Monthly Archives: March 2008

Arsene talks + Saturday round-up

Morning all, it’s a slight *boilk* but nothing too bad.

Lots to get through and most of it, as usual on a Saturday, revolves around the AW’s press conference yesterday. Having been on the receiving end of some typically snide comments from Jose Mourinho (who also expressed his desire to ‘kill’ Chelsea), Arsene responded, saying:

Why should you always have to kill other people to exist yourself? If you do that, then somewhere, you feel you are not good enough. If you have to come out all the time to destroy people, what is life about? Winning and destroying people can never be everything.

And he’s right there. He also expressed the view that trophies aren’t everything to him, which might make some people ask questions. We talk about how nobody really remembers the ‘pretty’ football if you finish second but I can see where he’s coming from. You can’t possibly fault his ambition or his desire to win things. He’s done in the past, he’s trying to do it now, but he’s doing it in his own way. Not only does he want to win, he wants to entertain and play the kind of football that his teams have become renowned for. He could easily have gone out and splashed cash, the pressure was on him to do so, but he stuck to what he believed in and that’s brave in this day and age.

Of course it would be nice to have more silverware but nobody talks about Chelsea’s back to back titles and remembers that team for being a great footballing side. People do still talk about the Invincible side and if you asked any neutral whether they’d rather see a functional Mourinho side or an expressive Wenger side I know most would choose Wenger’s.

I’m sure there are fans who would happily swap flowing football for trophies and if we didn’t have a manager like Wenger then I’d say the same, I’m sure. But what we have is a unique individual who, despite frustrating us sometimes, always tries to do things what he considers the right way, and I’d take that over a charlatan and a liar like Mourinho any day.

He inspires loyalty from his players. The picture from the game against Milan where the team runs to embrace not only Fabregas, the goalscorer, but the manager speaks volumes about how they regard him. Emmanuel Adebayor says:

At Monaco, from June to December I scored only one goal in 19 games. How come Arsene Wenger came and looked for me? It is something special. He is the one who gave me a chance to become who I am today. I want to keep on enjoying myself and listening to him.

Personally I thought Mourinho’s remarks were petty, spiteful and bitter. But then what do you expect from Jose Mourinho? He was a cunt, is a cunt and always will be a cunt, cunt without end. I don’t think Arsene is a cunt. I think he’s cool. Speaking about tomorrow’s game against Wigan he said:

It’s easy to be up for a game in the San Siro. But are we up for a cold day in Wigan? We are.

We’d better be. It’s a great chance to go 4 points clear at the top of the league with those other cunts in FA Cup action this weekend. You have to think Robin van Persie will play at some stage, perhaps not from the start, and to get him back to his best is going to be vital in the race for the title and the Champions League.

Speaking of which the boss said he’d prefer a ‘European’ team in the next round of a Champions League. I would too, I have to say. Fenerbache or Schalke ideally. Given the odds though you have to think at least one of the quarters is going to be all English. And I want to save Barcelona for the final. Payback time.

Liam Brady was officially announced as Giovanni Trapattoni’s number2 in the Republic of Ireland set-up, a position made possible only by Arsene giving him the go ahead. He also talked about Eduardo’s recovery and drew parellels with that of Abou Diaby. The thing we’ve noticed since Diaby has returned is that he has become prone to lots of niggles, maybe that’s a consequence of his injury, maybe not. Fingers crossed for Eduardo.

Gilles Grimandi talks about Arsenal’s scouting methods while Steve Bruce reveals just how much help Arsene has given him. You wonder if Arsene might be a little unimpressed with Bruce’s remarks in the immediate aftermath of the Eduardo incident.

And that’s about that, have yourselves a good Saturday. More tomorrow.

Wenger puts Bentley in his place + Arsecast 67

We’ll start with perpetual moaner, David Bentley, who made some comments about Theo Walcott needing to leave Arsenal to get first team football.

You might be aware that all Bentley has done since he left Arsenal is talk about how terrible Arsenal was, how he didn’t enjoy football when he was there and countless other crap, completely ignoring the fact that without the kind of football education he got with us he’d most likely be plying his trade for some bunch of mid-table shitkickers. Oh…

Anyway, Arsene Wenger wasn’t happy with Bentley’s comments and put the former Arsenal twat firmly in his place, saying:

Bentley is entitled to his opinion but it does not mean he is right. I don’t know why one player should incite another player to leave a club. It is not his job. When you are in one of the biggest clubs in the world you have to accept competition and if you accept it, it makes you better. If you move down you are down, not at the top.

Zing! Arsene one, Bentley nil. Bentley had his chances at Arsenal, failed to take them, then went off in a huff elsewhere (having handed in a transfer request) and has been bitter ever since. Personally I think he has a decent right foot but doesn’t come close to being half as good as he thinks he is. Meanwhile Theo was part of the team that won at the San Siro and set up the goal that sealed the match. I’m sure he’d love to be playing in a half-empty stadium every week like Bentley. Anyway, the more often Bentley speaks the more he reveals himself as an unctuous little rat who is easy to dislike. We need people like that now that Robbie Savage is close to retirement.

Ahead of the Wigan game the team news is not great. Already without the injured Toure, Song, Rosicky and Eduardo, we lost Abou Diaby after the Milan game and Theo Walcott who picked up a thigh injury in a behind closed doors game against Colorado Rapids yesterday. People might question the match but it was played like a very friendly friendly and this is the kind of thing that could just have easily happened in training. Denilson pulling a hamstring in the same game does leave us very short of midfield options.

We’ve got 4 left and they’ll be the 4 that start on Sunday I’m sure. Cesc will have to play from the right, Gilberto and the Flamster in the middle and Hleb on the left. On a positive note Robin van Persie played an hour and had no ill effects from his thigh injury, whether or not he starts against Wigan remains to be seen.

Fuller team news tomorrow, after the boss’s press conference later today.

Apparently there were some rumours that Arsenal weren’t happy with Birmingham City’s medical care in the immediate aftermath of Eduardo’s injury. Arsene Wenger says those rumours are not true. So there you go.

And that’s about it in terms of Friday morning news. Now, Arsecast.

In this week’s Arsecast, sponsored by OleOle.com, we get an Italian perspective on the AC Milan game, the Man in the Bar has a player history as well as Eboue, the Culture Corner and more.

To subscribe to the arsecast in iTunes – click here. To download this week’s arsecast directly – click here (12mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

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And there you go. Early start today. Have a good Friday.

Absolutely Flabregas + Eduardo's interview

Morning all, it’s another wonderful Thursday and as much as we’ve enjoyed it it’s time to put Milan behind us and look forward to this weekend. And I mean literally look forward, as in ahead, not anticipate, as a trip to Wigan, with all due respect, does not have the same glamour and excitement of a trip to the San Siro.

And therein lies a danger, I think. The excellent performances against Milan have come either side of some disappointing league ones and it’s time to put that right. With United playing in the FA Cup this weekend we have the chance to put points on the board and go 4 clear at the top of the league. They’ll have a game in hand, of course, but I’d always rather have points than games in hand.

Still, the feelgood factor of Tuesday’s win should be a real boost for the boys. The manager will have their minds fully focussed on the next game and they can take that confidence and belief to the JJB. Mathieu Flamini reckons there’s ‘no limit’ to what this Arsenal side can achieve and he’s given his strongest hint yet that his future will be at the Grove, saying:

We are a new generation, we have to create a new history. I want to be part of this history, so I hope I will be here for next season. At the moment my advisers are talking with the club, so I really hope that everything will be okay. I cannot put a time on it, but I really want to stay here.

Himself and Cesc are forging quite the partnership. They may not have the stature or physicality of Vieira and Petit but they’re coming to close to matching them in terms of of effectiveness. Up against quality like Gattuso, Pirlo and Ambrosini the other night they never looked out of their depth and it was our midfield that bossed the game. They work well together and I think it’s vital we keep them as a partnership – to let slip what has been built this season would be a real mistake.

Cesc has decscribed the goal against Milan as the best moment of his career. It’s certainly a defining one. When Juventus came to Highbury two seasons ago it meant the return of the iconic, legendary Vieira. The experienced pro against the young pretender, the young man whose emergence at Arsenal made Arsene Wenger think it was possible to let Vieira go. That night he came of age in many eyes, totally outplaying the former captain and scoring the opening goal before creating Henry’s. Tuesday against Milan was similar. He’s grown in stature, his talent and potential is undeniable and here he was on one of the biggest stages in Europe controlling the game from midfield, then sauntering forward and winning it. He’s taken a big step forward again this season and that really is the sign of a great player.

Speaking about his fellow Spaniard Manuel Almunia says:

He can go on to win titles and become a great player. I don’t think it matters to Cesc which stadium he plays in or against which team he plays. He just enjoys his football so much. Age doesn’t matter when a player has the talent Cesc has. He plays like a veteran.

When you consider he has already made over 180 appearance for the club the veteran tag doesn’t seem too far wrong at all. I spoke yesterday about the energy he and Flamini have and the stats showed they ran 7.5 and 8.1 miles respectively during the Milan game. For those of you in metricland that’s 12 and 13 kilometres. That is incredible stamina. What is obvious though is that we have a partnership in central midfield that works well together, they compliment each other well (and I don’t mean ‘That’s a very nice haircut, Mathieu’, ‘Thanks Cesc, I like your pants’), and they’re young enough that they could play together in this team for years. It’s exciting to think about it.

In other news Liam Brady says he’s ‘very likely’ to take up a role in the new Ireland set-up under Giovanni Trapattoni. Obviously some compromise has been found between Arsenal and the FAI which would enable him to do this.

Eduardo gave his first interview since his injury to Croatian TV and thanks to Arseblogger Kesky we have, exclusively, the main points in bullet form and a transcript. Interesting that according to the TV presenter they weren’t allowed ask about Martin Taylor but that the only comment Eduardo made was that Taylor had not visited him in hospital to apologise.

Right, that’s about it for this morning. I have a really mad day ahead so it’ll be mad stuff and hopefully time to throw some kind of Arsecast together for tomorrow.

Till then.

Young Guns just too good for Milan's old legs

What can you say about that? Fantastic, awesome, brilliant, inspired, emotional, wonderful. You’d be here all day just saying one word after another because there are so many that apply to that result and performance last night.

We went to the San Siro and, some small moments apart, outplayed AC Milan, the holders of the Champions League. The goals may have come late but nobody could possibly argue they weren’t deserved. After a good start to the game from us Milan had a spell of pressure in the first half which saw them create a few chances. Maldini had a header from a corner, and there were three or four of them in a row, one from a Gallas header which was wonderfully timed with the Milan player lurking behind him. There was a Pato chance which the young man will kick himself over, Almunia saved easily from Inzaghi, Clichy blocked another shot from the same player and Kaka had a shot too.

But once that ten or fifteen minutes was over we began to get a real hold on the game. We pressured Milan, when we had the ball we were in their faces so quickly they were giving it away like a pub team. The whistle happy ref didn’t help the game too much in the first half, wrongly booking Hleb when he was felled on the edge of the area, but that it was such a spectacle despite the man in the middle was a testament to both teams. I hadn’t expected the game to be quite so open. Our main chances in the first half fell to Adebayor, whose shot was tipped over by Kalac (it might have been going over anyway) and then Cesc who hammered a shot against the bar.

It’s an old cliché to say half-time came at the wrong time for us but it’s true. I thought they’d regroup and we’d lose a bit of our momentum but we bossed the game again right from the start. The high-tempo pressing was fantastic, again we forced errors out of them and when they did get a bit of possession Cesc and Flamini were snapping at their heels to get it back. We could have scored early when Senderos found himself unmarked at the back post but his shot went straight into the keeper’s arms, then Eboue hacked one wide after being set free in the box by Adebayor. It was an atrocious effort on goal in such a big match.

Quite rightly the boss made the change soon afterwards, mindful also of Eboue’s yellow, and brought Theo Walcott on. He got in behind the defence at one stage and tried to square it for Gallas but the keeper got a leg in the way. Meanwhile the only moment of danger from Milan came from a Pirlo free kick which bounced right in front of Almunia who pushed it away for a corner.

The goal had to come though and who else but Cesc? He was a little magician in the midfield yesterday, dictating the pace of the game, popping up all over the place and when he took the ball on, drove past a couple of Milan players and unleashed a shot from 30 yards, seeing it nestle in the bottom corner was no less than he deserved. 1-0 to the Arsenal and that meant Milan had to score 2 in the last 5 minutes. As they hadn’t much looked like scoring in the previous 85 it was hard not to feel confident.

As we headed into injury time confidence became assurance when Walcott, his young legs outpacing the desperate Milan defender, got first to a ball down the right hand side, drove into the box and squared it for Adebayor to score his first ever Champions League goal for Arsenal and seal the win. So, 2-0 Arsenal. The young guns wore down the old men of Milan. It was the kind of win and performance we all hoped for but secretly, after the last couple of games, weren’t too confident about. Now though, they have to take this win, use it like rocket fuel and keep on going. The confidence they can take from this game is immeasurable.

And the performance itself was the perfect antidote to the Birmingham and Villa draws. This was a team back to its best. Flamini (NDPPPPPPP), Cesc and Hleb were absolutely outstanding. The energy they have, the willingness to run and move is amazing. And you sometimes don’t think about that – the little ten yard run to move into space to pick up a pass, play the pass, then run another ten or twenty yards. They don’t stop and it’s just brilliant. The back four were really good and are really operating like a unit at the moment. I know Kolo is a good player but he should have to work to get his place back.

I’m delighted that Adebayor got off the mark in the CL, he seemed to have an up and down night but he did cause their defenders problems and playing up top on your own against quality like Nesta, Kaladze and Maldini is not easy. I wonder as well has Theo done enough to convince the boss he’s a better option than the ineffectual Eboue on the right hand side. He came on and offered pace, directness and he didn’t forget he had defensive duties too. Setting up the goal will have done him good.

Overall, as a team performance and achievement, it was as good as we’ve seen for a while and hopefully they can kick on from here. It’ll be really interesting to see who we get in the next round. The chances of drawing another English team are very high. United are through, it’s hard to see Chelsea missing out and Liverpool take a 2 goal lead to the same stadium next week.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

We played with organisation and never dropped off. We did not give them time and went forward every time we could. We played with authority, maturity, talent and intelligence.

Sometimes as manager, you feel there is something in the team and you know that for them to get a step higher up they have to deliver in a big game like tonight. I hope this will strengthen the belief in the team.

Well, if knocking out the holders can’t boost your confidence then I don’t know what will. Cesc has eyes on a double, you can’t fault the lad’s ambition, can you? He says:

We are top of The Premier League and through to the quarter finals of the Champions League after beating the holders at home, so why can’t we win them both?

The only thing that can stop this team doing that is this team. On their day they’re as good as anyone, capable of beating anyone, they just need a bit more consistency. In general I’m going to ignore the media reaction to all this. I’m just tired of listening to the cunts. A few months ago we were the best thing since sliced bread, a dodgy spell (which, we should point out, has been few draws and some cup defeats – we’ve only lost one league game this season) and we’re all but finished and now. after beating Milan, we’re fucking brilliant again.

Those flip-flopping, mischief making cunts can go and shove it up their holes. While there will be some reasoned analysis I’ll leave it to you to trawl through the shite to find.

A proud morning to be an Arsenal fan but let’s not get carried away either. It’s only the 1/4 finals and there’s still a good way to go in the league yet. The beauty though is having that much on our plate. Bring it on.

More tomorrow.