Afternoon all,
Well I got to say there are certain times in your life when you love to be proved wrong, and yesterdays match against Chelsea was one of those moments. My vitriolic rant the previous day was led by a sense of impending doom that Chelsea would use us as a springboard to turn around their on&off-field problems and continue on their title challenge. Boy oh boy was I wrong.
I've waited a day before posting as I actually wanted to see the match before blogging (it was on at 4 in the morning where I currently am) and I'm glad I did. What a performance. We outclassed a Chav side, who despite being on a losing streak, that have munched us in our encounters over the past few seasons. Cesc played at his best, no sign of the mental struggle he's been going through. Song looked dominant providing cover for our defence (as well as grabbing an important gal just before the break) and Walcott showed the form he was on at the beginning of the season before his injury.
It'll be interesting to see over the course of the second half of the season whether Walcott can displace Arshavin from an automatic starting spot. We'll always rotate our starters of course, but I think it'll be interesting to see which one of them will start in the first leg against Barcelona. Arshavin can be a genius when he shows up, but Walcott's pace is a scary scary thing for opposing teams. Especially when coupled with Cesc's eye for the perfect pass.
One thing which the match showed was how long it can take players to recover from bouts of malaria. Drogba had notched up 13 goals in 13 appearances against us before last night's match, however yesterday he looked so out of sorts you could have mistaken him for our diminutive Russian on his days when Andrey can't be bothered to show up. Let's not forget how long it took Toure to recover from his case of malaria when he was with us, lets all hope Drogba continues to suffer this drop in form for a few more months yet!
I'll skip over the transfer dross. Football journalists everywhere are making up reports left, right and centre. I'm always wary when you read the phrase "reports suggest that..." in a transfer article. Let's just wait and see. Hopefully we'll get another central defender, TV5 will take a while to get his match fitness back when he recovers and I'm sure we all hope that'll be in time for the first leg against Barca.
The Afterthought.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Oh crap, We're turning to Diaby to add muscle... - 27/12/2010
Morning All,
Well today see's us playing the Chavs, and in all honesty the portents and premonitions are just about as bad as when Caesar walked to the Senate with an old woman crying out to hi to beware the Ides of March. We are facing one of our title rivals who appear to once again be returning to full strength and although I don't want to appear to be all doom and gloom I've certainly had better feelings before approaching matches.
First off let's look at the matter of Cesc.
"When he comes on, his hamstring is in his head."
That's what Wenger has said about, the now fit again, Cesc. Not exactly inspiring words to reassure us all about our Captain. To summarise a long statement from Arsene. Fabregas is fit again and looking sharp in training, however it appears that the worry about picking up another injury is the biggest block to Cesc. WORRY ABOUT AN INJURY???? The ****** played in and set-up the winning goal in the World Cup final whilst still dealing with a leg crocked by Puyol. Don't get me wrong, I love Cesc, but what the hell is wrong with the boy? Has he finally given up on us? Has he decided that he wants his move to Barca above all else and no longer has the heart to play through the pain for club as he did for country? If a player isn't there mentally then there's no point putting him on the pitch, no matter what his talent level is. If we start the match with a captain, nay a talisman, who is more focused on whether he'll pick up an injury or not than the match at hand, it bodes ill indeed.
Next up is the fact that we may be turning to Diaby to add muscle to our midfield for the match. Don't make me laugh, if we're turning to Abou to add muscle then we may as well ask Theo and Arshavin to be our aerial attack. Plagued by injury and always showing more talent on the training pitch than on matchday, Diaby is another one who's potential has never developed. Had he been English, not French, he'd been quietly sold a la Pennet and Bentley, a long time ago.
Martin Keown has come out saying something that all of us have known for a while, namely that Arshavin's defending and misplaced passes on the edge of our own box cause many a heart-ache for Arsenal. I'm too exasperated to continue with this as it's all been gone over before but Andrey has to learn that in the position he's been asked to play he needs to perform better defensively. 'Nuff said.
And the final ill omen before the match is that Chamakh is apparently suffering from exhaustion. The lad's done fantastically since the start of the season, especially with our other main strikers out for most of that period. Guess it's now put up or shut up time for the Danish self-trumpeter Bendter. Get out there and show your half as good as you think you are son!
Well that's enough for now, though the odds may seem against us, lets go and beat the Chavs! Be Champions!
The Afterthought.
Well today see's us playing the Chavs, and in all honesty the portents and premonitions are just about as bad as when Caesar walked to the Senate with an old woman crying out to hi to beware the Ides of March. We are facing one of our title rivals who appear to once again be returning to full strength and although I don't want to appear to be all doom and gloom I've certainly had better feelings before approaching matches.
First off let's look at the matter of Cesc.
"When he comes on, his hamstring is in his head."
That's what Wenger has said about, the now fit again, Cesc. Not exactly inspiring words to reassure us all about our Captain. To summarise a long statement from Arsene. Fabregas is fit again and looking sharp in training, however it appears that the worry about picking up another injury is the biggest block to Cesc. WORRY ABOUT AN INJURY???? The ****** played in and set-up the winning goal in the World Cup final whilst still dealing with a leg crocked by Puyol. Don't get me wrong, I love Cesc, but what the hell is wrong with the boy? Has he finally given up on us? Has he decided that he wants his move to Barca above all else and no longer has the heart to play through the pain for club as he did for country? If a player isn't there mentally then there's no point putting him on the pitch, no matter what his talent level is. If we start the match with a captain, nay a talisman, who is more focused on whether he'll pick up an injury or not than the match at hand, it bodes ill indeed.
Next up is the fact that we may be turning to Diaby to add muscle to our midfield for the match. Don't make me laugh, if we're turning to Abou to add muscle then we may as well ask Theo and Arshavin to be our aerial attack. Plagued by injury and always showing more talent on the training pitch than on matchday, Diaby is another one who's potential has never developed. Had he been English, not French, he'd been quietly sold a la Pennet and Bentley, a long time ago.
Martin Keown has come out saying something that all of us have known for a while, namely that Arshavin's defending and misplaced passes on the edge of our own box cause many a heart-ache for Arsenal. I'm too exasperated to continue with this as it's all been gone over before but Andrey has to learn that in the position he's been asked to play he needs to perform better defensively. 'Nuff said.
And the final ill omen before the match is that Chamakh is apparently suffering from exhaustion. The lad's done fantastically since the start of the season, especially with our other main strikers out for most of that period. Guess it's now put up or shut up time for the Danish self-trumpeter Bendter. Get out there and show your half as good as you think you are son!
Well that's enough for now, though the odds may seem against us, lets go and beat the Chavs! Be Champions!
The Afterthought.
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Merry Christmas - 25/12/2010
Evenin' All,
Managed to get Internet in Singapore now so I can continue posting!
Well to start Wenger's come out saying that Monday's clash against Chelsea is a title decider. Piff and tosh is all I can say to that... Whilst it is soooo important that we start to win our matches against the other big teams, the way the season is shaping up I can't see Monday's clash as being a title decider. Smaller teams are taking points off all of us and no matter what happens against Chelsea the title's still up for grabs. To be honest I reckon Chelsea's clash against Manure will affect our title chances just as much as our match against the Chavs, the main thing we need to do is start winning our f*cking home matches!!
Whilst on the subject of our match against Chelsea hopefully we'll have Cesc back for it. Whilst Nasri has been doing an outstanding job standing-in for Fabregas, there's nothing which can replace our indomitable Captain. Plus considering Cesc will most probably be going off to Barca in a year or two (let's not kid ourselves people), we need to make as much use of him whilst we've got him.
Gotta love Nani running his mouth off against us. Considering the minimal impact he had in our last match you would have thought the Portuguese twat would hold his tongue. Face it Nani, you aint 'Ronnie' Ronaldo and you'll never be. Get over it.
Jack Wilshere is looking at being called up for both the under-21's and the main England squad. Arsene's complaining about this, don't really see why. For the senior England squad Jack aint going to be used a lot, and for the under-21's it'll be good experience for him on the international level. It annoys me that so many people go on about Theo being 'burned out' by his inclusion in both squads, his passing was woeful before his injury and aint improved much after. The boy should just be played as a striker, he wants to play striker, LET HIM ARSENE!
Ahhh, far too late and far too much Christmas alcohol mean I'll leave it here for now. Let's hope for a good start to the New Year and I'll be back with the all the gossip tomoz before our match on Monday!
The Afterthought.
Managed to get Internet in Singapore now so I can continue posting!
Well to start Wenger's come out saying that Monday's clash against Chelsea is a title decider. Piff and tosh is all I can say to that... Whilst it is soooo important that we start to win our matches against the other big teams, the way the season is shaping up I can't see Monday's clash as being a title decider. Smaller teams are taking points off all of us and no matter what happens against Chelsea the title's still up for grabs. To be honest I reckon Chelsea's clash against Manure will affect our title chances just as much as our match against the Chavs, the main thing we need to do is start winning our f*cking home matches!!
Whilst on the subject of our match against Chelsea hopefully we'll have Cesc back for it. Whilst Nasri has been doing an outstanding job standing-in for Fabregas, there's nothing which can replace our indomitable Captain. Plus considering Cesc will most probably be going off to Barca in a year or two (let's not kid ourselves people), we need to make as much use of him whilst we've got him.
Gotta love Nani running his mouth off against us. Considering the minimal impact he had in our last match you would have thought the Portuguese twat would hold his tongue. Face it Nani, you aint 'Ronnie' Ronaldo and you'll never be. Get over it.
Jack Wilshere is looking at being called up for both the under-21's and the main England squad. Arsene's complaining about this, don't really see why. For the senior England squad Jack aint going to be used a lot, and for the under-21's it'll be good experience for him on the international level. It annoys me that so many people go on about Theo being 'burned out' by his inclusion in both squads, his passing was woeful before his injury and aint improved much after. The boy should just be played as a striker, he wants to play striker, LET HIM ARSENE!
Ahhh, far too late and far too much Christmas alcohol mean I'll leave it here for now. Let's hope for a good start to the New Year and I'll be back with the all the gossip tomoz before our match on Monday!
The Afterthought.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Retarded Balotelli - 23/12/2010
Morning all,
Many apologies for the lack of posts, been stuck at Heathrow for a day before my flight left! But after a nice(ish) thirteen hour flight, I'm in Singapore and ready to carry on...
So... First off something to create a bit of Christmas cheer. Mario Balotelli won the Golden Boy trophy and in his acceptance speech claimed he didn't know who Jack Wilshere was. Balotelli claims he is the bast footballer on the planet except for Lionel Messi. Judging on Mario's performances for City recently if he really is the best young player about world football's going to be very boring and sh*t for the next decade. I mean really now, seriously folks, has anyone seen a more pathetic recipient of a footballing award recently? With the exception of Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup that is.
Well it'll be interesting to keep tabs on young Jack for next years award. If he continues developing at the pace he has hopefully he'll be able to stuff the World Player award down Mario's throat in a few years.
Chamakh has said he wants to become a club icon for Arsenal, like Drogba for Chelski or Rooney at Manure. With ten goals already this season I think we all share Maroune's hope. Fabregas will eventually go to Barca at some point in the future and with RVP never able to play more than fifteen games a season we need someone to become an icon for us! He's settling in well now, having hired some Moroccan chefs to cook for him and also the fact that he's a Muslim means that at least we should never have to suffer the embarrassment of seeing the lad stumbling out of a London nightclub drunk as a skunk, a la Ledley King at Sp*rs or Rooney at Manure.
Vermaelen is out for at least another month according to Wenger. We miss TV5 so much in the centre of our defence it now has to be a certainty that Arsene will look to bring in another defender come January. The problem is though Arsene will most probably look to bring in another 17 year old French boy with West African heritage... Please Wenger! All we want for Christmas is one start defender!
On better news Gibbs will apparently be back within a couple of weeks. With Clichy now never looking like he will become the world-class left back we all had hoped for, hopefully Gibbs return will put more pressure on Gael to perform.
The fat Russian (well technically he's an Uzbekistanian...) Uzmanov, is looking to take his share holdings up to the 29.9% limit. Whilst I would hate to see the Arsenal fall into his hands at least I would be able to keep flogging that old joke from Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking barrels, so all is not lost if he does take us over.
At least Arsene has admitted now that he may bring in a new face or two in January. Like I've said before, we desperately need more cover at centreback. Arsene said:
"...the problem is people want me to develop young players. They want me to develop Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and to also buy players. But the two do not go well together."
Arsene, old son, your missing the point here. YES we want you to develop players, but none of those you have mentioned is a central defender or goalkeeper. Develop all you want with the rest of the squad but for f*cks sake GET SOMEONE TO HELP US OUT IN DEFENCE. 'Nuff said.
Well I'll leave it there for now as jet-lag is rapidly turning my ability to type to mush. Remeber people (to rip off Special 1 TV), Be Champions!
The Afterthought
Many apologies for the lack of posts, been stuck at Heathrow for a day before my flight left! But after a nice(ish) thirteen hour flight, I'm in Singapore and ready to carry on...
So... First off something to create a bit of Christmas cheer. Mario Balotelli won the Golden Boy trophy and in his acceptance speech claimed he didn't know who Jack Wilshere was. Balotelli claims he is the bast footballer on the planet except for Lionel Messi. Judging on Mario's performances for City recently if he really is the best young player about world football's going to be very boring and sh*t for the next decade. I mean really now, seriously folks, has anyone seen a more pathetic recipient of a footballing award recently? With the exception of Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup that is.
Well it'll be interesting to keep tabs on young Jack for next years award. If he continues developing at the pace he has hopefully he'll be able to stuff the World Player award down Mario's throat in a few years.
Chamakh has said he wants to become a club icon for Arsenal, like Drogba for Chelski or Rooney at Manure. With ten goals already this season I think we all share Maroune's hope. Fabregas will eventually go to Barca at some point in the future and with RVP never able to play more than fifteen games a season we need someone to become an icon for us! He's settling in well now, having hired some Moroccan chefs to cook for him and also the fact that he's a Muslim means that at least we should never have to suffer the embarrassment of seeing the lad stumbling out of a London nightclub drunk as a skunk, a la Ledley King at Sp*rs or Rooney at Manure.
Vermaelen is out for at least another month according to Wenger. We miss TV5 so much in the centre of our defence it now has to be a certainty that Arsene will look to bring in another defender come January. The problem is though Arsene will most probably look to bring in another 17 year old French boy with West African heritage... Please Wenger! All we want for Christmas is one start defender!
On better news Gibbs will apparently be back within a couple of weeks. With Clichy now never looking like he will become the world-class left back we all had hoped for, hopefully Gibbs return will put more pressure on Gael to perform.
The fat Russian (well technically he's an Uzbekistanian...) Uzmanov, is looking to take his share holdings up to the 29.9% limit. Whilst I would hate to see the Arsenal fall into his hands at least I would be able to keep flogging that old joke from Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking barrels, so all is not lost if he does take us over.
At least Arsene has admitted now that he may bring in a new face or two in January. Like I've said before, we desperately need more cover at centreback. Arsene said:
"...the problem is people want me to develop young players. They want me to develop Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and to also buy players. But the two do not go well together."
Arsene, old son, your missing the point here. YES we want you to develop players, but none of those you have mentioned is a central defender or goalkeeper. Develop all you want with the rest of the squad but for f*cks sake GET SOMEONE TO HELP US OUT IN DEFENCE. 'Nuff said.
Well I'll leave it there for now as jet-lag is rapidly turning my ability to type to mush. Remeber people (to rip off Special 1 TV), Be Champions!
The Afterthought
Monday, 20 December 2010
Captain questions bottle & Szcznesy's 'armless - 20/12/2010
Afternoon all,
As the cold and snow continue to grip England it looks like we'll have more match's cancelled over Christmas. These postponed match's will need to be caught up with at some point and predictably it'll mean those clubs (including us of course) with European commitments will find a hectic schedule come the new year. The upside for us is that with a large squad we should be able to rotate players and still compete for matches but it does mean some of our second-string players will seriously need to up their game.
First up is the fact that Fabregas has come out saying that our team is scared of losing.
"... we seem scared of losing big games. We don't really go for it and we're tempted to drop back and see what the opposition will do."
Truer words have not been spoken for quite a while by an Arsenal Captain. Our game against Manure was painful to watch during the first half. We gave the ball away far too easily and struggled to produce any of the beautiful flowing football for which we're supposed to be well know for. The answer? Some f*cking experienced players! Players who are already used to pressure to grab our youngsters by the scruff of the neck and tell them to pull their act together. What we really need is a 'scary screamer', a la Vieira. Someone who preferably knows the French for "concentrate you c**t". Still we aint got one, and either someone needs to pick up the mantle or Fabregas needs to find a more soft-spoken way of pulling the team together. He's the Captain, he needs to act like it. What doesn't help is the fact we all know our captain would prefer to be plying his trade in Spain so on this point we're buggered.
Young Wilshere has said he'd like to take the Captain's armband for Arsenal at some point in the future. Now HE fits the bill for what I've been asking for in the last paragraph. Strong, mean and willing to break someones leg if they f*ck about. Unfortunately for us he's probably around five years away from being able to do the job. Shame they've banned steroids or else we could have pumped him up and gotten him into the mold a bit quicker.
Word from some of the papers is that Steve McClaren at Wolfsburg is looking at bringing in Denilson which allegedly would allow us to bid for Joleon Lescott. I'm unsure as to his top-class ability but at the moment needs must as the devil drives and I'd happily welcome him to the Emirates as it would provide some cover for our centre of defence. Unfortunately McClaren is on his last legs at the Wolfsburg job and it's possible the German board wouldn't want to splash out the cash before getting a new manager.
On more transfer news, us and the Scousers are looking at youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton. Alex has been labeled 'the new Theo Walcott', now as much as I love Theo I have to admit I'm perturbed at the thought at someone being compared to a player who is still very much a work in progress himself. But have a look at some of Alex's clips on Youtube and he seems a decent player. For £10 million though I think we'd be better concentrating on developing the youngsters we've already got and spend the money on getting some experience into the first team.
Lastly Samir Nasri continues to pitch for his own chat-show. He's come out taunting United that they wouldn't have won at Stamford Bridge anyway if the match against Chelsea had been cancelled. Samir my old mucker, let's keep your mouth shut until we start winning match's eh? At the moment you sound like the kid who's been beaten up by the school bully and whilst lying on the ground with a bleeding nose yelling out "My brother's going to get you" at the bully's back.
Well that's it for today, final news is that Ramsey's loan spell at Forest might be extended by another month. This would be helpful to the young lad I reckon, he'd only at best warm up our bench at the moment and the more match practise he gets now, hopefully the better he'll be when he comes back!
The Afterthought.
As the cold and snow continue to grip England it looks like we'll have more match's cancelled over Christmas. These postponed match's will need to be caught up with at some point and predictably it'll mean those clubs (including us of course) with European commitments will find a hectic schedule come the new year. The upside for us is that with a large squad we should be able to rotate players and still compete for matches but it does mean some of our second-string players will seriously need to up their game.
First up is the fact that Fabregas has come out saying that our team is scared of losing.
"... we seem scared of losing big games. We don't really go for it and we're tempted to drop back and see what the opposition will do."
Truer words have not been spoken for quite a while by an Arsenal Captain. Our game against Manure was painful to watch during the first half. We gave the ball away far too easily and struggled to produce any of the beautiful flowing football for which we're supposed to be well know for. The answer? Some f*cking experienced players! Players who are already used to pressure to grab our youngsters by the scruff of the neck and tell them to pull their act together. What we really need is a 'scary screamer', a la Vieira. Someone who preferably knows the French for "concentrate you c**t". Still we aint got one, and either someone needs to pick up the mantle or Fabregas needs to find a more soft-spoken way of pulling the team together. He's the Captain, he needs to act like it. What doesn't help is the fact we all know our captain would prefer to be plying his trade in Spain so on this point we're buggered.
Young Wilshere has said he'd like to take the Captain's armband for Arsenal at some point in the future. Now HE fits the bill for what I've been asking for in the last paragraph. Strong, mean and willing to break someones leg if they f*ck about. Unfortunately for us he's probably around five years away from being able to do the job. Shame they've banned steroids or else we could have pumped him up and gotten him into the mold a bit quicker.
Word from some of the papers is that Steve McClaren at Wolfsburg is looking at bringing in Denilson which allegedly would allow us to bid for Joleon Lescott. I'm unsure as to his top-class ability but at the moment needs must as the devil drives and I'd happily welcome him to the Emirates as it would provide some cover for our centre of defence. Unfortunately McClaren is on his last legs at the Wolfsburg job and it's possible the German board wouldn't want to splash out the cash before getting a new manager.
On more transfer news, us and the Scousers are looking at youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton. Alex has been labeled 'the new Theo Walcott', now as much as I love Theo I have to admit I'm perturbed at the thought at someone being compared to a player who is still very much a work in progress himself. But have a look at some of Alex's clips on Youtube and he seems a decent player. For £10 million though I think we'd be better concentrating on developing the youngsters we've already got and spend the money on getting some experience into the first team.
Lastly Samir Nasri continues to pitch for his own chat-show. He's come out taunting United that they wouldn't have won at Stamford Bridge anyway if the match against Chelsea had been cancelled. Samir my old mucker, let's keep your mouth shut until we start winning match's eh? At the moment you sound like the kid who's been beaten up by the school bully and whilst lying on the ground with a bleeding nose yelling out "My brother's going to get you" at the bully's back.
Well that's it for today, final news is that Ramsey's loan spell at Forest might be extended by another month. This would be helpful to the young lad I reckon, he'd only at best warm up our bench at the moment and the more match practise he gets now, hopefully the better he'll be when he comes back!
The Afterthought.
Sunday, 19 December 2010
RVP's wishes granted * Snow delays Stoke meeting - 19/12/2010
Afternoon all,
Apologies for the lack of updates over the past few days. Internet problems again but fortunately it's been a quiet few days so I'll catch you all up with the most important news.
New signing coming! Japanese youngster Ryo Miyaichi will sign with us in January right after he finishes playing in the All Japan High School tournament. He's yet another player who's been touted as a 'new Cristiano Ronaldo', the lad does seem to have good on the ball skills and an attacking frame of mind. There's a few clips of him on Youtube which are worth checking out. Time will tell if he can produce these types of displays in the Premier League and in all honesty we'll probably have to wait a few years for the lad to mature physically before we see the best of him.
Saturday's match against Stoke was postponed. All of you who live in England will know why and for all of you who live elsewhere, we've had over a foot of snow causing most of this weekend's football matches to be postponed.
RVP and others in our team got their wish and we've been drawn against Barcelona in the first-knock out round of the Champions League. Whilst the players may have been saying publicly that they wanted Barca in the draw, in reality I bet they were like the rest of us and were hoping for a trip to Germany to play Schalke. Well since we've drawn Barca I do hope our boys live up to their boasts. I know that they've been itching for a chance to redress the balance against Barca after the pasting they inflicted on us last year, but we will really need to up our game if we hope to beat them.
The worst thing for me about drawing Barca is the fact we've got to go through the whole bollocks of Pique, Iniesta and co chirping on about Cesc's Barcelona DNA and how he should come play with them. Be prepared for months of this nonsense folks.
Staying with Barca news, allegedly they are lining up a £85 million swoop for Cesc and Torres. Considering Torres will cost them at least £50 million from Liverpool it looks like they're staying with their valuation of Cesc of around £30/35 million. Since that didn't work last time I wonder if it'll be anymore effective this summer. Personally I can't see it being effective if Cesc doesn't put in the transfer request that Barca have been desperately wanting him to put in. Also if we consider Barca's losses for last season and even figuring in the injection of cash they received from the Qatari's I can't imagine they can afford the transfer fees being bandied about. For years they have been running at a loss, despite winning competition after competition. If they spend all of that cash in one massive binge this summer their financial backers can't keep backing them. Barca need to learn how to be more financially stable, especially considering the state of the Spanish economy at the moment. Lets hope those Claret and Blue f*cks go bankrupt soon.
Well that's pretty much it for the major news. I'll be back tomorrow to keep you all informed!
The Afterthought.
Apologies for the lack of updates over the past few days. Internet problems again but fortunately it's been a quiet few days so I'll catch you all up with the most important news.
New signing coming! Japanese youngster Ryo Miyaichi will sign with us in January right after he finishes playing in the All Japan High School tournament. He's yet another player who's been touted as a 'new Cristiano Ronaldo', the lad does seem to have good on the ball skills and an attacking frame of mind. There's a few clips of him on Youtube which are worth checking out. Time will tell if he can produce these types of displays in the Premier League and in all honesty we'll probably have to wait a few years for the lad to mature physically before we see the best of him.
Saturday's match against Stoke was postponed. All of you who live in England will know why and for all of you who live elsewhere, we've had over a foot of snow causing most of this weekend's football matches to be postponed.
RVP and others in our team got their wish and we've been drawn against Barcelona in the first-knock out round of the Champions League. Whilst the players may have been saying publicly that they wanted Barca in the draw, in reality I bet they were like the rest of us and were hoping for a trip to Germany to play Schalke. Well since we've drawn Barca I do hope our boys live up to their boasts. I know that they've been itching for a chance to redress the balance against Barca after the pasting they inflicted on us last year, but we will really need to up our game if we hope to beat them.
The worst thing for me about drawing Barca is the fact we've got to go through the whole bollocks of Pique, Iniesta and co chirping on about Cesc's Barcelona DNA and how he should come play with them. Be prepared for months of this nonsense folks.
Staying with Barca news, allegedly they are lining up a £85 million swoop for Cesc and Torres. Considering Torres will cost them at least £50 million from Liverpool it looks like they're staying with their valuation of Cesc of around £30/35 million. Since that didn't work last time I wonder if it'll be anymore effective this summer. Personally I can't see it being effective if Cesc doesn't put in the transfer request that Barca have been desperately wanting him to put in. Also if we consider Barca's losses for last season and even figuring in the injection of cash they received from the Qatari's I can't imagine they can afford the transfer fees being bandied about. For years they have been running at a loss, despite winning competition after competition. If they spend all of that cash in one massive binge this summer their financial backers can't keep backing them. Barca need to learn how to be more financially stable, especially considering the state of the Spanish economy at the moment. Lets hope those Claret and Blue f*cks go bankrupt soon.
Well that's pretty much it for the major news. I'll be back tomorrow to keep you all informed!
The Afterthought.
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Nasri & Gallas may marry & Will Almunia leave? - 16/12/2010
Afternoon all,
Apologies for toady's post being very late. Problems with my O2 connection again...
Anyway, moving swiftly onto the Arsenal...
The big story of the day is Almunia's future. Despite Arsene's insistence that Coco will remain at Arsenal during the January transfer window there are a miriad of reports suggesting Almunia's future lies elsewhere than the Emirates Stadium. In reality the Spaniard has fallen to third in the 'keeper pecking order with Fabianski now having to fight of a claim from his younger Polish comrade for the top spot.
"I have my thoughts, but I don't want to talk about them,"
Not exactly the words of someone who wants to stay at a club to fight for his place. Almunia's never exactly been a favourite with Arsenl fans. Even though there was initial excitement when he replaced big Jens "I reckon I'm a Panzer" Lehmann, this slowly faded away. We all tried to convince ourselves that he was the man to replace the aging German, even though he had a reputation of being gaff-prone. In the end he never managed to grow out of the error-prone tag.
What worries me is that Fabianski seems to be following in his exact footsteps. Errors in Fabianski's earlier matches, whilst Almunia was still number 1, have not been forgotten and do any of us really have faith in Fabianski to grow into this supposed 'world-class' keeper Arsene keeps claiming he will be? Granted, all keepers have bad days. Even David Seaman, Peter Schmeichel and Iker Casillas have had their bad days. But the difference is that they never let it bother them and carried on to produce excellent performances in subsequent matches. We've yet to see Fabianski look composed and assured to five matches in a row since his promotion. I stick by my call that we should give Szcznesy a run of games. Either the young man will thrive or if he doesn't and Coco moves on in either in January or at the end of the season, we can spend a bit of cash and bring in someone to allow Szcznesy a few more years in which to grow.
Nasri and Gallas are continuing their war of words. Nasri has said he didn't even say hello to Gallas for a year and doesn't see why he should shake Gallas' hand. The whole situation is funny/pathetic in equal measures. Seriously now, last time I saw two people consistently wind each other up so much they got married a year later.... Now THAT brings up an interesting possibility. Are Nasri and Gallas just hopelessly in love with each other and just unable to admit it? Did their disagreements start in an after-match bath game of 'Spot the submarine'? Well I hope not. If so they aint going to be allowed to Qatar for the World Cup in 2022, or at least if they do they'd better follow Blatter's farcical advice and not share a room....
Diaby hopefully will be fit for Saturday's match against Stoke. Diaby apparently is the best player at Arsenal during the mini 5-a-side games during training. F*cking wish he could show that form in a Premier League match...
Lastly Eboue is rumoured to be a transfer target for Roma. A lot of Gooners I know can't stand him but personally I like the Ebouesaurus Rex. I view him as a sort of lucky charm. Or at least the same type of lucky charm that sailors in the olden days had, ie. the most useless member of the crew was considered a lucky charm and IF the ship ever got into a really really bad storm they'd throw that person overboard as a sacrifice to the sea-gods. Trust me guys and girls, come the end of the season and we desperately need a win on the last day to take the crown, you'll all be applauding my foresight as we sacrifice Eboue to the Footballing gods and are rewarded by the title....
Take care all, see you tomorrow
The Afterthought
Apologies for toady's post being very late. Problems with my O2 connection again...
Anyway, moving swiftly onto the Arsenal...
The big story of the day is Almunia's future. Despite Arsene's insistence that Coco will remain at Arsenal during the January transfer window there are a miriad of reports suggesting Almunia's future lies elsewhere than the Emirates Stadium. In reality the Spaniard has fallen to third in the 'keeper pecking order with Fabianski now having to fight of a claim from his younger Polish comrade for the top spot.
"I have my thoughts, but I don't want to talk about them,"
Not exactly the words of someone who wants to stay at a club to fight for his place. Almunia's never exactly been a favourite with Arsenl fans. Even though there was initial excitement when he replaced big Jens "I reckon I'm a Panzer" Lehmann, this slowly faded away. We all tried to convince ourselves that he was the man to replace the aging German, even though he had a reputation of being gaff-prone. In the end he never managed to grow out of the error-prone tag.
What worries me is that Fabianski seems to be following in his exact footsteps. Errors in Fabianski's earlier matches, whilst Almunia was still number 1, have not been forgotten and do any of us really have faith in Fabianski to grow into this supposed 'world-class' keeper Arsene keeps claiming he will be? Granted, all keepers have bad days. Even David Seaman, Peter Schmeichel and Iker Casillas have had their bad days. But the difference is that they never let it bother them and carried on to produce excellent performances in subsequent matches. We've yet to see Fabianski look composed and assured to five matches in a row since his promotion. I stick by my call that we should give Szcznesy a run of games. Either the young man will thrive or if he doesn't and Coco moves on in either in January or at the end of the season, we can spend a bit of cash and bring in someone to allow Szcznesy a few more years in which to grow.
Nasri and Gallas are continuing their war of words. Nasri has said he didn't even say hello to Gallas for a year and doesn't see why he should shake Gallas' hand. The whole situation is funny/pathetic in equal measures. Seriously now, last time I saw two people consistently wind each other up so much they got married a year later.... Now THAT brings up an interesting possibility. Are Nasri and Gallas just hopelessly in love with each other and just unable to admit it? Did their disagreements start in an after-match bath game of 'Spot the submarine'? Well I hope not. If so they aint going to be allowed to Qatar for the World Cup in 2022, or at least if they do they'd better follow Blatter's farcical advice and not share a room....
Diaby hopefully will be fit for Saturday's match against Stoke. Diaby apparently is the best player at Arsenal during the mini 5-a-side games during training. F*cking wish he could show that form in a Premier League match...
Lastly Eboue is rumoured to be a transfer target for Roma. A lot of Gooners I know can't stand him but personally I like the Ebouesaurus Rex. I view him as a sort of lucky charm. Or at least the same type of lucky charm that sailors in the olden days had, ie. the most useless member of the crew was considered a lucky charm and IF the ship ever got into a really really bad storm they'd throw that person overboard as a sacrifice to the sea-gods. Trust me guys and girls, come the end of the season and we desperately need a win on the last day to take the crown, you'll all be applauding my foresight as we sacrifice Eboue to the Footballing gods and are rewarded by the title....
Take care all, see you tomorrow
The Afterthought
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Szcznesy outwits a goldfish, apologies to goldfish - 15/12/2010
Morning all!
Bright new day - well actually its an overcast London day but hey... - and let's put the misery of Monday night behind us and concentrate on the future.
Well well well, Szcznesy is claiming he outwitted Rooney on the penalty.
Bright new day - well actually its an overcast London day but hey... - and let's put the misery of Monday night behind us and concentrate on the future.
Well well well, Szcznesy is claiming he outwitted Rooney on the penalty.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Pain, pain, pain... 14/12/2010
Afternoon all,
Ugh... there really are some days when you just do not want to talk about football! Arsenal lost last night's match against Man United by one nil for those of you who don't know. If we had been outplayed, beaten off the park (ugh how that word annoys me at the moment!) then it would have been easier to accept. But to lose to a extremely lucky goal, one the Park couldn't score again in a hundred attempts back on the training ground is just painful. I'm not going to dwell on the negetives though, I shall try to mainly concentrate on the positives we can take from last night.
One of the upsides from last nights match however was the performance of young Szczesny. The Pole did very well in goal I thought, he certainly looked more composed and capable than Fabianski. I suppose this might give a headache for Arsene in the near future. Almunia seems out of favour and Fabianski's positioning is still suspect, maybe it is worth giving Szczesny a run of a few games. After all, Arsene is never afraid of giving youngsters a run if they're outfield players so why not give the young Pole a chance? If he can continue to perform like he did against Manure maybe we might have found our new keeper, only a run of games will answer this question.
Also I think Squillaci and Koscielny had a good game, for a pair that has been much maligned so far this season they seemed to be able to step up to the mark against United and performed well. I still think, however, that the addition of another centreback in the transfer window would be welcomed by all. TV5 is going to need a fortnight or so when/if he ever recovers from this Achilles injury and I just don't feel comfortable having only three centrebacks considering we're still in the hunt in four competitions.
On the down side our much vaunted midfield was suffocated by United. Ro-SICK-y has never looked like he has recovered his form before his long injury layoff, he surely must be approaching the end and an Eduardo style transfer cannot be far off in the future. Why Walcott was not starting, or at least brought on earlier, seems a mystery to me. Agreed that his final ball may not be the best but his sheer pace offers us something we otherwise lack, the ability to hit teams on the counter-attack. Arshavin had a night to forget, allegedly he is the first to put up his hands in training when he's had a bad game. I don't think he's got enough hands to hold up after last night's performance.
Arsene, as usual - for better or for worse, refuses to criticise his players in public. Hopefully he's given them an earful in training today. Sorry Arsene but you can't criticise the pitch for last night's loss. We gave the ball away far too many times, I'd love to see a comparison of our completed passing percentage of last night's match compared to our average, I can not think of a worse passing display from us this season.
But one match lost does not a lost season make. Especially the way this season is panning out. The main thing now is to get three points at Stoke this weekend and continue on and not look back. We do need to start picking up more points against the other top teams in the league That's all for today methinks, another shower and several whiskeys are needed for me to get shake off the shame of last night (in retrospect watching the match with three United supporting mates was not the best idea...). Til tomorrow all,
The Afterthought.
Ugh... there really are some days when you just do not want to talk about football! Arsenal lost last night's match against Man United by one nil for those of you who don't know. If we had been outplayed, beaten off the park (ugh how that word annoys me at the moment!) then it would have been easier to accept. But to lose to a extremely lucky goal, one the Park couldn't score again in a hundred attempts back on the training ground is just painful. I'm not going to dwell on the negetives though, I shall try to mainly concentrate on the positives we can take from last night.
One of the upsides from last nights match however was the performance of young Szczesny. The Pole did very well in goal I thought, he certainly looked more composed and capable than Fabianski. I suppose this might give a headache for Arsene in the near future. Almunia seems out of favour and Fabianski's positioning is still suspect, maybe it is worth giving Szczesny a run of a few games. After all, Arsene is never afraid of giving youngsters a run if they're outfield players so why not give the young Pole a chance? If he can continue to perform like he did against Manure maybe we might have found our new keeper, only a run of games will answer this question.
Also I think Squillaci and Koscielny had a good game, for a pair that has been much maligned so far this season they seemed to be able to step up to the mark against United and performed well. I still think, however, that the addition of another centreback in the transfer window would be welcomed by all. TV5 is going to need a fortnight or so when/if he ever recovers from this Achilles injury and I just don't feel comfortable having only three centrebacks considering we're still in the hunt in four competitions.
On the down side our much vaunted midfield was suffocated by United. Ro-SICK-y has never looked like he has recovered his form before his long injury layoff, he surely must be approaching the end and an Eduardo style transfer cannot be far off in the future. Why Walcott was not starting, or at least brought on earlier, seems a mystery to me. Agreed that his final ball may not be the best but his sheer pace offers us something we otherwise lack, the ability to hit teams on the counter-attack. Arshavin had a night to forget, allegedly he is the first to put up his hands in training when he's had a bad game. I don't think he's got enough hands to hold up after last night's performance.
Arsene, as usual - for better or for worse, refuses to criticise his players in public. Hopefully he's given them an earful in training today. Sorry Arsene but you can't criticise the pitch for last night's loss. We gave the ball away far too many times, I'd love to see a comparison of our completed passing percentage of last night's match compared to our average, I can not think of a worse passing display from us this season.
But one match lost does not a lost season make. Especially the way this season is panning out. The main thing now is to get three points at Stoke this weekend and continue on and not look back. We do need to start picking up more points against the other top teams in the league That's all for today methinks, another shower and several whiskeys are needed for me to get shake off the shame of last night (in retrospect watching the match with three United supporting mates was not the best idea...). Til tomorrow all,
The Afterthought.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Why tonight's match is like that Slade song & Why agents should wear leotards - 13/12/2010
Afternoon all!
After what seems like an interminable wait, it's finally time for the first of our true tests. United at Old Trafford should be a real test to gauge our potential for an assault on the title this season. Whilst it certainly is not a title deciding match, a win tonight would see us for points clear of United and three points clear of City. The most important aspect of a win tonight would, as Arsene put it, give us a clear edge in the psychological department over our rivals. Chelsea continued their stutter with a draw at Sp*rs, Drogba missing a penalty in injury time seems to sum up their current predicament well. City, for all their cash and bluster, are having more trouble internally than a drunken Scouser after nine pints and dodgy kebab. Also combined with the Tevez's transfer demand, it's going to be hard for them to continue their push. United are our main rivals, despite their undefeated run this season they've given up too many draws and hopefully a win against them would see their heads drop and open up a gap for us to exploit.
Giggs has been warning the rest of the Manure squad about Nasri, marking him out as the main dangerman in the absence of Fabregas.
"Nasri has probably been one of the best players in the Premier League this season... Arsenal deserve a lot of credit for the way they have coped with losing a quality player like Fabregas and still carried on winning."
Nice of the Welshman to articulate to the rest of his squad his feelings. Though probably if he wants Rio to hear him he'd have done better telling him on Twitter. Or better yet sticking a sign up in the Manure dressing room written in crayons.
Our attacks are evenly matched I'd say. We out-edge them in the midfield department whilst in all honesty their defence has the edge on ours. If we want to win tonight it is critical that our midfield stifles theirs and limits the service to their forwards.
On a worrying note, the Sun is reporting that we may have to turn to Wojciech Szczesny to step up in goal as Fabianski is suffering from a leg injury (though for someone who's main failure is his positioning, maybe a leg injury isn't the worst thing in the world for Fabianski as it'll force him to stay still in set pieces...). Szczesny was complaining earlier this season about the lack of opportunities he's getting. If he does have to fill in for Fabianski, he could really make a name for himself. Let's hope it's for the right reasons!
Lastly on tonight's match fecalmatter.com, sorry that should have read goal.com but I get the two confused, are saying Fergie's going to play Rooney as a lone striker tonight. In a game which should come down to a shootout of the two sets of forwards, if Fergie does go down this route and play Anderson instead of Berbatov none shall be happier than I! A Brazilian with a shots-on-target rating of a 5 year old versus the Bulgarian who may not score but draws defenders away from Rooney?? Do me a favour please. Fergie's surely not that senile yet... ("Yes I am! and don't call me Shirley," comes the Scottish accented, whiskey edged voice from the United dressing room....)
I'll skip over the continued dross of "tonight is the night we show we come of age" nonsense coming from Arsene and pundits left, right and centre. We fans know it, the squad knows it. To be honest it's become like that bloody Christmas song by Noddy Holder, WE KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS/CRUNCH TIME! Let's just get on with it...
On a side point, Danny Collins at Stoke has said that they're going to be targeting us with more rough-handed antics when we play them this coming weekend. After what happened to Ramsey and considering our team is showing a lot more steel this season, I personally would love it if Song goes in for a tackle on Collins or Shawcross and break break fibula/tibula/both. I'm not usually one to celebrate bad injuries but hearing Tony Pulis complain about us roughing them up would be a perfect bit of Christmas irony cake.
Hopefully it would discourage other teams from playing on the old 'rough-up the Arsenal youngsters' card. And just to let you know, if Tony Adams just wants to make a cameo and achieves the same result with a piece of 2x4 before disappearing into the mist with Pulis chasing him, then that's me who's gotten their Christmas wish from Santa...
On the transfer/journalist guessing game news, we're being linked with M'Vila from Rennes again. I swear journo's just drag this story out every time they feel like they're lacking a few column inches.
Also we're now one of a number of clubs being linked to out-of-favour rightback Davide Santon from Inter. Apparently his agent has come out saying that Santon is interested in a move to London and we all know that agents never lie... [spits on ground] Personally I think FIFA should institute a rule whereby agents have their tongues removed and if they want to spread rumours they have to do it through the medium of interpretive dance. It might not solve the constant bullshit problem but at least we'd have a laugh at them prancing about in leotards.
"It's a tree? No? Ermm... A bush? yes a bush? No... a bush and a rabbit? a rabbit eating lettuce?... Ohhhh Tevez wants a transfer." See, much more fun!
Well let's leave it there for now. tomorrow will be a dissection of the match so let's wait and see if we can start Christmas early. If we do win, I may even play Noddy's song for sheer comic value....
The Afterthought.
After what seems like an interminable wait, it's finally time for the first of our true tests. United at Old Trafford should be a real test to gauge our potential for an assault on the title this season. Whilst it certainly is not a title deciding match, a win tonight would see us for points clear of United and three points clear of City. The most important aspect of a win tonight would, as Arsene put it, give us a clear edge in the psychological department over our rivals. Chelsea continued their stutter with a draw at Sp*rs, Drogba missing a penalty in injury time seems to sum up their current predicament well. City, for all their cash and bluster, are having more trouble internally than a drunken Scouser after nine pints and dodgy kebab. Also combined with the Tevez's transfer demand, it's going to be hard for them to continue their push. United are our main rivals, despite their undefeated run this season they've given up too many draws and hopefully a win against them would see their heads drop and open up a gap for us to exploit.
Giggs has been warning the rest of the Manure squad about Nasri, marking him out as the main dangerman in the absence of Fabregas.
"Nasri has probably been one of the best players in the Premier League this season... Arsenal deserve a lot of credit for the way they have coped with losing a quality player like Fabregas and still carried on winning."
Nice of the Welshman to articulate to the rest of his squad his feelings. Though probably if he wants Rio to hear him he'd have done better telling him on Twitter. Or better yet sticking a sign up in the Manure dressing room written in crayons.
Our attacks are evenly matched I'd say. We out-edge them in the midfield department whilst in all honesty their defence has the edge on ours. If we want to win tonight it is critical that our midfield stifles theirs and limits the service to their forwards.
On a worrying note, the Sun is reporting that we may have to turn to Wojciech Szczesny to step up in goal as Fabianski is suffering from a leg injury (though for someone who's main failure is his positioning, maybe a leg injury isn't the worst thing in the world for Fabianski as it'll force him to stay still in set pieces...). Szczesny was complaining earlier this season about the lack of opportunities he's getting. If he does have to fill in for Fabianski, he could really make a name for himself. Let's hope it's for the right reasons!
Lastly on tonight's match fecalmatter.com, sorry that should have read goal.com but I get the two confused, are saying Fergie's going to play Rooney as a lone striker tonight. In a game which should come down to a shootout of the two sets of forwards, if Fergie does go down this route and play Anderson instead of Berbatov none shall be happier than I! A Brazilian with a shots-on-target rating of a 5 year old versus the Bulgarian who may not score but draws defenders away from Rooney?? Do me a favour please. Fergie's surely not that senile yet... ("Yes I am! and don't call me Shirley," comes the Scottish accented, whiskey edged voice from the United dressing room....)
I'll skip over the continued dross of "tonight is the night we show we come of age" nonsense coming from Arsene and pundits left, right and centre. We fans know it, the squad knows it. To be honest it's become like that bloody Christmas song by Noddy Holder, WE KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS/CRUNCH TIME! Let's just get on with it...
On a side point, Danny Collins at Stoke has said that they're going to be targeting us with more rough-handed antics when we play them this coming weekend. After what happened to Ramsey and considering our team is showing a lot more steel this season, I personally would love it if Song goes in for a tackle on Collins or Shawcross and break break fibula/tibula/both. I'm not usually one to celebrate bad injuries but hearing Tony Pulis complain about us roughing them up would be a perfect bit of Christmas irony cake.
Hopefully it would discourage other teams from playing on the old 'rough-up the Arsenal youngsters' card. And just to let you know, if Tony Adams just wants to make a cameo and achieves the same result with a piece of 2x4 before disappearing into the mist with Pulis chasing him, then that's me who's gotten their Christmas wish from Santa...
On the transfer/journalist guessing game news, we're being linked with M'Vila from Rennes again. I swear journo's just drag this story out every time they feel like they're lacking a few column inches.
Also we're now one of a number of clubs being linked to out-of-favour rightback Davide Santon from Inter. Apparently his agent has come out saying that Santon is interested in a move to London and we all know that agents never lie... [spits on ground] Personally I think FIFA should institute a rule whereby agents have their tongues removed and if they want to spread rumours they have to do it through the medium of interpretive dance. It might not solve the constant bullshit problem but at least we'd have a laugh at them prancing about in leotards.
"It's a tree? No? Ermm... A bush? yes a bush? No... a bush and a rabbit? a rabbit eating lettuce?... Ohhhh Tevez wants a transfer." See, much more fun!
Well let's leave it there for now. tomorrow will be a dissection of the match so let's wait and see if we can start Christmas early. If we do win, I may even play Noddy's song for sheer comic value....
The Afterthought.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Nasri agrees with me & The calm before the storm... 12/12/2010
Morning all!
Feels like the calm before the storm today. The war of words between our players and United has lessened as both sides concentrate on tomorrows match. For all the build up I certainly hope it'll be a good match, unfortunately I also have the feeling that the match might turn out to be a draw, as so often happens to match's which display enormous amounts of build-up (hopefully I haven't jinxed us with that comment...).
Nasri's comments today have echoed my own from yesterday. "Manchester United is not the same team as before, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Tevez it was a little bit scary to play at Old Trafford," Samir's comment that United are no longer as scary as in previous years is no doubt a sentiment shared by many across the league. Aging top class players and youngsters who do not look to be the equals of the old guard has found United in a position this season which has affected us for a few seasons now, that is the symptoms of switching off at crucial times in matches and the dropping of points as a result. Yes Rooney is slowly getting back to his best and is by far their best player, yes Vidic looks like one of the best centrebacks in the league, but beyond these two I don't think I would swap any of the other United players for any of ours.
Is Nani or Valencia better than Theo or Arshavin? Would any of the United midfield displace Cesc, Nasri or Song? No is the simple answer.C'mon the Arsenal!
Well its a quiet Sunday so I'll sign off here. There'll be plenty to comment on in the next 48 hours so see you then.
The Afterthought.
Feels like the calm before the storm today. The war of words between our players and United has lessened as both sides concentrate on tomorrows match. For all the build up I certainly hope it'll be a good match, unfortunately I also have the feeling that the match might turn out to be a draw, as so often happens to match's which display enormous amounts of build-up (hopefully I haven't jinxed us with that comment...).
Nasri's comments today have echoed my own from yesterday. "Manchester United is not the same team as before, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Tevez it was a little bit scary to play at Old Trafford," Samir's comment that United are no longer as scary as in previous years is no doubt a sentiment shared by many across the league. Aging top class players and youngsters who do not look to be the equals of the old guard has found United in a position this season which has affected us for a few seasons now, that is the symptoms of switching off at crucial times in matches and the dropping of points as a result. Yes Rooney is slowly getting back to his best and is by far their best player, yes Vidic looks like one of the best centrebacks in the league, but beyond these two I don't think I would swap any of the other United players for any of ours.
Is Nani or Valencia better than Theo or Arshavin? Would any of the United midfield displace Cesc, Nasri or Song? No is the simple answer.C'mon the Arsenal!
Well its a quiet Sunday so I'll sign off here. There'll be plenty to comment on in the next 48 hours so see you then.
The Afterthought.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
'Medical' snoods, Cesc's weirdest season & Are we back in the 50's? - 11/12/2010
Afternoon all!
We've got the full range of intellectual (and I use that term in its' widest possible sense) ramblings from both sides of the footballing divide today.
Arsene Wenger's come out as saying Coco Almunia's suggested transfer back to Spain as noting but talk. Almunia allegedly doesn't have an agent... Something that I really struggle to believe. In this age of mega-money deals it seems almost impossible that a player won;t have an agent. For crying out loud, I know 12 year olds in the game which are targeted by agents. The very thought of a top-flight goalkeeper not having an agent is farcical. If we were in the 1950's I'd believe this but come on now Arsene...
Staying on the topic of whether or not we've somehow manage to regress back to the 50's, Manure manager Ferguson has been pouring scorn on the idea of players being allowed to wear snoods (for those of you not in the know, a snood is basically a neckscarf. Imagine a small single legging worn only on the neck), "powder puffs" or something similar I believe was his phrase. Arsene has come out and called them 'medical' (again one feels that this is stretching the term somewhat), but to be fair I agree with his logic on this. By keeping up the heat levels around the neck, this allows more oxygen (via an increased blood supply) into the area and decreases the chance of pulled muscles. Whilst Fergie might maintain that "real men don't wear snoods" one feels he's stuck in the past on this issue (if it is infact an issue). Football has developed in the 21st century, footballers are no longer the indentured servants (for good or for worse...) of old but highly valuable assets in which clubs have invested huge amounts of money.
In the past top-flight medical men used the 'magic sponge' on players (something many of us still remember with fondness from our school football days) and players were told to 'run off' an injury. Let's move with the times. I won't be unkind to Fergie because let's be honest, men of his generation can still remember when the terrace chant of "he's got a pineapple, on his head..." was perfectly acceptable. All we can hope is that Fergie's grandson grows up into a metrosexual Beckham clone...
The war of words with Manure players continues. Ji-Sung Park is the latest one to get involved saying "Arsenal are doing very well now but maybe in March... you will end up with different results". [Clap clap clap] Well done Parkie, you've grasped the basic idea of how a football season works. Let's see now if you can be anything more than a bench warmer for a club who only bought you to increase it's revenue stream in South Korea. (For those of you who don't believe me on that score goto United's website, click on the Korean translation page and see which bit-part player is plastered all over their website as if he's Messi...).
Cesc has said that this is one of the 'weirdest seasons' ever. Whilst it's true that season has thrown up more surprise results than any others in recent memory, I'm sure there's lots of us who remember the times past when a team could go from being in the second division one season to challenging for top honour in the top division next (Cloughie's Forest anyone?). Personally I quite like it, it's good to see an open season and a more open league. It's FARRRRRRRR better than the sh*t you get in La Lige where you know for a fact the top two spots will be taken by Real and Barca and everyone else is just playing for third. Just another reason, I'd like to point out to Fabregas, to stay in the Premier League and not to bugger off to Spain.
On a side point, Barca have for the first time in their history agreed a shirt sponsor deal with some Middle Eastern company/charity. Did someone say financial difficulties?? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha....... Apologies but I think we all like a laugh at the arrogant claret and blue b*stards who consider getting Cesc back at a knock-down price as their birthright.
On a final piece of news Arsene Wenger has come out and defended Arshavin's current form. Andrey has a better pass rating and assist rating than anyone else in the league, apparently. I like Andrey, although he might not always seem the hardest working player or the the most motivated player on our team sometimes, he does his job. Plus he's not afraid to have a crack at goal (something as a manager I'd never have a go at my forwards for, after all, that's why they're there!). I just wish Andrey had never learnt to speak, though I bet his impression of Alexander the meerkat of the Comaprethemeekat.com adverts is something special....
Well that's your lot for the day Arsenalists and Arsenalista's. We'll see you on the 'morrow!
The Afterthought.
We've got the full range of intellectual (and I use that term in its' widest possible sense) ramblings from both sides of the footballing divide today.
Arsene Wenger's come out as saying Coco Almunia's suggested transfer back to Spain as noting but talk. Almunia allegedly doesn't have an agent... Something that I really struggle to believe. In this age of mega-money deals it seems almost impossible that a player won;t have an agent. For crying out loud, I know 12 year olds in the game which are targeted by agents. The very thought of a top-flight goalkeeper not having an agent is farcical. If we were in the 1950's I'd believe this but come on now Arsene...
Staying on the topic of whether or not we've somehow manage to regress back to the 50's, Manure manager Ferguson has been pouring scorn on the idea of players being allowed to wear snoods (for those of you not in the know, a snood is basically a neckscarf. Imagine a small single legging worn only on the neck), "powder puffs" or something similar I believe was his phrase. Arsene has come out and called them 'medical' (again one feels that this is stretching the term somewhat), but to be fair I agree with his logic on this. By keeping up the heat levels around the neck, this allows more oxygen (via an increased blood supply) into the area and decreases the chance of pulled muscles. Whilst Fergie might maintain that "real men don't wear snoods" one feels he's stuck in the past on this issue (if it is infact an issue). Football has developed in the 21st century, footballers are no longer the indentured servants (for good or for worse...) of old but highly valuable assets in which clubs have invested huge amounts of money.
In the past top-flight medical men used the 'magic sponge' on players (something many of us still remember with fondness from our school football days) and players were told to 'run off' an injury. Let's move with the times. I won't be unkind to Fergie because let's be honest, men of his generation can still remember when the terrace chant of "he's got a pineapple, on his head..." was perfectly acceptable. All we can hope is that Fergie's grandson grows up into a metrosexual Beckham clone...
The war of words with Manure players continues. Ji-Sung Park is the latest one to get involved saying "Arsenal are doing very well now but maybe in March... you will end up with different results". [Clap clap clap] Well done Parkie, you've grasped the basic idea of how a football season works. Let's see now if you can be anything more than a bench warmer for a club who only bought you to increase it's revenue stream in South Korea. (For those of you who don't believe me on that score goto United's website, click on the Korean translation page and see which bit-part player is plastered all over their website as if he's Messi...).
Cesc has said that this is one of the 'weirdest seasons' ever. Whilst it's true that season has thrown up more surprise results than any others in recent memory, I'm sure there's lots of us who remember the times past when a team could go from being in the second division one season to challenging for top honour in the top division next (Cloughie's Forest anyone?). Personally I quite like it, it's good to see an open season and a more open league. It's FARRRRRRRR better than the sh*t you get in La Lige where you know for a fact the top two spots will be taken by Real and Barca and everyone else is just playing for third. Just another reason, I'd like to point out to Fabregas, to stay in the Premier League and not to bugger off to Spain.
On a side point, Barca have for the first time in their history agreed a shirt sponsor deal with some Middle Eastern company/charity. Did someone say financial difficulties?? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha....... Apologies but I think we all like a laugh at the arrogant claret and blue b*stards who consider getting Cesc back at a knock-down price as their birthright.
On a final piece of news Arsene Wenger has come out and defended Arshavin's current form. Andrey has a better pass rating and assist rating than anyone else in the league, apparently. I like Andrey, although he might not always seem the hardest working player or the the most motivated player on our team sometimes, he does his job. Plus he's not afraid to have a crack at goal (something as a manager I'd never have a go at my forwards for, after all, that's why they're there!). I just wish Andrey had never learnt to speak, though I bet his impression of Alexander the meerkat of the Comaprethemeekat.com adverts is something special....
Well that's your lot for the day Arsenalists and Arsenalista's. We'll see you on the 'morrow!
The Afterthought.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Manure igniting war of words, if only they could find a consistent arguement... - 10/12/2010
Afternoon all!
The usual war of words in anticipation to our upcoming match against Man United (Manure for short). Evra, sounding like a drunk obnoxious Sp*rs fan (in fact is there any other kind??), has said that Arsenal are nothing more than a "training centre" club and points to our lack of trophies in the past 5 years. Ironically Nani has also come out saying that United are more concerned with our title challenge than with the threat posed by the stuttering Chelski.
Well done boys, set yourselves up for an attack on two fronts. That (almost) worked well for the Germans twice last century... Whilst Fergie might be the master of psychological trumpeting of the past fifteen years, it seems that this has failed to transfer to his players. The smarter move would have been to taunt us first and then move on to taunting Chelsea later, all Nani and Evra have done is to get both us and the Chav's stoked up for our upcoming matches. United remind me of a aging lion now, the roar's as strong as ever but the bite seems to be lacking.
To be fair, Rooney's started to find the net again now (most probably he's found a new prossie who's under strict instructions to keep quiet) and United will have a full strength team for our upcoming clash. BUT, this United side doesn't worry me. Don't get me wrong, they're still a strong team, but compare this Manure team to those of the past 15 years and you have to come to the conclusion they are NOWHERE near as scary as those in the past. Smalling is nowhere near up to the standard that Rio, Jaap and Bruce have set in seasons past. Obertan? give me a break. This guy's meant to replace to stalwarts of Giggs and Scholes? Despite not having our captain (personally i think it would be folly to rush Fab back, especially considering how well Nasri's playing at the moment), we can go into Monday's without fear and play our special brand of football and show Evra why he's wrong on so many levels! As Arsene has pointed out, big name players should always respect their opponents, lest your overconfidence gets the better of you...
Update on the Gibbs injury. Current estimates by our backroom team are that the lad's going to be out for three weeks. If I could could make a suggestion to our medical boys and girls, buy X-men Origins: Wolverine for Christmas. It gives you a nice guide to how to replace someone's bones with adamantium. Maybe it'll work with Gibbs, maybe it won't. But lets be honest here, something has to change for Gibbs otherwise he'll go down the Van Persie route of being available for 2.5 to 3.5 games a season.
Theo! Theo! Theo! Is the cry from the terraces. Nice to see Theo has recovered well from latest injury and is starting to show his form from the start of the season again. Personally I'd prefer to see Theo start instead of Arshavin against Manure, I reckon he'd give those Brazilian twins a scare and a half and Arshavin looked pretty ordinary against Partizan. Sorry Andrey but we just can't gamble on whether or not you'll show up mentally on Monday and Theo has been showing more heart and determination lately.
On Coco Almunia's proposed move back to Spain, some quarters are suggesting a player + cash swap with David de Gea coming the other-way (reports also circulating the player may move to Manure). Personally I can't see Arsene going for de Gea. We've already got two young keepers and surely there is little point bringing in yet another one.
The only other real piece of worthy news is that the decision on Cesc's fitness for the United game will be made the night before the match. Like I've already stated I think I'd be the height of folly to start him. Stick with Nasri, keep Fab on the bench. No point in rushing the lad back when in reality our midfield is better than United's anyway.
Well we're done for another day. I'm going to go and sit on Twitter for a while to catch up a
on Rio and Wilshere's comedy stylings. Rumour is one of them might reveal who snogged Sharron behind the bike shed's after third period maths on Monday....
The Afterthought.
The usual war of words in anticipation to our upcoming match against Man United (Manure for short). Evra, sounding like a drunk obnoxious Sp*rs fan (in fact is there any other kind??), has said that Arsenal are nothing more than a "training centre" club and points to our lack of trophies in the past 5 years. Ironically Nani has also come out saying that United are more concerned with our title challenge than with the threat posed by the stuttering Chelski.
Well done boys, set yourselves up for an attack on two fronts. That (almost) worked well for the Germans twice last century... Whilst Fergie might be the master of psychological trumpeting of the past fifteen years, it seems that this has failed to transfer to his players. The smarter move would have been to taunt us first and then move on to taunting Chelsea later, all Nani and Evra have done is to get both us and the Chav's stoked up for our upcoming matches. United remind me of a aging lion now, the roar's as strong as ever but the bite seems to be lacking.
To be fair, Rooney's started to find the net again now (most probably he's found a new prossie who's under strict instructions to keep quiet) and United will have a full strength team for our upcoming clash. BUT, this United side doesn't worry me. Don't get me wrong, they're still a strong team, but compare this Manure team to those of the past 15 years and you have to come to the conclusion they are NOWHERE near as scary as those in the past. Smalling is nowhere near up to the standard that Rio, Jaap and Bruce have set in seasons past. Obertan? give me a break. This guy's meant to replace to stalwarts of Giggs and Scholes? Despite not having our captain (personally i think it would be folly to rush Fab back, especially considering how well Nasri's playing at the moment), we can go into Monday's without fear and play our special brand of football and show Evra why he's wrong on so many levels! As Arsene has pointed out, big name players should always respect their opponents, lest your overconfidence gets the better of you...
Update on the Gibbs injury. Current estimates by our backroom team are that the lad's going to be out for three weeks. If I could could make a suggestion to our medical boys and girls, buy X-men Origins: Wolverine for Christmas. It gives you a nice guide to how to replace someone's bones with adamantium. Maybe it'll work with Gibbs, maybe it won't. But lets be honest here, something has to change for Gibbs otherwise he'll go down the Van Persie route of being available for 2.5 to 3.5 games a season.
Theo! Theo! Theo! Is the cry from the terraces. Nice to see Theo has recovered well from latest injury and is starting to show his form from the start of the season again. Personally I'd prefer to see Theo start instead of Arshavin against Manure, I reckon he'd give those Brazilian twins a scare and a half and Arshavin looked pretty ordinary against Partizan. Sorry Andrey but we just can't gamble on whether or not you'll show up mentally on Monday and Theo has been showing more heart and determination lately.
On Coco Almunia's proposed move back to Spain, some quarters are suggesting a player + cash swap with David de Gea coming the other-way (reports also circulating the player may move to Manure). Personally I can't see Arsene going for de Gea. We've already got two young keepers and surely there is little point bringing in yet another one.
The only other real piece of worthy news is that the decision on Cesc's fitness for the United game will be made the night before the match. Like I've already stated I think I'd be the height of folly to start him. Stick with Nasri, keep Fab on the bench. No point in rushing the lad back when in reality our midfield is better than United's anyway.
Well we're done for another day. I'm going to go and sit on Twitter for a while to catch up a
on Rio and Wilshere's comedy stylings. Rumour is one of them might reveal who snogged Sharron behind the bike shed's after third period maths on Monday....
The Afterthought.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Nasri magic continues & Can we take on the 'super-favourites?" - 09/12/2010
Woah, felt like 'touch & go' for a period last night!
Morning all,
A good match last night. We took the lead through a RVP penalty in another first half that we dominated and failed to kill off the opposition in. In some senses the match became academical as Braga lost to Shakhtar and we were (barring a loss) guaranteed to go through. But whilst saying that, there were times last night that it felt like Partizan could have picked up an unlikely victory.
In all honesty we should have sealed the match up in the first half when RVP picked up a missed header from Partizan's Krstajic and looked to pick out Chamakh. Bu the final ball was slightly lacking and was behind Chamakh and a good chance was lost.
Partizan had equalised early in the second half through Cleo and once again it became 'squeeky bum' time. Images of going out at the group stages must have flashed through the mind of all but the most optimistic Arsenal fans. Fabianski again had an up and down night and whilst having some good saves later on in the match should done better with the first goal.
It wasn't until the introduction of Walcott, who replaced Arshavin who was showing signs of having celebrated too much at Russia's victory in hosting the World Cup and not enough time training, that Arsenal once again stepped up a gear and showed the form that could see us pick up at least one piece of silverware this season. Walcott picked up on a clearance from Partizan and with a superb volley put the Arsenal back infront.
From that point on we started to control the game more and more and Nasri continued his sparking season and added third to finally kill off the match.
One down point was the late sending off of Sagna. He tackled from behind but I think even the most hardened Partizan fan would agree that a red card was harsh and at best a yellow would have sufficed.
The other down point is the injury to Kieron Gibbs, there's no news at the moment to the extent of the injury but it a shame to see yet another injury in this young lads career. I wonder if he's Van Persie's secret half brother....
The victory secured our place in the next round but does leave us in the line of fire for, what Arsene calls the 'super-favourites' in his best Spanish gameshow host impression. In the next round two teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, so this leaves us in line for either: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Batern Munich & Shalke. Van Persie stated "I want Barcelona or Madrid", be careful of what you wish for was the first thing that sprung to my mind....
Don't get me wrong, if possible I'd love nothing more than to get nice easy draws all the way through (and hopefully for) the final. But to be realistic we're going to have to face big teams at some point. Whether it's Pep's Barca or Jose's Real the basic fact is that if you want to be known as the best team in Europe, you've got to beat the big boys at some point. What worries me is our ability to keep our concentration over 180 minutes against one of the big teams. Our attack I think can rival that of any of the European teams at the moment, our defence on the other hand is another matter. Especially if Vermaelen is out or struggling to keep match fitness after a long stretch out. The one hope is that the long stretch between now and the next round mean that HOPEFULLY Squillaci, Koscienly and Djourou will have enough time to develop an understanding between them which will shore up the defence.
Speaking of our defence Fabianski has been saying that he doesn't care what the press say about him and only the managers opinion matters. "I play for the manager, the club and myself" was his statement. Whilst Arsene continues to keep with in the young Pole, his inability to keep clean sheets against 'lesser' Premier League clubs such as Newcastle and Fulham, makes me quake in my boots at what the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and co. will do to him should we draw either of the big Spanish clubs. The upside is that should he manage to put in excellent performances against the top Iberian hitmen and keep some clean sheets, it should do wonders for his confidence. I only pray that the supposed 'top class' form he shows in training will come to the for in these games.
To more onto other news, Craif Eastmond has been in a run-in with the law and has been re-bailed until the new year. He was nicked by Wansworth police on 'suspicion of indecent exposure'. He's the third Arsenal youngster so far to be involved in minor run-ins with the police so far this season (Wilshere was involved in a dust-up in the early hours and JET allegedly failed to stop for police). Well my fellow Arsenal supporters, I guess this is what we get for our demand that more English players are brought into the squad. Whilst we would all love our young Englishmen to follow in Theo's footsteps of well-spoken middle-classness, the truth is English players tend to get into trouble more than their young continental imports. We can only hope that these young lads, suddenly flush with cash and fame, will learn from these experiences and follow the Ryan Giggs
Well that's all for today. No point in rehashing my previous comments on Mamadou Sakho, who again is in the papers being linked to us. Wrap up warm if you're in Britain, keep the sun-tan oil on if your in Singapore and if your American please don't vote anymore retarded people in as President as you did with George Bush Jnr. Take care!
The Afterthought.
Morning all,
A good match last night. We took the lead through a RVP penalty in another first half that we dominated and failed to kill off the opposition in. In some senses the match became academical as Braga lost to Shakhtar and we were (barring a loss) guaranteed to go through. But whilst saying that, there were times last night that it felt like Partizan could have picked up an unlikely victory.
In all honesty we should have sealed the match up in the first half when RVP picked up a missed header from Partizan's Krstajic and looked to pick out Chamakh. Bu the final ball was slightly lacking and was behind Chamakh and a good chance was lost.
Partizan had equalised early in the second half through Cleo and once again it became 'squeeky bum' time. Images of going out at the group stages must have flashed through the mind of all but the most optimistic Arsenal fans. Fabianski again had an up and down night and whilst having some good saves later on in the match should done better with the first goal.
It wasn't until the introduction of Walcott, who replaced Arshavin who was showing signs of having celebrated too much at Russia's victory in hosting the World Cup and not enough time training, that Arsenal once again stepped up a gear and showed the form that could see us pick up at least one piece of silverware this season. Walcott picked up on a clearance from Partizan and with a superb volley put the Arsenal back infront.
From that point on we started to control the game more and more and Nasri continued his sparking season and added third to finally kill off the match.
One down point was the late sending off of Sagna. He tackled from behind but I think even the most hardened Partizan fan would agree that a red card was harsh and at best a yellow would have sufficed.
The other down point is the injury to Kieron Gibbs, there's no news at the moment to the extent of the injury but it a shame to see yet another injury in this young lads career. I wonder if he's Van Persie's secret half brother....
The victory secured our place in the next round but does leave us in the line of fire for, what Arsene calls the 'super-favourites' in his best Spanish gameshow host impression. In the next round two teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, so this leaves us in line for either: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Batern Munich & Shalke. Van Persie stated "I want Barcelona or Madrid", be careful of what you wish for was the first thing that sprung to my mind....
Don't get me wrong, if possible I'd love nothing more than to get nice easy draws all the way through (and hopefully for) the final. But to be realistic we're going to have to face big teams at some point. Whether it's Pep's Barca or Jose's Real the basic fact is that if you want to be known as the best team in Europe, you've got to beat the big boys at some point. What worries me is our ability to keep our concentration over 180 minutes against one of the big teams. Our attack I think can rival that of any of the European teams at the moment, our defence on the other hand is another matter. Especially if Vermaelen is out or struggling to keep match fitness after a long stretch out. The one hope is that the long stretch between now and the next round mean that HOPEFULLY Squillaci, Koscienly and Djourou will have enough time to develop an understanding between them which will shore up the defence.
Speaking of our defence Fabianski has been saying that he doesn't care what the press say about him and only the managers opinion matters. "I play for the manager, the club and myself" was his statement. Whilst Arsene continues to keep with in the young Pole, his inability to keep clean sheets against 'lesser' Premier League clubs such as Newcastle and Fulham, makes me quake in my boots at what the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and co. will do to him should we draw either of the big Spanish clubs. The upside is that should he manage to put in excellent performances against the top Iberian hitmen and keep some clean sheets, it should do wonders for his confidence. I only pray that the supposed 'top class' form he shows in training will come to the for in these games.
To more onto other news, Craif Eastmond has been in a run-in with the law and has been re-bailed until the new year. He was nicked by Wansworth police on 'suspicion of indecent exposure'. He's the third Arsenal youngster so far to be involved in minor run-ins with the police so far this season (Wilshere was involved in a dust-up in the early hours and JET allegedly failed to stop for police). Well my fellow Arsenal supporters, I guess this is what we get for our demand that more English players are brought into the squad. Whilst we would all love our young Englishmen to follow in Theo's footsteps of well-spoken middle-classness, the truth is English players tend to get into trouble more than their young continental imports. We can only hope that these young lads, suddenly flush with cash and fame, will learn from these experiences and follow the Ryan Giggs
Well that's all for today. No point in rehashing my previous comments on Mamadou Sakho, who again is in the papers being linked to us. Wrap up warm if you're in Britain, keep the sun-tan oil on if your in Singapore and if your American please don't vote anymore retarded people in as President as you did with George Bush Jnr. Take care!
The Afterthought.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Wenger states the obvious & Wilshere and Rio's comedy stylings... 08/12/2010
Morning all!
"Massive" match today against Partizan tonight at the Emirates. We should have had the group wrapped up long ago but here we are now, on the last day of the group stages with the prospect that we could not qualify to the last sixteen. It's not as bad as it might sound, we're on nine points along with Braga who are playing group leaders Shakhtar tonight. Our goal difference is slightly better than Braga's (we're on +9 to Braga's -4 !) so as long as we win we'll be going through to the next round, no matter what happens in the match between Shakhtar and Braga. This also means that as long as Shakhtar bear Braga, a draw will be good enough for us tonight.
The merry-go-round at the centre of our defence carries on. Djourou is now apparently out due to minor thigh injury and Laurent Koscielny is back after recovering from calling Squillaci's mum a prossie (or whatever the comment was which got him headbutted by Seb!).
The only other real news on the squad for tonight is that it'll be a toss-up as to whether RVP & the Eubouesaurus Rex are given a starting spots or whether they'll begin on the bench. Wenger's already stated the rest of the squad will be the same as that which started against Fulham.
Onto other news, Samir's getting ready for a pay rise. He shows that he made a good decision not to negotiate at the end of last season because he felt he had more to offer the club than what he showed last season. According to Wenger, Samir's the 'new Thierry Henry'. If this is the case then I'm looking forward to the Samir Nasri Renault Clio adverts at some time in the near future! "Bobbie?" "Sammie?" [both said in faux French accents].
Both Clichy and Arshavin (littleman/big mouth syndrome) are due to start contract negotiations with the club soon so hopefully they'll take a leaf out of Nasri's book and put a little bit more 'oomph' into their performances this season (but to be fair I have been impressed with Andrey, he might not be scoring lots but the little Russian is creating goals).
Keeping on Andrey, he's shown himself to be at least as intelligent as the rest of us by pointing out our defensive frailties. "We struggle all the time in defence", spot on Andrey. 18 goals in 16 appearances? Spot on old son. I do hope the team takes note, hopefully some pressure from our forwards will get our defenders' arses in gear. The forwards are doing what we need of them, THEY'RE scoring goals. Whilst it's correct that the entire team needs to defend better the defence need to tighten up and get a few clean sheets under their belts.
Jack Wilshere and Rio Ferdinand have been tweeting each other on such mighty subjects as 'can i have your shirt next week?', one can only wonder at the other items of intellectual note that pass between them. "Yo bruv, I got the new blue turtle Pokemon!", "Sweeeeet cha, dat da one which can breathe fire out its ass AND turn invisible yo?" or "Jaah boi! Who would you reckon in a fight yeah between like da Easter bunny & Santa?" "Geezer my money's on Santa yeah cause like you don't diss the big man BEFORE he drops your presents off, know what I'm sayin'?". Knowing what the marketing departments at Arsenal and Man United are like, get ready for the interactive DVD of their comical stylings to be available in time for Christmas.
I see little point in talking about Wenger's comments on the sacking of Chris Houghton at Newcastle, long live Mike Ashley is all I'll say. I love watching Newcastle fans cry at the end of the season. If only we could somehow contrive to get Mike Ashley to replace Daniel Levy at Sp*rs we could get to see the glorious sight of Spud fans crying at the end of the season.....
The transfer news front is on a chilled out day today. We're being linked to a deal for Zagreb's teenage defender Sime Vrsaljko. Though £10 million plus is slightly over what I'd pay for a teenager with no experience in any of the top European leagues. I'd prefer Sakho, he's a centreback as opposed to Vrsaljko who's a rightback by trade and has proven more than decent in the Italian league.
Oliver Khan, in German paper Bild, has told Manuel Neuer to join either us or Man United if the young German international wants to continue to develop as a player. I'd LOVE Neuer as our keeper, been tracking his development as a player over the past few years after a tip from a German cousin of mine and, I reckon at any rate, he'll develop into a world class keeper. Our last German keeper was good, apart from Jens moment of madness at the start of our Champions League final clash against Barca where he momentarily forgot that he was a keeper and decided he was a Panzer tank on a blitzkrieg mission. Fingers crossed on this one.
Well that's the round up for today over! Still bloody freezing in London so I hope all who are coming to Emirates tonight wrap up warm, and even if they don't, let's hope the sparks flying from tonight's contest will warm us all up!
The Afterthought.
"Massive" match today against Partizan tonight at the Emirates. We should have had the group wrapped up long ago but here we are now, on the last day of the group stages with the prospect that we could not qualify to the last sixteen. It's not as bad as it might sound, we're on nine points along with Braga who are playing group leaders Shakhtar tonight. Our goal difference is slightly better than Braga's (we're on +9 to Braga's -4 !) so as long as we win we'll be going through to the next round, no matter what happens in the match between Shakhtar and Braga. This also means that as long as Shakhtar bear Braga, a draw will be good enough for us tonight.
The merry-go-round at the centre of our defence carries on. Djourou is now apparently out due to minor thigh injury and Laurent Koscielny is back after recovering from calling Squillaci's mum a prossie (or whatever the comment was which got him headbutted by Seb!).
The only other real news on the squad for tonight is that it'll be a toss-up as to whether RVP & the Eubouesaurus Rex are given a starting spots or whether they'll begin on the bench. Wenger's already stated the rest of the squad will be the same as that which started against Fulham.
Onto other news, Samir's getting ready for a pay rise. He shows that he made a good decision not to negotiate at the end of last season because he felt he had more to offer the club than what he showed last season. According to Wenger, Samir's the 'new Thierry Henry'. If this is the case then I'm looking forward to the Samir Nasri Renault Clio adverts at some time in the near future! "Bobbie?" "Sammie?" [both said in faux French accents].
Both Clichy and Arshavin (littleman/big mouth syndrome) are due to start contract negotiations with the club soon so hopefully they'll take a leaf out of Nasri's book and put a little bit more 'oomph' into their performances this season (but to be fair I have been impressed with Andrey, he might not be scoring lots but the little Russian is creating goals).
Keeping on Andrey, he's shown himself to be at least as intelligent as the rest of us by pointing out our defensive frailties. "We struggle all the time in defence", spot on Andrey. 18 goals in 16 appearances? Spot on old son. I do hope the team takes note, hopefully some pressure from our forwards will get our defenders' arses in gear. The forwards are doing what we need of them, THEY'RE scoring goals. Whilst it's correct that the entire team needs to defend better the defence need to tighten up and get a few clean sheets under their belts.
Jack Wilshere and Rio Ferdinand have been tweeting each other on such mighty subjects as 'can i have your shirt next week?', one can only wonder at the other items of intellectual note that pass between them. "Yo bruv, I got the new blue turtle Pokemon!", "Sweeeeet cha, dat da one which can breathe fire out its ass AND turn invisible yo?" or "Jaah boi! Who would you reckon in a fight yeah between like da Easter bunny & Santa?" "Geezer my money's on Santa yeah cause like you don't diss the big man BEFORE he drops your presents off, know what I'm sayin'?". Knowing what the marketing departments at Arsenal and Man United are like, get ready for the interactive DVD of their comical stylings to be available in time for Christmas.
I see little point in talking about Wenger's comments on the sacking of Chris Houghton at Newcastle, long live Mike Ashley is all I'll say. I love watching Newcastle fans cry at the end of the season. If only we could somehow contrive to get Mike Ashley to replace Daniel Levy at Sp*rs we could get to see the glorious sight of Spud fans crying at the end of the season.....
The transfer news front is on a chilled out day today. We're being linked to a deal for Zagreb's teenage defender Sime Vrsaljko. Though £10 million plus is slightly over what I'd pay for a teenager with no experience in any of the top European leagues. I'd prefer Sakho, he's a centreback as opposed to Vrsaljko who's a rightback by trade and has proven more than decent in the Italian league.
Oliver Khan, in German paper Bild, has told Manuel Neuer to join either us or Man United if the young German international wants to continue to develop as a player. I'd LOVE Neuer as our keeper, been tracking his development as a player over the past few years after a tip from a German cousin of mine and, I reckon at any rate, he'll develop into a world class keeper. Our last German keeper was good, apart from Jens moment of madness at the start of our Champions League final clash against Barca where he momentarily forgot that he was a keeper and decided he was a Panzer tank on a blitzkrieg mission. Fingers crossed on this one.
Well that's the round up for today over! Still bloody freezing in London so I hope all who are coming to Emirates tonight wrap up warm, and even if they don't, let's hope the sparks flying from tonight's contest will warm us all up!
The Afterthought.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Quiet Day - 07/12/2010
Afternoon all,
Apologies for the lateness of the update. Internet problems have had me struggling to maintain any type of connection throughout the day!
Not a whole load to report today. As the transfer window edges ever nearer the rumours are ever gathering pace!
Once again we're being linked with a load of youngsters. The Sun says we're after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton, he's referred to as being a midfield 'sensation' but then again I've yet to see a transfer speculation where the player is referred to as 'ordinary' or 'generally alright'. He's former England international Mark Chamberlain's son and has had some decent performances for the Saints but then again one rainstorm does not an English summer make and to be honest we're so inundated with 'teenage sensations' that players with actual experience would be preferred by most of us.
On that note once again Shay Given is being linked with a January move to us. I reckon we've more chance of signing David Seaman back than get Shay (though I for one would love to see the Irishman come to us), considering that Man City are pushing to get as high a league position as possible I severely doubt City would let Shay come to us. So once again let's all wave to Shay as he moves, most probably, to one Celtic. Bye-bye Shay!
Speculation on a couple of sites is that we're looking at Matt Gilks from Blackpool. Considering the Sun can't even decide how old the player is (first stating that he's 28, then going on four lines later to say he's 25), methinks the Sun is just filling space.
talkSport, who hilariously are being nominated for the 2010 'Best football website' (wonder if Sepp Blatter is in charge of those awards????), suggests that Ajax are looking to bring in Nicky Bendtner if Suarez is snapped up by one of the big European clubs. Considering Suarez is serving a seven match ban for biting (yes that's BITING) and opponent, I'd be gobsmacked at anyone taking a chance on the Uruguayan for a while. Seriously, what type of temperament does the guy have for BITING an opponent? Not even Bellamy would sink that low... Another one of those 'exclusives' from talkSport that proves they spend more time making up stories than actual journalism. Maybe I'm wrong. Time will tell.
On a different note, Samir Nasri is stating the obvious that Arsenal need to learn how to kill off teams. Maybe, just maybe, Wenger's constant reiteration of this point might be sinking into the squad. The nervousness we display in defence when leading by one goal surely is a product of having our best centreback out and having two new faces (three if you count Djourou who has been out for what seems like a decade before the start of the season) and a keeper in Fabianski who still blows hot and cold in his performances. PLEASE merciful gods of football let Arsene sign a decent centreback in the window, unlikely I still reckon but I start sacrificing to various those notoriously fickle footballing gods in the vain hope they'll intervene.
Well that's it for a quiet day. We've got a crucial European match against Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday so at least we'll get to see how Squillaci and Djourou are developing as a centreback pairing, they're going to need to be on form when we take on Chelsea and Man United so hopefully some more game time together will continue to develop an understanding. At least we know that if Djourou doesn't pull his wait Squillaci will headbutt him into oblivion.....
The Afterthought.
Apologies for the lateness of the update. Internet problems have had me struggling to maintain any type of connection throughout the day!
Not a whole load to report today. As the transfer window edges ever nearer the rumours are ever gathering pace!
Once again we're being linked with a load of youngsters. The Sun says we're after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton, he's referred to as being a midfield 'sensation' but then again I've yet to see a transfer speculation where the player is referred to as 'ordinary' or 'generally alright'. He's former England international Mark Chamberlain's son and has had some decent performances for the Saints but then again one rainstorm does not an English summer make and to be honest we're so inundated with 'teenage sensations' that players with actual experience would be preferred by most of us.
On that note once again Shay Given is being linked with a January move to us. I reckon we've more chance of signing David Seaman back than get Shay (though I for one would love to see the Irishman come to us), considering that Man City are pushing to get as high a league position as possible I severely doubt City would let Shay come to us. So once again let's all wave to Shay as he moves, most probably, to one Celtic. Bye-bye Shay!
Speculation on a couple of sites is that we're looking at Matt Gilks from Blackpool. Considering the Sun can't even decide how old the player is (first stating that he's 28, then going on four lines later to say he's 25), methinks the Sun is just filling space.
talkSport, who hilariously are being nominated for the 2010 'Best football website' (wonder if Sepp Blatter is in charge of those awards????), suggests that Ajax are looking to bring in Nicky Bendtner if Suarez is snapped up by one of the big European clubs. Considering Suarez is serving a seven match ban for biting (yes that's BITING) and opponent, I'd be gobsmacked at anyone taking a chance on the Uruguayan for a while. Seriously, what type of temperament does the guy have for BITING an opponent? Not even Bellamy would sink that low... Another one of those 'exclusives' from talkSport that proves they spend more time making up stories than actual journalism. Maybe I'm wrong. Time will tell.
On a different note, Samir Nasri is stating the obvious that Arsenal need to learn how to kill off teams. Maybe, just maybe, Wenger's constant reiteration of this point might be sinking into the squad. The nervousness we display in defence when leading by one goal surely is a product of having our best centreback out and having two new faces (three if you count Djourou who has been out for what seems like a decade before the start of the season) and a keeper in Fabianski who still blows hot and cold in his performances. PLEASE merciful gods of football let Arsene sign a decent centreback in the window, unlikely I still reckon but I start sacrificing to various those notoriously fickle footballing gods in the vain hope they'll intervene.
Well that's it for a quiet day. We've got a crucial European match against Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday so at least we'll get to see how Squillaci and Djourou are developing as a centreback pairing, they're going to need to be on form when we take on Chelsea and Man United so hopefully some more game time together will continue to develop an understanding. At least we know that if Djourou doesn't pull his wait Squillaci will headbutt him into oblivion.....
The Afterthought.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Deja vu time... - 06/12/2010
Afternoon all!
Deja vu time again. Injuries which were predicted to have a player out for "only a couple of weeks" are starting to turn into longer running saga's than the will they/won't they relationship between Mourinho and Ferguson (on a side note on that, the rumour is Jose's bought a ring but Alex is playing hard-to-get into the bathtub).
Whilst surely Vermaelen's achilles injury cannot last as long as Ro-SICK-y's, Thomas is apparently still toddling about in a protective boot and will certainly miss our potential crunch games against Ferguson's Manure and Carlo's Chelski (who are trying their hardest to do an impersonation of a self-imploding star). Achilles injuries can be notoriously niggly but one has to wonder why our medical staff are constantly underestimating recovery times for our players. Reports now are that Tommy Vermaelen's out until the New Year (I'll believe that assessment when he finally completes a full 90 minutes for us).
According to the Metro, Koscielny is set to miss the next three weeks due to the concussion he suffered during the Fulham game. Any 'Get Well Soon' cards should include a 1kg tub of protein shake of your choice.
Both of these injuries means its certain that it'll be Squillaci and Djourou lining up in the centre of defence for us in our games against Chelsea and United. No time like the present to step up lads.
Both these injuries seem to suggest we'd be well within our rights to bring in a new face in defence during the transfer window. Rumours are abound today that we're looking at both Ajax's Van der Wiel and Jan Vertonghen, both look like good solid centrebacks. Unfortunately these reports come from sites who I give little credence to, especially with the lack of any source quotes. I think I can see the steam rising from a relieved looking bull on both these rumours. I maybe wrong, but I guess time will tell.
Goal.com is saying that an Arsenal source is confirming Coco Almunia has been told he can move with Athletico Madrid waiting in the wings. I guess they must have read my post yesterday and decided that Almunia's only going to cost them £1.5 million, they can afford to buy a hamster cage to stop him looking for his pet on the floor of the goal when he should be worrying about opposing strikers.
Now Schwarzer has signed a new contract at Fulham be prepared for us to be linked with every keeper and his dog. The latest one is a reiteration of yesterday's rumour we're interested in the Mexican Ochoa. Even if it was true that we're interested, since he would be available on a free this summer I wouldn't expect any movement on the subject in January.
On the lighter side of the news! Jack Wilshere has got into Szczesny's Twitter account and posted such messages as "JW is the greatest ever footballer" and the ever funny "I'm gay". The Mirror's calling him immature for it, HE'S 18 YEARS OLD!!!! For Christ's sake i know 30 year olds who do the same. It's more a lesson for Szczesny not to leave himself signed into Twitter when his flatmate's about. Let the kids have a bit of fun, just because the Mirror's commentator on the subject has been brow-beaten by his wife into pretending he doesn't find such events even slightly amusing, i bet you a fiver that he'd do the same to his mate when the wife is shopping in New York. GUYS TAKE THE PISS! ESPECIALLY OUT OF OUR MATES! It's our way of bonding, to be honest it's a better way of bonding than what Max Mosley did with five S&M dominatrix prostitutes....
The Sun's saying the Jack was a bit upset with Arshavin for the part the latter played in Russia's World Cup bid. First prize in the "State the F*cking obvious" competition to that Sun reporter. All I hope is that his editor didn't congratulate him on this mighty "scoop".
Well that's your lot of the day all. For any who are interested the lasagna went well in the end. Had a bugger of a time finding out where Deliah had disappeared to but found her behind the fridge in the end.
Be safe and be warm!
The Afterthought.
Deja vu time again. Injuries which were predicted to have a player out for "only a couple of weeks" are starting to turn into longer running saga's than the will they/won't they relationship between Mourinho and Ferguson (on a side note on that, the rumour is Jose's bought a ring but Alex is playing hard-to-get into the bathtub).
Whilst surely Vermaelen's achilles injury cannot last as long as Ro-SICK-y's, Thomas is apparently still toddling about in a protective boot and will certainly miss our potential crunch games against Ferguson's Manure and Carlo's Chelski (who are trying their hardest to do an impersonation of a self-imploding star). Achilles injuries can be notoriously niggly but one has to wonder why our medical staff are constantly underestimating recovery times for our players. Reports now are that Tommy Vermaelen's out until the New Year (I'll believe that assessment when he finally completes a full 90 minutes for us).
According to the Metro, Koscielny is set to miss the next three weeks due to the concussion he suffered during the Fulham game. Any 'Get Well Soon' cards should include a 1kg tub of protein shake of your choice.
Both of these injuries means its certain that it'll be Squillaci and Djourou lining up in the centre of defence for us in our games against Chelsea and United. No time like the present to step up lads.
Both these injuries seem to suggest we'd be well within our rights to bring in a new face in defence during the transfer window. Rumours are abound today that we're looking at both Ajax's Van der Wiel and Jan Vertonghen, both look like good solid centrebacks. Unfortunately these reports come from sites who I give little credence to, especially with the lack of any source quotes. I think I can see the steam rising from a relieved looking bull on both these rumours. I maybe wrong, but I guess time will tell.
Goal.com is saying that an Arsenal source is confirming Coco Almunia has been told he can move with Athletico Madrid waiting in the wings. I guess they must have read my post yesterday and decided that Almunia's only going to cost them £1.5 million, they can afford to buy a hamster cage to stop him looking for his pet on the floor of the goal when he should be worrying about opposing strikers.
Now Schwarzer has signed a new contract at Fulham be prepared for us to be linked with every keeper and his dog. The latest one is a reiteration of yesterday's rumour we're interested in the Mexican Ochoa. Even if it was true that we're interested, since he would be available on a free this summer I wouldn't expect any movement on the subject in January.
On the lighter side of the news! Jack Wilshere has got into Szczesny's Twitter account and posted such messages as "JW is the greatest ever footballer" and the ever funny "I'm gay". The Mirror's calling him immature for it, HE'S 18 YEARS OLD!!!! For Christ's sake i know 30 year olds who do the same. It's more a lesson for Szczesny not to leave himself signed into Twitter when his flatmate's about. Let the kids have a bit of fun, just because the Mirror's commentator on the subject has been brow-beaten by his wife into pretending he doesn't find such events even slightly amusing, i bet you a fiver that he'd do the same to his mate when the wife is shopping in New York. GUYS TAKE THE PISS! ESPECIALLY OUT OF OUR MATES! It's our way of bonding, to be honest it's a better way of bonding than what Max Mosley did with five S&M dominatrix prostitutes....
The Sun's saying the Jack was a bit upset with Arshavin for the part the latter played in Russia's World Cup bid. First prize in the "State the F*cking obvious" competition to that Sun reporter. All I hope is that his editor didn't congratulate him on this mighty "scoop".
Well that's your lot of the day all. For any who are interested the lasagna went well in the end. Had a bugger of a time finding out where Deliah had disappeared to but found her behind the fridge in the end.
Be safe and be warm!
The Afterthought.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Nasri - "Touch of an Angel." - 05/12/2010
Afternoon all!
"Touch of an angel", those were Andy Gray's words to describe the two pieces of individual skill which Nasri produced to get us out of a potential dropping of two points. Who could argue?? Whilst I did say individual skill both goals were set up with lovely passes, Arshavin passing to the right to set up the first, whilst RVP (lovely to see him back and even lovelier to see him go fifteen minutes without breaking) dinked the ball to Nasri for the second.
Fulham's goal came after Squillaci decided he didn't like Koscienly and headbutted him as if it was a typical Saturday night in Clapham and Koscienly had just made intimations that Squillaci's mother liked to spend her time up against walls with sailors. Kamara took advantage of the gap in defence and scored, Koscienly (who REALLY REALLY needs to start drinking protein shakes if he intends to stay in the Premier League) was stretchered off and currently word is that he'll be out for up to three weeks. I'll avoid the usual calls to suggest to Arsene we need another centreback, Arsene aint gonna buy. What worries me most about the situation is I can't work out, if everyone was fit, what our starting centreback pairing would be. Would it be Squillaci or Koscienly who partners the indomitable Vermaelen at the back?
On the Thomas Vermaelen front, good news is that he should be back for the Chelsea game (famous last words again I know....). We need him back. Not just for his physical presence but he's the undisputed leader of our defence now.
Keeping on the defence theme, questions are still abound about the suitability of Fabianski. He again had an up and down game where he had a couple of cracking saves but his decision to come out for one of the Fulham corners was awful. Flapping about, he misses the ball and only thanks to the positioning of RVP was a second Fulham averted. Let's say to him that for every positioning mistake he makes from now on, he earns five minutes in a locked room with Uzmanov and David Seaman (who we shall supply a whiteboard, a marker and a car battery and jumper cables) who shall "educate" him in the good old Soviet style still the mistakes stop. HEY! Having the fat Russian (ok ok, fat Uzbekistanian... still love Lock, Stock!) has to have some advantages...
On the transfer news front, word from the streets (well word from The Sunday Times at any rate) is that we're struggling to find a buyer for Coco Almunia. Unsurprising really. Fawlty Towers burnt down many a year ago and I cant see anyone wanting Manny running around their dressing room looking for his pet hamster "Arsene".
Rumours from IMscouting [spits on floor] is that we're after Sakho from PSG. He looks a excellent prospect but a 20 years old and having only ever played in the French League I'd still far prefer a more experienced centreback to brought in. Preferably one that has either Premier League or Bundesliga experience to show that they can come in and quickly adapt to the physical style of English football.
Right that's your lot for today. I've got to go start the lasagna now. Wish I could find my twenty-five year old copy of Deliah Smith though, having inherited it from my parents it's got sentimental value... Ah well, maybe I'll buy Manny and he and his hamster "Arsene" will find it under a table somewhere.....
The Afterthought.
"Touch of an angel", those were Andy Gray's words to describe the two pieces of individual skill which Nasri produced to get us out of a potential dropping of two points. Who could argue?? Whilst I did say individual skill both goals were set up with lovely passes, Arshavin passing to the right to set up the first, whilst RVP (lovely to see him back and even lovelier to see him go fifteen minutes without breaking) dinked the ball to Nasri for the second.
Fulham's goal came after Squillaci decided he didn't like Koscienly and headbutted him as if it was a typical Saturday night in Clapham and Koscienly had just made intimations that Squillaci's mother liked to spend her time up against walls with sailors. Kamara took advantage of the gap in defence and scored, Koscienly (who REALLY REALLY needs to start drinking protein shakes if he intends to stay in the Premier League) was stretchered off and currently word is that he'll be out for up to three weeks. I'll avoid the usual calls to suggest to Arsene we need another centreback, Arsene aint gonna buy. What worries me most about the situation is I can't work out, if everyone was fit, what our starting centreback pairing would be. Would it be Squillaci or Koscienly who partners the indomitable Vermaelen at the back?
On the Thomas Vermaelen front, good news is that he should be back for the Chelsea game (famous last words again I know....). We need him back. Not just for his physical presence but he's the undisputed leader of our defence now.
Keeping on the defence theme, questions are still abound about the suitability of Fabianski. He again had an up and down game where he had a couple of cracking saves but his decision to come out for one of the Fulham corners was awful. Flapping about, he misses the ball and only thanks to the positioning of RVP was a second Fulham averted. Let's say to him that for every positioning mistake he makes from now on, he earns five minutes in a locked room with Uzmanov and David Seaman (who we shall supply a whiteboard, a marker and a car battery and jumper cables) who shall "educate" him in the good old Soviet style still the mistakes stop. HEY! Having the fat Russian (ok ok, fat Uzbekistanian... still love Lock, Stock!) has to have some advantages...
On the transfer news front, word from the streets (well word from The Sunday Times at any rate) is that we're struggling to find a buyer for Coco Almunia. Unsurprising really. Fawlty Towers burnt down many a year ago and I cant see anyone wanting Manny running around their dressing room looking for his pet hamster "Arsene".
Rumours from IMscouting [spits on floor] is that we're after Sakho from PSG. He looks a excellent prospect but a 20 years old and having only ever played in the French League I'd still far prefer a more experienced centreback to brought in. Preferably one that has either Premier League or Bundesliga experience to show that they can come in and quickly adapt to the physical style of English football.
Right that's your lot for today. I've got to go start the lasagna now. Wish I could find my twenty-five year old copy of Deliah Smith though, having inherited it from my parents it's got sentimental value... Ah well, maybe I'll buy Manny and he and his hamster "Arsene" will find it under a table somewhere.....
The Afterthought.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
4 Dec 2010
Afternoon Arsenalists and Arsenalista's!
Apologies that today's installment is a little late, having to stay up to report on the current Ashes series has serious destroyed my internal bodyclock! But I've got my bacon sandwich with me and we're ready to crack on!
Match day today, we're playing Fulham and hoping to improve our currently woeful home record. Considering that Fulham have not beaten us at home since 1914, we should be looking at this as 3 points in the bag. We're still without Thomas Vaemaelen, who is easily our best centreback at the moment, Mooney is still out of course and of course Cese is still out but its a pretty fit first team squad apart from that.The absence of Cesc should easily be filled by Nasri who continues to make an excellent start this season.
Onto what the papers are saying...
Chamakh has been saying how his great start to the season has been helped by the fact that he came on a free transfer. " If I had been bought for £18million, different things would have been expected from me at the start", the lad's spot on there. When we see players coming in for £12-18 million it's automatically increases a fan's expectation of a player. Chamakh's free transfer meant we were all expecting just another squad player, yet another Frenchman who would take a season or two to settle into the pace of the Premier League. But his aerial strength and ability on the ball has quickly endeared him to all of us at the Arsenal. Good luck and hope he keeps its up!
Another of our revelations this season has been the development of Jack Wilshere. He's stated that "We're all desperate. The main thing we want to win is the Premier League", well done Jack, it's good to know that the team realises that us fans have had enough of hearing about this teams potential and considering the size of our wage bill, we all our expecting at least some piece of silverware this season. Success breeds success! Let's hope we can take the Carling Cup and this will provide even more of a springboard to get the team to believe we can win more.
On a side note on Jack it's nice to see he's got a sense of humour. His tweet this week suggesting Ryan Babel should come to Arsenal gave us all a laugh! We're overfilled with midfielders who think they should be strikers so the thought of adding a player who's been nothing more than a bench warmer at Liverpool gave us all a bit of Christmas cheer and warmth to counteract the current Winter chills!
Whilst on the subject of being over-staffed in the midfield department, IMscouting (that woefully sh*t site full of nothing more than people making up stories) suggests we're looking at German midfielder Marco Marin and Mexican keeper Ochoa. IMscouting, along with talksport, are the biggest purveyors excrement since London Zoo stopped selling elephant dung by the tractor full. I would LOVE if someone totted up the number of supposed 'exclusive' moves they've reported and how many have actually happened. I'm more inclined to believe George Bush Jnr. has admitted he's nothing more than a monkey placed in a suit and strategically shaved, than believe anything that these two sites say.
The Mirror's saying we're looking at Villarreal's keeper Diego Lopez, from what I've seen of Lopez he's a good, solid keeper. Though I do stand by what I said yesterday and that I believe Wenger when he says he's not going to bring in anymore players in the January transfer window. Possibly one for a end-of-season transfer if Fabianski continues to wax hot and cold in his performances.
The Daily Mail are saying Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is looking at buying Thomas Ro-SICK-y from us. This I've can believe is a half-truth. Gerard and Arsene are old friends and Rosicky after his perennial injuries woes has struggled to show the form that made the German media once dub him "Mozart" and subsequently has seen himself fall down the midfield pecking order. If he does go I don't think we'd buy someone to replace him. Lansbury, JET and Ramsey (whose current loan at Notts Forest is due to expire in January) are all biting at the heels of the first team. Wenger's far more likely to give one of these a crack at the whip in the first team and hopefully one of them would emulate Wilshere's development and cement a place in the first team for themselves.
Well that's your lot for today. Our game against Fulham is not on any of the British channels so I'll be following on the radio (I do love following football matches on the radio, makes one feel a connection to those generations of football fans past for whom it was the mainstay of their ability to follow the fortunes of their clubs!). To all of you overseas, if you are lucky enough to have television coverage of the match ENJOY! Should be an easy one (famous last words I know.....)
The Afterthought.
Apologies that today's installment is a little late, having to stay up to report on the current Ashes series has serious destroyed my internal bodyclock! But I've got my bacon sandwich with me and we're ready to crack on!
Match day today, we're playing Fulham and hoping to improve our currently woeful home record. Considering that Fulham have not beaten us at home since 1914, we should be looking at this as 3 points in the bag. We're still without Thomas Vaemaelen, who is easily our best centreback at the moment, Mooney is still out of course and of course Cese is still out but its a pretty fit first team squad apart from that.The absence of Cesc should easily be filled by Nasri who continues to make an excellent start this season.
Onto what the papers are saying...
Chamakh has been saying how his great start to the season has been helped by the fact that he came on a free transfer. " If I had been bought for £18million, different things would have been expected from me at the start", the lad's spot on there. When we see players coming in for £12-18 million it's automatically increases a fan's expectation of a player. Chamakh's free transfer meant we were all expecting just another squad player, yet another Frenchman who would take a season or two to settle into the pace of the Premier League. But his aerial strength and ability on the ball has quickly endeared him to all of us at the Arsenal. Good luck and hope he keeps its up!
Another of our revelations this season has been the development of Jack Wilshere. He's stated that "We're all desperate. The main thing we want to win is the Premier League", well done Jack, it's good to know that the team realises that us fans have had enough of hearing about this teams potential and considering the size of our wage bill, we all our expecting at least some piece of silverware this season. Success breeds success! Let's hope we can take the Carling Cup and this will provide even more of a springboard to get the team to believe we can win more.
On a side note on Jack it's nice to see he's got a sense of humour. His tweet this week suggesting Ryan Babel should come to Arsenal gave us all a laugh! We're overfilled with midfielders who think they should be strikers so the thought of adding a player who's been nothing more than a bench warmer at Liverpool gave us all a bit of Christmas cheer and warmth to counteract the current Winter chills!
Whilst on the subject of being over-staffed in the midfield department, IMscouting (that woefully sh*t site full of nothing more than people making up stories) suggests we're looking at German midfielder Marco Marin and Mexican keeper Ochoa. IMscouting, along with talksport, are the biggest purveyors excrement since London Zoo stopped selling elephant dung by the tractor full. I would LOVE if someone totted up the number of supposed 'exclusive' moves they've reported and how many have actually happened. I'm more inclined to believe George Bush Jnr. has admitted he's nothing more than a monkey placed in a suit and strategically shaved, than believe anything that these two sites say.
The Mirror's saying we're looking at Villarreal's keeper Diego Lopez, from what I've seen of Lopez he's a good, solid keeper. Though I do stand by what I said yesterday and that I believe Wenger when he says he's not going to bring in anymore players in the January transfer window. Possibly one for a end-of-season transfer if Fabianski continues to wax hot and cold in his performances.
The Daily Mail are saying Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is looking at buying Thomas Ro-SICK-y from us. This I've can believe is a half-truth. Gerard and Arsene are old friends and Rosicky after his perennial injuries woes has struggled to show the form that made the German media once dub him "Mozart" and subsequently has seen himself fall down the midfield pecking order. If he does go I don't think we'd buy someone to replace him. Lansbury, JET and Ramsey (whose current loan at Notts Forest is due to expire in January) are all biting at the heels of the first team. Wenger's far more likely to give one of these a crack at the whip in the first team and hopefully one of them would emulate Wilshere's development and cement a place in the first team for themselves.
Well that's your lot for today. Our game against Fulham is not on any of the British channels so I'll be following on the radio (I do love following football matches on the radio, makes one feel a connection to those generations of football fans past for whom it was the mainstay of their ability to follow the fortunes of their clubs!). To all of you overseas, if you are lucky enough to have television coverage of the match ENJOY! Should be an easy one (famous last words I know.....)
The Afterthought.
Friday, 3 December 2010
3rd December 2010
Afternoon Gooners and non-Gooners alike.
Well I guess the biggest story from yesterday is the debacle of the FIFA's choice of Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 & 2022 World Cups' respectively. I, for one, don't think we should be having a go at the Russians or the Qatari's, the one's who DO deserve our fury is Sepp (give us a back hander whilst I take a piss on England) Blatter and the whole set up at FIFA.
WHY do we have a secret ballet in this day and age??? Everything (and i do mean EVERYTHING) in the bidding stages is set up to be as open and as transparant as possible, so why is the voting system held in secret? With a open voting system we could see whose votes went where and then we could relax as Panorama goes and has a look at the voting members bank acount statements! I hold no ill feelings towards the BBC over their decision to air their programs on FIFA corruption, we should NEVER blame the investigators, we should blame the corrupt fat b*stards who run FIFA as their own personal fiefdoms.
Arsene Wenger was shocked by the decision of FIFA, he had done alot of campaigning on behalf of the England bid and said "It looked to me a little bit of a Middle Ages way to decide. You would like to have much more technical criteria than human criteria". Arsene's suggestion was that the process should be more "technical" with more emphysis put on bidding countries proven and demonstratable abilitiesas oppossed to bidding nations just saying "please believe in us" (what both the Russian and Qatari bids were mainly based on). Rock on Arsene, rock on my son!
Anyway..... onto the Arsenal news!
David Seaman, talking to talksport, has said we need a new keeper. Fabianski will be a top keeper according to Seaman (and on a side point, anyone else think he just doesn't look right without the 70's style pornstar moustache and ponytail???) but Arsene needs to buy a new keeper.
On the keeper front all the papers are commenting on how Mark Schwarzer at Fulham has just signed a new contract. Also on that front according to some Mancini at City is looking to clear out a load of the ex-Hughes era players, including Shay Given.
To be honest I'm convinced we won't be buying in the transfer window. While some may say Wenger's statement that he is not in the market for any new players might just be a ploy, I think he's going to stick by his mantra. Let's all wave bye bye now to Shay (oops, there he goes to north of the border!) and bye bye to Schwarzer (let's hope he's been keeping up to date with the cricket!).
Chamakh has been stating that he's aiming for a 15-20 goal season. Judging on performance so far he should easily make that. If I was his manager I'd be saying to the lad "Go for 25", give him something to aim for! Even if he didn't get there it'd be a target for him next season.
Aaron Ramsey continues his bid to recover from his broken leg, coming on as a substitute for Forest against Leicester. He's also tipped to start their next match. He said afterwards, "I’ve been out for a long time and just to be out there and playing again made me realise how much football means to me". I'm sure I speak for us all in hoping this spell at Nottingham Forest will allow Aaron to regain the sparkling potential he was showing before that evil tackle from Mr. Shawcross [spit spit].
Pretty quiet day on the news front apart from that so I'll sign off now. I've got about 10 minutes of digging to get the driveway clar and another fun 10 minutes of doing nothing whilst car defrosts!
ON A QUICK SIDE-POINT! For those people living in England, please please please clear the snow off the top of your car before you set off! A friend of mine yesterday got a £60 fine and 3 points because he didn't clear his off and a load fell infront of the police car that was following him...... [Sarcastic clap] Well done to our boys in blue, even if Mike did deserve it (he's a Sp*rs fan) you'd think that was one of those incidents that a quick word with the driver instead of slapping him with the fine and points would have been more appropriate!
Take care!
The Afterthought.
Well I guess the biggest story from yesterday is the debacle of the FIFA's choice of Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 & 2022 World Cups' respectively. I, for one, don't think we should be having a go at the Russians or the Qatari's, the one's who DO deserve our fury is Sepp (give us a back hander whilst I take a piss on England) Blatter and the whole set up at FIFA.
WHY do we have a secret ballet in this day and age??? Everything (and i do mean EVERYTHING) in the bidding stages is set up to be as open and as transparant as possible, so why is the voting system held in secret? With a open voting system we could see whose votes went where and then we could relax as Panorama goes and has a look at the voting members bank acount statements! I hold no ill feelings towards the BBC over their decision to air their programs on FIFA corruption, we should NEVER blame the investigators, we should blame the corrupt fat b*stards who run FIFA as their own personal fiefdoms.
Arsene Wenger was shocked by the decision of FIFA, he had done alot of campaigning on behalf of the England bid and said "It looked to me a little bit of a Middle Ages way to decide. You would like to have much more technical criteria than human criteria". Arsene's suggestion was that the process should be more "technical" with more emphysis put on bidding countries proven and demonstratable abilitiesas oppossed to bidding nations just saying "please believe in us" (what both the Russian and Qatari bids were mainly based on). Rock on Arsene, rock on my son!
Anyway..... onto the Arsenal news!
David Seaman, talking to talksport, has said we need a new keeper. Fabianski will be a top keeper according to Seaman (and on a side point, anyone else think he just doesn't look right without the 70's style pornstar moustache and ponytail???) but Arsene needs to buy a new keeper.
On the keeper front all the papers are commenting on how Mark Schwarzer at Fulham has just signed a new contract. Also on that front according to some Mancini at City is looking to clear out a load of the ex-Hughes era players, including Shay Given.
To be honest I'm convinced we won't be buying in the transfer window. While some may say Wenger's statement that he is not in the market for any new players might just be a ploy, I think he's going to stick by his mantra. Let's all wave bye bye now to Shay (oops, there he goes to north of the border!) and bye bye to Schwarzer (let's hope he's been keeping up to date with the cricket!).
Chamakh has been stating that he's aiming for a 15-20 goal season. Judging on performance so far he should easily make that. If I was his manager I'd be saying to the lad "Go for 25", give him something to aim for! Even if he didn't get there it'd be a target for him next season.
Aaron Ramsey continues his bid to recover from his broken leg, coming on as a substitute for Forest against Leicester. He's also tipped to start their next match. He said afterwards, "I’ve been out for a long time and just to be out there and playing again made me realise how much football means to me". I'm sure I speak for us all in hoping this spell at Nottingham Forest will allow Aaron to regain the sparkling potential he was showing before that evil tackle from Mr. Shawcross [spit spit].
Pretty quiet day on the news front apart from that so I'll sign off now. I've got about 10 minutes of digging to get the driveway clar and another fun 10 minutes of doing nothing whilst car defrosts!
ON A QUICK SIDE-POINT! For those people living in England, please please please clear the snow off the top of your car before you set off! A friend of mine yesterday got a £60 fine and 3 points because he didn't clear his off and a load fell infront of the police car that was following him...... [Sarcastic clap] Well done to our boys in blue, even if Mike did deserve it (he's a Sp*rs fan) you'd think that was one of those incidents that a quick word with the driver instead of slapping him with the fine and points would have been more appropriate!
Take care!
The Afterthought.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
1st Post !
Welcome!
This is the first post on what will (hopefully) become your number 1 choice for your daily dose of Arsenal news! We here at the Arsenal Herald will strive to bring you the most reliable news on your favourite club. With a combination of over 50 years following the mighty Arsenal, we're looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship with all of you as the Herald (edited by the mighty Afterthought! - Ed.) in which we shall praise the club and players when they deserve it and also bring a measured (if occasionally slightly cynical) remonstration to those in the club when the losses may come.
Tomorrow will see the first 'true' post, ie. the first post with ACTUAL Arsenal news, so see you then!
The Afterthought.
This is the first post on what will (hopefully) become your number 1 choice for your daily dose of Arsenal news! We here at the Arsenal Herald will strive to bring you the most reliable news on your favourite club. With a combination of over 50 years following the mighty Arsenal, we're looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship with all of you as the Herald (edited by the mighty Afterthought! - Ed.) in which we shall praise the club and players when they deserve it and also bring a measured (if occasionally slightly cynical) remonstration to those in the club when the losses may come.
Tomorrow will see the first 'true' post, ie. the first post with ACTUAL Arsenal news, so see you then!
The Afterthought.
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