Thursday, February 24, 2011

My prayers for Cesc, Walcott, Koscielny and Persie

A heart breaking injury for the captain. he was so close on leading his team mates in a cup final and now he has to suffer from injury. you can read his tweets and you know how sad he is for succumbing to another hamstring injury.

He has been saying this season, he wants to win titles for Arsenal and he will not leave until he wins. Wenger said during an interview that Cesc is a winner and not winning a match would upset his captain. I don’t blame him, any captain would feel the same.

To say he does not love the club and only think about Barca, you should be ashamed of yourselves. read his tweets and watch him play week in week out, then you will know how important it is for him to bring glory to the Emirates. he is currently our captain and we must respect him. I don’t care about the talks he will move on to Barca next season, he stays with us today and no one, including Barca puppets, knows where his future lies. all we need is to keep focus on winning and be less concern on players’ future. it is Arsenal that I only care of, the rest are accessories.

I truly hope for quick recovery for Cesc, Walcott, Koscielny and Persie. it would be massive to win a cup with all of our players fit and available for selection, but if it is not meant to be, we should not howl and cry.

let’s keep the mood positive ahead of crucial matches. we can win anything coz we are Arsenal. I’m not a religious person but I do hope God bless and help us to win something this season, amen.

one big test is done + injury news

Barca big test in the Emirates is done and dusted but 2nd leg is still looming. our slim aggregate win over the Catalan side had sent them down to the drain but they are not dead yet and capable to overturn the deficit and win the game. if we are not careful, we would be sent packing early; one thing we are not going to please to see.

Let us concern over Barca game later because one cup final is sitting right in front of us. on Sunday, Arsenal are going to face Birmingham City in Carling cup final. this is the first final since 2005 successful FA cup glory and as you already know most of players involved in the game have moved on. now a new generation of players bursting through and ready to rumble. only Persie, Clichy and Cesc are the remaining piece of the invincible as others have left the club. Carling may have not been in our short list before but certainly, 5 years drought has brought us to common sense: any trophy is worth fighting for. Wenger believes it could be our floodgate to more titles this season or next.

Indeed, one win would invite others to join. if these lads taste the sweetness of lifting a trophy, they want more and if not, crave for bigger success. the likes of Wilshere, Song, Nasri, Djourou are now the main men in the team. if they were only babies back in the day Vieira lifted the FA cup, they are now more than ready to lead this team to win on Sunday. a fact that Nasri is being mentioned as Player of the Year by many, is one of the main reason we should keep our head up and try to win the game no matter how people ridicule us.

It is the first test Arsenal young squad will face ahead of big match in mid week against Barca. I believe whatever the outcome on Sunday would eventually have an impact on the Champions League game. if we win and lift the cup, it would provide major moral boost to the the team and instill a belief that they can win anything if they want to. but if we lose, I don’t want to talk about this but I must, we could be facing major moral crisis for the rest of season. losing in the final and 2nd leg in Champions League is difficult for any team and it is hard to comeback from such mental state. let’s hope it is not the case.

Despite disappointing result in FA cup 5th round, we are still entitled to claim quarter final if we can trample Leyton Orient at home. we played with major players rested thus, the result reflects on itself. a replay will be played on 2nd of March, which will push our encounter with city rivals sp*rs to a later date. another stumble block for us. you can see here that our fixture is currently not our best friend. important matches wedged between each other which could affect our performance in the long run. we must take one step at time or will be trapped inside our own maze. in the running for four championships is delighting indeed, however there is always a catch. we have to play in 3 to 4 days between each match which could spark trouble for our current fitness level.

Last night win against Stoke City paved way to get closer to man utd by 1 point. though we are playing one more game than them, we can put more pressure to league leaders and, hopefully, they would stumble and fall. no one is assured of success. you can take a look at our London rivals, chelsea. they finally taste some bitterness which forced them to face the fact that they are human after all.

Okay, I put injury news in the title but I intentionally leave it as the last topic I will discuss here. yes, big result for us but it comes with consequences at the same time. as we all know, last night we saw our two key players humbled by injuries. Cesc came off early with Walcott accompanied him later on. Cesc is suspected to suffer from another hamstring injury. the last time he had it, he had to miss three weeks. Walcott is less fortunate though, his ankle sprained and would probably take longer to heal than  Cesc’s hamstring. there is no further news from the club but we can safely say that both may lose a cup final match this Sunday. you can read Wenger’s post interview here. he doesn’t sound happy at all about our injury list as we are still without Vermalen for another 4 to 6 weeks. in the article above, you can also find that Wenger is also less certain on Koscielny and Persie. he asks us to wait until Friday and see whether both would make it to Wembley or not. I don’t know about you but I’m worried. Koscielny was a bit static in the first half of the season but has been strong recently. he combined well with Djourou and currently best partnership in Arsenal season. Persie has been doing scoring spree since his comeback from horror Achilles injury last season and hampered by another injury before making comeback during winter matches. in general, these two players will be greatly missed if both fail their medical tests on Friday. let’s hope they will do well.

That’s it. we are currently, without four key players on Sunday. nothing is yet confirmed but if things stay this way, we have to prepare ourselves. like I said, they are big players to the team and without them, we would be less in attacking numbers but will not lessen our strength. we are more than capable to beat Birmingham and I believe we will if Arsenal stay focus in 90 minutes and commit themselves accordingly. referee will be more generous in handing out cards, so we must be really careful not to get caught on simple and silly fouls. Brummers might try to wind us up and push for yellow to referee for nothing.

That is all for now. a very lengthy post but I hope it’s worth our time. let’s focus on the final and worry less on Barca because we should not mix everything into one cup or it will taste like gutter. and I must remind you, we still have to entertain Sunderland at home before flying off to Barcelona.

Later all…

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Here we go

when Arsenal finished second in the group, i had tiniest feeling we could meet Barcelona in the last 16. and so the history speaks for itself. we are indeed cannot escape for being drawn against mighty side after only finished behind Shakhtar Donetsk. though a lot of people are already drawing the line between champions and losers and we are being labelled as losers, i don't give a sh*t. i don't care about those people. we should pay attention to our own football not be bothered about them.

as you already know our team has been boost by Nasri's return to our side and some predicted he would start ahead of Arshavin. i, on the other hand don't agree with the plan to start him and leave Arshavin on the bench. Russian's form is improving every match and leaving him on the bench would damage his confidence once more. i'm sure some of you would agree with me, rushing a player is a foolish act and Wenger isn't one. he said it yesterday, he would decide again in the day of the match whether or not he will start him. i guess Cesc experience last season had given him a hard lesson.

other news is that we are now able to use Rosicky's service after he recovers from his illness; don't ask me what it was coz Wenger had not elaborate it yesterday. Vermaelen is still 2 weeks away while Frimpong, if everything works out as planned, might take part before the season ends. Diaby is out injured. this time it is his calf. no time scale had been given. but my bet is, he would be ready for the weekend. he will not play though since he is still serving his 3 match ban.

a lot has been said and many of them highlight how extraordinary it was for Arsenal to beat Barcelona, even if it is being played at their own backyard. Barcelona is by far, our toughest opponent in the competition and would probably the strongest side we will ever face this season. however, nothing is impossible. beating Barca will be the sweetest victory we achieve and how good it will be if we can trash them out of the competition early in the stage. some argue, Barca is far too early and would prefer to face them in the final. playing in champions league means we will be facing tough European clubs, be it Inter Milan, Bayern Munich or Barcelona. if we want to be considered as champions, we must beat these teams; no more no less. why do we squeak and scream of fear while we know the consequences. don't play with fear coz it will never bring us anywhere.

on other side of note, a group of fans are planning to chant "hands off Cesc" during the match, which i think will undermine the importance of the game itself. what matters the most it the result. in the end of the day, Barca would hunt our captain no matter what you chant or how loud it is. don't believe me? let's just wait till season ends, you will see.

among all headlines one question remains though; will Wenger risk Nasri and put Arshavin on the bench? we shall see in few hours. in the mean time, i'm going to drink a lot of caffeine in order to say awake. or probably, try some karaoke till my throat hurts.

be positive Gooners. we can win this game and continue our good run in the weekend against Leyton Orient. see you later...

let's shout COME ON GOONERS! ONE NIL TO ARSENAL

Monday, February 14, 2011

Nasri to return?

AW has declared Nasri is physically fit to feature in champions league match but he fears of setback so he is not sure whether he will give him a spot on the bench. Nonetheless, hearing him is available for selection is heart warming indeed. He has been in good form before his hamstring injury and has already been out for 2 weeks which means he could be available next weekend in FA cup match against Leyton Orient.

And as for other absentees, i'm afraid we have not gained anyone this week. We are still without Vermaelen, who will probably be available for Barca 2nd leg. New addition to our injury list is Diaby. Wenger did not mention what kind of injury he's suffering but since he has been in and out the team since forever, i think his absence will not put so much pressure in our squad. We have Denilson as a back up plan. I know he is not a proper replacement but it is better than not having anyone at all.

We will also be without Sagna who got his red card ban served starting from next match. I hope Eboue is ready for the big match. We cannot be left behind in this home match and Wenger shares the same sentiment with me. We are a different team this season no doubt about it. If last season, we lost so many key players, this season however we have our best players ready to take on one of greatest team in football and for the first time, i am confident we can beat them.

Resilience and commitment will deter Barca's solid back four. No team is perfect and Gijon had proven it and so had other teams in the past. Come on Gunners! we can do it.

I will post some news, if any.

Later all...

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Crucial Win

had Arsenal not won last night, every 100 Gooners of 60000 home crowd, would prefer to have their flights cancelled and do thriller dance move right in front of Big Ben. and some others who had watched through telly, would sell their TV set and trade them for hot potatoes. okay, i'm kidding. no one was crazy enough to do it.

anyway, a win against Wolves were much more important than getting 3 points out of Barca game. that was Wenger said a day before the match. and i could not agree more. our last match against Newcastle did not end the way we had planned and left sour taste in every Gooner's heart. 4 goals lead ended up with only a point after a silly reaction from Diaby to bartonuts harsh tackle. so, it's natural for Wenger to be worried and concerned on our progress. psychological damage is hard to mend. i do not need to elaborate on this one. we all know how will it end.

arrived with pride and joy after beating league leaders, manure, Wolves were pressed from the start with Cesc leading the pack agressively. i knew since the start, we were different. i think the boys were trying to prove a point to fans and they successfully had done so. i will not going to write every detail of the game because i'm sure each one of you has had enough of reading a length of blog post so i'm going to describe a gist of it.

one thing i noticed recently, Song has resumed his old duty as proper DM. after had been told to roam forward by Wenger earlier in the season and had unsuccessfully proven his points, Song is now our natural DM. his solid presence in the middle had given our back four a bit more assurance. he is like a Godfather to us now. without him, our center midfield looks broken. in the mean time, Wilshere adventure with England has given the kid something in return; he has matured a bit more and looks ready feature in every Arsenal game. his vision and precise pass had surprised many, including me. his fearless attitude has given us the edge over Wolves and with Song as his partner stayed back, looking after his back four, Jack had been able to utilize his skill to venture forward and helped his team mates to create chances. this kid is amazingly talented and deserved his place in England XI line up.

2 great goals from our hitman, Robin van Persie, kept us in 2nd in the league. late goal by RoonGoon, unfortunately had kept them apart from us by 4 points. i blamed Zabaleta for the doom. he's useless piece of metorites. i never rated him as full back and only God knows why Mark Hughes bought him in the 1st place. Nani's goal was contributed by silly mistake from Kompany. why do i bother to write this? it is because i laughed bitterly when Nani scored and realized 4 points is inevitable. manc will never be nowhere his neighbors level.

let's get on with van Persie's goals shall we?. the 1st one is my favorite. he scored it with his chocolate leg, courtesy of precise floating cross from Cesc. Persie's deadly form has hit high again, with 2 goals in this game. he has so far scored 7 goals out of ten matches. it's something isn't it?. a striker with his quality should be kept injury free in order to win important matches. CL match next week will be his stage once more. i don't doubt he will score more during the match and bring us the hope that was once lightened but had been blown away by injuries and consistencies.

as the season goes, there are 6 players that we love to keep for years. they are: Cesc, Wilshere, Song, Djourou, Nasri and Persie. these players have grown so much this season and have become our core players during tough matches. apart from Djourou, they are the ones who break solid defensive tactics and create chances. Johan Djourou had been hit with few injuries including his persistent knee problems that had him sidelined for a season. he is back with a bang and deserves to be partnered with our own Verminator next season.

we can beat barcelona and we will. the key is to be at 100% focus everytime they have the ball and break their rhythm by intercepting passes meant for Messi and Villa. isolate these two from his midfield team mates then we will do just fine. barcelona are dangerous from every corner of the field, therefore we cannot let them play the way they love to play or we will be punished.

i will post a preview before CL match and do score prediction. see you then...

Monday, February 07, 2011

Conspiracy theory

We are in the centre of a war and whatever the outcome will be, we are going to win. Well, at least that's what i got from Arsene Wenger's post match interview. He believes we only dropped 2 points and it has little effect on our title bid.

Indeed, we are only 4 points adrift from manure after embarrasing result on Saturday. That is because manure, who played against Wolves were left dumbfounded and zero points in the bag. But it is not the point. Can you imagine how close we would be to manure if we had stayed 4 goals up until final whistle. But instead, Diaby made a terrible mistake and let him easily provoked by bartonuts ugly tackle which led to his dismissal in the early 2nd half. Okay, it was a horrible one but consequences were so severe, putting your hands up to your opponent was never an option. He was immature and unprofessional for reacting the way he had last Saturday.

How costly it would be to our title bid is yet known. Psychological damage is hard to measure especially when it involves Arsenal. We gave up title chasing as soon as crumbled against tot last season and i fear we will do the same if Wenger is not doing anything. He admits he's more concern on continuing to win after shocking draw rather than his injury list.

Talking about injury, we are now without Djourou. He suffers a suspected knee ligament injury which may leave him out of the season. With Vermaelen still 3 weeks in the sideline, it leaves Squillaci the most logical replacement for him. I'm a little bit worried with this guy. He tends to react slowly and leaves his marked-man standing on his own. That doesn't sound good does it?. We have to bear this situation again this season and i wonder how Wenger feels right now after he stubbornly refused to buy a CB last month.

We are now officially without experienced back ups for our defence. Now let's leave it that way for us to think more about the situation.

Till later Gooners...

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Draft

Apparently, there is 'save draft' option here. Make no mistake, lite version is good bargain. There will be football unrelated football blogs from now on. Prepare for me!!

Mobile uploads

I can now happily writing blog wherever i want. But using my 2 fingers can prove to be tricky most of the times. Bad thing is, no 'save draft' option here unless i pay extra $. Right now, i dont need more expenses. I hope it stays this way. Look forward to more posts from me!!! Coz i certainly loving this

One disaster leads to another one

How cruel it would be if our title decider match was decided by Diaby silly reaction toward bartonuts nasty tackle. Yes it warrants a yellow from the ref but such tackle is permitted for certain ref and Dowd is not the exception. He turned blind eye on bartonuts ugly tackle to Diaby but he certaintly did not miss Diaby's shove on bartonuts.

I have too many things on my mind but i currently do not have the will to continue rambling on about how stupid Dowd was yesterdat. He gave a very soft 2nd penalty to newcashit and even awarded a yellow to Eboue when he had not done anything harmful to zebra players.

He was deemed incompetent by fergie 2 seasons ago and even insulted his physical condition. Fergie claimed he was unfit to overseeing a match. I though how poor it was from fergie. but seeing Dowd 2 years from the overweight-saga, i could see he is not only have fitness problem but his judgement seems to be affected as well.

No, i am not siding with our players. I won't defend them because they definitely are not worth any praise. Yes, 1st half performance was top notch but we did not show enough character to wrap up the match with convincing result. Where was the leadership when we needed it last night?. Where was our captain when order had to be put forth? No one took the role effectively, i tell you. I will not start on leadership crisis issue because currently, we do not need such provocative statement from anyone including the fans.

All we need to do now is to keep our focus on remaining matches and try to get maximum points in every possible opportunity. Take one step at a time. The first step is to win at Wembley and bring Carling cup home. Probably you would think it'd be a walk in the park for us to beat brummers but nothing is certain at this stage. We have this particular-nagging-incurable disease that won't go away. We had 4 unbelivable goals but let opponents got to us and drew level. Okay, it was down to Diaby's stupid and childish act and also put Dowd in the mix, we are there to be the joke of the town.

Alright i'm to harsh to myself and the club but i can't help it. I braced storms and thunders to find live stream and watch patiently. but all they did was threw me their stinking towels. What i'm talking about? I better be resting my battered brain and probably be writing a bit on our team thereafter

Later...