» The Gooner World

By Sajit

Of all Premier League fans around the world, gooners were probably the worst off during the summer of 07. The club that meant everything to them was falling apart – brick by brick. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. Two hugely disappointing seasons, miles behind the leaders, no big names to shout about, a manager who was frustratingly frugal and uncertainty in the board room and in Wenger’s own future – the list of woes were endless. It looked like the beginning of the end.


The jury was out. The knives were drawn. This was the season that would spell the end of Arsenal. Their big teams were progressing and the smaller teams were catching up. In fact, their north London neighbours were supposed to herald a new era of dominance in English football. I could go on and on about what was being written and said about the club. The repetitive and vicious nature of the attacks became exhausting. Perhaps the most frustrating part of it was that I had nothing to offer in defence. Yes, we were laughably poor last season. We had done nothing notable to change it. It was basically the same set of players, who couldn’t hit a barn door last season, that were going to line up week in and week out. How was this team, which had struggled against mid-table opposition, going to manage without the only superstar we ever had? Were we going to see empty stands that greet visiting teams at places like Boro? These were the questions that were asked. And there were no answers.


This may sound clichéd, but the truth was that I actually couldn’t wait for the season to start. Why? Last year, with every painful defeat and after every point dropped, Wenger had bravely stood up for his wards. He had consistently talked about “potential” and “growth” and “mental strength”. These words were dropped with such alarming regularity, that there were times even the ardent die-hard gunner fans couldn’t stomach it. That included yours truly. At the beginning of this season, one thing struck me. What if Arsene was telling the truth? What if he had actually seen what the outside world missed? Then this was the moment of reckoning. They had no one to fall back on. There wasn’t any inspiration upfront to pass the ball to. They would have to work for one other. If they actually had all the qualities Wenger had proclaimed, the world would see it now. We were going to see Team Arsenal again – and that was an exciting thought.

I wouldn’t want to dwell too much on Arsenal’s season so far. Their record and position are a testimonial of how well they have played. Questions of having easy home games, lack of squad depth etc have been answered one at a time. Their matches in December showed that they could cope without the creative brilliance of Hleb, Cesc and Robin. There is still a long way to go and many things that can go awry. We lost our way in the space of 10 days last season. It could very well happen again. It would be amateur to think about titles and glory just yet, but what has delighted the Arsenal faithful is the strong message they have sent out –“We won’t go down without a fight.”

Bye Bye prat.

How can one individual be so foolish. He was .. close to a regular starting place in the first team and he doesnt realize that and really ...what else can I say.

Anyways. I hope this will make sure that Flamster gets his deal done and Gilberto stays.He always wanted to.


On a lighter note, this frees up the no.8 jersey and I sure do hope some one more worthy wears that --

its one of my fav jerseys at Arsenal. Still love ya Freddie. ;)

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Good that he is gone now, we dont want such characters in our team. What was he thinking when he came to Arsenal? that he would get a regular place in the team without doing anything??

He wanted a contract worth 60K quid a week, hell! even Fab earns only 40K per week and RVP 45K p/w. There is no place in our team for such money grabbing buggers.

I just hope that Domenech doesnt select him for EURO 08, then he'll realize how big a mistake it was to leave Arsenal.

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Where are the Gooners who told that Diarra was an excellent buy.....I told you months before about the exact scenario that was gonna happen and it happened exactly as I told...Diarrhoea out!! Anyway it was one of the worst moves made by Wenger!!

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if we are getting 5.5 million pounds, its a good 3.5 million profit for Arsenal !!!

but even that is no use... as AW never buys big names i wish he would!!! someone!!!
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Disagree that it was the worst move. He moved because HE felt that he did not get enough chances. If he had not moaned and waited for his chance he might have been a success. I am no fan of Diarra and quite happy to have a moaner out of the squad. At the start of the season we all felt it was unnecessary to have another CM but thankfully we had someone when there were a lot of injuries. Also we made a profit of atleast 2m out of him in six months. A pretty good move I would say

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I dont think its a bad move by wenger. As a player , Diarra is quite good playing the holding role, though not creative,he is good defensively... just see his last match for arsenal in carling cup against blackburn - he played outstandingly ..

It s about his character ... we cant have someone like him moaning in the team..and Wenger cant be blamed for diarra's attitude.. even Flamini was on the verge of leaving arsenal before this season, but he stayed on, played extremely well in the chances given, made himself first choice ahead of gilberto..If diarra cant do that and just wants to be guaranteed first team place , its not Wenger's mistake..he was a good backup for some cheap price... no regrets if he is gone...

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Now let me get some things straight!!

You guys told Diarra is a steal : I told he is cheap for 2 million but will be an "eternal bench warmer" which he became eventually

You told that he is gonna be a brilliant addition to the squad : i told that he wont fit in to the current team.

You told he would not moan : I told that he would start moaning about not getting enough first team chances and I personally didnt expect him to start moaning this early.

Anyway as you told, eventhough it was a desperate move from Wenger, it was not completely idiotic either, when we are selling him for a huge profit!!
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Yeah its official .Diarra left to portsmouth.This is the only player i have seen who was crying to play first team football.To arsenal when he came should have known he is not promised of any thing ..Anyways good bye to the worst ever transfer in playing terms by a player to a club.Booooooooooo

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I think Diarra was too quick to make his decision, 30 apperances for Arsenal would have done him far more good than 50 apperances for Portsmouth, and with Gilberto`s future uncertain he could have got his chance even too often, anyways its good that he left coz what his decision shows that he didnt have enough patience or say fighting spirit to compete for place in Arsenal squad which means he would not have given his 100% on pitch everytime he played which flamini gives. Now what we need is Flamini sign the deal with club,otherwise with Gilberto situation still uncertain we would be void in the same place where we had surplus players.

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what a bitch. i wish he's packed off to an obscure place in france and left to rusticate.

the +ve is we may have made a cool 3 (or 4)million quid which makes a lot of economic sense.

leaving 2 big clubs in chel$$ki and arsenal in six months shows something is massively wrong in his head. worse is telling his new club fans he's already looking for a move. i expect him at the end of the season to come up with 'i want to move coz portmouth doesn't match my ambition'. twat.

I hope Flamini puts pen to paper real fast.

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We paid nearly one and a half million or so on his wages so I dont think we got a profit of as high as 3 million quid.

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how do you calculate his wages? do you even know what his wages were?secondly, the transaction in question was acquisition and sale. the wages become a completely different head. basic book-keeping.
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Well I dont know the link but I think his wages were in the region of 40K quid p/w for a period of 4-5 months. And about the book keeping stuff I cant argue much on that.

The answer is clearly YES. Outside of the obvious (mourning a dead chicken) they go on the radio every night and just embarrass themselves.

They support Benitez, calling him a tactical genius and abuse the Americans, saying that they need to put more cash in. But lets look at the FACTS.

Firstly with regards to the money. The idiot that is Benitez moaned after we beat them 6-3 that they lost because he was not able to spend big on youngsters (he would rather pay big wages for Robbie Fowler then get in a couple of youths). The board then gave him the money to buy youngsters like Lucas, Leto and Babel (total £24.m, more then our first 11!). They backed him! They let him buy the youngster's he felt could rival ours!

Then in November, he moans that the board are not giving him the money to buy established stars. But wait a minute, in the summer, he spent £56.95m. Surely this is backing your manager???

So despite them backing the manager with the funds he wanted for the players he wanted, he is still moaning. And the Scousers are backing there manager! Any smart fan would be saying 'he has spent £57m this summer, surely he wouldve got the players he wanted.'

Now we go onto my second point. Benitez's performance as a manager. Since he joined Liverpool, he has spent £84m NET. That is £76m more then arsenal and £4m more then United. Yet he is still saying he needs more, he is still saying he hasn't got the players he wants. The man has bought 32 players since he joined Liverpool. How many does he want? 100? 200? And what makes it ever more hilarious is the Liverpool have not gone forward. hey are 12 points behind the league leaders. Further away then they were under Houllier!

Another interesting point, out of the 32 players who he has signed, 12 have already been sold, and another 4 (Carson, Sissoko, Crouch, Mascherano) might be gone by the summer. So over 3 years, he has had a 50% staff turnover. Anyone who knows about business would agree that this is high!

Yet the Scousers still back there underachieving, overspending, manager.

The final nail in the coffin. I hear on the radio tonight one mong saying 'we want the Americans to sell the club so that Benitez can get the money he needs AND we can build a new stadium.' Wait a minute? So you are telling me they want to do a Chelsea? Despite abusing the Russians for years about buying the title, they want to do the same. Rather then go the Arsenal way (loans, save money, spend little, build stadium) they want it all in one go. They want Benetiz to be able to spend big (£70million a season maybe?) and at the same time, a new £400million stadium built. Now for the facts. Arsenal spent £11m NET since we started building the stadium. Thats £1.8m a year over 6 years.

How will Liverpool fans react? How will Benitez react? If they cut spending to build the stadium? The idiots want their cake and eat it, and it is all the Americans who are to blame. The two businessmen. The two man in Liverpool who can see how much Benitez has spent, can see his lack of progression, and who know how much the new stadium is going to cost.

And what sums it all up? The Scousers welcomed the Americans with open arms saying that they would make Liverpool the biggest club in the world.

Heres another fact for you, the ONLY reason Benitez is still in a job is because he is waiting to be pushed. A nice compensation package for Benitez and his staff, all money which could go to players/the stadium. Yet Liverpool fans back him...

I give you a bunch of idiots.

CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN! (hides from Jaime 'I let my country down' Carragher.'

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 ..!

Again, the Spurs in the CC and no Baptista this time :( The biggest news is that Persie is fit and will probably start. Walcott is also back. Seems like everyone was getting ready for this one lol. A win is my prediction, and it is the SPurs, it will be a crime to predict anything else


... We still have Hoyte, who created the goal last time around ! Hope he does it again !..

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Well the biggest surprise is Diarras supposed omission, sad to see his arsenal career end before it even started. ...

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Gilberto was the worse player on pitch...Berbatov's vision and skill gave Arsenal a hard time all night long... Theo and Bendtner were good along with Fabianski who made some really good saves and made some crucial decisions he is good i like him... ..

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It seems Diarra was included in the squad but the moany bitch he is decided to fuck off. not too worried with that situation. every Arsenal jersey would have been embarrassed with the performance against a hated neighbor but once the heat passed its understandable a 2nd string managed a draw against a charged up scums.

I have been a huge fan of Gilberto from the time he came to Arsenal. He's done a terrific service to the club and given us a lot of moments to cherish. But sadly age is getting better of him. He may have provided more passes to scums than their entire mf put together and you could just feel the agony being gilberto then. He doesn't like it but can't seem to do better. Though I would like to see him end his career at arsenal it just doesn't look likely. Another player who was a complete liability is diaby. The only positive in Diaby was to leave Traore completely exposed (not one but a few games they played and should improve his abilities a lot more). what a nice free kick by traore from such a deadly position :P

I think the goal was all due to Senderos not playing the off side properly. He drifted on allowing them to have a go and finish. Second half was positive with the introduction of Sagna(what a good player he is) and shifting Hoyte to his pref. central role. A lot of Sendy mistakes were corrected by Hoyte and Sagna was good going forward. Eduardo looks as sharp as ever and Bendtner was ok'ish. Walcott scored a goal but did nothing really. (Mark Randall looked more composed after the sub :P)

Its been sometime we put a dominating performance now. Its time to set things straight. There was no MF yesterday and the long ball thing was overdone. Lets just hope Arsenal get back to passing and moving the ball around.
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I don't remember when was the last time I said more bad words to the Scums than yesterday. And, curiously, they were right. Tottenham's supporters dominated the atmosphere at the Emirates, singing and putting even more pressure on Arsenal's young players. The reason? Quite simple, they did play really, really better.

The point is Arsenal didn't really deserve to win. Despite of the fact that I was keen on celebrating my first Arsenal goal at Emirates, Tottenham could've defeated us if Theo wasn't so lucky.

Senderos had one more poor perfomance. Wenger should do something quickly as Toure is out for the Africa Cup of Nations - but not that quickly because he (thanks God) got injured. Denilson's long balls were a disaster. That was what he did last night during the whole game. I was excited about seeing van Persie playing, but he actually almost didn't touch the ball - hats off to Tottenham defenders, because even Eduardo and Bendtner hadn't great chances as well.

Hats off to Berbatov. What a brilliant player he is. On the television we are used to see he only when he gets the ball, but as I had a complete vision of the pitch yesterday, I could see why Wenger praises the striker. The bulgarian acts like a captain, a key player - what he, in fact, really is.

I don't really agree with Wenger when he decides to use the younger team for the Carling Cup and the F. A. Cup matches. As we already are on the semi-finals against our detestable rival, and our club do need more titles, I think he should've used more players from our main squad.
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It would be unfair on the young lads to take the team to the semi final and then the big boys takeover to finish it off. Carling Cup has always been a proving ground for all the Arsenal youngsters, and I really salute Wenger for that. Imagine a 17 year old playing in a CC final at Wembley in front of a 90K audience. He would have dreamt of it all of his life.

Sentiments aside, the CC is not really a cup whose worth is equal to the Premiership or the FA cup. Winning the CC with a first team is not something any team can boast of, but if the same is done by a reserve or a second team, it is an achievement. See Chelsea last time? Their value of the squad on pitch in the final was much more than the prize money earned by winning the cup, and a CC in the showcase? Not very appealing eh?
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I don't care what team Arsene puts out in the final (if we get there) but what I know is fans don't take any defeat against Scums very well, if we do get knocked out by Scums there'll be some major uproar at Islington and folks from other parts of the world who have been a part of the club for long time. ..

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I don't know if your reply was for my post. If it was, then I would like to clarify that mine was a reply to the last paragraph of Felipe's post. I can't imagine a loss to the Spurs, and I also cannot imagine the first team taking over after the kids have done all the dirty work. Hope this clarifies. ..


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What I tried to mean is that the coming match against Tottenham will be a key one. Firstly because it's against our main rivals, that haven't beaten us since 99; secondly because being defeated to them at this moment of the semester would be a shame for the atmosphere at the Emirates, our moral must be the highest so we can keep doing our great job and win trophies.

I totally agree when you say Wenger should gives the youngers a chance, and I do think, as well as you, that these matches are really crucial for the development of such young players. Anyway, I still think it's risky to puts lots of pressure on the reserve squad specially at White Hart Lane, when what we need at the moment is just self-confidence, specially due to the fact I could see many fans saying bad words for the squad that played last wednesday night at the Emirates.

I know it's a very tough decision the boss must take, but I'll be at his side - ever...

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We are not talking about a first team taking over from the point young guns left off, we are talking about a few first teamer's in the mix with the rest of the youngsters. CC for Arsenal has always been for the likes of Lupoli's, Baptista's, Bendtner's, etc. But last time Arsenal used Adebayor and Rosicky in the CC SF and Cesc, Adebayor, Toure in the final. So the call is justified and we've seen it before too. And if Arsene puts the same team I don't see us going through.

This is what Gilberto has to say of Diarra

"It's difficult to understand for young players," said Gilberto, referring to Diarra. "It's not easy to manage the situation when it doesn't work out how they want. For some people it's quite hard."
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I dont think it will be that bad on the youngsters to add some bite to the CC team that played in the first leg. Eduardo to start up front he has been with the CC team for most of the season, Gallas at the back with Senderos, Flamini or Cesc replacing Gilberto and Rosicky/Hleb will play one of the wing positions. Shouldnt be that bad to put up a stronger squad.
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A few first teamers have always been in the CC team, even in the earlier rounds. So, that's exactly what I am saying when it comes to changing teams for the final or the "big" matches. ...

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Arsenals CC campaign last season had more than its fair share of first team players from the trip to Anfield onwards.

it was this season that he went totally for the second team..with Sagna on the bench and RvP recovering.

So in that sense i feel this result counts for more than the one last year.

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....

It seems our midfield might not be so big after all.

+ Flamini, yet to sign a contract. Could leave for free if he wants to
+ Diarra - Has been a bitch from the time he joined. Always whining and complaining for first team action. Was furious with the 6m quid price tag and Wenger has spoken about troubles with him in public.
+ D-iaby - will stay till the end of season but has indicated his displeasure at not breaking into first team. There's a conspiracy theory too
=It seems D-iaby and the bitch are good friends. Diarra has apparently rubbed off some of his qualities on D-iaby and if Diarra leaves D-iaby would follow. (Strictly Grapevine)
+Gilberto - Maybe out of form. May have lost his legs. Nowhere close to the player we know of! Will definitely be sold in summer (strong grapevine)That leaves us with Cesc, Flamini, Denilson. Suddenly the strongest position lacks depth.

I know Alex Hleb and Rosicky can play through the middle but we don't have enough back ups there as well.

1.Do you think its a problem for real?

2.More importantly assuming we have a few players leaving can we still win the the league, CC, FA and CL?


Reactions to the post

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No one is gonna leave this Jan. Diarra is the only possibility...

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The midfield is not a point of concern now, nor will it be in the coming few months.Its the CB position that we need to work on. Djourou is a consolation, but senderosis absolutely not good. ..

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rosicky is absolutely brilliant at central mid.so if diaby and diarra leave, back up wont be a problem, specially with vela coming back to fill left wing next season.flamini will be an idiot if he leaves now!i dont think he is. he will sign a new contract. no doubts there!gilby might leave. you can see he's unhappy and thats affecting his game!!!if wenger adds a couple of wingers and a good cb, our side will be complete!!! ...

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Diarra and nothing are the same thing.I think Flamini will not leave...maybe gilberto and Diarry will.So we need another good MF to be ready for action when cesc or flamini be out. ..

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i dont think Flamini will leave,he knows now he's in the regular 1st team at the best club in Europe at the moment.He'll be the biggest fool in the world if he leaves Arsenal.So there are less chances of Flamini leaving.About Diarra,Wenger is reluctant not to sell him.Lets c wat goes on with him.Diaby,if he wants to go another top club, he'll still face tough competition to play regularly in the 1st team.So again,there are less chances of him leaving.Gilberto,i can understand his frustration.Last season,he was the captain,this season,not even in the team.That's big blow for him and maybe time has come for him to leave. ..

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the main problem for us that we lack exp i mean signing young plyr n plying in first team i dont agree wid wenger i know he things about future but wht about present if couple of plyr leaves arsenal .........then we gonna in big trouble i dont know whus going out N whu will b in .............we r 2nd richest club in europe i think wenger should go for star plyr in mid ..

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it is difficult to leave a team which is on top of the epl unless another top of the table team beckons. only a potential problem. flamini.. i see no reason why he should leave. an also.. diarra... i would not care if he left, but i guess diaby isnt a kid to follow diarra. he knows what is good for him. ..

..I hear hes not happy with his new wages , which is kind of disappointing because, I respected Flamini ever since he came to Arsenal for his attitude and willingness to adapt -- and it would be shame if he too left the club for 5000 extra...On the other midfielders, I cant believe im saying this but I would be gutted to lose Diarra. Ok hes been a bitch, but I do believe that he has the talent to back up his mouth. So what I guess, is that its either Gilberto or Diarra on the way out from Arsenal and either way we will be a class player short at central mid. Denilson, I dont think hes leaving yet. He looks to have a decent attitude and more importantly he doesnt believe hes good enough to beat Cesc just yet.And which finally brings me to the player who I love one moment and hate the next. What can I say about Diaby? Sometimes his sublime skills is a joy but at times he looks lazy , disinterested and worse he plays like Eboue(which is perhaps the worst insult i can give him ) .. I would be neutral to whatever happens to him...

..The Flamini refusal was reported ONLY by the daily mail, which is a rag. I dont see why we should believe this. The last I heard from Flamini himself which was sometime in Dec was that he was busy focussing on the games. I have heard nothing from his agent. I honestly think we are jumping the gun with Flamster. These are part of negotiations, the player/agent will always hold out for more. If Flamini moves anywhere else (Juve blah blah), he will not be guaranteed playing time in the same way as Arsenal. Doesnt make sense to me at all. I think we are getting on Diaby's back too much as well - he wasnt displeased in the same manner as Diarra was, just said he wanted to play in the 1st team which I thought was positive. He has not moaned. He is a friend of Diarra, so he must be influenced? The most flimsy reasoning I've heard. Criticise his performances, by all means. He had an average game against Burnley, but also remember that he is still learning, doesnt get a regular run in the team etc. I have not lost patience with him. Gilberto - he does not want to leave. I think Wenger will sell him in the summer, if Diarra agrees to stay. Diarra - he wants more chances, and Wenger is pissed off. His criticism of Diarra was scathing (if you could read between the lines). Now, his dropping of Diarra could be a sign of him being sold (Wenger always has this habit) or it could just be a short term punishment for gobbing off to the press, and his stupid attitude. I still think there is hope for Diarra sticking around, in the same way that Flamini did over the summer. So, I feel that only Gilberto will leave, and that too, over the summer, not now. He has repeatedly stated that he loves the club and will stay UNLESS Arsenal sell him...

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Money can work wonders. There are many fools spoiling their careers in the Kennington circus not too far away from Arsenal. ..

..Though all pointers are towards Flamini signing a deal, fact is he hasn't. Does not mean he will does not mean he will not. Funny things happen in this world.The Diaby thing was merely a supposition. Don't elders always ask you keep away from bad company I agree he has never once strayed the path of lil bitch and maintained professionalism on that front...

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I will not be happy until Flamini signs on the dotted line. but I feel he has a better chance of staying than Herny because Henry left since Wenger wanted him to leave. Doubt Wenger will have the same attitude with Flamini.The only reason why I feel Flamini could leave is the same as countless before him. That we are not a big enough club. Nothing like the glamour of a Milan or a Madrid.However, people before him found it out the hard way. ..

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The news has been in a few English papers. A little dig further would reveal Juventus are linked with any available midfielder possible. There are enough indications they are looking for a good MF.What kind of formation do Juve play -(3-4-2-1)And I see a role for Flamini easily in such a formation. (Provided they don't sign a bigger player). Flamini is easily better than Zanetti. Salihamidžić, Nedved, Camoranesi are aging and Flam would fit right into the Juve squad...

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Well Flamini is playing his game here..he cemented his place with da team now and he wants a better contract wage vice..He is gonna stay ..Its jus little games which players play with their clubs wen deir stakes r higher...I feel dis thread is not all tat bad to delete..Here ppl r too strict...I was watching the "Foot Ball Focus "in Espn whic is not a bad and the experts agreed initially Arsenal has played tremendously well till now and also one predicted dat de wud win dis yr and wen fa African Cup of nations debate came on de told tat it could cost us as Senderos and Djorou r not gr8 ..But finally John Dykes ended it saying "Wat dis season has showed us is Write off Arsenal at your peril"...I liked it..

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i think flam is not signing the new contract as i just think he needs the largest pay he'd get... part of players tactic's at a club for a higher pay....

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We are the only club in da whole world who has won many but still regarded "Not big Enough"People want to go to a club were de even dont have an individual stadium for demselves at Milan but not us wen we have da one of best in Europe and an annual turn over of 201 M..Shit ..

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Its a potential problem.

Diarra has potential but I dont like his whining. We have a player in Flamini who has been in form all season. Diarra had his chances when Flamini was injured and failed to capitalize. He should be mor ethan aware of why he isnt getting his chances. All the whining might just be to take attention off the fact that he has not been able to prove himself in the team when given the chance. He might have accepted that there is no future for him if Flamini is in the team and pull attention to the fact that he has not recieved chances. Anyways, this is not the only time he will be left out due to someone else performing better. Will we have to hear him whining everytime? I dont like him as a long term prospect.

Gilberto looks set to leave, but hopefully after the season rather than this window. In the few matches he has played he hasnt been great either and with the youngsters waiting his future seems limited at Arsenal.

I did read an article about Diaby exppressing his desire to leave but atleast he hasnt been as whiney as Diarra. Talent wise I rate him higher as well. If only he would gain some more focus and worrate he will edge out Flamini as well. I am not sure if playing him on the left has actually affected his play when he is in the centre but he seems more inclined ot hold the ball now and run past each and very opposition player.I dont want to see him leaving and come back to the middle of the pitch.

Well hopefully Flamini stays, not sure when they are next going to talk about the contract. he has been vital this season. I think he is just holding out for a higher wage and will eventually sign.

We shouldnt have too many of them leaving because if 1 or two do leave it creates more chances for the others, less reason to complain. I would say if Gilberto + 1 player leaves it shouldnt be a problem, but any more than that and Arsene might have to take a look out there. ..


...Arsene is inteligent (duh...we all know that ) he said he wants to keep hold of diarra, it doesnt make sense, signing a player on 31 august and selling him in january, or if Diarra decides to leave, then Wenger will probably hold on to Diaby, diaby has been a waste on wings, diaby might stay eventually and Flamini will extend his contract, he did a u turn in smmers, wont leave just after a season, i think Arsene has it all covered. ..

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Flamini seems to be happy at Arsenal, hes playing rgularly, and Arsenal are winning, his passion is visible when hes on the pitch, he wont just desert us in the middle of the season, neither i thin that hes even thinking of leaving in summers...

Wenger wont just let these three rumours come true..together..