ARSENALISM©

http://youtu.be/VcSnHkyl2ak George & the boys A good friend whose brother, a lifelong Arsenal supporter, recently passed away kindly asked if I would give his late brother’s mementoes a good home. I was happy to do so, and among a plethora of Arsenal memorabilia there were a number of items that I found of great interest. Among the vast collection of programmes, many of which are for key games, there is a programme of a league game, held at Anfield, between Manchester United and Arsenal; a game held in Liverpool as Old Trafford was undergoing a 'knife based' crisis. Programmes for games at Highbury between Arsenal and Real Madrid, a Brazil XI and Glasgow Rangers. There are records too, 7” vinyl including The Morning after the night before by John Devine; a curious little ditty and a variety of Arsenal squad songs. A Super 8 film of the Arsenal v Manchester united ‘seven minute Final’. A number of FA and League Cup Final programmes along with the Final ...

  The Euros have, in my opinion, been really enjoyable so far. Some good football, different styles and tactical approaches, and some tremendous matches. The one thing however that is causing me consternation is the standard of punditry, but even worse the extraordinarily bad standard of commentary. We get kind of used to the extremes of banality or hyperbole in commentary of the domestic game but I expect that, in keeping with the status of a major tournament, the level of commentary is commensurate. Wrong; it’s awful. National and ethnic stereotyping, cliché, generalisation and stupidity abound. ITV is the worse culprit with Clive Tydseley the Prince of paucity and poor prose. How he manages to get these high profile games (including Champions League Finals) is beyond me. The BBC aren’t much better and I really expect more from this bastion of quality broadcasting. Is it a problem with the need for chatter at any cost that is prevalant in modern society? B...

Андре́й Серге́евич Арша́вин performance for Russia on the opening day of Euro 2012 has generated a lot of discussion on what differentiates The Arsenal Arshavin from the Zenit/Russia Arshavin. The Russian Captain ran the show against the Czech Republic and reminded us all of the player who scored at Old Trafford, Anfield and against Barcelona. He also won the Russian league during his loan spell at Zenit prompting questions about whether it’s his desire or his manager that makes a difference. What we saw was a world class player performing on the world stage; a player that Arsenal saw as surplus to requirements for the latter part of the season. The recently finished 2011/12 season was further Proof that 'the grass isn't always greener' is a myth. Since Arsenal won a trophy a good number of the players who have left have gone on to attain silverware (or continue to have successful careers for club and country: Wiltord, Anelka, Pires, Gilberto )   Vieira Se...