What you missed while vacationing at Jellyfish Lake…

• Sepp Blatter has confirmed that the FAI has asked that FIFA make Ireland the 33rd team at the World Cup. Roy Keane presumably has something ironic to say about letting go.
• Zlatan Ibrahimović scored about two minutes after coming on in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Real Madrid; Madrid was unable to equalize, in spite of the fact that Barcelona was down to ten men for most of the second half, because Carles Puyol is the best defender to ever play ever.
• Javier Mascherano’s irritated that his opening strike against Everton in Liverpool’s 2-0 Merseyside Derby win is being chalked up as a Joseph Yobo own goal.
• Sergio Campana, the head of the Italian player’s union, has requested that the upcoming Juventus-Inter game be called off if racist chants are heard from the crowd; Juventus played a closed-door match last season after their fans racially abused Mario Balotelli.
• Arsene Wenger feels that referee Andre Marriner was wrong to rule out Andr(ei)(iy)(ey) Arshavin’s goal in Arsenal’s 0-3 loss to Chelsea. If they weren’t so busy being smug, Chelsea would probably point out that Marriner denied Anelka one of the most stone-cold penalties I’ve ever seen in the first half, which makes the “robbed by Marriner” tally a 1-4 win for Chelsea.
• Mark Hughes isn’t afraid of getting sacked by Manchester City even though he’s failed to win any of his last seven matches. Another way of putting that: Hull City have picked up more points in their last six matches (9) than Manchester City have (6). The comparison’s worth mentioning because those two teams drew 1-1 on Saturday.
• Bayern Munich aren’t interested in Ryan Babel. Damn.

It seems as though derby season is upon us; there have been quite a few this weekend and next weekend the most anticipated match in Roma’s season (and the greatest derby in Italy) gets underway. But, before we can start our countdown to a good Biancocelesti thrashing, we have to deal with all the derbies (and mundane regular matches) going down this weekend. Shall we?

Football:

Somebody get this guy a Red shirt.

Liverpool 2-0 Everton (The Merseyside Derby) – Well, the Scousers went head to head today as strugglers Everton took on strugglers Liverpool. It was a battle of the underachievers, with both Rafa Benitez and David Moyes’ sides badly needing the points and morale boost that come from a derby win. In a season when both sides have fared so poorly both in league and European competitions, it comes as no surprise that today’s match was decided not by a particularly heroic individual effort but by a particularly atrocious performance. A pair of grievous mistakes from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gifted the Reds a 2-0 victory, much to the dismay of the Toffeemakers’ fans at Goodison Park. Yobo put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, putting his foot out and tipping a long-range effort from Javier Mascherano (which was veering well wide of the net, I might add) past Tim Howard and into the back of his own goal. It was a typically scrappy derby match, and Russian wiz Diniyar Bilyaletdinov nearly leveled the score 6 minutes later in the beginning of what was a very back-and-forth first half. Everton found the back of the net twice and were twice disallowed, but the home support were buoyed by their side’s performance and were left singing at the half despite the score remaining 1-0. However, they wouldn’t be singing at fulltime – their side failed to equalize in the second half with Pepe Reina denying the Blues over and over again, seemingly through sheer determination and a bit of luck. When it finally occurred on 81′, the second error from Joseph Yobo would all but put the game out of Everton’s reach. The Nigerian whiffed on an aerial clearance, leading to a shot from Albert Riera before Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, it was the away support who were singing as another Merseyside derby came to pass.

Manchester Utd 4-1 Portsmouth – Ah, our first non-derby match of the weekend. Still though, there is a bit of history here – the last time Avram Grant came up against Sir Alex Ferguson on the touchline was in the 2008 Champions League final, with Chelsea just one slip away from being crowned Champions of Europe. Despite being runners up in that competition and in the EPL, Grant was sacked as Chelsea manager, left to ponder what could have been. Yesterday he made his (unofficial) return to coaching, this time as manager of strugglers Portsmouth, who are looking to turn their fortunes around after going through 3 owners and 2 managers already this year. Fergie himself had to watch the match from the stands, as he is currently serving a touchline ban – luckily the match was quite a spectacle, abundant with soft penalties and controversy. On 25′ the visitors were awarded a somewhat questionable penalty which Wayne Rooney buried from the spot. The Fratton Park crowd could not complain too much, though, as 6 minutes later their side was awarded an even more inexplicable penalty which Kevin Prince Boateng was able to convert – apparently awarded for some rather run-of-the-mill shirt tugging by Nemanja Vidic. The teams went into the half level, but it would not take United much longer to find their stride. Within the first 8′ minutes of the second period Wayne Rooney would complete his hattrick with a low shot on 48′ and a second penalty on 53′. Ryan Giggs would top it all off on 87′ with the 100th Premiership goal of his career, making it 4-1 United and ensuring that Avram Grant will have Fergie-related nightmares for a while yet.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa – It’s always difficult to come down after an incredible high. No, I’m not referring to my own struggles with substance abuse (fictional, I assure you), but rather the 9-1 victory which the Spurs were able to achieve over Wigan Athletic last weekend. Instead of repeating that incredible feat, the Lilywhites were held to an unremarkable draw at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the home side an early lead on 10′, but Michael Dawson was able to level for Tottenham late in the match to earn his side a point and lift them to 3rd place in the English Premier League. Not an overly impressive performance from Harry Redknapp’s side, but they did just enough to keep themselves in the Premiership race.

Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (The London Derby) – Realistically, there are more intense traditional rivalries in London town; historically Chelsea and Arsenal have been less concerned with each other than their other London neighbours. However, the rise of Chelsea into the big four of Premiership football means that in recent years these two sides have been forced into competition with one another at the top of the table and as a direct result their rivalry has become much more intense. Today’s London derby turned out to be an absolute rout from the Blues, who have been in tip-top form all season under Carlo Ancelotti, decimating Arsene Wenger’s depleted side who have been just shy of top form of late. It was another episode of the Didier Drogba show at the Emirates, with the big Ivorian grabbing the brace to all but destroy the Gunners and keep his fantastic record against Wenger’s side alive – Drogba has found the net in each of the last 9 matches played against Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring on 41′, firing from close range into the top of Almunia’s net after some impeccable service from Ashley Cole. Just 4 minutes later Cole would again play the role of provider, but this time it was Arsenal man Thomas Vermaelen who turned the ball into his own net – giving the home side plenty to think about as they retired for the halftime interval. Just after the break Arsenal should have made it 2-1 when Andrei Arshavin blasted a rebound past Petr Cech and into the Blues’ net, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged foul on the Czech keeper by Gunners man Eduardo. Despite some dangerous efforts, Chelsea dominated play for much of the second half; their persistence paid off on 86′ when (guess who?) Didier Drogba struck again from a free kick just outside the area, blasting past the wall and away from Manuel Almunia into the back of the net. Ultimately, Ancelotti’s side would cruise to a relatively easy win, taking advantage of a depleted and demoralized Arsenal side to further their dominance atop the Premiership table. Chelsea have now recorded wins this season against all of their fellow big four sides – a positive omen if there ever was one.

Manchester City 1-1 Hull City – Oh, and City drew their 7th straight game after Shaun Wright-Phillips’ opener was cancelled out by a late penalty converted by Jimmy Bullard.

Calcio:

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina – Oh, Inter. I am growing to hate you so. In a game when Jose Mourinho’s side played poorly and were well-met by an organized outing from Cesare Prandelli’s men, it would be a penalty kick which separated the two sides in the end and allowed i Nerazzurri to go 8 points clear atop the Serie A table. It’s so typical of this side to underachieve thoroughly and then get by on the skin of their teeth that I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet I am disappointed each time a more deserving team outplays them and ultimately falls, especially due to this sort of misfortune. I’m not saying that the penalty wasn’t there, but had it not been for Gianluca Comotto’s hotheadedness, or had Alberto Gilardino buried his one-on-one chance against Julio Cesar instead of hitting the post just moments earlier, then Inter surely would have dropped points on the evening. In the end, Diego Milito’s penalty made the difference in a match full of could’ve-beens for La Viola that was perhaps ultimately a shouldn’t-have-been for La Beneamata.

Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria (il Derbi della Lanterna) – The Genovese derby, or il Derbi della Lanterna, as it is known, always produces some fireworks. This year’s was no different, as i Grifoni demolished i Blucerchiati in a game that had as many goals as it did red cards. Omar Milanetto opened the scoring for Genoa on 10′ with a spot kick after Reto Ziegler executed a clumsy tackle in the box. Genoa’s Giuseppe Biava was sent off for handling the ball as he fell to the ground, Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi received two yellows, and his teammate Fabrizio Cacciatore received a straight red late in the match. Meanwhile, Genoa’s Marco Rossi (yes, there are two of them) scored on 53′ and Raffaele Palladino capped off the victory with a spot kick on 75′. An eventful and exciting derby, and also a hard-fought one, which I’m sure an inspection of Antonio Cassano’s shins would tell you. They really don’t like that guy, eh? I bet Lippi calls up the whole team come June.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus – La Vecchia Signora ha perso contro… gli Isolani? Cagliari managed to pull one (better yet, two) over on their visitors at the Stadio San’Elia today, snatching all three points from a rather toothless Old Lady. I think I’ve waited long enough to say this – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has certainly been a huge flop at AC Milan this season, but realistically, what has Diego done for Juventus’ offense lately? I’ll tell you what he did today: not enough. Their confidence shattered by a midweek loss to Bordeaux, Juventus fell about play clumsily and were victimized by a sharp and determined performance from the Sardinians. The home side opened the scoring on 30′ when Nenê unleashed  35-yard screamer that blasted into Buffon’s top corner. Juventus struggled to respond, and with their own Brazilian Diego firing well-wide before the half, went into the break with a much-deserved 1-0 deficit. After the interval, Amauri thought he had grabbed a quick equalizer for his side, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside, leaving Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti more than happy to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Cagliari also had fair claim to a spot kick after Martin Cácares handled the ball in the area, but the referee adjudged it ball-to-hand and play continued. A late goal would come to pass, but it would not be the strike that Juventus needed: substitute Alessandro Matri turned Fabio Cannavaro absolutely inside-out before slotting past Gigi Buffon in the 89th minute. Both Diego and substitute Alessandro Del Piero would miss absolute sitters for the visitors in added time and Juventus were forced to swallow their second humbling defeat in 5 days, dropping to 8 points behind league-leaders Inter.

Vucigol had me praising the heavens with his 44th-minute header.

AS Roma 2-1 Atalanta – An ugly, nervy, but ultimately deserved away win. I couldn’t be happier. Though dominations at the Stadio Olimpico like the one last weekend over Bari are a joy to watch, they are expected – those are the games that we will always win, because the magic of the Olimpico rarely fails us. However, it is matches like today’s at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia that are must-wins for i Giallorossi, because they are the ones where we so often lose our nerve and drop points against teams we would easily beat at home. It’s not called an advantage for nothing, you know. Luckily, Roma was able to pull out a comeback win against gli Orobici today after Fabio Ceravolo gave the home side the lead on 13′. Roma looked decidedly lackluster for huge spells during the first half, but were able to grab a set-piece goal just before the half as Mirko Vučinić nodded home a corner from David Pizarro on 44′. Simone Perrotta was able to give his side the lead 20 minutes later, ghosting into the box unnoticed to head home a cross from Vučinić. After gaining the lead, i Lupi simply fought to maintain it. The substitutions of Jérémy Ménez for Rodrigo Taddei and Roberto Acquafresca for Cristiano Doni changed the entire complexion of the game; suddenly Roma were on the backheel and fighting only to maintain their lead while the home side heaped on piles of offensive pressure. For the most part Roma held up nicely under the waves of attack; Riise almost scored an own-goal on 85′ but instead cleared the ball nicely, while Atalanta had a legitimate appeal for a penalty on Juan two minutes later which was happily waved off. Finally the fulltime whistle blew and Roma were able to take a much-needed 3 points home to Trigoria. We’ve finally cracked the top 10! Rejoice ironically – but only for a second. We have il Derbi della Capitale to think about.

Udinese 2-0 Livorno – The other Bianconeri were able to achieve a much better result this weekend than Juventus. A cracker of a free kick from Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring on 29′, bringing his total for the season to a round 10. 7 minutes later, Antonio Floro Flores doubled his side’s money, heading home after a build-up that was again largely the work of Di Natale. The one-two punch was more than enough to subdue the Tuscan visitors at the Stadio Friuli and le Zebrette ran away with the 2-goal win. I almost feel bad for Sersi Cosmi, fervent Romanista that he is, until I remember that it was his cursed side which sent us on the downward spiral earlier this season from which we are just now recovering (ie, getting Totti back). But then again, Udinese was a part of that spiral too… Aw, to hell with the both of them.

The Hunter finally found his gun!

AC Milan 2-0 Catania - AC Milan were given a golden opportunity to leapfrog Juventus in the standings this weekend, with i Bianconeri dropping points at Cagliari and i Rossoneri overcame Catania in Sicily to make the most of that chance. Leonardo’s side were held to a goalless draw by the Rossazzurri for 93 minutes, but Milan ‘flop’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally made good on his promise to score an added time brace and catapult his side into second place. First the Dutchman sent a low strike in after some lovely control by Filippo Inzaghi, and then only seconds later after the restart he struck again, chipping Andújar beautifully to make it 2-0 for Milan. Well, the Hunter certainly took his time, but it seems that he has finally found his form for his new side – and his timing couldn’t have been better.

Futbol:

Ibra done good.

Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (El Clásico)- Well, it might be called El Clásico, but there was nothing ‘classic’ about Spain’s biggest derby this evening. Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a scrappy game in which neither truly came into their stride or were able to showcase their own particular brand of football. Despite injury concerns, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all able to feature in the game, but the big Swede would be the only one to make his mark on the match. The Camp Nou was buzzing with energy as 98,000 of los Culés welcomed their most hated rivals to their home ground. Madrid, however, were not daunted, and were the first to impress, with Xabi Alonso and Kaká putting in perhaps their most impressive performances in the shirt of Los Blancos to date. Cristiano Ronaldo played for a solid hour, but was clearly not at full fitness and unable to terrorize the Barcelona backline as he might have wished. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi caused all sorts of trouble but was ultimately kept fairly quiet by Real Madrid’s defense, who put in a surprisingly solid performance. It was the combination of the substitute Ibrahimovic and Dani Alves which would prove deadly, as the diminutive right-back put in an inch-perfect cross which Ibracadabra struck home with authority to put the home side ahead on 55′. However, that would be the only goal of the match, and besides red cards for both Sergi Busquets (63′) and Lassana Diarra (90′), there was not much other action to speak of. In fact, in light of the last Clásico, in which Barca drubbed Madrid 6-2, tonight’s match was a bit of a dud.

Sevilla 2-2 Málaga (Andalusian Derby) – Sevilla’s closest (and fiercest) rivals are Real Betis, against whom they contest the Derby of Seville. However, with Real Betis currently languishing in Segunda División, Sevilla’s closest rivals in the interestingly-named Autonomous Community of Andalucía are perhaps their neighbours in Málaga, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the Primera División. So, we have the Andalusian Derby; and while the rivalry might not be as intense as El Clásico, I personally found the game itself to be much more entertaining. At the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán Sevilla were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat in midweek to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, but they certainly did not get off to a good start. Although in a bizarre incident Málaga substitute Albert Luque was shown the red card from the bench, it was still the visitors who took the early lead. Fernando opened up the scoring for the visitors on 22′, and Duda made it 2-0 just before the half after being set up by Fernando. It seemed as though Málaga were headed towards all three points, but a spectacular second-half performance from Luis Fabiano ensured that the spoils were shared in Seville this weekend. The Brazilian struck first on 58′, heading home past Gustavo Munúa, and then on 72′ struck again, smashing the ball into the lower corner of the net to bring his side level. Both sides fought hard for an equalizer, and Sevilla came closest right at the death with a point-blank header from Fernando Navarro that Munúa probably saved by accident. In the end, each team would come away with a single point in a 2-2 draw that was anything but uneventful.

Fußball:

Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96 – Well, it seems that die Roten have finally regained their lost form, overcoming midtable side Hannover 96 with ease in a match that featured goals from two of their most talented young stars. Thomas Müller tapped in from close range on 19′ to open the scoring, but Bayern looked shaky at times and were not convincing in their possession of the ball. Constant Djakpa caused all sorts of trouble for Phillip Lahm up the flank, and drew a good save from Hans-Jörg Butt, but was unable to affect the scoreline before the stroke of halftime. Ivica Olic made sure that the visitors got off to a good start in the second half, rising at the far post to meet a Danijel Pranjic cross with his head and double Bayern’s lead. For the rest of the half the home side did everything they could do to reduce Bayern’s lead, but to no avail – it would ultimately be Mario Gomez who would get the last laugh, beating the offside trap on 90′ and slotting home to make it 3-0 for his side. This victory sees Bayern rise to 4th in the Bundesliga standings, while Hannover 96 sit at 12th.

Someone control this guy!

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfB Stuttgart – Leverkusen exit this weekend sitting three point clear atop the Bundesliga table, and it can largely be contributed to one man: Stefan Kießling. The 25-year old striker has been absolutely on fire for his club of late and bagged a hattrick this weekend at the Bayarena to cement his place atop the German scoring charts as well. Kießling struck on 22′, 59′ and 87′, while Eren Derdiyok added a goal of his own on 38′ to complete a 4-0 drubbing of a lacklustre Stuttgart side.

Werder Bremen 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg – Edin Dzeko’s double was not enough for the reigning Bundesliga champions to grab all three points away at the Weserstadion. Each time the young Bosnian scored to give his side the lead, the home side were quick to equalize, and ultimately the two squads cancelled one another out and had to settle for a point apiece. Hugo Almeida and Per Mertesacker were on hand to restore parity for their side, with the latter scoring at the very death in the 91st minute of stoppage time. The sharing of points means that Werder Bremen now sit at 2nd place in the Bundesliga standings, while Wolfsburg remain 8th.

]]> http://arsenalstation.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/up-to-standard/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:28:42 +0000 ArsenalStation http://arsenalstation.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/up-to-standard/

Tuesday evening brought us one of the strangest matches this supporter has seen in a long time. Arsenal completely dominated the entire match yet they won only 2-nil and Standard Liege hit the post twice. Coming back from injuries, we saw Carlos Vela get a long-awaited start and Theo Walcott get in on some action, but we also saw Kieran Gibbs go out for months just seconds from the final whistle and William Gallas look worse than Rocky after 12 rounds with Apollo Creed. We saw three clear penalties that weren’t given because, as Alan Parry said, “They must not have penalties in Austria,” referring to the officials’ home.

I am conflicted as to what I should think about the match. The injuries to Arshavin, Gallas, and Gibbs certainly overshadow the great attacking performance. I certainly don’t agree with Paul Merson and Myles Palmer that Arsenal could’ve lost this match. Of course, Standard’s first time hitting the post came before Nasri had opened up the scoring but even at 1-nil down Standard rarely looked a threat going forward.

Song had a great match and news of his newly-signed long-term deal yesterday was more than welcome. But it seems all eyes were on Vela, and rightly so. Ever since his magnificent introduction to the club with some truly wonderful goals in last year’s Carling Cup, we’ve all been waiting for him to get a right chance in the first team. He didn’t do as well we would have hoped the other night but he has been out injured for most of the season. Nevertheless, the internet’s resident bitter idiot, Myles Palmer, wrote, in an article entitled, “Carlos Vela needs to grabs this chance.If not, adios”:

It’s about time his Arsenal career took off. Seriously, how long can anybody be a promising young striker? If Vela was any good, shouldn’t he be in the team by now?

Huh? He’s been at the club for a year. He was injured at the start of the season. How long can he be a promising striker?? Are you serious, Myles? Not half as long as your beloved, English Theo Walcott, that’s for sure. “If Vela was any good?” Anyone who saw his performances last year in the Carling Cup KNOWS he is good. His problem has been that he is not only stuck behind van Persie but Eduardo as well and so he has not gotten the kind of playing time we all would have hoped. Is everyone else as sick of this tool as I am?

The injury to Gibbs is the most problematic for Sunday as I doubt many of us have much confidence in Traore or Silvestre stepping into the left-back spot against Chelsea. I would think the Boss may have to bite the bullet and play Eboue there.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers…

There’s really no sense in dwelling on this match. Sunderland is a solid side this season that drew at United and beat Liverpool. Almost our entire side had been away from the club for two weeks on plane trips and playing in meaningless matches. “But the international breaks didn’t affect Chelsea or United or Spurs,” you will say. And I would say that you are right, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t affect us. There are no excuses for losing the match but there are reasons.

Apparently, Arsenal’s title hopes are once again dashed, according to many. As of right now, this is just one disappointing result. It’s not the end of the season. But it does raise some serious questions. Was this performance indicative of how the team will perform without van Persie? That is the big question.

I tend to lean towards thinking not, but I am an one of those optimists when it comes to the Arsenal. I can’t see the side all of a sudden going from scoring 3 or 4 goals per match to struggling to score simply because van Persie has been removed from the equation and especially with Cesc, Arshavin, Eduardo, Rosicky, Nasri, etc… still on the pitch. It was a nasty day against an insurgent club on the Saturday following yet another two-week/two-match international break. Of course, despite those conditions, we still need to be able to get results.

Despite falling 8 points behind Chelsea (5 if we win our game in hand), we did control most of the game even if Sunderland did work harder against us in midfield than almost any other side we’ve played all season. Sunderland’s goal came off of a fluke bounce, though the bounce came after we failed to deal with a set piece, yet again. Aaron Ramsey failed to replicate his international form and Traore didn’t look altogether solid at left-back.

Another bright spot for me was the introduction of Carlos Vela. Arsenal looked more dangerous after he came on and if Eduardo cannot get it together, I now feel the Boss would not hesitate to use Vela more than he has in the past, having said openly that Vela is the reason Adebayor could be sold and not replaced. The return of Theo Walcott was another bright spot on an otherwise dismal Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal have shown themselves capable of picking themselves up from disappointing performances and getting back on track quickly. Following the Manchester defeats, we put together a 13-match unbeaten run which included 6 wins out of 7 in the Premier League. We have dealt with adversity well this season and we will now need to do it again.

In other news, Stan Kroenke has bought ten more shares and is now a mere 62 away from being obligated to launch a takeover bid. In other interesting news, Man City drew their sixth consecutive match and have won just one in their last eight, keeping only one clean sheet in that time, a nil-nil draw at Birmingham. Kolo Toure seems to have caught whatever disease it is that Adebayor has that keeps making him talk about Arsenal, saying:

I had problems with certain players at Arsenal, especially one, whose name I will not say because I don’t want to feed the controversy. I didn’t have much time on the pitch last year because I think there’s a player who got the manager believing that he and I had no understanding on the field. That did surprise me hugely.

I have never looked to put a spoke in anyone’s wheel at all. I have never wanted to be captain. My wish was to finish my career at Arsenal, but there are always banana-skins.

Don’t want to feed “the” controversy? That hasn’t been a controversy for anyone but Kolo since last season. It’s amazing how both he and Adebayor are living in the past, seemingly with Arsenal constantly on their minds. No wonder they can’t win matches or keep clean sheets. I don’t think that Arsene Wenger needed William Gallas to tell him that there was no understanding between him and Gallas, or “he-who-shall-not-be-named.” Every Arsenal fan has “believed” that for years. There WAS no understanding.

Anyway, seeing as how I don’t want to dwell on our first lackluster match in a while and we have a fairly unimportant CL fixture standing between us and Chelsea, I’ll have to leave it there, for now.

A Heartfelt Embrace

Mr. Blatter, your results are served. How do you think your little scheme has fared? Quite well if you ask me, after all, the top two reasons (Portugal and France) this abominable seeding system was adopted in such a hasty last minute fashion have secured their tickets to the big dance in South Africa, while bumping their (equally) deserving ‘minnow’ nation counterparts from proving just how advanced the beautiful game has become in the oft neglected corners of the European football universe. Everybody at FIFA headquarters in Zurich surely winced when it became obvious the tournament would loose star Russian forward Andrei Arshavin, but were quickly relieved when Portugal and France qualified ensuring appearances from top draw players like Christiano Ronaldo, Raul Miereles, Deco, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery. Read on for a breakdown of today’s results.

THE BREAKDOWN:

Ireland v France: Les Blues, Les Blues, I suppose, that for the time being at least, the bell does not toll pour vous. After suffering drive after drive by the Irish squad, France managed to win the match  by playing very well for only 30 minutes of the match… in extra time (to be fair… the loss was more than partly due to a piss-poor officiating – See Hand of God). Kudos to an Irish team that should be proud to have put on the performance they did. I realize that it will offer little consolation to players like Robbie Keane or Damian Duff who will likely never see a World Cup Final again.. but take solace in the fact that France will struggle to advance past the group stage when it comes time for them to put-up or shut-ip.

Slovenia v Russia: Perhaps the most stunning match of the evening. Guus Hidink has failed to qualify his Russian squad through to the finals, a happenstance that has never occurred! Arshavin and company were no match for a clearly determined and salivatingly hungry Slovenian squad. While not the end of Arshavin’s international career, you dont get many chances to play on the world’s biggest stage, and don’t think that this loss doesn’t sting the diminutive forward in the worst way.

Andrei Loses His Shirt...

Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina: An unfortunate end to the Cinderella-like run put on by the Bosnians. Edin Dzeko and his crew are now forced to watch from the sidelines as Portugal moves through to one of the coveted final berths. Take comfort in this Edin, your time will come.

Portugal Edges Bosnia

Greece v Ukraine: One goal to win it all, one goal to bind them. Greece has secured a trip to world cup after a decent showing in the qualifiers against the Ukraine. A match that was touted as the most even among the European Qualifiers did not disappoint as the ball was constantly hunkered down in the midfield. Nevertheless, an early goal from Salpingidos sealed the deal, and bumped Ukraine from a second straight appearance in the finals.

ROBERT GRECO’S PREDICTION RATING:

1 for 4: A disappointing run for me personally today. I was shocked to see some of the final results, though as I mentioned, many of them were tough matches, and all of them were in fact decided in truth on the return leg. Keep checking cheddarbomb.wordpress.com for more football crystal ball.

Next Up: Champions League Match Day 5.

by Jack Maidment

The Premier League is 12 games old and Chelsea are top. In the past few years the fact that Arsenal are lurking in second place, 5 points behind but with a game in hand, would have caused little concern in the leader’s dressing room.

Sure, Arsenal could play football in a way that was unmatched by any other collection of 11 people the world over but they simply couldn’t win enough games, couldn’t grind out victories against bruising opponents when they weren’t at their supreme best.

This year however, something feels different. To say that there is an inevitability about Arsenal’s Premier League challenge this year would be going to far, but it is clear that enough has changed to warrant a collective glance over the Chelsea shoulder.

The feeling is that this could be the season that the Arsenal squad that Wenger has nurtured for the past few years could finally be ready to cast aside their youthful shackles and mount a serious assault on the trophies that their fans have so dearly missed.

It is no longer enough for the likes of Alexander Song, Denilson, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner and Samir Nasri to be ‘promising’.

The increased spending of those teams trying to break into the top four and the Champions League bonanza that accompanies such a finish has placed enormous strain on Arsenal given the fact that no team is owed anything by one of the most competitive leagues in the world: heritage and history count for nothing, all that matters is what you do on the field.

Two early season defeats in Manchester may have been the wake up call to a team that has since gone 13 games unbeaten, scoring more goals than any other top flight team. At times they have been positively frightening. At others they have displayed the kind of grit and determination that has been so exposed in years passed.

The lack of trophies is as good a reason as any to finally deliver on the promise in which Arsene Wenger has shown so much faith. Also in the Arsenal mindset must be the possibility that another year of failure could be just enough to push Cesc Fabregas into the arms of long term suitors, Spanish and European Champions, Barcelona.

The acquisitions of Andrei Arshavin and Thomas Vermaelen have certainly showed the Arsenal captain the board’s commitment to providing a team that can make the best of the young Spaniard’s mercurial talents, but it remains the young players who must deliver in order to ensure success and the continued residence of Fabregas in London.

Despite their youth, it really is now or never for this Arsenal team.

Although consigned to the play-offs when eventual group winners Germany became the first visiting side ever to win a World Cup qualifier in Moscow back in October, Russia still look a formidable outfit and consequently come into this clash with Slovenia as red-hot favourites. With their club sides finally making an impact in Europe and many of their top stars plying their trade in the English Premiership, Russian football is very much a rising force and World Cup qualification is only likely to accelerate that trend. Vastly-experienced coach Guus Hiddink has named a powerful-looking 24-man squad for the play-off clash, with striker Roman Pavlyuchenko expected to start despite struggling to secure regular first-team football with his club side Tottenham. Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin is also set for a key role and is likely to be joined in the starting eleven by highly-rated goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev who could soon be following Arshavin to the Premiership if reports linking him with Manchester United are to be believed. Hiddink has broadened his attacking options by recalling Dmitry Sychev of Lokomotiv Moscow, while defender Dennis Kolodin returns to the squad after more than two months out with a hamstring injury.

Underdogs Slovenia defied the FIFA rankings to finish above World Cup regulars Poland and Czech Republic in a group eventually won by Slovakia and will therefore not be intimidated by taking on another European heavyweight in the form of Russia. Coach Matjaz Kek’s squad ply their club trade in a host of European leagues, with experienced defender Marko Suler and dangerous striker Zlatan Ljubijankic team-mates at Belgian side Gent and skipper Robert Koren currently starring in England with Championship outfit West Brom. With four successive wins under their belts, Slovenia are quietly confident of repeating their heroics of 2002 when they defied the odds and secured World Cup qualification for the first time in their history.

The visitors are unlikely to roll over easily, but it’s hard to go past a victory for Russia in this game. Hiddink’s side have the quality to secure a convincing win and ensure that next week’s trip to Maribor is nothing more than a formality.

Prediction: Russia 3-0 Slovenia

A couple of very big (in my not-so-humble opinion, at least) matches went down this weekend, with some producing more exciting results than others. This week there was a double countdown to what I thought were two of the biggest Red v. Blue matches this year. In England we had arguably the two largest Premiership contenders in Chelsea and Manchester United going head-to-head, while in Italy Scudetto favourites Internazionale went testa-alla-testa with my beloved (but struggling terribly) AS Roma.

Football:

Arsenal 4-1 Wolverhampton – Sure, Chelsea and United are probably the two favourites in the Premiership race this season, but I’m not fool enough to dismiss Arsenal as also-rans just yet. For one thing, the Gunners are on a hot streak of 13 unbeaten matches in all competitions. For another thing, one of those matches consisted of something of an Arsenal youth squad (but then again, aren’t all their squads youth squads?) defeating admittedly-struggling Liverpool in Carling Cup play. On the other hand, this weekends performance in particular wasn’t all that impressive, and it might be more appropriate to say that Wolverhampton lost the match rather than saying Arsenal won it. The Molineux Stadium offered the Wolves no security, as the visitors went up 3-0 before the end of the first half, with 2 of those goals being put into the Wolves’ own net by their defenders Ronald Zubar and Joey Craddock. Cesc Fàbregas would provide the third. Andrei Arshavin added his name to the scoresheet in the second half, and Joey Craddock somewhat atoned for his errors by scoring a consolation goal (in Arsenal’s net, this time) in the 89th minute. Along with the result of the Chelsea-United match this afternoon, this win in Wolverhampton sees Arsenal climb to second in the League table.

Perhaps one day Drogba will follow the footsteps of Vinnie Jones to Hollywood.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester Utd A fairly controversial match – but then again, it was always going to be. There’s bound to be a million gripes from United fanboys about the various ‘injustices’ committed against them today, so if you’re a Blues fan gloat with caution, because you’re likely to receive a long series of whines in response. Let me say a few things: Darren Fletcher’s foul was not a foul, Drogba should probably retire and become an actor, and Jonny Evans is a little punk. Many tempers flared during the match, and it seemed as if a full-out brawl was imminent at points, but alas they kept their heads and all that came of it was a flurry of yellow cards. It was nevertheless dramatic, though, with such highlights as the constant battle between Didier Drogba and Wes Brown providing (me, at least) with much entertainment. It would be Mr. Chelsea himself, John Terry, who would make the difference between the two sides, heading in what I believe was the only goal United have conceded from a set piece this year on 76′. I suppose that earns him a man of the match nod, but other contenders include Wayne Rooney, Nicolas Anelka and Michael Essien, who all gave 110% and played hard-nosed games (must’ve eaten their Toast’n'Butta this morning). Though Drogba’s theatrics were shameful, and he may have hauled down Wes Brown in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, I have to call out Jonny Evans here, for his kung-fu kick to the chest of Drogba and then his tackle on Ricardo Carvalho long after the whistle. Horrific performance for the youngster; he should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t sent off. A win that sees Chelsea sitting 5 points clear atop the EPL table, and which should boost their morale for weeks to come. As for United; well I’m sure we’ll hear all about how they feel.

Manchester City 3-3 Burnley – Bad news all over Manchester this weekend, it seems. City have been struggling for weeks now, and had drawn their 4 previous fixtures. Well, make it five, Citizens. Newly-promoted Burnley are notoriously shoddy away from home, yet a late goal helped them to steal a point at the City of Manchester Stadium in a 6-goal draw. Burnley in fact took an early 2-0 lead over their hosts after Graham Alexander converted a spot kick and Steven Fletcher found the back of the net. City fought back, and goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy saw them take control of the game by the 56th minute. However, they were unable to keep hold of that control and on 87′ Burnley substitute Kevin McDonald scored to bring his side level for once and for all. I’m sure Burnley won’t be happy to have given up that initial 2-0 lead, but all in all, this is a result which should leave Owen Coyle pleased and Mark Hughes with his head in his hands.

Futbol:

The dangerous duo nearly gave Los Blancos a run for their money.

Real Madrid 3-2 Atlético Madrid – Well, El Clásico never fails to disappoint. Even in a season where Atléti has struggled so badly that they have been forced to make a change in management, against Los Blancos they always bring their all. It seemed at first that Real would simply stroll to a Clásico win this season, after Kaká gave his side the lead on 5′, with Marcelo and Higuaín adding their names to the scoresheet on 24′ and 64′, respectively. However, Los Colchoneros would battle back late in the second half after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders on 66′; a frenzied 2 minutes would see Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero pull two goals back for their side with 10 minutes left to play. Manuel Pellegrini’s men would ultimately be able to hold off their crosstown rivals, but Quique Sánchez Flores can at least take heart from his side’s spirited fightback. An exciting Clásico, to say the least.

Barcelona 4-2 Mallorca – Samuel Eto’o commented this week that if he had not been bound by his duties to Inter, he would have traveled to the Camp Nou to see his ex-sides face off against one another – he would have sat directly at the centre line so as to not betray his allegiance to one over the other. I gotta say, Sammy, from a Romanista’s point of view, I wish you’d gone. But I digress. Barcelona youngster Pedro gave his side an early lead on 10′, only for Mallorca’s Nunes to equalize from a corner kick just under 10 minutes later. Pedro wasn’t finished yet, though and on 39′ restored the lead to his side, smashing home the third rebound after Mallorca keeper Aouate denied teammates Thierry Henry and Sergi Busquets. The two would get their chance just a few moments later, when Busquets sent in a cross for Henry, who beat Aouate with a diving header to make it 3-1. Lionel Messi was introduced after the break to further increase Barca’s tally – he would eventually, but he would take his time, and it would only be from the spot after teammate Ibrahimovic was brought down in the area. Mallorca sub Alhassane Keita would earn one back for his side late into stoppage time, but ultimately it was too little too late and Barcelona would cruise to an easy victory.

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Schalke 04 – Bayern have been demoralized over and over again the past two weeks, and were perhaps unenthused to face the stiff challenge of Schalke this weekend. Schalke sit above Die Roten in the standings, and looked to pressure the home side early, forcing them into rash challenges and using their wingers to cause Bayern problems on the break. Both sides traded chances in the early stages of the match, but ultimately it would be Bayern who would get ahead first, with a little bit of luck. On 31′ Holger Badstuber lofted in a long ball to Miroslav Klose, whose headed effort deflected off of Kevin Kuranyi and landed at the feet of Daniel van Buyten, who duly buried it. However, Joel Matip, making his debut for Die Königsblauen, was able to cancel out the home side’s advantage with a strike of his own on 43′. The teams would go into the half level, and when they came back it was all Bayern – Louis van Gaal’s men poured forward and for the better part of the half had their visitors pinned in their own end. However, no matter what Bayern did, they were unable to find the back of the net, and both van Gaal and Felix Magath’s sides would come away from the game with a point. Bayern need to get themselves out of this current slump if they are to have any chance of keeping alive their hopes of European and domestic conquest.

Calcio:

AS Roma 1-1 Inter – I think I’ll tackle this one in its own article.

Mauro Camoranesi makes the difference for Juventus once again.

Juventus 5-2 Atalanta – It seems that when Mauro Camoranesi is on form, so is La Vecchia Signora. Forget Brazilians and expensive summer signings (and those that are one and the same); the success of Ciro Ferrara’s squad depends on the performance of the Italian international, who has been with i Bianconeri since 2002. In the case of yesterday’s game, it was Camoranesi’s brace which opened up the scoring in a 5-2 drubbing of Atalanta. Felipe Melo, Diego and David Trezeguet would account for the other 3 goals on Juventus’s part, while Valdes and Fabio Ceravolo pulled back 2 for the home side. This is a very positive result for Juve; while Atalanta generally climb to midtable at the best of times, they are nonetheless notoriously difficult to defeat at home. With Inter tying Roma and yesterday’s drubbing in Bergamo, Juve move to 5 points off of first place.

AC Milan 2-1 SS Lazio – I give Davide Ballardini until the end of the month. After the horrendous loss to Villareal in Europa League play on Thursday, Lazio needed some kind of result to break them out of a long, long losing streak. Admittedly, this revived AC Milan team are not the easiest team to achieve it against, but if they are going to do it anywhere, it would be in their Roma’s house, the Stadio Olimpico. As it can plainly be seen, they did not achieve said result. Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato both found the Lazio net with first-half goals to dash whatever hopes could still be held in the Curva Nord even before the halftime whistle. However, Lazio were handed a lifeline when Thiago Silva deflected the ball into his own net after some deft play by Mauro Zarate. After that own-goal, gli Aquilotti seriously threatened to equalize, with Tommaso Rocchi and Mauro Zarate both coming close to restoring parity. In the end though, AC Milan would grab a valuable 3 points, while Lazio return to their fortress of solitude media silence to ponder what continues to go wrong.

Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese – It took them 84 minutes, but la Viola were able to to squeak by midtable side Udinese with some help from a Juan Manuel Vargas strike. It was  night of missed chances for both sides; a race to the finish where both teams were misfiring on all cylinders. Fiorentina had the bulk of the chances, with 14 shots and 5 on target, compared to Udinese’s 7 and 2. However, only one of those shots would make a difference tonight at the Stadio Friuli, and it would be Vargas’ set-piece shot. That shot earned i Gigliati a victory which sees them only 1 point behind AC Milan in the standings, sitting comfortably in 4th place.

The headline pretty much sums it up… as headlines are wont to do. Another 4 goals for the Arsenal, another late consolation goal for our poor victims. Wanderers came out into the amped up atmosphere of Molineux and really took it to us for the first 25 minutes. Until a Arsenal went ahead, completely against the run of play on a Zubar own-goal, that is. By the time the dust had settled on the first half, Arsenal had a 3-nil lead and were as good as second in the league.

As distressing as the opening spell of the match may have been at the time, it is emblematic of a change in the Premier League over the last season or two. What we are seeing is lower-table sides resolving themselves to come out and try to play attacking football and this has favored the Arsenal so far this season. Of course, we still occasionally see a side just completely park the bus, but it is becoming a bit less common than in years past and Arsenal are taking advantage.

Of course, Wolves may have taken that a bit far in pushing for their first goal after going behind 1-nil because Arsenal’s next two goals came from lightning-quick counterattacks. I have long said that the biggest difference between the Invincibles and the current team was their desire and ability in the counterattack. There has never been a more devastating team on the break than the Arsenal side of 2002-05. Previous incarnations of the current side were so committed to an intricate passing game that they routinely passed on opportunities to counterattack, especially the 2007-08 side.

However, with Arshavin and Walcott, when healthy, this team has shown themselves much more inclined to hit teams quickly on the break. When these lesser sides have come out and tried to throw some men forward, Arsenal have been more than happy to hit back with quick and efficient counterattacks and that is a welcome change over the last few seasons.

There is no team in Europe playing more enjoyable football than Arsenal at the moment, and, even more satisfyingly, results are reflecting that. Also, Arsenal themselves play their most enjoyable football after they’ve gotten the lead. When this team goes up 2 or 3-nil, they play without so much as glancing at the handbrake with a complete freedom that is just breathtaking to behold. Even United fans are beginning to admit that Arsenal could pose a major threat to them and Chelsea, as are the pundits.

Those in the media who wrote us off after the twin defeats in Manchester are now having to reconsider. Arsenal have faced two hurdles this season, the trips to Manchester and the consecutive draws in which they lost the lead late, and have come out of both seemingly even stronger. As a side, the club seems to have matured greatly. Sure we still have a ton of youngsters but, no matter what Ronald Koeman says, this team is not inexperienced. A majority of the players have played in a Champions League and FA Cup semifinal, some have played in Champions League and Carling Cup finals, and a fair amount have been involved in run-ins for the League.

Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs both started and turned in solid performances. Fabregas continued his campaign to be considered the best player in the Premier League and van Persie also continued the type of form that has Holland ready to switch him to the kind of central role he now plays at Arsenal rather than out on the right wing, where he has regularly plied his international trade.

The depth of the team can no longer be questioned when we are walking over teams with the likes of Walcott, Vela, Bendtner, Wilshere, and Clichy out; not to mention, Denilson and Johann Djourou. When a team can be destroying numerous other Premier League sides and while being able to bring Tomas Rosicky, Alex Song, and Samir Nasri on as substitutes, the latter for the club’s number four striker, that shows a depth that cannot be matched by any other Premier League side and it has been achieved not by buying “experienced players” but simply by letting the players we had mature. Arsene was right all along… who would’ve guessed it?

The other issue from Saturday is the consolation goal. Surely, the anti-Arsenal media crowd will focus on the fact that Arsenal failed to keep a clean sheet again and talk about how we won’t win against the “big teams” by conceding goals like that. Though I have to tell you, I could care less about conceding a late goal when we’re up 3 or 4-nil. Yes, it’s nice to have a clean sheet, but the team defended well when they needed to. I would hardly expect the same concentration level from the defense when we’re 4-nil up on Wolves than when we’re even or 1-nil up on Chelsea or United.

Arsenal have now scored 2 or more goals in 9 of 11 league matches, 16 of 19 overall. We’ve scored 3 or more in 7 of 11 in the league and 10 of 19 overall. 55 goals in 19 matches, 36 in 11 league matches. These are impressive numbers. On the other hand, it is a bit worrying that we have conceded more goals than either Stoke, Fulham, or Birmingham City, but I believe our defending will get stronger as the season goes on, considering that the Gallas-Vermaelen pairing is still brand new.

And so it’s on to the international break. We’ve done all we can do and anything but a Chelsea win tomorrow means we are essentially level with the two sides, expecting that we will get a result at home to Bolton in our game-in-hand, which has been temporarily postponed due to the Carling Cup Quarterfinal with Money City at the Middle Eastlands. Even if Chelsea secure maximum points, we trail them by 5 with the game in hand and will hold second place over United with the game in hand on them as well. All we can do now is pray… for a draw tomorrow and a healthy return for all our boys from international duty.

Arsene Wenger Post-Match Press Conference

]]> http://footballendemic.com/2009/10/24/five-a-side-andrei-arshavin-is-cheap/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:53:44 +0000 tyduffy http://footballendemic.com/2009/10/24/five-a-side-andrei-arshavin-is-cheap/

Charlie Davies and Twitter, we felt like we knew him personally. (The Other Football)

Kasey Keller may play until 2011. (MLS Rumors)

FIFA introducing MRI scans to check age for U-17 World Cup. (Off the Post)

Is Ribery No Longer Part of Domenech’s Plan? (The Kartik Report)

Andrei Arshavin is cheap. (Who Ate All The Pies)

If you live in an area where it’s in theaters, go see “The Damned United.”

What you missed while napping in the cockpit arguing about airline policies…

• Wednesday: Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t interested in Igor Akinfeev. Today: Sir Alex Ferguson thinks Akinfeev is impressive. Akinfeev should expect a hand written note any day now, right?
• Andriy Arshavin doesn’t find living in London as easy as living in, I don’t know…Barcelona. Just to pull a city out of a hat, of course.
• John Terry and Jermaine Pennant are the latest two to members on the “Wow, Liverpool blows this season” bandwagon.
• After losing 4-0 to Chelsea on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid have sacked manager Abel Resino.
• Michael Ballack thinks that England should get the World Cup in 2018.
• Carles Puyol has signed a contract extension that will keep him at Barcelona until he’s 35.
• Traditional African leaders plan to sacrifice live animals to bless the World Cup site next year.
• Germany and Argentina will play a friendly match on March 3rd in Munich.

What you missed while Portsmouth was giving Harry Potter shit over his season ticket…

• Chelsea, predicatably, is requesting that their transfer ban be frozen and that they be allowed to sign players in January. That was fun while it lasted though, huh?
• Oh, and look! Pato’s open to a reunion with Ancelotti! Yay!
• Stan Kroenke has been silent about whether or not he plans on taking over Arsenal.
• Arshavin thinks Arsenal are two players shy of playing football as beautiful as Barcelona’s.
• Meanwhile, a guy who’s entire business is brokering football club takeovers is claiming that Liverpool need to be taken over. I mean, he’s right…but that’s kind of biased, no?
• As if things in the red half of Merseyside weren’t bad enough already, Andrea Dossena has started offering scouting advice to the team’s talent scouts. He also has faith that the team (i.e., “the guys who actually play the matches, unlike me”) can turn things around.
• Portsmouth chief Peter Storrie has been charged with “cheating the public revenue” over his dealings in the Amdy Faye transfer.
• Landon Donovan has won his sixth MLS Player of the Year award.

See below, as always, for match highlights and a post-match interview with Arsene Wenger.

Another multi-goal margin of victory. Another “more than two goals” tally. Another soft goal conceded. Arsenal have seemingly picked up  where they left off before the international break. Birmingham’s visit to North London proved to be an entertaining match that is open to interpretation.

Goonerholic, rightly, stressed the grittiness of the victory. This is the type of match which, in late 2007-08 and 2008-09, we would’ve been likely to concede a second goal and end up walking away having given away two points. However, and it’s a testament to the growing maturity of the side, I never really feared that we would give away an equalizer, even as we continued to push forward without qualification.

That may be just one supporter’s growing confidence in the side, but I suspect many of you felt the same way I did. Of course, there will be many who have become a bit jaded over the last couple of years that would’ve still expected such disaster but I suspect that even they are beginning to soften their pessimism.

On the other hand, this was a match which Arsenal dominated as well. We had 19 goal attempts to Birmingham’s 3 and shots on goal were 11-2. We completely dominated play until the 39th minute when Bowyer drew one back for Birmingham with their first shot on goal.

Was Mannone at fault for the goal or was he impeded? Both, I would say. The replay angle from behind the goal certainly looks like Bowyer impeded Mannone’s arms. But, at the same time, Mannone needs to be more decisive and go get the ball. His challenge should have been strong enough to withstand the minimal contact offered by Larsson.

When asked whether or not Almunia would be starting in goal on Tuesday, having recovered from the longest chest infection known to man, Arsene said, “I don’t know.” Mannone is not ready to hold down the number one spot but it appears that Wenger’s confidence in Almunia has taken a hit and I would like to see a healthy Fabianski get a run of games and a genuine chance to lay claim to the spot.

Meanwhile, Theo Walcott’s injury nightmare continues after a crunching tackle from Ridgewell. Ridgewell got the ball first but his trailing leg just demolished Walcott who fell awkwardly over the Birmingham player bent over his back. Walcott now is almost certain to miss Tuesday’s Champions League fixture at Alkmaar. He will be scanned today to determine whether his knee is just bruised or whether there is a problem with his ligament, in which case he could be out for a few weeks.

The concern over the lack of scoring by the forwards a bit earlier in the season can now be seen for what it was… useless worrying and media fear-mongering. Robin van Persie’s goal showed him and his technique at its best. He has now scored once in each of Arsenal’s last four matches and even the concerns he voiced about the need to become more comfortable as the spearhead of the 4-3-3 should be assuaged.

The third goal, and the fifth against Blackburn two weeks ago, are perhaps the most encouraging for me. Both were lightning-fast counterattacking goals. The thing that I have felt that separated this Arsenal side from the Invincibles, and even the Wenger teams before that, was the counterattack. The Invincibles were, quite simply, the greatest counterattacking side I have ever seen. They broke with pace, precision, intelligence, and creativity regularly.

In the last few years, as the play has been completely directed through Fabregas, in a deeper position than this year, and our style has become more about intricate passing, we seemed to have lost the will or initiative to counterattack in that manner. That is why it is so encouraging to see these quality counterattacks from the current side. They seem more willing to get the ball up the pitch quickly. How much of this has to do with the formation or Fabregas’s more advanced position I am not sure, but who cares?

With the personnel we have in Arshavin and Walcott, we now have the capability to be devastating in counterattacking situations in a way we were not when we had Hleb and Rosicky on the wings. Arshavin is so dangerous in a one-on-one situation from a wide position, especially when he’s running at defenders. Their reluctance to close him down in those situations is due to a fear of being embarrassed when he blows right by them. So they give him space and he can either do what he did yesterday or what he did against Blackburn.

The third goal looked easy but what made it possible was everything Arshavin has done before. The 4 goals at Liverpool, the great debut goal, and all the other stunning moments in his brief Arsenal career. Because of those, he poses a threat to defenders that is not equaled by many, if any, in the league when he is on the ball. That is what made the third goal possible… defenders’ fear.

Since September 16th, Arsenal have played 7, won 7, scored 21 goals, scored 2 or more goals 6 times, and conceded only 5. Not too bad for an immature side that was in such crisis and unable to challenge for any trophies, according to the media, following the two Manchester defeats.

I should also mention the solid matches had by Alex Song and, even, Abou Diaby. Besides for his goal, Diaby put in one of his better off-the-ball performances. Song continues to grow on a weekly basis in the holding role and the better he gets, the better the team gets. The holding role has become almost necessary in modern football but it is definitely so for Arsenal. When Flamini played it well, the club was flying. Last year, with Song just learning the position, the side struggled. The team’s maturation is tied to the development and maturation of Song as a holding midfielder.

Those who question the depth of the side should have a look at our bench yesterday. Almunia, Sagna, Silvestre, Traore, Wilshere, Ramsey, and Arshavin, with Eduardo, Nasri, and Vela besides. Depth for this side is not a problem. As long as Senderos remains, we are only troubled depth-wise when we reach the number four center-back. And even that is only because of Djourou’s long-term injury. We are most certainly deeper than Liverpool, and I would dare to say that we are also deeper than United this season. Chelsea look to have depth but that will be put to the test come January and the African Cup of Nations.

So it’s on to Holland for our Matchday 3 of the Champions League Group Stage to face Ronald Koeman’s AZ Alkmaar. Underestimating this side would be a big mistake as they are the current champions of the Dutch Eredivisie. However, should we come away with maximum points from our first three group matches, our qualification for the knockout round is all but assured.

And the biggest benefit will be that when the fixture list gets hectic, with 8 games each in December and January, we will be able to afford to rest key players in the latter part of the Group Stage.

If we beat Alkmaar and Standard Liege at home in the next two matches, we would be able to rest players for what is the most difficult fixture of the Group Stage, Olympiacos away. This would greatly play to our benefit with Liverpool away in the league only four days later.

And, so, in the week of Arsene’s 60th birthday, he is given the gift of seeing this side, which he has created from scratch and nursed for years,despite massive criticism of both himself and the players, finally maturing and approaching something resembling their potential. We’ve waited a long time for this and I believe we are finally bearing witness to the coming-of-age of this seemingly forever-young side.

Arsene Wenger Post-match Interview

]]> http://thedribzleroo.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/its-a-seedy-business/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:10:17 +0000 The Dribzleroo http://thedribzleroo.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/its-a-seedy-business/

Apologies to Ireland, Slovenia, Ukraine and Bosnia. FIFA does not want you at the World Cup in South Africa next summer. So fervent was its determination that the rules of the competition were changed midway through it with the introduction of a seeding system in the qualifying play-offs. So these four countries will take on France, Russia, Portugal or Greece for the final four spots on the road to Cape Town. Now that is as fair as O.J. Simpson’s trial. FIFA might have wanted to give France and Portugal two goal head starts in their matches but apparently, that’s too obvious!

If you haven’t realised by now (which makes you really thick-skulled), it’s purely a commercial decision by the bigwigs sitting up in their ivory tower at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Just like in the Lord of the Rings, when the evil eye at Mount Doom did not like the way things were panning out in the war, it moved to intervene. And so did Sepp Blatter and friends. But don’t tell them that the evil eye gets destroyed in the end; we don’t want to ruin the surprise at their eventual downfall.

After all, someone needs to pay for their luxury boats and homes in the Caribbean. Who is going to foot Blatter’s massage bill if the corporate sponsors are angry that not all the money-generating superstars are at the world’s biggest sporting event? Certainly not me, although I would like the massage. Not from Blatter though.

When the possibility that Franck Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrei Arshavin might be spending their summer on a beach in Dubai began to materialise, FIFA swooped down faster than Kanye West takes to interrupt an awards speech, thereby destroying whatever credibility it had left as football’s governing body. The World Cup should be an affair for the top 32 countries based on merit. It is justifiable to use the FIFA rankings when determining the initial qualifying groups, but once that kicks off, previous accolades should be thrown out the window. Current form and results is all that should matter.

When the runners-up of each group face one other for the play-offs, it should be a fair and open (in other words, unseeded) draw. Why should a country like Bosnia (which has overcome so much hardship in its troubled past to put up a commendable performance) be unfairly treated because Thierry Henry’s team didn’t have what it takes to top their group? All’s fair in love and war, but certainly not football.

I would have loved to have seen what FIFA would have done if Portugal or France had not finished runners-up in its group. There probably would have been an additional play-off spot created for the team with the tightest jersey or the most effective play until they reached the penalty box. Or even an expanded 34-team tournament!

Call me idealistic or old-fashioned. But I’ve always believed that the World Cup was where virtual unknowns burst onto the footballing stage and their agents let it be known that they were ‘honoured’ to be linked with the big clubs. Davor Suker, Jose Luis Chilavert, Tomas Brolin and Miroslav Klose wouldn’t have been household names if not for their countries’ better-than-expected outings in previous editions of the Cup. The so-called big names have flattered to deceive on the biggest stage a la France in 2002 and Spain in 2006.

Kudos to Diego Maradona, who tried to foil FIFA’s plans by doing his best to prevent Lionel Messi from booking his ticket to South Africa with ridiculous tactics and even more outrageous goal celebrations. The Argentinians squeaked past the finish line by the skin of their South American teeth. It is football blasphemy to see a team with Messi, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano and Diego Milito play so badly. You know you’re not cut out to be a coach when you make these players look so ordinary.

But a character like Maradona would be much welcomed by the sponsors. His eccentricity alone guarantees an additional few million television viewers. He’s capable of running onto the pitch and attacking the referee. I hope Alan Wiley loses some weight by then so he can run for safety. Or better yet, imagine if Argentina were to take on North Korea. Maradona would probably create a diplomatic incident of epic proportions. So whilst I think the World Cup could still go on without the big sides, we certainly need our dose of colourful characters.

Oh, by the way, no European team has ever won the World Cup when it’s held outside of Europe. So, this time, apologies to Spain, England and Italy. Lucio will be lifting the Cup for Brazil come July 2010. And Cristiano Ronaldo will be at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel by then, thinking of ways to be the centre of attention for the coming transfer market.

Well, International week has come again. The qualification stage for South Africa 2010 is soon coming to an end (and good riddance to it); although yesterday saw several dramatic matches and the final qualification matches on Wednesday should also prove exciting. As of yesterday, the following nations have qualified for the World Cup: Serbia, Germany, Denmark, England, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile. Notable exceptions include France, Argentina and Portugal – all three of these footballing powers have struggled greatly on the road to South Africa, but all three will be heartened by the results they achieved yesterday. Oh, and the fact that FIFA has decided to seed the qualification play-offs and destroy football in the process. But I digress – let’s get down to it:

Argentina 2-1 Peru – Man oh man, did Diego Maradona ever need this. Argentina’s nightmarish qualification campaign was almost drawn to a premature close yesterday but for the heroic last-ditch efforts of Martin Palermo. Palermo’s goal on 92′ cancelled out the last-ditch heroics of Peruvian substitute Hernan Rengifo, who thought he had sealed a draw for his side with his headed goal in the 89th minute. Argentina had gone ahead earlier in the game on a strike from Higuan just after the break, but Peru had thought they were going to keep the Albicelestes (who needed the win) out of the World Cup with Rengifo’s late header in the torrential downpour of Buenos Aires. However, Argentina was not willing to say die, and when the ball flashed across the mouth of the Peruvian goal just 3 minutes later, Palermo was there to bury it. A win that keeps alive both Argentina’s hopes of getting to the World Cup and Maradona’s hopes of keeping his job.

Gilardino plays last minute hero for Italia.

Italy 2-2 Republic of Ireland - Keeping with the theme of last-minute heroics are the Azzurri, who played to a 2-2 draw against Ireland in front of a crowd of over 70,000 in Dublin’s Croke Park yesterday. The Boys in Green took the lead twice in the game, and twice Italy equalized. Ireland took an early lead on 7′, with a schoolyard free kick that caught the defending Italians with their pants down and left Gigi Buffon dumbfounded. Liam Lawrence appeared to be taking the kick from out on the wing, but instead teed up an onrushing Glenn Whelan in the middle, who, unchallenged, beat Buffon with an unstoppable swerving kick. It was a beauty of a goal and a wake-up call for Lippi’s men. However, Mauro Camoranesi would make it equal on 26′ with a goal of his own, a bullet header that beat Shay Given off the end of a perfectly-placed corner kick from Andrea Pirlo. The game would remain level until 88′, when the Irish took the lead once more (on another poorly-defended set piece) with Sean St. Ledger scoring a dramatic diving header. Giovanni Trapattoni’s men thought they had the game in the bag with their 2-1 lead, but the Italians weren’t done yet, and two minutes into extra time substitute Alberto Gilardino put a slow-rolling ball past Shay Given to seal automatic qualification and send the Azzurri to South Africa next summer.

Bolivia 2-1 Brazil – Well, the Bolivians have slain another Giant. The Seleção needed only a victory in today’s match to cement their place atop the CONMEBOL standings, but Dunga’s men seemed uninterested in pursuing that goal. Instead, they started the game at a jogging pace, wary of the effects that the altitude of La Paz can have on a squad. This slow start backfired though, when the home side took the advantage in the 9th minute on a strike from Edgar Olivares. The atmospheric made possible fantastical long-range strikes, and both teams tested the other with attempts from over 30 yards. On 31′ Marcelo Martins Moreno would, incredibly, double Bolivia’s lead with a swerving strike from 25 yards that Julio Cesar was powerless to stop. In the second half the Brazilians came to life, and Nilmar would halve the home side’s lead on 70′, but the game belonged to the Bolivians. In the end it was the side who have already been eliminated from World Cup qualification that would handily defeat a squad who have long looked like probable World Cup favourites. Good Job, Bolivia!

Fair enough Cesc, fair enough.

Spain 2-1 Armenia – The Spanish had qualified for South Africa long before this weekend – but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t pursue a perfect record in their qualification campaign. Cesc Fàbregas gave his side a first-half lead with a beautifully chipped goal on 33′ – after a long build-up in possession Xavi found the streaking Arsenal man, who beat the keeper with a light touch into the far corner of the net. However, the Armenians were equal to that, and on 57′ Robert Arzumanyan equalized with his head off of a free kick. The Armenians gave a spirited performance – perhaps ultimately too spirited, as Spain’s second goal would come from a spot kick after Juan Mata was clipped in the box by keeper Roman Berezovskiy. Ultimately, not a surprising win for the Spanish – but what was surprising was how hard they had to work to earn it.

Ukraine 1-0 England – Fabio Capello’s England was another national squad looking to continue their perfect qualification record yesterday as they visited Dnipropetrovsk, in the Ukraine. The Three Lions have looked dominant ever since the Italian took over, and suffered only the first defeat of their campaign yesterday. The Ukrainians should have taken the lead on 13′, when Robert Green was sent off for his tackle on Artem Milevsky, but Andriy Shevchenko missed the ensuing spot kick. The home side would take the lead eventually, with a 29th minute long-range strike from Serhiy Nazarenko. Though England started strong, play was interrupted early by flares thrown on the pitch, and the one-two punch of Green’s sending off and Nazarenko’s strike was enough for the Ukrainians to come away with a win. The victory means that the Ukraine will likely progress to the qualification play-offs (at the expense of Croatia), while Capello’s men will have to settle for a less-than-perfect qualification campaign.

France 5-0 Faroe Islands – The French, despite having a far less perfect campaign than the English, managed to achieve a far more positive result yesterday – sealing their play-off spot with a commanding victory at the Stade du Roudourou. To be fair, the Faroe Islands aren’t the most imposing of European competitors, and it was nothing short of expected that the French cruised to an easy victory yesterday. Gignac André-Pierre opened the scoring in the first half with a brace not five minutes apart, and William Gallas, Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema would all add their names to the scoresheet in the second. Despite the imbalance in the scoreline, Faroese keeper Jakup Mikkelsen put in a strong performance, and the final result would have been even more lopsided without the heroic efforts he made for his nation. The victory could not stop Serbia from clinching the top spot in Group 7, but nevertheless, Raymond Domenech’s men have ensured that their qualification campaign will not end prematurely with their match against Austria on Wednesday.

Seeding means more of this. Pure evil, I say.

Portugal 3-0 Hungary – Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. have progressed one step closer to a spot in the qualification play-offs with their commanding victory over Hungary yesterday. Portugal have long been underachievers in Group 1, and only recently have begun to look like a squad fit to participate in the World Cup. Portugal took the lead in the 17th minute as Simão buried a rebound after Hungarian keeper Gabor Babos intercepted Cristiano Ronaldo’s low cross but couldn’t hang on to it. Hungary had an opportunity to equalize on 39′, when Balazs Dzsudzsak cut in from the right flank to fire on goal – his low shot missed just wide of the goalpost. Liedson doubled Portugal’s lead on 73′ with a direct header that just barely beat Babos, who punched it away but couldn’t stop it from crossing the goal line. Simão returned just minutes later to bag his brace and seal Hungary’s doom with a classy volley that was borne out of a botched clearance. Portugal needs only defeat Malta on Wednesday to make the play-offs – and with FIFA implementing their new seeding policy for the play-off rounds, it looks like we will surely be seeing Cristiano Ronaldo in World Cup play next year.

The other Poulsen's still a douche, though.

Denmark 1-0 Sweden – It was a late goal from Jakob Poulsen which saw Denmark secure their place atop Group 1 and book their spot in South Africa next year. Sweden looked strong coming into the match, with Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic causing all sorts of trouble for the Danish backline – but ultimately the Danes held their ground and Poulsen’s long-range strike on 78′ was enough to see them past the Swedes. Both Thomas Sorensen and Andreas Isaksson looked impressive between the uprights for their respective sides, and prevented the scoreline from being much more dramatic. Sweden will need to beat Albania and Portugal to lose or draw to Malta Wednesday if they are to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

Germany 1-0 Russia – Guus Hiddink’s men were looking to usurp Germany at the top of Group 4 yesterday at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The Russians needed a win if they were to have even the opportunity to bypass the play-off round and qualify automatically for South Africa. Despite a hard-fought performance from the Russians, it would be Miroslav Klose’s lone goal on 34′ which ultimately separated the sides. Russia looked at times to be the better and more creative side, with Vladimir Bystrov and Andrei Arshavin creating many chances but ultimately failing to capitalize upon them – heroic efforts from German keeper Rene Adler didn’t help their cause. Jerome Boateng’s sending off on 69′ spelled trouble for Joachim Löw’s men, but they were able to hold off the home side for the last 20 minutes despite being down a man. Yesterday’s victory sees Die Mannschaft seal their position atop Group 4 and book their place via automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup.

Mission accomplished, Didier.

Côte d’Ivoire 1-1 Malawi – Les Éléphants became just the second African side (discluding South Africa) to qualify for the World Cup yesterday via a 1-1 draw with Southeast African side Malawi. Both goals in the match were scored within a brief period in the second half, with Jacob Ngwira giving his side the lead on 64′ and Didier Drogba equalizing on 67′. The Ivorians have reached the second consecutive World Cup in their history due largely to the strength of the Chelsea hitman.

Okay, it wasn’t quite that many… but if the game had gone long enough we might have gotten there eventually. And if we had, Cesc would have probably assisted on 3,990 of them. I would be a vain writer indeed to think that I could come up with some kind of superlative or plaudit that I haven’t already read in the hours since the match. So I may as well repeat them… but, hopefully, in a different order. A goal and four assists is an incredible tally. Even more incredible is that in six league matches this season he has now recorded 4 goals and 8 assists. That is absolutely insane.

Was it, as The Sun wrote, the best game of his Arsenal career? It very may well have been. But it wasn’t the most important and he stated that clearly after the match when he said it was “just another game in the race to the title.” A captain leads by example and there can be no doubt about whether or not his teammates have faith in him or about his commitment to the club following that emphatic celebration that surely made every Gooner smile as widely as they have in awhile.

After a 1-nil win over Almeria yesterday, Thierry Henry was in London to see his daughter and they made their way to the Emirates where he came onto the pitch before kickoff to a standing ovation. What he witnessed was an Arsenal team as devastating in attack on the day as any that Henry ever played in. The fact that Robinson had a good enough performance to earn a call-up by Capello despite conceding six goals says it all concerning Arsenal’s attack.

Big Sam wants to whine about the foul that was not given on Dunn but Arsenal had a far less questionable penalty not given as well on Gallas in the dying minutes. His team conceded the lead twice, what makes him think they would have held it a third time especially considering the way we were playing?

Do I have to mention the defense at this point? I guess so. The writer doing the Guardian minute-by-minute said that if you can score six who cares if you let in two. I wouldn’t go quite that far. For me, even though Vermaelen lost the header, the first goal is down to Mannone’s positioning. He got himself caught in no-man’s land. Either come for it or stick the line, he did neither and paid the price. The second came from a deflection though at the end of a break in which Arsenal should not have been caught short-handed. The one statistic that is a bit worrying is that out of 38 attempted clearances we failed on 18 of them. We also lost half our tackles on the day.

In all the coronations of Cesc, Rosicky’s first league start seems a bit obscured. He had a fantastic match and already looks very sharp. His link-up play with Cesc was superb and the cross he delivered to Cesc from the outside of his boot was just sublime. I could go on for another 2000 words with words like these but you’ve all seen the match. Add to that the scoring returns by Bendtner and Walcott and you have the perfect way to go into an international break.

Funnily, you don’t hear anyone even mentioning Adebayor now that the club has scored 24 goals in its first 7 league matches. And you don’t hear anyone bemoaning the loss of Toure when you have Vermaelen, not only defending well, but also scoring 5 goals in his first 11 matches with the club.

Pundits were quick to write Arsenal off after the two Manchester defeats, and they will probably now try to deny that they had. But you cannot write this side off.

Will the defense get exposed against the other big 4 sides? Possibly. Can Arsenal continue to score goals at this pace? Probably not. But there is clearly something special here; a bubble just waiting to burst.

I believed the side was on-track after the 2007/08 season despite the disappointing finish. However, dealing with those unexpected key departures meant another short adjustment period would be inevitable and that was last season.

Now, with almost everyone healthy, the new formation in full swing, and a strong spirit and confidence running through the side, anyone who says Arsenal can’t challenge for the title are fools. Plain and simple.

Only big games folks – you know the drill:

Football:

Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn - Not to be outdone by Liverpool and Tottenham’s high-scoring performances last weekend, the Gunners responded with a blowout of their own in which six different players appeared on the scoresheet. Thomas Vermaelen, Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Nick Bendtner all netted for the Londoners; while David Dunn and Steven N’Zonzi scored for the visitors – N’Zonzi giving his side an early lead in the 4th minute. An important win for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and a result which puts them ahead of rivals Liverpool with a game in hand.

"Please, please - it's only Liverpool."

Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool – For a match that was touted in the days leading up to it as all-important and due to be a spectacular showdown of two top-notch Premiership sides, neither Liverpool nor Chelsea were able to make an impact upon the early stages of the game. Both sides looked tentative and unwilling to leap headfirst into the match – the sides would remain even until the 60th minute, when a Nicolas Anelka strike put the blues ahead. The wind was more or less taken out of the Merseysiders’ sails at this point, though Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun did all they could to equalize (the latter missing a late sitter which should have brought his side level). However, the the Scousers’ fate was sealed by Florent Malouda on 91′, as Chelsea proved that all it takes to win in the English Premier League are French strikers and an Italian manager.

Manchester Utd 2-2 Sunderland – As usual when things go wrong at Old Trafford, the blame for Manchester United’s draw against  lowly Sunderland was all the fault of the match official – if we’re to believe Sir Alex Ferguson’s side of the story. Ferguson lashed out at referee Alan Wiley after the match, questioning his physical condition and claiming he did not add on enough stoppage time at the end of the second half. However, I think it is a bit ludicrous to blame United’s perhaps disappointing result on anyone but themselves. Goals from Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones (on either side of a classy volley from Dimitar Berbatov) had seen the Black Cats go ahead of the home side at Old Trafford, but the visitors’ luck began to turn when Kieran Richardson was sent off for poor sportsmanship in the 84th minute. Things went from bad to worse when, on 92′, Anton Ferdinand deflected Patrice Evra’s long-range effort into the back of his own net – earning a not-quite-deserved draw from a United who had looked hapless and disorganize all throughout the match. Who would’ve thought that the Black Cats could be so unlucky?

Fußball:

FC Köln 0-0 Bayern Münich – This match has been called the most boring game of the Bundesliga played yet this year – and not just by me. Die Roten played almost the exact same squad they utilized in their midweek draw against Juventus – the only change being for Arjen Robben, who picked up an injury in that Champions League match, thus forcing the hand of Louis van Gaal. The fans at the Allianz Arena were treated to a game riddled with fouls and choppy play – game broadcasts panned over the stands at halftime to find fans fast asleep. I am not exaggerating. While Bayern could barely get an attack started, the dull play was not entirely their fault – Köln seemed content to park the bus in front of their goal, not playing a single player upfield and holding the home side to a nil-nil draw. Dull stuff from Deutschland, I’m afraid.

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Nürnberg - Elsewhere in Der Vaterland, goals were scored, and in fact scored aplenty. Keverkusen hit hard and early, taking control of the match at the BayArena with a fantastic set piece goal from Toni Kroos on 2′, followed by a spot kick by Simon Rolfes on 28′ and a strike from Erin Derdiyok on 34′ to round out the first half. In the second half the home side eased up on the throttle a little, but not enough for Nürnberg to bounce back, and not enough to stop Stephan Riessling from scoring his league-leading 6th goal of the season. A win that sees Bayer seated atop the Bundesliga table, separated by goal difference from Northern side Hamburg SV.

Hamburg SV 3-1 Hertha Berlin – Speak of the devil – Hamburg also pulled off a win this weekend, defeating Hertha in their own house at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Hertha took an early lead thanks to an Arne Friedrich header in the 9th minute, but after an own goal from Claudiano Bezerra Da Silva equalized, Hamburg added two more of their own to go up 3-1 before the half. Neither side managed to add to that tally in the second half and so Hamburg comes away with a victory that (as mentioned) sees them second in the Bundesliga behind Bayer Leverkusen. David Jarolim and Ze Roberto netted for the away side.

Calcio:

"Gee Rob... my bad."

AS Roma 2-1 Napoli – Francesco Totti is trying to get Roberto Donadoni fired. Donadoni’s Napoli have had a miserable start to the season – a positive result at the Stadio Olimpico today might have gone towards convincing Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis that the manager was worth keeping around. Unfortunately for the ex-Azzurri boss, Roma came out strong, with Simone Perrotta and John-Arne Riise missing a pair of early chances that should have put i Lupi easily ahead of their struggling opposition. However, it would be Napoli who would ultimately strike first – after Roma keeper Julio Sergio was substituted for injury, his replacement Bogdan Lobont was beaten by Ezequiel Lavezzi’s low shot on 25′. However, Roma weren’t about to let their bright start be ruined, and equalized on 37′ with a ball that started at the feet of Mirko Vucinic, but was redirected by Perrotta and then (who else?) Francesco Totti into the back of the Napoli goal. Totti would strike again in the second half with a low shot from some distance against which Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis never stood a chance. Er Pupone’s brace was enough to see his side clear of the visitors and put Roberto Donadoni’s job in serious danger. Sorry Rob; nothing personal eh?

Inter 2-1 Udinese – A last-gasp win for i Nerazzurri which, combined with other events to have transpired this weekend, sees Jose Mourinho’s men sitting atop the table for the first time this season. The game was played at a lightning pace straight from the outset, with Sulley Muntari and Simone Pepe spurning early chances. Dejan Stankovic gave the home side a lead on 22′ at the San Siro, only for the on-fire Antonio Di Natale to equalize not 5 minutes later. Both teams would have plenty of opportunities – though a combination of Sulley Muntari’s lack of aim and Samir Handanovic’s goaltending ability saved Udinese on several occasions. However, it would be Inter who would take home the full spoils, as Wesley Sneijder’s 93rd minute strike gave La Beneamata a late, late victory.

"Did I look worried?"

Palermo 2-0 Juventus – Many thanks to il Rosanero for keeping my claims of the Year of the Underdog alive. The Sicilian side absolutely dismantled Juventus, who have been flying high in Serie A of late, and shown them their first defeat of the season to prevent i Bianconeri from rising to the top of the table. It took a pair of first-half strikes in quick succession to slay La Vecchia Signora, who despite pouring on pressure lacked creativity in the final third of the pitch and were ultimately unable to prevent a defeat at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. Edinson Cavani and Fabio Simplicio were the heroes for the home side, with their goals on 37′ and 42′ respectively proving a hurdle too difficult for Juventus to overcome. All in all, a fantastic win for Palermo which sees them rise to a comfortable midtable standing – and which no doubt allowed Walter Zenga a breath of relief after a stuttering start to the season. An impressive and deserved win for the Sicilian side.

AC Milan 1-1 Atalanta - I have never seen a side so bereft of confidence or direction as the Milan squad which played in the first half of today’s match in Bergamo. Milan were constantly found on the back heel in what is becoming their typical fashion -Gennaro Gattuso charged around like a tank, the strikers had no service, and Andrea Pirlo looked like a shadow of his former self. L’Altri Nerazzurri, as I like to call them, were often the aggressors in the first half and star man Cristiano Doni looked like a legitimate threat to the Milan goal every time the ball was at his feet. In fact, it would be lowly Atalanta who would take the lead in the match, after Simone Tiribocchi buried a ball left for him (perhaps accidentally) by Doni. The goal was borne out of a gross defensive error, as Alessandro Nesta had left Tiribocchi completely unmarked, but nonetheless Atalanta was on top and deservedly so. However, Atalanta would be dealt a crushing blow on 38′, when Ivan Radovanovic was handed a second yellow card for laying hands on Alexandre Pato. For my own part, I had initially thought it was a straight red card, and was seriously questioning whether match-fixing was still alive and well in the Italian game. Ultimately, the card was harsh, but not to the extent that I’d imagined – though it certainly turned the match around and gave i Rossoneri the chance to go on the attack. After the halftime break, the momentum had decidedly been reversed, and it was AC Milan who were on the offensive. Atalanta did all they could to stay ahead in the game, but Ronaldinho’s volley on 83′ inevitably earned the visitors an equalizer. One more thing: Klaas Jan Huntelaar failed to make his mark in the first half, and was substituted early in the second. How is a young striker supposed to build up confidence when he is constantly substituted in what are essentially votes of no confidence from his coach? Just an example of poor man-management from Leonardo, and perhaps another example of why Milan needs to secure themselves a replacement for the disappointing Brazilian tactician.

Futbol:

Sevilla 2-1 Real Madrid – I feel vindicated by this result. I’ve been saying since the shiny new Real Madrid started tearing up La Liga (and Champions League) that when Los Blancos finally found themselves up against an opponent capable of mounting a serious defense, Manuel Pellegrini’s men would find themselves shut down and unable to account for it. Well, it appears that it is Sevilla who was that squad, as Real visited the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán and suffered their first loss of the season. Madrid were unable to create chances and it was Sevilla who controlled tonight’s match. Jesus Navas gave the home side the lead on 32′, which would stand until Pepe equalized early in the second half. However, Renato would see that Sevilla took all three points from Los Galacticos with a goal on 66′. Perhaps the reason for this defeat can be traced back to the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, but for the successes of a team which cost hundreds of millions of euros to assemble to ride on the back of a singular player just reveals the shaky foundation upon which this new Galacticos era has been built.

Barcelona 1-0 Almeria – Oh, and Barcelona beat another relatively small team. Spanish youngster Pedro scored the only goal of the match at the Camp Nou.

This week saw the annual release of the club’s financial reports (The full report may be downloaded here). After much speculation for the last six months, especially from groups with their own agendas (i.e., Red & White Holdings, the media, and “Arsene Out!” supporters), we can finally see the true state of the club’s finances. Here are the basic highlights:

Our group turnover, being the money the club has generated before expenses, has risen significantly over last season (£90m), though this is mostly due to revenue generated from completed sales involving the Highbury property. Increased matchday revenue, due to progressing to progessing to the semifinals of both the Champions League and the FA Cup, went from £94.6m last season to £100.1m this season.

The club is generating over £3m in revenue each matchday. As you can see our profits before tax were £45m and after tax came to £35.2m. This is a very healthy increase of £9.5m over last season. Here is how our turnover is broken down between the football and property sides of the company:

So you can see that, despite the increased numbers due to the one-time sales of 445 of the 655 Highbury Square apartments, the football business itself increased its turnover and profit. According to Forbes magazine, in an article published this past April, Arsenal are the third-most valuable football club in the world behind only Manchester United and Real Madrid.

As far as wages go, our wage bill now stands at £104m, up from £101.3m last year. This represents 46% of our football revenues. It also puts us near the very top of the Premier League in regards to wage bills. Chelsea, obviously, lead the way with a wage bill of £172m while United come second with £121m. Liverpool remains in the low £90m range.

Contrary to propaganda, Arsenal pay far better than competitive wages. It is only that instead of blowing that money on new signings, they handsomely reward those current players that have already shown their loyalty and commitment to the club.

The other question regarding our finances is, of course, the debt. So let’s see how that breaks down:

What does that mean? Well, our stadium debt is down to £244.9m after repayment of £5.3m this year. This loan was refinanced in 2006 leading to the very favorable fixed rate of 5.3% and is payable over 20-22 years.

As you can see, for a club with £99.6m in cash reserves and a profit of £35m, the money needed to service the debts is easily handled by the club and in no way hampers or limits the club’s overall finances or operations.

Contrary to pundits and disgruntled fans who continue to say “Arsenal is so deep in debt because of their stadium that they can’t buy any players,” you can see that is just not the case. Arsenal have money on hand and are in no way hampered by the stadium loan since it generates far more revenue per year than the amount it takes to service the debt. In fact, the reality is the opposite. Arsenal’s current and future financial situation have been greatly enhanced by the building of the stadium.

Of course, this may frustrate some people even more to know that Arsene has cash available and yet “refuses” to spend. I would argue with this characterization. Just because the manager doesn’t buy as many players as some supporters would like, it doesn’t mean he “refuses” to spend.

In the last sixteen months, Arsenal have brought in Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey, Thomas Vermaelen, and Andrei Arshavin. These are significant transfers of players of real quality, and, while some may wish for more in that vein, you cannot deny that Arsene has brought in players.

ARSENAL SHARES

In other financial news this week, Stan Kroenke bought 80 more shares at £8,500 each. From my point-of-view, this is a satisfactory development. Kroenke continuing to buy shares in the club is an obvious buffer to a Red & White takeover. Kroenke now holds 28.7% of the shares in the club, just 1.2% away from the percentage that would force him to launch a takeover bid.

Of course, even if Kroenke reaches 30%, the club and shareholders are not required to sell. I believe that Kroenke has no interest in an Uzbek-style takeover in the club and, while I know many are not happy about an American being such a big shareholder, he is by far the lesser of two evils and poses no real threat to the club.

The very positive financial reports really cast a dim light on Red & White’s tactics over the summer and the motives behind their proposed rights issue. Red & White would have people believe, and it seems to have worked on the pundits and some supporters, that Arsenal cannot compete financially with other clubs at all.

As you can see from the numbers above, this is absolutely not true. Arsenal are the third-richest club in the world and as the stadium and property debt continues to decrease so will our profits increase by the same amount.

The fact is that Red & White have tried to mislead the supporters to help their own cause. Considering the characters involved, this should come as no surprise. Whether or not Arsene spends the money, the fact remains that the money is there if necessary, as the Board, Arsene, and Ivan Gazidis have said all along.

Of course, this won’t stop those prone to conspiracy theories, but, for those of us with half a brain, there is no need to listen to Red & White or the pundits regarding Arsenal’s financial situation, when we can see it for ourselves.

NOTE: For previous takes on the Red & White situation see “Gooners Stalked By Delusional Fat Guy” and “The Good and Bad Legacy of David Dein.” Also, for the view of the Arsenal’s Supporter Trust, check out Arseblog’s interview with Tim Payton on this week’s Arsecast.

Nicklas Bendtner received praise from his manager but the backhanded kind, just to keep the Dane’s self-confidence in check. Arsene said:

Since the beginning of the season I’m very happy with him. So far he has played in many games, performed and improved. He is a player who will improve every year. Nicklas is a good size and is a very pacy player considering his size. He has an intelligent game with good vision. He needs to improve his movement and his finishing. And he will do that.

Not so long ago, Bendtner was observing that he was not a right winger and wanted to play centrally. As well as fulfilling the needs of the team, playing as the wide man of a front three gives Bendtner an appreciation of the movement required in this formation. It does not preclude him from being in the middle when attacks build which he will understand over time.

Tomorrow represents the chance for him to exorcise a ghost of last season, the visit of Blackburn was one of those days where nothing went right for him in front of goal as chance after chance went begging. The strength of his self-belief was evident as the continued disappointments did not stop him from being in a position to try again.

Most of those chances were created by Andrey Arshavin, who received effusive praise from Arsene:

He has something specific to him that he uses well – a low centre of gravity, great pace and tricky dribble. He uses all that he has in the locker in an intelligent way

Elevating Arshavin to the status of a great seemed all but certain until the manager put a spanner in the works by claiming that he would not be considered one until silverware adorned the trophy cabinet. Which in some respects is true but puts a material value against a player’s contribution. An all-time great at the club is not necessarily the one who wins the most medals but he should certainly be the one who makes the difference.

On the subject of greats, Arsene clarified a media misperception from earlier in the week. Thierry Henry was hailed as Wenger’s successor in the back pages following Wenger’s comments about his legacy at the club. Yesterday, he elaborated to include the back four of Adams, Bould, Winterburn and Dixon. The latter two of that quartet show little inclination to join the managerial merry-go-round, comfortable on the pundits sofa. At least they are not cavilling their way to infamy as so many of their ‘peers’ do.

As a player, Adams seemed the most likely to succeed in the hotseat. Managing has not worked out for him and as a pundit his despondent cerebrality casts a shadow which, if shown on the training ground, would explain why he has not made the grade. Bould meanwhile appears to be the most likely to become a manager, producing talented youngsters who are making a decent career for themselves.

Turning players into managers does not seem to be Wenger’s forte. He appears to be a convincing role model for them to use as coaches, the opposite of Ferguson whose former charges turn to management with varying degrees of success. A great player does not necessarily become a good manager. Arguably great managers are more likely to have been mediocre players, their perceived failure at that level driving them onto greater things. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and a number of players have jumped into top jobs around the globe without any real inkling as to why, other than their reputations. Henry would perhaps be the most surprising of the lot were to take that route.

As a player, his persona on the pitch was temperamental in a moody sense. Yet he was a dominant personality in the dressing room which is perhaps what would be needed to make that leap straight away. That Wenger’s retirement appears to be as far away as it was five years ago will no doubt influence his succession. The suggestion is that a Champions League winners medal is going to be a requirement before he does finally hang up his tracksuit.

’til Tomorrow.

Does anyone really need any commentary on last night’s 2-nil victory over Olympiakos? It was just pure, absolute domination for 90 minutes. Olympiakos registered only one true scoring opportunity but Mannone came up trumps when called upon not long after the restart.

As the match was getting into the later stages and it looked like it might be one of those nights when Arsenal just can’t get the ball to actually cross the goalline, I was thinking to myself that, if this match finished scoreless, it would’ve been the most one-sided nil-nil draw I had ever seen.

The Greek keeper, Nikopolidis, had what was likely the match of his life as he kept out shot after shot dealing with what was essentially a barrage of scoring opportunities for the Arsenal. It really did look like one of those nights.

However, Eduardo continues to show that he can be just as important and productive for the side when played wide left as when he is played down the middle. This is the second time this season that we’ve seen him make a great run with the ball in the box and get to the touchline and cut the ball back for an assist.

Robin van Persie’s 79th minute-goal broke the deadlock and Arsenal really began to turn on the style then. A great sequence of passes led to the second goal for Arshavin from a very slick backheel, even if he did appear to be offside. But, in truth, even a 2-nil scoreline flatters the entire Olympiakos side except for Nikopolidis.

This being our first European match at the Emirates since that semifinal disaster against United, the result and performance were highly encouraging. Arsenal have now fully recovered from the disasters in Manchester a few weeks back, having outscored their last four opponents 9-nil in two Premier League matches, one Carling Cup match, and last night’s Champions League match. Arsenal are now three points clear of Olympiakos at the top of Group H.

We really cannot underestimate the importance of four consecutive clean-sheets in three competitions. The City match was an anomaly and I have to say that I am really pleased, and a bit surprised, at how effective the new partnership has become so quickly.

But it’s not just as a partnership. Gallas looks even better than he did during the few months before his season-ending injury last campaign. For me, it has to be down to confidence. Toure was never a true centerback and it’s obvious that Gallas never had full confidence in his partner. With Vermaelen it’s there and each knows that the other will be there to cover for him.

In other news, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere both played 60 minutes in a specially-arranged Reserves fixture against the Olympiakos Reserves yesterday, which saw the home side win 3-1. Walcott assisted, from the right, on Gilles Sunu’s opening goal and, of course, you can get a full report on the match from Young Guns.

Well, that’s it. We seem to have come through the match without picking up any serious knocks. Rosicky looked sharp and has walked right back into the side looking as if he’s never been away, which is interesting because the last time he played it was a completely different formation with different personnel. That just shows his overall class and quality as a footballer. Rosicky staying healthy could be one of the biggest keys to our season.

Arsenal now sit atop their Champions League group, are six points off the Premier League leaders but with a game in hand and are through to the fourth-round of the Carling Cup having drawn Liverpool at home. Not bad for a club in crisis…

This has been achieved without Walcott, until now without Rosicky and Vela, and without Samir Nasri. Most Premier League sides would kill for four players of that quality going forward and yet we remain within striking distance of the top despite missing them.

The two losses in a row at Manchester made it look like there was something wrong at the club but those were two incredibly tough away fixtures. And the scheduling made it look worse than it was. If we had lost to United in September and then City away in February, there would have been no “crisis.”

Also, it’s not as if we went up there and completely tanked two matches. We were by far the better side against United and were unlucky to come away from Middle Eastlands with nothing.

By bouncing back straight away from those results, the team has shown character and determination and I believe we have recovered some of the team spirit that was lost last season, for many reasons. When we regain full fitness, I believe this team will be determined to push on from last season and I just smile when I see the so-called “pundits” writing us off because they do so at their own peril.