The Cesc is still good

He’s still here isn’t he? Despite all those years of media muppet-ery (muppetiness?) he’s still here.And he’s still our captain fabtastic.That’s all that counts for me.

Cesc joined Arsenal from Barcelona at the age of 16 and has recently turned 23.In those 7 years he’s Played almost 300 games and scored almost 50 goals.Probably has 75 odd assists to his name as well.He’s reached numerous semi finals and a few finals as well, the most promising being the Carling Cup against the chavs and the Champions League final at Paris against You-Know-Who. But what has he won?
I concede that apart from the Emirates Cup he’s not got a lot of silverware to show for his efforts,but then,has he not won the chance to showcase his talent to the world?If he were at Barcelona all this while I’d think he’d still be a hot prospect in the shadow of Xavi and Iniesta.At Arsenal he’s our beloved and revered Captain and has become arguably the world’s best young central midfielder.
Arsenal owe a lot to Cesc,and Cesc owes a lot to Arsenal.His 7 years of service to the club have been excellent and we can but hope there are a few years left of his breath-taking play in an Arsenal shirt.

I’m not entirely convinced that he’ll go,they’ve just spent £34m on David Villa and that takes their debt to over £300m. Where the money would come from for a deal of this magnitude is a big question.He might want to leave,and they may well want him,but if they can’t cough up the green stuff then his ‘DNA’ isn’t going to help much is it? A player exchange deal might work but I’d rather keep our Captain than get in someone who is unproven in the more physical English league.The best players from other leagues have failed to make their mark here and there’s no guarantee that a player who is a promising player in Spain would do just as well here.
I trust Arsene to make the right decisions.

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Barcelona-‘more than a football club’?Yes,I can think of a few other names for them right now.

Lucky Me

Just my luck.
When I started this blog I was 1 day into an interlull,and now when I restart it,it’s 1 week into the season break.Pfffttt.

It’s hard to blog when you have little or no interesting content.Cesc to Barca stories have become the mainstay of the media and I sincerely hope Laporta and all those other Barca prez-candidates would shut up.Even if they will,their media puppies spread the shit.
In other transfers related news we were linked to Neverton’s Jagielka, and although I think he could become an important player for us,he’s already important-ish at Neverton and I think the transfer fee could be quite exhorbitant.Plus he’s not a Wenger-esque signing enough,if you know what I mean…
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England won the t20 World Cup last night then, congratulations to the lads for that,well played as well.First ever world cup just before a football world cup? Hmmmm ominous.Or not.

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You know there’s nothing to write about when I talk cricket. *sigh*
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I think I’ll do a player profile/team of the season tomorrow,unless something worth mentioning happens.
Later.
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Suggestions welcome,ofcourse!

Back Without a Bang

Right, so I’m back.

Cue tumbleweed applause.

Ok so whats happened in the last 2 months then?We got the Champions League-FA cup-Premier League treble?No?Okay..

But seriously, at the beginning of the season if anyone had told me we would be serious title contenders in mid Feb I wouldnt believe him.Third place was the best I thought we could hope for, and only a series of goalkeeping errors,injuries unfortunate events ensured that St.Totteringham’s Day came as late as it did.

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Moving onto more recent news, there were reports that Cesc was considering his future at the club seriously and would like to move to Barcelona before the World Cup.Now my only insights into Cesc’s brain come via his interviews and comments, and his sister on twitter.From what Ive read from those sources Im not too worried.

Reports have also suggested that Eduardo and Carlos Vela might be out of the club and I personally think maybe it’s time to cut our losses with Eduardo,he’s done well for us(10 goals in his first 18apps… but 11 goals in his next 51) but when you hesitate before going into every tackle then England probably isn’t the best place for you.
Vela on the other hand I still think can become a good LW/CAM for us- he has the class and the pace but the lack of drive has been worrying.I’d like to see him get a proper run in the first team before passing judgement.
The arrival of Chamakh will surely mean the end of the Arsenal careers of atleast one of the two above, and the fact that vela has been getting games in the last few before him would indicate that it’s eduardo I think.Plus I don’t think Eduardo is at a point in his career yet where he can afford to spend the season starting from the bench.

Wenger confirmed that he was interested in strengthening our defence after we conceeded 41 league goals last season and I think that comes as a relief to all of us.Surely that leaky defence improvement plan will include a keeper worthy of the name.

Nice to be back and yeah yeah I feel like a new signing and all that.

Cya later.
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Like the blog? Comment,or spread the word.Cheers

Sorry for the vanishing act

ah been really busy. sorry. just posted right now so wordpress cant get rid of the blog. be back in mid/late may.

see you then 🙂

The Calm(ish) after the Storm

Hello, so there was a game at the Emirates last night, unfortunately it was between Brazil and Ireland and I’m fairly sure nothing interesting happened, apart from us welcoming Gilberto back, he was good wasn’t he, and I reckon he’d probably be more useful to us than Denilson at the minute but I gonna get into that because I refuse to be negative!! We also welcomed back the Beast, not quite as much as we did Gilberto but then he didn’t do as much for the club as Gilberto did he, I know he scored 4 in the 6-3 win at Anfield but not a lot else springs to mind. So the mini interlull continues, Arseblog is very good if you haven’t seen/read it yet, with England playing later today in a ridiculously important game against Eygpt I’m sure Fergie will be completely happy to let Rooney play the full 90 minutes. Much like Wenger was happy to let RVP play against Italy in that hugely important game, oh wait, maybe not.

Good to see Mock the Week getting in on the Cashley abuse, ‘And now we move onto a new round called, Oh look Ashley Coles sent me a picture of his mock’. I know it was a repeat but still I’m glad it’s being shown :).

The fall out from the tackle continues with Ivan Gazidis saying ‘ It was devastating for all of us. I feel a little bit of the heart has been ripped out of the club. The best thing we can do for him is win a trophy this season.’ Absolutely sir can’t wait till the end of the season with that kind of talk. We’ll see what happens on Saturday, personally I reckon we’ll spank Burnley, and that will continue the catalyst and really give the players the belief and confidence to go on and win the league.

Like the blog, spread the word, not your cup of tea, let us know why :).
All the best to Aaron and COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!!

Back in it, but at a Cost

Hi all, you know i’ve been racking my brain since Saturday trying to put it all into words. 3 points away to Stoke is no mean feat, especially with the extra pressure of playing late and already knowing that Chelsea lost :), plus knowing Manure weren’t playing a league game it must have given the team an extra incentive to really stand up and be counted in this title challenge. Also considering it was one of the more difficult of the games we’ve got left to play, along with the scum and Money City, 3 points is excellent.

I don’t really want to go into the what ifs in terms of would we still have won if the tackle hadn’t happened, I thought we looked a little flat to be honest, but there’s no doubt in my eyes that the tackle really got our players tails up. For me though, the main difference and the key reason why we are going to win the league this year, was in the form of two/three players, firstly our outstanding captain who almost single-handedly dragged us across the line for the win. Cesc was truly amazing, he recovered and got back into the game the fastest, leading by example, check, scored a wonderful penalty, check, and even gave some back to one of the Stokies (where he should have been booked, he was late and came in from behind but whatever) and then gave Pulis the *sshhhhh*, check. The other players who pushed us over the line were the Verminator, my god he’s living up to that nickname isn’t he?! and Super Sol, in those 5 or so minutes after the tackle where nobody really wanted the ball and wasn’t sure what to do Sol and TV were uber solid at the back, with every Stoke attack you could see in the faces, ‘you aren’t f*****g scoring against us’. And with that solidity at the back we had a firm enough footing to push on and take the game to Stoke, sure they were a man down but so were we, unfortunately quite literally.

GET WELL SOON RAMSEY!!!

So, the tackle, it was reckless, stupid, unnecessary and bloody immature. He lost the ball on the half way line because he’s got such a poor touch so he lunged in in anger. Doesn’t sound to bad just reading it like that but I’m sure you’ve all seen it and well, it’s a terrible tackle, I’ve heard/read loads of *pundits* (and I use that term loosely) saying it wasn’t that bad a tackle, it wasn’t two footed, it wasn’t from behind, it wasn’t blah blah blah, see you next Tuesdays all of them. Rory bloody Delap said the ref shouldn’t have sent Shawcross off and only did send him of because of the injury! Now just imagine for a second that you were in Ramseys shoes, lying there leg in pieces, not to mention possibly his career, and the bloke who did that to you doesn’t even get sent off!! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a better example of adding insult to injury!!
I’ve also has enough of the, he isn’t that kind of player, rubbish, there’s proof all over the show that he his, his challenge on barn door last season when he wasn’t even on the pitch and what he did to our beloved franny jeffers, it’s all adding up to prove that these, he isn’t that kind of player, pundits (once again very loosely) are complete morons. I think what they are trying to say is, he’s not that kind of bloke, but you can’t deny he is this kind of player, rash, heavy footed and handed, all or nothing, commited and can’t tackle to save his life. I liked Stoke, they beat us fair and square at the Britannia the last couple of times we played them there but it’s obvious Pulis has said something on the lines off, arsenal don’t like it up ’em, and so is influencing the way they play against us negatively, come out and play against like you play every game! Try to win fair and square as I already mentioned, play some football and enjoy it. Sure you could get embaressed but then you just put your hands up and say, well, they were better than us. My god my 5-a-side team have recently just been battered 15-2, 10-3 and 9-2, we were well and truly embaressed but none of us went in like Shawcross did, I know it’s not the same, it’s not just a game to them it’s there career and all that but they’ve still got to get there priorities right.
I wish the Arsenal played in Spain, when was the last time a tackle like that happened in la liga?! They don’t allow it full stop, it’s a far more technical game than in England where we play some sort of primitive caveman football, throw ball in box, kick ball high, head ball, it’s ridiculous. Things need to change but whilst we’ve still got those folks in the FA and FIFA doing there thing, does anyone need an iPod by the way :), it isn’t gonna happen anytime soon.

Anyway I’ll shut up and let you good people get on with your day, remember all comments are welcome, don’t like it tell us why :). See you soonish :).
Come on Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stoke Poke+Delaps secret training sessions

I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.Delap must be stopped.I’ve resorted to hiring a set of ‘nice and friendly’ blokes who’ll do my bidding and take care of the Potters’ main man Rory.

I report to you thus:

A.First I had them cover Pulis’ training sessions with him.His exclusive and secret one-on-one sessions.

While all players have warming up and stretching as part of their exercise,Rorys session seems to solely consist of the same. After a quick jog around the D his fitness training is done, and he moves onto the core position work.

Tony Pull-his

B.Mission Make-or-Break

A trained negotiator proceeded to have a quick word with Rory.Now, I wasn’t there but I expect the conversation to have gone along the lines of,
Negotiator:”You will have to withdraw from the squad against The Arsenal.”
RD:”Says who?!”
Negotiator:”Says the 9mm in my pocket.”
RD:” Stoke have my life insured for £500K and my arms insured for £20m. Do your worst.”
*Long pause*
Negotiator:” What about your legs?”
RD:”….dunno…nothing I think….oh shit NO! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?
Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!……….”

C.The Saga Continues…

No escaping the long arm of Delap.

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The news from Arséne is rather expected. Eduardo should return to the squad with a spot on the bench but Diaby,Gallas,Arshavin are still out.

I’d have a midfield of Cesc,Song and Nasri and Eboue,Bendtner,Rosicky up top and tell them to get stuck in and make sure the systematic fouling of the captain is contained to an extent atleast.Nasri and Rosicky have never been the back down from a tussle sort so shouldn’t be too much to ask for from them.
Three points a must today and hopefully chelski drop theirs against Citeh and Bridge gives John Slippy a good one where it hurts.
With Unitit playing Villa in the Youth Cup Carling Cup Final tomorrow,our winning today and chelski losing would have us within 3points of the leaders and 2 of unitit.
Shrek and Frogba injured would be asking for too much I think,but I’ll take what I can get.

In related news Clichy says we’ve been training to prepare for delap and should handle him alright

Arsene has a poke at the time it takes to keep Rorys balls dry.

Off the pitch, Arsenal’s charity bet of the weekend is Theo Walcott will score today which surprises me a little but you never know- the clayheads DID have 120mins against Citeh and Walcott cutting through the defense like a hot knife through butter has me ‘tingling’ with anticipation all over.

The clubs also put up the mid-term financial report which you can read about here. The irony of our clearing up over £140m of our earlier £332.8m debt in under a year being reported on the same day as Pompey going into administration is almost cruel,if your a Pompey fan.

That’s all for now, perhaps redterror04 will post a post-match post later, post the match probably.But that’s upto him.

Also, Happy Birthday to Arseblog from us at I Did Not See It.Cheers for all your great blog posts and arsecasts over the years.

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One Fifth of a Legend- New Segment on the Blog

You know I really can’t believe my luck! What a week to start an Arsenal based blog, there’s literally no news to talk about! Some Dutch coach reckons RVP will be back by early April, yeah, well you also thought rubbing ‘placenta fluid’ into the ankle would make it better so you need to stop talking now ok. Cheryls finally woken up and now sees how big a **** Cashley is, I really don’t want to say told you so but 🙂

What with that being the entirety of the news I thought i’d offer you guys something a little different.

As often as the news runs out or we feel like it, we’ll be profiling some Arsenal legends or legends-in-the-making.(Brilliant innit?Go on and read further then…)

I’d like to start with my earliest memory of football, ‘Bould over the top, Adams, WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT!!!’. Therefore I think it’s only fair he’s the first Arsenal Player/Legend we profile.

Tony Alexander Adams (MBE, no less) was born 10 October 1966, fans of the football ramble podcast will note just 1 year before the summer of love. Born in Romford he was signed for Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1980, making his debut against Sunderland in November 1983 just 4 weeks after his 17th Birthday. He was a regular in the side by the 1985-86 season and spent his entire playing career (22 years) at the Arsenal!!
Along with Dixon, Bould, Winterburn and Seaman, and to a lesser extent Keown, he became part of the infamous Arsenal back 5 (who says Arsenal aren’t English?!?) and nearly broke the offside trap with their constant use of it! He won the 1st Division/Premier League 4 times, the FA Cup 3 times, the League Cup twice, the Cup Winners Cup once and the Community Shield 3 times, scoring 48 times in 672 appearances! I dread to think how many times Bould got the assist with the flick on at the front post 🙂

Tony Adams

However, despite this success we all know now that he was battling with alcoholism at the time.Seriously you need to read ‘Addicted’ it’s a superb book, and parents make sure you make your teenagers read it, it scared the bejesus outta me and I’ve barely touched a drop since!! He is without doubt, in my eyes, one of the best footballers ever, to go through what he went through whilst continuing to remain a top flight footballer is an amazing achievement, but to admit his problems in front of the nation and sort himself out like he has, it must have a dream of his, in his darker days, to make this reality come true, as Hansen would say, “Unbelievable!”

And so we come to my footballing awakening, a great day I hear you all say, 7 years old and a bit of nerd we’ve got the football on in the front room. I’m half watching it and I hear Martin Tyler’s immortal words,”Would you believe it” that’s it, I’m hooked onto the Arsenal :),watching it again on YouTube, still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention!!
Other achievements of his, as if he hasn’t got enough already, is coming in 3rd in the ‘Greatest Gunners Poll’ behind Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, no mean feat, AND being inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 04.
We won’t mention his managerial career because… well…. I’ll leave you with a quote from the great man himself, “Ive been preparing the boys today, I told the centre-halves to get their tin helmets”, God I hope he’s refering to Stoke on Sunday!!

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Dark Horses

Hello everyone, it looks like I’ve been given the call back so I must have done something right, I wish I knew what it was though :).

Something that caught my eye on the arsenal website was Theo giving his opinion on our title challenge this year, it seems he is happy for us to slip under the radar, that’s not a bad thing I suppose, I quite like us being called ‘dark horses’, although I really don’t agree with the article when it says he wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m sure he would, if you offered him a choice at the beginning of the season between being 3rd in Feb and dark horses or top and 10 points clear in Feb then it’s a no brainer. But I understand what he’s saying, I think, which is something along the lines, ‘at least we are still in with a chance’.
Nonetheless I don’t think anyone (except from maybe Arsene) expected us to be doing what we’ve been doing this season, a lot of the so called ‘pundits’ predicted Liverpool to win the league, Sp*rs to push us out of the top 4 and Birmingham to go straight back down sooo :). I remember hearing somewhere that all you need to qualify as a pundit is a shirt and a tie! And after listening to Alan ‘and how many medals have you got?’ Hanson say ‘unbelievable’ too many times to count on MOTD on Saturday I can’t really disagree.

There was only 1 game from the best league in the world last night and unfortunately West Ham couldn’t do us a favour against Manure, I’m annoyed because after they hammered Hull 3-0 and Manure were well and truly beaten by Everton I hoped the hammers could take something from the game. It wasn’t to be as Shrek scored twice and Owen finished em off, it’s useful for them as it seemed fairly routine and improves there goal diff. even more. Also is it just me or does Owen remind you of the kid at school who was a little too clever for his own good, he keeps putting his hand up (scoring goals) and is desperate to answer the question (who should partner shrek for england) but it’s obvious the teacher (Mr. Cappello) isn’t gonna pick him.
It’s unfortunate for him that Fabio (yes I’m on first name terms with him, what of it?) has ruled him out of going to the world cup but that leaves a door open for theo. If theo plays his heart out for the final part of the season then he knows he’s got a much better chance of going to the world cup, and it also means he’d be more likely to help us win things :).

Theo in-form against Villareal in the Champions League

Anyways, I’ll shut up now so you good people can get on with your day. Here’s to another injury free training session and the T.V being removed from the treatment room.

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Why we’re better than (most) other arsenal blogs

Good ‘morrow to you and hope you had a pleasant Spud-free night and had no unpleasant dreams of reading and re-reading the Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal blogs…oh wait….

Good stuff from redterror04 today on his full blogging debut and hope to see more of the same.
Right, so we are,better than most other blogs because…( and I’m just rolling this off the top of my head, haven’t thought about it the whole day or something)

1.We’re like a new signing.
Like 150 hits in 2 days.That’s a lot. Or atleast I think it is.

2.Two heads are better than one.
Most arsenal blogs have one blogger-in-chief.We go one step higher,faster,stronger,sharper,higher, and stronger.

3.Only WE can show you exclusive pictures of our next seasons home kit.

In honour of the first shirts we wore back at the start

Yeah ok ,Ive flicked it off the comments section from ‘holics blog.

4. Pre-preview
While other blogs preview games, we pre-preview them too.(or are just doing it this time around)

Stoke pre-preview
No more injuries reported. Must break Delaps hand(s).Must score goals.Must not concede too easy. And that wraps it up.

5.We’re inspired by the actual best Arsenal blogs out there.

Namely

Arseblog ( my personal favourite,though not necessarily a family blog)

Goodplaya

Goonerholic

EastLower

And some others that you can find on our blogroll.

6.We’re not hit mongers
*cough*

7.We’re probably amongst the younger Arsenal bloggers (and hence cooler than Ye Oldies)
At 17 and 18, definitely not experienced but we’re only going to get better (or so we hope)
Just need a run of posts in the first team…

8.We’re Cesc’s favourite blog.
Or will be.Or can be.Or not.

9.Two posts in one day.(not necessarily a bad thing)

Sometimes,if your nice,and if we have time.

And last but not the least…..
10.Your reading this right now,rather than some OTHER blog.Nope,too late to change now,we know your out there.Comment.

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Your a Spud? No point lying,we know you can’t read.