Top 10 predictions for 2011 – Sulky players – The worst decision against Wigan

December 31, 2010

Don’t you just hate top 10′s of everything? No? Just me…

I sat in on an SEO course (work) for simpletons a few months ago, and when I say simpletons, I’m saying that one of the tips was to put a contact form on the site so people could communicate with you. Anyway, the guy there said the best way to attract people to your site is with top 10′s of whatever. I dislike them for that reason, but today, I’m going to give my well thought out top ten predictions of 2011!

Before I get into that, I thought I’d just run you through a few after thoughts from the Wigan debacle.

I spoke to a guy who knows his football and he was as bemused as the rest of us about the changes. I read around a few of the blogs yesterday and there are a number of the ‘I’m just trying to show perspective’ sites saying they could understand the changes. Sorry, I don’t care how balanced and reasonable you want to be, anyone with half a brain and a bit of experience of sport will tell you 8 changes in a team of 11 is asking for trouble. It wasn’t precautionary, it was dumb.

Anyway, I digress… the guy I spoke to thought Wenger’s biggest mistake was not taking Andrey Arshavin off despite him clearly struggling for fitness in the second half. He made the point that the Russian’s lack of tracking led to the corner for the equaliser. Interesting point. Even more interesting is that Arsene Wenger was the most vocal a few years ago with doubts about the his ability to cope with the rigours of the Premiership.

How right was he? Arsene knows…

Me, I don’t care too much about his fitness. He creates chances and he scores goals. We shouldn’t be moaning about him not defending, we should be asking how we could get more out of him and whether his fitness should be managed in a different way to ensure we extract the most from his magic. That’s a different story for a different day.

On the team selection, did anyone think that the decision may have been made for reasons alternative to fitness? Has anyone thought that maybe players like Eboue, Denilson and Nik B might have been sulking? Lets be honest, we’ve all read what’s been going on in the media. If there are rumblings in the press, it’s hard not to believe there aren’t rumblings in the dressing room. Maybe Wenger thought he’d create more harmony if he played his miserable favourites in an easy to win game? Who knows…

Predictions 2011

1. We’ll win something. Of this, I am in no doubt. We’ll definitely take the Carling Cup this year because Wenger knows if he doesn’t, there will be an even louder group of fans calling for him to move upstairs. I think we’ll win that and maybe, just maybe… the FA Cup. The Premier League is a different kettle of fish. We have a great chance to win something there, I’m just not sure Wenger has it in him to spend the money we need to compete in the 2nd half of the season.

2. We’ll beat Barcelona. I know, I know… this is fantasy talk! Well, it might be, but it was fantasy talk to consider we’d beat Madrid and Juve back in 2006. I just think Barca are being massively over hyped and I can’t help but think it’ll be mighty tough for them to maintain that intensity of performance the whole way through 2011. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see us beat the Catalans then lose in the quarters to Copenhagen. Just kidding about the last bit… I might add that I don’t believe we’ll win the Champions League if we beat Barca.

3. Wenger won’t buy in January. Wenger won’t buy unless there is a need. I don’t mean a need as in a quality need, I mean a need as in a squad space because someone has left. Where in this squad could he possibly justify a purchase? He believes he has 3 world class keepers, he believes in the defence and he believes he has enough competition in defensive midfield. There is no one he could sign, so don’t get your hopes up. By the way, I haven’t heard anything about Tommy V’s season being over.

4. Pat Rice will leave. Word on the street is that Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice are going their separate ways. Our assistant manager is leaving for pastures new which leaves a space open for a new Arsene Wenger side kick. I’ve no doubt he won’t promote Steve Bould to number two, instead he’ll probably go for the Grimster, which wouldn’t be good. Wenger needs to sign someone who isn’t in awe of him. He needs some right wing to his left wing, he needs a shake up in back room staff if Arsenal are to ever kick on. He’s not a revolutionary anymore, he’s not at the cutting edge of football training wise. With the right selection of assistant manager, he could be.

5. Aaron Ramsey will return. I know I’ve overhyped this far more than I should have, but this guy is going to be the real deal for us. He has the best stats when it comes to tackling, shooting and passing when he’s in the side, he has bundles of passion and he’s a superb technician of the game. When he returns, we will have, potentially, an amazing midfield ready to go for the next ten years. Remember, the only DNA we have to worry about with Aaron is the Welsh stuff he picked up somewhere along the way. If we treat him and Jack in the right way, they’re ours forever. Ahhhh… love.

6. Cesc Fabregas to leave. I know, I know, I didn’t want to depress you on New Years Eve, but I had to put this one in here. Statistically, he’s the best deep-lying creative midfielder in the world. Barcelona are cash rich again and have apparently, according to twitter sources, set aside £50million for him. I told you last summer that Madrid offered to match that price as did Manchester City. My gut feeling says we’ll look for £60million. If Wenger had a brain, he’d make sure we took  Mascharano as part of that deal because let’s be honest, £60million is no good to us with captain Scrooge at the helm.

7. Ivan Gazidis will not change his hair style, despite increasing pressure to cave to the Cesc pre first team rat tail look.

Oh Ivan you bore!

8. The Arsenal Marketing department launch bottled Spirit and Belief as part of their new soft drinks range.

9. Stan Kroenke takes over the club and turns the Armoury into an Asda Express. Cost of salt beef sandwiches set to plummet.

10. Le Grove are handed secret Wikileaks cables  exposing employees of Arsenal.com as specialist HTML coding monkeys.

'Denilson better than Gilberto' sound like a good headline Barry?

Ok, the last few weren’t really predictions, I just thought you might start getting board of the whole top ten thing.

On that note, I want to say goodbye to 201o. From a personal point of view, I thought you were an ar@ehole. From a blogging point of view, you’ve been to kind to us. We’ve grown by 30% this year, so a big thankyou to all the new faces in the comments section, and a big hello to all the new people who read on a daily basis, we love you more than Jesus Christ and those little sausages wrapped in bacon.

I know I keep saying this, but bar the world-class writing from me and Geoff, you lot are the factor that distinguishes us from the rest. When people find out I write this, more often than not, they’ve got an opinion on their favourite commenter! So keep splurging your thoughts next year, they are well read the world over!

Next year, we hope to bring you… well, exactly the same! 365 posts, some insider gossip, honest opinion written from the heart and maybe some more competitions and prizes!

Have a great evening, don’t do anything too embarrassing, like wet the bed and blame it on the dog and remember to tune in tomorrow for Geoff’s first post of the New Year!

All the best, Pedro and Geoff.

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Posted by Pedro

Wenger spotted with big gun shooting himself in the foot… again

December 30, 2010

The first goal went Wigan’s way in the shape of a penalty. Charles N’Zogbia broke into the box, Kozzer stuck a leg out, he went over … the ref blew up. Many are saying it was a dive, for me, it was very close. Once again, it’s a shoddy piece of defending from our centre back. More importantly, where the hell was Eboue in this situation, or more to the point, why would you rest your only fit left back and put a right back who ALWAYS struggles at left back in his place? The penalty was rifled home by Watson.

The next half an hour was absolutely diabolical. The players lacked focus, match practice and the know how to dismantle a plucky Wigan side. Thankfully Diaby picked up an injury and Jack Wilshere managed to find his way onto the pitch. You really have to question the worth of keeping Diaby about. He’s hugely inconsistent when he is fit… and being fit really is a rarity. He’s never had a good season, yet we place so much importance on him as a first teamer. A waste of time.

Arshavin went from zero to hero after he acrobatically turned in a saved Nik Bendtner shot. 1o minutes later he was at it again when he picked up the ball in the middle of the park, whizzed round a few Wigan players, slipped Nik in who was on hand to slot home for what we hoped was the winner.

The second half started like Wenger had shown the boys a few card tricks at half time. They came out with hardly any focus or drive, seemingly content to just play out for 2-1. Not the mentality I would have taken with a defence as shambolic as ours.

Arshavin went close but was denied by a good Al’Habsi block.

N’Zogbia set the warning light off when he forced a good save from Fabianski. The Frenchman was causing alsorts of problems until he decided to head butt Wilshere. He was sent off, you hoped the game was over, but sadly, it wasn’t.

Wigan won a corner. Arsenal set up for it with virtually no one communicating with each other. The corner was flighted to the back post, Fabianski thought about it and didn’t go for it, Sagna and Koscielny kind of followed the ball, Rodallega nodded back, Squillaci wasn’t goal side of his man and he bundled it home for their equaliser.

Typically, we’d conceded from a set piece (50% of our conceded goals come from set pieces).

Wenger, despite seeing his team struggle, only made substitutions in the 84th minute. Theo and Nasri were brought on to shake things up, which they did but it was to no avail. We dropped 2 crucial points in the Premiership battle against relegation fodder and Wenger once again showed himself up as a man who can’t be trusted to make the right decisions.

There will be plenty of people banging the, ‘it’s not such a bad result’ drum this morning, there always is, however, I think they’re missing the point. Dropping points has a psychological impact on the team. Putting a winning sequence going was of paramount importance. Capitalising on dropped United points was also important and we failed to do it.

Why make 8 changes to the starting line up? Did Ancellotti, Ferguson or Redknapp do that for their teams? Of course they didn’t. Perhaps that’s why United fans didn’t have the same reaction to their draw as Arsenal fans have to last nights farce.

Our players didn’t need a rest, they already had one after the Stoke game was cancelled. If resting is so important, why don’t we train less like United, Spurs and Chelsea? What is the point in having the youngest team in the Universe if their fitness is poorer than older teams? Wenger is the man who has said on numerous occasions that making more than 3 changes to a squad in a summer is disruptive. If he sees that, why can’t he see making 8 changes to a starting line up is probably going to end in tears?

People will point out that I was full of praise after the Chelsea game and now I’m not. Well, of course I’m not. The Chelsea game was about superb selection, the right mentality and great tactics. Last night was about over cautious team selection, jiggery pokery in the extreme and a lack lustre performance.

I could accept 3 changes from the weekend, but 8? What the hell was he thinking? He disrespected Wigan and he disrespected our title challenge. How can Wenger not share the same winning mentality the fans do?

We’re still up there in the mix but we’ve got a coach who is making silly mistakes when there is no pressure to make them. Yesterdays team selection was almost a show of petulance from a coach who still refuses to believe there is a huge amount of deadwood in the squad. Here are the mistakes…

  • Dropping your best defender in the air against a team who toppled you from set pieces last year.
  • Starting far too many players who weren’t match fit
  • Making subs too late in the game when it was obvious we were struggling
  • Playing Nik Bendtner outwide when he’s clearly a striker
  • Playing a right back at left back
  • Admitting that his players don’t communicate from corners.

We’ve conceded 22 goals and kept 4 clean sheets in 19 games. This off the back of a promise to sort out the defence in the summer. It’s not good enough and we’re kidding ourselves if we think defending like that for the next month will leave us in the mix for the title. Wenger needs to admit he made mistakes signing cheap foreign imports and get his cheque book out and remedy his errors before he blows the best chance he’s had in 6 seasons to win the league.

Before I go, I’ll leave you with this Wenger pearler.

‘I felt we produced an outstanding performance and we are frustrated not to have won the game.’

Am I being blinded by the wool Wenger has just pulled over my eyes?

Here are some additional comments on the game from the Grovers.

Zorro

Eboue at LB? WTF is wrong with Clichy, as much as I want glass ankles Mk II to take over, I would rather Gael than EE.

Fabianksi made agreat save just before the goal after some very average defending from several players, but he was nowhere for the goal.

Squid was poor tonight, why oh why was he wrong side of the guy for the goal, he had no chance once he was on the wrong side, he was either going to head it in or his man would have.

Gambon

We are on course to concede 44 goals and keep 8 cleansheets.

Since 02/03 on average you need to keep 19 cleansheets and concede 24 to win the pl.

Patthegooner

I am not going to be too critical of Wenger’s changes tonight, these are 1st team squad players who could and should have done better.

I am critical of his lack of nonce in changing it when it looked like they were creeping back into the game though, and sadly it is a trait we see from him over and over again.

I would not even mind so much if he learnt from it, but when you hear his post match, it is like he sees a whole different game.

Keyser

Yes we should be looking for penalty decisions. Look for everything you f*cking can from the game, people whack skippy over Fergie and his teams, they’ll do everything they possibly can to win.

You don’t stand there and accept it when you know it’s wrong, do something about it.

I think in all seriousness that’s transmitted to the players now. Diaby was right, there simply isn’t enough fan pressure.

David

I cant agree we need to up our c*ntitude.

We up the c*ntivity and the refs take it upon themselves to protect the home team.

Take the Evra case from last year.

Was very proud of my team for the rotational fouling but the ref started handing out yellow cards for first time offenses.

We get nothing.

But more importantly we also shoot ourselves in the foot.

Wenger is brilliant at shooting himself in the foot.

Finally, a video that sums up being an Arsenal fan from Dan & Telarse

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Posted by Pedro

Wigan up tonight, a big win and Arsenal go top!

December 29, 2010

If we play the same type of team tonight, by that I mean no Denilson or no player that doesn’t chase every ball down like their lives depended on it, then we will breeze our way to the top of the league, don’t forget, this lot even lost to the chavs 6 nil!

We need to fight for every ball and not just in selected games when we are being written off, when Wenger had his smug ‘I told you so’ grin on after the chav game my blood boiled, if his team fought like this in every game we would be 12 points clear and coasting, and that has to be the coaches job, if this is the reason he won’t buy because they do this on the training ground then we need to see it every game, that’s why they get so well paid.

A performance like the chav one against Barcelona and we’ll go through, we have power and finishing in our ranks if they unleashed it, trouble is we so often go back to crab football and that will never win a title, if he’s learned anything in the last 6 trophy-less years it’s that, not to mention the crowd noise, that’s what happens boss, we sing when we’re happy, if this team did that every week we wouldn’t be so pissed off when you don’t spend money.

Tell Arshavin unless he starts putting in a shift then we’ll sell him, and I love Andre, but he needs to become a team player, if Niklas bendtner wants to get recognition then he needs to start doing what Baliotelli does when he gets his chance and start knocking them in.

This team can show us tonight if we have enough to save buying in the window, having Frimpong in the wings to toe Song up the arse is good business, buying a Mascerano would be unbelievable, but I can’t see it, the thing is who cares who’s cup tied, it’s only one comp and the chances are we won’t go all the way, play like they did on Tuesday and they will, good luck tonight boys, I am beginning to believe we could just pull this off, win tonight and we are level on points, win big and we are top, go Arsenal, go!

Have a great day Grovers, tonight we’ll see if Tuesday was a fluke, or if it was the beginning of the end of project youth!

1,321 Comments | New Review | Permalink
Posted by Geoff

11 lions on the pitch have got me dreaming… Match Report + Ratings

December 28, 2010

Well, it’s been a long time coming… but today Grovers, I get to write the match report I’ve been dreaming about for a while!

Yep, the one where I tell you about the time Chelsea came to the Emirates and we dished them out the spanking of their lives. Yesterday I asked for a massive performance from everyone, boy did I get it! The fans were immense, the team selection was immense and the performance was stunning.

Before the game I’d stated that there were a few big decisions to be made. The keeper, the centre back pairing and the strikers. Wenger bottled the keeper situation, which I was slightly miffed about… however, he was bold with the striker choice, going with RvP, he was bold with the defence, going with JD and Koscielny and he was even bolder with his wide man electing to drop the ever-present Andrey Arshavin for Theo Walcott.

I think I speak for everyone when I say excitement before the game was at an all time high with that line up!

We started well, like we were hungry for a victory. No danger of a slow beginning. We hit the wings almost immediately, passing with speed and fluency. Song played RvP in early doors, the Dutchman was offside which made his Johnny Wilkinson conversion over the bar acceptable..

A shift in ‘on pitch’ power was witnessed after Robin was smashed over by Malouda. The freekick was about 32 yards out, the Dutchman was told to move over, Nasri instead launching a stinging shot at Cech.

Arsenal’s passing started to become a little sloppy mid first half, however, it was clear the boys were fighting for their day in the sun. Jack Wilshere particularly impressing in the middle of the park with some crunching tackle. The Chav’s were being shown up as long ball merchants as usual, a pretty embarrassing tactic for a £140million wage bill!

Robin had the crowd on their feet when he crunched Essien over… hilarious.

I was wondering why we were playing through the middle when Chelsea were giving us nothing in those areas. However, the cracks were starting to show after Nasri played a 1-2 with RvP and blasted over. We were starting to find holes in their make shift defence.

Nasri picked up a Sagna pass on the edge of the box, chipped the keeper but was denied after Cech clamoured back and pushed it over his bar.

Song picked the ball up outside the area, passed to Wilshere, the Englishman toe poked it intricately through to Cesc who was munched over by Malouda, Song instead nipped in and buried the loose ball into the far corner. We were one up, the ref played the advantage! What a super goal!

The second half started, the only change was that Chelsea decided to bring on Diaby’s younger brother, Ramires.

It didn’t take long for goal 2 to come. Robin Van Persie received the ball quite a way out, Essien powered in with the tackle, accidentally playing an alert Theo through, he latched onto it, cut it back to Cesc who was on hand to pass into the empty net! 2-0 and we were in dream land!

Two minutes later, Theo capitalised on a poor John Terry pass, laid the ball off to Cesc, he returned a perfect through ball which Theo clinically finished into the bottom corner. Three up with barely 55 minutes on the clock! Amazing!

Our joy was short-lived, well, kind of. Chelsea won a freekick up the other end. Drogba fizzed it into the box, Koscielny didn’t challenge Ivanovic and he nodded home to give them a customary goal. I think the keeper should have done better there, you either stay rooted to the spot or challenge the ball… he wandered into no mans land.

This is normally the point we capitulate. Not tonight, we gathered our thoughts and played the remainder of the half out with professionalism and intelligence. Wenger didn’t have a Denilson to bring on today. Instead his subs consisted of Chamakh, Rosicky and Diaby. I’m far more happier seeing those come onto the pitch. All Chelsea had to bring on was Kakuta. Pretty funny really!

We won the battle in the middle of the park for the rest of the game. Rosicky even had the chance to hit the post!

The evening was all the more impressive considering the amount of decisions given Chelsea’s way by Mark Clattenburg!

I didn’t care, the crowd were our 12th man tonight, exceptional!

After thoughts…

Watching Carlo Ancelotti gaze into space like he’d just been told he had contracted an STD after an office party was pure Christmas gold. Watching Essien get munched by Jack Wilshere, seeing Theo beat John Terry in the air,  witnessing a game where Chelsea barely registered a shot on target…well, it was more than the senses could take.

Last night was everything you want from a team of young pretenders. Heart, passion and fight combined expertly with balance, discipline and clinical professionalism. Sky Sports pointed out that Chelsea were bad but failed to acknowledge that we made them look bad. We were first to every ball, we were the only team to show creativity and guile and we deserved everyone of those points.

The only downside bar the goal? A new benchmark has been set. Those boys have from now until the end of the season to prove they can play like that week in week out. If they can achieve that, I’ve no doubt that the Premier League crown can come our way. It’s up to Arsene Wenger to admit to himself for the first time in his career that tactics work.

“We were disciplined, mature, we played for each other I think the first goal, as I said before the game, played a vital part in it.”

Whether it was him or the team that decided to play in a more cautious manner is irrelevant. What we know is that it gave us balance. Song played his best game of the season, doing his job going forward whilst not neglecting his duties at the back. Jack Wilshere, though not always at the races with his passes, was in the ring swinging footballing punches all afternoon. Cesc as ever was the conductor of the Arsenal Orchestra, playing deft passes and ensuring Chelsea couldn’t relax.

JD proved why he should be part of the permanent starting 11. Has he had a bad game this season? Not in my book… Once again he showed he has the talent and the head to play week in week out. A superb game. I’m pretty sure we’ve won something like 85% of our games with him in the starting line up. He hasn’t had the same chances as some of the others receive in the first team. His maturity as a player has been all the more impressive because he never moans when he is dropped and he’s made his statements on the pitch. Fair play Johann, you’ve been excellent!

I thought Theo Walcott was brilliant last night. Geoff has been banging the Theo drum for a long time, last night he did it on the big occasion, here’s hoping he can continue his clinical streak in front of goal and start terrorising defences on a more consistent basis.

To conclude…

In  topsy turvy season, we’ve put ourselves back in contention. We’re sitting pretty in 2nd with a slightly tricky game away at Wigan to contend with. After that, we have what is potentially a title contending game at home to Manchester City, then we’ve got 4 months to make our mark on the rest of the season.

I’m dreaming of a title win now, but I’m not going to get carried away. My main hope out of today is that we’ve turned the corner mentally. I’m hoping this team now knows what is required to win on the big occasion. I’m hoping we play with the shackles off for the rest of the season and maybe, just maybe, we could end the season with something prettier than dust in our trophy cabinet!

Keep dreaming Grovers, we’re back in the game!

Ratings

Fabianski – Didn’t really have a whole lot to do. Thought he could have done more for goal. Kicking was good. 7

Clichy – Much improved. We’ll forget about that dodgy headed back pass, it’s Christmas! Good going forward. 7

Sagna – Solid as ever at right back, good going forward. 7

Koscielny – At fault for the Chav goal, a touch sloppy at times, but solid otherwise. 6.5

JD – In all the right places at all the right times. A beast in the air, a threat in their box. 8.5

Song – Had a monster game in the middle of the park striking the balance between attacking and defending. 8.5

Jack – Passing wasn’t what we know it can be but his commitment and passion for the shirt was amazing. 18  years old? You’re kidding right! 9

Cesc – Love having him back in the team, he’s the best in the business. His passing wasn’t great but he was there when it mattered, as always. 8

Theo – Much improved. He’s finally mastering his power and pace. His finishing is superb. Must be a starter going forward. 8.5

Robin – A solid return to the side. He puts his foot where most strikers wont and he’s a handful. I love his aggression. 8

Nasri – A real pest all over the park. His runs are hard to track and his ability on the ball in fantastic. Top game. 8

Subs

Diaby – 7

Rosicky – 7

Chamakh – 7

Finally…

On a side note, Le Grove surpassed the 750,000 comments mark last night (Incesc  27,2010 at 22:49). Considering many of our blog stalkers think we remove comments that don’t agree with our posts, that’s a hell of a lot of people agreeing with LG!

If truth be known, you lot have helped make this the number one place to talk Arsenal football club on the net, the place moderates itself these days and I don’t believe there is a better environment to chat Arsenal, whatever your thoughts are, wherever your reside (so long as you respect thy fellow Grover). For that, Geoff and I are truly thankful!

See you in the comments!

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Posted by Pedro

Arsenal must beat Chelsea tonight. No excuses, it’s time to step up!

December 27, 2010

Tonight is now the most important game of the season. We’ve failed most of the big tests so far, but somehow, we’ve always managed to sneak back into contention as everyone else has been doing the same thing.

Yesterday, results didn’t go our way. Spurs won, United won, City won… even West Ham managed to pull a result out of the bag.

This is the part of the year when someone gets it together. Something clicks. Someone races away, usually with a friend who will last till late March, early April. This year, it needs to be us. Tonight, we can kick start our season again. Tonight, we can have a defensive dream night… keeping Drogba quiet and bagging ourselves a clean sheet against a team we haven’t beaten in the last five.

I”m not sure how the team is going to line up, but if I had my preference, I’d have Chesney in goal. He’s better at dealing with crosses, he commands his box in a more mature manner and he’s got all the shot stopping ability Fabianski has. It wouldn’t be a gamble for me because it’s not like Fabianski has bundles more experience. In fact, pound for pound, I’d say the younger keeper has had more game time after his stint at Brentford. At least we know he won’t be targeted at corners.

In midfield, we know that Diaby is fit… he was for the Stoke game, so another week of training could see him fit enough to start. In midfield, I’ll be disgusted if I see Denilson and Song starting together, that will be a tragic admittance we can’t handle the Chavs with our best players and the chances are we’ll crumble. Cesc is back from his mental injury which will be a huge boost… it’s not often we have him ready for games like this.

Nasri and the rest of the boys have had a nice little break so they’ll all be fresh. Our main man this season really has to get his teeth stuck into Chelsea today. Chelsea’s backline ain’t what it used to be and they’re certainly weaker at the back than they’ve every been before. We need a big game from Arshavin… he needs to be direct, use his pace and work tirelessly for the team.

At the back, I’m sure it will be Koscielny and Squillaci. It’s pretty simple, those two need to have their best game ever for us tonight. They have to talk to each other and they have to get their decision making bang on. Get in tight to Drogba all game and no day dreaming please!

Clichy will be slipping in at left back… please, no calamity’s tonight! Show us the player we saw in 2008… left back of the year! Up front, I’m not sure who he’ll play… I’ve got a feeling it’ll be Chamakh. I’d be happy with that, equally as I would if he played RVP. Whoever it is… pull the trigger on sight and test the keeper!

These players owe Wenger a big game tonight. Rightly or wrongly he’s put his trust into these boys and they’ve let him down. You can blame inept tactics, bad selection and bad luck all you like… but the simple fact is, most of these boys have the technical ability. Tonight, they’ve got to show grit, determination and a truck load of character. It’s time for this crop of players to stop hiding behind age. It’s time for them to man up and show that they can compete with the best there is.

Everyone has to turn up today, especially the fans. Lets have a massive performance from everyone and see where the night takes us! I’ve got a feeling we’re due a result. I’ve got a feeling Arsenal are coming away with 3 points… keep em’ crossed and sing your hearts out tonight!

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, not before I leave you with this cracking memory!

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Posted by Pedro

I just found a ground that empties quicker than the Grove!

December 26, 2010

The Melbourne Cricket Ground! It started with 91,000 fans (a world record) but 10 wickets later it was reduced to 10,000 (happy English fans), I bet they didn’t have to queue to get out like we do though eh???

Good news for England and bad news for our antipodean cousins, but like I said before, it’s only cricket and it’s not football! Cricket is still a girls game.

Not much news about today but George Graham said this about the spuds and their entertainment value against ours.

‘They have an end product to all that possession and beautiful play, they shoot more and they get great crosses in from both flanks’ well people, that’s hard to argue with, but the Irish Independent said this when referring to Arsene’s talk of title aspirations. ‘These have begun to resemble the ambitions of a child to be an astronaut’

Ouch! that hurts, but they do have a ring of truth to them that can only be put right by a great performance from the boys against the chavs, shoot when we have the chance to and stop the crab football.

If we need to make a change to the team, change it when we need it and not on 67 minutes, that is simply obsessive compulsive behaviour, the same type that Patrick Bergin was displaying with his pantry antics in the film ‘Sleeping with the enemy’ And that my friends was scary!

So maybe a more direct Arsenal, an Arsenal that has an end product to all it’s pretty patterns and possession, Samir Nasri is starting to give it a rip, come on boys, do what he’s doing, it feels good and wins games, oh and the fans love it, it makes them sing!

Tomorrow will be cold, tomorrow will be a bitch to get to and home from, come on Arsenal, give us all something to smile about, it’s time to smash the bully boys from the Kings Road, get in there Arsene and put a team out that will deliver.

Have a great boxing day Grovers, only tomorrow and we get to play football again!

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Posted by Geoff

Merry Christmas to all our Grovers all around the World!!

December 25, 2010

It doesn’t matter what your religion is, whether your are a Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or even a Catholic, we all celebrate Christmas!

If it weren’t for Christmas we wouldn’t have the traditional Christmas fixtures, which means we wouldn’t be celebrating beating the chavs in a few days, it also means that you’d get no Christmas presents as Santa wouldn’t exist.

Well people he does!

So let’s all remember it’s the season of goodwill and today is the day to forget the arguments, put aside the differences and enjoy the day.

As you know I rarely read other blogs but sometimes I read Young Guns, because it’s well written and articulate like Le-Grove!

Today they did a piece on Francis Coquelin, I loved the bit when they said that Denilson would be moving on in the summer, Song hadn’t lived up to the hpye and with players like Ramsey, Lansbury, Frimpong and Coquelin about we have a rosy future, and that I agree with.

Coquelin has had a number of blinders this season and I look forward to having him back next term.

Whatever you’re doing today, take the time to remember there are many out there that aren’t as fortunate as you, thank the good lord you don’t support Tottenham, and on that note I bid you farewell, have a very happpy and very safe Christmas, and pray for a better back 9 in 2011, this could be our year.

Goodwill to all Grovers the world over!

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Posted by Geoff

Arsenal’s home form will win us the league, is there a message in his message?

December 24, 2010

Arsene says that we still have to play all the big boys at home and that could decide the championship, true, except for Spurs that is and they are now one of the big boys. We still have Villa, Liverpool, Chelsea , ManU and City to play at home, trouble is, our home form is worse than our away form! Maybe 2011 will see a different team though and that could all change in a heartbeat!

He says he will only buy if the right player at the right price comes along, and only if players leave first, well he says that every year, but at least it’s not a no! So there is some hope, as for the Denilson and Bendtner chatter, he says it’s their agents talking, perhaps he should tell them to tell their agents to stop then, though I must admit, I do quite like the Denilson ones.

There is a little Manuel Neuer story doing the rounds, but I quite like the Chezzer option so I will discount that one but I would give Lansbury a run at DM in the new year along with Ramsey, we need competition there and those two look better options than Denilson and Song for me, it’s now up to Wenger, go for it Arsene, we have nothing to lose, except for upsetting Norwich and Forest!

However I do like the Mascharano rumours, he is just the sort of defensive midfielder we could do with, not in any kind of swap deal for Cesc, but maybe a swap plus cash for Denilson, I think we could win the league with him in there as he really would protect the back four, sadly Wenger’s obsession with Song wouldn’t allow that to happen, but if we signed players of that ilk, it would keep players like Cesc from wanting away.

Not a lot of news today other than although Vermaelen is back in training, he is still a month away from returning to the team, so we’ll still have the same defensive problems against the chavs, stick Djourou in there, at least he’ll stop the Terry at corners threat.

Remember last season when Bendtner was injured but recovering, he came back in late January so Wenger bought no-one, then he got injured and was out and Wenger said that often happens when you’ve been out for a while, so what’s the deal with Vermaelen then, what happens if he gets injured again? We should buy a centreback, or maybe that Vertonghen bloke from Ajax, he’s a centreback and can also play defensive midfield, so maybe that could kill two birds with one stone? Or is that too obvious?

I had lunch with an old mate yesterday who sadly has had to hang up his drinking boots, so the lunch was 50% dry! He lives up north and goes to a bunch of away games but he’s back in England for Christmas and really wants to go to the Chelsea game on Monday with his sister for her birthday, so if any of you want to sell your tickets, please let us know,this guy is an Arsenal legend, he went to Copenhagen (Parma, Cup Winners Cup) with me and if he hadn’t found me asleep under a chair in the airport at 4am, I might still be in Denmark now, and not penning this post, so I owe him, thanks Colin!

I did read a Grimandi to Arsenal as assistant manager yesterday, I hope that’s not true, whilst I do like him, I feel that would be a slap in the face for Bouldy, who has to be waiting in the wings, his ambition cannot be to be the best Academy coach in football so he deserves his big chance one day.

Maybe Arsene should consider giving Aneke and Afobe a crack next year, it would be different wouldn’t it, I’ve seen them in the youth cup and they look like big lumps already, who knows eh! And I like the sound of our Spanish defender Miquel, but I’m not sure if he’s ready, maybe Bartley will be our next big thing.

Either way we are almost back to full strength for the big game next week and Gibbs will be close, maybe he’ll take a chance on him, but I doubt that too.

Don’t forget to behave yourselves today as tomorrow you-know-who will find out who’s been naughty or nice!

Have a great day Grovers, after Christmas the games come at us fast and we still have Leeds to play, ordinarily I would say whoopee, but our home form is a little worrying, so the chav game could come at the right time, win that and the home form confidence will return and once again we will rule the world!

All the best, Geoff.

P.S. Referencing the Le Grove ticket exchange yesterday. There was a bit of a moaning via twitter as I posted some tickets that had clearly been marked up by the seller. My stance is that I don’t normally do this. However, for games of high magnitude, I will put people in touch because the demand is high and I know some people take clients or are over especially from foreign countries who will pay double what these spares are going for to touts on the web or in the street.

Le Grove has probably put 500+ people in touch with spare ticket this year and we do it for free. For all the criticism the site gets outside our comments section, no one ever mentions that we offer this service for free.

Before I go, if you thought my jokes were crap, tell me this, why did the Sun steal one and stick it in their paper today (Check it out)?

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

Pedro

Gifts will be accepted at the normal address

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Posted by Geoff

Exclusive: Arsenal shareholders quarterly letter / Danny Fiszman moves shares on!

December 23, 2010
Holdings in the Company
The following announcement has today been made on the PLUS markets website.
 

As required by PLUS market rules, Arsenal Holdings plc (the “Company”) announces that it was notified on 22 December 2010 that on that date Daniel Fiszman, a Director of the Company, effected the transfer of 10,025 ordinary shares of £1 each in the Company (the “Shares”) (representing 16.1 per cent of the total issued share capital of the Company) from the existing nominee holders to a new nominee, DF Nominees Limited.

 

The Shares were transferred to the nominee company at no cost. The transfer does not affect the beneficial ownership of the Shares. Accordingly, Mr Fiszman continues to have a beneficial interest in 9,985 Shares (representing 16.04 per cent of the total issued share capital of the Company) and The Star Charitable Trust (of which Mr Fiszman is a trustee) continues to have a beneficial interest in the remaining 40 shares (representing 0.06 per cent of the total issued share capital of the Company).
CEO Quarterly Report – December 2010

Ivan Gazidis comments on various items of interest.

Dear Grovers,

Welcome again to the Quarterly Update for the Shareholders’ Portal, for up to and including December 2010.

The topics covered in this update are as follows:

1 Argentina v Portugal at Emirates Stadium

2 Charity of the Season update

3 Festive Members’ Day

4 Interim financial results

5 Arsenal v Aston Villa – Saturday 14th May 2011

1. Argentina v Portugal at Emirates Stadium

As you may have heard, this week we were delighted to announce that Emirates Stadium will host an International Friendly match between Argentina and Portugal on Wednesday 9th February 2011.

The match will kick off at 7.45pm and the Club is pleased to announce that Arsenal members will receive the exclusive first rights on purchasing tickets for this high profile fixture. Full ticket details will be announced very soon.

As you know, the national teams of Argentina and Portugal are full of quality and world-class players. Both countries have great football histories and we are looking forward to welcoming many Argentinean and Portuguese supporters to Emirates Stadium in February.

The match will give football fans in the UK the chance to see two of the world’s greatest national teams go head-to-head. The contest promises to be an exciting encounter, with both teams boasting some of the world’s greatest players among their ranks.

The Argentina national team currently features famous names such as Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito, with the Portugal side also full of players well-known to the Premier League including Jose Bosingwa, Nani, Ricardo Carvalho and Raul Meireles.

And of course, arguably two of the most gifted footballers on the planet will also hopefully be playing against each other at Emirates Stadium, with Argentina and Barcelona star Lionel Messi faces Portugal and Real Madrid maestro Cristiano Ronaldo.

This will be the second time Argentina and Portugal have played matches at Emirates Stadium, both previously playing International Friendlies against Brazil at Arsenal’s home.

This will be the sixth time that Emirates Stadium has played host to an International Friendly match since its official opening in July 2006.

On the five previous occasions, the Brazil national team have featured at the home of the Gunners, in the successful matches against Republic of Ireland in March 2010, Brazil v Italy in February 2009, Brazil v Sweden in March 2008, Brazil v Portugal in February 2007 and Brazil v Argentina in September 2006.

Full ticket details of this exciting encounter will be announced soon on Arsenal.com.

2. Charity of the Season update

As you will be aware, our Charity of the Season for 2010/11 is Centrepoint, the charity which gives homeless young people a future. The current fundraising total through the Arsenal partnership is £211,412 and a dedicated website has been set up so supporters can follow the partnership and donate to the Charity throughout the course of the season.

The Club has undertaken a number of initiatives to reach this figure to date including a sponsored Sleep Out in which members of staff including myself took part back in November. Our match against Fulham on Saturday 4th December was dedicated to the charity and through a number of initiatives on the day, including players and directors donating a day’s wages, the matchday raised nearly £190,000.

This initiative forms part of our season-long ‘Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.’ campaign whose target is £500,000, which will fund the refurbishment of a state-of-the-art service at Centrepoint’s Dean Street facility. The centre is a place where young homeless people can visit and learn essential life skills to help them get back on their feet and stay off the streets permanently.

As well as contributions from players and staff, the matchday also saw generous donations from supporters through bucket collections, online giving, raffles, sales of special edition bobble hats and text donations for a competition to win a trip to Dubai donated by Brazilian midfielder Denilson, plus 50 pence from every match programme sold contributed to the fundraising total.

For more information on the partnership go to www.beagoonerbeagiver.org or for more information on Centrepoint visit www.centrepoint.org.uk

Thanks for your continued support.

3. Festive Members’ Day – Tuesday 21st December

Due to the continued adverse weather conditions, the Club unfortunately had no choice but to cancel this year’s Festive Members’ Day, which was planned to take place at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday 21st December.

The safety of our supporters is of paramount importance, and with the conditions in and around the stadium remaining very hazardous, the Club made the decision to cancel the event.

However, after a training session at London Colney, the players still managed to visit two London hospitals and a Centrepoint facility, in order to spread some Christmas cheer.

Players visited both the Whittington Hostpital in Archway north London, and also The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, where they spent time giving with children who will be in hospital over Christmas, giving out presents and Arsenal gifts.

4. Interim financial results

As usual, the Interim Financial results for Arsenal Holdings plc will be announced in February.

The announcement will be made to the PLUS market and we will also issue the results on the Shareholders’ Portal.

All Shareholders will also receive an official copy of the results document shortly after the announcement.

Although we haven’t announced a specific date yet, the announcement should be made within the last two weeks of February. Full details will be confirmed to all Shareholders in due course.

5. Arsenal v Aston Villa – Saturday 14th May 2011

Shareholders may be interested to know some information regarding our scheduled match against Aston Villa on Saturday 14th May – our last scheduled Premier League home match of the season.

Some of you may be aware that this fixture is currently scheduled on the same day as the FA Cup Final.

The Club is currently in negotiations with the relevant authorities to organise for this match to be played on Sunday 15th May 2011. This has not been confirmed yet, but we wanted to share this information with Shareholders.

However, if Arsenal or Aston Villa are in the FA Cup Final, then the match will be postponed and rearranged for another date.

On behalf of the Directors, players and staff of Arsenal Football Club, I would like to wish all Shareholders an enjoyable holiday season and a happy New Year.

Yours faithfully,

Ivan Gazidis

Chief Executive Officer

23rd December 2010

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Posted by Pedro

We hate locals! / Denilson off? / How we can spank Barca!

December 23, 2010

Yesterday Chris Samba of Blackburn persuasion made it clear to his new owners that he would like out this transfer window, if he had the chance. The thought of not playing stylish football under Big Sam was just too much for the boy to handle.

Now, I know he’s probably not world going to be winning any Ballon D’ors in the next couple of seasons, but he’s big, strong and extremely capable in the air. He’s also been playing for a team that’s given us enough grief over the years. He’s battle hardened, he’s 26 years old and he has over 100 appearances to his name in the Premiership. Could he be an option at the back for us?  Would it do us any harm to have a leader and a communicator in the team? Could he be the beast to Vermaelen’s beauty?

According to many Arsenal fans… no.

It was flagged to me he would be incapable of playing Arsenal’s highline defence. Well, in retort to that accusation, I have to ask, can our of our defenders play in a high line?

I don’t have his speed stats to hand, all I know is that he is dominant in the air and he is a traditional defender. John Terry has never had bundles of pace, yet he has plenty of trophies in his cabinet. Sometimes you need a mix of players each specialising in different areas.

Now, I’m not saying lets run out and buy him, I’m merely asking why Arsenal fans get more excited about Sakho and Spahic than they would over a prove Premier League defender?

Why do Arsenal never look to the league for their defenders when there are clearly plenty of good ones who could do the job

Phil Jagielka is a top defender, I don’t think there are too many arguments against that. Gary Cahill has been having a good season over at Bolton. Brede Hangeland has been ever present in the Fulham starting 11 for 3 seasons now and would be a great asset for Arsenal. How about Roger Johnson at Birmingham? He’s been bossing their defence over the past season. Why not Leighton Baines of Everton if Clichy buggered off to Real Madrid?

Arsenal seem more interested in buying unknown French quantities than they do in looking at the less fashionable names who are already doing it over here. Who’s to say that put in the right environment with better facilities, better trainers these players wouldn’t flourish? I get the impression that if the old back 4 were available today, we wouldn’t have signed them… for me that is sad and disappointing.

Sometimes, it would be nice if substance over style were on the minds of our scouts.

In other news, many Arsenal fans were excited concerned when they read this cryptic message on Denilson’s twitter…

_denilson15 Will take arsenal with me to the rest of my life…….

Yeah, some of us were ruing the moment we prematurely celebrated the Brazilians excellent career at Arsenal. Yep, that vintage bottle of Dom certainly didn’t taste as good when I read this a few hours later…

_denilson15 4 the last time guys….. l am arsenal 2day…..2moro..and….4ever

Oh marvellous. I’m so pleased for him…

I have to say, I’m not too fussed, that £11million would have only sat in the bank gaining a miserly amount of interest anyway. If we did happen to sell Denilson to the highest bidder in the summer, who could we sign?

Well, there’s Etienne Capoue, officially scouted by the Grovers over the past few seasons. He’s a tough tackling, no nonsense holding midfielder who is French and on the under 21 scene. There is also his team mate Yann M’Vila who has also been a scouting target of many of the Grovers. He plays for Rennes, has all the attributes needed to succeed in the Premiership and his name is nice and easy to spell.

Failing that… let’s get Lee Cattermole in!

In other news, another of our European scouts has been checking out Barcelona to see if he can detect and weaknesses, Colm Naish had this to say on his recent visit to the Camp Nou…

‘ Bilbao held Barca to a scorless draw the other night at the Nou Camp. they forced them wide by keeping the back four very narrow (it looked like the 4 backs were in place directly in front of the 18 yard box)   then dealing with their crosses. Barca ended up having the likes of Pique running into the box trying to get on the end of crosses to score. they couldn’t play through the middle the way they like to. With effective counter attacking this might be something to think about…Hope Wenger was watching.’

Colm, that’s a sweet thought, but we can be pretty certain Wenger wouldn’t have been watching! Anyway, there’s some food for thought there… perhaps someone should write out a banner with the word tactics emblazoned on it at the Emirates, you know, jolt his memory!

Finally, Johnny saw Le Grove as the most culturally relevant art football blog in the blogosphere and has asked us to showcase his new piece of work titled, ‘The Professor of Science 14’, which represents the players of Wenger’s 14 seasons at Arsenal, there’s a shot of it below and you can follow the link to buy a print of it and see it in the gallery.

 

Click image to see the detail

Have a great day Grovers, don’t drink and drive!
P.S. If you like David Dein, this article is a no go for you… scathing! If you expected shiny new players this January, don’t read this…

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Posted by Pedro

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