Arsenal Barca may not be an open game

We have heard enough things over the past few days of Messi being a GOD, the game will be a footballing spectacle, Fab fitness issues, Henry's home coming and lots more. I am as excited as any other footballing fan and as nervous as any gooner! Its seems like the game could have more than 5 goals since both the teams prefer an open game and possession and scoring goals. However, do not forget the fact that its a game that will be played over two legs. Dont get me wrong but this is just the first half of that and teams tend to be more defensive over the first leg.

It seems like we will be playing without Fabregas. If Wenger is post phoning taking a decision over Fab, that means he is not fit and avoiding giving Barca the best news possible. If that is the case, I would think Nasri will fill that role and Rosicky or Walcott might start on the wing. Reports suggest that Iniesta might be injured for the first leg and might not play full 90 minutes for the return leg. I honestly do not know whether its good or bad.

As for the game plan, we hardly have a plan B. It will be passing and movement from both the teams. Clichy will need more cover and its Denilson/Diaby/Song who will need to do that. Arshavin cant really provide cover and we should rather use him for counter attacks. If you recall the last year's semis and also the previous chelski and manu games, we have been scored against by counter attacks. Barca have some good, fast players and I fear they could score on the counter attack. I really am scared of that. We dont have the balls to tackle and stop the counter. Wenger thinks its anti-football and it is but if you tackle instead of trying to block the ball, there is a good chance of stopping the attack.

Henry will receive the warm reception that he truly deserves. Barca might play an extra central midfielder in Kieta and Toure. We may need Bendtner to help our defense especially for corners and set pieces. The fixture is awesome and I am very much up for it.

Arsenal Team (IMO)

Almunia :(

Sagna Campbell TV5 Clichy

Nasri Song Denilson/Diaby

Rosicky Bendtner Arshavin

Bench: Fabianski, Gallas(Campbell one of them), Denilson/Diaby, walcott, Eboue, eduardo, Vela (ha ha ha)

BARCA:

valdez

Alves Pique Puyol Abidal

Xavi Kieta Toure

Messi Ibra UNKNOWN


Prediction:

I am too nervous as of now, 24 hours before the game. Honestly, who is not!
Being a gooner, prediction are always biased. But I am going to say

2-1 to the Arsenal. Arshavin and Bendtner to score. Messi for them.

COMMON YOU GOONERS. ITS NOT A REHEARSAL, ITS THE ACTUAL THING!!! Lets GOOOOOOOO!!!!

Feels like we lost!

The team selection looked like it was made with an eye on the Champions league. There are many ways to access the team selection. One of the possibilities was that, like the FA Cup semi final last year, Wenger wanted his nurtured little angels to win it and prove everyone that they can do it without Arshavin. We all saw what happened. Other way to look at it is that we all remember how we went down when we lost to Manutd over the two legs in the semis last year in chmpns league. So Wenger wants to make some damage control by keeping Nasri and Arshavin fresh for the Barca game.

Although the game turned out to be a draw, it feels like we lost the game. Surely, Birmi is the place where chels, manutd and liverp all have lost points. We did the same as well. The first half was a mixed affair, neither we nor them dominated. Sol was doing a good job of keeping Jerome at bay. As usual they got away with a few nasty challenges. But that is something that I kinda assume will happen these days.

I am really not in a mood to talk too much about the game but I can only hope that we fight till the last game. Barcelona is going to be very tough. Even if we somehow go through, we would have to deal with Inter Milan. If Inter plays with three Central mid fielders, there is no way in hell that we can open up there defense.

Denilson was awful, so was Walcott. Had to decent chances but never felt like he was confident. Clichy, Song, Sagna, Sol were alright. There goal was thanks to our beloved Almunia. I hope he can play the next three games without any mistakes. Bedntner did as much as he could. Rosicky and Fab and Diaby were alright. The pitch was half decent.

Keep the faith you gooners. Support the team, they have come a far way and will produce. Believe me you!

Victory at St. Andrews is a must!

Let me just start by laughing over a couple of articles that have been floating around. First one is the Fabregas rumor of a possible transfer to Inter Milan. I think if Fab was to go and he surely will do one day, he would probably go back to Barca. So there is no sense in that news. Secondly, there was enough ruckus caused by some article in i think, dailyFAIL (dailymail.co.uk), which said that Arshavin was unhappy with the transfer policy of Wenger and had apparently suggested buying world class experienced players. Fab and his representatives have denied it and so has Arshavin.

Lets move on to the Birm game. There are enough reasons to play and win three points here. Not to mention the possible chance of going top this weekend. Let us not forget the Eduardo murder two years ago. I refer to it as a murder because Eduardo has never been Eduardo again! For a change, the manager from the opposition team is not talking about tackles and getting on to the Arsenal's faces. Thats a change. Lets see if thats the case in the game.

Rosicky's fitness seems to be a problem. Also Bendtner could be a doubt. Could this be the day when Eduardo is reborn again. I dont think its ever going to happen. The biggest problem for Wenger is to choose his center half pairing. Silvestre seems to be falling out of favor (thank you GOD!) and Sol may have to put in an extra shift and definitely wont feature against Barcelona. If its Song and Campbell to start at the back, it would mean Denilson and Diaby need to do the job of Song. I hope all the players are really up for the game and are not thinking too much about the Barca game. I hope to see Theo feature at some point in the game. Sagna may feature especially since its an away game and Eboue may start as well. Nasri might be on the bench and surely hope Arshavin scores tomorrow. These are the games where players like Arshavin should be useful.

Birmingham are a decent side. They are mid table and playing at home. They have a very good home record. I think its 11 wins or 12 wins or something. They are dangerous on set pieces and seem to have an inform striker in Jerome.

Arsenal Team Prediction:

Almunia
Sagna campbell Song Clichy

Fabregas Denilson Diaby

Eboue Bendtner Arshavin

Subs: fabianksi, Silvestre, Nasri, Theo, Eduardo, Vela(?)

Birm Team: WHO CARES, bring them on!!!

Prediction:
I was wrong the last time. I dont seem to believe that we can keep a clean sheet.
This one looks a tougher outing and with a mid week game coming, things could be tight in this game with players possibly a little distracted!

I will go with 2 goals to Arsenal with Birmi scoring 1.

For those who still havent heard it, Arsenal TV online ATVO was free this friday. It was alright. Nothing too much that anyone missed, not bad either!

West Ham could be tricky!

Fellow Gooners,

It seems that the pundits are suddenly talking about a easy win for the Arsenal against West Ham! I was surprised at that. I wonder if there is more to it than that :-|

This is the team that held us to a 2-2 draw last year. This is the first and the last team to win at the Emirates and Highbury respectively. Zola is a good coach and does not teach karate or kick boxing. His team of Hammers has a captain that may lunge into tackles. Apart from that, I dont see anyone who plays that dangerously in West Ham team.

The first goal will be crucial. I think if we score first, we will win comfortably. If they score first, we may need a lot more than first half goals to win the game. They have some tall players so set pieces can be important.

We should welcome back Fabregas and Song in the mid field. I hope Nasri gets a breather. Rosicky should also be fit to start. I hope we can rest Vermaelen. I would like to see some academy graduates play this game and pair up with TV5. We will need the cover since Gallas might not play for a while.

Team Prediction

Almunia

Eboue, TV5, Silvestre, Clichy

Diaby, Song, Fabregas

Theo, Bendtner, Arshavin

Subs: Sagna, Eastmond, Rosicky, Eduardo, Nasri, Denilson

Game Prediction

3-1 Win to the Arsenal!

Champions league draw was fixed!

I am just not sure how every year the teams with the most recent history are paired up to face each other. Then there are instances in the games where emotions boil over and viewership ratings hit the roof! I am not going to talk too much about the other fixtures simply because none of them will be as entertaining as this one and are not as important as my Arsenal.

I still get the feeling that we might be able to get a home win. I still feel like that. Lets see how things shape up. The quarter finals are to be played on 30/31st March and 6/7th April. We play Birmingham away before the first leg and then play Wolves at home before the second leg. The Birmingham game is a little tricky. This is where Eduardo suffered and will play in the team's mind. Also Wolves will play a hard game to impress the Fergusons of Manchester. They tried to get away by playing a weak side and were busted! However, we could rest a few players for that game if needed. What happens in the second leg will decide our next game as well. Spuds away is important, hell its very important. If we have a bad day for the second leg, it could affect our spuds game. However, if I a recollect it right, we played spuds away last time as well around our champions league exit. WTF! Deja vu!

Arshavin and Fabregas have been linked with barca many times. I think its going to happen sooner or later. I would like if they prove their worth by defeating the team that wants them! If they do that, Barca will definitely buy them next year. Right now, I hope they realize who their present wagers are and work accordingly. I would not be surprised to see if some Fabregas rumors start again. And there is some speculation about something. I am glad to notice that most of the times, Pep Guardiola seems to be out of these contraversies. I dont know how he does that. Apart from being the Champions, another reason Barca is dangerous is that the finals are to be held at Santiago Bernabeu! What would a Catalan want more than to win the trophy back at the enemy grounds and rub it in deep, very very deep! :D

I still am positive about this fixture. It will help us learn more about this 4-3-3 system. If we play at the pace of Epl, I think we have a chance. Common you Gooners, lets fight it out! First the Catalan capital for the march towards the Spanish capital!

Thats what good teams do!

I could not watch the game due lack of planning on my part and changes made to the tv schedule at the last minute. It was suppose to be lunch time kick-off in England and so it would be breakfast kick-off for me. However, for some reason tv folks decided that it was better to see some fights and rough tackling on Arsenal as evening entertainment.

As for the game itself, thanks to modern technology, i watched the game five hours later! The game started with plenty of tackling on Hull's part. It seemed that the referee was happy to stop play for all the fouls. However, it seemed as if it was not affecting Arsenal much. Arshavin scored forcing himself through two challenges. What a great guy! He is fu%#ching sharp!

George of the Hull jungle seemed to having a great day. He slapped Bendtner and poked him in his eye and then decided that the only way to stop Sagna was to make a stups-up challenge right on the knee. The reward was two yellows and an early shower.

The pitch looked like it was a part of national forest. It still had the lines from the previous rugby game. That just shows the difference between the two clubs.

Once Hull were playing with 10 men, it was obvious that we would find it difficult to unlock the door. Hats off to Bendtner for staying on-side and then reacting before everyone does. Also thanks to there keeper for not conceding a corner instead.

Apart from that, it was a very gritty performance by gooners and looked like they were determined to get 3 points in this game. I think the team has definitely grown up. A couple years back, we may not have got these 3 points.

Team talk:
Arshavin needs to find more consistency to his game. He seems very lively for sometime and then suddenly switches off and makes a poor pass. I think he is not really enjoying his left wing role and personally i would like to see him play through the middle. He will join very well with Fabregas. Denilson gave his full throughout the game. Good performance in terms of trying but not much output apart from the screamer at the end which set up Bendtner. Diaby was a little lost as well and Campbell was tired at the end. Clichy was sharp and so were Eboue and Sagna. Theo and Eduardo made decent efforts in little time they had. TV5 was awesome as usual.

Overall, I am happy at the fact that it was a well deserved three point gain. Keeps the squad motivated and happy. Phil Brown was criticizing the penalty! what a jack%$#. Come on you gooners, lets stay focused.

BTW, got my prediction right again. time for celebration, well extended celebrtn

Arsenal against KC Stadium

Fellow Gooners, after the Porto game, Wenger seemed very upbeat. He apparently said a few things about the Red nose's club's victory over Milan. Like any other day, it was misread and there were a few uproars as usual. I sometimes wonder why Wenger talks about other clubs. He was also talking about Real Madrid on the official AFC website. My only question is WHY???

Our Saturday lunch time kick-off is going to be a very different game compared to the Porto game. This one will be more physical. There will be more fouls and stop plays and a few grunts by Stephen Hunt. Phil Brown and his jackass assistant will be there doing the usual antics on the side lines. The whole stadium might be upbeat to boo us. That is why I am suggesting that Arsenal will be playing against the KC stadium. The only player that I admire from the Hull side is Geovanni or G-o-vanni. It is not because he scored against us at Emirates when we lost the game but because he learnt from it and missed the penalty last time! Stephen Hunt is one of those home grown talents who get away with kicking just like Shawcross! I cant completely forget that. Not until Aaron starts playing again.

Our team is in form. We have won four of the last five games. On the other hand, Hull seemed to be falling apart, with consecutive defeats after drawing against Chelsea and then winning against Chity. As for our Captain and former captain, they wont be featuring in tomorrow's game. I hope we do not have any other injuries. Almunia has not been tested enough for a last couple of games now and I have a bad feeling about him for tomorrow. I hope he proves me wrong. We may have to play Silvestre and Denilson since Song is suspended and Campbell cannot play two games in one week. Thats a bit too much to ask of the lad now. I hope Denilson improves in the summer and Wenger rightfully sells Silvestre.

Probable Gooner Team:
Almunia (C)

Eboue TV5 Silvestre Clichy

Nasri Diaby Denilson

Theo Bendtner Arshavin

Subs: Eduardo, Sagna, Rosicky, Eastmond, Fabianski

Probable Result:

Hull are not in the best of forms but a away game which has some history behind it is always tricky. To add to it, our defense will not be the best with the lack of cover. I am going for a close game.

Hull 1 - 2 Arsenal. Victory is in sights but will need the determination which our team seems to have acquired.

Have a great weekend fellow gooners...

Brilliant team effort by Arsenal

Let me just say that this was one of our good team games. Strong defending at the back and the mid field dominated over all. Nasri-Bendtner had the games of their lives!

The first ten minutes of the game were all Arsenal. The first goal was actually a bad call by the linesman. Arshavin headed the ball after coming from an off-side position but a great through ball by Nasri to Arshavin caused a havoc inside the Porto box and Bendtner finished the goal. Credit to Bendtner for being in the right position at the right time. Thats what the strikers are suppose to do!

The second goal was individual brilliance by our Russian prince Arshavin. His dribbling sometimes leaves defenders embarrassed. Bendtner did well to stay on-side. The first half was all Arsenal. Porto strikers hardly had any sniff of the goal.

The second half started differently. Seemed like the team had gone asleep. This was the period where Sol had some serious work to do. Nasri blocked a header at the post from a corner kick. This was the time where Arsenal woke up again and Nasri scored the best goal of 2010 so far. He dribbled through 3 defenders and shot from the acutest of the angles at the far post. Inch perfect. Nasri played very well throughout the game. He had some big shoes to fill but did a splendid job today. HE was man of the match for me. He pulled the strings very well in place of the absent Fabregas. Within the next two minutes Arsenal scored on the counter attack. Clichy cleared a corner kick which fell perfectly for Arshavin after a bad control by a Porto player. Arshavin ran about 40 yards with the big Manu making a lung bursting run to his right. He slipped a perfect reverse pass to Manu and Manu scored a good goal with the Porto keeper drawn out to the 6 yard box! Eboue also contributed to the last goal by drawing in a foul inside the box which won us a penalty. The big Den scored well, a cool finish from the spot.

Special mention should be made about the blocks and tackles put in by TV5. He was carded early in the game. But he made some very useful tackles. Sol looked calm and composed on most of the occasions. Clichy had a good game. Worked very hard and kept Hulk under control for most part. Sagna defended well but crossing was poor most part apart from a perfect dipping cross to Bendtner who missed it. Almunia was alright. Didnt have much to do all game.

Song and Diaby looked very comfortable. I hope Diaby can play this weekend against Hull. We will need his strength with Song suspended. Denilson could not really influence the game when he came on for Nasri who got a standing ovation along with Arshavin. Theo didnt have too much to do. Rosicky had a decent dribbling game. However the team today seemed to be passing badly than the usual inch perfect passing.

So we advance ahead and certainly hope we can go beyond the next round as well. I dont have that confidence about this team. If we get a non-English opposition, there is a chance. Lets see what happens. Would not mind, if I am proved wrong about progressing beyond semis. Oh well, we will find out by April End.

My prediction was wrong about the final score line but I am happy today like every other gooner on this god's green earth. Hope to feel the same way tomorrow if you know what I mean :D

Arsenal without Fab4, the one for the future?

Fellow Gooners, despite our victory last weekend, it looks like there are more grunts about Bendtner missing chances. To be honest, some of the chances looked like they were begging to be put at the back of the net!

It was bad to see Fabregas go out injured in the first half but good to see Diaby play the remaining 60 minutes without feeling any injury back-clashes. All praise to Nasri for a relentless job and we may need him to do the same tomorrow against Porto. At least Porto boss was not heard saying that he wants come on to Arsenal's faces!

Wenger showed us why is the boss at Arsenal! He obviously feels that winning the league is still possible and that is why he gambled on Fabregas. Once we scored, it was easier to remove him. Diaby did not play 90 minutes and so should be ready to play against Porto for the entire game. Arshavin played a small part of the game and seemed a little rusty. But the goal should make him feel better. Theo started the game and Wenger knew that after the England game (well a bad one for Theo), Theo needed some boost (boast- both seem to work here if you know what I mean).

Talking about Porto, Hulk seems to be the danger man. I honestly do not know much about the opposition. I just hope they dont park the bus and wait for the counter. Honestly they can do that and it wont be easy for us!

Totally forgot to write about why the title of this post refers about the future! The thing is that Fabregas may leave us this summer and Arshavin might stay. Porto game can be looked up as one for the future. We will lose our #4 probably to some Spanish outfit. It could be next year or after that but the future will probably be us playing without our #4. Surely I will still be supporting and cheering the Arsenal.

England's biggest loud mouth and Mr. England himself, Harry Redknapp was heard complaining about lack of everything British in the Premier League. He was heard complaining about the lack of British managers and owners. He said that it was bad for the Premiership. Apparently, non-British owners do not give enough chances to British managers to prove there worth. If the idea of the premiership is the broadcast it world over, make money from all over the world, why would there not be non-British managers? If the British managers were so good, why would the national team need an Italian genius? Obviously, this narrow thinking and the fact that the British managers seem less eager to venture out of that island country, the British managers are always going to suffer. I think, redknapp just enjoys talking to the press.

Team Prediction for Porto game:
Almunia
Sagna, Campbell, TV5, Clichy

Nasri, Diaby, Song,

Theo, Bendtner, Arshavin

Result Prediction:
3-1 to the Arsenal! I have a positive feeling about this game even though Fabregas has joined his buddies on the treatment table.

Arsenal vs Burnley

Fellow gooners, I hope your week was alright. The debate over the tackle seems to continue and hopefully will end with the FA doing something about it. Intent or no intent, it turned out to be a bad tackle and so needs to be punished.

Talking about the Burnley game, I honestly do not have much information about our opponents. There was a news article along with a few blogs which suggested that the Burnley boss was talking about throwing tackles in and coming on to Arsenal's faces! Its just sickening is what that is! Its more of a mentality of 'if I cant, they shouldn't either...' which is just BS. Sorry about that.

We should welcome back Denilson, Diaby and Arshavin for tomorrow's game. Hopefully, Arshavin and Diaby wont have to play 90 minutes. Diaby is very fragile and needs to be brought back slowly. Arshavin, well I just want him to play on Tuesday against Porto for 90 minutes because this game may need his magic more than the Burnley game. It seems like Wenger does not talk about Arshavin at all. I wonder why...

Our former captain, Gallas seems to be still injured and Sol Campbell has some sort of groin problem. With the number of injuries we have had, it seems like Denilson would start the game in place of Song. I would rather see Eastmond play in place of suspended Song. Bendtner seems to have found a right balance. He needs to improve his shooting. I am sure the coaches and Wenger are aware of that.

My Arsenal team prediction:
Almunia,
Sagna, TV5, Silvestre, Clichy,
Diaby, Eastmond, Fab4
Eboue, Bedntner, Rosicky

Bench: Fabianski, Traore, Denilson, Arshavin, Eduardo

Match Prediction: 3-1 to the Arsenal.

Dont forget to watch the massive banner that some gooners have designed to show support to Aaron Ramsey. I really appreciate this idea.

Come on you Gooners, lets win it for Aaron.

Good luck to Arsenal players

International break right in the middle of an intense season cannot be justified! However, with the nations battling it out this summer for the World Cup, not too much can be said against these fixtures. This is evident from the fact that none of the managers are moaning about it. I wouldn't blame them even if there was some uproar. Speaking of uproar, I am surprised to see plenty of pundits jumping to protect Ryan Shawcross!

When a guy has a car accident, it does not matter whether he has a history of such accidents or whether he intended for it to happen or not. When a car accident occurs, there is no way to wipe it off as if it never happened. This is how I look at the tackle. If a player injures another player, with or without intentions, he needs to be punished.

I hope that all the Arsenal players come back from International duties, without any strains, injuries or like Van Persie. For that matter, I hope none of the players anywhere get injured representing the nation because these friendlies are not really of any great importance.

I would like to wish Aaron Ramsey a full recovery and wish to see the lad up and running as early as possible.

"THERE IS ONLY ONE AARON RAMSEY..."

My first blog and made a mistake as well!

Turns out that instead of creating a new post, I accidentally created a new blog within my account. So to rectify that, I ended deleting that one and posting it on this blog. It happens to be my first blog. Please be patient while I learn the trades! Here it is...

Dear fellow Gooners,

This is my first blog and wish to thank all my friends who encouraged me to start this.

In this time of unrest in the gooner fans, I feel we need to look at tomorrow's game in a positive manner. Without a proper defensive mid fielder in the last game, we had a good number of problems protecting the back four. Clearly the defensive mid field of Diaby and Denilson forgot to keep it tight in the midfield.

The biggest difference in the teams that play 4-3-3 and Arsenal is that we tend to allow teams to hold the ball when we lose the ball. I know it sounds like preaching negative football but we need to immediately press the ball and if needed make a foul! Yes I know it does not sound like Arsenal or pro-Wenger but we really need to do that. See how many times we are getting caught on the break. Its hard to believe that a few years back we did this to teams and pretty much destroyed them!

Come on you gooners, its time to start building the momentum again.

Sunderland:
They have been able to acquire 6 points from the last possible 36! The team has lost its experienced mid field duo of Reid and Steve Malbr... through injuries. The team seems to be on a low morale and we need to take full advantage of this situation.

However if Sunderland scores and I think they might in the first half, we may have to fight it out till the last minute for an equaliser and a winner.

What about us?
Seems like the little Russian is not going to be around on the pitch tomorrow to show us his talent.
However Song seems to be 80-20 to play. I still feel its better to keep him on the bench and not rush him into action immediately. Also our blonde keeper could be back. Why rush the guy? We have already seen what happens when we rush players like the flaky Diaby.

Prediction:

3-1 to ARSENAL.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.

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