I have no doubt we will hear a lot of moaning and groaning about us 'only' beating rock-bottom West Ham 1-0 today but truthfully I couldn't give a shit.
A lot of people were expecting a cricket-score but football doesn't always go as expected.
Personally I think Robert Green deserves a gee-up for his performance.
Once again he was outstanding against Arsenal. I've never really rated Green but for some reason he seems to turn into a brick-wall whenever he plays us.
I think he might hate Arsenal or something.
If Chelsea won 1-0 with a late goal then they are resilient and its a reason that they are champions.
We win 1-0 with a late goal and we are lucky.
See the difference?
Who cares that it was a late winner? Who cares that we didn't win by four?
At the end of the day, its three points on the board and another win.
I'm starting to feel really confident in Arsenal again. In the days when Thierry, Patrick and co were in the side I was confident that we would overcome any hurdle.
Be it playing against side intent on putting everyone behind the ball or being 2-0 down, I'd still have the belief that Arsenal would come through.
We have been too soft for too long and finally we are becoming strong again.
For the last few years watching Sky Sports News during game time could be torture. Hearing a 'goal in the Arsenal game' made me nervous. Who scored us or them?
Now I'm confident when Jeff Stelling utters those words WE have scored. Like I used to be.
Grinding out results is what champions do. We cannot win by hammerings every week. Even if the opposition are bottom of the table.
A win is a win and I will take that every time.
Keep it Goonerish.........
Saturday 30 October 2010
Sunday 24 October 2010
Sorry To Burst 'The Manchester City Bubble'!
I haven't wrote a blog for a while (really getting lazy!) but thought that whilst the missus is watching the X Factor I'd get behind the keyboard again. I should do it more often really as I find it very therapeutic and wonderfully invigorating (check out my big words) especially after nine pints and two cheeky tequilas.
What a fantastic performance today and I'm very proud to be a Gooner but going by the commentators on Sky Sports I think we upset them a little ickle bit. I know Andy Gray is a lead commentator every week but I'm not sure who was alongside him today. I hope it wasn't Martin Tyler because I actually quite like him.
All I know is (and its all I kept hearing) Manchester City were 'very courageous' and were unlucky. Courageous? In what way? Because they went down to ten men? Do me a favour! And before anyone grumbles that Arsenal only won because Manchester City only had ten men better think again.
Of course the numerical advantage helped us but the way we played today they wouldn't have beat us even if they started with twelve players. I have no doubt we will hear plenty of moans about the sending-off but the truth is it was the right decision and Boyate gave the ref no choice.
I think hardly anyone expected Arsenal to go to the City of Manchester Stadium and win, let alone win so convincingly. And it was massively convincing too. The commentators did their best to take their shine off the Arsenal win and their tongues were so far up City's arse it was unbelievable.
Had Chelsea or Manchester United gone to Eastlands and won 3-0, albeit against ten men, we would be hearing nothing but praise and how ruthless they were. All I heard today was of Manchester City's bravery. Did everyone think they were going to just lie down?
I think we burst the Manchester City bubble today, from the media point of view. Nobody gave us a chance and every man and his dog wrote us off. We really upset the form book.
In the bookies for the first time in my whole entire stinking existence (that I know of) Manchester City were favourites to beat us today. Not surprising when they've spent a record £3456324 billion on players really.
I really fancied us to win 3-1 and Nasri to score first. The odds? 200/1. So on goes a fiver. I think its the only time in my life I wanted the opposition to score. My arsehole was really going when we scored the third and when Fabianski saved in the last minute I really rued the day he became good. Wanker.
Anyway we've proved we can beat a 'strong side' like Manchester City so maybe a mental barrier has been lifted. It's true we've struggled to pick up points against sides like City, Manchester United and Chelsea recently but maybe this is the turning point.
I'm sure some people were urging us to lose today just so they can say 'I told you so', well we've stuck two massive fingers up at them and given them the wanker sign. Any doubts that we can win the league surely have evaporated. We CAN win the league and we CAN beat the so-called other big-guns no matter what the likes of Andy Gray say.
Keep it Goonerish............
What a fantastic performance today and I'm very proud to be a Gooner but going by the commentators on Sky Sports I think we upset them a little ickle bit. I know Andy Gray is a lead commentator every week but I'm not sure who was alongside him today. I hope it wasn't Martin Tyler because I actually quite like him.
All I know is (and its all I kept hearing) Manchester City were 'very courageous' and were unlucky. Courageous? In what way? Because they went down to ten men? Do me a favour! And before anyone grumbles that Arsenal only won because Manchester City only had ten men better think again.
Of course the numerical advantage helped us but the way we played today they wouldn't have beat us even if they started with twelve players. I have no doubt we will hear plenty of moans about the sending-off but the truth is it was the right decision and Boyate gave the ref no choice.
I think hardly anyone expected Arsenal to go to the City of Manchester Stadium and win, let alone win so convincingly. And it was massively convincing too. The commentators did their best to take their shine off the Arsenal win and their tongues were so far up City's arse it was unbelievable.
Had Chelsea or Manchester United gone to Eastlands and won 3-0, albeit against ten men, we would be hearing nothing but praise and how ruthless they were. All I heard today was of Manchester City's bravery. Did everyone think they were going to just lie down?
I think we burst the Manchester City bubble today, from the media point of view. Nobody gave us a chance and every man and his dog wrote us off. We really upset the form book.
In the bookies for the first time in my whole entire stinking existence (that I know of) Manchester City were favourites to beat us today. Not surprising when they've spent a record £3456324 billion on players really.
I really fancied us to win 3-1 and Nasri to score first. The odds? 200/1. So on goes a fiver. I think its the only time in my life I wanted the opposition to score. My arsehole was really going when we scored the third and when Fabianski saved in the last minute I really rued the day he became good. Wanker.
Anyway we've proved we can beat a 'strong side' like Manchester City so maybe a mental barrier has been lifted. It's true we've struggled to pick up points against sides like City, Manchester United and Chelsea recently but maybe this is the turning point.
I'm sure some people were urging us to lose today just so they can say 'I told you so', well we've stuck two massive fingers up at them and given them the wanker sign. Any doubts that we can win the league surely have evaporated. We CAN win the league and we CAN beat the so-called other big-guns no matter what the likes of Andy Gray say.
Keep it Goonerish............
Sunday 17 October 2010
At Least We Don't Defend It You Mugs!
I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I didn't say that Jack Wilshere's tackle on Nikola Zigic was out of order.
After all, if it had happened to an Arsenal player I have no doubt I would be doing my nut.
The only reason I can think of for Wilshere making the 'challenge' on Zigic was that he was looking for a little bit of revenge.
Earlier in the game, despite it seeming impossible because of the height difference, the Serbians shoulder had connected with Jack's face.
This is no excuse though.
Wilshere's tackle was wrong, plain and simple, but at least he admitted it and apologised.
And guess what? Arsene Wenger admitted the red card was the right decision. He doesn't suffer from myopia all the time as suggested.
Of course tackles like this are becoming the scourge of our game. It seems every week a bad challenge is being made. We Gooners should know, it usually happens to an Arsenal player.
From my point of view it couldn't have happened at a worse time for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger either.
Wilshere's sending-off for a rash tackle will give the likes of Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce some much needed ammo to have yet another dig at us.
The Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers mugs/manager don't need an excuse to have a pop and I have no doubt that in the next week or so there will be some bleating coming from their direction in one form or another.
While none of us are defending Jack Wilshere I do believe that Arsenal cannot win.
If we are kicked off the park then we are too soft but the minute we kick back then we are hypocrites and cannot moan about being booted around the pitch.
That's not to say I agree with what Wilshere did though.
Jack will learn from this. It seems he has that 'nasty' side to his game, a bit like Dennis Bergkamp, which I suppose is a good thing. He can look after himself. But it has to be in the right way.
How do you stop the naughty tackles though? I suppose the only thing the referee can do is send players off but is that going to be enough?
How do you prove intent in a tackle? How do you prove that a player deliberately wanted to hurt someone?
It's so tough.
I've seen the idea bandied about that if a players commits a dangerous tackle, injures a player, and the injured party is out for a long time, then he should be banned for the amount of time that person is injured for.
Maybe this the way forward. At the very least these reckless tackles should be punished by being banned for a long period of time. In my opinion at least a five match suspension.
Nobody wants tackling to be outlawed. It is an art unto itself. Like passing, shooting. A skilled attribute to have. What we want is the recklessness squeezed out from the game.
What Wilshere did was reckless and luckily for him, Arsenal, Wenger and us, a bone wasn't broken in Zigic's ankle. Or we, and the Birmingham striker, would be fucked.
See the difference though? At least we accept that Wilshere was in the wrong.
Keep it Goonerish............
After all, if it had happened to an Arsenal player I have no doubt I would be doing my nut.
The only reason I can think of for Wilshere making the 'challenge' on Zigic was that he was looking for a little bit of revenge.
Earlier in the game, despite it seeming impossible because of the height difference, the Serbians shoulder had connected with Jack's face.
This is no excuse though.
Wilshere's tackle was wrong, plain and simple, but at least he admitted it and apologised.
And guess what? Arsene Wenger admitted the red card was the right decision. He doesn't suffer from myopia all the time as suggested.
Of course tackles like this are becoming the scourge of our game. It seems every week a bad challenge is being made. We Gooners should know, it usually happens to an Arsenal player.
From my point of view it couldn't have happened at a worse time for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger either.
Wilshere's sending-off for a rash tackle will give the likes of Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce some much needed ammo to have yet another dig at us.
The Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers mugs/manager don't need an excuse to have a pop and I have no doubt that in the next week or so there will be some bleating coming from their direction in one form or another.
While none of us are defending Jack Wilshere I do believe that Arsenal cannot win.
If we are kicked off the park then we are too soft but the minute we kick back then we are hypocrites and cannot moan about being booted around the pitch.
That's not to say I agree with what Wilshere did though.
Jack will learn from this. It seems he has that 'nasty' side to his game, a bit like Dennis Bergkamp, which I suppose is a good thing. He can look after himself. But it has to be in the right way.
How do you stop the naughty tackles though? I suppose the only thing the referee can do is send players off but is that going to be enough?
How do you prove intent in a tackle? How do you prove that a player deliberately wanted to hurt someone?
It's so tough.
I've seen the idea bandied about that if a players commits a dangerous tackle, injures a player, and the injured party is out for a long time, then he should be banned for the amount of time that person is injured for.
Maybe this the way forward. At the very least these reckless tackles should be punished by being banned for a long period of time. In my opinion at least a five match suspension.
Nobody wants tackling to be outlawed. It is an art unto itself. Like passing, shooting. A skilled attribute to have. What we want is the recklessness squeezed out from the game.
What Wilshere did was reckless and luckily for him, Arsenal, Wenger and us, a bone wasn't broken in Zigic's ankle. Or we, and the Birmingham striker, would be fucked.
See the difference though? At least we accept that Wilshere was in the wrong.
Keep it Goonerish............
Thursday 7 October 2010
Would You Take Him Back?
Scrolling and rolling through the NewsNow headlines I was intrigued to see one of the top stories in the last couple of days was one that involved Lassana Diarra 'demanding a January move to Arsenal or Tottenham'.
It was from the Metro newspaper and I would to know how the story came about. Could it be possible that Diarra would come back to the Arsenal? I can't see it. But would I have him back? I'm not sure!
I know he was a little fucker when he was here but if he had been a little more patient I have no doubt he would have developed into one of the top defensive midfielders in the world and been a crucial player for us.
I could kind of understand why he wanted to leave us after only five months at the club. It must of been frustrating to sit on the bench despite having obvious quality.
He was in the same situation at Chelsea before he joined us so he probably felt he was just switching one bench for another. The splinters in his arse must have been excruciating.
I think Arsene Wenger dropped a bit of a clanger here. Despite the fact Mathieu Flamini was playing out of his skin, Diarra should have been given more game-time because Flamini's future wasn't secure at Arsenal as his contract was running out at the end of the season.
Since his departure Lassana Diarra has been less than complimentary about Arsene Wenger. That's what makes this story about him coming back appear more fishy to me than Diarra's dolphin shaped head.
He seems to get upset when he isn't played and is up to the same tricks now at Real Madrid. Threatening to leave another club again gives me the impression he throws his toys out the pram rather quickly.
The question I'd like to ask is would you take him back? On the pitch I rate him very highly and in my opinion he is one of the best in his position. The question is his attitude. It's clear he can be a petulant little bastard but I think if he is playing regularly then you wouldn't get a peep from him.
I'd take him on loan, if possible, to test the attitude.
Keep it Goonerish..........
It was from the Metro newspaper and I would to know how the story came about. Could it be possible that Diarra would come back to the Arsenal? I can't see it. But would I have him back? I'm not sure!
I know he was a little fucker when he was here but if he had been a little more patient I have no doubt he would have developed into one of the top defensive midfielders in the world and been a crucial player for us.
I could kind of understand why he wanted to leave us after only five months at the club. It must of been frustrating to sit on the bench despite having obvious quality.
He was in the same situation at Chelsea before he joined us so he probably felt he was just switching one bench for another. The splinters in his arse must have been excruciating.
I think Arsene Wenger dropped a bit of a clanger here. Despite the fact Mathieu Flamini was playing out of his skin, Diarra should have been given more game-time because Flamini's future wasn't secure at Arsenal as his contract was running out at the end of the season.
Since his departure Lassana Diarra has been less than complimentary about Arsene Wenger. That's what makes this story about him coming back appear more fishy to me than Diarra's dolphin shaped head.
He seems to get upset when he isn't played and is up to the same tricks now at Real Madrid. Threatening to leave another club again gives me the impression he throws his toys out the pram rather quickly.
The question I'd like to ask is would you take him back? On the pitch I rate him very highly and in my opinion he is one of the best in his position. The question is his attitude. It's clear he can be a petulant little bastard but I think if he is playing regularly then you wouldn't get a peep from him.
I'd take him on loan, if possible, to test the attitude.
Keep it Goonerish..........
Monday 4 October 2010
Are Things Really That Bad?
Oh the despair! The agony! The torture!
On a serious level are things really that bad?
Blimey the way some people are going on I'd have thought that the world was just about to end.
Of course yesterday was frustrating and disappointing but take a reality check!
We have just lost to the champions, worthy champions at that, on their home turf. No disgrace for anyone.
In fact, I'm proud of the way the boys played and proud of the fact that Chelsea, the champions, completely changed their usual pattern of play just to deal with us.
How often do you see Chelsea put ten men behind the ball, for the most part of 90 minutes, at home? I guarantee you will not see them play like that at home again this season.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, Arsenal are the better side. Yes, I said it, better than Chelsea. BUT, and there is a but, Chelsea are miles ahead of us tactically.
Obviously Arsene Wenger needs to learn how to beat Chelsea again, he used to be able to, but I really think a big factor in the defeat was the choice of players available.
Don't get me wrong, I hate to use injured players as an excuse, but we lacked a cutting edge and I have no doubt that had Cesc, RVP and Walcott been available we would have won yesterday.
The game was made for van Persie and especially Cesc Fabregas. A game where you have so much possession needs a cutting edge. Those two would definitely have provided that.
Things aren't as bad as they might seem and Arsenal are certainly not as bad as people are suggesting!
The title isn't decided in October. True, we aren't in the position we'd like to be but I'm sure we will still compete for the championship.
Look at it this way, things could be worse. We could be in Liverpool's position.
Keep it Goonerish......
On a serious level are things really that bad?
Blimey the way some people are going on I'd have thought that the world was just about to end.
Of course yesterday was frustrating and disappointing but take a reality check!
We have just lost to the champions, worthy champions at that, on their home turf. No disgrace for anyone.
In fact, I'm proud of the way the boys played and proud of the fact that Chelsea, the champions, completely changed their usual pattern of play just to deal with us.
How often do you see Chelsea put ten men behind the ball, for the most part of 90 minutes, at home? I guarantee you will not see them play like that at home again this season.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, Arsenal are the better side. Yes, I said it, better than Chelsea. BUT, and there is a but, Chelsea are miles ahead of us tactically.
Obviously Arsene Wenger needs to learn how to beat Chelsea again, he used to be able to, but I really think a big factor in the defeat was the choice of players available.
Don't get me wrong, I hate to use injured players as an excuse, but we lacked a cutting edge and I have no doubt that had Cesc, RVP and Walcott been available we would have won yesterday.
The game was made for van Persie and especially Cesc Fabregas. A game where you have so much possession needs a cutting edge. Those two would definitely have provided that.
Things aren't as bad as they might seem and Arsenal are certainly not as bad as people are suggesting!
The title isn't decided in October. True, we aren't in the position we'd like to be but I'm sure we will still compete for the championship.
Look at it this way, things could be worse. We could be in Liverpool's position.
Keep it Goonerish......
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