Thoughts on Hleb, Flamini, Nasri and Defence.

Finally some time on a Sunday night to write about certain Arsenal related stuff. Yes i’ve disappeared yet again because of heavy workload, certain women in my life and of course the ridiculousness of “silly season”.

One day i’ll read reports like “Gomez high on Wenger’s list” the next day a headline claims Adebayor’s head turned by AC Milan.

On that note, all credit to the Togonator (© Arseblog) to have went on Arsenal.com not once, but twice! to say “Pshaw! Youse-discreditin-me-man-we-be-tight-at-Arsenal-and-i-can’t-wait-to-talk-fast-on-interviews-next season.”

So. Hleb is going. All these fucking bollocks talking through his agent made me lose so much of my respect for him. And i really liked him because in the few instances he actually stood up for the men next to him (sorry, just watched 300), Alex Hleb actually lead me to believe that he was happy at Arsenal. Well, thats all bullshit now innit? Only goes to show whatever measure of loyalty he had at the beginning of the season was only fleeting. Till the damn news is official, my “Fuck Off!” to you is hiding in the shadows like a cloaked dagger.

Flamini… why? If you leave for pastures anew, whatever. Why add salt to our ulcers (not the potentially fatal ones but the ones in your mouth that form after you bite the inner linings of your mouth). Shut your fucking trap after you go so you maintain some kinda dignity and most of us MIGHT still think fondly of you. But noooo, talk talk talk, yak yak yak. What the fuck. The whole “i didn’t go to Milan for money” is whole load of horse-eye-gunk and you know it. Please don’t take us Gooners for tools. We’re not that dense. Just because you majored in Law, does not make you the Dog’s bollocks. You, my dear mistake-of-making-you-a-wallpaper-of-the-month friend can bugger off. Die in Uefa cup hell, little bitch.

Nasri. Well then. It seems like we REALLY have the deal all wrapped up now. I don’t know, its kinda irritating to be an Arsenal fan during the summer because we operate under the radar when it comes to transfers (in). Don’t get me wrong, i totally agree with this because we won’t get bullshit from the usual transfer humdrum like other clubs do. But we miss out on the sequence of going on to soccernet-get all excited about rumour-soccernet announces the deal-we whoop!-and see the official news on arsenal.com…now we have to contend with rubbish rumour mongering on rubbish news sites and get our emotions all toyed with.

Just like a manipulative lover, but in a footballistic sense.

Back to Nasri, I’m not sure if he’s what we need but with Vela coming in, and Rosicky seemingly repaired and Walcott ready to take on more of a full time role in the 1st Eleven, i’d say yes. Exciting dribbler and young and french. Why the fuck not huh?

Right. So. What now for defence then. Like most arsenal bloggers, i don’t think willie and toure work well together. Honestly, for a team that the manager keeps on repeating about team spirit and togetherness, we sure ain’t showing it. Let me put across a question,

If our current Captain did not have that little crying fit at Birmingham and actually went on to spur the troops on,

a) would we have done better in the League and CL?
b) would flamini have left?
c) would hleb have been touched by the togetherness of the squad?

Another question begs, did Gallas actually pull the players aside to talk to them about how this team can go on to win bigger things?

Its easier to say “lets not make him a scapegoat” but seriously now, i’m a big fan of the notions that a great leader can bring a bunch of misfits and make them work together, a great leader can also bring a bunch of good players and make them great. Inspiration is underrated in this case, i feel. In my personal experience, a battle cry thats full of rage and energy can actually spur a bunch of misfits that didn’t even want to make an effort to rush up the hill in the first place…imagine what a properly timed “come on, let’s tear them apart!!” would do to a bunch a young players that already have great tenacity?

No, Gallas is not the right Captain. Giving him another season might be an option but i’d rather not risk it. But then, I’m not Le Gaffer so we have to put our trust in him then. Till the next time we have spectacular news…read you later.

Tuesday Ramblings – to keep or not to keep

Hi everyone, early post today because i feel like it. Yes i felt like it.

What’s there to talk about? Silly season is creeping closer and closer and of course i’m infected by the illness as well. Speculation is always fun. Just don’t put it as a “definite buy” or “my uncle’s grocer, Mr Tim Green, who buys Lotto all day dreaming about travelling to the Playboy Mansion with his step-son, who works as a ball boy in the Emirates, who’s dating the pre-match Arsenal Ladies’ Under-19’s captain, whose mom is the niece(twice removed) of Peter-Hillwood”….i lost my point.

I agree with most of what Arsene has been saying…that we need to keep this pack of players together because the more concrete the partnerships are, the better we’ll sync on the pitch and play the sort of football that we have been trained to play. Key partnerships this season has been the Fab-Flam-Hleb axis in the middle of the park. So definitely i want to keep all 3 of them. Rosicky would have made that axis a foursome but he’s been out for so much of the season. I’d keep Rosicky as a handy “experienced” player, he’s the Captain of the Czech Republic team after all. Theo’s here for a while yet so i shan’t bother. Ade and RVP needs to stay because their styles do seem to fit well, but hasn’t been given a proper chance to gel or blossom for more than 2 months running. Okay i’m running out of people that i want to keep. So….

Nicklas Bendtner – I like him but he’s a luxury i’m not sure i want to keep. Everyone seems to hate him for some reason and i’m glad the club ain’t telling us why. Big Ben must have said something really bad like “i think you’re mom’s cooking tastes like old boots”. Brrr, Ben you should’ve known better. Keepability: 4/10

Eboue – By the fact that i don’t even want to spell his full name you’d have guess how much i detest him. Its not that he’s shit, no, not at all. Its that he’s capable of so much more! We’ve seen him cross perfect balls from the right, so we know he can deliver assists. We’ve seen him shoot on sight and he does have a mean shot that can really unnerve keepers, so we know he can shoot. We’ve seen him tear up the right flanks with his pace and skill so we know he can attack. We’ve seen him working well with Toure when he was a right back so we know he can defend. But why isn’t he doing all these now? Why hasn’t he been adding on to his repertoire? Yes, players do get spells of bad form but 1 and a half seasons of crap isn’t just bad form! I’m tired of seeing him on the pitch. Thats all i can say now. Keepability: 1/10

Jens Lehmann – I love him but its time…thats all. Team morale can affect a young team greatly and i don’t think his constant abuse of Almunia will help matters. Same applies to Nicky. Maybe he’ll stay to give tips to Fabianski on how to be mental, but that would be too fun for him because he’ll sit behind the posts all day taunting Almunia. Keepability: 5/10

Gilberto – This is tricky. I love this guy, all round nice dude who’s quite the zen master sometimes and works quietly in his role…served us so well for the past few seasons. Something just tells me that he won’t be happy playing 2nd or 3rd fiddle to Flam and possibly Diaby/Denilson/Song. How do you replace his experience and winning mentality?

Update: I saved and published the post i wrote and i talked about Huntelaar and Robinho but its all gone now. I’m not very happy with the new WordPress blogging format so excuse me while i go have my lunch instead of typing my entry all over again. Bye.

Monday and the late review.

Good Monday to you. Well, hopefully it has been good for you so far. Woke up this morning still feeling a little tired and i could have done with more shut-eye but of course there’s always work. Ah…work. Bloody sweltering heat didn’t help either, the good Lord must be having a Barbeque somewhere. Couldn’t He have ice cream today instead?

Right. Watching the game against Reading was quite blissful. The lads did very well in terms of movement on and off the ball, which was a joy to watch because there were nice through balls and wing play and direct attempts and loads of shots, which were on target as well. I thought if the shots did go in like they were supposed to (what the fuck am i talking about) then we would have won 5-0. At the least.

First thing i noticed was that Theo Walcott started. Thank fuck i didn’t have to go through the usual pre-match groan of seeing Eboue in the starting line-up. Say what you want to me but i thought we play better without that twat and on Saturday i was proven right. Robin and Theo rotated (to me anyway) up front and i loved it. One very good move saw Hleb thread a pass through a crowded midfield from just above the middle of the park to a running Fab4 who was just outside the box. Fab didn’t score but that move was reminiscent of the days of yore when a magnificent Dennis Bergkamp pass from the halfway line would find a sprinting Freddie running into the box from the wing. *sighs and flutters his eyelids* Sweet Bliss.

Another move that i remembered was Theo Walcott taking on 3 defenders on the right wing, gets past them and cuts back a fine pass into the 6 yard box and Fab slides in to connect but missing just by an inch.

I don’t know what were the changes that shook us up but this was by far the most scintillating performance i’ve seen this season. Maybe i’ve been so disappointed by the past ten thousand draws we’ve erm…drawn that i don’t remember other matches but you know what they say, the best fuck is the last one you had (provided you rocked her world, you lousy bastard).

Cunt of the match – Bikey what-kind-of-name-is-that-whatever
Bastard Bikey kept on nipping and kicking RVP the whole of the 2nd half and all credit to Robin for staying on his feet and let his football do the talking. Ref gave Bikey a yellow and i don’t think he deserved any less. Wish Sagna or Flam was around to give Bikey a sliding tackle lesson, yes i know that you know what i’m talking about.

Gooner of the match – Gilberto
Yes its the same old tired “he lost his captaincy, he’s such a professional yada yada yada” but i think you’d have to agree that it warmed your heart to see him put in such a performance and got a goal for it too.

Overall i have to say its been a while since i’ve not been frustrated watching an Arsenal match. I won’t name names but i hope he doesn’t play at all next week. If he proves me wrong, i don’t mind because humble pie is just that, a pie thats humble, thats waiting for me to eat it. But i’ll bet he won’t.

Last thing. Wenger thinks Theo is not a boy, not yet a monster. Which means Theo skips manhood completely – from a teenage English boy to a snarling, Nevillebrothers-eating, running with the pace of 100 horses, Monster. I’d like that. Theo the Monster. Especially the idea that he’ll eat Gary or Phil Neville for lunch. Mmm…twat sandwiches.

Alright. Hope you enjoyed the read today. See ya tomorrow eh?