Thoughts on the Season So Far

Hello all. It's been a bloody month since I last posted, and I'm quite ashamed of it actually. Sometimes, when you write every day, you just get burnt out and feel like what you write isn't that interesting anymore and just don't really get in the mood to write very much. That's what happened to me, and I feel like I'm not doing my job as an Arsenal blogger when I go that long without writing. So I apologize and I'll try to get back to it. So for today I'm just going to write a bit about what I've noticed from the season so far.

I really like the 4-3-3 formation, I'm just not sure we have the right players to run it at the moment. I think ideally we'd have Theo as the forward on the right and Arshy on the left with RvP or Bendtner as the center forward. I don't think Bendtner is good as a wide player and I don't think he ever will be. He's a center forward, and he's the second or third best center forward at that, so I don't like seeing him start on the right. Theo can't get back soon enough for me. It's a bit weird how long he's been out. Same with Vela. I worry that they were supposed to have little injuries and now they've been out for quite a while. Hopefully they get back soon because we could use the depth. When you look at the bench we've had for some of these matches, it's just pathetic. I think when we get Nasri back, he should probably start next to Cesc to add some more creativity in the midfield.

Thomas Vermaelen is a fucking beast. The guy is a strong defender who spends most of his time smoking fools and lighting up chumps, while also making time to get up the field and score goals to the point that right now he's our leading scorer. Now it's not really good that a central defender is our leading scorer mind you, but it just accentuates the fact of how brilliant a signing he was. I can't get enough of the guy. Keep it up Verminator.

Alex Song needs some help. He was good the first few games but against both Manchester teams he looked like he was in a little bit over his head. It'd be nice if we could rest him every once in a while without having a drop off. And also, what has happened to Manuel Almunia? He's been pretty terrible this season so far in my opinion, and Clichy, even though he's one of my favorites, has also been sub-par.

I worry a little bit about Cesc. I think sometimes his head is in Barcelona. We really, really need to win something this year. Other than the Manchester games though, you'd say the season is looking pretty decent. We're beating the teams that are weaker than us, which has been a problem in the past, so maybe we're on the right track. Remember that we still get City and United at home to make up for those losses, and we still have a lot of players coming back from injury. I think the season still is looking bright. Keep the faith Gooners.

Cheers.

PS: Adebayor is a cunt.

I'm Going to Try To Defend Adebayor (Sort of)

Morning all. Hope everything is going well for you. Not much has been happening with Arsenal in the last week or so, besides the ongoing Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City stories. Just yesterday it was reported that a fee (25 million pounds) had been agreed and a he was given a work permit for the move. Now though it seems there has been a snag, and Adebayor has asked City for a little bit more time to think if this is the right move for him. Financially it certainly has to be, as he'd be making much more money there than he ever would at Arsenal. However, he doesn't want to be seen as greedy back in Togo, where apparently Arsenal is much more popular than Manchester City (go figure).

Everyone is eagerly awaiting this deal getting done, because nobody wants Adebayor at Arsenal it seems. And while I think 25 million for him is good business for us, I don't think he was nearly as bad for the club as most people think. I've compared him side by side with RvP, who everyone loves, in the past. Adebayor has been a more accomplished goal scorer for Arsenal, a player who manages to be in the side much more, and has lead the line on his own countless times. Sure, sometimes it looked like he was being lazy, but Bendtner looks the same way running around up top on his own. He's also been criticized for everything from being offsides too much, to missing easy chances, to kissing the badge on his shirt. (which almost every player does at some time or another) He's taken more stick from Arsenal fans than anyone I can remember that has played for this club. So why on earth would you expect him to be loyal? Can you blame him for wanting to display his talents somehwere that they might actually be appreciated? If your own fans aren't even going to cheer for you that isn't exactly a motivating factor. Do you think it's coincidence that players that the fans have loved over the years have stayed longer? If I felt like I was getting no love from my own club's fans despite scoring 30 goals in a season then I would want to be somewhere else too. So yeah, he may be a bit greedy, but it's no different than anyone that came from a poor background and made it out. Wanting to get paid for your craft isn't wrong, so yeah, when you combine the money and the fans giving him so much shit, I can't blame Adebayor one bit.

As for his potential replacement, Marouane Chamakh, he's biding his time and waiting for an offer. Sunderland is interested, as well as Arsenal, and I would expect a bid to be tabled for him should the Adebayor move go through.

"I have good contacts from clubs and the possibility to join a Premier League club. I will take my time because there is some very interesting interest and I have to make the best choice."

I don't really watch Bordeaux, but I'll expect he's a pretty good player or else Arsene wouldn't want to sign him. Either way, when we're getting in 25 million and only spending 7 million for the replacement, it should leave us lots of cash so spend on a defensive midfielder.

That's about all I've got to talk about today. I'm going to go drink some coffee, eat some goldfish, then go to the gym in a little bit. Boom, outta here.

Arsenal Are Getting Me Hot And Bothered

That's right, they get me all hot and bothered. Why you ask? Well if you saw how we played against Manchester City yesterday then they would be making you wet as well. Remember when I was talking about that 4-2-3-1 formation? Well we went with it and it worked incredibly well. The lineup looked like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Song-Denilson
Walcott-Cesc-Arshavin
Adebayor

Adebayor and Cesc were both making their returns from long term injury absences and neither one of them was the least bit disappointing. Two assists for Fabregas, two goals for Adebayor. The first was from a free kick that Adebayor headed in, and the second was a nice ball from Cesc over the top that Ade controlled, dribbled around the keeper and finished easily. It was great work from them both and it showed just how much potential our team has on their day. With Cesc, Nasri, and Arshy working those attacking midfield roles it presents a scary proposition for opposing defenses. Adebayor was back to the Ade of old, running hard, scoring goals, and putting in maximum effort the whole time he was out there. One instance particularly stands out to me, when he gave the ball away in their half just a little outside of the box, and ran the full length of the field to track down the ball and help in defense. It made me really happy to see that kind of effort and if we could get all of our players to show that kind of effort then I think we could honestly win every match we played.


Song and Denilson were pretty good in the holding roles, and they really allowed Cesc to have a much more attacking role, which was great. In the second half we completely dominated the game, with City barely seeing the ball and having approximately zero scoring chances. So while we were great, it must be said as well that City were horrendous. They couldn't hold on to the ball, they wasted the few chances they had, and didn't look at all like contenders for anything except relegation. Money doesn't solve everything City.

So up next we have the Champions League vs Villareal in Spain. They had an awful result this weekend, losing 3-0 and Robert Pires got sent off. Not the best match leading up to the Champions League, but all the better for us. I tell you, if we don't get any weird injuries and play like we played yesterday, we'll win in Spain. Not just score an away goal, but win outright. I fancy us to go through to the next round, and I think you'll see a good performance from us on Tuesday.

So we're seventeen league matches unbeaten which is quite an impressive streak. We still have to face Liverpool, United, and Chelsea this season though, and we also play Chelsea in the FA Cup and United if they beat Porto and we beat Villareal, so it is a tough road ahead. On current form though, would you argue that those teams would beat us? Liverpool are playing really well, but we've shown ability to break them down and score some goals against them. Chelsea and United both seem to be in a bit of a slump, so I certainly am not counting out three points against either of those teams.

The season seems so much brighter now than it did just a few short months ago. We're headed to Wembley for the FA Cup Semi-Finals, we're in the quarter finals of the Champions League, and we're playing loads better in the league and almost have our Champions League spot cemented for next year. It's much more fun to watch football when your team is winning, and that time is now.

Come on you Arsenal!

PS: Yesterday I bought the website www.ArsenalYouth.com. If you have any ideas for what you think should go on there relating to Arsenal's youth and reserve teams, feel free to let me know!