Wenger & Rice - Looking Ahead

Arsenal took just 90 seconds to kick-start their pre-season with a Andrey Arshavin goal. 2 more teams & 10 further goals later, they look in fine shape ahead of the Emirates Cup in a few days time. Barnet, SK Sturm Graz & SC Neusiedl were our opponents this time around, as we headed towards Austria like most summers. 11G sums up the results for you..

First up were Barnet, the usual suspects one can presume. Both Laurent Koscielny & Marouane Chamakh were handed starts by Arsene. Although it was the Russian who got us to a rollicking start. Jay Simpson latched up two opportunist strikes to stake claim in the first-team. Wenger decided to field an entire different XI for the second half, as is the norm. Arsenal dominated the half with Walcott making good runs down the flank, like the days of yore. His final ball still needs a lot more improvement though. Samir Nasri rounded the outing by bagging a goal for himself.

Most notable was the choice of goalkeeper’s made by Arsene. While it was Lukasz Fabianski who started the game. Vito Mannone & Wojciech Szczesny divided the burden at the turn of the half. Word went round that Almunia had picked an injury right before the game. Very well.

Here’s how we lined up for both the halves:

1’st half:

Lukasz Fabianski, Havard Nordtveit, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Armand Traore, Emmanuel Frimpong, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin, Jay Simpson, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

2′nd half:

Wojciech Szczesny / Vito Mannone, Ignasi Miquel, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Craig Eastmond, Samir Nasri, Conor Henderson, Henri Lansbury, Nacer Barazite, Theo Walcott, Marouane Chamakh

Both the debutants failed to impress, clearly indicating they need more time to settle in the squad. Both JET & Frimpong were massive in the first half, sign of great things to come perhaps! Same was the case with Jack- the lad.

Next up were the Austrian outfit, SK Sturm Graz. Now this was a gradual increase in levels as we were facing the reigning Austrian Cup holders. But Wenger’s side continued to impress with a near perfect 3-0 victory. Two exquisite goals from Nasri & a 2′nd half strike from Lansbury sealed the points for us. For the consecutive game running, Theo failed to get his final ball right. Vermaelen was handed his first arm-band, a huge improvement over last years debut for him.

Wenger again opted for the pair of Lukasz Fabianski & Wojciech Szczesny at the back. Now this time Almunia was not injured, if insiders are to be believed. So that clearly means the Spaniard is being singled out. Given his age, this must imply his ousting from the squad altogether. What a relief would that be!

Team for the 1’st half:

Lukasz Fabianski, Thomas Vermaelen, Havard Nordtveit, Johan Djourou, Armand Traore, Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh

Subs for the 2′nd half:

Wojciech Szczesny, Laurent Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs, Craig Eastmond, Henri Lansbury, Tomas Rosicky, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

And finally we squared up against SC Neusiedl, a game which marked the debut goal for Marouane Chamakh. One of many I hope. Walcott opened his account for the season & so did Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. And who can forget ‘that’ chip from Vela. He may score only two-goals-a-season, but they are usually ones to savour mind you. Big season for the Mexican this, especially now that Eduardo has bid adieu.

Neusiedl, a tier-3 side from Austria, did get a chance to go ahead but Mannone did well to save the shot from 12 yards. And that was that, another stroll in the park for the Gunners.

Interestingly Almunia was handed a start for this one, much to the angst of many Gooners, including me. I thought his story was over.

Squad for the 1’st half:

Manuel Almunia, Havard Nordtveit, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Frimpong, Theo Walcott, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

2′nd half (Subs):

Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue, Carlos Vela, Marouane Chamakh

World Cup returnees, Eboue, Clichy & Sagna did get some playing time whilst the duo of Song & Diaby was withheld completely. ‘Hourglass’ Djourou seems to have picked yet another pre-season injury. Here’s hoping he returns before April with this one. Seriously he needs to build on his fitness; season after season, the same old story is just not done.

So at the end of 3 games, virtually all the available squad members were given a run-in by the Professor. 11 goals to show for & none conceded, would have impressed Arsene. Individually the likes of Nasri, JET, Jay Simpson, Wilshere, Lansbury etal impressed hugely. Debutants Koscielny & Chamakh need to toughen up though, if they are to stand a chance in the fast-paced English league.

I’d personally want the gaffer to surprise us by having Szczesny as our #1 GK for the season; offload Almunia & cripple Fabianksi or something. We are in dire needs of a strong custodian, someone go tell Arsene!

Overall it was an acceptable pre-season but a lot more needs to be done to face the might of Celtic & Milan in the Emirates Cup starting next week. Reports are filtering in that both RvP & Cesc are gonna miss it, joining Bendtner who’s out injured. Nonetheless I’m keeping the faith & so should you..

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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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Catalan C*nts

“..I do however have some interesting facts for you, which for some reason oblivious to me; have been hidden from the public domain. These facts include the following..”

Over the past month or so, we Gooners, have been at utter loss of words given the very nature of scathing verbose showered at Cesc, courtesy the courtesy-less Catalans (read: C*nts). Left, right & center, they’ve left no space uncovered in teaming up against our charismatic captain, in a bid to lure him back to what they wrongly believe his home. Let’s face it; he learnt all his craft under the able tutelage of Arsene at London Colney. He might have been team-mates with Pique & Messi when in diapers at the Cantera (read: C*nt-era), but if it were not for Arsenal, he’d be rotting on one of the many crocked benched at Camp Nou.

All that is history though, & it looks very likely that we’re gonna procure the services of Fabregas for yet another season (one of many I hope). Amidst the entire melee, modern football was introduced to a very new kinda parameter to negotiate, re-negotiate a possible transfer. Usually it’s the money & the number of years left in the contract which matter; players can now even buy themselves outta a contract if they really want to move on. Fair enough I reckon. But never before in the history of football, a person’s DNA decided which club he should go to, did it!? In one of the feedbacks on 11G, I found this really intuitive take as to why exactly are these Catalans so obsessed with the tiny threads called DNA. Read on & hope you like it

“..The reason why Xavi is an expert on DNA, and coincidentally the reason why he is pasty white, is because he constantly consumes it, when he isn’t smearing it all over his face.

Puyol on the other hand, uses DNA to maintain his magnificent samoan-esque locks; no doubt a direct result of an irregular pay-cheque from El Catalans.

Manure-reject Pique utilizes DNA as face balm in order to grow a fuller beard; in an effort not to end up with what is commonly known as a ‘Gary Neville’ rat beard.

And how can one forget Lionel Messi. Since his arrival at Barcelona as a twelve year old, he has had daily injections of DNA direct from source, which I believe is the prime reason behind his vertical might. 4 ft 2 inches no less.

The source has been unofficially confirmed as being that of Joan Laporta. Injection duties were due to be transferred to his successor Sandra Rossel. However upon inspection by Barca’s medical’s staff it was determined that he does not possess the necessary equipment in order to undertake said duties. Thus finally explaining why he has a girl’s name.

Seriously though, now that my rant is over, I have a couple of corrections for you. See as I am feeling a little “anal” today (pun intended); it should be UEFA & not FIFA who should intervene in this matter. This has to be the most blatant & public tapping up scandal since I cannot remember when; as this is a matter between two clubs of the separate domestic leagues & it falls under UEFA’s remit. However we cannot expect ‘puppet’ Platini to take any action, as in the past he has been quite vocal in his dislike for Wenger’s methods acquiring young European talent. Also I wouldn’t expect Barca’s players to be sanctioned for their part in this saga, as those bloody twats get away with saying & doing what they want. I would however have expected Barca’s elected & official representatives to have been reprimanded for their part as theoretically they should know better. But then, it’s in their blood. Can’t really help.

I cannot agree more with your last statement that we should hate Barcelona for this fiasco, and not Cesc. Should any fan at the Grove, give him an Adebayor-esque reception; we would be giving Barcelona exactly what they want & that’s the last thing we wanna do at this moment of time. Hopefully you will all join me in giving him a rousing reception & that we remind him of how much he is loved & respected at the Grove; so that he then knuckles down & finally leads us to some silverware this season.

As for Cesc’s retail price, Arsene should tell Barcelona to put up or shut up. And if they cannot meet our valuation, then they should start tapping up other ready-made players like the Rooney’s, the Torres’s & the Drogba’s of this world. And yeah Xavi, you can either go back to Ice Age or rot in hell..”

I’m sure the above re-iterates the view of every Gooner out there. Btw, Xavi’s latest theory prescribes Cesc being on a loan at Arsenal & will be Barca-bound one day. For once I agree with the knob-head. Yeah Cesc has been loaned to us for the next 14 years. After that Xavi is free to tally Cesc’s DNA with his or do whatever he wants to. One reminder though, the threads would’ve turned ‘red & white’ by then. Like Titi once famously said, ‘Once a Gunner, always a Gunner’.

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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

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..

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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Fabre-class!

The Fifa World Cup is on with all it’s pomp & grandeur. Amidst the melee, we at 11G decided to delve into something fun, something other than just football, something to do with fashion! So we hand-picked 10 squad members, 5 who were selected for the World Cup by their respective countries, & 5 who missed out due to injury or plain bad luck. In the first part, we look-in to those who made it.

Shilpi Bose (Fashion Expert/Writer/Homemaker) from Hong Kong, takes time out & comments on the ‘FQ’ (Fashion Quotient!) of Cescy, Robin, Willy, Eboue & Song in this exclusive. Follow her on Twitter @shilpiiz

Cesc Fabregas (Spain)

• Cesc Fabregas, aged 24 years, is the very symbol of Arsenal FC – ‘El Capitan’ as they call him.
• He is one of the most coveted midfielders in the world and a creative genius when on the football field.
• He has a very casual and relaxed way of dressing – neither too bold nor too classy.
• Being a youth icon, he has a perfect style of his own. He looks his best in leather and sweat jackets.
• He has his initials C.F. tattooed in script on his wrist. And the other ‘Polynesian’ tattoo on his right arm, which I like the most.

Robin Van Persie (The Netherlands)

• Robin Van Persie, aged 27 years, is the most prolific & arguably the most talented forward Arsenal have at their disposal.
• He has a lethal left foot with plenty of tricks and turns to ward off supposed defenders.
• RVP has a simple, yet a very decent sense of dressing.
• He looks best in formals – shirts and trousers. That said, this guy is bold enough to wear white trousers with huge black stripes. A faux pas of sorts!
• His elegant dressing style reflects his persona off the field as well; that of a doting father & a loving husband.

William Gallas (France)

• William Gallas, aged 32 years, is a solid defender with part-time ego problems.
• An ill-tempered player, Gallas was a failure as a captain. Although he had the talent required to thwart his obvious flaws, the fans never wamed up to him post his disgrace at Birmingham back in Feb’08.
• Willy has a garish way of dressing – loud and flashy.
• His dressing style reflects his mood –  ‘flashy’ almost filling in for his high temper.
• Another big ‘thumbs down’ is his inclination towards visible ornaments, he loves flaunting them alright. Something I strictly dislike with men, a big NO for me.

Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast)

• Emmanuel Eboue, aged 30 years, is the most versatile and the most loved Arsenal player.
• His ever smiling face coupled  with his joyous nature and his being a utility man in the squad; augurs real well with the Arsenal faithful. This chant epitomises the aformentioned - “We like Eboue- boue We like Eboue- boue We only came to see Eboue- boue”
• He’s by far the funniest Arsenal player & also dances the best amongst his fellow squad members, but it’s the dressing sense which lets him down.
• Eboue enjoys dressing in a trendy style but it usually turns out to be gaudy & not too impressive.
• His resemblance to Kayne West makes him look like an uber-cool rapper though!

Alex Song (Cameroon)

• Alex Song, aged 23 years, is another of Wenger’s prodigies.
• He is an upcoming, & already one of the finest defensive midfielder around. As a result, over the course of last season, he established himself as one of the first names in the starting XI.
• Now about his dressing sense – I would say that he is usually seen in casuals & is not much of a trendsetter.
• What I dislike the most about him is his hair style. He must cut short as it doesn’t look too pleasing.
• He likes to wear his hair-bands & his wrist-bands, which I think, go well with his rugged image.

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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..

EPL 2010-11

No more idle weekends, no more extended holidays, hell for that matter no more taking time out for family, work etal. All this & more ‘cos in exactly 55 days time, the most thrilling league in the world will be back. Make note of the date – Aug 14th ‘10, Barclays Premier League will return to our lives; bigger & better than ever before.

11G delves into the same..

Arsenal start off with a tricky away fixture at Anfield; hope Arshavin knows this! Next up is a home game against new boys Blackpool, followed by yet another toughie away at Blackburn. So it’s two ‘Pools’ & two ‘Blacks’ first up!

September sees Arsenal face Bolton & West Brom at the Emirates, whilst we square up against Sunderland away at the ‘Stadium of Lights’. A lightweight month one can presume.

Now October is when the league table starts getting some shape & by the end of it, we have an idea of the teams who’re gonna fight till the very end. We start off the month with the biggest game thus far, away at Chelsea. If that’s not enough, We also face Manchester ‘moneybags’ City away at the Eastlands. Home games against Birmingham & West Ham are the only respites. Here’s hoping this time we’re able to take points against the teams in different hues of ‘blue’!

November starts with a face-off against an old nemesis, Newcastle United. I admit it’s nice to have them back, a club of their stature deserve no less. Away games at Wolves, Everton & Aston Villa make it an important month in the larger scheme of things. And guess what, Tottenham are the other home game we have for the month – mouthwatering stuff indeed.

Skeptics may point out consecutive games against the Toffees, Spuds & the Villians as another FA conspiracy, but lets not get into that just yet.

December is another choked month with home fixtures against Fulham, Stoke & hold your breath, Chelsea again! Away games include Wigan & oh well.. one certain Manchester United. Now this really makes things interesting from an Arsenal point of view.

Mid-way through the season, we’d have faced Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea & Man Utd, all away at their own backyard. Not just that, we’d have also faced the reigning champion’s in the reverse fixture as well. It can turn out to be a blessing in disguise from where I see things. If we can keep it steady over the first part of the season, it’s gonna be a huge fillip for our chances to finally bag some silverware after a 5 year hiatus.

I won’t bore you with the remaining fixtures one-by-one, we can always look into them at a later time. The important one’s are – Shitty (H, 4th Jan), Spuds (A, 26th Feb), Loserpool (H, 16th April), Manure (H, 30th April) & finally Fulham, away, on the 22nd May – a date we’ll hopefully be crowned the new Premier League Champions! Amen..

Month-by-month Fixture list :-

August
14 Liverpool (A)
21 Blackpool (H)
28 Blackburn (A)

September
11 Bolton (H)
18 Sunderland (A)
25 West Brom (H)

October
2 Chelsea (A)
16 Birmingham (H)
23 Man City (A)
30 West Ham (H)

November
6 Newcastle (H)
9 Wolverhampton (A)
13 Everton (A)
20 Tottenham (H)
27 Aston Villa (A)

December
4 Fulham (H)
11 Man Utd (A)
18 Stoke (H)
26 Chelsea (H)
28 Wigan (A)

January
1 Birmingham (A)
4 Man City (H)
15 West Ham (A)
22 Wigan (H)

February
1 Everton (H)
5 Newcastle (A)
12 Wolverhampton (H)
26 Tottenham (A)

March
5 Sunderland (H)
19 West Brom (A)

April
2 Blackburn (H)
9 Blackpool (A)
16 Liverpool (H)
23 Bolton (A)
30 Man Utd (H)

May
7 Stoke (A)
14 Aston Villa (H)
22 Fulham (A)

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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..

Almunia s*cks!

So you’ve (hopefully) read my first installment, of players I would like to see Wenger buy. Now you’ll see the nasty side of me with players I think need to be sold, or could be sold without weakening the team.

11G in sync with Conor, looks into the individual cases of players who should be leaving Arsenal before the next season begins. Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911

Manuel Almunia:

Possibly the difference between us winning something and losing. The Premier League’s worst ‘keeper I think, he just seems afraid of the ball at every chance he should be saving. He can’t punch the ball clear, and when he does he only sends it to the opposition. He rarely catches a ball cleanly and when he comes for crosses, you better close your eyes unless you like seeing huge mistakes.

Verdict: Has to go.

Lukasz Fabianski:

Imagine Almunia, ok, now imagine 5 times worse! Now wake from your nightmare. Fabianski gets plenty of support from Wenger, but I see nothing to back it up. He’s rarely put in a solid effort, and when a keeper goes for a cross, there is no way his hand should extend as little as Fab’s does. A good shot-stopper on his day, but then again, his days are oh so rare.

Verdict: Has to go.

Mikael Silvestre:

I’m not certain if his contract runs out this summer, but if it does I hope Wenger doesn’t even dream of renewing his contract. The lad doesn’t know how to defend properly, and has been often caught as the last man back in the offside trap, leaving a striker with a free goal to shoot at. Not up to the Arsenal standard, in fact, not even up to Championship standard.

Verdict: Has to go.

Philippe Senderos:

Yes, he is still an Arsenal player, in case you had forgotten. But the fact he has been loaned out for the last two seasons means one thing to me, Wenger doesn’t have faith in him. So why keep loaning him out? Get rid of him or play him, is what I think. I don’t think you can just loan out a player until he suddenly becomes world-class; if he isn’t, he shouldn’t be at Arsenal. Simple.

Verdict: Probably will go.

Denilson:

This isn’t necessarily a must-go, but Denilson has to start acting as if football is his passion, rather than just an easy paycheque, because all I have seen from him this season is a few hopeful long-range shots, and a whole lot of jogging about the pitch, which is simply not good enough. Midfielders are meant to be up and down the pitch, he is constantly in the middle.

Verdict: Won’t go but should.

Carlos Vela:

Overrated would be the word I use to describe Vela, if I could only use one word. The Mexican has natural ability, but he just doesn’t do it for Arsenal. I don’t know if they play football too complicated and intricate for him, or he just isn’t bothered, but to me he just doesn’t seem to fit in, which is a shame.

Verdict: Probably will go.

This would mean a major shake-up of sorts, but considering the club can register only 25 players for next season, it won’t be too bad, especially if some fresh & experienced players are signed. There are other players who could go, but I’ve tried to keep this to the worst performers this season.

Let me know if I’ve missed someone, or included a wrong’un up here; thoughts basically on how you’d want Arsenal to line-up for next season taking into account the players that we bring in. Keep Gunning for now..

PS: This article was prepared before the Fulham game last evening; logic suggests after seeing Vela chipping the keeper delightfully, sticking with him would be the right decision! Aye!?

Also Read: 8 Players Wenger Should Consider Signing For 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..

A picture tells a thousand words

If someone missed out on the last 10 minutes of the game yesterday, he should be forgiven for considering us still in the title race. A Walcott goal and another by Silvestre should’ve seen Arsenal sail through comfortably, getting 3 points bringing them closer to leaders Chelsea. However, the man of the moment, Lukasz Fabianski, like always screwed up the game, & with it the any outside chances for the title.

Arguably the first Goonerette from India, Amreen takes time out for 11G & dwells on the above. Hope you like what she has to offer. Find her on Facebook! Follow her on Twitter!

Three goals in 10 minutes turned the game in Wigan’s favour at the DW Stadium and trampled upon our title hopes (whatever little we had) for this season.

Saturday night’s games had given Arsenal yet another bout of hope; United tamed City 1-0 and Chelsea were crushed by the Spurs 1-2. Our team consisted of young, but experienced players; Silvestre and Campbell between them had more than 1000 games in English Football. This was a must win game for both Arsenal & Wigan; either could pass or fail.

Almunia apparently, was not playing due to a wrist injury, and would be out for the rest of the season, said Arsene Wenger, in a pre-match report. Vito Mannoe was kept on the bench, but perhaps, he would’ve done a better job. Robin Van Persie too was benched, and Eastmond was handed a start.

Wigan were dominating, which was quite surprising after their mid-week defeat to an under-strength Portsmouth, but the Gunners shaded ball possession as expected.

31st minute was the turning point, and in retrospect, that cost us the game. Theo Walcott had an amazing opportunity to score, but something got in to him and he passed the ball to a Wigan player! Maybe he freaked out, maybe he wasn’t sure if he could score, but he should have taken the chance.

He did bounce back in the 41st minute. It was an easy goal- there were no defenders, and even the goalie was nowhere close to the goal.

Half time saw the score as WIG 0-1 ARS.

Second half started with a bang- Silvestre scored! A corner from Nasri and he pushed it in with a header.
From then on, it looked as if the Gunners had already won the match. Their passes were not connecting, they were hardly trying to get shots on target, and most importantly, Fabianski looked as if he were a statue. He was just not moving!! It was his birthday and we all expected him to perform well, but I guess he’ll always remain abysmal.

Perhaps it was then Wenger should have brought on Van Persie. 20 minutes to go and we needed to score one more to secure our 3 points.

But that was far from happening. Lousy playing from our side led to Watson’s goal with 10 minutes left. 7 Arsenal players and Fabianski were not enough to stop him.

Titus Bramble and Charles N’Zogbia of all people put the final nails in our coffin and we were done for. Van Persie came on just before stoppage time, but there was nothing he could’ve done.

We were bad, we were pathetic and towards the end we became over-confident.

Wenger needs to rethink his options, if he wants to end the 4-year long jinx and get hands on some silverware. We need a goalie, one who wouldn’t fumble, and would meet challenges head on. Van Persie needs to start here on; Wenger has to give that guy some credit. He brings him on in the last few minutes, and expects him to weave his magic ASAP. Just not fair.

There’s a lot of thinking and buying of new players which needs to be done before the next season kicks off. Also, injuries have to be checked… if players like Fabregas, Ashravin, Song and Van Persie are going to out of the reckoning, when we need them the most, there’s something seriously wrong, isn’t there?

Yesterday’s match results had given the Gunners a chance to catch up, but I guess whatever we do, that’s just not happening now.

Well, all’s not lost! There’s no point praying now, but as a die-hard Gunner, one thing I can’t ever give up on is hope. You never know Chelsea & Manchester United might drop points again, and hopefully we’ll be able to take advantage of that situation.

If not, it’s all over for this season, but after every sunset comes a brighter a sunrise. You never know what Chamakh, Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri and WArshavin might hold in store for us next season! Until then, keep hoping, because we’re the Gunners & we NEVER GIVE UP! Up the 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..

It gives Us@11G, immense pleasure to bring before you, views from the largest Arsenal Group on Facebook, courtesy Adam Esker, a founder admin of the same. With over 75,000 active members to date, this is by far the best place for any Gooner to vent out his rant & rile regarding his l.o.v.e called Arsenal.

In this piece, Adam throws light on how the group came into being first of all, the way it is managed on a day-to-day basis, it’s global reach & impact, why Arsenal & ‘tradition’ are synonymous with each other, & what keeps him devout his allegiance for the club for now, & forever. Hope you all like it, & join the forum ASAP thereafter. Enjoy..

The group has been around since the early days of Facebook and the administrative privileges have been passed down to members who are consistent with their posts and may be counted on to updating the group often. The four of us have been admin for quite some time now and we work together to keep things flowing. We try our best to spread the Arsenal news to the people.

The group has evolved quite a bit with the emergence of Gooners from all around… It’s quite amazing how broad the community has become. The passion is as strong as ever as we enter the final stretch but we must be complacent – the faith must remain genuine through the thick and thin. Very often we get a few people who snap like a twig when things go awry, but the senior and more experienced fans tend to those matters efficiently. The “Wenger should leave” and “Bendtner needs 2 go” posts are usually very amusing because it shows the maturity of some fans. Nick Hornby makes a very interesting point to say that Arsenal fans of today are spoiled.

Yes, I understand that it’s difficult and frustrating to support a team with such a rich history and one in which we expect so much. But think about that trophy drought that ravaged our cabinets between 1971-1979, or 1979-1987? Peculiar how that run ends, doesn’t it? There’s more to it than just the trophies and the glamour. With those supporters who understand football, there is a connection that digs a little bit deeper. Which leads me to the point as to why Arsenal is such a special club:-

I always found that it’s difficult for me to explain what it is about Arsenal FC… part of it is the connection with the club and its history. We are a vibrant team with a rich history and our manager has helped preserve the fidelity of our team. We have not gone rotten because of glory-hunting-gimmy-money-cuz-I-want-to-by-half-of-the-continent-scoundrels routine. There is something about this team that no other team in the entire world has – tradition.

I admire Arsene Wenger because he is a genuine person. Of course there are certain roadblocks between the source-media-people but there is a peculiar honesty about Arsenal. Where else would you see a player looking up to their manager as their father? Be part of a team which is so closely knit that it is practically like family – through the good and the bad times. Unfortunately for us it has been a rather cloudy last few years but that doesn’t mean we let our heads down, do we? Manchester United has had it tough in the first half of the decade when we were on top, and who was Chelsea? Lucky enough to get bought out by a rich owner with his mind on the money, that’s for sure.

When the tough gets going, I recommend to be prepared for it. For example, what happened during our recent Champions League endeavors? Barcelona is an undoubtedly incredible side, but take a glance at our resources at the time. Silvestre. That’s why it’s always safe to be prepared for the worst. We had Mikael Silvestre playing at CB for crying out loud. That has to be the worst signing in Arsenal history. The. Worst.

Imagine how difficult it must be for Arsene, whom the entire club essentially falls on his shoulders. I admire the fact that he’s still going at it despite the numerous times people have questioned his philosophy and ideals. It must be very, very difficult to be a football manager and I don’t think that people realize that.

Despite the Messi show at the Camp Nou you cannot deny the fact that our Arsenal boys played their souls out over those two legs. That entire tie could have ended on a much sourer note. And you know what? It’s moments like those where I am so proud to be an Arsenal supporter. You’ve been battered and beaten but you realize what’s at stake if you give up… You’ve been battered and bleeding but you’re definitely standing clenching your jaw.. It’s resilience. We (Arsenal fans) get so much stick every season, and I give my praise to Wenger who is amidst all this pressure.

Not only do you let yourself down you also disappoint a lot of people. What this team has shown this season is that they are a unit that’s not going out without a final roar. The man behind it, Arsene Wenger; who as I see it, is like a gardener nurturing and watching over a tree. The players are like the branches, which he cherishes and gives them a chance to grow and succeed. He knows that someday this tree will grow and be an absolute brilliant sight because that is his vision. And you know, perhaps by September he’ll grow a few more (wink wink, nudge nudge).

In Wenger we trust. Forever and ever.

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..

The North London Derby

The part of the season where nerves begin to kick-in, is here.  An important last 5 games lie in store for us, starting with a tricky local derby against Tottenham Hotspur.

With our last game coming in a 4-1 defeat against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, the team’s stamina could’ve been low, the team could’ve lost all belief, however.. we had a free weekend. Allowing Wenger to get to grips with the team a little more, show them what needs to be done to continue the push for the Barclays Premier League against local rivals, ‘Spurs. ‘Spurs’ve been flying through their fixtures, thick & fast. Games against Portsmouth, Sunderland & Portsmouth again, have left Redknapp re-shuffling the back four and midfield, in order for them to be ready for the derby.

Ross, a passionate Arsenal fan from England, takes time out & previews the game for 11G. You can follow him on Twitter as well!

Gooners should approach the local derby, confident, yet aware of the attacking presence ‘Spurs present. The confidence comes from the recent form of Theo Walcott & fine goal-scoring form of Nicklas Bendtner, who seem to be finding the net at-will. However, Arsenal must be aware of the form of Hotspurs’ front-two. Pavyluchenko continues to give centre-backs’ a hard time with Defoe making crafty runs’ behind the CB’s. Old-timer, Sol Campbell, if he were to start, must work on his pace in order to stop the attacking creativity of an inconsistent Tottenham side.

In the last 10 Premier League games against ‘Spurs, Arsenal have won 5 and drew 5. Two memorable victories that spring to mind are a historic, 5-4 victory at White Hart Lane, in late 2004. And a recent, 3-0 victory at The Emirates where Cesc Fabregas stole the show. This time, we’re without Cesc. Relying on the creativity of Nasri & Diaby in the midfield, Rosicky on the left & Campbell at the back doesn’t give many of us Gooners hope, but I see another side of the coin. A thumping, 5-0 victory against FC Porto without our big names proves that when called upon in big games, our second-stringers can produce the goods.

Now to ‘Spurs. It’s more than likely that this Hotspur team will decide the outcome of the Premier League, facing us, Chelsea & Manchester United in the weeks to come. Many people will consider Tottenham to be drained of energy after going to extra-time in their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Portsmouth, I see it differently. Redknapp will be drilling the fact into his players, that 4^th place is all they have left to fight for, pumping more motivation into a derby that doesn’t need pumped up even more.

A win is a necessity for us, in our pursuit for Premiership gold. With United slipping up at home to Blackburn, this is the perfect opportunity to get ourselves back in the mix, and push us into second place. Number 52, Nicklas Bendtner believes that this game is the perfect opportunity to get our season back on track after falling out of the Champions League to favourites Barcelona. He went on record as saying:

“It would mean a lot to us because Tottenham are our main rivals. Beating them at their ground and maybe going second in the League, depending on other results, would be a massive thing for us.”

A massive thing, indeed. The walk/train/bus to White Hart Lane will be a nerve-wrecking trip for us Gooners, but it doesn’t need to be. Confidence from us, will radiate onto the players on the turf. Manuel Almunia will have a huge responsibility on Friday night, as club captain. Ensuring that the players stick to their role, ensuring that the team is motivated through-out the match, and ensuring that we go onto win the game. Whether that be comfortably, or through a lucky last-minute goal, again.

Reports filtering in suggest that Robin might just make it to the squad for tomorrow’s game. What a boost will that be!? Read more on the same here:

RVP Returns To Gun Down The ‘Tiny Totts’!

Here is the team I think Arsene will start at White Hart Lane:

Formation

Go Gunners..

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..

Also Enjoy These:

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 1!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 2!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 3!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 4!

“Not-So-Hot-Spurs”: A Pictorial To Confirm The Same!

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

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..

Also Enjoy These:

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 1!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 2!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 3!

The Best Anti-Tottenham Jokes: Part 4!

“Not-So-Hot-Spurs”: A Pictorial To Confirm The Same!

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

Will Arsenal leave it late against Tottenham?

Over the past week & a half, one late goal, one sprinter, & one God-like human, have caught the fancy of Us Gooners like no one else & like never before. Whilst the former two belong to the ‘Red ‘n White’ half of London, the latter hails from the cryptic land of Cataluña. It goes without saying that the men in question are Niklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott & ‘the’ Lionel Messi. 11G takes time out to dig deep into their individual cases..

I’ll keep things simple & quickly revise the points table for you all; Chelsea lead with 74 points, United trail by 1 (after their draw with Blackburn hours back!), & Arsenal a point further behind; with just 5 more games to go before another edition of Barclay’s Premier League bids adieu. United now have four more games only. Things would have been very different for the Gunners if one certain Dane had not rescued them, not once, but twice over, with late late winners no less. After a dodgy hat-trick against Porto in the Champion’s League, he gave Arsenal 3 vital points scoring a stoppage-time winner against Hull. Any outside chances of winning the league for the first time since the class of ’04 (read: The Invincibles) would have been quenched right there.

Mathematically the title is still Chelsea’s to lose, but with just 3 points in it, you never know especially given the topsy-turvy nature of the campaign thus far. The Blues await key clashes against Tottenham & Liverpool, both vying for top-4 spots. United on the other hand are yet to face the duo of Tottenham & city rivals ‘City’ (!), again a team very much in the reckoning for the elite Champion’s league birth for next term.

That said, even we face both Tottenham & City before the season closes, so there are points aplenty to be both, lost & won. If Chelsea slip-up in at least one fixture, & we somehow manage to win them all, the mix will get a hell lot more close than it presently is. I have a funny feeling that the title will be decided on the final day with any of the trio in with a shout.

Hopefully I’ll still be around when that happens, but there’s no doubt about the fact that a huge reason behind Arsenal to be even considered as a possible ‘Champion-to-be’, is the super Dane, Niklas Bendtner. He’s had a stop-start season with injuries a many, but boy has he turned the tide or what!? Not only he gives us a different option with his height, he allows our midfielders to parry in the lay-offs he creates for them. With Arshavin up front, the above was non-existent. The guy still has critics after him with his atrocious first-touch & appalling ball-control, but only a fool will discount his presence in rallying this young & fragile team to glory. Hope he does exactly that come May!

If Bendtner’s forte lies in his vertical reach, Walcott’s fright is his horizontal acceleration. Anyone who can do 100 meters in 10 seconds flat, should be on a sprint-relay team & not trying his luck in football, is a popular notion doing rounds. Many have questioned his ability as a footballer, more precisely his footballing brain. But as we all found out over the two legs against Barca, if you have pace, you don’t need much else to succeed. He was the difference maker in the 1’st leg as Arsenal came from behind to earn a draw against the Catalan giants, sending the Gunners faithful in a state of oblivion. Things were the same at Camp Nou as Wenger started Theo, who in turn repaid faith by feeding in Niklas at the 18^th minute mark to give Arsenal a lead, against the run of play.

Be it Maxwell in the first leg or Abidal in the second, the mere sight of Theo sent shivers down their spine. Not only were Barca forced to keep a deep backline, but it also inhibited the oft-marauding full-backs of Barcelona, to retreat further behind than usual. Of course his impact would have been more telling had Arsenal not withered under one certain ‘El Mesias’ in the away leg, but given what we saw of him, he was unquestionably the difference-maker for Arsenal.

If he can keep fit for the remaining 5 games & come up with similar showings, I’m sure collecting 15 points won’t be much of a trouble.

Like I mentioned a while back, Theo’s sprints were over shadowed by the ‘sprint + skills + supreme abilities’ of Mr. Messi. I had purposely decided to refrain from adding to the already burgeoning praise lavished at the Argentine, by pundits, bloggers, fans across the globe et al, but mind you it takes an inhumane to do that! It is a rather unusual sight to see fellow Arsenal blogs come out in unison & shower praises to a player from the opposition, but such was the aura of little Lionel, that we just had to give in!

He chose a floating role for himself during the first leg, where although influential, he wasn’t directly involved in the state of play. Plaudits were handed to Clichy to have kept him at bay albeit momentarily. Yes, Clichy is showing signs of returning to his former self off late, but no one, & I mean no one could have possibly silenced what was to come from the ‘Messiah’ at Camp Nou during the return leg.

With no Gallas, no Song, no Campbell, and more importantly, ‘with’ Silvestre in the starting line-up, expecting Arsenal to contain an in-form Messi was a far-stretched thought right from the offset. Giving any player that much time on the ball, would mean chances galore for the opposition. If that player happens to be Lionel, expect him to bury those chances. And that’s precisely what happened as Arsenal just lost focus after Bendtner’s opener. Although I admit, Messi was in a different dimension that night, ‘unstoppable’ if I may. A snap-shot, a neat finish, a chip & a shot through Almunia’s legs meant he ended the night with no less than 4 goals. Otherwise as well, he was very influential, as was Xavi; who keeps threading those slide-rule’s match after match.

No point riling about our injury crisis, a lot has already been said on the same. I still maintain, ‘United without Rooney’, ‘Liverpool without Torres’ & ‘Chelsea without Drogba’ won’t be the same force as they are with them. Liverpool lost track of the 4th spot as a result, & United realized that earlier today as Berba was an ‘absent’ presence for them.

We have not only been without Robin, but also without Djourou, for some time now. Add long-term injuries to Ramsey & Cesc; 2-month lay-offs for Nasri, Rosicky, Theo, Niklas, Clichy & I’m not even done yet. Even Eduardo, Vela, Diaby & lately Gallas and Arshavin have been troubled by slight niggles. Despite all this, we are still in a shout for the league, which I think is huge & is bare testimony to the mental resolve of our present squad.

A short trip down the ‘Seven Sister’s Road‘ is up next as we renew hostilities with our fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, anything less than a resounding victory is just unacceptable. A chance go to 2^nd in the table is up for grabs, & reports suggest Robin will be bench side when we take on the pitch. I can see the omen going for us. C’mon you Arsenal, do us proud, again..

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Follow Me on Twitter @trulytazz

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)

Oh to.. Oh to be.. Oh to be a Gooner..

Sometimes I think I have it a bit hard.  I live in a part of England called the East Midlands.  It is a nice rural community in a county that is made up a mixture of sheep farming and light industry.

I quite like it here but there is a problem.  My home is about 100 miles from  the Emirates.  So to get to each Saturday afternoon match we leave at around 11am – four hours before kick off.  It doesn’t take us four hours to get there of course, but the English road system is liable to seize up without warning.  One has to allow for delays, accidents and all sort of other misdemeanours.   Twice this season we have been caught in huge traffic jams and only just made it into the ground in time for kick off.

Tony Attwood, an Editor with Arsenal.com, takes time out and explains the above exclusively for 11G..

So we drive south, part at one of the underground stations, and make the last five miles of the journey via the underground.  If there are no traffic problems and no train problems we arrive  at about 1.30pm, leaving us 90 minutes to pass before the game starts.

At the end of the match, we queue up with everyone else to get the tube away from Arsenal, and do the whole thing in reverse.  With luck we are home before 8pm.

Nine hours, just to watch 90 minutes of football.

Some of the season ticket holders who sit near me can’t believe how much travelling I do to see a game.  Sometimes it seems a bit much to me, but then I stopped complaining when I met a group of supporters from the Benelux Arsenal Supporters Club last Christmas.  Their journey involved a car trip to Antwerp, a train journey to Brussels, and then in theory a Eurostar train under the English Channel which brings them into London.  Except that the Eurostar booking system went wrong, and they couldn’t take their place on the train.  Instead they had to find a ferry, and then a train from the south coast of England to London, and then the underground.

They did it, and when I met them they were smiling and laughing.   Nine hours nothing.  These guys were going to be out for 19 hours, if not more.

And this is the problem.  The Arsenal fans who like me was born and brought up a couple of miles from the ground, think that anything more than a 15 minute journey to a football match is an outrage.  We feel that watching Arsenal is our right.  It is part of our life.  When we were children there was no overseas support.  And so it is very hard indeed to understand what it is like to support Arsenal from afar.

I know that every time my partner and I approach the Emirates we see lots of people who are clearly visiting the ground for the very first time.  They gather at the far end of the North Bridge and take photos of each other, with the stadium and the giant picture of Thierry Henry in the background.  They are always laughing, smiling, so happy to be there.

Meanwhile us regular season ticket holders march past complaining about the weather, the traffic, the delays on the underground, and the problem trying to get a pint in the pub.

Except now I have started to tell everyone I meet about the fact that there are Arsenal supporters in India, running their own web site, and supporting Arsenal with the same fervency that we have.  In fact I often think you are more fervent than we are.

I have also started to think that we should do more to support our fellow Gooners overseas, because it is your support (not ours) that is spreading the word about Arsenal on a worldwide basis, and allowing Arsenal to grow into a world-wide club.

I must admit I wasn’t too sure what I could do, until the intrepid Arsenal supporters from Belgium came up with an idea.  “How about,” they suggested, “an association to bring all the Arsenal supporters clubs and blogs across the world, together into one informal association?”

I must say I think this is a brilliant idea, and I’ve been doing what I can to support the notion by mentioning it on my own blog, Untold Arsenal.   As a result “Arsenal Worldwide” has taken a step forward, and the Benelux club has written to Arsenal, and Arsenal has shown a real interest in the idea.

So the first steps are being taken to set this organisation up.  The opening plan (at least at first) will be to publish an on-line magazine in which Arsenal supporters outside England can share their views, their experiences and their ideas.  I think it can only do good.

So I would like to thank everyone at 11Gunners for all that you have done, in opening my eyes to the dedication that there is towards Arsenal FC in India, and helping myself, and other Gooners realise that rather than complain about the journey we should be recognising your dedication to the cause that we all share.

At this moment Arsenal Worldwide is still an idea which is being discussed between the club and some supporters clubs.  I hope to have the chance to write a little more about this in the future as the idea develops.

NOTE: If you want to know more about Arsenal Worldwide write to WalterBroeckx@hotmail.com

:

The Greatest Gooner!

Tony Attwood is editor of two daily blogs: UNTOLD ARSENAL – which is dedicated to telling the stories of Arsenal than no one else ever tells, and WOOLWICH ARSENAL which re-tells the Gunners’ daily history from 100 years ago.   He is the Committee Member of Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association in charge of the Arsenal History project, a contributor to Highbury High, the Arsenal programme and the Official Arsenal.com biography of players, and the author of the novel MAKING THE ARSENAL which tells the story of 100 years ago , when the club went into administration and the modern club was rebornthrough the eyes of a Fleet Street journalist. The book is available from the publishers at www.emiratesstadium.info

Also Read By Tony Attwood:

Untold Arsenal feat. 11Gunners: Arsenalisation of India!

How To Become A Football Journalist..

Follow Us on Twitter @11gunnerz

Go Gunners..

Last week, the footballing duel of the decade was witnessed by mortals around the globe, and a few of them were lucky enough to be at ground zero. I had to make-do with a view on the tube and boy was it a spectacle or what!? Wenger billed the game as a walk through an art gallery; for the first 70 minutes, it was a walk through a morgue per say. All that till one certain Theo-ry set afoot. Rest as they say, is history, with Arsenal trailblazing a way back to end the game at 2-2. 11G interludes..

Barca started the proceedings in a ruthless manner and if it was not for Almunia’s pyrotechnics, we would have been done and dusted right then. In the 1^st hour of the match it looked like Barca were miles ‘n ages ahead of Arsenal and Wenger’s dream of creating a world class team will never come outta paper. The character of this team was put to litmus test and it looked like failing dismally.

But then this team did something which makes me feel more ‘goonerish’ than ever before. Walcott was introduced and he did live up to the ‘super sub’ tag bestowed to him. The speed of this youngster provided that zip missing in the team. The team was trying nonetheless but the spark was provided by Walcott. It’s a slap in the face of people who question his footballing brain and consider him to be a sprinter who has lost his way to a football ground.

Experts were heard saying that there is indeed some flicker of hope, as we prepare to face the best team on the globe in their back yard without the services of our best players i.e. Arshavin, Fabregas, Gallas et al. But we never had Arshavin or Gallas in the 1^st leg as well and considering the circumstances, we did quite well. We will have Rosicky coming back to take Arshavin’s place and Fabregas’ role will be played by Nasri who relished in this role against Porto. We have Sol to take Gallas’ place and Diaby has still not shown what he is capable of. All in all we have a lot going for ourselves.

It is Barca who needs to worry about their absentees.  Puyol and Pique’ both are outta of the tie and they are the weakest link in the Barca squad. If their 1^st choice center backs are so poor then I bet that gunners are having wet dreams dreaming about their 2^nd choice center backs. Even Ibra, Barca’s lone goal-scorer the other night, is out with a calf injury. Seems that’s the flavor of the season! Go gunners.

Now should Walcott start or should he again come as a ‘super sub’, is what has divided opinions all week long. In my opinion he makes more of an impact as a substitute and should be used late on in the game to exploit those tired ‘n tardy Barca legs, like he effectively did in the first leg. But again, question is will Arsenal be still in the game by then? Whilst he has not shown much of a class starting games, his presence is undeniable in those final minutes. Wenger will have to back him instincts on this one.

Nasri is good enough as a playmaker and I expect fireworks from him at the Nou Camp. On a nut shell, we have a more than a chance to go through and I would expect nothing less.

Even if this side does not manage to go through, I would not be ashamed of this side. These lads have done enough to make us gooners proud and it is the way they responded to the challenge that mattered. It is not about losing or winning but it is about the way you play the game and the way you respond to a challenge. They have done well to fight back against the best team in the world and that performance has brought a lot of solace to every gooner’s heart.

For now, forever, ‘Proud to be a Gooner’.

PS: News has filtered in, there is no Song in the squad for the trip to Spain. Things are going from bad to worse for Arsenal it seems.

Campbell is sure to start now, with Denilson-Diaby-Nasri to shoulder the mid-field. Any of Bendtner/Rosicky/Theo/Eduardo/Eboue will feature in the attacking third.

Irony being the selection of Fran Merida, another ex-Catalan. Now that will raise a few eye-brows surely!

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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..

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!‘

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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..