Post Match Review: Arsenal Vs Manchester City – Gutted, but no complaints!!!

I was not expecting a win from this game. But the way team played was terrific. They showed real character and zeal. Everyone was working their hearts out. Nobody had a real bad day except Fabianski! Now he would know why he cant be Arsenal’s number 1 or Poland’s!!! His decision making is real bad, and he is not very good at one on one either!!! Anyways, we now have one competition less to worry about and energy can be spend into PL 4^th position finish!!!

We played with a second fringe team, and nobody in that team showed any intimidation towards the occasion or the team we were playing against. Kos, Miquel were the starts of back four with exceptional piece of tackling and wining aerial duels. Squilaci had an okay game and so did Djourou. They stuck to their task and didn’t make any mistake which would stand out. Frimpong was like glue to Nasri in first half and to Aguero in second (A dench performance indeed). Coq tried his level best and his performance was okay. Park was not very influential, but came very close to scoring. His first touch has to improve and he might become a player we expect him to be. Benayoun with Captain’s armband was running the midfield like a maniac. He was showing his creativity and authority and I think getting a start and Captain’s armband really made him work. Chamakh still has to instill confidence in his game. He sometimes tend to lose his concentration and doesn’t close in to the defenders. He had a late chance to win the game, but it was not meant to be! Maybe he keeping unwell had to do with his performance too. Anyways I want him to stay and hence would want him to join Yoga classes :D!!!! I have saved the best for the last and he is Alex Ox, he was everything we want Theo to be!!! He was not intimidated by Zabaletta and kept coming onto City’s defence, which comprised of Toure, Savic, Zabaletta and Onhua. And troubling that defence is not a mean feat by any chance!!! Icing on the cake would have been, if he could have scored! Gervinho came and did the same things he has been doing, running into defence and lacking the final pass. Verminator and Arshavin didn’t get any chance to showcase their performance, but Verm did win some good headers and tackles.

The best part was booing of Nasri from our Fans!!! It didn’t let him settle in and he was pathetic in his play. And the way Frimpong tweeted about him when he left Arsenal with “Pffffff” the same way he didn't let him breathe on the field!!!

Only one mistake was made by us in the game, when we lost the ball from set piece and some wonderful work done by the trio of Dzeko, Aguero and Johnson to score the only goal of the match!!!

Well next up is Wigan, and I am hoping that this wonderful performance from reserve first team will make our first team players work more hard and keep positive results coming in!!!

So till next time. Keep the heads high and remember that future is in good hands!!! Hail Gunners!!!

P.S.- I am half sleepy, hence maybe there might be some spelling errors. So live with them!!! :D

Pre Match Review: Arsenal Vs Manchester City - Rich boys are in town!!!

So today we have Carling cup match with the world's richest club. There is lot of speculation about the teams for both the clubs, and it would be interesting to see who plays. I think Man City can play 4 different teams for all four competitions they are in!!! Still Mancini (aka Richie Rich) is cribbing for 2 games in 3 days!!! He still has player like Kolo Toure, Dzeko, Johnson, Zabaleta, Savic, and Hargreaves etc who didn’t start in their draw against Liverpool!!! Hence I don’t think he has any reason to crib. One player I would definitely miss is Balotelli. I would have liked him to play and pull some of his world famous antics and get booed by our fans!!!

Boss has said that he too would be giving rest to some key players. And we all know who he meant!!! So RVP would be missing the match for sure. Players who will get a chance either in starting lineup or on bench are Chamakh, Park, Benayoun, Rosicky, Yennaris, Arshavin, Miquel, Squillaci, Frimpong, Coquelin, Diaby, Alex, Fabianski. I would say that this is not a bad playing lineup by any means!!! It has experience and youth and desperate players to prove their point and mettle to Boss and club and fans. 

Boss was vocal about how a class player like Benayoun has not got enough opportunities to play, so he would definitely be playing and adding experience and creativity to our midfield. And vocal was 'The Russian' about how not playing for so long affected his game against Fulham!!! Now I understand there is match practice which is required, but didn’t he play against Greece for Russia two weeks back? Wasn’t he coming on as sub for quite some time? So I would ask him to stop making excuses and give his all in today's game!!! I think Park would start from the bench and we would be playing 4-5-1, as Boss usually doesn’t change his system of play to accommodate a player!!! Park has to get accustomed to English style of play, but having not played a single minute in EPL till now is a bit disappointing. Same is the case with Chamakh, who has to prove that he still got it!!! Coquelin will get a chance to prove that he is better than Frimpong and Frimpong will get a chance to be #Dench!!!

Now coming to controversies, we all know Nasri might get a chance to play in today's match and Boss has requested the fans to control their emotions. Boss has always been respectful towards former players and has asked fans to do the same. But as we know Clichy, Toure left without much ado, we saw the antics of Adebayor and we read the comments from Nasri about the fans and club!!! I can understand him leaving for double the money (As I would also leave my job if somebody is ready to double my pay!!! :D), but what I don’t understand is that why you have to bad mouth the club and its fans!!! You were an unknown quantity, this club and fans made you what you are today, some respect is always warranted. If you don’t have respect for the people who made you what you are today, then you are not a man in my eyes!!! And hence I despise him!!! So I would request everyone to boo him as loud as possible!!!

Hopefully we will come out on tops. Players have to show that they should get more chances in first team with a good performance. And if they do that against City, then nothing like it!!! Amen to that.

Follow me on twitter (click here) for updates on out club and what other fans and bloggers are saying.

Till next time. COYG!!!

Post Match Blog: Arsenal Vs Fulham – A tale of two goals!!!

Well I am disappointed. No doubt about it! Still many things to take away from this game, but on that later. First I would like to dissect the game! Fulham came with a game plan and succeeded in that. They tried to slow the tempo of the game from start, so that Arsenal doesn’t set into a rhythm of passing the ball. Most of the teams come to Emirates with a mind set of catching us on break and playing long balls, but Fulham did just opposite, they tried to beat us at our game. They packed the midfield and closed down the ball very efficiently.

Arteta gave his all and I have no complaints from him. Ramsey has to improve his game! I know that English commentators praise him a lot (Actually they do it for every player from UK!!!), but if you keep on skying the ball, make awful runs then however good others say you are, you won’t impress me! Why Arshavin was not taken off at half time or at 60 minute mark is a question mark! He is not the player we can now afford to play in first team! He is low on confidence and doesn’t make any damn effort to improve his game! Robin tried his best, but it was just not his day! Theo (aka Usain Bolt junior) had a good game, still I expect better out of him! Song was ok in his duties. Verminotor was at fault when he tried to clear the ball with his left foot, because from the angle he was trying, it would always take the ball towards the goal and any miscue would get in! And voila, it happened. I didn’t expect him to make such a trivial error! He redeemed himself though with the goal, but still after the match there was clear disappointment written on his face. And I am sure, he would rectify his mistake and come out on tops in our next games!(I thought of uploading the goals video, but I love Verm too much and can’t see him scoring an own goal again and again!!!) Santos played well for his style, and you already know I like him lot. Had couple of good shorts on the goal, which were blocked and his positioning was good. Gervinho still looks unfinished product, because his finishing needs a lot of work. He comes into such fantastic positions, he dribbles past players like anything, but finishing is not there. Chamakh came in late and didn't have much time to have a telling impact on the game. I think he should get more games!

Coming to positives from the game, best was to see Djourou play out of his skin at RB and he did it with ease! If he continues to show such display, then we won’t be missing Sagna till he returns. He was one player who did his duties to the fullest be it defending or attacking, he was there! Another positive was to see Diaby back and adding a new dimension to our game. But the best part was the character shown by the team as a whole. We tried, tried and tried and in the end got one point out of the game. Previous years Arsenal didn’t show that kind of attitude and I am happy to see that!!! I think playing three matches in 8 days took toll on our players as they looked a little off beat from start. People might say that RVP didn’t score and hence Arsenal didn’t win, but in my next Blog you would read why Arsenal is not a one man team!!! Follow me on twitter to be updated on that!!!

Now the first team players will get a rest against Manchester City in Carling Cup quarterfinal. As we don’t want to burden them with too many matches in short span of time!!! Hopefully our second fringe team will win against Manchester City. Amen to that! I’ll close on that lovely thought!!!

Till next time. Hail gunners.

Pre Match Blog: Arsenal Vs Fulham

After a satisfying win in CL, where we qualified for knockout stages 12^th Successive time, we are back to EPL. Now lets get back to business!!!

In his press conference boss said:

“Having secured qualification in the Champions League we can focus more. That's what we want to demonstrate now. We need to show that we can go from one competition to the other and keep the same focus.”

This indeed would be the focused game, as top four finish is a priority. We can’t afford to lose our concentration or momentum. Our home form has been good this season and we have to build upon that and icing on the cake is that Fulham has never won at Arsenal!!! But on the hind side, they are the only side to take points away from ManC this season. They have players like Zamora, Dempsey, Johnson who can cause problems to our back four. Fulham didn’t have a mid week Europa clash, hence would be a fresher unit! We on the other hand can’t look tired and take things easily.

Now we all know that RVP is an important part of this campaign and has scored 38 of Arsenal’s goals in all competitions. So he would be playing. Song has been impeccable for some time now, hence he is important and should play. On rest of the teams, I think we would be going with the same team that played Norwich over weekend and Dortmund in mid week. One or two changes might be in wings and central defense.

From my point of view team would be Szcz, SANTOS, Verm, Mert, Djourou, Ramsey, Arteta, Arshavin, Gervinho and RVP with substitutes as Fabianski, Kos, Frimpong, Diaby, Theo, Chamakh and Benayoun.

Score line? I would take anything except 2-1, which has been our favorite for some time now!!! I think score would be 3-1, with two goals from RVP and one from Gerv, for Fulham I think Zamora will be the man!

Todays game with Fulham is dedicated to ‘Save the Children’ organization, our global charity partner. A noble step to help the future of the world, Children!

On this wonderful thought I would sign off, do follow me on twitter for regular updates on my blogs and Arsenal.

Till next time. COYG!!!

Post Match Blog – Arsenal Vs Dortmund

And so we won. The team was not what I had predicted, nor was the score line and scorers. But who cares, we won!!!

On the onset it was clear that Jurgen Klopp had a plan for stopping RVP. As he had told in his press conference, he really stopped any delivery to RVP. Dortmund was pressing hard and not allowing our midfield to pass the ball fluently. For first 30 minutes or so, Dortmund was on top and looked like threatening our Goal more than once. Somehow we managed to keep them on bay. And then came song's challenge on Gotze to our relief! If that was not enough then Vermaelen's trailing leg did damage to Bender and he was stretchered off! This was i think beginning of the end for Dortmund, as their two most influential players were off the field.

Don't know what boss said to the players during break, but it did the trick! RVP scored from Walcott's cross! Looked like Arteta rubbed off on Song, as he started playing really well. He was a bit sloppy in first half, but redeemed himself superbly in second half! The dribble past three players was stupendous and RVP scored again!!! Players knew that RVP would be covered and service would be denied to him by Dortmund defense, hence he started interchanging positions with Walcott, Gervinho and even Ramsey. This strategy worked well, as RVP was left nearly unmarked for both the goals!!!

As far as player performance goes, I think Gervinho still needs to improve upon his first touch and finishing! Santos was exciting as ever, Kos did the job well, Mert was okay, and Verm was outstanding in mitigating few errors from Santos (but he was exciting anyhow!). Arteta played really well. I think playing in Champions League brings out the best in him!! We would have kept a clean sheet, but for Djourou, who was trying to be too clever near the final third in dying stages!!!

All in all, a satisfying victory. A victory which will instill even more belief in our squad. A victory which has taken us to qualification. A victory which will give RVP a much needed rest in next round. A victory which made haters cry out loud that Arsenal is one man army (Seriously, I don't give a damn!!!) A victory where three players involved in scoring have few months left on their contract (To this I do give a Damn!!!)!!!

Victory was even sweeter because Chelsea lost to Leverkusen. It made Mata think 'Did I join the right club?'. And because after Tuesday there is a ripe possibility that we'll see a Manchester Derby in Europa League Final!!! Amen to that!!!

Till next time. Hail Gunners!!!

Pre Match Review: Arsenal Vs Dortmund

This is a very important match for us. Why? Because we need to give rest to our main players sooner rather than later. We can’t make the same mistake of over playing them. We saw what happened last year and how we lost steam at the fag end of the season!!!  Boss will want us to win at any cost!

Dortmund has been going through the same phase as us. They had a similar dismal start, but have resurrected themselves since last meeting with us! They have recently beaten Bayern Munich, much like how we won at Stamford Bridge, confidence booster indeed!!! Gotze is their main player, and we already know all the speculation surrounding him. But I don’t think that Dortmund has got it to beat us! If we stick to our game plan then we’ll definitely come out on top. Anyways not even Barca could beat us at Emirates, then there is no way Dortmund will do that!!!

As far as the team news goes, I am a bit skeptical on what team boss will put up. I know I said this is a very important match for us, but who to play and whom to rest is a difficult decision boss will have to take. I think our team would look like this Szcz, Djourou, Mert, Verminator, Santos, Coq, Ramsey, Rosicky, Gerv, Arshavin and Chamakh with substitutes as Fabianski, Kos, Miquel, Song, Walcott, Benayoun and RVP. But there is also a possibility that we field the same team as Saturday! I really want us to win and I really don’t want any player to be over burdened too. If I am in such dilemma, imagine what Boss would be going through! Anyways I’ll leave it to him!! Phew!!!

Prediction time: I’ll go with Arsenal 3 and Dortmund 0!!! Where in Gerv, Chamakh and Arshavin/Santos scoring (I am going with the team I have chosen)….

Hope this comes true, as we need a clean sheet and above all a win to qualify!

Till next time. COYG!!!

If you aint white, you aint right!!! Racism Sucks!!!

Remember Emannuel Eboue??? The guy who was termed as Arsenal Clown by some supporters and writers! He is also the same guy who had given a penalty to LFC last year in injury time. He is also the same player, who when played in Arsenal team, Gunners usually won!!! That’s true, we have lost very few matches when he started a game!!! (Don’t have the exact statistics on the go with me)…

I had tears in my eyes watching Eboue being pelted in Turkey!!! He was pleading his case with everyone on the field, Ref, Opposition team players and his team too!!! Everyone was asking him to get on with the game and as a true professional he was still trying to play. I am saddened to see such state of affairs in football... In the end I hope he was asked to leave the field and spared!!!

I don’t know if anything would be done about it or not, but we don’t need audience or players doing it!!! Recently we have seen big names getting into the dirty business. Suarez, Terry to name a couple!!! Now tell me, who can put up with this shit. If you know how to play, then play, why resolve to such pathetic deeds!!!

Nothing was done by FA, as Terry was retained in England squad and to top it all captained it too!!! Suarez is still showing his teeth. Oh I am sorry, that’s how he looks (I am also getting into racism I guess). Just wonder why only people with darker skin are targeted for racism!!! Across the globe if you are any other color except white you will succumb to racism at least once in your life time.

Blatter has said these are normal things and he won’t be stepping down from his post!!! To this QPR manager Neil Warnock said, all the black players should stop playing internationals till he does!!! I don’t know what will stop all this, but one thing is for sure something has got to give way!!!

Black, Brown, Yellow or White, to tell you the truth I don’t find any difference, if you do then please shower some light on me too!!!

I have many things to say on this, but just cant write anything more on this topic. Ashamed to be a human right now!!!

Post Match Blog With Highlights!!!: Crisis? What Crisis…. And Grant Holt should try out for swimming team!!!

WE WON!!! And as I predicted 2-1… So this means I do have football acumen or what!!! RVP did it again… 31 goals in this calendar year, wow!!! Only 5^th player to do it, and remember he can very well reach 40+, as there are many matches still to go….

Arsenal put out the same team as I predicted (Pssst: All of the other bloggers got it wrong :D). I still believe that Mert has a long way to go in EPL. He does have an intimidating presence, but the way he is out muscled most of the times is not very good showing!!! He is very slow to react and that is one aspect he needs to improve upon, otherwise we would never be able to keep clean sheets. I think Mert cant thank RVP enough to save him blushes… I wont be spending time on RVP, as whatever I say will be less for his caliber!!!

Our midfield was not very fluent. Ramsey and Arteta were missing from most part of the match! Song was losing the ball way too much, which is unlikely for him after seeing his recent run of form! I thought that international break would do well for Arteta and he would come out all guns blazing, but he was looking rusty. I have never liked Ramsey and hence just waiting for Jack to return and take his place!!! Our midfield was also looking less influential because Norwich had a extra man employed there to counter out movement. Gervinho was looking very lively since start, but has to improve his finishing skills. Theo again was trying to beat Usan Bolt, but from football aspect he still has a long way to go. Only if he could improve his Vision and positioning, he would do well. Santos was again very exciting to watch, I love him!!! Kos did ok in his full back position. Verminator was commanding as ever in the box.

I am wondering, after seeing Holt’s performance UK might give him a chance to represent them at world stage as a swimmer. The way he dived and dived, even Ian Thorpe could learn from him a few tricks!!! Overall Norwich played nicely and tried to close down Arsenal. But they couldn’t finish and RVP couldn’t miss!!!

All in all a good hard fought victory. Even though we were a bit sloppy here and there, and we did have many chances to finish the game long ago, but really who cares!!! I just wanted the three points and I got it. It’s actually good that Arsenal didn’t run through Norwich, otherwise we don’t take much time to grow overconfident (which our past record will show you) and lose game!!! This victory will keep our feet down on the ground and will propel us to work hard in next coming games. I am not saying that I love these kinds of heart attack giving matches, but right now what we need is focus and concentration and belief and confidence.

People who were not able to watch the match can take a look at highlights here!!!

So now next is Dortmund at home on Wednesday, let’s buckle up for the game and confirm our spot at the top of group!!!

Do stay connected with me on Twitter and get the latest updates…

Till next time. Oh to be a Gooner!!!

Real Football is back…. Norwich Vs Arsenal Preview…. And Henry is back too!!!

So now that ‘THE REAL FOOTBALL’ is back, it’s time to get back to business. Norwich will be hosting us on Saturday. It’ll be shown live on ESPN in India at 6.15 PM. Good news is that all our players have come back from international injury free. A line which we have not heard for long time!!!!

One thing is for sure, we can’t afford to be complacent. Boss would want the squad to concentrate after this meaningless hiatus. The key here is not to lose the momentum we gathered after Blackburn defeat. I know it has been said many a times, but it feels very pleasant to say it time and again, after Blackburn our record is WWWLWWWWWDW. Since the start of this year, this has been the best month and a half of football for me!!! And I want this run to never end!!!

In his press conference boss said:

“For a long time we were questioned on our away potential and we responded to that well at Chelsea”

“We have to do that again to show that we can be consistent away from home. Then we have another vital game against Dortmund so it is important to keep this run going. We know now that we can win away from home and we have another opportunity to show that.”

As it has been said before, victory at CH3L5EA by AR53NAL will take us long way. That win has infused much needed confidence in our team and Boss wants to take it forward from there. One thing is for sure that if we want to have any realistic chance to finish in top four, our away form has to take momentum. And doing it now would be a very good time, because all the teams above us have tough matches to follow-up.

Boss has also showered praise for Norwich’s Manager Paul Lambert, saying his buys are shrewd and calculative. In continuation boss says that all the three promoted teams might stay in top level!!!

Norwich is just two places below us, and hence can’t be taken lightly. They have lost only one game at home, against WBA. They have some very good players in their ranks that can trouble us, especially in Set Pieces. Anthony Pilkington is one such guy, a left winger, and very good with dead balls. His is also strong in his crossing; hence Szcz will have to be on his toes, not to mention our back four should be as well. Grant Holt, captain and Striker, though has been used sparingly (Substitute appearances mostly) by Paul Lambert can be a pain for our defense line. Steve Morrison has been in good touch and is the man to look out for too. I am only writing about their attack; because I am sure RVP will find a way through Norwich defense and thrash them apart!!! And we boss the midfield and possession almost everytime and against every team we play!!!

On Arsenal’s team news, I think boss will go with tried and tested team. The only point of debate will be the back four… I think there is a possibility that Santos, Verm, Mert and Kos will play with Djourou and Miquel on bench. So from my side team might look like this Szcz, Santos, Verm, Mert, Kos, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho and RVP with bench as Fabianski, Djourou, Miquel, Rosicky, Arshavin and Chamakh.

Prediction time: I think that Arsenal will win this game by 2-1 with RVP scoring both the goals and assists from Ramsey and Gervinho. Anyways Norwich has not kept a clean sheet in EPL this season. For Norwich Pilkington will score from a set piece.

Do let me know your predictions too, let’s see who gets it right, me or you!!! J

Talking about confidence, I would like to mention Henry is back in training with us in his offseason to keep fit!!! I just love to see him in Red and White colors training. When he trains with the team, there is a different level of enthusiasm that comes within them. I hope Arsene sign him in January transfer window, and makes our Striker problem vanish!!! (Wishful thinking, I guess)

Also you can follow me on Twitter (Just click here: It won’t take more than two minutes) for regular updates on Arsenal and my blogs. You can also ask me any questions on AFC or football and I would try to answer with the best of my knowledge. But please use Twitter for that, as I am always there!!!

Till next time. COYG….

Our Injury Prone Left back and Forwards are singing same tunes for each other!!!

Oh Kieran, what should I do with you. I can see a lot of potential in you, but alas you can’t keep yourself fit!!! Just wondering, did Arsene buy you from Madame Tussauds’ Museum??? He will be going under knife for his hernia today!!!!

His lack of fitness is actually an alarming sign, and hence Boss is looking for LB’s elsewhere. But this gives my guilty pleasure Andre Santos to play more. I like his Dance, I like his attack mindedness, I like the way he scrambles back and tries to tackle. But you can’t fault him for his lack of defending skills; he is from a background where full backs are attack minded. Brazil plays with two holding players to give full backs license to go forward and protection on counter attack!!! I think Santos will improve and adapt to English style soon. Still I’ll always like his play. Anyways his scoring record is two times better than Clichy, the only point in consideration here would be that Clichy played for 7 years and he has not even played for 7months at Arsenal as of now!!! To tell you the truth, I never liked Clichy’s defending skills either, but he had no attacking skills too!!!

So by the looks of it, Gibbs would be out for some more time now. And we are looking short at LB position. I know TV5 can play there too, but still more defenders needed….

RVP, Walcott, Park and Chamakh have come out to each other’s appreciation!!! Now this is heartening to see and a welcome addition as well… RVP has given credit to Theo for most of his goals, Theo has showered praise for Gervinho, Park likes the strike force we have and Chamakh says he is happy to see Arsenal win, even if that means he is not getting enough games because of the one striker rule by Wenger!!!

I love it!!! Anyways, that’s it for now. Do follow me on Twitter and get all these tit bit news on the go and anywhere you are.

Till next time. Hail Gunners!!!

The secret behind the name!!! The secret behind the Game!!! And the secret behind YouTube Fame!!!

People might be thinking why I chose ‘On the Gun Point’ as my Blog name… Reasons are quite simple; firstly I am a Gunner’s fan hence Gun and secondly, since the time I became a fan I have always been On the Gun Point…. From Invincible to trophy droughts I have always been On the Gun Point from rival club’s fans!!! Hence the name….. Follow me on @onthegunpoint at twitter for regular updates on Arsenal and Football!!!

Now I don’t understand whats the mindset of people in my country is, they always follow sports teams/players which are on top and not the ones which have real flair!!! To prove my point I would list a few names, Schumacher for Ferrari was on top when F1 started to pick momentum in India, hence people started following Ferrari, when people saw Federer is on top, they followed him, Same was the case with Football, where ManU were the leaders, so people started following ManU, and then they realized that Red Devils have a long standing rivalry with Reds (LFC) hence people who wanted to be different started following Liverpool… Then came the Arms dealer, who took over Chelsea (Which previously was no better than Wigan of today); and new wannabe fans thought ‘Wow! This team has lot of star players, lets follow them’ and hence Chelsea fans came into picture (Also, don’t forget the kind of money Abramovich poured to make fans in UK alone!! He gave away free scarves and other merchandize to make sure Stamford Bridge have Blue color!!!)… Now the newer generation are drawn towards ManC; with the similar philosophy to Abramovich’s money spend and bring in star players etc. ManC are luring away the new generation towards them… Now I am definitely not saying all the fans are like this, but 95% of Indian Football fanatics have become fans like this or they have been influenced by their friends… If people beg to differ, then please do let me know what made you the fan of the club you follow… (For my story, refer here)

I got a comment from one of the Blog readers regarding players look good on YouTube Videos and flatter to deceive when we actually see them. To this I would like to say, we don’t have to look at those videos in search of how many goals are scored by him. We need to see how good he was in taking forward runs, how many time he got into a good position, how many times he actually lost his marker, how many decoy runs he took, how many times he has given a near perfect through ball, how many time he tried to dribble across the defenders, how was his commitment in winning the ball back etc etc… and then you get to know the real class of the person… You don’t need to check it in one video, there are many such videos which are floating around the net. We are the Gooners and our club plays the best technical football, hence we should try to look into the technical aspect of the game in players too, not just go by the hype.

Please do reply with comments, if you want me to write anything specific or you have any ideas for me, I would be taking them all into consideration. The main aim of this blog is to reach out to as many people as possible and make people love football and Arsenal; hence I would request you all to help me in this cause (Only if you like my blog :D). Also please don’t forget to vote on the player you want to see in Arsenal’s rank (Widget is on the right hand top corner), a writeup from my side would be coming on top two of the mentioned 5 players.

Until next time. Hail Gunners!!!

Sad, Good, Bad, Amusing, Intriguing and Neutral news & Day job hassles – In short total Rubbish!!!

I don’t understand why people in my office have a sheepish or guilty expression when they come out of rest room… It not like they have committed a crime!!!

Don’t worry, this is Arsenal’s blog! It just that my day job is taking over me and these Interlulls are too frustrating to bear, hence rubbish is coming out!

So leaving that topic aside for some other day, we come back to real stuff, Arsenal and football in general. Talking about Generals, I don’t like Pervez Musharaf…

I think these Interlulls have made me hazy and moronic! Imagine no football for so long.  Well coming back, I have a good news that RVP is coming back from National Duty. Yippee!!! This is because Boss requested Oranje’s Manager Bert van Marwijk to release him early. He obliged, so the result is we got RVP back without injury…. Good news indeed.

Bad news is this that Harry Redknapp’s court trial on tax evasion has been postponed to 23^rd January’12. On this he said “Its Facking Tirrific” (It’s not a typo. Just his brilliant pronunciation)!!

I have amusing news too. Remember the banner at Emirates which said “We don’t need Batman, we have Robin”. Now there can be two meaning of this, One: which was told to me by Sarit (Refer previous blog for info on him) was we don’t need a Super Hero to resurrect our club. Two: that my ingenious mind, with all this haziness just realized is; Batman’s name is Bruce Wayne, hence we don’t need Wayne (Rooney), we have Robin…. I know this is bad banter so please don’t hit your head on screen….

On intriguing part, I was wondering why has Liverpool fans not turned on Daglish as yet? The record is here for everybody to take a look at; Dalglish: P27 W14 D6 L7; Hodgson P27 W12 D7 L8. Now somebody please tell me why oh why Hodgson was thorn in flesh and why is Kenny not? Maybe because of his past accolades. But if that is the case then why was Wenger targeted at the start of this season? Intriguing, Right?

Neutral news goes like this… Sebastien Squillaci and Marouane Chamakh might be heading out of Emirates in January transfer window. Chamakh has had a woeful start to 2011 and not been able to live up to promising start, where as Squillaci is 5^th in line as Central Defender is up for £2 Mil. Also, anybody can come and pay £300,000 and take Almunia of our hands.

I have sad news too. Just 3 months into Barca and cesc’s hairdo looks awful. I don’t understand, does Catalonia have only one hair dresser. Now don’t come running to me for help when people tease you Cesc, I will give you the same look of ‘I told you so’ and ‘You shouldn’t have left’!!!

I think this much slob is okay for today. Promise you wonderful people, who have gone through today’s torture, to bring you a better blog next time!!! Please don't forget to vote for the player you want to see on Arsenal's rank, because i would be providing all the info I can on top two!!!

Until then. Hail Gunners!

Transfer Speculations….. And my non dampener friend!!!

January Transfer window is just round the corner, and as expected transfer rumors would be flying left right and centre. Hence a weekly update to all you Gooners from my side.

Lets first focus on current crop of young players. Francis Coquelin has told to a French radio that he is looking out for a club in January as he is not getting enough chances in first team at Arsenal (Though his Arsenal Player Interview says something completely different!!!)… Hmmm, frustration is beginning to crop into younger players now, as Boss’ youngster policy has somewhat taken a backseat after a dismal start to the season. Similar comments were given by Henry Lansbury before moving out on loan for Hammers. Szcz also said the same thing before he got his opportunity when Almunia and Fabianski got injured. And he grabbed it with such pomp and honor, that not only he became number one, but also gave rest to our entire Keeper scouting. I understand that after tasting blood (first team exp), they want more opportunities and want to play regularly. Actually I like Lansbury and Coquelin more than Ramsey and Frimpong and hence want to see them playing on frequent basis. There is a ripe possibility that if Hammers win promotion this year, then Lansbury might make his move permanent there. Also it seems unlikely that boss will let Coquelin leave this January. Reason being Frimpong would be leaving for African cup of Nations in January and we will be short in holding role.

On the senior players front, Arshavin has made some very funny remarks (atleast on google translate it comes across that way) about his life in England and English players, also about first team opportunities. He makes a valid point that currently Arsene trusts Walcott and Gervinho more than him. Now we all have a soft corner for ‘The Russian’, and we know what he is capable of, but alas even after umpteenth chances we only see a spark here and there. My friend and fellow die hard Gooner, Sarit Banerjee, would kill me for what I am about to say now. I think it’s the right time for him to move, his potential somehow has been wasted here and I don’t see how anybody can improve upon that. He is not helping himself or the club by staying. I completely forgot about the funny remarks, he said players in UK like to sway diagonally and can’t control their Uterus!!! Hope you all get the TERRYfic GIG(gs) he threw and it doesn’t go in WAYNE (Vain)!!!

New news has come up from RVP and Lukasz Fabianski front. Where Cesc has spoken for RVP, saying he will either leave this time around or will retire at Arsenal. We all know that RVP has put his contracts talks on hold until end of this season, so Cesc's remark doesn’t make any sense. This is the time when team has started to resurrect itself (with RVP being at thick of things)and we don’t need any controversies surrounding our Captain! I just wonder when Barca players will stop commenting about Arsenal and its players (Tongue in cheek remark ofcourse)!!!  We all love you Cesc, but this is not acceptable, please leave RVP alone. Lukasz Fabianski on the other hand, has had a showdown with Boss regarding not playing regularly and the prospect of missing out on Euro’12 berth for Poland! He either wants to switch to another club or he wants to go out on loan! Now somebody needs to tell him very slowly, so that he understands, till the time Szcz is fit he won’t be playing either for Poland or Arsenal! Because of simple reason, Szcz is a far better keeper than him.

On new players, we already have an existing list of player like Hazard, M’villa, Götze, Gourcuff. I would like to add a few more names to the ever increasing list; Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Tongo Hamed Doumbia (Rennes), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach). These new additions to speculations are actually good players and you guys should check them out on YouTube. Also, you can vote on whom you want to see playing for us. I would be writing on top two of the five players, when voting is completed.

Conclution is saved for my non dampener friend; I would like to say that I have taken some of the stories from ‘The Sun’, ‘The Telegraph’, ‘The Daily Mirror’ and also from my Mentor ‘ArseBlog’. There some other sources for my info, do let me know if you need more names!!!  I just hope I was a fiction writer, then I won’t have stooped so low to get my blog filled with other’s news!!! J

Until next time then. Hail Gunners.

Frustation on Interlull and Gyan Session

Boss/Gaffer/Arsene (Please note I would be using these words to describe him henceforth) has been very critical about the International breaks and rightly so. Sole purpose of this current break is for the teams that has not been able to qualify for Euro’12 properly will get another opportunity in form of play offs. The rest of the international teams have no business playing because either they have already qualified or have failed so badly that they don’t deserve another opportunity.


Boss Says:
“I would propose that we had the smaller teams playing against each other in qualification, with the best ones going through to the European Championships, and that the bigger teams then have the opportunity to be qualified directly.
Of course I have not studied the problems deeply, so I do not say I have the key for the solution, but there is definitely something there that is not right, and I’m sure that the format as it is now has no future. I think there will be more and more disinterest from people.”


At a glance first point seems fair enough, but how to identify who are best and worst ones? FIFA Ranking maybe? But that is also not fool proof, as a team jumps up ranks without playing a single match for months! The main issue which boss raised is of disinterest which is growing day by day. Sure we do enjoy a summer tournament (World Cup, Euro, Copa etc) but that is only because we are so deprived of football that we’ll take anything which comes our way. Our situation is like a person who has been kept on fast for a week and then has been offered a Bitter Melon dish, which we will take it and find good too!!!


Maybe it’s only me who has such kind of views, but not watching football for a weekend makes me kinda cranky!!!


On the other aspect it was heartening to see Mikel finally jelling well with the Midfield. He alone completed 96 Passes in that game, whereas WBA’s whole midfield put together had 108 successful passes registered. This clearly showed we bossed the midfield and returning to our true game, the beautiful football. But still these are early times and we have come a long way from the outrageous start of the season. We have won 9 of our last 11 games in all competitions and resurrected the team. The good work has just started and Mikel has been at heart of things.


Another piece of news I stumbled upon was on Wilshere. Asked by an interviewer if he would promise to stay at Arsenal forever, Jack said:
“I promise that, yeah. I’ve been at the club since I was nine and learned to love it. From the Vieira days, to Bergkamp, Fabregas, I’ve watched them come through and move on. There’s a crop of new players Ramsey, myself, Kieran Gibbs…hopefully we can really create something special. I love the club and I want to be part of its future.”


Those of who have been around the block would know that it is not good for footballers to issue such statements. I mean, who can forget Ca$hri saga? You can never say never, nobody has seen the future etc. But it is heartwarming to hear it! It also strikes me that with a growing crop of players from Arsenal Academy/British players won’t be quite open to change in location, lure of home etc!


On the infrastructure front, Arsenal has now built a state of art Medical centre! It has all the world class amenities and equipments. It has built with the immense scouting by our medical staff on various sports and visiting their facilities, like NBA, NFL, and NHL etc. The old gym which was state of art 10 years ago suddenly started to feel a bit cramped for 50+ first, youth and reserve team players. Trying to do one on one rehab was becoming impossible in previous centre. The new building is only for players who are suffering from injuries or are receiving treatment to prevent one (Which we need badly and I hope everyone will agree with me). I think it’s now safe to say that one player who would love it is Abou Diaby! He has had around 28 stints with our medical team since the horrendous tackle from Dan Smith, might I add a true talent went to a waste because of it.


Well thats too much gyan for today. Until next time. Hail Gunners!

My First Blog!!!!

I am a Gooner and that too by choice. Coming from India (where cricket is the only sport almost everybody follows and talks about) choosing football as my life was not an easy decision to make, believe you me! I started playing FIFA’02 on my comp and searched for the best player, Thierry Henry’s name popped up. I thought let me choose his team to play. Soon enough I got hooked and thought let me watch how he plays in real life too. When I was watching I saw smooth crisp passing, movement of the ball, end product in goals, chances that were created etc. (By the way that match was against Spurs or as I call them SPUDS)! Henry scored and Arsenal won 3-0! Beautiful football was my reaction to it!

From that day, Arsene became my boss, Arsenal became MY CLUB and I a Gooner! Now if you split me open then I would be all red and white inside!

Like every gooner across the globe I have my off days and on days. I get disheartened when we lose and rejoice when we win. I sulk when players move from, or don’t come to, our club. I get bored in off seasons and interlulls (Bloody international matches). I criticize if something is not happening right and in the same breath I defend my club from rival fans. Reebok’s tag line suits me, I am what I am!

Now coming to the important point, what can people expect from my blogs? Well, this blog is going to be red and white with a hint of other colors too!!! This means I would be sharing my views on Arsenal a lot, but would also be talking about football in general too. I would try to blog as much and as soon as possible, especially Pre-Match and Post Match review and news from the insiders of the club. In short your one stop shop!

Until next post. Hail Gunners!