Le Grove – Arsenal blog featuring Arsenal news

Ok first things first, we won, fantastic, we are in the quarter finals and for that I am grateful, the boys did a marvelous job on the penalties, but I never want to go through that again.

All those arseholes that support other teams were texting me non-stop, I turned my phone off, switched my laptop off and had my finger on the TV control off button so I didn’t have to watch the Roma fans and their players going nuts, so thank God I had that bit from 2 1/2 hours of hell to savour, no shots of note all night until we got to penalties, so at least I got to see something exciting and towards their goal.

Wenger had this to say – ‘I am proud of the mental strength because that is something which has been questioned a lot in our team’ Really? When Arsene? Whoever questioned the mental strength or the spirit? You sat there in the post match interview last night like the cat that had got the cream, and with a ‘I told you so look on your face’ you also sat slumped in your seat for most of the game looking like a dead man who’s team were going out to a shit Roma side, like the rest of us were, so we all saw how much you believed.

You persist in playing with Eboue on the right when you had Theo waiting and gagging, Denilson gave the ball away too many times and the the defence in the first ten minutes were shocking, where does mental strength come in?

You brought Eduardo on with 5 minutes to go in normal time when you should have put him on at the start. He even missed his penalty because he had hardly touched the ball.

The problem you seem to suffer from is selection, you will not give up on Eboue and it’s hurting us, we have the players, but you need to play them, What happened to Vela? He was awesome on Sunday, I’m not going to say any more because we’re through, but play that side against anyone else and we’re out.

I think we had 20 odd corners and didn’t fashion a shot out of one of them, that is piss poor – piss poor, do you practice them?

The penalty taking was great, even though a few went down the middle at least they went in and the celebration at the end was far better than the performance, it was great to watch, fabulous movement!

Bendtner out on the left, what??? No wonder Robin didn’t get a sniff, being supplied by Eboue, Bendtner and Clichy he was always on to a loser, and someone needs to tell Clichy to stop fouling people in the box, because one day we’ll have a ref that doesn’t need a guide dog and a white stick.

But we won and for that I am truly, truly happy, so well done that team, unfortunately we can’t play penalties every week and we can’t play the hapless Roma again either.

A word for the poor sod that got stabbed, Blatter and Platini you need to take the final somewhere else and send out a message to the thugs, they told us they were going to get us and they did, that’s premeditated and that cannot be allowed to happen. Show some courage you spineless, weedy bastards and award the final elsewhere, you would if it were the other way around, you bigoted pricks.

The most positive thing that happened last night was we’ll have Cesc and possibly Rosicky back for the quarter finals, that would mean playing Nasri or Diaby in the middle and Theo out wide and hopefully never having to see Eboue again, unless he replaces Sagna of course and I don’t have a problem with that, he’s a half decent right back.

I hope like hell we get Porto, if not then Barca or Villa Real, because I don’t want to go out to an English team, with last nights team we would have struggled against Burnley.

So before anyone moans about me being negative, sorry, but I hate to see what he’s doing to us with his wacky team selections, yes we won, but boy, how lucky were we?

Arsene you need to take a long hard look at what you’re doing, we got through but it was luck, not mental strength, the only thing that was mental was your team selection.

Hurry up Cesc, your team needs you!

Have a great day Grovers, next up Blackburn, then Hull, if we get through those two, we’re in with a shout.

Our greatest ever hero Lord Nelson said just that before the battle of Trafalgar. When he learned shortly before he died that we had won the day and had taken 17 prizes he said ‘I thought we would get more’ shortly after he died he got his wish, we did in fact get more, that put paid to Napoleon’s invasion plans and the rest as they say is history.

Now whilst I’m not expecting more than 17 goals, I am expecting a win, so Arsenal, remember the flags that went up before the battle ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’ do that and I’ll be happy.

The chavs and the scousers did the job yesterday and with the scousers stuffing Madrid yesterday it clearly shows where the powerbase in Europe is these days, the times where we would expect to go out to foreign opposition are long gone, all we want now is to avoid another English team, why is that you may well ask, is it because the English are so good? No, it’s because all the foreigners are in England, and those that aren’t on benefits or seeking asylum are indeed professional footballers, and thank god for that, as Nelson (an Arsenal fan) would have undoubtably said, were he alive today.

Arsene said this yesterday ‘You judge a season at the end of the season and it is down to us in the coming months to show that we have the necessary quality and that people were too quick to write us off’

All good stuff and yes we have much to fight for, but we can’t win the league, so no one judged you too early, yes we have had injuries, but had you signed a few quality players in August we would be in the box seat right now, so stop whining and win what’s left, we will all love you even more should you achieve that.

We need to score, the chavs showed how difficult it is if you get an goal away, so I think we should soak up in the first 15, then go for them, split their team in two like Nelson did and rip out their lungs.

Tonight takes us a step closer to immortality and to be called a big club at last, by winning the European Cup, England expects, the manager expects but most of all the we the fans expect.

Arsenal to win 3-1 tonight for me, I don’t care who we get in the next round, just as long as we get into the next round.

Cesc and anyone else that maybe thinking of moving on, don’t forget two things, the first is that Robin said the grass isn’t always greener in your neighbours garden and the second is to look at all the teams that you may want to join, they’re all out, well with the exception of Barcelona and that’s only because their team is made up of Arsenal rejects!

Fabianski

Sagna Kolo Gallas Gibbs

Walcott Diaby Nasri Vela

Eduardo Robin

That’s my preferred team but this is the one I expect.

Almunia

Sagna Kolo Gallas Clichy

Eboue Song Diaby Nasri

Bendtner Robin

Have a great day today Grovers, tonight could be our best ever in Europe, 3-1 sounds great, 17 nil sounds better.

That’s more or less what Theo said about Eduardo, he said that he does shit like that in training all the time, well have we got something to look forward to then eh?!

The talk now is if we get our players back we can rule the world, I hope so, but we won’t get them back in time for the all important Roma game so let’s just hope we can hold it together until all the boys get back, we have Theo back but we lose Arshavin, still we were much better than them two weeks ago and we had no Arshavin, no Theo and no Eduardo, so hopefully we should beat them in Rome and look forward to Liverpool and their ref in the quarters again, or the Chavs, imagine that, the chavs in the quarters of the Champions league and the semis in the FA Cup, what a humiliation for them.

Today’s post comes to you exclusively from Wentworth, the birthplace of the Ryder Cup, so it will be brief, I watched the reserves last night against West Ham and it was very disappointing, however Jack Wilshere was not, we need to bring him into the fold, he is just like Liam Brady.

Listening to the wireless set today you would think there were only three teams from England left in the Champions league, that’s good, we can slip in under the radar, tomorrow is part two of our special 10 days and I for one believe this could be a great year, with all our special ones coming back to fitness and very fresh, we could also do it in style.

Have a great day Grovers, tomorrow our season begins.

An empty seat is a sad seat... do your bit, recycle your unwanted ticket.

P.S. I appear to be lacking tickets in my exchange box… Improve your carbon footprint by letting Le Grove recycle your unwanted spares. It’s good for the atmosphere and kind to your pocket.

That first half was hardly a dream was it? However, the second half brought goals, sharp football and gave the big boys a chance to bed back in!

As I left the house, fresh from the binge drinking session I’d enjoyed the night before… I thought… you know what, this is going to be a marvelous day. The sun was shining, my hangover was waning and I was 10 minutes early to meet Geoff for once.

It didn’t quite turn out that way… Geoff cracked a tooth on the way up and performed DIY dentistry on himself with super glue… t-shirt weather turned into waterproof mac and two pair of socks weather… and it rained on us for the first time in 3 years.

Anyway… I’m not here to write a review about the weather and the bad luck… I’m here to write about what I witnessed for the ninety minutes… with a broken hand… yes… I broke my hand this weekend and I’m still putting my body on the line for the site… so for once, it’s going to be short and sweet.

The game was a non starter for me… It felt like a replay… like going through the motions… like I’d already been here before. Arsenal took a casual aproach to the game and showed this seasons trade mark lack of urgency in their approach. Our line up was an interesting one… Song and Eboue back in the mix as always.

What was amusing is my seating buddy Paul told me the line up… I questioned two of my least favourite inclusions… he told me to calm down… I agreed and said,

‘Actually, the odds are stacked pretty heavily in favour of Song and Eboue having a good game. It has to happen once in my life time!’

… and sure enough, my edumacated bluff worked out. Song had a blinder… and Eboue complimented him by having and equally ok game.

In fact, after the first half passed, Arsenal actually looked dangerously impressive. I would go as far as saying; metaphorically, I was experiencing a football hard-on. Yes, I was mentally aroused at the prospect of what our team could offer when all our players return to fitness. I was ‘chubbofied’ (sic) at the prospect of Arsene Wenger having a selection headache! I was confident that Arsenal could actually mount a trophy challenge and take 4th place… because I was EXCITED by our play!

Arsenal knocked the ball about in the second half with pace, power and finesse. Arshavin picked his way through an organised block of 8 defenders. Theo looked just as fast as he did before his injury… Carlos Vela had already show the crowd that he could be our star man up front… Eduardo finished outrageously to prove to the world that his injury blew our title challenge last year… and Kieran Gibbs proved that we have yet another superb left back coming through on the conveyor belt of solid full backs.

My hand wont last much longer… I’m like Rosicky after 14 games… you know it’s only a matter of time… but before I go… let me run you through the goals.

The first goal came from a beautiful pass sent in by Arshavin. He laid Vela off a perfectly weighted pass… the young Mexican raced past two men and chipped the beast for a masterful first in the FA Cup.

The second goal came early in the second half. Song gained control outside the box, he looked up, chipped a perfectly weighted ball into Eduardo, who outrageously volleyed with the outside of his left boot into the top corner.

Let me repeat… this goal was outrageous. Superb… amazing. Check it out if you haven’t already.

The third came when Eboue laid the ball to Song… who cleverly back healed the ball into the path of Eboue… who buried it hard and low.

Things to note:

• > The whole team celebrated with Eboue. They all love him…
• > Song picked up 2 assists.

Now , while I don’t see this as a turning point in either player’s careers… I have to give credit where credit is due… they done the business toady, and it was great to watch.

So, next up in the Cup is Hull, then we have the pleasure of the Chav’s.

Grovers… I’m excited again. How about you?

P.S. It was great to meet more normal people from the site. Mary, thanks for swinging by the S+B, it was great meeting a girl with an Irish accent so thick set… I needed a translator! It was also to great to meet someone I’d disagreed with on many occasions… only to find out the bastard was a 6ft 6in spitting image of our very own JD! Thanks to the rest of the gang as well… if Peroni drinking were a sport, we’d all be Gold medalists!

Enjoy the day in the sun Grovers, next up Roma and with their injury list, we could actually win this one.

So today sees Burnley in the FA Cup, followed by Roma away in the Champions league, both wins would see us in the quarter finals, followed by Blackburn in the league on Saturday then Hull at home in the FA Cup the following Tuesday.

So in theory we could be in the quarter finals of the European Champions league, the semi finals of the FA Cup and in 4th place in the English Premier league, quite a week eh?

So am I crazy to believe we can do it? What do we need to achieve these herculean tasks? Well two things actually, we need to win two FA Cup games and one Premier league one, get a draw in Europe and hope the spuds beat villa, all do-able in my book (Ok stop laughing, the spuds are due one away win this season).

That said we need to win today, a big convincing win will set us up nicely for the Roma game so who will feature today eh?

Here’s my best bet.

Fabianski

Eboue Djourou Song Gibbs

Walcott Nasri Diaby Arshavin

Bendtner Eduardo 

I didn’t put Song in there because I want him, trust him, rate him or particularly like him, but Wenger does and will play him in goal if he has to, ditto with Eboue.

If we go at this with purpose, speed and flair I expect a great performance and a convincing win, I also expect Walcott and Eduardo if played to last 52 minutes and be replaced by Ramsey and Vela.

I hope we see the Arsenal we saw against West Brom because that was more like the old Arsenal and that will get the crowd on it’s feet, that will put the fire in their bellies and they will need it, that’s 4 games in 10 days so we’ll see a lot of changes, but they’ll need to be fit because a number of them will play in them all.

We cannot afford to lose any of these if we want some silverware this season, the time for blowing smoke up each other arses is at an end Arsenal, today it begins, today is’D’ day, today you show us why you’re so good, today you repay the faith the fans have in you, go get ‘em Arsenal!

Talking of real fans, we have a club leveler who can’t afford to pay for his tickets next term and is willing to rent them out for a season at cost. So to any of you ‘real fans’ out there (that don’t like plastic ones) here is a chance to put your money where your mouths are. Show us how real you are by buying a season, like the rest of us real fans do!

They’re also available to any Grovers out there who have £2.5k a ticket to spare, email us and we’ll put you in touch.

Have a great day Grovers, today it begins.

Ok let’s begin with yet another soul telling us we don’t know how lucky we are, he said we have had 10 fantastic years and one not so successful, okay so now we know Gael Clichy can’t count either.

I’m happy with what Arsene has achieved in his tenure, I’m just not crazy about the last 4 years, too much praise for anyone is not a good thing, sometimes people have to be challenged, especially when they earn £6million a year (£115,000 a week) and do what they want, especially when all can see we need a few players including the media, all the commentators and several ex Highbury legends, so being critical and challenging isn’t a crime, it’s healthy.

I remember fat Frank Lanpard swearing allegiance to Ranieri, then Maureen, the Grant, then Fat Phil and now the Dutchman, footballers praise whoever picks them, remember Beckham and Sven, then he swore allegiance to MacClaren and now his best mate is Coppello, the mind of a fickle footballer is one of knowing where your bread is buttered.

However that was just a retort to young Mr Clichy and not a pop at anyone.

Big game tomorrow and I expect nothing but a convincing win, I’ll be there doing my bit and I hope to see a great game, we have bundles of talent, maybe we should give Jay Thomas a run out, or Coquelin or even Murphy who scored a cracking goal against the Spuds midweek and looks a real prospect, and he’s been off for a year, welcome back son, you made thousands of spud haters happy with that goal!

The great news is that Cesc is back kicking a ball and should be in the team for the next round of the Champions league, once we have taken care of Roma that is, Eduardo and Theo will be back tomorrow so maybe they could feature against Roma as well.

Either way, from tomorrow we have a fun filled week of football and much to look forward to, I fly back to Blighty this morning and look forward to getting away from the cold and rain of Spain, again.

Have a great day Grovers, I’ll catch you all later.

P.S. I have a club level ticket going if anyone wants to go to the Burnley game tomorrow, it’s half price. E-mail in!

Okay let’s start by putting the story of Cesc leaving if Wenger goes to bed. Arsene says he’s going nowhere and Cesc should still be here in 10 years, on that note I will bury the story, well done boss for coming out so quickly to stop this scandal screwing over our season.

Our kids beat the spuds kids in the quarter finals of the FA Youth cup at Shite Hart lane last night, we were by far the better side and they scored against the run of play but resilience and talented young players overcame the dark side of football to beat them 3-1 in normal time, well done those kids, fantastic display and what talent on show, how does Song get in our side when we have real exceptional talent in the squad? It’s beyond me that’s for sure, oh I forgot, some of the are English. Just kidding!

Arsene welcomes back Eduardo and Theo this weekend, Fabianski will be in goal but I expect a strong side, the boss says the best way to beat Roma is to beat Burnley, that winning games, wins games, he will not be repeating the mistakes of last year when we fielded a weakened side against the Mancs in the FA cup at Old Trafford, that result affected our confidence and the season collapsed.

So a win on Sunday should set the confidence soaring and that means a win on Wednesday and into the quarter finals against Liverpool and vengeance for last year and the cheating ref.

At least we’ll get to see Arshavin on Sunday and at least he’ll get a rest midweek, I so wish we had bought him in the summer, he’s fitted in straight away instead of taking the usual first season bedding in period and he wouldn’t be cup tied.

Still at the business end of the season which is coming up fast, we’ll have all of our long term injured players back and that should help push us over the line, in theory we could end end winning the Champions league and the FA Cup and finish second in the premiership, so if that happened we wouldn’t see the season as a disaster would we? And it could happen, imagine that!

And not forgetting we could also win the FA Youth cup, so that would be an unprecedented treble, no one has ever done that have they?

Have a great day Grovers, we have something to celebrate today, we beat the spuds on their own shitty little patch and we did it in style, good going kids, go all the way and win us a trophy!

Our first in 4 years and believe me, it would be very welcome.

P.S. Le Exchange is out of tickets so drop me a mail if you have spares and I’ll ensure they go to a gooner for trade… I’d also like to point you in the direction of our mailing list in the side bar (We promise to only share your data with viagra and porn sites)… finally, we’ve got a twitter thingy… it’s mega fun because everyone else is doing it! Remember to check out all the new stuff in the side bar ——–>

Well at least one member of the Wright family is still working on our behalf, a solid display last night saw the gap between us and Villa close to 3 points, that can turn round in one game, and we have a better goal difference, what a difference a week can be in football, one minute it’s 8 points and the next it’s 3.

We know what that feels like as it happened to us last season, as soon as the mancs got behind us, we collapsed, and I think that will happen to Villa, he’s already flown his team to Dubai, where I hear he’ll bury his head in the sand, good, let’s hope the others start to drop points too, maybe we can climb the table a bit and get third or even second spot.

I know we only beat West Brom, but I don’t think there are any easy games, well except Chelsea that is, West Brom gave a good account of themselves at the Grove on the first day of the season, so 3-1 away was a good result. belief is a big thing, just as losing confidence is and I feel a big swing is now on the cards.

Cesc says he’ll leave if Wenger goes, that’s great Cesc, thanks for that, it’s comforting to know you don’t feel the same way about the club and the fans who pay your salary, as for those who say they will consider their future if we don’t qualify for Champions league football, don’t forget who’s fault that would be, yours and the managers, being in 5th place isn’t a plane crash, it isn’t some strange disease that befell us, it was poor selection and poor play, so consider the people that pay the money before you think about running away.

Theo wants to return against Burnley on Sunday and that would spell the end for Eboue on the wing, so don’t hold your breath and Theo think about another position, that one’s taken by you know who’s favourite.

It will be good though to think when we play ManU in the semis we could have a bench of Cesc, Adebayor, Walcott, Rosicky, Eduardo, Kolo and Fabianski, now that’s a mouth watering prospect, don’t you think?

Okay so a long wait with no football, then the FA cup and Roma in the space of 3 days, that’s why I expect a weakened side in the FA cup and that would be a real shame, because against Burnley, that could be a big mistake.

Have a great day today, the gap closes, we are up your arse bjork, be afraid, be very afraid.