ARSENALISM©

"...Hang on lads; I've got an idea..." Arsenalism is away for the month of August.  I shall return, but I leave you with some history; http://youtu.be/qRl56TOinKk http://youtu.be/RWDLbPunC-8 http://youtu.be/T6J9-14ZzAw http://youtu.be/Xm5b_TbfO84 http://youtu.be/MbCnRr3wbPg http://youtu.be/bQA9qhIz5fQ http://youtu.be/RZLxbB-ihdU http://youtu.be/v_vXoewp3TQ http://youtu.be/gseBPRLIV-w

  The final straw? Am I the only one not saying goodbye to Eboue through a haze of rose tinted spectacle sympathy? He was a liability, an idiot of the highest order. What promise he did show at right back was snuffed out with the arrival of the consistent Sagna. Eboue was never ever an attacking midfielder. Too much of a headless chicken for that. Incident prone, overly theatrical and groan worthy in his feigned innocence after he had rolled around the turf for the umpteenth time. The disgraceful antics against Liverpool in double secret overtime were the cherry on the cake. That he lasted as long as he did at Arsenal is just one of the reasons why we have underachieved in terms of trophies. Yeah a good bloke and all that; I’ve heard it said often enough, but I’m not interested whether he saves Dolphins or does charity bungee jumps. Stefan Effenberg was horrible but I wish he had played for us. I’m not judging Eboue the man I’m passing judgement on Eboue the footballer and as fa...

In these dark days let's reflect on the undoubted highlight of last season, when the unbeatable were beaten. It's worth remembering, particularly after the hiding they gave ManUtd in the Champions League final, that we beat them and were not flattered by the result. It's also relevant that Wilshire looked more than comfortable, That RVP really is world class and that Arshavin 'can' be top notch. What a night http://youtu.be/Fbx0AbP7rS0 as seen on TV 1-1   http://youtu.be/7iFEtwb8xzo fans eye view 2-1 http://youtu.be/Dx-vO84DoAI Highlights

Jockey or not Jockey? that is the question Surprisingly this forthcoming season a lot of the clubs have half decent new kits. foregoing the usual horror show garments in favour of a bit of subtlety, however yes, there are some right horrible bits of schmutteer in the offing. Have a look at these lot spurs go all everton chelsea with the predator look what on earths going on at The Toon? no idea what QPR are playing at are you Blackpool in disguise Looking a bit Rugby Oh, dear a bit of wonky printing here What on earth is this colour

Platini, Rosel,Crozier & Cornu share a moment I have long suspected that Barcelona have a pact with EUFA & ITV, a pact drawn in blood at a secret Catalan location. The cabal of Barcanists meet in secret to find ways to expound the Barca faith. In ITV’s case it is a drooling sycophancy shouted from on high for all terrestrial viewers to hear and comply with: “do they do ordinary?” “The little Argentinean genius “That goal was sheer Barca” “Messi, Messi, LIONEL MESSI!!!!”   “Oops I’ve just come”. EUFA adore the cult of Barca, turning blind eyes, making allowances, ignoring cheating both on and off the pitch and, indeed doing their   work for them in the tapping up department. Diving shamelessly, influencing referees, making illegal approaches, turning the sprinklers on Morinho and getting opponents sent off are just some of the transgressions that Barca are guilty of yet they are   immune to punishment. Of course, their owners, management and players also feel ...

Is it a case of having the players and finding a system, or having a system and finding the players? Possibly when Wenger arrived at Arsenal and evaluated the merits of Seaman, Adams, Dixon , Bould, Keown, Winterburn, Bergkamp and Wright it made perfect sense to employ a 4-4-2. Perhaps he had the young Vieira in mind to be the combative fulcrum of central mid field. Maybe he knew that in Petit he would have the perfect compliment to Patrick. In terms of a straight through the middle striker who would thrive on through balls, he obviously had an eye on Anelka. In a 4-4-2 you couldn’t want more than Marc Overmars, and although Parlour was never great at crossing he had an infatigability that the system needed. The 4-4-2 worked and the first Wenger double was secured. Key to this system was the two man midfield and with Vieira we had Gilberto with Edu as understudy. The benefits of the system reaped reward in silverware. So good where the players that came in that the system was able ...

What we learnt today 1.  That Gervinho looks a tidy finisher and that we still need help at the back. FC Koln 1 Arsenal 2 http://youtu.be/kyFJHExtZWA Gervinho (2)-Jenkinson (OG) What we learnt today 2. There was also an interesting table of the top twenty Players in terms of assists in Premier History. David Beckham came 1st with an assist rate of 0.57. Interestingly Arsenal had 3 players in the top 5. 4th Dennis Bergkamp 0.46 2nd (joint) Thierry Henry 0.56 2nd (joint) Cesc Fabregas 0.56 What this shows is unclear but perhaps it's an indication of  the importance of, in Arsenal's case, not only having a mid-field player who creates chances for others but a striker that does. It also shows that in the top ten the majority have been in title winning teams; that Cesc, at number 2, hasn't is clearly not based on his own contribution as a midfielder that the stats would tend to imply, and therein, perhaps, lies some of the reason behind his current st...

  http://youtu.be/YujYTVQ4_S0 "Well, yeah... I was sittin' here eatin' my muffin and drinkin' my coffee when I had what alcoholics refer to as 'a moment of clarity...'" Let’s try and get our heads around this. Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri are under contract to Arsenal Football Club. Neither player has made an official transfer request. Barcelona have both, informally and officially made an offer for the services of Fabregas; the price offered has been deemed unacceptable, therefore until such time an offer is made that Arsenal feel is appropriate Fabregas remains under contract. As regards Nasri, having not put in a transfer request, Arsenal, until such time as someone makes a financial bid that the Club find acceptable, retain the player under the terms of his contract. EVERYTHINGTHING ELSE IS TOTTALLY AND UTTERLY SECONDARY TO THESE FACTS It really is that simple. Bendtner and Denilson have expressed a desire to leave the club. Denilson is on loan an...

Let’s talk about Freddie http://youtu.be/8CNS0ZlCsBI I recently bemoaned a lack of characters in our current Arsenal squad, lack of players that bought a sense of fun and identity. One such player was Freddie Ljungberg. From his debut against Manchester United when he came on as a sub, he managed to get booked, have a shot that flew high wide and handsome and then chip Schmeicel to make it 3-0; what a debut. Freddie was a constant thorn in Manchester United’s side scoring many a goal against them. When Freddie got sent off in a bad tempered game at WHL he flicked the Vs and booted his way down the tunnel; this made him a legend. http://youtu.be/UBSWoI1plm4 His Red haired goal scoring exploits that led us to a double and memorable capture of the title at Old Trafford. His post match swearing after the FA Cup win against Chelsea . His tussle in training for Sweden . His crazy fashion sense and his willingness to have a tear up on the pitch. All these things were what we loved about Fred...

Being an Arsenal supporter feels like being trapped between a bad episode of the Apprentice with Wenger back in the boardroom for the seventh times, and the Stargate sequence out of 2001: A space Odyssey. It’s baffling, unfathomable and some of the decisions being made are, in the words of Lord Sugar “Bloody ridiculous” http://youtu.be/Yxi6QDwQyLU Is this what it feels like   http://youtu.be/ou6JNQwPWE0 This is what it feels like I know, let’s give Barcelona another two weeks to stump up the money for our captain; that will bring us nicely round to August 1 st a mere 12 days from our opening fixture. How about buying a young striker no one has heard of, after all we don’t have a problem defensively do we? How about the Nasri situation; after all he is a one man team so no problem taking a £20m hit on him. With City richer than Richie Rich we should be squeezing every penny out of them for a player who clearly wants to vamoose. Then we come on to the names that it’s to bo...

A little catch up of what's been going on on that big green thing, not the papers, radio, Tv Blogverse just the pitch. http://youtu.be/REP3iD5PChk Hangzthou Green town v Arsenal http://youtu.be/wno1k88rJNw Malaysia v Arsenal Still uncertainty about Cesc and Nasri, runour about Eboue and Denilson getting the elbow, no bids for Bendnter and Almunia. Oh, and no sign of defensive reinforcements, young players that no sod has heard of in the mix; so business as usual I guess. It's also worth pointing out that Shay Given has gone to Aston Villa for £3.5m, I can't help but think that for half the fee we got for Clichy, Given would have been a sensible investment, but what do i know?

  It’s generally considered that the top clubs in England have traditionally been Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, it’s also reasonable to add to them Chelsea and Manchester City post investment. When the statistic is trotted out ad naseum, that Arsenal haven’t won a trophy for six years, it is not an untruth, however, let’s look at some of the other top clubs. It’s fair to say that the quality of a team is best gauged by their Championship credentials. Achievement in cup competitions is harder to define as it is not always the best team that wins in a knock out contest. Of this elite group of teams Manchester United have shown consistency, Spurs haven’t won a league title in 50 years. For Everton it’s been 24 years. Manchester City last won the title 43 years ago. Pre-Abramovitch, Chelsea had not won a title in 50 years and most notable is that Liverpool have not been Champions for 21 years. For Arsenal it is 7 years since being unbe...

“Exceptional” these are Wenger’s words used to describe Patrick Vieira who retired from the game today. This was the man that, in a team with the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Campbell, was the Captain. From his first appearance as a sub against Sheffield Wednesday to his final kick of a ball for Arsenal Vieira was outstanding. Captain of the Invincibles, one man Mid-field, muscular & athletic Vieira had everything. Never afraid to be an enforcer, never scared to get his hands dirty he was also languid and skillful. In the pantheon of great club captains he is right up there. Thanks for everything Patrick http://youtu.be/bpovLUvJyzY

Forbes magazine has rated Arsenal as the 7 th  most valuable sports franchise in the world assessing the club’s worth, following Stan Kroenke’s takeover, at $1.19 billion. Last year the Gunners placed 8th in the rankings valued at $1.18 billion. Bayern Munich (19th), Barcelona (26th), AC Milan (34th), Chelsea (46th) and Juventus (49th) are the only other football sides to make the top fifty. Is it fair to say our achievement does not reflect our position? I think so 1.       Manchester United / Football / $1.86 billion 2.       Dallas Cowboys / NFL / $1.81 billion 3.       New York Yankees / MLB / $1.7 billion 4.       Washington Redskins / NFL / $1.55 billion 5.       Real Madrid / Football / $1.45 billion 6.       New England Patriots / NFL / $1.37 billion 7.       Arsenal / Football / $1.19 billi...

The countdown continues. No new defenders. No additional keepers. No takers for the dross in our squad. No more clarity over Nasri. No more clarity over Fabregas. A couple of players bought who are unknown quantities. Funny thing is that when I see Ramsay, Vermaelan, Wilshire, RVP, Sagna, Song and Cszesny I find myself seeing some character; some cojones, I see some players that I can believe in. Players that are capable and not third- raters idling on top dollar. Not deluded individuals cruising on Wenger’s yacht of misplaced belief. Add some quality to that skeleton, excise the Charlatans and big heads and I can imagine an Arsenal team that I will be happy to applaud. That’s the frustration. Even though I believe we are miles away from being where we need to be, I can see a glimmer in these guys. I feel a recollection of watching Arsenal and recognising each member of the team feeling that connection. I recall what it’s like to feel that you are not just watching a group of indivi...

Today is four weeks, a month, 4 weekends until the start of the season. Time to work on those set pieces and defensive duties, integrate the new players, get on each other’s wavelengths, carry on without those that have moved on. Time to get ready to hit the ground running in a packed August. Time to try out new formations and personnel in Pre season tournaments. Time to have got over last season’s calamities; time to make those necessary changes gel. Time to gain confidence in the young players promoted from within. Time for the Captain to rebuild belief for the task ahead. Time to put business matters to one side and focus on success. Time to instigate those changes that were glaringly obvious last season, and get used to them before the real stuff begins in a month. Except that’s not the case at London Colney ; Unsure about who’s going and who’s coming in, no sign of the defenders and goalkeeper we obviously need, no idea what our starting eleven will look like, Denilson and Bendtn...

http://youtu.be/wZZ9NBqlLCY Ah-So-Nal

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“Electrifying, electrifying…”-Martin Tyler We are currently amidst stories about players who, to use the common vernacular, are ‘bigging themselves up’ about how much they are worth. Their puffed up egos and avaricious agents fuelling their pomposity thus leading to the inevitable conclusion that they are worth far more than their peers. These sporting celebrities believe that their view of their own merit is all that matters and high wages, they feel, are linked to their perceived stature and therefore a big club with a chance of winning things is their rightful destination. Conveniently overlooking their own lack of contribution in achieving anything at the clubs at which they currently ply their trade. With this in mind I want to talk about a great Arsenal player. A player who was worth it.   A player who, among a team of quality peers, was incredible. Thierry Henry.   For a substantial period Henry was scoring goals and making goals for Arsenal. Were we to have a simil...