2 weeks of boredom

So today was Members Day at the home of football, which happened to be my first time at such an occasion. Overall it was nice to be at leaving the Em's without the feeling of despair following a lacklustre performance for a change, though the weather did it's best to try and ruin it for the rather small crowd that did show up.

The activities themselves were of no real importance but it was just nice to be surrounded by supporters who were there to enjoy the day rather than bicker and starts arguments. After initially coming out to salute the crowd, Theo, Jack, Samir and Eboue went back down the tunnel, whilst the rest of the squad played some practice games, drills etc.

It was an interesting enough experience to see we do actually practice crossing the ball in training, we're just not very good at it. Seeing Sagna, Traore, Miyaichi, Jenkinson, Song and Arshavin  attempt crosses was painful, most were over hit or didn't get off the ground. When it came to the playing pretty one-twos on the edge of the box though we looked world beaters, and the players looked a whole lot more interested.

One observation was how superior Bendtner was to Chamakh in all facets of their play today. Watching the Moroccan struggle to hit pea-rollers at our keepers was worrying, whilst Nicklas was banging them in from all angles. Obviously this was just training, but Chamakh looks so devoid of confidence he's like the Francis Jeffers of this team, players were teeing him up to score but his finishing was shocking. If we're letting one of them go, I'd keep Bendtner all day long, everything our African friend is so predictable, even Squillaci marked him out of the training games.

Positives from the training were Cesc looking surprisingly sharp, Ramsey and Rosicky linking up well, and  Benik Afobe looking confident amongst the first team. I now expect him to feature heavily in our Carling Cup run before heading out on loan towards the end of the season.

Not being 'lucky' enough to get into the Q&A with the current players I popped along to hear what Martin Keown and Ray Parlour had to say. Most of what Ray said was sadly dull and predictable (same TALKshite stuff), Keown on the other hand had some interesting soundbites.

When one lady pleaded with him to come back and coach the defence he said he it was "highly unlikely" he would do that. Though he would love to work under Arsene Wenger, because he had played at Arsenal he would  find it hard to be a coach for the club. Martin also said he fully expected Steve Bould to progress to that role as well as looking after the youth team, before finishing by saying that the fans shouldn't expect more than 4th place this year and maybe a cup win at best, due to the lack of clarity over the Cesc/Nasri situations. Keown said that not only should Arsene be trusted by his ultimate decision over these two players, but that the club should listen to the fans, he then put it to the crowd, asking what the club should do with Nasri, the majority of which shouted back "sell him". Hopefully the sensible thing is done then.....

So it seems it's not just the fans who are struggling to be optimistic at the moment, that said it was good to hear Keown & Parlour state that the fans who booed at the Em's cup, though understandable due to disappointments, are nothing but a hindrance to team moral. Nothing ground breaking, but nice to hear something other than the polar extremes of the media/social networking world that are currently flying about

Silent Stan was there pitch side during training and it's floating around twitter that there was a full board meeting today. The obvious things will hopefully be discussed and decisions made that can bring an end to the drawn out sagas that have bogged the club down for the last 2 months.

Not holding my breath though......

More next week after the Champions League draw tomorrow and Benfica on Saturday with some build up to the Newcastle game.

Till then, Up The Arsenal.

RC

Unnecessary Fuss

So we've finally had a football kicked in anger, on a dodgy 'injury maker' pitch out in Malaysia, and it couldn't have come a minute too soon. The in-fighting and bitching amongst The Arsenal faithful and towards certain players has been appalling and downright disrespectful since the beginning of the crumble last season, but during this transfer window it's progressed to the next level.

Obviously the lack of real action leads to people over analysing every quote/soundbite from anyone connected with the club, be it current/ex-players or staff, but to see everyone and anyone being slagged-off regardless, and shot down for any number of reasons has made me embarrassed of some of the supporters of our great club.

My biggest bug bear has been the elitist nature from some members of the season ticket circle. I don't have one, does this make me less of a fan? No. Some of my mates who are lucky enough to possess STs hardly attend and often are detached from the day-to-day business of the club. Having an ST doesn't give you the right to look down on other fans who either can't afford one or haven't been offered one yet. There's also been a lot of stuff said on Twitter about some fans preaching self-righteousness over our foreign fanbase for not residing in the UK. I've never heard such a load of bollocks. Get over yourselves.

I apply the same to people who belong to Arsenal fan groups (AST etc), just because you've chosen to be a member of such a group, doesn't make your opinion more important than mine, or detract from the level of support I show the club. That's not to say I don't enjoy engaging in debate with those who have differing opinions to mine, one of my closest mates thinks: Wenger needs to go; Arshavin is the worst player our club has ever seen; Cesc, Nasri & RVP should be sold; Gervinho is shit (already); Bendtner is our best striker (that list is genuine. bizarre as it is, it's 100% real). So I'm more than open to debate.

I have no qualm with people expressing concerns and opinions about players/coaching staff/board members, everyone is entitled to an opinion. It doesn't mean you should force yours on others though, nor should you take someone's opinion as fact. Listen, absorb, and then let go; don't be a keyboard warrior, you make yourself look a mug.

On to things more positive, the 4-0 win yesterday saw the first involvement of our new signing Carl Jenkinson and Ryo Miyachi, and the return of Carlos Vela to the 1st team fold. Jenkinson had a solid, if not spectacular display, Miyachi showed glimpses of talent and searing pace, while Vela resumed work at the chip shop with a ridiculous training ground goal. You're allowed to side foot them Carlos......

Xavi and Barca made mugs of themselves by drawing Wenger out to publicly criticise them for scandalous disrespect towards the club and Cesc, while the Nasri situation hasn't moved.There was some uproar about Wenger's comments re: Nasri yesterday, but there's still a long way to go in the transfer market, I'm not sure why there is such consternation every time Arsene says anything about Nasri/Cesc/transfers in. We should have learnt by now he lives behind smokescreens during pre-season and refuses to jeopardise any potential deals by publicly stating interest. He does this because: 1) he's not a cu*t like twitchy "SSN" 'Arry or  "DNA"Xavi 2) He's not a media whore like Twitchy "SSN" or "DNA" and 3) He can hardly call for respect from Barca over Cesc and then start openly tapping up players from other clubs can he?

All of which leads me to believe a number of things this summer: 1) Cesc & Nasri will stay 2) Bendtner will stay 3) One CB will be signed 4) A replacement for Almunia will be signed

That isn't what I want to happen, I'd like a defensive midfielder to compete with Song and cover him during the sodding African Nations Cup, a full back to replace Clichy, one physically imposing centre back (not the footballing type, rather the sort of specimen who doesn't fuck about with the ball) and a creative central midfielder. Too much to ask for I know, but, meh......

Over and out. for now. comments/thoughts/opinions.......

Staring at the "Ring of Fire" is dangerous and make me feel sick

Short and sweet.

So....

We made our first signing in the form of Carl Jenkinson, a 19 year old right-back who I think we can assume will be Sagna’s understudy next season (and not played out of position – please Arsene NO!!). Having the best RB in the league to learn your trade from will hopefully lead to Jenkinson going on to become a top quality player for club and country.

I think it’s pretty clear that this will be the final nail in the coffin of the club jester Eboue. He’s been a great servant to The Arsenal; he had a couple of cracking seasons, before (sadly for him) Sagna arrived and he was then told he was a right winger by Arsene. This led to Emmanuel forgetting all of the good work he had done at full-back the previous 3 seasons; he could no longer defend, to the point he became a liability in both his old and ‘new’ position, culminating in the Wigan game where he was outrageously and horrendously booed by our home ‘support’.

Thankfully he saw the chastising as a wake-up call to try and save his career, and he has since then played much better when called upon; which to be fair hasn’t been that often, due to said liability traits.

I never bought into the ‘Cult of Eboue’ shit, but I preferred that to the nonsensical player bashing, that is now reserved for Denilson and Bendtner. With QPR being bandied about in the media I want to wish him good luck with whatever his next steps in football are. The club will be different without his theatrics and liabilitiness* (not a real word I know) but he is massively popular with the players, so hopefully the team morale doesn’t suffer without him.

The signing of Jenkinson and the apparent future departure of Eboue (other than being sensible!!!) would increase our number of ‘home grown’ players and free up one of the foreign national spaces within the squad. Throw in the fact that we’ve made an 11^th hour bid for Phil Jones at £16m + bigger wags than MUFC and it seems as though AW has finally taken his “economics degree hat” off and has put his, “I’ve got fucking roubles/dollars to spend, let’s go MENTAL with it” face mask on.

It’s a clear sign of intent or madness, but hopefully it’s also a sign that for once, Arsene wants to get the bulk of his player business done prior to August, especially with the Champions League qualifier this year. That said some of the transfer fees being thrown about are ridiculous, £20m for Jordan Henderson? You can FUCK RIGHT OFF. Some fans are questioning why we didn’t go in for him. Here’s you answer: JACK WILSHERE & AARON RAMSEY. Some people.

With the conclusion to the Jones saga yet to be confirmed amid rumours/reports of failing a medical at MUFC this is the start of what I think will be the craziest transfer window ever and it could potentially have started out with Arsenal being the biggest winners thus far. There will be alot more of this sort of shit over the next 10 weeks (which will be nauseating for 99% of the time) but I like the idea of The Arsenal winning....

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it bitches.

Shit, much longer than expected, but meh....

RC

Should he stay or should he go

I’m not really sure what to make of the Samir Nasri situation. Is he being a complete tool, or is just really stupid. After making various comments about Man Utd 2 days ago, he was last night stating that he wants to see how the squad building goes over the summer before committing to sign a new deal. Not sure how I feel about that. I saw one person on twitter say that he should show his ambition by taking a wage decrease enabling the club to spend the ‘freed up’ money to add to the transfer ‘warchest’. Admirable idea, but this is modern football. Never. Gonna. Happen.

Obviously Nasri has seen/heard the backlash from the fans and is trying to now paint a nicer picture of himself but it all seems a bit sad to me. Why is it that the players who show great improvement after 2 years of nothing, then get too big for their own boots? Flamini, Adebayor, and now Nasri; all had mediocre first 2 seasons at the club, before having their best (half) season in the Red&White. Surely you deserve a substantial pay rise after showing consistent improvement, not after a spurt?

Maybe I’m living too much in the real world, but Arsene needs to get his house in order with regards to the wage structure for our players. Stories of Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Vela all getting handsome pay rises in recent years, for doing naff all, doesn’t sit well with the fans especially as the season ticket price rise of 6.2% has effectively paid for the increased wages.

Arsenal are a loyal club (by and large) and Arsene a loyal manger; he vehemently defends his players from any criticism, yet some players, who Wenger has helped nurture and given opportunities to,  choose to repay him by either using agents to get away from the club, or make ridiculous demands for wage increases when they provide little (or no) evidence that it is deserved. These players should be running their backsides into the ground for Arsenal, we’ve made them who they are today, Yet they don’t, they try backheels on the halfway line, don’t track back, throw their arms in the air as a teammate makes a mistake. It all seems…..pathetic.

It’s sad to say it, but if said players were at Man Utd, they wouldn’t last more than 6 months. Hate him for being a the biggest knob-jockey in the universe, but Fergusson doesn’t take this kind of shit from anybody; he got rid of his best defender in Jaap Stam at the height of his career because of a bit of jip in Stam’s autobiography. He was a beast of a player, but due to a lack of respect he was out. Can you imagine Arsene doing that? For my mind some of the displays we’ve had to witness from these players have been shockingly disrespectful to the club. Seemingly a few will be off this summer, but does Arsene need to be more ruthless? In my opinion 1000000000000000000000% yes. Players who actually give a fuck about the club, and playing for the manager are what this club needs not players who crab their way round the pitch and then slag off team displays, transfer policy, fans, when they need to look squarely at themselves in the mirror and realise that they are not good enough and they need to work harder because  they are letting not only themselves, but those around them down.

I don’t care if Samir Nasri goes or stays, but he needs to start showing a bit more respect to the people who pay his wages if he does stay, or the backlash from the clubs 60’000 bankrollers could be huge come August.

It's all so slow.....

So it's back to grey again in London town; normal service resumed me thinks.

After a rather lame attempt at cooking a bbq on the sun flooded Highbury Fields yesterday, to wake up to a raft of boring Cesc rumours this morning is like waking up with the most ragingist of raging hangovers after a mediocre night out. Dull, annoying and uneventful. Has all that bollocks started already? it's going to be a long summer.

With regards to Cesc, if he goes, he goes. The Arsenal will live on and is about much more than just one player. As many have said in the Arsenal Blogosphere and on Twiter before me, as long as we replace an outgoing player with equal if not better quality then I don't care who comes and goes. Just my opinion, but meh, it's an opinion, take it in and let it go.

A few current and former Arsenal players played in the England match yesterday. I didn't watch it, as I find England internationals painful to watch at the best of times, but even more so when London is bathed in sunshine and there is beer to be drank and bbq to be eaten (or not in my case).

As it  turns out (from what I've read) Jack had a good game, while Theo and Djourou were poor, both continuing their downward spiralling end-of-season form. JD's downturn in form has been emphatic, and worrying ahead of next season. If anything it's re-highlighted the need for Wenger to buy a top quality centre half; if JD is making Philip Senderos look like an assured defender, then we really can't be relying on him to lead the line with Tommy V next season.

For my money its a TV-Kos6  first choice central defence next season. Hopefully the lack of form for JD is a result of playing more games this season than he has ever before, add in a lack of confidence to his obvious fatigue and you've got an error prone defender, a nice little holiday should sort that out. *praying*

As ever it's all quiet on the subject of players coming into the club at the moment (not that I care one jot currently), but with predictions from the Tiwtterverse of new signings X, Y and Z to be announced next week I'm sure we're in for a bumper-packed, happy-filled, mountain of nonsense, bullshit, guff and bollocks of the highest order to be thrown at us from all directions in the coming days. All hail the saviours X, Y and Z. YAY!!

can't wait...... have good Sunday

Scholes: I hated the ginger ninja, but he was quality...

The title says it all really. This is an Arsenal blog, but today called for this.

Paul Scholes has retired, and the English game has lost it's most naturally gifted players on the last 20 years.

He epitomised the Manchester United under Alex Ferguson; plenty of talent combined with a 'never say die' attitude, a thirst for winning and a knack of getting the job done.

A player who perhaps called time on his international career 2-3 years early in order to prolong his club career, was never labelled a 'Judas' by the media for doing so (unlike Jack Wilshere this summer) because he had been (the lone) truely world class player for his country. When players like Xavi refer to a player like Scholes as their role model, you know the player in question is just a little bit good.

He had it all, an exemplary timing off the killer pass, vision on the pitch comparable to our Cesc, hopeless at tackling but ahd the balls to get stuck in, and the rather annoying knack of scoring REALLY important goals against The Arsenal. The ginger bastard had the lot.

For that reason I hated him so much, probably more so then any other United player (prior to Ruud Van Horseface), yet he was the one player I would have taken from United and put in 'my' Arsenal team. What we could have done with a Paul Scholes these last 6 years. We most certainly wouldn't have had the late-spring collapses we've become accustomed too.

Paul Scholes: What a prick, but what a player. He'll be sorely missed by United (not by Arsenal fans).

Sitting firmly on the fence

Afternoon all,

This post has been waiting since Friday, but it's something that's needed to be said for a long while. Others have touched upon it's content and now that the football season has finished and the silly season has begun I thought I'd throw my thoughts out at it.

On Friday i was labelled as an AKB. I told said labeller to "fuck right off" before ending my conversation with him. I just don't get it.

Why as supporters of one club do we have this 'civil war'? fair enough we have different ideals of how the manager should deal with the team an how the board should deal with the manager, but just because you think differently doesn't mean you have to force your opinion down the throat of others. That my friends is what is known as "bollocks".

Opinions have to be respected and not shot down, but not enforced on others.

For my part, I think Wenger should have this summer to rectify the mess of this Arsenal team he has created; if at the end of next season thing haven't changed and we (again) crumble like a digestive biscuit then I think it will be time for the club to say "Thanks Arsene" and move him up to a director of football position or move him on completely. Either way bring in someone new, fresh and re-invigorate the club. I'm neither part of the AKB or the InArseneWeRust. I'm a fan or The Arsenal. Nothing more, nothing less. Deal with it fuckers!!!

For what it's worth I think it would be a good idea to keep AW within the club if such a situation arises but I would complete understand if he left completely.

As it stands however we haven't reached that point in time yet, AW will be leading this team into next season and will be looking to improve the side over the next 10 weeks. So can we at least try to all get along for the next 10 weeks? Please? Fuck all the 'AKB' Vs 'In Arsene We Rust' shit, all of that can resume again in due course. Lets just see what AW does before we again take arms against each other. eh?

Up The Arse!!