talkingOfArsenal.com

The last few weeks has seen us claw a 6-point deficit back from a 5-point lead and it's got me thinking in terms of the whys and the wherefores. Hot on the heels of last weeks Question Time, this week I find myself in Tomorrows World (groan!), peeking into the future and contemplating what I think lies ahead in the next few years of life as a Gooner. Many have written this season off, finding it hard to look beyond the current stage of the Champions League and a second place (possibly even third) in the league, and who can...

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It feels like a thousand years since my last post, it seems like so many things have happened. This weekend, we dropped to third position in the league after losing 2-1 to Chelsea, and with Liverpool being immediate neighbours below us, it is to say the least, a position we haven't had to suffer for virtually all of this season. And I've been asking myself all kinds of questions. And once it started, I found I couldn't stop, it really was like a gushing well - included here are a few of the 'publishable' ones. Like, why is it that this season, we've gone from seeming to have strength-in-depth, to appearing to have an impossibly thin squad compared to everyone else? Is our bad form solely down to the double...

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This happened a long time ago, and makes me chuckle every so often. Last season, in the midst of our collective frustration at our unfulfilled season, festooned in my Arsenal kit and on my way back from one of our not-so-productive games, I stopped at a petrol station to get some gas. In the queue behind me stood a man and a little girl that looked like his daughter, both of them in full Chelsea kit. Whilst we all waited patiently in queue, the little girl piped up to her Dad...

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It is the morning of the UEFA '07/'08 Champions League draw, and there are many (not just Arsenal fans) who are hoping and praying that 'this team' or 'that team' do not get pulled out of the hat to play their team. To pretend that I am not one who does this would be dishonest, because like every other supporter, I would like to see my team progress as far as possible and hopefully go on to claim the prize. Having said that though, there is an argument that says that having a preference not to face one or another team smacks of a certain amount of defeatist thinking. There is no question about it, there are some games that are lost long before the opposing players line up in the tunnel prior to the first kick of the game. The recent AC Milan v Arsenal game in which the Italian side were completely outclassed on their home turf, even more...

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So, it seems that the quiet life just isn't working for "The Loud-Mouthed One", who, intent on keeping his profile very much alive in the press, first proclaims that he would like to 'kill' Chelsea, then proclaims that Chelsea was still in his heart. The reported quote was: "If I play them in the Champions League, I want to go there and kill them - that's my message. I still feel Chelsea is a part of me, I'll have Chelsea in my heart forever." added the Portuguese. Mourinho always came across as a flash-in-a-pan sort of manager. Loud-mouthed, bombastic, lots of bravado and with (for me) little substance. For all Mourinhos attributes, I could never see him staying at a club for...

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Txiki Begiristain, technical secretary at Barcelona has reportedly expressed his displeasure and continued frustration at Fabregas' constant refusal to enter into any kind of discussions regarding a possible move away from Ashburton Grove to Barcelona. The Barca official has been quoted as saying: "There is always a risk when you decide to leave Barcelona and the fact is that he cannot...

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If anyone had any doubts that not conceding at Ashburton Grove was an important result, think again. That clean sheet against AC Milan will stand us in good stead when we visit the San Siro tonight. For some reason, and I'm not usually this confident, I feel that we have enough to nick a goal, and clearly a 1-1 draw at full time will see us through. It will have been a while since AC Milan played a high-tempo team like Arsenal, and apparently Marcel Desailly, after having visited the Away dressing room post the Ashburton Grove match, told the Arsenal players that the Milanese were in shock at how good Arsenal were on the night. They say that fore-warned is fore-armed, however...

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Yet another example of the media trying to stir things up, with Wenger being questioned about the recently reported strained relationship between the two Arsenal strikers. Since yesterday, various news sites such as this one, and that one, and this one, and that one, have all been reporting the story that Wenger didn't think there was a problem with our strike duo. Like everyone else, I took my eyes off the pitch and went absolutely nuts with the late, late equaliser that our young Danish striker took with composure off the header that Adebayor provided. After some seconds of celebrating with fellow Gooners to either side of me, I turned back to the pitch, and...

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The poll results are in for the most improved Arsenal player of the 07/09 season. With his fighting spirit and dogged determination, Flamini wins this one with 46%, followed very closely on his heels by Adebayor with 43%. Fabregas and Hleb both share third place on 4%, Clichy takes fourth position with 2%, and Eduardo (Other) gets a mention with 1% along with Almunia. I must say that I...

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