A Buddhist monk witnessed returning from the Bergkamp testimonial.
There is a concept originating out of ancient India known as Karma:
‘Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life.’
A great example of Karma in action would be, say, if a Dynamo player went down injured in open play… looked up… saw that his team were attacking… then got up immediately and joined the attack.
The karma would kick in when later in the game, after Kiev fail to roll the ball out of play with an Arsenal player down injured (for real this time), a drop ball is awarded, the Kiev players expect the ball to be rolled back to the keeper… but instead, Cesc fires a 50 yard ball into the path of a player who is wearing pink boots… then that player scores to win the game.
Oh, and then the cheating Dynamo player gets sent off for foul and abusive language after complaining about the righteous path Karma has led him down.
That my friends is what happened last night… don’t feel ashamed, just respect Karma and the effects it can have on your life.
I’m not going to give player ratings today.The game was pretty dull if truth be told and I don’t think anyone excelled/decelled (<- why not?) enough to merit an 11 man write up.
Arsenal’s line up was what we had all been calling for, bar Alex Song.
Almunia
JD Silvestre Gallas Clichy
Denilson Cesc Song Rambo
Vela RvP
I still for the life of me can’t understand why Wenger persists with Song in that position. I guess Denilson does a better job out wide than Diaby…
It was a strong team considering the injuries we have been suffering at the moment, and the game kicked off in promising fashion. The players looked comfortable on the ball, without ever over exerting themselves. We played in a contained manner… never really looking under threat. There was a lot of pretty passing, but very little penetration. I’m struggling to remember too many chances we had in the first half and I am struggling to think of many stand out players.
RvP went close with a couple of good freekicks. The first was fizzed into the box, only for the keeper to punch it away. The second from a similar position, about 35 yards out to the left, was superbly kneed over the bar by Silvestre. It’s a shame nobody told him he didn’t need to defend down the other end as well!
Song didn’t have his best game… but hey, when does he ever? People keep on saying he is lazy because he jogs around the pitch. Sorry guys, I have bad news for you… Song isn’t being lazy… he is just incredibly slow. That jog… is Song sprinting. Song is the only player in the Arsenal team who couldn’t out pace a sit down lawn mower…
What was interesting watching the game from home was the rows of empty seats… actually, that wasn’t what was interesting… what was interesting was the noise coming from the fans despite this. We could really hear the singing from home… and we even noticed a few songs for Willy G! Well played guys… he looked a happy player out there tonight. Geoff informs me that club level has returned to normal… stand up and face ejection. Well… that little experiment didn’t last long did it? Geoff asked me to make a special mention to stewards, Angela and Dwaine Djourrou. Apparently they stepped in to calm things down when an overly officious member of their work force tried to step in.
Back to football… Gallas had a mixed bag. His first clanger was Clichyesque (Birmingham)… but luckily the Kiev chap smashed his shot at the post. Then later on, he managed to flick a Song header into the net with his back to goal… only to be flagged offside. Then in the second half, after a goal mouth scramble… RvP drilled a shot in low and hard at goal… with Gallas there ready to defend the shot.
Someone really needs to tell our defenders they only need to defend up one end! Overall though, I thought Gallas had a great game. He made a superbly timed interception just before our first… so well played that man! Whatever you think of him, he is our best defender. So do your best to grit your teeth and support him… because if we want a trophy this year… he’ll be at the heart of it.
I’d also like to highlight the crucial save Almunia made in the second half. Kiev floated a superb ball into the path of their striker who found himself one on one, but Almunia came rushing out to block his shot. A superb save and a clean sheet to boot. At 0-0, that really was a crucial stop… so a big thumbs up to Al!
A quick mention for the new boys to the team tonight:
Rambo: Not his best performance for Arsenal… but for a 17 year old, he played pretty damn well. His passing was ok and he is certainly more adept at handling the wing than Diaby. It’s a real shame he isn’t a few years older… because we wouldn’t need to go out purchase a new centre mid if he was 20.
Vela: He struggled to make the same impact he usually does. I think at times he held onto the ball for too long… but he is only 19 and he is just finding his feet. One thing that is apparent… he has the same sort of pace and trickery Theirry did… you have no idea what he is going to do next!
Wilshere: You can’t help but get excited over this lad. He is special… there is no doubt about it. His body movement, his pace, his vision and his superb passing make him one of the best young talents to come out of this academy program. He came on… looked a little small for mens football… but he still danced around the Kiev players. The only thing I worry about is a jealous player taking him out to prove a point. You do feel that if Jack was a vase, he’d be one of those Ming dynasty ones… valuable, but fragile… and perhaps only for display on special occasions. He was good, and I think all gooners are united in thinking he should be given a few more cameo appearances this season.
Finally, a word for the great Dane. I have been a constant defender of Nik B’s talent this season… and I’ve come in for a lot of flak because of it. I wrote some pretty strong comments about Nik in my last post… mostly about his fairy boots and his attitude. I suggested Carlos should play ahead of him.
Well, he did… and when Nik came one… minus the hair gel… he proved a point with a sublime take down of a 40 yard pass and a superb finish. That is why I rate him… most of his issues this year can be attributed to confidence… lets see where this goal can take him now. Hopefully he will prove a few of the, ‘he’s a championship player’ doubters wrong in the coming weeks.
So, overall… Kiev were a weak team… but they had an impressive away record and we contained them. I remember years gone by when the invincibles would have given their right pink boot for a ground out performance like that. How many times did we have face up to morning headlines of,
‘Arsenal get suckered after dominating <insert eastern european team>’.
That was a professional performance. A win is a win… lets take it and move onto the next game where I predict we will win again. Don’t ask me why I think that… but I had the same vibe before the ManU game!
Let your thoughts be known in the comments… oh, and remember… wearing pink is cool.
P.S. I had an e-mail from the President of the Le Grove appreciation society Canterbury Christ Church Student Union yesterday checking that Le Grove do not have ill feelings towards students… Liam, Le Grove and it’s authors (One an ex-student) do not have ill feelings towards any group, and definitely not students!
Every group is welcome… well, you know… almost every group!
bergkamp .. he looks too fragile… but seen him against Wigan nothing fase him & that calmness on the ball is really frightening for his age.. he will get stronger & technically more adapt.. I believe within next 5 year he will best player in the world..
best player in the world as long as he dont get his head turned by the bright lights and the big money,well i dunno bout best in the world,maybe,who knows
i dunno about fragile,he smashed salgado in a 50/50 an had a known hardman thining wtf had hit him
cana is a monster because of his agressive streak but it only works when hes in the midfield, hes a dirty bastard but hes never been sent off so he is cunning, iv said before id have him for the right price, which 5mil would be reasonable, and id play him in the away games against stoke and hull and any other team who want to kick us.
id rather have de rossi or veloso though,
Why do left footers seem to have the monopoly on that sort of hobbit physique? You never get any right footed jinky playmakers with stumpy legs.
you never know with players like jack what will happen, they either go on to become great or they have a couple of good seasons and fizzle out.
i wouldnt worry to much about size either, arguably one of the worlds best players was a hobbit and it didnt stop him, maradona???
bergkamp.. men grow till age 21 i think .. so i’m sure that he’ll grow a bit taller!!
And as Cloughie said.. ‘If God had wanted us to play football in the air, he’s have put grass in the sky’
nah cana is hard in a fast league of less agression,in the prem he would get eaten, in france he is all alone,most midfielders are all about techniqe,against stoke he would dissapear,theres only room for 1 bull in a pen,an i dont think he could get away with that robbie savage business
jack reminds me of a little juninho,i hope wenger dont ban him from shooting
JonJon the fact that he is very intelligent & he is developing under the watchfull eye of wenger… I believe & hope that he wont fade away….
who’d win in a fight? barton or cana
choy,if men grow til 21 then i think london will be land of the giants, he aint gonna get taller,he has stopped,or he will be deformed from weight training before he has even stopped growin
barton would kill Cana
John Terry – absolutely attrocious defending cost his team the 3 points, again! He even tried to give them the win losing the ball on the edge of the area in injury time! I can see us scoring from a Terry fuck up on sunday, maybe from a set piece or corner
i agree bini, jacks going to be great, you can see it when he plays, hes the best thing to come out of the academy for a long while, and the fact he is 16 just makes it better, by the time hes 20 he’ll be an international
who would win in a fight between,lehmann parlour adams keown vieira petit and ian wright vs the rest of the premier league.
terry will put in his best performance of the year on sunday,against us,just like that manure jock fletcher does twice a year
lehmann & keown would win,viera and the rest could stay on the bench
chelsea was poor, i hope they play like that against us,
robin owes us a match winning performance on sunday,i want him to score a hat trick of freekicks and then a right footed super volley just for good measure
thats the difference though, if you compare wengers teams before, they could all rumble and they loved it, now we just a bunch of girls who wear ann summers boots and soho bibs
or even better, a goal straight in from a corner, from both sides
would’ve expected scolari’s english to have come on better than it has, team talks must be interesting. Terry is currently making at least one massive mistake a game, if we’re clinical we’re guaranteed a goal from it! soooooo overrated. Lampard off too was funny, would be amazing if chelsea didn’t qualify for the knockout
soho bibs ,i bet jack spills dinner down his soho bib,nik would not be impressed
terry was crap until mourinho started playing 10 men behind the ball,i remember freddie carried him on his back half the length of the cardiff pitch an scored,brave but shyt,the real JT is coming back now that chelsea attack more
bergkamp.. wenger doesn’t let arsenal players weight train till 22 or so!!
Is that after 10 oClock?….
lmao
nice free kick from veluso, though the keeper should save it 99 times out of 100, appalling from valdes!
If diaby is out at the weekend i really hope we stick vp on the flank with bendtner up top by himself than denilson on the wing song in central midfield!
I don’t think height really matters. its the skill that the player has that really counts. spuds winger lennon is the smallest player in the prem and still he does quiet well on the right flank.
@ jonjon barton should win as he has lot of experience.
A.
are you drunk mate???
souness really is the most stupid pundit there is, though he’s got a lot of competition, garth crookes, andy gray, redknapp, and burley push him very close! Doesn’t rate totti because he doesn’t produce enough lol. Plays in a rooney type roll and amongst top scorers in serie a every year, what an idiot
a Says,
i think Niki should come on as a sub… he will get bullied easily & will be kept quite… Vela should start with VP upfront & hopefully we will have better choices on the flank than yesterday
ha nope jonjon, why you ask?
A is definantly drunk,play vp on the bench an get ade an bendtner or vela upfront
Vala will be too agile for the Chavs.. & hard to control..
Cana was poor enough tonight. Lpool very lucky to get the win though. v lucky indeed, were really hanging on. Ben Arfa looks a bit special
Does any one knows when is the Edu playing for the reserve.. i wouldnt mind going up there to watch him
robin has not done nothing since ade gave him asists for nearly all his goals
i’m sure we’ll play just one up front, vela won’t start. So it’ll either be vp up top and denilson song cesc nasri ramsey or bendtner up top with vp in midfield. I hope the latter!
A.. Don’t forget the Luton Ropper!!
bendtner cant play up top on his jack!!! and RVP cant play wing
and did you include song in there???
the reserves play where?? is it orients ground? he is playin a behind closed doors friendly next week bini
Barnets Bergkamp.. Underhill…
we need to get ade back up top,or play bendtner & vela together,van doesnt work well with anyone but ade,bendtner needs more support than van offers,vela is too young an inexperienced in our team to play loan,robin drops too deep an we will end up with a 6 man midfield if he plays lone striker
i’m saying what i think the team will be, not what i want it to be! we’ll definitely play one up top, and vela definitely won’t start. I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t denilson and song holding with vp and nasri out wide, bend up top by himself. Vela is still very raw and be too much of a risk, Ramsey isn’t up to pace yet, and there isn’t anyone else.
Oh actually i forgot, ade might be back, in which case he’d be up top by himself
is it up barnet,i remember it used to be in the highbury stadium an half the east stand was full of jamaicans (kevin campbells family) ,they used to go crazy
nice strike from veluso but the keeper should never be beaten on his side unless it’s a thunderbolt, vp like against sunderland or elano, really crap positioning from valdes
we should just play our own game 442,were meant to have the no fear philosophy but were always the team which changes for the big games
sagna nasri and ade should be back
almunia
sagna
JD
gallas
clichy
nasri
cesc
denilson
vela
ade
pink furry slippers
4 4 fucking 2 lol
I only ever went to one reserves game when TA6 come out of Chelsmsford nick!
if we had some momentum we might play 4-4-2 but when was the last time we played 4-4-2 away from home in a big game?! i’m just sure it’ll never happen, especially with our current predicament etc
bini
i heard some were that his going to play against Pompy on the 16th of Dec.
don’t quote me on it tho
i’d like that team jonjon, but i really can’t see it happening, song will play!!
JonJon thats the team we want,but i want ade to wear black boots and pink wristbands an nik to wear pink boots an black wristbands,then terry wont know who is who when he gets slapped about the back of the skull
if we play with rvp up top it will be a 4 6 0
i bet that was a proper night at the reserves,i think that was the day tone got out the clink as well
bergkamp lmao.
Bergkam & raif thanks guys… on that note good nite all..
souness actually speaks more sense than redknapp, who is just thick as shit!
it will be a 4-6-0 when we have not got the ball then a 4-1-6 when we get it,robin being the 1
4-1-5 unless almunia wants to make a late run
Night bini
also if RvPis going to keep droping back as deep as he was last night then ill say drop him and play Vela and Nikki-b Upfront or Vela and ADE when his back.
Bergkamp it was a Saturday afternoon there was 10,000 gooners watching a resreve game. They had to open the Clock End coz the East stand was full…
rednapp isnt qualified to talk,he used to think liverpool were gonna win the league every year for the last 20 seasons an now he predicts on tv
or a 1 1 8 when we have the ball if the FB’s and gallas pushup. fuck it playground kick about, goalie when needed and i predict the score to be 19all
i don’t see how anyone who’s seen both of them semi-regularly could ever consider ronaldo in the same league as messi, it’s ridiculous. But these idiots really don’t have a clue what they’re talking about
theres legends an then there is legends,i think the day of the tony adams day footballing legends are gone, tony would have played with or without injections, he would have done anything,terry could be the last of that breeed
bergkamp
it was 4-6-0 last night for most of the game with RvP playing defensive midfield. lol
you calling terry a legend bergkamp?! the most overrated defender in the history of the world, trying hard doesn’t make you a legend! Especially when you cheat, foul, and even dive!
Redknapp talks too quick, which is a good thing really that means i dont have to understand the tripe that comes out of his gob
the year tony was locked up i was a young boy, those were the days when the family enclosure was a standing zone in the east stand i think
If Eduardo makes it.. He’s up there as a legend..
A i wouldnt call him a legend like adams,but id say he has modeled his spirit on tony adams,the thing about guys like terry and adams,their partners (steve bould and carvalho) will never get the credit they deserve
terrys a legend
a middle-leg end
ed is definantly a legend,thats what you call a soldier,eduardo made no fuss, there aint many players in the prem who could walk down any street in the uk without fear,i think cesc an eduardo maybe be two of maybe only 5 or 6 in the whole prem
The schoolboys, Junior Gunners used to be that side Bergkamp.
Bendtner could walk the streets of Brighton!
i used to go over that side,it was easier coming from across blackstock road to get in there obviously ,the rest of the east stand was seated, i didnt qualify to the clock end till about 11 years ago,i used to pay £147 for my season ticket in the west stand lower, then when i got too old it was i think £511 pound in the clockend,those were the days
hahahaha streets of brighton untill steve bruce hears he is down in that part of town
thats just about bendtner’s level of footballer
BOY BETTER KNOW
was you happy when Nikki-Big Balls scored?
I’m sorry but I have to disagree about terry, The man is an absolute overrated chav cunt.
Paulinho
Maradonna was a right footed hobbit.
Terry is some what Overrated but he is a good defender. puts his body on the line aswell. i would rather have him in my back line then the likes of Gallas and Silvest. and the ever growing arsenal super star Alex Song,.
no
BBK
ur not much of a arsenal fan then are you mate lol
i will tell u why raif
has anyone seen the reports that nikki pink slippers is going to join moscow in jan
nope not me JonJ
because he has been an absolute cunt in the previous games then decides to turn up off the bench i might add which is his best position
where was he for the past couple of weeks then the prick takes his shirt off like hes some good player
michael laudrup is looking for a replacement for pavlychenkco, laudrup is bendnters idol and he is set to sign for them in jan possibly on loan to start with.
dont know if its true, probably not
totally agree BBK,
i dont want to see his pink nipples as much as i dont want to see them pink boots,
BBK and Bergkamp are the same blogger, that’s why your never together SUSSED!!!!
lol jonjon
Evening Grovers!
lol avenell
helloooooo pedro how r u m8
have faith in him man.
he will come good. how long did it take for TH14 and DB10 to come good when they came to us. and robert pires for that matter?
they all had there critics. also dont forget they wasnt young and still learning there trad like Niiki B is now. so it will take a little longer for him then those players. his low on confidence. and last i checked its hard to do things right when ur low on confidence.
jesus i cant type for shite.
raif please do not ever try to compare or even give a chance to him hes no good raif come on
Well said Raif… slagging a 20 year old off is a bit out of line.
He’ll be a big player for us… well, that is what I am hoping!
I’m good BBK… how are you?
time is what we dont have anymore raif,
we’ll be out of the top 4 before long. we need the players to come good now, not in 5 years time
he will never ever emulate either of them
im good pedro
You know who is going to be my next charity case… Randall.
I reckon he could be a bit tasty, despite never performing for the first team. I like his vision and his touch… he always makes space for himself. He is a little arrogant, but what 17 year old in the Arsenal team wouldn’t be?
well said jonjon
JonJon… I would stake my laptop on us staying in the top 4.
thats a big call pedro
Not just any 20 yr old..
A 20 year old in pink coming out boots..
lolllll avenell
Top 4 or Randall?
frimpong
i’m with you on that pedro, it’ll never happen, we’re still far better than anyone else over a league season. Even if teams like villa and stoke now, and bolton in the past can bully us and beat us in individual games they aren’t good enough to beat the rest and therefore won’t seriously challenge us in terms of top 4
Pedro,
would you still say that if we kept playing song??
and we shouldn’t be happy with just top 4 every season, we should be pushing for trophies and with this team i cant see it.
though im not with you regarding randall. It isn’t just his arrogance, his attitude in general, he’s a prick, kicking out at people in reserve games, spends the whole time trying to look better than he is etc. He has ability but won’t ever make it at arsenal because of his attitude
with wenger in charge no more trophys will come our way
BBK. JonJ.
i hope im there the day Nikki-B proves you both wrong and all his critics.
they guy is getting Linched by his own fans while his about to come on, tell me does that help him in any way. NO. watch him score a winner against Chelsea and be a instant Hero. confidence is key to a players ability, even more so when there young.
agree we need succes now, as fans we demand it. im with u on that.
BUT to give our own player some serious stick and Disrespect before his even kicked a ball is wrong.
and thanks Pedro mate
villa want it more A
we dont have the fight, we are relying on players coming back from injury and players coming in during the jan transfer window,
no top 4 side should be in the position to strengthen during jan to save their season
Don’t just hate those arsey bastard scousers.
& speaking of karma, I can’t wait till the 20th anniversary game
JonJon… he ain’t the best… but if he stopped trying to be clever, he could do a job.
He is the only player we have in the team who will make a tactical foul… and he isn’t terrible at tracking players.
Passing further than 6 yards is where he struggles.
A, totally agree. Villa will have a shocking run… just like all the pretenders do. Plus… they’re not actually that good… MoN only needs a couple of injuries to shaft his whole game plan.
he went missing big time in the past couple of league games raif we need him to step up now wenger has showed so much faith in him and still nothing
See no Bergkamp no BBK is on!!
but pedro hes so dumb he dont even know if he is making a tactical foul
raif i only use the blogs to dispespect the players, i wouldnt dream of doing it at a game i get behind them,
bendtner may be a good player in 5years time, but what im saying is we dont have 5years.
avenell what sort of character is bergkamp
Raif, I’ve got good vibes regarding Nik.
A, I didn’t know about that… but RvP had issues when he first joined. Red cards and a bad reputation.
JonJon, Villa can want it all they want… they don’t have the quality. We’ll kick on at some point and pull away from the pack… we’ve had our bad run… now Wenger is going to paper over the cracks with a 6 game winning streak.
You just know it will happen… then he’ll cancel the winter purchases.
avenell
are u saying BBK is Bergkamp Disguise?
BBK.. he’s Gay!!
never raif
I’m way too addicted to this blogging malarkey… there is always someone on here now!
24hour arsenal chat is bad for your health!
jonjon it’s irrelevant whether they want it more, they don’t have the ability! They can fight like bolton used to, and they can foul their way to stop the big boys playing against them, but they don’t have enough about them to beat the rest when it isn’t their cup final. Exactly like bolton they’ll do well but won’t get top four. As their results have shown this season, when they have to attack they can’t. Lost 2-1 home to boro game before they beat us, they aren’t that good!
Jonjon we aren’t relying on that at all, with our current team we could still beat anyone outside of the top 4 easy! we’ve had a horrible little period, and our confidence is shot but we’ve gotta just get going again get some self belief and we can beat anyone
poor gay i mean guy
Villa had the quality when they beat us pedro.
we seen the same thing a few seasons ago when we just pipped the spunks to the line, with the help of food poisioning!!!
Raif.. read back an hour… Michael and Latoya Mk2
pedro, it gets better after midnight, avenall becomes hugh heffner.
Pedro it’s Le Grove after midnight XXX soon!!
jonjon bendtner is a good player now, just inconsistent and lacking belief! he still has games where he’s fantastic, like against sheffield utd and bolton…. Granted he’s far from the finished product, which is why we have VP and Ade, and Eduardo coming back who are much more established and polished players. It isn’t like Bendtner is our main striker. We’re unlikely to sign extensively in january, and we shouldn’t need to. gotta be very optimistic to think we’ll win the league, but in any game against a good team we’ve shown we can match them, so have as good a chance as any of winning the champions league and/or fa cup. The reserves can do a job with the league cup too! I’d be happy with a cup treble!
avenell
do i have to read back a hour.? thats kinda hard work looking back on all them comments lol..
Not tonight JonJon.. Pedro will tell Rico!!!!
Oh really? Does that mean I can say cunt?
JonJon… so did Hull and Stoke, but they wont be there at the end of the season!
We’ll be in the top 4 and Wenger will make a couple of signings in Jan to make sure we all renew.
I’m off… night all!
Raif/ Pedro.. I read every comment every day..
see ya pedro
I’m off Avenell… bust out the bunny girls to your hearts content!
Jonjon villa have a system which is incredibly defensive, and efficient against teams who try and attack them, but don’t have the all round quality to break teams down when they can’t just defend and catch them on the break, which is why they’ve lost games like stoke and middlesbrough this season. They are no different from bolton in past seasons, good at being the underdog, but when they’re the favourite they don’t have the quality to win consistently. Players like barry and sidwell are good for scrapping but they’ll never be able to break down opposition who play defensively
Make sure you take it to a 1000 before you log off!
Id be happy with a single A, but i like your optimism mate,
why do you always pick on me A,1st yaya now niki pink furry slippers
what have i ever done to you lol
only jiking mate, i like your fiestyness, you do yourelf credit mate,
nite pedro