Date: March 2002

Gunners travel to Charlton

Mar 31, 2002 by

“Charlton v. Arsenal; Monday April 1; 10am ET

Arsenal: 3rd (66 points)

Charlton: 9th (41 points)

TV: none

Radio: arsenal.com

Here?s the Kentucky Gunner with a look at Charlton:

No rest for us or the wicked as we jump headlong into another crucial fixture. The wicked, in this case, are Charlton. After having defeated us in November 2001 at Highbury, we need all 3 points from this fixture. That defeat can almost be explained by that unexplainable November curse that Arsenal suffers from year in and year out, or really bad goalkeeping. Charlton scored 4 goals on 5 attempts and despite some beautiful play by the Gunners we could not finish on an overwhelming number of chances.

Charlton Addicks, named for the way the people in that area pronounce Haddock (the fish), have quietly placed themselves 8th in the table and are in contention for a European cup berth. A better team on the road, Charlton have given up 24 goals at home and are 5-4-7 at The Valley. They have several talented players but it?s hard to tell what team will show up; the one that drew with Leeds and defeated Chelsea or the one who drew with Leicester and just lost to Bolton.

The forwards generally work alone. Jason Euell, whose breakout game was against us, has 10 goals and leads the team in scoring. He?s strong, fast and has a will to score but is the victim of poor finishing when pressured. Jonatan Johanssen is a talented “”fox in the box”"-type scorer but has not lived up to his form of last year.

The midfield has suffered injury and a lack of consistency in play and personnel. They push up to the attack as a unit and fall back together for defense. On defense they fill the box with numbers and give up room to shoot around the 18.

The defense is average but a player to certainly note is Chris Powell, Ashley Cole?s backup on the England squad. The defense work as a unit also and can be beat on the counter as long passes can be directed to space behind the fullbacks. This leaves things up to the courageous Dean Kiely in goal. Think he?s not brave, look at his face as he looks to have been beaten with a stick and has fewer teeth than most here in Kentucky. (Lost one of them to a teammate in training) Sometimes brilliant, others times the goat, he reacts well and can stretch to the corners but is prone to silly mistakes.

We showed that we could dominate and create against Charlton now we need to finish and defend. We are a better side and more consistent than several months ago and it will be crucial that the wings move forward into the box to create chances for Henry and Bergkamp (fingers crossed). From here on out its a must three points and despite a poor record at The Valley we should come through victorious.

“

Arsenal make quick work of Black Cats-March 0

Mar 30, 2002 by

“Arsenal 3, Sunderland 0

by Kali Korbis

Arsenal’s title challenge showed no signs of slowing down after Robert Pires’ injury, as the Gunners defeated Sunderland 3-0 on Saturday. Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, and Sylvain Wiltord all scored in the first half to keep the Gunners’ title hopes on course.

Just as in last week’s win over Newcastle, Arsenal started the match off with a quick goal. This time, Wiltord’s mis-hit cross found Patrick Vieira by way of Sunderland’s Paul Thirlwell, and the Frenchman slipped the ball past Thomas Sorenson in the second minute of the match.

Dennis Bergkamp again quickly succeeded the opening goal, this time in the fifth minute. Freddie Ljungberg crossed the ball from the left, finding an unmarked Thierry Henry, whose off-target shot was poked into the net by Bergkamp at the back post.

Without the services of Pires to rely upon, Vieira took up the lead in the midfield, with Brazilian Edu increasingly looking the part of a capable partner for the Frenchman. Henry initiated a significant portion of the creative playmaking duties, and the Gunners quickly added a third first-half goal.

On the half-hour mark, Bergkamp provided Sylvain Wiltord with a highly insightful centering pass, and Wiltord’s clean strike was enough to doom the Black Cats to a long afternoon at Highbury. Meanwhile, a frustrated Sunderland side showed its desperation through several rough tackles, with Edu and Freddie Ljungberg both finding themselves on the wrong end of an angry Black Cat challenge.

Sunderland attempted a second-half comeback, but the Arsenal defence, boosted by skipper Tony Adams, in his 500th league appearance, yielded nothing for the Wearsiders, who appear to be in a relegation battle. Nor did the Gunners manage another goal, though Thierry Henry had a chance wrongly ruled offside, as the home side looked to be conserving energy for a difficult Premiership title challenge.

The Gunners are still two points behind league-leaders Liverpool, but have two games in hand. Monday’s match with Charlton will prove to be a crucial one if Arsenal are to claim the Premiership trophy this season.

However, manager Arsene Wenger seems unconcerned with the potentially stressful situation in which Arsenal could find themselves, stating, “”We are not obsessed with watching other teams. We know it is down to our quality and how well we play. It takes the pressure out of our game, because we know the issue will be decided on our games.”"

Commenting on his team’s performance, Wenger said, “”We decided to try to start quickly today and did so.”"

“”We caught Sunderland by surprise, it looked as if they had a problem with lack of confidence. They came back into it in the second half and gave us a hard battle but the damage was done.”"

Wenger was also highly complimentary of his individual squad members, as Thierry Henry’s return to domestic competition certainly made an impression on the Arsenal manager. “”Henry was outstanding in providing chances today. I think he scored one because it was onside. It was frustrating for him but he was good for the team,”" he said.

Tony Adams’ presence in the squad also seemed to stand out in Wenger’s mind, especially on a momentous occasion for the longtime Arsenal captain. “”Adams looked sharp today,”" Wenger said.

“”For me he is looking better and better and there is no reaction at the moment. He says it is the best he has felt for a long time. We have the strength of character and solidarity in the team that gets us through.”"

Teams:

Arsenal: Seaman, Cole, Luzhny, Campbell, Adams, Ljungberg (Kanu 77), Vieira, Edu, Wiltord (Grimandi 68), Henry, Bergkamp (Jeffers 78).

Subs Not Used: Dixon, Wright.

Sunderland: Sorensen, Gray, Reyna, McCann, Bjorklund, McAteer (Butler 45), Craddock, Williams, Thirlwell, Phillips (Kilbane 76), Mboma (Quinn 21).

Subs Not Used: McCartney, Macho.

Booked: McCann, Reyna, McAteer.

Att: 38,047

Ref: P. Durkin (Dorset).

“

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It … -March 29

Mar 29, 2002 by

“Look out everybody, the sky is falling! That?s the impression I got this week as I followed the world football news. KirchMedia, the company thought bought the TV rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups for $673 Bajillion dollars is going belly up. So is ITV Digital, which figured, quite incorrectly it turns out, that everybody in town wanted to watch Grimsby play Stockport.

So apparently that?s it. Let?s pack up shop boys because football is over. Dire predictions that upwards of 30 teams will go under now because of the ITV Digital fiasco. Time to start learning the rules of cricket. Our chairman, Peter Hill-Wood has expressed his concerns and felt the need to tell the media that Arsenal will be looking to unload half a dozen players in the off-season because the cash tree won?t be bearing as much fruit next season.

What say we all take a step back and take a big bite of a reality sandwich? First of all, football is not going anywhere. A game that?s over a century old and played in every country in the world is not going to fold up shop next week. You and I will be able to go out on a Saturday afternoon and play football. We?ll be able to go to a local ground and watch professionals play the sport as well. In a worst-case scenario what is going to happen? I?ll tell you:

Super-rich millionaire owners and corporations may not be able to make money hand over fist anymore. I can tell by the audible gasp that you are shocked, shocked!, by this potentially horrific turn of events. But wait, there?s more. There may be some players who simply won?t be able to make $30,000 a week. That?s right, get Jerry Lewis on the phone, and let?s get those telethon tote boards rolling. Now if that were the case, it might start to be tough for some of the media to fill hours and hours and pages and pages with football related ?news.?

Are there some genuine, hard working people who will lose out if things go tits up in the world of football? Absolutely. Did the media and owners give a toss about them two years ago when everything was rosy? Not one bit. But now they come round to tell everyone how some poor reserve at 3rd Division Kidderminster is going to lose his job. Or how Conference side Stevenege will be wound up now that all the TV money is gone. Like ITV or Ken Bates really ever cared about those types.

A little perspective is needed here. Maybe it wouldn?t be such a bad thing if we scaled this whole football juggernaut back just a bit. If the top wage for a footballer was $100,000 a year would Beckham, Sol or Zidane say no so they could try some other job? If Arsenal had to play in a ground that only held 19,000 and the top ticket price was $25 bucks would they really go out of business? Yeah, for some fans, especially those of us in the States, it might mean we couldn?t follow the team like we do now, but if you got to see Arsenal only 15 times on TV this year, instead of the almost 30 that we will end up with I think we would survive. I?d just like to see those at the top of the game get a little humble, a little less greedy and see everyone keep football in its proper perspective.

60″