Tuesday, September 21, 2010

sad

sad sad Saturday indeed for me. i dont have to dig up my old-still-bleeding wound. the result against Sunderland had stayed long enough for me to stay away from any football news. i picked up a headline today and how we, once again, learned from the painful last second in Stadium of Light. it’s the same old thing running back and forth, how Arsenal painfully pickup the broken pieces and try to mend it back again. on Saturday, we were reminded how awful our full back is.

Song sent off for silly mistake which im sure Wenger wouldnt let him off easily. we had plenty of opportunities including penalty kick which should have been our winning goal. Rosicky has missed his shots during matches and only Arshavin can match his records. he was probably took the penalty because he was wearing the armband. as much as i adored his performance on the day, i truly blamed him and Clichy for our lost points.

Clichy, who has yet to convince me as solid LB once again showing how flimsy he is on tough times. his nervousness caused havoc when it was merely seconds away from the win, he decided to kick the ball away clumsily which bounced off toward Koscielny’s back and later picked up by Darren Bent. it was SECONDS away from winning the match but we gave it away once more. it might have been the first time this season but we all know it wont stop here. in the last couple of seasons, we squandered our lead in last minutes of the game and ended up losing.

if we want to be considered as champions, we cant afford to play like that. it’s painful to see. i dont mind if we are Leicester or Kettering Town but we are not. they will continue to mock us and will never stop unless we win something. am i at fault for wanting to win trophies? do i sound insane if i want us to beat Chelsea? no, i dont think so. we are capable of doing many things but we have so far been disappointing. it breaks my heart seeing Arsenal crumbled too easily in the early stage. but it is not the end of the day. we have plenty important away games which we cant take them lightly. a trip to Fulham, Aston Villa, Totenham, Everton, Birmingham and two other top clubs ground have haunted us for the last decade. Sunderland wont be the last to bring us down. there are plenty more, that’s why we must not linger far too long on this sadness and must move on before the guilt erode our integrity.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

new beginning and some others

i was about to write then my Windows prompt update notified me for new updates. nothing significant has been added, but probably few tweaks and twist were inserted without me knowing. i’m not IT expert anyway. shall we move on? i think shall.

i know i had promised myself to be more concern on this blog rather than updating my other sources of inspiration but i know idea sometimes can be too deceiving to keep.

as we all know Arsenal had their one of the sweetest win in champs league and though it was defied as unimportant win by some quarters of people, we never doubt Arsenal willingness to win in that match.  i will not go in details as other bloggers as well as reviewers have ripped through it in every inch possible and i dont see how i will add more depths into already superb analysis by them.

on Saturday, Arsenal will go head to head with one of the strongest minnows, Sunderland. for the past 2 seasons, we have yet to find our magic touch in the Stadium of Light and failed to impress again last season. dont ask me why, it’s just typical Arsenal crumble to much lesser side. and apparently, Arsenal have grown another habit and no matter how hard i analyze i just cant understand why we are too ,struggling against top side. the bottom line is, we make ourselves more confusing when we should just score a couple of goals and defend them, but we often screw it up by making silly unjustifiable errors.

why do i believe we are entering ‘a new beginning’. it’s simple really. at the opening match against Liverpool, we saw glimpses of mature young players. despite their personal errors, they performed a lot better as a unit. though he was newly introduced to premier league, Koscielny offered some glittering display against prominent side. i know it’s not something we can celebrate because winter is yet to set its big paws upon us. unlike in many leagues, English premier league does not stop its spinning wheel during Christmas and winter. and we all know injuries come during the most hectic month. some Gooners believe the real test is yet to dawn on us. we have some difficult away games await in October to December. if we can win all these matches, im sure premier league trophy is not far away.

back to my question earlier. we have been dubbed as inexperienced side for only-God-knows how long and this season is not an exception. many pundits, journalists and even managers believe Arsenal are not quite ready yet to face toughest opponents from both domestic and Europe. however, Wenger believes otherwise. he sense his young players have learned from bitter experiences from last season last minute crumble which cost them title. our trip to Blackburn jinxed hole had not earned us praise like we should have. although we scored big on that occasion, the win against Bolton seems too little to be considered. the point is, we will never win their praise because no title is yet to be won since 5 years ago. and for a club like Arsenal, winning is the benchmark. Chelsea for example, have won many things in this decade alone. okay, some Gooners might chop me to death for saying that, but it’s true they have won FA Cup, Premier League, Community Shield and Football League Cup in the past 10 years. Arsenal have also achieved quite a bit the same but the length of each trophies are telling you a different story.

im not complaining, but i merely talk some sense in hoping to regain our faith that if believe something could happen, it will eventually materialize. and i truly believe this season could bring something to us. Wenger and the boys have done enough last season to secure another slot for European champs league which in my opinion is never easy considering our tight budget but yet flourished.

the challenge for the new season is mounting especially if you look at how much investment MC have brought during summer break and possibly in winter too. but how do they fare so far? 1 win (home) 2 draws (home & away) and 1 lose (away). some might want to argue there are plenty of new players were added in the summer and they have yet to adapt to Mancini’s style, but how can you explain multimillion of Dollars spent to those ardent fans?. fans didnt buy those players, but will suffer from owner’s financial problems if MC dont get turnaround they planned. ironic isnt it? but that’s life. unlike MC or any other big clubs, Arsenal is investing a lot on their youth ranks. promoting potential and talented young players to first team and learn challenging tasks through their experienced team mates. i agree, at times these young players are far from ready and fade away during big games. but i know i have to be patient.

we are suffering from, now famous, 5 years of trophy famine. some quarters even joked it’d be 6 next year. i didnt laugh, it was not a birthday i should celebrate. they can ridicule all they want but facts will always be facts. the FACT that we are still in a good financial health must be directed to our manager, Arsene Wenger. his careful policy of signing player should be applauded. he will never pay millions of Dollars for a player whom he thinks not worth the praise. his a professor by the way.

i’m seeing a different side of Arsenal team this season. the feared subject of -“Will Cesc be himself again after Wenger snubbed his dream move?”- should be shelved off somewhere safe. his commitment is here, with Arsenal and we will see that again later today. as long as he’s playing with us i dont want to bother myself whether or not he has Barca  on his mind. if we keep winning, any possibility is not in far distance. Adios…