Go Theo..

Theo Walcott has had a lot to face this year. He turned 21 in March and had a glitzy party to celebrate with his gorgeous girlfriend Melanie Slade. That’s the upside of his year, and possibly the best he’s had all year.

Steve takes out time for 11G & tries to demystify the enigma called Theo Walcott. His recent form, preperations for the season ahead, expectations et al. Check his aptly titled blog ‘Highbury Heart‘ & follow him on Twitter @reznuk Read on..

At the start of last season he picked up a knock on England duty, and it persisted. Joined by further injuries, his year was blighted, and his appearances few and far between. With no chance to build up any kind of form, his confidence dropped and he couldn’t manage to show a display worthy of an Arsenal starting place.

So when England manager Fabio Capello chose to omit him from his World Cup squad, it came as no surprise to many. Suddenly the critics came out of the woodwork – Chris Waddle claiming “I just think he doesn’t seem to understand the game”. However, coming from a famous idiot I’d certainly doubt that opinion.

Others were more generous, claiming Theo’s form had only dipped because of his unfortunate injury riddled season. Theo himself said “I completely respect Mr.Capello’s decision”. Note the word ‘respect’ – not ‘understand’ or ‘accept’. Messi claimed to be shocked at Walcott’s omission from the England team, having been on the receiving end of a great performance from Walcott when Arsenal met Barcelona at The Emirates Stadium. Messi is clearly a genius, and knows another talent when he sees it. Martin Keown on the other hand called Theo a “one-trick pony”, with “poor decision making”. Not what you want to hear from a former Arsenal star.

So what did Theo do while his compatriots embarrassed themselves and England in the World Cup? Did he add additional skills to his repertoire or go for rigorous fitness regime during the summer’s? Did he review Arsenal games in attempt to find his flaws & try to improve them? There’s nothing to suggest he trained any more or learned any more. Certainly he didn’t meet up with any of the Arsenal training coaches (unless you witnessed any secret training sessions).

I suspect he did what the rest of us did – watch England, squirming with embarassment. In his case though, probably thinking to himself “if only I’d been there, I’d have done so much better”. Who can argue? Certainly Lennon, who I regard highly, completely failed to impress himself in any of the games. Sean Wright-Philips, who can’t get a starting place at his own club, simply demonstrated that he wasn’t up to the job.

Now Arsenal have started training again on the 14th July, and there’s a first game under their belts (or at least half a game since pretty much the whole team was subbed at half-time).

You’ll be completely unsurprised to find that Theo picked up a knock in training – the first one to do so! Still, it can’t have been that bad since he got the second half of the match.

How did he perform you ask? Arsene Wenger felt Theo looked sharp and who can disagree? I would say he looked quick, as always. Certainly he got to the byline really quickly on quite a number of occasions. Unfortunately, on most of those occasions he did exactly the same as he did again and again during last season – failed to look up and crossed the ball into space instead of to one of his own players. It was the same against Sturm Graz the other night.

It’s probably fair to say that this season is make or break for Theo. Yes, he’s only 21, but he’s spent much of his time at Arsenal injured and failing to make an impression when he has played. He has a career ahead of him, but is it a career at Arsenal, or in the top flight? Can he demonstrate that he has indeed got a footballing brain?

I spent last season, like most of you probably, watching Theo, when he did appear, run really fast to the byline and fail to make the cross in to anybody. I’m not saying I agree with the nay-sayers, I do think he has potential. The joke about Theo forgetting to take the ball with him when he sprints off, is getting really old. Yet there is some truth in it, and it’s a truth Theo needs to address this season. Arsene Wenger has a penchant for intelligent players, and surely he saw something in Theo that made him believe here was a player with more than just a good sprint.

It has been argued that Theo out on the wing is playing in the wrong position, one that doesn’t suit him. Some folks say he should be played down the middle. The odd times he has though, his ability to fall over at a light touch from the opposition doesn’t show him in his best light. At least down the wing he has an opportunity and space to use his speed. If he can learn to cross the ball to his own players, he’d be deadly.

Yes, I know some of those comments are a bit harsh. Sitting in the crowd at the Emirates however you will definitely hear much worse.

It is time though for Theo to demonstrate not only his footballing brain, but also his will to succeed. During the World Cup he was certainly making the right noises – about fighting this season to prove his ability. Well pre-season has started and now he has his chance – by the time the first game against Liverpool, we will want to see him starting, and showing not only great sprinting, but great team play and great football.

Go Theo.. Go Gunners..

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Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

El Capitan is a 'Gunner for life'

We all know of the Star Wars saga; multiple movies that stretch out over a long period of time. And eventually those characters grow old. Gooners have been involved in a different type of saga, the Cesc saga, where multiple transfer rumours have stretched out over a few years. And the rumours, too, have grown old; to the point of frustration for all Arsenal fans.

Conor Valentine in tandem with 11G; explains how FC Barcelona have taken their CQ (C*nt Qoutient) to previously unknown levels. Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911 Read on..

The worst part is obviously the fact that FIFA have allowed the Barca players get away with such blatant tapping up, and even ignored a few newspaper articles about how Cesc has been tapped up. I personally don’t understand how they can themselves get away with ignoring it. And if Arsenal weren’t such a dignified club, I’m sure we would have reported the Catalans.

The biggest culprits in this crime are Pique, Xavi, Puyol and one certain Lionel Messi. Messi was one of the first to speak out, but has kept quiet since talking about how he was texting Fabregas and telling him that he wanted Cesc at Barcelona, which is pretty obvious tapping up.

Then came Pique, who has basically not shut up, at any time. He’s constantly talked about Barca being in Cesc’s heart, and that he belonged to Barca, almost like telling Cesc he has to go, or he’s not being a good person, or something.

Xavi is actually not a footballer. We’ve found out that he is in fact an expert on DNA. And of course he has found out that Cesc actually has a Barca DNA; he’s made that information public. But I’m also a DNA expert and I’ve discovered that Messi, Pato and Joe Hart, all have an Arsenal DNA. So they rightfully belong to Arsenal FC, right? On field, he may be good, who cares. But off it, he’s a knob. A bigmouth who’s more into others than worry about his shit-like hair-do.

Puyol has just been his typical self, ugly and stupid. Yes, he even speaks like an idiot. He’s accused Cesc of spending the last 6 weeks of the World Cup action complaining about how he wants to join Barca. And said that he will come and that he would be perfect for Barca; which isn’t true because ‘check your mailbox Carles, you didn’t recieve your paycheck, did you’!?

Iniesta has joined in as well. He’s been talking up a move for Fabregas & said that he would “love Fabregas to come to join him at Barca”.

Pedro, the Spanish winger has also been talking, because according to him “Cesc would be fab at Barca”.

Guardiola, the main man, the manager, however, has been quiet on the issue; Until today ie. “I think bringing in Cesc will cost a lot” was the official quote, kind of assuming that the deal would happen, right? Well, I can at least say that Pep is perfectly correct. And if Barca even want to dream about taking Fabregas back to Spain, it would cost a lot more than the £40 million maximum bid limit they have in mind. But they appear to be under an impression that we need to sell to him in the first place. Unfortunately for them, that’s wrong.

So basically the entire Catalan entourage has been talking almost non-stop over a whimsical matter. It’s their brainchild to try & unsettle Cesc. The important thing for fans, however, is that we should not be angry at Cesc for all this. It’s the Barca players who have annoyed us; and for that reason, we have to give him the correct reception when he returns for next season. Or else we’ll be pushing our captain away. So remember, we hate Barca, we love Fabregas.

Also Read by Conor:

8 Players Wenger Should Consider Signing For Arsenal

6 Players Wenger Should Consider Kick’n Outta Arsenal

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Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

In Arsene We Trust..

With the World Cup finally over we can at last get back to the really important business of club football and our beloved Arsenal. The new season is only just over four weeks away and Arsene Wenger has already added Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny to the squad. However with the departures of Senderos, Silvestre, Gallas and possibly Sol Campbell too we are still very short of centre backs. There’s also a possibility that our captain and star player, Cesc Fabregas, will leave although personally I can’t see it happening. Added to that there is no definite return date set for Aaron Ramsey and even when he does return it will take a long time for him to get back to the level he was at before his horrific injury.

With all of that in mind we are in need of at least another couple of signings and we then have to factor in our current goalkeeper situation, the lack of backup for Alex Song and Eduardo’s inability to recover fully from his injury so far. In my opinion that all points to the possible acquisition of a goalkeeper, another centre back and possibly a midfielder too.

Michael Sheehy a.k.a. Jamrock Rover, is a household name in the blogger’s community thanks to his very famous blog at OleOle. He takes out time for 11G in this exclusive to analyse the different stand-out players Arsene can buy, from the World Cup that just concluded. Follow him on Twitter @JamrockRover. Read on..

If I had my choice of goalkeepers at the World Cup I think I would choose Eduardo from Portugal but it would appear that he has decided to sign for Genoa in Italy as he was guaranteed first team football there but Arsenal told him he would have to fight for his place at the club. Before the tournament I had thought that Buffon would be an ideal goalkeeper for us as he could play for a few years before Szczesny stepped up to replace him. However his injury ended his World Cup in the first game and his wages would probably mean that we couldn’t afford to sign him. Other than that no goalkeepers at the World Cup impressed me too much at all and I can’t say that I would pick one over the others. I can say that I wouldn’t like Rob Green to sign for us as he just isn’t good enough although Mark Schwarzer has also been linked and despite not having a great tournament he would probably be an improvement on our current goalkeepers and again he wouldn’t hamper the progress of Szczesny long term.

When it comes to defenders I would be quite happy if Arsenal were to sign either of the German central defensive pairing as I think both Mertesacker and Friedrich would fit comfortably enough into our team. They are both very capable defenders and Mertesacker in particular has the height to offer us a lot more ariel power both offensively and defensively at set pieces. I think we could get them at a price that wouldn’t break the bank and their wages would be within our price range too. The biggest problem of course would be to get their clubs to part with them and all that can be done is to place an offer and see how their clubs react.

There are other centre backs that I think would be ideal signings but unfortunately they’re not realistic targets. I would love to see Lucio or Vidic playing for Arsenal but their clubs would not sell them to us and even if they were prepared to let them go I don’t think we could outbid Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid for their services.

The need for a genuine back up or challenger to Alex Song is also something that needs to be addressed and that’s a position that’s not so easy to fill. Again I would consider another German player for the role as I thought that Khedira was one of the better players in that role at the World Cup. He has only a year left on his contract and there are rumours that he paid a trip to Ashburton Grove before the tournament. It does look like he might be bound for Real Madrid though and again we can’t compete with them when it comes to fees and wages.

A lot of people may have been impressed by the central midfield pairing for Holland but I would be horrified to see Arsenal even show an interest in either of those two thugs. The way they kicked their opponents up and down the pitch in every single game was a disgrace and it showed up the poor standard of refereeing that neither of them were sent off during any of their games.

I think our striking options are fairly good but that is dependent on RVP staying fit for most of the season and that has never happened before. I wouldn’t be averse to signing a wide player who can take on defenders and make things happen and I was impressed with Sanchez of Chile in that department although he does need to work on his finishing. It mightn’t be a bad idea to look into the possibility of buying him as players like him are few and far between in World football at the moment.

Besides all of the above options I would of course like to see Torres or Drogba and quite a few more sign too but again they’re not realistic targets and it would be ridiculous to even consider making an approach for them as we can’t afford either the fees or the wages.

I hope you’ve found a few names of players that you think might do well at Arsenal and we can only leave it in the very capable hands of the boss and hope that he strengthens the squad enough for us to mount an even better challenge than we did last year. Until the next time.

Jamrock

Also Read:

8 Players Wenger Should Consider Signing For Arsenal

6 Players Wenger Should Consider Kick’n Outta Arsenal

Follow 11G on Twitter @11gunnerz

Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

Back off you Barca Cu*ts..

Greeting fellows! It was a wonderful day, until now. And it’s not only my day that has been ruined but of a lot of gooners around the world. And all of this has been due to some PARASITES who feed off others’ prowess and treat ’success’ as their own. They don’t care to behave themselves and consider themselves above EVERYTHING. It’s none other than Puyol, the caveman and Pique, the Man U reject. I feel pity for those guys. I really do. Read on..

Lets start with the Puyol, the caveman. The caveman has won a lot of medals but “coincidentally” he never won any without Ronaldinho & Deco or without Messi & co. They had 6 barren years. Yes that is right. I repeat, SIX barren years. Were they building new stadium?? NO they were not. Were they giving the winners a run for their money?? NO they were not even doing that. Actually, they were a mid table team. Yes that’s right. Simply put they were not good enough. Now they are challenging for top honors domestically and abroad. Yet the mentality has not changed. He has remained CHEAP. Poor chap. We gooners pity him.

Pique, The jumper. Yes, he jumps ships. This guy talks about loyalty and stuff. Was his ‘loyalty’ on leave when he left Barca for Man United? And then, did his ‘loyalty’ for Barca come back when he decided to return to the promised land and ’surprisingly’ at the same time his ‘loyalty’ for Man U took off. That’s is hell lot of co-incidence. The real story was a bit different. This guy left Barca because he felt that Barca was a not good enough. He believed that Man U was a ‘bigger’ club. But, surprise surprise, the tables turned. Thanks to Ranaldinho & Co. and and to put the icing on the cake, he could never break into this Man U squad. These two factors came together which led to the switch. And the prodigal son returned, to collect his medals, not to earn them because it is Messi & Co. who do the ‘dirty work’.

But rather surprisingly these two ‘Parasites’ haven’t had enough. They want another host to feast upon, FABREGAS. The guy switched to Arsenal and became a star. He earned his respect through the system and did all the hard work to blossom into a beacon of magnificence. He was ably supported by Arsenal football club and most of all by his pseudo father, Mr. Arsene Wenger. And now after all this, against the player’s wish, these ‘parasites’ are trying to push this kid too far. Fabregas wants to stay but these ‘parasites’ won’t have any of it. They pushed him to wear a Barca in the midst of a party. Come on guys, GET A LIFE.

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Grow up BABY!

Will he, wont he? Sounds more like a melodramatic series than anything else. And its latest season is on. Unlike other series, this one comes on air bi-annually. And this story has drama, pain, emotions, relations, love, loyalty and the most important one – MONEY. We are talking about FAB : THE DNA GUY. Yes, the prodigal son wants to return and rightly so. Surprised to see this @ 11G? Read on folks..

There are two points of view in this saga- Cesc’s point of view and Arsenal’s point of view. Cesc is a the top dog @ N5 but @ Barca, he won’t even get into the 1st team as is evident by the playing time that he is getting during Spanish WC campaign. All he is getting is one substitution here, one pass there. Is he bad enough that he need to go to the Barca to warm their bench. I don’t feel so. He deserves more, and rightly so. As long as Xavi plays, there can’t be a place for our li’l Cesc and he needs to accept that.

The timing is the problem. Three years down the line this transfer will make perfect sense but not now, puhleeeeeeezzzzz. I know that his family stays there but will he be happy with daddy time without any playing time. I don’t thinks so. He will become another Arsenal player ruined by Barca as many have been before him. Dear Cesc, it’s for your own good that Daddy Wenger won’t sell you. So, stop being a ‘crybaby’ and wait for your time. Be a MAN

Now, the Club’s point of view. Lets put this in some perspective. Yaya Toure was sold to Man Arabs. His age is approaching 28 something. He is a defensive midfielder and is going downhill. His price tag was around 30 millions. Cut. Cesc Fabregas is a play-maker. He is arguably the most exciting prospect on planet. He has just reached his puberty. He has his best years ahead of him. And the same people who valued Yaya for 30 million believes that Cesc is worth the same. Spanish hypocrites. Get a life, you D*&kheads. His worth is no less than that of Kaka’s and if you want a Rolls Royce, You better pay for a Rolls Royce than for a Tata Nano.

On a nut shell it’s a bad deal for both, the player and the Club. So let the good sense prevail and no love should be lost over this episode. We all know that Cesc is still a young kid and kids at this age do make mistakes. Lets welcome Cesc as a WC winner (with no substantial contribution from him) or as a WC runner. We are fine in either case. And best of luck to RvP and Cescy for the finals. May the best team win. Adios amigos..

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Top Gun!

Robin van Persie damaged his ankle ligament while playing for Holland in a ‘friendly’ against Italy in November last year. Before the injury, he played 11 games for Arsenal, scoring 7 goals and assisting with further 7. The season before, Robin Van Persie scored 20 goals no less. His mere presence was enough for the men in ‘Red and White’ to perform above par time after the other. Things have been a ‘lil different this term though.

Sahil, an ardent Gooner from India, takes time out & dwells on the same for 11G right now. You can follow him on Twitter as well!

Van Persie scored a winner in the game against Fulham earlier in the season. That might not have been the most crucial of games back then, but winning a title requires such battles to be won more often than drawn or lost.

We have definitely missed him. If we compare his returns to the season before, mathematically it comes to 13 goals. More than the number, it’s his link-up play, which draws the likes of Cesc, Nasri, Arshavin et al into action, apart from the huge assist he provides for the aforementioned, which adds to his immense value.

Bendtner hasn’t done enough to make up for it and Walcott remains an unfinished product. An ‘impact player’ is the new term coined by media moguls in England, who have a habit of over-pricing home-grown talents. That’s the only growth Theo has shown over the years, after eons of ‘the-next-big-thing’ crap we got to hear.

What I am trying to get to is that Van Persie is to Arsenal what Wayne Rooney is to Manchester United. In his absence, we have managed to do rather well this season, winning most games en route, but could have done so much more esp. in the big games, had he been out on the pitch. United meanwhile, s*ck without Shrek in the side.

At the moment, it doesn’t look like we can shade Chelsea in terms of goal difference, i.e. if it comes to that in the first place. Arsenal’s is currently +41 and Chelsea has a healthy lead of 13 with a + 54 with 5 games to go. Van Persie may return, he may even score goals, but that just might not be enough.

What Robin Van Persie will guarantee though, is not having any more nervous finishes. As I watched the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers a week back, my heart was racing & pounding at the rate of knots given the numerous chances Bendtner and Co. missed! What held me together was the belief that we had previously scored late goals all season long.

Robin is a player who scores a goal for every two chances he gets/creates, that’s as good as any in the business. With Bendtner, even 12 outright chances might not be enough you know! Go watch the Burnley game all over again if you don’t get my drift.

The question here being will Van Persie’s return propel Arsenal’s chances for league glory this term or not!? Given the number of chances we create, scoring goals has never been a problem. But expecting him to eradicate the +13 GD in such a small time would be foolish by all means.

Reports suggest Wenger might risk Van Persie in the game against Tottenham on Wednesday. I don’t think Arsene needs to do that just yet as he is not even 100%. He started training with Amsterdam AFC only few days back. With Portsmouth managing to kick Tottenham’s butt in the FA Cup semi-final yesterday, I think Arsenal can pull it off without Robin in the side. Tottenham might be a little fatigued while Arsenal will be rejuvenated after a week’s break, especially after the added incentive of Man Utd dropping points against Blackburn.

The next match is against Wigan & the Gunners can make do without his services even there. If our team can beat Wolves (albeit a late late goal courtesy NB52) I think we’ll be fine against Wigan. It’s the last three matches where we need Robin the most.

The third last game of the season is at home to Manchester City. This will be a very tough proposition for us, even though it is at the Emirates. City’s defence has been quiet good off late and looking at their record, they are the in-form team scoring goals for fun, with Tevez in the form of his life. Breaking their defence down will be hard for the likes of Bendtner and I believe only someone like Van Persie has the class to get in between their defence and score.

Then we have a game against Blackburn. After both Chelsea & United only managed a draw from their respective trips to the Edwood, getting points won’t be easy. Robin’s presence will be a massive boost for us if we are to defeat Blackburn for only for the 3^rd time this season. By this point, we may even be level on points with Chelsea. We must hope for the best and keep scoring as many as possible. Our last match is against Fulham, away. Who knows, Robin might just win us the title in that one! #Hope

RvP might just be the antidote to this injury-plagued team of ours. He might just push Arsenal over the line and win us our very first trophy since 2005. Here’s to Robin Van Persie coming back and immediately scoring goals! Cheers

Follow Us on Twitter @11gunnerz

Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

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11Gunners Exclusive: ‘The North London Derby’(EXPLAINED)

Cesc Fabregas

Seldom do games with huge pre-match euphoria, live up to the billing & provide the quality of football expected of them. That said; seldom do teams of technical expertise as high as Arsenal & Barcelona square up. Unlike the finals in ’06 when Jens Lehman was sent off early in the game, there were no such anti-climatic blips this time around. Not initially at least. The quality of football served over the 90 minutes, was what dreams are made up of. The ‘beautiful game’ had its finest hour (and a half!) by the time the game ended with two goals apiece. Wenger said before the game that it had ingredients to be the ‘best of the decade’. Boy was he right or what!? 11G delves in..

All the hoopla regarding the home-coming of Titi & the supposed conquering of ‘Emirates’, by Mr. Messi were put shut by two players from the team in ‘red and white’. Now any Barca fan reading this would surely gun for my life, but then, I AM GOONER. Can’t help!

“Cesc reiterated his ‘legend’ as Walcott began his.”

Cesc Fabregas re-bonded with his childhood club & proved all his detractors wrong, of his decision to choose Arsenal over Barca, by a second-half showing as good as any seen in recent times. No he didn’t score a blinder, or skip past 5 people like Leo does, to set up someone, or for that matter ran the show like the likes of Zidane used to do in their prime. He is a CAM & he didn’t do any of the above, and yet he stole our hearts by fighting till the end. A lucid combination of ‘graft & craft’ is what makes him the champion that he is.

After having received a yellow just before the first half drew close, his exasperation could be felt, as he knew right away what implications that booking had. He was denied a chance to play at Camp Nou, with his family and friends in audience, as a result of the subsequent one-match suspension. Mere mortals could have withered away in agony & allowed the mighty Catalans to further tighten their grip on the game. He chose to write a script which had the word ‘legend’ written all over.

Over the course of the next 45 minutes, he ensured that both Pique & Puyol too missed the return leg with bookings of their own. A yellow & a red respectively, with the latter leading to a penalty which helped Arsenal draw the game by a whisker. Who took the penalty? No prizes for guessing, El Captain himself. A ‘Cescy’ display from our skipper indeed.

Thierry Henry

Next player to have made an impact was the guy with No. 14 on his back. Yes, Henry was influential when he came on, but only to the Emirates crowd! He was fittingly given a rapturous applause as he joined his team with some 15 minutes to go, & almost comically was booed right after, as he led a Barca attack. I’m sure he got the pun behind it.

“No issues Thierry, we have never seen anyone like you, & will forever love you.”

But Henry was not the only one donning No. 14 behind his back. One certain Theo Walcott came on for Sagna & changed the game on its head. Up to then it was all one way traffic as the Catalans ran riots at the ‘Grove’. If it were not for Almunia’s pyrotechnics, the tie would have been over in the first 16 minutes itself.

It was fantasy football as Messi & Co. totaled a staggering 12 shots in the first quarter. It was ‘men v boys’ all over again. Save after save, the Spaniard took us back to the CL Semis, first leg, from last season, when he single-handedly kept us alive. It was history repeating history.

Apart from a snap shot courtesy Nasri, & a missed header from Niklas, we had nothing to show from the half. The yellow to Cesc further compounded our problems. Wonder what Le Professor had to say to the lads at HT.

22 seconds into the 2’nd period, Ibra picked a long-ball & lobbed a dead-for Almunia like he would’ve done a 100 outta 100 times. If that was not all, the second Barcelona goal came courtesy a through ball which Ibra latched onto with equal aplomb. Two neat finishes from the Swede.

Now I won’t blame Almunia for either, as he could have done little. With a defence as profligate as ours, what more do you expect. Ok, he could have made a better judgement with the first goal by not coming forward like he did, but after his heroics in the first half, let’s allow him the gaffe. He is Almunia after all!

Coming back to the No. 14 conundrum, the introduction the Englishman gave Arsenal an urgency they were looking for all along. He found acre full spaces behind Maxwell to run onto & that he immediately did after coming on. Minutes later, Bendtner slipped in a delightful through ball for Theo, at which he took a shot early, much to the surprise of Valdes. Arsenal got the goal, against the run of play if anything. If that was not all, with some 10 minutes to go, Puyol nonchalantly fouled Cesc in the penalty area. A red card later, albeit harsh, Arsenal made one of the greatest comebacks in recent times, against a Barcelona side at its prime.

It was heartening to see the Gunners keeping at it till the very end, like it has been a trend this season. This further highlights the new-found resolve & resilience in the present edition of Wenger’s youthful ensemble.

Injuries to Arshavin & Gallas rule them out for three weeks at least, whilst latest reports suggest Cesc is out for the season. What a tragedy would that be.

Clichy, Song & Nasri pulled off performances to remember. Diaby needs a shaking though.

Whatever it be, the duel between Arsenal and Barcelona was a ‘treat to the eyes’ with everyone returning home happy. Barcelona got the away goals they wanted, Arsenal made the comeback it needed to re-instill the faith. This sets up the second leg beautifully.

Fabregas, Gallas & Arshavin will be notable absentees for the Gunners, whereas Pique & Puyol will join them in the stands for the Catalans.

How Arsenal line-up for that game, we’ll take that soon, for now time to ensure a victory at Wolves. Go Gunners..

Follow Me on Twitter @trulytazz

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Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

]]> http://11gunners.com/opinion/cesc-lives-up-to-his-name-theo-to-his-number/3341/feed/ 3 http://11gunners.com/opinion/its-arsenal-its-barcelona-the-game-gets-beautiful-again/3320/ http://11gunners.com/opinion/its-arsenal-its-barcelona-the-game-gets-beautiful-again/3320/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:56:59 +0000 GuestGooner http://11gunners.com/?p=3320

Fabregas vs Messi : Who'll Triumph?

I got into a conversation with 11Gunners on Twitter and after exchanging views on our beloved Arsenal I offered to do a preview of the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions league quarter final first leg at the Emirates on Wednesday night. At the time my feelings on the Barcelona tie were that the two games were more or less free games for Arsenal as we are not expected to beat Barcelona and in my opinion the Premier league was a much more realistic target. However the events of Saturday afternoon at St. Andrews may have changed my mind just a little.

It has been five years since Arsenal won a trophy and a lot of their fans are of the opinion that that is too long a gap between trophies. We have of course been spoiled in recent years since Arsene Wenger took over and we won trophies almost every season under him. He told us at the start of this season that he genuinely believed that we would challenge for the league this season and despite countless setbacks he has been proved right. However Saturday’s draw with Birmingham leaves that challenge hanging by a thread and the blow of the injury time goal we conceded so sloppily won’t be easy for the players to overcome.

After a blow like that we could do with a home game against a team who aren’t particularly good at defending as our next game and we have just that on Wednesday night. However, Barcelona don’t have to worry too much about their defending as they would seem to be an irresistible attacking force and for every goal they concede they usually score three or four. They won the Champions league last season in superb style and they also won five other trophies to accompany it while Arsenal could only manage to finish fourth in the Premier league and had to be content with semifinal exits in the Champions league and FA cup as the closet they came to winning a trophy.

In the summer we lost two senior players in Adebayor and Toure and we only brought Vermaelen in which would appear to have made us weaker on the surface but it would seem that the opposite has in fact been true. An argument can be made that if Arsenal hadn’t suffered with the incredible amount of injuries that they have this season that the Premier league title would be all but over by now with Arsenal as the winners. Unfortunately that is not the case and the absence of Van Persie since early November is a blow that could prove to be the most expensive of all to them. A fully fit Van Persie would be an ideal player to cause problems to Barcelona but instead the attack will be led by Bendtner who, in my opinion, has a long way to go to reach the level of Van Persie.

Arsene Wenger has a few big decisions to make before 7.45pm on Wednesday night and the biggest one of all will probably be which position he plays Alex Song in as long as Song is fit after picking up a knock on Saturday. The obvious choice would seem to be to play him in his best role as a holding midfielder but as William Gallas is injured there have been some calls for him to play alongside Vermaelen in central defence. Sol Campbell came back from the wilderness to rejoin us in January and at the age of 35 he finds it hard to play more than one game in a week. He played against Birmingham on Saturday and the thought of Campbell not at 100% having Messi run at him with the ball is one that should frighten any Arsenal fan.

Messi has been in incredible form this season and he seems to have got even better in recent weeks as the goals have flowed from him. He didn’t manage to score at the weekend as Barcelona won 1-0 away to Mallorca and no matter how good he is any player can have an off game at any time. Last summer Barcelona decided to offload Eto’o and replace him with Ibrahimovic and from what I’ve seen he doesn’t exactly fit in with their style of football. A lot of their moves break down when they reach him and I’ve always thought he was a player who could lose his temper very easily. If our players can wind him up just enough he’s liable to react and that could give us an advantage that could to be very costly for Barcelona.

Arsenal have suffered at times this season when teams have got in their face and kicked them from one end of the pitch to the other but Barcelona are like us and they play the beautiful game the way it is meant to be played. I have no doubt that we will get the opportunity to play our football and if Barcelona are in any way complacent they could be forced to pay a heavy price for it. I expect Arsenal to try to play at a very high tempo and force Barcelona on to the back foot but it is a very risky policy against a team who can be so deadly on the break. The manager has to play his strongest team possible and that means that Nasri and Arshavin will both start although Arshavin’s recent form has been anything but impressive. To be honest Rosicky is probably more deserving of a place in the team but I am fairly sure that Arshavin will play. It’s the type of game where he could decide to shine and if he does he’s good to enough to cause any team problems.

Cesc & Xavi : Midfield Maestros

It’s vital for us that Cesc recovers from the knock he took on Saturday and plays as this game is made for a player of his skill and intelligence. He will be up against the man who is still ahead of him in the pecking order for his national team and it will be fascinating to see whether Cesc or Xavi has more influence on the game. The news that Barcelona will be without Iniesta is very welcome for Arsenal as his partnership with Xavi is quite outstanding and it will surely decrease the workload for our midfielders.

I’m a little worried that our moves seem to break down all too often when they reach Bendtner as his touch isn’t at the same level as the other players. I would prefer to see him in the box on the end of any moves rather than taking part in the buildup. It’s annoying at times to see him crossing the ball when he should be the man on the end of those crosses instead. I think Barcelona are suspect defensively and if Puyol plays I think we will get some joy out of him. He is prone to making mistakes and although he is a whole hearted player I think his best days are behind him.

That’s not to say that our defence is exactly strong and with Almunia in goals anything can happen. The defenders don’t have any confidence in him and quite rightly so as he does nothing to inspire that confidence. With Barcelona playing their one touch football and Messi running at us with the ball I will be shocked if we keep a clean sheet. I think we can get a win in the home leg but it will be by only one goal if we do. Barcelona’s form in Europe this season hasn’t been great and even though they won their group they struggled at times throughout those group games.

There is sure to be a fantastic atmosphere at the Emirates on Wednesday night and I will have goose bumps when I hear the Champions league music being played. We will need huge games from Vermaelen, Cesc, Nasri, Song and Arshavin and whoever has the job of marking Messi will have to play out of his skin to keep him under wraps but all of that is possible from an Arsenal team who have beaten AC Milan, Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions league in the last few years. It’s time for us to gain revenge for our defeat in the 2006 final and I hope we can do it in style on Wednesday night.

Even Henry Wants Arsenal to Win!

When the teams take the pitch on Wednesday night the chances are that a certain Thierry Henry will be in the Barcelona team. It will be a strange thing to see him take the field against Arsenal in the colours of another team but if he does play I am certain he will get a fantastic reception from every single Arsenal fan in the stadium. He is our record goal scorer and an absolute legend at Arsenal and we all know that he still loves the club and its fans too. If he had his own way he wouldn’t be playing on Wednesday night as he finds the thought of it too difficult to handle but as a professional footballer he will still do his very best if he is called upon by his club. I can only hope that the occasion gets the better of him and he does nothing to inflict pain on the Arsenal fans that he loves so much.

Go Gunners..

Michael Sheehy (Follow him on Twitter @JamrockRover)

Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

~Proud to be a Gooner~

‘Oh to, oh to be, oh to be a Gooner!‘ is a fairly common chant amongst us Arsenal fans, but what is a ‘Gooner‘? Who exactly qualifies to be one? What traits should he/she exhibit for him/her to be proudly referred to as a ‘Gooner‘. Questions, questions, bagful of questions. Answers to them, well, I’d say a ‘Gooner’ is any Arsenal fan who is just happy see the boys in ‘Red & White‘ play football. Win, Lose, or Draw. Just play beautiful football, week-in & week-out. Don’t our boys do that!? Hell yeah. Don’t they play the most exquisite brand of football in Europe (matching only Barca per say)? Hell yeah. So aren’t we all Gooners then? Well I doubt this for now. Hmm..

Conor Valentine is back on 11G showing his undisputed loyalties for the team from London Colney. Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911

Today Arsenal drew 1-1 with Birmingham City, & the many so-called ‘Gooners‘ complained on Twitter; “that’s it, now we’re out of the title race” was actually a common tweet. I was personally surprised at some people saying this. What is a successful result in a football game, when your chasing a title? 3 points is obviously the best option, but ask any professional manager and he’d say ‘the most important thing is not to lose‘.

Now, last time I checked, a draw, gets your team 1 point. So instead of this being two points lost in the title race, Arsenal have gained 1 point. It is impossible to lost 2 points which you never held. Arsenal have earned a valuable point in the title race today, and while Chelsea did pick up 3 points (and 7 goals) thanks to Aston Villa’s brilliance (!), & United further 3 points (and 4 goals) thanks to Bolton’s ignorance (!), Arsenal by no means are out of the race for the Premiership just yet.

Today marked more than just a Premier League game where 3 points were ‘vital‘. Today was the return of Birmingham, who haven’t been particularly friendly to Arsenal over the last two games. It was in the season before last, at a similar stage of the campaign, in February; when Arsenal travelled to Birmingham, top of the table, and looking like winning the league. At around the 30th minute mark, Eduardo lost his leg. By the end of the game, Gallas lost his cool. We could only manage a draw & most crucially, that result shattered our hopes for the league title at a psychological level.

Now fast-forward from that horrific day to last October, when Arsenal welcomed Birmingham to the Emirates stadium. Theo Walcott was tackled from behind by Ridgewell after 15 minutes or so, this led to the winger needing treatment and eventually leaving the pitch. He didn’t play again until January.

Today marked a game where, although Cesc Fabregas picked up an injury, he demanded to stay on the pitch. This game was significant because Arsenal were returning to what has been a bogey team, not result-wise, but injury-wise. Arsenal were already without the steady defensive pairing of Gallas & Vermaelan, who was suspended for  this game, which was harshly awarded in the first place. Ramsey suffered that Eduardo-esque injury a few weeks ago, and striker Robin Van Persie remains injured, not to mention the other CB who is yet to feature this season, Johann Djouru. Now I’m not, in any way, reminding you of our massive injury concerns. But when you take these key players’ absences, it is a good away result to take. With no 100% Centre-Back available, and Sol’s age being his reason (!), Wenger was forced to use Song as a CB.

The positives to take away from today’s game are:

• We managed to get a point out of the game, which is all Manure & Chelski got!
• Mathematically, we’re still very much in the title-race. Game between United & Chelsea becomes all the more paramount now. Hoping for a draw in that one.
• Most importantly, we now have a chance to gain lost confidence by beating the reigning European Champions in Barcelona, on Wednesday evening. Confidence, Pride, as you prefer.

So now, if any of you still doubt the teams potential, & whine about the so-called ‘2 dropped points‘, all I can say is ‘Get a life, will you?‘.

Go Arsenal, make me proud, a proud Gooner at that.

‘Oh to, oh to be, oh to be a Gooner!‘

Follow Us on Twitter @11gunnerz

Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..

Lets Do It For Aaron..

Indian Education system is quiet idealistic in its approach and quiet philosophical as well, if I can say so. I learnt it long back in school that everything happens for good. Every action has a tinge of positivity in it, which is in turn, is elementary to the existence of everything in this world. Aaron Ramsey was at the receiving end of a horrendous tackle in the game against Stoke and he’ll have to pay for someone else’s crime by sitting on the sidelines for months to come. But something pleasant has come out of it, pardon me for saying this, but the Ramsey’ incident has brought in more positive for the team than previously thought. The ‘Ramsey Effect’ is here for everyone to see, & its repercussions are far telling than any seen/heard/felt before. 11G explains..

Watching the game LIVE on the tube, I felt anything but helpless seeing the young Welshman gasping for thin air as he went down on the turf. Tears rolling down Fabregas’ eyes conveyed the grim picture better than any words could. Birmingham was still fresh in my mind and I was praying for this to have a different ending. The game was at a stalemate then, with a victory the least Arsenal needed, to stay in the hunt for the title. What happened next, as they say, is history. The ‘RE’ had just begun to cast its spell mind you.

The team came out roaring & ended up bagging all 3 points on offer. The Delaps & Co. were nowhere to be seen. It was all Rosicky, Fabregas, Vermaelen then on. Sol Campbell was instrumental in the final quarter of the game with lunging tackles a many. His experience did play a big part in the way this team reacted and this is what experience does when the chips are down. Experience is the best teacher to clear self-doubts, & who better than the big Sol in this regard. The guy has made his presence felt alright. This Arsenal team has looked different after that rather tragic evening. The Ramsey incident has galvanised this outfit and the difference is there to be seen. Before the game began, entire focus was on how to counter Delap’s hand-grenades, rather than outscore them on the contrary. I have said this time & again that ruthlessness apart, our team has all the other ingredients to achieve glory. What several team meetings & innumerable other training regimes couldn’t, the Ramsey injury brought out in totality. Arsenal won the game against our bogey team Stoke, & won it rather convincingly with a 2-goal cushion.

This was followed up with an emotional victory against Burnley. Hoardings courtesy the Arsenal faithful, in the pre-match warm up told the story; “Get Well Soon Aaron”. It reminded one & all, of the tragic mishap that possibly jeopardised a talent as prodigious as Ramsey’, for a long long time to come (As if we needed a reminder, it was fresh as a daisy in our minds, isn’t fellas?). Wenger saying he didn’t believe in co-incidents after various Gunners suffered horrific injuries in the past seasons, did justify his love for Don Vito ‘Godfather’ Corleone. But his words made total sense nonetheless. 3 players in 4 years ain’t no co-incident, and there is definite & foreseeable pattern to it. A pattern which is dreadful at it’s very off-set. After all how many other clubs have had a similar fate? None.

We responded commendably against Burnley even though we lost Cescy within half an hour mark. With our talismatic captain not around, it was Walcott’s turn to step up his game. He had things to prove to the British press and boy did he do that in some style or what!?

The dream run continued against Porto which looked jaded & so-not the side which defeated Arsenal in the first leg, even though that defeat was more a result of Fabianski’s horror show than a dismal performance by the entire team. Arsenal attacked them from the word go and Porto players were running for cover, helter shelter. The Nasris and Arshavins were all over the Portuguese side. Nasri scored a peach of a goal, arguably the best in the Champion’s league this season, & Niklas Bendtner finally grabbed one hat-trick, out of the possible two he missed against Burnley few days back.

Hull City were up next. We took time dispatching them, but dispatch them we did. A late strike from the now resurgent Dane bagged us another 3 in the kitty.

Next team to fall victim of the ‘Ramsey effect’ were fellow London rivals, West Ham (pardon my wit for referring them as rivals in the first place!). Again, things were going against the script with Vermaelen shown red for a rather flimsy tackle. Likes of Vidic & Terry get away with those week-in & week-out. The word that ref’s have things against the team from N5, got reiterated all over again following that incident. Denilson’s early opener did give us a slender lead for most parts, but we needed another to assure maximum returns. A late Cesc Fabregas penalty did exactly that. His 18’th goal of an irresistible season so far. Phew!

Given the way my Arsenal have performed over the past fortnight or so, post the Ramsey conundrum i.e., I now feel more than confident than ever, looking up to the Catalans as they get themselves ready for a visit to the Emirates later this month. I duly feel we’ll give them a taste of their own medicine & won’t submit like apes before them, like Manure did last season. On paper, we are weak when compared ‘personnel-to-personnel’, but when it comes to technique & positional sense, they don’t come any better than the Arsenal. Likes of Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky, Fabregas, et al are all accomplished & proved masters of the one-touch exponent, which the Barca faithful pride themselves for. Cesc, especially, will have a point to make to his childhood team & prove that his decision to ditch them early was indeed a fruitful one!

The league is still anyone’s to grab, with Manure & Chavs very much in the reckoning. Despite our relatively easier run-in, all games here-on are a ‘must win’. Not to forget, we face Man Arabs and Tiny Tots, who are both vying for the coveted 4^th spot, before the season bids adieu as well. Both should be feisty affairs alright. If we are to become champions of England after a gap of 5 years, the team will have to rise to the occasion on every single outing. But with this team, & the mental fortitude that they now inherit, I’m backing them to do just that. Whatever be the outcome, I am more proud being a Gooner than I was a fortnight ago. Guess it’s the ‘Ramsey Effect’ catching up on me as well! Keep Gunning everyone..

Follow Us on Twitter @11gunnerz

Note: Originally Published for Desi Gunner

Niklas Bendtner

Who is a great striker? Is he a player who scores an amazing goal every 2/3 games? Is he the man who notches a tap-in every game? Or is he the man who rarely scores, but who does manage to hold the ball up, get a knock-on?

Niklas Bendtner, at Arsenal, really does split the fans & divide opinions like no other. Many of us Gooner’s have said he should not be wearing the shirt, others, such as me, have claimed the young Dane deserves more of an opportunity to prove himself.

Conor Valentine is back on 11G with his honest, & often cheesy(!), views on life@N5. Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911

It was just last week, Arsenal Vs Burnley, Bendtner had so many opportunities to score, however, each and every one of those chances were missed. After this some supporters may have even called for Nick’s head! However, when it came to Tuesday night, Bendtner was chosen to start Vs Porto. Despite that amazing amount of chances missed, Nick had Arsenal in front within 15 minutes. He went on to score a hat-trick in the game. Now, Bendtner is not a striker known to be prolific, in fact, not many people seem to expect him to score at all. But here is quite a nice fact about him, in his last 5 games for Arsenal, he has scored 6 goals. Not to be laughed at considering his injuries this season.

Now, it could be said Bendtner won the game vs Porto, he didn’t of course, it was mainly Arshavin and Nasri providing brilliant assists. But what Bendtner did do, was to get into a striker’s position. For instance, Arshavin gets into a position behind the defence; Bendtner was on the six-yard box to finish. The ‘strikers instinct’ is supposedly a dying attribute in football, the ‘fox in the box’ who will pounce on a ‘keeper’s mistake, or who will get on the end of a cross. Bendtner, however, in the last two games has become a player who can play both outside the box, and also grab a tap-in from a way-ward cross.

Now we move onto quite a big factor in winning the Premier League. This is what I believe has held Arsenal back from winning trophies for 5 years. The thing which they have lacked is the ability to grind out results in a game where they have not performed well. This season, however, that has quite suddenly changed. Probably the best example of this is the game against Liverpool, earlier in this season. Arsenal played really poorly in the first half. Leading themselves to go into the 2^nd half 1-0 down. A half-time rant from Arsene Wenger, and a massively improved performance in the 2^nd half meant Arsenal went on to win 2-1. The next game Arsenal played Liverpool in, was a truly horrible game to watch,  both side’s pass’ were poor, the shots went off target, the quality of the football was not nice, but Arsenal prevailed and won 1-0. There have been a few games this year when Arsenal have managed to push past a poor performance, in order to get the full 3 points.

Another example was tonight, Arsenal 2 -1 Hull was the full-time score. Arshavin had opened the scoring after 14 minutes, however Sol Campbell conceded a penalty and Bullard converted, the score remained 1-1 at half-time. Hull went down to 10 men, so a defensive approach was not surprising. Arsenal had most of the ball during the game, and a whole host of chances to score, but failed miserably. It took most of the half just for Arsenal to get a shot on target, but when they did, they were really in their rhythm, in stoppage time, all 6 minutes of it, Denilson decided to have a go from range. Hull ‘keeper Boaz Myhill saved the shot, but spilled it into the path of Bendtner. This was another example of Arsenal pushing despite not playing their best football. Something which could be a major factor in whether or not Arsenal wins trophies this season.

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Arsenal FC

Football is awash with statistics. Goals for and goals against, average points per game and territorial advantages. I will start with 2.10. That is Arsenal’s average points per game this season. After 29 games, Arsenal has 19 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses. Our record against Manchester United and Chelsea stands at: played 7, won 0, drawn 1, lost 6, scored 2, and conceded 14.

Michael J. Parker, a regular contributor to CNN World Sport, teams up with 11G & shares his views on the above. Follow him on Twiiter @Mickeygooner

5, is the number of players who have been out with broken or fractured bones for arsenal in the past 4 seasons. 210. That is the number of successful passes made by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia this season. More than weekend striker opponent Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s who has completed only 198.

After a roller-coaster season, Arsenal find’s itself in 3′rd place in the Premier league, having scored 66 goals with 184 shots on target.

These are all numbers that while interesting, mostly don’t convey the true story of our season. But one number does, and that is the one I want to discuss. And that is the number 15.

15 Minutes. That’s the time it took Arsene Wenger to send a car to meet Aaron Ramsey’s mother to drive her to see her son after his horrific injury. Arsenal are a team that has gone through more trauma than any other in the Premier league. From 3 career threatening leg-breaks on the pitch, to 2 broken shoulders for Theo Walcott, to being written off as mere Europa League hopefuls and coping with a litany of nearly moments and heartbreaking losses. From a team of 22 year olds, we have seen growth, maturity and resolution. Nobody can doubt that Arsene Wenger has discovered steel in North London, and has built a side that when push comes to shove, will fight until the end.

After all that was said by pundits, bloggers, fans and reporters, the old adage that critics don’t decide titles rings truer now than ever before. On paper, and maybe after you crunch the numbers, Arsenal look weaker than our rivals, but titles are not won on paper. Arsenal still have points to prove, but have certainly silenced many of their vocal critics.

Arsenal have progressed past Porto to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and are 2 points from 1st place in the Premier League with 9 games left to play.

After having failed to beat Chelsea and United, Arsenal are in a position to trump them both to the title. The Gunners will look to dial the pressure up on their rivals against the Tigers at the weekend. Hull City is Arsenal’s stepping stone to the history, and let’s hope that they take all 3 points this Saturday. Go Gunners..

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No stopping Us!!

They mockingly said “For 30 years, Arsenal haven’t overturned a first leg deficit in Europe’s Premier Competition“. I can gladly reply to them “You can eat your words safely now.” The jinx, if ever there was one has been broken, and it has been done in a thumping style with a resounding win over a hapless Porto. To the quartefinals and the other teams  I have one thing to say, “Watch Out, We are coming!” 11G recounts the same right now..

A comedy of errors (not so much a comedy if you are an Arsenal fan) 3 weeks ago in Porto left us in deficit. It was self inflicted, there can be no two ways about it. But the confidence had not been disturbed, the belief that we could always overturn the 2-1 deficit at home. But boy the way we played yesterday, any deficit would not have been out of bounds for us and those who saw the game can vouch for the fact that I am not exaggerating.

The crowd had gathered in huge numbers and in full support of their club. I believe they can sense a silverware this time around. the overwhelming atmosphere would have surely seemed hostile to visiting Porto and if they were nervous before the game, I guess they never really got a chance to settle those nerves.

The absence of Fabregas was a talking point before the match and the manager risked Andrei Arshavin who was carrying signs of a niggling injury. And did he not pay back!! He attacked repeatedly with malicious intent aptly supported by Rosicky and Nasri and at ten minutes, his surge left Bendtner with a free attempt at goal. He duly obliged. However there was lots more to come from the Danish international who had to bear the brunt of severe criticism after being gulity of missing a host of chances in the weekend game in Premiership.

The second goal was also a result of Arshavin’s bristling pace to which the Porto defence had no answers.Once again, Bendtner made merry through an easy tap-in. His second of the night. Porto were down but still not out and they themselves had a few chances of catching Arsenal’s seemingly lacklustre defence but were too wayward and directionless in attack.

Samir Nasri’s exhilarating solo effort was the final nail in the coffin for the Portuguese side. The Frenchman went around half the Porto side and applied a brisk finish to seal the quarterfinal tickets.

The hunger had not died down still. Eboue came on and his pace and alacrity combined with Arshavin’s precision was the recipe for Arsenal’s fourth on the night. But this was going to be a special day for Bendtner after all. With minutes remaining , Eboue earned a spot kick and Bendtner applied a neat finish to earn a Champions League hattrick, one to savour for sure!!

It was a deeply satisfying performance on the whole and if we carry on thiS way, Santiago Berneabeu will the place to be in come this May.

Keep Gunning till then!!

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William Gallas

Seldom are players swapped stirring so much controversy as happened when the top-2 from London exchanged the pro-libedo might of Ashley Cole for the grumpy, sulken skills of William Gallas. Both proven performers in search of fresher challanges.

Conor Valentine is back with views on his favourite defender. And mind you, he’s Irish! (Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911)

William Gallas, Arsenal’s number 10. A player who is prone to controversy, Arsenal fans should remember what happened on 21 November, 2008. Comments made by Gallas in the media led to him being stripped of the Arsenal captaincy.

There were other instances, of course, such as the ’sit-down’ at Birmingham, being caught smoking, the list goes on. A lot of people expected Gallas to leave the club this summer. His relationship with Kolo Toure was publicly bad.

However, Toure and Adebayor left. And Gallas stayed, Wenger had done it again! Gallas has been a revelation this season. His form has been undeniably outstanding. One of the leagues best players, this season.

How? He has a new centre-back partner, in Belgian Thomas Vermaelan. And the two have been arguably one of the best pair of centre backs this season. Not just defensively. But on the offensive side, a total of 9 goals. 6 from Vermaelan, 3 for Gallas. But the centre-back is a defensive position, and both have excelled.

What has changed in the Frenchman? His mentality? His effort? Yes, everything about Gallas’ game has improved, he goes into games knowing his position is not guaranteed, he knows he cannot assume he will be started week in, week out. Before Gallas was cocky, he believed, because he was captain, he was all which mattered. Having made those infamous comments, he now realises that he must earn his position, by performing.

The fact it is a World Cup year, may also be a factor, every player wants to play at the top level, in the top competition. Gallas in fact, scored the very goal which sent France into the finals, a header vs Ireland, after Henry had blatantly hand-balled. Nothing taken away from Gallas, a well timed run, to the back post, and a simple finish.

Speaking of the day, Ireland played a great game, and unfortunately, came against UEFA and FIFA president’s Sepp Blatter, and Michel Platini, in the draw for the game.  But let’s be honest. France are a side who should be in the World Cup. Gallas also deserves the trip to South Africa, due to his performances this last year.

Vital back-up to the pair has arrived, Sol Campbell returning to the club he joined from spurs in 2001. Sol may have been a signing the pundits laughed at, but, apart from a slight touch of the ball in Oporto, he has rarely put a foot wrong in his brief appearances.

This is an important factor when you think back a year. When Gallas, Clichy and Sagna got injured for the season run-in.  Hopefully Gallas will remain fit, but it is good to know there is a back-up better than Silvestre in our ranks.

Gallas also has a great quality, versatility. He can play as a centre-back, or a full-back on either flank. Considering Arsenal will be without Kieran Gibbs, Gallas’ ability to play left-back may be useful if Clichy gets injured again. Although Vermaelan may be the first choice for left-back if Traore is left out, considering the Belgian’s history of playing left-back for Ajax.

Overall, Gallas is a player who has majorly improved his game. Upped the effort put into games, and, possibly most important, kept away from commenting in the media. May he remain gallic in times to come.

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STOP, it's Eboue!

Some players just pull on their jocks, ride on the pitch, do their bit & happily recline once the final whistle blows. While the other few prefer divide opinions while they are at it. Be it their on-field demeanour or off-field persona, the media just can’t have enough of them. Emmanuel Eboué is one such kind.

Conor Valentine explains.. (Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911)

Emmanuel Eboué. Full-back/Right Midfielder. He has come in leaps and bound since the infamous game against Wigan, last season where, having come on as a first half sub, Eboué played so poorly that Wenger was forced to take him off. The fans were not afraid to show the Ivory Coast man how they felt, a loud chorus of booing while he exited the pitch.

Since then, Eboué has come along massively, every single aspect of his play has improved, and that includes him tripping over the grass less often, looking for free-kicks. Eboué is the kind of player, who fans do love to see, the footballer who will literally run his socks off, giving every ounce of strength and energy for the team. Eboué is a player who simply loves to have a ball at his feet, and run at defenders, or on the overlap when played as a full-back.

As fans of Arsenal, we have all seen players who will give everything for their club, and I don’t recall one who the fans did not admire for it. Eboué may not be the best passer, but, taking a game like the one against Sunderland, on Saturday, Eboué showed how well he can play when given the ball to run with, his passing game was up to the mark, and, of course played the ball into Bendtner waiting at the back post for the first goal.

On the defensive side, Eboué may not be the best tackler, but that does not mean he will give up, in fact, most of the time, if he has been beaten, he has the pace to get back and possibly prevent a cross. And to the offensive side of things, it is commonly acknowledged that Bacary Sagna lacks the ability to deliver a pin point cross. Eboué, while not pin point, can deliver a good ball for a striker, to nod home.

We were all shocked when Wenger decided to place Eboué as a natural replacement to Hleb once he bid adieu. Eboué did struggle to settle as an attacking player, because he was used to getting up, then back to defend; now he wasn’t required to defend as much. This clearly affected his performances, but he grew into his new position, posing an attacking threat. Soon after Theo Walcott made the Right Wing spot his own, demoting Eboué to the bench a lot of the time, but amazingly, he never let his head drop, he kept at it, every appearance giving his all.

Now the focus goes to this season, an important one, since we have not had a regular Right Wing player. Theo has made few appearances due to injuries; Rosicky has been placed out there when fit. Nasri too, has played as the right winger.  Eboué has generally been the late substitute, on with 20 minutes to go, not enough time for a major impact. He ha been subjected to minimal starts, but I don’t feel that he has played a horrible game this season, a few odd stray passes, dives etc.

Last Wednesday’s loss to Porto signaled a major change in the supporter’s attitude. I heard a lot of ‘Eboué has to start, Sagna cannot cross’. And these supporters were perfectly correct, Eboué has had little chance to impress, and I believe Right Back is his best position. Wenger made his mind up, Eboué started, and was instrumental in Arsenal winning the game, 2-0. An all action performance, played with a huge grin on his face, is why Eboué is a fan favourite, and hopefully, he will be subject to more starts after his recent, and quite obvious improvements in his game play. Only this time, the Arsenal faithful would prefer crooning:

‘We Only Came To See Eboue..’

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We Miss You Robin!

Arsenal until recently, were the leading goal-poachers not just in England, but in the whole of Europe. Now that is a remarkable stat if you consider the acute paucity of goal-guzzlers at the Emirates this season. For a while Wenger had a full repertoire to choose from, in likes of Van Persie, Bendtner, Arshavin, Vela, Eduardo, & we are not even counting Walcott here! Injuries ripped right through our front-line & left us seriously short on armory. The transfer window came & bid adieu, but Arsene didn’t flutter one bit, much to the dismay of the faithful. He stuck by his guns & is now supposedly through the so-called ‘striker crisis’ facing his ranks.

Conor Valentine, a fiercely avid Gunner from Dublin, shares his views on the same right now. You can Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911.

Arsenal’s ’striker crisis‘ is not so much a crisis, in my opinion. Yes, without Van Persie, who is undoubtedly one the Premier League’s best strikers, Arsenal does lack a properly proven finisher. But when you look down the entire team,  it ain’t that bad?

In every position are players who can, and will, score goals. Whether that’s Vermaelen, in the centre of defence, Diaby, in midfield, Cesc, in an attacking midfield, or even Bendtner who, despite what some fans believe, I think will have a huge future at the club. Arsenal is of a team which lacks height, but Bendtner an exception. He can head the ball alright & can also run all over the pitch, pressurizing the opposition. He may not be able to do justice to the lone striker’s job despite his strength and ability to hold the ball up, but  makes up for it with his mobility. However, I think him and Van Persie together up front can make a good partnership. And in Bendtner, we know we’ll get a triker who’d give it his all & has his best years ahead of him, is neither lazy nor selfish, unlike a certain ex-Arsenal player (Mad-e-Bye-Whore who!?).

We also have Eduardo, who, on his day is a clinical finisher and also a provider of goals. Both have lacked confidence recently, along with a surprising number of players. But back to Eduardo, who has not had many games to perform in, up until the Van Persie injury, he was mainly a substitute in the last 20 or so minutes, but when he got into the side due to the injury, he was clearly lacking the sharpness of an in-form striker. He got many opportunities to score, which he would have converted had he been playing regular football, but he just could not score. Eventually, he got off the mark, with some slightly lucky goals, but still, you could see he wasn’t confident, and when he scored, every time it required a bit of luck. But at least he was scoring, as opposed to just being on the pitch running around with no impact.

With news that Van Persie could be back by late April (if we are ever going to get any luck) then what was a crisis, has suddenly become a situation where we have 2 strikers who have been getting games (Eduardo has just a niggly injury) and one other striker who was both scoring and creating for fun, before a certain Italian tried to take his leg apart, which can only mean one thing, Goals, and hopefully, plenty for all to see.

But for now, we must make do with Bendtner probably Wenger’s first choice, and Eduardo as the backup. There is the possibility of playing Walcott through the middle, which so many Arsenal fans would like to see, considering the hat-trick versus Croatia for England. However I believe Wenger would sooner have Arshavin playing centrally, although our little Russian claims he cannot play there. Despite this crisis, Arsenal have kept themselves in the running for both the Premier League, and the Champions League, proving that life without a striker, even for a top European team like ours, is possible. And that only because of our desire to win at any cost. Keep the faith guys, this one’s not done yet!

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They Are Same-Same But Different!

I have had this thought lingering in my mind for quiet some time now. Barcelona play the same style of football that our beloved Arsenal plays. They attack, attack and attack, just like we do. But they are sitting on a pile of trophies and we, on the other hand, are sitting on our arse, for half a decade now. What is the reason behind this unfortunate disparity. We @11G dwell into the same..

First of all lets look at the similarities amongst us, apart from our style of play i.e. They develop players, and so do we. They rely heavily on their youth set up, and so do we. Technically, both the teams have the most gifted players in European circuit to choose from. But this is where the similarity ends. They don’t fear losing out on a transfer recruit & back themselves to get the next one come what may. We instead, go for a hiding every time the window opens. They have democratic set up to run their team, unlike ours. For them winning is more important than the business of football. In fact, there is no better way to make money than to win. If a team wins, their financial assets  automatically go on an upswing.

They bought Ronaldinho, who went on to become the best player in the world. They bought Deco who went on to play a major part in Rijkaard’s Barca. They never lost money on these players even when they paid highly for their services. They never fixed a salary structure for themselves but paid their players as per their abilities. They never told Messi that they can’t pay him beyond a certain limit even if he is the best player on the globe unlike what we did when we allowed Flamini & A Cole to leave. And yes, back then, Ashley was as good a LB as any.

Agreed that we have managed to lure away one of their own, in Fabregas, but how long can he stay here if other clubs are willing to pay thrice the amount he currently earns. Put yourself in his shoes & decide for yourself. Right now, he is as good as anybody in the EPL, if not the entire continent. In spite of that he is paid peanuts when compared to someone like Rooney or Drogba. Barca is not afraid to bring in players from outside to support their youth set up and that is where they beat us. They brought in Henry when they needed a striker. They brought in Alves when they needed a right back. Last season they bought Ibra, who is again a world class player. They buy according to their present needs, forgetting the finances in the interim. They win trophies by the dozens & inturn balance the balance-sheets! Simple, aye!? A subtle mixture of youth & experience is what adds both flair & steel to their ranks.

Arshavin and Vermaelen are the only world class players we have bought over the past two summers. Just not ambitious enough for a club of our stature. Economics dictates that spending brings in more money to spend and not otherwise. It is about time that we pumped in some serious cash to buy ready-made talent. Only then will the exuberance of youth at our disposal, fully blossom. Else we may always remain a profitable club but never become a GREAT one. Take your chances Mr. Wenger. Economics, like football, is your forte, remember!?

PS: Arsenal face first of the so-called easy games in Sunderland, tomorrow evening. Almunia or Fabianski or Mannone, god willing, it shall be a clean-sheet. I’m going for a 3-0 trashing. Thoughts?

Viva Arsenal!

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One Nil To The Opposition!

“Buy a striker Arsene.” “Why doesn’t Arsene buy a winger?” “Wenger should seriously fish in the market for a strong, tough-tackling midfielder.” “Arsenal needs a mean defender if they are to remain in contention this term.” And as we were busy quoting, re-quoting the above, another one flew in our net! Hell, the ‘one nil to the Arsenal’ coinage has now become ‘Arsenal one down’ & the prime reason behind this is not the paucity of forwards, or the inability of our mid-fielders, or for that matter the brawn of our defence. More often than not, it’s the custodian who has let the team down. 11G probes the case of ‘The 3 Muskepeers’ right now..

Not since the eccentric Jens Lehmann guided us to Paris for the Champion’s League decider in ’06, can we claim to have had the sight of a domineering man as our No. 01. Two instances apart, it’s been a rather shoddy story. Let me remind you of the two games I am referring to here. First would be the CL Semis, 1^st leg, against United last season. Saying, our keeper was ‘high’ that night, won’t be an exaggeration! Although we were duly mauled in the 2’nd leg, it was a hearting performance from the Spaniard. Next up would be the game against Fulham this season. Save our save after save. Boy, it was reminiscent of the show orchestrated by on certain Edwin Van der Sar, when the ‘Invincibles‘ met the Cottagers (at the Cottage of course!),  a few years back. I still remember the Dutchman pulled off no less than 23 saves that evening, phew. I doubt all our keepers combined have managed that much this term. No kidding, we have been that bad in the goal-keeping department. Simply put, we suck. Or let’s just stay, we’re stuck with ‘The 3 Muskepeers’ namely Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski & Vito Mannone. Ok, I have now repeated the attempted spoof on Alexandre Dumas three times(!), so moving on; let’s focus on the three men individually:

Almunia first up. Love him. Hate him. You just can’t ignore him. Get him in the team, & he guns are placed right at him. Kick him out, or he gets injured, & everyone wants him back right away. Ok, the latter is more due to the inability of his replacements, yet his case is a curious one. This season he has been pathetic more than anything. He exudes almost zero confidence in his back-4, & his gaffes just keep stacking up by the day. Ronaldo’s free kick from CL Semis last season, his lunge which led to Rooney’s penalty @OT this season, or lately the atrocious back-flap from Nani which again handed United early advantage against us. Big players turn up in big games. He quiet clearly, doesn’t. He is still riding the crest of his performances from last term, & it baffles how Wenger can be so naïve in persisting him all along. He is no junior, which makes it all the more intriguing. Forget making the English squad, at 32, this guy can’t make the cut for Ecuador. Or Estonia. Or El Salvador.

Lukasz Fabianski has been reduced to the role of a ‘Cup Keeper’ under the Wenger regime. Wonder if he’s even good enough for that!? The first time I chanced upon the Pole, was in a tie against Chelsea in he FA Cup. Didier Drogba owned him that evening. Switch to Premier League. Same story. 4-1 to the ‘Blues’. Switch to Carling Cup. A 5-goal trashing at the hands of, wait for it, Spurs. Last night against Porto, & ‘two school-boy errors’ (quoting Captain Cesc) later, he remains in tatters. He is young (i.e. 24), & has a career ahead of him. Agreed that one gains big game temperament only after testing oneself in match day environs, but lack of basic know-how is just not accepted. Seeing the 2’nd goal from last night, you’d wonder if the guy were nuts (Watch the Highlight’s here!). Either the nerves got to him, or he was a sea. Both ways, not a trait, a keeper with potential is supposed to possess. He clearly needs more games to strengthen his case. Till then, I’d prefer not seeing him at all.

PS: And please don’t start him in any game against a team featuring Didier Drogba. The guy is a demon & is very efficient at ruining the very psyche of cute/lost-looking players. Ask Senderos (Added ‘lost’ to include him in!).

At 21, ‘Don’ Vito Mannone is far from a finished product. It was the Italian who btw enacted a Van der Sar, if it wasn’t already obvious. One of the more stellar shows by an Arsenal keeper, in any era I dare say. He was insurmountable that day. Inexperience got to him & ended up giving away silly goals in the subsequent fixtures. His biggest shortcoming seems to be keeping mum in the gravest of situations. ‘Dons’ do that, but c’mon, its football babes. Unless you shout at your defenders, how will they ever know what your plans are!? Again, full of promise & poise, but needs time to stand a chance & be counted. All in all, not eligible enough to man one of Europe’s top teams presently. Hope he gets there soon. I seriously do, especially after watching the other two ply their respective trades, at the Emirates for a while now. Love his name though. So close to Don Vito Corleone, aye!?

If these three are not worth a shot, then who is? Doesn’t a Club as big as Arsenal, deserve better keepers? Don’t world class players like Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie, Gallas, etc, deserve more assurance at the back? Don’t the faithful in you & me deserve to see Arsenal complete clean sheets game afte game? Arsene, for once has got it horribly wrong. His track record with goal-keepers has been torrid to say the least. Except for perhaps Seaman, whom he had inherited, he has seldom brought a decent custodian. Jens Lehmann, for all his achievements, remains an enigma to date. Other include Rami Shaaban (who?), Richard Wright(who?), Mart Poom (who?), & our present 4^th choice keeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who again is highly rated by the wily Frenchman. Let’s face it, Arsene doesn’t ‘know‘ the code as far as No. 1’s are concerned. With all due respects for the Professor, if he will please see things as they stand, & opt for an experienced & proven GK, I’m sure it would serve for the greater good. Ok, we can have all these potentially fulfilling players in our ranks, but only for the Reserves side. Not for a team vying for 4 trophies, at least on paper i.e. C’mon Arsene, get flexible & buy us a good, steady & above all, a non-eccentric keeper this summer. Please!

Now let me leave you guys with a Poll to decide for yourself, which of the three, is our best bet till the end of this term. Here we go:

Poll: Who Should Be Arsenal’s First Choice Goal-Keeper?

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Is Walcott Good Enough For No. 14?

You shouldn’t be surprised if faced with a question similar to the one above i.e. Where is our No. 14!? Answers may range from, ‘We had Thierry Henry playing there, aye (!?)‘ to ‘It was this real fast guy‘ & so on. You shouldn’t also be surprised if few fail to remember this guy completely. But then pardoning them would be much easier than forgetting the promise one English teenager had shown signs of, months before WC ‘06. It’s that time of the year again, & we @11G rewind time to get up-close with Theo Walcott. Our No. 14 btw..

Aged 20, Theo Walcott, the current Arsenal No. 14, has already seen more twists & turns in his rather nascent career than most see in their lifetimes. After all, not many kids are possessed with pace as raw as his. Not many are hand-picked by one of England’s premier club’s aged merely 16 (which made him the costliest teenager ever is noteworthy here). Not many get a free trip to football’s biggest draw, the World Cup i.e., that too as a player, without even making a senior debut with his club. Not many are Theo Walcott anyways. Welcome to his life, a life lived in the fast lane.

He has been the protagonist in each of the aforementioned situations. History will tell you that he didn’t get a single minute of playing time in Germany with the English side, but what he gained on experienced can’t be denied either. With expectations as huge as a monster-ball, he eventually made his bow with the Gunners in the season that followed. Still a naive teenager, he showed glimpses of sheer brilliance every now and then & continued to hone his skills under the able tutelage of Professor Wenger. ‘That’ goal against Chelsea in the Carling Cup final (his first for Arsenal) or ‘that’ run against Liverpool in the Champion’s League quarters (a 80-yard surge like no other), the faithful had their hands full times over. Whilst Stuart Pierce & Sven Goran kept assigning him different roles with the national side (U-21 or the senior side), his involvement as a full-time member was far from proven. All that changed during the September of ‘08. Against Croatia, in Zagreb, he bagged a hat-trick, no less, & put to rest all the skeptics doing rounds. His pace, strength & finish had the Croats in a state of delusion. The ‘boy-wonder‘ had arrived. He finished the season with Arsenal scoring 7 goals, & more importantly looking a menace every time he came on. Everything seemed in place for the kid from St. Mary’s (read: Southampton). He re-joined the national side for the U-19 Euro’s during the off-season, much to the angst of Arsene, & risked picking an injury ahead of the new season. Thankfully he returned safe but that was that. A fresh season began soon after, but the decline of Theo, it seems, had already began somewhere in the interim.

Season 2009-10 has been a disaster even by his standards. Knee, shoulder and ­hamstring injuries have ­restricted Walcott to just six starts for Arsenal this season. Arsenal switching to a winger-unfriendly 4-3-3 has also contributed to his supposed wilderness on the pitch. He seems unsure whether to attack or to recline back & help out the full-backs as they overlap him. Wenger, meanwhile, has been adamant in his backing the young prodigy, & maintains that he will  get back to his best once he out-do’s his injuries. Theo himself recently spoke of his frustration at having picked minor niggles all season, something he felt was very unlike him, & reiterated Arsene’s faith by echoing his thoughts.

England have a healthy mix of RW/RM’s & Fabio Capello will have his job cut out in choosing from David Beckham, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright Phillips, Theo Walcott, amongst others. With competition as high as this, Theo must be praying to have seen the last of the treatment season, for this season at least. Else he might go the Michael Owen-way & fade out of public memory sooner than later. Let’s not forget, Owen had a fairly successful career with the Three Lions. Theo has barely begun & has a long distance to cover.

Pace is something he relates to like fish to water. Time, like his runs down the flanks, too, is running equally fast. For the first time under public glare & scrutiny, he must now rise up to the occasion & shut his detractors once and for all. He must not forget that he gets paid to represent England at football tourneys & not just run & run to try and make the English sprint squad for the London Olympics 2012! We have had enough of ‘the next superstar‘, ‘talented but needs time‘, ‘his time will come’, rhetoric. It’s about time Theo Walcott out-paced the other contenders & booked his place on the flight to South Africa. And that, only after guiding the Gunners to silverware before the season bids adieu. Oh, did I just go over-board with my optimism here or what!?

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Proverbial Chain Around Arsenal

Just before the break Andy Gray said that Arsenal has been better than Chelsea in just about everything except the only thing that matters – goals column. Arsenal played great football between the two goals, after the second goal and even in the second half. We know that the striking has been a problem for us ever since that unfortunate injury to RvP. But there is more to it than lack of quality striker for us. There is a problem with the mindset of our players and we @ 11G urge Mr.Wenger to hire a specialist to deal with this issue..

This Arsenal team is a great footballing squad developed by Mr. Wenger in a very organic way. This team is not a pack of mercenaries. A lot of the players who are playing in this squad have been together for quiet some time. So team spirit is not an issue. The flip side to this fact is that they have not won anything and that too for an extended period. A lot of players were exposed to rigors of premiership at a very early stage in their career. They have  had very tough times against Jose’s mercenaries and don’t forget the battering that they received from Rijkaard’s all conquering team comprising of Ronaldinho in full flow and Messi giving him company.

So, I feel that this team has a more of a psychological problem than a footballing problem. This team has lost consistently to teams like Chelsea, Barca, Utd. for quiet some time. Now, since it started happening when these players were not even out of their teens, it has had a very damaging influence on their psyche. It is a perfect case of “elephant syndrome”. In zoos or in other controlled environments, elephants are tied to a chain when they are young. At that age those creatures are not good enough to break those chains. But as they grow bigger and stronger they become more than capable to break out of those chains. In spite of them being capable to do so, they don’t do so. It is because of their mindset which still believes that they are not good enough to break free of those chains. And same is the problem with this Arsenal squad.

So we suggest Mr Wenger to hire a sports psychologist. And for god’s sake, please don’t buy any greenhorns. We are not asking for a “superstar” but we want someone who has won something of significance so that his confidence can rub upon the others. The time has come to act and we hope that Mr Wenger is listening to us.

Wishing for a brighter “Red & White” future..