» The Gooner World

The Season from start till now has been absolute brilliant..Lets take a walk down the memory lane, shall we ?

Scenario :We Gooners, certainly didnt see things going in our favour in the Summer Transfer Window..Henry, the Talismanic figure of the club who was thought of a player who will take his Young team mates to another level leaves the club in the most dramatic of ways.. He leaves behind a team thought incapable of performing at the highest level.. Word on the street was Arsene will certainly try to fill the void of the most productive Striker for Arsenal with someone equalling Henry's skills..Each Arsenal fan waited for the MasterStroke..Some thought Frenchman for Frenchman Trezeguet will be heading for Arsenal..Rumours of Palacio coming to the club..but in comes a complete stranger.. Eduardo..The Croatian striker has spellbinding figures (as in Goal tally and appearances) for his club and country but still is dubbed incapable of filling Henry's boots.. Arsene reveals that he has no intentions of buying a Big Star to fill the void left by Henry..but still I and alongwith me (I am quite sure) many Gooners were expecting the unexpected.. And the days turned into weeks and in the last stages of Transfer Window the Clairvoyant Wenger seized on the opportunity and in came another Blues' asset..Diarra alongwith a versatile defender Bacary Sagna who formerly played for a French Club Auxerre ! Unexpected signings yet again.. Behind the scenes noises were being heard of lack of ambition from our Professor's side.. 'Kids cant win' like situation seems to take firm ground in the Arsenal camp.. And somehow time passed and the stage came.. What Arsene and Arsenal was preparing for all the summer... The English Premier League commences..



The Beginning :60 seconds into a new season and thanks to a howler by Jens Lehmann, we concede..Is our team still in transition..? Will we be waiting for yet another season to see the team blossom ? Different Line-up from the last season..Still same story..Arsenal now faced the challenges they have coped various times down the lane last season..Nostalgia of having the Invincibles back ! Another 90-minute time period where we might not have any nails spared to be bitten ..! Calm down..almost 90 minutes of the game is left..But thats something I've said numerous times last season and consequently Arsenal finished 4th in a 5 horse race ! Nothing seemed to happen.. For God's sake get a goal from somewhere ! PLEASE.. But I was convinced that there was no player in the team who could make things happen..There was not a single player in the team who could take the ball from the Half Way line and bury it into the net..Aargh there was no Henry ...! 45 minutes of struggle and still no sign of that Individual Brilliance.. Whatever Wenger had to do with the teams, he had no more than 10 minutes to convince the team that they are out to prove a point.. Start of second half and after about 10 minutes introduction of fresh legs..Theo Walcott on for Eboue..For all the struggle it just never looked like it was Arsenal's day..still me with my dire was still watching the game hoping for a wonder.. And then it happened..Something that took me by surprise ! A propelling run from the man who is absolute rock solid at the back..Kolo Toure's blistering run..cuts past one..gets better of the second..in the box..is that a foot from the Fulham player ? oh YES..Its a penalty ! That happened so quickly I hardly had time to realize that this was what I expected in the First Half..That Flair..Individual Brilliance ! Who is going to take the spot kick ? Henry aint around ...!!


With my eyes closed..I waited for the moment..and then a surge of exclaim..I opened my eyes to see the scoreline saying 1-1 !! Game is on..Somewhere deep my heart tells me this is going to be Arsenal's day afterall.. 6 minutes to end of normal time..and seems like time's flying..C'mon Gunners beat the clock.. And just as seem things to calm down again Hleb;a player who had his share of stick from the fans emerges to tuck in the vital goal that arouse all the fans round the Emirates..The ComeBack Kings are back...!

A Gooner's take on the game :Along with a few heart attacks of course. But we won, and that's the most important thing.


Life From Then On :
Still doubts on the capability of the Strike Force..and for a No.1 German Keeper such blunder puts on him a Big Question Mark.. Lets hope it was just a rare mistake and wont happen again.. We prepare for the Blackburn game.. Odds suggest that it will be a tough encounter..Arsenal away and that too against a physical team having a player named Savage..well..the name says it all then..The clock starts ticking.. All going good in the first half..Arsenal get infront..and seems like hallucinations of Arsenal not being capable of playing their usual football against a Physical side seems to disappear in thin air..Though Blackburn were dominating the game nothing overshadowed the fact that we were ahead until Lehmann YET AGAIN muffed a simple shot.. and sadly Arsenal had to come home sharing one point each with a team who they nearly beat only for the Lehmann's mistake to put a twist in the tale.. All the setbacks of the game started to rotate in my head..Unusual display from the Arsenal midfield..No dominance..Lacking Team chemistry..Not enough chances created..No big threats on set pieces..Ineffective Counter Attacks.. Goalie between the posts seems like he is still
learning how to catch a ball..After such an unexpected (in a good way) start to the season and then suddenly a gloomy performance from the Young Guns, the probabilities of Arsenal giving it a-fight-till-the-end remained inconclusive..Not a start I would've liked to witness from a team who went unbeaten in a whole season sometime back(it still looks like all happened yesterday)..

A Gooner's take on the game :

It looked to be an even game today but we never should have conceded the goal the way we did. Lehmann is at it again!


Upnext are ManCity.. a team with a new manager..A manager known for his defensive tactics..his team having in goal, son of Legendary Peter Schmeichel.. Certainly the fixture wasnt a piece of cake and Arsenal's recent form wasnt doing any favours either..Anyhow with same hope and faith we all expected Arsenal to perform top notch! 70 minutes into the game and scoreline reads 0-0 ! At home, Arsenal are being held back by a Defensive Citeh side.. C'mon..Not again..Why do we have to wait for the last 10 nervous minutes to see if Arsenal can win it ! But we dont have a choice.. with the ball is the Young Spaniard..Its the perfect time to get a goal..But not the best of the places where you want to shoot from..He still takes his chance and pulls the trigger.. Result ?? Well you get to see a Young Arsenal player pumped up and his face says it all..Bring It On..We are ready to Gunn You down..Once again (I really have lost count of how many times I've said that but here it goes again) 'Arsenal get a late winner' to ensure that they are still capable of challenging for the title.. Hopes of this year being finally Arsenal's resurafaced again !

A Gooner's take on the game :

the min we get cesc,rosicky and hleb in the midfiled we create 20+ chances a game...u can see that in any game....just need some1 to put 2-3 of them away....hopefully betwee ade,rvp and dudu they can!


It was Pompey's turn to be on the receiving end..Thats what was on everyone's mind; such was the atmosphere in the Arsenal camp..They are starting to believe in themselves..This time Arsenal team didnt keep the crowd waiting..Straight ahead on the scoresheet was Adebayor's name with 8 minutes gone...The Dynamic Midfield of Arsenal were creating chance with every pass..To the joy of the Gooners 'The-Next-Big-Thing' Cesc Fabregas scored..and from then on it was easy..Tomas Rosicky did the icing on the cake by scoring his first in the campaign..A former Arsenal striker and in form Kanu without having an idea where the ball was, put it in to the back of the net.. Strangest goal..3-1 to Arsenal..Having Sagna, Eboue, Gallas, Lehmann and Hleb out and still coming out with a victory having such an impressive scoreline;indicates of good signs.

A Gooner's take on the game :

Arsenal celebrations are getting weirder as the days go by. First there was that uncomfortably long hug after Eduardo's first goal..And yesterday what did Ade do to Rosicky. lift him by the feet and turn him over. lolz


Perfect setting for the Local Derby match..We face Spuds still unbeaten ..and nothing would convince me that it wont be the fact after the match is over !Gareth Bale was the only one amongst the Spuds' team who looked talented ! And he surely wasnt there to make the numbers.. He scored on 15th minute with a well placed freekick..And then it was all one way traffic and it doesnt take a genius to realize which way it was ! Adebayor still had a lot of censure to handle..and he certainly made the traps shut after he took advantage of his height and scored on a set piece..You heard me alright..ON A SET PIECE ! Levelled again..but Arsenal always go for the kill..and so did Fabregas..another piledriver from quite some range and had Superman been there between the posts; he surely couldnt keep it out ! And right on the 90 minute mark an exotic Drogba like volley from Adebayor crashes all hopes of Shite to beat Arsenal..

A Gooner's take on the game :Match ending couldn't be more sweeter. Bayo the man, with a "take that you Spuds" in the last minute. Absolute beauty by Bayo. Loved it. His scoring streak continue's to piss off Spuds.

A struggling Derby side fixture couldnt come at a sweeter time !Winning three games in a row..Surely one would expect Arsenal to thrash Derby ! Thats what they actually did..5-0 sends out a clear message to the rivals to watch out for the Blazing Guns ! Adebayor scores a hattrick.. 5 goals in 2 games.. We are on top of the world !

A Gooner's take on the game :

Arsenal are back to where they belong..At top of the table


Wow..Its been a rollercoaster ride till now ! A season who has yielded in such controversies and drama uptill now..and now we face a team that was able to do a double over Arsenal and Manutd last season ! A great achievement for a team who just avoided relegation..You guessed it right..West Ham..A team which in Ljungberg's opinion had more ambition than Arsenal..the plan to move on backfired eh ?anyway..there aint much to discuss from this particular match..Arsenal got three points thanks to a 13 minute goal from Van Persie..Last season goals were hardly coming..and this year its been absolute other way round..Not a single game yet where Arsenal failed to score..

A Gooner's take on the game :

I've to admit Arsenal didn't have a brilliant match. Fabregas was well marked. Adebayor missed uncoutable chances of goals, we really should have scored more. Anyway, I do think Senderos had a great match, as well as Diaby.

Next Game : Arsenal 3-2 Sunderland

Van Persie seems to get the spot light this time..Had it not been for Persie's 80 minute winner(another late winner ? Gosh..you got to be kidding me !) Arsenal would be heading for an unexpected draw !

A Gooner's take on the game :
WHAT A MATCH!!! We could have scored atleast 7 goals!! Brilliant play by our forwards. Unfortunately, we were a bit sloppy at the back. Especially the first goal, which was either extremely brilliant play by Jones or bad defending by Clichy (the latter according to me).

Arsenal 2-0 Bolton

The bogey team isnt a bogey team anymore !What made the match memorable is Kolo's goal..Time and time again you see him trying to hit the free kick like a bit like Roberto Carlos but never succeeded well this time he did just at the perfect time when the goal wasnt coming from anywhere ..!

A Gooner's take on the game :Wow .. A toure piledriver

Next two matches can change the course of how the league table looks..Liverpool came out strong and hard..Gerrard couldnt be kept quiet for long and strikes with a great free kick..No chance for Almunia.. Liverpool seemed to close down the Arsenal midfielders way too quickly that unsettled the flow of the game..Fabregas was kept shut for most part of the game by Alonso until catastrophe hit the Liverpool team when Xabi was subsituted due to injury.. and Xabi's departure from the field turned out to be a blessing..Hleb's perfectly waited ball found Cesc who just had to beat keeper to draw Arsenal level..Calmly finished..An exciting game comes to an end with both teams sharing points !

A Gooner's take on the game :

What an excellent game for Arsenal! Its a pity we did not put at least 2 more of those in, surely the scoreline would have been lot better.


And now comes the main event..What every Gooner waits for every season.. Arsenal vs Manchester United at our own Fortress.. Something tells me this is going to be one hell of a match..Wasnt proved wrong..Gallas own goal proved to be a lucky break through for Red Devils..Cescy stole limelight after he mimics of Anderson crying and pumping rants at Rio.. Scored the first goal..Cool finish..Arsenal back on level term.. Ronaldo inspite of being the invisible man for the larger part of the match scores 8 minutes before the end of normal time..And they thought it was ever..The match was sealed..But its not over until its really over..Memories of Henry heading the ball home should've hunted the Red Devils the whole summer..Well its going to be replaced by the current captain's great finish from a tight angle..Gallas brings them level..Not a very assuring result but hey we are still unbeaten !

A Gooner's take on the game :

Wenger's Arsenal cost less than half of United's. In basic economic verse? If I invest £150k on a top of the range Ferrari Marinello, I would never expect to finish neck-and-neck with a Skoda Octavia. I should be breezing it every time. In the event I did finish neck-and-neck with it the last thing I would be doing is searching for excuses.

In the next three games Arsenal won ..Scores being :
Reading 1-3 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Wigan
Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal

Still going strong ? I bet they will faze out in the month of December..thats what Mancs were thinking..It seemed to be true..Every word of it..When Arsenal drew to Newcastle and were beaten by Middlesbrough..Alas the unbeaten streak ended..Mancs reaction : See now they will stumble after a fumble..Well not everytime you see results going your way..


So Chelsea it was..The match tipped to decide League Leaders at the end of this year..Arsenal were prepared for the competition..Cole and Gallas playing against the former club..and when Gallas got his head ahead of Tal Ben Haim and the ball went into the net..it became evident as to which club got the better deal ! It was the Captain Fantastic's contribution that was enough to seal the three points..Cole had been going overboard lately with his derogatory remarks about the Arsenal camp..well Cesc's hack on him certainly proved that 'Action speaks louder than words' ! And with the final whistle every Arsenal player went to the crowd and took a bow

A Gooner's take on the game :

I must admit, Cesc is on a "hunt the c**t" campaign. Lampard (CC final), Terry (yelling & pushing), Cashley (tackle), Rio (f*** off), Anderson (mocking), Repka (tackle) ... is the list complete or am i missing someone? Anyway, still enough of the c**ts. Well done Cesc.


Will it be a December To Remember ? Well time will tell..

Arsenal entertain Tottenham at Emirates next..and Adebayor seems to have a habit of scoring against the Shites'! Second half and Berba shows his class by blazing the ball into the net from an acute angle..Seemed like Almunia's mistake..He redeemed his previous mistake by saving a penalty poorly placed by Robbie Keane..76th minutes..its a corner..At the sidelines Bendtner tells the coach if he gets on the field he'll get a goal for Arsenal..Professor decides to put him on..Corner taken..Huddlestone who was marking Bendtner was stopped in the way by Adebayor(unintentionally) and Bendtner gets his header on the ball..as soon as he touches the ball he knows where its going..into the BACK OF THE NET.. The Danish striker's first touch on the ball since coming on results in a goal for Arsenal..Still on pretty top of things, Arsenal.

A Gooner's take on the game :
I was watching the match with 5 of my mates and when Bendtner came on i said he'll score and he did he did... Oh my Gooood GOD !!! Wat a goal what a header... Bendtner you beauty !!

A goalless draw against Pompey in the next fixture and that too on Boxing Day doomed all hopes of topping the league atleast till this year ends..A sad day for every Gooner..Looks like Santa was not an Arsenal fan !

A Gooner's take on the match :

Pompey were happy to sit back but this is no excuse. As i said before the match, it was the game where we needed to grind out result. Rosicky and Gallas should've finished off the chances. We needed to finish the rare chances.


The lights at the end of the tunnel seemed to have faded away..What started as a great year(season actually) for Arsenal wasnt going to end that way..No fair..We could all hope and pray that somehow West Ham can do it again..Without Tevez beating Manutd was looking more of a joke..After the match got over, Fergie's reaction said it all :

"We were beaten by a better team I think," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "I don't think we measured up to our normal performance.



So it was upto Arsenal, the same Arsenal which was predicted to finish 5th behind Spuds' to end the year on a high note ! But away to Everton doesnt look an easy fixture afterall..Everyone had his moment..Toure, Gallas, Sagna, Diaby, Clichy, Rosicky, Hleb, Flamini, Fabregas, Van Persie, Adebayor and even Bendtner..who remained was a player thought to replace Henry, Eduardo.. A player Manc tipped as Francis Jeffers II..He still has to prove his point..and he gets the start he wants..But not the best of starts by Arsenal when they conceded early thanks to a defensive mix up..Cahill gets the goal somehow..Something keep telling me its not going to be Arsenal's day..I kept pushing that feeling aside..1 nil to Everton at Half Time..C'mon Wenger..Put some pearls of wisdom into your young team.. Get them motivated..Give them a reason to fight..Second half starts and from no where Eduardo gets a crucial goal for his team..Aah..Level on points..but still second..No good..Push for second !!We can do this thing.. Another break and out of nowhere(once again) you see Eduardo calmly finishing..1-2..Thats more like it !! Everton wont give up without giving it a try..Temper running high..on a rainy night with such chilling breeze, the severity of the flair on the pitch was in contention with the weather ! Eduardo was subsituted..He didnt seem too happy with the change..I shared his feelings..But Wenger Knows..On comes Adebayor..And right away thanks to his persistence of chasing a lost ball he gets in between Yobo and Howard and somehow gets the touch on the ball which takes it away from both the player and scoreline now reads 1-3 ! Indeed Arsene Knows ! Mancs hoping all went in vain when Rosicky did the icing on the cake by getting the 4th for Arsenal..Final Score 1-4 ..

Most of us limited Eduardo as a fox in the box kind of player..Well he has proved most of us wrong..he is more of a complete team player..Cescy's spirit after he was subsituted said it all :

WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS BABY !!!!!!!!!


So Arsenal finish ahead of Manutd and will remain there until the 1st January (atleast).. Looking back at the season..one word comes into my mind..RollerCoaster !

These are my picks of the season so far :

*Toure runs from half way mark..Dodges two defenders gets into the box..earns Arsenal a penalty..Talk about Individual Brilliance

*Cesc's pile driver against Spuds that got us the lead and drained all the hopes of Spuds' fans..

*Theo becoming the Youngest Player To Score in UCL..Rooney Who ?

*Adebayor's HatTrick against Derby..what a way to answer some of the critics..

*Gallas' equaliser in the last minute against Manutd..All the more reasons that Fergie backing the idea of 'Last 10 minutes should hold no credibility'..

*Arsenal thrashing Slavia 7-0..Seven's Heaven !

*Fabregas mocking the cry-face Anderson..

*The (in)Famous Finger Lady Incident

*Gallas scoring against his former club..The message is clear..The Arsenal got better rewards for the Swap Deal ..!

our present midfield looks like this(that is if adebayor nd van persie are fit)...

rosicky flamini cesc hleb

people pointed out that hleb is better right behind the forwards in a central role though he is accustomed to roaming...my OPINION is that he is better winger...he holds te ball up for our full backs...he can still dribble on the right...he CAN STILL play an incisive through ball from the right...

EBOUE is a great prospect for right wing...i know im gonna get a lotta stick for this but i gotta say this...he is athletic and POWERFUL,skilful and speedy...seems like he can cross from right back but not right midfield...(even i am stumped by this...) but i like the look of him at right midfield...he needs to get more composed though...thats all he needs to be amazing down the right...i dont even mind the antics...

the advantage of playing hleb on the right is also that he lets cesc create more centrally which is integral to the way we play... rosicky on our left looks good sometimes but not always...i dont know why he cant be energetic everytime because he is only effective if he is up for it from the word go...DIABY is an amazing option but only if he feels like playing...seriously...he needs to up his concentration...DENILSON in the centre as a direct replacement for cesc is not good enough yet...he cannot orchestrate the game as well as CESC... now to defensive options

FLAMINI is our best player in the squad as far as consistency is concerned...we all notice how cesc is a huge talent but cesc would never see the ball if it were not for the FLAMSTER...he deserves a bloody good contract...DIARRA is a moaner...lots of talent but no will power...i would get rid of him...simple as that...I CONSIDER WALCOTT A FORWARD!!! so dont ask me why hez not included...

post all ur comments... im waiting!!!

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Some reactions -

hleb provides gud width

walcott lacs a lil xperience! a future striker in demand!!

other dan dat rosicky shud try his long range bombers often...lyk ronaldo 4 man utd,cos a rebound of d gk r d bars can cr8 a chance 4 us...


.. Eboue's crosses are so accurate, its scary at times..

Hlebbie can keep possession against three defenders..Four, if its Sp*rs

Flamster's a hard worker..And he's got spirit..Always encouragin and shouting somethin at the rest..Gattuso for sure....Hope he signs a new deal soon.

Rosicky can really cause problems anywhere he plays..But he simply has to stay fit! If he manages that, then he's an asset..

Cesc..No words..Can do anythin....Would be nice if he improves his pace maintaining his creativity....