Arsenal

[MSingh]

No pressure tonight Chaps..

Surely the best freeflowing Team in teh League will demolish the Team at the bottom won't they, by 3, 4 or even 5 i'd say ??

& any idea if you'll be playing an Englishman tonight, if you do it will probably be the self confessed cheat who has a laugh with the Ref about it ??

[SantiSuk]

No pressure tonight Chaps..

Surely the best freeflowing Team in the League will demolish the Team at the bottom won't they, by 3, 4 or even 5 i'd say ??

& any idea if you'll be playing an Englishman tonight, if you do it will probably be the self confessed cheat who has a laugh with the Ref about it ??

You'll have to do better than that to wind us up Singh - you know how bucolic we Arsenal fans are. At least our team was playing.

Disappointing for a London derby. Hammers look to have fallen into no-hope mode, even though it will take only a few good performances against the back markers to wiz them out of it. Jack Wilshire ran the match (ridiculous sycophantic comment by the TSP commentator about Fabregas as he left the field - he was not the fat controller this time by a long chalk). RvanP looked in great form. Having seen Eboue's farcical attempts at filling in for Sangna I understand why we have the Sol Campbell rumour. At least Sangna should be back from the sin bin for the next EPL game.

It was nice to see us run a few in again, but I have this incredible sinking feeling about our so-called defence every time I think about the ever approaching Barca game. I had a look at the EPL table to find out how far down the rankings you have to go to find an equivalently poor defence (I include the GKP as a defender for this purpose). Try it yourself - I got as far down as Liverpool, paused briefly for thought then went on down to West Brom (14th). I cannot recall anyone winning the EPL with a bottom half defense, even if this is one of the top attacking club line ups for many a year. Will make for much more joy and despair until May!

[smokie36]

I guess RVP was on holiday in Tunisia last week was he? Lucky break for you that was.

[SantiSuk]

Leeds v Arsenal cup replay is on at 3:00am on TSP 1 tonight. Probably on either channel 3 or 7 also?

Banana skin time? Normally I would say not, given the Gunners away form. But then came the Tractor Boys ....

Could be down to penalties. I guess I'll have no nails by this time tomorrow.

Since I use Leeds as my UK base I have a double reason for wanting Leeds to lose. The plonkers nearly sacrificed advancement up the leagues last year with a diverting cup run. I'd rather see them back where they belong in the EPL than having a run to say the quarter-final. They don't have the squad for both.

[smokie36]

Leeds v Arsenal cup replay is on at 3:00am on TSP 1 tonight. Probably on either channel 3 or 7 also?

Banana skin time? Normally I would say not, given the Gunners away form. But then came the Tractor Boys ....

Could be down to penalties. I guess I'll have no nails by this time tomorrow.

Since I use Leeds as my UK base I have a double reason for wanting Leeds to lose. The plonkers nearly sacrificed advancement up the leagues last year with a diverting cup run. I'd rather see them back where they belong in the EPL than having a run to say the quarter-final. They don't have the squad for both.

Bit selfish of you that mate....it would brighten my week considerably if Leeds can give their fans a treat tonight!

Only half hour to kick off.....

[SantiSuk]

Leeds v Arsenal cup replay is on at 3:00am on TSP 1 tonight. Probably on either channel 3 or 7 also?

Banana skin time? Normally I would say not, given the Gunners away form. But then came the Tractor Boys ....

Could be down to penalties. I guess I'll have no nails by this time tomorrow.

Since I use Leeds as my UK base I have a double reason for wanting Leeds to lose. The plonkers nearly sacrificed advancement up the leagues last year with a diverting cup run. I'd rather see them back where they belong in the EPL than having a run to say the quarter-final. They don't have the squad for both.

Bit selfish of you that mate....it would brighten my week considerably if Leeds can give their fans a treat tonight!

Only half hour to kick off.....

Easier than expected. Very powerful first 35 minutes from Arsenal - as good and as hungry a performance as I've seen awhile. Should have been 3 or 4 up if Arshavin and Chamak had been in sync with the rest. Excellent typical command by Nasri and a well-worked goal by him, followed by a strong diagonal attack and drive by Sagna. Sagna looked in great form after his 3 match ban.

Then blown off course for the last 10 minutes of the first half by a wonder strike from Johnson. Nonetheless, the Gunners never looked in trouble at the back - how many times can we say that this season! Koscielny and Djourou seem to be maturing as a central defending pair.

God knows what Wenger said to the lads at half-time, but whatever it was it didn't work. They came out in their 'oh my god we could lose this' mode and surrendered the midfield to Leeds and let the game move out of their half. Nasri worryingly seemed to disappear again, Chamak continued to look off form and, having failed to profit from his uncharacteristically dynamic first half, Arse-shaving went back into sleep mode. Nonetheless the defense were rarely troubled and my nails were not bitten. The cavalry arrived on 70 minutes (RvanP and Fab). The latter immediately took control of the game and the former looked very sharp and was allowed an unchallenged header from an excellent lofted cross to the far post by Bendtner. 3-1 up and coast-home time. Job done.

Many positives and few negatives - except for that nagging charisma evaporation that invades the team when shit happens. We are still looking for our Tony Adams/John Terry/Roy Keane figure to make us a truly great side. Note to Arsene - it is nearly always a defender who provides the vital charismatic leadership a great team needs. English-speaking too.

Leeds nearly got back in to this. Football needs them back in the EPL. Firstly for their huge vociferous support - topped only by Sunderland and Stoke in that latter respect, although yes I'll admit that the White Hot Lane crowd have been impressive this year (and I'll admit that the Gunners fans are too middle class to chant) Secondly is Leeds' 'everybody hates us' factor, which gets fans of both sides buzzing. Finally and most importantly is their ability to get under the skin of Manchester United .

Edited January 20, 2011 by SantiSuk

[smokie36]

Yup much easier than expected.....the fourth official signals a substitution for the Arse with 20mins left...2-1 up and on come the kids for a comfortable run out....

Errr....flabbigasss and Van Perkie......

Fabulous strike by Johnson....one to tell his grandkids about that was....

[SantiSuk]

.....

Many positives and few negatives - except for that nagging charisma evaporation that invades the team when shit happens. We are still looking for our Tony Adams/John Terry/Roy Keane figure to make us a truly great side. Note to Arsene - it is nearly always a defender who provides the vital charismatic leadership a great team needs. English-speaking too.

.....

I see that the beeb are also running a story about some spat over Arsenal's on-field leadership, stimulated by some comment (now supposedly mis-translated) by Denilsson. Yeah - we will all fall for that elastoplast job.

Anyway, Wenger is quoted as saying that it his strategy not to have one leader. He wants them all to show leadership on the field and take responsibility. How charmingly Gallic I was going to say more, but I think I'll leave it at that!

[smokie36]

.....

Many positives and few negatives - except for that nagging charisma evaporation that invades the team when shit happens. We are still looking for our Tony Adams/John Terry/Roy Keane figure to make us a truly great side. Note to Arsene - it is nearly always a defender who provides the vital charismatic leadership a great team needs. English-speaking too.

.....

I see that the beeb are also running a story about some spat over Arsenal's on-field leadership, stimulated by some comment (now supposedly mis-translated) by Denilsson. Yeah - we will all fall for that elastoplast job.

Anyway, Wenger is quoted as saying that it his strategy not to have one leader. He wants them all to show leadership on the field and take responsibility. How charmingly Gallic I was going to say more, but I think I'll leave it at that!

You might look for a few leaders in the stands as well judging by recent (and not so recent ) performances!

[mrbojangles]

Finally and most importantly is their ability to get under the skin of Manchester United .

Yeah. I like that too

[MrRed]

"Secondly is Leeds' 'everybody hates us' factor, which gets fans of both sides buzzing. Finally and most importantly is their ability to get under the skin of Manchester United . "

They are second to us there anyway,maybe that is why we hate them so much.... in the league of most hated the scum are our nearest competition and you know how we like to be the best at everything....ABU!

It wont be long before Cidy are hated also mate

[mrbojangles]

It wont be long before Cidy are hated also mate

I know. I'm quite looking forward to it but I don't think we will ever be hated as much as Man U.

[carmine]

I like the fact immensely that Tottenham are so disliked by many. Singher only has to read our name.

[bkkjames]

It wont be long before Cidy are hated also mate

I know. I'm quite looking forward to it but I don't think we will ever be hated as much as Man U.

If Hatred comes from success, I hope you are correct.

[SantiSuk]

Easy peasy today. Should have been about 6-0. We didn't learn much new about Arsenal, except that (1) RvP is back big time, but don't give him the penalties and (2) Fab seems a lot more comfortable in his skin with RvP around. I was surprised that Arsene played his best team from the off - getting a fright at the DW stadium 4 weeks ago must have really stuck with him.

Wigan are doomed.

[imola]

I like the fact immensely that Tottenham are so disliked by many. Singher only has to read our name.

dislike?????

youre mere existance is despised 110%

^"%%

[carmine]

I like the fact immensely that Tottenham are so disliked by many. Singher only has to read our name.

dislike?????

youre mere existance is despised 11

^"%%

Edited January 23, 2011 by carmine

[carmine]

I like the fact immensely that Tottenham are so disliked by many. Singher only has to read our name.

dislike?????

youre mere existance is despised 110%

Next season you can despise us from the lower leagues.

^"%%

[mase]

Anyone know what channel arsenal vs. ipswich (2nd leg) is on? (Thai TV)

Edited January 25, 2011 by mase

[MSingh]

Anyone know what channel arsenal vs. ipswich (2nd leg) is on? (Thai TV)

Channel 3 or 7..

[smokie36]

Keep up the good work Ipswich! Done well first half mind the Arse have looked decent at the back so far.

A quick Ipswich shock goal after the restart please.

[MSingh]

Lively in here considering they're within touching distance of their first Trophy & Wembley visit since 1765..

[StevieH]

think you gooners are signing gary cahill. shame that, we could do with someone like him.

[tigerfish]

Lively in here considering they're within touching distance of their first Trophy & Wembley visit since 1765..

said it before and i will say it again Singher, couldn't give a toss about some mickey mouse cup !

just another way of the powers that be of milking Joe public. only thing its good for is breaking young players in and of course their is a down side to that, in that you also pick up unwanted and unnecessary injuries .

Edited January 26, 2011 by tigerfish

[MSingh]

Lively in here considering they're within touching distance of their first Trophy & Wembley visit since 1765..

said it before and i will say it again Singher, couldn't give a toss about some mickey mouse cup !

just another way of the powers that be of milking Joe public. only thing its good for is breaking young players in and of course their is a down side to that, in that you also pick up unwanted and unnecessary injuries .

Really ?? Honestly ??

No joking here, honestly, it's the League Cup isn't it, it's a domestic Trophy ??

What is so wrong with it ??

The fact that Club's like yourself play Kids in it generally, Club's like yours are the reason the Cup is undermined in the first place don't you think ??

Just because it doesn't fit in with the " Champions League " you couldn't give a toss ??

I think that's a sh*t attitude to have to be honest & an attitude that so many Football Fans seem to have these days & a big reason why so many Non Top 4 Supporters absolutely despise Top 4 Supporters & find them smug, arrogant & completely out of touch with the Game & what it means, itself..

I'm not having a dig at you personally, i'm just saying that the first line of yours i'd expect to see from Fans of only 3 other Clubs & there's no prizes in guessing who they are..

Of course the T*ttingham contingent will say the same, mainly because smashed at their own place by their biggest Rivals in teh Competition this Year...

[imola]

ok then tiger, domestic cup triumph isnt good enough,

so what is?????? acceptable ,,,,,,,,,,,if we are to consider your silverware over the last 5 years??????

as opposed to the quality of your prawn sarnies ,

ps, did you ge any nice photos of jack wilsherses bum when he was warming up

[MSingh]

ok then tiger, domestic cup triumph isnt good enough,

so what is?????? acceptable ,,,,,,,,,,,if we are to consider your silverware over the last 5 years??????

as opposed to the quality of your prawn sarnies ,

ps, did you ge any nice photos of jack wilsherses bum when he was warming up

Losing in a CL Final ??

Comign Third every Year in the Prem ??

[SantiSuk]

SHOCK HORROR - ARSENAL FAN ADMITS HE WOULD RATHER WATCH MAN U THAN ARSENAL

I'm with Tigerfish on the debate ^, 100%.

The Milk Cup, or whatever it is called these days, is a waste of space. I said it last year (and got shit from Singh then) and I'll say it again, now we are going to win it. I will probably watch the final but I couldn't be arsenaled to watch either of the Ipswich games - irrelevant. I'd rather watch Blackpool v ManU. I guess Wenger thinks any trophy will at least get that monkey off his back - so he plays his better guys - but it doesn't do it for me.

I'm softening a bit on the FA Cup for its heritage and ability to inspire do or die matches, but even that - you want to take a look around the average EPL stadiums when there's an FA Cup match below round 6 going on - half empty.

There has to be one cup competition for all the professional sides I agree. But the Milk Cup should stop at the Championship level.

[carmine]

Lively in here considering they're within touching distance of their first Trophy & Wembley visit since 1765..

said it before and i will say it again Singher, couldn't give a toss about some mickey mouse cup !

just another way of the powers that be of milking Joe public. only thing its good for is breaking young players in and of course their is a down side to that, in that you also pick up unwanted and unnecessary injuries .

Really ?? Honestly ??

No joking here, honestly, it's the League Cup isn't it, it's a domestic Trophy ??

What is so wrong with it ??

The fact that Club's like yourself play Kids in it generally, Club's like yours are the reason the Cup is undermined in the first place don't you think ??

Just because it doesn't fit in with the " Champions League " you couldn't give a toss ??

I think that's a sh*t attitude to have to be honest & an attitude that so many Football Fans seem to have these days & a big reason why so many Non Top 4 Supporters absolutely despise Top 4 Supporters & find them smug, arrogant & completely out of touch with the Game & what it means, itself..

I'm not having a dig at you personally, i'm just saying that the first line of yours i'd expect to see from Fans of only 3 other Clubs & there's no prizes in guessing who they are..

Of course the T*ttingham contingent will say the same, mainly because smashed at their own place by their biggest Rivals in teh Competition this Year...

If we can put aside the anti Tottenham digs for a full 30 secs singher this is an interesting topic. i'm referring to the Carling cup being worthless or not and the attitude shown towards it.

This leads me on to clarifying the position held by the vast majority of Tottenham supporters as i'd hate to think that our words would be distorted, pulled out of context for whatever misguided reason.

The stuation is that when we were a weaker football than we are at this juncture we had to look at realistic goals. We were not good enough to finish top four and the only chance of any silverware was a big stab at the Carling and its no secret thats what we did.

Our current aspirations are different. We are fighting to maintain a top four position which is unlikely to be achieved if we are too stretched competing in domestic cup competions so we have to focus on qualifying for CL and playing hopefully fewer matches. We are aware that we are not strong enough to go for all the competions. The obvious one at the bottom of the pecking order is the Carling.

If that makes us arrogant, and whatever crap , ill informed <deleted> is being banded about then so be it. If some of these other teams lost some of their loser mentality then then could surely aspire to greater heights.

[SantiSuk]

It's an odd weekend when you can say that a poor Arsenal performance like that was just about the best offered by the EPL top 5 in the FA Cup. I think maybe I should revise downwards my prediction that there will only be one English team left in the CL by semi-finals day!

That was not a B team, but crucially it did not have Nasri (went off injured), Willshere or Fabregas (until he was required to step off the bench to calm the horses). Without one of these we have no glue and come unstuck.

I'm still as perplexed as Fabregas was how come their guy stayed on the pitch after pulling Bendtner back when he was bang in front of goal with no other defenders around him.

No Nasri when we face Barca. His hamstring is expected to be 3 weeks + in the mend. Bummer! Hope Fab, Van P and Willshere are still fit so that we only lose by the odd goal and do not get embarrassed.

Edited January 31, 2011 by SantiSuk