Post losing to West Ham 6 November, 2006

Yesterday should hopefully teach us a lesson and help us to be more critical in front of goal. Against Moscow we had so many chances not finished but CSKA missed an opportunity to punish us and grab a one-nil. West Ham have shown us what can happen if we don’t put the ball in the back of the net, a last minute goal to nick all the points. We are going to have sort this problem out very quickly seeing as our next Premiership opponents are Liverpool.

What I wrote after the game was literally right after the game. I drove home from the pub and sat straight down at the computer. At the time I was extremely frustrated and as you can probably see was unable to write a proper match report Today I can’t accept the loss and think about what we can learn from it. Gunnerblog likened it to the match at Old Trafford in 2003 with the infamous Van Nistelrooy and Keown incident etc. That season we went on the win the league impressively as unbeaten champions. There were fireworks at Upton Park on 5th November as there were on that 21st August 2003. Wenger and Pardew being separated will be highlighted by the media but nothing happened really, if Arsene had nutted the twat between the eyes then there would be obvious hype but nothing really happened. Spector and Van Persie were all over each over throughout the game and Sheringham and Fabregas (legend) were exchanging words afterwards before Henry took Teddy away and started hugging him for some reason…

After the match some have called for Henry to step down as captain. I have never really liked the idea of a striker being captain but I don’t think Henry should lose the armband. Alot of Gooners are calling for Kolo to be skipper, I think he’d make an excellent captain but he won’t be appointed until Henry has retired/left. If Titi approaches Arsene to say he feels the responsibility of the captaincy is hindering his performance in games then I’m sure Arsene would allow him to step down. But I for one am not calling for Henry to pass over the armband. After losing yesterday a small minority of people are saying Wenger should get the sack. That is just ridiculous, and if you’re one of those people you really need to look back at the last decade and what Arsene has done for us.

Thierry Henry has said that he is motivated by anger, whatever gets him up and running around playing the beautiful football again he should find it soon. Yesterday should’ve provided enough anger to last Thierry months so there’s no reason for him to put in a poor performance again Liverpool. He’s still upset about that last minute goal not given to him in Russia, I’m looking for a big performance from Titi on Sunday and we’ll need him at his best to beat Rafa’s men.

Loanee Anthony Stokes has been hitting the headlines recently as he’s banging in the goals on loan for Falkirk; he’s just scored two hatricks in two games. Amazing stuff, hopefully he can transfer that sort of form to Arsenal. His loan ends in January but obviously Falkirk don’t want him to leave. He was named Young Player of the Month in the SPL for October and has now scored 9 goals in 4 games; he’s the star of Scottish football at the moment. This is what Falkirk manager John Hughes has been saying about the possibility of keeping Stokes:

“I would love to keep Anthony here after Christmas and we have a fantastic relationship with Arsenal, but ultimately, they will call the shots. We have first option on him, but there are a few things which will have to be looked at and, first and foremost, we have to respect Arsenal’s wishes, as they might want to take him back. Anthony also has to want to stay up here and we have to hope nobody else is taking much notice in what he is doing for us. I would like to think he would want to stay at Falkirk, but it would be foolish for me to put all my eggs in one basket. All that matters is what Arsenal say.”

If he is doing well in Scotland and he is not needed down here then Arsene will extend the loan until the end of the season but I just hope that Stokes doesn’t want to make the move permanent. So many great young prospects go on loan from Arsenal and like it so much at their new club they decide to stay. Bendtner has been doing well at Birmingham and there’s noises coming from over there saying he might stay and just recently Kerrea Gilbert has said he’d prefer to stay at Cardiff:

“My heart is with Cardiff now and having been here for three months I really like the place and the people here. But we will see what happens at the end of the season. Cardiff and Arsenal will talk then, but playing in The Premiership with Cardiff does appeal to me.”

Gilbert is another excellent young player and it would be a great shame if he left Arsenal. These loanees that think the grass is greener and leave don’t realise that if they wait a few years they will be regulars in the Arsenal first team, one of the best teams in the world. But if they cannot wait they go to the likes of Cardiff, Norwich and Birmingham: Okay teams but nothing like Arsenal.

An Everton preview to come, until then.