Bolton 2 – 3 Arsenal

March 30, 2008 | 88 Comments

Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

The first half started well enough, with Arsenal creating a few chances, and generally dictating the play. However, Bolton played a quick counter-attack, and yet another ball in the air beat our defense, and just like that it was 1-0 to Bolton.

Things got worse around the half-hour mark when Abou Diaby made a very dumb, very dangerous tackle for which he received a straight red. 1-0 down and reduced to ten men, things looked pretty bleak for the Gunners on a rainy day in Bolton. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Mathieu Flamini got caught in possession on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, the ball found its’ way to Matthew Taylor whose shot deflected in off of William Gallas for his, and Bolton’s, second goal of the game.

2-0 at halftime and I was really beside myself. I remember thinking, “This team has given up. They’ve just given up.” The start of the second half did nothing to ease my fears, as Bolton came out of the gates looking for a third, hoping to kill off the game. Somehow, Arsenal withstood a number of corners, and Manuel Almunia made several good saves while Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott began warming up on the sidelines.

With about thirty minutes to go, Adebayor and Walcott came on to replace Bendtner and Senderos respectively. That changed the game dramatically. Within moments, Arsenal won a corner, and William Gallas found himself unmarked at the far post to slam the ball home. 2-1 Bolton with 27 minutes to go.

Five minutes later, and Adebayor found Flamini in space in the Bolton penalty area. The Flamster’s shot was saved and came back out to Alex Hleb. Hleb got to the ball, only to be taken down just a few feet from the penalty spot. The ref pointed to said spot, and up stepped Robin van Persie. van Persie slammed the ball home, scoring his first goal in months, to pull the ten-men Gunners level at 2-2 with just over twenty minutes to go.

Now the Gunners had Bolton on the back foot, and several chances came Arsenal’s way, but the scored stayed level going into stoppage time. Suddenly, Hleb made a great pass to put Super Cesc Fabregas in on goal. Cesc’s shot bounced off a defender and in. 3-2 Arsenal. The comeback was complete, and my whole neighborhood knew it.

If you didn’t see this game, then you really won’t be able to appreciate the enormity of the turnaround. For the first hour, Arsenal looked flat and disinterested. Then,after the substitutions, the confidence seemed to grow. Adebayor put the fear of God in those Bolton defenders, and Walcott was much more involved, using his speed to good advantage.

So, back to second, for a few hours anyway, and staying within shouting distance of Man U. Now it’s all Liverpool, all the time. At least for the next 10 days or so, as we play them three times in a row, starting with this Wednesday’s Champions League Quarter-Final at the Grove. Kickoff is at 2:45 PM ET, and the match will be shown live here in the States on ESPN2.

Posted by mikek | Filed Under Match Report

A flickering dream? — Or Harsh reality?

March 28, 2008 | 222 Comments

I haven’t posted after the game. I was flat. Nothing mattered for 2 days. Maybe more. Today as another weekend dawns I desperately cling to the few floating straws of a league title and hope hope that somehow the guys will get themselves up at struggling Bolton and win 4-0. Probably too much to ask but no..I haven’t lost my love for football or Arsenal because we lost to Chelsea.

Two quick points on the game IMO before I get to the crux of this article. Oh and I’m not even going to bother justifying it; because I don’t want to get drawn into tiring arguments.

a) Just like we lost Diaby in the CC final after that kick in JT’s face; the loss of Sagna the outstanding unsung hero of the year cooked our goose.
b) Chelsea created nothing and we were equal for long periods of the game ; until the goal came. We were not demolished in the first half or anything as people claim.

Now for an attempt at some brutal rational analysis. Lets think back to when Paddy left..yet again. What let us down that season? Not that kid called Cesc Fabregas who replaced Viera or Flamini or that big Swiss centreback. It was Pires,Freddie,Gilberto,Campbell and to an extent Titi as well. Obviously I will get stick for stating this but this is the truth. Roll on to last season — Who underperformed yet again? Henry, Freddie, Gallas. Gilberto was the only one of the seniors who performed well. So what about this season then?

The squad overall has done a fantastic job considering the injuries that we’ve got and I really don’t want to single out people. However I still want to have a debate about where you think we lost it. Yes we may still win it but its just a little glimmer of hope and up to ManU losing at the Bridge. Let us see!!

Keeper:
Almunia – 3 or 4 near posts. Usual problems but if you go purely by performance and not by reputation the Spaniard has done well.

Defence: Sagna has been brilliant. Clichy brilliant most times but a bit prone to inconsistency at key moments which I’m sure he’ll overcome. Which brings me to one of the two problems — Centre Back. Unfortunately for all the Senderos haters he has been the best CB at Arsenal this season and believe that once Gallas leaves he will be here for a long long time. Kolo sadly has not been on form since he’s come back and Gallas has misjudged so much in the air that I don’t even want to start on the statistics. No, don’t get me wrong — I think Gallas has a very very tough job as captain of a very young Arsenal side and has done a job well overall but football wise I think he has cost us a lot of goals this season. He has injected that winning mentality into our players to an extent(though they havent won anything)..yet. Football wise I cannot see how much better than any of our other CB’s he has been.

Midfield: Hleb’s season has tapered off from brilliant to inconsistent. He is quite clearly a confidence player; when on song he is destructive and when not he loses the ball all too often ; strangely. Its the same with Cesc as well who is not controlling games like he did at the start of the season. Probably to be expected again..but he is so central to our cause that we have raised the bar more and more until its probably too high. Maybe we just need to ease off a little. Flamini has been an absolute revelation and probably just behind Sagna for player of the season. The troubled left wing berth has not been filled though with Rosicky,Hleb, Diaby,Theo, Dudu and even RVP recently all playing there. I sincerely hope Mozart gets fit next season else we’re gonna have problems again there.

Forwards: Ade has been inconsistently brilliant if there’s a phrase like that. RVP has been injured all the way. Dudu’s career is threatened badly and NB is just a raw talent. Ade’s goals have dried up and unless RVP can hit form soon we might have trouble during the remaining games. We didn’t remotely look like creating anything in the Chelsea game at all so that makes the forwards look even worse than they have actually been playing.

To sum up:
Best Players — Sagna, Flamini, Senderos, Almunia
Inconsistent Players — Cesc, Hleb, Gallas, Ade, Clichy
Poor Players(relatively) — Mozart, RVP, Toure

That in no way means anyone is surplus apart from Mozart if he does not get fit even next season.

Lastly I think we’ve done extremely well this season in a very very competitive title race where we have proved we can mix it with the best and probably would’ve been top still if it hadn’t been for the Dudu injury(yes conjecture). I think we have been spoiled as usual and are starting to moan yet again just because we haven’t steamrolled everyone 4-0 every game. Starting to talk about signings before the damn season is even over!!! Look at that losses column so far..we probably wont lose 6 more games out of the remaining and have equalled last season’s point tally before yesterday’s loss. We have come even further than anyone in their wildest dreams expected. Just that now we’ve got here people are starting to fall back on that soft “I told you so” pillow and beginning to crib yet again. Its really probably not as easy as we make it out to be — Sell,Buy,Coach,Perform. There’s probably much more to it and as I’ve said many many times before — If you don’t know all the facts don’t talk… If you’re not Pat Rice or Boro Primorac everything you conclude is just hypothetical. You may be right or you may be ridiculously wrong. Accept that – enjoy the ride – analyze – constructively criticize – appreciate – and don’t rant. Speech over.

Is the dream over? Probably but I hope not; funny things have happened in football. The CL is very much alive; how much will a “European” clash matter considering its Liverpool? All I know is — we are still alive both places. Just alive maybe but still alive.

Lastly…I thought some of this might be apt here…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Posted by live_dont_exist | Filed Under Mailbag

Winning without the Gelato

March 27, 2008 | 12 Comments

A wise man once said that we should not worry about things we can’t control. While this advice may be useful in one’s day to day life, it is at odds with a soccer fan’s life. Because being a soccer fan means precisely worrying about things one can’t control. Some soccer fans inside a stadium may lay claim to cause a ref to make an incorrect decision or even influence a player to react, but fans watching the game remotely are helpless in forging their team’s outcomes.

This helplessness only magnifies the frustration when things don’t go in the team’s favor. Different fans have their own ways of coping with their team’s results. If one sets expectations really low, then anything the team does above that is bound to be something to cheer on; if the team performs poorly, then the poor performance fits in with the low expectations. On the other hand, if one has high hopes for a team and things don’t go as per plan, then the disappointment is a bit too much.

Ofcourse, expectations sometimes change course from pre-season to end of season. I remember a few years ago West Ham had done quite well in the league and finished in 7th place. The fan’s expectations for the next season were that the team would do better. But during the next season, West Ham spent most of their time in the bottom half and flirting with relegation. The fan’s expectations which before the season’s start were around the team breaking the top 5 were now content with the team just surviving in the league. In the end, I think West Ham did get relegated.

Judging a Team:

Despite the disappointment of the last few games, I still managed to have hope for the team everytime I saw the players line-up before their next game. As the camera moved from player to player, I was positive given the technical ability of the players. Most of the Arsenal team is capable of playing extremely well but technical abilities alone are not enough to win games. Mental strength is required as well and this is something one can only judge during the course of a game. What a player does in a game and also what a player does not do both provide a hint into the player’s mental framework. The camera in a game is centered around the ball and one can’t always get a feel for off the camera behaviour like why a certain player didn’t make the appropriate run. But if a technically capable player is making simple errors, then one would have to point towards the player’s mental ability.

I have not seen the movie Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait but I think the film’s idea is great where multiple cameras focus on Zidane during Madrid’s Liga game against Villareal. In this way, one can truly study Zidane and assess how he thinks, etc. I think there are some Arsenal players both from the current team and the past few years who would be good candidates for such an experiment. I think the last few games might be good case studies to truly observe some of these Arsenal players as plenty of them have not performed to their ability and a big part of that would have to do with their mental state. Mentally, the team is in bad state and not up to coping with things. What the team really needs is for someone to take responsibility and lift them. Sort of like what Henry did with that solo goal against Liverpool in 2004. The team’s current situation is in keeping with some of the comments made after Henry left. Henry felt that there was too much responsibility on his shoulders and that others were not doing enough; the players always looked towards Henry and gave him the ball, hoping he would take care of the rest. Ofcourse, most times Henry did want the ball at his feet but the team always looked for him. So when this season started, the team knew Henry was no longer there and stepped up. The different goal-scorers early on showed the confidence different players had; each tried to take a chunk of responsibility. But unfortunately, the Eduardo injury might have changed that. Suddenly, all the technical weakness of the team were exposed and to make matters worse, mentally there was no strength to perform the regular tasks.

For once I was hoping that the international break might be good for someone like Gallas. This break would have given him a chance to meet up with his old Arsenal team-mates and talk things out. But since both the ex-Arsenal captains Henry and Vieira are injured, Gallas won’t get a chance to talk things through. He is capable of lifting this team but unfortunately, his recent displays have not been that convincing either. Also, between Gallas, Sagna, Cesc and even Flamini, there is enough mental strength to kick-start the team. Sagna’s goal appeared to provide the perfect tonic but unfortunately, it was only a temporary revival.

No more gifts:

Arsenal have given their opponents enough gifts over the past few weeks, especially Man Utd. Now Man Utd are a team that get enough help from officials as is thanks to Ferguson’s mouth and they certainly don’t need a helping hand from Arsenal. Man Utd certainly won’t give Arsenal any favours. Heck, they could not even provide a decent pitch to play on during the F.A Cup tie. Chelsea also won’t be doing Arsenal any favours. They can’t even do the simple task of returning the ball back sportingly. Arseblog.com described the incident quite well yesterday in how the ball that Eboue put out was sent to the far corner by Terry. Such is the mentality of Chelsea and Terry that he sought to find advantage from a situation where there wasn’t one.

Arsenal have also given a helping hand to the teams at the bottom end recently. And on Sat, they come across a team that have not been kind to them in recent years.

It ain’t over till it’s over…

For some reason Sunday’s defeat feels worse than the 3-2 home defeat to Leeds which mathematically ended Arsenal’s title hopes and gifted Man Utd the title (argh..another gift). But currently, there are still 7 games to play for. From Arsenal’s perspective, they should still try to win all those games and not make it easy for Man Utd. Because if Arsenal lie down then Man Utd’s task will be much easier and they might even start resting players for their Champs league games. Arsenal should still keep plugging away and take heart from some examples in Europe. A month ago, Real Madrid were declared un-touchable. Then they lost two games in a row, and suddenly Barca were within 2 points. However, Barca threw away that advantage to lose their next two games and fell back by 8 points. But somehow, Madrid lost two more games again and Barca are now within 4 points. If Barca had not lost two games and tied another, then they might have been top. The Italian Serie A title was declared won by Inter a few months ago. But Roma hung in there and after Inter’s defeat to Juventus, Roma find themselves 4 points back.

For Arsenal, there is also the matter of the Champs League Quarter-finals as well. Still a lot to play for. At this stage, the team can only take one game at a time. First, they have to win their next game. Only after that, worry about their next opponent.

And finally….

Hleb’s magic food?:

Hleb’s last good game was in Milan. Now it is has emerged that he went for “ice cream” the night before. Maybe just like Popeye gets his strength from spinach, Italian gelato probably helps Hleb? If so, someone should take him to the plenty of Italian Gelato places around London.

Also, it is a good thing that Arsenal are not playing Roma in the Champs league. Because there are some excellent Gelato places in Rome. I fear that once Hleb tastes that Roman Gelato, he might not want to get back on the plane back towards London.

Posted by Sachin | Filed Under Mailbag

Chelsea 2 – 1 Arsenal

March 23, 2008 | 91 Comments

The forces of evil prevailed once again today as Didier Drogba scored twice to help Chelski overcome an early second-half goal by Bacary Sagna to beat Arsenal 2-1. Coupled with ManUre’s demolition of Liverpool today’s loss by the Gunners finds them fall to third in the table, 6 points behind ManUre with seven games left.

Posted by mikek | Filed Under Match Report

Young Gooners in NYC

March 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Up the Gunners!!!!

Does anyone know where to take an 8 year old Gooner to watch the game tomorrow? We live in Harlem, NYC (Nevada Smith’s is not an option as it will be way too crowded)

I’d also welcome any other parents with little Gooners to join us.

I only know of The Parlour on 86th and Broadway, which we will most probably end up at.

Posted by goonerang | Filed Under Mailbag

Chelsea vs Arsenal, Super Sunday Part II

March 21, 2008 | 121 Comments

The sun isn’t shining as brightly as it was more than a month ago when Arsenal went 5 points clear at the top (Monday, Feb 11). 5 days after that win, dark clouds started hovering on the horizon. And now, although the dark clouds have not caused complete darkness, they are blocking the sun rays. On March 4, the clouds parted just slightly to let in a ray of sunshine at about the time Adebayor’s goal crossed the Milanese line. Even though one can continue to sense the presence of the sun behind those clouds, complete light is still elusive. So the easiest way to bring the sunshine back is to dispense one cloud at a time. Sunday’s game against Chelsea offers a chance towards restoring a sunny weather outlook.

Case of expectations:

If Arsenal had started the season by drawing their first 4 games, I might have not been that disappointed as I have been in the last few weeks. Enough excuses could have been given to a slow start — departure of Henry & Freddie and loss of their experience, continued problems from the past seasons, etc. And given Manchester United’s slow start where they only got 2 points from their first 3 league games, scoring just one goal in the process, a possible slow Arsenal start might not have seemed that bad. In fact, Manchester had to wait until the 7th league game of the season to score more than one goal in a game (2-0 over Jose-less Chelsea). But Arsenal started their season impressively and improved on displays from the previous few years. For example, in the last few years, if Arsenal had gone down to an early goal, they were unable to come back. The start of this season, Arsenal managed to score late goals to win games and even managed to get wins in games where they didn’t play all that well. Plus the different goal-scorers, the manner of the goals, etc all pointed to a team ready for the title. The first real dip in the season came with the 5 dropped points against Newcastle and Boro on Dec 5 & 9th. And then the recent 8 dropped points constitute the second bad patch of the season. Even now, it is hard to believe Arsenal only have just one loss this season. Of course, the 10 draws has been their undoing. In a way, it was great that Arsenal made a great start as that helped give the team a good momentum and plenty of self-belief to charge at the top. It is hard to imagine the team would be near the top had they not started that positively.

Super Sunday Part I vs Part II

The clash of the top 4 on Dec 16 was always going to be a key fixture in the title race. Wins for Arsenal and Manchester that day left Chelsea and Liverpool on the outside. Many deemed it as a two horse race as Arsenal regained top spot, followed by Man Utd with Chelsea and Liverpool losing pace. Things have changed quite a bit regarding this Sunday’s reverse fixtures. Now, Man Utd have the upper hand with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool seeking to bring themselves back into the fold. Wins for Arsenal and Liverpool would certainly help in opening the race up a bit more.

Liverpool are 11 points back of Manchester and are hoping to bring themselves into contention again but one of their main undoings this season has been their 11 draws. Liverpool have the most draws this season (along with Fulham) and one can only wonder if Liverpool had managed to convert half of those into wins (not including that 1-1 tie with Arsenal, of course), then they would have certainly been breathing down Manchester’s necks. Of course, the same could be said of Arsenal’s 10 draws (Villa, Boro and Blackburn also have 10 draws). Even if the Gunners have converted half of those draws into wins, then the table would have been different with Arsenal clear at the top by 7 points.

When Sunday comes:

It has been almost three years since Liverpool won the Champions League and it is hard to believe that Rafa Benitez’s reputation is still built on those 6 magic minutes against Milan. Had Liverpool not come back against Milan, then I doubt he would have gotten the same respect that he currently does. Sure he has managed to outsmart plenty of top European teams over the years, but he has yet to lead his Liverpool team to a victory over Man Utd in the league; Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Man Utd in a 2005/06 F.A Cup tie is the only time Rafa got the upper hand on Ferguson. Considering the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester, it is quite frustrating from an Arsenal perspective that Liverpool have not managed to dent Man Utd’s bubble and given them a real derby like fight. In fact, Liverpool’s record in the league against Manchester is quite awful: out of the 7 league games that Rafa has faced against Manchester, his team have 6 loses and just one 0-0 tie, letting in 8 goals and scoring just one goal (even that one was an own goal by O’Shea). The manner of the goals let in has been disappointing as well, with only Tevez (this season), Scholes and Rooney deemed regular goal-scorers while the rest were scored by defenders who were not picked up (O’Shea, Silvestre with 2, Ferdinand with 2).

Arsenal’s win over Chelsea this season ended a run of 6 winless league games for Arsenal over their London rivals. Arsenal did not manage any wins over Chelsea in the Jose years. So this season with Jose gone (only in body but apparently not in spirit), Gallas restored the normal order of things by heading Arsenal to that crucial win. And Arsenal’s last away win to Chelsea was in that unbeaten 2003/04 season. Interestingly, that Feb 21 2004 loss for Chelsea against Arsenal was the last time they lost a home game in the league at Stamford Bridge. They currently hold the league record for longest unbeaten home streak, which is currently at 77 games.

Can I have just the good memories?

Part of being a soccer fan involves having a catalog of memories. With each passing season, multiple memories (good and bad) get added to a fan’s mind. It is amazing how many scores, players names and moments the average soccer fan can recall from the top of their minds. When things are not going so good for a team, then unfortunately sometimes a gush of bad memories (like past disappointments and failures) come to the forefront and attempt to bury the good memories. Every soccer fan has had to deal with those bad moments at one point or another. One can attempt to block these unhappy moments but can’t erase them completely. In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, Jim Carrey’s character wants to erase the unpleasant memories from his mind. But when that erasing process starts, unfortunately large chunks of his character’s life memories start to disappear as well. As it turns out, the bad memories were tied up with his life and if one took away the bad memories, then a large part of his life went away as well. And so it is with a soccer fan as well. These bad memories become part of the fan’s lives and somehow get burned into their psyche.

Thankfully in recent years, Arsenal have given plenty of good memories to their fans. It would be nice to have the happy times be always present but that is not always the case for many reasons. The last few weeks have been disappointing as far as the league has been concerned. But still, there have been many good moments this season. I can only hope that the good memories are not over yet. This team has worked so hard this year and they deserve to get something for their efforts.

On Sunday, an Arsenal win coupled with a Liverpool victory would help ease the pain of the recent weeks. But it won’t be easy. Sunday will be full of nerves and tense battles. Not one for the faint hearted, that’s for sure. But being an Arsenal fan has never been an easy task. In 1989, Arsenal could have wrapped up the title long before the final game but they kept slipping up until they needed a two goal victory at Anfield, which they managed with only a few seconds to spare. Arsenal were completely outplayed for most of the 1994 Cup Winner’s Cup final against Parma but they worked hard to ensure that their only real shot on Parma’s net turned out to the winner. In 1998, they put together an amazing run of results in the league, including a memorable 1-0 win away to Old Trafford to take away the title from Manchester. 2002 and 2004 had their anxious moments before the team pulled away to win the title in impressive fashion. And the 2005 F.A Cup final win was a painful game to sit through as an Arsenal fan, but somehow against all the odds they actually won that game. The task in front of the current Arsenal team seems quite difficult but in recent years, the team has managed some amazing wins. Keeping those positive memories in mind, as a fan I can only hope that the team is extremely motivated to usher in a new page in Arsenal’s history.

Posted by Sachin | Filed Under Game Preview

AA SF Branch Meet-up: Gunners Take On Chel$ki!

March 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

C’mon all you Gooners! Let’s have a good turn out this weekend at Maggie McGarrys for the big match vs. Chel$ki!

The Arsenal America San Francisco Branch and other Bay Area Gooners will be watching the match there live, Sunday, March 23, 2008, 9:00AM PST.

Maggie McGarrys in located in San Francisco’s North Beach district and has multiple screens in two rooms, and a great Gooner bartender in Patrick!

Maggie McGarrys
1353 Grant Street
San Francisco, CA
Tel: 415-399-9020
For more information, contact: Mark
or visit SF Gooner

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Posted by Mark Barbeau | Filed Under US Viewing Locations

A Beer’s Eye View

March 20, 2008 | 7 Comments

…And so it comes to this, an eight game season starting Easter Sunday. As Ol’ Rosy Nose says, “squeaky bum time.”

I haven’t been a fan of Arsenal half as long as most of you, and I’ve read this forum all year with great interest. All the triumphs and frustrations of the season played out in your points and counter points. However, having said all that, I think there are two things we should remember: one, this was suppose to be a year that we were rebuilding having lost one of the world’s best strikers and two, the reason that we love them so much this year is that they’re just kids.

Think back to August with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over losing Henry. If someone had offered a chance to be in the hunt with just eight games left, I’ll wager that each and every one of us would have jumped at it. The one thing we need to remember is that, no matter how much we who sit in our pubs and armchairs want them to win, they want it more. They’re a team in the truest sense of the word and they’ve given us one hell of a ride.

So this year, between torturing my daughter with a sadistic Easter egg hunt and sitting down to a wonderful dinner with family, I’ll spend two hours cursing Ernst Stavro Abramovich and his dead man walking manager and at the same time enjoy the fact that our team is in the thick of the title hunt.

I’m a Yank by birth, but I’m a Gooner by choice.

Posted by digitalisman99 | Filed Under Mailbag

Title predictions for the run-in

March 20, 2008 | 20 Comments

Okay, onto business. ManUre’s win over Bolton means we can now do some run-in math. With 8 games to go, they are 3 points ahead plus goal difference. Their remaining fixtures are:

Liverpool (h)
Aston Villa (h)
Middlesbrough (a)
Arsenal (h)
Blackburn (a)
Chelsea (a)
West Ham (h)
Wigan (a)

It isn’t completely fanciful to see they can drop points. L’pool could frustrate them. Villa, too, but only if they play a blinder. Boro probably not (they’re only our bogey team), ditto B’burn. Chelsea-ManUre could also easily be a stalemate, but I see them beating the Hammers. And Wigan if it comes to the last game of the season, even with Wigan’s strafed Iraqi landing strip of a pitch.

I can’t really see ManUre losing again this season, except for the dream-come-true of our little visit to Old Trafford. But they could drop around 6 points.

Our remaining games are:

Chelsea (a)
Bolton (a)
L’pool (h)
Man Utd (a)
Reading (h)
Derby (a)
Everton (h)
Sunderland (a)

Obviously, if we win at OT, we wipe out the points deficit as it stands. But it also means we can’t afford to lose to Chelsea or L’pool, and pretty much to have to win all of our other games.

Anyone else care to call it?

Posted by macmac123 | Filed Under Mailbag

Midweek talk

March 19, 2008 | 72 Comments

I wanted to post something to capture any mid-week discussions regarding the two EPL games on Wed and any Arsenal team news/rumours.

Looking above and below:

One of the consequences of the recent dropped points is that the fate of the EPL title is not entirely in Arsenal’s hands. Previously, when Arsenal were clear at the top by 1 one point after the top 2 had played the same number of games, the equation was simple on paper at least: If Arsenal won all their remaining games, they would be champions no matter what the chasing pack did.

Now, things are not so simple: If Arsenal win all their remaining games, they may still not be champions due to an inferior goal-difference.

So either Man Utd have to drop some points and leak in some goals or Arsenal have to win all their games and outscore United in each game by at least one goal to make up the goal difference of 8. And then there is the annoying matter of Chelsea being only 3 points behind Arsenal with their game in hand on Wed and a goal difference of just 5 less than Arsenal’s. Despite not having any warm feelings towards these 4 teams (putting it mildly), I will have to keep an eye out just in case.

Game 1: Angels Utd vs Sweet & Mellow Bolton

I was hoping for Bolton to get something from their crucial game against Wigan on the weekend so that their game against Arsenal in 11 days time won’t be as crucial. But despite throwing away their UEFA Cup tie against Sporting Lisbon, they still lost 1-0 to Wigan. I can understand the financial incentive of staying up in the Premier League is more important than advancing to another round in the UEFA Cup but I find it amazing that Bolton did not even take most of their first team away to Lisbon.

So now that Bolton are stuck at 25 points, they should be fighting for their lives against Manchester on Wednesday. But with Gary Megson, I am not so sure. Bolton might consider this game as a lost cause and instead focus on their home game with Man City on Saturday as more worthy to get points. Bolton would still make life difficult for Arsenal when the two meet on March 29, but if Bolton get nothing in their next two games, the Gunners better be ready for yet another hard day at the Reebok.

Game 2: Friendly Neighbours Spurs vs Sexy Football Chelsea

Chelsea have plenty of incentive going into this game. A win and they draw level with Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s big clash. Also, Chelsea want to avenge their Carling Cup loss to Spurs. I am not sure how much motivation Spurs have going into this game. Even though they are in 11th place with just 35 points, Spurs are not going to get relegated because the teams below them are unlikely to string together more than a win in succession. Spurs have already qualified for next season’s UEFA Cup and won’t finish in the top 4 needed for the Champions league either. In order for Spurs to finish in 4th, they would need every team between Liverpool and themselves to lose all their 9 remaining games. Since that is not possible, Spurs might be content with things as they are. Is pride at stake for Spurs? I thought pride only mattered when Spurs took on Arsenal and that the remaining 36 games were only a warm up until their meetings with their North London rivals.

This and that..

The most unlikely transfer rumour came out a few days ago: Barca are interested in Eboue. While this may make a few people happy, it seems more like fantasy news conjured up from the Eboue camp. No disrespect towards him, but considering the players Barca can sign, why would they go for him?

It was interesting to tune into Birmingham’s game against Newcastle on Monday and observe two Birmingham players attempting to emulate their hero Martin Taylor with two lunging tackles. Both Stephen Kelly and Stuart Parnaby got yellow cards for their Taylor like studs up tackles. Since no one was injured, the incident obviously needs no mentioning. It only confirms the style that is common at Birmingham as neither player needed to make that sort of tackle.

Since the big 4 will be involved in a fixture congested upcoming few weeks, it makes perfect sense to have those delightful friendlies on March 26. Of course, the friendly dates were set months in advance well before the Champions League draw was made. But from an Arsenal point of view, the timing is wrong, yet again. For those not familiar with the friendly break, let me explain — This is where Arsenal send away their entire first team to play meaningless games and the best Arsenal can hope for is that their players come back fit and injury free. The full squads are not known yet but since France, Brazil, Switzerland and Spain are in action, it is safe to guess a majority of the players will be gone (Senderos is already named for the Swiss squad). France are once again planning on back to back friendly games on Tuesday (March 25) and Wed.

While not worrying about injuries to Arsenal players, fans in North London can treat themselves to a friendly between Brazil and Sweden at the Emirates on March 26. The match is meant to celebrate 50 years since the two teams met in that eventful World Cup final where a young Pele made his name.