Morning Grovers!
First up… a record! Well played everyone, we nailed 1000 comments!
That is a massive achievement considering all we talk about is Arsenal all day long… It wasn’t so long ago that me and Geoff were high fiving over 17 comments in a day… oh how times have changed!
So well done to Geoff for a great post and well done to the Grovers for making this site the best place to be if you are Gooner!
So, what of the game?
Well, first things first. We’ve had a pretty poor summer Arsenal wise and it was going to be interesting to see how the gates would be affected by the poor start and the exodus of players…
Well, I can shamefully tell you all that the ground was disgracefully empty. Now before anyone tells me the compere said there was 61,120 people in the stadium… Let met tell you that the figure he shares is based on tickets sold. The Grove must have been below 56,000 last night and that is a real shame (Club Level and the normal seats were equally bad).
The starting line up looked a little like this:
Almunia
Sagna JD Gallas Clichy
Nasri Denilson Cesc Walcott
RvP Nik
Not a bad line up and in my eyes and all the right players had been dropped… sorry Ade/Kolo/Eboue.
The most apparent thing about our midfield was the lack of presence, they are like children out there… I originally thought it was just a height issue, but Nasri is 5ft11 apparently? I think it is more down to the lack of bulk. We don’t have and Essien or an Anderson… I hope Wenger takes that into account when signing a player.
The game went pretty much as planned… we over powered them with technical ability and held onto the ball nicely. Twente were a weak team and showed little imagination or interest in chasing the game.
There weren’t to many thrills and spills, so I’ll give you the player ratings and hopefully that will give you a good idea of where we stand.
Almunia: Had bugger all to do all day. 6
Clichy: Pretty quiet all game. He did a lovely back heel tackle in the first half which I though was pretty cool. Other than that, very muted. 6
JD: This guy attacks the ball unlike Kolo and Gallas. He has a major physical presence and a calmness on the ball Big Phil could only dream of… I really rate him and I hope he proves many doubters wrong. Solid performance and even a cheeky half volley to his name. I for one hope the partnership of Gallas and JD is a sign of things to come! 7
Gallas: Ok, I am in a minority here, but I rate him. He defended pretty well today and popped up for a goal after following in a Nikki B shot. He needs to regulate his attitude when things are going wrong, but there is no doubting his quality for me. 7
Sagna: Like his buddy Clichy, pretty quiet but with little to do… why over exert yourself? 6
Nasri: Picked the ball up outside the box, jinked inside, powered into the box and duffed it past the keeper. He also steamed into a couple of slide tackles without any regard for his safety… how unHleb like? Just what we need right! Oh… and incase you didn’t know… Hleb is struggling at Barca… mwhaha! After watching him a few times now, I can safely say this boy is going to be special. He is so much more interested in going forward than Hleb ever was. I love the way he pops up all over the park almost in a Pires like manner. 8
Denilson: Come on… do we really think this man has what it takes this year? Ok, so he set up Nik with a nice back heel… but lets not get all ‘Don’t you remember Eboue’s cross’ about this. He is not ready to take a starting berth. Maybe one day… but not now… buy someone for this century Arsene. 6
Cesc: A bit rusty today, but that is to be expected. Nice to have him back in the team… Nasri and Cesc look like brothers from afar (Geoff and I thought Cesc got the first). It is nice to have the ring master back in the team. 7
Walcott: Geoff said he was great… I said he was poor… Theo said I’ll have a goal and score it right in front of you and do it in a most Thierryesque way. Great goal, great effort and hopefully a sign of things to come. He looked hungry to prove the doubters wrong tonight and I think that goal will take a lot of pressure off his shoulders 10 (<- He is English so he gets a 10 ok?)… Just kidding. 7.5
RvP: Did a whole lot of nothing tonight. Shot wide with and open goal… hit a tame free kick… and that was about it. He didn’t get injured though! I don’t know what is up with RvP, is he trying to play in his comfort zone for protection? Is he low on confidence? Maybe he just needs a goal… come on RvP get it together man! 6
Nikki: Set up 2 goals and constantly tried to integrate himself into play. He even managed to get on the score sheet tonight after latching onto a Denilson back heel. Nik is a player that polarizes opinion… some say he is no more than a Championship player, some say he could be better than Ade. I think he is going to be a good player, lets see! 7
Subs
Ade: Came on to a chorus of boo’s/cheers… didn’t really do much in his limited minutes on the pitch. 6
Song: Played ok… got stuck in, but I’m still unsure of his role. Tonight he played in the defensive midfield role, but Arsene said he’d play CB? Lets see! 6
Eboue: Made a few nice runs, passed well and did ok by his standards. He was played out wide again… be thankful because that means the DM dream has died for Arsene. 6
So in conclusion, we played ok and got the job done. Lets remember though… we did it against a Steve Maclaren team… that is like beating an under 16′s team and bragging about it. I just hope Arsene doesn’t use this game as justification for a weak squad with a massive hole in the heart of the team.
Ade / RvP and Cesc all need to sharpen up in a speedy manner if we are to have any sort of impact on the Premiership. If Arsene signs a player, we need to pray he is a leader and a healthy leader at that.
Lots of work to be done, just be thankful we’ve banked £20million and pray Wenger spends it.
We’re back on track Grovers! Have a great day!
H’ Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, Bate Borisov
G’ Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev
F’ Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
E’ Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg
D’ Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
C’ Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk
B’ Internazionale, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta
A’ Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, CFR Cluj
i was hoping we would have got Celtic aswell.
NOW go out and buy the DM because we’re not going to qualify from this group with Eboue or Denilson partnering Cesc, one of those 2 cnuts is liable to get fcuking sent off away from home!!
Porto – Win, Draw
Fernabache -W,D
Kiev – W,W
Happy days!
hahahaha nice one Maryland Gunner you tell them .
i think ours group is almost no. 2 in tough ranking
passionate teams with volatile supporters.
and each one of the teams ( maybe not kiev) have an ace which can turn the match around in a blink of eye.
Don’t want to see any match with Denilson and Eboue in middle
Nope, Chavs they’ve got Roma and Bordeaux, I’d rather Fener and Porto.
We have 2 middleweights, 1 light middleweight , Chavs have a heavyweight a middleweight and a featherweight.
We’ll get through that draw, 3 home wins on the cards, points on our travels.
Got to admit that way they do that draw is suspect,
I know you cant pick out the team but you could easily choose which group they go into with the way they selected the balls. That bloke wasnt exactly looking away was he
Running out to Starbucks . . . I need to drown my woes in a cup of joe.
H
G
D
F
E
C
A
B
I just hope we get the Kiev away game done early before their Winter kicks in
Yup exactly Odub…agree with that, we could get a win in Turkey and Portugal…
not a bad group, it could have been much much worse. Be thankful we’ve got Dynamo Kiev not Atletico or Fiorentina…..
C
H
A
V
S
B
L
O
W
M
A
N
C
S
D
O
T
O
O
I wouldn’t count Fenerbahce as middle weight
Porto – yes
We got a two heavyweights , one middle weight and one unknown rookie who could be Mike Tyson or a sofie depending on the day
pat
if we get Kiev in winter forget about it!! All our african players will be screwed!!
Anyone remember Kanu V Kiev or Moscow? when he had to come off at half time?
He had on a roll neck jumper, ski glooves, long johns and ear muffs!!
i know ur very optimistic odub
but i see the following
Porto – A – D H- W
Fb – A – D/L H -W
DK – A-D/L H- D/W
So we might end up with 8 points upto 12
All will depend on How DK play with Fb and Porto
No, we are much better than Dynamo Kiev, 6 points expected.
Fenerbache are good but not superb….
A few ex-brazillian, Colin Kazim-Richards….nothing to be too concerned about………
How is F’ Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
easier than our group….no way.
Fiorentina is better than Dynamo Kiev.
Bayern Munich is better than Porto.
Wouldn’t want that…
George . . . no away wins. Quite the optimist you are.
Let’s hope our first game in September is Kiev away!
Nope…
D.Kiev Home win Away win
Fenerbahche Hoe win Away in/Draw
Porto Home win Away win/draw
And Wenger won’t have an excuse to chuck on Ramsey so that’s a bonus.
Is Luzhney the coach at Keiv?
A long as we play them away in the first three matches we’ll beat them.
We should win all three at home. We’ll definately qualify and probably win the group
Finest is right:
Bayern – have won this a few times
Lyon – almost knocked Man U out last season (Have a few players that we wanted)
Fiorentina – Could go either way
In the end, we need to put a CL squad together that plays together, wins together. We had a great run in 2005/2006, and for the most part, it was the same group game in, and game out.
Agree with finest, and if we don’t see this as an easy draw, then god save us. There was a time (01-05), when we wanted the biggest teams in our group, and sometimes, we needed a Cashley late goal against kiev to take us through to KO. We used to be underachiever back then. Now we need to play out of our skin.
Okay, I’ll Cut the pessimism, I believe this is a good draw.
It’s an alright group, 4th best group….it’s not easy street but nothing we can’t cope with, we should win the group.
I just worry about our inexperienced lads away at any of those 3 venues.
Wont be for the faint hearted. They’ll have to man up big time!
Still think we’ll beat Ferna home and away and draw away to the other 2.
so the spuds get roman pavlyuchenko and apparently we are poised to get the £12 million jonathan guzman as flem’s replacement,would’ve preferred inler or cana though…shyte draw,turkey doesnt look pleasant in winter
Geoff
When do we find out who we are playing first and whether it is home or away?
Any of you lot going to the Kiev game away?
I agree Finest, and that is why we are Top Seeds. The other teams in our group are sitting there saying,” this is the team that shafted AC, we are fucked”.
Get real boys, Arsenal are a great team, and feared throughout Europe.
Finest
When is it?
Yet to be announced….if you’re worried about travel costs there is a cheap way to get there, get a cheap flight to Poland and get a train from Warsaw to Kiev…
Hotels in Kiev should be very affordable.
Finest
How long does it take to get to Kiev from Warsaw by train?
I’ll just check…
Going back to last night.Apart from the empty seats at the start,can anyone else who was at the game explain the mass exodus with ten minutes left.By the end of the game i reckon the stadium was half empty.I am getting raelly pissed off with these so called fans.
You can get a sleeper which leaves Warsaw at 2130 and arrives in Kiev at 1440.
Finest
I have just Google Earthed it. They are bloody miles away from each other…
swp joins man city
Paul
The club are just as much to blame for the empty seats; their exchange programme is pathetic. Would you know how to exchange a ticket if you wanted to?
Yup, but the train from Warsaw to Kiev is about 100 euros return.
exactly,teams always fear us in CL games,we usually start things slow but wrap it up midway through the campaign,we have a decent chance here,..melanie visions will let me sleep well tonight
You’d probably be better off getting a direct flight from London, it’ll cost 278.50 GBP
http://travel.kelkoo.co.uk/172201/t_Kiev.html
Porto’s good value as well……lots of cheap flights to Portugal.
If anyone is off to Kiev, let me know, I’m gonna try and get a ticket for that game.
Finest
I think I will wait and see what the travel club have to offer.
what a fucking crap draw, and suprise suprise, the manc scummers get a piss weak group!
3 home wins and an away win in Kiev is all we need to qualify….we can win all of those games at the Emirates.
sorry bout the late comment, just got in from work. I need a fkn stella now!
Finest
I will definately be going to Portugal and Turkey, I was just wondering about the Ukraine.
Yup, good idea, I’d probably opt for that option if I was in London.
Barca have an easy draw…and Inter….Panathinaikos and Farmagousta, piece of piss for them.
Nasri recalled for france for next week friendly which means a few of our lads have another pointless international .
anyone know who we play first etc thanks
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/saturday-s-key-battles-arsenal-v-newcastle
Kolo Toure is back for Newcastle…
Paul, I left early as well, it was part of my protest, when we saw everyone else go we thought, I hope the board and the manager are watching and seeing us treat them with the same disdain as we are being treated with, a kind of don’t take our support for granted.
NOOOOOOOOOO
Let Djourou play
Please Please Please no more favorites
Fitzman stated that if wenger wants to buy the money is there,no amount mentioned.in an interview after the draw. no excuses then.
i ask again,do we know who we play when.
has anyone seen the fixtures for these games yet lolllllllllllllllllllllll……….
blackburn a kiev a bolton a all in a row.lol:o
Fizman is trying to make it as clear as he possibly can that Wenger is responsible for the signings or lack of and not him.
Kiev is in 2 weeks time, I better try and get a ticket sharpish, any Grovers going to Kiev?
match day 1 is 16/17 sept
wish it is kiev away
we need cana for these 3 matches
can we borrow him for 3 mathces?
*matches
let’s get one psycho pls
Robbie savage anyone ?
saw arsenal tv at 7pm wenger denied being interested in deguzman.
cant believe we play on the same day as Man U.
Remember this ITV1 will not show ANY of our games, they will always be on ITV4.
I like the CL draw, lets hope there is a new DM in the squad that can help out.
Looking forward to the toon on the weekend.
De Guzman it is.
if wenger says no
it is a high probability
We seem to be rapidly running out of contenders for the CM slot. getting really concerned now
His agent has said his value is too high for Wenger so he says it wont happen.. So I don’t seee where you’re coming from GrahamGeorge
Ok . . . I have sat on the sidelines for long enough. I was hoping that it would not come to this. I have a co-ed game tonight. I will call the manager, let him know that I will not be joining the team. I am booking my first flight to London. Arsene, I hear your call, and I am on my way . . .
Wouldn’t that be lovely
.
I still think collectively and spiritually we are well covered in central midfield.
Evening all… sorry for my lack precence today… I know you’ve missed me and stuff… haha!
What is going on?
Any transfer movement?
Paulinho, you must have missed Denilison’s stunning performance on Saturday. It is the depth that we need. We need an enforcer. Fulham played us physical. There are certain truth’s to Arsenal’s style of play: We don’t like cold weather, we like to pass alot, we don’t like to be bumped or pushed on the pitch, and the majority of our players are porcelain dolls. They are absolutely beautiful to look at and watch . . . but if you are not careful, and you drop one . . . well, they are no longer worth anything.
We need a Viera “esque” player. Where that player is coming from is anyone’s guess at this point. Many of the grovers are right . . . the players that we were looking at arent moving.
pedro… haven’t you sent rico my address???
And another point . . . FC Twente was playing us physical (Albeit for a bit). Teams know that this is a weak spot for Arsenal. Why do you think that we have struggled with the Bolton’s, Wigan’s, Chelsea’s . . . physical play.
We have to win, even when we are not on our game.
Pedro . . . the only transfers at this point are me shifting from one cheek to the other, as my bum went numb watching the UEFA “random” CL drawing.
Match Day 1
Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal
Wednesday 17th September 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Valery Lobanovskiy, Kyiv
Match Day 2
Arsenal v FC Porto
Tuesday 30th September 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Emirates Stadium
Match Day 3
Fenerbahçe SK V Arsenal
Tuesday 21st October 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium , Istanbul
Match Day 4
Arsenal v Fenerbahçe SK
Wednesday 5th November 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Emirates Stadium
Match Day 5
Arsenal v Dynamo Kyiv
Tuesday 25th November 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Emirates Stadium
Match Day 6
FC Porto v Arsenal
Wednesday 10th December 2008
Kick Off: 20:45 CET
To be played at Estádio do Dragão, Portugal
for anybody who didn’t know,found it at last
Finest, that key battles is often bullshit, i know from doing fantasy footie last year it was often wrong.
On the CL draw, its a bad group, but we’re the best team in it, let the other teams worry, we’re going through, the others will nick points off each other.
That is a nice draw for us… jeez…
Choy, I e-mailed Rico the address on the day of receiving it?
Tell rico to e-mail Le Grove and I will forward it on!
So no news on Alonso (Tiny) or Inler (even tinier).
Maryland, I am with you… a bit of brut.
Actually, I’m not… we need someone the same as Flamini… out style wouldn’t suit a brut. We need a box to box DM. I just can’t think of anyone who plays like that these days?
Gattuso in his prime… is that so much to ask for?
Pierre, we are going through. Remember lads, its all about away goals. Don’t let em score at home, and rip ‘em apart when you are away.
I feel pretty good about our group. It won’t be a cake walk, but we will make it through. Hopefully by then, all of our injured signings and wounded players will be fit, and ready to roll. It will be like having a new team. Can’t wait for January!
Do Chelsea, United, Liverpool have better midfields than us? I have to say, I’m not convinced.
I hope its not minus 14c in Kiev in mid Sept. Our boys won’t cope.
Better is a “fluid” concept. I would say that they have more experience, and that they have a different approach. Remember, Arsene gets bashed because of his approach to the game (Well, I guess it doesn’t help that he hasn’t won a thing in 4 years . . . who am I to judge). He breaks the perverbial football mold with his signings and his tatical approach.
Chelsea’s response to not winning is to throw more money at the problem. Manchester United have some old fogies playing in the midfield. I don’t think that Man U. are going to win the title this year. If we want to make the sift back to winning ways, this would be the season to start.
Gonner . . . send them “care” packages. That should take care of them quite nicely:
* Hot Chocolate – Check
* Wool Gloves – Check
* Chicken Noodle Soup – Check
* Blankie – Check
They will be fine.
Only joking MG, I’m just going all ‘Wenger’ on you.
Of course they have a better midifield and of course we need more depth.
Is that a serious question Paulinho?
Lets take the look
Chavski
Deco, Malouda, Joe Cole, Lumpalard, Essien, Ballack, Obi Makel, (Robinho to come)
Man Ure
Scholes, Giggs, Hargreaves, Carrick, Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani, Fletcher, Ji Sung Park
Liverpool
Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Benayoun, Pennant, Babel, Lucas, Plessis, (Riera to come)
Arsenal
Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott, Diaby, Denilson, Song, Ramsey, Bischoff, Wilshire
I am convinced they all have better midfields that us. It doesnt help that Rosicky and Diaby are always injured.
I hope Ade hasn’t been teaching “how to control the ball like a pelican” to Nikki B
Thank god for that you had me worried
Out of those four midfields if I could chose I would have a 5 man line up with
Ronaldo, Gerrard, Essien, Fabregas, Robinho
Truth be told we are lucky we are not going to Kiev in December. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Just thought you guys would be interested in this.
check this link out – I heard this evening we was interested in this player, but googled him and if you scroll down you will see the comment ‘Signed for Arsenal Football club on August 28th 2008′
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Matuidi
Just thoughy you guys would be interested in this. I heard we were interested in him, but if you scroll down the page you see the comment ‘signed for Arsenal ffootball Club on August 28th 2008′
A Holding midfielder but experienced?? I’m not so sure!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Matuidi
Has anyone heard that we have signed Blaise Matuidi?
Yeah Pierre I know about the key battles, sometimes they put them on and they select a different player, I hope that’s the case this time. It’s still summer on Sep 17th, it’s the perfect time to play Kiev away…..I’ll give Arsenal a call tomorrow and see what the situ is…hardly anyone is going to make the trek to Kiev….I might be one of the only supporters there.
Wotcha Grovers, in late. Good game last night but FC Twente were fucking awful. Lets hope Newcastle are as woeful, but I doubt it. Good to see the RvP/Ade axis broken up. Bendtner put in a bit of a comedy performance but never stopped trying, which is nice. I thought denilson showed heart but echo the need for more experience in the centre of the park. Lovely draw for the CL: yet more trips to sunny Russia.
Let’s hope we don’t require a point from our last game. Porto away is a tough ask.
But, I am absolutely convinced we will top the group
Guys – please see link below
Seems like we have signed this Mauidi guy. No news broke officially yet – but I googled him and if you scroll down the page – you will see the comment
‘Signed for Arsenal Football Club on 28th August 2008′
A holding midfielder at last – But experienced?? I don’t think so. Does anyone know anything of him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Matuidi
So who is this Blaise Matuidi we are supposedly buying (SSN and others)
Anyone know him. all I can find is that he is 21 (= resell value to Comical Wenger) and plays for St Etienne (Not the band Saint Etienne)
I’m convinced we’ll beat Kiev away, I might take on the bookie to have my trip to Kiev sponsored.
I agree Finest,
But It think we have been lucky with the order of the games, I think it would have been a different proposition if we had been going there in November
Yup definitely, plus it’s the first CL game….best to get off to a winning start.
transfer movement. some 21 year old from st ettiene? london based reporter on sky sports news said we are close to a deal.
Finest, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Dosvedonya. Da. Niet. Get to know these words. They will help you on your journey to mother Russia.
Mentioned him above Kingsley
Never heard of him, so lets hope if it is him then he turns out to be another Sagna quality signing.
Would still prefer an experienced player, even if they dont have a resell value
I assume this guy is a midfielder?
never seen him play. was linked with inter milan tho.
Some kid said this:
“I have seen Matuidi and what Ive seen of him i can say he is quality, he is a good link up player with an eye for goal hes very quick and aggressive
he also has alot of skill. he works well with the young highly rated Gomis who is also a French international at saint Etienne.”
Gomis is a poor man’s Adebayor so if Matuidi comes he will link up with Ade as well? This could be a last minute joby.
London is more dangerous than Kiev Maryland, but thanks, I’ll make sure I have my nice and safe attitude with me, I’m not worried about going on my travels, I won’t be flashing my colours about until I get into the stadum. All I need to do is ask the cab driver to take me to the stadium from the station (I’ll ask a buddy of mine who speaks russian to teach me all the important phrases before I go), then maybe go to the pub with some Gooners, get a cab back to the hotel, I won’t put myself in harms way
Yep, apparently a deep lying playmaker.
q
The young French midfielder Wenger is apparently looking at sounds like a PV4 all over again or maybe Wenger thinks it will be.
The problem with getting out muscled isn’t so bad in European football as most of the refs are not biased (Bent). I say most refs as the Dutchman Pool chose in last years competition certainly was bent.
In England we have always had a reputation for fair play but this is very far from the truth. I believe most refs in our League are either bent or just accept that football in our League is a cross between football and Rugby.
Go to the park on a weekend and see the mentality of park players for yourself. You will rarely see anything with a modicum of skill and if you do the oppositions first action is to destroy the superior opponent. It is not enjoyable to play football at any age in England and most games end up with a fight or worse a riot taking place.
As an Arsenal fan all I ask is that IF the Fulham,Boltons and Wigans of the world kick Bollock and Bite the likes of the Mancscum as they do us. If all was fair and level I believe we would come out on top of them every single time. It never turns out this way and for us to win the League it would take extraordinary levels of football to do so.
Mancs can say yes but we won in Europe but if you look deeper it was probably as much about luck as it was about being a great team. The Mancscums record in Europe is not as good as they like to tell us and the reason is that IF they are the so called biggest Club in the whole wide world then they are failing. They are in Europe what the Spuds are in our League. The occasional cup win every 10 years. Remember they are the self professed biggest Club ever in the whole wide world. Makes you wonder why the European footballer of the year would want to trade down to the also rans of Real Madrid.
Back to my point, we don’t need a fucking hard nut if the rules of the game were adhered to in England but they are not. The thing is our opponents even openly tell the media that they are going to bully us and still we get no protection.
This is also why all the fans who bother to follow Engerland will never see us get better no matter who is in charge.
Sorry Sol, you were stuck in moderation!
You are free to roam now!
My Russian is not what it used to be, but I know all the dirty words . . . that must count for something . . . right?
UEFA Champions League Matchday One followed by an away game against Bolton Wanderers
UEFA Champions League Matchday two followed by an away game against Sunderland
UEFA Champions League Matchday three followed by an away game against West Ham United
UEFA Champions League Matchday four followed by a home game against Manchester United
UEFA Champions League Matchday five followed by an away game against Chelsea
UEFA Champions League Matchday six followed by an away game against Middlesbrough
Which french midfielder?
Choy . . . this is really encouraging news.
Please note the “sarcasm” in my last response.
http://goonertalk.com/2008/08/28/reports-saint-etiennes-matuidi-close-to-gunners-move/
maryland.. in simple words… we’re fucked!
Ahh… another experienced pro with premiership experience.
We will win the league for sure!
Choy . . . tisk tisk. Have more faith. It’s all about strategy. I will give it to the Mugsmashers, they have the strategy down. You don’t have to spank every team you play, you just need to win the games that count.
I don’t care if we draw every game on the road. I just want to make sure that we don’t loose a single one at home. We are going to take some bumps along the way.
This is where the “depth” issue comes into play. Chelsea have 3 subs for each position. We can barely keep our 15 year olds match fit. It is really tough to compete on 3 fronts (EPL, CL, and FA Cup . . . I left out the oh so important Carling Cup . . . it’s shyte). That is the real challenge.
I fancy our chances in the CL. It’s the EPL that I don’t want to slip up. No more streaks of draws. That will be the kiss of death this season. Let’s avoid that lads.
Pedro . . . look at the bright side of things . . . he is legal to drink.
maryland.. faith is one thing.. and reality is another!!
those away PL games are really really tough.. we did pretty well last year but it was after that we struggled.. any injuries to key players and i fear the worst…
Pedro, how do I change my little picture to something cool? Is that the Website slot below my e-mail on the Leave a Reply section?
SSN (MUTV)
I am very close to never watching this sports news channel again as every time I switch it on th eMancscum are on it.
Choy, reality says that we will win some games this season, and we shall draw some as well. Since Arsene and I have stopped e-mailing each other, I have to assume that he knows what he is doing now.
I made this point before, but it’s not always about winning 3-0. Sometimes it’s the 1-0 win that matters (Arsenal 1 v. Chelsea 0). That is how we went 49 unbeaten. It is what it is.
Superb Choy
Didn’t the Spastic one complain about this kind of thing the other year.
Matchday 4 CL mate before the Mancscum is it away ?
Maryland… open a wordpress account here:
http://www.wordpress.com
Then go to users, click your name and it gives you an option to add and avatar.
Add whatever the hell you like and wait a couple hours!
Then you are avatared up to the max!
At least he looks big…
UEFA Champions League Matchday One (a) Bolton Wanderers(a)
UEFA Champions League Matchday two (h) Sunderland (a)
UEFA Champions League Matchday three(a) followed by an away game against West Ham United
UEFA Champions League Matchday four (h)followed by a home game against Manchester United
UEFA Champions League Matchday five(h) followed by an away game against Chelsea
UEFA Champions League Matchday six(a) followed by an away game against Middlesbrough
Maryland you are right a win is a win but some teams who we struggle to beat 1-0 get hammered by the Mancscum because they lay down and die. I bet Portsmouth are flying against us but they lost to both our main rivals. I bet Fulham get caned by both of them because they just let them roll them over. As for the Northern Cartel, well we all know already how it works, rough up the pitshes and kick t shit out of em.
morning/evening all
Oleh Luzhny is assistant coach at dynamo!
The only saviour we have oop North is Citeh and they went and hired an ex employee of the red nosed one and posssibly Boro.
We have the wrath of all the Northern Cartel and the local Derbys which are pure hatred.
Bolton fans V the Mancscum will hate them but Bolton V the Arsenal they will support their local Northerners.
The Shammers, Spuds, Chavs and even Fulham hate us but probably would help the Mancscum to stop us winning the Prem.
Cheers Choy.
Truthfully, I am not worried about Man Ure. Chelsea are due for a loss at home. I want to see us get back on the horse. That is the biggest thing right now. Newcastle is on Saturday. They are playing with some verve. We need to bring them back to reality with a 2-0 whooping.
so ive read on goonernews articles that people still expect alonso in? i would find it strange that he’s played a big part in their season start and then they would just sell him off?
stranger things have happened at sea though….
Hi Evo
We never beat the USSR teams. I was talking about the draw on Wednesday night with fellow Gooners and predicted that we would get one of the former Soviet teams. Fenebache is also a bollocks draw as they have fanatical support home and away.
Pedro . . . thanks mate.
I think the worst thing that could have happened for us regaring Alonso was Gerrard getting injured as they will need him unless they sign someone first.
What the fuck is it with us and injuries. We are jinxed.
im now expecting we will sign no one else as the same crap lines are coming out of arse.com as last year saying the cash is there if wenger has some1 in mind.
surely he has players in mind, he claimed he once had a list of 220 names, so just pick one off that list and buy them in!
gday El Tel
Evo, the problem is we want a BMW on a Ford Focus budget.
Yeah i agree evo.. Wonder what happened to that list
El Tel, I was playing this past spring, hurt my ankle, and was only able to play after a 8 week break. You would think that because these guys do this for a living that they would be more “fit” if you will. I find that I am yelling at the tube, not because of poor play (Well yes, I do . . . let’s be honest MD), rather that our players don’t get injured. It is simply too much to bear loosing players to injuries all the time.
Hi Guys had to change the name to get an Avatar I think. Here goes.
Has anyone else heard what Ian Wright said on Talksport, that he had been told that TH14 was having a medical in Manchester, before signing for Man-”SCUM” Utd? IF TRUE I WOULD BE GUTTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tough to fathom. I think that Barca have big plans for him this year. I would be really surprised. Plus he is cup tied until February. That would not do them much good.
Hi Evo
Maryland
I gave up playing years ago and i watched my boys play for school and Club teams and although they are very skillfull the thugs or hard runners got picked or bullyed the skillfull guys.
My youngest son was six foot two at 14 years of age and was very tall at junior school. Where do you think he was played by all the Managers/Coaches at School/Clubs?
Just heard Fizman come out in defence of Arsene:
“I hear all the time that we have no money, but I just wish someone would take the time to look at our accounts. We do not need extra investment. This is a proper business which produces its own cash and lives or dies by its performances. Our net payments are £20million and the revenue increase from the new stadium is close to £50million. Explain to me how that stadium is a drain on the club, when it produces an extra £30million a year.
“This constant suggestion that the stadium is bleeding us dry is crap. The reality is our wage bill is very similar to Manchester United, substantially above Liverpool and substantially below Chelsea – but that is to be expected. We pay good salaries, but we pay them more evenly, so we do not have extremes of very high and very low wage-earners. There is an ethos of a team effort.”
Ian wright is being a right cunt lately but if he is correct then TH14 would be scrubbed from my memory forever never to be spoken about by me again.
I am locked in moderation so I guess you guys can’t see my comments. Pedro/Geoff if your awake guys please open the door.
Cheers
Tel
gday terry
cant see henry going to the scum, he’s required by the new barca boss
Terry, I am not sure I understand your post. Are you saing that we get bullied because of our skill? Not sure if I am putting it all together. Pontificate away.
Evo’s right. Henry is fit, and let’s face it, Barca need all the love they can get these days.
there are rumours that henry has been in manchester for a medical and that man scum are working on a signing as we speak, so im sure they’ll sign a striker before the window closes and i bet we sign no one
Hi Evo
Hope the Legend doesn’t do it mate. Just read about this De Guzman fellow and it seems like a good bet. We coach him to the standard Barca want and he goes there. He has already stated that he would dream to play for us and them. I bet its in that order too.