Will Arsenal cancel it 3 hours before kick off again? 4-2-4 vs Wigan anyone?

November 30, 2010

How the pitch was rumoured to look this morning

This time last season we had a game that was midweek, I can’t remember which game, but I was on my way from Islington where I work to the game and Pedro called me to say it was cancelled, not because the pitch was in trouble, but because the surrounding streets were, so my gut feeling is, it will be off.

I hope they cancel early and save all 14 Wigan fans a trip, but they didn’t last time, why the Wigan faithful will bother coming to London to watch our kids hammer them is a mystery, but that’s football and that’s why we are the best country in the world to watch it, and that’s why we should host the world cup.

I watched the Panorama programme last night and believe they did the right thing in showing it, we shouldn’t be bullied into pretending those dirty backhand taking scumbags from FIFA don’t take money for favours, what was an eye opener wasn’t the fact that they are bent, we all knew that, it was this country has agreed to allowing FIFA to take all their money tax free, so we all get screwed by the government because of the economy, but we change the rules to host a football tournament, apparently we did the same for the Olympics, what a disgrace, Cameron, Brown and Blair, you are as bad as Blatter. Celebrity Britain strikes again.

For once I agree with Adrian Durham, we should pull out of FIFA if they turn us down, they need us more than we need them.

Spain had it a few years ago, Holland can’t cope and Russia are self proclaimed racists, it’s a no brainer, we have the world’s greatest stadia and we haven’t had it since 1966.

All the FIFA lovers will point to South Africa and what a huge success it was, but they don’t tell you they still have townships where people live in mudhuts and they don’t tell you huge areas were bulldozed to make way for the good bits, those poor sods are still living rough. And don’t get me on the Vuvuvelas! (or whatever they were)

I personally believe that we’ll get it because they would look more muppety than they already do if we don’t, but we should make then pay tax like the rest of us have to.

Onto tonight, we have to field our strongest side and that should mean a forward line of Walcott, RVP, Bendtner and Vela, I would go attack, attack tonight and put the ghost of the Grove behind us.

I would play 4-2-4 and surprise the footballing world, it’s only Wigan!

Chezzer

Eboue Koscielny Djourou Gibbs

Nasri Wilshere

Theo RVP Bendtner Vela

Yes I know we have a light midfield but with a team like that we could score ten! If Wenger doesn’t want to take a chance then this would be my preferred team.

Chezzer

Sagna Koscielny Djourou Gibbs

Denilson Nasri Wilshere

Theo RVP Vela

We know we can’t defend so having Chezzer in the side will be like having another defender, so in theory we will have a back four again, I’m still not convinced about Koscielny so give him games and see what happens, he’ll rest Song but Nasri and Jack are so awesome he has to play them, Eastmond is not ready for me, he’s too lightweight and Denilson can and should fit in nicely.

I expect a big game tonight as there are a few with a lot to prove, namely Chezzer, Bendtner, Theo and Vela, not withstanding Robin, who needs to get match fit with the big three games of the mancs, the chavs and the northern chavs coming up.

I expect a big, big win, if of course it’s played, and of that I’m not too confident, I think they called it off at 4pm last time.

Have a great day Grovers, and if you go, wrap up, it’s snowing and it will be very, very cold!

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962 Comments | New Review | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Geoff

Is Wenger planning a few Christmas presents and top Arsenal fan dies.

November 29, 2010

Arsene is rumoured to be finally admitting his defence is not good enough and is considering an offer for Bolton’s Gary Cahill and furthermore he’s re-looking at Inler to add some steel in the defensive midfield role, and that I welcome, on both counts.

If it’s true boss, don’t just offer, buy them, Cahill is an England player now, he is EPL proven and miles better than we currently have, the Premier league is within our reach, boltster up and we have a real chance, please don’t blow it this time, I’m fed up with reading who you made offers for.

I would also swap Bendtner with Schweinsteiger and cash, they want Bendtner, and we need Schweinsteiger, don’t let him go to united boss, that’s all they need, buy him and it doesn’t matter what Fabregas does in the summer, the way he’s going he’ll be injured all season anyway.

Most of the results went our way this weekend save the mancs and the spuds, the referee gave Liverpool nothing and everything to the totts, never mind, their luck won’t last!

Anyway a top bloke died yesterday, his name was Leslie Neilson, I played golf with him and Ernie Els some years ago in Miami, I convinced him to become a gooner and I’m sure his last thoughts were about the way we stuffed Villa.

He really was a funny man, genuine and so unlike many of the plastic celebrities I have played with over the years, what a sad day, I hope there’s a golf club in heaven mate and you are playing it right now.

So we get Leeds in the FA cup, at last we bought a break, my brother is a Leeds fan so it will be a big family day in January and guaranteed progression, make those signings Arsene and we may win the domestic treble this season, imaging that, that will be a first!

Next up Wigan, win that and we are almost there, let’s just hope we don’t get the mancs in the next round!

Have a great day Grovers, today will be cold, but tomorrow will be heart warming!

626 Comments | New Review | Permalink
Posted by Geoff

Are Arsenal in fact Newcastle in disguise? Review and Ratings

November 28, 2010
Who cares how short-lived the moment was, we were there, sitting pretty at the top of the best league in Europe. It took all of 74 seconds for United to wrestle that back off of us, but it didn’t matter, we had a chance today and we took it with both hands.

A marvellous start to the weekend and a terrific way to finish off a pretty shocking November.

It wasn’t all exciting ‘top of the league’ stuff though. There was still the customary 30 minutes of wondering whether scoring three goals was going to be enough. That’s kind of the standard now isn’t it? I don’t expect us to ever keep a clean sheet and to be honest, even a 3 goal lead doesn’t inspire confidence of 3 points. We’re Newcastle under Kevin Keegan in the nineties. Everyone likes to watch us because we’re always going to provide excitement even if it is for the wrong reasons, even if it does mean that as Arsenal fans we’ve got nothing left to gnaw on… you know, on account of me biting away so many of my nails I’m now down to a wrist stump.

The game started off in pretty electric Arsenal fashion. Chamakh went close after some superb work by Arshavin.

We were shooting on site like Geoff had instructed Arsenal to do yesterday and we really put pressure on Villa in a sublime way. For once, we were rewarded for our superb possession stats. Fabianski launched a pretty poor ball from the back, two Villa players missed the ball, it rolled through to the little Russian who gathered the ball, powered down the field, cut inside his marker and spanked the ball low and hard into Brad Friedel’s goal.

Vintage Arshavin. The winter has not only brought us some pleasant sub-zero temperatures, it’s brough back Arshavin’s magic and for that, we must thank Global warming and all its festive goodness.

Samir Nasri nearly made it two within moments of us scoring when he was fed through on goal, rounded the keeper and only managed to hit the side netting! It was a pretty bad miss considering how well he turned in a tougher ball last week.

I didn’t fret though… super Nasri wasn’t going to allow this moment to reduce his confidence and subsequently his self-worth.

Arshavin chipped a corner to the back post where Nasri was on hand to rifle a volley into the back of the net! What a superb goal, what a familiar feeling… 2-0 up at half time… not knowing whether we’d come away with 3 points!

Well, the second half started off the Arsenal way.

Ashley Young broke free down the right, he cut a ball back that was cleared by Squillaci, Clichy blocked the second from Delfounso, Bannan picked up the ball, crossed it in, Squillaci headed weakly to the edge of the box, Clark positioned himself, Arsenal watched, he rocketed it into the top corner, we conceded.

It was a calamitous goal caused once again by a lack of communication. My gripe is that a holding midfielder is supposed to sit in front fo the defence, not in the defence. My second gripe is that you don’t wait to see what a Premiership footballer is going to do. You need to be first to that ball and we were far too slow. My third gripe is that John Carew was in the way and blocked Fabianski’s view. My fourth gripe is that Fabianski didn’t rush out to complain… nor did anyone else in our team.

When I managed a Sunday League football team, I decided we wouldn’t argue with the ref as it takes focus away. This policy was abolished after 3 games because we didn’t get any decisions. That’s two decisive moments that have gone the way of the opposition in 2 games… because we don’t fight our cause.

Would we collapse?

Arshavin played Rosicky through the middle, the Czech released Chamakh… the Moroccan beat Friedel to the ball and slipped it inside the near post. A brave challenge from a player Nik Bendtner thinks should be benched in his place.

There was still time for yet more calamity.

A Villa corner was flown about 10 yards out, Koscielny was beaten in the air despite having a running jump on Dunne, the ball alluded Song and Squillaci, Clark nodded it over Fabianski… Clichy and Nasri couldn’t clear it off the line.

Another clueless attempt at defending a corner. Another tense finish.

Lucky for us Villa never really threatened again. They didn’t have the bite in their game to give us a finish to fear. That’s not to say I wasn’t gnawing on my wrist stump right up until Chamakh picked up a deflected Denilson shot, floated a back post cross into Jack Wilshere who was perfectly placed to diving header the ball home.

Relief. Top of the league. Defensive concern.

What to conclude?

Well, I don’t feel as bad as I did after the Spurs game but I still have the same overriding concerns. We were utterly shambolic in defence today. Koscielny really is starting to look like a player who only has one year of questionable top class football under his belt. He was missing headers, losing battles on the floor and his positional play was all over the place. Would JD have lost a header to Dunne? I have my doubts. Jeez… I don’t even rate JD! That’s how worrying this young Frenchman is!

It’s not just him though. He shouldn’t be playing this many games in his first season considering he is a rookie. It doesn’t help that he’s playing next to a good Frenchman who doesn’t lead. It doesn’t help that the backline doesn’t seem to be drilled at all.

I know people don’t like to hear it, but Geoff pointed out the first team had 7 French players in it. That really is an obsession. Squillaci and Koscielny don’t appear to have been purchased based on quality, they’ve been bought because they speak the dressing room language. I can’t believe any manager in their right mind thought signing an £8million unnknown without Champions League or International experience was a good idea.

Give us some positive!

On the plus side, I did think Sagna was good today, he put his foot and head in the way at a few crucial times yesterday. He went forward well and it looks to me like he’s finally coming to terms with distribution in the final third.

Andrey Arshavin played his best game of the season. He wasn’t wasteful, he was direct and he worked hard right up until he was taken off. He bagged himself a goal and an assist. Welcome back Andrey!

Other notable performances were from Samir Nasri who is really looking the real deal this year. Since the jibes about his fitness last year, he’s come back a different beast. He looks powerful, he look skillful and in front of goal… he’s been deadly. Chamakh also impressed again. After a few ropey games, he’s refound his form and he came up with the goods under pressure for us today. He is everything Nik Bendtner is not. I was prepared to give our Dane a chance, I’ve backed him for years, but to be honest, I’d be happy to see Bayern or Juve take him off our hands.

I hope you noticed Robin didn’t get any minutes today. I told you he wasn’t working on his fitness, he’d had an ankle knock. Wenger protected him again today. Hopefully we can get him 100% before the United game in 2 weeks time. I’m convinced it’s our time to beat them. If we can snatch a victory against them, it would be hard to deny that against all the odds… we’re in the title race for the long haul.

Ratings

Fabianski: Couldn’t do much for any of the goals. Concern that he’s punching at crosses and that his kicking has been a bit suspect. If he feels he has been wronged, he should be screaming at the ref, just like Jens would. 7

Sagna: Good going forward, solid at the back. 7.5

Koscielny: An absolute calamity today. He reminded me of Senderos at times. I feel sorry for him, he’s in the firing line and he shouldn’t be. This learning curve is steep, does he have the tools to climb it? 5

Squillaci: All over the place today. He is supposed to be our leader in defence and he isn’t. 6

Clichy: Sloppy passing and moments of madness continue to dog his season. When will Gibbs get a run? 6

Nasri: Super game, super goal. Loving Na Na Nasri at them moment. 8

Song: He sat back and defended for the most part of today. He did his job. I thought if anything he sat too deep at times. 6

Wilshere: Anonymous really. I know he’s English and we all love him but bar the goal you’d have to say he didn’t really have much impact today. He’s been pretty poor recently. Inconsistency is the burden of youth. 6.5

Rosicky (c): I thought he played well today. He looked fresh and hungry to impress as the captain of the side. 7

Arshavin: My man of the match. He caused problems all day. He was sparky, he looked fit and he was typically productive. I love him. You love him. We all love him. 8.5

Chamakh: Seems to draw a lot of criticism. I can’t help but think a lot of it comes from that Bordeaux video where they recorded all his misses. I think he’s got a great touch, he involves everyone, he works hard for everyone and he can finish. 8

Subs

Denilson 6

Gibbs 6

JD 6

473 Comments | Match report | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

Arsenal need to win to go top, lose and we drop out top 3.

November 27, 2010

Let me start by mentioning Jose Mourinho, he had this to say to the Sun yesterday, ’Instead of speaking about Real Madrid, Mr Wenger should speak about Arsenal and explain how he lost 2-0 against a team in the Champions League for the first time. The story about the young kids is getting old now. Sagna, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Van Persie, Arshavin are NOT kids. They are all top players’

Well Arsene, he does have a point, one I whole heartedly agree with, one most fans can have no argument with and one you’d do well to heed, concentrate on your own team and work out how you can get back to winning again.

Today is match day, today we’ll all get behind you again, today we have to believe, win it and we are top of the league, don’t win and we’ll lose our third spot and get close to being overtaken by the spuds, something thought laughable this time last week. Last week we would have been top and ten points clear of them had we won, well we didn’t, so time to forgive and forget.

Arsene, today we are behind you, but today we need to win, so how do we do that? Pick a team that can win and hold on to a lead.

Here’s my choice.

Chezzer

Sagna Djourou Squillaci Gibbs

Wilshere Song Nasri

Walcott Robin Arshavin

Ok but this time tell the defence to stay in their own half, tell Song to stay just in front his defence but behind his midfield, and tell the forwards to shoot when they are within 25 of the goal should they see a gap.

Also time to start lobbing the hairdryer around the changing room instead of telling them they are young and special, they aren’t, trouble is from the  inside information I get, there are a lot of people in this team with attitude.

Nikki B has been shouting his mouth off about leaving if he doesn’t get played, you play him, he’s crap and you say nothing, not that we heard anyway. Time to start thinking of the poor sods that travel everywhere supporting this team, either that or start refunding them when the team plays like crap.

Good to hear that Robert Pires is telling the Villa fans he really wanted to play for the Arsenal, way to get the fans on your side Robert! I hope that the away fans find a suitable song to sing at Villa Park!

Aside from all the above, I expect us to win, and win well, it says a lot about a team that needs a 37 year old winger to help them win, go for it Arsenal, get some pride back, but please for the sake of every Arsenal fan, don’t play Denilson again, at least not in the same team as Song, two defensive midfielders don’t work, they might if it were Essien and Mascerano, but they aren’t.

Have a great day Grovers, live on the telly, early kick off and top of the league by 3pm, it doesn’t get better than that, a chance to put right what we should have done last week!

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Posted by Geoff

Transfer run down… Arsene, this is how to plug a leaky Arsenal defence.

November 27, 2010

Sometimes someone send in an e-mail that totally catches you by surprise. This morning I’ve got a guest post from Graham Yates about the leaky defence and the best way to go about plugging it.

A super read, enjoy… Geoff will be back on at 0900 with the Villa match preview.

Arsene was given another reminder of the recurring defensive frailties as we lost to Sporting Braga 2-0 in Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League Group H match to leave us with a bit more work to do to secure safe passage to the round of 16. Interestngly, as I write this, in our current predicament we are only likely to draw one out of these four Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Schalke & possibly Lyon.

Granted, injuries haven’t been kind to The Prof, but irrespective of the sidelined Thomas Vermaelen , surely even he is aware that sooner rather than later he will have to find some experienced centre halves which, as well as TV5, includes 30 year old (was once good, but now not so good ) Sebastien Squillaci and 25 year French novice Laurent Koscielny , not to mention Johann Djourou who has been the most consistent and impressive of the three.

Wenger has been linked with moves for Bolton’s Gary Cahill, Brede Hangeland & Phil Jagielka all with Premisership experience, but was quoted a price he was not prepared to pay, as usual. You know how it goes, £4m for Schwarzer, but refuses to pay more than £2.5m, I mean, words fail me.

I have picked out five other centre-halves I feel AW should look at landing. They are all within budget & also age range so I think they are viable options as they are at smaller clubs than Arsenal and just on the verge of long international careers. All the ingredients are there.

Fazio doing a Cesc

Federico Fazio (Argentina)
Club: Sevilla
DOB: 17.3.87 (23)
Height: 1.95cm (6”4)
Value Euros: €7.5m to €10m

The Argentine with Italian citizenship is a complete defender with huge potential. He replaced Squillaci on his departure to the Emirates and appears to have a fantastic future in the game. Fazio can play as a central defender, on the left flank (Bye Gael!) and, like at the end of the 2007/8 season, as a defensive midfielder (Bye Denny!).

He is extremely strong and has very good heading ability. He is also quite fast and mobile for such a big defender, and his tackling ability is superb. His still could do with improving his technique and aggression though. Yet to make his debut for Argentina, but has experience at Under 20 & Under 23 level and has come through Sevilla’s youth ranks though has suffered a few injuries in his early career. We all know that Wenger likes a rough diamond, he is one.

Amorebieta racing Denilson

Fernando Amorebieta (Spain)
Club: Athletic Bilbao
DOB: 29.3.1985 (25)
Height: 1.92 (6”3)
Value: €10m to €15m

The Spaniard (though born in Venezuela) is an immensely strong central defender with excellent positional sense. He is fast and tall, which is a tough combination for opposing strikers to come up against. He has super-strong tackles and great vision for a centre back.

Amorebieta is a versatile defender, who can also play at left-back (Oh dear Gael, not looking good is it?) , and if he continues improving at his current rate, he will be a top, top player. Made debut @ 20 and has played 144 times in the Spanish Primera Liga to date which makes him a consistent Bilbao 1st teamer. Likely to replace ageing Puyol, Capdevila & Marchena and join Pique & Albiol in the Spanish squad after being 1st called up by Del Bosque in August 2008.

Rami after being nipple tweaked in November

Adil Rami (France)
Club: Lille
DOB: 27.12.1985
Height: 1.90 (6”2)
Value: €7.5m to €10m
Only ardent Lille supporters saw the potential of the Frenchman until then-coach Claude Puel gave him his first Ligue 1 minutes on the first day of the 2007-08 season after being bought from Fourth Division Fréjus. By the autumn, Rami had already become an essential component of the Lille defence playing in no less than 104 games scoring 7 goals. He is an extremely stubborn defender, with excellent positional sense and superb distribution and like Vermaelen has free kicks in his locker. His performances caught the eye of current France coach Laurent Blanc, and Domenech before him. Now has six international caps, and Rami looks like remaining at the heart of the France defence for years to come.

Gallas?

David Luiz (Brazil)
Club: Benfica
DOB: 22.04.1987
Height: 1.88 (6”1)
Value: €20m to €30m (Wenger has this sort of money we know that, though value rather inflated as Chel$ki & Etihad City are very interested)

The Brazilian is one of the most promising centre-backs in the world, with Internazionale his likely destination at this stage. Luiz is strong, fast and intelligent, and has the ability to move the ball with grace. He is also blessed with a great leap and good heading abilities and even played primarily at left back in the 2008-2009 season at Benfica. Luiz has such potential that even an injury-plagued two years he suffered from 2007-2008 shouldn’t scare off Wenger. Post World Cup he is now a regular with Brazil and now has 4 caps replacing the ageing and outgoing Roma defender Juan.

Too cool...

Benedikt Höwedes
Club: Schalke
Dob: 29.02.1988
Height: 1.87 (6”2)
Value: €7.5m to €10m

The German is a tall and aggressive centre-back, who is also quick and very good in the air at both ends of the pitch. He started to feature in the 2007/08 season and has been at the club since 2001, but really began to show his abilities the following campaign. Howedes is a versatile player, having plied his trade as a defensive midfielder as a youth player, while also possessing the capability to play as a full-back so much so that he has signed a new deal to June 30th 2014. With more experience, the 22-year-old should get even better and has already made 72 appearances for Schalke and has German caps at all levels from Under 18 through to Under 21’s. He is also right footed which which would compliment the left of Vermaelen, something which Wenger would find attractive. Of the five he looks the most likely to join.

45 Comments | Editorial, Guest Post | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

Arsenal manager or neurotic parent? | Rambo gone | Cesc mystery…

November 26, 2010

Okay in a  week of the worst football I have seen from Arsene Wenger’s best ever team I have to question the job description of our manager, is he a manager (yes I know he was the best, years ago) or is he a neurotic and over protective parent who can’t see he has ugly kids?

I ask this question because as a true Arsenal supporter, I am beginning to ask myself if he is losing the plot, the rest of the Arsenal management team have quite clearly lost it with the building of new restaurants dedicated to Arsene, whilst ignoring that the executive boxes aren’t being renewed and we are losing our young fan base to teams around us that win things, that people is a fact, only the management are so wrapped up in their own little bubble of outrageous salaries and bonuses they fail to see the woods for the trees.

If Arsene could pick a team that included Diaby, Denilson, Eboue and Song then he wouldn’t hesitate, all children from project youth and all no better than average. Yet Wenger puts them down as better than Pires, Vieira, Dixon and Bergkamp (in order of their playing position if Diaby plays in the hole)

Never mind the fact he thinks that Koscielny and Squillaci are better than Adams and Keown, or Chamakh and Van Persie are better than Henry and Bendtner is better than Wright. But if he thinks that Clichy is better than Cole and Fabianski is better than Seaman then I believe he truly has to sit back and listen to himself.

And before anyone questions the fact he said squad, I can bring in Pires, Freddie, Campbell and Gilberto if you want, however you cut it, it’s a stupid unbelievable statement to make!

Denilson has played over 180 games for us, he’s hopeless at best, how the hell has he got to play that many games, if you then add up the others that are average, it really does show how many players we are carrying, no wonder Cesc wants out.

He says the most important quality he looks for in a player is intelligence, I find that incredible, he thinks his players are smart!

Robin is truly a world class talent, but when do we give up on a striker that manages a third of the season at best? When is it time to say goodbye and bring in someone we can bank on?

When is it time to see all the average players for what they are, average, and sell them, when is it time to stop playing them when the whole footballing world can see how bad they are and bring in what we need? 3 years ago you said judge me in May, I did, but what May did you mean?

Mourinho once said you had the safest job in football, he was right, but it’s unhealthy and bad business, when Arsenal finally realise they are losing support, you’ll be long gone and it will be too late, it’s just a shame the rest of the management team aren’t that bright that they can’t see it.

Blogland has even turned against you Arsene, this is a selection of posts written since we capitulated against the spuds last weekend. Have a read. The Online Gooner (Link) for me is gernerally the website that guages fan feeling at the stadium the best, there are newer blogs calling for change and blogs that have been established for years also posing difficult. Nigel Winterburn and Martin Keown are also making very credible arguments about fundamental problems that a top class coach should not be having.

People who just think that criticising the manager is a hanging offence should look around, if other teams aren’t happy with their teams performances they let their managers go, teams that have done that? ManU, Chelsea, Madrid, Barca, Newcastle, Spurs, West Ham, Milan,Juventus, it’s not heresy to say you aren’t happy with losing.

In other news, good luck to Aaron Ramsey who has gone out on loan to Nottingham Forest for a month. If anything is going to get you battle hardened, it’s a trip down to the Championship. Hopefully he’ll come back raring to go for the new year.

It’s also interesting to read Wenger’s comment about Cesc’s ‘little bit of a hamstring‘ problem. An interesting turn of phrase considering the immediacy of Spaniards call to the bench when he strained himself against Braga. It’s also interesting that he’s going to back in 2 weeks.

Finally, the winner of the Dennis Bergkamp t-shirt competition in associated with Live Breathe Football and Lady Arse is….

Gary Cook

Who answered correctly with the player name of Wim Jonk! We’ll be in touch, well played!

 

Limited Edition Bergkamp Shirt

Have a great day Grovers, let the jokes roll…

P.S. I don’t even want to mention the lurid headlines on the front pages of many papers around the world this morning. Embarrassing…

379 Comments | New Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Geoff

Thoughts on Rambo return | Jack and Den apologise + Arsenal t-shirt competition!

November 25, 2010

What? You want me to tell you about the amendments to the site? Oh.. ok… but just quickly, there’s a post to be written!

First thing you need to know is that we’ve abolished the contacts in the side bar. Instead, we’ve got a handy submission form in the contact bar at the top of the site. This allows you to type your message out and fire it over to me whilst staying on the site!

Incredible eh?

It comes through to the same place as it used to, so if you’ve got the normal e-mail address and prefer to use that… feel free! Please be careful to put the your correct e-mail addy in , if you don’t, I can’t reply!

I’ve also changed the twitter address, you can now get us @LeGrove . We’ve done this to make it simpler to find us!

We’ve also introduced ‘Like’ Button at the bottom of the post. Click that if you like what you read! The twitter button will also post a link of the post to your feed… which is great if you’re a proud Grover. Maybe not so great if you’re one of the many who slag us off, but secretly read… little perverts!

I’ve had a tidy up with all the buttons in the side bar and you can still e-mail me any spares you might have because the chances are, I’ll find you a buyer.

Onto the post!

So word from the training ground is that everyone is extremely excited about Aaron Ramsey. He’s the great red hope of Arsenal football club and there are whispers that he could be an even better player than Jack Wilshere. According to the stats, he makes more tackles than anyone during game and he covers the most ground. He’s like Flamini with a footballing brain or a hybrid of Steven Gerrard and Emmanuel Petit.

Basically, he’s a big deal.

I’m a little worried about his return…

My big concern is that there are obviously going to be mental scars associated with a return to the hustle and bustle of Premiership football. Not just that, there are going to be the niggly injuries that are associated with a bad injury. He’s a ray of light on a cloudy horizon. I worry about the disappointment that might be associated with Rambo rejoining a team that isn’t playing very well.

It feels like there’s already a lot of pressure on him and an intense spotlight on his every move. I’d like him to come back into a team that is playing well and I hope that the fans are going to give him an easy ride. He’s suffered an incredibly nasty injury… but I’m pretty sure if he gets back to full fitness we could have a player who could take over the Song role that he’s currently having a nightmare with.

Imagine a midfield trio of Jack, Cesc and Rambo. Can you imagine a flat passionless performance with those terriers in the middle of the park? I can’t and I’m getting a little too excited thinking about it…

His attitude is second to none, read the Ramsey interview for the lowdown on where he is with his fitness.

If you don’t think Gazidis is on the Le Grove mailing list, look no further than the apologies from Denilson and Jack Wilshere yesterday. I asked whether we were going to get one from Cesc at the weekend after he apologised to the Spanish fans. Looks like we’ve got what we were looking for and the players should be commended for doing so. I’m not looking for a ‘sorry’ after every game, but when fans have travelled a long way to see you play, it’s the least you can do.

Martin Keown has a written a good piece about what went wrong, I can’t disagree.

The best way they can apologise is for them to pull themselves together and turn in a super away victory at Villa Park this Saturday!

How about a competition? Ok… How about a really tasty t-shirt from Live Breathe Football in partnership with Lady Arse?

Limited Edition Bergkamp Shirt

Ok… let’s go… here is the question.

Dennis Bergkamp was sold to Inter Milan with which Ajax team mate?

Answers send through the contact form, make the subject title ‘BERGKAMP COMPETITION’.

Good luck, competition winner is announced tomorrow!

See you in the comments!

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

Do something decent with your life…

November 24, 2010

Morning grovers, apologies for the slightly inflammatory headline… it’s for a good cause!

The good guys over at ‘Make the team’ have been in touch with LG about their Charity and what they’re hoping to achieve. It’s a volunteer scheme that hopes to get people involved in football related community projects up and down the country. If you’re unemployed at the moment it’s a great platform to bolster your C.V and I know from speaking to people who work around charities that good deeds like the ones on offer below do lead onto other opportunities.

So if you’d be so kind, please read on and sign up.

Oh… and just so you know, Kieran Gibbs is helping with the campaign!

‘Make the Team’ is organised by v, the National Young Volunteers Service, which helps 16-25 year olds to volunteer and gain recognition for what they do through the vinspired awards scheme. vinspired.com attracts over 90,000 visits per month and has provided over 900,000 new youth volunteering opportunities across England.

v’s new national campaign, ‘Make the Team’, hopes to harness the passion and enthusiasm that young people have for football and their favourite club to encourage young football fans to volunteer in their local community.

Sky Sports commentators Martin Taylor, Andy Gray and Chris Kamara are helping  the project, along with footballers Kieran Gibbs, Stuart Pearce and David Seaman, and the campaign is being advertised on radio stations such as Galaxy, Choice, Capital and XFM and in publications such as FHM, 442 and Metro.

(Chris Kamara can be seen promoting the campaign at here)

In addition to helping communities volunteers will also benefit from the work they do. There are a wide range of opportunities covering a broad spectrum of interests and any work completed can help to develop their skills and enhance their CV. In some cases volunteering may also lead to other opportunities – such as the chance to complete the FA level 1 coaching badge – and new opportunities are being added all the time.

Examples of volunteering opportunities include:

• Coaching young children
• Stewarding at local matches
• Helping to run football groups for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems
• Delivering footballs to children in Africa
• Promoting ‘Make the Team’ online

(The full list of opportunities can be found at vinspired opportunities)

Volunteers will also be entered into a draw and given the chance to win tickets to see Premier League clubs. Details of how they can do this are given below.

How can you help?

1. Go to vinspired
2. Sign up (it’s free)
3. Click here, select ‘click here’ and then ‘I’d like to do this’
4. Select your favourite Premier League club and state male/female
5. Volunteer for one of the opportunities on offer
6. Upload a photo of yourself volunteering for the chance to win tickets to see Premier League clubs

Sign up to do good deeds… and win Premier League tickets?

It’s a flipping no brainer!

Head back to the match report here

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @arsenal_legrove and remember to get involved on our facebook page!

11 Comments | Editorial | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

Cesc Fabregas crocked or just doesn’t fancy it? | Big bit of Arsenal injury news + Match review

November 24, 2010

Fabianski,

Eboue Squillaci Djourou Gibbs

Wilshere Fabregas Denilson,

Rosicky Walcott  Bendtner

Another shocking night of football to throw onto the nasty smelly pile that is gathering in corner of the Arsenal dressing room. I spoke to someone close to the club before the game and he said he thought last night was going to be a really tough game on account of how deflated everyone was after the Spurs game.

How right was he?

My brother said it was like watching England and I couldn’t help but agree. We were unimaginative, flat and completely lacking in confidence. That was a team on their knees, a team struggling for leadership… a team without a clue.

This wasn’t your run of the mill Champions League team. This was a team of first timers who have a novelty stadium built into a cliff. They’re not a big name in Portugal… they’re one season wonders in the Champions league and they’re currently sitting 10th in their home division after losing 4 of their last 5 games.

We dominated them possession wise but as we’ve touched on a thousand times over the past 4 years… posession doesn’t count for anything if you don’t put the ball in the net. We were so poor in attack I can barely remember their keeper making a save. Arsenal crabbed the ball around the park in a most unfluid fashion. Without Arshavin, Chamakh and Robin Van Precious in the side, we really do struggle with directness. 1 shot on target is testament to that.

Cesc played with that 2010 sullen moody look on his face. I said earlier in the summer that it wouldn’t surprise me if he picked up lots of niggly injuries this season. He doesn’t want to be here and he’s playing that way. He picked up a hamstring tweak but it wasn’t bad enough for him to go down. I can’t help but be reminded of Arjen Robben in his last season at Chelsea. Is he really interested in fighting for us out there? Did he fancy it last night? It didn’t look that way to me and sadly a team is a reflection of it’s captain.

Nik Bendtner added about £26 to his £2.5million valuation with yet another anonymous performance. If his game was as good as his arrogant sound bites, we’d have a real player on our hands. Not that he was the only poor player out there today. I can’t remember seeing Nasri at all, he really didn’t impose his good form on the night, like I’d have hoped from an impact sub.

When I did see Theo he was either running into someone or trying to show off one of his two tricks (jink left / jink right). Rosicky kept the ball flowing and that was about it. Denilson returned to type with a typically poor performance making two costly errors in the process. How many times do I have to complain that Denilson isn’t up to the physical challenge of top class football?

I knew once we hit the hour mark at 0-0, we were in trouble. I said to my brother,

‘This is the sort of game we’ll lose 1-0′

85 minutes kicked in, a long ball was launched up the pitch, Denilson was marking one of the fastest players on the pitch… bang… 1-0 down. How our Brazilian can be so switched off that he loses at least 10 yards in two seconds is totally beyond me. No one in our back line was thinking about Mateus. We totally switched off again.

Shortly afterwards a similar event unfolded, Denilson wasn’t strong enough to shield the ball, he was clattered over, Mateus picked the loose ball up from behind the half way line, he powered into our box, 3 of our defenders couldn’t handle his trickery and he rifled home from 10 yards out.

At least Song would have had the decency to body check his man.

I have to say, that last goal actually made me laugh. The defending looked like a scripted re-make of a Charlie Chaplin silent movie classic. It was slap stick. It wasn’t something that was meant to be seen on a professional football field. It was totally Arsenal.

I can’t even say it was unbelievable because it was 100% believable. The players all huffed and puffed because they knew, once again, they’d shown they’re not up to it.

We can complain about the penalty that definitely was not a dive. We can complain the referee was so bad the Scottish FA would probably pass on him if he threw an application into the ring this weekend. We can shout about our bad luck with injuries. The simple fact is, if we can’t do the basics right, we’ve only got ourselves to blame.

I said after the home Shaktar game that clean sheets were important because we couldn’t go on averaging 3 goals a game. Well, now we’re not scoring the goals, we’re suffering the indignity of losing to poor teams… and yes, Spurs are a poor side compared to us.

Why are we playing such a high line against a team of incredibly fast players? I called it in yesterday’s post… beware of the pace! How can we be so consistently naive? Why is Denilson chasing Bale one week and the fastest player for Braga the next? Even more frightening is that we rarely concede more than 6-7 shots… yet we can’t stop leaking goals. They only managed 3 shots on target yesterday!

Fans respond to fighters on the pitch. I didn’t see any evidence of that out there this evening. Where is the desperation to win? Where is that never say die attitude? Why didn’t Carlos Vela scream at the ref when he was blatantly hacked down? Where were the rest of his team mates backing his case?

Technical talent can’t hide the fact that we’re soft to the core. The mental spirit is weak, there’s no winning mentality on the pitch and right now I’m struggling to work out who is more at fault, Arsene Wenger for sending out his team without motivation or the players for being so gutless?

Someone asked me if I thought another manager could do a better job. Personally, I think we’ve got the best squad in the league. I am totally of the belief that if we had a culture of ‘win at all costs’ in the dressing room things would be different. Young players are different to experienced pros. You have to teach them the art of winning. Wenger isn’t doing that at the moment. He’s teaching them that if you stick to Wengerball, everything will be ok. Don’t worry about defending, don’t worry about the other teams strengths… just play the beautiful game.

It doesn’t work…

Those players need instructions. They need to be told exactly how to defend. They need to be told who are the danger players and we need to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition before we play and build a plan around them. This squad are good enough to win the league and on their day they are good enough to make a semi final of the champions league.

They’re not good enough to do it without leadership, tactics and motivation.

We’ve lost our edge and the manager now needs to earn his crust and give these boys the belief back.

As bad as tonight was, don’t lose sight of the fact that we can go top of the Premiership on Saturday and we only need a win against Belgrade to qualify for the Champions League.

Things feel bad at the moment, but they could be a whole lot worse. Tonight will have meant nothing if we go to Villa on Saturday and stuff our Brummie friends in their own back yard.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Injury News

A few weeks ago I was told Cesc wasn’t injured, he was playing with the hand brake on… Last night he pulled up with what looked like a hamstring tweak. Hopefully its minor, either way, you’d imagine he’ll be out longer than the 2-3weeks Wenger has been quoted on. How can he keep coming back in the minimum time if it’s ‘recurring‘?

Emmanuel Eboue picked up his first serious injury from a tackle. Ironic as he’s been feigning leg break like pain for years. Wenger said it’s serious which is a worry. There is also the news that Robin didn’t travel because of an ankle knock… which is just precautionary, so hopefully we’ll see him this weekend.

The only bit of positive news I can give you is that Thomas Vermaelen does not have a career ending injury. He’ll be back in January and maybe even before if his rehab goes well. We could really do with his presence and hunger out on that field right now.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @arsenal_legrove and remember to get involved on our facebook page!


507 Comments | Match report, New Review | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

RvP rested after 68 minutes of play… bless | Read his shocking stats!

November 23, 2010

It’s true Grovers. After 68 minutes of running around, Robin Van Precious has been given a few days off to rest his weary over worked brittle  bones. He must be shattered and I fully understand the precaution.

I had a look over his game log for the past 6 months. Since May, Robin has managed 829 minutes of playing time for Holland. For us, he’s manage 134. He’s played 6 times the amount of minutes for his national team than he has for the club that pay him £70,000 per week.

Isn’t that staggering?

If you delve into the sums further, it works out that last season, Robin cost us £202,533 a per start. Pretty steep wouldn’t you say! This season, I can’t even value his starts because he’s made so few… what I can tell you is that so far this he’s cost us a whopping £9,068 a minute! If Holland were paying his wages for the two months they’d had him, they would have picked him up at the far cheaper rate of £732 a minute.

Basically, what I’m saying here is we’re getting a bum deal.

I’m not questioning the boy’s talent, he’s electric on his day, but when you look at the cold hard facts, he’s not £80k a week well spent. If Real Madrid came knocking with a wedge of cash, I don’t think I’d be overly disappointed if we parted with him and landed Benzema as part of the deal. Or perhaps looked elsewhere in Europe at Suarez, Llorente or Edin Dzeko.

…and please, lets not start talking about Wellington like he’s the answer to our problems.

Tonight’s game is going to be interesting, there’s no Gael Clichy which I’m absolutely f*cking gutted about. It’d be nice if Kieron Gibbs could come in and stay on the pitch longer than 4 minutes, he’s certainly one for the future and his superb crossing will be a refreshing change. Andrey Arshavin misses out on the trip giving Theo an opportunity to recapture his early season form.

Cesc has a late fitness test. Hopefully someone is going to have a quick check inside his skull, I’m pretty sure he left his brain in the dressing room at half time against Spurs. He owes us a big performance.

Wenger has been talking about releasing the tension in the side. To be honest, I don’t think tension is the problem, more a lack of it. Lets get some positive tension back in the team, I want the boys feel nervous they might lose their place in the side if they have a poor game… they need to buck their ideas up.

We’re in the 5th year of transition and I’m pretty sure I was told countless times these boys would be amazing in 5 years. Now is the time to show it because if they can’t, then their futures have to be elsewhere because judging by what I’ve been reading around the web, people have had enough of the mediocrity.

Arsenal are still in the dog house with me, tonight had better be a pretty damn impressive showing if forgiveness is to be achieved in a speedy way.

We need to demonstrate defensive awareness because Braga have some incredibly pacey players. Everyone needs to muck in defensively and Alex Song in particular needs to behave himself in the middle of the park. Tomorrow isn’t the game to go walk abouts.

Lets have a big game out there tonight boys and restore some of that red and white North London pride!

P.S. I heard on Talksport that mouthy Spud bookmaker Barry Dennis started giving it the big one towards Frank McLintock’s box during the Spurs game, the ex-Arsenal captain went mad, Barry hid in his box so Frank powered through the stewards and stormed his box!

That my friends is a true legend! I hope he whacked him with a stale prawn sandwich!

Good luck to Henri Lansbury at Norwich, stay away from Delia though, regardless of how good she tells you her breakfast is!

How do you like your eggs Henri?

1,088 Comments | Match Preview, New Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Pedro

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