A Gooner’s Chronicles I: The North London Derby at a Pub

Chicken on a BasketBall.........Pathetic

I’ll like to apologize for writing posts equal the amount of hair you can find on Howard Webb’s head in this blog. For those that don’t know, I’m the writer of an Arsenal blog called Gooner Daily and it’s fair to say that it’s not just a blog. It’s more or less a platform that has brought me closer to a lot of diverse individuals that share a common cause, Arsenal.

The blog has a big family on Twitter, Facebook  and “brothers” like HexyDre, dkingpin, davicky1, Obitwyce, Chuck Bass, Bukinho, q_e_d14, thegreengooner, dhebbur, mayorbaze amongst others have been part of its success story.

I’ve really enjoyed the Diary of a Traveling Gooner series by the innovative greengooner and I felt it was high time I share my chronicles from an Arsenal perspective in Lagos, Nigeria. Supporting Arsenal in this part of the world isn’t an easy feat because you’ll always be on the end of various taunts from all sorts of individuals thanks to the club’s lack of silverware.

If I got £1,000 for every tweet, ping and call I received when Arsenal lost to Birmingham City in that fateful night at Wembley, I would have had the funds to buy enough shares to usurp both Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov from the Board. 😀

This would be the first installment of my personal series tagged a Gooner’s Chronicles and I’m going to start with a review of the North London Derby at a pub in Lekki. For reasons best known to the twitch on Harry Redknapp’s face, I was very close to missing the Sunday service but my aunt said a word or two that inspired me to follow her to the City of David.

After a captivating service, I brought out my BlackBerry with a touch of Boldne55 and tweeted:

@enigma106: I’m outta church and I forgot to pray for Arsenal… Oh well

To be frank, I wasn’t optimistic about Arsenal’s chances and I silently wished for a draw. When my alarm whistled loud into the air notifying me that it was 2pm, I went into my room and wore my Arsenal regalia the way my namesake Tony Stark does with his Iron Man suit. Like his suit, my jersey and muffler were in a box but there was no compartment to fit it my legs for the kitting up to take place. I’m sure you get the drift.

As always, I left my spot and went to a nice pub where I drink my Guinness and watch my Arsenal play. I won’t give you a detailed match report but I’ll rather share the events that were ongoing in the pub. I was still ordering my drink when Louis Saha scored, that wasn’t nice at all but I zeroed my mind that it was just a “minor setback” and we were going to bounce back.

The world’s best left-footed Chimpanzee Gareth Bale sent an indirect application form to be part of Team Great Britain’s Olympic Diving Team and I’m pretty sure that the chums in the British committee were impressed by his dive that won his side a “pelanty”. Emmanuel Greedybayor stepped up and dispatched his spot kick aplomb but he showed some maturity this time unlike his celebration a few seasons ago.

shame

At 0-2, I ordered for another bottle of Guinness despite the fact that I haven’t even reached the halfway point of my current drink. If I was a smoker, that would have been the best time to light up a Benson but I’m no walking chimney.

Bacary Sagna restored some hope to Wenger’s side with that header but I wasn’t fazed for two reasons: 1. Arsenal was “still losing” and 2. I was pinging with a “chicken”. Van Persie’s exquisite finish was a goal made in dreams and it made me unleash a beast within. I jumped higher than the Olympic pole vault record holder Sergei Bubka and the screams I let out could be heard on the Moon.

At halftime, I and a large chunk of my buddies in Gooner Daily’s BlackBerry group rightfully rained curses at Theo Walcott and we literally requested for his head on a plate. When Tomas Rosicky and Bacary Sagna started that attack on the right, a man behind me shrieked:

“Make una dey watch, this wan go be goal.”

We all know what happened next, Rosicky scored his first goal since the days Merlin was the Chief Wizard of Camelot but my eyes were firmly fixed on the “soothsayer”. He may just be the kind of guy you may want to give your lotto lucky numbers to. #justsaying

Arsenal’s third goal came hand in hand with a third bottle of Guinness and like MacDonalds, I was lovin’ it. Walcott stepped up with two cheeky finishes and the world witnessed one of the greatest, if not the greatest North London Derby comebacks in history.

The last time Tottenham won the league, Nigeria just gained independence and it’s fair to say that they are playing their best football since Colored TV was introduced.

I got home with the best states of mind every football fan would wish for,

High and Happy.

While my buddie greengooner enjoyed the spectacle of the Emirates, I watched mine in a local pub that harbors the coldest Guinness bottles you could ever wish for.

I’m giving a massive Hi 5-2 to every Spud out there.

Always remember that  Cannon is a far superior weapon to a Chicken on a basketball

Sayonara.

You can follow me on Twitter @enigma106. In your spare time, do check out my Arsenal blog Gooner Daily for your daily Arsenal digest.

North London is Ours! (The Diary of a Travelling Gooner Part 5)

North London is ours!
North London is ours!
F**k off to Stratford!
North London is ours!

Please pardon my French!

My feet still hurt from all the running I had to do yesterday to make the game yesterday. In fear that I would jinx the team again, I was repeatedly told by friends to stay away from the Emirates and burn my ticket. Instead, I decided to go to Church to intercede for my beloved Arsenal. At 12:32 I was just leaving Wembley Central Station and could only look in envy at the Cardiff and Liverpool fans who were headed up to Wembley Stadium for the Carling Cup final. Memories of last year came back and I quickly brushed them aside with the thoughts of a mouth-watering North London Derby ahead of me. However, there was one problem. The game started in less than an hour and not only was I overdressed for a football game, I had left the match tickets back at our lodgings in Paddington. Yes, Boogie was with me to and it was to be her first game at the Emirates. We had less than an hour to change, get our tickets and head to the stadium.

Severe delays on the Circle Line contrived to ensure that by the time we got to our seats, we were already a goal down and were looking increasingly uncomfortable on a very tense afternoon in North London.

We were soon two goals down via an Adebayor penalty which came about by another dive from Gareth Bale. Former top referee Graham Poll is of the opinion that the FA should introduce retrospective punishment for diving.  He says;

If it was a foul it should have been a red card for the keeper and perhaps Dean had doubts over the accuracy of his decision and left him on the pitch. Replays showed that Bale had not been fouled but I would not blame Dean for being fooled; rather look at the conduct of Bale and plead that the FA introduce retrospective punishment for diving. This would not need a change to laws of the game, nor permission from the IFAB or FIFA as it is up to each governing body to determine their own disciplinary code.

I quite agree with him as if one team gains an unfair advantage by a player diving, it is only fair that the guilty party should get punished for it retrospectively if it can be proven. However you look at the famous witch hunt of Eduardo by UEFA and Celtic a few years ago and wonder where the line will be drawn as regards video evidence and retrospective punishment.

Unlike in many other home games I have attended where we have fallen behind, Adebayor’s goal seemed to inspire the home fans and the chanting, singing and cheering seemed to be taken to another level. Bacary Sagna had earlier spoken about how the game held special meaning for him.

The first game was a nightmare for me because I got injured and was four months out. This match is a good opportunity to show that I am back and to be decisive even. I would like to win the game because it would be special to me. Every game is important but the derby is the killer one. This is one of the biggest games of the season and we know we have to win it. It will give us even more power to move forward.

His brilliant header in the 40th minute sparked an amazing comeback for Arsenal. A moment of sustained pressure saw Van Persie hit a shot against the far post, the rebound was picked up by Arteta who sent a sweeping cross back into the centre for Sagna to head powerfully into the far post. He picked up the ball and the crowed picked up their cheers.

Failed clearances by Kaboul and Assou-Ekotto saw Robin Van Persie pick up the ball just outside the penalty area. He twisted and turned through two Tottenham players to skilfully place the ball on his favourite left foot, he’d already picked his spot and simply curled the ball into the far post beating veteran Brad Friedel to level the scores at 2-2 going into the break. I thought the ball might have taken a deflection on the way in but after watching the replays, I had no doubt that his 29th goal of the season – deftly taken was truly one of exceptional quality.  Arsenal would go into the break with scores level but with the upper hand.

I think we all have to admit that this game was won by both the tactical masterstroke of Arsene Wenger, as well as the determination of the players to come from two goals down. His decision to start both Rosicky and Benayoun paid off as their experience came to the fore especially in the middle of the park where Tottenham were totally outplayed. So much so that Harry Redknapp kept moaning about it in the post match interviews. He said

We went 2-0 up but even then I could not say I felt over-comfortable. They were playing through us, outnumbering us and we had problems. At 2-2, we changed it and tried to thicken up in midfield but didn’t. We didn’t defend well all over the park and it was a big problem. We let people run and that’s not like us.

Tactical Genius?

And then Harry Redknapp lost it, he took off Saha and Kranjcar and introduced Sandro and Van der Vaart in a bid to toughen up the Spurs midfield. That just didn’t happen. They seemed unable to get the ball off Arsenal and unaware as to what to do to stemm the Arsenal offensive. Meanwhile, Adebayor kept running down blind alleys!

Usually Arsenal play through the wings with Walcott and Gervinho and this flaw was exposed against Milan last week. However I was impressed to see how well we held up the play in the middle of the park. Rosicky’s amazing contribution showed why if fit, he should be starting over Ramsey every week in the absence of Jack Wilshere. I never cease to be amazed at his ability to start a counter attack from the most innocuous of positions. At 32 for a player with his injury record, his build up play is exceptional. In a moment of brilliance, he broke free in another counterattacking move and fed Sagna just inside the box. The frenchman quickly returned the favour with Rosicky poking the ball beyond the approaching Friedel to put Arsenal in the lead for the first time in the match. It was too good a chance to miss. If he had missed it, Walcott was right behind him to pounce. The pendulum had now fully swung with Arsenal in the ascendancy.

By this time, the stadium was absolutely rocking and all the Spurs fan who had been screaming their lungs out with delight less than half an hour ago were silent. You can trust that the Clockenders were good enough to respond in song.

You’re not singing; You’re not singing
You’re not singing anymore!
You’re not singing anymore!

Fifteen minutes later Walcott pounced with a brilliant double. First van Persie left two Tottenham defenders sprawling on the edge of the area before finding Walcott whose first touch took the ball wide giving Friedel some time to react. Unfortunately the Englishman recovered in time to dink it over him to score his first league goal at the Emirates in 14 months.

In his earlier years, he seemed to always score braces and he replicated that form only three minutes later after some good work from Alex Song.The Camerounian completed a stylish dribble in the Arsenal half before sending a long ball into the Tottenham half. This time, the control from Walcott was brilliant as while the Tottenham defenders raised their hands to claim offside, Theo calmly picked his spot and then unleashed a shot into the far post. The comeback had been completed and we had put five goals past them. At this point, the celebrations were in full swing

There’s only one team in London
There’s only one team in London
One team in London
There’s only one team in London

The rest they say is history. We proved our point that we still are a better team and we moved back into third place now only 7 points behind Spurs. To be fair, it’s been a poor season and I really don’t care if Tottenham finish ahead of Arsenal this year. It’s been by far their best season in 50 years and our worst in under Arsene Wenger and if that gap is only 7 points, then they do have a long way before they can prove their worth as the better London team.  What matters most is that we finish in the Champions’ league places for another year…the 16th on the trot.

What is important is that this Arsenal team push on from this against Liverpool at the weekend and salvage whatever remains of the Champions’ League tie against Milan. Even if it looks like we are on our way out, lets bow out in style and with pride.

Lest I forget…

Adebayor what’s the score?

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit!

Come On You Gunners!! (Arsenal-Tottenham Preview)

There are some moments in life where the sheer will of men defy common logic to achieve the impossible, momentous events that shake the accepted trend to usher in a new era in any sphere of life in the affairs of men. A history-defining moment as such is around the corner and it’s up to 11 men to rise up to the occasion and put the scum of the earth in their rightful place – under our feet, and forever in our shadow!

Pardon my Churchillian moment, I got carried away for a minute in there; this is just football we are talking about and not the annihilation of a despicable set of vermin. Although if you pause to think about it, I may not be far from the reality of the moment.

These are trying times for the club we love so much, the club that…err…took the virginity of some fan(s), and is still emotionally screwing all of us till today. If you are indifferent to the recent events and results of the club, you are probably not a gooner through and through. It’s as simple as that. But now is not the time to point fingers at lazy/inept players, fallible manager, blind supporters, moaning fans etc., there is only one thing that matters at the moment, and that only thing is beating sp*rs and beating them black and blue.

This is the best season our abominable neighbors have enjoyed since the 12 disciples played 6-a-side they won the league title in 1961, and if I will be rational for some seconds I will admit they are playing good attacking football at the moment but they are not even close to the third best Arsenal team in the Wenger era. Obviously no one comes close to The Invincibles.

So while sp*rs are having their best season, we are having our worst under Wenger and logically we should get spanked on Sunday. Fortunately football doesn’t work like that, especially local derbies. In the end, who wants it most will triumph and victory will be celebrated by the daring and he who refus…oh! There I go again. My bad.

My point is this; forget tactics, starting line-up, formation et al right now. The only thing is for the gunners to show up on Sunday to fight. If they have any decency and self-pride in them I expect to see the most spirited Arsenal game this side has ever played. Something like the Chelsea home game we won 3-1 last season and the 2-1 win over Barca. We just have to beat them! We lost the first leg of the league’s North London Derby away at white shite lane and we can’t afford to lose this, not only for pride’s sake but also to keep up our chances for a top 4 finish. In fact, sod that BS, for me it’s majorly for pride and bragging rights at the moment, I can’t remember the last time they did the double over us (that is, if they’ve ever).

I started supporting Arsenal in 2003 but I became a gooner sometime in 2008/2009. I may know less than some of you longtime supporters but one thing I understand is that we are united in our hate for sp*rs and the thought of them finishing above us brings me close to throwing up. What will make it worse is if they come to the Emirates and get away with a point (an Arsenal loss on Sunday is unimaginable). I will really be sick if we don’t get the three points.

Sorry if this is not your normal match preview with technical insights and preferred line-up, I’m only concerned about one thing on Sunday, which is beating Tottnum by hook or crook. Come On You Gunners!! Sod off you sp*rs. #ForeverInOurShadow

Losing My Virginity

By @zaynab213

Unlike the amazing book this title was stolen from, this post is not related to an interesting “rags to riches” story of a Nigerian billionaire.

I was what you might describe as a sexually naïve young girl. I went through University thinking of saving myself for the man of my dreams, the one I would spend my life with. But all those fancy ideas went bust in a moment of madness. My first love has always been football, and Arsenal Football Club. Yes, I am what you call one of those deluded Gooners.

This delusion would eventually cost me my virginity.

I was seeing this guy I liked a lot. We made out regularly, nothing ever got past oral sex. It was fun teasing him, watching him squirm, knowing I would not sleep with him till I was sure he was THE ONE. It was all fun and games till Arsenal played Chelsea on March 23, 2008. We were 2^nd on the league table, trailing his club, Manchester United by three points, with Chelsea a further two points behind. My friend had this confident cocky attitude that the title would be done and dusted that weekend.

It was one of those Super Sunday weekends. Manchester United was playing Liverpool; we were playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge later. Mr. Cocky Attitude expected his boys to take care of Liverpool and predicted Chelsea would do the same to us. We argued all week, and I was sure we had Chelsea figured out. Then he suggested a bet. He said if we beat Chelsea I could have anything I wanted, anything. In return, if we lost as I was sure we wouldn’t, he wanted my virginity.

I took the bet.

This game was a life or death situation now. I was moist thinking about it all week, but confident Chelsea would be slayed. After all, Didier Drogba, the scourge of Arsenal left his form in Ghana at African Cup of Nations. To add to that, his regular customer usual victim, Philippe Senderos, was far away from the Arsenal team sheet.

As expected, Manchester United defeated Liverpool 3-0, and opened a six point gap on us. All that was left was for Arsenal to respond later in the day.

The game itself started well. We had lots of possession, RVP and Eboue in particular stretched Chelsea. Their attacking threat was obvious, go route one to test Kolo Toure and William Gallas. As hoped expected, we took the lead, Sagna scored his first goal for the club from a Fabregas corner, 0-1. At this stage, my virginity was intact and I started planning my holiday in Dubai. But with the Arsenal we have come to know, it is never straight forward. Sagna turned his ankle and was replaced by Diaby. With the team unbalanced, Chelsea turned the screw. Another long ball not dealt with (we’ve said this at least 1000 times since then) and Drogba pounced. 1-1. Then the unthinkable happened. Another long ball (again!) to Anelka who headed it to guess who? Yes, The Didier Drogba, to flick beyond Manuel Almunia (thankfully, I don’t see much of him these days) and it was 2-1 to Chelsea.

Sagna mobbed by the boys... a short-lived holiday dream

Our lack of a central defensive spine cost us the title that year and countless titles afterwards. Thankfully, with Thomas Vermaleen and Laurent Koscielny, we have a pair that seems solid in the air and the ground. With Wojciech Szczesny behind them, we finally have the making of a good defensive unit. Once we solve our left back conundrum and switch to a double pivot in the central midfield area, those days like March 23, will be a distant memory in our minds.

It is important for Arsene Wenger to switch to the double pivot midfield that was the bedrock of our success in the glory years. Where we only have Alex Song, we used to have Petit/Vieira and later Vieira/Silva. If we get Alex Song the partner he clearly needs, it will be the foundation of the Indian Summer Arsene Wenger and we all desperately crave.

.... and so it happened

Manchester United eventually won the title that year, and my friend celebrated their league title, champion’s league and my virginity, in his annoyingly cocky manner (no pun intended). I was left thinking what might have been.

I lost my virginity to my first love, Arsenal Football Club. That cocky bastard was merely a conduit.

Follow @zaynab213 on Twitter

The Diary Of A Travelling Gooner – Part 4 (The Stadium of Sh*te)

The dream is over!

Arsenal are almost certain to finish another season without any silverware. If you still think we will 5-0 against Milan, you deserve to be shot for being a waste of space. Yes shot! Just like the six shots we allowed the opposition on target this week (Milan five, Sunderland one) which all resulted in goals.

By the way, who was the dude who took his shirt off during the first half to reveal five or six Arsenal tattoos on his body in the cold. Hat doffed to you my man!

Someone should really own up as to who has jinxed this Arsenal team, my colleague claims Arsenal lose anytime I go to see them play…well that’s not exactly true.

It’s only been Aston Villa (0-2), Chelsea (1-4), Aston Villa (0-1), Fulham (1-2). Ok, too much information there.

Personally I blame it on Ben…did anyone notice him at the game?

You see there was so much more going on yesterday that was more exciting than the game like the Sunderland fans who only showed up after Kieran Richardson put them one-nil up and the rest that found their voices after the Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal. They deserve all the horrible songs we dished out to them yesterday as in my brother-in-laws words “the stadium really is a dump.”

I’ve been to a number of football grounds around England this truly is one of the worst I’ve visited, at least for the away fans. Small concourses and drab and disgusting toilets all contrive to give visiting fans the most miserable of experiences at the Stadium of Light or should I say sh*te? So bad the travelling Gooners all burst into song during the game.

We wanna go home; We wanna go home!
This place is a sh*te hole; We wanna go home

And home it was we went, with our tails between our legs after losing 2-0 to a team we beat last weekend albeit in a different competition. If we were looking at the bigger picture, we can say we got the points we needed in the league and need to sacrifice our cup competitions if we are to save our season and secure another season of Champions’ League football. However, we all know that painful cup exits often mark the start of miserable runs for Arsenal.

To say that the loss wasn’t unexpected would not be entirely far from the truth if we’re being honest with ourselves. It was a poor game riddled with miscommunication, and an apparent lack of conviction going forward especially in the final third. Where was the midfield for crying out loud? I watched the game with my sister, her husband and my significant other, all three who had never been to a football stadium and at best are armchair tacticians. However, even they could see the glaring lack of contribution and the anonymity of Messrs van Persie and Chamberlain in the game. Ok, young Alex popped up late on with an own goal but the game got clumsier by the minute and the fact that Johann Djourou was our most visible player proves a point as to where the real pressure came from.

The first goal was a nothing goal. Djourou gave away a cheap free kick after Alex Song escaped getting penalised for a handball in the box which I saw ever so clearly. Immediately I whispered to my companions that we would concede from the free kick. We were right behind the goal and I could already see that the defensive positioning on the set piece was poor. We failed to deal with the cross and the second ball found Kieran Richardson free on the left. He wasted no time in burying it into the corner of the net. Top marks to him for his celebration too! He ran towards the sideline and was handed a bottle. He threw it up and ran forward towards the corner flag with Cattermole catching the bottle and gulping down its contents. He then proceeded to remove the corner flag and should have been booked for that too. Webb boy let him get away with it. Do you wanna hear what we sung about him? Maybe another day.

The game went downhill from there and I can tell you that most of us Gooners were more focussed on keeping warm than keeping up with the game so much so that all my three companions missed Sunderland’s second goal. How I saw it happen was Chamberlain attempt a dribble and lose the ball just outside the Sunderland box to  Stephane Sessegnon who made a marauding run across the field and fed former Gunner Larsson whose shot came off the bar and went in off Chamberlain. Game over!

I had more worries about Coquelin going off early in the first half after being crocked by the Sunderland thugs than the scoreline of the day’s game. In all, it was a poor performance deserving of a loss.

What more can I say? We better get our act together before the North London derby next weekend. We have a string of important games coming up and it is essential that the right Arsenal team shows up. We are level on points with Chelsea and are 10 points behind 3rd placed Spurs with 13 games to go. We really need to give it a go in the final few games of the season if we are to finish safely in fourth and the onus lies with the Manager and the team to perform at their peak and close out the season well.

The shambles of last summer and the January transfer window are another day’s discussion and I hope we won’t suffer too much for our foot-dragging come May.

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit.

What Happened in Milan? What Will Happen in Sunderland?

As you would have deduced from the title, this post is a combination of the Milan Champion’s League match review and the FA Cup Sunderland match preview. You will be forgiven if you conclude from the title that I have little or no idea about what is going on with Arsenal, I have more questions than answers.

One of the beauties of being a football fan, or a sports fan in general, is experiencing the moments of pure joy when your team wins big and also enduring the low period when they are on a bad run. They go hand in hand. How do you appreciate pleasure if you don’t experience pain? Not in the masochist kind of way, but I guess hope you get the point. The thing about Arsenal right now is that the moments of joy are so far in between and sometimes you wonder why you even bother. No pleasure in sight at the end of this pain. Just plain pain. Loads of it.

Enough of my melancholy, let’s get down to the subject of discussion. A lot has been written about the 4-0 drubbing by Milan: pitch doctoring excuses (which I frankly believe had a considerable impact on out game), le boss’ mistake in starting Ramsey over Oxlade-Chamberlain, lack of defense cohesion and individual mistakes, lack of creativity and ideas in the midfield, no wing-play, fatigue from Sunderland’s game etc etc. Do I have an explanation for the loss? No. We just didn’t turn up for the game and we were punished by an efficient side: 4 goals from 4 shots on goal (or something like that). We were woeful all over the pitch and totally dominated, and for the first time in an Arsenal game, I couldn’t glean a positive to take from the humiliation. To top that, we lost Koscielny to a knee injury but reports today tell us he should be back by next week. Anyone else think we miss the BFG in the heart of defense?

As Wenger conceded, we are effectively out of the Champion’s league but I believe in miracles. It’s not over till it’s over; Adele has not even started singing. There is no use crying over spilt milk but it’s definitely worth looking into why the milk was spilled to avoid further spillage. We have to pick ourselves up and get set for the task ahead. There is still a lot to be played for in this season, the FA cup is a reasonable target at the moment since both Manchester teams are out. And then the issue of the top four position in the league, which is the most important right now, in my opinion. Not as important as finishing above sp*rs, if I may add.

We play Sunderland in some hours and it is difficult to predict how the Gunners would respond to the midweek embarrassment. This is a side we played just a week ago and we only nicked the win in the last minute, although it wasn’t like they posed any formidable challenge than the parked bus. I believe there will be a change in tactics from MON this time around and they will go for it, at least make life more difficult for us since they have nothing to lose – so to speak. That, coupled with the fact that they had the whole week off while we travelled to Milan would give them an edge they didn’t have last weekend.

I hope RvP does not start tomorrow; I would rather have him on the bench. Give Chamakh or Park a start and let’s see how the team would play knowing Captain Vantastic isn’t there to supply the goals. Doesn’t necessarily make sense like that, but yeah, I think he deserves a rest. I will also like to see Coquelin get a start in the midfield alongside Arteta and Benayoun, Ramsey or Rosicky. Below is my preferred line-up:

Fabianski

Sagna Djourou Vermaelen Gibbs

Coquelin Benayoun Arteta

The Ox Chamakh Gervinho

I won’t be making any prediction this time; Octopus Hexy has been off the mark of recent so he’s taking a breather. @thegreengooner will be at the Stadium of Light and he will have his match report here after the game. You don’t wanna miss it, so make sure you check back.

I don’t know why we played so horribly in Milan, I hope le boss found out what the problem was and fixed it so it won’t happen in again. Yes, I also wish I could play with rainbow-farting unicorns after posting this. I have no idea what will happen in Sunderland, but whatever it is, I hope the gunners give it all they’ve got…that is all I ever ask for from the Arsenal players.

Good luck to The Arsenal.

Italian Valentine Date. AC Milan vs Arsenal Review

by @JayJaxin

Morning Gooners!

For two reasons, I was looking forward to the month of February and trust me it had nothing to do with Valentine.

One, we welcome back the Champions League and two, the NBA All-Stars game!

So after lots of booze on Vals night and a boring Barca/Leverkusen game, I’m wondering what was worse? The game or the hang over? 😐

Anyways back to what’s of interest to us Gooners, the game against AC Milan.

With our record against Italian teams looking like this;

Played 29: Won 14 | Drawn 9 | Lost 6

I’m hoping we can continue with a win tonight, and if recent history repeats itself, we should have no worries at the San Siro.

Speaking of worries, Milan have got none or so it seems, Because they have some positive team news. Players like Christian Abbiati, Alessandro Nesta, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Alexandre Pato are all back from injury and Ibrahimovic is fully rested due to a 3-match suspension on their local front after a slap to the face of Napoli defender Salvatore Aronica.

We might have some game on our hands though. Even thought their recent run has been W-L-D-L-L,  let’s hope they don’t wake from their slumber yet as most teams tend to do against Arsenal.

With no new injuries in our team except Mertesacker needing a surgery on his foot which for me makes the Center Back selection a lot easier for Wenger, I expect the starting 11 to look like;

@13Szczesny13

@Sagnaofficia @TeamKoscielny6 @T_Vermaelen05 @TeamKieranGibbs

@AlexSong @Arteta_Mikal @aaronjramsey

@TheoWalcott14 @Persie_Official @AndrArshavin23.

Also, I expect to see King Henry end his second spell at Arsenal with a goal just because i think 230 seems nicer than 229.

In other related news, The Vermanator says he knows all about Ibrahimovic from their Ajax days.  We’ll see about that, won’t we?

Wenger: 'Zlatan for Dummies' , did you guys finish the book yet?

Yeah, before I sign off quick shout out to Bacary Sagna, yesterday was his birthday. Hope his pretty wife @ludivinesagna gave him some Birthday… Whats that Jeremih’s song again?

Here’s wishing The Arsenal team a  good and injury free game.

I’m guessing this will end 1-2 in our favor. What does your crystal ball say????

You can follow @JayJaxin on Twitter…

A Game of Perfect Substitutions: Sunderland 1 – 2 Arsenal

What. A. Game! Just what the nurse ordered, not the doctor because this doctor right here ordered a 1-4 victory for The Arsenal, but the Gunners preferred the nurse’s prescriptions. Who wouldn’t prefer to obey the domina…I digress but you get the point. You don’t? Okay then, never mind, neither do I.

The starting line-up was as exactly projected in the WaZoBia Gooners game preview, with Rosicky starting ahead of Ramsey in the middle, and Sagna coming in for Coquelin at right back. The first half was forgettable for me; we pressed but couldn’t create clear cut chances, I remember Szczesny having to make two great saves somewhere at the beginning of the second half, and I think that must pretty be good for his confidence and form because, frankly, he hasn’t been as superb as I would want him to be of recent. Thierry Henry later came in for The Ox, who had a rather quiet game – the Sunderland right back had him firmly in check.

After 69 minutes in which Arsenal had the better share of the possession but couldn’t break through a resilient Sunderland defense, you would be forgiven to think and fear it was one of those games in which a defensive lapse would gift the opponent with a goal and Arsenal will drop three points. Your fear would have been confirmed a minute after that, because that is what happened when Sagna passed back the ball to Mertesacker on the right side of the pitch, and the big frigging German went down untouched from what appears to be an ankle injury, McClean pounced on the loose ball from the seemingly innocuous passage of play and calmly put the ball past Szczesny to put Sunderland up by a lone goal.

Arsene was forced to make a substitution as Mertesacker was stretchered off, Ramsey came in and Songinho dropped back to partner Koscielny in the center of defense. It took less than five minutes for Arsene’s brilliant sub (heh) to make the difference and equalize for Arsenal, it was his first touch of the game and his awkward moving bubbly shot (blame the Sunderland pitch, dang! How is that kind of a disgraceful pitch allowed in the EPL?), right from outside the box, hit the post before tantalizingly trickling into goal.

Arshavin was brought on for Theo Walcott, who was having one of his ‘WTF Theo!’ days. Maybe not that bad, but the lad obviously struggles when defenders drop deep and don’t give him space to run into or run with the ball. He usually is clueless in those kinds of games due to the simple fact that he has no inch of trickery in him; Theo can’t dribble a player if the world cup depends on it. Again I digress. So the substitutions happened to be a masterclass from le boss, as the embattled Arshavin found Henry with the inch perfect cross from the right side and the Frenchman did what he has done for Arsenal 228 times, he scored a goal (to win the game for Arsenal in the 90^th minute). Cue deranged scream of ecstasy in my room as the net shook, I went buck-wild in this B mehn. (Shucks, I should be more professional in my writing style).

Yes, ladies and gentlemen of The Arsenal, that was how it went; a perfect way for The Living Legend Thierry Henry to end his premier league career: A fairy tale ending if I may add. The day couldn’t have been better when Chelshit lost 2-0 to Everton and we moved over to the 4^th position, the day took a slight detour south when the ‘scums’ from White Shite Lane later ripped Newcastle a new one.

Sunderland has been on a good run of form, winning 7 out of last 10 since MON took over, and so for us to go to the Stadium of Light and get away with three points is a job very well done. Decent performance by the gunners and perfect subs by the manager – I don’t give him enough credit for this, but his decisions were 100% on point – yes, because the three of them had direct impact in the two goals scored.

Next up is AC Milan on Wednesday *rubbing hands gleefully*, that is one delightful fixture I’m going to relish. More on this in the match preview. For now, I will bask in the euphoria of yesterday’s win.

Up The Arse!

Sunderland vs. Arsenal: Match Preview

Written by @jiballzzz

Arsenal visits the stadium of light to take on a resurgent Sunderland side in the first of two meetings between the sides in a week. Arsene Wenger will be hoping that Arsenal have turned the corner from our dreadful new year form and the victory against relegation bound Blackburn Rovers isn’t a flash in the pan. Three points is the minimum target if we want to stay in the 4-way fight for fourth position.

The game isn’t going to be easy for so many reasons: Sunderland have improved ever since they sacked the clueless Steve Bruce, We haven’t had it easy against Martin O’Neill teams and our away record hasn’t been good this season.

Earlier this season it took an excellent Van Persie free kick to secure the win after our former player Seb Larsson (who always plays like he has something to prove against us) scored a free kick to cancel out our early goal. Let us hope the midweek game has taken a lot of the Sunderland players and our pace on the wings punishes any sign of fatigue.

Good thing our latest starlet Oxlade has stared scoring, taking some much needed goal-scoring burden off Captain Vantastic. Walcott too needs to chip in a few by converting some of the chances that come his way. I feel some of the criticism directed at Walcott is overboard, he can be very frustrating but he has created so many tap-ins for Van Persie he can be cut some slack.

The defense needs to be at their best and cut out the momentarily lapses in concentration because Sunderland can be dangerous at home. Wenger also needs to tell Song that his primary responsibility is protecting the defense and let us hope Arteta/Rosicky/Ramsey creates enough chances for attackers.

I expect the major the change to be Sagna taking the place of Coqulien and also Wenger deciding whether the much maligned Ramsey is no longer in the dreaded red zone. We might see Gibbs and Chamakh at some point in the match so as to rest some players due to the match against AC Milan coming up on Wednesday.

Probable line up: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertasacker, Koscieny, Vermalean, Song, Arteta, Rosicky/Ramsey, Oxlade, Walcott and Van persie.

Wilshere (ankle), Diaby (hamstring), Santos (ankle) and Jenkinson (back) are unavailable due and Gervinho is still at the Nations cup.

Bendtner is unavailable due to injury and the terms of the loan deal between Arsenal and Sunderland.

Men to watch: Arsenal: Van Persie

Sunderland: Sessengon

Reverse fixture Arsenal 2 – 1 Sunderland Van Persie (1, 82) Seb Larsson (32)

Last season Sunderland 1 – Arsenal 1. Darren Bent (90) Cesc Fabregas (31)

Best of luck to the Arsenal on Saturday!

You can follow  @jiballzzz on Twitter

OPEN LETTER TO WENGER + MATCH PREVIEW

Dear Arsene,

I’m your big fan here in Nigeria, albeit to the dismay of most of my friends. They are all tired of you. Some of them wish death upon you. Your reputation is at an all-time low. You really are not getting any love here, which is very surprising.

I keep wondering why they feel that way. Why they think you are hell-bent on destroying a club that attained its status as one of the best in the world, thanks to your magic. 

Firstly, the way they keep clamoring for new signings, like spoilt kids. Spoilt kids that would rather have a new toy bought for them than change the dead batteries in their toy. In occassions when United, even Barcelona have had positional crisis, like we’re having with our Full Backs, did they sign new players to fill the positions during the crisis? No they didn’t. They made use of other players in  the squad. Barca played Busquets and Mascherano as centre backs. United played Carrick and Fletcher as centre backs. I wonder how they expect you to make Full back signings when you have 4 injured full backs. What happens to the signings when the injured players return.

They expect you to sign Hazard and Goetze. Unrealistic and confused bunch of fans I think they are. They want experience in the squad, a squad that has Wilshere, Ramsey, Coquelin, Frimpong, yet they want you to complement these young barely experienced players with young, barely experienced, albeit highly rated players.

They complain about Chamakh, understandably so, but players go through bad patches, and the onus lies on the manager to help them recover from such patches by bedding such players into games, trying to build the players confidence. We all saw Chamakh when he was our only striker. No one thought he was a bad signing then. Torres is going through a similar patch in Chelsea. Have they also suggested to Chelsea to offload him to the first bidder?

They want Diaby sold. The same way they wanted Van Persie sold. The same way Barca fans would have wanted Iniesta sold when he was always getting injured. Sabali

In the case of Park. What they don’t realize is that they do not see what you see in training. They speak as if you would purposely keep benching a goal scoring machine. I am convinced that if Park were to be as good as you thought he was when you hijacked his move to Lille, he’d be starting our games and sharing the goal scoring responsibilities with Van Persie. But he’s either a very lazy player, or you have other plans for him, in the latter stages of the season perhaps.

They also complain about your refusal to rest Aaron Ramsey. I understand you however. Ramsey just got back fully into the game, after his horrific injury and he needs to build his stamina. They seem to forget that Frank Lampard played 164 consecutive games for Chelsea. Is Lampard not human? Is Ramsey complaining? There are many players in the game that play week in, week out. Why do they single out Ramsey as the player that desperately needs rest? He is still a young player, and whatever his body is trained to do now is what the body will get used to. I see Ramsey becoming an important Arsenal player. Lampard-like. Play all 38 games kinda player. 

They complain about your tactics. I feel this is very insulting. You are one of the best managers in the world, some random unknown Football Manager player thinks he should explain tactics to you. I’m too angry to dwell on this particular point.

Other issues like Chamberlain’s substitution against United would come up. But i think you have handled that one expertly in your post match press conference.

This letter is just to let you know that there are some of us football fans that still maintain our sanity. We understand that football teams go through phases. All great teams have gone through similar phases where no matter what the manager does, no matter who he signs things just don’t seem to be getting better. But I am certain that under your watch, we would get back to winning ways and start lifting trophies again.

Keep doing your good work Prof. Some of us still appreciate you. And we know all the whiny fans would keep shut soon. All the best against  Blackburn tomorrow.

Yours

Debo

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ARSENAL versus BLACKBURN

This would be short.

We need to start our season afresh for the umpteenth this season. Crazy games coming up after this game. Martin O’Neil’s Sunderland, AC Milan, Sp*rs, Liverpool, Newcastle… all coming up. Just like we built momentum after the 8-2 game. Lets do this again.

I suspect some players would be rested. I hope the lads that come in put in a performance that’ll stake a claim for a more important role for them in this second part of our season.

We didn’t sign any  new players. We have to make do with who we have. These players need to repay the manager’s confidence in them, and cut the poor old man some slack.

Come On You Gooners!!!!!