Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Man Utd 2-1 Tottenham
Portsmouth 0-1 Aston Villa

Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Blackburn 0-3 Chelsea
Man City 1-2 Arsenal

By Joe, www.Bettingexpert.com

Adebayor created all the headlines for the wrong reason in the recent tie. Could he be back with some more?

Midweek football and this time it’s the quarterfinals for the Carling Cup. Arsenal will travel to Manchester City Wednesday evening in order to fight it out for a place in the semifinal. Both sides have recently distant themselves from the Premiership title and it looks likely they will have to find some silverware this season elsewhere.

Manchester City reached the quarterfinals by beating Scunthorpe 5-1 at home in the last round. A few of their key players played that night, Stephan Ireland, Carlos Tevez and Lescott were presented that night. Manager Mark Hughes will most likely deploy a more or less first eleven with a few bench players given a rare start like Roque Santa Cruz. The Saudi own club wants to win all the silverware they can get this season and the League Cup could be their realistic target for now.

The Gunners will have to find their spirits in order to overcome one of the richest clubs in England. They lost 3-0 in the weekend to Chelsea at the Emirates and the title hopes could have also dashed as Manager Arsene Wenger further complained about his injury list causalities. Wenger will be sticking to his policy in fielding his youngest so expect players like Vela, Eduardo, Denilson, Walcott, Ramsey and Fabianksi to start. Arsenal excels in the Carling Cup and they can’t be underestimated in this competition.

The dilemma lies with Manchester City’s boss, does he field a strong team and get embarrassed by Arsenal under-18 team or field a weaker side and lose to the Gunners? Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 to get the quarterfinals so whoever Wenger fields on the day could well do the job. The Gunners youngsters are well hungry for some silverware and the question for the City, are you? The last time these two teams met in the Carling Cup at the Manchester City stadium, Arsenal won 2-1 and advance through to the next round.

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Carling Cup Quarter´s live !

Man Utd v Tottenham, kick-off 20:00 dec the 1st

Man City v Arsenal, kick-off 19:45 dec the 2nd

both matches are available with free live sttreaming , so don´t miss any action from the Carling Cup !

Last Englishman Not Standing

There’s another new name added to the injury list after the conclusion of the England U-21 game last night when Kieran Gibbs limped out of the game after just 20 odd minutes. I do not know for sure the extend of his injury but if it really is a broken metatarsal, it would mean April or May as his return date, which will also effectively mean an early end to what was supposed to be a promising season for me. I’ve seen many others during Wenger’s time that shone for a couple of months but succumbed to injury and was never to be seen again. I hope this is not the case with Gibbs.

It’s a big blow to the young English boy who I thought could really show the world his talent now that the first choice left back, Gael Clichy is also out injured for a long period of time. This was suppose to be 10 – 20 consecutive first team games for him but fate took an unfortunate turn. Perhaps now, even small tiny hope that he has to make Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad is finally diminished. He shouldn’t be too dispirited though as time is very much on his side.

If anything, this injury will not impact Arsenal as much as RVP’s one. Left back is the one position which Wenger is well-stocked in. Besides the aforementioned Clichy, there’s also Silvestre and Traore that would be an immediate replacement. Other than those two, we also could play Vermaelen there (as he normally operates for Ajax), Eboue is not alien to that role and neither is Sagna. Wenger has stated before that he will not mess with the centerback pairing which leaves us with the French duo.

Silvestre will offer the stability in terms of defense but I doubt his weary legs can anything further forward. Maybe on set-pieces but definitely not any foraging runs. His pace at this age is also suspect. So, if we do play against opposition with pacy wingers like Valencia of Man United. Other than that I have no complains. He is definitely not my favourite player in the team but with him in the team we could have 3 central defenders when defending against set-pieces.

Meanwhile Traore offers something similar to Gibbs. His loan spell last season at Portsmouth saw him being deployed usually as a left winger, so it’s safe to say that his pace and trickery on the ball will give us an outlet on the left. However it’s been a while since he has played in the left back position. Even during the 3rd round Carling Cup tie against West Brom, he was in the midfield role and not as a left back. Just like Gibbs, his concentration may wander, which could be harmful if the ball is played over his head.

However there’s really nothing to lose by unleashing Traore. His pace alone allows him the chance to recover quickly even when the opponent is through. Potentially, he could still blossomed into a very good player while Silvestre is on a downhill trek from the peak. Sunderland will be a good start.

Then again, Eddie Murphy wannabe Eboue could easily fill the slot as well.

Finally there is an official statement from the club on the extend of RVP’s injury and it’s 6 weeks. That’s a total of 11 matches that the Dutchman will miss. 8 Premier League games, 2 Champions League games and 1 Carling Cup game (which I doubt he will feature in anyway). That spate of matches includes Sunderland (A), Std Liege (H), Chelsea (H), Man City (A), Stoke (H), Olympiakos (A), Liverpool (A), Burnley (A), Hull (H), Villa (H) and Portsmouth (A). Of the entire sequence, the squad should be able to win the rest while I would’ve prefer RVP still to be available for the 2 crunch games against Chelsea and Liverpool.

With that there ends RVP’s on-pitch involvement in 2009. As I look back over the last 10 months ++, it has been resoundingly his most successful one yet. After the horrendous injuries after injuries, RVP never got the chance to cement his place in the first team even with the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp and the departure of Thierry Henry. But he took his chances with both hands last season and gave Wenger the reward his faith deserves. Many questioned Wenger’s choice when RVP was first unveiled as a new signing. An unproven and slight winger from Rotterdam and seemed to court more trouble off the pitch than most. However, once again Wenger proved his ability to spot talent was second to none. RVP was very raw when he first arrived but has since did his part by first bulking up and then learning to take care of his body.

By my book, RVP will return at the start of 2010 in the FA Cup third round, not much dissimilar to the Eduardo comeback last season in the same competition. In a way, this short period of rest will also do him no harm what with the World Cup looming in the horizon. It will help to recharge his battery cells and help him through what would be the next 1.5 years of non-stop football.

Which brings us to the next burning question. Will Arsenal still be in the fight on all fronts when RVP returns from his injury? I sure hope we would be. The Carling Cup aside, we have more or less secured our place in the knockout round of the Champions League, which leaves us with only the Premier League to focus on. Another man’s loss is another man’s gain. Eduardo is set to benefit the most from this unfortunate ankle injury of RVP. Not since 2 years ago have we witness Eduardo in continuous starting line-ups for Arsenal. That was when the Brazilian was in the form of his life when everything he touched turns into a goal. One would hope that the sequence of games that he will prominently feature in will help him recapture back that form that made him one of the most fearsome striker in the league.

Eduardo’s presence in the line-up will offer something diverse from what we have been accustomed to thus far this season. I do not expect him to challenge and win headers or drop deep to initiate attacks but with him in the side, it somewhat frees Arshavin and Nasri/Rosicky to drive for the byline and try to get something into the box. This will be where Eduardo is at his predator-ious best. Provided there is an oppourtunity within the confined space of the penalty box, Eduardo is bound to be lurking there. His knack of being there at the right time is incredible as seen in Croatia demolition of Liechtenstein last Saturday.

With Bendtner, Walcott and Vela waiting in the wings, Wenger is not short of option on RVP’s replacement. Tactics may have to change but one thing’s for sure, we will definitely be thereabouts when the Dutchman returns (I hope).

Hello again. First things first, I apologize if you’ve been checking in and find that there’s no new post or update on the blog (Who am I kidding?, I wonder how many do actually follow my postings?) But if you have, then the only reason I can give is that there is really nothing to update. The international break is really sucking the life out of football bloggers. More so when no Arsenal player made any comment worth taking note.

Ever since the victory at Molineux, the main propaganda that the media has outlined is the possibility that Arsenal will break the 100-goals barrier in a season. This comes after 36 goals scored in the first 11 matches this season. I won’t deny it, this is a very positive point with the goals being shared all over the pitch with RVP the charge with 7 goals already while Fabregas, Arshavin, Vermaelen, Gallas and Diaby following suit. Each with 6, 4, 4, 3 and 3 respectively. Meanwhile Fabregas leads the assist chart with 10 and RVP the closest one with 7. From here it’s easily deduce that Fabregas and RVP are the vital cogs in the current Arsenal squad.

I’m all for attacking and beautiful football but it should not come at a price of conceding. Yes, we may eventually end up with well over 100 goals in the Premiership but it will count for nought if we also ended up conceding needlessly. If we propagate and expand the scores, then we might end up with 124 goals but also conceding 48 goals along the way. Now you don’t need to be a genius to know that no one finishes as champions by shipping out 48 goals in a season. While the final score may look nice with the final margin of 2 or 3 goals, it still worries me that we concede the consolation goal to the opposition.

In only 5 home games, we have conceded 4 goals. That’s almost a goal a game. Clean sheet is beginning to look like a rarity for Arsenal these days. A friend of mine thought, in the aftermath of Craddock’s headed goal, that there seem to be some kind of conspiracy against Arsenal keeping a blank score in the goal conceded column. He may be on to something there but I would prefer to think that it is just the collective approach of the squad in general.

With a commanding lead of 3 or 4 goals, there is no need to chase the game. All we have to do is play keep ball and if we do venture forward in search of the next one, the players themselves must realise the responsibility of defending. Do not overcommit simply because we are not chasing the game. If the strikers in RVP, Arshavin or whoever’s playing the Bendtner’s position wants to have a go, then by all means do. The 3 midfielders’ first and only task is to protect the backline. Too often has this happened for it not to be noticed. Not only Diaby is to be blamed in most cases, but sometimes the captain himself also commit the same mistake.

Wenger said that this group of players are the most creative he ever has. Perhaps he is right. The many different scorers and ammunition suppliers have provided him the impetus to make such a claim. But perhaps the time is also nigh for Wenger to have a closer look at the defensive line and iron out the finer details that once made us the envy of every club in the world.

Arsene turned his attention to the Carling Cup tie at Eastlands, observing:

[It will be] Interesting, exciting and a good test. We will be faithful to our policy and of course put a team out who has a good chance to win the game.

It is a policy that has borne dividends in the long-term development of young players, testing the waters ahead of progression into the Premier and Champions Leagues squads.

He has indicated that the team will be a mix of youth and experience, a contrast to the opposition on that night, City desperate to win silverware. Or perhaps Mark Hughes is so that he can at least have something to show for his efforts before the inevitable P45 arrives at some point in the next season or so.

If you call a full side 11 top players, then we will play a full side. For me a full side means a team who has a chance to win any game.

There will be players such as Walcott and perhaps Denilson for whom the outing would be a beneficial night on their road to full fitness.

The question is whether Arsene should perhaps make a little more sacrifice and play an additional experienced head to coax the young players through. Against Liverpool, he was able to re-introduce Samir Nasri to a relatively gentle return to action. At Eastlands, no doubt there will be other options on that front, Bendtner another one who could be on the road to recovery at that point.

As well as the developmental balancing act, Wenger needs to consider whether it is in the interests of all of the squad – first team and reserve – for the club to win a trophy again, even if it is one that does not warrant the Frenchman’s highest attention. The first winning medal that nestles on the sideboard will be the biggest hurdle for a number of players, gold would provide them with the confidence to take the next step and win what could be described as a major trophy?

Jack Wilshere put the alternative view: if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Not that he has a vested interest in youth being given a chance, of course. And who can blame him for wanting to play although personally, I think he should be setting his sights higher with his ability.

It will be good to play against Manchester City and I hope they play a full team. We will go there and believe we can win and hopefully we can. I think now we are into the last eight it is realistic for us to win the trophy. I think we can beat Manchester City and if we do then the competition will be wide open. We can go all the way

They can of course win the trophy without experience but is there any harm in stacking the cards a bit more in their favour for a short-term gain. It could of course backfire and the tie be lost with or without a couple of regulars playing. No guarantees can be given for an away game.

Anyway, it is a long way off in footballing terms with more important domestic and european matters to be dealt with beforehand. Happy birthday to Tiny Tiger, 7 years old today – another triumph of hope over expectation.

’til Tomorrow.

Jack Wilshere is targeting the quarter final game against shitty as his come back game, he hopes they will field their strongest side as he believes we can go on and win the Carling Cup.

I wonder how Kolo and Ade the whore will feel trotting out knowing we only field our babies in this one, how will they feel when they get stuffed by them? The last time Ade played in this cup was the time he head butted a team mate for daring to challenge him, let’s hope he does that this time, he’ll get a smack in the mouth if he did it to the Welsh runt Bellamy, now that would be funny!

I would love Arsene to go through our players and tell us which position he sees them in, so Vela and Nasri on the left, Rosicky, Wilshere and Theo on the right, and so on, just so we could wonder amongst ourselves who might play where.

Suffice to say, I can’t wait for this one, it smacks of that time our kids tonked the scousers 6-3, with Aliadiere and the Beast getting on the scoresheet.

Other news is Wenger is tracking Barcelona winger 18 year old Israeli Gai Assuilin. He is one of their finest young talents, and that would be sweet, sweet, justice for them talking to one of our young kids, Karma if you like.

Get in there Arsenal, that’s what you should be doing.

I don’t know who he’ll pick for the Carling Cup game, and I don’t know if Eastmond will have a better game again, but I would like to see him, Wilshere, Vela, Ramsey, Watt and Coquelin feature along with Eduardo, Eboue and Rosicky for experience, maybe even playing Theo up front with Watt.

We sure do have options, but I want to win this one, what do you think Grovers?

Have a great day debating, I’ll be on later.

With 1/3 of the Premier League already past us, Arsenal are now in 2nd place, 5 points behind Chelsea having played 1 game less than the current leaders. I know that it is too early in the season to be looking at the table but at this point, the current standings give more than just an indication of things to come.

With the exception of Sheikh City, the others have lost a minimum of 2 matches already. The Sheikhs themselves although has only 1 defeat to their name, have drawn in 5 matches. So, despite the big investment, they have not done particularly well and their form seemed to have – ever since the Manchester derby defeat. Following a bad start, Villa has suddenly sprung together a string of wins and are sitting comfortably in 5th spot. They’ve blown hot and cold this season and by the looks of it, will continue in the same fashion. Sp*rs are jut Sp*rs and will soon come to realise that they are never going to challenge for the Champions League spot.

United have lost their edge ever since they let Ronaldo leave for Madrid and it really showed against the likes of Burnley and other smaller clubs where they found it hard to make the breakthrough. In season’s past, Ronaldo made it his favourite past time to ripped apart these kind of clubs. Other than Arsenal, Chelsea are the only ones who did not seem to take any steps backwards this season compared to last. Consistently consistent is the right word but was also given a shock by the lower club in the shape of Wigan.

So that leaves us right behind the top. Up to this point, we have done tremendously well. 2 defeats both came in Manchester and the dropped points at Upton Park now looking slightly costly. We do have a game in hand which could theoretically put us just 2 points behind Chelsea. Which also means how important the 29th Nov clash is. Provided the lads maintain their good form, we could be leading the league at the end of this match. The match is also important as Arsenal have already faltered to teams in direct competition with us and will need to show that they can also win against other big boys.

Our goals for column is pretty amazing. An average of 3 goals a game (4 if you count only the home games). The best thing about that statistic is the fact that the goals are distributed throughout the whole team without being entirely dependant on any single individuals. Obviously Van Persie and Fabregas are leading the scoring chart but the likes of Diaby, Vermaelen and Gallas have also put in their share of contributions.

As good as the goals for column looks, it is that bad for the goals against column. Out of the current top 6 (Sp*rs excluded, as they always are), together with the Sheikhs, Arsenal have conceded the most number of goals. This is a very alarming fact. Yes, majority of those come in games when we’ve already won the tie but this may end up to haunt us at the end of May. Something needs to be done. Concentration levels must be increased. The awareness of the team must be drummed in by Wenger and his coaching staff. In football you can’t switch off until the final whistle.

What is most pleasing is the fact that we have a 6-0-0 record at home. It’s been a very long time since we have a fortress as a home stadium. This may finally be the year in which the memory of Highbury is replaced by Ashburton Grove. If we continue in the same vein, there’s no denying that we will be challenging for honours once again.

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.

Better him than Usmanov

News fluttered in yesterday that the American tycoon, Stan Kroenke has purchased more Arsenal shares to bring his shares to 29.9%. Just 0.09% short of needing to make a move for the rest of the shares. Now I’ve reserved my thoughts on this matter for quite some time as it has already been highlighted in many other blogs and there is no need for me to talk anymore about it, but with Stan so close to a takeover, I guessed now is as good a time as any to give this topic a special mention.

Since the inception of English football and the birth of Arsenal in 1886, we’ve never in the club’s long history been under the ownership of a foreign man (non-Brit). And for as long as I can remember, the club do not have any singular owner but a board of owners. So in any case, any decision that needed to be made, needs the consensus of a group of people coming from different background and with different views. This method ensures that no single party’s personal agenda or wants will entertained. With Stan in the picture now this could all change.

Inspite of the massive buying on Stan’s part, he has remained silent regarding his intentions of his real purpose of buying into the club. Interestingly, the board which earlier opposes any foreign or new player in the group has now been more than willing to accept Stan. This is more apparent given that the last 100 shares he bought came from Peter Hill-Wood himself. Whether the money is too good to resist or that they have a gentleman’s agreement that no drastic change will be made remains to be seen.

We’ve seen how foreign owners have run other clubs into massive debts. Take for instance the Glazers at Man United and the American duo at Liverpool. Using money that they don’t have (loans from banks) to buy into the club places those respective clubs in financial danger should either one be unable to finance those loans back. No matter what has been discussed between Stan and the rest of Arsenal board members, we all know how the business world works. Profits and gains are all that matters to many businessmen and they will probably tell or say anything to get what they want.

I do believe there’s an agenda on Stan’s part and I also believe he will do the takeover. However, given his other involvement in the sporting world in America, he is not those who buy for the fun sake and looks to be in it for the long haul. Quite how he turned his attention towards football from basketball and American football still puzzles me. Perhaps it is how the current Arsenal model is run that interest him. Provided that he is paying those share purchases through his own money, then it is fine by me.

It would be utterly painful to bear should such a good establishment be spoil by someone who may not entirely grasp the importance of Arsenal to so many in the world. I sure hope you make the right choice, Peter.

All Smiles

With the early stage of the season drawing to a close, the hectic Christmas schedule on the horizon and lucky starts being replaced by year long form, the mist has cleared on the summer’s big surprise transfer. It’s obvious to me  which club benefited most from the transfer of Emanual Adebayor.

In mid-July Emanual landed on the books of Man City in a switch from Arsenal, joining a banquet of other high profile signings during the summer splurge. Turning down offers of transfer to Chelsea and AC Milan, I’m sure City must have felt privileged to have been chosen by the gifted Togo striker. He immediately forged admiration from the fans at Eastlands, by praising their commitment to the club. With the same breath he slammed his old supporters and new foes, claiming the terraces of the Emirates lacked City’s supposed die hard attitude. Apparently this void of passion hurt Emanual …… emotionally that is, leading to the now cliched, ” most difficult time of my career”

This “most difficult time of my career” period co-incided with Ade’s 3 and a half season stint with the gunners. Scoring 62 times in 114 starts. Being part of a club who were constantly challenging for top spot at domestic and European levels. Had stability in terms of the management and backroom staff. He was pipped to the golden boot award by a certain Christiano Ronaldo in 2007/08. Picked up a spot on The PFA’s team of the year and Goal of the season in the same season, along with several other accolades. All these components paint a textbook profile of a troubled player who is struggling with his emotions.

In the coming years when Adebayor’s biography “The Emotional One” materialises,  I’ll bet City will be portrayed as his saviour. “Mark Hughes didn’t have any plans for me at City, he just knew how sad and depressed I was in London, I can honestly say Mr. Hughes saved my life, put me on the path to inner happiness, reunited me with my long lost Step-Uncle Buck and helped me rediscover my faith”

Now with both sides having played 10 games a piece the dust has settled.

 Arsenal sitting 3rd propped up by City in 4th, 3 points behind. Hughes’ men have only one defeat so far. Arsenal have 2, one of which, the heated and enthralling loss to Emanual’s new squad. Adebayor’s antics overshadowed everything glorious about the tie. On the day, Ade basked in the glory of victory and the relief of getting away scott free after all his mischief. It was the high point of the Tongo international’s new start, but then, ……. then there was Karma.

The fall out consisting of an investigation by the F.A. which resulted in a 3 match ban and a 25,000 pound fine. Follow that up with only one league 1 win in the 5 that followed. Arsenal fans must have felt retribution alright.

 Amazingly in that time, the Gunners, who didn’t replace Adebayor during the transfer window, have became the league’s top scorers, having scored almost double what the striker heavy Manchester outfit has produced. That’s a hell of a feat. Almost makes it look like Adebayor wasn’t needed in the first place.

In a 180 degrees flip, the City fans are the ones growing impatient, possibly with the influx of drawn games, there composure is waining. The Arsenal fans enjoying steady success. Their passion and commitment clear for everyone to see. Check footage of Adebayor’s goal celebration against Arsenal and count the dozens of foaming mouths in the away fans section, their hearts quite literally on their sleeves.

Now the Neutrals are the ones foaming at the mouth. City will host Arsenal once again, this time in the League Cup in early December. I can’t remember a League Cup fixture eliciting this much anticipation. All eyes will be on Adebayor. Is sweeter retribution on the cards for the Londoners or can the Arab Bank Rollers turn the tide of poor form. Either way advancement in the Carling Cup isn’t high on either teams priorities list. Adebayor proving himself to be worth the undisclosed figure City paid for him, and his decision to move in the first place, is very high.

Not only does he have the misfortune of looking like one of the little green aliens from Toy Story, but Stephen Ireland can now add a near death experience to his so far more than eventful career.

He is reported today saying that he feared for his life when he complained of dizziness in a Carling Cup tie against Fulham back in September.

“Thankfully it wasn’t too serious because at the time I thought that was the end of me.”

Despite a number of tests being carried out, Ireland’s complaint was never diagnosed, and was back playing again just 12 days later.

Ireland, 23, has established himself as somewhat of a nutter an enigma during his short career. He famously went through a phase of dropping his shorts to reveal a pair of frankly awful superman underpants whenever he scored a few years ago, and has attracted interest in the press for his peculiar taste in cars.

As well as this, Ireland caused controversy in 2007 when he lied to the Ireland national team to miss an important match against the Czech Republic. He firstly stated his maternal grandmother had died, but when the press discovered this was not true, he said it was in fact his paternal grandmother who had passed away. Again, this was found out to be untrue, and Ireland eventually admitted his girlfriend had had a miscarriage. Ireland has not played for the national team since.

And evidentally he has spent this time off usefully, getting a lovely tattoo. Something which i’m sure is the envy of absolutely no one.

Still flying high from the derby result, have some news about the club before our Champions League match tomorrow. Hopefully you all are enjoying giving Sp*rs fans shit as much as I am, they sure set themself up with all that talking before the match, now it’s our turn to remind them that they are still our bitch.

The Carling Cup Quarter-Final Draw was made right before kickoff on Sunday. We have been drawn to travel to Manchester Shitty, and I have to say this is the worst draw possible for us.

Man Shitty will field their full-strength squad just to beat us. Nasri and Eduardo played in the last round but were only playing to get in a match to help return to full fitness, now they are important parts of the first team and won’t be risked. The most we can hope for is that right around that time Walcott, Bendtner, Fabianski, and maybe Denilson will be returning from injury, so it might be like the same situation last round with a mix of youngsters and first team players coming back. Vela, Wilshere, and Traore should be back from injury by then as well.

But I still can’t help but think that Adebayor is going to rape the Silvestre-Senderos CB partnership and rub our faces in it. So I’m hoping that players like Ramsey, Merida, Vela, and Wilshere will give us enough going forward to get a few goals, but this match has bad written all over it.

RvP heard about the draw in his post-match interview on Sunday,

What’s the draw? Manchester City away? Nice. I want to play that one. If the boss decides to let me play, I’m happy. I’d love to play. We fancy winning that competition.

I’m sure RvP has revenge on the mind after Adebayor stomped on his face earlier in the year. I’m sure there are a few players in the senior squad that would love a shot at City, but this is not the time or venue. Let’s let the kids take a shot at them, and we will crush them when they come to the Emirates later on in the year. Good to see some fire from RvP though.

Speaking of RvP, he sat down with Arsenal.com all day yesterday and one of the things that came up was how he was adjusting to the center forward position. He started off slow with only one goal in six matches, but has turned it around and scored 8 goal in his last 9 matches.

“In the last four or five weeks I’ve felt much better,” he said.

“I’ve had to get used to the new role because I previously played as a second striker and now I’m operating as a main striker, so I needed to find my way in.

“To my mind, earlier in the season I lost too much energy working defensively and needed to find the right balance. It’s really important for the team that I have enough energy to score goals and make assists, as well as helping out in other ways.

“I feel that in the last few weeks I’ve found that mix, of having the energy to do my offensive work and contribute defensively.

“It was hard in the first few weeks to really find my way – the second striker and striker are very close to each other on the pitch but at the same time there’s such a difference, a massive difference, between the two roles.

“ I like it because it’s a new challenge for me and if you look at the results and the personal stats of almost every player, everyone has improved with the new system.”

This is another example of why no one should ever doubt Wenger. No one would have thought RvP would convert from being a second striker or winger into a center forward so well and be scoring goals for fun. Much like when Wenger had to convince Henry he was a striker and not a winger, he has done the same here and we are seeing the results.

Wenger was more than willing to talk about his front man.

“I don’t want to set targets but why not?” said the Frenchman.
 
“If you look at the chances he has had since the start of the season you cannot say he won’t reach 25 goals.

“Robin has taken much more responsibility because he is up front. He has committed himself to the club for a long period and he is at an age, 26, where a footballer becomes really efficient, mature and wants to win things.
 
“That is why I believe he can be the best passer in the league and the best goalscorer in the league. When you look at the goals he scores they are always impressive.”

van Persie has certainly taken up a bigger role this year as a leader. Him and Fabregas are linking up exceptionally well and you can tell they are enjoying it. If Wenger says he can become the best passer and goalscorer in the league, who am I to doubt him?

Loan Watch:

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – Blackpool – JET danced past three Doncaster Rovers defenders to score Blackpool’s second in their 3-3 draw on Saturday. A very well taken goal.

Henri Lansbury – Watford - Henri Lansbury played 90 minutes as Watford crashed to a 5-0 defeat away to West Brom.

Gavin Hoyte – Brighton – Hoyte played 90 minutes as Brighton drew Hartepool 3-3.

Havard Nordtveit – Nurmberg - Nordtveit returned to the starting lineup for Nurmberg as they drew Werder Bremen 2-2. I watched this match, Nordtveit is converting to DM very well.

Jay Simpson – QPR - Simpson played 90 minutes as QPR lost to Leichester 2-1. Simpson failed to score in what seems like the first team in a year.

That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with a AZ preview. Enjoy the Champions League matches today, Milan v Real Madrid should be a good one.

Poll of the day:

Dig below any surface and you will find remnants of the past. Examine what you find and you may find clues to the future.

Harry Redknapp has always left a football club in a very bad financial situation. He screws them over with big transfers and a wage bill that they can’t afford. He’s still being investigated for taking back-handers and tax evasion. Look at West Ham (fired for taking bungs), Portsmouth (can barely afford to pay their players), Southampton (relegated two divisions), and Bournemouth (went into administration).

The man is trouble.

Spurs fans were moaning that they were missing Defoe, Lennon and Modric. They argue that if Arsenal missed Robin van Persie, Cesc and Vermaelen we would struggle. They miss the point. Both teams have had injuries to key players – it can’t be used as an excuse.

Spurs have failed to beat Arsenal in the last 20 Premier League games.

Arsenal face Manchester City in the last eight of the Carling Cup. It means a return to the City of Manchester Stadium and Adebeyor. I doubt that he will play and if he does he probably won’t score. Who knows or cares? Arsenal will play their reserves which will include Jack Wilshere and Fran Merida. Because of this City will not be as pumped up as they were back in September. To beat the Arsenal reserve team, you have to be at your best. The reserves will be at their best and looking forward to this one unlike last season when they faced Burnley at the same stage.

Wednesday we play AZ Alkmaar. I hope that we can qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League as soon as possible. For example, we travel to Athens for our last group game in December and then face Chelsea 3 days later. I hope we play the reserves for that one.

Last word: Kenwyne Jones is banned for Sunderland when we play them in two weeks. Do you fucking care? I thought fucking not!

Keep it Arsenal

Los encuentros se disputarán el Martes 1 de Diciembre

Blackburn Rovers vs Chelsea

Manchester City vs Arsenal

Manchester United vs Tottenham

Portsmouth vs Aston Villa

Remember when the Spuds beat our Carling Cup team 5-1 and every blog we went on all we saw was this new way of writing Ar5ena1?  Well I have just thought of a new way of spelling T0tt3nham ..
I hope it sticks for a while..

All I have heard on the radio since Saturday is Arsenal only beat the Spuds because they had a load of injuries…. Hold up!!!! Before Saturday’s game Robbie (gypsy) Keane opened his giant trap and said that the Spurs had a stronger bench than us.. er so why didn’t they win then?

They said that Lennon, Defoe and Modric would have made all the difference.. Hold up again!!!! What about Walcott? Didn’t he replace the headless chicken in the English team… “Yeah but Modric”…. Rosicky is at least has good has him and finally they never had Defoe. Well who’s fault is that? And we could argue we never had Nasri to counter act that player.
Woodgate? Try Djourou ..
We also have Gibbs who would walk into their team, Wilsere, Ramsey, Denilson, Eduardo. The list goes on.. Stronger bench Keane, hahahaha. delusion is a wonderful thing. As our fans were singing “Champions League you are having a laugh.”

My biggest disappointment on Saturday though was Mr Wenger OBE’s perseverance with Diaby when we had Nasri on the bench and he is chomping at the bit to play.
I have honestly never seen a player in a Arsenal shirt play so badly when the rest of the team are playing so well, every pass he makes is too close to the opposition and our receiving players first touch has to be to skip out of a tackle. When we are attacking he either passes directly to our player or slightly behind, he never passes into the space for our players to run into, this loses the momentum of the attack.

Why doesn’t RvP trust that right foot of his more? I don’t know how many goals he has scored now, but I would bet more have come from the chocolate one.

He wants to play in the Carling Cup aganst Citeh as well to get revenge on Ade. All the media are bigging it up. Well don’t waste your breath on it Mr Wenger won’t risk him in a mickey mouse Cup that even if we win,  the winnings would only pay RvP’s wages for ten weeks.. So forget it..

Anyway just a quick post as I am a tad busy you all have a great day and we don’t have long to wait for our next game…

Having fun at Tottenham’s expense is pretty much a national pastime but they, and their former charges, just cannot help giving us the ammunition…

Anyway, flavour of the month at the moment is Robin van Persie despite the risible attempt yesterday by someone in the comments section to argue that he was essentially crap last season. This season is no different from last, just that his purple patch has started three months earlier.

The Dutchman is keen to take out his revenge on Emmanuel Adebayor, sorry Manchester City, and wants to play in the Carling Cup Quarter Final at Eastlands:

It will be a good game because Man City have a good side. If we can find the right mix – like we did in the last round against Liverpool – we’ve a big chance of winning

The Carling Cup final 8 draw was announced and  has thrown together some interesting fixtures.  Chelsea take on Blackburn, and going by our 5-0 result against them in the premier league, seems like an easy enough game for the Blues. Oh and while I am on the 5-0 topic, Manchester United, the “Champions” (bleh!)  could only score 2 goals against them last night, and that too after much ranting from Sir Alex.

Emmanuel Adebayor’s new club Manchester City have drawn his old club Arsenal. Last time the two teams met, Adebayor stomped on  Van Persie’s face and infamously ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the traveling Arsenal fans after he scored a goal. He managed to antagonize all Arsenal supporters, the Neutrals and the City fans as well for the trouble he put his new club in. So Arsenal go back to  City of Manchester Stadium to take on  Emmanuel Adebayor and his stupid tantrums. The Manchester City manager Mark Hughes who can’t afford to leave the £25 million Togolese striker on the bench in a match against an in-form Arsenal team, I suspect will be very nervous should Adebayor score. Oh, the irony! Both teams have great players and will go into this match with accounts to settle. A must-watch game which promised to be high on passion, drama and footballing skill.

Portsmouth take on Martin O’ Neill’s Aston while Manchester United play Tottenham in a repeat of last years final.

Full Fixtures

Manchester City – Arsenal
Blackburn Rovers – Chelsea
Manchester United – Tottenham Hotspur
Portsmouth – Aston Villa

This time in the quarterfinals as opposed to last season Final. And this time United aren’t about to face another 120 minutes again seeing the match will be played the week after November 30th. The toll on the players will be immense if it does go to penalties.

Carling Cup quarterfinal draw:

Blackburn Rovers vs Chelsea

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspurs

Portsmouth vs Aston Villa

Manchester City vs Arsenal

Ben Foster was the hero for United during the final. Hope that this one will be done and dusted after 90 minutes though. Glory, glory Man United! ES7