talkingOfArsenal.com

"one day, we'll all wake up to find the arsenal kids have morphed into warriors"

2010-03-03T09:33:14Z

After the Arsenal teams very positive response at the weekend to Ramsey's horrendous injury, a quote from a really good friend of mine who supports Manchester Utd, came to mind. I cannot remember his exact words, but it went something like this: "The one thing that scares me, is that one day we'll all wake up to find that the Arsenal kids have morphed into warriors". Wenger has, rightly or wrongly, been slated for...

reckless drivers that kill pedestrians, never have malice beforehand

2010-02-28T09:19:05Z

Which is exactly the reason why Arsenal fans up and down the country are up-in-arms after the horrific injury that Aaron Ramsey suffered after Ryan Shawcross' reckless challenge. For the last 6-7 years, managers, players, newspapers, TV pundits - everyone bar none, has suggested over, and over again, that Arsenal do not 'stand up to the challenge', that Arsenal 'do not like it up 'em', that Arsenal do not like the 'physicality of the game'. Now picture this...

why man city and adebayor love-in will inevitably end in tears

2009-09-14T08:29:14Z

Amidst the furore of yesterday's loss to Man City, one fairly fundamental point seems to have gone in under the radar. Adebayor seems, selflishly, to have put revenge against his former club, above the lofty ambitions of his current club, and Man City may pay for it in a way which will affect them where it really hurts - the loss of points now, and in future. In the build-up to last Saturdays game, we all read the stories in the papers quoting...

rooney should be charged retrospectively for diving, non?

2009-09-01T08:45:40Z

Well done to GoonerTalk.com, from whom the following freeze framed photo shows Rooney clearly going to ground BEFORE Almunia made contact.

Take a look at Rooney's left knee, it is NO WHERE NEAR Almunia, and is more than 90% on it's way to the turf.

Isn't that proof of diving, and if so, how different is this to the Eduardo incident?

Now, anyone want to have a go at guessing how much the press will make of this one?

unlucky arsenal have a lot to shout about

2009-08-30T12:56:37Z

In spite of the 2-1 loss away to Manchester Utd yesterday, this Arsenal squad should take a lot of positives from the game. The game against Manchester Utd although noteworthy, is simply one game out of 38, and considering last years champions had more to lose than Arsenal out of the game (two losses in the first 4 games of the season is a big deal), they really were out of sorts for most of the game. It is the worst I've seen Manchester Utd play at home for a very long time in spite of the fact that ...

eduardo penalty incident: seems there WAS contact!

2009-08-30T12:46:06Z

Watching the Sunday Supplement program on Sky Sports, it seems there IS video evidence that came to light last Friday suggesting that there REALLY was contact between the Celtic keeper and Eduardo, a fact that Wenger alluded to in his post-Celtic press conference.

The link to the two-minute Sunday Supplement clip is here.

Would be grateful if anyone has the link showing contact between the Celtic keeper and Eduardo, would like to publish it here if possible.

arshavin, arsenal's own 'little magician' could be the difference

2009-08-15T09:55:40Z

I still remember doing a double-take on who looked like the match mascot standing next to Bendtner in the pre-game line up, only to realise it was our new signing Arshavin. I also remember Arshavin's first goal for Arsenal, against Blackburn. That direct run along the byline, approaching the goal, and me thinking "that angle seems too tight, he'll have to cut back a little bit". And then the sheer feeling of incredulity, when I saw a flash of the net bulge. "This guy is the real deal", I remember thinking to myself. Well, this time round Arsenal's own 'little magician' will be...

the most open premiership title race in years is upon us

2009-08-15T09:10:34Z

In my opinion, the upcoming 2009-2010 premier league season will be the most open title race in many years. Why? Well, put simply, every year in the last 4 campaigns, out of the so-called top-4, there have always been question marks over Arsenals squad, with the other top-4 squads pretty much left to get on with things. This year however, for the first time, there are problems with all four top-4 clubs, whether it be key player sales, new managerial introductions or a lack of transfer activity. For once in a long time, Arsenal is not the only top-4 club with issues to resolve at the start of the season.

england, rooney, arshavin, fabregas, and arsenal to win the league?

2009-03-30T08:28:02Z

A splendid display by Rooney playing for England, got me wondering - has he learnt his lesson? From a selfish point of view, I'd sometimes, perdiocially, rather he didn't, considering that everytime he loses his sense of perspective, it's Manchester Utd who suffer for it. Having said that, I don't buy the whole argument about taming Rooney being the end to...

wenger the magician

2009-03-22T09:27:01Z

The BBC's website last Friday quoted Manchester Utd's manager, Alex Ferguson as saying that Liverpools Benitez was going to be handed a war chest for the coming summer. Buried in the detail of that article which did mention Arsenal, was the following: "In terms of net spending - taking into account income from sales - the clubs are...

what's the point of booing?

2009-03-02T09:29:24Z

Recent weeks of stalemate at the Emirates has led to certain sections of the crowd booing off the Arsenal players at the end of the game. The obvious question is - how is booing going to help? Is it going to lift the players to higher heights? Will it inspire them to play better? Mind you, that's not to say...

12 men parked in front of goal

2009-02-28T09:28:32Z

The price clubs play for dropping out of the Premier League has resulted in the so-called lower-table teams, adoping measures to increase their chances of staying up. And who can blame them? And certainly, Wenger doesn't. One of these measures (apart from being out-and-out physical as sides such as Bolton and Blackburn have adopted), has been to park 12 (I include the visiting teams manager) men in front of their goal, leaving the home team to find the initiative to penetrate. This isn't a phenomenon that is exclusive to Arsenal. Both Manchester Utd and Liverpool, both to a lesster extent, have also been been given a taste of this - in Manchester Utd's case, this has resulted in some late, late 1-0 wins, whilst with Liverpool, they've also suffered a few surprising draws at home. The question is...

eduardo's back: what a player, what a warrior

2009-02-17T09:29:16Z

Eduardo marked his return to first team football with an impressive brace against Cardiff City in the FA Cup fourth round, second leg replay at the Emirates. And how we have missed Dudu. Fifty-one weeks, Arsenal have had to do without the talent of a player of Eduardo's mettle. Few non-Arsenal fans appreciate just how much of a negative impact...

mourinho's obsession with wenger's arsenal continues unabated

2009-02-16T09:32:17Z

This weekend just gone, asked whether he thought he might one day end up being at Chelsea, Mourinho reportedly ended his answer with the following quote: "It seems to be different for Chelsea than other clubs. Chelsea have not won (a trophy) for one and a half years, Arsenal have not won the title for five years," he said. "It looks like everything is good at Arsenal, but at Chelsea everything is in bits. Maybe Chelsea has a different, winning character. "Some managers have a big excuse when they go to a...

arsenal transfers, spring 2009: andrei arshavin signing on

2009-01-26T12:28:56Z

And so another transfer story engulfs our beloved club, and the "will they, won't they" saga surrounding Zenit accepting our valuation of their star player continues. Last summer, after the Euro competition, I wrote about the possibility of Andrei Arshavin joining us, and concluded that although Wenger was an admirer, this was likely to remain from a distance rather than as an Arsenal player. When the stories first broke about us signing Arshavin, my initial reaction was one of skepticism, considering the age of the player, and likely high price of such a signing. The media maintained that we were interested, and in the end, Wenger more or less confirmed that we were looking into the possibility. Le Boss never ...