Wolves Thoughts:Good time to be a Gooner, bring on Barca

Afternoon Gooners,


I feel good today, I always do after an Arsenal win. Better than the win yesterday was the team performance.

Robin Van Persie will get the majority of the Headlines after his brace but everyone that played yesterday had a great game. Szczesny was solid and calculated, our defence were excellent with Djourou and Koscielny continuing to form an excellent partnership, there will be some tough decisions for Wenger to make once Thomas Vermaelen is back fit again as neither of yesterday's centre backs deserved to be dropped but surely you can't leave out a fully fit Vermaelen.

Song, Wilshere and Fabregas are without doubt our best midfield trio. We all know how good Cesc is and Song proved last year that the DM role is his and he's added a bigger attacking presence to his game this year. Jack Wilshere has stepped into our midfield this year and even he must not have expected to play as much as he has but he showed again yesterday how he can dictate a game.

RVP obviously had a great game yesterday, you can rarely pick up a couple of goals unless you play well but his attacking team-mates also had great games. Theo Walcott kept running at the Wolves defence all game and they just couldn't handle it. Theo kept jumping from right wing to left and was running at full pace right up to the final whistle although he did miss two sitters, when you win you can forgive him. Arshavin worked his arse off. He chased lost causes, he tracked back and helped Clichy and closed down players whenever he was needed to. This is the Arshavin we all hoped we signed.

Confidence seems to be high in the camp which is vital as we look forward to Wednesday night and the visit of Barcelona. We will always create chances against any team but we will need the same work rate and  hunger shown yesterday to keep Messi and Co from creating to many of their own chances.

The result would have been sweeter if Wayne 'Shrek' Rooney hadn't produced the best goal of his career against City to secure Utd a 2-1 win, however with three consecutive away games coming up, including Chelsea and Liverpool they will drop points within the next month and Arsenal only need Utd to draw one game and then the title is in our own hands. If Man Utd drop any points at all in these games then Arsenal only need to beat them at Ashburton Grove and then match their remaining results and we will win the title. The other good news is that we are now four points clear of Man City in third with a game in hand and even if Chelsea beat Fulham on Monday, we will still be six points clear of the Chavs. The title race really is becoming between only two teams and we're one of them. It's been a long time since we've gone into the final run in as genuine contenders.

So mid way through February we are looking in good shape to beat Barca, we are only 2 dropped Utd points from having the title in our own hands, we have a Wembley final in a couple of weeks looking to end our extended trophy drought and we are still going strong in the FA Cup. It's good to be a Gooner.

On that positive note I will leave you for today,

Until next time,
Goonerfish

Dowd's a tit but we must four-get the negatives.

Morning Gooners.


Right. I had the joy of playing some poker on Saturday night with some mates. Most of these mates are Gooners but also included some Man Utd fans. As we arrived we instantly came to a gentleman's agreement to not mention the day's football, but when we obviously failed we ended our depressing thoughts of the day's activities with all agreeing quite simply that last weekend just did not happen.

I wish I could keep with that agreement but every now and then I get a glimpse of the disappointment, frustration and anger that I felt when that fourth Newcastle goal flew into Szczesny's net.

I cannot and more importantly will not show the same restraint as our manager and players and refrain from mentioning the ludicrously inept refereeing by the self loving, self important gnome that is Phil Dowd. His performance was pathetic and before you start bitching that it's a pressure job, I don't know how hard it is etc etc, I'll point out firstly that I am a qualified and active football referee. Secondly Mr Dowd is apparently in the top percentile of his profession so I do not care how much pressure you are under at work, if you can't take it, don't do the job.

Our game fell apart once Diaby got sent off. I am not saying that the red card was not deserved, Diaby's actions were reckless and stupid, However, again my annoyance is two fold, firstly Barton's challenge was reckless and excessive and it was at least worthy of a yellow card but again it does not allow Diaby to do what he did but my second point is this, can someone please for the love of all that is holy explain to me how Kevin Nolan putting Szczesny in a headlock after Toon's first penalty is not as much of a red card as Diaby's? also how did the whole thing end in Szczesny getting booked? lets not forget Nolan's push in Diaby's chest before the Frenchman was sent off which again was worthy of at least a yellow.

All my bitching can't be reserved for Dowd though. The second Newcastle penalty was given by the linesman and I am still trying to find the law of the game that means a penalty can be conceded with making absolutely no contact.

Arsenal have failed to win a single game under the supervision of Dowd this year and he was also the referee in the games we collapsed against Spurs and  Wigan. Also in the four games under his completely unbiased eye he has shown 10 yellow and 2 red cards to Arsenal players compared to 7 yellow and 0 reds to our opponents. Do not tell me this is pure coincidence. There have been reports circulating today that Interpol will be investigating the game for match fixing, in particular Phil Dowd and ....... wait for this............. Rosicky! I'm not going to fuel these rumours but the first report I read with a translation of the French press was on Gooner talk and you can read it here.

Even after everything we suffered on Saturday the worst bit of it for me was the injury to Djourou. The young Swiss defender has really grown this year and in my opinion has surely become first choice to partner Vermaelen when he returns. There has been no official news at the time I'm writing this but I'm sure we'll read a report today on Arsenal.com telling us he'll be out for around three weeks which of course will mean he'll miss the first Barca game. Get fit quick Johan, we need you.

OK, here comes the 'but'. We were 4-0 up and in complete control of the game. Diaby's red card hurt us as we didn't have a natural DM to see out the rest of the game and Djourou's injury was disastrous as (please correct me if I'm wrong) but we have failed to win a league game that our centre back partnership was Koscielny/Squillaci BUT the players we have and the quality they have should not be letting that lead slip. We were not strong enough, we did not concentrate enough and we let Newcastle back into the game. That second half performance cannot be excepted and certainly  not repeated if we have any desire to win anything in the coming years.

Despite everything I've just written I consider myself one of the most positive Arsenal fans in the world so I will try to spread that positivity to you guys in a vain attempt to make you feel better about the weekend. The message is this, you must ignore the fact that we were 4-0 in half an hour and although it felt like a defeat please remember we won a point which is one more than either Man Utd or Chelsea achieved. We have finished the weekend 6 points ahead of Chelsea, one point ahead of City with a game in hand and now only four points behind a Utd we are still to play at Ashburton Grove, play Chelsea - twice, Man City and away to Liverpool who seem to have found some form and hunger so if we beat them when they come to our place, Utd will still have to take maximum points from the other games above and I'm sorry but I just can't see that happening.

Utd's next four games are City (h), Wigan (a), Chelsea (a) and Liverpool (a). In that time we play a game less because of the Cup final but we play Wolves, Stoke and Sunderland all at home. By the time these games are completed I believe we will be within 3 points off them and if we go into the United game at the end of April knowing a win will put us top (or keep us top) then I have every faith that we will take that opportunity with both hands and after that we will have 3 games to hold on to that lead before we can be crowned champions.

OK, now hopefully you're all feeling a little better about things and can look forward to our next game but just in case I'll end today's blog by sharing some more of the silver lining, as pointed out by Ladyarse on twitter. We conceded four goals and not a single one of them was down to a goalkeeping error.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

Some good news, some bad news & petty Moyes

Morning Gooners,


I was trying to think of a gentle, polite and respectable intro to today's blog but all I could come up with is this: uh-hum *clears throat* Isn't David Moyes a ridiculously pathetic, whining little girl!!

The Ginger Scot from the blue side of Merseyside has been having a proper cry stating that he over heard Cesc Fabregas asking how much the referee got paid to not see the three yard gap that meant Saha was offside when he put the Toffees 1-0 up in the week. He said:

"Cesc questioned Everton's integrity by suggesting we had possibly given money to the ref,"

Then when Arsene pointed out That Moyes was talking out of his arse, he responded with this:

"Arsene seems to think that I haven't seen or heard it, but you have to decide who you believe - David Moyes or Arsene Wenger - and I'm happy for people to make their own mind up on that."  

Don't worry you lying petty pillock, we have!!

Moving away from my rant, sad news has been received about on Fabianski. The poor guy has been ruled out for the season after having to undergo surgery. I feel so sorry for him, he has taken his chance this year and proved so many fans and pundits wrong and shown his qualities in the Arsenal goal with only one slight error this season ironically against today's opponents when he misjudged a cross a lost out to now Liverpool striker Andy Carroll. I wrote on a blog months ago that I thought he's be our first choice keeper by the end of Christmas and if he had remained fit he would be strongly established as our number one. Get well soon.

Silver lining though for everyone except Fabianski is that Szczesny has come into the side and excelled. He has only conceded a single goal in his last three games and has looked as solid as keeper twice his age. I really hope he takes his chance and help us towards some silverware.

Good news from the Arsenal camp though is that Vermaelen finally looks like he's on his way back to fitness. Arsene Wenger has said he is "making very good progress so he should (be back in) three to four weeks"
It should bring him back in time for the return leg against Barcelona , I doubt he'll play against "Cesc's club" but it's great to know we'll have TV, Kos and Djourou for the final push in the title race.

Anyway, it's time to start looking forward to today's game against Newcastle. We all know what happened last time we met so there's no need to to go over it again but St James will not be an easy place to visit but if we had to pick a time to play them then 6 days after they have lost their best player  followed shortly by their second choice striker getting injured would be a good shout.

I think we'll see Andrei Arshavin get a rare league start today but I think our 'lazy' Russian is starting to find his confidence again and if he gets the nod I really think he can make the difference for us. With Man Utd almost certain to get the three points against Wolves (probably scoring the winner in the 93rd minute) our boys really need to be on their game and ensure the we keep our concentration and pick up the win.

I'm off to find a decent stream and enjoy the game, you can follow me on twitter for random mumblings.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

Transfer madness finally over and we're still in great shape.

Afternoon Gooners,

The transfer window has finally closed and Arsenal will continue through the rest of the season with the same squad that we had at Christmas.

There has been a lot of moaning from certain areas of the Arsenal fanbase that we failed to sign anyone and that moaning is being heavily fueled by the media. I heard myself shouting violently at Ian Dowie and Tony Cascarino on skysports news last night as they were questioning Arsene Wenger's sanity as a result of not adding to our squad.

To those who share their opinion I ask you this...... Who would we have signed?

Do we need a goalkeeper? - Fabianski's and Szczesny's form so far this year would suggest definitely not. Neither have done anything to warrant being dropped, let alone completely replaced and Almunia is a very good back up keeper to have.

No we do not need a keeper.

Do we need a defender? - Lets split this one up. At right back we have Mr consistency Sagna with Eboue in reserve so no-one needed there. Our choices for left back are Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs so who could you bring in above them? Centre back is a big call. We have TV5, Squillaci, Djourou and Koscielny as our main four central defenders. My opinion has always been you need three centre backs you could rely on week in, week out and in Vermaelen, Djourou and Kos I think we have them. Then you need players that can play there for the odd game here and there when we're desperate and Squillaci fills that role for me as much as Campbbell did the second half of last season. We also have Song that can comfortably play in the centre back role. There would have been no point in bringing in a player like Cahill or Jagielka or Upson or Woodgate purely because they are no better than the main central defenders we already have and then when everyone is fit we would have unhappiness in the camp because players aren't getting the games they feel they deserve and we would have to end up selling someone in the summer anyway.

No we do not need a defender.

Do we need anyone in midfield? - Would you drop Fabregas? Would you bring an experienced player in over the natural quality of Wilshere? Who would you bring in to replace Song in the DM role? But then again, maybe we need some cover, after all it's a long season and we're still competing in four competitions. It's not like we have a pool of players like Diaby, Denilson, Ramsey, Rosicky or even Nasri who can play in the middle of the park if called upon............ oh wait a minute!! Look at players that were available? Would someone like Charlie Adam really add that much to our squad?

No, we do not need a midfielder.

Should we bring in a striker? - Theo Van Nasregas (Not my invention but love the name!!) would slot into almost any side in the Premiership. We have Theo Walcott, RVP, Arshavin, Nasri, Chamakh, Bendtner fighting for our forward positions, how much more quality competition do we need? Andy Carroll? £35m + add ons? you're having a laugh!! Torres would be a fantastic addition to any squad but the question is do we NEED anyone and our financial structure does currently allow for luxuries that we do not need. Torres would fall into that category.

No, we do not need a striker.

I wrote a blog a few days ago about Wenger's transfer policy and last months activities so just how good our manager is. Our starting line up against Wigan cost £46.9m, that's less than Torres and if you take Nasri out of the line up then Andy Carroll just about covers the cost of the rest of the team. That is mental!!!!!

However I did give a chuckle when Arsenal.com announced the signing of Ryo Miyaichi, a player we agreed to sign over a month ago and have already loaned out so he can get his work permit,  at about 11 o'clock last night. Surely that was someone with a sense of humour that put it up on the site as the transfer window closed.

January saw a record £225m pass across clubs in exchange for players services and now that madness has stopped we can get back to concentrating on what really matters, playing football, starting tonight when we host Everton in the Premier league.

We may not have seen any new faces come in but we haven't lost anyone of real significance either. We still have one of the strongest squads in the league and I believe we have more than enough talent to genuinely challenge for all four titles.

If you disagree, feel free to leave your comments below.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.