» The Gooner World

The trip to Pride Park was ok, though I should have had classes, but as soon as the match started I realised I really should have been there. No regrets at all, they only hurt!

Victory at pride park would see the gunners within 6 points of reclaiming the premiership title that they won so stylishly in the invincible 2004 season.

Seeing the Arsenal once again rightfully crowned as champions would restore most peoples faith in the beautiful game after a couple of scrappy seasons dominated by the efficient millionaires from the bridge and fergies scrappy kickers!

Arsène Wenger has all three goalkeepers fit and available but he may choose to hand out some valuable experience to the 23-year-old Polish international Lukasz Fabianski.

Abou Diaby's season is over, the French midfielder a tendon in his thigh playing for the Reserve on Monday. Bacary Sagna has also joined the list of players that will not feature again this season after damaging his ankle at Stamford Bridge. Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo complete the list on the injury front (due to a hamstring strain and broken fibula/open dislocation of the ankle respectively) and are joined by Alex Hleb who is suspended for the final 3 games. The Flamster is also missing Monday with an ankle injury.

With Derby already well gone this is a game the Arsenal should win easily and I expect Wenger to play a fairly young side. My guess would be:
Fabianski, Eboue, Song, Toure, Clichy, Randall, Denilson, Gilberto, Van Persie, Walcott.

A lot is being said by the press, as usual. Anyway, I have to say that some of the articles are getting on my nerves.

You all know Flamini is linked with Juve, and some reports claims the italians arrived today here in London so they could talk personally with the Frenchman. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood says we did offer Mathieu a really good deal (around £50,000 a week) whereas the italians offered him £10,000 a week more. Honestly, I am sure Flamini does not need more money. He also does not need to improve the quality of his life, so, being honest, I am almost full of this story. He has already affirmed he would like to stay, plus he was one of our players of the season, so why can not we just increase his salary once and for all? Simple as that, he deserves it (given we lack consistency, energy and pace in the midfield when he is not playing).

Hleb's season is over as he got a three-match ban after punching Reading's defender. Just can not understand him. After having some ice-cream in Milan, now he really lacks commitment doing such a thing. Plus, let's admit he has not being the one he is expected to be. He is a winger, and that being said, he must have scored (or even assisted) more in the season. Look at Ronaldo, Young, Petrov... Scorers wingers. You all know I really admire Hleb, but being honest, I do not think we really should keep him (yes, he is also linked with Juve), given Walcott's current form and that Rosicky is about to return (we hope).

About midfielders, Martin O'Neill, according to the Daily Mail, claims Gareth Barry might leave Villa in the summer. We all know Barry and I would love to see him in Arsenal colours. Liverpool and Chelsea are keen on signing him, but given money is not a problem for us, I really hope Wenger to splash some money for such a classy player. Plus, Lahm is set to leave Bayern Munchen this summer. I know the kid is a stunning left-back, but I have to say I would love to see him on the wing, given he crosses very well and is fast paced. So, some interesting news, Monsieur Wenger.

Palermo's president says he has not received any from us to Amauri. As I posted here earlier this week, I do not think the brazilian would be a good signing as the defence is the place to be strenghten. We already have Adebayor, van Persie, Bendtner, Eduardo (get well soon, son) and now Walcott, who, according Wenger, will get more starts and as striker. So, lots of kids who deserve to start more given their great development this season.

According to Reserve's captain, Havard Nordtveit, Wenger will not need to go for someone by the transfer market as the youth claims he is set to play regularly for the Gunners. Though I admire such commitment, we definitely do not need a young defender. If even Kolo and Billy lacked experience this season, needless to say that we need an extra experienced centre-back (how I miss Sol, by the way).

About the Champions League semi-finals, hasta la vista, Rafa. Riise definitely was out of mind. Why on earth should he had headed such a low ball? Poor you. About United, though I got to say Ronaldo's deceptionated face after missing a penalty was hilarious, fantastic and everything, they got the result they played for. Thierry looked sharp despite of his illness, fingers crossed he can be match fit for the match at Old Trafford.

Well, that is it, my friends. Keep backing our initiative as we are keen on raiing more, more and more money so we can donate it.

Until tomorrow.

After such a pleasent perfomance from your lads against Reading on Saturday, we'd better start looking forward.

On Sunday more games and interesting results, but one in particular really impressed me. Martin O'Neill's side scored five times against Birmingham City (that now are about to be relegated) and Ashley Young looked fantastic, superb, breathtaking. Wow, the boy's on fire and I do think, at the moment, he's the young player of the season (from that list, of course). So if you couldn't watch such a good game of football, enjoy: http://www.tvgolo.com/football.php?subaction=showfull&id=1208709536&archive=&start_from=&ucat=40&/

After watchig it, let's talk about Aston Villa. Recent perfomances: five-nil against Bolton, six-nil against Derby County and now five-one against Birmingham City. Quite impressive. Laursen, Barry, Agbonlahor and especially Young are on fire. The last three names are british and young, so if Wenger needs to improve our midfield or attack, I'd go for one of them (at least, of course).

Talking about our lovely club, Fabregas admitted he really wants to be a Gunner for life. The boy's an idol, without a shadow of doubt. Though he had a poor mid-season, now he looks back on track, assisting and, most importantly, playing his socks off with his energy and commitment in the heart of the midfield. So, no matter what the press claims, we just can't trust it as Cesc said:

Yes, finally a clean sheet. Lovely. It will be a boost for the morale of our defence that has been being under a lot of pressure.

What a good atmosphere at the Emirates. We have been missing wins, but winning at our very own turf was something we could not do since the match against Blackburn Rovers on February. So, always a pleasure to keep singing "we love you, Arsenal!" with the crowd for twenty consecutive minutes after the final whistle.

The boys had a decent game and Fabregas is really an idol. Despite of the fact that he needs a breather, he looked sharp. Nice to see the young Song starting as well as Theo. Both had a good game and I hope they keep playing until the end of the season. Pleasent to see Gilberto scoring again. Adebayor did it as well, once again. Robin van Persie finally had a good game, hope he keeps improving his pace. Good overall perfomance though we could have scored more.

We have been missing crucial players. Sagna, Flamini, but, most importantly, Eduardo. I was watching the highlights of some of our perfomances on January/February, most specifically, the games against Fulham, Newcastle and Man City. Ok, Adebayor scored six times, but Eduardo was a must supporting him. Passes, flicks and whatever, we do miss him as Arsenal is lacking a good finish since when he got injured. So, if you have the files in you computer as well, take a look, please.

Well, seventy percent of the possesion of the ball in the first-half proofs that we have enough quality. Everything we need is to be even more focused, though I have to admit it is difficult especially after such a sequence of disappointing results. Though without Flamster, we defended well, so fingers crossed Gallas & Toure are finally back on track.

1-0 Adebayor (30')
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1941547

2-0 Gilberto Silva (38')
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1941540

van Persie Freekick (29')
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1941572

van Persie Freekick (71')
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1941641

Wenger on the perfomance
http://www.skysports.com/video/0,20285,12606_3445659,00.html

Until tomorrow.

It would be nice to win a game and Reading at home has got tricky home game against a team fighting for there life's written all over it, So expect yet another team to come to ours looking for the draw.

We need a decent run in our last 4 games to try and get 2nd, or the way we have been dropping points over the last month, to try and stay 3rd. There's no reason why we can not get maximum points from now on, but I guess with our luck, IDIOT ref's and bad finishing Id settle just to see us win a game between now and the end of season.

I like Steve Coppell, Even if he's an ex manc, But he always comes across as an honest decent bloke, Who wants to see his team play good football and it would be a loss to the Premiership if they do slip out of it at the end of the season, Especially when there's other teams who add nothing to the league. They have lost there last 3 games and only 3 points off the drop zone, Which is a shock after there decent league position last season, Guess they need to buy a few Arsenal rejects for next season !

Team News..

Almunia late fitness test on his wrist
Diaby back from suspension
Denilson back from the mystery of why the fuck he was off
Ed is in Brazil
Flamini out
Sendros out his head
Sagna out
Hoyte out
roSicky of course he's still out !

-By Sajit



With Wenger officially conceding the title as lost, I believe its already time to start preparing for the next season. Players may be busy thinking about the coming Euroes but Le Prof should be getting into action as soon as possible.If we properly utilize the time starting now, we can hit the ground running in August and make a definite impact next season.

I believe that these are the biggest priorities for Wenger as of now, to keep going and to make Arsenal successful.

Priority 1: Get Flamini to sign

Remember all the hue and cry about getting Henry to sign in 2006? This is just as important, if not more. Number 1 priority for Monsiour. 

Priority 2: Keep the core set of players intact.Fabregas, Flamini, Gallas, Adebayor and Hleb.

Its been three years since most of the above players started playing together and for me today these 5 are the most important players on the pitch. Of course Sagna is there but i dont think hes going anywhere yet immediately. These are ambitious players and to keep ambitious players you need to show ambition. Wenger said his biggest challenge would be to keep the team intact . Trust me its one hell of a challenge, when the Barcas, and Milans come calling.

I hear that Gallas has lost the respect of the team mates. If that is the case, then he may step down as captain but as far as im concerned  he has been the most consistent of all our CBs - including Toure and Senderos. Gallas may be moody but he is still a world class defender. One will have to pay something in the range of 15 million minimum to get a defender of his quality.

I believe that Hleb along with Fabregas, Flamini , RvP , Eduardo, Sagna and Gallas are the only truly world class players we have at Arsenal.

In the list of the 5 players we desperately needed to hold on to , I had Adebayors name but did not say he is world class. He is not a world class striker by any means but he brings so much to this Arsenal team that its very difficult for Arsenal to win without him.

Priority 3 : Accelerate the growth of fringe players.

Probably the biggest disappointment for me personally this season was the apparent lack of progress of players like Denilson, Diaby and Hoyte. They had good seasons last time around but have not made the next step this season, which is basically to challenge the first team players for their positions. Not sure about how good loans are. Other than Song, no one seems to have actually been better after coming back. This will be a tough call for Wenger, because ideally the progress should come without the need for them to go out on a loan. Wenger needs to have more faith in these fringe players and must compulsorily use them in the matches against lower placed teams. This should be done early in the season when the pressure is not really on you, rather than wait till the likes of Fabregas and Flamini are knackered.

Priority 4: Remove the dead wood.

Critical as far as i am concerned. Worse than having no player is to have players who count for nothing when it matters. You already know who i am totally pissed off with so i wont delve too much on that.The problem of being an Arsenal fan is that you tend to overlook the faults of most of your players which is why I am patient with players like Hoyte, RvP, Djourou etc. However for me there are two players who absolutely need to go - Eboue and Rosicky.

Priority 5: Only reinforce those positions where we are lacking badly.

This is somewhat related to priority 2. My biggest fear is that under pressure to buy big due to apparent lack of trophies for 3 seasons now , Wenger will buy a bit too many. We just cannot lose the team chemistry as of now. We need players but not that many. Almost sure that Wenger will never do that, which is why this comes as one of the lower priorities but its one nevertheless.

So Wenger must be looking at ways to keep this team competitive till the money from the flats start to come in. Once that happens, that along with matchday and TV revenues should mean that we have an excellent spending capacity.

Discuss:
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=4553&tid=2594695176385324417&start=1

Excelent perfomance by the lads though we were, once again, unlucky. We conceded two goals from set-pieces and, guess what, our loss' down to the ref, once again.

Adebayor scored the opener after overplaying United in the first-half. A few minutes after taking the lead, the same Gallas that affirmed the team lacked experienced playing against Pool, handed the ball and conceded United a penalty and, consequently, the equaliser. And then, from another set-piece, Hargreaves scored the winner. Gilberto didn't touch anyone and that's why I think we were unlucky again. Holding United at Old Trafford would be a good result, yet unfair, given the way we responded after such a disappointing sequence of bad results.Wenger finally gave up and I'm not sad at all. Though disappointed due to the fact that I do think our boys should've won something this season, I'm proud of them and the way they've been responding so well after being written off and under so much pressure.

I'm proud to say that I've been following this team and the boys this season. I'll remember every single chant I sung around Britain, especially the one I sung yesterday after the end of the game at Old Trafford alongside lots of passionated Gooners like me. The video wasn't recorded by me, though I was right there. It's touching for every single Arsenal fan, hope you feel the same way I did.

Enjoy: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=55MFxXS-Ans

Thank you for such commitment this season, Gunners. We're proud of you all.

Old Trafford for a title decider, well it should of been, But sadly the footballing gods/ Ref's have conspired to make every game we have played in the last few weeks a must win game.

Facts are simple really, If we do not win Sunday the fat lady will be singing her lungs out. We win, then its only a 3 point gap with the mancs still having to go Chels and having a few interesting games Vs Barca to get past.

Fergie had the luxury to rest Ronaldo, Rooney and Scholes mid week, While we are down to bare bones and a win is going to take one last huge effort on the already looking shattered squad. They will go for our throats, Thinking we are weak, If we have an off day they will take full advantage and hammer us.

BUT hopefully the players who are still fit and got some gas left in the tank will put in one final performance and fight like dogs against the mancs. It needs us to take control of the pace of the game, hold onto the ball, take what chances we create and stop Ronaldo.

Team news;

ED out
roSicky out
Flamini out
Denilson out
Diaby out
Sagna out

Van Persie both thighs strapped up and not looking anywhere near fit.
Fabregas; how does this lad carry on playing and covering every blade of grass every game for god knows how long.

My guess at Wenger's team selection

Almunia
Toure Senderos Gallas Clichy
Walcott Song Fabregas Gilberto Hleb
Ade

COME ON ARSENAL !

After drawing the home leg 1-1 the mickeys go into this as favourites having got the away goal. The home advantage the press go on and on and on about will only serve to inspire our lads, who unless are totally blind to our past will know (or fucking should do) all about one May night in 1989 when we didn't just need to win by one goal we needed two. Wenger should make them watch that game, It shows an Arsenal team being strong in defence, Taking there chances, Silencing the Kop and fighting till the bitter end and most importantly getting the job done.

We have proved over the last two games that Liverpool cant handle us, Sadly we have also proved we can not press home our advantage. At times we have so much of the ball that at Liverpool have looked ordinary and just another mid table team that HOOF's it up the pitch, Or has a flash of genius, Then spends the rest of the game playing some kind of 6-3-1 formation. But to our own downfall we hadn't got the all important first goal.

I can see Liverpool not really knowing what to do in this game. Do they scrap there defence/ hoof game plan and try to bring it to us in an open free flowing match, Or do they try and lock up shop for 90mins and hope to hang on to a 0-0 for dear lifes...Only Rafa Knows ...

Arsenal's 18 man squad...

1 Jens LEHMANN
2 Abou DIABY
4 Cesc FABREGAS
5 Kolo TOURE
6 Philippe SENDEROS
10 William GALLAS
11 Robin VAN PERSIE
13 Alexander HLEB
16 Mathieu FLAMINI
17 Alex SONG
19 GILBERTO
22 Gael CLICHY
24 Manuel ALMUNIA
25 Emmanuel ADEBAYOR
26 Nicklas BENDTNER
27 Emmanuel EBOUE
31 Justin HOYTE
32 Theo WALCOTT