Turkey’s Magic Nihat Stuns Czech’s Petr!

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Okay, I tried a pun on ‘Arsene’s Magic Hat’ and failed miserably. What was I thinking? So moving swiftly on…What a stunning game.

Even before the game kicked off there was hype already as it could have gone down in history as the first group game in a major international tournament to go to penalties after 90 minutes. Both sides had won one game, lost one and had a goal difference of minus 1 (with both scoring 2 and conceding 3) and therefore had exactly the same record. So a draw would result in a penalty shootout at the final whistle with no extra time.

And the game kicked off 5 minutes later than scheduled as a Turkish player apparently didn’t have the right boots or something (I missed the first few minutes so didn’t see what actually happened).

The first half was cagey and Turkey didn’t really offer any kind of goal threat despite playing with two strikers. The Czech’s on the other hand had started with Jan Koller up top and looked the more inventive side.

The Czech Republic deservedly took the lead on 34 minutes, from a fine Koller header into the top corner.

But it was the second half where all the action took place.

Turkey came out of the blocks the far better side with neat passing and excellent movement but didn’t really put Petr Cech under any real pressure – it was reminiscent of Arsenal sides of old, which would play pretty football but couldn’t offer any real killer instinct.

And against the run of play, the Czech’s scored what looked like the killer second goal.

A quick freekick and break from the Czech Republic saw Sionko released on the right hand side and his cross was brilliantly converted on the volley from the other winger Plasil. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the goal as Turkish defender Gungor was taken off by a stretcher and the Turks couldn’t get the replacement centre back on the pitch. To be fair though, there didn’t seem to be any real breaks in play for the substitution to be made.

After conceding the second goal Turkey looked all over the place, seemingly dejected from Plasil’s goal. And with this the Czech Republic were unlucky not to score a third, when Jan Polak hit the post with a right-footed effort and almost connected with the rebound before being kicked in the head.

But to their credit after that Turkey got their act together and didn’t cave in. They didn’t panic and continued their passing game and tried to break down the Czechs.

And with 15 minutes left they got a lifeline.

Hamit Altintop (who looked really impressive all game) sent in a wicked cross which missed everyone in the middle and landed to the last man Turan, who sent a shot into the near corner passed Petr Cech. It looked like the Chelsea keeper really should have done better but the bottom line was Turkey had some hope.

Turkey were urgent in their play and sent in cross after cross after cross and piled the pressure on the Czechs but couldn’t create any clear cut chances to score that valuable equaliser.

And then with 2 minutes left it happened.

Altintop sent in a fantastic cross with pace and bend but Cech looked favourite to make a comfortable catch. But as time stood still the overrated* Petr Cech fumbled the ball and it landed to the feet of Nihat Kahveci who didn’t need a second invitation to slot into an empty net.

Turkey had equalised, and penalties where coming!

The watching world (well, Europeans anyway) were preparing for a historic penalty shootout to decide who would join Portugal in the second round but before anyone could take in the equaliser Nihat was played in and sent a stunning strike passed Cech and right into the top corner off the bar.

What a turnaround!

Unbelievable. Turkey had come from 2 goals down and stolen qualification at the death! What a fantastic end to possibly one of the best second halves of football in a major international tournament.

I haven’t seen anything like it.

Is anyone else starting to love the European Championships?

* Look at William Gallas’ goal against Chelsea at the Emirates last season. That’s right, I went there.

Does Any Arsenal Fan Want To See Hleb Again?

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Because I tell you what I don’t.

The guy is pathetic, and I would be more than happy if Hleb wasn’t in the Arsenal squad for next season.

But unfortunately for all his (and his agents) games which quite frankly have been hugely disrespectful to Arsene, Arsenal football club at the supporters my worse fears maybe realised and Hleb might actually stay.

Because no-one wants him!

To be linked with Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan and teams of that quality beggars belief. His agent must be a f*cking genius (or a brilliant salesman) to get those sides interested. For a midfielder who doesn’t shoot, hasn’t won any honours and has scored 11 goals in 3 years at a team like Arsenal who create more chances than most is astounding.

It really is.

Why would those teams want Hleb? Well the truth is the probably don’t, because for all this speculation nothing concrete has actually come out.

Wenger should shove this fool in the reserves for his antics.

He thinks he’s better than he is. If he wants to leave then that’s fine by me. Arsene should tout Hleb out to the highest bidder and see how much he can get. I would be surprised if any side would pay more than £13 million for him. And that kind of money is worth so much more in the hands of Arsene Wenger.

We’ve had so many better players leave Arsenal so why would anyone care about Hleb leaving?

Even when players like Vieira, Henry, Pires, Overmars, Petit (who were past their peak) and even Reyes (yes, even him) left Arsenal they were more effective for Arsenal than Hleb is. When the hell was the last time Hleb scored a big goal for Arsenal? Hell, when did Hleb actually score a goal for Arsenal?!

The only (slight) concern I have about Hleb leaving Arsenal is his friendship with Fabregas. The midfield combination of Rosicky, Flamini, Cesc and Hleb were reportedly very close and with Flamini gone then you wonder how Hleb’s departure would effect Fabregas.

Despite that though I’m just praying someone takes Hleb off our hands.

Good Luck Jens – Sagna Signs – Hleb Can F*ck Off

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Well it’s been a while since my last post and to be quite honest nothing exciting has really happened since then anyway.

Flamini obviously went to AC Milan which is an excellent deal for him since he’s only really had one good season. You wonder if he will suffer a similar fate as other former Arsenal players such as Pires, Petit, Freddie, Henry and Overmars have but the guy is still young so he could be a success there. But quite frankly I couldn’t be arsed since he’s not an Arsenal player anymore.

Although I do find it mildly amusing though he’ll be playing in the UEFA Cup next season.

So Jens has officially left Arsenal and joined VFB Stuttgart back in Germany.

And all you can do is wish him the best of luck. Despite his antics he was an excellent servant for the club and will always be remembered as a vital member of the team that went an entire Premier League season unbeaten. He was a fantastic goalkeeper and I will always remember the save against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, the penalty save against Riquelme and his one-man show in the FA Cup against Manchester United.

The sight of Ronaldo and Rooney crying was priceless.

And Bacary Sagna has signed a new ‘long term’ contract with the club after a fantastic first season at the club.

He was arguably the best player last season and deserves his new deal. He really has added steel to our back line and from what I have seen seems to be the model professional. We suffered when he was out injured in the last part of the season and after only ending up 4 points off the top he could have made a difference, especially in the game against Chelsea.

Then we get to Alexander Hleb.

I was always a big fan of his and been impressed with his excellent ball retention, but 11 goals in 3 seasons tells its own story. Last season this was highlighted when we were relying too much on Adebayor as the goals dried out. He does add a unique creativity to the side but just doesn’t add enough to the side.

We have players like Fabregas, Rosicky, Van Persie and Adebayor who will always be a threat regardless of whether Hleb is in the starting lineup, and to be honest we might play more direct without him. I certainly won’t miss him after the crap with Inter Milan and the ice cream so as far as I’m concerned I hope he leaves. I can’t see him in an Arsenal shirt next season and to be honest I wouldn’t want to.

We’re going to have a summer of crazy transfer speculation which will probably involve every player under the sun so I’ll be keeping clear of that and only comment on completed moves and stories. I can see only 2 or 3 new faces coming in despite the fact that Flamini and Jens have departed (with Hleb and Gilberto possibly leaving too) because the fact is Wenger has faith in his young players.

Diaby is highly-rated at the club and could be given a chance in the middle. Gilberto might rediscover his form with Flamini gone and Eboue might actually come good out wide (okay, forget the last one). We have Djourou to come into the team, whether that’s in midfield or defence. And I’m not sure Wenger might even buy a striker – he’ll probably just hope Eduardo and Van Persie recover in time to play the majority of the next campaign.

So until our next big news story, I will bid adieu.

I Have Almost Lost Faith With Football

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What a soul crushing end to the season.

I’m just so exhausted from the events of the last few weeks, I really am. As a dedicated Arsenal fan I feel the highs and the lows after victory and defeat, but for some reason I just feel like I’ve almost had enough.

Have we ever experienced a rough period like we’ve seen over the last couple of months?

It’s not because of the performances of the team. You see Arsenal give absolutely everything in the games against Chelsea and Liverpool and get nothing but a kick in the teeth in return.

I tried to be balanced in writing the match report after the Liverpool game but the fact is I’m still gutted now. I just couldn’t believe it. Arsenal did fantastically well to score the equaliser with 7 minutes left and then another dodgy decision stole victory from us.

It’s not as if we would have won anything from last nights game, since there’s still a long way to go in the competition but the manner of the defeat is just depressing. I haven’t felt this down since the 1999 FA Cup Semi-Final when Ryan Giggs scored that wonder goal at Villa Park. It took me weeks to get over that one, and isn’t it strange that it involved a Dutchman and a penalty?

You see Arsene Wenger impose his vision for beautiful football and can’t help respect it. Wenger wants to play football in the right way, which is the correct attitude to have.

Football is entertainment and people pay good money to watch it. It should be aspiration of any top side to play beautiful football rather than just win matches. Of course, winning is important but will we end up with teams of robots who just play functional football?

But it seems like everyone hates us for it and people like nothing more than Arsenal to lose football matches. Kick Arsenal about to stop them playing is the attitude here. It’s a massive accomplishment if you can somehow stop Arsenal. Whereas in Spain it’s all about technical ability and playing football. No wonder the English National team is a complete shambles.

Then you have the referees.

They say decisions balance themselves out over the season but where is our luck? Ever since the Eduardo incident I haven’t seen anything go in our favour.

Clichy’s tackle at the end of the Birmingham game was a valid one and he won the ball, Liverpool seem to have some sort of penalty kick hoodoo and other bad decisions have really gone against us in an unreal fashion. If anything I thought the ‘bigger’ sides got preferential treatment when it came to the major incidents. The problem is the damage is done, and we might get 10 dodgy penalty decisions in our favour before the season ends but at this stage they woudn’t mean anything!

And Arsene has always been an advocate of helping referees.

He says that technology should be used to help officials who can make mistakes. That’s not a criticism, but a fact of human nature. Referees will make mistakes. Surely a guy behind a TV screen who has a benefit of a replay can instantly tell the referee on the pitch if it’s a right or wrong call.

And if this was implemented and players knew that every decision was based on replay evidence then they would stop cheating and diving, because they would know they wouldn’t get away with it.

Then you have the media.

How many times does Wenger get slated for not playing Englishmen? Every time the England National side is in the press all the attention focuses on Arsene Wenger. Why is he responsible for the state of the National team?

There does seem to be this anti-Arsenal bias in the media based mainly on things like the England team. Then that spreads to other criticisms.

And then there is the media and the referees.

Football is almost a 24 hour sport now and you need these kind of things to keep people interested. The Newspapers love it, the Sports Channels love it – it’s all part of the game they say. It’s pretty obvious officials won’t get the help needed to make football a fairer game because it would ruin the whole theatre that is football. What would Sky Sports News report about on their 24 hour news channel? What would the experts on Match of the Day talk about? The media have so much power that the use of replays and technology will never happen.

It’s all “part of the game”.

And the really annoying part of all this is all these bad decisions are just brushed under the carpet. The media will paint Wenger as a moaner, which sells newspapers. There’s nothing like a bit of controversy to sell right?

Wengers belief and motivation in his whole philosophy of how the game should be played is probably being tested like it never has been before.

He revolutionised training methods in this country and helped the Premier League reach another level as a whole. When he won the double in his first full season at the club it forced Fergie to improve his team and then he won the treble 12 months later.

Then there’s also the ex-Arsenal players.

Arsenal must have more ex-players in the Premier League than any other side. There’s Kanu, Campbell, Lauren, Diarra, Volz, Aliadiere, Larsson, Muamba, Ljungberg, Ashley Cole, Pennant, Bentley and Stuart Taylor. I’m sure there’s more but I can’t remember right now.

It’s like we’re a feeder club and making other sides stronger.

And what do we get in return? Players like Bentley, Cole and Pennant slagging off Arsene Wenger!

You would probably find it hard to find a man who has contributed more to football in this country and this is how he gets treated.

So is it too much to ask to get a fair whack at things?

And look at this weekend’s game with Manchester United. In any other circumstances, people would want the underdog to win so that it would setup an exciting finish as the title race comes to a close. But you get the feeling that everyone would love Arsenal to continue their poor run and get beaten once again rather than the league leaders lose.

People would just love it if we got tanked on Sunday.

I’ve almost had enough of it all. I’m not actually sure if anything I’ve written actually makes sense. I’m just down right now and you’ll have to excuse me. Thanks for reading anyway.

Can I Write A Balanced Piece About Tonight’s Game?

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Liverpool (4) – (2) Arsenal
Diaby (13′), Adebayor (83′)
Anfield, Liverpool

So close, yet so far – which sums up our season really.

Arsenal started the game brightly, and dominated the first 30 minutes of the match. With their sharp passing and attacking possession Liverpool were chasing the game. It was a surprise that Benitez started with both Crouch and Torres up front, but it meant Arsenal’s midfield could get at the Liverpool defence and on 13 minutes we got what we deserved.

After some good attacking play, Hleb fed the ball into Diaby who ran from deep and smashed a shot in at the near post.

Advantage Arsenal.

But after that we seemed to take our foot off the pedal and Liverpool were spraying long balls over the top which were causing us problems and from a corner Liverpool equalised.

And it was a gift.

Steven Gerrard always plays in a good ball and to give Sami Hyypia the time and space in the box was criminal. The header bounced in off the post and Fabregas was just too short to get it away.

Unfortunately it was our defensive frailties which would cost us dear later on in the game.

The second half ended 1-1 and it was up for grabs. The second period started at a decent pace but for about 20 minutes both teams seemed to drop the tempo ready for a grandstand finish.

Another defensive error resulted in another Liverpool goal. A long ball wasn’t dealt with and Torres was given time to get the ball onto his right foot. He didn’t need a second invitation and he smashed the ball into the top corner.

The game was finely poised and Arsene went for broke. Walcott and Van Persie came on for Eboue and Diaby, in the pursuit of that vital goal that would put Arsenal into the next round.

And on 83 minutes it came. Liverpool had a corner which bounced to Theo, who waltzed past 5 players in a simply sensational run. He managed to get himself wide on the right where 4 Arsenal players were waiting in the middle for a cut back. Walcott didn’t disappoint and his pass was converted by Emmanuel Adebayor.

The question now was could Arsenal hold on for the remaining 7 minutes?

Unfortunately bad refereeing decisions have cost Arsenal against Liverpool, and the home side were gifted a penalty. Replays showed that there was minimal contact on Babel but it was enough for the referee to blow the whistle.

It’s hard to not feel aggrieved at the decision, especially after Hleb was robbed of a perfectly good penalty at the Emirates. You wonder where Liverpool get this luck from? They get the decisions at the right time. It’s unbelievable and when the penalty was awarded I was stunned.

There was no reason for Kolo to tug down Babel because there were about 6 players back in the Arsenal penalty area and Babel had a hell of a lot to do from the position he was in.

Dutchman and penalties eh?

Once the kick was given all prayers were with Almunia and whether he could pull off a miraculous save to keep Arsenal in the Champions League. He dived the right way but in front of the Kop Gerrard was never going to miss. And with Arsenal playing desperate football in the remaining minutes the very man who won the penalty Ryan Babel scored on the break.

What a rollercoaster.

So why did Arsenal lose over the two games?

Fatigue & Tiredness

Liverpool just looked like the fresher team. Arsenal played well and tried to pass the ball and performed excellently for the first half an hour, but as the game wore on Arsenal looked jaded. Adebayor and Hleb in particular couldn’t get into the game, whether it was down to form or fatigue. The team was over-reliant on Fabregas to make things happen and this kid is burnt out. To his credit, Diaby put in a good performance but Eboue and Hleb’s influence was sporadic at best.

And Adebayor missed a sitter before we finally got the equaliser.

Fans wanted Theo to start tonight and he probably should have looking at his fantastic run to create Arsenal’s equaliser. You really have to feel for Theo Walcott. He puts in a brilliant display against Birmingham and scores 2 goals but that is overshadowed by the horrendous injury to Eduardo. Then he destroyed the Liverpool team with a quite phenomenal run but ends up on the losing side.

Instead of getting the plaudits his magic moments will be forgotten.

And the absence of Bacary Sagna is such a massive loss. Apart from his solid defensive performances he adds something to our attacking game. Maybe it was Sagna not playing which was the reason why Walcott didn’t start the games over Eboue.

Defensive Frailties

Arsenal probably deserved to progress in Champions League over the two legs if you looked at their attacking play, but you could say that about many games this season. The fact is that for all our possession and incisive passing we lost 4-2 tonight. Yes, the penalty call was so difficult to take, especially after working so hard to equalise, but you can’t expect to win football matches if you concede 4 goals.

The fact is you can put all of Liverpool’s goals down to poor defending.

I still can’t get over the first goal. The defending was a complete shambles and if you’re going to give a top side a free header only 6 yards out then you’re going to be punished.

The second goal was no better, after we failed to deal with a long ball. The situation was still retrievable but we stood off Torres and let him shot with his right foot which was criminal. He is a top quality striker and to do that was asking for trouble.

Then the penalty and goal from the break are self-explanatory really.

Just Plain Bad Luck

It really does seem everything has been going against Arsenal since the injury to Eduardo, and the Liverpool ties followed the same vain.

People will say that you can’t change what’s happened and that we should get over it but there’s no about that element of luck has vanished over the two games. There was the Hleb penalty fiasco in the first leg and Ryan Babel was fortunate to get his in the second. It probably would have been fairer if we had a penalty each over the two legs but it didn’t pan out like that.

Final Thoughts?

Well it was a fantastic game of football tonight and give credit to Liverpool, they played more expansively that I thought they would. We all know how dangerous Liverpool are in Europe and now they have beaten us they will feel like they can win it. It’s a shame how the draw panned out really as well. Chelsea and United got favourable draws and we got the team no-one else wanted.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t still hurting over the 2 major penalty incidents in each of the ties because I think it would have made a difference to the outcome of the games. Such games are won and lost on the little things and even the most dedicated Liverpool supporter couldn’t say that certain things didn’t go in their favour.

But Liverpool have qualified and all you can say is congratulations to them and good luck in the next round.

The game in a way summed up our season. We were strong early on but in the end we were hanging on.

I suppose now our focus will be on how we can add that extra strength we need for next season. The game on Sunday will be even tougher now after tonight so let’s see what the boys are made of.