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| The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:54am On Sep 16, 2009 |
The big news of the morning is the fact that either Vito Mannone or Wojciech Szczesny will make their Champions’ League debut against Standard Liege tonight. In all honesty, it looks like Mannone will get the nod but with what I’ve seen of both keepers, I’d prefer to start Wojciech in goal. The manager had some words to say about the young Italian keeper. “At least he’s played one, and he did quite well. It will be quite a heated atmosphere. It is a big challenge for a young boy to come into a Champions League game with such pressure. But I am confident. If you look at the number of shots we have conceded recently, it is not that many.” Apparently, Manuel Almunia seems to have picked up a chest infection while Robin Van Persie and Denilson picked up knocks against Citeh at the weekend. One surprise though was the inclusion of young striker Sanchez Watt. I’ve written about him several times on the blog and I’d be interested to see feature at some stage of the match. He’s an exciting young talent and I’m pleased the boss is confident enough to include him in the European squad. I must confess that I know very little about Standard Liege. Historically our joint record win in Europe was a 7-0 bashing against them in 1993. However last season, I watched both legs of their Champions’ League qualifying tie against Liverpool and must say that they really can play football. As Belgian Champions for the last two years, they will be looking to impress in the group stages. Nick Teal of Arsenal.com caught up with Het Laatste Nieuws reporter Kristof Terreur for the lowdown on Standard Liege and he had this to say; “Standard play football technically well, their game has lots of passion. They have a defence with tall, strong guys, a midfield with technical players and two complete attackers who are fast and strong. Standard fans create a South American atmosphere at the stadium.” “Everybody will be singing all the time, like they used to in England some years ago. Last year in Liverpool, there was more atmosphere from the 5,000 Standard fans than from the 40,000 home fans at Anfield, and the Liverpool fans were very impressed with them.” They will however be without influential captain Stephen Defour who suffered a broken leg at the weekend and has been ruled out for three months. One man however, we will be keen to avoid is Axel Witsel who was recently suspended for 8 domestic games for a vicious tackle that smashed his opponents leg into two, he is however short of match practice though! That’s one man Eduardo will definitely be avoiding! Arsene Wenger has also claimed a bias from referees towards Arsenal has been created as a result of the Eduardo incident. He said; “What I feel about it is we didn’t get the penalty at Manchester United with [Andrey] Arshavin and it was a direct consequence of what happened with Eduardo. We didn’t get the penalty at Manchester City with Gareth Barry either, and it was a direct consequence of that. Eduardo didn’t get a penalty when he played for Croatia against England and that was a direct consequence of that as well. It’s the referee’s problem. What you expect from the referee is to make the right decision in any circumstances and I don’t believe they will have to consider that case. That case has been judged. I believe in life you live with your own conscience and if Eduardo is convinced himself that he’s been touched that is the most important thing. We had the forensic expert who proved he had been touched.” Talking tactics, I don’t expect us to line up differently from our new 4-3-3 formation. Barring any last minute knocks, I expect to see Diaby slot into the middle with Fabregas and Song with Rosicky taking up an attacking role on the left flanked by Bendtner and Eduardo down the middle. I think Eduardo is better suited to the lone striker role than RVP and it will be interesting to see how the attacking trio combine against Liege who are undefeated at home in 2009. Possible Line up: Mannone, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Diaby, Fabregas, Song, Bendtner, Eduardo, Rosicky Prediction: Arsenal 2 Standard Liege 1 You can follow me all day long on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thegreengooner as well as on the Arsenal vs Standard Liege Matchday Thread of Nairaland.com The game is live at 19:45 on Hi Sports 2 in Nigeria. With Thomas Vermaelen calling it all a circus, I leave you with Wenger’s comments about Emmanuel Adebayor’s behaviour over the weekend. “You ask 100 people, 99 will say it’s very bad and the hundredth will be Mark Hughes. Was I shocked? Yes, I think it was a very bad challenge, surprisingly bad. I didn’t expect him to do that. Why do you think the FA charged him?“ “I do not rule anything good or bad out for human beings. He deserved to be charged. I was surprised there was so much animosity in his attitude. ”In a few years he will realise Arsenal has been good for him.”I played football and I know exactly, in a fraction of a second, when you master your body, when you leave in or you move out. “You know exactly at that fraction, I can injure somebody or I can not injure somebody and you ease off or you leave in. “In England, you have many cases where the players leave in, less now than 10 years ago. “I have seen some challenges from 10 years ago where if you do that in the street, you would go to jail.” Till tomorrow…Victoria Concordia Crescit |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Nobody: 12:01pm On Sep 16, 2009 |
Is this going to be an everyday thing? |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 12:13pm On Sep 16, 2009 |
ahonohai: It will be updated daily. . .you can also follow the Green Gooner on the web or subscribe by sending an email to blog@thegreengooner.info |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 11:25am On Sep 17, 2009 |
Yesterday afternoon, I tweeted that if I was still stuck in traffic by 7pm I’d get off the bus, get on a bike and race home in time for kick off. At 7pm I was ready to roll but the only problem was that I was in the middle of third mainland bridge without an empty bike in sight…By 7:45 I was closer home but it was already too late to think of getting on a bike in a lonely area so I decided to call Biolabee for an update on the starting line up. “Diaby is playing Oh!” were the first words he muttered and then spoke in hope of a win. Two minutes later, I called him back and was stunned to hear we were a goal down and had just conceded a penalty. “Goal, they’ve scored! He shouted back! I just knew that Jovanovic guy had something to do with it. Half an hour later I arrived home to the usual darkness (thankfully the generator had been fixed earlier in the day) and turned on the TV. I wasn’t too impressed with the exchanges I saw and kept wondering why we kept giving the ball away. Wenger looked livid and the players looked visibly shaken, I learnt it was Eduardo giving the ball away with a needless back flick that led to the first goal and an unfortunate Gallas incident resulted in a penalty…Flashback to Man Utd last season and I wondered how much longer I could take. Enough of the story telling. The only way we could have gotten back into the game was to pull one back just before halftime. This we did thanks to some good work from Diaby freeing up Bendtner on the right to slot past the Standard keeper. Giving credit to our hosts, they were keeping us under pressure and we seemed to lack creative intent in the final third. Each time we got the ball we always seemed to pass it out wide in anticipation of a cross then pass it back again. . . pointless stuff in my opinion. It was interesting to see Rosicky on the right and Eduardo on the left with Bendtner in the middle. With Sagna being rested, I assumed it was to also good to allow Eboue (who was again rather wasteful) space to overlap and send crosses into the box. A crucial block from Clichy was all that saved us from conceding a third early in the second half. I must say that in all fairness Mannone wasn’t really tested at all in the match and while the first goal was rather unfortunate, the second was a penalty which you know was a penalty. If Almunia is still out by the weekend, it will be interesting to see how he performs in a meaningful league game against Wigan at the weekend. I won’t bore you with too many details about a match which ended with Vermaelen bundling home a Cesc Fabregas’ set piece after good work by Song to keep it in play even though he was miles offside and it looked as if he handled the ball and a deserved winner by Eduardo kneeing the ball off a Fabregas corner. It wasn’t our greatest performance ever, but it was one that showed great strength to comeback from going down so early in a game. The full match report is available at Arsenal.com Early in the second half, Tomas Rosicky played a pin point 50 yard pass to Nicklas Bendtner which required a perfectly timed tackle from Mangala to prevent an equaliser. Although he was taken off after 70 minutes, it shows he still has great quality and only needs to improve on his match fitness to reach the great heights we know he is capable of attaining. Just before we equalised, I noticed Wenger signal to Pat Rice that two subs were to be made. With the ball out of play, the referee seemed to signal for the sub to be made as Wilshere and Sagna were already on the touchline. For some reason, he changed his mind and asked for play to continue. We scored straight from the corner and Wenger decided to keep Eduardo on in hope of getting a winner. Eduardo scored a minute later. All I can say is that sometimes, you need to take a gamble at crunch time and yesterday, Arsene’s gamble paid off. He said; “I wanted to put one more offensive player on and take Song off. When I saw we had a free kick I did not do it because I know Song can be dangerous on free kicks. Then after we scored, I did not make the substitution.” Speaking after the game the boss was quick to highlight the importance of the win. He said; “When you’re at a big club, you cannot afford to have too many defeats on the trot. “After being 2-0 down, this will strengthen belief within the group” “We could not afford to concede a third goal but had to try to come back to 2-1 at least before half-time – which is what we did. In the second half, the game dropped a bit in physical intensity. When they got tired, we got some set-pieces and took advantage.” Liege Coach was not so impressed. He said; “We started very well, but were not strong enough mentally to continue the same way in the second half,” he said. “We sat back in midfield, so all the pressure was too much for us. “Arsenal had good help from the referee at their second goal – two players were offside and there was also a handball. This was the moment when they got more motivation and we lost ours, but the biggest problem was we have to play better.” The win moves Arsenal to the top of the group with Olympiakos only managing a 1-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar. Let’s consolidate! In other news, US-Vietnamese Star Lee Nguyen is set to train with the Arsenal reserves for a month in continuation of the club’s partnership with Vietnam league team Hoang Ahn Gia Lai. A University of Portsmouth psychologist Dr Paul Morris has also provided a four-point guide to help referees spot a diving footballer. Sounds interesting…throw the book at Ronaldo! Not surprising though is the fact that Citeh have accepted the charge of violent conduct brought against Emmanuel Adebayor…they’d be stupid not to! We’ve got Wigan at the weekend and a preview would be in line tomorrow or Saturday morning before I fly to Port Harcourt for Mabel and Franklin’s wedding…I’m on the wedding train! Till tomorrow…Victoria Concordia Crescit! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:36am On Sep 18, 2009 |
There’s so much to talk about this morning and I’m not too sure where to start from. On resounding theme however is the fact that the Arsenal players have spoken out for the first time about Emmanuel Adebayor’s behaviour last weekend. I know I said I wasn’t going to dwell on the issue any longer but what amazes me is the fact that the players themselves seemed more shocked than everyone else at his attitude. Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song who Ade named as two of his closest friends at the clubs also expressed disappointment at his actions. Eboue said; “For me, Adebayor, he didn’t do well, and that is no good for football because you have a lot of young people who watch the game and then, they see that. But I am happy that the FA gave him a three-game ban, I am very, very happy about that. And, because I know him, I think he will think about that and he will take it on. Now, he will try to play his game because that was no good for football. I am very disappointed about it, very disappointed.” “When he was in our team, we were together, we did everything together and so we don’t know what happened. After that Kolo has come into our dressing room. He said ’sorry’ to everyone and that was very, very nice. If Ade calls me, I’ll speak with him. If he calls me, I say ‘Thank you God’, if he doesn’t call me, that’s his problem. I think about my team.” Coming from a guy who was consoled by Adebayor after being booed of the pitch against Wigan last year, you have to be surprised. It has also emerged that Adebayor slapped Song in the face during the game! Speaking on this, Song said; “Once he went to City, it’s true that our relationship was not what it had been before. I called him two or three times, and he didn’t call me back. I’m not going to force him to do it. And I’m not going to have a laugh with him when I see him in the tunnel. Afterwards, on the pitch, he started to kick. He kicked everyone. That’s not normal! He was aggressive.” “There was a free-kick in their favour and he slapped me. Coming from him – I couldn’t believe it. Nobody doubts what Ade and Kolo have done for Arsenal. To say that the Gunners were not grateful to them, that’s rubbish. “I am surprised – nobody said anything bad about them, not the manager, not the players.” "I saw Adebayor at the end of the game and I talked to him. Calmly. The best answer for him would’ve been to do nothing. It’d have been more beautiful if he hadn’t expressed his joy at scoring that way. I told him it was a really silly thing to do, really stupid. Yes, he disappointed me because the person I knew was not the person I met again that day.” What more can I add then? Is it the fact that all Cesc Fabregas had to do was lift his track suit bottom to reveal a nasty gash to his leg from a stamp by you guessed it, Emmanuel Adebayor. He said “I think this is a red card here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was from Adebayor. I was lucky my foot was in the air when it happened. You know this is football and it can happen. Well… it’s not football but it can happen.” “All I tried to do when he was at Arsenal was to create opportunities for him to score. So I think I didn’t do too badly for him. I don’t know. It is a bit strange. We don’t think about him any more. He doesn’t play for Arsenal so we just have to concentrate on our game and our players.” “No, there’s never been another player who left and behaved like this. I have no idea why he did this. We always respected him, you know. It is difficult. He will have his own opinions. You have to ask him that. I don’t really know.” Simply put. . .nasty and disappointing! In some other positive news, Cesc Fabregas has backed a newly released Anti-Bullying DVD designed to help schools tackle bullying of children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities.He also released the following statement; “At Arsenal we believe bullying is unacceptable. That’s why we support this film and we hope the message is clear for young people. Disability should not be a barrier to achieving the things you want.” We play Wigan tomorrow and by the time the game ends, I’ll still probably be trying to check in at the Airport for my flight back to Lagos. Andrey Arshavin has a better chance of making the squad than I do of watching any part of the encounter with Wigan in Vito Mannone is expected to continue in goal with Robin Van Persie possibily returning. Speaking to Arsenal TV Online yesterday, the boss also confirmed that Denilson would be out for a few weeks with his back problem. Czech star Tomas Rosicky claims he’s all fired up to win a trophy with Arsenal, he admits we have more creative options with him available saying; “I am fired up to win a trophy and enjoying being back. Its good that I can be part of this team again. ‘If you are out for so long, like I was, it is very frustrating. But that is behind me already and I am just enjoying the time I am fit.” ‘The boss has another option with me in the creative part of the game and he still has Samir Nasri to come back. Offensively we are very strong and I can help with that. I have to take things step by step. I played an hour for the national team, then 30 minutes at Manchester City and now 70 minutes here. I have to improve in fitness to be back where I was before and I still have a lot of work to do.” Wigan have never beaten Arsenal, in eight Premier League meetings.with Arsenal claiming 22 points out of a possible 24. Our only loss came against them in 2006 in the semi final of the Carling Cup. The injury situation with Arshavin and Van Persie will greatly affect the composition of the starting line up as if they do play, it would probably be at the expense of Diaby and Eduardo. I don’t expect Wigan to pose a serious threat to us and with the Gunners playing the free flowing football they know out to play, we should be able to break them down convincingly at home. But then, stranger things have happened in football. Till tomorrow…Victoria Concordia Crescit. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 12:37pm On Sep 21, 2009 |
Your blog looks very nice and good as well, but i believe you should still learn a bit about blogging from www.blognownow.com. I'm not condeming but its constructive. The blog is alright. The theme also looks sport like. box-18 |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 12:28pm On Sep 25, 2009 |
ty_sante:  Dude the account is suspended! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 12:29pm On Sep 25, 2009 |
[center]What to do? – 25/09/09[/center] I don’t even feel like writing today’s blog! Some idiot on a bike ripped my back bumper off this morning and I didn’t find it funny at all. Good thing though that it was only the pins that came off or I’d have had his head for breakfast. Arsene Wenger has responded to criticism from Bordeaux President Jean-Louis Triaud that he acted unfairly in his pursuit of Maroune Chamakh. He said; “The communication between the president of Bordeaux and myself was very clear – I kept him informed on everything that happened. “It’s very difficult for me to understand any statement of that kind from him. But if he is ready to make a comment, I’m ready to sit down with him here and explain to you what he said. Then I will answer eye to eye.” “The boy is fantastic but, in my career, I have made nearly 200 transfers and that means nearly 400 have not happened. That is part of any deal. It’s not because they are under pressure in Bordeaux that we have to explain everything that happens.” However, Wenger played down the possibility of making a new bid in January stating that Eduardo had made a fantastic recovery from his injury and that Bendtner had just signed a contract extension. Nice one! Phillippe Senderos has admitted that returning to Arsenal in the summer felt like “coming home”. After a disappointing loan spell at Milan, he looked set to leave the club during the transfer window. However, he made his return to competitive action for the Gunners midweek against West Brom in the Carling Cup. He said; “I had a few possibilities, but in the end it wasn’t the right thing for the Club or me. I’ll say this to anyone – I love London and love Arsenal, and wanted to stay here, but obviously I need to feature around the team.” Andrey Arshavin is set to return against Fulham tomorrow and we hope to have Robin Van Persie fit and possibly Theo Walcott on the bench. Walcott too was keen to speak on his fitness. He said; “I’ve trained all week. Hopefully I can play some part at the weekend, and we’ll go from there. I’m not going to look too far ahead. I’ll concentrate on the weekend and then if I put in a good performance then I might get a start on Tuesday, but it’s a good Arsenal team to get in at the moment. I’ve got to train well and then see where it takes me.” With Citeh losing to a late Michael Owen goal last weekend, Arsene Wenger is insistent that that the rules that govern stoppage time should be clearer to avoid any controversies as was seen in the Manchester derby. Hopefully, the game should be wrapped up by then. In some other news, Higbury Square was officially opened yesterday with Arsène Wenger, Club Directors and players from Arsenal’s past and present gracing the occasion. After 93 years as a football ground, I’m sure the new residences will create lasting memories for years to come. Young Dutch Midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup has also signed professional terms with the club. We wish him all the best for the future. For some reason tickets to the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday have gone on General Sale. I wonder what’s on TV that night? Non members have a great opportunity to purchase tickets directly for this game. Tomorrow, we shall talk tactics. Till then…Victoria Concordia Crescit |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 8:19pm On Sep 25, 2009 |
~Gooner~: Yes, You are right. Sorry for that, it was just the hosting company who is in charge of the site had some problem. It would be up as soon as possible. Don't mind the host company who did the rubbish, Its being run by a friend of mine who also owns the above site. My other site is not coming up as well expect one that i have with nairahost (www.box-18.com) is the only one running. Don't worry you would get to know better. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 9:10pm On Sep 25, 2009 |
~Gooner~:yes u ar right |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 12:06pm On Sep 26, 2009 |
After stating that the Adebayor stamp case is closed for him, Robin Van Persie has revealed that brotherly love in the Arsenal team helps new players settle into the club also revealing that it was Kolo Toure who first offered him the hand of love five and a half years ago when he joined the club. He said; “When I first came to Arsenal, I was 20, Kolo came to me and said ’see me as your older brother. You come from another country, you speak a different language and are a bit nervous. I now say this, along with Gael Clichy, to the youngsters.” “I just really like the Club. I really love Arsenal and I want them to succeed. I can be quite hard and other people can be hard on me. It is all about whether we trust each other. That is what is important. We now have more experience too. There is me, Clichy, Fabregas and Song – we cannot hide behind saying we are inexperienced anymore. It is now about how much we really want it.” I seem to have been wrong when I said Arsene didn’t have all £30 million to spend in the summer taking the January purchase of Andrey Arshavin into consideration. That money was actually already available. Speaking ahead of today’s match against Fulham, Wenger was quick to point out that he had his reasons for not spending the entire transfer kitty. He said, “We sold Kolo and Adebayor but bought Vermaelen; that money is for me. I know how much I have and I am happy with it. But last week we played Wigan. We won 4-0 and on the bench I had Bendtner [while] Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri, Denilson and Djourou were not playing. “Do we have the squad to compete with the other [‘Big’] four? I say yes. We have an unbelievable squad. Where do you put all the talented players? I believe we can show that we are not in a position where we need to buy. For me, we are in a position where we want to transform our potential into being real Premier League contenders.” Nevertheless his reasons for not splurging in the market are very much agreable to me and I admit that it is pointless to sign players who aren’t going to get a look in and if we sign top players to fit into the first team, you could end up stifling the ambitions of the younger players who have come through the ranks from age 8 or 9. Food for thought! Meanwhile, Arsenal has been linked with Standard Liege teenage star Eliaquim Mangala after his outstanding performance against Arsenal in the Champions’ League. Hmnn, here we go again! As usual, Arsenal.com caught up with David Roodyn, a contributor to the Fulham FC matchday programme for the lowdown on the team from Craven Cottage. He said; “I think the principle concern is that our squad is extended with the Europa League. We have to play two different teams. Roy Hodgson has got tremendous organisational abilities and a very, very good tactical understanding of the game. He knows exactly how he wants to set out his team, particularly in defence where he always plays the same four plus Schwarzer.” “Andy Johnson is the ‘fox in the box’. He’s got pace, a good eye for goal and he’s good with the ball over the top. He was bought to get goals and he does have the capabilities to get those goals.” I think the boss will go with Arshavin, Bendtner and Van Persie up front with Eduardo and Bendtner on the bench. I may be wrong though but I figure Mannone is going to be starting. With our league matches so far this season featuring an average of five goals a game, I won’t be surprised if this one turns into a goal fest. Nevertheless, we gained only one point out of a possible six against Fulham last season and we’ve lost there twice in the last couple of years so there is indeed a lot at stake this evening. Can I go over the edge with my prediction today? Verdict: Arsenal 4 Fulham 2 The match is live at 5:30 on Hi Soccer in Nigeria. Till tomorrow…Victoria Concordia Crescit |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 8:17pm On Sep 26, 2009 |
hello, you can try and visit my own web not that other one <it belongs to an online blogging teacher friend> Check www.box-18.com and tell me. I can help one way or the other. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 1:59pm On Sep 27, 2009 |
ty_sante: I visited the site long before you even asked me too. . .I'm only really interested in blogging about Arsenal and not news stories about football. Still, you need to have something that will make you unique and different from other news sites. What's your take on that? |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 2:42pm On Sep 27, 2009 |
~Gooner~: |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 4:04pm On Sep 27, 2009 |
~Gooner~: YEah, U ar dem right. There is need for being uniqe, Mine is focusing at a sport biz site (mean football). Y am still just writing on news for now is that it would be comin in another form latter on, all i just want to get right now is traffic then when am through u would even hear of it then. Hope it didn't ake u much time to get that theme of yours? And Basically, if i where to create a blog on football it would be for united but that doesn't carry any criticism against you being a gooner or thegreengooner.com. I see every team as good(if you win the league u ar reggarded as the best, that's the spirit), but most people carry on their head like they are being paid. So what's your take for greengooner? Or can we meet on messenger, if so pick my id from box-18, check the Y!Mssger icon by the right for it. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 10:11am On Sep 28, 2009 |
I believe Arsene has a selection worry ahead of tomorrows game against Olympiakos in the Champions’ League. The return of semi-fitness of Walcott and Arshavin and the availability of Rosicky, Eduardo and Vela leaves us with an abundance of attacking options. With Van Persie a guaranteed starter in attack, I wonder who Arsene will go with to flank him on either side. Walcott is not yet fully fit to start and Arshavin doesn’t yet have the strength to trackback to support Clichy all game long. He may yet decide to stick with Bendtner on the right and Eduardo on the left for the first half as we seek to put the game to bed early on. Diaby is probably going to get another run in midfield again unless the boss has other plans that involve Eboue or Ramsey. Personally, I’d like to see Arshavin dropping to the bench as he was awful in Saturday’s game as the Guardian Chalkboards contrast his performance to that of Nicklas Bendtner. Of note also was the fact that his inability to track back to support the full back resulted in the majority of the Fulham crosses coming in from the left side of the Arsenal defence. He does have Vito Mannone to thank after pulling off tremendous saves to keep Arsenal in the game. Last season, we would have lost the game 4-1. I’m happy to see us gring out wins like this. What this shows is that not only do you need a good defence, you also need quality between the sticks. Many Arsenal supporters have on player they do not rate as qualified to play for the Gunners. Usually it’s either Bendtner, Eboue, Silvestre or Diaby. For me Vito Mannone was almost in that category. After Saturday’s performance, I believe Mannone has permanently left that class as on more than one occassion on the blog, I have questioned his credentials to be a top flight goalkeeper. Now, he has much more than the benefit of doubt as the top spot is available for the taking. As every third choice goal keeper at Arsenal knows as I said yesterday, you never know when next you’ll have the chance to play in the first team again. Manuel Almunia can tell you that from experience after playing only one Premiership game in three years following his nightmare performance against Man Utd at Highbury in 2004. Meanwhile Mannone has hailed it as the best game he has ever played (only 5 if you get your stats right). He said; “That’s the best game I have ever played. When I have played in the past it wasn’t so important,” said Mannone. “In the first-team you have to show what you can do and I think I did that. My favourite was the double save in the first half when I went to my right. It gave me a lot of confidence.“ “It hit me in the face so it has made me a little bit uglier but I want to improve my confidence. It’s better to have lots of saves to do than to have nothing to do for 80 minutes and then make one save. That’s more difficult than making saves in a row.“ “I always try to stay relaxed. The boss told me to stay relaxed, use my technique and play as in training. It was a good performance by the team. We showed a lot of character in this game. When you come away you have to show you can play physically, you can play on the floor and we got our chance and scored.” In some other news, Carlos Vela has been linked with a loan move to Spanish side Xerez in January. I don’t think that will happen if we are still in the Carling Cup at that stage of the season. Hopefully, we’ll have some more news today after the press interviews ahead of the game tomorrow. Till then…Victoria Concordia Crescit! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:55am On Sep 29, 2009 |
~Gooner~: |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:57am On Sep 29, 2009 |
Having some issues with the site this morning. I think I may have been attacked by dayokanu and a bunch of obertans!  |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by tysante(m): 1:07pm On Sep 30, 2009 |
that is funny! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 10:10am On Oct 02, 2009 |
I’ve been quiet for the last few days, not because I had nothing to say but simply because I didn’t want to get caught up in the moment of the frenzy surrounding Arsene’s 13th anniversary. You have the media criticizing Wenger for his policies on one day and praising him for his achievements on the next. Nevertheless, I must pay tribute to our longest serving and most successful Manager. In 1996 the headlines screamed Arsene Who? Three league titles and Four FA Cups later it’s all about ArsenAL Wenger. Two defeats in European finals and one in the Carling Cup admittedly leave a sour taste in the mouth but still there is more to achieve and in the end there can be only one verdict. “In Arsene We Trust!” Arsenal Director Ken Friar has described Wenger as a very special man. He said; “Arsenal Football Club owes Arsène Wenger a great debt in terms of putting us where we are today. Although there are many other people involved, it’s like a great meal – if there’s nobody there to eat it, it doesn’t get appreciated. And we’ve got 60,000 people eating the meal regularly. He’s been remarkable and we’re very, very fortunate to have him with us. The 13 years seems to have gone so quickly and soon [October 22] we shall be celebrating the 39th anniversary of his 21st birthday!” It is ironic too that Wenger’s first game in charge was a 2-0 away win to Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League on October 12, 1996. Given that we play them at home this weekend, it is sure to be a sentimental moment for the boss. In keeping with tradition, Nick Teale of Arsenal.com caught up with Andy Cryer from the Lancashire Evening Telegraph for the lowdown on Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers and he had this to say. “In recent years they’ve been heavily beaten at the Emirates, last season especially it was so one-sided it was embarrassing. I think he’ll pick his strongest side come Sunday and he’ll go at it very defensively I would have thought. He’ll pack the defence, he’ll pack the midfield and he’ll try and frustrate Arsenal.” “David Dunn is Rovers’ dangerman without a doubt. Everybody has known about his talent for a long time, he’s just had bad injury problems. Hopefully he’s through that now and I think they have found the right position for him just behind the striker in the hole, and he’s really enjoying life there. If Rovers do create anything on Sunday it will be Dunn that does it.” After his car crash last weekend Nicklas Bendtner is available for selection as well as Theo Walcott in place of Eduardo who has had a recurrence of his muscle injury. On other players, Wenger had this to say; “Manuel Almunia is not far, I will assess him Friday or Saturday but he looks unlikely to be ready. They (Lukasz Fabianski and Samir Nasri) should be back in training before the end of the break. Then they will need a little bit of time to get back but they have had very good basic fitness work so once they practice with the team again it will be a very short time to wait.” Personally, I believe Vito Mannone is two consecutive performances away from becoming Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper. In all my years as a Gooner, I’ve never seen Wenger bench an in-form player. We saw it very recently with the case of Flamini in 2007/2008 where a backup player started so brightly that it was impossible to field the apparent first choices (Gilberto/Diaby). However, the news of Almunia’s impending recovery could mean that Vito might not get the benefit of two performances. Nevertheless, I stand to be corrected. We’ll see. Talking tactics, I’d go for the same line up against Olympiacos save for Sagna coming in for Eboue at right back. Offensively, I’m comfortable with Rosicky on the right as it stands as it might be too soon for Walcott to start and Bendtner might still be too shaken to start. My Verdict: Arsenal 3 Blackburn 0 Till next time. . .Victoria Concordia Crescit |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 9:20am On Oct 16, 2009 |
It certainly is refreshing to be able to be back writing the blog again after the international break. Is it me or does every thing seem to just grind to a halt when the players are away on international duty or what? Now I see why Almunia would at least want to play for England. I wonder what he got up to at Colney with Silvestre and Rob the Chef! A great deal of activity has taken place in the last 24 hours that is definitely newsworthy and with our game against Birmingham tomorrow, there sure is plenty to talk about. American billionaire Stan Kroenke is reported to have bought a further 90 shares of the club at £8,500 each to raise his stake to 28.9 per cent. I wonder who’s been selling to him? I am interested to see if this is another move to stave of The boss is not too concerned about ownership, provided the club is run the way it should be. He said; “As long as the club can be run as it is at the moment, it doesn’t really matter. Certainly at some stage, someone will get the majority of the shares. Once somebody reaches 29.9 per cent of the shareholding, they have to make a bid for the club.” “Then he could gain over 50 per cent, and he will be the decider of the club, but he could still decide that the club should continue to run how it is now. I know at our club we have foreign owners who are billionaires, but it has no interference with the day-to-day management and running of the club. If one man controls the club, fine, but as long as the club lives within its own resources.” Atletico Madrid have publicly declared interest in Emmanuel Eboue and young Fran Merida who is also reportedly a transfer target for Sevilla. I think we should be more worried about Merida than Eboue as since the Spaniard is out of contract in the summer, he might be tempted into a move back home if the prospect of first team football doesn’t look any likely. Our progress in the Carling cup might also play a factor in his decision to sign or not to sign. We’ll see. Ahead of tomorrow’s game against Birmingham, the boss has revealed the latest injury news. With Clichy a doubt and Eduardo still out, Cesc Fabregas is available to play despite flying home from the Spain squad to be with his sick grandfather. Great news is the fact that Samir Nasri could be fit to return against Liverpool in the Carling cup and Fabianski could be included in the squad for the first time (scary!) Almunia is also 50:50 to return. What does this mean for us tomorrow? Hmnn Possible Squad: Mannone (for the last time), Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Gibbs/Traore, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, Van Persie, Walcott. Subs: Fabianksi, Eboue, Gibbs/Traore, Bendtner, Rosicky, Silvestre, Ramsey I’m going out on a limb here but despite it all, I don’t think Birmingham will just roll over the floor and beg for mercy. They’ve just been promised £40m for players and wages in January by their new owner and in a way, I’m happy Eduardo misses this game as it may bring back horrific memories of that fateful February. What is worse though is the fact that the next time he may have to face them will be at St Andrews…ooh! On the prospect of facing a free scoring Arsenal team, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish had this to say; “It’s a challenge to us, isn’t it? We have been to Manchester United this season and people thought they might put six by us but we played very well there, we maybe could have got something on the day. We certainly deserved something at Tottenham.” “There’s evidence there that the players can go and give good performances against the top teams. Arsenal are a fantastic football side, a delight to watch. Arsenal fans must love it watching that brand of football and it must be the dream of every manager to play football like that.” By the way, Thomas Vermaelen has been named EA SPORTS Player of the month for the second month running scooping 39.4% of the votes ahead of Vito Mannone and Robin Van Persie. The club has also launched their offical app for the Iphone and Ipod Touch. More tomorrow. Till then; Victoria Concordia Crescit! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 1:30pm On Oct 18, 2009 |
Last year I missed the Birmingham game cos I was trying to impress a lady. This year, I missed it because I was trying to make it up to a(nother) lady. What is it with men and women? Thanks to Biolabee though for calling to fill me in on the scoreline. The game ended 3-1 with a beauty from Arshavin at the end. I figured we’d do ok, but like I said on Friday, I didn’t exactly expect them to roll over on the floor and beg for mercy. At 2-0 up we were cruising and once they scored, you sensed it would be a tense affair going into the second half. Theo Walcott was taken off in the first half after coming worse off a Liam Ridgewell tackle. You’ve got to feel for the young man only just returning from injury and this. Speaking on this, the boss had this to say; “He has a bruised knee, it is swollen and difficult to assess at the moment. Is it a medial knee ligament that is twisted or just a kick? The fact that he says he felt a little unstable when he was running is not good news. We don’t know yet how much of his pain is down to the kick and how much is down to the fact he twisted his ligament. “ “We will assess the situation tomorrow morning. He will be scanned and if it is just a kick he has a good chance to play on Tuesday night [at Alkmaar]. If it is more, he will not play on Tuesday. I believe personally he will not be available on Tuesday at least. It is not a cruciate for example but it could be more than a week if it is a twisted ligament.” Nevertheless from the highlights I saw, it was a pretty decent game and it was good that we were able to hold off their challenge and score a winner late on to put the game to bed. As expected, Gibbs slotted in at left back with Eboue coming in for Sagna at right back. I figure the boss may decide to start Bacary against AZ on Tuesday. I was rather surprised to see Almunia on the bench instead of Fabianski and Mannone in goal. Could this be a telling sign that the balance of power has changed? Or was this Don Vito’s chance for the second of his much needed consecutive performances to secure his place as Arsenal’s number one keeper? The boss was notably quiet on this. We’ll see! Otherwise, it’s On Your Toes Manuel! Wenger was however quick to heap praise on Alex Song, who looks like he’s becoming our most important player defensively or otherwise. He said; “He is strong and smooth. He is not rigid, he is agile. He is a slalom player and is not a straight-line player. He uses that very well, he has a good combination of strengths and agility and I believe as well he uses his technique in a very intelligent way. He likes a tackle. Cameroon people are strong, you know? In Africa they call them the Germans of Africa because of their strong bodies.” In other news, Chelsea lost away to Aston Villa while Liverpool went down to a Sunderland goal that came off a beach balloon ironically thrown into the pitch by one of their own fans! You’d think they’d know where to throw and object like that! As it stands, we seem to be sitting pretty in fourth place with a game in hand, which if we come off with maximum points would lead us only one point off the pace, should Man City fail to beat Wigan today. In other news, Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin have been nominated for the 2009 European Player of the Year award although I expect either Lionel Messi or (senitmentally) Ryan Giggs to win it. The official Arsenal Magazine for November is out and it features Tomas Rosicky giving his first in-depth interview since his return from long term injury. The next phase of the Arsenalisation of the Emirates Stadium has also been completed with another set of Arsenal legends unveiled in the area around the armoury. Please visit Arsenal.com for pictures. A provisional date of December 2 has been fixed for our outstanding game against Bolton and it’s probability would depend on the likelhood of either of the teams progressing to the next phase of the Carling Cup. My heart says we’ll beat Liverpool so the fixture computer better come up with something better. I’ll have more news on our loan stars tomorrow on the blog. Till then…Victoria Concordia Crescit! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by edoyad(m): 1:38pm On Oct 18, 2009 |
Last year I missed the Birmingham game cos I was trying to impress a lady. This year, I missed it because I was trying to make it up to a(nother) lady. What is it with men and women? Thanks to Biolabee though for calling to fill me in on the scoreline. The game ended 3-1 with a beauty from Arshavin at the end Silly you .I missed it cos of a stupid marriage. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 1:43pm On Oct 18, 2009 |
edoyad: If there happens to be an Arsenal game on my wedding day, I'lll have a flat screen set up at the reception so I can catch it and make sure all the gooners attend too! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by edoyad(m): 2:07pm On Oct 18, 2009 |
be sure to know your inlaws good-will will lost on that day. |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:41am On Oct 20, 2009 |
We’ve got a big match up today and an opportunity to open up a gap at the top our our group in the Champions League. What may be interesting though is the amazing statistic that AZ have only lost once at home in 34 European ties. I think this could be a more exciting game than our previous two which were both nervy and uncomfortable ties. With the Gunners seemingly in full stride in the league, I believe we shouldn’t be too hampered by the absences due to injury. While I expect Almunia to start in goal (sorry Vito), I wouldn’t be surprised if the boss chose to play both Sagna and Eboue (ahead of him on the right) with Bendtner, Rosicky, Eduardo and Walcott all ruled out. The bad news yesterday was the fact that the Theo Walcott has been ruled out for three to four weeks following Liam Ridgewell’s hard tackle. The boss has also blasted Birmingham fans as being “stupid” for chanting Martin Taylor’s name after the tackle. He said; “That was frankly atrocious. They [the Birmingham fans] will not be remembered for the quality of their taste with that kind of remark. I didn’t say a word [when I heard the chant], I just thought ‘that’s low’. ” “Eduardo was here for the game. I don’t know how he felt about the chants. I just put that in the ranks of stupidity, you want to forget about it and not talk too much about it because there’s not a lot to say. With people like that, one starts to say something stupid, everybody follows, even intelligent people. People lose their identity together, and their sense of responsibility.” Well said Arsene! With Clichy back in the squad, it was cheering to hear that both Nasri and Fabianski are in line for a return to action with the reserves tonight against Wolves possibly at the Molineux. That surely increases our options and puts the other players on their toes to perform. No wonder Arsene phoned Chamakh to tell him he could no longer sign him when he realised he had too many players! I’m very pleased at the way Diaby seems to be settling into the midfield with the absence of Denilson. Methinks come January when the Cameroon comes calling for Song, he’d fit right into a trio alongside Denilson and Cesc. I’ve always been a fan of Diaby and admittedly get frustrated when he makes one touch to many or takes ages to decide who to pass to. Nevertheless, he has shown that he has both the ability, and the vision to be part of a successful midfield trio and as it was with Song, Denilson and Bendtner, I believe he can blossom this year and possible make the French squad for South Africa should they get past their Irish hurdle! Speaking earlier on, AZ coach Ronald Koeman pointed out an important point about Arsenal’s play this season. He said; “We know Arsenal are very good and we know what we have to do. I saw their game against Blackburn and they could have scored 15 times! On the other hand, Blackburn had four excellent chances and scored twice. Arsenal, therefore, have defects. We must take the initiative, dominate possession and take the chances that come our way.” This tells me that they are prepared to sit back and let Arsenal (the clear favourites in this tie) do all the playing and hope to catch them on the break and be clinical. I know our adventurous play has cost us a couple of goals this season, particularly against Manchester City but I believe that if we are clinical enough, we can put this tie to bed early on. Otherwise, we just have to outscore them! With the chances we are creating and the form of our attackers, that is all the more likely. Arsene had this to say; “If we score goals, it is because we have the ball. To have the ball, you need to defend. That is why I believe we have a good team ethic, a good working attitude together. We all play on the same wavelength, which is why everybody scores.” The boss also praised William Gallas’ contribution at the back this season as our ability to win games in the past has often been hampered by our defensive frailties. Our new defensive partnership has afforded big William the opportunity to be more expressive in his play (albeit defensively) as new signing Thomas Vermaelen is more than capable to sweep up the play and offer protective cover should Gallas venture upfront. Personally, I am of the opinion he still thinks he’s a second striker! My research has shown that AZ are likely to line up in the traditional 4-4-2 formation with Hamadoui and Dembele leading the attack. I’m told that the key battle should be new dad Van Persie against Mexican Moreno in defence for AZ. In some interesting news, Arsenal apparently sent former Captain Tony Adams as a scout to watch 16-year-old French striker Romelu Lukaku play for Andelecht at the weekend. Whilst I know next to nothing about him (like pretty much everyone else) he’s apparently being touted the next Didier Drogba! Wait! I thought that was Gael Kakuta? First it was Atletico Madrid, now it’s Juventus who have set their sights on Emmanuel Eboue. Apparently, the Bianconeri are keen to reinforce at right back and consider him as an outstanding candidate for the position added to the fact that he also has an EU passport! To be fair there’s no chance of that happening as I don’t see Eboue leaving in January as it’s clear he loves the club and he’s hitting the form that saw him revered at Highbury in his first season at the club. Our young guns on loan don’t seem to be doing to badly anyway, clocking up minutes; scoring goals; you know how it is! Erm ah yes! Jay Simpson grabbed his fourth goal in seven games as QPR ran out 4-0 winners against Preston om the Championship. Henri Lansbury played 90 minutes as Watford beat Middlesbrough 1-0 away at the Riverside. Gavin Hoyte also played 90 minutes as Brighton lost 2-1 away to Tranmere in League One. Good things, I hear you say! For tonights game I’m going all out, I expect free flowing attacking football possibly with one or two early goals. Probable Line up: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Eboue, Van Persie Arshavin Subs: Mannone, Silvestre, Vela, Gibbs, Merida, Wilshere, Ramsay Verdict: AZ 0 Arsenal 4 The match is live at 19:45 on Hi Sports 2 Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 11:46am On Oct 23, 2009 |
Feeling a little lazy this morning, pulled a groin muscle at the astro turf yesterday so I'm not quite there yet. With no electricity and a faulty generator, I've missed nearly all the good footie in the last week. With the prospect of a working generator this weekend, I hope to renew all my subscriptions today; HiTV, IPNX and ATVO, I guess I also have to apologize for missing a few days on the blog, sorry? Yesterday, Arsene turned 60! What can I say? Erm, nothing really that hasn't been said before. Everything that was said at the 13th anniversary still applies so let's not overflog the issue. What however was unique was the way he spent it; AGM in the morning, training ground in the afternoon (maybe), Europa League in the Evening (seing Everton get thrashed 5-0). All I can say is that Arsene is a complete football man. His address at the AGM earned him a standing ovation from the audience who applauded both his contributions to the club, as well as the quality and content of his entire presentation. Unlike the apparently bumbling Peter Hill-Wood, Arsene and CEO Ivan Gazidis exuded a high level of confidence reflecting both a personalisation of the clubs values as well as the direction the club is headed. As expected, Stan Kroenke was asked about his intentions for the club and as Dave Moyes responded when asked about his altercation with Victor Anichebe, he just smiled and refused to answer. Chairman Hill-Wood in an attempt to explain his silence referred to the fact that regulators from the takeover panel were breathing over the necks of the board and he was restrained from commenting due to the restrictions of the city code. He said; "I believe that he is very happy as a long-term shareholder of the club. He sees it as a good investment and I agree with him. Getting involved in what his intentions may or may not be is not something I can discuss. There are rules and regulations and I have to be terribly careful what I say. Our lawyers have asked me to keep my mouth shut." The Code states: "The person making the statement may [not] within six months from the date of the statement announce an offer or possible offer for the offeree company. What this means is that if he says he will bid, he cannot bid for the club within six months. However, if he does not make any statements (public or private) on the matter, he may bid at any time. Dodgy you say? Let's wait to hear the reaction from Alisher Usmanov who did not attend the AGM. Methinks Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith might just hold the cards to who ends up taking over the club! Till then let's keep it all about the football! So Andrei Arshavin could have joined Tottenham! Kini Big Deal! People forget he could also have joined Barcelona before that. What matters now is that he plays for Arsenal and seems to be enjoying it here. Ok he says we play the second best football next to Barca. Most people think the same so it's fair he's probably at the best place to express himself. He's a wild spark - that Arshavin and I like it. I believe his ability to voice his opinions will help him settle better both as a player and as a family man. Nevertheless, Arsene is convinced that the long wait for silverware will end this season. Speaking at the club's AGM, he said; "I know that we have not won a trophy for four years but we were very close. I believe as well that this team, this year, will do it. And when I said that it is not to please you, it is because I am really convinced of it." "We have developed the team in the last four or five years with a tremendous amount of work to develop the players like we want. I believe strongly this year. I believe that this team is ready to go for it in the Premier League, in the Champions League and in the cups. I am convinced that we will perform throughout the season." "We know it is very tight, so it will be down to how resilient, how consistent, how intelligent and how united we will be until the end because there will be periods where it will be a bit more difficult. It is not always about just pumping money into the teams. There is something more magical in our sport because it is a team sport." It's no news that last year Arsene admitted that all was not well with the team and we needed one or two additions to the squad. The signing of Andrey Arshavin and Thomas Vermaelen coupled with the return to fitness of Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo have added impetus to the belief as the team had played for nearly two years without the benefit of these players. Personally, I believe that this year we are closer that ever and we only need to capitalise on our advantage. We are scoring many goals and as Wenger rightly said, we look like we will concede less goals this season. This surely are the major ingredients to a title-winning season. Fingers crossed then, we'll all see come May. The Arsenal chairman was also quizzed about the financial impact of non-qualification for the Champions League emergence of Tottenham and Aston Villa as a threat to the Big Four. He said; "We have always budgeted for not being in the Champions League one in every four years, so we are ready for it but I don't think it will necessarily happen. I don't consider them [Villa and Tottenham] rivals really. I think we are going to be up there." On transfers, he had this to say; "We haven't got $500 billion to put into the club, but over the last five years we have spent £150 million on players and brought in about £90 million through sales. Good players don't grow on trees. We have spent money, but not recklessly." Fair enough for those who say we are a club in crisis! Ahead of the West Ham game tomorrow, we are boosted by the news of Eduardo's return. Rosicky and Bendtner are rated at 50:50Speaking also on the return of Nasri and Fabianski and on injuries, Wenger said; "It is possible [they will be included] but it depends on our needs. Ideally Nasri will need the game against Liverpool to be completely part of the squad again. So it depends on the urgency. Denilson should be available in four weeks and Johan Djourou will be March" He's not definite on the issue of who will start in goal although he has offerred a clue by saying our goalkeepers are capable playing down the errors of young goalkeeper. All I've got to say on this is that I still expect Almunia to get back into the side. However, if Mannone starts then Almunia has been dropped! End of Story! We play a West Ham team struggling for form at the moment and it's games like this that we need to simply kill the opposition. Pass them to death and bury them at home! In some bizarre news, we've been linked with 19 year old Inter Striker Mario Balotelli and apparently Arsenal scouts watched him last weekend in Inter's 5-0 win at Genoa. Anyways, that's all for today. More tomorrow |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by mukina2: 1:35pm On Oct 23, 2009 |
hmm not bad nice . . . |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Nobody: 4:34pm On Oct 23, 2009 |
mukina2:  |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:18am On Oct 24, 2009 |
As expected I was up at five-thirty this morning to get revenge at the neighbours for the weeks I’ve spent listening to the noise of their own generators. I figured I could get some laundry done and check out the news before morning plus it had rained at night so I didn’t have to bother about washing the car. The old Elemax has been blaring for two hours now and I’m loving it – as always. I’ve also had to retire my favourite pair of football boots this morning, they’d served me for erm… 8 months?and have now started to feel the effects of one too many encounters with flying studs, the cage and smelly feet! Thanks Steam! You were always the best! I’ve got a pair of Mecurials I got at the same time that I’ve never really used. That should serve me till Christmas when I splurge on the new CTR 360 or maybe even the Mecurial Vapor Superfly! If you’re wondering what this is all about, you shouldn’t be reading this blog. I just love my footie and like to strut about in style. If you think Bendtner is vain, try The Green Gooner! That said, West Ham tomorrow is a perfect opportunity for us to get another 3 points on the road and hope that Utd and Liverpool play out a bore draw (cheeky!) that would see us go top should we win our game in hand and every other game till then. Daunting you say? At least Robin Van Persie believes it and so does Arshavin. Speaking ahead of the West Ham game, RVP had this to say; “We’re very encouraged by other teams dropping points. When you look at last weekend, Liverpool lost three points, Chelsea lost. In our last eight league games, we’ve won six so it’s looking good for us. As long as we stay consistent against the smaller teams. We need to keep winning the three points against them. Last season we had some bad spells. We had four draws as well back-to-back so we have to avoid that.” Our Russian ace also had this to say; ‘Arsene is extremely revered at the club and deservedly so. After all, with Arsenal he has won everything in recent history. There was a time when they were always winning. Maybe this time will come again. Suddenly this season, something could change. I hope this season will be better, but it has just begun. There is no order (from the board) telling us what they expect from us. We all understand well that the task we always face is to win.’ Although Arsene will wait till after today’s training session to determine if Nicklas Bendtner makes the squad, Tomas Rosicky has definitely been ruled out of tomorrow’s game as he has failed to recover from his injury. This could mean a chance for Nasri on the bench with Walcott still out. Nevertheless he’s asked us all to come to the game on Sunday to see who will be in goal! Speaking on the issue of goalkeepers, he said; “I wouldn’t say Manuel is no longer our automatic first choice, but Vito has come in and done well. It is always difficult with these kinds of decisions. You could say our job is to be unfair sometimes to players. You don’t want to be but some time you have to, no matter what decisions you make sometimes you are unfair to one or two players.” Enough said on that! I trust that Arsene will be able to strike a balance betweeen what is best for the team as well as the morale of individual players as we have several big games in the coming weeks and uncertainty is a certain way of dampening morale in a team. This comes on the heels of his revelation that he considered bringing Matthew Upson back to the club. He said; “I knew when he left that he will make a big career, but at that moment when Matthew was here, he was impatient and that I could understand as well because I bought him at Luton and after a few years he didn’t play here. I didn’t stop him [going] because I knew he had qualities to play in the Premier League but he had players in front of him that stopped him. I knew he would [make it]. He had Premier League quality and had the potential to be international quality . He is there now because he is at the right age for a central defender and for a few years now he has not been stopped by injuries which was his problem for a while.” If a young player is impatient, he may not quite understand why he isn’t playing and in eagerness seek a move elsewhere. Nevertheless if the quality is there, he will always be able to keep playing at the highest level and as they say, you win some you lose some! In some positive news last night, Heri Lansbury scored two goals as Watford beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 at home in the Championship. Nevertheless, we face a West Ham team who have picked up only two points since the opening day of the season and face tremendous pressure from all angles to avoid being stuck in the relegation rut early on. A full match preview will be available on the blog tomorrow. From next week, I will be joined on the blog by none other than slimgooner a.k.a slimshay from Nairaland. He’ll be starting off by writing the pre-match analysis for the next few weeks. This is in addition to the daily (hopefully) blog posts and hopefully we can take it on from there. Till tomorrow…let’s spam the Sp*rs forum on Nairaland! Cheerio! |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by kaypumpin2(m): 7:59pm On Oct 24, 2009 |
Ahononai is the Gooner?  ~Gooner~:Oh to be a Gooner. . . I took the fixture list to my in-laws house on the day we were deliberating on what day my traditional wedding will take place.I made sure the day and date did not coincide with anything Arsenal.I am proud to tell you my mother in-law who hitherto had a passive interest in football is now an ardent fan of Arsenal.She calls to confirm the scores when she's unable to watch the match.  |
| Re: The Green Gooner - An Arsenal Blog by Gooner2(m): 8:16pm On Oct 24, 2009 |
Mukina2, Cristalz What happened to my blog posts from this morning? Do you have a new policy on my daily posts? Taking it off the Arsenal thread could be understandable but deleting it from it's own thread? Come on! You can do better than that. Waas it I because I suggested we should all spam the Sp*rs message board? I need answers NOW or does my alter ego have to ask too? |
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