Tales From Gillespie Road

Too Good To Be True

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:01:33 -0600

Life has a habit of following you around, doesn't it? As the Metropolitan line tube was arriving at Wembley Park last night, I overheard a group of northerners talking about football. One of them was being ever so slightly condescending about the Arsenal "Invincibles". When did they ever retain the title, he wanted to know. I had to point out to him that football didn't begin in 1990 and that we'd done it "three times". It is, of course only twice, that we retained the title as part of the 30's hat-trick, but I had a point to make.

The conversation continued with and without me and then the guy said something about it being a sad day for football when Thierry took Cliff Bastin's record- "Wrighty's", I interjected and then we got off the tube and made our way to Wembley Arena for the Arctic Monkeys gig, which was breathtakingly good in parts and a little slapdash in others. It's been a while since I've been so far away from a band, seated as we were in row U of the block closest to the back of the stage. Anyway, duties dispatched for the evening, the closing track 505 gave way to the theme music from the Wire (which was proper weird) and then we had a synchronised slip down beer sodden steps those further damaging my right ankle. So we headed home feeling like we'd been part of a mosh pit that we'd been able to look down on and be thankful for the seats we had- Alex Turner even stopping proceedings early on Strummer style when spotting some fighting going down.

It's ironic that that bloke was talking about it being a sad day for football when Thierry... because that seems to be what everyone's talking about today. Gabs the part time Gooner texting me to say that Thierry let himself down last night, and he is by no means alone in his opinions. But, surely some of the guys absolutely slating Thierry today should know better. Yes, it was a blatant handball, accident or no, but I don't remember Michael Owen being similarly chided for the blatant dive versus Argentina in 2002. I don't remember Rooney being taken to task for either of his dives against us in 2004 and earlier this year. Diving is not the same as handball, this is true. But they are both instances of cheating, and you're either against it, or you're for it in all its forms. The only distinction here seems to be that cheating is ok, unless it's an Arsenal associated player doing it- that sounds like I condone a Gooner doing it, I absolutely don't. I just want the same standards to apply to everyone. When wankers like Tony Cascarino have penned character assassinations on the likes of Didier Drogba, currently representing the club Cascarino is most associated with, then come and have a go at Arsenal idols. Until then you are morally bankrupt and every word you say is, in the words of Hicks, "like a turd falling into my drink". I do wonder what Liam Brady thinks of it all though.

Now I've got that off my chest, and really I couldn't care less one way or the other, Thierry is a Barcelona player now and I actually wanted Ireland to win last night, so the French lads could get some rest this summer. But you know, anything to fuck off Robbie Keane (Sorry Kev).

Moving on, I postscripted my blog yesterday evening with the excellent news that Eduardo had signed a new contract with Arsenal. Apparently, Liverpool have been linked with him in the press over the last week (whether that link was based on the fact that Liverpool is a natural home for divers one can only speculate), but I think that the "courage, bravery and commitment" that Arsène Wenger attests to is the more probable trigger for the new deal. Eduardo himself is "very pleased" to have signed on again and will go to Sunderland on Saturday, I hope, with a spring in his step and a song in his heart. But not Alex Song, that would be... odd. Now, go score some goals, Eddie!

There was more good news yesterday, very uncharacteristically for Arsenal, it transpires that Keiran Gibbs is another player who will be back in a much shorter time frame than originally feared- like next Tuesday, perhaps. The suspected broken metatarsal is only"severe brusing to the bones and soft tissue...". I think that is what is known as a bit of a result.

But wait... there's still more, yes more good news! Though the English duo of Wilshere and Walcott are a bit short for the weekend, the manager can now count on the availability of not just Fabianski, not just Armand Traore, not just Denilson (definitely in Saturday's squad, apparently), but also Carlos Vela too! Can you believe it?

I can only assume a swine flu epidemic is about to sweep in and decimate the squad, because that's too much good news for one day. Tomorrow y'all.

Another Lifeless Man With A Strange Incision

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:38:05 -0600

These bloody international breaks eh? They deprive us of the chance to see our heroes one week and then return them to us the next, only just a touch broken than they were when they went off to the far flung corners of the globe. It seems like never before has Arsène's broken down car analogy been more apt (see quote 32). With RvP and Abou Diaby already injured after the weekend- when is Abou Diaby not injured?- Aaron Ramsey and Keiran Gibbs will be heading for the treatment table on their return to Arsenal.

Arse.com have yet to confirm the nature of the injuries, but Keiran is suspected to have broken his metatarsal. As A Cultured Left Foot has pointed out, Keiran can now consider himself a proper footballer but that will be small consolation to him if the diagnosis is confirmed. So, the options now appear to be; to bring Eboue in at right back and switch Sagna to the left, to bring Eboue in on the left, to bring Silvestre in on the left, or to give Armand Traore his head. Clearly, Thomas Vermaelen could also do a job there but that positional switch seems utterly senseless to me. My personal favourite is to bring Traore in. He may lack defensive strength, but then so do Silvestre and Eboue and I believe that if you play and are trained in a position then surely you must be given a chance rather than seeing someone switched into that position ahead of you. Having spent much of last season- albeit further forward- in Portsmouth's first team, I think Traore must be given the chance to stake his claim. This situation is beginning to smell a little 2006ish to me, so Traore will probably end up injured, even if he does get that chance.

Stan Kroenke's right hand man (ooh, what a chance for a Red Right Hand blog title) Paul Andrews, says that his "Silent" nickname is "very unfair". Unfair it might be, but that isn't going to stop a media reliant on tale tattlers and blabber mouths. It had never really occurred to me before that the nickname could be construed as derogatory, but it seems obvious now that the media would much prefer someone like Alisher Usmanov who seems to enjoy rattling his sabre every now and then- or get one of his minions to do it on his behalf. I'm sure there are other considerations to the board's alignment with Kroenke, but I would think what really appeals to the board is the American's discretion.

We've got this far this afternoon without any personal references, but I need to share a dream or two with you. Two nights ago, I had a dream about Arsenal playing Tottenham. Despite absolutely battering them, it was 1-1 with 81 minutes played and then someone send a cross over, it looped high above Manuel Almunia's head and a Tottenham player rose to head home what turned out to be the winning goal. The player was Darren Anderton. Then last night I had a dream about Arsenal playing in a cup final at Wembley, in the last minute someone hit a shot from waaaaay out and Robin van Persie managed to deflect the ball past whoever was in goal for whichever team we playing to win the match.

What do these dreams mean? Am I, as Jo seems to think, beyond help? Or just playing too much Pro Evo?

Finally, for today, Arsène Wenger says that Samir Nasri has a handicap. In the air, I mean. He; in news that will please Gooners everywhere, has ruled out deploying Samir in the holding role that Alex Song will soon be vacating for January. Whilst praising Samir's tactical intelligence, he currectly surmises that the Frenchman is of far better use further forward and, not unsurprisingly, says that Denilson is the one likely to fill in. Within the club, we also know that Mark Randall, Francis Coquelin and the relevatory Craig Eastmond are capable of playing in that holding role, but lack experience on the big stage. Perhaps Arsène might want to think about promoting one of these guys to the bench and giving them some minutes with the... I want to say "possibility", but we all know it's a probability of Denilson being injured again.

Arctic Monkeys tonight- woohoo!

UPDATE- Just seen that Eduardo has signed a new contract with the club. That's great news and we'll have a look at that one further tomorrow morning/afternoon/whenever I get around to blogging.

Antics In The Forbidden Zone

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:27:49 -0600

When I was 21, as part of my degree course, I went to spend a year in the Basque Country. Bilbao, to be exact. When I returned to London for Christmas, I discovered that my girlfriend of two years had been assuaging her loneliness by dating a guy that she'd got off with before I'd even left the country- I couldn't really complain about that, I'd been just as bad. Anyway, she'd decided we were over and she was moving on with this new man (she married him, now has two kids with him and lives in the USA) leaving me to spend a truly desolate Christmas in London. On my return to Bilbao, plagued by persistent insomnia, I lost myself (and for more than a minute). I found myself writing a letter a day to her, tearing my heart apart. I didn't send them all, obviously, that would have been truly mental and in time I began to adjust and what happened before moving on myself.

The only reason I mention this is that when I arrived at Grove Park station this morning, I bought The Mirror and flipped immediately to the back page. Greeting me for what seems like the millionth time was the picture of Mr Adebayor celebrating his goal in front of the Arsenal fans along with the headline "You asked for this".

Again citing songs sung about his parents that no Arsenal fan at the game remembers hearing and the fact that the Arsenal team shunned him before the game, Mr Adebayor explains away his behaviour that, inexcusably, resulted in a steward being struck unconcious. The final quote in this particular story is "It was just my way of saying 'You let me go. See I am not as terrible a player as you thought I was!'"

I think I can speak for all of us in saying that nobody thought you were a bad player, we just thought- as some Manchester City fans do already- that you're a bit of a cock. In a further story headlined, "Wenger forced me out" he says that although Arsène never explicitly said it; he felt that he wouldn't have played, even if he had stayed and so, even though he didn't want to, he had to leave. Awwwww! The evil Mr Wenger deciding not to pay someone who was clearly coasting eighty grand a week for the next four years... how inconsiderate.

I think we can all agree that with Robin playing some of the best stuff he's played in years, right ankle not withstanding, and the team firing left right and centre, we haven't really missed the 4 goals in 3 months Togolese. It seems, though, that the feeling is not mutual.

Mentioning Robin, I don't want to take you through my daily routine again and there were no surprises from the I-Pod this morning, but waking up to stories of Robin van Persie being massaged with placenta fluid was quite a weird start. But whatever works! Robin is going to see Mariana Kovacevic in Serbia, her treatment of PSV's Danko Lacevic saw him returning from a similar injury in 4 weeks as opposed to 6. With RvP saying that his ligament is almost completely torn off, the Mirror reckon recovery will take 3 months for Robin, but then they also think Andrey Arshavin is about to be given the nod at centre forward over Eduardo. Not sure I see that one myself, but the idea is given credence in a Guardian article, which also suggests that now might be the time for the returning Theo Walcott to get his long awaited chance in the middle.

Eduardo himself is feeling good and ready to put the "horrors" of last month's north London derby behind him as the team push on in the quest for honours. It's a funny thing though, for a manager who garnered so much success in the deployment of a physically imposing collection of athletes to have only a group of nippy little speed merchants to replace Robin. He hasn't been helped by the injury to Nick Bendtner of course; timing, as Eduardo can testify, is everything.

Nobody Knows Anything

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:30:53 -0600

As well as being fans of David Simon's Baltimore drama, The Wire, Jo and I are massive fans of The Sopranos. In fact, it was Jo that got me into it a few years back. Anyway, because there is next to nothing good on the telly these days, or maybe just because we're interminable sad acts, we're re-watching The Sopranos all the way through and at the beginning of series two; there is an episode called Nobody Knows Anything. This seems kind of apt this afternoon.

I woke this morning, picked up my mobile on the way to the bathroom and the RSS feed from The Times greeted me with the following, cheery, news;

(why is it every time I click "code view" on this thing, I lose half my bloody blog?)

"Arsenal's fears over injury to Robin van Persie are realised... Robin van Persie will today return to Arsenal for treatment on an injury to his right ankle that is expected to keep him out for several months"

So, I sit on the toilet pondering the options, I get in the shower wondering what Arsène is going to do. And then I come out of the bathroom and Jo calls up to me, "Six weeks!" "What's six weeks?" I call down, "Robin." She replies as if I should have known. I dry myself and get ready for work and then I leave and my I-Pod decides to prove to me what an intelligent thing it is, or what a sense of humour it has. My Monday morning really begins with, um, Monday Morning by Pulp. I wait at a very damp bus stop, listening to Crowded House's Distant Sun and the sun never seemed so distant. Finally, when my tube gets near to my work destination, Angel, I get... no, not Massive Attack's Angel (how obvious would that have been? This isn't Eastenders), but The Clash's Career Opportunities. Followed by Radiohead and Lucky. "I feel my luck could change"? Me too, Thom, me too.

I arrive at work and Randall, the Spurs season ticket holder is looking at me as if a family member has just died, but it's all about Robin, Robin, Robin. I can only assume, though, that Randall has been reading the lowest common denominator, make money by printing sensationalist headlines that will scare the crap out of the people affected by them sources of news also known as the tabloids. Taken from F365's Mediawatch section, here are a selection of headlines;

'Robin van Persie has dealt Arsenal's title hopes a huge blow after being ruled out for up to three months' - The Daily Mirror.

'Robin van Persie will be out until at least February after tearing ankle ligaments over the weekend' - The Daily Star.

'Arsene Wenger's worst fears were realised last night as it was confirmed Robin van Persie has torn ankle ligaments. Arsenal's star striker could now be out for the ENTIRE season' - The Sun.

That's pretty bad, right? The number of papers lining up to write him off for the immediate future would suggest that perhaps Jo was mistaken, no? So what do Arsenal.com have to say about it? This. Robin will be out for six weeks. Truly, nobody knows anything.

Of course, six weeks still represents- at this busy time- a sizeable chuck of the fixture list. Bearing in mind the nature of ankle complaints, a nature that I am, unfortunately, all too familiar with at the moment and the fact that Tomas Rosicky's year and a half sabbatical from first team football was preceeded by the prognosis that he would only miss a few days, it does seem fair to conclude that we may yet be without Robin for a while longer than six weeks, but let's be thankful for what we've got here. I have to say as well, having been critical of the nature of these friendlies, I've seen the tackle and it looked to me like a good tackle and it was the fall doing the damage. Like Robert Pires in 2002 (albeit on a smaller scale), I think Robin has just been unlucky and I hope to see him back in action soon.

Talking of 2002, Randall had Sky Sports News on on his phone this morning- flashy I-Phone git- and apparently on this day in 2002, Thierry Henry scored the goal that he will probably always be remembered by- yes the slalom from the edge of the Clock End penalty area to the edge of the other before smashing in yet another goal against Tottenham. It always feels good to see that one.

Big ups too to Aaron Ramsey, who apparently made a mug of Darren Fletcher en route to yet another wonder goal for his national side. I'd be a bit worried if I was Abou Diaby. Ok, make that a lot worried.

-----------------------------

This blog was in no way sponsored by HBO, Apple or any of its subsidiary companies....

Prince of Darkness

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:46:50 -0600

Having revisited The X Files on Friday night and watched Dracula, Prince of Darkness (coincidence that I ended up watching this a week after hearing Cesc described as the Prince of Darkness?) for the first time last night, should I have been surprised by the strange visions that permeated my night's sleep? I had a dream that I was staying at my mum's house- on my own- and that weird alien type creatures were in the pipes and bursting periodically through the plug holes, making weird noises as they did so. Obviously, I had to kill them all. Which I did, but the last one didn't give up without a fight.

And then... and then, I had a dream about taking Tom cat to a football match at Brentford. I don't know why, but I do know that I was really worried about him running off never to be seen again. Anyway, somehow Brentford's football ground had ended up right next door to QPR's and we had to walk past them both to get to the pub. As I walked into the pub, a guy with a Liverpool scarf on got up and started screaming at the telly, which was showing football and the landlord made him leave. Entranced by this, I forgot all about Tom and then I remembered him and he was asleep under the table next to me.

What does it all mean? I don't know, but I do know that I felt a bit odd when I woke up just under an hour ago. Jo revived me with a coffee and then I looked at my phone, which had updated The Times Sport RSS feed on my phone; "van Persie out for months", it said. So, clearly, the next thing I did was switch on the computer and see what I could find. It transpires that Robin was chasing an early through ball when Italy's Chiellini brought him down and it looks as though, he has ruptured his ankle ligaments. Some friendly, huh? Dutch coach, Bert van Maarwijk describes the incident as a "terrible" blow for both player and club and he's not wrong. Never mind the fact that we host Chelsea in two week's time; the news that Robin will probably miss three months of the season means that we will be without the previously in form striker throughout the traditionally testing Christmas period, the ridiculously harsh Manchester United-Chelsea-Liverpool trifecta that takes place over ten days at the beginning of February and it means that he will miss the 1st leg, assuming qualification from the group, of the Champions League knock out stages. Arsène Wenger, a vociferous critic of international friendlies, has yet to make his thoughts known, but I doubt there was any champagne being popped in Totteridge last night. In fact, I heard a rumour that Arsène might even have said the f word.

I guess there's two ways of looking at this really. One is that with Nick Bendtner currently recovering from surgery, we are now a bit light in the centre forward department, especially with Eduardo's season yet to take off as he might have hoped. The other way is that, assuming he returns to north London in one piece, this is a big chance for Eduardo to get a run in what must be his favoured position and for the likes of the previously forgotten Carlos Vela to make an impact. I'm curious to see, in the short term at least, to see how Eduardo will replace the man whose playing style really has been integral to Arsenal's good run. We know Eduardo is a clever, technical player with a usually unerring eye for goal, but he's a bit lightweight, I think, compared to Robin. How well will the team adapt to playing with him up top? I championed his cause as the spearhead earlier this year, so we're about to find out if I do know what I'm talking about or not.

One man about whom there should be no doubt is young Keiran Gibbs. Simply put, he was a revelation at left back last season, when deputising for Clichy and he finds himself with an early opportunity to press his claims further this time around. He says that he wouldn't be in the first team without the coaching he has received at Arsenal. He speaks of learning how to play the game technically first and says that this is a new angle of coaching that is becoming prevalent within the country, but especially at Arsenal. Which, for anyone who played football as a junior and had to cope with the "Ten times round the pitch" approach, is quite enlightening and maybe this is something else we'll look at long after Arsène has left us and say, "You know what? That Frenchman we all used to think hated English players, God he taught them how to play didn't he?". I've mentioned before that my uncle reckons the manager's legacy will be a number of English youngsters coming out of London Colney trained to world class standards- we can see this in Gibbs and, as he himself says, Wilshere, Lansbury and Emmanuel- Thomas. But might it also be possible that the Arsenal approach is taken on at clubs across the country, producing as a result, the kind of Engish player that might, finally, be able to end 43 years (and counting) of hurt?

Not that I give a toss about England right now, I'm just saying...

Anyway, that's enough for today, I've already had to type the last part of Robin section and half the Keiran Gibbs stuff twice. Enjoy the rest of your weekends.

Plastic Surgery

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:04:40 -0600

Apologies for the no show yesterday afternoon, but there wasn't a lot of news about. That wasn't the reason I didn't post though. As I was about to provide you all with another slice of north London life sized cake, a big argument developed within the team I work with. So blogging under those circumstances was a bit of a no no. We've managed to put a band aid on a potentially Grand Canyon sized wound and so, like the song says, we carry on.

And there's still not much news about. The Arseblogger, I notice, spent much of his blog talking about the France Ireland game tomorrow night and this is something that's supposed to form part of my weekend tomorrow night in Richmond. But I'm not sure I want to watch a game with Kevin where I can't give my full support to those from the Emerald Isle. Not when they have Robbie Keane and France have the likes of Gallas, Sagna, Clichy (is he even playing? I doubt it) and Thierry Henry. Just looking at a photo of Thierry in the papers this morning made me smile. Um, before I go off on a homo-erotic tangent I wouldn't want to take you (or myself) down, my point is simply this: Traipsing across London to watch a game I have minimal interest in seems a bit daft. Especially in this weather and more so if it's just going to be me and Kevin.

I won't be watching England against Brazil either. Why would I? Although, I did enjoy the news that Frank Lampard was too big for the economy seats the England squad have flown in and so has sustained a thigh injury which should see him out of the top of the table clash on the 29th. Well, fingers crossed it'll still be a top of the table clash by then. I'm sure Darren Bent and co would like to have a say about that next weekend.

The Young Guns blog reports that Carlos Vela has agreed a new contract with Arsenal. To be accurate, it actually says that Vela's agent, Eduardo Hernandez has agreed terms on a new deal with Mr Gazidis. Despite the lack of quotes in the article and the fact that Carlos Vela News isn't carrying the story, I'm inclined to go with it. But maybe that's because I, it seems erroneously, picked the young Mexican as my youngster to watch for the season and so have a vested interest in his progress. Oh, Aaron, how can I have forsaken thee? Anyway, Vela's current deal is due to expire in 2011 and the new one is expected to be 4-5 years. Chatting with Arsenal Mania forumites Jonathan Chong and James before the West Brom Carling Cup game, James wondered how Vela fits in in this current Arsenal side and I think that with the players currently in front of him, he has a point. But then, James and I left that game with James purring over the young Mexican. I think there's magic in the boy's boots and it seems that the club's management shares that view.

These international breaks do send you a bit doollally whatsit, don't they?

Geoffrey Boycott's Dead Bat

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:39:15 -0600

There's so much tumbleweed blowing through the vacuum in time and space also known as international week, that the Mirror have had to resort to filling their football pages with an interview Nick Bendtner gave to the Guardian on the eve of the Tottenham game.

It's a good read, but coming when it did, there were other things to talk about, like how we handed Tottenham's backsides to them in a hat. I suppose it's natural that the interviewer would choose to highlight two incidents involving Tottenham to illustrate how fortunes can change, what with the interview being on the eve of the Tottenham game and all that. And now; to go with the headed winner, the fastest goal ever scored by a substitute, nearly two years ago and the headbutt from Mr Adebayor a month later, we have the image of Bendtner hobbling around the left hand touchline as Vedran Corluka steams past him. The end result, of course, is that Bendtner's five year plan to become the top scorer in the Premier League and one of the best strikers in the world is on hold. But only temporarily.

I mentioned Mr Adebayor there and I guess, on reflection, when we had a player that was happy to go around headbutting his own team mates, we shouldn't have been surprised when he greeted Alex Song, RvP and Cesc in his own inimitable fashion at Eastlands a couple of months back. It is said that you learn more about yourself in defeat and that defeat for us seems to have been a watershed moment for both us and Manchester City. With the media vultures circling to gleefully announce the demise of Arsenal Football Club as a top four force and say hey to the new boys from Manchester, things haven't quite gone that way. Manchester City have drawn their last 5 games in a row, whilst Arsenal are unbeaten in 13, with 11 wins in that time. City's Chief Executive reckons his club lost their way in the aftermath of that game and it's safe to say that Mr Adebayor's fire has been extinguished somewhat too. Which is some consolation for that defeat.

El Jackerinho, um, that's Jack Wilshere to you but, surely, if he was Brazilian that's what he'd be called, is looking to avenge that defeat when Arsenal travel to Middle Eastlands on December 2, he says he hopes City put their first team out. Of course, Arsenal will also be looking to put City's first team out! Hopefully they can do it, but it will be a tall order. Taller still if the specimen wearing City's number 25 ends up playing. I think I'd settle for one of our young lads putting Mr Adebayor in hospital till Christmas. Too harsh? Ok then, till next summer.

Next summer isn't something we like to thing about with our club captain. I have to say in fairness to Cesc, that his performances have been as inspirational as his interviews have been the equivalent of Geoffrey Boycott's dead bat- he doesn't like like anyone other than someone who is enjoying his football immensely at the moment and that has been borne out as Cesc has edged out Robin van Persie in the vote for Arsenal.com Player of the Month. Thomas Vermaelen, for the first time in his Arsenal career, didn't figure in the final placings, with Alex Song coming in third, so I guess he better get his left foot tuned up again. We don't want to see fine defensive play, Thomas! This is Arsenal, we want at least one 25 yard screamer every week otherwise you'll never be seen in a Player of the Month poll again.

And on that note...

Sympathy For The Devil

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:43:15 -0600

Funny how things happen. Only yesterday I mentioned Eduardogate and lo and behold we get another controversy in the Liverpool Birmingham game. Although, and it has to be said "controversy" is a somewhat ambiguous euphemism for cheating. And I know what you're thinking, as I've said before, people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones. But whilst Arsenal were able to prove Eduardo was touched, however slightly, I don't think Liverpool will be able to defend David N'Gog's dive in the same way. Of course, if he read my blog, he'd know that he's probably never going to get another penalty again- even if his legs are chainsawed off in the penalty area.

It occurred to me though, Liverpool seem to get decisions like this whenever they need them- we all remember that penalty award just seconds after Theo Walcott had shredded their entire team in 2008, another one followed in the group stages of the following season's Champions League when Steven "If I saw a team-mate doing it (diving), I would definitely have a word." Gerrard took a tumble that earnt Liverpool a match saving and highly dubious penalty. So why is it we never hear the chant "Same old Liverpool, always cheating"? Why is it that the only time we hear that chant is invariably when one of our players is prostrate on the turf having been subjected to yet another attempt at assault? If it's taken a few years of Wenger style to bat away the "Boring, boring Arsenal" chants, it seems that the legacy of Pires and Eboue will live on for years to come. And doesn't it say everything about us as a football watching nation that the majority of football fans will remember Robert Pires' dive before any one of the sublime pieces of football he gave us?

Of course, that Liverpool won their point at the expense of Birmingham with a ridiculous penalty decision will have its own special irony for Arsenal fans who can remember as far back as February 2008- which'd be all of us, I imagine. Birmingham probably don't deserve that much sympathy, 1% possession and 100% chance conversion from their two shots on goal from last night tells its own story but, having watched Liverpool be handed a lifeline yet again, what can I say? It's not quite sympathy for the devil, but...

I was listening to The Times' podcast, The Game, last night and Gabriel Marcotti, discussing Arsenal, mentioned something I touched on yesterday. He feels that Arsenal can only be judged once we have played the teams who are chasing the Premier League title with us. In other words, it's all very well beating the Wolves and Portsmouths of this world 4-1, but how will we do when faced with the high end teams populating the league? We already know how we did in Manchester, so it strikes me that (and I apologise for repeating myself here) absolutely the only way we will be taken seriously in the Premier League race is by making a proper statement of intent when Chelsea come to north London at the end of the month. Of course, that analysis doesn't take into account the fact that if Chelsea are going to continue to lose games to the likes of Wigan and Aston Villa and United against the likes of Burley then it's likely we'll be in the race no matter what happens on the 29th.

When Arsenal line up against Chelsea, we will do so without the Danish footballer of the year. Nick Bendtner has had surgery on his groin and, as a result, will miss the next 4 weeks of the season. Which, faced with the physicality that Chelsea will bring to the table, is undoubtedly a blow. That said, it sounds like that little guy who used to be our number three will also be missing, so it might be a good opportunity to set Theo loose on the Chelsea defence- assuming he's back and ready to go by then. More will follow on that, no doubt..

Things We Do

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:42:27 -0600

As I was saying on Saturday, I had to miss the live broadcast of the match on Saturday evening as I was out with Jo and her friends, Jen and Chris. We met in Camden and went to a pub on the Lock for a drink whilst we decided where we would go to eat. As it invariably does when we get together, the prospect of Wagamamas came up and I said something like "If it's good enough for Thierry Henry, it's good enough for me" (I seem to remember Thierry frequenting the Camden branch whilst still at Arsenal, though it might have been Miso). Jen's response to this was brilliant,

"Is he the new rapper?"

Aw, bless. Jo and I soon disabused her of that notion.

I didn't fancy being in the position of waiting to watch the game, sitting down to watch it, seeing Arsenal go 2-0 up only to blow it again- so I was a bit preoccupied with my phone for a while. Long enough to establish that Arsenal were 3-0 up and pretty much home and hosed. So, with only a few drinks inside me, once Jo and I got home, I stuck the football on. And Jo told me I had an hour to watch it.

Thank God for V+, much of the first half passed by at 2x or 6x the speed of a normal game (thank God again that we weren't at our imperious best, it'd have sent me dizzy). I couldn't really tell you what was going on, but the ball did seem to be down our end a lot. Is that how I saw it? Or have I been influenced by what I have read of the game since? Maybe. Anyway, it seems that once the own goals had happened- the second one coming from good work by Ramsey and Eduardo, we pretty much played the game we wanted to play.

If the opening goals, though, owed something to fortune, the third goal was a thing of beauty. Of course, this is just how we do, but nonetheless, from Bac Sagna's play down the right (is Eboue really better going forward? Really?) to RvP's "wall" pass to Cesc's clinical finish, well, it was just precision play. Arshavin's second half goal, returning Wayne Hennessey's flappy punch with interest, was a little snapshot of the quality that he possesses.

After that, it seemed like one way traffic and- yet, again- it really should have been more than four- RvP went round to keeper but onto his "chocolate" leg, so missed his opportunity to shoot before being crowded out and Rosicky shot over after some lovely interplay. There was one more goal though, as Jody Craddock headed home a last minute consolation for the home side and their "loyal supporters".

I know these goals are but footnotes at this stage of the game, but I'm getting a bit annoyed at our seeming inability to keep a clean sheet- although it goes without saying if we win every game between now and May 4-1, we're not just going to be Champions, we're going to be the highest scoring Champions in history. Obviously, we're not going to be able to keep that rate up, so maybe I should just enjoy the goals whilst they last. It's a point not lost on Cesc Fabregas who, in his characteristic feet on the ground fashion, acknowledges that we are bound to go through a period where the goals will dry up and then we'll be back in "crisis" mode again.

The media thing is weird, though. We are second in the table, 5 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand and a home against them to come at the end of the month. Yet, we're still being essentially ignored as title contenders. It seems to me that we need to beat a team like Chelsea to be taken seriously and I look at that Chelsea team, a team that has lost to Wigan and to Aston Villa and I think "Why not?" Why can't we beat Chelsea? No reason at all, with the quality we have in our squad now.

Speaking of Chelsea, I was most amused to see Darren Fletcher blaming Arsène Wenger for the attention he is now attracting from referees- this, of course, resulted in the award of a free kick at the Bridge yesterday which gave Chelsea their winning goal. Well, Darren, if the ref had done his job properly a couple of months back, perhaps our manager wouldn't have needed to say anything bout you. It's just dawned on me that this has actually backfired on us, as RvP admitted, the draw would have been the result we were looking for yesterday- shut it boss! We've suffered with this ourselves, we haven't had a penalty since that Celtic game and Eduardogate, despite some very good shouts. What goes around, comes around.

It also ocurred to me earlier, we like to moan about the international breaks, but- even on this brilliant run we're on at the moment, given that November is indeed the month of doom, should we not be grateful for the fact we now have a two week respite? Of course, we've got an intense week when we come back from it, with little time between a trip to Sunderland for which we will have minimal preparation, a home game in the Champions League and then that game against Chelsea.

Hopefully, Alex Song will come back to us in one piece and manage not to get booked against Sunderland (if selected) because that will mean him missing the Chelsea game. I'm very pleased that Aaron Ramsey got a start on Saturday- and did well, by all accounts, but the idea of Abou Diaby, injured again, filling the holding role against Chelsea scares me a little. We may have Denilson and Theo available by then, let's hope we haven't lost anyone else in the meantime.

Hunting High and Low

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 05:31:06 -0600

I don't know what it is with Tottenham, I really don't. Much as I'd like to leave them alone, they just keep bringing it on themselves. Fresh from their latest dvd release, 42 Minutes- commemorating their acheivement in those opening 42 minutes last Saturday-

we now have their Chief Executive, Paul Barber, talking up their new stadium. But not just talking it up, obviously I'd have no problem with that, he has to bring us into it. Apparently, their new stadium, being a generation beyond ours- as if 6 years is going to make such a huge difference- will be more advanced technologically and environmentally. I wonder about his environmental claims. As Patrick Barclay pointed out in Monday's Times, anyone who's ever been to White Hart Lane will know how difficult, due to woefully inadequate transport links, it is to get there. I don't see how an extra 16,000 knuckle draggers coming into the Tottenham area is going to help the immediate environment at all, the new stadium is going to have to be the Eden Projects of football stadia. Somehow, I don't think it will be, so Paul Barber, please try and get over you and your club's unhealthy obsession with trying to outdo the neighbours.

Back in the real world..

I came from home work last night and the Tesco man had just arrived with Jo's shopping and a complimentary Dail Mail. Now, I'm not a Mail reader, but I am a man and the Daily Mail has sports pages. I know that 99.9% of men can never resist the back pages, regardless of which newspaper they belong to, I'm no different. I'm glad I checked them out because, as well as some very complimentary observations from Andy Townsend on Wednesday night's performance, there was an illuminating article on the nature of Arsenal's capture of the man we now call The Verminator.

It transpires that two months before the end of the season, Steve Rowley was tasked with finding a replacement for the outgoing Kolo Toure. Having hunted high and low, Rowley was tapped out. He had seen Vermaelen, but Vermaelen had not ticked all the boxes. Remembering how Vermaelen kept Thierry Henry quiet in a Champions League encounter with Ajax in 2005, Mr Wenger told him to go and look again. And so Rowley hid in the trees as Vermaelen trained with the Belgian national squad and his eyes were opened to the qualities of a player Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa had all looked at. And now the man who prefers to study the game, not the London night life, is ours and I think we can all agree on being happy with that outcome.

One player who most definitely does agree is Alex Song. Of course, like Vermaelen and Steve Rowley, Alex is also a player who qualities were not immediately obvious to everyone, though in my first attempt at an OleOle blog, back in the days before Gillespie Road, I expressed my belief that he was the most suitable partner for Cesc. Of course, Cesc has two midfield buddies now. Anyway, come the winter we will be losing one of our most influential performers in the team to the ACN, but Alex thinks Denilson will be able to deputise for him. I wonder about that. He is the only one currently in the first team squad you would think capable of doing the job, but I wonder if he is physically suitable for playing that role effectively. I think he did a good enough job of it last year, but Song's emergence as the holding midfielder has probably put his efforts in the shade a touch.

That's a future question, though. Today we go to Wolverhampton and we do so with Manuel Almunia restored as number one in the manager's eyes. Citing the importance of having the experience to deal with pressure and need to have continuity in goal, the manager says that Almunia did suffer a crisis of confidence after we beat Portsmouth. He wouldn't have dropped him had he not been sick, though. I have well documented reservations about the Spaniard and his propensity for errors of judgement as well as a lack of conviction in dealing with crosses, but without Fabianski available, it's understandable that he has been restored to the team as Mannone was beginning to tread water. I hope the rest has done Almunia good, he hasn't had much to deal with since returning to the team, but has still let in one eminently saveable goal, but on the positive side, he did make a cracking save on Wednesday night. Let's hope it's that side of him we get to see this evening. Or even that we don't see him at all!

Unfortunately, I'm out with friends, so won't be able to see the game live, which is a shame because I would have been looking forward to using my new Twitter account for the first time. I will however be watching either late tonight, or tomorrow morning, before heading over to mum's house to see my sisters. Enjoy the game, wherever you are.