Chelsea Preview, Let’s Get Behind The Boys
Apr 20th, 2012 by 'holic
Chelsea at home. It has always been a lively and well-attended fixture, but rarely until the recent years has it been a match-up of real significance in the greater scheme of things. All that has now changed and this weekend’s meeting of the sides at the Grove is probably the most significant since the FA Cup Final of 2002. Win and we will be eight points clear of our fourth-placed North London neighbours. Lose and we will be just four ahead of currently sixth-placed Chelsea.
Both clubs are desperate for the points, but of course the visitors have the added complication of being in the middle of a Champions League match-up with Barcelona. They have lost players to injury and suspension, and are sure to rotate in order to keep key figures fit for the trip to the Camp Nou on Tuesday. Arsenal will start without a key component of their best performances this season. The loss of Mikel Arteta is made more significant by the drop in form of his likely replacement, Aaron Ramsey.
I have news for those quick to condemn. I don’t recall ever having seen a 21 year old who wasn’t inconsistent. I do remember us playing Manchester United without Cesc Fabregas last Mayday when Aaron and Jack Wilshere drove us to an unlikely victory. The young Welshman scored the goal that secured all three points just a week after we had endured a painful 2-1 defeat against Bolton. Does that sound familiar?
Chelsea’s hands are tied at the back with basically only four available senior defenders, but further forward it wouldn’t be a surprise to see wholesale rotation with the likes of Essien, Malouda, Kalou, Torres and Sturridge coming in. Expect the visitors to play an attacker wide right and target the left side of our defence with a string of diagonal balls. With Laurent Koscielny available after suspension the left flank appears our most vulnerable area.
It was confirmed as I started this piece that Didier Drogba is definitely out, and depending on who you choose to believe that is either because he has failed to recover from an ear-infection, or decompression sickness picked up on Wednesday evening. At the back Ivanovic misses out after his cowardly off-the-ball punch against Wigan, and David Lulz, sorry Luiz, is injured.
Tongue in cheek-ness apart, the visitors may consider their likeliest route back into the Champions League would be to draw and win two games in that competition, than win as many of their remaining five Premiership fixtures as they can, and hope that Tottenham, Newcastle, and ourselves slip up somewhere along the line.
As well as picking Arteta’s replacement, Arsene faces the selection poser provided by Yossi Benayoun’s ineligibility against his parent club. The more experienced, but also in need of a confidence-boost Gervinho, or the young but unpredictable Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Most on social networks and blogs appear to favour the latter, but the boss is much closer to the players and will make his choice based on factors of which we are blissfully unaware, I suspect. I’m looking forward to seeing Theo against Cole again. Always a good contest which our man usually edges.
Matches between the top sides this season have produced some astonishing results, not least of which was our 5-3 triumph at the bus stop in Fulham in October. This one could follow suit, but I am actually plumping for a favourite scoreline of so many Gooners down the years. The return of Koscielny will tighten us up at the back, and we will carve out an unmissable opportunity at the other end. 1-0 to the Arsenal is not great value at sevens or eights, but if it is the winning scoreline I will have a rare return in recent times.
It being a lunchtime kick-off it will be an early start for me if I am to make the start of the pre-match warm-up in Tollington Road. I know a number of people are again making huge journeys around the globe to be there as well, so I look forward to seeing friends old and new. Some will be more nervous than others about the outcome of this one. All we can do is our bit, as supporters. Get behind the boys and understand they are all giving their best on the day. Their best will be good enough, as far as I am concerned. It’s all I can ask of them.
284 Responses to “Chelsea Preview, Let’s Get Behind The Boys”
1ST!
G Time!!
Well in Nurse!!
She’s first when she wants….
Now to calm down and read it, looks like a long one, suspect we need it !
“Their best will be good enough, as far as I am concerned. It’s all I can ask of them.”
Well said Holic. Many times in the past that has been what people (correctly) say when levelling criticism against a player. Lack of effort rather than lack of form has been what riled them most.
I think most fans would agree with this sentiment.
Now, young Aaron has certainly not been in top form. But lack of effort? Not in a million years.
So how can the boo boys even begin to get on his back?
We are better than that. We are The Arsenal.
A Guinness, please….
Flying from Dublin in the morn! Come on you Gooners!!
Decompression sickness. Heh 🙂
Hope it isn’t a bumpy one Keith.
Thanks, Dr C.
Ah, my Caledonian chum 😉
Pub time for me now, and a relaxing one with the preview done sober…
Totally threw me with that early pre-emptive strike, Barman.
As for the pub, I’s already there 8)
Meanwhile back in Gotham City……
The Scene : Feelgood Mansions, Champions League night:
Dr Feelgood is sitting in front of a large LCD screen, watching an out-of-sorts Barcelona struggle against the massed defences of John Terry and co. Beside him is an “adult” doll, vinyl body, inert and clumsily clad in an old discarded Chelsea top. Into this scene walks the long-suffering Roxette……..
Roxette: “Have you been……..”.
Momentarily stunned (but, of course,not stuck for words) she blurts out “Who’s your friend?”
Feelgood : “Oh, err, that’s erm, Terry”
Knowing that further interrogation will prove fruitless she remembers her original reason for rushing ino the room:
Roxette : “Have you been messing around in my handcraft basket? Have you been having dark thoughts? Where are they?”
Feelgood sheepishly produces several knitting needles and proclaims:
“It’s just my new hobby, Rox. I’ve been looking into voodoo, and I’m trying to make that twatspatula’s head explode!” (points at TV).
Roxette (relieved) : “Oh right. I was worried you were up to no good. Anyway, I thought you were going out to watch the game in the pub with Borda?”
Feelgood : “I was. But he’s late. As usual.”
Roxette: “Have you looked under the table?”
Feelgood : “Oh I know where he is. He’s out trying to scrounge old mobile phones from everyone he can think of. Seems you can make money out of recycling them. It’s all the rage in America.”
Roxette : “Really?”
Feelgood : “Yeah, they call it Cell Farming……”
Oh Holic,Your last five sentences, say it all for me. Plus, I want them to have some fun out there!!! Futbol should be a joyous experience, for the team and the fans.
Nice preview ‘Holic .
Difficult to do justice to the contempt that I now feel for our West London neighbours , from the top of their gangster driven Empire , through their cheating overpaid players and down to their lowliest invective-spouting fan .
Whilst I was happy to lend my support for 90 mins last weekend , (laughing at the LWC’S is in my DNA) , there can be little doubt that it is Chelsea rather than Tottenham who are now more deserving of localised opprobrium .
Difficult to imagine that Chelsea will go again with the high defensive line which allowed Theo so much freedom at the Bus Stop . Patience will be the key both on the pitch and in the stands , and it is to be hoped that the Boo Boys recognise the self-defeating nature of the stance that they have chosen to pursue .
Let’s hope that it is the enduring class of The Arsenal rather than the short-termist and myopic arrogance of the gangster that wins the day .
Nurse. NURSE!
Thanks, as ever, for the write up and insights Holic.
I think your spot on about the left side being our vulnerable point.
I also reckon Gervinho will get the nod and I expect to see Diaby play a role sometime too.
Early preview for an early kick off, well played ‘holic.
After our last outing I’m not going to do any predictions, just hope that we come out fighting and all those going get behind the l;ads and have a great time.
A bit pressed for time, so I’ll offer a quick round for the bar and a rally cry of COYRRR’s
H2H, Thanks for your kind words from the last set of drinks.Cheers!
best wishes to all going to the game. may the next few games see us solidify our position and deomstrate the fight and pride that has developed since the start of the season. saude.
Hai ‘holic!
Should you so desire a certain victory you would well know where to send the air fares and match day tickets because naturally it was us Aussies what turned the Arsenal’s form around before the derby and beyond.
Of course I doubt that that is a possibilty so we shall watch the game in comfort knowing full well the bus stop is pre-occupied with their other matter; damage limitation against Barca.
Theo, you know what to do my boy. Robin is due a treble too just quietly.
Come on you rip roarers, as if you won’t do us proud. Yours,
White Ox
Wonderful preview Holic. Glad you got it out early too now I will have more time to prepare for tomorrow’s early morning (6:45 AM Jamaica time) kick-off…
Before I go though I hope that you will all follow the advice of Alain Prost and try to keep the Veet from off your bollox
Enjoy the rest of your FFF and I will see you all after the game tomorrow. Caio.
Well holics, Sky is now reporting Drogba picked up a knee injury.
Where will the goal(s) come from?
RvP has looked jaded to me of late and is probably in the red zone. That worries me as much as the loss of Arteta.
Will feast on your mitt if you offer me a 1 nil now, with inner coming from an offside, with the ball hitting the crossbar and going nowhere near over the goal-line…..
inner = winner 😳
Aaron to score the winner with a huge deflection off Cuntley Cole and John Terry ‘s bollock. He is like Hitler you know.
Zico = winner (Dr. Feelgood). Massive shoutouts to the Dublin and Aussie gunners! Just love it when we have an international crowd at the bar. Andy Gorham, you too.
@ 25 (both of you)
Cashley and John Terry share a bollock?
Who knew? And who get’s first dibs at weekends?
Great preview ‘holic, good way to help pass the time on the gobus from Galway to the Dublin airport (love the free wifi) for my last ryanair jaunt of this season.
The very first match I attended at the Emirates was actually the 1-4 defeat inflicted by the Blues in May 2009. That scoreline did not reflect the chances created in the match, but it did make for a rather frustrating afternoon that was only lightned by the opportunity to chant: “He’s a disgrace, he’s a disgrace, Didier Drogba, he’s a f@*king disgrace” – some fine mockery of Drog’s outburst at the incompetent Hennings Overbo in mid-week.
Fast forward almost three years, and a sweet chance for some revenge of that memory against the hated Blues, which would taste all the sweeter given the much greater importance of the fixture to the table this time around. Really looking forward to the breakfast pints in London tomorrow and a quick pop into the Armoury to pick up a Chamberlain jersey before trying to seek out a few of you fine ‘holics to clink pints with before kickoff. One nil would suit just beautifully, and surely the occasion calls for the captain to score it – you get a sense that he particularly loves beating Chelsea. So COYR. This has all the makings of a really fun one.
Excellent post Holic..
Tomorrow, everyone’s hate, venom and bile should be reserved for Cuntley, who is a truly obnoxious little shit who betrayed the club when he was playing for us, and couldn’t wait to bad mouth all of us as soon as he moved.
Nasri & Adebayor are pantomime villians by comparison.
Let’s all give him the reception he so richly deserves..
John Terry will not be rested tomorrow. Not while Mrs Di Matteo is home alone.
AG @ 30 nice one……
Heh, Andy Goram(s).
Well, Mr. Di Mateo had an opportunity to assert himself as a leader and blew it. Fergie took the opportunity to man up (pun intended) and said he talked with Ashley Young about his diving. Di Mateo, when questioned about Drogba’s proclivity towards going down too easily, chose to be disingenuous, too bad.
1 – 0 to the arsenal ? can’t see it would go for 2-0 2-1 but will still buy you a drink if your wrong.
Not entirely sure I will go short of drinks tomorrow, but thank you 😉
Ox, nice to see you here mate.
Nurse, thank you.
Cheers all for your kind words.
Will be watching the game live in Nigeria tomorow afternoon,wish the boys best of luck and you holics going to the game cheer your sodding lungs out. Coyr
Catalan@5: well said, can only agree.
Just hope we give it a proper go tomorrow. Any win will do for me, I don’t care if it is scrappy, lucky, well-deserved or whatever – I just hope we win it.
Good preview as always holic..
Agree with tabs re:patience
We need the fans to support through frustrating phases of the game..In the end we will come through I’m sure
Power cut in my house!
@GT towards the end of the previous drinks. Thanks for the explanation of my Dai Evans story. @various other – no apologies if you didn’t think it was funny – that’s probably a rather healthy response :-; I hope I’m not stepping on the toes of the local, err, medical folk.
Re: the venue for tomorrow’s match, my early onset dementia (by the way, thanks for the “early onset”) seems worse than I feared.
Off to read the post and back drink…
@ 33
“Fergie said he talked with Ashley Young about his diving….”
And he said
“Keep it up, son.”
Oxon @39 Don’t worry mate its the way you tell ’em..
Wow a rare event, sn ex player not bad-mouthing the club!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17749255
Thank you for those kind words WU.
Good preview ‘holic. Fingers, legs, eyes and everything else crossed.
COYGs
Nice preview ‘H as always.
Safe travels, see you tom and I’ll hopefully toast some more Terry cud munching with you 🙂
Great early review ‘holic! Wise words as always!
Can’t linger long at the bar this evening (Follicles awaiting the attentions of 3 large tubes of Veet “Super Strength”) but I’m quite hopeful of 3 decisive points against the collection of ginormous cunts by 2.45pm tomorrow!
Crowd Support > Self-Belief > Victory > Momentum > Automatic CL > Sweet as a feckin’ nut!
Enjoy the crunch-match Gooners!
“COYBG!” he shouts as he departs from his CPU in spine-tingling excitement and anticipation of a night of smooth action! 🙂
Well said Holic.
A couple of things – I’m not blissfully unaware. I’m disappointingly unaware 🙁 I wish I would have known the insides on every player and the selection factors :)!
Second – I refer everyone to the post after the CC loss to City. Not one criticized the players, and the only thing they did was stand up and salute the boys because they gave it their all, and that’s all we can ask for.
Same thing goes for Aaron, he’s giving his all, even if it means things aren’t going his way at the moment.
Third – After researching a bit I have found, that not only will the fourth place not be in the CL if Chelsea win the CL and miss out on the top four, but in that case the 3rd place will need to go through the qualifiers. Bollocks. Fuck Chelsea.
And one last thing – A little treat for you boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Mv2NXuCVA&feature=related
A post on Twitter from Snir prompted me to check the CL qualification rules:
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/competitions/Regulations/01/63/02/44/1630244_DOWNLOAD.pdf
It starts on page 6, and the relevant clauses are these two:
(hope this comes out reasonably readble now…)
The question Snir asked was if the third-placed team in the PL would, assuming Chelsea finish lower than fourth, have to play the qualifiers and it would seem so from the above. If the winner is automatically qualified for the group stage, then there is a vacancy in the qualifers (since the fourth-placed team would then not be eligible) so I would assume that the third-placed team would then have to play the qualifiers. But I have looked through the regulations and I can’t find one word on the subject so I might be wrong.
Now, Snir, wasn’t that an enlightening answer? 😀
So, you couldn’t wait for my answer, then? 🙂
The suspense was killing me 🙂
FFS. Chelsea are massive cunts !
Snir, do you still think they should reach the final then? 😉
Thanks for the link @46, Snir. That’s one of the better 22min 54sec I’ve spent today. I was particularly happy with the section about what a hard bastard Dennis was. Two of my favourite Arsenal memories concern Dennis sendings off.
One was in an FA Cup 6th round(?) match against Liverpool at Highbury. Keown got himself sent off and you could see that Bergkamp was very unhappy about it. Within minutes he went straight through one of the Liverpool players (son of Twitchy, I think) and he was off too. I don’t remember the score at the time but I thought “9 against 11, no chance, we’re going out here”. Salvation was at hand, however, as Dennis went in, the ball went out for a Liverpool throw-in and some berk in the stand threw a coin at Jamie Redknapp, who, bless him, picked it up, turned around and slung it back into the crowd… red card, 9v10 and we held out, going on to win the FA Cup (and maybe the league as well)?
The other was another FA Cup match, 5th round I think, in 97-98 against West Ham. Arsenal were up and Dennis got himself sent off, we went on to win it and I remember thinking “Bloody hell, a man down and we won it. We could do the Double this year”. A few years later, I saw a quote from Martin Keown where he said that Tony Adams had told the defence not to worry, they were playing OK and Dennis’s absence wouldn’t affect them. How right he was, the rest is history.
What a player.
Harsha – They won’t win it.
Sorry not about more all. Stunning reggae night on BBC4…
Great preview. Can’t disagree with any of that.
Another must win game for us, as I would suggest they all are now. Like many others I feel that AOC will start on the bench. I think the rest picks itself.
Must say that I also expect to see Diaby make an appearance. Sadly I do not expect this to be much before 2014. Oh well.
Even more sadly for me will be my no show at the Tollie. 12.45 kick off’s really do me no favours. It will be a mad dash after a junior top of the table match deep in the heart of Essex. I should get there with minutes to spare all being well.
Keep the faith.
And Weller on Jools Holland later…….
Coquelin and Diaby both fit, available and in the squad?????????????
You need to get on to Gunners Gaming on that one holic. What were the odds on that one????
😉
I took a look at Diaby in the reserves game 3-4 weeks ago, and he had several misplaced passes
Do I have to say that I do not like Ramsey to start, but it looks for certain that he will. Maybe he will be the player we all hope for him to be next year or year after. This year he just need to calm down, sort his thoughts and most importantly- learn.
I would like to see Coquelin along with Song for tommorow, but that will remain just a wish. He has the speed, nice long passes, awareness, commitment. He would help Gibs/Santos dealing with Sturidge on that side, he could be a real suprising menace going forward too . I am not sure of his form and fitness though.
and just as always I will support whoever Arsene picks for tommorow.
SG @46 great link, what memories of the great man… thanks!
Great rallying post ‘Holic, as many have said before me, your last 5 lines really hit home, Come on Arsenal, I believe you can do the business in 9 and a 1/2 hours 😀
And Aaron always comes good in the important games, and I believe we will today, looking forward to the match indeed.
But my biggest problem is going to be finding somewhere to watch it, won’t be able to view it at home for various reasons 🙁
His pass to Gervinho for RvP’s first goal at the Bus Stop is magical.
Reminds me of Cesc’s pass to Freddie in the 5-4 at Shite Hart Lane.
Come
On
You
Reds
Good morning all. Taxi on way, so I am too.
Be first, Arsenal, be first.
Just finished downloading:
Arsenal – The official history
Season Review 2001-2002
Fa Cup Final 1971
Fa Cup Final 1979
Arsenal – Chelsea 2010-2011
Oh, I’m gonna have a good time leading up to the game 🙂
Come on you Reds…
BMBD.
Go to bed, Snir.
BMBD.
Your father is a dealer, your mother is a stealer…
About three-and-a-half hours to go before kick-off. Another cold(ish) and rather grey day here in Stockholm, let’s hope the Arsenal can help me ignore the boring weather by means of a victory against the lot from the bus stop.
As always, I wish I could be there too to do what I can to help cheer the team on. And as I was writing that it struck me that I actually will be there for the next home game and that today is also the penultimate home game of the season. And as much as I, of course, want us to get that third place I have to say I don’t really want this rather insane season to end.
Pints all round on my tab!
And you’re a racist cheater. The Terry family.
First beer is making it’s way towards my ever expanding belly.
Nervous to say the least………..
COME ON YOU REDS.
Echo that sentiment, Lars, – have a great day Holics, see you all in a fortnight.
Teams out, Ox starts, Chelsea play a weakened side.
Let’s grab early and see how much fight this lot have in them
Us: chesney, bac, kos, verm, Gibbs, song, Ramsey, Mozart, theo, rvp, ox
Good Gooner day all ! Best of luck to our lads . Mike Dean has the honors today. Behave yourself Mike, please.
COYRsssss
COYRRR’s
We’ve got two proper fullbacks on the pitch and two quick players on the flanks. All we need to do now is stretch them so Ramsey can cannon one in from outside the box.
Hasn’t gotta Kalou.
What a cunt.
Cmon Theo
OOOooooooooooo’
Lovely free kick, unlucky.
Unlucky RvP
As said on Arsecast yesterday, Theo is incomplete as a winger, takes all the wrong positions for Bac and Rosicky
Heh, Terry got Verminated.
A back in blue was hit on the head – no damage then
Get in there Verm! Break terry again!
Good block Kos
Good save by Cahill for us
Good cover by Kos
Do we have a tactic of goal kicks directed at Bacary – he seems to be getting banged too often by these?
Lovely one touch football.
More of a threat when Ox in centre
Unlucky Kos hits bar
OOoooooooooooooooo
Lovely free kick again unlucky.
Cech makes good save from Rvp shot
Not too bad first half, to be honest chances for both sides.
Wide players are the reason we’re so sloppy in possession.
Midfield players are losing possession way too often because they have no options available to them as RvP is covered by two CBs and the wide players aren’t making themselves available for a pass.
That results in loss of possession by TR, Song, AR (along with being careless on the ball), Bac, Kos, and TV.
I wouldn’t mind Lampard and Mata to come on, to try and take the offensive initiative and in the process increasing the space for us.
We definitely need more space in order to win this game.
I don’t care about Lampard, but I dont want that other guy on the field.
Does that make me anti-Mata?
We just need to be patient. Chelsea are playing a bit similar to the way they played against Barcelona but they do venture a little bit more and that when we need to hit them. There is no point for us to go gun ho and get hit on the breaks, so far so good I think. they have been pisrescpectful playing few of their kids today so we should get pay for that.
Yellow Maloo cant be all bad!
100
Give us a goal now H2H please
Cahill gets yellow after attack on Ox
I’m amazed at the amount of balls we’re giving away at the moment
How is it that Bozwinger can run for return pass better than Theo?
Flipper for Feo.
Oh Theo…
RvP high wide and wasted – Abu for TR is interesting
Too open at the moment
Hi all. Lost my feed… any suggestions?
Santos for Ox – 2nd odd substitution for me
Pik try Adhetv.net
Sorry Atdhenet.tv
Pik, ESPN3 in the US
cheers!
Starting to get afraid that there will be some payback for all the Torres-jokes I’ve made during the season…
Abu penalise for long legs
Toby.
If you mean you’re gonna have pain in your sides then I agree.
5th reserve full back comes on for them to a fully deserved welcome
Yellows for Cash – what a scandal he is
Choco miss from RvP!!
RVP lost his goal scoring ability for a bit
oOooohhhh
Kos to the rescue – phew!
anyone can nick it now. com on Arsenal
Come on – show them we are better than Barca
Kos MoTM
Probably fair result – poor by us
A draw, better then a lose, could be costly though.
Koscielny is pure class…..no debate.
That’s a good result if we had bloody beaten Wigan. Making it very tough for the last 3 games…must get 7 points from 9.
Our effort was there, no luck for us. Worried about Theo. Kos was terrific. Think TR was ill.
Santos for midfield is not a bad idea at all as I always thought he ventures too much for a left back, he looked good. Diaby has done well too. RvP has lost a bit of sharpness had some decent chances just the final bit was missing from him. KOS MOTM
Wenger’s coat – They ventured a bit more because we kept on giving the ball away.
Extremely sloppy from the midfield.
Extremely poor from the wide players not to provide any available outlets, putting the men on the ball under pressure.
Well lads, I think a lot now comes down to the stoke game. Win that and we’ll finish third. Lose it, and we may be looking at 4th or worse.
Huge test coming up. We are doing it the hard way.
Ah well, a point is a point I guess. Guinness anyone? I’m drunk ready but fuck it
Awful point.
6 points up with 2 more games, means we can’t afford to lose points at Stoke, and we always struggle there.
Arteta’s loss strangely enough means we can’t create, not because he creates lots of chances, but because he retains possession. We’re simply much more sloppy in possession without him, giving the opposition time to regroup.
Yes we gave far too much of the ball away few players in particuar were awful not just today. How about Santos to take Arteta’s role he looked decent in midfield can go past players and loves to go forward. we did look better when he came on.
Come on QPR
Would much rather have Coq/Diaby there and Santos on the left with Ox on the bench.
I’m sorry, I love the Ox, but he’s trying too much and loses possession way too frequently.
We can’t gift possession to the opposition and expect to come out on top, especially not at Stoke or against Norwich.
we are all assuming Spurs will win all their remianing fixtures but I think it is gong to be a real scrap for 3rd and 4th. But we are in a good position to scrap, we also have a good goal difference.
Yes, we are in a good position, but not as good as I’d have liked.
I don’t trust us to win at Stoke. Plain and simple.
We will always struggle there. Especially without the experienced heads that were brought in to maybe counter such environments.
Truly worried.
Things were starting to click for us in the last 10 minutes or so. We musn’t give up hope. Really feel we created more chances and just ran out of time.
with all diving that has been going on lately I thought the ref was relactant to give a pen for RVP. Cahill pushed RVP it looked soft but not as soft as Ashley youns one. never the less it was a push on RVP. We pay for the consquences of others diving all over the place.
Newcastle beating Stoke easily.
A point was better than none, and serves us better than Chelsea, but three would have been better. Dropping five of our last six points leaves our cushion looking threadbare. They looked like the old Chelsea, bus parkers who can break often and well. Made our patient play just look lacklustre. We also tried to run rather than pass through them too much, although our passing today was unusually sloppy. Arteta is a big loss in that regard, though Ramsey looked much better when Diaby came on and he could play more forward. Woeful finishing by both sides. One good save needed by Cech, and that was about it. Not much value in €138m of striking talent that started today. Kos a rock again.
newcasle 2 nil up already. not looking good
I am pretty satisfied with the draw – I need to go back to bed. Stayed up too late chatting to Snir on Facebook….Hey Snir did you get any sleep?
NBN I thought we played a lot better than the Wigan game but Chelsea are unashamdly going back to the good old days of parking a double decker bus. Its funny that Mr Abrmovcih wanted pretty football he end up served same dire old shit but I guess he will settle for shit now as they looked in trouble few weeks ago.
Anyone watching the Bolton match? Ryo looks tasty…
I’m drinking Guinness in the hope that spurs lose to work tonight.. 4 down already, let’s go!
WC@147: they’ve gone back to the Mourinho basics. It might get them through this season, but it is not the basis for rebuilding an aging team in the image, as you point out, that Abramovich wants. He also has to understand that he lucked out with Mourinho who inherited the core of a team that could give him instant success. Abramovich’s next manager has a more fundamental reconstruction task.
iCoR: I am..
NBN- Lets hope the shit football does not benefit them on Tuesday, they simply don’t deserve it. The QPR game is a massive one for us as they can beat Spurs this evening. If they do then I can relax a little.
Max points for us, the Barcodes and the LWCs is 74. Squeaky bum time.
From the Beeb live page;
Theo Walcott ruled out of run-in
Can’t find any futher info though.
I’m not worried about the LWCs or the Chavs…..
Newcastle on the other hand.
WC, Despite the expert bus parking against Barca, they had to ride their luck not to be beaten by two or three goals. I can’t see it happening twice.
H2H: Theo did his hamstring. That is three to eight weeks out, usually.
Barcodes have a tough run in with Wigan, Chelsea, Man City and Everton to play, with only the Man City game at home. Plenty of scope for dropping points.
Chelsea and Newcastle still have a good chance. But Spurs are still the main threat for 3rd as they do have a supposedly easy run in. so any dropped points at QPR will do us a lot of good.
I don’t buy into the easier run in bit, didn’t we just take one point from two home games against a team in a relagation battle and one supposedly thinking more about an upcoming CL game?
Newcastle are on a roll, they have the bit between their teeth, are playing without fear and from all the four teams battling for two places, they are the ones the so called experts believe less likely to end up in the top four. This means they’re playing without pressure.
Lackluster performance, even then we could have and should have won if RVP was anywhere near his mid-season form. Can’t blame him, 50 matches in a season and put great efforts in all of them. Someone who has never played these many games in a season the sharpness would naturally fall off.
Theo should have been substituted the moment he felt the hamstring. Chance for Ox to shine, he should try not to cut in so much. In one through pass particular he had the beating of Bosingwa on the outside but made the wrong decision.
Rosicky being ill was also a big contributing factor in not finding the fluidity in the early stages and not being penetrative enough.
Team formation against Stoke: Benayoun on the left and Gervinho/Ox on the right? Hopefully Rosicky would recover by then. Ramsey in the holding role or Diaby? Ramsey found a good range of passing towards the end, but was sloppy in possession. Or use Santos in the holding role, he did well defensively as well once he came on? Use Coquelin?
Three must-win games now, especially given Newcastle’s form.
Senderos stuffs Wigan?
I will embrace this point, it was crucial for us not to lose. I was suprised the Cunts were satisfied with 1 point too.
We played poorly however, especially in midfield, as always when Ramsey plays. I do not criticize him, he had a fair game, exept that he was dispossesed 3-4 times in our own half. When moved as an AM, he was ok.
And to be honest looks like RVP is tired. I do not blame him at all, but maybe against Stoke, we should use Chamack’s height for 50-60 minutes, and play RVP as a fresh sub, imho.
Let’s hope that Diaby remains fit for the next 3 games, we need his stamina and Coquelin fitness badly.
Three next games are season defining and all winnable. I think that this was our most nervous game, and I hope the players will realize that, cool their heads and finish the season in style.
Up the Arsenal.
Not been back from the game long. I thought we were poor today. Lacked any invention, ideas or creativity. We were so slow at times and the movement off the ball was as poor as I can remember. It was so static. I thought a draw was a fair result because quite simply no team deserved to win it. The first 80 mins were like a testimonial. We had a major opportunity to take three points today and it was almost like we just could not be arsed. Very disappointing indeed.
We suffered today with having no real strength in depth. We have got away it in recent weeks but against wigan and today we just have not cut it. RVP can’t buy a goal at the moment. It tells you a lot when the way we try and get a winner is to bring on a left back and play him in midfield.
People have rightly praised Kos but I also think TV player well. The centre backs both linked well. I thought Ramsey battled well and it was pleasing to hear his name sung several times. Sadly not a lot else to shout about and at times I thought Song was Chelski’s best player.
Need a big wake up pill before next weekend.
Crap result, but not as crap as it could have been. At least we still keep Chelsea at arm’s length. Stoke, being the massive see you next Tuesdays that they are, of course surrendered meekly against Newcastle. Guess they were saving themselves up for next Saturday. The cunts.
Got to go write a match report now for the Arsenal Sweden site. But what the hell do you write about a game in which absolutely nothing happened???
Back in a bit, pints all round on my tab.
Lurky, I thought Ramsey did OK.
Passing stats:
Ramsey 63/65
Song 49/58
Kos 46/55 (source Arseblog)
Taraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabt
QPR Score!!!!!
What a goal:)
Come on QPR. 1 nil up
I hope they keep it up. The QPR fans ae simply amazing. they are making so much noise and Spurs are truly rattled
I can’t beleive that I actually support Barton. Lord, is that a sin?
Yes it is Lurky, but use the “he’s playing against the LWCs” defence and all shall be forgiven. 😉
H2H, should I repeat 10 times at halftime “he’s playing against the LWCs defence”?
Heh
QPR are starting to wobble a bit. Lets hope they can get the 2nd as Spurs will come into the game later on.
I’m willing to give QPR the absolution if they can hold that result.
From Ben, a very worried Spurs fan, via text: “It’s not just the Champions League spot at stake. No top four and we can kiss goodbye to Modric, Bale, Ade and any other players who want Champions League football. As well as Harry off to England. If we lose this it could be very, very bad news for Spurs.”
Wenger’s coat: QPR definitely need to shape up or they will concede goals. Far too much LWC possession at the moment.
Matt: I think Sp*rs will probably struggle to keep Modric et al even if they do finish in the top four. Bale and Modric in particular are on relative peanuts compared to what they would get at, say, Real, Barca, Milan or even ManCity. They also need two new centre-halves (King is more or less finished, Gallas is too old), they’ll need to somehow replace Adebayor so I’d say they are in a rather difficult situation any which way.
Holic’s man Zamora had a great opportunity to make it 2-0 there. If he’d had another two minutes to make up his mind on what to do, I’m almost certain he would have scored!
BtM: Zamora should have done a lot better there. I am a bit surprised that QPR haven’t brought Cisse on yet.
WTF??? Red for Taraabt? For what??? Clattenburg, you wanker!
PL referees are shit!
Super shit, that red is a joke.
Clattenburg actually did not had a clue that Taraabt had yellow previosly. What a disgrace these referees are.
BTW, Spurs don’t have to replace Adeboywhore…….
He’s a Citeh player.
Thank you Tiny Tots for cheering me up with that performance.
YEEEESSSSS! QPR WINS IT!
@Lars: I would think their (and Chelski’s) situation will be pretty dire without CL football. Good luck keeping your best players while having to shell out a big markup to attract not-so-top players like we’ve seen happening at Liverpool. For Spurs they will have to rebuild half their team with the top players gone and for Chelski who have to replace their old guard it couldn’t come at a worst time. Between Citeh and Chelski the best mercenaries won’t hesitate.
I had mixed feelings when it happened to Liverpool but I confess I’m monitoring the situation with glee.
Congrats to you Rangers, you deserve another season in the pl!
The LWCs really are terrible since we put them back in their place, they’ve folded like a cheap suit, luckily for them that there are only a few games otherwise they would be in serious danger of being relegated.
Speaking of mercenaries what’s the odds of Maureen opting for Chelski over Citeh?
Lars, Zamora can only put one foot in front of the other when he’s playing against us. I can’t quite understand Holic’s fixation with him 🙂
Great to see the Tots f*ck it up today though.
I can’t tink of anything inspiring to write today. Her Nellieeness has me working my nuts off in the garden. I’ll add a couple of thoughts in the drinks once the maestro does his post. Are you all written up for Arsenal Sweden?
Oh yeah, Barca v Real again (yawn)
I think it’s the 6th time already this season.
El Classico, my arse, more like El Cashicow.
So, in conclusion, a fairly good day after all. Only Newcastle gained points on us, so we are still five ahead of Sp*rs and we now have fourth place entirely in our own hands again.
Maximum points now 74 for us and the Magpies, 71 for Sp*rs. In other words, seven points or more secures at least fourth and possibly also third. Newcastle can win all four remaining, but I doubt it.
Matt, don’t think they’d have him back, would they?
Just watching El Classico. How different things would have been if we could have stretched another couple of million and landed Xavi Alonso two seasons back.
Matt: yes, Totnum missing out on the CL would quite possibly be the last we will see of them anywhere near the top end of the table for a few good years. Chelsea could go the same way depending on how much Abramovic wants to shell out.
BtM: yes, all done with my report. It is probably the worst report I have ever written, but what can you do when nothing happened during the game?
BtM.
I always thought that we missed out big time when we failed to sign him.
Spuds just make me laugh and laugh.
Btm. Spot on re Alonso. If I ever find out that that deal fell through because of us I will truly go nuts.
Glee I tell you:
420 minutes since we last scored an away goal-that’s relegation form surely
you cant blame modric for going, ambition?? what fucking ambition?
fcking disgrace… and I’ve always stuck up for Harry.. but now I pray to god he gets the England job….get him the fcking hell out… what a fcking disgraceful collapse…
think we could have used cisse? Hoilett? Samba? what a fcking joke of a club…
sideways, sideways, sideways… turn the ball over… doesn’t matter if they play with 10 men, 9 men, whatever. Boring and frustrating… Harry has no clue and to be fair
we must have the most overated group of pensioners in the premier league
we are so one dimnetional its untrue, like watch 10 david battys
If the Arsenal/Chelsea game regressed me to a foetus, I’ll be a sperm by the time this game is over.
BtM: At this point whether they want him back or not is rather moot…
Agreed with Alonso, possible the biggest mistake Arsene ever made. But then with hindsight we’d all be the greatest managers ever…
Am I the only one a bit sad for Fab? He started brilliantly for them but he’s not been performing lately and it looks like his idol doesn’t have Arsene’s patience. Of all our ex-players he’s the only one that does not deserve the Arsenal quitters curse imho.
2nd Century.
Í still have a soft spot for Cesc, but feel sorry for him….
Hell to the No.
I can’t believe I’m saying this… but…
Fuck him.
Nah, he came to us as a kid we saw him grow in a top player during those 8 years. He’s one of ours.
Anyone who wishes ill of Fabregas really is off their rocker, the guy is no Stapleton or Cashley.
All the media reports at the time said that the reason we didn’t get Alonso was because Villa refused to let Gareth Barry go to Liverpool. It was never about money if those reports are to be believed.
Evening ‘holics,
All in all, a satisfactory round of matches for the “greatest team the world has ever seen”! Chelsea at arms’-reach, the LWCs imploding, the Barcodes with Citeh and the Bus Stop still to come! Sweet as…..! At least a point (ideally 3) against Pulis the cunt and his cuntians and 3rd is ours! 🙂
Btm @193,
Good point regarding Alonso but I feel Arteta 2 years ago wound have been more influential! More pace and guile!
A jug of the black-stuff please bar-keep! Salut!
Aston Villa-Sunderland must have been a really, really shit game. How do I know? Because Gary Linker just tweeted the running order on MOTD tonight and that one is on after our game!
It’s Aston Villa, of course it was shit.
ment *would*, not wound! Sloppy sloppy stuff! Tut tut Tutankhamen!
Charlie, you do have a point there 🙂
Remaining games for all four teams:
ARSENAL
28/4 Stoke (a)
5/5 Norwich (h)
13/8 WBA (a)
NUFC
28/4 Wigan (a)
2/5 Chelsea (a)
6/5 ManC (h)
13/5 Everton (a)
LOOTING TOWN
29/4 Blackburn (h)
2/5 Bolton (a)
6/5 Villa (a)
13/5 Fulham (h)
CHELSCUM
29/4 QPR (h)
2/5 Newcastle (h)
8/5 Liverpool (a)
13/5 Blackburn (h)
Matt – Everybody here knows how hard it was for me when Cesc left.
But as opposed to TH, he learned the evil ways of Catalonia pretty quickly, and became a churlish brat, and worse, a diver.
He represents everything that is evil for me.
Fuck Barca, fuck Cesc.
Represents everything that is evil? Are we talking about Josef Stalin or Cesc Fabregas now? Your (absurdly extreme) hatred for Barcelona clouds your judgement Snir.
The little Geordie bloke with the totally OTT commentary in Barcelona is preaching that Metud Ozil is a “miracle man” with the vision of someone from another galaxy. He trots off. The pass stats flash up at 15/34.
Only one Aaron Ramsey, lurkie.
Evening all
Matt @ #189 no chance fella, Abramovich would never climb down that far and let him back in. If Maureen comes back it will be @ Middle Eastlands, IMO. 😉
Today is certainly not the best day to mention diving. As for Cesc, he’s everything but a brat, he still loves Arsenal where he played for as long as TH and only one year less than Vieira.
You’re not making a good case for yourself with all this abuse.
I still have a soft spot for Cesc, but the manner in which he left Arsenal had really left a bitter taste. He left arguably when we needed him most, especially when our midfield was beginning to look like world-beaters with him in the side.
Not only that, he also seemed to push through the move despite Barca’s unwillingness to pay his value. He probably left us with a fee 20 million short, and not much time to buy his replacement as well (AW at fault here too).
I still have a soft spot for him, I really do. But I hated Barca for their playacting and constant obsession with Cesc being “kidnapped” at the Ems. Now I hate them more than ever. So yeah, fuck Barca. And Cesc, what goes around comes around.
Barca 1-2 RM
Charlie – I meant in footballing terms 🙂
Matt – I don’t care if he loves The Arsenal. That’s nice and sweet, but I’ve watched Barca every week this season, and he isn’t the Cesc I knew. It took me a long time to face it, but he truly has become one of them now. With everything included.
Overmars still loves The Arsenal, so does Petit, so?
I don’t really care about that, it’s nothing more than nice.
His antics are disgusting and I’m truly disappointed he became that kind of player.
Can’t hate on Cesc.
He was entitled to go back to his boyhood club, and he’s made it clear that he still loves the Arsenal and won’t say a bad word about the club. If a player must leave, that’s all you can ask.
Besides, he’s cursed the fuck out of barca.
SG @ 212 — “evil ways of Catalonia”, eh? I hope that comment doesn’t pertain to politics or history 🙂
Why single out Barca for playacting and diving and imaginary card waving even though most teams in La Liga indulge in that? And to be fair, Cesc himself was no paragon of sportsmanship even while playing for us, especially towards the end. He was not quite in the Sergio Busquet category, but he was very much of a brat. It was just that he was our brat.
La Liga is gone, CL hangs in balance. I think Cesc is learning the hard way that achievements are not handed out just because of what you are, but always need to be earned.
Fabregas isn’t the only player who dives. Barcelona aren’t the only team who dive and engage in gamesmanship. Get over it!
Snir
Cesc always had an edge even when he played for us. You look past it when he’s in the red and white.
He’s got worse at Barca, but that’s the tone of the league. He worked his bollocks off for Arsenal, by and large, during his time with us.
If we can’t treat great players who leave the club relatively amicably, and continue to profess their love for Arsenal, with respect then that’s a sad day in my book.
Anyone else think that today’s point looks pretty decent right now? With the run in newcastle have I think we are likely to finish third with six more points, maybe even less.
N7 – I have never blamed him for leaving, on the contrary, I was one of the few here in the bar who were on the fence for him, trying to defend his decision.
But – As soon as he moved, he threw all his class out the window.
That to me meant he’s just like the rest of them.
I tried to deny it, and not let my hatred towards Barca affect me, but he is too much Barca for me now.
Dr. Faustus – He wasn’t a mama’s boy, but he wasn’t nearly as much of a brat (I still love him too much to use the c word) as he is now that he’s with his childhood friend. His cunt childhood friends.
I’ve never seen a team try to buy a player under contract quite like how Barca tried to buy Cesc though. RM wanted to buy cr7, they paid what Manu deemed fair. I did not see Barca even attempt to do the like.
BTN @ 214: That is how he always commentates. 🙂
Özil is a neat little player though, creative, can play in various positions and with great work rate. Would have suited out style.
And yes, I think one day Ramsey would become a player of that consistent quality, if not better.
@IStorey: Personally I believe at this point what the oligarch wants is irrelevant. With his pedigree Maureen can chose any club he wishes and since he systematically went for the biggest spender it would be a bit surprise if he Citeh isn’t his next club if he leaves Madrid.
As for Chelski and their top 6 finish they’re in the beggar category now. After the Ancelotti and AVB experiences, the oligarch will have to fork a really big chunk of his looted cash to get a top manager. From where they are to get back in the top 4 will cost them even more than what he spent in the last decade. As I see it the club was just a way for him to buy respectability. He does not need it anymore so I’m not sure he’ll be willing to dig deep in his pockets again, not even sure he could do it with fair-play rules kicking in. The Chelski experiment is likely over, I won’t be surprised if it’s the Chelsea of old that we’ll see from now on. The summer will be telling.
N7, I totally agree that the point we got looks much, much better now than it did just after our game.
SG, I am not at all a Barca supporter, but if you look at the recent La Liga history their best players probably were the least ‘cuntiest’ compared to the others. Laudrup or Romario or Ronaldinho or Iniesta or Messi are the better behaved (on the field) of the La Liga lot, no? I guess your Barca dislike is rooted in something else, either you are a closet Madridista or you haven’t gotten over the 2006 final. 🙂
j. terry – u know what u are!!!
Derrick @ 224: Yes that was quite disgraceful. It is this self-righteous sense of entitlement and the willingness to play the Catalonia card for any benefit that often turn many like SG against Barca.
I personally think Cesc wanted an easy way out for footballing glories and didn’t find enough in him to stay focused as a leader with such high expectations at such an early age. All these friendship and homeland bits were secondary.
I understand Snirs’ dislike for Barca.
They treated us like chumps, using their players, officials and any other cuntbucket they could find to tap up Cesc. Their constant media campaign, the Barca DNA bollox and all their other dirty tricks disrupted us for a whole season. Fuck ’em.
Just to clarify my previous comment on the matter, I wish Cesc all the best, but I don’t feel sorry for him that things aren’t going so well.
Faustus – Compared to CR7 Messi is a saint, but he’s no innocent angel.
I watch Barca every week, and he’s quite churlish as well. Just have a look at the way he behaves when he doesn’t get the fouls he wants to get, or when he gets marked a bit too tight.
It’s not just that night in Paris.
It’s Overmars, Petit, Van Bronckhorst, Hleb, TH, and Cesc.
They were the City of the mid 2000’s in terms of unsettling our players.
Not to mention trying to snap up Aneke and Afobe when they were playing a tournament for Arsenal.
Of course that night in Paris, and most of all, their behavior in the Cesc saga.
I just can’t stand them.
And no, I’m no Madridista, I’m a Gooner through and through, and when a club continuously disrespects my club I’m through with them.
Come to think of it, their dirty tricks disrupted us for longer then a season, double fuck ’em.
H2H @ 231: And I think Barca would try the same tricks if and when Miquel becomes the player we think he will be. Barca will soon need defensive reinforcements. It is up to Arsenal to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Winning a thing or two in the next few years playing our brand of football, and becoming financially stronger while the FFP kicks in, can very well make us one of the most preferred destinations.
Three very important matches and a key summer ahead… 🙂
Three very important matches and a key summer ahead…
Just what the doctor ordered. 😉
Oh! Q.P.R. alpha-bet u never sore that coming! UREDS!
Even when TH was in Barca I had no hatred whatsoever for the Catalans. In fact I was happy for Henry seeing him lift the CL at the twilight of his career. The man deserves it. And note that he left Arsenal only with Wenger’s full consent and approval, much unlike Cesc that pushed through the move in spite of Wenger’s stance at the start of last summer.
But nevermind that, my hatred for Barca it seems all stems from their long transfer saga pursuing Cesc, from the moment it started until it eventually finished. From talking about Barca DNA, Pique, Xavi, and Iniesta taking turns each week talking about Cesc, their President or Mayor saying Cesc was being kidnapped and held against his will, the list goes on. All of that shows an obvious disrespect towards AFC and the fact that Cesc was under contract at Arsenal. Just goes to show Barca’s class when the whole institution pursued Cesc in such a disgraceful manner.
Hence my hatred towards Barca, further fueled by their playacting and pressuring the referee constantly. Sergio Busquet’s attempt in sending off Inter’s Thiago Motta, captured live on TV is a disgrace for football.
I still rate Cesc as a player and as a man, but I simply can’t sympathize him while he still wears the Barca shirt.
Worrying that our 3 rivals have a game in hand , no?
Derrick – your 237 and my 232 is a perfect example of why Gooners should dislike Barca.
I just can’t forgive a club that disrespects The Arsenal.
SG @ 232, I share your moral disgust for the way Barca poached many of our players (though not all that you have listed, but let us not get bogged down in the details), but that is not too very different than many comparatively big teams behave when dealing with relatively smaller team. ‘Big’ and ‘small’ purely from the perspective of difference in ambition and wages, nothing more, and you can slide this scale in either end of the footballing spectrum.
Here is to beating them in the knock-out round of next year’s CL.
abb, No, the way this season is panning out I’m glad we’ve already got the points on the board.
Dr. Faustus – To be honest, I don’t really care if everybody does it.
I care when it’s being done to The Arsenal, and they did it to us.
Therefore, I can’t forgive them.
Just can’t.
Arsenal is above everything for me, and if you disrespect The Arsenal, I’m through with you.
Not to mention that night in Paris, which I still haven’t gotten over. Haven’t even watched those painful highlights.
238 – yeah but for two of those teams the game in hand is against one another, and the other team is in complete freefall right now.
Thanks H2H and Charlie for your views/rationale. Too be quite honest, thought I was at a Real Madrid blog with all the Barca talk. Which brings me to this. Some folks are carrying on about Messi’s ‘poor’ performance of late. Let’s not do that to Robin, please. It’s kinda like when you gain a few extra pounds, do you really need to be told?
Without wanting to jinx it, my prediction is that four more points will see us safe in third.
Chelsea won’t win every game, spurs are in relegation form and Newcastle have a bitch of a run in.
That said, I like to think we might make the issue academic by taking all 9 points. Regardless of what’s going on in the league I fucking hate stoke so that’s a must win for openers, especially after our pathetic showing at their shit hole of a ground this time last year.
N7 Gooner @ 245: I would not like to have to go into the final match with some mandatory minimum target as any strange thing can happen, especially given that it is an away match. If we win the next two matches the likelihood of the final match becoming academic in favor of us is rather high.
Stoke we really must beat.
N7G @245, even if we take all nine remaining points, as I fear we must, it could still come down to goal difference as both us and the Barcodes can get a max of 74 points. The LWCs can get no more than 71 and the Chavs 70. So we need two wins and a draw to be sure of fourth. Given the Barcodes’ run-in — Wigan, Chelsea, Man City, Everton — that may be good enough for 3rd. I’d be a lot more comfortable with three straight wins, starting with Stoke for all the reasons you state.
Ben Arfa decent player!
@dr Faustus, as I mentioned n 224 I have yet to see a team attempt to buy a player quite like how Barca pursued Cesc. When Chelski bought Cashley, I did not hate Chelski quite as much as I hated Cashley for being, er, Cashley and greedy. The same applies to Citeh buying $amir and Ade (I dont hold Clichy nor Toure the same resentment or judgment). They moved for money reasons.
Some others move for ambition reasons, such as Charlie Adam to Liverpool, or Cr7 to RM in his bid to make history. Resent them all you want, the buyer still paid fair money for the player and has always respected the player’s contract. I don’t see Manu fans hating on RM for stealing Cr7, and for good reason. RM bought him fair and square.
But what of Barca and Cesc? He certainly did not move for money as his paycut obviously points out. Nor do I think he moved for ambition, as he was fighting for the biggest trophies as captain of The Arsenal. Yet he was lured by his old friends in front of millions of watchers, with everyone associated with Barca talking openly about wanting Cesc back and portraying us as having stolen him when he was 15, all in total disregard for our club.
What really happened was Barca stealing Cesc from our hands in front of millions of eyes. It was painfully obvious as the prolonged transfer saga really took its toll on us as a club, and AW was eventually forced to undersell Cesc. Being the cunts they are, Chelski and Citeh still paid fair money for our ex players, as they did for all their other transfers. And Barca? Lower than cunts if you ask me.
Ned, our goal difference is rather a lot better than what Newcastle have so if we tie them for points we will almost certainly finish ahead of them.
@249 – Spot on.
Absolutely spot on.
I’ll just say what I always say, without Barcelona Man Utd would have two more European Cups. That alone makes me warm to them. But it’s the internet and haters gonna hate as they say. If the internet had been around in the 70s people would have been bitching incessantly about Ajax too I imagine (or Milan in the early 90s).
Sorry Charlie, the Internet ain’t the reason I hate Barca.
Well without Barca we would have 1 CL trophy from 2006, not to mention last year’s nightmare red for RVP at Nou Camp.
But this is irrelevant, as I have mentioned previously how I had no hate whatsoever towards Barca prior to the Cesc transfer saga. I had no problems with Henry, Overmars, or whomever else that may come to mind. I don’t have too much qualms over Barca’s playacting or ref-pressing as well, although they do bother me whenever I watch them play. My hatred, again, stems from the Cesc saga which I still find totally, unbelievably, inappropriate and disrespectful.
I am not too sure how the internet would make people bitch about Ajax in the 70s, as I don’t recall them tapping up Cruyff or anyone else quite like how Barca stole Cesc. If anything, the internet allowed millions to see perfectly the moral ineptude of Barca’s institution through Cesc saga, and it would have allowed millions others in the 70s to witness a great team winning everything with lots of home-grown players, not dissimilar to Barca, only without all the playacting and ref bullying.
Again, I am not saying Barca is the only team that cheats. That is definitely not why I rate them so low.
Nite all, off to work. TR hoping you feel better soon. Theo, sorry bout your injury.
Once again Derrick – spot on. Just one thing, the Cesc saga isn’t the only reason I hate them but it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back and turned dislike into hatred.
‘holic.
Congrats on your “home team” winning promotion.
1969 ? Ouch ?
Just called in for a night cap. Am I in the wrong place? Is this now Barcaholic????? Why are people wasting time on either Cesc or Barca? We are The Arsenal. Fuck the rest.
Snir @202 –
Finally my friend… you have seen the LIGHT!
Fuck him, indeed!
I hope they win fuck all. I hope the Chavs do them and then lose to Bayern in the Final.
Much worse than Na$ri…much worse. I understand the mercenary ethic. But I will NEVER forgive one who quits on us.
Period.
BMBD.
What? No match report. Holic’s not slept right through to Carlisle (again) has he?
Exactly Steve T @ 259: I don’t understand the vitriol against Cesc. His wanting to go back to Barca is not at all in the same order as Nasti or Boywhore leaving for money – Cesc took a pay cut FFS! Love brethren. Love is what we need to show our ex-players…especially the ones that did well by us during their time at the Arsenal..
Besides Cesc is a jinx and will do to Barca what he did for us: prevent them from winning silverware ever again. I fear that they will lose to the blue cunts to set up an English cunts vs Spanish cunts CL final. Its going to be a proper day out for all anti-football cunts. One thing is guaranteed though and that is the cuntish English press will be jerking off campaigning to get the Arch-cunt Maureen back into the Premier League…..should be a summer of fun…UGH
..where did I put those nails..
Lars@250: it will be difficult for Newcastle to close a 13 goal goal difference over four games; less so for the LWCs or the Chavs if they put together a run and we falter. Five over four games is closeable. So we just need to win the final three to make goal difference irrelevant with our London neighbors.
BtM: worse, he could be west of Fishguard at this point.
GT: the only saving grace in the Chavs getting to the CL final is that it might mean di Matteo gets his job permanently, which will mean that they won’t rebuild but just try to paper over the cracks.
N7 @ Various: Right on brother. I don’t know what got in to Snir. We both loved Cesc, its just that he’s so full of hate lately…frankly I am a bit worried )0;
Time to put the Cesc, Nasri stuff behind us and move on. We have a team in the making that could win the trophies they never did. Forward.
To make myself clear, I don’t hate Cesc. But I don’t love him anymore, and I most certainly did at the beginning of the season when the pain from his departure was still fresh.
Steve and the rest – Why is it that every time people talk about other subjects, people who don’t wanna talk about it, go crazy?
I mean, when people wanna talk about alter egos, undercover missions, quacks or God knows what, nobody says a word.
That’s the whole point of this bar, to talk about whatever. Obviously, Arsenal will be the focal point of discussions, but this bar has never been (once it became a popular bar) just about Arsenal. Especially not now, after friendships have been made beyond the realms of the virtual world.
I still rate Cesc as a player and as a man, always will. I am also ever so thankful for everything he’s done for us. I cannot ever question his attitude whenever he puts on pur jersey in the past. Just that his prolonged transfer and the manner in which he left still leaves a very bitter aftertaste.
I don’t hate the man, yet I truly hate his current club. Which is why again I cannot cheer or sympathize for him while he still wears the Barca jersey. I’d take him back any day, certainly. He’s got our DNA after all, doesn’t he 🙂
Agree with Ned, though, we have to look forward, and I am glad we can do so knowing we have a solid squad from which to build on for next year. I guess we ended up talking about Cesc since the Classico was on last night. I sure hope Diaby can play his part in the next 3 games. He looked very decent when he came on yesterday, and he surely complements our midfield setup better than if we were to play TR and AR together. Fingers crossed he deserves a proper run of games for us.
Derrick I feel the same way.
I don’t know if you visited the bar in the summer, but I took Cesc’s departure really hard and defended him with a passion for his attitude while playing and wanting to go back to play for the club he supports.
All I said, is that the blind love I had for him is gone and I will no longer stand on the fence for him.
Of course I’d have him back and I also predicted earlier in the season that he will be back and I still believe that.
All I’m saying is that I don’t wish him well at Barca because my blind love for him is gone.
As for looking forward, most of the guys here know what I think of our squad and its potential. We truly are a force, and will be a strong contender next season.
Coffee anyone? 😉
Morning all. Drinking my way through the above I feel quite a lot of sympathy for Snir and his attitude to Barca. Then I came to Charlie’s profound contribution @252 and the scales fell from my eyes. After the way they went after Cesc one can’t like them, but for what they’ve done to ManYoo you can’t hate them. It’s got to be somewhere between mild dislike and profound loathing.
Now, bring on Pubis and his boys, and where’s the Guv’nor?
Oh, and to GT@262.
Perhaps as the summer drags on and you still can’t find those nails you’ll to value the brief(!) and fascinating(!!) discussion about measuring competitiveness that Snir and I held last weekend :-).
Don’t forget to send me the Doctor’s certificate when the holes heal up so I know it’s safe to get you that drink.
Oxon. personally I go for indifference! And believe me, I’m in the eye if the storm. Very quiet here in Catalunya today!
Yeah, indifference would work too. I’m more of a vague loathing man myself.
Snir. Chill out. I don’t have the same level of hatred for Barca as you, but I certainly have no time for them at all. Cesc for me is an ex player. No more. I thought that the way he played last year and the way he orchestrated his nice were quite shameful. My point was simply this. This is an arsenal blog. Now that does not prohibit talk on other subjects, of course it doesn’t. I was just somewhat surprised to call in after all that has happened to our season domestically to find a conversation about Barca and Cesc???? I would have thought we would all have far more important issues to worry about???
Just saying like.
Steve, you know how this blog sways from one topic to another.
Someone mentioned the Clasico and Barca, and Cesc, and it escalated from there.
I think people are waiting for Guvnor’s review to discuss yesterday’s game 🙂
*boilk* no report yet? For an early kick-off ? The guvnor must have been a bit drunk. Hope he ended up in the right place.
I think AL and I were the last holics to leave the pub. All arsebloggers had long disappeared 😉
Gutted to see Real beat Barca.
I do worry for tuesday. Really need Barca to qualify so that Chelsea have to put some effort in their game against Newcastle.
I’m all in favour of Barca getting dodgy penalties that day.
Come on ref, do your usual show there please.
Reports of my overshooting the runway are happily exaggerated 😉 >>>
I’m afraid I borrowed the landlady’s login.
Holic: Chevrons and no new post? wtf? Don’t make me come over there fella..(0;
Anyway, the racist blue cunt has been sent off, Barca scored, I am going for 6-NIL to the Catalan Cunts…any takers?
Hey GT, These announcers are so pro Chelsea, sickening!
Well its seems that I jinxed Barca (0;
But remember my nightmare scenario of the last post. I am trying hard not to think of what might happen now )0;