So tonight's the night ... Hope our kids are allowed to stay up
Wednesday, 13 August 08, 11:29 AM · Comments(1)
I always find these qualifying games rather strange and, yet, they are, for many clubs, the most important fixtures of the season - just ask Rangers. Are you old like me and do you remember when the first fixture was the opening league game? It seems a long time ago and many clubs have been playing for over a month now - seems rather pointless to bother with pre-season friendlies really. Perhaps we should just call them "between-season" friendlies from now on.
Anyway tonight the Arsenal Schoolboys play against some big lads from Holland - hopefully teacher hasn't let them go and find some Dutch cafés with unexpected side effects. I'm sure most English school trips to Holland normally end up with arrests or visits to "massage parlours" or was that just my understanding?Since Jens has now left our average age must be near to being under 20 so perhaps Arsene is attempting to reproduce the great Ajax winning side of 1995 who won with a fair few kids.
There are many blogs having a dig at Arsene or the Board or other such like and so I'm not going to go down that route. As a fan I understand the arguments and even the need to let off steam but I can't change it and, more importantly, we don't have enough inside knowledge to really know why Arsene/Arsenal do what they are doing. It could be money orientated (either lack of cash from the flats or just a tight wage structure), it could be Arsene's desire to keep the moral high gorund or not upset his kids - who knows? Whatever the reasons the club plays a game with 11 players and we support them whatever. Crucially though we can only keep drawing people in to the Stadium (at our prices) so long as the football is both good (usually) and competitive (probably) - let's hope someone knows what they are doing.
One question I would ask is this: If Arsene (as many have said) is coming close, in some supporters eyes, to be questioned as whether he's the right man for the job - who would anyone really like to see in the hot seat instead? Of course, this question has to be answered at some point in the future (as has the replacement for Old Red nose) but do we want to address it now?
Anyway - flying back on Friday for the WBA game and a pint of London Pride (the most appropriate drink for all Gooners)
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BaselGooner
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The world's first Anglo-Swiss Gooner centric football blog
1 Comments · Add yours
Good god i hope we're not thinking of replacing Wenger just yet? I know he's probably not too far from leaving the club on his own steam (he's stayed longer than he said he would), but he has been a revelation.
That said, I'm not sure what's going on at the moment. The game tonight summed it up for me. No change from last season in terms of player performances (although Theo's growing rapidly), and I couldn't help but think we are missing some BIG players. Not just Fabregas and the injured boys, but BIG players from our past. Vieira, Henry, Pires, Adams... Seems to be no gladiators out there, no heroes, just young, technically skilled athletes. That's great but i felt nervous for most of the game. There seemed no-one I could rely on to keep the ball, play the killer passes, make the last-ditch tackle, take the goal when offered. Those legends always gave me confidence. Maybe it's missing Flamini, Gilberto, even Hleb. Or is it just the start of the season and I'm nervous anyway, and the team is rusty. Do you know what i mean?