Monthly Archives: November 2007

All This Foreigners B*llocks Has To Stop Right Now!

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This is really getting on my nerves now.

I’m not sure who is more retarded. The media for overhyping the issue, or the majority of the public who eat all this drivel up.

Yes, the England team is potentially looking at disaster by not qualifying for Euro 2008 and it seems quite obvious that a lot of people are looking to blame everyone else except themselves.

Quite pathetic really.

It can’t be because the manager is a shitter version of Sven can it? It can’t be because McClaren is a yes man and the FA are stupid in appointing an unproven manager in the first place can it? It can’t be because all the England players are so overhyped and overpaid can it?

Look at yourself instead of passing the blame so easily.

Am I the only one who sees that foreigners have improved the game?

Before players from abroad came over to the Premier League the standard was okay, but technically not the best. Hell, it took Arsene Wenger to arrive from Japan to instil proper eating and training methods for Christ’s sake!

No-one mentions that contribution from a ‘foreigner’ do they?

There are so many reasons why a quota on English players in Premiership teams would not work, and if people even think for a minute it would improve the standard of the national team then they are seriously deluded.

The REAL reason the national team is only average is because English players are too scared, too lazy or can’t be arsed playing overseas. Look at the most successful National teams of recent years. If you look at Brazil, most of their squad play in Europe, and a lot of the French squad play in Italy, England and Spain. And it’s the same with Argentina.

And Spain, a country which has a lot of homegrown players in their league has a consistently under-achieving national team!

The only real exception would be Italy, who are the latest world champions. Although thinking about it they have a lot of foreigners playing over there, albeit it not as many.

Do you want to know what will happen if we introduced player quotas in the Premier League?

The overal quality of the league will fall, and the top 4 will become even stronger.

All the best English players will be bought by the top 4 – as they will be the only ones who can afford them – and in turn all the other Premier League teams will have to make do with recruiting English players from the Championship.

So is lowering the bar going to improve the standard of English talent?

Surely having the chance to play with the best players in the world in the Premier League would improve the standard of the English players?

I dread to think how Theo Walcott would turn out if he trained alongside Emily Heskey instead of Thierry Henry over the last few seasons!

The FA have to look at themselves because one of the other main problems is at grass roots level. If they looked after children and their footballing development like they did in Holland, France and Italy then England wouldn’t struggle like they are now.

Seriously, the stupidity in regards to this whole issue is amazing.

It really annoys and quite frankly shocks me the idiocy of a lot of people. Someone comes up with the idea of the foreigners ruining the national team and it snowballs beyond belief.

The Premier League is so great because it is a place where only talent, skill and desire prevails. It doesn’t matter what your race, nationality, age, height, whatever – football is the beautiful game because absolutely anyone can watch, participate and to risk sounding overdramatic it brings people together.

If you’re watching Arsenal you don’t care where your fellow fans come from do you? The only thing that matters is that he or she supports Arsenal Football Club.

And it should be no different on the pitch.

 

10 Things We Didn’t Know About This Arsenal Team

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1. The Thierry Henry Effect

Before the season started all the experts and pundits predicted an Arsenal collapse without their record goal-scorer. Most people thought that Spurs would take our 4th spot in the league – and look how that’s turned out! Even Arsenal fans familiar with Arsene’s policy of players reaching 30 had major doubts about the captain leaving but like many before him, it was the right time for Henry to leave.

Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Pires and others have left Arsenal and haven’t really reached the peaks they did with Arsenal. Of course, Henry could be the exception to the rule at Barcelona but then again maybe not.

What is clear though is that the squad as a whole has shown great strength through adversity and the future looks as bright as it has ever been. And our sights are on much more than just 4th in the league.

2. William Gallas Is The Perfect Captain

I’m just as shocked as the next guy with this one.

In the summer, reports had Gallas leaving Arsenal – especially with the departure of Titi, and he even questioned the ambition at the club.

But whether he was mis-quoted Arsene has made one of the best decisions while he has been at Arsenal. With Henry, the boss gave the captaincy to the best player and he could have easily given the honour to Cesc but instead gave it to Gallas, who is quite frankly a warrior.

We didn’t really see Willie much last season but this season he has shown he is the perfect captain. The is an awesome defender, focused and such a fantastic influence on the younger players in the team.

Depending what happens this season, Gallas could be one of the best signings Arsene has made.

3. Manuel Almunia Is Arsenal’s Number One

It’s ironic that while others have praised him in the past I’ve never really rated Almunia at his time at the club but credit where it’s due, the keeper is currently unbeaten this season and while that remains the case you just can’t drop him.

And now others are criticising him I actually think he’s worth his place now.

People point out he isn’t an international goalkeeper and all the other reasons but his record this season is nothing short of exceptional and the main thing is that he doesn’t worry the defence. Jens Lehmann is getting more unstable as the years go on, and is a liability on set-pieces and corners with opposing players. He’s had more than enough chances and Arsene is perfectly right in dropping him, although I was surprised he did to be honest as he’s been a big Lehmann fan.

The Spaniard hasn’t made a horrific mistake yet while he’s been in goal and by my count he has a few to make before he even gets close to Lehmann’s tally.

If Barcelona can win things with Victor Valdes then we can win things with Almunia!

4. Arsenal Can Actually Defend (Most Of The Time)

On the whole the Arsenal defence is looking more solid than in recent years, mainly because of the talent of Toure and Clichy, and the introduction of a fully-fit Gallas and the arrival of Sagna. All have been exceptional this season and conceding the lead throughout last season seems like a distant memory.

Too many times last season a lapse in concentration would give away the lead in football matches and give Arsenal an uphill struggle every time. We actually had the best ‘second half’ record in the entire league, and it was a pity we were prone to giving away sloppy goals and chasing the game for the remaining 80 minutes. But now, with captain Gallas and Sagna added to our defence we look more determined, stronger and organised.

We still need to sort out how to make a wall from freekicks though.

5. Mathieu Flamini Has A Future In The Middle

In the summer you thought Flamini might move on, especially with Cesc and Gilberto in excellent form last season. But whether Gilberto was dropped because he needed a rest after the Copa America or not the fact is Mathieu has taken his chance to play in midfield. He might not be the most cultured footballer (yet) but his workrate is second-to-none and he has struck a brilliant partnership with Fabregas who has been allowed to express himself to devastating effect.

Arsenal play a faster game than they did last season, pushing higher up the pitch and putting teams under constant pressure. Flamini works in this system much better than Gilberto who plays deeper and has a more laid back style of play. Mathieu will get in your face and his attitude on the pitch is spot on – he is simply a winner.

6. Arsenal Can Challenge For The Title

I was careful not to say Arsenal can win the title. Challenging for the title is more appropriate since there is a long way to go, and plus I don’t want to jinx anything!

But the fact remains Arsenal have been excellent so far this season and remain unbeaten.

The problem in previous seasons was simply that we couldn’t beat the lower teams in the league. We all know the story – they would just rough us up and we’d end up losing. But now with this new-found steel in the side we can compete with every team we face. Whether that be Liverpool, Manchester United, Blackburn or Bolton Wanderers.

7. Cesc Fabregas Is Phenomenal

Okay, we all sort of knew about this one.

But did anyone predict he’d be scoring as many as he has? With only a handful of goals all last season, his shooting this season has improved ten-fold and his accuracy and power from range is scary. The kid scores all kinds of goals and is like a Vieira-Bergkamp-Beckham hybrid in the middle of the park. He has a fantastic engine, won’t be roughed up, has an exceptional range of passing, scores beautiful goals and can tackle. And the guy always shows up in the big games, rarely having a bad game for Arsenal.

His decision-making and composure for his age is mind-blowing.

He reminds me of Zinedine Zidane. He has the touch, control and ice cool temperament. His goals against Liverpool and Manchester United were moments were time stood still – he only had a split second to score but seemed to create all the time in the world for himself.

That is a special talent.

Talk about high expectation levels!

8. Arsenal Look Good Going In Xmas (And The ACN)

Arsenal will only lose Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue when the ACN kicks off in a couple of months which isn’t bad considering we could have lost Adebayor as well. Other teams like Chelsea will suffer more with their strong African contingent.

We also should have Robin Van Persie back soon, so that will give us more attacking options. At the moment Adebayor is starting to look like he’s taking a leaf out of Henry’s book by having a prolonged run of poor form. Hopefully he’ll turn it around in the coming months.

The biggest miss is obviously Kolo, although Eboue has been impressive recently too. I guess Senderos will slot in if he returns as planned by the end of November, but Arsene has Gilberto who he can also use in that position. The boss has some options which is good so we shouldn’t worry about the defence – unless he decides to play Song there of course.

9. When Arsenal Lose, They Won’t Collapse

Of course, the day will come when Arsenal will lose a football match. I know, it’s shocking isn’t it! It could be this month, next month or next year – it could be next season. But whenever it does happen, Arsenal have shown this season already that a defeat will not effect them. I said in the summer that we will have to wait and see how Arsenal do in their first ten games and the answer is they can do something and push for honours.

Whether or not they will is another question, but unlike previous seasons they have a good chance of fighting for something other than fourth place in the league.

The squad know they’ve had an excellent start to the season and a defeat won’t change that. Obviously the media will probably have a field day but we’ve heard all that rubbish all before.

10. Arsenal Are Ruthless

Apart from the tendency to give away early leads, Arsenal’s other major problem was their profligacy in front of goal. Too many times we would create clear opportunities and squander them. And with the legend and top-scorer Thierry Henry leaving things would only get worse right?

Wrong.

I’ve been quite surprised at how Arsenal have performed in front of goal this season. They still create a lot of chances – particularly at home – but they just take them now. I suppose seasons of missed chances after missed chances got the best of Wenger who was watching from the sidelines and he gave everyone extra shooting lessons. Van Persie has always been an excellent finisher and now we have Cesc who always looks like he will score. Adebayor is still hit and miss, although he seems to have improved this season – with vital goals against Spurs at White Hart Lane.

A huge encouragement on last season is the willingness to shoot (and score) from distance. We almost come to expect over-exaggerate play outside the box but the guys will have a go from range now which is a considerable weapon in their arsenal since teams know they just can’t setup shop outside their own penalty area anymore.

 

Manchester United Preview: It Could Go Either Way

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Well this is the biggest game of the entire Premiership season so far.

It’s between the top two teams in the league, and on the evidence of the current campaign both teams play beautiful, attacking and quite frankly ruthless football.

They play the best football, and we know United won’t be as negative as Liverpool were last week.

So everyone is expecting fireworks.

If Arsenal win they will be top. If Arsenal draw they will be top. And if Arsenal lose they could still be top providing they will their game in hand.

So in a strange situation for most of the current team Arsenal are above Manchester United in the league before they even play them. Last season when Arsenal beat United twice no-one gave us a chance and that worked in our favour. In fact when Arsenal visited Old Trafford last season they had the longest odds to win a football match in a long time.

With both teams in great form, the smart money would be on a score draw.

But it could easily go either way.

Arsenal showed terrific character to come back against Liverpool at Anfield, and if it wasn’t for the post and Jamie Carragher’s amazing ability not to concede penalties then they could have taken all three points and no-one would have argued the result.

The confidence in the Arsenal team is sky-high at the moment and it should be – they’re top of the league, unbeaten so far this season and have this new-found determination and togetherness.

So below are the areas where tomorrow’s game could be won or lost:

Possible Problems

With Robin Van Persie out, the form of Adebayor is worrying. Eduardo is still adjusting to life in England and Bendtner and Walcott are inexperienced so the head of our attacking force is solely down to the African striker. Unfortunately, recent performances have been below par – and is coming from a self-confessed Ade-fan.

His performance against Liverpool was quite dire, and he had several opportunities to play his teammates through on goal with a simple pass (none more so than Kolo in the 1st half) but failed miserably. You could argue that Liverpool played deep and didn’t give him much time on the ball but Arsenal’s passing and movement meant that Ade had much more of the ball than he should have but didn’t do much with it. Passes were going astray and nothing he tried came off.

You would assume that United will play a more open game, so there is no doubt that Adebayor will see the ball throughout this game. But whether he contributes to the team in a positive manner is another question.

The only other real problem that faces Arsenal is the treat from set-pieces.

We know Arsene isn’t a fan of defending and the wall at Anfield was pretty useless. I do worry when opposing teams have corners and freekicks – and we know what Ronaldo can do from a set-piece. They also have a strong aerial presence with Ferdinand and Vidic on corners so Gallas and Toure will have to be at their best.

Our Strengths

The form of Cesc Fabregas has been sensational.

Unfortunately everyone knows this and it wouldn’t surprise me if United tried to stifle the little Spaniard. Ferguson has a few options between Ronaldo, Nani, Tevez, Rooney, Giggs and I’d expect 5 in midfield with Tevez playing deeper to crowd in Fabregas.

On the plus side, not even the trio of Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano couldn’t stop him for the whole game and he popped up with the equaliser on 80 minutes and almost scored the winner soon after.

I know I’ve touched on set-pieces above but I think the defence of Gallas, Toure, Clichy and Sagna on the whole has been very solid. Sagna has been fantastic this season and settled in almost immediately. The weakness of Eboue was his positioning and would struggle in the air but Sagna is excellent on both of those counts. We all know about Clichy who is one of our most consistent performers and Kolo and Willie are warriors at the back, and have superb pace.

And of course, the main asset Arsenal have is the togetherness, fight and attitude on the pitch which has been exceptional this season.

Overall

Apart from a terrible day in the office against West Ham United last season Arsenal are currently unbeaten at the Emirates (as far as I am aware) and I expect that to still be the case once the weekend is over. But it will be very tough though.

Like in most football matches the key is the first goal.

If Arsenal scored first at Anfield last week I’m pretty sure Arsenal would have won by a couple of goals (like the FA Cup game last season) as Liverpool would have had to come out. If United score first tomorrow then obviously they will sit on the lead and catch Arsenal on the break because they are excellent at it – especially with the pace of Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney, Giggs and Nani!

Both teams play attacking football and some would expect a goalfest but that’s rarely the case between these two teams (albeit a couple of disasters from Arsenal in recent years) and I think the final score will be 2-1.

Is that for Arsenal? I hope so!