Rubbishy Rubbish

It being international week and all, the people who are supposed to write for a living are scraping the bottom quite seriously. Scraping so hard they've reached the bottom of the bottom, and have started making a make-believe bottom to further scrape. Case in point, this TWO-line story:


"Jeremie Aliadiere will quit Middlesbrough if they go down - with a return to Arsenal a shock possibility.

The French striker, 25, has only scored eight goals in 59 games for Boro but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger remains a big fan since selling him for £2million in 2007."


It's so funny, it's not even funny. Know what I mean???


(a) Scored 8 goals in 59 games for Boro

(b) Did nothing other than tie his shoe laces in his 7 odd years at Arsenal

(c) Consider his loan moves prior to Boro, and you'll get the drift:


Celtic - 2 subs appearances, failed; West Ham; failed; Wolves; failed; and then the big money move to Boro.


OK, I have to admit it, it is quite funny.


On to the internationals that happen smack in the middle of the season, and why I hate them. First, apart from Manuel (I-wanna-be-English) Almunia and Denilson; Theo, Cesc and Rosicky (with sick notes) and Arsene Wenger, everyone else is on international duty. Includes of course, previously crocked for 10 years Adebayor. There's of course been a whole lot of nonsense about whether or not he should play, how he'll risk his Arse career if he plays, how he may or may not have gotten permission, etc etc etc. (Again - bored journalists are a dangerous lot). But c'mon. Even if Ade had lost his eyesight, half his hearing, had one arm missing, and both legs in a cast, you think Togo would've called him up? Yes. If he had just one functioning arm, would he come off the bench? Yes. If he could breathe, would be play more than 60 minutes? Yes.


So he'll play. Whatever. So he gets injured again. So what. So long as we get our £35 million in the summer. The latter sum again, originating from under-utilised journalistic imaginations. But I think I know where it came from. You see, there are also stories around about Milan not only wanting Ade, but also Clichy, and the figured being bandied around is £12million. They got it mixed up. Simple mistake. £12million was for Ade, £35million for Gael. What were we thinking??? Who in their right mind would sell Gael for anything less, and buy Ade for anything more?? But, as I said, it's international week, cabin fever time, so we'll put this down to under-utilised journalistic imaginations too.


As for the internationals this weekend, looks like the remotely interesting ones would be Lithuania-France (just to see if Diaby does a Vieira impersonation), Russia-Azerbaijan (to see if Guus gets Arshavin injured on purpose), and Malta-Denmark (to see if Bent Nick gets to work on his finishing).


Other than that, there's nothing to talk about...unless of course more journalistic imaginations had their way.

Review: Newcastle 1 - Arsenal 3

RVP sums it up pretty well, actually:

“We didn’t start that well. Newcastle were sharper, better, they wanted it more."

“When we scored we thought we could take it easy a little bit but that wasn’t the case because Martins scored within a minute. After that we knew we had to crack on and at least score one more goal."

It really was quite a bad first half. Apart from a great move leading to Arshavin's goal on goal - blocked by an amazing Steven Taylor - there really wasn't too much to be happy about. Almunia saved a crap penalty from Oba Martins, and that probably was the turning point. I put that first half down to fatigue and a little bit of complacency. It was almost as if we'd intentionally played to let Newcastle have a go at us - and sure enough, they did.

In the second half, though, we played as we could have, and should have. Bent Nick showed that his touch with his head is right now better than with his feet - something which I've suspected for a while. It was also right that up till then, we'd come up against the rock of Taylor, and that our goal should therefore come from a set piece and unstoppable Bent Nick header. (Must add that Arshavin's deliveries have been excellent. Is this not like assist #3 from a set piece? Despite Cesc's own role as right-footed set-piece-deliverer, methinks Arshavin's turning out to be a better option).

Then we switched off, and gave away a sloppy goal. But the response was spot on: Diaby with excellent goal - again with Taylor absent, and after that, Nasri. Yummy moves on both fronts. Keep up the performances, and we really have something to look forward to. It's 16 games unbeaten in the league - something like the best since our Unbeatables' run. Who would've thought.

As for the player ratings:

Almunia 7 - Good overall performance except for that one moment of clumsiness leading to the penalty.

Sagna 7 - Not one of his better ones, but effective nonetheless.

Gallas 6.5 - The equaliser was his fault, no doubt. Let a few headed chances go astray too - but can't really fault him too much on those. He does get into good positions from the odd corner/set piece.

Toure 7 - Seems to be getting on fine with Mohawk Billy these days. Has to keep up the Mr Reliable performances.

Clichy 7.5 - Some excellent runs as usual. Won't be surprised if one fine summer, arses like Madrid come calling with bids for the lad.

Arshavin 8 - Another solid performance. Has a marvellous right foot, runs like mad (though he looked zonked by the first 10 minutes), and was a constant menance. He's had an amazing impact of the team since his arrival. Thank God.

Denilson 6.5 - Not as authoritative in the middle as we'd hope, but one of his more typical performances. Nothing spectacular, nothing visionary. Just generally dependent but still lightweight.

Diaby 7.5 - Has been called up to the French national team to take Paddy's place. Good for him, and judging from this performance, we have much to be grateful for. Just needs to work a tad more of the timing of his passes. What a goal. (Knowing him - let's keep our fingers crossed he emerges injury-free from the international break).

Nasri 7 - Industrious overall, and great goal too. More than we could ever say about that Belrussian. He needs a rest though. He's one we can afford to get injured, with Theo out.

RVP 7 - Not his best, and really should have had a goal or two to his name. But it just shows - even when not at his best, he still had great assists for the Diaby and Nasri goals.

Bent Nick 7 - Great header. Needs to just get more consistent with his feet. Doesn't look like the sort to get injured too! A real monster when on his game upfront.

So off we go for a break. Hate these meaningless international breaks. What am I going to do for 2 weeks then??? I know - watch Theo recover. On that front, it doesn't look as bad as earlier feared. Probably a clever Arsene ploy to get him out of the internationals:

"The scan was reassuring and it does not look as if there is any damage there. It is a swollen knee with some blood in it, but I believe that in 10 or 12 days he should be back. We were scared at one stage that it was a cartilage or ligament, but there is none of that.”

The rest of the results on Saturday were fun too, we must not forget. Fulham 2 - Man U 0; Spurs 1 - Chelsea 0. Hell. Let's win the league man! It's incredible how we're now only 6 points behind Chelski. Convert some of those stupid home draws to wins, and we'd be right up there. Whatever happens at Anfield later today, we've got something to smile about. Don't you just love these weekends?

As we rest these two weeks then, let's not for the games that will come hard and fast through April. It's going to be mad. Games every 3-5 days. Here's the run through: Citeh (H), Villareal (A), Wigan (A), Villareal (H), Chelksi (Wembley!), Pool (A), Boro (H). And if we get past Villareal, it's either Man U or Porto after that. Freakin' yummy. So perhaps it's best we had a break. Hopefully, an injury-free break.

Walcott-ian Woes

Thursday, Friday saw the emergence of yet more sad but unfortunately not-so-unexpected news: another injury, to Theo of course. Besides the fact that he'll almost certainly miss the rest of the season, this does raise many other issues for the kid's future. By the way, he got it walking off the training ground. Go figure.

Anyway, more on the longer-term issues. A young, 20-year old should not have to go through the kind of injuries that he has had to go through. His shoulder, now his knee. At what point does one have to admit that he may have to face a career full of such Darren Anderton-esque injury problems? I worry for him.

As for the rest of the team, well, the problem is only as large as we want to make it out to be. I don't see that a big deal. Yes, with the oncoming crunch of key games, it would be nice to have Theo around. But we can, and should get by. It should by no means be used as an excuse. Hey, we've got Eboue! Goal machine Eboue.

So enough of this depressing shite.

Before looking forward to today's game though, a little bit more on Twat Brown and Spit-gate. Nice little piece here on the embarassment that Brown is to his team - and I would say, to the Premier League as a whole. Listen, dude - if Cesc did spit, fine - the FA investigations will see to that. But some of your comments - for example - on what Cesc was wearing, and how he came to be on the pitch - are absolutely pathetic. Your children should be ashamed of you. Since when has one's clothes been an issue? First, I think it's great that he was behind the bench, and that as Captain, he was part of the celebrations. Second, what about what he was wearing? Was he naked? Stupid twat. Anyway, Le Boss had this to say:

"That is unfair criticism. I believe that we have all the players behind the bench and I think it's completely normal that they share the victory with the players on the pitch. Regarding the way he was dressed on the night, he was free to dress how he wanted."

And if's found that either (a) Cesc did not spit or (b) nothing can be conclusively determined, then we should just put Brown out of his misery with a spot of euthanasia.

On to Newcastle this evening then. Team news? Apart from Theo, nothing new. Who knows if Eduardo will travel. I say leave him home. We probably shouldn't need to risk him for the game. Newcastle are crap right now, and there's no better time to meet them at St James' Park. All we need is for Bent Nick to breathe, and Vela to have a little bit more playing time. I'm glad RVP scored last time out, given his little tiny "drought" after a mind-blowing January. He'll probably score again tonight.

So there. Three points today. And we'll be sure of daylight since Villa will probably get whipped by Pool tomorrow.

The Draw

So there we have it. It's us against old foes Villareal, and if we get past them, it's probably Man U from their tie with Porto. On the other side, it's (haha!) Pool - Chelski in the all-England tie, and Barca-Bayern which must be the top tie for the neutrals.

I must say I'm chuffed at drawing Villareal. Honestly, all I wanted was to avoid an English team, and then NOT to draw Barca and Bayern was super extra bonus. What more could we ask to get through? And of the English teams, I really would rather Man U than Pool or Chelski in the semis. Let's not even talk about the finals, but we know what lies ahead.

Sure, we'll get to see Bobby Pires back, so that should be nice. Of course, that's contingent on him not getting injured in the meantime. Not to forget, there's also one Pascal Cygan, so ifhe plays, that'd be extra funny. Villareal will be baying for revenge, yes, but of their team of 06, methinks the best of 'em have moved on. They've had a mixed record coming into the quarters - holding Man U home and away in the group stages - but also losing to the likes of Celtic. So let's see. CAN'T WAIT! In the meantime, let's enjoy this little penalty miss of yore. Don't you just love the look on Riquelme's face BEFORE he takes that penalty?

Spitgate Erupts

The story today, all over the place, is about spit. Spitting. Saliva emanating from the mouth. Not drool, mind you. Spit. Projectile saliva. Emanating from the mouth of our Captain, Cesc Fabregas, towards Hull Assistant Manager Brian Horton, who clearly heard a Who!

This is Twat Phil Brown's take on it:

"I then witnessed him going down the tunnel and turning round and spitting at my assistant manager's feet."

"Whichever way you want to look at it, he addressed that spitting incident at my assistant manager who has managed probably 1200 games in his career. Disgraceful act."

OK, thank you very much Mr Brown. The FA it seems has now asked for Hull's official report on the incident, so let's see. (But I wonder about the 1200 games bit. So if he'd only managed 2 games in his career, it'd be less disgraceful? Twat. Anyway, I digress).

If Cesc did spit, then I say, good for you man! I hope it was more than spit. Preferably the yellow-green, really goo-ey stuff that you find at the end of a cold, when you wake up first thing in the morning. Make that phlegm then. I very much prefer phlegm in such instance. So if Cesc did spit at Horton's feet, then I hope he was accurate at the very least.

But alas, Cesc has for now denied it:

"I categorically deny that I spat at anybody after the match," he said. I have never done this in my whole career on the pitch, so why would I do it when I am not even playing?

"I can understand the frustration of losing a game to a dubious goal, that has happened to me many times in my career as well."

"But this is not the fault of me or any of the Arsenal players."

"Anyway, if I'd spat, Horton would've seen that it was green."

Much ado about nothing, if you asked me. Who cares. Hull will always be Hull, and Phil Brown with that thing in his ear will always be Phil Brown. Funny how he's taken the opportunity to slag off on Arsenal. Take this for example:

“It just shows how we’ve got up the noses of the Arsenal hierarchy."

“He wouldn’t shake my hand when we beat them fairly 2-1 at the Emirates, he wouldn’t shake my hand when they beat us, fairly, 3-1 at the KC Stadium.”

Er, yeah. I wouldn't shake your hand if we kicked your butt, either. Wonder what his point is. And up the noses of the Arse hierarchy? That I really don't understand. Let this be a warning. Stick that thing in your ear for long, it fries your brains AND makes you ugly.

RVP's take on it is that the thing blew out of control because of Hull's time wasting, and inability to play football. Well, I suppose this one is a little bit out there. First, Hull could possible have been 2 up before we even started playing football. So if they then shut up shop and put 11 behind the goal line, then who could blame them. Yes, they're a shit team, with shit lousy boring tactics, but what would we expect from a football team from....HULL? But that still doesn't detract from the fact: Hull and Phil Brown are ##!%&&^!!-ing twats.

So, so, so. More importantly, the next big date for us is Friday, noon CET. That's when the drawn is made for the Champions League quarters - and semis, by the way. So stay tuned for that. Then it's Newcastle, and after that, meaningless international week. Oh well, the last couple of weeks have been really full of football, so it had to end some time.

Review: Arsenal 2 - Hull 1

Really, Arsenal needs to stop being such a cardio-vascular work-out. I don’t see why we put ourselves up to it every now and then. Actually, it's more often than not. The game can be summarised quite easily.

First, crappy start, where the 11 on the field sorta played as if this was a second tier game, concentration was lax, energy was low. But so too were Hull. Then came the moment which we all knew would come. A freak goal. From a geriatric Barmby whom I thought would already be plying his trade in the back waters of semi-professional football. What a damn insult it was to find ourselves behind to a …Nick Barmby goal. In 2009 no less.

Anyways, so we huff and puff, and by the time we reach minute 75, we’ve basically seen our season in a nutshell. Dominance. Arse luck. Arse finishing, nothing to show for it.

What happens next is that Bent Nick does what he does best in the box (not finish, but create a real nuisance), and sets up the equalizer through Arshavin, then RVP. Nothing less than the near misses and headers against the bar deserved.

Of course, the second eventually comes, and no less: Mohawk Billy. They say he was offside. Perhaps. But the final touch to him could’ve come from the goalie’s glove. So there. Who cares.

So we’ve got a semi final with Chelski. Yum. At Wembley. With Cesc back, we really should have a pretty good game. What we need now is to get Fidier Frogba injured.

Finally – I’ve come to the conclusion that Hull are my new Bolton. That goddamn team that just cries out to get smacked. AND, methinks Phil Brown’s probably taken over from Fat Sam as my #1 Most Hated Manager in the Premier League. Too bad they’re not going to get demoted this season. Maybe next. Can’t stand the sight of Phil Brown and his twatty ear piece.

Good night then. We should learn to have games where we score in the first 5 minutes, then immediately in the second half, and a final one close to the end. Much better for the heart.

Eboue the man, man!

First off, our friend Emmanuel (the better one, not Adebayor) has been rewarded with a new contract. He seems a much happier person from the sorry sod who was booed off at the Emirates, so let's hope his happiness translates to confidence, to goals and to a strong run-in to the end of the season. Remember that season where Freddie started scoring goals for fun? I get ahead of myself, but who knows, Eboue may be the man, man. haha. Back to reality...

Arshavin wants to go out to play. He really does. Can't stand being left out of games, especially since he's having so much fun. Who cares about that 8 stitches in his foot. "I just want to play!"

So looking forward to tomorrow and Hull, let's get through this with a good professional performance, and we're on track for an FA Cup semi. I really do rate our chances against Chelski, so I'm optimistic.

Speaking of optimism, forgot to mention that this past weekend was all in all, rather nice. Who would've expected it, but a massive favour from Spurs. I'd have taken a draw, but with Villa's form at home, that really wasn't that big a surprise. And remember, you heard about it first from the Arsewiper's wild guess! CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE, CHOKERS! I suppose if fans had to sing Agbonlahor's name, I'd choke too.

Finally, news on Rosicky. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I really love the dude, but this can't go on. He's out for a while longer. Surprise surprise. I mean, what's the point of having someone on your ledger who never seems to make it even to the training ground? Must as well be me. I could even train - with a ball!

Ta ta. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Review: Arsenal 4 - Blackburn 0

A rather strange game this. No goals for eons at the Emirates, then we get one after a minute or so. Arshavin forcing an OG off Oooooijer. So it was a positive start – not necessarily great stuff, but at least positive. Bent Nick had some great moves – but Sagna and Nasri looked understandably tired. (All through the first half, actually, Sagna was surprisingly the most tired and sloppy looking).

Then, in the space of a minute about half an hour through the first half, Nasri hits the bar with a brilliant free kick, and then forces a good save from Robinson. After that, though, was a progressively tired performance in the rest of the first half…we were lucky not to get punished from a couple of set pieces.

Start of the second: same ole from the weeks past. Walcott first with an awful finish, then Bent Nick with a pathetic attempt with an open goal in front of him. On the hour, super mazy run from Kolo – only for guess what…shit finish from Bent Nick. Two minutes later. Bent Nick again in best position six yards from goal. And guess what: shit decision, and the chance is lost. One minute later. One on one with Robinson. And guess what: Bent Nick again with shit finish. So forget about the idiot. Leave it to Arshavin with super super goal. One week it’s Eduardo, the next it’s Arshavin. Funniest thing was that with the narrowest of angles, instead of passing it to Bent Nick, he did the smarter thing and went for goal.

Fast forward. Minute 79. Super duper move from the rest of the team, leaves Bent Nick clear in front of goal. And guess what: Skies it over. Surprise surprise, gets substituted. So note from the coach to Bent Nick’s mum: 2 hours of practice with finishing after school every day. Thank god he never got to the penalties in Rome. To rub salt into Bent Nick’s wounds, guess who scores the third – Eboue. That’s how you finish, dude. Credit to Arshavin for being in the thick of it with the first shot parried by Robinson.

After that, it was Twilight Zone time, as Eboue adds a second (!!) – taking the penalty (!!) after Vela was fouled. What a queer queer game this was. Eboue…on for the last 8 or so minutes, and scores two. Now that he’s in the mood – what, three in his last two games – he should start working on his goals celebrations.

Several good points of note: first, Arshavin’s progressive improvement has finally hit goals, and he was perhaps one of the game’s more consistent performers over 90 minutes. Theo’s runs were also great watching, and oh how we’ve missed them. Still needs to work on his finishing, but his final passes were generally great. If not for Bent Nick’s profligacy…we'd have the 7 or so the attacking play deserved. On the other hand, we still did look dodgy at times in defence, with Sagna in particular not at his best. Kolo, though, put in a super show.

Anyway, we should be in good position for Hull in mid-week. RVP amongst others was rested, and should start there. Who knows, perhaps Eboue should start in place of Nasri, who must be absolutely knackered (I like that word). Diaby too perhaps. Let’s give Bent Nick a run out with the likes of Burgenland XI for a bit. Needs a few taps in.

Review: Roma 1 - Arsenal 0 (Arse win 7-6 on penalties)

Well, I'm absolutely zonked. Exhausted. Beat. What an absolutely unnecessary, mind-blowingly agonising evening. What should have been a tie settled in the first 30 minutes in London lasted another 180 minutes. In regulation, it was basically head-shaking incomprehension for 110 minutes, as we dominated to no avail, and left ourselves continually open to the odd Roma counter-attack. No goals ever came, and in the last 3-4 minutes of extra time, I was sure Roma would spring the classic sucker punch and score a second. But they didn't, and must now be kicking themselves for so obviously playing for penalties as soon as the second half had started.

Football games and seasons turn on a dime, and it looks like ours has just turned on the smallest of dimes. A loss on penalties, and I'm sure it would have been curtains. But we dug it through, and must now believe that we have luck and momentum on our side.

I'm not even going to be bothered with the player ratings; we were all mediocre on the night, with only Clichy and Nasri seeming to be the source of any creativity. But on the penalties, our boys became giants. Following from Eduardo's shocking first miss, RVP, Walcott, Nasri, Denilson, Kolo, Sagna and Diaby all had excellent penalties. Penalties are a lottery, but they do give hint of confidence to come.

We really didn't need to come to penalties. As I'd said following Burnley - we need to start converting chances and domination into goals. Maybe with the likes of Barca and Bayern in the horizon - teams that will come at us - we may have a chance. We'll see then, on the 20th of March. Fingers crossed the draw doesn't put us with another English team. High chance of that though.

Good night. I need to crash.

Review: Arsenal 3 - Burnley 0

Most important take-away: if we beat Hull, it’s Chelski in the semis. Yummy. I suppose I’d have rather Everton, but better than playing Man U. But Hull first, and before that, what we did against Burnley. In the other semi, it’s Man U v Everton, so we know who’s going to be in the final.

Arse started on pretty indifferent footing: slack passing, dawdling too long on the ball, the usual. As the game wore on, however, we seemed to take the game a little bit more seriously, and Eduardo slowly found his way into the game. Funny that the goal came just as I was getting peeved with the performance – and what a finish by Vela. He’s beginning to make the cheeky chip a speciality of his. We really should’ve added a second – but for a few great challenges from the Burnley defence.

Song even had a few worthy contributions, one of which was a great pass over the Burnley defence to Eduardo, only for – again – a last minute clearance. Hey, Eboue even had a shot at goal, so we can’t really complain. All through the first half, one thought that kept coming to mind was: Hey, Diaby ain’t that bad really. He just seems a much better option consistently than Denilson. Less lightweight, more able to assert himself on the game.

And to the second half we went: AND WHAT A FREAKIN’ SUBLIME FINISH from Eduardo for the second goal. Quite simply the best we’ve seen this season so far. How we’ve missed his brilliance. Breathtaking it was, and just as breathtaking was Song’s chipped assist.

After that, however, it was just crappy defence, and crappy finishing. The game should’ve been dead and buried by minute 60. Theo spurned a one-on-one for a fairy tale return, and RVP showed a great deal of je-ne-sais-quoi lack of calm in skying a volley in front of an open goal when he had all the time to take two touches, have a cup of team and poke it in. (Methinks he had Eduardo’s goal in mind, and somehow felt he had to do better).

So, when it seemed like we would never score a third – up pops a moment of magic, from the unlikeliest of sources. Forget RVP, forget Theo. Yes – Song and Eboue. Leave it to them. Song for a clever back heel, and Eboue for an unlikely emphatic finish. Funny how it works sometimes.
All in all, we truly played Burnley off the pitch, and should’ve added a couple more just for the heck of it. We really need to put chances away better, and defend better if we’re going to do better against the likes of Roma on Wednesday.

Satisfying, therefore on certain fronts: the return of Eduardo and Walcott, Arshavin another 90 minutes and getting better, Song – capable of having a useful game, and us scoring goals again. Even Eboue; and Diaby showing why he should put some questions in Le Boss’ mind re Denilson.
The still not-so-satisfying: the wastefuless, the occasional weakness in defence, etc. But all in all, no point complaining.

The player ratings:

Fabianski 6.5 – Should keep his FA Cup credentials, at least. Not much to do, but had a dodgy moment during a corner.

Sagna 7 – I’m getting used to his reliably professional performances. Equally effective in defence and creating that spark up front.

Djourou 6 – Not good. Looked lost at times – and too many dodgy moments to be worthy of a starting place. What’s with these Swiss defenders of ours?

Gallas 6.5 – Not his best either. Looked absolutely out of it in the first half, but slowly got into it.

Gibbs 7 – An excellent stand-in for Clichy, looks like. Full of energy and imagination. Should have done better when he found himself in the Burnley box after an excellent run – but betrayed his age when he subsequently panicked.

Eduardo 8 – Captain, he was! Wow. What a second goal. The kind you just want watch over and over and over. Like right here, if you want.

Song 8.5 – Never thought the day would come, but maybe the exorcism really worked. Two brilliant assists. Let’s hope this is not the end of his contributions for the season.

Diaby 7 – Imposed himself generally, but must slowly rid himself of that habit of headless chicken-type running.

Vela 8 – A dodgy start, but after his brilliant goal, imposed himself thereafter.

Eboue 7.5 – His usual, running at everybody performance, but this time, seemed to not have forgotten his brains. A threat most of the time, and finally, a goal worthy of the red and white.

Arshavin 7 – Good in spurts, but getting there, it looks like. Should be really in the thick of things in good time. No worries there.

RVP (sub) 6.5 – Not one of his better performances. But maybe he’s saving it for Wednesday.

Theo (sub) 6.5 – Needs more time, and really should’ve scored with his chance set-up by Arshavin.

Ramsey (sub) 6.5 – Le Boss should give him a few more starts. An FA Cup tie looks to be just right, so maybe in the game with Hull.

So, it’s Wednesday we go. This should be nice confidence booster. Now that we’ve got a few back from injury, here’s who I think should make the pitch:

Almunia, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Sagna, Nasri, Diaby, Song (can’t help it, can we?), Arshavin, RVP, Eduardo. Subs: Djourou, Denilson, Ramsey, Walcott, Bent Nick.

Can’t wait. Later, mates.

Exorcisms and Premonitions

Bits and pieces of news, and irritations about. First though, is the news - as we all know - that Villa lost at Citeh. See. That's what I meant about the collapse. Now, let's all sit back and watch it unfold in its most gory, slow-mo, bloody but really compelling brilliantness. Can't wait. This weekend's FA Cup though. So we'll have to wait a week before watching Villa implode again. In the meantime, if we win at Blackburn one week from Saturday, we'd be in 4th even before Villa play Spurs on Sunday. At there, I'm sure, Spurs would love to do us a favour in smacking them at home. Villa's home form really makes me smile. W: 5, D: 7, L: 2. Let's not go overboard though. I could give them a draw, rather than expect Spurs to win.

With that Villa tirade out of the way, on to the news.

Cesc said something, something along the lines of:

"If he left the club then of course I would consider my own future and whether I would leave the club. I am happy at Arsenal and I believe that we and Barcelona play the best football in Europe. But Wenger is a main part of that."

Nothing wrong with that, I must say. Like saying, if my dog died, then I might have a think of getting another dog. But no...what do we get, idiot headlines like:

"Cesc Fabregas: If Arsene Wenger quits Arsenal so will I"
"Fabregas makes quit warning"

Oh, to be a mediocre sports journalist. That would be the life. But before I end, I must say that if my wife left me, then I would also consider my own future and whether I would leave her too. So there, mediocre sports journos.

Many many words from Sagna on the end of our goal drought, and you have to hand it to him for making it all sound all hunky dory, i.e. "We trust each other and we never spoke about the situation. I think everyone at the club trusts the forwards and, against West Brom, they did their job. I hope the goals will keep coming. I hope the victory and scoring goals will help us psychologically."

I sort of know what he's talking about. It's a bit like how men deal with the occasional bout of PE (not physical education). You don't really talk about it - at all. But trust that one day, it'll turn good. But you really don't want to even think about it too, coz it only makes it worse. But ah - one day, it all changes - like a good 7-0 drubbing, then it's history. Yup. Good thing not to talk to the forwards about such things.

Alright then. Nothing much else - except to look forward to better news on the injury front ahead of Sunday. We so need to give them a good whipping for ganging up on our boys earlier.

Review: West Brom 1 - Arsenal 3

Well, looks like the exorcism worked. Thanks to all arsewipers who helped with the virtual exorcisms. With a bonus added in too - the spirit has been identified, but unfortunately not yet cast out. His name? Song.

But as for the game itself: really kinda odd. First, Bendtner scores in the 4th minute. First attempt, rather lucky, rather scuffy, and...kinda easy! I thought to myself, hey, that wasn't so hard! Now why the heck couldn't we do that for 345,459,003 minutes of open play? And so I thought - ah yes, the exorcism worked, now let's get back to a long-lost 7-0 victory.

But no...2 moments of stupidity: Djourou's absolutely needless foul giving away a free kick, followed by the most pathetic goal to give away. Free kick, no more than one inch off the ground, straight into the wall, right by Song, and in. So, after not conceding a goal in 345,459,003 minutes of open play, our defence is let down by Song himself, the devil incarnate.

That's seven minutes gone, and I'm like: friggin' great. Our rock-solid defence punctured by the team at the bottom of the table, and not having scored in yonks. For the next 30 minutes or so, we amble along, with the usual moments of frustration - until Kolo gets himself a lucky break with a scuffy header for 2-1. Luck. That's what we reeeallly need. What was surprising about the third from Bent Nick was that it was actually a pretty shockingly good finish. Not bad for someone who'd missed sitters aplenty - in the game concerned even. 3-1. End of game.

A few general observations though. First, I'd rather play with 10 men that have Song on. Now, why can't HE get injured for once??? What is he? Is his secret last name Wenger or what? So if Le Boss would rather not play with 10 men, why not send on the 18-year old called Aaron Ramsey. Surely he'd be better than Song, and be better than having 10 men.

Interesting thing is what happens when Theo returns. Will Le Boss stick to the regular starter Emmanuel Eboue and shoot ourselves in an already well-shot foot? But I get ahead of myself. Player ratings first:

Almunia 7 - Not bad. Let down by shit wall at that free kick. Another quiet game otherwise, with moments of overall competency.

Clichy 7 - Not his best, but I can't blame him. For a few minutes in the first half, looked like he couldn't give a shit what his useless mates up front did.

Djourou 6 - Out of his league. Not top-of-the-table material for the Premiership. Sorry, you tried, but you're only that little bit better than Senderos.

Toure 7 - Not bad, cap'n. Got his first goal of the season too.

Sagna 7 - His usual. Good dependable performance again.

Eboue 5 - His best pass was actually a horribly scuffed shot (which Bent Nick subsequently missed horribly from). Another pathetic attempt would add to his gallery of greatness.

Denilson 6 - Sorry boy, not top-of-the-table material for the Premiership as well. Maybe something like Bolton or Blackburn. The boy's been given ample opportunity in Cesc's absence, but he's not even come close.

Song -1 - Not a typo. This is a first negative rating for a player. I actually wished he'd get sent off. But that would be impossible, coz a rash challenge would only come from someone with an iota of energy. He had none. Nothing.

Nasri 6.5 - Not his best performance, but I think the boy needs a rest. He's just had too much on his shoulders. Theo coming back may give him a bit of a rest.

Arshavin 6.5 - Not his best position looks like, just behind Bent Nick. Played another full 90, and I think he'll show us his best against Burnley. Didn't impose himself on the game, but had a few clever assists.

Bendtner 7 - More weird misses, but deserves some credit for his second goal.

Alright then. We've got the exorcism out of the way. The spirit has been identified. Now we gotta find a way to get rid of Song. Voodoo doll anyone?

As for tomorrow's game - I say the collapse has begun...at Villa, not the Emirates. Yessirreee...mark my words. Leaking two goals against STOKE at home, I mean, that sounds like us losing that 4-2 lead against Spurs. But we've got that nearly out of our system, but now's your turn. Heh heh. Sadly, Pool and Chelski won today too. I had delusions of us catching them. At least Pool.

(cue: mad laughter).

Good night then.