I’m not sure who is going to provide my ears with more propaganda this week. The Politicians, celebs and elites attending the Copenhagen summit (Meat free Monday), or Arsene Wenger, with his, ‘everybody’s fault bar ours‘ speech.
‘We have nothing to be ashamed of. It all went Chelsea’s way and I was not especially impressed with what happened on the pitch’
Really?
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Traore
Song Fabregas Denilson
Nasri Eduardo Arshavin.
I guess the first thing Geoff and I were wondering was why Denilson and Song both got a start. One can be stomached, two in the same team leaves me wondering how much Wenger truly rates wonderboy Song. A perplexing midfield trio. Don’t give me defensive stability either… Denilson does not offer stability against the power of Chelsea. The only way we were going to beat the scum from out west was to outplay them. For me, you play your best players…
Arsenal dominated the early possession, without ever really having a cutting edge. If playing football in the final third won you trophies, we’d be putting them in storage to accomodate an over crowded trophy room.
Chelsea gave us the first scare when Anelka capitalised on some sloppy play from Nasri. He broke into the box, Sagna got in between him and the ball and pulled him over. The ref decided it wasn’t a penalty, Arsenal fans could breathe again… it was stone wall for most.
It struck me early on that our game plan was slightly flawed. We were hitting the wings and whipping crosses into a forward line with an average height of about 5ft 7. Kind of like me trying out punch Mike Tyson in a bar brawl.
The first warning signs that Chelsea were warming up came when Drogba managed to get a free header in our box. It did make me wonder what the manager talks about before the game? Do they highlight the oppositions strengths, or just gloss over them and hope certain players don’t turn up?
Nasri had the first shot for Arsenal. He jinked inside Ivanovic and fired into the arms of Petr Cech.
Traore managed to get himself booked after a minor tussle on Frank Lampard… surprising after the ref allowed Mikel to get away with a cynical challenge on Eduardo.
Arsenal broke forward with Eduardo controlling the ball, he fed Arsh who cut tha ball back and played it into an empty box.
Then came the moment we were dreading. Terry passed to Cole… Cole crossed to Drogba… Drogba deftly flicked it in off the upright… the trio of filth combined to put Chelsea ahead. Gutting.
Soon after, the most hated player in football, Ashley Cole, whipped a ball into the box, the keeper and Vermaelen failed to communicate which lead to the Belgian slipping it into his own net. Poor defending from a team who continue to ship goals at an alarming rate. This was something I warned about earlier in the year… when the goals dry up, what happens?
The second half started, Song came off for Theo Walcott. Fair play, Song wasn’t exactly having the blinder people were hoping for.
Arsenal started well. Eduardo forced a save from Cech, the ball deflected out, Arshavin took an age to shoot, the ball ended up in Cech’s hands, Eduardo raised his foot above Cech’s shoulder, he dropped the ball, Arsh scored. Goal disallowed. Arsene, when a footballer who is 5ft8 has his ankle higher than a 6ft5 keepers shoulder, the ref is going to blow up.
Vela and Walcott didn’t really impress me. I think Theo is one of the most over hyped players at Arsenal and I really don’t believe he deserved a massive great new contract based on what he’s done for Arsenal. Vela hasn’t had a lot of time to shine, so it would be unfair for me to critique his performance today. Needless to say, we’re struggling to replace Robin effectively.
Chelsea absorbed the pressure and continued to dominate us with their power. Drogba demonstrated his superior strength when Traore literally bounced 6 feet off him after an attempted shoulder barge. Shortly after, Arshavin suffered the same indignity when challenging Ivanovic.
Shortly after, Drogba capped off Arsenal’s shameful afternoon by slotting a shot into the top corner from a dead ball situation. More world class keeping from Almunia, more humiliation for the home fans.
Lets not beat around the bush here, today really was a pitiful result. We were out played, out powered and out scored by 3 goals and we’re supposed to be competing for the league? The shame of it was we all knew it was coming. We all knew deep down we didn’t really have a chance. It’s ground-hog day, it’s December and we’re out of the Premiership again
So what did we learn from today?
- Well, playing the ball out wide and looking for crosses when you’re playing against the best aerial defence in the Premiership is dumb. Playing crosses into the box when you’ve got no one above 6ft is dumber
- Denilson and Song in the same team is unambitious in the extreme. People thought Geoff was joking when he said this would happen, sadly it wasn’t a joke… it was a prophetic statement.
- As for Song dominating the midfield. Well, we didn’t see that did we? I thought his performance was shoddy at best.
- Our goalkeeper needs to be changed. I don’t know how long Wenger is going to let him play badly before he ships him out. We’ve allowed 41 shots to land on target this year, we’ve conceded 18. Un-fucking-believable.
- Money buys you experience, power and winners. When has an Arsenal team ever achieved success without those ingredients?
Very disappointing. If this team is ready and it’s no longer young, well, we’ve got some serious shopping to do in January. There is only so long you can keep on talking about tomorrow.
“In England people think that the Solution is always to buy”
Arsene, that’s what people think all over Europe and guess what? They’re fucking right. We’ve got ourselves a young team of players who don’t know how to win. We need super human players like Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Bobby Pires. We need to start giving the real talent games and stop trying to stop gap with poor players.
Talk about finishing all you like, we didn’t create chances. Blame the referee, we’re not entitled to get every decision. Moan about missing Van Persie, he wasn’t going to keep Chelsea out three times. We’ve got the same fundamental problems we’ve had for the last three years. No power, not enough world-class players and a lack of a winning mentality. We’ve lost to Sunderland, Man City, Man United and Chelsea. That’s not title-winning form. If we continue to ignore the issues we have with the squad and continue to praise how young they are and how amazing the business model is, we’ll always be here, every year, moaning about the same things.
Arsene’s got it dreadfully wrong again, just a little later than he did last year.
The kids are no longer kids, they’re failing adults. Time for a rethink.
Ratings:
Almunia: Give me a keeper who knows how to communicate with his defence, has the guts to come from crosses and can stop shots. If anyone knows of one, please forward his name onto keeper.solutions@arsenal.com. 5
Sagna: Some typically woeful crossing from the Frenchman and a terribly clumsy challenge in the first half. Harsh on the crossing. I guess asking a full back to hit one of our ‘target men’ is a pretty impossible task even for the most gifted of wide men. 5
Gallas: Terrible mix up for the two goals. He’s there to stop dangerous balls and he failed. I wasn’t overly impressed with his Drogba hug at the end of the game either. 5.5
Vermaelen: Not his best game. He should have been more composed when clearing the Cashley cross and he could have given a penalty away in the second half after rugby tackling John Terry. 5
Traore: Not a bad game considering how many people consider him to be the weakest left back to ever wear an Arsenal shirt. 6
Song: I thought he had a very poor first half. He gave the ball away cheaply, struggled to keep up with players who are 7 -8 years older than him and hardly dominated in the way so many people promised he would. Not just that, he suffered the shame of being hooked off for the equally average Denilson. 6
Denilson: Why oh why would you put him in the same team as Song? Surely one defensive midfielder is enough? Passed better than Song, but offered nothing of note to the game. Irritating how often he smiles when he plays badly. A very odd decision from the coach. 5
Cesc: Never really got into the game. Against more powerful opposition, he needs to be protected. He wasn’t, so he couldn’t perform. 5.5
Nasri: Looked lively in the first half, but failed to really impose himself past the first 20 minutes. Very disappointing. Am I the only person who feels like all our players are indentikit versions of each other? I feel like I’m playing top trumps and I’ve got 5 Alfa Romeo’s (There’s a metaphor in there somewhere)… Rosicky, Nasri, Cesc, Arshavin, Vela… they’ve all got the same qualities, all got the same weaknesses. 6.5
Arshavin: Sorry? He played? I can hardly remember seeing him! Struggling to motivate himself playing in our team? Well, if that’s the case… he’ll miss out on that move to Barca this summer. They’ll only want players who perform. Time to think about the team who pay you £80k a week, time to stop being such a girl and get over your World Cup failure, time to start delivering on that reputation you have. 3
Eduardo: What happened to our confident, cool, calm striker? Where did he go? He was off the pace today and very quiet. Like he normally is, bar the goals. 3.5
Subs:
Walcott: I’m sorry, as an outed xenophobe, I feel ashamed to admit it, but I just can’t get excited by the pride of English football. He gets the ball, either touches it behind him, 15 feet in front of him, or palms it off as a pass. Very average and totally undeserving of a 60k a week contract. 5
Vela: Eduardo off, Eduardo 4 years younger on. He even has the problem of not getting penalties because he looks like the Crozillian. 5
Rosicky: Kind of got things going, should have started really. Must have been pretty shocked that he is finally fit and the coach preferred to stick Denilson in there. A bit like finding out your boss has asked his 13 year old son to head up a multi-million pound project at work instead of putting you forward. 5
So a day on and I’m still getting ‘Happy Days’ text messages from Chelsea fans. Geoff and I were planning a podcast for this morning… kicking off that chapter of Le Grove off with a miserable episode didn’t seem right.
Still, we must dust ourselves down and hope that Manchester City’s dismal run of draws comes to an end when we beat them this week. I have a spare for that game, 2 for Stoke and a few others if you’re interested.
Have a great day Grovers! See you in the comments.
also one other point , for all the knob ends who try to pass off the Carling cup as a trophy no fucker wants ..
why are ALL the top 4 still in it then ?
only Liverpool who currently isnt top 4 has missed out ..
the problem isnt the fact this cup is worthless
its more the fact that wenger views it as such and his disciples follow on his preaching .
Yes wenger we used to marvel in your youth program 3 or 4 years ago ,
but its like a broken down car ! .. going nowhere and costing us time and money ..
if we want to see inexperienced youths in an arsenal shirt we can do that every EPL game nowadays .
AA23
I think the centre backs would be more confident with thin air in goal for us.
Pure, succulent Oxygen could do a job for us. Think about it.
—————————————-
more like helium in your case ! (hot air )
ethan, what are you on about? United play their youngsters in it. They’re putting out a young team against Spurs.
Arsenal, Liverpool, and United don’t put out the big guns
Ethan Helium isn’t hot air.
Ethan whenever you post this is what I imagine you look like.
Always makes me chuckle. I bet I’m bang on as well.
In fact is this actually you?
http://www.justoffroad.com/Redbull%20airrace/Lord%20Bath.jpg
Actually I’m onto something here.
Here’s Mangoonian…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/wallpaper/images/800/paul_nicholas.jpg
this ones Stu
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/2699042785_2fc334bfff_o.jpg
it’s a genuine picture of him though
Noooo…. Van Persie’s going to be out between four to five months. It just had to happen!
I know Jonathan. Did you also hear that we arent called Dial Square anymore. Unreal!
The Edge
Anthony Hopkins as Arsene Wenger; Alec baldwin as Stan Kroenke; Harold Perrineau as Alex Song; Elle Macpherson as gnarleygeorge’s love interest & Geoff as Himself.
See what happens when shit results push Geoff over the edge & he takes his frustrations out on Song & the rest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsudpSSdZCc&feature=related
On a more disturbing note
Premier League clubs are paying almost £2 million a week to agents in commission as the middle men’s earnings were revealed for the first time by the top flight.
Manchester City were unsurprisingly the Premier League’s big spenders on agents.
The 20 English top flight clubs disclosed they spent £70.7 million on agents’ fees last season alone.
Mel Stein, the highly respected executive of the Association of Agents, told ESPN Soccernet: “In many cases the agents earn their corn.
“You can’t consider it in a vacuum. You have to ask the question what percentage of the transfer fees are the agents’ fees? And what benefit has the club received?”
Stein, one time agent to Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle, continued: If the club win a title or stay up then as I would say that the agents’ fees are worth every penny.”
Stein, in other words, argues that an agent has to deliver value for his commission, by bringing the clubs top class players.
Manchester City were by far the biggest spenders, splashing out almost £13 million during dates covering last winter and the recently closed summer transfer window. But City did spend almost £200 million on virtually a completely new team.
Chelsea, bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, paid out about £9.5 million – the second highest – with Liverpool third on £6.7m and Tottenham Hotspur writing cheques worth £6.1m.
Manchester United were the first Premier League club to go public with their agents fees, and that was brought in when the Glazers took over. They have now been followed by the entire Premier League. United spent just £1.5 million, while Premier League new boys Burnley parted with the least amount – less than £500,000.
The Premier League clubs have followed the example set by the Football League, who began to publish annual spending reports five years ago.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were promoted from the Championship last season, said the £1.2 million they spent came during a busy period of player signings and contract renewals, which also tend to incur agents’ fees.
Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: “We welcome the publication of agent fee payments across the Premier League and the increased level of transparency it brings to a subject that interests everyone in football.
“The figure published today reflects a small part of the financial commitment we made in making the moves to strengthen the squad during the two transfer windows in question.
“We also secured some of our best young players on new long term contracts in order to help ensure stability and continuity at the club.”
The list in full:
1. Manchester City – £12,874,283
2. Chelsea – £9,562,223
3. Liverpool – £6,657,305
4. Tottenham – £6,066,935
5. Wigan – £5,527,548
6. Arsenal – £4,760,241
7. West Ham – £3,576,972
8. Portsmouth – £3,184,725
9. Bolton – £3,166,611
10. Everton – £2,008,407
11. Sunderland – £2,007,040
12 Aston Villa – £1,708,374
13. Blackburn – £1,610,885
14. Hull – £1,599,188
15. Manchester United – £1,517,393
16. Fulham – £1,469,258
17. Wolves – £1,235,703
18. Birmingham – £974,982
19. Stoke – £716,042
20. Burnley – £468,398
I want this Lakuku kid from Liege. 8 goals in 14 and similar style to Drogba from what I have read(researching him all day today!). Incredibly fast and strong. Only 16 years old
Maybe 17. 16 and scoring 8 in 14 is a bit hard to believe.
Who the $%@# is Mick Dennis from the daily express. Who does he support? Weak idiot!
There’s a special edition of the computer game ‘Football Manager’ (for dimwits who think they could do the job better than Arsene Wenger).
But there is no Arsenal dictionary. That’s a shame as Emirates occupants could look up the word “support”. They don’t have a clue what it means.
They must have realised there was a chance their team might lose against Chelsea. It is football, after all. Matches often involve winners and losers. Chelsea have spent more than anyone before on assembling a team that wins quite often.
And lo, Didier Drogba, the striker for whom they paid a record fee and one of the finest exponents of ‘centre forward’ play, scored twice and scared Thomas Vermaelen into contributing an own-goal. So how did Arsenal fans respond to this disappointment? Did they: a) keep cheering on their team, defiantly, b) remain silent, c) go home early or d) clog up the phone-ins with “Arsene’s gotta go” absurdities.
Those of you who answered ‘a’ haven’t ever been to the Emirates, have you? The correct answer is b, c, and d.
The simple & best way to shut up idiots like this tonsil is to buy a great team.
…..if only everything was that simple
oh well
Nice speech Gnarley! The problem is the reason for the absurdities is because the manager said this team is good enough and we don’t need to buy.
Cleary we do need to buy, you said yourself that ‘Drogba the striker for whom they paid a record fee’ well this is football and that’s what we should do, not buy useless kids.
If we don’t want to do that, we should get into a another sport.
Wenger says he doesn’t want to spend money, but he has no qualms in earning it does he?
Finally for those of us who do go to watch, why should we pay more to do that than anyone else in the whole world of football, when we win fuck all because that same manager refuses to spend the money we make for him?
And that mate is why people like me get pissed off, enough is enough.
This is Arsenal FC, not Arsene Wenger FC
I’m off to brave the first frost of the year, have a great morning.
Pat but wouldnt u say that Lukaku is just another kid..even though he is huge..he is already bigger than Drogba and he is only 17….
Oh well I think Wenger will rely on Bendy to come good..
Mark Hughes has given Emmanuel Adebayor the thumbs-up to face Arsenal – despite causing a near-riot the last time they met.
Hughes welcomes the Gunners to Eastlands tomorrow with a place in the Carling Cup semis at stake.
And the City boss, desperate to win some silverware, is ready to remain defiant and risk an explosive evening by putting out his strongest team.
That would mean a starting role for the man who scored in City’s 4-2 league win on September 12 before running the length of the field to taunt the travelling Gunners fans who reacted by throwing objects at him and trying to get on the pitch.
But Hughes said: “There’s no feeling Ade won’t play as a consequence of what happened last time.
“In fact, he’s more likely to play because he had such a huge impact on that match.
“I think he’s made a statement in that regard. It was an emotional time and it has been well documented. I don’t think it will happen again.”
The City forward was booked for his incendiary conduct and became embroiled in further controversy in the game with a brutal stamp on former Arsenal team-mate Robin van Persie.
That earned Adebayor a three-match ban and halted his explosive early season form, having scored four goals in his first five games for City following his £25m switch from Arsenal.
But Hughes claimed Adebayor has learned from that chastening experience against his old club and that he considers it to be in the past.
Hughes added: “We don’t want to look back here. It’s about moving forward and concentrating on what’s coming up.
“You can look back at incidents in the season and think, ‘Yes, that was something that hurt us’.
“Ade was flying at that time and he was having a real impact. He’s found it a little bit more difficult to do that since then.
“But that’s maybe more a consequence of opponents having a look at how we play and trying to stop our threat ñ which Ade is.
“If Ade’s playing well and scoring, he’s going to have an impact on the game.”
City midfielder Nigel De Jong admitted Hughes’s players had no-one but themselves to blame for their frustrating run of seven successive Premier League draws.
If City can overcome Arsenal tomorrow, they will reach their first domestic semi-final since 1981, when they went on to lose to Tottenham in the FA Cup final.
De Jong says City’s players cannot afford to dwell on their recent poor run and that they must seize their chance to stay on course for the club’s first trophy since 1976.
“We’re very frustrated,” said De Jong. “We played well at times against Hull and also in the other recent home games, but we have to try to dominate at home and we haven’t.
“So there’s a lot of frustration around. We’ve just got to pick ourselves up again and look forward to the Arsenal game on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to give more in every part of the side, not just the defence but the midfield and attack as well.
“It’s a team thing, we just have to work harder to get to where we want to be.”
Ja, he’s 16 actually. How many 16 year olds have 8 goals in 14 games for their club team. Standard Liege. He either made or will very soon make his international debut for Belgium.
His scoring record is great for a 16 year old, no matter what league it is
Pat I think he plays for Anderlecht not Liege…
If it were Liege we would have seen him against us..
He scored more goals than he played matches in his youth career: 68 goals in 68 matches with FC Brussels and 121 goals in 88 matches with Anderlecht.[4] Even though he was only 15 years of age, Lukaku managed to score 26 goals in 17 matches against players 4 years older. These performances had also raised the interest of a.o. Manchester United, Chelsea FC, AC Milan and Arsenal F.C. who look to be leading the chase.[5]
I would not mind getting him..but Wenger will say it will kill Bendtner
Damn he scored 26 in 17 against 19 year olds when he was 15….Very impressive..we need him but Wenger rates Bendy so we wont get him..
The results of the 2009 Ballon d’Or, won by Lionel Messi by a record margin.
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) : 473 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) : 233
3. Xavi (Barcelona) : 170
4. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) : 149
5. Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona then Internazionale) : 75
6. Kaka (Milan then Real Madrid) : 58
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter then Barcelona) : 50
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United): 35
9. Didier Drogba (Chelsea): 33
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) : 32
11. Fernando Torres (Liverpool): 22
12. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) : 13
13. Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg) : 12
14. Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) : 11
15. Thierry Henry (Barcelona) : 9 pts
16. Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid): 8
19. Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid) : 7
20. Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux) : 6
21. Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal), Julio Cesar (Inter), Frank Lampard (Chelsea) : 5
24. Maicon (Inter) : 4
25. Diego (Werder Bremen then Juventus) : 3
26. David Villa (Valencia), John Terry (Chelsea) : 2
28. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Yaya Toure (Barcelona) : 1
30. Karim Benzema (Lyon then Real Madrid): 0
we woulda won the league if it wasn’t for those pesky, useless, meddlin kids.
Why did Henry handball it twice? To be sure, to be sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH7aOG263tw
Lukaku looks/plays nothing like a 16 year old should. I know its just a youtube video, but he’;s the closest “next __________” type of player there is.
This guy will have a good career, hopefully at Arsenal. 16 ffs! He looks like a seasoned striker in the way he takes his goals!!
Don’t worry Pat. I’m sure we’d soon beat that out of him. Every goal scored is a wasted opportunity to make a fancy little flick to one of your teammates. It’s all about green lights ya know?
Geoff
Thats not my speech, only the 1st & last line
This guy is clearly upset by fans leaving the stadium before the final whistle etc.
I wonder what he thinks of the average of 430,000 per annum British citizens migrating to other countries.
There will be no one left in Blighty to vote his do gooder government out.
How does Benzema finish 30th with no points. Senderos got no points how come he didn’t finish 30th.
Pat – At 16 he’s far too old for Arsene….
Heres an interesting extract:
“The Football Association will investigate the throwing of a camera onto the pitch during Sunday’s Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium”.
Has it been confirmed that it was actually a camera. I mean it could have been a mobile phone seeing that Cashley was on the pitch @ the time
well, it kind of looked like a mobile phone in the ref’s hand – hacks just wouldn’t let us Gooners have this little laugh
I couldnt really careless about signings we may make, we have another month probably two months to wait untill signings are made as we always make them on the last day but just for the record I think Gervinho is a far superior player than Chamakh.
On the Citeh game I would start
__________Fabi
Eboue__Senderos_Sly_Traore
________Eastmond_Merida
_____Ramsey__________Wilshire
__________Theo__Vela
Or even drop Theo and start Denilson alongside Eastmond with Ramsey in the no.10 role, where he plays so well for Wales
NEW POST!