International Break Gives Us Time To Get Healthy

Yeah I probably just jinxed the team, because since I said that they'll probably all get injuries playing for their international teams. So if Fabregas, Sagna, Gallas, Song, Theo, and Arshy all come back with injuries, you know where you can point the blame. Right here. But really, think about it. After this break is over, we'll probably have Nasri back, hopefully Theo will be fit enough to go the full 90 minutes, and while Denilson is going to take longer to recover, it's at least 2 weeks worth of matches that he won't miss, if that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't.

Apparently there are some big football nations that could miss out on the World Cup, which I think is fantastic. Why? Because it makes it somewhat easier (hopefully) for the US to get out of the group stage. I think it'd be quite nice if we didn't have to play France or Portugal. Honestly though I like France because they always have so many Arsenal players, so I do hope they make it. Portugal can choke on dog shite and die though.

I've been rocking out to the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the USA" for like an hour. Yeah, I'm a 22 year old male listening to Miley Cyrus, so what? I'm a fan. You should like her too. Plus she's ballin rich and if it doesn't work out with me and Carlota Fabregas then I'll most likely go for Miley. Tell me you don't think she's hot and you'd be lying.

So after the international break our next five league matches are home to Birmingham, away to West Ham, home to Sp*rs, away to Wolves, and away to Sunderland. You'd like to think that Birmingham and Wolves would be three points pretty easily. If it doesn't work out that way you have to look at that as a disappointment. Sunderland and West Ham aren't nearly as good of a team as we are, but they are tricky teams to play on the road. You'd like to think we'd get six points from those as well, but I think I'd be happy enough with four.

The key match though is the one at home to the scum. Obviously Sp*rs are shit cunts and they almost never beat us. However, this year they are making an attempt to be less shit than they normally are and are currently ahead of us in the table, which makes this match really f'ing important. We also have a game in hand on the top three teams in the table right now, so if we won that we'd be in third right now. But about the Sp*rs match again, it's one that we have to win. A draw is not acceptable, and a loss should simply be out of the question. If we beat them, they turn right back into pretenders who aren't going to ever get near the top four. If they get a good result at the Emirates though, and we have to go to the shithole later in the year, they're going to get a real confidence boost and have the belief that they can hang in the top four. The best way of making sure we win would be if Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe were hit by busses, meteors, or a turtle-eating-pigeon before the match. So if you drive a bus, you know what to do. We'll all thank you later.

In other news, Mikael Silvestre says the best is yet to come from him. I suppose it's easy for him to say that since he's never been very good anyway. Also, Sol Campbell could start training with Arsenal to keep up his fitness while he has no club. I say he shouldn't be allowed to. Don't go sign with Notts County saying you "embrace their ambtion" and quit after one game. Sol's a looney.

"It will be great to train here and get fit. I've spoken to Arsene, hopefully we can get everything right and speak to the right people and get a couple of the physios and fitness guys to help me and train. My overall fitness is OK. But something else might happen before then."

That last part is him saying that he hopes Arsene will sign him. That's not going to happen. We have Djourou and Senderos who are both better than him and still can't get in the team. Sorry Sol, every since you left at halftime of that match a couple of years ago you lost all credibility among most Arsenal supporters. Piss off please.

On to other business besides Arsenal now.

If anyone knows about computers, this one is for you. My monitor shows everything giant now, and cuts off like half of what should be on the screen. I tried adjusting the display settings and resolution, but it hasn't fixed anything. I don't want to wait on the phone for hours with customer service if I don't have to, so if you know how to fix this then please get at me.

So I've been out of work for about three weeks now since baseball season ended (at least in the minor leagues.) If anyone knows of any job availability for someone with no real skills, hasn't gotten their college degree yet, and doesn't want to work long hours, then please let me know.

That's about all I've got for the day. Leave comments on any of this stuff and I promise I'll write back unless you are an absolute cunt. Peace!

Arsenal Beat Sp*rs In FA Youth Cup

Check it, you know how I be. Hello everyone. How is everyone doing today? That's fantastic I'm actually doing ok but I'm a little sick, sore throat and all that fun stuff. Not a whole lot going on in the world of Arsenal today, but I did watch the FA Youth Cup game Arsenal versus Sp*rs last night and it was great, so I figured I'll talk about that a little today.

When I turned the match on it was just about to start but I had to shower so I missed the first part. When I came back we were already 1-0 down. We settled in though and we were playing well. I thought our passing was as good as, if not better than, our first teams passing and movement. Watching Jack Wilshere among the rest of the younglings is like watching men against boys. While he isn't THAT much better than all the rest of them, every time he touches the ball I still half expect him to score.

I was talking to Joaquin throughout the match and we picked out a few players that really looked the business to us, and had a chance of making it to the big time. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas scored a great goal to give us the win in extra time, and I thought he played a great game. His versatility is astounding, as he looks comfortable really at any position on the pitch. There was no better example than in extra time in the 2nd half. He was playing up top as a third striker, brought the ball in, dodged two defenders and launched a cannon into the net to give us the lead. Next thing you know, he was back playing as a third center back to make sure Sp*rs didn't get another of their own. That doesn't even mention that he played in the midfield almost the whole game. It's fantastic and I really am looking forward to seeing what he can do in the future.

Gilles Sunu looks like he also has a great future. The guy is just electric quick and can accelerate and turn on a time. He should have had a goal probably late in the first half but he still looked very good when he was out there. I wouldn't be surprised if he maybe went on loan somewhere in the lower divisions next season.

Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin pretty much ran the midfield along with Thomas and Wilshere and they both look pretty good too. Coquelin was the one to set up the final goal with a long ball to Rhys Murphy on a counter attack. Rhys Murphy is one of the top scorers for the youth team for the season and his finish after bringing in that long ball was out of this world. Bendtner and Adebayor could use some tutoring from Murphy on half volleys like that.

So it's on to the FA Youth Cup Semi-Finals for the youngsters. We'll face the winner of Manchester City and Norwich city, who play tomorrow. It'll be a two-legged affair, with the second leg of it being back at the Emirates. Liverpool is already into the other semi-final, and they await the winner of Birmingham City and Ipswich Town/Watford. It'd be great for our youth academy to win the whole thing. Imagine the kind of talent you can attract if you have the best youth academy in all of England, and maybe all the world judging by how they have come through in the last few years.

The matches really are enjoyable to watch and as soon as I get the date of the semi-final matches then I will get it all to you.

Tonight I have my first practice with my new team of 8 year olds, so it's time to whip them into shape. Let's go Green Monkeys!

Tottenham 0-0 Arsenal, Eboue Costs Arsenal Again

Another North London Derby, and another draw. While not nearly as traumatic as the first match against Sp*rs this season at the grove, this one was no more fun to watch. Eboue is once again to blame, as he was sent off for two yellow cards in the first half. The second one was just a stupid, stupid thing to do, as he tried to trip Modric when Modric tripped him. They were both booked and Eboue was sent off. He's a clueless cunt that has no place in top flight football, and I really wish he would never play for Arsenal again. Every time I see him in the lineup I know it's going to be almost like playing like ten men, and this time I guess he just wanted an early bath or just wasn't feeling like playing a match at all. I can't stand him. He's a diving, cheating, mindless wanker who I wish had never stepped foot into Arsenal Football Club. It's hard enough to win derbies as it is, and having ten men for an hour of the match doesn't make it any easier.

Adebayor went off injured as well in the first half which meant Bendtner had to come on. While Adebayor hasn't been in great form, he still scores a ton of goals (8 in 8 matches) against the scum. Clichy later went off injured when that cunt Darren Bent thought Clichy's head was the ball and smashed his head into it. He went off bleeding and Kieran Gibbs came on for his Premier League debut.

I don't have time to spell out everything that happened in the match line by line, but I will point out a few things.

I thought Almunia was fantastic today. After the collapse of the defense and the goalkeeping last time against Sp*rs it was great to see such a good performance from Almunia today. I've been saying that we don't need to buy a keeper and I still don't think we need to. I think Almunia has earned his spot and see no reason why he shouldn't keep it. He hasn't gotten to play behind a great defence since he began starting between the posts, and yet he has a pretty good record. Big ups to Manuel.

I thought the defense was good in general as well. While Tottenham certainly had some chances, they were mostly long shots or half chances. We also defended the corners pretty well, which as we know is our weakest spot. Any time you keep a clean sheet after being down a man for so long, you have to say it's a good defensive performance. Kolo and Gallas may have finally found some kind of a working system because it seems to have worked well the last two matches. Let's hope it continues.

Alexandre Song, for me, stood out. When I saw him starting in the midfield next to Denilson, I'll admit I was a little bummed to see him in there. Our options in the center were limited though, so Song it was, and he did not disappoint. I thought he broke up a lot of attacks well and generally did a good job protecting the back four, but I was most impressed with his work rate. Every time I saw him he was running try to make a play, and it's something we haven't seen enough of from this team this season. If you've read my blog very often, you know that I have not been the biggest fan of Alex, but if he continues to play the way he did today, then I will be more than appreciative of his services. I think without him today we would maybe not have been able to hold on to the clean sheet, so full credit to Mr. Song.


While our attacking was certainly not what you would hope for, it's understandable in a way seeing as we are without our best player in Cesc, our true right midfielder in Theo, Adebayor went off injured in the first half, Eboue gets himself sent off, and Arshavin was not match fit yet. At eleven on eleven, we probably score the goal that gets us three points today. With Theo or Cesc in, you certainly would have liked our chances. Even if Arshavin had been ready to come on I think we may have scraped it. Nasri was good today, but there just wasn't a lot in our attacking and it's somewhat easy to see why. I think as Eduardo (who was on the bench today, woohoo!), Theo, Cesc, and Arshavin work back into the squad you'll see those goals start to pile up for us. Let's just hope the defense can stay solid when that happens.

I think, due to Eboue's absolute retardedness, that we have to count this as a point gained instead of two points lost. We're four points back of Chelsea with thirteen games to go, so it is certainly not an insurmountable deficit to get to 4th spot. That 4th spot is absolutely critical.

Leave your thoughts on the game, Eboue, or anything else. Cheers.

Absolutely Gutted...Mental Mistakes Sink Us

Morning all. It's still early in the day and it's already been terrible. This is of course compounded by what happened yesterday at the Emirates...which we shall discuss.

If you didn't get to see the match, in which feelings went from distress to glee to absolute disaster, then you missed one hell of a match, if you were a neutral supporter. I, however, am not a neutral so the match was absolute shite for me. We were up 4-2 with 2 minutes to go in the match and managed to let them score 2 goals in those two minutes to tie it up, which was as good as a win for them. Let's face it, Tottenham are not a good team, they were way behind us in possession, never really looked that threatening, and yet came into our home and came away with an undeserved draw.

Some people will say that I should maybe give Sp*rs some credit for their comeback, but let's face it, it wasn't their efforts that created this result, it was mental mistakes by Arsenal players that let them come back and snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.

Manuel Almunia has been a fine keeper for the last year or so, but yesterday he went back to the Almunia that was from a few years back. He pretty much gifted them their first two goals. The first one he should have been able to get back and make the save on. The ball was so high in the air it seemed like it took an hour to come down yet he couldn't get back for it, and Lord knows what he was doing that far off of his line anyway.

Then we got back in it through Silvestre of all people and it seemed like order would be restored. This proved to be the case when we came out and scored early in the second half through William Gallas who seems to be able to attack set pieces much much better than he can defend them. We got another on a great play from Nasri and finished by Adebayor and you figured that 3-1 up at home was going to be a win.

We didn't want to make it easy on ourselves though so we let them get a goal on yet another gift from Almunia. Huddlestone shot from outside the box and Almunia just let it drop in front of him after making the save and Darren Bent knocked it in after just coming on. It was a save he really should have been able to hold on to and it made you a little nervous at 3-2. Robin van Persie made it 4-2 just a minute later though and it was comfortable again.

What happened next was absolutely shocking. Arsenal went into a period where we held almost all of the possession, just trying to run the clock down, and it was working. Heading into extra time with a 2 goal lead and they couldn't even get the ball. Then the unthinkable happened. Gael Clichy had the ball stopped and was looking around for where to pass next and came under some pressure from Jenas, the cunt. Next thing you know Clichy trips over the ball, Jenas steals it, dribbles 25 yards or so and knocks another past Almunia. So 4-3 at this point but still almost know time left...we'll be fine right? Not so. A header dropped to Luca Modric who had a shot come back off the post which we failed to clear or save and Lennon came in to snatch a draw. They celebrated like they had won the league and I wanted to kill myself.

It's not just the result that really makes this bad though. Of course I want to beat Sp*rs, who doesn't? But the point is the WAY that we drew the match. Mental errors and not being able to have the strong mentality to close out a game. Where is the leadership in the 89th minute when up 2 goals that says, "Let's close this game out and make sure we don't let them even have one chance of getting back in this." How do we let them score on 2 rebounded goals, and trip over the ball while trying to play keep away, and let David Bentley, the talentless cunt, score from 40 yards away when no other team has had trouble with them all year? I don't care if they got a new manager or not, it's the same players that have them bottom of the table and we made them look like title contenders with that comeback.

How much would a player like Gilberto Silva have helped in this situation? Imagine if he came on instead of Diaby or Eboue, would he allow them to make a comeback like that? He's the kind of intelligent, experienced player we need in these situations, and we let him go. I just can't see him coming into the match up 2 goals with 2 to go and not making sure everyone knew to keep their heads on straight and to hold onto the ball, and if they did get the ball from us I know he'd be fighting tooth and nail to get it back.

Everyone has a few bad games but Almunia was absolutely shocking this match. I thought Theo Walcott was fantastic but of course he came off to be replaced by Eboue who did nothing. I actually thought Gallas (who you know I am a critic of) had a very good game. He looked solid at the back and scored a great header. He is the captain though and some of the blame for a meltdown has to go to anyone in a leadership role. The team as a whole was at fault though. Silvestre could have closed down Jenas on the 3rd goal, Almunia and Clichy could certainly have had better games, but the fact is we completely blew it.

Arsene Wenger was as pissed as he's been in some time:

Well I am angry. I believe we produced an outstanding game and got the minimum result. We didn't keep the ball. We were there for the taking. We should have had a negative passing game but instead we exposed ourselves by trying to go five or six up. The team has outstanding potential. They learn from moments like that tonight.

It comes down to leadership and experience. You have to keep the ball away from them up by 2 with 2 minutes to go, and certainly after they pull 1 back. It should be common sense. My 8 year old team knows that.

I'm absolutely sick about it is the moral of the story. I don't want to think about the match anymore so I let all my feelings out on here. Feel free to do the same in an email or the comments and I'll read em on the podcast tomorrow. We've gotta recover from this loss and get ready for the next one, it's still a long season. Up the Gunners.

Manuel Almunia Takes Too Much Shite

Good morning everyone. Not a whole lot going on today so a quick news round-up I think? Yes, sounds good.

Remember yesterday when I said Almunia takes too much crap and he's actually a good keeper? Well today he came out and spoke about being the Arsenal number 1 and says he's growing into the role.

"I'm very happy to wear this fantastic number for Arsenal and I'm pleased with how things are going; I'm feeling very well and we have not conceded too many goals, although we always need to improve.

"I think this season I am growing as a goalkeeper and hope I can grow more as the season progresses."

You've got to hand it to the man. He's always had a good attitude about everything in his time here, even when Lehmann was giving him stick for nothing all last season. I think he improves really with almost every game. Really though is there a better option for us? I think he is one of the top three goalkeepers in the Premiership right now at the very least. He made another great save against Porto and his reactions are excellent. Keep it up Manuel and I for one will be rooting hard for you!

Emmanuel Adebayor talked about his and Robin van Persie's partnership, and said he hopes it will lead to winning trophies. It's weird with those two. Sometimes, like yesterday, they look like they are the best of friends and play together wonderfully, but then other times they seem completely lost out there with eachother. But with more games comes better understanding so the longer RvP is healthy and they are able to play together, the better off we will be. Adebayor said exactly the same thing:

"If Robin is fit for the whole season we have a chance to do something special, that's for sure.

"We talk off the pitch about the way we play.

"You must discuss what you have done well and what you have done badly."

Their partnership really could be the key to our season. Remember last year Adebayor was scoring for fun but when he finally did go through a drought there was nobody to pick up the slack because RvP was injured. Now it seems like we have a lot more options. RvP is healthy (knock on wood), we have Vela and Bendtner that can go in, and Eduardo will be back by the second half of the season. So let's hope van Persie can keep up his fitness and keep this partnership going.


And to put a smile on everyone's face, Tottenham are still the only team in the league without a win. Yes, even West Brom and Stoke have wins before Sp*rs. Isn't it absolutely wonderful? Good job spending all that money you cunts. You're the worst "top 4 contenders" in history.

Oh How I Hate Tottenham....Plus Emirates Cup Stuff

Morning all. Yesterday we beat Real Madrid 1-0 through a beautiful penalty from Adebayor. I don't care how much you hate him, he makes our team better. If you boo him then go to hell. I don't boo Arsenal players, even Eboue, so piss off for booing our 30 goal scorer. He isn't perfect by any means but who is in today's footballing world? Point is he is our best striker for the time being and everyone should deal with it. As Arsene Wenger said, "A plane load of money wouldn't buy him right now."

RvP won us the penalty and went down like a rag doll. I thought he was going to be out for the rest of the season judging by the way he went down and stayed there. I've lost my confidence in his ability to stay fit. Luckily he's fine as far as I know. He's a great player, but for God's sake, play a whole season.

But the main point of this article, which I'm writing now because I can't sleep, is how much I hate Tottenham Hotspur.

1. I hate Sp*rs more than I hate Barack Obama...which is a ridiculous amount.

2. I hate Sp*rs more than I hate skanks that put up facebook pictures in bikinis. I hate that a lot.

3. I hate Sp*rs more than I hate the last two Eminem albums, and I really hate them.

4. I hate Sp*rs more than I hate Bolton, which is saying something.

5. I hate Sp*rs more than I hate that Thierry Henry left Arsenal, and I that just about killed me.

6. I hate Sp*rs so much that I wish their manager was Steve McClaren so they would lose every match.

7. I hate Sp*rs so much that I wish Juande Ramos would be hit by a bus, then run over with a lawnmower...that would hurt.

I could think of more reasons but that's enough for the night.

Jack Wilshere is going to be a legend. I love the kid. I don't think that Cesc even had the skills this kid has at that age. If he did, then it's comparable. I expect big things. I don't want the pressure heaped on him at this age but I know he will be incredible.

That's all I've got. Cheers.

Sp*rs Jokes And Other Stuff

There really isn't anything to write about today. Seriously there is almost no news. I should have saved my report on Toure's malaria until today just so I had something to write. I guess there is a little bit of good news, in that Eduardo will be back to watch the Emirates Cup. He's still rehabbing in Brazil but he is on schedule for his recovery and everything appears to be going well. So that's great to hear and I'm sure everyone will enjoy seeing him back at the Emirates.

The only other real news it that Thierry Henry and Bertie Mee will both be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. Bertie was the manager of our first double-winning side in 1971 and Thierry Henry needs to explanation. Legend. So well deserved to both of them and congratulations.

So for the rest of the blog I'm going to try to entertain with you with some jokes about some of our rivals!

Tottenham:

Q: What do you call a tottenham fan with lots of girlfriends?
A: A Shepherd

Q: Why do tottenham supporters have Moustaches?
A: So they can look like their Mothers

Q: What do you call a tottenham fan with no arms and legs?
A: Trustworthy

Q) Two spurs fans jump off a cliff- who lands first?
A) Who gives a f**k

Q: What's the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead tottenham fan?
A: Skid marks in front of the dog

Scousers:

Q: How many Liverpool fans does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Yeah, as if they have electricity in Liverpool...

Q: What do Liverpool Fans and sperm have in common?
A: One in 2,000,000 has a chance of becoming a human being

Q: What should you do if you see a scouse jogging?
A: Trip him up and give the lady's purse back to her

ManUre:

Q. What do you call a Manchester United fan with half a brain?
A: Gifted

Q: What's the difference between listening to Alex Ferguson's after-match interview and childbirth?
A: One's an extremely painful almost unbearable experience, and the other one's just having a baby

Yeah I thought a couple of those were entertaining, if you have any other good one feel free to throw them out there. I didn't get around to doing the Chelski ones but I'll leave that for another day when there's nothing to write about. Cheers all.