Links to the Red Action flag at the end, as requested.
Meanwhile I am irritated, not at the fact that other bloggers have different opinions from me (that would be an odd thing to be irritated about), but rather at the fact that there is still rampant negative blogging about Arsenal all over the place.
I suppose what annoys me most is the stuff that pronounces that “Arsenal fans worried by…” and variants on that. My answer is no, I am not worried, and nor are quite a few people I know, and anyway who are you to tell me that I am going to be worried or ought to be worried. Some fans might be worried, but not all.
Take the defence. Silvestre’s no good apparently, Fabianski’s no good, Gibbs isn’t the finished article, and so on.
But imagine we had gone out and bought a completely ready to use second defence to step into broken shoes. What do those people do all season when no one is injured? Do they put their entire career on hold? Do they keep their form?
The reason that we have Clichy (for example) is down to two things. One Wenger’s ability to spot the talent and his persistence in buying the guy in when apparently his parents were worried about the move. The other is that he was willing to wait out his time because he was a teenager. Eventually A Cole got himself sent off at Leicester (flying Gilberto header down our end, remember that?) and Clichy came in and got some games.
But no seasoned pro would be willing to hang about as Clichy did. So we buy in young players and want to be at Arsenal and learn the trade.
What has happened this season is that we had a run of mid field injuries, and now a run of defence injuries. Both are unusual, (most seasons the injuries are more widely spread) and to get both in one season is virtually unprecedented.
As such, multiple injuries in one part of the team are unlikely to happen again, and we will be able to cope perfectly well. To suggest that our defence is going to be awful next season is nonsense. We will have our first team defence back, we will have one or two players stepping up from the reserves and the Carling Cup team, and of course there is always the chance of one transfer. If that transfer is of the quality of Arshavin, then we’ll probably be ok.
Meanwhile, it looks like being Liverpool again in the Yoooof Cup Final, after the slaughter of Manchester City (now that yoof team does look like one hell of a team to me. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see several break through from there.)
And finally, the flag.
I was asked to find some pictures andI am most grateful to various people at Red Action for supplying these links to the Red Action flag
You keep hoping that the penny will drop with Wenger, that he’ll finally realise the value of experience; of buying a few top-class, seasoned players and mixing them with a couple of youthful ones. Just about everyone should agree that the balance has been all wrong over the past four/five years, that we have had far too many below-par players unworthy of a supposed top four side and far too many kiddies growing up in public and being found out. With the Pool game, Arshavin, for one, showed what bags of experience, maturity and the cool head that comes with it can do. If that could be replicated in midfield and at the back we’d once again be a force to be reckoned with. I agree with Terence. Song HAS improved recently but it would be typical Wenger to note the past few games and give him the DM role without any real competition. And that would be crazy. He needs to be learning from someone with experience in the role, someone who’ll keep him on his game. As for our defence, it, too, remains the weakest of the top four sides. It’s plain that none of our first choice have decent competition. Gibbs was a liability and was targeted all night by Pool – as I said he would be. Silvestre was also causing chaos and was made to look stoopid by Torres, Kolo struggled to compose himself or win anything while Sagna also panicked if the ball came near him, gifting Pool a goal with a ridiculous clearance. The amount of times we failed to string two passes together or just hoofed the ball away was laughable, so I’m very pleased that Wenger kept them locked away in the dressing room and read the riot act afterwards. But he should really be pointing the finger at himself – they’re the players he’s bought/brought through. But until he takes the blame, gets rid of the deadwood and brings in top-class experience, we’ll remain well off the PL pace and potless.
I think that Chelsea were gifted the game by Arsene ‘Knows’ Wenger.
The only hope, albeit with hindsight, for Arsenal in the semi would clearly have been to play ‘four shots/four goals’ Arshavin. Arsene didn’t. Nor Song. Which beggars the question: Arsene Wenger Knows? Really?
Off the top of my head, a few Arsene Knows thoughts:
Dropping Arshavin on Saturday – why, to rest him for a where league you’re stuck in 4th place? Or a Champions League game he’s cup-tied for?
An ability to close out games – so Arene knows what subs to bring on to do this, does he?
Winning? Nothing for five years, he seems to no longer Know how to win trophies…
Transfers – do Arsenal fans still cling to the belief that they came off better in Gallas/Cole trade? A renowned moody truculent disruptive older injury prone player, for England’s left-back. And regarding Gallas – throw a campaign-defining strop and get made captain. More Arsene knowledge. (see also Henry at Barcelona, looks far from past it to me).
Letting Flamini go, needs no explaining.
And in the modern game: the bare trophy cabinet shows that football has moved on. It’s been five years of ‘team-building’ now, and if Fabregas were to leave, I can’t see any progress. You clearly have to also buy proper players, for big money. Arsene may not like it, but ‘not liking it’ hasn’t really got him too far of late, has it?
Basically, I think a slow-talking, foreign sounding academic demeanour has contributed to the ‘Arsene Knows’ myth, sustaining it well beyond a sell-by date.
What he now knows, well, who cares?
Misery Guts here tofay then eh!!
Arshavin¿s place in Arsenal history has been assured with his four-goal effort against Liverpool, but it has been his willingness to get involved and above all his obvious character that has made him a fan-favourite so far. Seriously, the guy is so cool! He rarely goes to ground when he can stay on his feet, never talks back to referees or has a bad word to say to any of his teammates. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and every time he makes a contribution he is quick to downplay his effort and speak up for the team. It¿s wonderful to see. When you add Arshavin to our list of absentees you realise just how difficult a task our team – and indeed our defence – will have in getting past United. They weren¿t particularly impressive in the 2-0 win over Portsmouth but aside from a couple of blips by Patrice Evra, they also never looked too stretched at the back. Contrast that with the shambolic performances of our defensive unit against Liverpool and there is certainly some cause for concern. If we are to get a result at Old Trafford the defensive performance of the entire side has to improve. That means Mikael Silvestre and Kolo Toure communicating better, Bacary Sagna stepping up and Lukasz Fabianski and Kieran Gibbs maintaining cool heads in a pressure-cooker atmosphere. The midfield needs to press quickly when United are in possession and ensure we get the ball back as soon as we can if we lose it. The team needs to hold their positions, cover for each other and perhaps most importantly, maintain their composure and encourage each other to keep the workrate up. Despite an admission from Arsene Wenger that the side will be rotated, this style of high-pressure defending is one that needs to be practiced on Sunday against Middlesbrough. Pretty much everything we do in the Premier league should be focused on improving our chances of winning the Chlgue
YEP!!! I’m overcome by all the positivity. Amazing that fans still act surprised at our transfer policy. If we bought experience as you guys put it, there would be no fabregas, no clichy, no walcott and the list goes on.
Why so impatient? The trophies will come when they come. Personally I plan on living for a very long time. Here is a good exercise for you miserable despondant malcontented lot. look up every football side in the priemiership and championship on wikipedia. Then divide the number of years the club has been in existence by the number of major trophies they have won (2nd division tin cups don’t count for any spurs fans out there).
Now I’m just guessing here but I reckon that maybe 3 clubs out there have over 20 major trophies in their entire history, and say have been in existence for 110 years give or take. This would imply on average 1 trophy every 5 1/2 years and that is for the top 3 sides in English football history.
If you take that on board it is obvious that with Wengers haul of trophies in the last 11 years or so, he has brought us well above the curve of achievement and gained us serious ground in relation to the other two. This achieved at a time when another club with vastly greater resources has been rampantly successful.
3 league titles, 4 FA cups a new training ground and a new superb stadium all in a decade and you still have the balls to give the man grief.
Whenever you have some spare time on your hands, go join the Luton away support at a match in the middle of nowhere and ask amongst the lads what it is like to be a real football supporter because you negative lot of spoilt children have absolutely no idea.
Wicked flag Tony I appreciate the post. If you ever come across a more manageable version, I wouldn’t mind having it for my desktop 😉
The only reason Cole is England left back is because Clichey is French.
Cole wasn’t even the best English Left Back on the pitch at Wembley, something not unnoticed by the England manager when he said “Gibbs was the most surprising and exciting prospect today for me”.
Also – stick me on the left wing at Barca and I’d be banging in goals for fun with that team. Even your granny would.
I wish Man United fans would post their blog bile on here – you’re not even linking back to your blog, what’s the point?
overwhelmed by the doomsayers today arent we?!
seriously guys, what world do you live in? Is your sense-of-irony awareness on the blink – you genuinely dont understand how foolish it is to be posting such negative posts after a post decrying negative bloggers?
what part of that doesnt make you think: oh, yeh, the blog above points out how ridiculous the negative posters are being, and so maybe (just maybe!) writing a negative comment underneath is maybe a tad like jabbing a sign saying “plonker” into your own head with an arrow pointing down to you?
Anyway, on an entirely separate note, after all the mudslinging at the arsenal for their non-englishness (and please note, as a welshman i have no issues with that anyway!) why is there not any (even slight) reaction against liverpool (yeh, we’re a local club us, la) for having less english players on the pitch than arsenal did on tuesday (gibbs + walcott vs carragher)
Could it be that that doesnt fit into the media portrayal of arsenal as a foreigners club, and liverpool as an english club? could it be that it doesnt support their former-player-loving bias for liverpool? could it? just maybe?!
On the money on both points Jimmy.
Previously I went to about 10 blogs everyday. Now this blog is the only one I come everyday. Why? This blog is the only one spreads positive vibes about the club. I’m sick and tired of complaints about the club, managers and players.
I want Arsenal to win any many trophies as possible like anybody else, but I like the way Wenger creates things. Not speding ridiculous money,(spend money when he finds exceptions like ‘AA the king’) giving chances and showing belief to young players, then achieve something together. So we were privileged to witness Thierry Henry took the premier league by storm. I know we haven’t won anything for five years. But I’m damn sure it will come sooner than later.
Please*100 stop moaning..
(sorry about my poor english, this is not my first language)
ArsenalRule – I don’t care how bad your English is (and actually it is perfect), you can write lovely things about this blog every day of the week and they’ll always get published.
Tony
The reaction to Fabianski is totally ridiculous. A lot of idiot pundits forget that he’s been our FA cup keeper all season long and he’s had some very good games. Many gooners totally forgot his very good performances this season. He has one horrid game and all is forgotten. The kid’s 23, ffs! I’ve been watching football for over 40 years in different parts of the world (South America, esp.) and have seen many many young keepers make insane decisions, have horrible games, and later becom very good (sometimes great) keepers. I remember watching a very young (22) Julio Cesar in Brazil run off his line to help with a set piece at the other end (when his team really didn’t need him), do nothing effective, and cause his team to concede 2 goals as a result. He did that 3 or 4 times. Today’s he’s Europe’s best keeper (he’s at Inter—no, Buffon isn’t Europe’s best keeper because he’s off form this season, and Casillas has had a mixed season).
Fabianski is exactly what a good keeper should be: courageous, quick and decisive but he’s young and still needs to learn which decisions to make and when. He can be brash (which can be a good thing if controlled), he’ll learn how to control it. I have no doubt he’ll be a very good keeper. As for Gibbs, again, absolutely ridiculous to slate the kid. Apart from Denilson and Song, he’s matured incredibly. In fact, he’s matured even faster than those two. NO WAY is he a liability. He’s put in some very good performances and did his best against Pool. He was our best defender against Chelsea. The few errors he made on Tuesday were due to the fact that he had no one covering him, Arshavin’s not good in that dept.
Silvestre, on the other hand, is another matter. First, everyone forgot that he had an excellent game at the Grove v. Villareal. But that was at home against a slower team. His problem is that he simply can no longer handle the high tempo of the English game, his pace is gone. But what’s more disappointing is that I’ve yet to see him show any leadership or attempts to organize the defense the way Gallas does. His great asset–experience–is worthless if he doesn’t apply it to help organize the team in defensive duties and help to calm them. We can’t see Djourou return soon enuf.
Kolo has been solid for some time now, our Ivorian lion is back.
Terence McGovern. Your 11.51.
A letter almost as good as this blog. Well said. As an old gooner…62 years in May…there have been times when Fever Pitch would have seemed like a Boy’s Own story. 1953-70 being a fair example.
We have been spoiled rotten over the past 20 years and this side looks as though it might spoil us rotten for the next 5 years. Just compare the average ages of Chel$ki with our lads and think that players only get to their peak at 26-27.
I just wish I had more years to look forward to rather than to look back on. Hell we support a great club.
There are many from other clubs (hint: up the seven sisters rd) that spend their time posting nonsense on Arsenal blogs. They are not supporters. They are getting a bit more organised in trying to be more subtle in their criticisms. They even run their own so called Arsenal blogs. The main objective is to denigrate AW and turn real Arsenal supporters against him and the way the club is developing. Unfortunately some Arsenal fans are taken in. They show up after losses or even draws. Best just to ignore them.