Most improved Arsenal player? Start with Nasri.

March 11, 2010

So I listen to many bloggers, some good, some odd and some just mind blowing, I often listen to people telling me who the most improved player is, without going to the dark side let me make a short list. Before some of you have a fit, SONG isn’t on the list because he did his improving last season and he can’t keep getting the accolade.

EBOUE

DIABY

NASRI

ROSICKY

And the winner is…Nasri. How anybody could think anyone else should get that title is strange, but he for me has transformed himself culminating by the best performance from an Arsenal player this season since a few from Vermaelen, who can’t win it because he has been great from the off.

The Cesc performance against the spuds was awesome, but we come to expect that from our young talisman, but Nasri is coming good at the right time, as is Rosicky, Eboue and Diaby.

I was watching Toulalon and Lloris last night against the superstars of Madrid, hmmm, I’d take those two wouldn’t you?

Another improved player has to be Song, I agree, even though it hurts me to admit it, but he is a different player to what he was, he still has a long way to go and that’s why I would sign another defensive midfielder, one – so he can learn and two – because you need at least 2 players in each spot for cover and for competition. That player cannot be Denilson, so unless he does an Eboue in the next 2 months, we need to replace him.

One of the reasons we have this ‘most improved player’ thing every season is because they are getting older, by the time they start moving into their twenty’s they have grown, fully formed, are stronger and at last are ready to be Arsenal players, playing them so young is unfair, because they not only get stick for inept performances, they get horrendous injuries like Theo and Ramsey because their bodies aren’t yet ready.

So the most improved players on my list are all grown ups, I think we should look to bolster our squad with a few players of the right age, Denilson could make it next year, but why should we keep accommodating young players that may or may not make it, Senderos is a classic.

I know it’s tough spotting who will and who won’t, but with talent like Wilshere and JET coming through I don’t think we should keep persisting with players that we know won’t make it, we all knew Senderos wouldn’t, yet year in, year out he wasn’t replaced, now he’s slipped quietly out the door never to be seen again, unless of course Everton don’t want him.

Song won’t be going to Hull as he is suspended, so who will play? I suspect it will be Denilson, god help us, we need him to start proving his worth before it costs us the chance to win the title. I think he’s drinking in the last chance saloon.

Madrid are out and that has to be good news, I now want to avoid the chavs and mancs, not because they are any good, but because we seem to roll over when we play them, I also want to avoid Barca, Lyon and Bayern, the truth is I don’t want to play anyone and hope for a free pass all the way to the final!

We know that won’t happen so we should just enjoy it, one thing’s for sure, no one will want to play us!

Have a great day Grovers, two more to go, and we could be top of the league! Whoohoo!!!

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Posted by Geoff

Arsenal stun Porto / Injury worries / Great Dane delivers! Ratings + Review

March 10, 2010

Almunia

Sagna Sol Vermaelen Clichy

Diaby Song Nasri

Rosicky Bendtner Arshavin

The pre-match commentary was spent mainly slagging Arsenal off. Almunia was too nice to be a captain, nice enough to date the daughter of Graham Souness.

Wenger was mainly concerned about counter attacking, hence the inclusion of Song. Adams interestingly said the players had asked Wenger to do a little more research on the opposition, something I have called for him to do for years. The hope was Wenger had got it right tonight. Ruud said the media criticise because they want us to win. He hopes his suggestions are taken on board.

Cheers Ruud.

Bendtner mis-timed his first chance of the match, failing to get on the end of a superb Clichy cross.

Not to be outdone, Sagna crossed excellently to Arshavin at the back post, the quick reflexes of Helton denying him.

The atmosphere was electric.

Arshavin won a header from a long ball against a defender twice his height, he cushioned it back to Nasri who set him loose, the keeper saved his shot but Bends was there to tap in the open goal!

Up the other end, Arsenal allowed a corner to bounce dangerously in the box. An early warning.

Arsenal continued to knock it around nicely.

Just as I spied Nasri collapsing in a heap, Arshavin intercepted a poor Porto pass, he beat three men on the edge of the box, broke free, cut back to Nik who held his line in a way Ade could never and buried the cross. Amazing turnaround from the big Dane.

Song made a vital interception on the edge of the box. Nasri continued to pull the strings in a very Cesc like manner.

Clichy had his customary howler when he handled a high ball keeping it in play allowing the Hulk to waltz into the box and nearly threaten us.

Bendtner forced a good helton save late in the half with a fizzing low shot. The keeper made a super save from the header Diaby powered off from the corner.

A great first half, but a lot of sloppy play mixed in. We would have to settle down in the second half if we wanted to make sure this night fizzled out without any drama. Arshavin, Clichy and Campbell particularly needed to straighten out their howler Tourette’s.

Almost the first thing that happened in the second half was an edge of the box cock up… Rosicky played a weak pass, Song missed it, the Hulk fluffed his chance (A common theme from a man whose name gets people more excited than Denilson’s stats).

Rodriguez beat Sagna to head a corner to the far post where Nasri was on hand the clear.

Arsenal were looking very dodgy, the nervousness was spreading through the ground as well.

The game needed some magic.

Nasri had the ball outwide, outside the box. He took on three defenders, cut in, turned out, broke free of his players and banged it across the far post and scored one of the best goals the Emirates has seen. That’s the Nasri we signed, that’s the Nasri we’ve been hoping to see for the last two years.

Clichy cleared a corner, Arshavin picked it up, rans 40 yards… Eboue sprinted past him, the through ball was sublime, Eboue took it round the keeper and slotted into the empty net! 19 seconds end to end… magic.

Song continued to play sloppy passes, but Arsenal calmed down and started imposing their game again. Diaby was controlling the midfield with Nasri and it was a joy to watch.

A Chorus of ‘Tottenham are watching eastenders’ rang round the ground, superb!

Just as the game was ebbing away,  Eboue went down in the box, Penalty! Nik stepped up, the worlds eyes on him, he banged it low and hard into the bottom corner. The clown prince turned in a Great Dane performance!

A message was sent out to Europe, Hull and the Premiership. We’re in this to win it and with a little luck, you never know!

Conclusion:

Whilst a 5-0 victory is something to cherish and savour, it would be irresponsible of me to ignore some extremely sloppy play and some poor defending. On another day, we could have been punished. If we want to win the Champions League, we have to concentrate for the full 90 minutes. Chelsea, Bayern, Madrid and Barca wont be so kind with our mistakes. Song, Clichy, Campbell and Arshavin were guilty tonight.

Now onto the good…

Arsenal turned over their first Euro deficit since the seventies, they proved they could handle the pressure and everyone delivered. We were clinical tonight, we worked hard for our win and we weren’t afraid to play. The belief the team showed was special to watch, the crowd finally sound like they are truly connecting with this team, you feel like heroes are developing in front of our eyes… I can’t wait for the next game! Being a Gooner feels pretty amazing right now!

Ratings:

Almunia: Some dodgy kicking and a few spilled shots, but overall, he did his job. 7

Sagna: Say what you like about his crossing, as a defender, he’s top notch. Tonight, he was very good. 7

Vermaelen: Superb. A rock. A legend in the making. He had a blinder tonight, shame about the yellow card.8

Campbell: A very sloppy first half from a very experienced player. He’ll sort that out though and he’ll be more critical of his game than anyone else. What can’t be denied is how he inspires the team. His encouragement of the youngsters and his team huddles are going down a dream! 6.5

Clichy: He played pretty well bar a crazy moment out wide where he let the Hulk in. 6.5

Song: I thought he had a good first half but he let himself down in the second half with some poor passing and bad decision making. He still did a top job closing down angles and breaking up play. He needed to be there tonight and the 5-0 score line proves that. Interestingly, Souness and co said Song was close to being the complete player, the only thing he lacked was the discipline to stay back (Like Gilberto did). 6.5

Nasri: His chance to shine, his chance to showcase his talent… and what a performance. I’ve been questioning him recently because he clearly has an abundance of talent that’s been going to waste… tonight he announced himself on the European scene with the performance we’ve all been waiting for. He was at the heart of everything; showed guts to play through an injury and showed incredible skill to get his goal. A world class performance. 9

Diaby: Honestly, that has to be the most professional performance I’ve seen from the young Frenchman. He passed fantastically, he was disciplined and he allowed Nasri to play the game he did. Don’t underestimate how important he was for us tonight. 7.5

Rosicky: Top game for our favourite Czech player. He plays so much better when he has a target man to play off. His tricky runs and unpredictable play cause alsorts of bother. I hope he’s not injured. 7

Arshavin: We saw the best and the worst of Arsh. His worst was the terribly shoddy passing and his extremely casual play. He needs to stop being so wasteful when he’s not attacking. His best was an inspirational performance up top. He set up the first two goals, bagged an additional assist and played a blinder for us. 8

Bendtner: I backed him 100% at the weekend and I was paid back treble! Nik scored 3 extremely important goals in a game that was worth £18million to the club. He had a terrible time in front of goal last weekend and tonight, he made amends. It wasn’t just the goals for me, it was having a striker who can nod on the long balls, hold up the ball and play with his back to goal. Not to mention how well he held the line for his second goal. He could be the proper centre forward we were looking for in January. He’s an intelligent footballer and he’ll be a top player for us. I hope the world noted how humble he was in the interview afterwards… he didn’t even know he was meant to keep the ball!

Thanks to Gambon for this comment:

Since returning from Birmingham, he has started 56 games for us. He has come on as a sub 57 times, so lets assume he averages 15 minutes when subbed on, this is 855 minutes.

Lets round that upp to 900 minutes, which is 10 games.

So that means 33 goals in 66 games, many of which he has played wide left & right.

1 in 2 Baby!

8

Subs:

Eboue: You know I’ve always loved Eboue so I was pleased as punch to see him come on and score a goal. On a serious note, he’s had a great season so far and it was fantastic to see him come on, roll about when we needed him to, stay on his feet when he had to and score when we demanded it! He got the penalty as well! 7

Denilson: Pretty solid cameo appearance. I want to see him do well and get the fans back on side! 6

Theo: Was trying very hard to replicate his goal from the weekend to no avail! His pace was a menace though. 6

Lets keep em’ crossed Diaby, Nasri and Rosicky are all ok for Hull this weekend!

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Posted by Pedro

The big one arrives but who will play? I know what I’d do… Winning the Olympics is a clue!

March 9, 2010

So this is it, our defining moment, but who will play? Well yesterday I dared to suggest a midfield of Rosicky, Nasri and Diaby, and outside of Cesc, our most skilful midfield, a few people suggested I was as mad as a March Hare not suggesting Song.

I am amazed that people would find that midfield not the best we have, Nasri can mix it and for me takes over from Cesc, Diaby can be the enforcer and Rosicky can start the attacks, yes Song has improved no end, but for this game I believe we need pace and skill over the ability to stop attacks, what Porto did last time was to by-pass the midfield and that makes Song redundant.

We need to keep the ball, not worry about winning it back should we lose it, tonight is about being positive and go on the attack from the off, we cannot afford to let them score, if we have to use a DM then sure, use Song, but please leave Denilson in the cafeteria, I reckon a front line of Theo, Bendtner and Arshavin will click tonight and I have Bendtner down with Theo to score more than one apiece.

This is not about leaving Song out, it’s about having the most creative midfield in football, besides, since the ACN, Song has not had the form he showed before.

However, we all know Wenger will play Sagna at the back and the midfield will be Denilson, Song and Nasri, that then leaves Eboue free to play up front on the right, so it will be his team or mine and I hope he is brave and goes for skill over his favourites.

My team

Almunia

Eboue Campbell Vermaelen Clichy

Rosicky Nasri Diaby

Walcott Bendtner Arshavin

Wenger’s team

Almunia

Sagna Campbell Vermaelen Clichy

Denilson Nasri Song

Eboue Bendtner Arshavin

I watched us destroy Burnley on Saturday, we weren’t far off, but we left it late, keep the nucleus of that team together and it will pay dividends, bring Song on once we are 3 up, don’t waste the opportunity because this Porto team are there for the taking.

It reminds me of the battle of Quebec, Montcalm, the French general was camped in at the fortress of Quebec, General James Wolfe was with his army waiting in the St. Lawrence river with no way past the big French guns, what did he do next? He slipped past them at night, scaled the impossible heights of Abraham and when dawn broke the British army was behind them and ready, the battle was over in double quick time, Wolfe raced to a 3 nil lead before Montcalm had a chance to deploy his counter defensive midfield ploy, the Brits trashed the French and won Canada, and to this day Canada is still a colony and that’s why Great Britain won the winter Olympics.

So the moral of the story is surprise, do something they don’t expect, be bold Arsene and the day is yours, oh and forget the fact you are French, tonight you are batting for Harry, for England and St. George, go forth and seize the moment (Napoleon) tonight we go through to the quarter finals and get revenge on the fornicators from the bridge.

Have a great day grovers, tonight could and should be memorable.

And don’t forget I’m not dissing Song, I’m saving him for a rainy day, and tonight isn’t one of them.

No predictions but we’ll score two more than they do!

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Posted by Geoff

The BBC sums up what is wrong with the EPL, Terry, Cole and the moral compass.

March 8, 2010

So I turn on the BBC news this morning at 5.58, eagerly anticipating my quick dose of the news and the ManU appreciation society. So what do I get? 7 minutes of the American oscars, what the hell is that all about, do I care? A bunch of actors, blowing smoke up themselves with their customary annual pat on the back, and the BBC use my money to send out a star struck twit bird, who’s old enough to know better, to report on them. Like we care! It’s embarrassing to let them think we are all as shallow as they are.

Then to top it, the film that wins it, was the biggest load of rubbish I’ve seen for years, the Dirtbox locker, it tries to show that America are the only country in Iraq dismantling bombs, who do they think they are? The only country that wins all the wars,  shame on you America. We should leave them alone and send our troops to the Falklands, let them sort out their own mess.

Then they show a bit when the SAS get involved, and you know what, they get killed by the insurgents, not the Americans though, they are way too good. Pukey, pukey.

I watched it with Mrs Bear, she didn’t make the end, she fell asleep, I only watched to the end because I paid for the DVD and won’t be beaten, what a load of vomit making, badly acted and directed crap.

So why does it sum up Broken Britain? Well it shows that even the BBC now consider celebrity above the news, and that my friends is what is wrong.

Terry, Cashley and Beckham all sold various events to the low life trailer trash magazines, I believe, and that shows that celebrity has taken over from reality, getting on in life and working hard is not important anymore, Jesus H, look at Gordon Brown’s wife, she has a dozen of them a week in Downing Street and that monster wasn’t even elected (nor was Gordon Brown, but that’s another matter).

So this appears to be the way this country and football is going, well not on my watch it isn’t! I’ll say it the way I feel like it should be said. Screw the underclass.

NOW ONTO ARSENAL!

Porto next up, maybe with Cesc, maybe not, I would sooner rest him and keep him for the EPL, play the team we played on Saturday, minus Denilson and we should blow them away, we’ll have a different ref (from Portugal) and it won’t be the ref that did the Villa vs Mancs game, so in theory we should be alright.

I fancy Theo, Eboue and Rosicky to torment them, and with Nasri pulling the strings in the middle with Diaby, we should have more than enough in the locker.

I suspect Nikki will spring into life after the misses against Burnley, the last time I saw anyone miss that many open goals was… …well Bendtner , and funny enough it was against Burnley, so maybe we can chalk that down to it being his bogey team and move on.

Hopefully he’ll bring Campbell back to replace Silvestre and we’ll be more solid at the back, let them lose on him (Silvestre) and we may well concede, and that as we know will spell disaster, we need a goal, but we should try for 3 or 4, I will never feel safe with this keeper sitting on a 1 goal lead, so 3 goals in the first half will make me and 50,000 odd others at the ground feel more comfortable.

Good to see Theo back on track, good to see the Eboue we thought we had bought years ago and great to see Rosicky and Nasri playing like people conducting an orchestra at last.

I’m going for a comfortable win, but only if I see a team that resembles this.

Almunia (no choice, sorry)

Eboue Campbell Vermaelen Clichy

Rosicky Nasri Diaby

Theo Bendtner Arshavin

Have a great day today Grovers, today we start the big, big up, for tomorrow.

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Posted by Geoff

Theo, Bends and Nasri steal show! Jack Wilshere sickens me…

March 7, 2010

Friday night turned into Saturday morning, so excuse me if this post is a little hazy…

I wont give you the normal blow by blow account of the action, but I’ll give you the jist of the match and let you lot dissect the rest like you normally do!

The opening goal came from a magical piece of Samir Nasri ingenuity and a superb piece of finishing from our main man. Nasri was about 10 yards from the edge of the area surveying the blockade of Burnley players for an opening, he ended up playing one of those chipped passes I normally despise, up and over the Burnley back line where Cesc was on hand to half volley between Jensen’s legs… absolutely magical.

The next goal came from an Arsenal defensive brain freeze. The ball was cleared, our defense bombed forward, Burnley headed straight back, the ball managed to sail past the whole defence, Nugent chipped into the top corner. Completely against the run of play, yet typical of our defending this year.

Arsenal proceeded to batter the Jensen’s goal, the Dane continued his long run of excellent form against us. He hadn’t banked on Theo finding his shooting boots… he ran at the Burnley goal, cut inside and slotted the ball into the far corner with his left foot! Superb play and well deserved. Not sure what the celebration was all about… I’m sure the match of the dayers will be able to tell me!

The game felt like it was on tenterhooks despite Burnley rarely threatening our supremacy. Our fears were eased when Arshavin took it upon himself to beat a couple of men and bury the ball neatly inside the beasts near post.

Arsenal took the three points everyone expected them to and the quest for the title was kept alive.

There will be a lot of talk about Nik’s finishing today… it was appalling, but a few things need to be taken into account. His scoring record has been pretty good recently, he hit the target plenty of times today and he worked really hard. Today was one of those days, I’m pleased he’s making more intelligent runs, I’m pleased the crowd backed him the whole way and I’m pleased he’s playing for us. He’ll be a player and a half, mark my words.

Theo Walcott displayed the best parts of his game and the worst. He scored a great goal and far more of a goal threat today… he used his pace and played with far more decisiveness than usual, but there were still plenty of shocking decisions and very poor passes. If Theo is to become a legend, he has to work far harder than someone like Thierry, because he’s not naturally as gifted. Still, if Lennon can become a player, so can Theo. Hopefully he’ll make the world cup squad. Loved watching him kick off with the Burnley player who slid in rashley… more of the same Theo!

Samir Nasri looked the business today, he was all over the park and really stepped up after Cesc went off. Diaby also played superbly, he really is starting to deliver on his massive potential. Denilson didn’t have much to do, what he did do was sloppy and poorly executed. I don’t like to pick on players, but his form has been very poor in the second half of this season.

Manchester United wobbled against Wolves and were out of sorts. Unheard of in seasons past. They never normally stutter, so great news for us. We continued to beat weak opposition which is arguably the key ingredient to winning the league. It’s also worth noting that potential banana skin, Birmingham City slumped to a loss against Pompey. If we can take Spurs and City, we could make this one of the most memorable Championships ever.

Keep em’ crossed for Cesc’s hammy!

Overall, a great day out. Bring on the next game. I believe, I hope you do to!

P.S. A big well done to Jack Wilshere on scoring his first goal for the Trotters. I can’t tell you how pleased I am you have contributed to Bolton’s Premiership survival (Do I have to put some sort of wink there to indicate jest?). Oh, and a big thanks to all those I met before the game, a pleasure as always!

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Posted by Pedro

I love you Theo, but at this rate, you won’t be on the bus, maybe today?

March 6, 2010

Even after Theo Walcott’s stop start season, I have been backing him wholeheartedly as I have always believed he will be an England and Arsenal legend one day.

He has been injury plagued since his arrival and as you know, I put a lot of that down to a slight frame, still growing and playing against big boys. The same happened to Owen and look at him him, but many people say it didn’t happen to Rooney, however, he was and is a big lump so getting kicked wouldn’t affect him.

I think Theo needs to start improving ot he will miss the bus to South Africa, he has had the ability to shoot taken out of him, it seems to be an Arsenal trait, don’t you dare shoot, pass.

When Theo was at Southampton he shot quicker than he could think, that was his trademark, as was Nasri’s and Arshavin’s, the Arsenal way is stopping Theo from becoming a legend, he’s played out of position and doesn’t shoot anymore.

If he goes with England it will be as a winger, so it will be two of Phillips, Lennon, Beckham or Theo. Theo son, get your dribbling and shooting boots back on, today would be a good time, easy opposition, Aaron to be avenged, points to be won and Capello to impress.

Diaby is back today and so I expect is the hapless Denilson, shame, I would give Eastmond a go or even experiment with Vermaelen. Whatever happens I would play Campbell at the back, I think he will only get fitter and stronger.

I’m going for a big score today and hope that we see Bendtner continuing to improve, Arshavin to partner him up front with Theo out wide is my guess.

Almunia

Eboue Campbell Vermaelen Clichy

Rosicky Cesc Diaby

Walcott Bendtner Arshavin

So no predicting as usual but I see us scoring 4 more than them.

So we are being linked with German midfielder Ozil, good player, but he’s in the Cesc mould isn’t he? So do we need him, or is something happening we don’t know about?

I’ll sign off now, but before I do, spare a thought for Shaun Wright-Phillips, can you image having a step dad like Ian Wright? His boy doesn’t get picked so he’s now added Mancini to the list of managers he’s had a go at, Sven, McClaren, 3 chavs managers and Capello, Ian, do you not think there is a common denominator? It’s you, or it’s Shaun, they can’t all be wrong!

Have a great weekend Grovers, this is me signing off.

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Posted by Geoff

We are now a financial powerhouse, Remy/Melo back on radar and Shawcross is a good lad.

March 5, 2010

Lets start with Shawcross, I won’t spend long as way too much has already been said about the tackle.

The only real thugs in football never to be called nice lads came from another era, the days of Smith, Webb and Hunter are long gone, Hunter even had the nickname of Norman ‘bites your leg’s’ Hunter, but I don’t ever remember them breaking anyone’s legs.

Since then I have witnessed 3 horror tackles on Arsenal players, all done by nice honest working class lads that wouldn’t hurt a kitten if it were tearing their mothers apart, they couldn’t, they haven’t got it in them, there isn’t a nasty bone in their bodies.

No one deliberately sets out to break someones legs, why, because most of the are cowardly bullies that are way to squeamish, like Shawcross who went off crying like a spanked baby.

For me the blame lies with the manager, the manager that says, give him a dig (or similar), let him know you’re there, if Pulis didn’t say that, let’s hear it, he knows he did, his team knows he did, and one day it will all come out. Same with Bruce, Allardyce and the spiv from Hull, they all think they’re tough, they aren’t, they are fat and thick, it’s only their mates in the media that give them names, big Sam, what’s big about him? He’s like Jabba the hut, fat ugly Sam that can’t chew without opening bis big gob. That’ll teach kids manners, watching that slob.

I’d like to have played him in his day, I would have smacked him all over the pitch, a loud mouth bully like him only does it when there are zillions of people to protect him, I’d like to have seen him playing on Hackney Marshes, he would have spent 90 minutes being someones bitch.

One paper cited Patrick Vieira and the fact he still has the Premiership record for sendings off (8) but I don’t remember him breaking anyones leg, do you?

Enough said on that subject, the Telegraph says Arsenal are fast becoming the financial powerhouse of football, a moneymaking machine, great, well it’s great if we use some of it to spend on a team that wins stuff, that would impress me, there are no trophies out there for financial prudence, and please, Portsmouth, Leeds and Liverpool were financially negligent and took back handers, there’s a big difference between that and buying a few key players.

Arsenal remember, we are still a football club.

Talking of players, the papers say we are in for Loic Remy and Felipe Melo, but the latter will involve Clichy, RVP or Sagna plus cash, ha, ha, are they having a laugh?

I don’t mind taking him off their hands for £8mil plus Hoyte or someone but one of our first team, they must be mental, I do like the idea of Melo though because he is a tough tackler, the fact it hasn’t worked out at a sh*te Juve means squat, remember Thierry?

Someone came on yesterday and told Pedro he was out of order for trying to sell tee shirts on the back of Rambo’s injury, hmmm, you may have noticed it was one of a number of shirts for sale and it was actually a nice thing to do. Mate there’s no such thing in life as a free lunch and the closest you’ll find to that is this blog, the only one that takes no ads and no payment, but the blog is called Le Grove, not Saint Le grove and charging £15 for a tee shirt against the £40,000 plus a week our players earn is really not a sin.

Have a great day Grovers, tomorrow we’ll have a goal fest and it will no doubt be dedicated to our Aaron.

P.S. BURNLEY CLUB LEVEL TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE £100 FOR THE PAIR!

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Posted by Geoff

Finally… our very own kit launch + something special for Rambo!

March 4, 2010

So, after a calamitous morning of launch day madness, I bring to you… the Le Grove range.

I’ve been working closely with a t-shirt design company called TattyNutNut and they’ve pulled out all the stops to bring you some pretty special looking t-shirts.

CLICK THE IMAGE OF THE SHIRT YOU LIKE TO TAKE YOU TO THE TATTY SITE FOR PURCHASE

Do it for Rambo!

We thought the above design would be a nice touch an hopefully a memento of our first league title in 6 years.

Le Grove

This is our basic design. We wanted to create something subtle that was stylish and combined your love for the club and your affiliation to the site.

Marmite

After sifting through the sites comments, it was clear the most talked about topic on Le Grove and the blogosphere were the merits of the 4 players above. The term ‘Marmites’ was coined by the site and entered into the Gooner Glossary. I asked Tatty to mock up a shirt in celebration of the players! I think, like your kids, they may irritate you, but at the end of the day, they’re all gooners and deep down, you know you love them!

The Verminator

This shirt doesn’t need much explaining. I asked for a design to represent the character of Vermaelen and I think I’ve got it! A leader, blood, guts and thunder… a power house of a man… future Gunners legend!

So, now to the boring stuff. All the shirts will be printed up on American Apparel cotton t-shirts. If you’ve never heard of the brand, trust me, they are the best on the market. Their fit is quite standard, but figure hugging, so err on the side of caution if you like your T’s to hang a bit!

The printing company that we’re using are tried and tested, so the shirts have lastability. The shirts will out wear most high street brands you’d buy and will certainly dwarf the quality of other Arsenal t-shirt on the market.

All cost £15.99 and the postage varies depending on where you are in the world, but it shouldn’t be more than a fiver! I will have the stock in by next week, so we will have the first orders out by next Thursday.

Anyway, that’s me done. I hope you like them and I hope you purchase one!

Your support will be appreciated!

So, where were we? Ah, Theo…

549 Comments | New Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

Body Armour / England Musings / Theo Theo Theo… / Targets

March 4, 2010

Now the dust has began to settle on the the tragic Aaron Ramsey tackle, it’s time to see if there is anything out there on the market that could help protect out players against further assaults. My first thoughts were a more protective kit, perhaps like the one below.

Tim kindly sent me in a Nike prototype, the problem with this? Well, two fold really. Firstly it’s not going to be very easy to put an eighties slant on a medieval number, secondly, it’s not going to allow the players to move freely.

So, I decided to get out there and do a little research myself and I’ve come across a new product called D30. This product is lightweight liquid body armour that is liquid until impact, then it turns rock hard and protects it’s sports star. Thus providing a level of confidence to the player, without inhibiting their play. Sounds pretty good to me. It seems crazy that we’re in the 21st century and the best protection we can offer our players is a lump of plastic strapped to their shin with a bit of velcro securing it. If D30 are working with lacrosse, I’m sure they can team up with Addidas or Nike and help design something a little more suited to defending the body against the Stokes of this world.

In other news, I had the pleasure of watching the England game last night. It was apparent from my twitter account that most people weren’t interested in the game, so I feel it my duty as an Englander to give you low down.

John Terry was rightly booed for his disgusting behaviour. I found it amazing that the press had the cheek to suggest we weren’t helping the team by doing that. Does somebody want to tell me how the press helped John Terry by firstly uncovering the story, then running it everyday for 2 weeks as a front page story? The UK main stream take hypocrisy to new levels.

The game was a drag. Egypt were by far the superior team for the first 60 minutes. They knocked the ball around neatly and with intelligence. England resorted to parking the bus like a Stoke or Bolton side. It was sad to see so many players of quality resorting to long ball tactics. It shocked me because on paper, we have many world class players.

I think the problem is, English world class is a combinations of power and workhorse capabilities. For all Rooney’s qualities, he’s no Lionel Messi. When you put 1 quality English player in team of classier foreign players, you give that team grit and passion. When you put 11 English players in the team, you don’t have the creativity to balance out our main strengths.

Theo was awful. He shouldn’t have been picked in the first place. He was still dining out from that hat trick and last night, he failed to deliver in a big way. People can point to his injuries, but lets clear that myth up right now. Theo has been pretty much solidly available since mid-November. If he can’t cobble some form together in 3 months, there is something seriously wrong.

I listened to a reporter on Talk*hite the other day telling the nation Theo was a natural player and a superb winger. How wrong can one person be? Theo Walcott started football at 13 years old. When I was 13 years old Ryan Garry had just been snatch from my German class at school to join the rest of the Arsenal players at another school. That for me is why Theo doesn’t look natural, because he only been playing the game 7 years, compared to most 20 year old pro’s who’ve been playing the game for 14 years.

Anyway, back to the England game. Zidan looked a top player. He’s the Dortmund Striker who put the Egyptians one up. England only came back into the game when they brought Crouch on who took his two goals very well. 20 goals in 37 games for England. Superb.

Looking at that team, I’d say the only way we’ll win the world cup is through solid tactics, hard work and a large dollop of good luck! If Greece can win the Euro’s using those tactics, then England can win the world cup!

In other news, I’ve been watching a lot of football over the past few weeks. Here are some players who I think are quite good.

Veloso: Long time Geoff favourite, Mr Veloso of Sporting Lisbon. He plays in the holding role and has many similarities to Flamini, except, well, he’s a bit classier. He has the physical attributes needed for the premiership and an eye for getting into the box. He’s only young and a real possibility if we wanted him.

Moutinho: Again, of Sporting Lisbon, this tricky midfielder is like a Portuguese version of Arahvin. He’s fast, skilful and ambitious with his play. Probably not for us.

Akinfeev: Arshavin’s answer to the next best keeper in the world. Sorry Andrey, I wasn’t feeling his keeping. He looked all over the place in their last 16 game against Sevilla and spilled too many balls for me. Especially for a £30mill keeper!

Perrotta: Lionel Messi’s understudy for Argentina. A real handful for CSKA with his creativity, ability to create space and his blistering pace. Could be a handy signing for us, reminded me of a young Rosicky.

Balotelli: Looks the real deal. He lost the ball against Chelsea a few times but his power and ability to read the game really impressed me. A shame he’s such a lunatic!

I was supposed to be showcasing some new Le Grove t-shirt designs, but it appears I’ve had my very own Bill Gates/Blue screen moment.

Fear not though… I’ll be back later with the goods!

Stay tuned, see you in the comments!

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Posted by Pedro

Old favourites return as do old targets and is it Ok to boo players even if you don’t like them?

March 3, 2010

So it has been announced that we are reintroducing the Clock end, the North Bank and the East and West stands, good news indeed, but they never went in the first place Ivan, when people ask me where I sit, I always say above the North bank, still it’s sweet that he has made it official, I wish he’d work more on sponsorship deals and new players but ho hum, at least making it official is going in the right direction.

News that Wenger is still tracking Melo is good news, but a replacement for Ramsey is cobblers, Ramsey will be back in 6 months, maybe a replacement for Denilson is more like it, either way at least the boss is still looking at that troublesome defensive midfield spot, so well done Arsene, if it’s true of course and not another renewal ploy. You decide!

Now Adrian Durham I understand is encouraging the fans to boo John Terry, is that right? I asked a cabby this morning what he’d be doing as he told me he was going, his answer was ‘too right I’m booing him, he’s a wrong ‘un’

I remember Arsenal had a well known player that was going down the pockets of the first team players, allegedly, George Graham sold him, even though he was a real talent, I was told it was to save the dressing room, that the players didn’t want to have him around, they couldn’t prove it was him, but the atmosphere was not right, the team had a wrong’un and he had to go.

Now for me the player who had his pockets picked in the England changing room was Wayne Bridge, the guilty player is going to the world cup and that has to be wrong, so the only way the fans can show their disgust is to exercise their lungs, so I say in this case, it’s okay to boo.

Interesting that Gerrard said he wouldn’t feel comfortable if Terry was tin-tacked and he became captain, that was two weeks ago and now it’s an honour, ha, ha, they are all in it for themselves aren’t they, Capello should sack Terry from the team, take Bridge and be done with it, Terry is no longer the player he was, his last three games prove that, we have an abundance of centre backs in this country and a message will be sent out, ‘NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN ENGLAND’

He isn’t some cheeky chappy that had a bit on the side, he knocked up his best mates girlfriend, it also explains why he didn’t go to Man City, nothing to do with loyalty to the chavs, it was because he was knobbing his best mates bird.

The chavs showed their moral compass against City by booing the poor sod who had his pockets picked, I hope England’s fans let them know, that some of us know the difference between right and wrong, go for it England.

When people say it has nothing to do with football they are wrong, it has everything to do with football, without football John Terry would probably be on the dole, football has given him everything, now football should take it away.

I’ll finish on an Arsenal note, this season we’ll probably win the Euro double so we’ll get some cash in and pay off the balance of our loan, so let’s have a real clear out, let’s get rid of those players that we know will never make it, for instance, Song and Eboue have been in the first team since day one (more or less) so they are in the team, Randall, Barazite and Simpson are not, now I’m not saying them, but we do have a bunch that will never make it, so why keep them?

Players like Djourou, Diaby, Wilshere and Ramsey will, so get rid of those that have no chance and bring in some that will go straight into the team, it really wouldn’t cost much, I would love a Dzeko but it won’t happen, so let’s get some in that will make a difference next term, I would like a keeper, a centre-back, a DM and a winger to go with that forward.

We’ll then dominate, and winning the league will be the norm. Then all I’ll write is positive posts!

Have a great day Grovers, not long before we can crucify another team from somewhere near Scotland.

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Posted by Geoff

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