Welcome to Matchday 6 (At least for these teams) as we have a good one for you this week. The 5th place Hammers take on the 6th place Gunners in a battle to see who moves up the table. The Hammers sit higher in the table than the Gunners? Surely you jest. No, I don’t (and don’t call me Shirley.) West Ham have been the surprise of the new campaign. They present an interesting battle for Arsenal and look to be far better and far more entertaining than in the years past.
In the preseason table I wrote that West Ham had the potential to be as far up as 9th and as far back as 19th. I based this on the experienced players that they had procurred in the transfer market and kept through the Championship campaign. Little did I know that it would be the youth of this squad that would make the most difference; those who had little or no Premiership experience. The likes of Sheringham, Konchesky, Repka,and Dailly have not dissappeared but have not contributed like the new guard.
Marlon Harewood is a strong striker who gets into position well but seemed to lack that finisher’s touch. Two goals last weekend showed he had that touch and his other two goals puts him as the team’s leading goalscorer. He played shortly for Forest in the Prem but failed to impress.
Bobby Zamora, the former Bristol Rover, has eased into the midfield and become quite tenacious. Former Don, Reo-Coker, has become a dominant figure in the West Ham middle and has a strong shot. He’s not afraid to wind-up and let loose from 25 yards out. Yossi Benayoun, an Isreali from Real Sociedad,he has been nothing but impressive. He runs and runs and runs and never seems to tire.
The defense is run by Anton Ferdinand, brother to Rio. He looks just like his brother and at 21 years old, stands to have quite a career in this League. Also found in the defense is former ManU keeper, Roy Carroll. He had limited experience in the ManU goal and when he got to play he was awful. He appears much more confident, intelligent and “care free” at West Ham. I think it might be the expectation; at ManU, one mistake and you were the goat. At West Ham, there’s blame to go around and it enables him to take chances.
The real surprise at West Ham is they can’t stop scoring. They play a 4-4-2 with youthful enthusiasm. A fast pace with a mind set to counter quickly, the Hammers are a joy to watch. They come off a 4-2 win over Wednesday in the Carling Cup this week, after a 2-1 win over Fulham. They carry the knowledge that they put four past Villa and three past Blackburn. Their only lose is to Bolton when they slowed the pace and seemed out of their element.
West Ham 1-2 Arsenal
I find this hard to call as the Gunners have to travel. Two loses on the road thus far, the Gunner give one away on the counter but dominante for nearly 90 minutes.
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:11 am
With Henry and Pires surely out, Ljunberg most likely out and Bergkamp very likely out, who will score the goals? Reyes and RVP are struggling to find the back of the net. Hleb hasn’t had a shot on goal yet. With West Ham playing 4-4-2 and attacking, it should suit Arsenal better. So I hope we notch a few goals. With Campbell back we should be good enough to keep a clean sheet. I can see a 1-0 win, but it could also be 1-1 or 0-0 if we don’t convert our chances. But you never know, Campbell and Cygan have already scored two in a game, so maybe Toure will step up in the next one.
Keeping my fingers crossed. We need an away win to boost our morale.
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:22 am
Let’s hope Teddy don’t play! The self-confessed Teddy “I hate Arsenal with a passion” Sheringham just has a knack scoring against us… wherever he goes, whoever he plays for! but i like him as a player, very intelligent.
West Ham’s achievement so far been quite amazing. Their golden generation of youngsters Lampard, Cole, Rio, Defoe, Carrick had all gone before or since their relegation (they would have had quite a some team had they be able to hold on to them together), yet somehow they still managed to bouce back to the top flight with a brand new set of players.
we seem to play a gear higher when we are at home. but that’s not good enough. We gotta nick something on the road. It’s another true test for the Gunners.
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:33 am
Has anyone read Paddy’s comment today? Now I always love Vieira, but come on Paddy, comment like that “YOu always want to go somewhere u can win something u didn’t last season (regarding of CL)” isn’t it a little too prematured?
i know on paper it does appear Juventus has a much better chance than us winning the CL this year. But football is a funny thing, u’ll never know.. It would be better if you have ACTUALLY WON it with Juventus then go on and say what u like to say. Counting the chicken so early is not so smart a thing to do.
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:13 am
watched west ham play and benayoun really caught my eye. hes at the centre of almost every west ham attack. great buy
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:20 am
I hope you don’t go on hating PV for saying something even my gran mom knows is true.
Arsenal are kidding themselves at the moment but time will tell
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:27 am
This game has got a draw written all over it if not worse. I’ll be there but if it true that Freddie, Pires , DB10 are all out damn then we have a long way to go. These are game games we should win.
Just as PV said supporting the team and saying the truth is very difficult for some fans special Arsenal fans. Base on what I have seen this season without those 4 players anything can happen. I would have gone for a win but this is a Hammers team playing well.
Anything can happen and I guess Wenger is resting freddie for the Ajax game.
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:41 am
West Ham have the ability to wake us up. They attack and they are in love with scoring. I like them, have a few of them on my fantasy side, and think they’re riding some momentum at this early stage. This could be the most fun Premiership tie to watch at the weekend.
With Henry and Freddie out (and I want to say Pires but to be honest he really isn’t factoring at the moment) we’ve got to see some quality finishing from Reyes and RvP. Wenger always is assured that given time and faith, the chances will come and then the goals will start to come. With that, confidence, and his gems blossom into what he always knew they could be. West Ham, if they go toe to toe with us, might be the perfect club to unlock any latent potential remaining.
With each passing game the jitters fade and we begin to settle. Sol’s return is going to factor huge, I think, in expediting that. Paradoxically, Arsene’s style relies on a crucial defensive element. Without the forward motion of our opponents being snuffed quickly, we’re running about and losing our sharpness. When we can push up and win possession, our backs start attacks and then you can’t afford to blink an eye. Its when we slow down that we look ordinary. Cue the same for West Ham.
So two similar clubs, one a little higher on the belief scale than the other and one a little higher on the quality scale means an awesome tie. Even with lessened firepower and lacking finishing, if the game is end to end, we’ll prevail as our forwards and back link up for some terrific scoring opportunities. So…
…although I’m calling this to be a game with lots of chances, I see it run out an EPL typical 2-1 to us. We’ve got the better keeper and he’ll be busy. And I see the Hammers getting tentative in the second half. Reyes, Flamini.
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:47 am
LoveG, i think in football there is no such thing as TRUTH until it happened. In Vieira’s latest comment, since it HAS NOT happened… at least yet (Juventus won the CL), and we HAVE NOT lost it… at least yet. So how can it be TRUTH?
I think Owen headed to Real Madrid last season probably thinking the same thing, that he had a better chance of WINNING THINGS than staying with Liverpool that gave him chance when he was 18, and developed him as a top striker… Gerrard even went on to the public suggesting his team was not good enough winning the CL… U can say they were telling the “Truth”. But it didn’t turn out to be the Truth did it?
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:49 am
I know what Viera said is premature but he is right that Juve has a better chance than Arsenal to win the CL - at least on paper. The current Juve team has more experienced Euro campaigners than the current Arsenal team. Thats not to say that they will win by the CL by default but at this juncture, I fancy Juve chances better than Arsenal’s chances in the CL - just being realistic.
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:18 am
Exactly, Andez! I took the day off work for the CL final, and I was in a pub cheering for Liverpool (not only do I hate Italian teams, but there were absolutely no Milan supporters there, so it might have been a bad idea). After the game I mentioned to one of the Liverpool guys that I bet Owen is being sick right this moment. It got quite the laugh, and quite the discussion on how St Mike was dead to them. At least Fowler was forced out, they said
So Paddy might end up eating his words. Plus he plays for Juve, one of the ugliest teams full of ugly khunts. They’re the Real Madrid of Italy.
…The Liverpool supporters that day also caught a glimpse of the faded liverbird tattoo on my right arm, which impressed one of the old Scotsmen, so much so he kissed it after Liverpool’s third goal O_o Don’t get me started on how that feckin thing came to be on me, just suffice it to say it’s faded because I’ve been in treatment for some time getting it removed.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:06 am
What he conveniently left out, Andez, was that Wenger more or less sent him there. I don’t find it a particularly clever career move agreeing when your manager says your up after five years of summer aggravation and phoned-in performances. Whatever.
I also find it interesting that he’s talking more about our club now than when he was there. Only, he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth. You can’t say that “you needed a change after 9 years” and then start popping off about “Henry will leave, and I came to win the CL” just because you’ve scored a goal or two in Snoozy A.
Sorry Stag, if you’re reading this. But Patrick Vieira, Senegalese French international, goes down for me as one of the most annoying personalities ever to grace a red and white jersey. I know many Paddy lovers applaud his every bowel movement, but personally I find him to be chafing and disingenuous.
And thanks for the kind words to the media when we’re trying to get it together.
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:11 am
“And thanks for the kind words to the media when we’re trying to get it together.”
Exactly!
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:12 am
I too would place Vieira as one of my least favourite Arsenal players Scotty. It was when he went through a transition from a raw, affinately likeable, and enthusiastic sensation to becoming a pseudo-intellectual(common curse in alot of players) in and around 2001-2002 that I really began to see a player resting on his laurels and also getting on my tits with his lethargy and inflated view of his own importance.
He gave the impression he was doing us a favour by his mere presence and the stern words he often projected in the media irritated me even more because he showed a complete lack of urgency on it, especially around 2003 onwards. He knew our weaknesses, as recent interviews have shown, but couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it.
I personally would have loved to seen his reaction when Wenger showed him the door.
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:16 am
Well said Scotty. He should just quit yapping and stick to to playing soccer for his new club.
If he wants to point fingers he should start with pointing at the leadership of the team for the past 3 years. I love Patrick and probably my best Arsenal player ever but I’ve lost so much regard for him within this past year.
His behaviour has just been plain sleazy to say the least
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:57 am
Quite simply we should batter West Ham. They say they will play an open game and this will suit us down to the ground, it’s defensive teams we struggle against. Sure they have managed a couple of good results, though Villa were absolutely dire in defence, and Harewood has even scored - don’t expect too many more from him., but as long as Reyes and Van Persie manage to finish a couple of the 10-15 great chances we will create, there will be no problems.
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 pm
Andez,
Let get our emotions out of the way or our feeling about Arsenal out of the way and talk about football for once.
Everyone in this world even excluding non-football fans knows in football anything can happen.
But at the same time you can’t run or hide from the fact that Juventus is better than Arsenal at the moment whether on paper or not. If you can’t admit to than well that is fine wilth me. I know a few people who think Arsenal are better then Chelsea. That is folks talking with emotion. They will come out with any excuses - but if, this and that but at the end of the day even a fulham or West Ham die hard fan will tell you go and lived in the real world if you think Arsenal is better than Chelsea. I remember some guys going about Spurs were better than Arsenal 2/3 season ago. It was hard for them knowing Arsenal were better than them and does not surprise me when some people think we are better than Chelsea.
Also with regards to PV comment, there is not a single Arsenal fan in this office who think Henry will stay if we don’t do well this season. That was what I meant by PV saying the turth some fans hate to admit. If we fail big time he is out of the door no 2 ways about it.
Yes nothing is gurantee if he goes to another clb but remember players don’t think like that. They will go to a team where they think they have win medals and they is reality.
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:22 pm
This is going to sound blasphemous, but I think the fact that Pires and Bergkamp are out could be good for the team. It means (1) Hleb will start, and (2) we get to see the Reyes ? Van Persie partnership up front again. At this time, Hleb is playing much better than Pires, and he seems to be getting stronger with every game. His touch, movement, and pace are excellent. As for Reyes and Van Persie not being able to score, they?ve had ONE opportunity to start together and I thought they were dangerous the entire time they were on. Reyes was two steps ahead of everyone in blue for the entire game last Monday, and both of them were mixing up play by working the ball inside AND taking shots from outside. I think the wonderful combination that led to Van Persie?s shot off the post is a sign of more great things to come. As amazing a player as Bergkamp is, I think at this point he is there primarily to add depth and experience to the roster, not to be an every game striker.
West Ham have shown to be very dangerous in front of goal, however, I don?t think they will find the net against the Gunners. I think with Sol back and Lehman looking assured, our defense will be more than West Ham can overcome. More importantly, if we get into the same rhythm going forward that we had against Everton, they will never get an opportunity to build any kind of significant threat. I would agree with some of the other posts that Sheringham is the danger-man to watch for. He is such an intelligent player and he seems to consistently produce despite his age. What is he, 42?
Arsenal 3-0 West Ham
P.S. Thanks to Viera I think we have some serious motivation now for at least making it farther than Juventus in the CL. Or even better, I hope we get a chance to play them and run them into the ground.
September 23rd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
Andez,
At some point, beside the whining from other Arsenal fans who ask to sign new players, I think Arsenal has been very slow and nifty on offering new contracts to the current Arsenal player.
Losing Edu was a big mistake. If the Arsenal did care to offer him something a year ago, he would have been with us now. Same for Henry, if he leaves it would be Arsenals fault.
Veirra, I dunno for what reason that he left, but if it was money issues, it would be very very stupid.
I dont like bringing players a lot, but i like keeping player.s. Wiltoword and Kanu for example.
So if what Veirra said was true and not some newspaper rubbish, then he is helping Arsenal … cause this would warn them not to mess around with Herny. He is a star and would leave if he finds a better place.
September 23rd, 2005 at 1:58 pm
So who is playing ?
Lehman
Lauren, Sol, Toure, Cole
Helb, Cesce, Gilbero, Quincy (??)
Reyes, RVP
Sub: Almunia, Sendy, Falmini, Clichy, Fredy (??)
September 23rd, 2005 at 2:05 pm
Love_G -
We can drive ourselves insane with speculation. So why not take all the little bits of actual, truthful information and begin to build from there:
http://tinyurl.com/7zjfr
Its rare that something goes up on the official site in reaction to what’s been printed. That was quick.
September 23rd, 2005 at 2:14 pm
faresk82-
I prefer to draw my speculation from what has happened in the past, and hardly anyone leaves the club that the club still wants. We have a few turn us down to come to the club, but essentially, they stay on. Vieira, despite his posturing, was never pressured to make any choices and stayed for 9 years. That’s long enough for anyone, and Wenger knew that.
This was heartening:
http://tinyurl.com/7zjfr
September 23rd, 2005 at 2:45 pm
I think Fabregas will start on the right with Helb on the left. Since Flamini is fit again, he is likely to partner Gilberto middle of the park No change to the defence. Reyes and van Persie up front. Hope to see Quincy and Lupoli get a run in the second half when we are leading 3-0 :-))
September 23rd, 2005 at 2:52 pm
I don’t know why, maybe its because I’m kinda stressed-out at the moment, but I’m feeling 1-1.
That’s all.
September 23rd, 2005 at 3:42 pm
The problem with some of these discussions is that some of the arguments are relative. Let me run with two examples: (1) ?Henry will leave if we don?t ?do well.?? What constitutes doing well? (2) ?Chelsea are better than we are.? Better in what regard?
On the first question, I will assume ? just so we have a point of reference ? that ?doing well? at a minimum means we qualify for the CL. I think Gooner fans rightfully expect us to achieve at least that much nowadays. Furthermore, I think that you are making the assumption that Henry will leave if he cannot compete in the CL. It is a possibility that Henry could decide to go elsewhere if we did not qualify (please note: I fully expect that we will). However, I am not fully convinced that it is a certainty he would. In fact, you could argue that if winning the CL was his primary focus that he, like Paddy, would?ve left already (especially when you consider many of our own fans don?t even think we have a hope of winning it). There is a distinct possibility that he means it when he says he?s committed to the Club. I may be na?ve, but I think it is possible that he truly wants to be one of the driving influences that helps lead the team into Ashburton and transition Arsenal to that next level wherein they are a perennial powerhouse. Apparently, Viera never really believed in Arsene?s vision, but Henry might.
Regarding the second question, there is no doubt that Chelsea is a very formidable team and the odds-on favorite to win the League. They play a very disciplined defensive style, and as everyone is so fond of pointing out, they have depth (many international players capable of standing in the penalty box). This means that over the course of a season they will drop very few points. On the other hand, we have had periods where our ?lack of depth? (for lack of a better phrase) has led to mistakes that cost us points both this year and last. However, I have yet to watch a match between Arsenal and Chelsea wherein I just threw up my hands and said there?s no way we can beat this team, they are just too good. In fact, I have always experienced just the opposite. I get frustrated because I believe we were the better team, but we can?t find ways to finish them off and/or we make silly mistakes. So in that sense, I do not fear them.
With respect to the knockout competitions, I don?t think you can call them the overwhelming favorites in any of them. The very nature of theses competitions doesn?t allow for it. Are you telling me that Chelsea would be considered shoo-ins to beat the likes of Milan and Barca in two legs in the CL? And of course you?ve always got the upstart and/or underestimated teams that charge through. In the F.A. Cup, a good day by Henry, Gerrard or Rooney could certainly see them off (it did last year).
It?s going to be a long season with many games and multiple competitions and a lot for our team to play for. Furthermore, the challenges we face will tell us a lot about our team and our players - including Henry. I think that in the end we will, as usual, surprise the doubters on many accounts.
P.S. I?d like to hear other opinions, but I think this guy is definitely Arsene Wenger material: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=343998.html
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:08 pm
It should be a fast open game. But hopefully we take our chances early.
You guys remember the game a few years ago when we came away with a 1-1 tie but West Ham had us on the ropes for a while? I think it was in our double year for 2002.. In fact, they were wasteful with their chances, especially Kanoute. That was a frantic game game and it seemed for a while we might lose.
For now just looking forward to the game…Tired of speculating about the future, want to enjoy one game at a time.
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:57 pm
Come on Scotty, U are always optemstic.
I am sure you are very Stressed. I think u missed a goal from Arsenal …2-1 to su
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:44 pm
You’re right. 2-1. Eff the Hammers.
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:18 pm
LoveG, I do admit Juventus is better than us. My comment is regarding of Paddy’s comment of he left because he felt he had a better chance winning the “CL” with Juventus.
First, I think it would be better when he DID win the CL with Juventus and to make this soft of comment than counting the chicken too early. As I always said - CL is a tournament, and the better side does not necessary mean they would win it by default.
Secondly, as Scotty pointed out, we are trying to pull everything together at the moment after the slow start, and early injury hit. This soft of comment is unwelcome at least at this stage of time, particular from a beloved former Arsenal player.
Thirdly, and most importantly, I seem to confuse with the LOGIC of some players today - ISN’T IT THE PLAYER IS THE WHO SUPPOSE TO TRY AND HELP THEIR TEAM WINNING THINGS? How on earth now it become THE CLUB SHOULD BE THE ONE WHO HELPS THE PLAYERS TO WIN GLORY?
To tell u the truth LoveG, how i REALLY feel is, all those “I want to achieve bigger things with a bigger club” talks from many players today, not just Paddy, are totally nonsense to me. All they are trying to say is - SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Rio, Gerrard, Cole have all been linked with a so-called bigger club which could help them to achieve bigger thins Chelsea. Eventually they didn’t go, but they did have all achieved one thing - all of them had got a better contract with their current club afterward.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:34 pm
Not too long ago, the 1970 Brazilian team introduced 4-2-4 as the attacking formation while 4-4-2 was considered defensive. Then the game went to 4-3-3 as the preferred formation. Now 4-4-2 is considered as an attacking formation in the face of 4-5-1. How the game has changed!
September 24th, 2005 at 1:07 am
Thank you LoveG…
you’ve said it all FOR ME.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:10 am
If you want to see us play Juventus, then you have lost your mind… they would wipe the floor with us… look at the teams… look at the line-ups and talent and DEPTH on their squad.
We want NO PART of Juventus… Emerson and Vieira in midfield would teach Cesc and Flamini or Silva a footballing lesson.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:14 am
What responsibility does the TEAM have to bring in players to HELP acheive?
Arsenal are notorious for doing NOTHING following a league title win.
Its obvious we did not improve… what Paddy said was true… he also implored Wenger to bring in players and get better, so HENRY doesn’t leave.
The window of opportunity for great players is often very short… you never know what will happen, what injury might end your career.
Great players don’t wait around for potential. Just because our crop of kids has “potential” doesn’t mean they will blossom. You don’t win titles with kids and no depth.
If we screw this season, Henry walks… and ARSENAL will be solely to blame, not Henry or Paddy.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:16 am
Vieira speaks the truth.
Its apparent that many folks have their boxers in a bunch because what he said is reality. He implores Wenger and Arsenal to get better or lose Henry.
Perhaps folks “can’t handle the truth”.
September 24th, 2005 at 4:27 am
Scotty,
You right - We are all driving ourselves insane but all I was saying is what will happen in the real world not what the manager or fans want. No one can stop a player leaving and Wenger have said it him.
After January Henry is a free man so let wait and see.
September 24th, 2005 at 5:05 am
Folks, Ljunberg will play but Bergkamp is out. That’s great news. Hleb and Ljunberg on the wings with Reyes and RvP up front. I think the team is strong enough to win. Let’s hope they do.
Just wanted to add one line on the “nothing is guaranteed” in football discussion. Yes, it is not guaranteed that Juventus have a better chance than Arsenal to win the CL. But at the same time, we must remember that it is not guaranteed that Henry will stay with Arsenal after this season either. It works both ways.
September 24th, 2005 at 5:05 am
Ok, I?ve to say I respect you coming out with some points but here is how I see things.
Here is the deal. Read Wenger?s own words and make up your mind. That says sometime about what our star player is thinking. As I said to Scotty I will all wait and see what happen at the end of the season. I wish the Arsenal win the league and CL if possible.
But to answer some of your questions, players don?t see things the same way we see it as fans. A player like Henry will see things very different from Reyes and guess what you see things different from I do. Most top players wants to play for the best clubs in the world and as a kid growing up my dream was to play for Ajax even I knew I wasn?t that good.
With regards to your second question, we have played Chelsea twice this season and lost twice. We can used every logic or excuses in the books if we want but if you wanna tell me we are better than them fine. The result is what matters at the end of the day and the tables don?t lie. They might be lucky and sitting on top of the table but I don?t buy those excuses.
As for the knockout competitions, I have said it and will say it again ? In football anything can happen and nothing is guarantee but if Arsenal was to play MK Dons FC today I can?t see how many people will go for a Dons win but on the field anything can happen.
You right is going to be a long hard season and hope Wenger and the boys proves me wrong come May.
September 24th, 2005 at 5:20 am
Andez,
To tell u the truth LoveG, how i REALLY feel is, all those “I want to achieve bigger things with a bigger club” talks from many players today, not just Paddy, are totally nonsense to me. All they are trying to say is - SHOW ME THE MONEY!
That is what I have being saying all season long. Football is gone down the pants but that is the reality of the modern football player. I do agree with you here but to say everything was fine was where I wasn’t having your excuses.
Also I’m 100% with you about 1st and 2nd points. Nothing is guarantee in football and how many times have I said that. Yes PV comment was not helpful but he knows what his friend was thinking and Wenger’s own comment proves Henry may leave the club. That was what I was talking about.
Hey is a Saturday - Enjoy your weekend and hope for an Arsenal win, Villa scores a goal and this time May Arsenal sitting on top of the table.
Also can I say well done to the Chelsea fans. Now their club have reduce it tickets and I hope Arsenal fans do the same. Now it also means we are the most expensive club in England.
Oh - Hope your fans in Rita’s way are all doing fine.
September 24th, 2005 at 5:21 am
One more point about Vieira and him leaving because he felt he had a better chance winning the CL with Juventus. If Arsenal had agreed to sell him to a club whose chance of winning was “supposedly” not better than Arsenal like (just for example) Lyon or PSV or Werder Bremen, would he have left? I doubt it.
Zidane left Juve for Real because he wanted to win the CL. Were Real really better than Juve at that time? I don’t know. He did win the CL with Real but Juve also went close soon after. So I guess it is true that players leave one club and join another because they “perceive” the new club as having a “better” chance of winning something. Whether it actually happens or not, only time will tell.
September 24th, 2005 at 8:34 am
A) I don’t wear underwear (sorry if any of you are eating)
B) Truth or not, his old jersey hasn’t yet been laundered to be rid of his Vapo rub and he’s already blabbing to the media. Its annoying.
C) We can get our “truth” elsewhere. Its not like its a bloody revelation. In fact, he rarely adds anything new to anything unless its to make himself look better.
D) Reality is defined by what “is”. Henry’s here now. Until he speaks on it, that’s all we know.
All it does is show how its Patrick’s world and we’re all just renting it. And contributes to the theory that he will say whatever he has to to paint over his ego. Very Manc, if you ask me. That is all.
September 24th, 2005 at 8:49 am
I agree with everything you say L_G.
But let me say that Wenger is finally reacting to the nonstop litany of reports that link Henry away to Barca. It isn’t news at all, as the papers have been saying it for a few years and will continue to say whatever they want whenever there’s an opportunity to prey on the fears of the fans. It doesn’t mean there is ANYTHING in Henry’s relationship with the club that would suggest he’s unhappy. It just is and we have to wait.
Yes, the real world holds many surprises. But to many here, Henry staying despite us not winning anything (which is highly rare) would also be a shocker. It all depends on how one sees the contents of their glass.
And I don’t care about Chelsea. They’re an anomaly that is interesting for a few, boring reasons. The bottom line is, without five times the money of every other club they’re fighting with the rest of us.
Taking nothing for granted does not have to mean trumpet the doom. Wenger may make decisions that others do not agree with, but he knows better than all of us where his player’s heads are. Its funny to me how we all cite this position or that half-truth like we’re one up on him. I mean, was Patrick Vieira really trying to warn Wenger and the board? Thanks, Pal, but I think the entire effin’ planet has said what he said and better. Silly and self-serving.
September 24th, 2005 at 8:59 am
Well thank gods we have Patrick Vieira to tell Wenger and the board how to run the club, Stag. I, and I’m sure Wenger, hadn’t thought of that. That’s 9 years of wisdom. And its free via the papers!
“Implored?” You’re like his personal Karl Rove, man. ;^)
Arsenal are only notorious for underachieving after a title win. How come you’re so sure that it only has to do with not buying. LOOK at the performances on the pitch first. Sometimes it would be nice to have another world class player step in when we’re tired or hurt (if they want to sit until that happens) and sometimes its a mental thing. So many get sucked into the buy-first mentality without considering other factors. Look at bloody Madrid!
Everyone is free to disagree with Wenger’s plan. That’s part of the fun. But I think everyone should make at least a half-hearted attempt to understand it first.
September 24th, 2005 at 10:00 am
We play in a league WITH CHELSEA.
Get used to it…
there aren’t standings with and without Chelsea… so its our goal to WIN the league and beat Chelsea and everyone else.
If we didn’t have 5 times the money of QPR, we’d be fighting with them.
But we do. So do Chelsea.
Beat them or shut up and watch them lift trophies, those are our options. No crying in football.
September 24th, 2005 at 10:11 am
Who’s crying about Chelsea? That’s an interesting, if unsurprisingly diluted, interpretation of my comments
I’m just stating a fact about their club that has been bandied about because of the talk lately of boring football. That fact is also lurking behind every comment that someone makes about Wenger not buying. He’s competing by using his talents to help young talents flourish, and with an eye on a bright future. Its a gamble, as is how we play, etc.
Its relative to a bunch of debates here.
September 24th, 2005 at 11:20 am
To be honest Scotty, I think we’ve already woken up. In fact, I’d say we’re on our second cup of coffee!
September 24th, 2005 at 12:46 pm
Another infuriatingly tentative performance offensively has finally killed off our Premier league hopes. Our inability to actually shoot is really starting to intrigue me now, I mean, I would love to go up to Hleb and say: “Hi Alex, has anyone actually explained the rules of football to you. You do know you have to put the ball in the net don’t you?” No sarcasm in involved there, I genuinely think in Belarus they play a football version of billiards. Shame, because he is brilliant at all the other stuff.
Van Persie was terrible. The guy needs an age to set-up for his obvious left-foot swing and he has no pace or striker’s instinct. Slight draw-backs I would say for a striker.
West Ham were useless offensively and basically were sitting deep knowing we were slide-rule happy and never gonna shoot. So, so, frustrating.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:13 pm
nothing can describe the pain and frustration i feel right now….vot an opportunity for us to get to third place and get a lead over manure…and maybe then look to put some pressure on chelski (who were 1-0 down at one time)…..truly frustrating evening which seems to the trend for away games this season…..very dissapointed by both VanP and reyes today.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:23 pm
Is Arsenal weak or just unlucky.
What the hell happned today. If a team plays 9 defenders against us, and we cant score. Then we are weak.
Arsenal has to get better tactics to deas with such teams. Why did Arsene take Reyes out, and why did he subed RVP with Clichy and we were still seeking a winning goal? Why Lupoli inot presented at the bench? Lupoli is only REAL striker we have beside Henry. Adding Quncy was a good idea, but how can he be by himself upfront.
Now Silva is injured … hopefully for no too long. This is what I feared to have, and AW said we will try our young players, well its time to let them do the business for Arsenal.
Onother win for Chelsea … Even Man Utd lost and at home, but Chelsea are still cruising.
September 24th, 2005 at 7:26 pm
Still have to wait a few more hours before the game is shown on tv here, but I could not resist checking the score.
Not another injury and that too to Gilberto. We needed this guy big time this year!!! Atleast Sol is back so Cygan will not start against Ajax. Hoping for no more injuries though.
The away form has not brought any success in the EPL. A tricky away fixture against Ajax coming up after that home game against Birmingham and away to West Brom..
Time to seriously buckly up now….Ten players blocking your path, well rip one shot atleast. Who knows it might deflect off the opponent’s private parts and find a way towards the back of the net?
September 24th, 2005 at 9:54 pm
Folks get used to it. We have become what we have become. Our players are not underperforming or anything, the team is no longer good enough, period. Pires and Henry scored most of the goals and with Pires in such poor form, shafted over a measly extra year, and Henry injured, what do you expect? we never did that well against West Ham anyway.
Sometimes I wish the Arsenal team that hammered Wolves 5-1 sometime ago was retained as the next generation. Ali and Bentley were Henry and Dennnis, next gen. But Ali could never keep fit and David hasn’t got the chance the likes of Reyes have enjoyed. Gonna be a long season.
September 24th, 2005 at 10:09 pm
Can’t win on the road in the league any more… its apparent our squad is not close to what we used to be… even last season.
Again… teams will repeatedly play many behind the ball… until we can come up with something different to combat this… FORGET WINNING ANYTHING.
The squad is thin… the squad is young… and frankly not good enough to compete for the EPL title at all.
Anyone want to complain about Chelsea… becasue they might not lose all season long. We have no chance of beating them on current form, or without Thierry Henry in our line-up.
I wish I were wrong about this team… but I don’t believe that to be the case. Its painfully evident that this will be a BATTLE to get into the CL next season… and the gap between Chelsea and everyone else is HUGE.
Not good enough Arsenal.
But its not the players fault… they give their best efforts out there…
September 24th, 2005 at 10:30 pm
Our unbeaten run season, and Chelsea’s record points season last term have started a rather unhealthy trend - that teams can no longer afford to drop points should they want to mount a serious challenge for the Premiership title.
The annual Man Utd / Arsenal two horses race at the past might be predictable, still, there was a COMPETITION in it. Both teams would drop silly points here and there, and the opened the door for some remarkable title races over the seasons. For instance: we recovered from an 11 points deficit to edge Man U to the title in 1998; United completed their own turn’s come back run beating us to the title in 2003. Then there was one season I remember the title race had to go down to the final one or two matches.
The way things going this season, I afraid the title race would all but wrapped up by October. Then God bless the Premiership.
The West Ham I have to admit we played very poor. As I stated before - somehow the team seems to be playing a gear lower away. There was no spark, and no inspiration.
Though one thing I can understand is the current set of players still need time to establish an understanding with each other. We are having a very new look attacking lineup now, and as a team replies heavily upon the attacking flow, it takes time for the players to establish the same soft of understanding as the previous generation.
I think it’s about time we stop comparing ourselves to Chelsea. ‘Cos there is no comparion at all. Until we are able to spend 250 mil in 3 seasons then we start to compare.
I am now looking at how Man Utd and Liverpool did to get a more accurate picture on where we really stand. ‘Cos those teams are the “real” teams that which operated under a BUDGET.
September 24th, 2005 at 10:42 pm
“Also can I say well done to the Chelsea fans. Now their club have reduce it tickets and I hope Arsenal fans do the same. Now it also means we are the most expensive club in England.”
I think part of the reason the ticket price is high at Arsenal because of the new stadium and our massive debt.
Then every new player we bought, guess where the money is ACUTALLY coming from?
that doesn’t stop fans calling for new signings though.
September 24th, 2005 at 11:15 pm
Andez, we cannot accept the argument that we need high ticket prices in order to sign players. Juventus has incredibly low prices for tickets, and yet they bought the captain of the Arsenal. I do sort of accept the argument that higher prices are needed to pay for the new stadium, but they are too high as they stand right now.
September 24th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
Agree with u that the problem is not Chel$ki but with the quality of Arsenal’s game. In today’s game, the final ball was poor and the linkage in the opponents half was not as efficient as what we have seen from recent Arsenal performances. Too often trying to thread balls thru packed defence. I don’t believe there was a lack of effort or urgency from Arsenal. I thot when Quincy came on, he provided renew impetus with his speed and trickery. But again the final ball into the box was just not good enough. I think we shud see more of him this season. In any event this is a transitionary season for Arsenal, no matter what Wenger says (he is in denial) - we shud let this team gell for next season.
September 25th, 2005 at 1:09 am
Finally, the reality is setting in that the team is not only young and inexperienced but also short in numbers. With injuries and loss of form to key players, the team is looking so average. I do agree with the point that the new players need time to gel together, simply because they haven’t played together. When was the last time Henry, Pires and Bergkamp were all missing? Some of the blame has to go to Wenger. He never rested Henry and gave others a chance. Now we are paying the price. Having said that, both Reyes and RvP looked out of sorts. Quincy was the most lively player. He made one darting run on the left and crossed the ball only to find no Arsenal player in the D. Sums up our day. One good thing was that Hleb actually shot at goal thought it was blocked within two feet. It means that the guy does know football is about scoring goals and not just passing and dribbling. As you can see, I am quite frustrated with the performance. But then, who wouldn’t be? The only consolation is that ManU and Liverpool aren’t faring much better. But it’s going to be a long hard season. Sigh!
September 25th, 2005 at 1:22 am
Just to rub salt in our wounds, Vieira scored the winner for Juve for the second successive game. Is he going to be the first player to leave under Wenger and shine at another club?
September 25th, 2005 at 1:49 am
I agree, the standard thinking is that if you want to win trophies you prove yourself somewhere and then move on to a ?big? club. Of course, Arsene Wenger can hardly be accused of standard thinking. Hopefully, he has or can convince Henry that Arsenal is going places and that here is the best place for him.
You are absolutely right regarding Chelsea. They have beaten us twice this year, and there is no hiding from that fact. Furthermore, there is no denying they sit firmly atop the table well ahead of us. But as someone who believes that our brand of football is the best and that our team is loaded with incredibly gifted players, I view Chelsea as a target to gun for (pun intended), not as a team to cower from in fear.
As an aside, here?s a scenario: wouldn?t it be great if Chelsea came to Highbury in December unbeaten giving us the opportunity to defend our greatest achievement and deny them an unbeaten record. As a Gunner fan, would you be fearful or hungry for victory?
September 25th, 2005 at 1:55 am
Maybe we should just quit the tournament now. Then we wouldn’t have to play any good teams.
September 25th, 2005 at 7:11 am
Two things were shocking about yesterday’s terrible performance.
West Ham did not play defensively. They attacked as best they could from start to finish. Arsenal still created more than 2 worthwhile chances in the entire match.
The bench, did you see the bench. Arsenal only had 3 players injured and the bench was Almunia, Cygan, Clichy, Flamini, Abeyie. Hopelessly inadequate.
I read today that Wenger now wants teams to get extra points for scoring goals. He wants every team to attack Arsenal and give us goals because he’s too tactically ignorant to try and change the system.
I am seeing intriguing changes in Wenger, a stubborn and unhealthy refusal to change his system and a stubborn and unhealthy over-optimism in his players. This great man is slowly but surely losing the plot. Can it be?
September 25th, 2005 at 7:13 am
Well Done Mr Wenger -
I can’t wait to hear what crap you will come out with tomorrow. What about maybe anytime we win away the FA gives us extra points or anytime a team scores against Chelsea they get 6 points for trying.
It seems this man have something to say everyday about the PL but can’t see anything wrong with his team. Oh **AYE CARUMBA**(censored) I forgot it was Chelsea’s fault we played that poor. Let have another 2 points.
As Lee Dixon said atleast we have something to look forward to at the end of the season. A new stadium.
September 25th, 2005 at 7:18 am
People call Chelsea boring but guess what they have more shots on or off target than we do.
I blame Chelsea for our bench.
I blame Chelsea for us playing bad.
I blame Chelsea for having lots of money.
What else can we blame Chelsea off.
September 25th, 2005 at 7:25 am
What do you mean by Unlucky?
I say lucky for 2 clear penalties against us. I loved Wenger’s response when asked did you see that foul and hand ball in the air or in the penalty box.
Sorry let me clean my glasses and will be come back with his answer.
September 25th, 2005 at 7:29 am
Let me say his..
No one is saying Wenger should be sacked and you right its not the players fault but a manager who let them believes they are doing a great job.
Wenger is living in a denial with soo many excuses.
September 25th, 2005 at 9:49 am
I doubt the refusal to shoot from distance is all down to the players. It has to be tactical instructions from Wenger that Hleb doesn’t take too many shots. I’ve seen videos of him in the Bundesliga and he didn’t seem to have any problem putting them in the net there.
September 25th, 2005 at 10:23 am
Well, everything we said at the beginning of the season as to what was wrong with the team is blaringly evident now..Frustrating it was evident at the end of last season but the lucky wins and Lehman’s brilliance between the post covered it all up..No depth,striker shortage,no size or experience in midfield.
RvP is not the striker we need. The guy has to do everything with his left foot and just does not have the killer instinct. He is always busy fixing his hair and worrying about his looks rather than being obsessed with the game..I was not convinced last year about him and neither am I now…I wouldn’t mind him being traded in the January transfer window and bringing in 2 other strikers that are more aggressive. Till he works in the offseason on his right foot, I am not convinced he has the commitment to get better.
But let’s now look at some positives. Sol is back and it is great to see stability back in the midfield..I feel now that even though we are not scoring, we won’t give up silly goals. So, we have a better chance of winning matches like Chelsea does. Against West Ham I only saw one clear opportunity for them at the end of the game that you can say they should have scored.
Quincy needs playing time now..With all the injuries and this season looking like a washout, the greatest positive would be to give Qunicy playing time and watch him get better…Hopefully, by the end of the season we will have another potent threat in the mold of Henry that would give defences fits…Is this guy going to be awesome..
Also, time to bring in Lupoli, looks like this guy can find the back of the net and put Reyes back in left midfield where he belongs and can pose the greatest threat..Not every player can be transformed from winger to striker like Henry..Maybe Wenger does not know what is good for the player than the player himself. Lungberg should be striker instead of RVP with Hleb or Quincy playing Right midfield. I still think Pires would make a better striker option than all the ones available to us right now.
September 25th, 2005 at 10:44 am
we don’t have to quit the tournament… because we need the MONEY desperately…
but once we play a good team… you will see the outcome. We aren’t good right now. Can’t beat WetSham.
September 25th, 2005 at 10:50 am
I don’t agree on Chelsea.
If we spent SOME money in an effort to win anything… we could compete with them.
Most teams in England view US the same way, we outspend 98% of the teams… so they view that as unfair. Sour grapes.
Chelsea could have been beaten last year… but we got WORSE and they got better. Nobody told Arsene and Arsenal to sell your best midfielder and dont bring in more talent to compete… we did f-all on our own.
September 25th, 2005 at 11:05 am
Still, it is important not to get too carried away. The premiership is going through a strange time at the moment, and apart from Chelsea, Arsenal look to be the best of the rest.
If Ljungberg had taken his chance yesterday and we were more composed in the final third with our shoot/pass decision-making, we could have won comfortably against a good team playing at the peak of their powers. We restricted them to one decent chance and yet the newspapers are falling over themselves to praise their performance and how Pardew was dissappointed to get a draw. Yeah right, what game were they watching?
Why oh why did we not buy Michael Owen? Hleb would love that guy and Owen would love him. Hleb, in terms of close control and dribbling, is the best player I ever seen since Maradona. He is that good. Im not sure if he’s under instructions not to shoot, but I think he’s more likely suffering from our collective reluctance to play by instinct. He think he has finally realised now though that he has to take more responsibility and shoot more often.
Reyes flittered in and out of the game but for god’s sake, If I see hear anyone else say he should play on the left-wing I’ll go mad. He is useless on the wing and only effective up-front when he has less players confronting him. When he’s not really on his game, like yesterday, his positioning has nothing to with his effect on the game, he’s just not playing well.
I honestly believe this team, in terms of talent, has not regressed one single bit from the team of previous years. Even during our much-vaunted unbeaten season, when we were playing our usual style of football, we often were being thwarted by teams only for a bit of magic by Henry of Pires to open the scoring and then the floodgates. But as usual, because we won all those games, everyone forget about our inadequacies and focused on the good points. I don’t mind people having a go at our style, I too find it very frustrating at times, but lets not delude ourselves into thinking teams have sussed us out just in the last six months or so, thats bollocks, they knew how we played a long time ago. It’s just that back then we had the belief and experience to break the dead-lock, which this team is still trying to acquire. When we do get it, second place and a very good stab at Champions League glory is possible I think.
September 25th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
You appear to be living in a complete dream world Mazza.
Arsenal ‘could have won comfortably’ you say. To win comfortably you have to kick the round thing at the goal more than twice in 90 minutes, Arsenal didn’t.
Hleb is the best player you’ve seen since Maradona? What have you been doing the last 20 years, living in a cave? This is an embarrassing comment.
And the idea that Arsenal are capable of winning the Champions League is simply preposterous. Wenger has failed to come within a sniff off the final for 8 years, and the squad is the weakest it has been since the day he arrived.
I can’t understand the logic behind your thinking. Maybe your head is in the sand and you think you can wave a magic wand and make everything better. Wake up. This team is poor! The players are not good enough. Potential doesn’t get you results. This will be Wenger’s worst season in charge, Arsenal’s only hope in hell of winning the title lies in Chelsea having an abhorration of negligence.
The only trophy we’ll be winning this season is the FA Cup, presuming we avoid the likes of Man Utd & Chelsea, who we haven’t collectively beaten in about 15 matches.
September 25th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
3 goals in 5 games for him so far. And the quality of his goal against Parma was class. Argh!
September 25th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
You forgot the important one.
I blame Chelsea for making the EPL less exciting.
Wrapping up the title in 3 months in a 9 month season does not make for an exciting title race.
September 25th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
Mazza,
You sure you were watching the Arsenal game not the United or Boro game.
I might have Wenger’s glasses on but did not see that good game you are talking about
September 25th, 2005 at 1:15 pm
Andez,
Stop all these Chelsea talks and come back into the real world. Look at the top 6 and tell me apart from Chelsea who is the bigger spender in the group.
West Ham, Bolton and Charlton have are spend less compare to us so let give Chelsea a break and deal with reality for once.
This Chelsea talk is getting boring now.
September 25th, 2005 at 1:25 pm
Yes you right because of Chelsea -
The number of games on TV have increased.
Aviod premature judgements.
Overreacting to attendance dips.
Impose a minimun number of homegrown players.
Let say I blame them for been known as the Blues. I blame them for anything bad ..
September 25th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
I can’t believe it was only a year ago we were the best team in the EPL. Seems ages ago. Last year’s title was decided quite early by previous standards and as a result, the season dragged on for a long while. This summer was even worse and now this start. Somehow because of all this, I can’t care about what the team at the top of the table is doing. I am more worried about the bloody problems Arsenal has now. And there are plenty.
The funny thing is a lot of the problems have existed for a long while but I ignored them. I turned a blind eye to the poor CL results thinking that European football is different than the EPL. But my mistake there was ignoring some of our tactical and defensive weakness. And on top of that, I seemed to have overlooked our inability to beat Man U in the league since May 2002 (Wiltord! Who? That same Wiltord scoring freely for Lyon). We lost the title in 2003 of our own accord and those same problems never went away. Bolton and Leeds exposed our defense. But somehow the amazing unbeaten run seemed to mask all the flaws.
Well everything is out in the open now. Where does Wenger start?
And the poor away form of the CL from a years ago is transferring to the league now. There was a point in the CL where we went I think 9 away games without a win? Oddly enough, Juventus had a worse away record than us in the CL at that point but their home form was enough to make people forget that. They have consistenly gotten rid of big name players and strengthened the squad. If Juventus got rid of Del Pierro now, it won’t effect them.
Plently of things for Wenger to ponder. And the rebuilding starts with an away game in the CL.
September 25th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Yes their name is a problem. I have to be very careful before saying ‘I got the Blues’.
I blame them for taking away all those expressions away with the word Blues. Next time I listen to those soul full Jazz records, I might shudder.
Ok, I am lying about the last part. I can’t let them ruin Jazz or even footballl for me. For some reason, I am not bothered about them anymore. More worried about our problems made by us and have to be fixed by us. No one else can do it.
September 25th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
You’re absolutely right. Our problems in the Champions League have been translated to the Premiership. The tactics used are identical, but the playing staff has simply got worse. Most teams are playing 4-5-1 against Arsenal, because they noticed that in Europe most teams were getting a lot of success that way - even when they lost they were neautralising us to an extent.
Wenger’s biggest error is that he didn’t/doesn’t seem to think Arsenal need to step up in Europe, which is naive, because whilst the Premiership is fast and furious it is technically miles behind Italy & Spain, and other big clubs. So playing one system in the Premiership, against technically inferior teams is not going to work in Europe, at least not without some sort of variety.
I am watching Arsenal now out of curiousity more than anything. I have become slightly detached from watcihing it as a fan, and have started to view it as an outsider. Mainly because I know this season is already finished, and I am interested to see how Wenger will react to his worst season as Arsenal manager. At the moment he is not reacting well, coming out with absurd complaints about formations and changing the points rules. This is embarrassing and looks like sour grapes. he wants to look at himself and realise he’s basically f*cked up a good thing through inept, sloppy management.
I want to give him the chance to turn it round though. He has done it before, Arsenal have had poor seasons under Arsene, and he has bought well and turned it round. This is a big test of his managerial abilities, it is the first time that he will have to admit he has made mistakes and do something about it in January. If he stubbornly refuses then he’s simply putting nails in his own coffin.
September 25th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
Wel, I agree at the moment the attacking part of our team is not functioning. Van Persie and Reyes are too similar, Van Persie is just too damn slow to be a main striker without the instincts to compensate, and we seem to be bluffing ourselves when it comes passing or shooting. If Reyes thinks white, Van Persie is thinking black at the moment. However, these guys have all shown in the past they have the ability to produce when confident and comfortable in their own skin. They’re not meshing at the moment but I don’t agree they are not good enough per se. I think they are just lacking enough confidence and- with the team that played on Saturday- understanding, to cut loose. They’re not cutting it at the moment, but when we get that first away win, by hook or by crook, I think we will see them get that confidence. With that confidence, they’re good enough without doubt. That’s my opinion.
You may laugh at Hleb comparison with Maradona, and maybe Ronaldinho and Ronaldo could contest this, but I can’t think of guy who can pick up a ball in midfield and run with it like he can. When he actually gets to the opposing box, all comparisons end I agree. However I did say in terms of dribbling, so in that context I stand by that comment.
Europe is a possibilty, mark my words, maybe………
September 25th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
Im not saying we were fantastic, but away from home, against a pretty darn good team who were well up for it, we contained them comfortably and had the better of the game, one of the editors on a West Ham site said the same thing (thought I was going senile before his article re-assured me). We’re not pulling up any trees, that much is obvious, but I don’t think Chelsea would have done too much better there, apart from maybe getting a deflected Lampard goal around the 60 minute mark to settle them down.
September 25th, 2005 at 3:34 pm
Vieira saw the writing on the wall, realized the board were not going to bring in the worlds best and left. Henry stayed put and watched how things played out, they didn`t and now he will be on his way possibly in January for a larger sum than if he stayed until the end. Even larger as long as he does not get European cup tied! Who is next? Ashley Cole, Freddie, Jose, Pires, well there goes the team…might as well add Wenger to the mix when Real or Barca come calling. The 1st season at Ashburton could see an Arsenal team fighting to stay above midtable….oh no, thats this year!
September 25th, 2005 at 6:33 pm
I find myself very interested to watch Arsenal for a variety of different reasons now. I think I have been through the various stages of ‘Denial’ (that we have a problem), ‘Anger’ (at our results and our opponents wins), and now I am at the ‘Acceptance’ stage ( yes that we have a problem). And no doubt Wenger realizes that too….
So what happens next? What is his move? Because teams like Bolton, Blackburn look forward to playing us. Heck even Wigan and Sunderland would not be afraid to have a go at us now. Looking at the top leagues across Europe, the current squad and tactics will find it hard to get away results against the likes of Lyon, Munich, Hamburg, Juve, etc.
No doubt this is one of the biggest challenges he faces now. When Bayern ripped us apart in Munich, Wenger tried to be upbeat saying that we have a chance being 3-1 down and not 4-0. True. But we never took that chance.
The writing on the wall has been there for a while. And if Chelsea had Ranieri as their manager, we would have gone on much longer with these problems. But now it is clear, we have to do something…
September 25th, 2005 at 6:47 pm
It is very rare for a top flight manager to last longer than 10 years, they either leave at the top to pursue new challanges or stay beyond their effectiveness and get sacked. I feel Wenger has mapped out his future allready and he will leave at the end of this season. The board will know this soon enough if not now and should be putting together a short list to become the new manager. So the topic for the next seven months or so should be who will follow ‘Le Boss’. My choice would be Martin O`Neill who proved his quality at Leicester and Celtic as well as being a high standard player at Notts Forest.
September 25th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
O’Neill is a top-notch manager. His Celtic only lost to Mourinho’s Porto through blatant diving and cheating, otherwise I think MON had the best of the Special One. And as Cloughie said of him, “Anybody who can do anything in Leicester but make a jumper has to be a genius.” High praise indeed. I don’t know if he’s available though, his wife is still very sick I think.
September 25th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
Not to be too simplistic but Arsenal sucked. They made the Hammers look good and good on the Hammers for rising to the occasion.
I think there were some poor calls and I thought the Hammers where getting some good shoves in using Man-U?s approach from last year. They have Teddy Sheringham but Arsenal has Dennis Bergkamp DB10, sadly injured.
I once did a painting about being on the top called ?Sisyphus? Descendants? < < http://www.gerardpas.com/lrahm/gallery/sisypdet.html >> . The point is we?re not up there in that lofty place now. Be certain it is damn lonely up there, and is it was Roman?s Chelsea Army are stifling up the air there now ? like a bad ABBA song ?geld, geld, geld…?
Therefore, we have company for the time being in the middle of the table. Remember what I always say ?Money is the root of all evil the only thing you can do with it is share the misery and buy art from depressives :)~ .? I can just see that little pink smirkish smile to the Left side of Roman Abramovich?s face now. What with the price of gas at the pump, oil at record highs, the number one team in England and Russia ? things are looking good and if that is being at the top it?s damn lonely up there. What an oxymoron ? a social society climbing as a team would make the summit more agreeable and Roman the Russian sits there alone while Veterans starve. I hope Stalin is rolling in his grave, which p12ick deserved, rolling in his grave that is ? ?Gulag? is not a word describing the sound of imbibing.
Lonely at the top, boo f?n hoo — I?m crying like John Terry or Rio Ferdinand.
My point about how money can?t buy you happiness just find you company when in misery.
As for Arsenal, my head was spinning as though I was coming down from a high (the top - lol). My head was swirling and I started pumping back the Bitters like a weightlifters workout. It was like bad sex nobody could finish.
What was with that force field around the net? Did you see how Van Persie?s ball just bent away from it? Ouch, ouch, out come the Advil?s so that I can take my beer stained kit to the dry cleaners.
Am I going to bail? Nope!
If I had money like Roman, I?d buy a personal license plate that read ?A12SEnal4LIFE?.
Go Gunners ? more gunplay please, much more gun play.
September 25th, 2005 at 9:57 pm
Wenger has put alot into planning for the new stadium. I believe he will stay for at least another season to sample the fruits of his work. Beyond that it is hard to tell. Yes u are right that O’Neil would be a great replacement for Wenger given his track record. But I think Wenger would like his friend Paul Le Guen to take over. Le Guen has great success with Lyons winning successive Ligue 1 championships playing an attacking brand of football similar to Arsenal’s with players like Essien, Juninho and Carew. While O’Neil is a great choice but I think the board will listen to Wenger should he recommends Le Guen.
September 25th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
We all agree here that Arsenal’s squad is very thin. Or on other words our subs are not good enough to reach Arsenal potential.
I am sure that AW and the board are aware of this.
Edu was let to leave for free, Veirra for cheap, Ali on loan, David Benlty, … But Arsenal only got Helb in.
Now, as a Fan I was hoping that player like Flamini, Sendy, Reyes, RVP, Old Bobie ,Old Bergy to be good enoughn handel this season. But as a board memebr and AW, I should not just hope, they should be sure about it.
Taking the fact that they know their job, so they did not gamble with those decisions. Maybe they were forced to do so. Maybe their financial abilities cant put them with teams like Chelsea, Man u, Real Madrid, Barca, Juvi, AC Milan ,… And having good 11 players is their maximum abilities.
My point, we all should stand with Arsenal, and not over expect from them. If you want your team to win the EPL, CL, … switch to Chelsea or stop watching EPL and become a fan of Juvi (since Veirra is over there)…
I want Arsenal to win, and win, It does hurt me when we lose points, but I have to accept it. If Chelsea buys the league or not, I am not ganna panic and start complaining. Chelsea also gambled, and big time. They throw 100’s of millions to buy players, but what if they dont win anything. Noting that they only won the league last year. ( the carling cup is not counted, and no one cares about it)
Maybe January transfer window can help us a bit. But of couse not if chelsea is 20 points ahead of us. Chelsea could have the curse that we had last year in October after losing againt Man Utd. Long season, I watch every game by itself, and hope for a win.
.. by the way Ajax has more younger players that are not ready for action like Arsenal. Should be a good game to watch. Ajax is my second favourate team, by far they have one of the coolest team and style of football. If we play our attacking football, this game could the best game. Players to watch : Babel, Maduro ! 18-19 years old … I want to see Quincy there with us, Even Lapuli or Clichy…
September 26th, 2005 at 12:21 am
You believe this team hasn’t regressed in talent since the unbeaten season?
Are you stark raving mad?
Pires has regressed, and since he’s been our 2nd leading scorer for the past 3 seasons, thats big.
Bergy has regressed… no doubt about that one.
Vieira is gone. Nobody replaced him. Thats a big ass negative in the middle.
Edu, Parlour… both contributed more than some would like to admit…
Teams PLAY 9 behind the ball far more often than they ever did previously, because we can’t do a damned thing about it…
No Chance whatsoever at Champions League glory. We almost drew at home with FC Thun.
We’ve lost twice this season already, and just drew with WetSham.(whom were just promoted, but you believe are a “good team”… they’ll be lucky to be above 15th when the season is over)
September 26th, 2005 at 12:25 am
…”If you want your team to win the EPL or CL switch to Chelsea or stop watching the EPL and become a fan of Juve`” …Without sounding rude Faresk82, naw it`s impossible…**** off! and stop calling yourself a Gunner.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:45 am
I think I am living in a bizarro world.
Someone help!
We are hoping for exciting matches to watch vs. Ajax… blaming Chelsea for everything bad about sports… I’ve read we’re better than Chelsea, that Hleb is as good a dribbler as Maradona?… that the team hasn’t regressed talent-wise?… that we still have a chance at CL glory???? We’re discussing Wenger’s replacements?? WetSham is a really good team???
Its apparent that the management have totally messed this season up… badly… we’ve lost twice and drew with WetSham… barely beat FC Thun in the CL… and that was the HIGHLIGHT so far!
We have fallen badly to start this season, and without Thierry Henry in the line-up, we are mediocre… I hope you all realize just how much he means to this team, and how important he is to the future. If Henry goes, you will see ANYBODY with any ambition follow… Cole, Pires, Freddie, Cesc, etc…. why would they stay around??
You simply can’t wait around for kids and potential to save the day, when you are trying to compete with the best of Europe. You can’t allow players like Vieira to leave…. and FAIL to replace him with proven talent. Its shown to be a bad mistake. Not bringing in a partner / talent to play alongside Thierry Henry… Big mistake. Henry out, we are PRAYING for Reyes/VanP to do something they have never done before… consistently score.
Its painfully apparent that this season will be a trying one for Arsenal, and its supporters. It should be very very stressful for us… but all we can do is support the players we have… and hope and pray the management does something in January. I wouldn’t bet on it happening. We’ll likely bring in some 20 yr.old… and we will already be behind Chelsea by at least 15-20 points by January. They will clinch the title earlier than ANY team in history. I just hope they don’t go undefeated. Right now, in our league, there isn’t anyone I’ve seen that can stop them.
They will still have to compete with great teams in the Champion’s League… Juve is undefeated… AC Milan is strong… Munich, Barca, etc…
But the EPL season is already over. 5 injuries wouldn’t matter to that team… they have enough to overcome injury. We don’t have enough to overcome 1…
September 26th, 2005 at 1:31 am
Dude, I am not so naive as to blame Chelsea for everything bad about sport. I lay the blame squarely at the foot of avarice, greed and a few other deadly sins.
It’s a game we pay for as they don’t pay to play. We accpet the paradigms of the game based on our own hubris.
September 26th, 2005 at 2:56 am
Another point is how many times did Zidane win the championship when at Juventus? I think he won one in his first season and that’s all. As soon as he left, Juve won two straight championships.
September 26th, 2005 at 4:58 am
Without Henry, we are lacking the instinctive ability to score goals. We have one instinctive goal scorer fit and he’s in the reserves. I even heard we were sending him out on loan. Make that make sense to me. As a team wanting to compete for trophies we need 4 STRIKERS who want to finish. We have a bunch of midfielders competing for places upfront. WTF?
Vieira was right to leave. He needed something to bring out the best in him; adequate competition for his place. It’s what every team needs. Chelsea have competition for places and that makes them strong. It’s what made our team strong when we won the double in ‘02. Your team shoud not fall apart if you are missing one or 2 players.
Are Lupoli and the Danish kid so bad that the only healthy strikers we have aren’t good enough to be brought into the first team yet? Henry was on the wing at Juve and Monaco but everyone knew that he could play up front. He just wasn’t as clinical as the strikers they had. With his pace and service, it’s hard not to play him on the wing. I don’t give Wenger credit for “making” Henry a striker because it wasn’t the first time I saw him up front. Still, everyone can’t do what Henry does. Except for Bergkamp. where are our “true” strikers in the first team? We’ve bought strikers but they’re all gone; didn’t really fit into the system.
I didn’t agree with Wenger saying that Owen and Henry couldn’t play together. They are similar in many ways but Henry’s so dynamic that it hardly matters. Together they would spread defenses thin on counter-attacks and like Wiltord, Owen does well to put himself in position to score and is not afraid to shoot. I never thought our attack would be impotent but it seems we have more than our midfield to worry about. Fellow Gooners, we’re not looking like Champions right now. A team like Arsenal should be “In It To Win It” every time.
September 26th, 2005 at 5:11 am
There’s no point blaming Chelsea for anything, it’s not their fault that Wenger sold Vieira, didn’t buy anyone and let the team regress. It’s nothing to do with Chelsea.
And Arsenal should have still been able to compete for the title, had Wenger built on the unbeaten squad, but he didn’t, he dismantled it let it rot.
There are 38 teams in the league, and Arsenal should be good enough to beat all the teams Chelsea do and we all know that there is not much between the two head to head.
So even though Chelsea have bought success, I don’t buy that we cannot compete because of it. What is even more galling is that the standard of football in the Premiership is at an all time low - the quality is shite. And still Arsenal are struggling.
September 26th, 2005 at 8:27 am
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
September 26th, 2005 at 10:42 am
NorthBankGunner, I understand your frustration.
The management of Arsenal messed up this time. They thought that they can make this year. Maybe they wanted to wait till January to sign big players.
See, I am just a fan. I do agree that we are not doing so good this year, but what can I do. I dont contribute to the club more than $6 I pay per month to get Arsenal TV. Or paying PPV games.
I have been an Arsenal fan for around 12 years, the last 7-8 years were the sweetest. But after the early 90’s Arsenal were horrible .. we had to wait till 97 and 98 to win something. Big clubs like AC Milan once finished 14th in the league, but AC Milan will always be a great club.
I cant stop calling myself a Gunner, I am sorry ! Because I always hope that we get better, every games means a lot for me.
September 26th, 2005 at 10:48 am
C’mon Scotty, we need another thesis from you, there must be enough left in your well to skin “the optimism card” cat. I can’t think of anything!
September 26th, 2005 at 11:16 am
Rubbish, Bergkamp has stayed the same for about five years. Lets face it, his all-round game has been good but no more since the hamstring injury in 1998. He’s maybe regressed slightly since the newcastle wonder goal of 2002 but he never did anything in the big games back then either.
Pires’s all-round game has also been average since his cruciate injury in 2002. He has scored loads of goals but apart from that, he’s been a passenger during alot of that time. I don’t think he’s got any worse than he was last season, he’s just not getting 5 yards tap-ins anymore.
Those two players have always been my concern and they should not be in the first team anymore. Hleb should start left and Reyes or Van Persie with Henry up-front.
Your wrong about Champions League. Even with our supposed great team of two years we never stood a cat’s hell of a chance to win the whole thing. You don’t crumble like we did in the second half and go : “If only Lehmann hadn’t spilled Makelele’s shot.” We bottled it. End of. This team is shedding the old skin and will be a major force in the Champions League, and I HOPE we get Juventus.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:21 am
I’d love to see how someone can SPIN this into an optimistic view at this point… go for it Karl… I mean Scotty…
At the moment, the Arsenal are a goat-f***… we’re missing Henry Bergy Pires and Gilberto for Ajax… and I would DEFINITELY advocate a 4-5-1 defensive formation at Ajax… looking for a 0-0 draw… pack 9 behind the ball… and copy the style that is being played against us.
The only “heartening” thing is that ManU are playing like SHITE… and Liverpool are undefeated with 1 win and 5 draws…
The EPL race is OVER. Chelsea have won the league in less than 2 months… we are all playing for 2nd…
But things are just rosy for us… Henry could be in Spain by January… spin that one to a positive…more playing time for the kids!!!!!!!
Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
September 26th, 2005 at 11:33 am
Tomorrow’s team should be:
Almunia
Lauren Campbell Toure Cole
Ljungberg Flamini Fabregas Pires
Hleb
Reyes
We will win 2-0.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:49 am
Pires is OUT.
and we will NOT win 2-0…
The team should be…
Almunia
Eboue Senderos Toure Campbell Cole
Lauren Cesc Flamini Hleb
Freddie
Punt the ball down the field… hoping for a lucky bounce … in which Freddie can whisk into the net and we steal an away win.
But more likely 0-0 draw… everyone behind the ball and playing determined dogged hard defense.
Get the point, move on.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
I bet you do a great William Shatner impression.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
Actually, no… I do a pretty good Bill Cosby impression though… and “would you believe” a good Maxwell Smart impression…
September 26th, 2005 at 12:16 pm
Bill Cosby you say? You should run your own column on here called “ArseAmers Say the Darndest Things”.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:18 pm
No Reyes? C’mon Stag, we playing an ajax team relying on youngsters more than we are, not the world all stars. We can contain them comfortably and string together a few phases and 2 or 1-0 will be attainable.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Anything is possible with this team… great performances and horrid ones. On the road in the CL… with so many players unavailable for our team, and with our current form… playing for a draw is smart… the object of the round-robin is to ADVANCE. Take the point, play safe and move on.
Not sure what exactly inspires you about Reyes’ play… or our first CL match at Home v. FC Thun. Based on that, I’d be thrilled with a draw.
We are NOT the same team as you have watched in the last few years… thats painfully apparent. Take Henry out of the equation, and we are yet another level lower… you have to accept the realities and limitations.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:43 pm
Ther