It Has Been Too Long

Since my last post there has been plenty of good news and, more recently, a fair bit of bad news. Losing to Spurs is never fun (or acceptable) but 5-1 was a disgrace. This was followed by an ugly clash between our two bulls up front being Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor. The boil over was obviously influenced by the frustrations of being thrashed but, according to early reports, Adebayor told Bendtner that he was "shit" twice. If this is the case Adebayor should be fined severely because it took him two times to get a reaction of Nicklas, who promptly gave him the finger on the second occassion. Hopefully this can be resolved sensibley and quickly so the club can move forward. The loss to Spurs is a lot easier to take because it took them 22 attempts (hahahahaha, twats) and it was in AFC's 4th choice competition, the Carling Cup. Still, I would have must rather have taken the win.

Hopefully AFC can complete an impressive double over Newcastle United on Saturday and Tuesday. Fire up boys, lets fucking win a trophy or two. Prove all the doubters wrong. Use the negative energy from the Spurs loss and turn it into team spirit and desire to win.

Now For The Real Test

Okay, so Arsenal are top of the table after 20 EPL games; this is excellent but it means nothing yet. The real test now begins as Kolo Toure will be missing from central defence for up to 6 weeks. It is no secret that AFC's central defender depth is quite shallow (however good out first choice pairing may be). Alex Song will be representing Cameroon for up to 6 weeks also so we lose another centre half. This leaves us with Gallas, Djourou and Senderos; what this says to me is that we NEED Gallas to be fit and in red hot form in order to maintain top spot (or there abouts) for the next 6 weeks while Kolo is missing. I pray we can make it through then be boosted by the return of a top-class defender who has amazing amounts of enthusiasm. Emmanuel Eboue will be with Kolo and I think he will be missed also but for very different reasons. Emmanuel may not endear himself to most neutral football fans but his ability going forward is quite something to behold. The next 6 weeks could well shape AFC's assault on the EPL title.

Barcelona Wish They Could Have Arsenal FC's Playing Roster

I am probably not the only Arsenal fan who is sick to death of hearing Barcelona linked with out wonderfully talented players. They have taken Petit, Overmars and Henry in recent memory and now they are being linked with Aliaksandr Hleb. They have previously been linked with Cesc Fabulous (still are being of course) but this could be argued that AFC poached him originally from the Catalan giants. The point of this post is that this so-called "super power" is constantly trying to poach players from the good part of North London. Does this not smack to anyone, or everyone, as Arsenal being the club which has superior players? Sure, Barca have Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Xavi, Iniesta, Henry and Deco (just to name a few) but do superstars really make a team? From Arsenal's start to the season the suggestion would be no, a group of players who really want to play together in a system that works make a very successful team (yes Arsenal have not won any trophies with their current crop of "kids" but their style and swagger in play is second to absolutely none, including Barca). Surely it is just a matter of time before they are linked with Robin van Persie, whom I have always seen as a classic Barca player as he is Dutch, talented and an attacking player, and many of our technically gifted players like Armand Traore, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby and so forth. If Barca are such a powerhouse then why do they raid an English club so often for talent? Oh, that's right, AFC houses the most gifted youngsters from across the globe and Barca does not, contrary to popular belief.

The Man Who Just May Take Over For Thierry Henry

This is a picture of Emmanuel Adebayor scoring his delicious volley against Newcastle United and he is the man who could become Arsenal's new H.N.I.C. Emmanuel grew up idolising another former AFC favourite, Nwankwo Kanu, and now wears his old squad number of 25. This 23-year-old has copped more than his fair share of criticism when he first donned the famous red and white of AFC and I am now almost ashamed to admit I was also a huge doubter of his abilities. Just under 2 years later he is now one of the most feared strikers in the EPL and is constantly improving. Adebayor stands around 6'4 and has pace, power, size, skill, confidence, goal scoring ability and excellent team play. Adebayor has proven his all-round value in front of goal by scoring headers, a world-class volley (against Tottenham), one-on-ones with 'keepers, placed shots, powered shots, team goals and dribbling goals. Adebayor has all this combined with a huge desire to win, excellent team play and he genuinely worries defenders. He sounds reminicent of Henry when you say all this (although Henry possessed much greater pace and a bit more threat in front of goal) and Adebayor did have the benefit of learning of the great man himself for around a season and a half. I don't think he will ever have the supreme strike rate Thierry did but I think Adebayor can go a long way to replacing the legendary striker. Another huge advantage Emmanuel has is he seems to be very well liked by the fans and his teammates alike. Roll on Emmanuel, you are a club legend in the making, provided your stay extends for another 7-8 years atleast.

The Perfect Response To A Draw And A Loss

Arsenal FC this past weekend beat Chelsea 1-0 at The Emirates. This is a huge victory as Manchester United beat Liverpool FC earlier in the day and a draw or loss for Arsenal would have seen them lose top spot.
The victory over Chelsea came after two very dissapointing results; a draw away to Newcastle United and a loss away to Middlesborough. This was even more vital because a loss or draw to Chelsea would have been a psychological blow in the race for the title. William Gallas highlighted this and I agree with him 100% and he showed again just why he was made captain. His performance against Chelsea was immense to say the least and his goal was an oppurtunistic one off a rare Petr Cech mistake (I have always said Cech struggles when the pressure is on and this was once again highlighted by his horrendous error). Arsenal were wrongfully denied one, maybe two, goals by the referee and his assistants so the scoreline was perhaps kind on Chelsea, especially when you consider Fabregas missed two easy chances and van Persie one.
All in all this performance by Arsenal was excellent as they did not allow themselves to be bullied by Chelsea's style of play and they gave as good as they got. The title race is very open but surely the two favourites have to be Arsenal FC and Manchester United.

Arsene Wenger: The Professor

This man, Arsene Wenger, is the most amazing football manager who has ever lived. He is truely omniscient (all-seeing/all-knowing) in spotting young talent. He is very well eduacated, a degree in Engineering and a Master's degree in Economics from Strasbourg University prove this much. His use of economics has allowed him to be very shrewd in his spending in the transfer market and understand the effect(s) of his spendings on AFC's financial status as a whole for the club. This, in turn, has led to AFC to reach new heights in their spending powers. The Emirates Stadium is an imposing, world-class, 60000ish seater which is rated 5-star by both UEFA and FIFA. The revenue this generates along with merchandise sales (which have rocketed as a result of Wenger's unprecedented success and style he has blessed the club with) has allowed AFC to be just 9 or so months away from becoming the World's richest club WITHOUT the aid of a rich, foreign owner. The best indication of Wenger's legendary status is the fact a bronze busk has also been carved out much like the one of another legend, Herbert Chapman.

Arsene is also a noted gentleman who always stops to speak with fans and colleagues alike because of his passion for football. His managerial style is unique, it focuses only on skill, technical ability, short passing and speed; not "muscle", long ball and kicking opponents. This has given Arsenal a very entertaining, and effective for the most part (unbeaten season 03/04), which can only really be stopped by resorting to excessive physical force/fouling.

Arsene's most amazing ability is that which allows him to spot young talent and then mold them into world-class players well before they reach their peak. There are so many examples of this but the 3 that stand out most to me are: Thierry Daniel Henry, Patrick Donale Vieira and Francesc Fabregas Soler.

Thierry Henry is an absolute legendary striker both for France (now their record goal scorer) and Arsenal FC. His move to Barcelona has not yet proved a huge hit but I am confident, in time, he will be back to his damaging best in a slower league. He is much to classy to not be scoring bucket loads of goals in a team rife with talent. He was signed to AFC from Juventus as a "failure" and a winger. He spent some 8 seasons with AFC scoring an incredible 226 goals and setting up so many more. Will be remembered as the club's greatest ever striker and a true role model for any player. Thierry is charismatic and an ultimate professional. His move away this season has let the team as a whole mature; only because they now must all lift their game and make up for his talent. Thierry will always be loved and welcome in and around AFC.

Power, skill, determination, leadership and confidence. All these words describe Patrick Vieira (just look at the picutre for an indication of his power). Patrick was an amazing captain who used to dominate games and exerted a huge positive influence on all his team mates. He never backed down from a physical challenge and had huge skill on the ball to couple with his physical stature. Vieira was never one to back out from a battle and performed to his full potential nearly every time he pulled on the AFC or French shirt. He will always be remembered fondly by AFC, Juventus, Inter Milan and French fans for his amazing committment and skill. The ultimate captain and midfielder, truely world-class and unstoppable.

Though only 20, Cesc could prove to be Wenger's greatest ever signing. He has over 150 first team appearances since debuting at 16 years of age in the Carling Cup. Cesc has quickly become the most important player in the Arsenal line-up with his unbelievable passing range, tackling, dribbling, work-rate and shooting. This season has seen Fabregas become a complete midfielder and a player of amazing quality. Seems more and more keen to spend his entire career with the Gunners and this can only mean one thing; trophies galore.

Wenger's tutelage of many players has shown him to be an amazing manager. Wenger is as passionate of a manager as the day he joined AFC and he will continue to encourage his unique and stylish form of play on all his players.

The Worst Performance For A Very Long Time

I thought it didn't get much worse than watching Arsenal labour to win over Newcastle. It got much worse watching them get dominated completely by Middlesborough. What a fucking joke of a performance. I don't care who is out through injury, you should still give yourself a decent showing and put your pride on display, and it seems that most of the players out there last night had none.



This guy is a disturbingly bad goalkeeper. For Boro's first goal he came walk about off his line (when there was no need) and put Toure under pressure which then resulted in the penalty. The resulting penalty Almunia went the right way and then produced a weak attempt at saving a terribly hit penalty. Almunia has always been too hasty to get off his line and makes way too many mistakes. Bring back Jens; he may be outspoken and an arsehole but he doesn't make nearly as many mistakes. Almunia said he would play for England if he got the chance and I hop he does because he 'keeps like an Englishman.
The only players left with any pride left are the following: William Gallas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Nicklas Bendtner and, I guess, Denilson. The rest of the players should hang their heads in shame and beg the club not to rip up their contracts after a passionless and inept display. I can honestly say I've never been more dissapointed in a Gunners' performance in my time of following them. In previous dumb losses they atleast showed some desire. Tomas Rosicky, who I thought was a bargain at 8 million pounds, is the WORST excuse for an attacking midfielder I have seen at Arsenal FC for a very long time. He cannot play a simple pass and move on with any regularity. He plays like an idiot and everytime he gets the ball he tries a wonderpass and 95% (at best) do not work. About Diaby makes a better left winger.