Schalke, currently with 25 appearances with 3 goals.

As you can probably tell from his stats he doesn’t have a brilliant ‘end product’ but with the ball at his feet he is fantastic. predominantly left footed, he is more than comfortable on either foot. He can play through the middle or as an out-and-out winger. He has great vision and the ability to pick a pass. Not being the quickest, he makes up for it being able beat defenders with ease, skill and trickery. If he can add goals to his game, well sky’s the limit.

His contract runs until 2013 so I imagine that’s why we have been linked with him

Likelihood 4/10

Cheers for reading,

Be Happy

Ben

2011 bonus point and Fulham preview

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Bienjourno Gooners,

A new day and a new year with a new post from me. The first of 2012 in fact, on account of the fact that a late night on New Year’s Eve (rolling in to New Year’s Day) sponsored by Prosecco, Champagne and Peroni, conspired against me to mean that I lost most of New Year’s Day to sleep and then a Harry Potter Deathly Hallows five-hour session in the afternoon. Very slack but hey, I like it when the local pub serves Peroni in pints.

As such, this post is a little bit of a combination of a match review, match preview, and probably a bit of talking (briefly) about some transfers, as it is now officially the ‘silly season’ in that regard.

So first up in my list of topics is the QPR game on Saturday. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that I was unable to make the match due to family commitments. A wrentch I can assure you; if you are anything like me, despite the fact you have no bearing on the result and you cannot impact the game, it doesn’t stop you thinking ‘if only I was there’. As it was I had to contend with a mixture of the team on Soccer Saturday, coupled with the excellent live blog of the game from the Arseblogger on my iPhone. Watching a videprinter scroll through text of minute-by-minute is however, a nightmare for me and it basically meant that although I was surrounded by family members all having a holly jolly time, I was quiet and glued to the sofa watching the time tick away.

Ultimately we got the three points we needed against QPR, but the result that I had hoped for i.e. 3-0 up by half time and able to haul off Van Persie and any others that are tired, did not happen, instead we huffed and puffed until the 60th minute when the man who scores when he wants stepped up and latched on to a good pass from Arshavin (yep, you ARE reading that correctly!) to slot home and ultimately collect the three points for us. The Arsenal website later stated that Arshavin was man-of-the match as voted by the players. I have just got some very brief highlights to go on but I hope that Andrei actually did put in a really good shift rather than a bit of sympathy from Arsenal fans just hoping to see the return of the Arshavin that signed for us four years ago. He needed a performance and let’s hope that it is just the start of him recapturing his form. With Gervhino and Chamakh off to the ACN it is vitally important that all of our attacking options are firing on full cylinders. We can’t really afford for Arshavin to have had a false dawn against QPR.

The victory was also made all the more important with the fact that every team around us (barring Liverpool) also dropped points that weekend. Man City, Man United and Chelski lost, whilst the Spuds drew away to Swansea. Normally you expect one, two or usually all of your rivals to pick up points, so the fact that they all lost feels like we’ve even been given some kind of Rugby style (calm down Tony Pulis, it’s only a metaphor) bonus point for our victory. It also means that for the first time this season we are now into the top four spots for longer than a few hours. Long may we remain in this position (minimum I hope).

So on to today and we make the short trip to West London to face Fulham in today’s late kick off on Sky Sports. Thankfully I have no place I need to be so will be watching from the first until the last-minute. Fulham went through the heartbreak of conceding a late goal against Norwich at Carrow Road and so I am hoping it proves as a little bit of a morale drainer for today’s game, but these are professional footballers and we can’t expect anything less than Fulham to give us a real challenge today. They will be without Schwarzer, Zamora, Davies and Johnson today which means that Orlando Sa will come up against us up top again. I think Damian Duff will be back into their team having played against Norwich on New Year’s Eve. So Fulham aren’t without their problems. But let’s face it, we are desperately unlucky to have the injuries we have. To hit it home further, today we’ll be missing:

  • T Vermaelen
  • V Mannone
  • A Santos
  • L Fabianski
  • V Diaby
  • C Jenkinson
  • K Gibbs
  • B Sagna
  • J Wilshere

I know some of those players are not first teamers, but in the modern game it is all about the squad and when you are missing as many players as we are you can’t afford to have too many injuries in the same position. With the Verminator breaking down on Saturday we now have an issue at left back. Therefore, for today’s game it is inevitable that we won’t name the same team. And given the close proximity to the previous match for us, I think squad rotation for players that aren’t injured is also inevitable. So I think the team today will line up as:

Scz

Djourou - Mertesacker - Koscienly - Coquelin

Ramsey – Song - Benayoun

Walcott – Chamakh - Arshavin

I’ve gone with Coquelin instead of MIquel because I think he is further down the line in the pecking order than Le Coq, so although he is more of a square peg for a round hole than Miquel, I’ve always believed Wenger has a pecking order in terms of the senior squad and I think Le Coq is further along. The rest of the defence will not change because quite simply we don’t have any other fit players available. In the midfield Ramsey didn’t play against Wolves and so I think he’ll get the nod, and I think Benayoun is a little bit more creative offensively than Rosicky and so I think (and hope) he gets the nod. Up front I think RvP will be rested. He is the one that is the most likely to break down if overplayed, so if I was the boss I’d have him on the bench as an option to come on. Chamakh is a shadow of the player that played last year but something that does need to be pointed out is that he has not too often played with the attacking threat of our first teamers Walcott and co. I am holding on to the last bit of faith that Chamakh can do something before he disappears to the ACN. Lord knows he owes us Arsenal fans some goals.

Finally, a quick word on transfers. Words can’t express how happy I am that I will get to see Henry again. He was my favourite player of all time and I hope that he gets on against Leeds next week as I will be there cheering the lads on. The boss has also said he is looking for a loan option at left back and whilst I’m sure he’s scouring the planet for an available left back on loan, I pray his gaze doesn’t settle on the forgotten man of Manchester in the shape of Wayne Bridge – I’d rather see Miquel given a chance.

Let’s hope for three good points today to start off 2012. See you later gooners.

Spurs match review: an all too familiar tale…

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Morning all after the night before…

Yesterday saw The Arsenal once again make the short trip across north London, yet again coming back to the Emirates with nothing to show but another injury to a key player. I’ll come to Sagna in a little bit, but give my take on the game first.

Parental guidance note: This ain’t gonna be pretty…

Passion. Pride. Persistence. Belief. ‘Mental strength’. Desire. Urgency. Control. Aggression. Unity. Team. Where was all that yesterday in red? I saw a cultured side that when it needs to roll its sleeves up, like an aristocrat, doesn’t feel that is needed when somebody else will do it. And perhaps that is one of the biggest faults in this Arsenal team that we support.

When the two teams were announced yesterday at around 3pm I knew that it was going to be a tough afternoon. Barring William Gallas, I think that was pretty much the strongest Spurs team that could be picked by Harry Redknapp. It featured Van Der Vaart, Modric, Bale, Defoe and Adebayor. When you contrast that to our team, we were at full strength with the exception (two pretty big exceptions, it has to be said) of Vermaelen and Wilshere.

I had said on Saturday that I had hope and expectation, but if it’s honesty you want from me, I have to say that I had more of the latter than the former. And as usual with Arsenal of 2011, hopeless defending coupled with a real lack of cutting edge (does anybody remember seeing Brad Friedel make a real save? Compare that to our number one….) became par for the course yesterday.

The game started with Spurs in the ascendency, and thankfully the first real meaningful Spurs attack came from Scott Parker being through against Sczeszny. Well saved by the keeper but I was glad it was not any of the other five attacking players through.

After the first fifteen minutes or so of Spurs dominance, we set about playing our usual possession football, controlling and trying to find that ‘eye of a needle stuff’. Compare that to Spurs, who were playing on the counter attack, and I have to say they made a better job of their game plan than we did.

The first (handball) goal came from Van Der Vaart after about 35 minutes and was so typically Arsenal. Adebayor picked the ball up on the right hand side, had time to look up, clip the ball to the back post in between Van Der Vaart where the Dutchman controlled and rifled in the bottom right hand corner. Yes, it was handball. Yes, he should have been sent off for a second yellow by Mike Dean (stupid rule, but one Spurs fan at work took great pleasure in telling me that ‘letter of the law must be obeyed’ when Van Persie was sent off against Barcelona last season, so i’m not having that). But where was Sagna or Mertesacker, or even one of our midfielders, tracking the run? Sagna wasn’t even in the camera shot until Van Der Vaart had bought the ball down and was pulling the trigger.

The second half started so much more brightly. We controlled possession, camped in their third of the field and were rewarded for our efforts with an Aaron Ramsey goal. I’m pleased for Aaron, because at least he can take that away from the match because, lets face it, other wise he was woeful. All too often simple basic passes were finding a white shirt and there was absolutely no penetration from his play going forward. Cesc this kid is not. The sooner we start realising this the better.

So, back on level terms, and trading blows with Tottenham. Despite the schooling the media predicted, I felt we were even edging it, until Sagna’s injury. A 50-50 tackle with Assou-Ekkotto (he’s not even worth me looking up his actual spelling) and Sagna was off the field and on to the advertising boards with what we later found out was a broken ankle and three months out. With Jenkinson on the field, Spurs began to get the ball to Bale more often with a view to exposing the young right back. But it wasn’t Jenkinson at fault for the second goal. I put that, once again, to Aaron Ramsey and to a lesser extent, Arteta (who had a pretty anonymous game I thought). Sandro, on to shore up the Spurs midfield and provide a bit more of a defensive anchor, trotted along the left hand corner of the 18 yard box, and nobody tracked him, giving him enough time to square the ball to Defore, who’s shot was blocked by Song and came out to Kyle Walker. As seems to be recent tradition at White Heart Lane, Walker took a touch and buried a 30 yarder in the left corner. Yes, Sczeszny should have saved, but the kid had already made so many saves before and after the goal that you cannot fully lay the blame at his door.

The rest of the game petered out and Spurs took the three points. Overall, a really disappointing performance from a team that is so shorn of confidence at the moment it looks pretty bleak.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

“I felt we played a little but with the handbrake on. Even playing like that we had four chances. At half time we came out and had a go at them and got it back to 1-1. I felt again that we didn’t push on enough and let them get back into the game.

We lack a little bit of confidence at the moment, and we just need to protect a result when we have one. “

I’m sorry, but I’m getting bored with the stock phrases being used by Arsene. After the game I moved my phone into the bedroom, ignored all the abusive messages and watched something else not football related. Only later, when I wanted to read what the respective managers said, did I read Arsenal.com to see the reaction. I genuinely don’t know why I bothered. Arsene just trots the same old tripe out every single week that we lose. It’s either ‘lack of concentration’, ‘we dropped a little physically’, or blaming another factor such as referees, etc, etc. It’s pointless looking at the manager’s response because you don’t get anything new. And with every passing game, his credibility drops a little bit more.

What is most worrying for me is that because we aren’t reading anything new, nothing is being done about it. No visible attempt to make changes are being seen by the fans. And that is the most frustrating thing of all. It seems the whole world can see what is happening at the moment except Arsene. Simply not good enough.

A quick word on the chanting, as it seems to have hit all the back pages of how the Arsenal fans were chanting against Adebayor. Not being at the game, I don’t know what was sung by the fans, but I think it’s a little rich for Twitchy Redknapp to preach the moral high ground and not mention the Paedophile chants from Spurs fans, as well as the ‘let him die’ chants towards Sagna when he was injured. I don’t like seeing or hearing any racist or malicious chanting, but unfortunately it happens on both sides, so stick to your facial contortions rather than playing the saintly English media darling. And as for Clive Allen, well I’m sorry mate, but barging somebody during the game, then calling somebody a ‘c*nt’ and then expecting them to shake your hand sums up exactly what sort of person you are. And then to go to the press and call him ‘two bob’ shows that you have about as much class as those mum’s that let their girls wear velour track suit bottoms with ‘princess’ in rhinestone on the bum.

I’ll save my thoughts for now. Probably for tomorrow where I’ll give my thoughts on the manager and the situation at the moment. We’ve got a whole two weeks without Arsenal thanks to the horrible interlull, so much like the Old Trafford debacle, we’ve got nothing to think about except the last game.

On a final note, trying to finish off with some positives might be good. I thought Francis Coquelin had a very good game in midfield. He looked composed and won tackles. The year in the French league has clearly done him good. Sczeszny also performed well, and I think Song did alright up against Greedybayor.

On that note, I bid you all adieu.

Follow me on Twitter – SuburbanGoonerChris