Arsenal F C (Pride Of London)

[SE13]

Well, as I have said countless times before, Mike Riley is an utter waste of space as a Premiership referee. All too often he bottles big decisions, or spots something that no-one else on The Planet has seen, despite replays afterwards. It is high time he was pensioned off to the lower leagues, and allow The Premiership to have one of the better referees from The Championship a promotion (and payrise).

Tim Howard really should have done better with the free-kick, but I am certainly not complaining. Yet again, there will be another Arsenal goal in this months selection on Match Of The Day.

As for the actual sending off of David Moyes, he will be entitled to appeal, but it probably matters not, as he can communicate with his team via a telephone, or "walkie-talkie" and direct operations from the stands, should he be subsequently banned as a result of Mike Riley's joke decision.
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[Dioufy]

How the hell did Arsenal - CSKA Moscow stay goal-less ? You missed chance after chance. Cesc Fabregas and Thomasz Rosicky both had contenders for the miss of the season. Thierry Henry could have had 6 goals if he stuck his chances away, Robin Van Persie missed a few good chances.

I still expect you to qaulify, but nothing less that 4 points from the last 2 games will do.

You havew the London derby against a renewed West Ham United tomorrow. This may prove more difficult than it does on paper. I am going for 1-1.
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[SE13]

I still find myself at an utter loss as to how to describe a game totally Arsenal dominated, with four clear winners of miss of the season. CSKA Moscow were there for the taking, and we pulled them to shreds time after time. Twentyfour attempts on goal tells its own story. It equates to a chance every three minutes, none of which nestled into the back of the onion bag.

Obviously it will take time to bed ourselves into Ashburton Grove, and make it into a fortress like Highbury was in days of old, but the time will come. A couple of back to back wins to gain confidence, and rouse the crowd into a winning feeling will surely make all the difference. But to miss so many golden opportunities in ninety minutes beggars belief.

Meantime we must look forward to West Ham tomorrow, and a return to winning ways. Although West Ham United claimed a victory in their last fixture, I feel certain that e can outpower them, and leave with all three points. That said, I was quite confident of a victory over Everton last weekend, and look what happened there.

I will be interested to see who manager Arsene Wenger starts up front. Will it be Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie, or will Jeremie Aliadiere get a chance, or possibly even Theo Walcott, although he is preferred in midfield. The defence could be an interesting prospect as well, with both Matthieu Flamini and Gael Clichy ready to start, and Phillipe Senderos ready for centre back as well.

Not really a game for experimentation, but then again without it, we will not know how to progress through the season.
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[Shearer's Shirt]

I am just hoping that Thierry Henry scores a brace of goals for the sole reason that he is my forward in Fantasy football and I could really do with the points!
After watching the Champions League game agains CSKA Moscow the other days, I still can't believe that a team such as Arsenal can make such a meal of so many chances, it was just like watching Newcastle, but we did win our match . Don't take offence as it was a friend of mine who is a Gunner who said it!
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[Dioufy]

[SE13]

For the original game, the starting line up was;

David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, David Hillier, Steve Bould, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Ian Wright, Kevin Campbell, Paul Merson, Ray Parlour (Alan Smith came on as a substitute for Ray Parlour.)

The replay which I do not wish to discuss was the following; David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, David Hillier, Stevie Bould, Tony Adams, Kevin Campbell, Ian Wright , Alan Smith, Paul Merson, Ray Parlour. (Martin Keown came on for David Hillier, and Eddie McGoldrick for Ian Wright.)
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It feels so empty without a signature, so here is some mindless gabble to occupy the space

[Dioufy]

Your a life saver. I wanted the one at Burnden Park not Highbury. It was a classic cup tie. I still remember thinking "Oh god, were out now" after Ian Wright Equalized for you. Nobody could forsee what would happen at Higbury in the reply.

What was the score SE13 ? 3-1 was it ?
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[SE13]

It was 2-2 at Burnden Park, and 1-3 at Highbury. Ian Wright and Tony Adams scoring at your place, with Alan Smith scoring at ours.

In fairness to Arsenal, they did have one eye on The European Cup Winners Cup that season, which they went on to win, so in reality, The FA Cup was regarded as small fry at the time.

We were actually The FA Cup holders at the time, having beaten Sheffield Wednesday in the final the previous May, after already beating the same team in The League Cup final in April. Only twelve years ago, but what on earth ever happened to Sheffield Wednesday?
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It feels so empty without a signature, so here is some mindless gabble to occupy the space

[Dioufy]

I heard that Jose Antonio Reyes has been quoted as saying that he never wants a return to Highb.... I mean The Emirates. I still don't know if he has gone to Real Madrid on loan or if it's a permanent deal., I am sure that you will clarify that up for me SE13.

Todays team news.

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb, Rosicky, Henry, Van Persie, Almunia, Djourou, Senderos, Song, Flamini, Walcott, Aliadiere, Adebayor.

Who is this Song? I cannot recall me ever see'ing him play.

I have had a bet on Carlos Tevez scoring first and the result being 1-1, 56-1.
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[SE13]

To be quite honest, we would not really welcome Jose Antonio Reyes back to Ashburton Grove. He served us well in his time, but the constant moaning and whining about Spain infuriated most supporters. And after his current rants, he can shove his head where the sun doesn't shine for me!! He did go on a permanent deal, with Julio Baptista coming on loan in the opposite direction, with a view to signing fulltime.

It would be just our luck for Carlos Tevez to break his West Ham United duck against Arsenal this afternoon, although we have quite a strong defensive unit slowly coming back to full strength. Only Lauren missing now, and he looks set to return in the new year.

Alexandre Song is an eighteen year old who has broken into the first team a couple of times. He can play either in defence or the midfield. You possibly did not notice him previously due to the loan spell he had in France at Bastia. He has mainly been an unused substitute, but did start a couple of times last season, and come off the bench once or twice as well. I very much doubt he will be a starter against West Ham United this afternoon, and indeed might not even make it onto the bench.

I have long since given up betting on Arsenal. For some reason I have never correctly guessed an outcome since the glory days of 1-0 to The Arsenal with Ian Wright scoring the first goal!! I always got a good return from that particular number!!
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[Dioufy]

Thanks for the information SE13.

I have just been reading somewhere that Arsene Wenger is un-happy (again) about FIFA's plans to make teams field 6 home-based players in both domestic and Champions League games. I can understand that would infuriate him, but i think it could be pretty good for the game. English teams would suffer though. Arsenal in-particular would go down the swanny.

Thoughts/
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[SE13]

I will get back to those thoughts at a later time, however there is the small matter of todays match to clear up firstly.

West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal.

How? Why? This was another game where The Gunners fired blanks, leaving us with one goal in three games, and that was from a dubious free kick. Yes there was a blatent penalty turned down, but once again we should have been home and dry long before that incident, and no portion of the blame can lie with not being awarded the spot kick. The blame lies firmly with three points. That 4-5-1 system is clearly not working, and really will never work with the current set up. Arsene should be playing a 4-4-2 end of story. The second problem lies with our complete lack of a "Plan B" You know the score, when Plan A fails, try something different. Well this is not in the locker, so pursue Plan A until we embarrass ourselves. Finally today, was the woeful passing, and abysmal finishing. Time after time balls were going astray, possession being lost through dreadful passing, and shooting in some sort of attempt to demolish the stand behind the goal.

Then there is the small matter of Arsene Wenger and Alan Pardew squaring up to each other on the touchline after the goal, and the scenes after the final whistle. I can understand that we have lost the game to a last minute goal, but was there really any need for the scenes that were screened to a Worldwide audience? This has brought shame on the club and the supporters, and I have no doubt that The FA will be most interested, and probably throw the book at Arsenal.
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[Dioufy]

Another set-back. You really could have done with the win yesterday, even more so with Chelski losing.

I don't think Alan Pardew did that much wrong, he celebrated like anybody else would. Arsene was a **** and with him refusing to shake hands, he looked like a big one.
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[woosaah]

Umm... yeh. Not very good at all unfortunately. Actually a miserable day.

First the "coin tossing" incident then the touchline bust up and then the snub. Oh and on top of that, the lose too. We needed a win. Though to West Ham's credit, they played their hearts out... sort of...

Looking at the last few games, especially the 0-0 draw with CSKA, it seems like Arsenal, with lots and LOTS of chances, just can't seem to finish it off... It's just so frustrating even for us just watching it at home or at the stadium. Imaging how the players must feel too? Bloody hell!

We need to win the next match dearly... and the rest of the following games...

[Dioufy]

The question is "Can you win the Title come May?" I think it's hard to say. I'm usually quite an optimist regarding Arsenal (ignore yesterday), but if I had to bet one way or another, I'd say you won't win it this year. You certainly have the talent necessary, but what you lack is consistency.

Along with that, you really do struggle against teams that solely try to shut you down, and you need to find a way to crack that. It could be a different story in another month though. With Baptista, Senderos, and Adebayor all in the team, I think you have another dimension that may help you, but it's too early to say.

You'll just have to see how it goes. Technically, I think you CAN win it... If we beat Chelsea and United in both fixtures this season, then you'll be able to get away with a few poor results here and there, but that's a lot to ask.

If that doesn't make sense, I don't care. It does to me.
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