the arsenal

Adebaayor

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:07:51 -0500

Adebayor will be the biggest c**t since Le Sulk Anelka and Cashley Cole, if he leaves Arsenal for AC Milan. Hear him 'big clubs are interested in me'. Right AC Milan is a big club, a big club that will be playing UEFA cup football next season. Pssh.

I've got two words for Arsene, 'SELL HIM', but not for anything less than £30 million pounds. This will be our biggest transfer gain in economic terms, eclipsing the sale of Anelka to Real Madrid, in a time since forgotten.

Fine, Ade scored 30 plus goals last season.

But frankly, who wouldn't.

I bet you even my grandmother could and she's pushing on 80. I mean anyone could if you have the likes of the midfielder par excellence, Cesc Fabregas, playing in your team. On a side note, goodluck Cesc, i'm sure you will play a pivotal role in Spain's victory over the ordinary Germans tonight as long as the footballing gods are wide awake.

Ade thinks the grass will be greener on the other side. Italian football is brutal, unforgiving and believe me, he won't get the crowd singing his name as they do at the Emirates. Besides, Ade will have to learn Italian.

One second...hahahaha...Ade speaking italian..hahaha...

'a quanto ammonta il tuo spaghetti?' (translation 'how much is your spaghetti?')

Will Ade score 30 goals next season for AC Milan? Err, don't think so. Goodluck Ade, hope you make the right decisions. Remember in life, money isn't everything. Money can buy a lot of material things but it can't buy you love or happiness. Whatever you do, don't bite the hands, that helped make you into what you are today.

Wish we had more people like Cesc Fabregas in our team. That guy has a really good heart and mind for one so young.

2007/2008 season highlights/awards

Mon, 19 May 2008 12:51:00 -0500

Hello football lovers,

These are my personal Arsenal highlights for the just concluded 2007/2008 English Premier League season.

1. Most valuable player – Emmanuel Adebayor

EA just edges Cesc by a thin margin – goal scoring exploits. The man from Togo has been nothing short of a revelation this season. 2 seasons ago, he couldn’t seem to find his way to goal even with a GPS chip embedded in his jersey. But with the departure of Henry last summer, EA stepped up to the plate manfully and for majority of the season shouldered Arsenal FC’s goal scoring burden.

It was a testament to his importance that many a fan where left blessing the non participation of Togo in the 2008 African nations cup.

Ade's more memorable goals in no particular order;

a.the sumptuous chest control and volley at white hart lane. Arsenal won 3 – 1.

b.his chest control and volley at Newcastle in December. Arsenal drew 1 -1.

c. his goal versus Reading, using his thigh to beat the reading defender, before coolly slotting home.

2. Signing of the season – Eduardo da Silva

Dudu’s arrival was met with little fanfare. Youtube became a veritable source of his goal scoring exploits and had Arsenal fans excited to see him play. As is customary with Arsene Wenger, he allowed him a settling in period and it seemed this was beginning to pay off when his goal scoring run started. Blessed with great technical skill and an uneasy ease to find the back of the net, Dudu scored 12goals in his debut season before his season was crudely ended by a wild tackle in the Birmingham heat.

3. Flop of the season – Emmanuel Eboue

EE endured a torrid season as Arsene tried to fit him, unsuccessfully, into a right midfield role. With a tendency to pull shots at goal horribly sky high and an unerring skill not to put in a good cross, EE had Arsenal fans tearing their hair out wondering why Arsene stubbornly persisted with playing him in a right midfield berth. It is easy to forget that EE is actually a right back, and might have found the new task imposed on him daunting. The first half of next season will hold pointers to whether he will be a good solution or be reverted back to his comfortable position.

On the plus side, he never for one second moaned about being played out of position. He needs to rediscover the form that saw him emerge as one of the best right backs in Europe during Arsenal’s magnificent run to the champions league final in 2006.

4. Jinxes of the season – Robin van Persie, Tomas Rosicky

These 2 players spent most of the season in the nurse’s treatment room. It seems Arsenal FC employ some really fit nurses as RVP and TR were repeatedly sent back to the treatment room during the course of the season.

Season 07/08 started well enough for these 2 gifted but injury prone players. RVP in particular with a lovely swivel and shot at a tight angle against inter Milan in the emirates cup. His season will be cut short while playing for his country, Holland, during the euro 2008 qualifiers. He returned towards the back end of the season. The team certainly missed his goals as they stuttered towards the finish line of a highly promising season.

TR hasn’t been seen since early January and rumours abound that he might not be fit for the Euros. If isn’t far fetched to reckon that EE might have been relieved of his right midfield berth if TR had been fit for any length of time. An insightful passer of the ball that integrated seamlessly into the ‘Arsenal way’ and comes up with the occasional goal,TR’s absence was telling.

5. Mistake of the season – Lassana Diarra

In my previous posts, you will know that I am an admirer of this young lad. Granted he his big headed and impatient, but rather than let him go in January, I wish Arsene had convinced him to stay. Not the most physical of players but his ball retention and recovery will see him become hopefully a top holding midfielder for years to come.

Verdict: shouldn’t have been sold. Has now gone on to win the FA cup with Pompey. What odds would one have gotten on that. Hmm.

Final words

Anyways, these are my thoughts as the curtains come down on the 2007/2008 season.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment, debate, share, and criticize. Thanks.

Quickie on Abou Diaby

Sat, 10 May 2008 07:30:31 -0500

Abou is injured at the moment. But with the departure of Mathieu Flamini, this can be the chance the guy needs to finally fulfill his undoubted potential.

Since his development as a premier league player was somewhat halted by a wild challenge by Sunderland’s Danny Smith in the closing stages of the 2005/2006 season, his has been a slow reintegration into the cut and thrust world of the Barclays premier league.

Usually played out of position during the about to be concluded 2007/2008 premier league season in the left midfield role, his ability to hold on to the ball for too long and get dispossessed by opposition players made him an infuriating player for fans to watch.

Abou however is more of a central midfield player, who one hopes, can fill the void in the central midfield department with the departure of first, Patrick Vieira and more recently, Mathieu Flamini.

Physically, he has all the attributes required of a central midfield player. Granted he will not run Flamini's miles, but he will play more like Claude Makelele, making challenges when necessary and driving the team forward with leggy strides.

Next season can be a career defining one for Abou provided he stays injury free (fingers crossed).

Arsenal competed..

Thu, 8 May 2008 05:28:34 -0500

But we live in a highly competitive world where money talks. Arsenal FC’s 1^st eleven players are as good as that of Manchester united and Chelsea. Notice I have not mentioned Liverpool. That’s because they’re really a 5 man team – Reina, Carragher, Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres.

Anyway back to the subject of money. Arsene Wenger since his arrival in 1996 has done exceptionally well to sustain a competitive team in the Premier League with limited transfer funds at his disposal. The arrival of the Roman on English soil has changed what used to be a level playing field.

Years before the Roman invasion, you could get away with signing one big player in a season and be in with a shout at winning the league. But not anymore. In today’s Premier League you need to sign 2 or 3 big players to ensure your team can compete on all fronts for the 4 trophies on offer at the start of a new season.

The reason why Manchester united and Chelsea are the teams that started the race and have lasted the distance so far can be attributed to their recent spendings in the transfer markets.

By the end of last summer’s transfer window, the big four transfer spending were divided thus; Arsenal FC £16m (Sagna, Eduardo), Manchester united £35+m (Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves, Tevez), Chelsea FC £14m (Malouda), and Liverpool FC £25m (Torres).

Towards the business end of the season when players like Cesc, Toure, and Adebayor where beginning to show the strains of playing almost every Premier League game, the team cried out for some fresh faces to replace their tired legs. But a look at the Arsenal bench didn’t leave the manager with viable options to freshen up the squad. I knew the Arsenal team list before every game, and so did opposition managers. Arsene hardly had a chance to rest his key players in games.

That is the luxury both Manchester united and Chelsea were afforded with. The composition of the substitute’s bench of those 2 teams is a strong reason for their longevity and sustenance in this season’s race for the premiership title. When Lampard needed a rest, Mikel filled in or when Giggs needed a rest, Nani filled in. When Cesc needed a rest, Arsene was not afforded the luxury of resting him. Denilson could have filled in for Cesc, but his was an injury plagued season also.

So basically, our team competed manfully in a highly unbalanced world but JUST fell short of completing the marathon. While I will not question Arsene’s transfer policy, we all should note that in the world we live in today, you really have to spend money to make money.

In season 07/08 though, Arsenal FC won the hearts of many football fans worldwide with the quality of their football. The team deserves a lot of credit for trying to play the game in a beautiful way, and for matching the exploits of the big spending teams on the football pitch.

Hopefully this time next year, the footballing glory that the team craves and the fans desire, shall be Arsenal FC’s to own.

Flamstar walks

Wed, 7 May 2008 04:22:12 -0500

Its official. The flamstar will be leaving Arsenal FC on the 1st of July for AC Milan. I watched him on the TV the other day surrounded by Italian journalists and he said 'I am very happy. Thank you'. When i first heard the news my initial reaction was 'well goodluck to him who might have signed for Birmingham FC this time last season'.

The guy has basically played one good season in his preferred midfield position and suddenly he became a transfer target for the Italian giants. Lets hope he does this consistently on a daily basis as playing in the Serie A is a different kettle of fish entirely. Fingers crossed, his name will not suddenly disappear from the minds of the footballing public.

Will we miss him? Basically, any team will miss his kind of player what with his energy hounding opposition midfielders and covering the entire length and breadth of the field.

Is he replaceable? Very much so and besides, the boss now knows he has to identify his transfer targets early and move quickly to bring them in.

The only gripe i have with Flamini is that, if he had made his intentions known in January, then maybe the boss wouldn't have made the mistake of selling the excellent Lassana Diarra to Pompey.

The funny thing is that Diarra will be in with a shout at winning a trophy this season what with Pompey making the FA cup final while his ex Arsenal teammates will be without a trophy this season.

That's life i guess, this particular cookie just had to crumble that way.

I'm out, just had to get my first post out. Hope you enjoyed reading it.