I don’t think there’s anything more annoying than writing out a 1000 word post, saving it, then returning to find that only the title has saved. Actually, maybe someone correcting you on irony. That is also pretty annoying.
Ok, so here I go again!
We’ve got a to cope with a whole weekend with no Arsenal game. That saddens me. Knowing our snotty neighbours down the road are at Wembley makes the down time all the more difficult to deal with. If we were an Animal, this weekend would be like the first cold day in October. You know winter is approaching, pretty soon, it’ll be cold and bleak. As a fan, the cold bleakness is the summer. No football!
However, this year, I’m slightly buoyed by South Africa hosting it’s first World Cup. Despite all the negative coverage around the competition, I’m sure they’ll put on a good show.
I’m getting excited about seeing the greatest players in the world fight it out for the greatest prize in international football. I’m looking forward to watching a relative unknown burst onto the scene, then I’m looking forward to one of Europe’s elite buying that new superstar for a disgustingly inflated fee only to find that form is indeed temporary… and the reason that player was unknown is because normally, they’re hopeless. Yep, bring on a Schillaci, Kleberson or a Karel Poborsky!
I’m struggling though. I feel ashamed to admit it, but I can’t get excited for England. We generally go into every tournament with great hope, then for one reason or another we bomb out. Usually in spectacular fashion. Is it because our footballers aren’t good enough, or is it because our league is too competitive? I like to think the latter. Our players all play in the same division; generally because of a reluctance to learn another language. 90% of the year, they hate each other. Then, for 6 weeks a year, they’re supposed to join up in a hotel and be best friends? That seems like a big ask, especially knowing how the England players treat each other.
Everyone know’s that most of our players are not just deplorable on the pitch, they’re pretty disgusting off the pitch. How am I supposed to sit in the pub with my mates and cheer on John Terry whose taken cash for tours, slept with his best mates ex and generally been a bit of s*it? How can I cheer on players like Aaron Lennon, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard? It goes against everything I stand for! I just can’t get up for it. I love my country… that’s a fact. I’m a proud Englishman. That doesn’t mean I have to have a connection with our football players.
This World cup is going to be a struggle. How do other nationalities feel about their players? It’d be great to hear.
I’ve been reading around the papers and some of the blogs recently. It’s interesting how many stories are floating around about the potential demise of the English football because of the new 50% tax rate. Whilst I struggle to empathise with players who earn astronomical fee’s, I can understand that there is a frustration at giving away 50% of your salary to a government that has just identified £15billion worth of inefficiency within its framework.
This Micheal Caine comment is gold,
“You’re saying to poor people, ‘let’s tax those rich gits’ and I understand that. You slice up the cake, give everyone a chance, but don’t destroy the people that are making the bloody cake! I really believe about taking care of people, I don’t mind paying tax. It’s how the government spends my tax that I detest, really detest, because I see the waste. More money than all our income tax is spent on benefits. Now you tell me there is nothing wrong with that system.”
Now, I’m all for fairness and this new law doesn’t seem particularly fair. However, I’m not so sure it’s going to push footballers over to land of chorizo and latex driven fashion.
Ronaldo leaving United is often cited as an example of the potential pitfalls of our high taxation. Lets be fair here, Ronaldo didn’t leave for Spain because he was short of a few pennies. He went there because he is a lover of the sun, he is a lover of Madrid and his greasy complexion didn’t fit in with Manchester club scene. The extra money is a bonus but I doubt a man earning £130k a week spends too much time worrying about his bank balance.
If you are a foreigner in Spain, you pay a flat rate of 23% take on your earnings. This gives clubs like Madrid and Barca a competitive advantage over their Euro counter parts. However… this could all be about to change. Spain’s unemployment is at 20% at the moment which is a staggering figure considering the frenzied panic we’re having because of 9% in England. Spain are also still in deep recession and the people are not too happy that the Johnny foreigners are benefiting from the ‘Beckham law’.
Why should they be? Why should footballers pay less than everyone else considering their privileged position? The incumbent socialist party is taking a serious look at this law and will hopefully change it taking away La Liga’s competitive advantage.
Don’t worry about our poor little footballer though, where there’s a fat salary, there’s normally a fat cat tax lawyer working something out behind the scenes… loop holes are always left so the mega rich can exploit them (seriously, I wasn’t joking).
I was encouraged to read the positive words Kevin Davies had to say about Jack Wilshere. We may all loath the man, but he’s from the school of thug football and when he talks about a player you might have physical concerns about, you listen.
“I know Ade Stovell [Wanderers’ fitness conditioner] has been working really hard with him, making him stronger, because at first glance it hits you how young he is, and you’d think his size might let him down a bit.
“That hasn’t really happened, and he isn’t scared of putting a tackle in, even in training.”
I like the fact that Bolton have been trying to bulk him up. That’s something Arsenal seem to ignore with their young players, Wenger insisting technical ability comes over bulk. For me, there has to be a mixture of the two. Power is so important in the Premiership and we’ve lost our way with that side of things over the last 5 years. I’d be more than happy for Jack to go out on loan for another year to toughen up and get some more experience. I doubt he’ll be ready to make an impact in our midfield next year and a tutelage under Owen Coyle isn’t to be sniffed at.
What are you plans for this evening? Well, if you don’t have any, I’d suggest switching on the box and tuning into El Classico. The title race is still in full swing in Spain and Barca vs Madrid will be interesting viewing. How will they take on the mighty Barca? They’ve played two holding midfielders on numerous occasions this season and they do have a lot of pace in midfield. I can’t wait to see how their passing compares to Barca and to see whether they indulge in tactics tonight or go gung-ho like we did.
This Sunday, we’ll get the chance to watch Pompey attempt to take Spurs to cleaners at Wembley. It’s staggering that Harry Redknapp is about to benefit directly from his reckless management of the south coast club. Apparently, if Pompey players don’t waive their FA Cup bonuses, the administrator picks the team… giving the Spuds a free pass into the next round. Hopefully common sense will prevail.
My hopes for Sunday? Some soft tissue injuries, a few red cards and a Spurs own goal in the last ten minutes to deflate them!
We can but dream?
Next Wednesdays game is a cup final for us. If we win, I believe we’ll be go on a victory streak till the end of the season which could give us a chance of glory in the Premier League. If we lose, our season dies and we’re looking behind us at the light blue Mancs. That really is a horrible thought.
I’m confident we’ll smash the professional bottlers from down the road. They’ve got a side that I’d class as just above average. They’ve got loads of journey man players that would flop horrendously in the Champions league, so for me, their inclusion in the worlds elite competition would make the Premiership a laughing stock. We don’t need that, do we?
So get your positive hate vibes and telepathically send them to any one of the scum down the road!
I drove past their stadium the other day… my god… it’s third world round that way!
Enjoy the sun today, see you in the comments!
P.S. NBAS (Nik Bendtner Appreciation Society) is growing every day… click
- Facebook: facebook.com/legrove
- Twitter: @legrove
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You’d imagine they must try that, but I guess artificial lights will just never be as good as natural light.
There is a ground where the pitch is somehow rolled in and out, not sure how it works, can’t think where it is?
I can only assume the lower the pitch below the stadium and move it out underneath?
Fine Stu, but scoring tap-ins is part of his job. I’m not saying that we should criticise him indiscriminately, but the people who champion objectivity are irrationally defending him.
Its to do with having no natural sunlight and no wind to dry the pitch, the emirates pitch is always top class due to the undulating terracing/seating which allows this with use of the ultra-violet lights in unison…
Cheers reggie, that explains it then!
Mayank,
I certainly did not provide any excuses for his disappointing performance on the basis of his lack of confidence in other players in the team. I said I could see why he might choose to move on and be dissatisfied with his last year at Arsenal.
You can find plenty of defense for Denilson on other sites, where it is an article of faith that Denilson is or will soon be a great player. Stu is right, and of course you are right that finishing tap-ins are part of Arshavin’s job as an attacker. I, for one, have been disappointed in his finishing this year as well as his effort. He is a class player who might, however, somewhat understandably choose to move on. That isn’t good for Arsenal and we ought to be concerned about trying to keep our best players and insure that they can perform to their best abilities and achieve their and our ambitions of winning.
I don’t think I am making irrational defenses here, at least.
Also true Mayank, but when Arshavin has been performing poorly during matches or missing easy chances he has been rightly criticised on here.
But when there are suggestions of him leaving then its also rightly annoying people because whatever about his mistakes on the pitch he is stil one of our most influential players and on his day one of the best in the world imo.
SO imo its completely understandable that people arent happy with rumours that he is leaving. It would weaken the squad and take away experience that we lack.
wtf is ashley young doing
pitches can be rolled out in one piece on a platform. The do it in indoor arenas like the Sapporo dome
How the fuck was Terry not sent off there?
That thug should have had a straight red then you cunt webb!!
Never mind, just saw Webb is ref.
Its a fucking joke that Terry was captain of england.
What a bunch of odious thugs their team is!!!
And cheats as well!!
And to make it even worse he complained about getting a yellow card. He’s a proper fucking cunt!
The worse part was when he feigned a injury as well!!
He learned that off Essien i bet.
Big Dave from 14.30:
You are right what you heard about AA23 looking for a house or he was.
On the day the CL draw with Barca was made one of my fellow Goon mates showed him a house to rent( 6mth or a year let) in St.Johns Wood area. He didn’t take it.
When asked what he thought of the draw he shrugged his shoulders & in dour pesimistic way said ‘Not good not good at all’ .!
And thats that. Cunts!
Limestone and Stu
I’d be gutted if Arsh leaves (I have the blue AA23 shirt as well) but the point is there’s no need to say that Arsh is right in deciding to leave because he’s surrounded by ‘shit’ players. If that is his attitude he’ll never win anything outside of Petersberg.
Serves Martin Oniel Right.
DG,
Not very encouraging anecdote there! Wish he would have been excited to play them. He barely featured in the tie in the end.
Some people have commented that there seems to be a bit of coldness toward him in the squad as well.
Signs are bad–let’s hope his dourness is just an aspect of his Russian temperament…
just got home, what happened, is their any game left?
I think Arsh needs incentive to apply himself on the pitch. Last year it was getting 4th this year he gave up on the title after the Chelsea game.
Limestone:
I haven’t heard about any coldness towards him, just to repeat, I could be wrong about him leaving.
I couldn’t be bothered watching that bent copper referee anymore after he turned down Villa’s def penalty claim early in the 1st half
Mayank,
Since I never said he was surrounded by ‘shit’ players, perhaps your argument is with someone else. As far as him not winning with his attitude–which I criticized in terms of effort, I’d say it looks more likely that Arsenal won’t win anything if we don’t add quality players but instead lose them.
He and Fabregas both called for quality additions to the squad at the end of last season, Wenger made indications he was planning to add (just like he has started to now) but disappointed them. You can start to see why Arshavin might begin to think he needs to fulfill his ambitions elsewhere(if he is to win something in the next couple of years before he is past his prime). The point in recognizing this is to note the danger we are in after five years without a trophy (assuming we don’t win PL, fairly safe assumption now)going into a transfer season when we really do need to add quality to the team.
Arshavin finally realised that we wont anything under Wenger.Good for him.The sad thing is it wont be long before Fabregas and Van Persie do the same.
Mayank
Its not our idea. Arsh has been bitching about the lack of quality in the squad. And i dont think he was particularly happy with playing CF for 3 months getting injured in the process.
…if Arshavin leaves, I wouldn’t be too bothered about it as long as we get a suitable replacement…Chamakh would be good replacement on the left I feel…I think he’ll prob score just as many but would give us better work rate and more height down the left…for all the great goals Arshavin scores he is sometimes a passenger in games…
cesc and rvp( much better players than arsh) play their hearts out and they are surrounded by the same ‘shit’ players
…and another thing, I’m quite frankly fed up with Arshavin’s opinions esp when he hasn’t been that consisitent himself…
Chamakh is not going to fire us into glory.He is just an over rated player, who will score a goal here and there,and fuck up the rest of chances created by our midfield.Adebayor Mark2.
LSG, David and Jag;
Arsh is a professional player on a good contract. He con do great thing with a football but the fact remains, he’s playing with better players than he’s used to and in light of our injuries he should be more than willing to step in and do a job for the club. Fab played with a fractured leg FFS!
Also if he thinks he’s not going to win anything here then it’s better for both the club and him if he moves on.
IF he really feels that way that is.
With that attitude we’ll never win anything.
Diaby, Song, TV, Gallas, Cesc are players I would say have been comfortably more influential than Arshavin this season (with others being just as influential as him)but they do well to keep their utterances constructive…
Cesc,RVP,Arshavin,Gallas and Vermaelen are great players surrounded by sit players and an even worse manager.
well he doesnt do that for bordeaux,does he jaguar
I love the look on Martin Oneils face when they lose. Gives me so much joy.
…perhaps Arshavin should point out those players he feels are not good enough and need replacing
Who are those better players Mayank apart from Cesc and Van Persie?
Denilshite and Clownmoonia?
in my opinion cesc and rvp are the only suuperstars in our team
Our first team (attacking) includes Arsh, Fab, VP. That’s 3 world class players. Man U have Rooney and Chelsea have Drogba and perhaps Lampard (not right now but in general). Basically Real Madrid and Barca are his only options and he won’t be a guaranteed starter in either.
French league is no where as good as the English league.Chamakh couldnt score 20 goals in that shite league.
Song, Diaby, Nasri even Ramsey are better than most players at St. Petersberg. Eboue Sagna and Gael have a case too.
i would say song, nasri and vermaelen have been more influential this season than arshavin. Nik as well
what about the champions league. He has 5 goals
Jag have you watched Bordeaux play? They are not the free flowing attacking side we are…they are an ‘organised’ side…I saw a a description of Chamakh being a much better version of Hesky…I totally agree with that…Will that kind of a player help us? Definitely YES
Chamakh scored as much as Rooney in the CL.
Jaguar
you are the Almunia of Le Grove.
fucking useless
Almunia makes a new type of howler every time.
No one asked you AA23. You would be better off going back to google,your friend,to know everything about Arsenal.
I think he likes you AA
Jaguar
I’m only joking mate
Almunia is much better keeper than you are a poster.
Sixx pac
he fancies me. The iron.
I thought Pat had connections not double gooner. ISnt Pat the one that told us about Man Shitty/ Adebayor and Toure last summer?
AA23 Says:
April 10, 2010 at 19:31
Sixx pac
he fancies me. The iron.
————————
we all fancy you homo boy
must be your baby face and fat arse
sounds like my X wife
AA23 Says:
April 10, 2010 at 19:25
Jaguar
????
you are the Almunia of Le Grove.
fucking useless
————————–
and that makes you denilson
Sideways posts and swivel-headed irony.
Almunia is a morris-dancing cunt.
denilson is more valuable than almunia
messi winked ronaldo. he seems so confident lol
I forgot that was on
a la madrid
ronaldo is a girl
El classico is quite wank
Really poor. Just switched it off. Like watching Chelski.
I cant tell if its the constant over elaborate diving or the fact that madrid dont have anything else apart from power puff gaylord
madrid just sitting back and using ronaldo for the counter. Yawn
Forgot about El Classico until a minute ago. The second i turn it on Messi fucking scores. Im sick of him being so fucking good.
27 games 26 goals 9 assist.
Thats just disgusting.
I always said the best way to beat Barca was by long ball. I reckon Bolton would give them a tough time. Those CB are very dodgy in the air.
Thats only in the league David. Overall its 37 games (5sub) 37 goals 9 assists
Noone should be allowed to be that good.
Actually i dont know because on Sky they are saying that goal is his 40th of the season.
I just checked soccernet…if your counting international games….
Its 41 goals.
Yeah but he is shit for Argentina so..
2 in 10 competitive games and 2 in 2 friendlies shouldnt be counted. Especially as club vs country football is very different.
What fucking kinda team are barca playing. Looks like a lot of players out of position.
Alves Pique Milito Puyol
Keita Xavi Busquets
Pedro Messi Maxwell
Is that what they’re playing???
I mean this..
Busquets
Xavi Keita
Pedro Messi Maxwell
Pretty wierd formationan, have they gotten more injuries since they played us?
I dont think so Stu.
The only injury i can think of is the Abidal one.
It still doesnt explain why Maxwell is playing as a forward.
The only player missing i can think of is Marques and maybe Borjan?
Wow
Pedro is a gifted footballer.
And Arbeloa playing CB for Madrid. Surely these clubs have enough players.
2-0, pedro.
Either that or Casillas is now wank
Yeah, side footed from the edge of the box and Casillas was nowhere near it.
Its odd though. Pedro only got into the first team this season (right?) but yet he isnt fazed by anything. Can you imagine Vela scoring against United in a crunch match to decide who goes top? Because i cant.
Pedro left Raul Albiol for dead
Semd him off for fuck sake!. Fucking hate that prick Alves!
That was Arbeloa, Albiol is playing right side.
WTF is that? The ref booked Ronaldo instead of Alves?
Stu
Its all about the management.
Vela pisses on every defender internationally for mexico playing on the left.
I have no doubt that he will come good if Wenger gave him the chances.
Sorry those spaniards look alike
I thought it was for diving but he gave the freekick? Strange.
no
puyol pique milito maxwell
——-busquets
—keita——–xavi
–alvez–messi–pedro
Even Messi is diving now. Its getting sickening..
Also you have to remember that pedro started becoming a regular into the first team at the end of last season…for someone so young to be so consistent…given the shite we have to go through with Diaby and Nasri…it hurts.
casillas is worse than almunia
The Ronaldo of yester year wouldve cut the ball back with his back heel and finished with his right.
This is getting confusing now. I though Albiol was playing CB for Madrid but i’ve just seen Garay there. So Madrid are playing Marcelo, Arbeloa and Ramos, plus Either one of Albiol or Garay OR both.
Anyone know how that works?
19 Ezequiel Garay (CD-L)
18 Raúl Albiol (CD-R)
5 Fernando Gago (DM)
2 Álvaro Arbeloa (LB)
4 Sergio Ramos (RB)
Did Marcelo just go off for Raul?
Think its something like this:
Casillas
Ramos Albiol Garay Arbeloa
Gago Guti
Higuain Vdv Ronaldo
Raul
Yeah but before Marcelo went off where was he playing?
Alonso is in there somewhere.
Guti for Marcelo
Raul for RDV
Oh yeah…so who have i there who isnt actually playing?
Marcelo was playing left midfield. I think.
Makes sense he’s left footed
Casillas
Ramos Albiol Garay Arbeloa
Gago Guti
Higuain Alonso Ronaldo
Raul
Something like that.
Left footed but he is shit as well.
WHatever happened to Drenthe?
There doesnt seem to be any really good left backs anywhere in spain. Abidal, Maxwell, Marcelo etc etc..
The only one i like playing in spain is Mathieu a Valencia but i dont know if he is any good.
Not that those leftbacks arent good but with all the world class players in Spain you would think there would be some top class leftbacks too.
Barca have a top class player for every position except leftback.
Drenthe is just another Walcott.
All pace no end product.
But ofcoarse he’s infinitely more ugly.
Real only bought Drenthe based on a few matches in an u21 championship. More proof that you shouldnt buy someone based on their international form.
ethangunner Says:
April 10, 2010 at 19:43
we all fancy you homo boy
must be your baby face and fat arse
sounds like my X wife
Nice one Ethan, I always knew you had taste
Arbeloa is theyre best left back
Although i think Fernando Navarro is a good defender but a bit shite going forward.
Yeah in the same way that Almunia is our “best” keeper.
ethangunner Says:
April 10, 2010 at 19:45
AA23 Says:
April 10, 2010 at 19:25
Jaguar
????
you are the Almunia of Le Grove.
fucking useless
————————–
and that makes you denilson
How dare you Ethan!
I’m Stepanovs
Benzema pls come to Arsenal.
atleast we scored 3 over two legs with lots of injuries. Messi could have another hatrick, if not for casillas fine keeping ..
And surely Yaya Toure should know he doesnt have a future at Barca
benzema is wasted at madrid
Benzema still has 7 goals from 14 la liga starts. If it wasnt for Ronaldo being undroppable and Higuain being in unbelievable form then Benzema would surely be starting.
He’s stupid for going there in the first place. But better there than United i guess.
I think it was just like the Ade situation.
Lyon wasnt going to say no to 50m.
Or was it 40m?
Messi, Pique, Pedro: all 22 years old. Busquets: 21 years old.
Diaby: 23
Denilson: 21
Nasri: 22
Bendtner: 22
Walcott: 21
50 m? More like 35.
I thought it was 30 for benzema.
luke
The difference is they have a 30 year old running the midfield and a 27 year old holding it together.
Sorry Keita is also 30 years old.
Our 30 year olds are the idiots screwing us over at the back and in the post.
Its disgusting isnt it Luke. How dare they be so good at such an age where our players are still lerning.
*learning.
Benzema was 35m.
Lets just say I never thought id be rooting for Real fucking Madrid in a clasico…
Yup Benzema was £35m. Barca have proved that the question with Arsenal isn’t age, but quality. There are many fine young players out there and Barca have a lot of them. Ours just don’t cut it.
luke i would advise you to remove diaby and diaby from that list. Keep in mind that diaby had a very serious injury. He was looking like a wc mid before his injury. Nasri is very good, just not so much on the wings
There is no doubt that our boys are talented…but they need maybe one or two more experienced heads in there.
Which is why Rosicky is a massive let down.
..
Nasri just needs some consistency and confidence. I rate Diaby.
* diaby and nasri
Diaby is on that list because we’ve had him since he was 18 and he’s only coming good now.
Bendtner as well
Agreed about Rosicky David. Eduardo too.
Bendtner’s not good enough.
So wuddya think boys, is Wenger going to buy this summer?
youre wrong stu. He was very good before the injury. U just dont remember
Bendtner is brilliant!
No sixx pac, i remember. But you cant blame that injury for making him shit for 3+years.
wenger’s gonna be a cunt again and not buy,then we will have to suffer them chelsea cunts getting to more finals and taking the piss,them slags getting to the final again has pissed me off immensely this evening,wenger needs to fuck off at the end of this shit season…
Eduardo should probably be sold in the summer. As things stand he has between now and the end of the season to save his arsenal career imo..but Wenger will probably see it differently.
now there’s rumours a.a will be leaving,it’s far from good enough….
Benzema is younger and stronger…actually i do fancy Benzema and Bendtner in a 4-4-2
Bendtner will come good. I’ve lost faith in Diaby. Denilson’s too weak. Nasri is class and just needs to play further up the pitch, but how can we fit him and Cesc in at the same time? Maybe play Cesc further back in the Xavi role? Walcott is a tough one. I want him to be given a chance upfront as a striker, he just doesn’t have the technical ability to make it as a winger. He isn’t creative enough. The one for me is Vela, who just hasn’t been given many chances. He always performs for Mexico and the only way he is going to clear some fans doubts about being fit enough for England, is to get a run in the team and get used to the league. You can’t just expect immediate impact.
actually i can stu. Because of that injury he has been unable to string a few games together. Infact i blame the medical staff, fricking worthless
Stu I agree with you on Eduardo. David, Benzema would be a top top signing.
Luke,
he has to find CB’s, since three contracts end–Gallas, Campbell, and Silvestre. Chamakh is supposed to be a done deal. But will there be departures and will those we bring in be of serious, top quality?
Seems like JET is developing well, hope he gets a shout ahead of Denilson next season. And that Wellington kid that’s coming through for us next year too. And just my 2 cents,
Out:
Eduardo
Randall
Denilson
Rosicky
Silvestre
Almunia