Nine games that have probably cost Arsenal the Premiership

This seaon has been the best chance for Arsenal to win the Premier League Title for a couple of years.  Behind Man United and Chelsea, Arsenal and consistently been the team to have chased and fallen near the end to the third spot.  This is an achievement in itself when so many have predicted the downfall of Arsenal and their removal from title contendership. 

This year has seen Chelsea have a commanding start then falter into mid-season mediocrity, Man City still not haivng the threat needed to win the title and teams like Tottenham or Liverpool coming close to being up there but not close enough.

Add to that a Manchester United team that have been average at best by their standards and you see how this year has been Arsenal’s best chance at claiming the title.  Ignore the fact that Man United have inexplicablly managed to churn out results and stay up there, this should of been Arsenal’s season.  They have not only played some fantastic football which has seen young players step up and shine (like Walcott, Djourou, Nasri, Szczesny and Wilshere) but they have also managed to grind out wins away against tough teams where normally they would have dropped points.

However, even though at this point Arsenal are only three points behind Man U with a game in hand, I still think the Red Devil’s will somehow win another title.  I believe nine games are at fault.  They are:

Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

The teams first slip of the season.  They played well once again and should of had more goals but at 1 nil up and with the allocated stoppage time played they failed to simply whack the ball out and finish the game which led to Bent scoring a tap in after a scramble in the area.  Yes the whistle should of been blown, but once again Arsenal’s inissitence on passing the ball out of trouble cost them

Arsenal 2-3 West Brom

If you want o win a league title you can’t be drawing games like this, yet alone losing them.  To West Brom’s credit they played well and were tactically astute to stopping Arsenal, but the gunners were poor more than anything.  Poor goalkeeping and defensive errors allowed West Brom to score goals and it wasn’t until 3 nil down when they Arsenal started to play well and got two goals courtesy from Nasri.  However these two werent enough and Arsenal threw away three points.

Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle

After a good run of results which included a good win away against 10 man Man City, the North London outfit once again slipped at home losing to a Andy Carroll header.  They didn’t play well, the goal was soft and they once more threw away points.

Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham

Probably the most painful North London derby for Arsenal fans in a long time, particulary as the were all over Spurs in the first half and went into the dressing room with a 2 goal lead. 

It doesn’t matter whether your playing a strong rival team or not, it was not good enough to let spurs back in.  by their own admission, Tottenham didn’t even perform that well.  Even though they conceeded a silly and soft penalty for the equaliser, Arsenal still showed mental weakness in lettig this result happen.  They completely played into Spurs hands by being too predictable in the final third and their defence frailty from set pieces was once more punished.

Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal

Like so many teams, the Gunners went to Old Trafford playing like they had already lost.  The didn’t have enough boldness and the game played into United’s hand when they got a lucky (in my opinion) deflected goal courtesy of Park.  They came close with a block on the line from a Chamakh shot, but if you want to win the title, you need to be more attacking and more confident against your biggest rival.

Wigan 2-2 Arsenal

Aftera string of good away performances this season, Arsenal were defensively poor against Wigan to allow them back into the game.  Squillaci looked uncomfortable at the back allowing both goals through and Arsenal were unlucky not to get a penalty.  Once more Arsenal were unlucky where in the same fixture, United were lucky.  Rooney got away with a definite red early on in the game and stayed on the pitch.

Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal

Probably the most annoying for an Arsenal fan.  After dominating the first half and being 4 nil up, Newcastle came back to draw 4-4.  Arsenal once more showed how frail they can be at times, but this result was also down to poor referring and luck.  Diaby was rightly sent off for a stupid lash out at Joey Barton yet Kevin Davies got away with the same offence later on.  Phil Dowd gave two very soft penalties, the second in particular was never ever a penalty, unless of course falling over on your own account is now a foul for you.  The fourth goal was one of those once in a lifetime wonder goals for Tiote.

Van Persie scored at the end but it was narrowly given offside.  It could of been the bit of luck they needed that afternoon as he looked level.

It was awful.  Everytime Arsenal seemed to get back in the game a decision went against them.  Also Newcastle decided to be good against Arsenal when no doubt they will weakly captitulate against Man U.  A great game for a neutral, but an awful slip for Arsenal.

Arsenal 0-0 Man City

Not for the first time this season, Man City plaed a big team and looked happy just to play out a boring draw.  Arsenal were unlucky not to score after some good chances but it was another 2 points gone.  In the same result against United, City attacked them more, letting Man U in to score.

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland

Okay Arsenal didn’t play well, but they fully deserved all three points.  The two key moments were Andrey Arshavin’s perfectly timed run wrongly being given offside and titus Bramble pushing Arshavin right as he shot not being given as penalty.  It was and the referre cost Arsenal another 2 points.

So in summary perhaps I’m moaning,  but I feel frustrated more than anything.  This season Arsenal have been better than United, but havent had the luck they have.  They have also had some inexcusable results which could well cost them the title.

Now with a difficult run which includes Man United at home, Stoke away and most importantly a must win trip to White Hart Lane it looks like Arsenal might once again be the almost team.  And this should of been their year.

Provisional England Squad – Totting Up The Numbers

England’s 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup finals:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

Number of players from each club:

Tottenham Hotspur: 6
Chelsea: 4
Man. City: 4
Man. Utd: 3
Liverpool: 3
Aston Villa: 3
West Ham: 3
Everton: 1
Sunderland: 1
Pompey: 1
Arsenal: 1

From this I think it is fair to say that Tottenham Hotspur are truly serving their country well. Unlike Arsenal.

I predict, however, that two of the Spurs players will drop out of the final 23-man squad, probably Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone. If Ledley King can’t prove his fitness, he will obviously go, but I think in that case Capello will take Dawson.

Any predictions for the final squad??

“OHHHH WHAT A GOALLLLLL!!!” – Danny Rose

The Ramsey broken leg

For anyone who saw the last weekends football, they’ll probably be familiar with this image

   Which was of course Aaron Ramsey being on the end of a tackle which broke his leg meaning that no replay could be seen.  As an Arsenal fan who didn’t know the score before watching MOTD I was gutted.  Not only had Arsenal once again lost a good player too long term injury but by the reactions on the players faces it looked like they would crumble similarly to how they performed when the same thing happended to Eduardo at Birmingham.  Luckily for me this didn’t happen and Arsenal went to to win 3-1.  Possibly in part to a seemingly angry Sol Campbell pushing the team on, but who knows. 

Now as an Arsenal fan I’ve got used to Arsene Wenger moaning after a game.  Most of the time you can kinda see his point but I wish he wasn’t so whingy about it.  So when I saw Arsene bemoaning the Ramsey incident and criticising Stoke I thought it was another of these incidents and I found the things Wenger was accusing Stoke of were a bit harsh.  However after some time I am inclined to agree with him. 

To anyone who has watched Arsenal for a while it is obvious that the main tactic for teams such as Bolton or Stoke against Arsenal is to rough them up and intimidate them as much as possible.  This is understandable as normally if these teams try and compete against Arsenal they eventually get outplayed and lose.  However to instill a mentality of tough tackling and ‘roughing up’ the other side is inevitably going to lead to an injury such as Ramseys.  You could see on the face of Shawcross that he was distraught about what happended and the whole Stoke team were quick to defend his integrity but surely what happended is a result of the way both he and his Stoke team-mates were asked to play.  As both Wenger and Fabregas pointed out in post match interviews there comes a point where it can’t be coincidence anymore.  The amount of injuries Arsenal have recieved of this nature has seriously affected the teams performances.  Is the answer to stop tough tackling?  No, but the players do need more protection.  For example I found the fact that there were no bookings in the recent Stoke v Arsenal FA Cup shocking.  The amount of times Stoke players would commit cynic tackles with no attempt on the ball and no recieve a card was stupid.

Ultimately I can understand Wenger’s whinging and frustration.  Too often Arsenal players are hacked out a game and pick up injuries that keep them out for a while, putting a stop to any momentum and changing the team.  Yes Arsenal need to toughen up but they also need protection from the referres.  Theo Walcott is a good example.  Many defenders the last two seasons have resorted to cynical fouls to stop him.  This has resulted in alot of small injuries and a big loss of confidence.  So overall although Wenger was having his usual moan, it looks like he had a very good point.

I don’t blame the snow, I blame litigious idiots!!!!!

Carrying on from the two posts below, which comment on the cancellation of this week’s football matches due to the snow, I wanted to share the following post by comedian Dara O’Briain, and have a little moan:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/jan/09/arsenal-bolton-postponed-dara-o-briain

Dara quite rightly points out the absurdity of cancelling Wednesday night’s Arsenal-Bolton game, not because the pitch was unplayable, but because ‘fans own safety’. The fact is, if fans want to brave the icy weather to try and get to a football match, then surely that is their choice. The Emirates stadium was perfectly safe, the pitch playable, it was merely the area around the ground deemed dangerous. Now, Dara makes one particularly good point, which is that with thousands of fans descended on the area around the stadium, the ‘treacherous snow’ would have been turned to slush within about 10 minutes. Danger avoided…? well, perhaps not, what about people driving to the ground?? Surely the roads were dangerous? Yes, probably, but roads can be gritted, as they have been across the country all week! This not to mention that the Emirates stadium has not one but TWO underground rail links servicing it, which would have been completely untouched by the above-ground snow.

So what was the real reasons for cancelling the game? Well, Health and Safety gone mad. While, as Dara says, it is an individuals choice to come to a game in snowy conditions, there is no doubt whatsoever that some complete idiot would probably have slipped outside the ground and hurt himself, and subsequently filed a lawsuit with “Claims Direct” or some other stupid, parasitic organisation (“Have you suffered an injury in the last three years that wasn’t your fault, here, lets sue someone for it”). By cancelling the game, Arsenal were extinguishing the danger of multiple lawsuits of this kind, and perhaps a government fine. This is a symptom of our Health and Safety obsessed litigious culture.

By cancelling games, clubs are only protecting themselves, then. Fair enough, but this is another symptom of British culture descending into legal idiocy.

(Though I do note re. the Liverpool game, that the club applied to cancel their game over 48 hours in advance, which as Dave notes in the post below, may suggest a darker and more dubious motive).

Why Arsenal should win the League this year

Which one is your favourite?  Personally I favour Theo Walcott’s Lion, although they all have their merits.

James

Was the Mascherano/Yobo goal the turning point for the Red Men??

Wow, ok, so the season up to this point has been a little on the disappointing side to say the least as a Liverpool fan.  There have been more episodes of MOTD deleted straight off the Sky Plus box than watched, and to have nothing to play for on Champions League day 6 due to being out is certainly new territory for all of us.  But the season is not a complete disaster zone just yet!! Ok, we are not playing the football we saw last season for the most part and yes we have had a lot of injuries to deal with and that has shown up the lack of depth we have, especially up top.  But I refuse to lie down and die and wait for 2010/11 season to start.  Last weekend Liverpool entered a Merseyside derby for the first time in a while not being the major favourites.  Both sides have been playing some horrific football of late and it was hard to call who was going to win it.  But as the ball deflected off Joesph Yobo’s foot and spun into the bottom corner I couldn’t help thinking is this the turning point ??  After watching the whole game on Sunday there  is no way on this earth Liverpool deserved to win the game and most probably if Mascherano’s shot had not been deflected in I think Everton would have probably gone on and won by 2 or 3 on Sunday.  But it did and they lost 2-0.  Sometimes the luck has to change for a season to be reignited and maybe just maybe Sunday was that day for the Red Men of Liverpool. 

There are some positives to be taken from the season thus far, and some things still to look froward to and challenge for.  Firstly having gone through such a bad time of late we still find ourselves only 3 points from 3rd place.  Ok, Spurs are playing some good football but their lack of ability to beat the top sides (yes I know they beat Liverpool) will ultimately I feel be their down fall again this season, and the Liverpool v Spurs game on Jan 10th will have a massive say on how the top 4 pans out this season.  Arsenal are very in and out at the moment and I am sure this is giving the like of Spurs, Villa and City some confidence about a top 4 finish, but at the end of the day, they don’t seem to be taking the chance that has been presented to them with both hands at the moment, and I feel that Liverpool and Arsenal will occupy the 3rd and 4th places come May.    The title is between Utd and Chelsea for sure, and lets hope the Blue side of London go on and take it (please, please, please).  With Gerrard back and getting stronger, Torres only a game of two away from returning and Aquilani hopefully starting soon, Benayoun and Riera fit again, Liverpool are more than capable of putting a run of 12-15 games together without dropping a point and if this does happen I feel 3rd place where they will finish. 

Europe, well ok, we are out of the Champions League deal with it, move on.  Europa League here we come, surely even playing as they are Liverpool can win this bad boy.  Turning out against teams of postmen and train drivers who are used to playing Everton and Spurs should surely be a breeze for the Reds, but seriously this is an opportunity for a trophy and hopefully Rafa will treat it correctly and we can go on and be the first winners of this new competition.  And then there is the FA Cup,  Reading away to start is not too bad.  Reading are not the side they once were and as decent Liverpool side should progress to round 4 without too much trouble. 

So, even though the season has been a bit of a nightmare so far there is still much to play for this season.  Rafa what ever you think of him good or bad is still the manager and I am quite happy to give him the support he deserves.  He certainly frustrates me at times with his tactical decisions, but he is the man the owners feel is right for the job and I will get behind that and give him my support.  I am feeling much more positive after the weekend but only time will tell if the Mascherano/Yobo goal was the turning point.  Let’s hope it was!!

That Fabregas Goal

As the original intention of this blog was a footballing discussion between an Arsenal and Spurs fan, I felt it was only appropiate that I posted this goal and asked the question: Bad defending or brilliant individual goal?

I’m also aware how annoying posting this video must be too any Spurs fan, but hey, I’m gonna gloat a bit while I can.  Particulary as certain Tottenham fans won’t stop talking about the 9-1 demolition of Wigan on Sunday for months.

But still, what a goal from Cesc. 

James

Who has the best Celebrity fans? Arsenal or Tottenham?

So its Friday morning and I should be working on important things in the church office, but instead I find myself scanning the internet for news ahead of tomorrow’s North London Derby.  Whilist doing so I can across an article of famous fans from both teams and thought it only appropiate to have a face off.  Who has the best celebrity fans?  Arsenal or Tottenham, Tottenham or Arsenal?

Round 1:

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First up its overly smug Simon Cowell wannabe Piers Morgan for Arsenal against everybody’s favourite straight talking businessman Sir Alan Sugar for Spurs.

This one is an obvious win for Tottenham.  No questions.  Aint no one gonna mess wit the Sugar, specially when its the hard to like Piers Morgan.

Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham

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Round 2:

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Next up, its former S-Club 7 hottie Rachel Stevens for Arsenal against the former Mrs Liam Gallagher Pansy Kensit for Spurs.

For me, the average man on the street would opt for Stevens everyday.  Even though Kensit seems like a lovely person and Stevens appears to lack a big dollop of charisma, I’m gonna be shallow and go for looks alone.  To which Rachel gets my vote.

Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham

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Round 3:

For Arsenal: former Mr Darcy and all round British acting treasure Colin Firth versus ladies favourite Hollywood actor Jude Law for the Spurs.

A tricky one this.  Firth is favourite amongst housewives across the country, whilst most people have a liking for Law.  Purely on the basis that Jude has been a lifelong Spurs fan where as Colin only become a gooner after portraying one in the fil ‘Fever Pitch’, its got to be Law.

Arsenal 1-2 Tottenham

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Round 4:

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For Arsenal: The very loveable, and frankly wasted on the X-Factor, Dermot O’Leary.  For Spurs: Twinkley eyed coffin dodger Bruce ‘Nice to see you to see you nice’ Forsyth.

Although Brucie is a bit of a legend, he is also annoying and a bit too old school.  Where as everyone loves O’Leary.  The man was a legend on Big Brother’s Little Brother and is a fine ambassador for Arsenal football club.

Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham

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Round 5:

For Arsenal: Cheeky chappie, former Jonathan Creek and Stephen Fry wind up merchant Alan Davies.  For Tottenham: Everyone’s favourite, floppy haired posh comedian Michael McIntyre.

A real tough one this.  I’m a big fan of Davies, because of Jonathan Creek and his general brilliantness on QI.  However, you gotta love McIntyre.  The man is a comedy legend.  So its a draw, or as X-Factor would say ‘DEADLOCK’.  I am tempted to go for Davies as he’s more outspoken about supporting Arsenal, but I feel a draw is a fair result.

Arsenal 3-3 Tottenham

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Round 6:

For Arsenal: irritating anarchist and former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon.  For Tottenham: Actor who famously played West Ham supporter Alf Garnett.

Appararently, when he’s not advertising butter or ‘fighting against the system’ Lydon is following the Arsenal.  But he’s still a plum.  So it has to go to Mitchell.

Arsenal 3-4 Tottenham

•••••

Round 7:

For Arsenal: New romantic ‘rocker’s Spandau Ballet.  For Tottenham: Soulful crooner Lemar.

Lemar has the aura of cool about him, where as the Ballet have numbers in their favour.  Purely because of Martin Kemp and Tony Hadley, its got to be Spandau Ballet.

Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham

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Round 8:

So the decider goes down to these two.  For Arsenal: world’s most wanted man and all round Western hating cave dweller Osama bin Laden.  For Tottenham: drummer, musician, slapheaded gentleman.  Its Phil Collins.

When he wasn’t hating the West, bin Laden was enjoying its entertainments and famously went to see Arsenal play twice.  Collins is apparently a lifetime Spurs fan, although i’m pretty sure he also supports about 9 other teams including Man Utd so I’m tempted to go for another draw.  But then I remembered that bin Laden wants me dead where as Collins just wants me to buy his record.  So its has to go to Collins and Spurs.

Arsenal 4-5 Tottenham

So there we have it.  Apparently Spurs have the better celebrity fans.

October 31st. North London Derby. Predictions.

This Saturday will once again see another North London derby. A fixture which is one of my favourite throughout the year and yet at the same time one that I dread the most.  For the last 10 years, Arsenal have been the favourite to win the derby which means that anything less than this feels like a victory for Spurs.

This Saturday’s derby promises to be one of the most interesting in a long time.  Both teams have strong squads and have kicked off their seasons with a set of impressive results and performances.  Every Arsenal or Spurs fan I speak to at the moment has been looking forward to this game for weeks.

So what will happen at the Emirates?  My prediction is a 2-2 draw.

Why have I gone for a 2-2 draw?  We’ll I’m glad you asked.  There are two main reasons.  First despite having a weakened squad due to the loss of key players such as Defoe, Modric and Lennon and losing to Stoke, Spurs always play out of their ksin in the derby.  I believe this will pull them through to perform well at the Emirates.

Second, although I believe Arsenal should win, particulary as they are in great form and some players have hit good form (such as van Persie, Fabregas and Arshavin), they still have an uncanny ability to make stupid mistakes and throw away wins.

Therefore with these two factors in mind, I’ve opted for a 2-2 draw.  With a controversial penalty decision not given.  Just for fun.

Obviously though, I’m praying for an Arsenal win.  Cos that would be superb.  Adm defintley not a loss as that would result in at least a year of over the top smugness from certain Spurs fans.

James

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Response and Prediction by Simon

I have to say, I find James’ prediction above to be a smidgin generous. I have the sneaking suspicion he is playing it safe going for a draw, but there we go. If I’m honest, I’m not particularly optimistic this year, which is odd given Spurs have done so well so far. Here are some reasons for my lack of optimism:

1. Defoe is missing: while on paper Tottenham have three other international quality strikers, I still think Defoe will be a big loss. Keane’s form has been largely abysmal this year, other than that game where he scored four (obviously). In most games he has simply disappeared, which is worrying. Crouch is great, but he needs a lively strike partner, and Keane is not especially lively right now. As for Pavlyuchenko, he looks about as confident as, well, <this little creature> . With Defoe playing, we would have beaten Stoke; as it was, we didn’t even score.

2. Other Injuries: With Modric and now Lennon missing, as well as Defoe, I wonder where that little spark of magic you need in these games will come from. Bentley? Perhaps, but unlikely. Kranjcar? Well, I’m sceptical. Those three (Modric, Lennon, Defoe) are really the three quickest, most inventive players we have. Without any of them playing the role of catalyst, I’m not sure from where we will get any flashes of genius.

3. Last two performances against top clubs: Excusing the win against Liverpool on the first day of the season, we haven’t looked great against the other top clubs this year. OK, so we’ve only played two others, but in both the Man. Utd and Chelsea games we gave quite disappointing performances. We will need to play very well to get a win, or even a draw, on Saturday.

4. A hunch: I just have a hunch we’ll have a tough day on Saturday. I think the Stoke game may have shaken our confidence, even though we beat Everton midweek. That Stoke game was the first time this year when we’ve been beaten when we should have won. That may mean a tiny bit of insecurity may start to slip in for us, which could be fatal against the Gunners.

All that said, then, my prediction for Saturday is 2-1 to Arsenal.

But I will be delighted if I am proven wrong.

Simon