Thierry, we didn’t boo you 30 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership, Transfers, Uncategorized.5 comments
I’m rather shocked today because this article says that we booed our captain Thierry Henry on Saturday. I’m proud as a Gooner that we don’t sink to those levels, you see alot today teams being booed off by their own fans but never have I known Arsenal doing that. Apparently in the 66th minute Rosicky worked hard to get the ball to Henry but then he lost the ball easily, they may have been “aaaaaargh” sounds from the crowd but I could not hear a “boo”. If you were one of those people you should be ashamed really, it’s not going to help anything, ok it is frustrating when Henry is not on top of his game and it seems like he’s not bothered but booing won’t help that. Hopefully it is just a bit of journalistic exaggeration when Russell Kempson said, “boos rained down from the top tiers.”
However, Henry did have a little pop at the Arsenal fans saying their cries of ‘shoot’ are not helping us. He is right, alot of the time at games you hear people screaming ‘shoot’ when we are a ridiculous distance from goal. For example at the weekend Kolo Toure had just passed the centre circle when people were shouting, “SHOOOOOOT!” He responded to this by going for goal, ok it was on target but it was about 45 yards out and had nowhere near as much pace as it would’ve needed to make Howard struggle. I think we started these pleas of “SHOOOT!” when we passed it around the box and indeed inside the box endlessly, then it was right for us to scream ‘shoot’, but not when we are just in the oppositions half. I’m sure for the players it is frustrating because they will be hearing the cries but will know it will be impossible to score from their position. A few weeks ago I think these shouts helped, especially with Alex Hleb who’d find himself set up for a shot on goal but would square it and most of the time, lose possession. So, I think we either need to stop screaming ‘shoot’, or just use it for when we are actually in a shooting position. This is what Titi had to say about it:
“I would die like that, playing that type of football. There are no questions about that, no questions. I don’t know if the fans are frustrated. I keep on hearing them shouting ‘shoot’. “I don’t know what they’re trying to say or trying to do, but I think they’re getting sucked in by what some people are saying. We scored some amazing goals at Reading last week and nobody said ‘shoot’ then. Against Everton, we created the same chances, but the finishing wasn’t what you expect. That’s just the way it is. Fans are fans and like to express the way they feel. That’s the way it is, but as soon as we came back into the game 1-1, we went forward.”
He has always played the sort of football of passing it around beautifully for the perfect goal, he loves it and he is (most of the time) great at it. So he’s right about saying he’ll never stop playing the game like that, I don’t blame him. But we are not telling him to just ‘ave a dig whenever he gets the ball, I think we as Gooners love the style of football we play and fans from other clubs admire it too. It’s just sometimes it doesn’t work out and we have to have a shot more especially in the last few minutes of a game where we’re trying to find a last minute goal. I know Arsenal players and staff have read arsenal blogs in the past, hopefully someone will read my little shitty one somehow and tell Thierry that we didn’t boo him and we love him and especially love his football. I just don’t want our captain to feel that the fans don’t like him and are booing him. Don’t believe everything you read in the papers.
Recently Wenger said he feels the squad needs no more additions in January but I think this might have slipped the medias attention as we’ve been linked with Ahmed Apimah Barusso, Julian Esteban, Chinedu Ogbuke, David Beckham (again) and even Ruud Van Nistelrooy! None of which (apart from the last two which are just ridiculous anyway) I have ever heard of or can spell their name.
Arsene Wenger has said he’s not looking for a contract extension at the moment, on his 10 year anniversary he said that he won’t be here for another decade but would like to stay a bit longer. Here’s what he had to say recently:
“I have no plans to talk about a new contract anytime soon. At the moment I’m happy and first I want to see how far I can take this side. I’m confident I can go very far with the new team I have here. The contract is a really minor problem for me at the moment.”
I’m not bothered about this, we learnt with Henry last year that there is no rush to sign a new deal; Arsene will probably wait until the summer to have a think about this one anyway.
No more real news, only this caught my eye. It’s Ashley Cole talking about how he’s afraid that there might be hurtful chants when he goes over to Spain. Just wait ’till you fucking make the trip to North London you twat 
Ok, see ya later, have a good day.
Arsenal 1-1 Everton – 28/10/06 – (Barclays Premiership) 29 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.5 comments
Everton frustrated us with some negative football and didn’t allow us to play. They tried to upset us and right from the start they worked tactics to stop our beautiful football; they chose to attack the south end first. We started pretty much as expected but we ended the game with Flamini in centre defence and Walcott at right back and Jeremie Aliadiere, Tomas Rosicky, Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie all on the field as we tried to get that late goal.
We went 1-0 early after 10 minutes from a sloppy corner. We didn’t deserve to be losing but we couldn’t seem to find the goal to cancel out their opener. They won a corner which was delivered into the 6 yard box, Cahill won the header but it didn’t go anywhere and was just lurking in front of the goal and Kolo Toure was unable to stop the Australian from scoring.
There’s no doubt we dominated the game and had the majority of chances. Everton had just Andy Johnson up front and packed their half of the field with players to cut out our slick passing. We managed to get a few chances in but nothing really defining. The most dangerous man in the first half was Tom Rosicky who looked the most likely to score for Arsenal. He had a few chances in the first half, one just before the break where RVP whipped a ball in towards the far post which Tom got a head to but it was blocked by Phil Neville in the area with what looked like his arm. On the replay it looked as if he’d stopped it illegally but the referee didn’t see anything wrong and we went in at the break 1-0 down.
There was some bad news from the first half when Justin Hoyte picked up and injury at right back and Matty Flamini came on after his recent recovery from injury. I don’t know how serious Justin’s problem is but hopefully it’s not too bad. That’s all our right backs injured now so we need him back, I’m not sure when Eboue’s back but I think we really missed him today. So The Flamster filled in at right back but didn’t really look comfortable there and there was a bit of switching being done throughout the game.
We nearly scored straight after the restart when Rosicky crossed it into the far post and Henry was denied by Howard with his downward header. When we came out for the second half we were goal-hungry and spend about 20 minutes in their half attacking their 10 man defence. Around the hour mark there was a non-stop series of Arsenal attacks with Rosicky again, Fabregas and Henry coming close to equalizing; we were desperate for a goal and the crowd were doing all they could to lift the team.
Wenger felt a change was needed and changed the team around to a much more attacking look. Wenger spotted that Everton weren’t attacking much down the left and felt an out-and-out right back wasn’t needed and played Walcott as sort of a very attacking deep right winger, he was officially the right back but spent mot of the time attacking Everton’s goal. Theo came on for Djourou who didn’t play particularly well, not the Johann we’ve been used to seeing. The back four/three was now Walcott (kind of), Toure, Gallas and Flamini.
After an onslaught of attacks we finally won a free kick in a promising position after Rosicky was fouled a few yards outside the box. We desperately needed to score this and when I saw that Van Persie was lining this one up I said, “Oh, not Van Persie. He’s gonna miss this…” Next thing I know I’m jumping around screaming after RVP curled in a great free-kick into the corner beating Tim Howard. It was a really well struck free-kick and I know he an do ‘em, he’s done it before but so many times at vital times he’s wasted important free-kicks. So we were finally level at one each but we were by no means finished.
Wenger threw on Aliadiere for Hleb for the final few minutes. There was plenty of time for us to find a winner but Everton played some extra-negative football with some time wasting to hang on for a point. We didn’t play as well as we did against Reading but I still feel we deserved all three points yesterday. Oh well, that’s football for ya. That leaves us now in 5th but with a game in hand; if we had three points from that then we’d be 3rd and 4 points behind Man Utd and Chelsea. Next in the Premiership is West Ham away, they’re in bad form at the moment and are stuck in the relegation zone. They’re currently winning 1-0 against Blackburn at Upton Park, which they need but I think we’ll be too much for them next week. After that though we’ve got a tough few games: first it’s Liverpool at home, then Newcastle at home and then Bolton away which is a tricky tie for us and we haven’t done well there in the past couple of seasons. Hopefully we hit a bit of form before those games. But our next game is Wednesday in the Champions League against CSKA Moscow, hopefully we can do better than we did out there and get some revenge for an unlucky loss in freezing Russia. See you later people.
Quick Everton Review 28 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership.add a comment
Sorry, I woke up late, no time for a proper preview I’m afraid.
It looks as if Adebayor’s injury is not as bad a previously thought and he will only miss today’s game and might feature on Wednesday against Moscow.
Today we face Everton who’ve got an in-form Andy Johnson up front. Wenger has praised the striker saying he’s not a diver after the recent allegations. He’s also said he was interested in signing him from Palace.
Everton have got loads of players out injured Weir, Hibbert are Neville, a few others are but I can’t remember. No doubt we should win once again this week, if we can play like we did against reading then we should knock a few past Tim Howard today.
Senderos and Flamini are back in the squad for today but Clichy has been rested; Aliadiere is in the squad too. So I think it’ll be Hoyte, Djourou, Toure & Gallas across the back. Then a four man midfield of Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto & Rosicky. Then with Van Persie & Henry up front but don’t be surprised if RVP is dropped out to the wing pushing Rosicky more central and Gilberto a bit deeper. I think Wenger prefers the 4-4-2 at home but we’ll see.
Ok, must go now. Enjoy the game if you’re going. Match report tomorrow, until then.
Ashburton Grove now ‘officially’ opened, but not by the Queen… 27 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Cup Games, Transfers, Uncategorized.5 comments
Yep, all those games that you thought had happened at our new ground didn’t actually mean anything because the stadium wasn’t even open yet. However yesterday our new ground was finally opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. The Queen was meant to be doing the opening yesterday but she picked up a back injury and is going to be out of action for a few weeks, luckily The Duke was able to slot right in…
Enough of that, really is quite a silly story. I mean if we did the officially opening before we’d played any games then okay, or even if it was after DB10′s testimonial, but now is just a stupid time to do it really, oh well. As you probably know I’ve been away for a few days and there’s been quite alot of news. I’ll start with the 2-0 win over WBA in the Carling Cup. I was surprised at the strength of the side and Wenger confirmed that he wants to do well this year which is nice, in the last couple of years the bigger teams have started to take this cup more seriously as Chelsea are making it very difficult to snatch the Premiership off them. It was a strong line-up but it was Aliadiere who stole the show, he bagged a goal in each half to take us through to the next round where we face Everton.
We risked it a bit with fielding a strong team and we were punished for that and now Adebayor will be out for three weeks after picking up a thigh injury after just 25 minutes. This isn’t a huge blow for us as Van Persie can fit in as the 2nd striker to Henry. However it does mean we’re a little tight for options up front and maybe after an impressive performance Aliadiere will be the back up striker on the bench. The 23 year old hasn’t had the best luck at Arsenal, when he joined all those seasons ago he looked like a great prospect but he never really developed as he should’ve. This was mainly to do with many injuries in his time at Arsenal and he spent alot of time out on loan at different clubs including one at Celtic, which lasted about a week. He does seem to be better this season than he was before but still he’s going to have to do very well to break into the team, a good performance mid-week and this injury to Adebayor might be exactly what the Frenchman needs. He feels he has a future here but I still think he’ll look for a permanent move to a smaller club in the summer.
Before I left for Scotland I mentioned that Toure might be signing a long-term deal at the club and he has, it hasn’t been confirmed yet how long the new deal is, all we’re told is it’s ‘long term’. This is more great news for the club, the past couple of weeks have been great for an Arsenal fan (apart from Moscow…) and hopefully things continue to be good for us. Ooh to, ooh to be, ooh to be a GOONA!
The only bad piece of news that came out whilst I was away was that Wenger will not be buying the January transfer window. This summer was very frustrating will the lack of signings but Arsene made up for it on the last day with the arrival of Baptista, Denilson and Gallas. I still feel there was room for one or two more in January but I’ll stand by Wenger.
And finally Thierry Henry has said Ashburton Grove feels like home now. The new ground changed from something new and exiting to a ‘home’ for me a few games ago, Titi says the first couple of games were a bit strange but everything feels right now:
“At the very beginning it was a bit difficult because we all miss Highbury, even people who don’t support Arsenal or don’t play for Arsenal knew it was special. On the other side, you can see it’s an amazing setting here. The pitch is great, the stadium is great. The first two games were difficult for me, now it seems like we have a home.”
We’ve done well at home recently and hopefully we can continue that form tomorrow as we face Everton, a match preview of the game tomorrow, I think that’s enough typing for today…Thanks for reading. Have a good Friday.
No Blog until Friday 23 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, The Cannon News, Uncategorized.4 comments
I’m off to Scotland for a few days and there won’t be a post before Friday, which will mean no match report on the reserve game against West Brom on Tuesday night. I’m sure you’ll cope for a few days and I’ll try post an update this Friday with a bit of a preview of the Everton game the next day. Anyway on with what news there is today.
After our 4-0 thrashing of Reading yesterday I said I wouldn’t blame us for thinking of the title and Arsene Wenger has been doing exactly that. This is what he had to say after the game at The Madejski when asked about our title ambitions:
“I feel strongly that the hunger is there, the quality is there, the competition is of a very high level but we believe we can do it. Let’s see how consistent we can be and I think we will be, but we go from game to game now and give everything in every game like we always do, but we believe we can do it. I said that recently we have played some very good games and the team is really getting better and better, the understanding is better, the movement is better and we just want to keep improving.”
“We played well, we had a good start and then after of course our technique made the difference and once we were 1-0 up we had many chances and counter-attacks. They remained dangerous on set pieces and as well on some crosses but overall I feel we dominated the game well after. The last 20 minutes the concentration dropped a little bit and the fatigue came in after we played in Moscow but overall I am very happy with the performance.”
Nice words from ‘Le Boss’ and I’m 100% there agreeing with him. I believe this season can be a successful one, we just need a few performances like yesterday’s and a bit of luck along the way. The ability is definitely there, I just hope we can improve on last season’s fourth place. We scored some beautifully worked goals yesterday and Arsene had his comments on them too, he was asked which one was his favourite out of the four:
“Maybe the third one because it was a team goal, and coaches love them, but overall it was van Persie’s one maybe. But the first goal was a good goal as well because Thierry took the ball well from Cesc on surprise, and the Hleb one. They were all good goals but as a manager maybe you choose the one where you have most of the players involved.”
Personally my favourite goal was Alex Hleb’s; the build up was beautiful, and the bullet finish into the roof of the net topped it off for me. They were all nice goals yesterday but for me, Hleb’s was the best.
Kolo Toure picked up a little back problem yesterday and looked to be in some pain, I’m not sure yet if he’s going to be out for any period of time but if he is, Phil Senderos is back to fill in for him now but also Gallas can play centrally with Clichy out wide. So there are lots of options if Toure has to take a rest so I’m not really worried about that. He’s a massive player for us so it brought a smile to my face when he said he’d like to play here for life:
“I can see myself staying here for the rest of my career. Why would I want to leave? I love my football, my family is settled here and the club is ambitious. It is fantastic here. I have played with players who, five or six years ago, I was watching on television back in the Ivory Coast – people like Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. One day I would love to captain the club. Thierry is doing a fantastic job, he is a tremendous leader. But one day, yes, I would love to.”
I think Kolo would make a great captain and a good successor to Henry, he is four years younger than our current captain so it is possible for him to get given the armband next. After that I think it’ll be Cesc but lets not think too far ahead. Fabregas just signed a long-term deal to stay at Arsenal so it’s great that Kolo wants to join him in doing so.
There were rumours that there was a confrontation between Henry and Van Persie over the Dutchman’s selfishness. Arsene has dismissed these reports saying there was no big argument between the strikers:
“Strikers always get frustrated, but I don’t see any problem with them. Robin has improved tremendously. When he came here he was not in the team at Feyenoord, and is now a regular in the Dutch national team. That tells you the strides he has made and I think he is a great player. He [van Persie] got frustrated on one occasion on Tuesday. He showed hesitation, touched the ball again and then it was too late as the keeper had come out. But that can happen.”
I know that Henry gets annoyed with Robin, you can see it when he’s on the pitch and I don’t blame him really. Sometimes Robin makes the wrong decision and Thierry will let him know that. He’s only young and he’ll mature which will help in striking situations but for the time being Robin just has to have a little think about his options first. I don’t think there was an argument between him and Henry but I wouldn’t be surprised if Titi told him about it in the dressing room. Especially after the CSKA Moscow game when he’s just been disallowed a perfectly good goal and most probably still angry.
There’s another quote from Wenger here, this time involving video replays. I am a big believer in this and Arsene thinks it should be a part of the game too. He spoke to the BBC yesterday but the decision in Moscow was still on his mind:
“There is not just a place for it, there is a need for it. If you love football you want justice to be respected. It becomes suspicious when people see things that don’t happen. You can question the honesty of people and we do not want that in our game. When referees see things that don’t exist it is hard to accept. With a video you can you can check that it is a regular goal. Why refuse when the help is there? It becomes a weakness from referees if they don’t accept it.”
“I would have preferred he [the referee for the Moscow game] said: ‘Video please, I want to see suspicion of a hand-ball’. “It does not look at any minute like there is a suspicion of a hand-ball when you watch the game. How can he come to that conclusion? It is very difficult to accept.”
I don’t know how the FA and FIFA feel about video technology but I think along with most footie fans it must be introduced. We all complain when referees make the wrong decision so why not eradicate that with replays? There is that argument that it’ll add long pauses in the game but isn’t that what extra time is for? I really don’t see a single valid reason why we shouldn’t have it and with all the technology we have today it would be a great way to further the sport.
That’s your lot for today and indeed for the next few days. Have a good week, enjoy the West Brom game, I’ll see you Friday I guess.
Reading 0-4 Arsenal – 14/10/06 – (Barclays Premiership) 22 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.15 comments
So we got the thrashing we called for and it was a magnificent 4-0 to The Arsenal. We played brilliantly, the way football should be played and it really was a treat to watch. When we play like we did today we can beat anyone in the world and anyone who isn’t up to world standard will be sent flying. We managed to stick four past Reading but it could’ve been more; every goal was intricately worked and something that all football fans should appreciate. We played the same team we did against CSKA Moscow, the 4-5-1 with Van Persie occupying the left; but today I think it actually worked. Henry was allowed the freedom to switch with RVP and play anywhere he liked in their half. The attack worked very well and we often had a line of four attackers charging down on the Reading defence. I think it was Henry, RVP, Rosicky and Fabregas usually who worked extremely well along with every other man in red on the pitch.
I can’t think of a single player who had a bad game and the only negative I can think of from the game was Kolo Toure pulling something in his lower back and going to the floor in agony. It looked quite bad at the time but he carried on playing and hopefully it isn’t anything serious. Today was a proud day to say you’re a Gooner and I hope other fans can watch MOTD tonight and agree we played some beautiful football.
The 1st Goal came within 60 seconds and was a taster of what was to come. Fabregas had a great game after his new 8 year deal was signed this week and showed just how valuable he is to our team. It was Cesc who really made this first goal, he was fed in down the right and took it into the box near the by-line, someone tried to tackle him in the box, he could’ve gone down and possibly won a penalty or he could have let himself get tackled and let it out for a corner, but no. Cesc battled through the Reading defence, looked up and played a calm ball to Henry who was standing on the edge of the box. And the finish was just as calm and simple as the pass as Thierry side-footed the ball between the legs of a defender and into the net. 1-0 Arsenal, 1 minute gone. It was such a simple goal but it was a great one, at half time Paul Merson said it could be his goal of the season just because of the beautiful football we played to create the goal.
The 2nd Goal took another half an hour to come but was well worth the wait with some brilliant build up from Arsenal. Hleb did very well to score this and he can take all the praise for this strike. Alex received the ball outside the box, played a one-two with I think Rosicky and was one-on-one with the ‘keeper and blasted a shot into the roof of the net. It is really worth clicking on the link if you didn’t see this goal, it was a nicely worked goal with a finish to match.
We went in at half time two goals ahead and completely controlling the game. The Reading faithful must’ve been wondering what hit them and the manager must’ve been speechless. I can honestly say I think we play the best football in the world, it’s just a shame we can’t do it every game.
It only took five minutes from the break to make it 3-0. Hleb made a great run down the right wing and cut inside and played a one-two on the edge of the box with Henry just like he did for the previous goal, this time instead of going for goal he simply tapped it to Van Persie who completed the formality to take us three up. To be honest, now I think about it, RVP didn’t have an amazing game, he played alright but was nothing special. He made a few wrong decisions and was a little bit selfish in places, he didn’t have a bad game so to speak but he wasn’t at his best.
The 4th goal came in the 70th minute and it was a penalty from Titi. Henry fed Fabregas into the box and had only the goalie to beat, he side-stepped him to the left but was tripped by the ‘keeper and a penalty. It was a correct decision from the referee; there won’t be any complaints about that. So it was Thierry Henry who placed the ball on the spot and he side-footed the ball as far to the goalie’s left as it possibly could have gone. Hahnemann dived the right way but the was no stopping it as it came off the inside of the post and into the net; it really was a perfect penalty to finish off the perfect game.
It finished 4-0 to the Arsenal but could’ve been 6 or 7 really. After we lost to CSKA I said we needed a massive performance against Reading and a few goals and my call was answered. This is up there with one of the best performances I’ve seen from Arsenal and I don’t blame any Arsenal fan for dreaming of the title this season after five successive wins and that magnificent performance. I don’t know what more I can say really, just make sure you re-watch this game on match of the day tonight. Have a good evening Gooners.
Reading v Arsenal Preview 21 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership.2 comments
I was speaking yesterday about our injury situation and how we’re starting to get players back. I think I may have jinxed it because now Freddie Ljungberg is our for another three weeks with his calf problem he picked up with Sweden. We can cope without him, it’s just a nuisance to have him out. He might be getting old and some Gooners have been saying he might be sold in the summer but he can still do a job for us at the moment. So Freddie will be out for tomorrow’s game so we might see Walcott starting again or maybe even RVP will take his place, but please, please don’t put him on the wing again.
Also, whilst we’re on the subject of injuries, Lauren won’t be back until at least the new year. He last played for us on 21st January and it looks like it’ll be a whole year from then until his next game. Arsene had this to say yesterday:
Arsene Wenger:
“I don’t think you will see Lauren in the team before January. He played up to the limit of his pain and then maybe he played a little too long. That created some damage in his knee which had to be repaired. But he is a tough, tough boy. He works hard and he will come back. He is making good progress but he still has four or five weeks before he comes back to normal training and then it will take a month’s full training to come back into the team.”
“There is no first-choice right back. The first-choice right back is the one who plays in the next game. This team now is not dependant on one player in any position on the pitch. Everybody has tough competition to stay in the side.”
The other news from yesterday was Cesc signing his eight year deal with Arsenal. Thierry Henry has had some words to say on the new deal:
Thierry Henry:
“I don’t want to put pressure on Cesc, but he is now ready to become one of the best midfielders in English football. He is growing as a footballer and, while he is a different type of player, is filling the void left by Patrick Vieira. Cesc deciding to stay here is as important as me staying. I don’t think I will be here when he is 29. But he is the future of the club, so you have to keep him. When I see him on the pitch, he does not look like a kid anymore. The first time I saw him was at the Under-17 World Cup and he was the tournament’s best player. I heard we had signed him and as soon as he arrived at training, I saw the kid was different to the other players. He has no fear.”
Henry’s right, this is an exiting time for the club. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for Cesc Fabregas. About time for us to give him a proper song? I think so. I remember “…he’s only 17, he’s better than Roy Keane”, but that hasn’t been done for ages.
Ok, so on to tomorrow’s game. It won’t be an easy match for sure but I think we should take all three points back to North London. I expect it to be a defence of Hoyte, Toure, Djourou and Gallas however Clichy might be fit to start pushing Gallas into the middle and Djourou onto the bench. Hopefully we’ll play a 4 man midfield of Rosicky, Gilberto, Cesc and Walcott/Hleb. I think Adebayor will be chosen up top with Henry because it’s an away fixture and he’s run into a bit of form at the moment. So I think Van Persie will start on the bench but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t play some part in this game. I reckon Lehmann will start in goal but don’t be sshocked if he gets knocked out cold and Almunia comes on.
It’s Chelsea v Portsmouth at 3 today and Man Utd v Liverpool. This should be a weekend where we can gain points on our rivals and climb even further up the league. Have a good day people and enjoy the game tomorrow.
Eight more years of The Cesc 20 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership.5 comments
Francesc Fabregas signed an 8 year deal with Arsenal yesterday after negotiations for some time. He is one of the exiting young players at the club and is already a regular starter at only 19, I can’t dream of what he’ll be like at his peak but we’re the ones who’s gonna find out. Here’s what Cesc had to say on the new deal:
Cesc Fabregas:
“I am so happy here and I am delighted to have signed this new contract that will keep me at the Club for years to come. I wanted to pay back the Club, especially Arsène Wenger for the support and faith he has shown in me. What is important now is for the team to realise its potential and win trophies. That is our main aim, that is my aim as well.”
Hopefully he’ll win lots of trophies in the next eight years and I reckon he’ll lift a few of them as captain one day. He’s a great player with so much ambition and amazing talent; this is fantastic news for the club.
Phil Senderos will be available for the Reading game this weekend which is another a great bit of news. It’s very unlikely that he’ll start but he could make a substitute appearance after his long-term shoulder injury picked up at the world cup. It won’t be easy for him to get in the squad now though like last season. Now I’d say the centre two are Gallas and Toure with Phil and Djourou fighting it out for that place on the bench. Djourou has grown from strength to strength and is giving Arsene Wenger a nice problem for who he should pick. The injury list keeps getting shorter and now I think it’s just Diaby and Lauren, and then Ljungberg, Baptista, and Eboue with minor injuries.
Even though it’s Reading we’re playing on Sunday, who’ve just been promoted, it won’t be a walk in the park. On paper we should win easily but the game’s not being played on paper (quote from FIFA 07). After losing on Tuesday we really have to prove ourselves and get back on track. Kolo Toure isn’t underestimating Reading either:
“We will have to be on top of our game at Reading because they are doing well in The Premiership and it will be a really hard game. It will be tough but we have the character, the spirit, and we want to win and to win The Premiership. To win the Premiership title you need to win games like this and we will go to Reading and try to beat them. I think we have the character, definitely. We have even shown that at CSKA Moscow because we played a strong team, went behind and yet scored a good goal which the referee didn’t give to us.”
We might be a bit edgy but I think our quality will come through and we should win comfortably, Chelsea only won narrowly 1-0 at The Madejski, and Man United were held to a 1-1 draw, hopefully we can do better than our rivals and stick a few past ‘em. I’ll have a match preview to come before the game hopefully.
Not much other news to report, only this from inside the Arsenal blogging world: The very first Arseblog Arsecast comes out today to make sure you check that out, I can’t wait! Have a good Friday people.
CSKA Moscow 1-0 Arsenal – 17/10/06 – (Champions League) 18 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Champions League.5 comments
Fuckshitbollocksgrrrrr
I’m sorry but really feel like going into the game in depth, It’s one of those games…We started with a 4-5-1 with RVP out on the wing. Alot of Gooners have been calling for this but I haven’t, I don’t see it. And when it was put into practice, it didn’t work. Robin didn’t have a great game and when we were in desperate need of a goal he was brought off late in the second half for Adebayor. Emmanuel was actually quite good and offered us something extra and it looked as if we might score.
Their first goal I have to say was a stunner, a bullet free kick from Daniel Carvalho which Lehmann couldn’t stop. I wasn’t really worried at the time and thought we’d come back. I thought they added a second just after that though from Love but it was ruled out for offside. Phew.
Our main problem was giving the ball away. We lost it all the time and CSKA looked dangerous whenever they were on the ball. Fabregas who is usually quite good on the ball gave it away alot and a few times was caught up in possession. This is something that I haven’t really seen Arsenal do before and I don’t know why it happened last night.
We had a few chances in the game but nothing really decisive, to be honest it looked like the most likely tem to score were CSKA and I have to say I think they were better than us on the night. We definitely didn’t deserve to win but I think we should have drawn especially with ‘that goal’. I can’t believe that goal was disallowed, it’s so frustration how referees can make such shitty decisions at vital times and look so smug about it like they have done some great refereeing. I’m finding it really hard to talk about the incident, just can’t believe we were denied that point. Stupid fucking ref. Aaaarrrggghh! Wenger and Henry with him in the post-match interview, I didn’t see them but I don’t blame ‘em and good on them for showing some emotion for Arsenal. Also an angry Henry plays better that a happy one so I’m thinking this weekend we’ll come back with a bang and stuff Reading. Can’t wait. I’m not worried about CSKA’s trip to Ashburton Grove. I’m sure we’ll beat them over here with a better pitch, warmer temperatures and decent refs. Here’s a quote from the skipper after the game:
“We’re not a big club. What does it mean? That means what I’m saying – we are not a big club. The referee claimed I took it with my right arm and put it in front straight away. The goalkeeper looked at me and had a little giggle about it. The centre back clapped the ref and was taking the piss out of him. We didn’t have an amazing game but I didn’t think they did too. They played on the counter-attack. I think it’s a disgrace. I asked the ref what did he see and he couldn’t tell me. He said at the end he didn’t talk about it anymore. He was happy to talk about other stuff with the boss but not that. It was a clear goal from me, whatever you want to say about it. I’m sorry but, once again, I don’t know what to say about that. To give me a yellow straight away – please, look at the replay.”
He does really sound very angry doesn’t he? As I say I hope he can use this against Reading at the weekend.
I’m not worried about CSKA’s trip to Ashburton Grove. I’m sure we’ll beat them over here with a better pitch, warmer temperatures and decent refs. I’m sorry but that about all I can say on the game, I suppose I feel just like Henry does from the sound of that interview. Some more news or something later in the week. Meh.
Back to Blue 17 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Champions League, The Cannon News, Transfers.1 comment so far
Yesterday I tried out a new look for The Cannon. I fancied a change from the blue as it wasn’t very ‘Arsenal’. A few people liked it but most people preferred ‘the old blue one’, and to be honest after seeing the new one so do I. So it’s back to good old bluey for now, I hope to change it to red or something but maybe keep the same look, we’ll see.
I got some great new pictures of my flag from the Watford game thanks to gunner8. In the first one you can see me putting the flag up with my little brother and in the second one it shows the flag just before kick off. Cheers for the great pics G8.
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In the news today Arsene Wenger has denied bidding for Ribery. He’s said that he thinks he’s a good player but repeated what he said this summer about him that he’s not looking for any more attacking players:
Arsene Wenger:
“We have never made an offer to Marseille for Franck Ribery. I find him a good player, but I am not looking for any players at the moment. I have exactly the squad I need and offensively we have lost some players like Bergkamp and Pires, but we have got Rosicky and some young players who have developed well like van Persie and Adebayor and Walcott, plus the players who create the game like Alex (Hleb). So for the moment I am not looking for anybody to come in.”
Quite true words, I don’t think Ribery is better than Walcott or Rosicky so would probably be a bit of a waste if we bought him anyway.
After Cech’s and Cudicini’s injuries at the weekend Chelsea will have to face Barcelona tomorrow with reserve ‘keeper Hilario and will have reserve goalie Yves Ma Kalamby on the bench. I kind of feel sorry for Chelsea, I mean Cech could’ve died apparently or had some serious brain damage. Cudicini is a great goalkeeper but he’s going to be out for a while too. Our German no.1 has had his say on the events:
Jens Lehmann:
“Yes, it is a man’s game – but what you have to consider as well is these men have children and wives and their children do not want to see their fathers end up with lifelong damage, driven around in a wheelchair or not being able to work any more. First of all let me say that I hope both Carlo Cudicini and Petr Cech recover quickly. When it happened I really felt sorry for both keepers. It made me really, really angry too. I am still upset because it happened to Schwarzer and Shay Given – now it has happened to Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini. All of them are great keepers, very brave, they never went to challenge or harm the striker – but all four of them got knocked out due to so-called ‘clumsy’ challenges.”
“I have never injured a player in my life and I really want to retain this record because I respect my opponents. But now if they want to have a go at me then I will have to change my game because there is no protection from the referees. I know when I go on the pitch there is a risk of being injured. You cannot take this risk out – but what you can do is make statements on these intended challenges that people make on the keeper. They do not have any risk when challenging a keeper like that. In fact all these fouls are made out of a safe situation where these players cannot be hurt themselves. I am worried because my game is based on coming off the line so I am a potential target.”
Nice words from Mad Jens, I hope something like this doesn’t happen to him but he’s right that it is likely. He does run out of his box more often than most goalies so I suppose it’s more likely to happen to him. Touch Wood.
It’s Arsenal v CSKA Moscow tonight, it’s going to be freezing and probably not the best game then for the Brazilian Denilson to get his debut for Arsenal. The Brazilian under 19 captain is in the Arsenal squad for the first time since his deadline day arrival. Wenger has praised the kid but it doesn’t sound like he’ll play him unless he has to:
Arsene Wenger:
“He is a good all-round player and has good technique. He is not fazed, the boy has a good first touch, and fantastic stamina – he can run all day. He defends well, is a good passer of the ball and has good technique. – but he does not have the final ball like Cesc Fabregas. At the moment he is a bit unsettled because it is the first time he has left his country; he is still in a hotel, so he is a strong character. He can play already and we will see him certainly at West Bromwich Albion. And if he is needed [tomorrow], he can come on.”
The boy is definitely one for the future and I’m not expecting him to come on and impress tonight. Don’t forget it’s an early 5:30 kick-off tonight so make sure you’re home early for the game and it’s on ITV4. A match report to follow soon. Have a good day.
New Look for The Cannnon 16 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in The Cannon News.17 comments
What do we think of the new look? Prefer the old blue one? Any comments here please.
Cheers, Lasagnechef
Arsenal 3-0 Watford – 14/10/06 – (Barclays Premiership) 15 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership, Uncategorized.4 comments
Well we came out 3-0 winners in the end and was a comfortable victory really, I don’t think Watford have what it takes to survive the drop this season, they really just don’t look like a Premiership side. I went into the ground at about 1-ish, as soon as the gates opened, to put up the flag. Took forever too put up because of its size but when I walked around the stadium to have a look at it, it looked so small and insignificant. I’ve had quite a few people say they saw it and a few low-quality pictures, any more would be much appreciated 
. Apparently they have started putting up banners and stuff today along one of the concrete tiers, once they’re put up I don’t know if you’ll be allowed to hang flags. It’s something I haven’t done before and maybe if I sit upper tier in the future I’ll do it again.
On to the game, and Theo Walcott got his first start for Arsenal and made some nice little breaks but alot of the time the final ball wasn’t perfect and nothing came of it. He played on the left wing with Rosicky taking the right, I think he was played there because we had Gallas at left back and he’s not really an attacking left-back winger that’ll get down the flank, so Theo was there to do that job. One thing that stood out early in the game who a spectacular effort by Kolo Toure, we won a free-kick a few yards forward from the centre circle, I thought we might just take it quickly and start playing it around or cram people into the box and ping a ball in but Kolo was having none of that and had goal in his sights. The ball was tapped off to him and he unleashed the shot which swung well wide but was nice to see a bit of ambition to shoot from range, even if it was 40+ yards from goal.
There was a bit of a scramble early in the first half where Rosicky found himself with the ball on the edge of the box and unleashed a shot, Foster made the save and the angle was too tight for Adebayor to score. An early scare for Watford but credit goes to Ben Foster. There were a few times when an Arsenal player was put through one-on-one with the ‘keeper, the first opportunity fell to Cesc Fabregas who was put through by Walcott. Cesc side footed it past Foster and had an empty goal to shoot at with a bit of an angle but he only managed to hit the side netting, probably should’ve been one-nil there but there were more opportunities to come.
Watford’s best chance came in the first half with a bit of a goalmouth scramble in the box. Ashley Young was at the near post with the ball and Kolo Toure just threw himself at the shot to stop us going one nil down, from the resulting corner Marlon King (Gooner) smacked it over the bar, no trouble. There wasn’t much action for a while and the next chance came after about half an hour, Rosicky was put through on the right and made a cutting run to make himself a shooting opportunity, it was a great strike going into the far corner but Foster just managed to stretch out to it and make the save. However we finally went 1-0 soon after that, thanks to Jordan Stewart. Fabregas crossed in a beautiful ball over on the left from a free-kick to the far post, Adebayor got a head to it and Kolo Toure was jumping to finish with Stewart, I thought Kolo got the touch but apparently the last touch came off the Watford defender.
Towards the end of the second half Henry found himself one-on-one with the ‘keeper and chose to go for the far-right corner along the ground, it just went wide. He might have been disappointed not to score there but was given a chance a few minutes later. Lehmann smacked to ball up field, Adebayor flicked it on for Titi who manage to get by Demerit and had just the ‘keeper to beat once again. This time round he chose to slot the ball underneath the Man United loanee ‘keeper and Arsenal went into the break two nil up.
Not much really happened at the beginning of the second half, a few chances but nothing really worth mentioning. Theo came off on the 63rd minute to an amazing reception, he didn’t have the best game of his life but he showed some exiting little moments, good for him to get his first start. He was replaced by Hleb who I thought would start but Theo did a good job. Not long after that substitution Henry found himself though with just the goalie to beat, this time he went right up to Foster, and then squared it to Adebayor who had a simple tap-in into an empty net. Three-nil Arsenal, good night.
Gael Clichy made another step towards full fitness after his long-term injury as he came on for Bill Gallas with ten minutes to go, Gael got a great reception and I’m sure everyone is glad to see him back in the team and I think that maybe next week he can start for us and Senderos cant be long behind him. Watford had a couple of chances at the end but Lehmann did well and kept his clean sheet. The game finished 3-0, a fair reflection on the game where we dominated consistently. Our next home game is Everton on the 28th, until then we’ve got three away games against CSKA Moscow, Reading and West Brom in the Carling Cup. See you later people.
Look out for my flag! 13 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership, The Cannon News.10 comments
Wahay! The internationals are finally over and it’s back to the Premiership with Watford making the short trip down to the Grove. I’ll be sitting upper tier for the first time for this game and I’m doing my bit to cover up the concrete. I have made a flag, it’s not hard to miss as it’s about 24 feet long! You can see the entire thing if you click here. It’s five flags together, 2 plain Arsenal flags, 2 England flags and one flag from the FA Cup final 2005. They’re all I’ve got really, I was considering taking the England one’s out tonight but I can’t be arsed, so they’re staying. I’ll be sitting a few rows back from it in the green quadrant above the away fans, if you see it, let me know in the comments, and any photos would be appreciated too. Below is a thumbnail of the flag, which you can click on to enlarge.
Okay, onto the game. We haven’t got a fully fit squad for the game as Eboue, The Beast and Ljungberg are out injured. Eboue’s injury looks the worse out of the three and could be out for up to four weeks; we have enough injury problems as it is but those internationals have just taken another defender away from us. Freddie’s injury picked up with Sweden isn’t as bad Eboue’s but will certainly make him miss Saturday’s and maybe Tuesday’s game. Julio Baptista didn’t go away on international duty but instead picked up a minor injury in the game against Charlton at London Colney. Again, not too serious but rules him out of the Watford game.
So it looks like the back four will have to be Hoyte at right back, Toure and Djourou in the middle, and Gallas playing left back. There is some good injury news though, Gael Clichy will be on the bench and will possibly get a run-out. Wenger doesn’t want to rush him into the first team straight away because of the injury but he sees him fit enough to take a place on the bench. I’m sure he’ll get a great reception if he does come on and I hope he’ll be starting as left back very soon.
Wenger has praised Theo Walcott for his performance for the England under 21′s mid-week and said as soon as Theo got the ball he knew he’d score:
Arsene Wenger:
“I watched it on my TV and I was very happy. On the first one I said goal immediately. His first touch was not perfect but when you see him going through, you know nobody in the world can catch him. On the second goal, he still had it all to do even when he was past the first defender. You need really top quality to finish like he did after such a long run. I always like the guy who is not scared to take on somebody. You want people to take the ball and have a go at people. To finish like Theo did there was fantastic.
Theo was ready to come on at the World Cup, but maybe he was not ready to start the games with all the pressure. However when the space opens up, it doesn’t matter if you’re 17 or 30, if you’re quick, you’re quick. He can do it for us as well. He can start for Arsenal but he must not only be good enough to start for us, he must be better than the player who starts for us. At the moment that’s where his problem lies.”
Well maybe with Ljungberg out for the game we could see Theo starting to day but I expect it to be Hleb and Rosicky on the wings and Thierry and Van Persie up front; it’s most likely that he’ll be warming the bench with Gael Clichy. I’m sure one day there won’t we a player in the world that would start ahead of Theo Walcott, pretty soon he’ll be a vital player for Arsenal and Gilberto Silva thinks he’ll get to show his full ability soon. Can’t Wait.
I’ve pretty much given my team prediction but here it is in full: Lehmann, Hoyte, Djourou, Toure, Gallas, Rosicky, Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb, Henry and Van Persie. More than enough talent there to beat Watford comfortably. I’m looking for a good performance again and to be honest I expect no less than three points. You’ll have to wait a bit for the match report, I’ve got a party after the game and god knows when I’ll get back to the computer…oh the student life.
The only other bit of news not to do with the game is 2 confirmations of bids from Arsenal during the transfer window: West Ham confirmed that we made a bid for Nigel Reo-Coker on the deadline day and Kilmarnock have said we came quite close to signing Steven Naismith. It sounds as if we probably will get the lad sooner or later, it just didn’t happen this summer.
That’s it from me then, if you’re going to the game, enjoy, and don’t forget to look out for my flag. Match report to follow…one day. See ya later!
Arsenal Reserves 2 Charlton 1 11 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Uncategorized.5 comments
Phil Senderos and Gael Clichy are well on their way back to the Arsenal 1st team as both got a run out in the 2-1 win over Charlton reserves. Big Phil got a full 90 minutes and Gael was replaced on the 72nd minute by Armand Traore. I was quite a strong side that included Almunia, Denilson, Merida, Song, The Beast and Aliadiere. The game was behind closed doors at the London Colney training centre yesterday afternoon, I was actually passing it on the way home when they would’ve been playing but in recent years they’ve put these bastarding trees up so you can’t see a thing.
We nearly were a goal down very early but Matthew Connolly blocked Marcus Bent’s shot on the edge of the six yard box. We didn’t start the game well however we were one nil up after 25 minutes after thanks to an own goal from Souleymane Diawara. Gael Clichy put through a great ball for Baptista, but his first touch was a poor one, Diawara intercepted it, and in the process he put the ball into the near post. One nil to the Arsenal.
Julio Baptista was showing exactly why he is nicknamed ‘The Beast’ and made a powerful run beating two defenders and unleashed a shot which was blocked by their ‘keeper Stephan Andersen and then Diawara managed to knock the ball away before Aliadiere could double the lead. Fran Merida continued his excellent run of form and grabbed our second ten minutes after the break after coming on at half time for Mark Randall. The young Spaniard blasted a low shot from range which just beat the outstretched Anderson. It sounded like a really nice goal and will be another reason to include Fran in that Carling Cup squad.
After then it was pretty much all Arsenal, Senderos had a header, Denilson smacked a thirty yard screamer which was tipped over the bar and in the 80th minute Efrem set up Traore who found himself one on one with the ‘keeper but his shot was blocked to keep it 2-0. However Charlton scored four minutes later, Nathan Ashton got the ball on the half way line and made a surging run down the left flank. He dribbled past a few Arsenal defenders and then passed to Ambrose in the six yard box, Almunia got a hand to his shot but it wasn’t enough and the Ex-Newcastle man had put Charlton in with a fighting chance.
Fortunately it finished up 2-1, it was just a friendly but nice to see Arsenal winning wherever possible. Hopefully Baptista has impressed enough to get some sort of a run out on Saturday, everyone else I don’t think will make with clash with Watford. Can’t wait ’til the weekend, these internationals are so annoying and can’t wait to get back to the Grove. I’m sitting upper tier for the first time and I’m gonna be doing my bit to cover up the blank concrete. I’ve joined 5 flags together which should cover up quite a bit, I’ll get some pictures up before the weekend so you can look out for it.
There are more internationals yet though, there was probably some last night and there’s some more tonight. England play Croatia at Dinamo Zagreb’s ground tonight but the under 21′s beat Germany 2-0 last night with two late goals from Theo Walcott. Theo replaced Agbonlahor in the 77th minute to try and change things and scored in the 84th and 90th minute to beat rivals Germany. For the first goal he made a great run and took the ball down well from a ‘hoofed’ pass and finished well in the sorner of the net. The second was a fabulous run for most of the pitch and again with a great finish past the German ‘keeper. Both goals were very Theirry Henry-esque, and any player would have been proud of them, it really must have been great for any Gooner watching and I hope he can do similar for us in the red of Arsenal. Those two goals sees the England under 21′s through to the Euro Championship in Holland next summer. Well done Theo.
The last bit of news is from Arsene Wenger who reckons Arsenal can become the biggest club in the world. His ambition when he came here was to take Arsenal to the next level but ten years ago he didn’t imagine us to become this successful. However ‘Le Boss’ isn’t stopping here:
Arsene Wenger:
“My project is to dominate the English league and to dominate Europe. Nowadays Arsenal is a club superior to what I could have imagined at the beginning. When we built our new stadium we talked about a capacity of 50,000, then 55,000, then 60,000. Now we are asking ourselves already if it is too small. That could seem pretentious, but I believe that if you don’t give real ambition to a club it will not take off. At Arsenal, I even have more freedom than a lot of other English clubs. That is why I refused opportunities like Real Madrid. I am like an animal that has a lot of freedom and then you want to keep him on a leash.”
Arsene is a great manager and has done so much for this club, when I first started supporting Arsenal we’d be happy with making the European football places. Now that’s a must and we try to come first every year and nearly won the biggest prize of them all last year. Hopefully Wenger can take this club even further and win the Champions League, all I know is he is the man to do it. I think 60,000 is too small for small for us too. Maybe they can fill in the curves at the top with seats one day?
That’s all for today, enjoy your internationals tonight, if you’re into that sorta thing. Have a good day.
You wait so long for a post, then two come along at once… 10 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Transfers.3 comments
It looks like the Franck Ribery link I mentioned yesterday was more true than I suspected. Marseille have confirmed that they have had talks with Arsene about the French winger; however they’ve denied any rumours that a deal is done. “L’OM” had this to say:
Jose Anigo (Marseille sporting director):
“It is very clear that there is no agreement with Arsenal or with any other European club. Indeed Arsenal did come to discuss with Pape (Diouf, Marseille president) and Arsene Wenger spoke to him about it, but there were also discussions with other large European clubs. I could list them all but I would not have enough fingers on two hands to count them.”
Marseille want to keep the French international, and I don’t blame them. He’s a quality player and a great prospect at 23. He would be a good addition to our squad and it’s now official that Wenger is interested, maybe this guys a possible signing in the not too distant future, we’ll just have to see.
Another possible future signing is young Hearts ‘keeper Craig Gordon. This guy is also only 23 and, if we got hi, would be the natural successor to ‘Mad Jens’ Lehmann. Gordon is also the Scottish no.1 and played a huge part in the side’s one nil win over France at the weekend which Wenger was watching:
Arsene Wenger:
“Clearly, the Scotland keeper is very good. It is not the first time I have heard about him but that is the first time I have come to watch him in person. How old is he? Still only 23? Then I think he definitely has the potential to play at a higher level. Gordon has presence and good handling and looks a very good goalkeeper to me.”
I’m unsure whether Arsene has his eye on him or not but he’s certainly one option for our next no.1 ‘keeper. It won’t be easy getting him though, Hearts don’t want him to leave and he’s happy there. Gordon is a Hearts fan and has worked his way up to first choice goalkeeper so isn’t exactly trying to find a move away. I’m sure he’ll be tempted if we come in with an offer but we’ll have to see. There are so many other options to replace Jens; it doesn’t have to be this guy. But as I say, he is one option.
Our new summer signing Denilson has settled in from sunny Brazil and has taken some time in this international break to have an interview with Arsenal TV Online:
Denilson:
“It has been a dream for me since I was young to play in Europe, but I never imagined I could sign for a club like Arsenal so early in my career. I am going to try to my maximum and I want my football to mature here. I really think I can become a champion with Arsenal and make it into one of the best players in the world. The manager has said I have real quality, with a good touch and good technique. He says that now I just have to adapt so I can start to play in the first team.”
“”In Brazil, you would not really get kicks like I did for the reserves – if a player had done that to me at home, then he probably would have got a red card. But this is English football, the players are very strong and the tackles are very strong. You just have to take one or two touches so you do not get tackled in the same way. I have been working hard to play in the Carling Cup and am hoping that with my persistence, I could get a chance.”
“It is good for me that Gilberto and Julio Baptista are here. They talk to me about life at Arsenal, ask me if I am happy and understand things. Arsenal have treated me very, very well and have made me feel part of the family.”
I think all Gooners around the world are exited about what the future holds for this kid. I think most of them will be a little unsure what he’s like but hopefully, like he says, he’ll get a run out in the Carling Cup to prove himself. I saw him in his reserve debut at Underhill and he looked good but looked a little bit unsettled by the English nature of the game. Obviously that’ll take time to get used to but once he’s over that he’ll be flying. It’s tempting to say he’s the replacement for the 30-year-old Gilberto Silva but he probably is. Gilberto’s got about 4 years left here I’d say, by then Denilson will be 22 and a more mature player, hopefully well in the Arsenal first team by then. It’s an exiting future for him and indeed many other youngsters at Arsenal; hopefully they’ll develop into their full potential.
Well that’s yer lot today, quite alot of news considering the internationals. Happy Tuesday!
Ljungberg injured in international! 9 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Transfers, Uncategorized.9 comments
Grrrrr
I was thinking to myself, this international break wont be so bad unless one of our players gets injured. And god damn it Sweeden have injured their captain Fredrik Ljungberg! He picked it up in the 2-0 victory against Iceland and may have made it worse than it was but not coming off:
Freddie Ljungberg:
“It wasn’t a blow, but I got the injury when I was running. It got worse and worse, but it was an important match and I didn’t want to go off. Hopefully, I will get an X-ray. But right now, it does not feel very well. I will talk to the boss and see what he feels. As captain, you should follow the side, but at the same time, Arsenal might want me to come back for treatment.”
You’re damn right we want you back at Arsenal. It doesn’t sound too bad really and luckily we’re got players of quality that will take his place. It’s just annoying though and I bet Wenger is fuming.
England drew 0-0 with Macedonia, which dare I say, was quite funny. We were in desperate need of a goal in the final few minutes and we took of Rooney! He was so crap and I hope this run of form continues for him, I loathe Rooney and to see him doing shit makes me happy. England play Croatia on Wednesday, they’ll need to get a good win to get people to forget about Saturday’s performance. Shaun (Ian) Wright-Phillips did well when he came on late and looked like the only player bothered to play and have a go at Macedonia. If they cant put any effort in to play why should I put the effort in to watch them? What they need is more players like SWP who are young and fearless and want to have a go at the opposition.
It does beg the question why Theo Walcott isn’t playing. I was really happy when Sven selected him for the world cup, and praised the Swede for having confidence in him. Theo didn’t get one taste of a game and spent his time warming the bench. However he reckons that world cup inclusion will do him good:
Theo Walcott:
“I didn’t expect to go to the World Cup but it was a brilliant experience for me. Ronaldo went to a World Cup when he was just 17 and also didn’t play but look at him now. Just watching how the England players prepare for games, watching them train, watching Wayne was unbelievable. There is another World Cup in four years, so, hopefully, I’ll be there again.”
He’s right what he said about Ronaldo, and how great it would be if he turned out like that. I’m sure you all already know how exited this player makes me. Hopefully he can get a bit of international experience with Steve McLaren (and not get injured), it will only do him, and his country good.
I thought the Ashley Cole and William Gallas argument was over but it’s sparked up again; and I’m sorry but it’s Arsenal this time. Arsene Wenger has spoken about his anger over the tapping-up and said he’ll give his side of the story in the future:
Arsene Wenger:
“What was really annoying was they contacted Ashley Cole two or three days before a match with Manchester United which was a crucial game for us. I’ll talk about what happened later for there were things said in that meeting that were impossible for Arsenal to accept.”
Also Bill Gallas will make a video about Chelsea so people can know exactly what they’re like:
William Gallas:
“I want people to know the truth and the only way to do that is go to on TV. That way nothing can be misconstrued.”
Well it’s fair to say Chelsea are knobs. I said I’d put this to bed a while ago but I thought this was worth reporting on, especially when there’s no news…
Gunnerblog reported that we might somehow be getting Ribery in some sort of strange deal. He’s be the natural replacement for Freddie Ljungberg who’s getting on a bit now and he’d be the main competitor with Tevez and Rooney for the ugliest premiership player. I don’t know how true this is about Ribery and it’s extremely likely to be absolute bollocks but it’s still interesting.
Anyways, I think that’s all the news I can conjure up for today. It’s desperate times for an Arsenal website and arseblogger is calling on drastic measures. I hope to update soon, it’s not so much to do with college, but more to do with the lack of news. See you when I see ya.
I hate Internationals 5 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.32 comments
They’re so annoying…stealing all my news. What am I meant to write about? To be honest I don’t watch the international games. Well I followed the World Cup, watched every game, but these little Internationals between the tournaments don’t interest me. The last time England played a couple of weeks ago I didn’t watch; I think it was 3-0 or something with Crouch scoring. All I remember was the other team lost their kit and had to play in a plain one. That’s all that stood out for me. Of course I want England to win and that, it’s just I’m not bothered to watch it, if I was at home and it was on then yeah I would watch it but I don’t let it get in the way of my plans like I would with Arsenal. I don’t even know when England are playing. I think there’s one on Wednesday and one Saturday.
Anyways, what little Arsenal news there is, I will report on…Arsene Wenger had a ‘webchat’ the other day on Arsenal.com where he told us that he missed out on the signing of Eto’o, Cech and Makelele. I think there was an international clearance problem with the Petr Cech move and then Chelsea snapped him up soon after. He would’ve been a great signing, I’m a big admirer of Cech and I think he’s one of the world’s best goalies. It would’ve been great if he joined Arsenal but then we would’ve never seen Lehmann on the form he’s been on recently. Eto’o would’ve also been an amazing signing, a goal scorer like that is something we need and he’s one of the best. A partnership of Eto’o and Henry would’ve been incredible which tells you why Barca we’re so keen to get Henry this summer. Apparently it was between us and Barcelona to sign him, in the end he went to the Catalans.
And Makelele, well he’s a great player, that’s for sure, however if we bought him then we might not have seen Patrick Vieira. Paddy V was amazing for us and became a great captain, it’s a shame he moved on to go on to new challenges in Serie B but it was good while it lasted. Also if we got Makelele it would’ve halted the growth of young Cesc Fabregas. Cesc is an amazing player and whenever I think about what he might be like in the future I start drooling. Maybe Wenger looked into his crystal ball and saw what Vieira and Cesc would do for Arsenal and decided against buying Makelele. He’s one of the best central midfielders around, but what Fabregas at his age will be miles better.
Cesc has been talking about our season ahead. There’s alot of confidence in the Arsenal camp and Cesc had joined many others saying that we can win some silverware this season:
We have a game in hand. If we win it, we are two points behind Chelsea and Manchester United, so I don’t think this [start to the season] is bad or this is poor. We are playing very well. We are a strong team and we are winners. Now, we have won five games in a row. We’ve won in the Champions League and in the Premier League, so I think the confidence is high and we just have to keep going.
“I think like every team that is a winner, we just want to win everything. We have four cups – Premier League, Carling Cup, FA Cup and Champions League – and we will to try to win everything, as every team wants to win. We all know it’s really difficult, but as I said, we have a special squad with big players and we are not afraid of anything. I think we have the quality to do it, but of course it could be difficult because there are a lot of teams in Europe which are really strong as well and will want to do the same thing.
Wise words from the 19 year old, he’s reminded me that we really aren’t far behind the league leaders; hopefully we’ll put up a better fight this year than we did last. The other night I had a dream that we came 5th, it was horrible…don’t even want to talk about it. Can’t wait until these internationals are over and we can carry on with Arsenal again, I have a feeling this season will be more exiting than the last.
Gael Clichy has been saying how he’s not expecting to be put straight into the Arsenal first team. He has rightly said that even though he’s the only proper left back, he might not make the team. Arsenal best four defenders in my opinion are Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Philippe Senderos and Lauren. You could play them in a back four but you’d have waste Big Willy’s centre back qualities at left back, I don’t think he enjoys it there either. Gallas is a much better defender than Clichy but I think Gael is better for those surging runs down the left wing like a left back should. It provides a nice problem for Arsene and at least we know we’ll have quality back up in that position if anything goes wrong, touch wood.
And finally, David Dein has been elected chairman of the G-14 group. Dein-o didn’t have the best of summers as he lost his place on the FA board back in June but has bounced back to become chairman of G-14. The FA is nothing compared to this and I’m sure Dave has two fingers up to them. Not sure exactly how this is going to help AFC but nice to see our vice-chairman doing something good.
Right, thats yer lot for today. Nothing else to report on really, oh apart from the ladies beating Fulham 9-0. I hope to post again soon, it’s just a matter of what about. See you then!
Senderos and Clichy return 4 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Uncategorized.21 comments
Phil Senderos and Gael Clichy made their Arsenal returns last night in the 2-1 reserve win against West Ham. This is great news for Arsenal, not sure if they’ll be 100% fit and available for the Watford game but at least they’re back playing football.
The Watford game may be too soon for these two’s 1st team return but it won’t be too long now. Clichy will slot right in at let back and Senderos will be the first to replace either Big Willy or Kolo.
It will be nice having some players back from injury and be able to play people in their proper positions and play quality players too. Senderos we all know is a rock in defence, Clichy we’ve seen less of thanks to Ashley Cole but he’s pretty much the french, faster, younger, better, less cocky, straight and less money-grabbing version of Cole.
Wenger has said RVP is a more physical player now. When he first joined us he was the weak little skilful player, now he has got some strength in him he is a much better player. Robin is going from strength to strength at Arsenal and I hope it continues. I’ve never thought of Van Persie becoming a world class player but I suppose he does have the potential there, he’s only 23 so hasn’t reached his peak yet.
Nick Bendtner is having a great start to the season on loan with Birmingham but has said he won’t return to Arsenal unless he’s guaranteed at least a place on the bench. It going to be difficult for him to fit in there just at the moment but if he stayed with us a bit longer this boy could be an amazing player. If he stays at Birmingham his talent will be wasted and will never develop into his full potential. If he can see past 1st team football just for a little bit and think about his future hen he should come back to Arsenal. We have some great coaches here and with their help they will turn him into a top player. I do fear that he’ll stay at Birmingham but hopefully he gets a loan extension rather than a permanent move.
Lastly, Arsene Wenger has been telling us we are strong contenders for the title. I dream of he day we lift the Premiership again, is it this year? I know we have the quality and potential to go all the way but we need a bit of luck along the way. We had a poor start to the season but that’s over now and since the United win we seem like a different team. However, if you asked me if I’d prefer us to win the Premiership or the Champions League, I’d say the Champions League. After the heartbreak in Paris it’s something that all Gooners want so badly. We’ve had a taste of the Premiership title; we know what it’s like. Our new target is Europe. Hopefully we’ll stuff Barca on the way to Athens.
Of course both would do just nicely but I’m not picky. I mean come on, all I’m asking for is the Champions League. We’ve played well in Europe so far, lets hope the run of form continues. But for now, lets keep pushing in the Premiership and see where a couple of win will take us.
Bear with this me in the drought of Arsenal news. Those evil internationals have stolen it…it’s tough times for a blogger. See ya when I see ya.
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! 2 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Uncategorized.4 comments
I am currently in the queue on the online ticket booking queue trying to buy tickets for the spurs game. I’ve been in the queue for about 20 minutes and the status bar has only gone a third of the way. At the same time I have got the box office number on redial which is constantly busy. The system that they used last year was so much better, you posted one application on the internet in a time period, didn’t matter when in the time slot. Then the 38,000 applicants who’ve been to the most games get tickets.
Now it’s just a constant rush from 9:30 all day, luck that Monday is my day off from college ay. When tickets for Real Madrid came out I was secretly ringing the box office under the table with a hands-free kit all lesson. In the end I didn’t get tickets but I tried. Hopefully I’ll get through this time; the online ticket box office looks my best bet, the status bar is nearly halfway now, I’d say it’s about 4/10ths done.
I thought as I am waiting I might as well post on The Cannon, should be another half an hour at least before I get through on the online box office. Anyway you don’t really want to know about me trying to get tickets, you want the blog. To be fair there’s not that much news, with it being internationals next weekend all talk’s about England, which doesn’t really concern Arsenal. I’m not the only one upset about the internationals though, Arsene Wenger has had a little rant saying that these games are very disruptive to a season:
It is terrible. The international teams play Saturday and Wednesday and when they come back we do not have enough time with them. We have asked before if the international teams can follow the same schedule as club sides and play on Saturdays and Tuesdays but nobody has done anything about it. I have calculated that over the next 10 months, our players will be away with their countries for 100 days. That is just not acceptable. We have to live with it. But we are the ones who employ the players and yet they spend all this time away from us. It is simply not logical. There needs to be a better compromise than the one which currently operates because this one is not in favour of the clubs at all.
I didn’t realise there was a game on Wednesday too. That’s ridiculous. That means the players will be back Tuesday but not train as they had a match the previous night. Then Friday they will do some pre-matchday light training and have to swap up on the opposition, and then the next day it’s the match. It’s mad. Luckily it’s only Watford but if we don’t take 3 points then Wenger will no doubt point the finger of blame on the internationals.
One player who is to do with the England setup at Arsenal is Theo Walcott, I think he’s playing for the under 21′s this week and Gilberto has been talking about the new teen sensation:
It’s very important that he can set up goals. It’s this kind of thing that makes the difference in a good player. It doesn’t matter if he’s young or not when he can bring important things to the pitch and do his job like he did when I scored the goal against Aston Villa. He needs to play freely and not have a lot of pressure put on him, but I think he can handle the pressure especially with the way Arsène works with the young players. He’s only 17 and he needs time to improve and to grow but the more he trains with us and the more he plays, the more he will grow in confidence and I think very soon he will be ready to play.
He looks very good. I think you have seen him enough times playing for Arsenal to see he’s very confident when he gets the ball and he’s the same when he trains with us. Myself, some other experienced players, and Arsène, talk to him a lot. We tell him to train and train and train and that when he gets the opportunity to play he must do the same kind of things he does in training.
OH MY GOD I JUST GOT THROUGH!!! Fuck it was just a message saying there's a technical error, fuck. Got all exited then and everything. The online thing's about 6/10ths done now...
Anyway what Gilberto was saying there is that we can’t expect everything from Walcott when he comes on and to just give him some time to develop. We all know he can produce, just don’t expect it. Imagine if you were playing at Ashburton Grove in front of sixty-odd-thousand Gooners and only being 17. It’s alot to ask of the boy. Bert’s also saying that this kid is amazing and yes, he’s worth getting exited about him but we’ve got to just let him do his stuff. One day Theo’s going to be our best player, no doubt in my mind at all.
Arsene also had a word on Van Persie’s 2nd goal at Charlton:
It was outstanding, quite unbelievable. Nobody expected that. When Eboue crossed I did not see anybody in the box so it thought, like many times, we have nobody in there. Then suddenly Van Persie arrives. Technically it was perfect, with full pace and power. I felt the ball would go over the bar at the start, then it finished in the top corner. It is the goal of a lifetime.
That’s summed it up nicely, nothing more I can say to that.
Ok, that all there is for today. I’m going to continue trying to get my Spurs tickets. AHHH I JUST GOT THROUGH AGAIN!!!
I’m now pressing buttons to a recorded voice, now I’m in a queue …AH! NOW IT’S RINGING!!!
Still ringing…
Oh come on! Now it’s another recorded message! FUCK!!! Now they’re saying tickets don’t come out until half 11…the cunts. I woke up this early for nothing? Oh well…guess I’ll try again at half eleven.
Anyways, yeah. That’s all today’s news. I’ll let you know how I get on trying to get tickets. Have a good day.
Charlton 1-2 Arsenal – 30/09/06 – (Barclays Premiership) 1 October, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.11 comments
We played some really good football yesterday and we were comfortable winners. We were very unlucky not to get more goals, we had so many opportunities but they just never seemed to go in. We might have to work on our shooting a little bit but Robin Van Persie wont. His second was an absolutely stunning strike. You can see it by clicking the link at the top. Eboue made another surging run down the right wing but when he came to cross it there was nobody in the box once again. However somehow he spotted RVP making a run towards the box from deep and pulled it back for him perfectly and Robin carried on his run and leaped in the air and shot with an amazing left foot volley. It really was a technically difficult and spectacular goal. It’s amazing just how he got to it but to hit it that well and produce that unstoppable shot; it really is one of the best goals you will see. Never mind Alonso’s halfway line bollocks where the ‘keeper slips over, this really is a great goal. It was a strike anyone in the world would’ve been proud of; lets just hope Rob take’s some confidence from it.
Even though RVP converted one of the most difficult chances he couldn’t manage to convert a couple of tap-ins that had been provided for him and a few others. There were lots of occasions when we should have scored but instead shot straight at the goalkeeper or went just wide. At least we won but if we didn’t it would’ve been put down to this. However Charlton did have some chances of their own, Jens Lehmann made a fantastic save managing to get down to a shot right by his side. This man really is an amazing ‘keeper, I cannot believe a few seasons ago I was so desperate for Wenger to get a new no.1. I honestly wouldn’t swap Jens for anyone in the world; the only problem is that he’s getting on a bit and he’ll need replacing some time soon.
We should have been 1-0 up early in the game; Cesc Fabregas had a goal almost gifted to him with an easy header in front of goal. Instead he put it just over the bar, not quite sure how he missed it. I know he’s not tallest person but still it really wasn’t a difficult header. We had quite a few chances in the first 20 minutes but nothing came of it, we were punished for not converting our chances and we were 1-0 down after 21 minutes. It was Darren Bent who scored but it was a dubious goal which was possibly offside. It didn’t really matter though because 11 minutes later Van Persie came up with our equaliser. Hleb did some good work near the byline and managed to get it across to Van Persie who took a touch and then shot low past Scott Carson. We worked lots of chances like this in the first half and the Charlton defence really looked lost, to be fair Carson had a good game between the posts and made some fine stops. If it wasn’t for him we could have easily got 4 or 5.
At the end of the day though I’m not too bothered as we came away with all three points. Next weekend there’s a load of internationals so our next match is not for two weeks and it’s Watford at home. I expect us to take all the points there too but we’ll look forward to that match nearer the time.
See ya later.
