Thierry short-term solution | Park long-term problem? | Frimgone | QPR preview

December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy new years eve to everyone! What’s your new years resolutions for next year? Lay off the booze? Cut down on the cigarettes? Swap kebabs for low carb healthy alternatives? Indulge in more Arsenal goodness? I hope so… after all, fit and healthy readers of the site is what we crave most!

So, this is the last post of the year, unless something mad happens, like an impending Armageddon. Then we’d do a final post of all time whatever time of the day it is, so make sure you tune in if that’s the case. It’s been a good year for the site, we added 34% to the readership this year, which is exciting during times of austerity. Hopefully that means we’re still on the right track when it comes to writing about stuff you like. We’ve also had 270k worth of comments this year, which hopefully means you all still get along in the comments section like a group of nerds at a Star Trek convention (Shhh, I was there too ;-) ). Anyway, just a final thanks for making internet life living worth living… mysinglefriend.com certainly hasn’t…

In the footballing world of news, there were plenty of things to chew over as of yesterday. Firstly, Thierry is back on a short-term loan, Arsenal.com has finally caught up so we can now all officially talk about it. I know there are many out there who won’t talk about anything unless it’s on Arsenal.com… crap performances must be difficult.

Wenger reckons the man is over his fitness problems and he still has much to offer. We’re not to expect the Thierry of ten years ago, but then again, who is deluded enough to think he’ll be the same player? He’ll play across the front three and I think from memory he’ll be available for the Leeds game, 8 Premiers League outings and maybe the Champions League game against Milan. That’s a tough schedule, but he has that little bit of excellence we need to break teams down. It’s also worth noting what a pain in the backside Di Natale was against us, a player who also shares the same age at Thierry.

Wenger keeps saying the reason he took on Thierry was for short term cover, ignoring the obvious white elephant in the room that is Park. If he were firing like he should be, I wonder whether we’d have Thierry in here now? Park can play out wide, Park can play centrally. Shouldn’t he be the cover? If he can’t be, shouldn’t we really be looking for something more longer term? It’s great having Thierry until March for the short term, but what happens if Robin isn’t fit for March? Where do we go from there? Park won’t have played any games and Chamakh will probably have malaria.

I’m still amazed that in the whole amount of time Wenger has been at the club, we’ve never produced a top class striker?

In other sections of the news, it’s worth noting that Frimpong is off to Wolves for loan spell. Wolves is the only place on my travels I’ve ever feared being attacked whilst refuelling my car. It’s also one of the few areas of the country where Visa is a mythical beast not accepted as a valid payment method. I’m guessing the thought process behind the move is that it will work like bootcamp for an ill disciplined youth team player. He has undoubted talent, but it needs to be honed away from the first team. I’m sure he’ll come back a better man for it and I’m sure the Wolves fans are going to absolutely love him.

Abou Diaby is so crocked the manager won’t give him a return date. Probably a good idea. He should just throw him onto the team sheet one day, a surprise player inclusion that no one is that excited about. That would be fun. I really don’t know what the future can hold for a player who constantly suffers niggly muscle injuries. If it’s not one problem, how can you fix it? How can you plan for him to be in the team? How can you justify his massive salary?

Ahead of the game this afternoon against QPR, there are no fresh injuries to report. We’ll be lining up with a strong team. I expect this to be Robin Van Persie’s last game for the next two. He’ll be looking to break a calendar year record, hopefully he couldn’t have picked better opposition to do it against. QPR are either fantastically hard to break down, or they’re utter cack. Hopefully they’ll be the latter today!

They have some top players to be aware of. We all know what a pain in the backside Joey Barton is. He’ll be in our faces from the off, he’ll be agitating for bookings and sendings off and he’ll be popping up with pinpoint passes if he’s given the space to breathe. Up front they have ex-Arsenal strop Jay Bothroyd (if he’s fit), who has good movement and a finish. I think Helguson is the potential danger man this year, he’s been their goalscoring king pin but at 34, and a lack of previous quality, we really should be able to handle him. We’ll also have to be careful of SWP, he’s capable of a long range dig and he’s a tricky customer outwide, which could be a problem for JD.

I think we’ll win today but we have to take our chances this week. We created 25 against Wolves, hit 17 on target and we only came away with one goal. We need to improve on that today and break them with an early two goal lead. Dropping points is not an option against QPR. Talking about them being a tough team afterwards is also not something we should be doing. We want to be classed amongst the top tier, we have to play like we are.

I’m excited. Hopefully the rest of the team will and we can end 2011 on high! Enjoy the game wherever you are and have a safe, but fantastic new years celebration later on!

Happy New Year, from Pedro and Geoff!

P.S. I’ll compile the New Years polls for the 2nd!

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

Thierry lands – Good or bad signing? | Oxo loving life | New Years nominations please!

December 30, 2011

So the word on the street is that Thierry will agree a deal to come back to Arsenal within the next 24 hours. He’ll join on loan for two months and he’ll cover for Chamakh and Gervinho when he comes back. Opinion is split on Thierry. Some think this loan move will tarnish his reputation. I say it didn’t do Sol any harm. Some say it’s a regressive step. I’d agree. I think it’s taking the cheap option and it feels 50% a marketing ploy. Some say this shouldn’t come at the expense of a major signing. I agree, but sadly, I struggle to see us moving for Podolski/Cavani/Messi now.

He’ll come back, maybe slightly humbled by the fan love that was shown at the statue unveiling and I’m sure he’ll come armed with the desire of 100 Vermaelen’s. He doesn’t have something to prove… but at the same time, he absolutely does. Can he still hack it? Does he still have the brain and the pace to threaten Premier League defences? Can he fill the giant boots and utilise the mega pot of wet look gel Chamakh leaves behind?

Chamakh hair product... for a 16 minute cameo.

I think yes… but I’m disappointed for the 3rd year running we have to call on the old guard to patch up a squad put together on a shoe string budget (Does Beckham and his wow factor count as another year?). Still, what a band-aid eh? He can finish in the box, he can take freekicks, he can head the ball (speak to Robin), he can pass, he can cross, he can assist (Robin likes assists)… just all at a slightly slower pace!

One thing Thierry, because I know you have google alerts set up for your name… none of that saintly balderdash. It’s not cool to be everyone’s best friend, unless someone calls you a racist, homophobe or a bigot. Then you can make up your best friends to shut people the hell up. I hope you get my point.

Just so you know, Wenger thinks signing a left back isn’t a good idea now. Not when he has Gibbs coming back in a month. Really? Is no one at board level questioning that statement? Always the minimum he can never get away with…

Oxo has literally been loving his new job at Arsenal. He landed a tidy pay rise, Frimpong introduced him to a ‘too cool for school’ word and Arshavin taught him how to conserve energy on the pitch and say hilariously misogynistic things in the dressing rooms. He’s also loving Arsene Wenger…

“The main thing he’s said to me is that I’ve got the ability to play at this level and it’s just how much I want it. That just sums it up for me really.

“I know I just have to keep working hard, get my head down and keep pushing to put pressure on him to select me. It’s encouraging to hear him say that to me because it’s always good advice.

It’s nice to read that he’s hungry to play and eager to learn. I think there’s always a danger we over hype players at Arsenal, but I’m genuinely excited about this tricky winger. He has natural ability. He’s a footballer first, athlete second. With a good attitude and the right chances, he could go on to be a very efficient player for us.

There were stories about us signing a Barca under 21 striker who was out of contract. For me, I’d rather steer clear of them. They’re a special breed those kids, but they’re brainwashed. Like athletic, technically gifted footballer children of the Barcelona 5th Brigade of the Tiki-Taka Church Sect. Why go for players you can’t plan ahead with? If they come good, they want to go back, if they bomb, you’re lumbered with them. It’s a no win situation and it’s destabilising.

Funny that it’s happening to Chelsea thought. Very funny. I bet they wish it was Torres they were tapping up.

Other than that, today will most likely be Thierry day! Let your thoughts be known in the comments section!

P.S. Let’s play a game today…

  1. Best Goal of the season
  2. Best moment of the season
  3. Best Player
  4. Worst Player
  5. Arsenal Teams new years resolution

I’ll compile the best answers and if I can muster the energy, we’ll run a poll New Years Eve and announce the winners new years day.

What an Arsenal blog we are…

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

Diaby stopping the Gourcuff deal (Honestly) – Thierry Henry back to Arsenal!

December 29, 2011

When I saw the below headlines on Arsenal.com, I thought, wow, I must read on…

Van Persie – I love a really good assist

Van Persie – I want to score more headers

Amazing insight into the mind of a Premiership footballer. Those two headlines remind me of all those really boring people who post Facebook status updates about the condition of their finger nails, or inform you about how nice their mums wallpaper is.

Anyway, once you delved into the stories, it was pure gold.

“For me I do appreciate assists as much as a proper goal,”

Now that is insightful. I too appreciate a proper assists as much as a proper goal. I also want to score more headers. Me and Robin are two of a kind. Maybe we could be friends. Facebook friends. Then I could tell him about how delicious I find Krispy Kreme doughnuts with my morning coffee.

He also went on to talk about the record for a calendar year not being a priority. The guys I sit with at the ground have their suspicions. He certainly hasn’t been too fussed about assists in the last few games. A little bit of selfishness has crept into his game. I’m looking forward to him getting this calendar year out of the way their can be no more suspisions.

On the transfer front, it’s all looking mighty dull.

“We have choices in midfield,” he said. “We have Diaby and Wilshere coming back [from injury] so we have lots of people in there.

“However I see a positive future for [Gourcuff]. I think he will come back to his best level. He has been out for four or five months and what happens to him now is normal. He’s played his first few games only on his desire and, after an injury, it’s normal to have a dip.

Yep, you read it right. Wenger has ruled himself out of the running for Gourcuff because he has Jack (fair) and Diaby coming back from extensive lay offs. The Frenchman who can’t get insured to go on holiday to America, is killing the potential career of a player who is clearly miles better. What a shame.

Wenger can’t keep on talking about purely numbers when we talk about the size of the squad. You have to look at the quality. Sure we have 3 strikers. 1 who is amazing, 1 who is awful and one so poor the manager won’t give him a run out in front of the player we know is awful. It’s the same with midfield. He can say we have 4 million players coming through the ranks, but if we loan out Frimpong and potentially Coquelin, who do we have as cover for Song? Creatively, I think we’ve struggled at times this year. Sure Jack is coming back, but he’s not an out and out creator yet. It’d be nice to have some real options off the bench when the inevitable injuries come.

Talking of strikers, it appears all the papers have been tipped off with news that Thierry is being offered a way back into Arsenal. Someone mentioned on Twitter yesterday we should ship out Almunia and give him the #1 shirt. I think that’d be a touch on the cringe side, but it’s a nice thought.

I think his signing will be a big boost to the squad. Per certainly reckons so…

“What he achieved during his career is just amazing. He has nothing more to prove in football. Today, he has the opportunity to give us a boost. A player with such stature would bring us a lot.”

Experience at this time of year is always of huge benefit. We all enjoyed having Sol Campbell back at the club a few years ago and I’m sure we’ll all enjoy seeing the class of Thierry warming up when we’re chasing a game. We lacked pace in the game against Wolves. Thierry might not have a huge amount of that, but he’s not the sort of player who needs it. He sees a run before it happens. His intelligence could have unlocked them.

Also, think of the golden oldies when it comes to strikers, Henrik Larsson, Sheringham, Bergkamp, Shearer… Inzaghi!

In other news that I missed, I caught up with the Cesc Sky Sports News interview. He spoke about his lack of privacy these days. The Spanish fans feel they have ownership of players, we tend to leave people alone in London.He said his proudest moment was meeting the Queen. He also flagged and issue many noticed last year. He said something along the lines of,

‘The team were going down and I could see there was no real passion.’

Quite a statement you’d have to say. This is where the big question marks over Wenger and his transfer policies come. If you are absolutely petrified of signing a player Diaby might have to compete with when he finally gets fit again, what message are you sending to Diaby? We’re holding a space for you… just in case things work out for you. Surely, after all this time, we should be signing Gourcuff. If Diaby comes back and can’t force his way past him, we’ll sell the player with the worst fitness record.

It doesn’t have to be as cut and shut as that, but all this fear about having a competitive squad is a nonsense in my eyes. If a player can’t maintain long term fitness, you have to address that. Will Gibbs ever last more than 10 games in a row (apparently he’s never played more than 5 according to Arsenal Action)? Will Diaby ever justify his huge wages? How long do you give them?

As for the passion. Where does it come from? Can you teach a player to be passionate. Alex Song has never struck me as a player who cares greatly for the club. But would he be so relaxed and casual clearing his lines and as flippant with back heels if he was playing under another of the top class managers? It’s questionable…

The fighting spirit of the side so far this year has been far better. That’s because we bought in players with that ready made spirit. The generation raised on the Wenger cotton wool theory of football don’t come equipped with that. Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Nasri, Denilson all had question marks over their desire… even Cesc said he wasn’t motivated during the second half of last season. A point I raised at the time and was lambasted for. That’s why I like the idea of a Podolski type signing. That’s why Vertoghen works for me. They’ve been raised elsewhere, all Wenger has to do is show them how to fit into his system and fine tune their games.

The best success stories Wenger has under his belt are generally with players who have found their desire elsewhere, through failure or different styles of coaching.

Anyway… plenty for you to rifle through today!

P.S. The boys from Phoenix Studios sent me through the first sketches of the new Le Grove site and they’re looking very sharp!

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

Arsenal lose pace at the top | Alex Song guilty of Sunday league laziness

December 28, 2011

Nothing quite like shaking off the Christmas hangover with tough game against a side that are for me, up there with Stoke when it comes to footballing ability. I’ve never been a fan of the post Christmas game, generally because the players are as out of sorts as the fans. The show put on by the players for the first 60 minutes yesterday reeked of too many turkey sandwiches. It also highlighted how fragile our squad is outside the starting eleven.

Wenger took out Ramsey and Theo and replaced them with Benayoun and Rosicky. Both very similar players, both come with similar ages and injury records, both come without that all important ingredient of pace.

Wolves were the most daring in the opening minutes. Jarvis made Djourou look an idiot when the Swiss centre back slid in and missed a Wolves penetrating ball, Jarvis couldn’t match his good run with a dangerous ball, Mertesacker doing well to block out the cross.

It didn’t take long for Jarvis to get the better of JD again, this time beating him one on one, his cross failed to find someone in a gold shirt. Rosicky picked it up, played in Benayoun, he powered forward, picking out Gervinho who pirouetted with the ball, waltzed into the box, clumsily taking it past the keeper and slotting home for an early goal. He found the net, but if a goal ever had cobwebs on it, it was that one!

Robin was set up by Gervinho shortly afterwards, his first time shot was dragged wildly wide of the post. The Dutchman had another good chance after he broke free of the Wolves back line, his quick shot was smartly tipped round the post by Hennesey,

We weren’t quite at our normal tempo. Wolves were playing a relatively highline, realising we had little to offer pace wise. The players were flat and the half had a feeling of 2008. Lots of intricate passing without any direct penetration.

We were punished for our lack lustre performance when Wolves had a huge slice of luck. We failed to clear a corner further than the edge of the box, Hunt fired a shot at our goal, his shot deflected neatly into the path of Fletcher, where he was on hand to head past our keeper. To us, he looked offside, however after viewing the goal after the game, it appears Song and his laissez faire attitude to the game kept him well and truly on. What a muppet…

The second half didn’t start with the urgency I’d hoped for. Gervinho had the best chance when he found himself in possession 6 yards out, however, like an 8 year old just learning the game, he couldn’t fish the ball out from his under his feet. It was the story of his game after the goal, his control was terrible, his passing was a long way from being respectable and he was holding up our attacking play. Now, before anyone who has bought an Opta Stats pack tells me his pass completion rate was 967%, think outside a computer game and the different types of pass you can have. There is such thing as a bad completed pass.

We had an abundance of freekick practice. Robin and Arteta were rotating responsibility between them without much luck. Robin had the best attempts, forcing two fine saves form Hennesey. The first from the left was tipped over and the second was powered low from the right and was pushed wide.

Wenger changed things up by bringing on Arshavin and Ramsey. The Welshman nearly made an impact straight away, capitalising on some poor control from Wolves, he cut the ball back to Rosicky whose placed shot was blazed wide. At this level, you really should be hitting the target when the ball is served to you on a gold leaf dinner plate.

Things started to get spicy when Millijas was sent off for a two footed lunge. Tackles flew in and temper flared all over the pitch. I think the worst refereeing decision of the match was when a cross was blatantly handled in the box, the lino had a view clear as day and chose to ignore what he’d clearly seen. It really is disappointing that lineman are so afraid to make decisions in this day in age. Maybe it’s the pay issue. Either way it ruins that game as calls into question the point of them if all they are there for is offside rules. I’m sure a computer would do a better job.

It was amusing that the ref was vigilant enough to see a small handball by Vermaelen 5 mins later. He even had the audacity to book him for it!

Chamakh came on and contributed towards busting open the head of Robin Van Persie. Well played son. I still have no idea why Wenger has to make the same substitution mistakes 50 times before he learns. Outside that, the game slipped away from us and we dropped two vital points.

Not good enough.

Now, I can sit there and praise our fighting spirit, but lets put this in perspective, we just played Wolves. We can’t commend fighting spirit against a team we are vastly superior to. We should be praising our superior technical ability and the way we carved them open time and time again. Sadly, we’re disappointingly looking at a missed opportunity to over take Chelsea as the rightful owners of 4th. We also lost points on Spurs.

I think there are a few things to address here. Firstly, going forward, really we should only be playing one of Benayoun or Rosicky. The two of them in the team at the same time doesn’t really work for me. They both have the same attributes and both have the same deficiencies. Our team works best with pace, we can’t afford two slow players in the side. Next time we rest Theo, let’s play AOC. He has all the pace Theo does with a little more brain.

I think it’s worth pointing out that the most dangerous attacking player on the pitch today outside Robin was Vermaelen. That’s great in the sense that he’s a superb player, but shoddy because that means certain players aren’t taking responsibility for their share of the goals.

It wouldn’t be a Premier League match without mentioning the ref. Atwell had a shocker out there and totally lost control of the game as far as I’m concerned. He was missing handballs and struggling with time wasting. Things like that don’t help, but don’t use that as too much of an excuse, everyone is in the same boat with refs these days.

Alex Song needs to be spoken to about his approach to clearing his lines. Walking your way out of the box is not acceptable at Sunday league level, let alone when you’re a professional in the fastest league in the world. He’s had some good game this year, but his game has started to get an element of big time about it of late. Stick to the basics Alex.

Bench options need to be addressed in January. Today it was great bringing on Aaron Ramsey, but when the first team aren’t being rested, we don’t really have players to call on that are game changers. Andrey should be that man, but he’s not now. Chamakh has never been that man and he never will be. If Park was any good, I’m pretty sure we’d be seeing him a little more.

No one fears our bench. There must be players we can bring in who can help us out there. We’re not heading into January with it all to lose like we were last year. We have it all to play for. We can’t afford to trip up against the smaller sides. We need this victory juggernaut to pick up pace over this friendly period of fixtures so when we do start playing the better teams again, we have great confidence and we’re right in the mixer. The only thing that’s going to do that for me is an injection of quality into the squad.

On the upswing of things, we do have a team of battlers out there. We were knocking on door for 30 minutes but couldn’t find a way through. If we could call upon a player like Podolski or even Thierry in a game like yesterday, we’d have that ability. Wenger has to be bold in January and be bold at the soonest opportunity. You can’t hang on for Chamakh and Andrey, they’ll only disappoint.

Next up is QPR. A game similar to the one we just played. We need to up our performance and play the first 60 minutes like we played the last 30 minutes. We need to find our ruthless streak and make sure we don’t lose touch of Spurs at the top.

Have a great day Grovers, see you in the comments!

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

Wolves will be a tough game says Wenger… …Zzzzzzzzzzz

December 27, 2011

‘Wolves play good football’ he said. ‘They always look dangerous going forward and they make it tough for everybody’

Really? Does he ever say ‘Boys we ought to win this one, it’s only Wolves’ No, does he ever say anything about any team other than they are tough? No. Still I suppose if he did we would be accused of disrespect and such.

If we could ever have an easy game it would be QPR, and we have them next, so we really should be going into 4th place today and with the right attitude, staying up there, if the spuds get a kicking against Norwich we’ll start reeling them in too.

All the sites are full of news about Chamberlain and how Wenger is about to unleash him on the English Premier League, I remember feeling the same excitement about Theo, I still get excited about Theo, I have been a supporter of his for years, I have also said he will be Arsenal and England’s saviour and will one day prove it.

People still forget how old he is, he’s still 2 years younger than Cesc, he’s still a kid, I have always believed we have some fantastic young players but they will only be great when they get older, Cesc and Robin are testament to that.

This is why I am a big believer in mixing youth with experience, but please don’t get old age mixed up with experience and just because you are 30 it doesn’t mean that’s the experience we need, Squillaci is a great example of that.

We still need someone to replace Cesc and we still need someone to replace Nasri, we haven’t done that, Arteta for me barely covered the loss of Hleb. We sure as hell haven’t replaced Ade so I feel if we just invested in proper replacements we could really kick on. We have the opportunity to do that now and would be foolish if we didn’t.

We desperately need a forward to play with Robin, Chamakh is hopeless and from what I’ve seen of Park he won’t be the answer, so someone needs buying, then in the summer we need to sell all these loanees.

When Tiger Woods burst onto the scene no one could touch him he was so far ahead. The Chavs and the Mancs did that with their massive spending, then Shitty did similar and Kenny and twitchy came and joined the party, so the bar has been raised like it was with Tigger.

We almost matched shitty the other day but for me there was only one winner, bringing on Arshavin and Chamakh didn’t do it, we needed to bring on two that would have made a difference, if we did that we could be something else, and that would only be replacing what we lost not splashing out on top talent we can’t afford.

Today we need to go out and spank Wolves, go into the second half ahead of the chavs and send a message out to the Premiership, they already know what we have, let’s add to that and surprise them.

My team for today would be this.

Cheeper

Miquel Kozzer Mertesacker Vermaelen

Song Arteta Yossi

Gervinho Robin Chamberlain

I would put Miquel in there ahead of Djourou or Kozzer and replace Kozzer with Miquel in the middle. This team is picked to rest some, give others their chance and allow Robin to crash the record.

I also think it’s time to have a clear out, Diaby has to go, we have waited far too long so he needs replacing, for me he is taking the piss, go out and buy Mario Goetze or Gourcuff and use the Cesc and Diaby money to do it.

We need a big win today, the sort of thumping the Mancs dish out, if we can’t do that we can’t compete and today should show us what we need.

We have a lot of top young ‘uns but we need to help them out.

I have a great feeling about this week, 6nil today followed up by a 4niller against QPR, Spurs to drop points and us to be in 3rd place by the first week in January.

There you can’t be more positive than that can you! Have a top day Grover’s and may the force be with you.

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Posted by Geoff

Henry and Cesc to return, maybe Robin to be rested, learn the lesson Arsene.

December 26, 2011

So Cesc is already saying he would only want to play for us and Henry has said the same.

Think back people to why these guys left us in the first place, also think about why Kolo, Nasri and Gael Clichy left, add Hleb to that list too, they all left because they wanted to win trophies, well Cesc already has three, Henry a bunch and even Hleb won a Champions League medal before he hit the wall.

Nasri, Clichy and Kolo will no doubt win something this year and here we are about to lose top Striker Chamakh to the ACN and that will only leave us with Park, who so far is no more impressive than Chamakh, and he Grovers is truly shite.

So what do we learn from all this? We have a bunch of players that all claim they love Arsenal but left all the same, we have another bunch that frankly are not good enough but we talk about their loss as a big problem and we have a player that was a legend wanting to fill the gap. But is he too old?

No, he’s not, he’s still 2 years younger than Keown, Adams and Bergkamp were when they retired and 4 years younger than Ryan Giggs who is still playing at the very top. And shagging his sister in law, apparently…

It’s a no brainer Wenger, bring him in to play alongside Robin and replace Gervinho on the left.

Never mind about Wayne Bridge, there has to be a left back out there than can play in other positions in the team, every year we get appalling injuries its time the boss took that on board and planned for it. Stop acting like it never happens, it does.

The answer? Jan Vertongen, get him in and he can play anywhere. Then we would have a back line capable of winning trophies for the first time since the famous back five.

I would still try and buy Gourcuff because although I would have Goetze, he will cost too much and Gourcuff would be a bargain, then when we get Wilshere back we would have a midfield to match the back four. Awesome.

The only problem with signing Henry is that would merely be papering over the cracks, Chamakh, Arshavin and Park are just not good enough for this team, the sooner we sort that out the better. If we get Henry, a month later we would get Chamakh and Park back and that is not very smart.

Me, I would let Park go to Lille and give them cash for Hazard, let Chamakh and Arshavin go and buy a decent striker, sign Henry on loan and at least try and win the ECL.

As for resting Robin, don’t be a twit, let him at get something out of his Arsenal career, he will smash the record and we can at least say we did something this season.

Have a great Boxing day Grovers, tomorrow we get to smash Wolves.

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

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas to everyone this fine and festive morning!

There’s not much news from our end today, this post is more an opportunity to thank all of you guys for logging on everyday, come rain or shine, come spanking or huge victory. I want to thank those who have made the site an amazing place to chat football every morning. Truly, without you, and the world class writing (jokes) we serve up, we’d just be another Arsenal blog clogging up Newsnow everyday.

Next year shall bring many exciting things. We have a podcast booked in for definite. That’ll launch in the new year or maybe even before. Geoff will likely be able to spend a bit more time blogging, bring a bit of ying to my yang. We’re also on schedule to hit a mid-January redesign target. Don’t worry, the move won’t be as chaotic as the last one. We’ll make sure we run the new site parallel and we’ll open it up to your suggestions for amendments. Either way, the user experience is key to this design, so you won’t be disappointed. I’ll also be starting work on a 3 part autobiography and Geoff is working on his first perfume range… Scent of a French Bear.

Other than that, we’ll just keep on writing until you’re bored. So once again, a massive thanks to everyone who reads and posts on the site, a big thank you to all the new friends I made this year from AST and various publications and thank you to all the people who follow us on the other social networks. It’s been a fantastic 2011 from a site perspective, let’s hope 2012 can be the year we have a fantastic year on the pitch.

Here’s hoping!

Merry Christmas, catch you all bright and early tomorrow morning!

P.S A Ligue one enthusiast posted the below piece on Gourcuff… thanks Pierre!

I am a Lyon/Arsenal supporter and I thought I’d give some feedback re; Gourcuff.

There is a lot of whining about Gourcuff but that’s who Arsenal are going to get. Wenger has wanted him since he was 17!

Don’t believe me? Read Wenger’s own blog on Eurosport only 3 or so months ago !

Wenger regularly drools over Gourcuff in the French press, he’s compared him to Platini and Zidane often.

You also forget that he’s a close friend of his father and the same footballing philosophy is shared among the three.

Gourcuff’s failure at Lyon is due to several reasons, firstly, Lyon do not play a short passing game conducive to Gourcuff’s ability, the side is too dependent upon individuals and the collective play is almost zero. Secondly, Lyon wanted to capitalise on Gourcuff financially through merchandise and marketing, even creating a brand called “YG29″ – hence when he joined Lyon he had a special presentation with 20,000 supporters – this put enormous pressure on him – the boy doesn’t have a bad attitude, he’s introverted, quiet, shy and also a mega nerd. Thirdly, under Claude Puel, Gourcuff was often used as a defensive midfielder because Lisandro Lopez wanted to play with Gomis. The same has happened under Remi Garde.

Gourcuff also has suffered enormous abuse from the French press much like Robert Pires at Marseille (hence Pires is a huge supporter of Gourcuff joining Arsenal). Wenger took Pires from Marseille and rekindled his career. The French press abuse him because he’s different and an interesting target – he’s highly educated, an intellectual of sorts, doesn’t believe in ‘bling bling’, night clubs, etc – he’s often voted the most ‘liked’ footballer in France because he sets a good example for youngsters! (regarded as the ‘perfect son’).

Wenger is going to get an absolute bargain here – you can forget about Goetze. No player in France received as much comparisons as Gourcuff to Zidane or even Platini – put under proper conditions at Arsenal, he will once again reach these heights.

Also don’t forget, Zidane had never achieved as much as Gourcuff at this age, Zidane won the world cup at 25! His career blossomed from there, prior to that he was nothing and Aime Jacquet was even lambasted for selecting him in the 98 French side! Gourcuff will achieve great things with Arsenal under Wenger!

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Posted by Pedro

Thierry Henry, is this the right move? | Gourcuff deal | Arsenal kid set to stay

December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas eve, one and all, even the poor folk of religions that don’t celebrate Christmas. Not that I’m religious. My religion is consumerism, and tomorrow is my day, and what a day it’ll be. Starting this evening, with a bucket load of beer and a pub so packed it’d make an Indian train feel spacier than a New York penthouse flat.

In today’s festive news, Arsene Wenger is talking about bringing king Thierry back for a few months. He’s the ideal solution says the coach, but he’ll need Christmas day to think about it as the question hasn’t been raised by either party so far.

Yeah right.

I feel sorry for Arsene’s family this Christmas. Not only do they have to put up with gifts from last years January sales, gifts Wenger thought had potential (like MySpace store credit), they’ll now have to deal with him sitting in his thinking room all day mulling an obvious decision.

Now, I can appreciate that for most Arsenal fans, this is a totally emotional decision. We’re not thinking straight about this, all we’re thinking about is him coming in, showing the form he used to, then taking off in 2 months time. Now, that might happen, but we have to be realistic. He’s a fantastic player, he’s still far more capable that Park and Chamakh, but for me, if we can, we should still be looking around Europe to see if there are any other players available that are younger and ready for the move. Patching up a creeking squad with players who were once great isn’t moving us forward.

Still, we’ll know in 7 days either way…

“The 1st of January is the vital date for us. I will make a decision in the next seven days on players. I promise.”

People keep saying players aren’t available in January. Again, I’m not sure why people think this is true. Sure, top players in England aren’t available this time of year, but around the rest of Europe where plenty of clubs can’t afford to pay salaries, there are sure to be players available. The only time players aren’t about is if you’re not interested. Now, the simple facts are that we need a striker, which may be taken care off, we need someone else to shoulder the creative burden, which could be Gotze. Or, more likely, it could be Gourcuff.

The Frenchman seems like a cheaper alternative to Gotze, but every week that passes seems another week he’s closer to one of the power houses making an offer. Gourcuff seems much more our cup of tea. A player who comes with a reputation as a bit of a bad boy. A player perhaps lacking the motivation to fulfill his potential and a player who has huge talent ready to burst in the right environment.

I remember watching him a few seasons ago when he was on fire at Bordeaux. He was incredible. He has superb technique, he is built like Kaka and he glides across the pitch in the same way. He really did look that package back then and I see no reason why at 25 he couldn’t look the business once more. Arsenal rescued Marc Overmars, we did the same for Paddy and we did the same Thierry. Even Adebayor, Robert Pires and Hleb came to us on the back of bad news.

I’m still holding out for Podolski… that would be nice eh?

In other news, I’ll be kick starting a Le Grove podcast next week with Alex Fynn. He wrote the book, Arsenal – The making of a modern super club. He has close ties with everyone at Arsenal, even Gunnersaurus, so he’ll be able to give you some fascinating insight into how the club is running, what David Dein is up to, why Peter Hill-wood talks to the Daily Star and pretty much anything you want to know about the clubs finances and inner workings.

If you have any questions you’d like to put forward, let me know and I’ll drop them down on my state of the art iPad and take them along with me.

On the injury news, there’s finally been some good news in the media. That’s the news that Bacary Sagna is back in training. He played a practice match in front of the Junior Gunners yesterday. As you’ll remember, I told you he was back in training last week. No, seriously, don’t thank me, it’s just part of my job.

If he’s back at the end of January, like I also told you, that’ll be bloody amazing news. Not so amazing news is that Gibbs has to have surgery again, putting him out of action for another 4 weeks with an option for a another 4 followed by a 2 week set back.

Finally, Francis Coquelin has been offered a pay rise and maybe the chance to go out on loan this January. Good news for the versatile midfielder, he’s looked very solid for most of his outings this season and I’ve no doubt we have a bit of a player on our hands!

Right, that’s your lot. Enjoy your evening and have a great time whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re doing it!

See you on Christmas day for a prerecorded broadcast to the nation!

Oh, and topic for the day, if Arsene was your secret Santa, what would you buy him for Christmas?

P.S. If you want something social mediarish, here’s how Christmas would look if Twitter planned it…

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Posted by Pedro

Wolves moved | Roddy and Tiote linked to Arsenal | Robin Van Title

December 23, 2011

Welcome to Friday, some of you will be in work, most of you won’t. I hope everyone had a marvelous evening yesterday. As you can imagine, news at the moment is at a bit of a premium. I think everyone slows down a but in the build up to Christmas, even the newsnow transfer story merchants!

Last night Spurs and Chelsea fought out a 1-1 draw which kind of sat perfectly for us. We’re within touching distance of the both of them and at the moment, that’s a good place to be because I’m still not sure which of those two will last the pace. It certainly drove home the importance of that last gasp Yossi goal the other night. What a relief those three points were!

Talking of Yossi, it’s great to read the additional praise he’s been receiving from the captain and the coach. Robin said…

“It was really good for Yossi scoring because he has been training unbelievably – trust me, he is absolutely unbelievable,”

I think the Israeli will have an important part to play over the next few months. He’s a hard worker and boasts superb technique on the ball that will no doubt unlock more defences as the season draws on. For me, he’s definitely a superior option off the bench compared to Rosicky and Arshavin. I’m surprised he’s given so little game time really. Before he joined I described him as Alex Hleb with end product, I still go with that, we just need to see a bit more product!

The captain also noted that we shouldn’t rule ourselves out of the title race.

“Anything can happen in this league. Results early on [show that]. Our result against Man United was a surprise, our result away at Chelsea was a big surprise, and Manchester City winning 6-1 away at United too. Anything is possible.

Personally I’d say that the chances of us sustaining a credible title challenge are slim with the squad we currently have. However, if Wenger spends some of those magic beans in January, well, there’s no telling where we could be! We still have 2 new signings in Sagna and Jack to return, then we also have the new signing of Santos to return. That’s three new signings we don’t need to pay for. If we could pick up a striker and a creative midfielder, we could have a really strong finish.

All ifs and buts I appreciate. I just think this January is a massive opportunity. For once, we’re not buying to pull ourselves out of a mess. We’re buying to kick on. I hope Arsene can see that.

In other fixture led news, the Wolves game has been postponed a day. Basically, the real reason is because I couldn’t go boxing day so I demanded the club move it. They’ve obliged, so sorry if that affected anyone’s plans!

In other news Rodallega is the latest name to be linked with the vacant number two striker role. He’s a tidy player. Big, awkward with an ok finish. He doesn’t really have the wow factor, but I guess he’d do as a back up. I’m not sure Wigan would entertain flogging him whilst they’re involved in a survival struggle.

Newcastle’s Tiote has also been linked with a move to us. I can’t remember who told me, but someone did say that his agent is desperate to land him a move to us. Apparently we’re his favourite club or something like that. He’s a good player, very strong and if we did need midfield cover, he’d be a nice option. Again, I’m not sure if Wenger will be in the market for that sort of midfielder with Coquelin and Frimpong waiting in the ranks!

Right, that’s all I have for you today, enjoy Christmas Eve Eve!

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Posted by Pedro

We proved we can win ugly, but last night wasn’t ugly, it was poetic, a thing of beauty.

December 22, 2011

Morning all, I listened to the game on Arsene-Online last night so decided to write down my thoughts as they happened.

So this is a sort of match report but with no ratings, and typed on a new MacBook Air.

Then after the game I watched the match on Sky on the red button and was pleasantly surprised, so have added to it this morning.

First the game, this is how I heard it. A kind of live report the day after.

Villa’s first corner sees Chezzer pull off an early blinder from Gabby with the dodgy moustache.

The side saw a midfield of Frimpong, Ramsey and Arteta, Coquelin started as right back with Vermaelen on the left, centrebacks were Kozzer and Mertesacker.

Strange that we don’t see Rosicky, Squillaci and Almunia much anymore, I guess Wenger and that penny have dropped. Maybe we’ll have to wait until next summer before that same penny drops with Chamakh and Arshavin, who by the way I think has been ruined.

I was a bit surprised to see Coquelin at right back, I thought he may have put Miquel in there, the commentators said that Wenger doesn’t like playing players out of position as they pick up injuries.

Ok then so we won’t mention Djourou, Walcott, Song and last season a million times Eboue. And I really could go on.

Well the referee points to the spot for a yank on Theo so we get an early penalty, up steps Robin, one nil, the first time Robin scores at Villa Park, against the run of play but who gives a rats arse, I don’t, and Robin gets closer to the record, 2 behind Shearer and level with Henry.

This is a slow game and already I find myself looking forward to 67 minutes when Wenger will make his first substitution. I’m guessing Arshavin and Chamakh but I would like to see Chamberlain.

Well with 30 minutes gone we are lucky to still be ahead, Coquelin has been booked and he needs to be careful.

RVP combines well with Gervinho and the ball goes to Ramsey and that ends up in row Z.

Arsenal are ordinary, as Wellington said at Waterloo, give me Blucher or the night, he got Blucher, I call for a goal, or half time and don’t care which as long as we get one of them before they score.

Mind you I wouldn’t mind the Scots Greys out there, that would make it a little easier, imagine 900 odd big old carthorses charging at you bristling with weapons, that’s what it must have felt like to defences when we had Henry, Pires and Bergkamp coming at them.

Ireland goes off, and a sub comes on at 45 minutes, Wenger complains, it’s not 67 yet he says, anyway anyone remember when Ireland was valued at £20mil? What happened to him!

Nil nil, play has stopped and no Blucher, so it must be half time, thank God for that.

The next Premiership goal will be the 20,000th so what? They really do talk codswallop don’t they?

Unless of course we get it, then it means something, absolutely.

Oh bollocks now we know who got the 20,000 goal, it wasn’t to be us, 1-1 stupid stat who cares, I know I don’t. At least we were involved with the stat!

Still it won’t be long before we see Arshavin or Chamakh, 67 minutes are looming and we all know what happens then don’t we, not because we need to, he just does it that’s all, every single time Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Still maybe this time we’ll see Chamberlain or someone good, oh I forgot, that just means Chamberlain.

Here we are on 67 minutes Frimpong is off and Rosicky is on, Arteta goes to the DM spot. I was wrong though because the clock says the substitution was on 66, not 67, Wenger will be spitting feathers.

Just out of interest the way Kenny Dalglish treated a convicted racist Suarez, he had the whole team wearing Suarez T shirts with his face on the front and his name and number on the back, way to go Kenny, show the world what unintelligent morons most football managers are, and he found it funny. What? Suarez calling someone a bad name? Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, a person on the other hand would as we all know he loves a good old bite up.

Even if he thought Suarez didn’t say it because Evra is a lying bag of phlegm he should have kept quiet. He thinks he’s so clever, what a plank, you shouldn’t try and be clever with that subject Kenny.

John Terry on the other hand has the backing of the FA, his manager and all his team mates, except in his case we all saw what he said. John Terry wouldn’t lie would he?

Anyway nothing happened since the rub-a-dub apart from Robin got a yellow for diving, but now he’s brought on Benni and Arshavin, good call for Gervinho and Ramsey, he’s left Theo on and who knows, he can change a game.

This game sounds so good I’m finding myself watching the Liverpool game that I have on in the background.

Arsenal corner with 5 to go, I’m doing my best not to nod off and now the bastards are telling me the other scores so they are bored as well, flipping heck Benni has scored, amazing and well done son, you woke me up!

2-1 to us and if we get away with this that would be the true definition of winning ugly, who cares, I for one have been desperate for us to do this for years.

We attack again and almost score, it’s exciting for the first time all game, tremendous, we are not hanging on, we are going for more and this is all down to Benni chasing everything, I hope he gives Chamakh the DVD afterwards.

4 minutes of added time and Villa are on the attack but Mertesacker and Kozzer are up for it and fend the corners away. Hutton is in trouble, me I would punch him hard, but refs can’t do that so he got a booking instead, only and ex spud Icelander could take umbrage with a superstar like Robin, dipstick half witted prat.

Now Hutton gets sent off for upending Vermaelen, and I collect a pound from my black country mate from Bangkok, I said Black country!

So now I watch the game, the first thing that I love was our kit, how nice does our away kit look when we use turquoise socks, I love it.

Then I watch in admiration at our movement, something the commentators didn’t mention, it was crisp, fast and direct.

The penalty was nailed on and Theo didn’t get the credit for his wonderful turn and the fact he stayed on his feet. The Robin buried it high into the roof of the net, what a penalty and all I heard was he scored.

In the second half Vermaelen sold Mertesacker short and Villa nipped in and scored, unfortunate but not Per’s fault, that was on the vice captain.

Overall I thought we were fantastic and the difference between listening to it and watching it was like night and day. Oh and Robin should never have been booked, we have to appeal that one.

If only Wenger had gone early and bought what we needed we would be ahead of the lot this year, if only he would go out and buy what we need now we could finish top 4 and maybe even win the ECL, if we just cut out the mistakes and had a team that didn’t need patching up we would be awesome.

We still have time but to continually rely on the likes of Gibbs is killing us, we did with Rosicky and Robin and only now is Robin paying off, time to get what we need and go for it, we still have time, if we don’t we will lose the good players in the summer and the cycle will continue.

Great game last night, better result though and a performance that showed grit and determination. And did I mention, typed on a new MacBook Air, I’m not sure.

Have a great day Grovers, now we have a nice little run coming up and the January sales, so maybe…

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Posted by Geoff

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