Arsenal News Review

Factors for Hleb / Ljungberg redundant / Henk on Thierry

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:33:31 +0000

Alex Hleb is on record as saying that Arsene is the coach from God, the best manager he's ever had.

And he does love his mate Cesc.

So why would he want to go ?

Because, at 27, he knows Arsene would not keep him around after he is 30 ?

Because he wants to be the youngster in a team of South American senior citizens at the San Siro ? Because he wants to play in front of 12,000 people at Catania?

Because it's a lot more money? Because Italian clubs write their contracts offshore so the players don't pay so much tax?

In three years, Hleb has won no trophies at Arsenal. He joined to play with Vieira, just as Rosicky joined play with Pires, not to replace him. Both Frenchman had left before their new seasons started in 2005 and 2006.

Does Hleb think he won't win anything playing in a youngish team that can't hold onto a lead ?

BTW, has Arsene been threatening to report Inter to FIFA for about two weeks? Why not report them as soon as it happens?

The "Webster clause" has never been invoked. I've heard it's complicated. Indeed, I even heard that a footballer who wants to buy out his contract has to appear before a tribunal and explain how he has been maltreated.

Obviously, a mutiny by Flamini and Hleb hurts a developmental manager like Arsene Wenger far more than it would hurt a chequebook manager like Rafa Benitez.

The sacking of David Dein left Arsene isolated. The exit of Flamini and Hleb leaves Fabregas isolated.

As I've been saying, this is a massive summer for Arsenal Football Club.They can't wait till August 31 to sign players now.

My first piece on Hleb was : ANR Breaking News : Hleb's gone, let's get Kranjcar and that was 15 days ago.

I'm shocked this morning to see that Rafa is in for Seydou Keita, the £10 million Mali midfielder who caught my eye at Sevilla this season. He is the anchorman this team needs but Arsene would never sign a 28-year old with no resale value.

I hear Usmanov was furious at being kept out of the loop before the sacking of MD Keith Edelman .

I reckon there's a lot going on right now that we don't know about, so May could be a news-packed month.

West Ham have offered Freddie Ljungberg £3 million to tear up his contract.

What did they think they were signing? Whose bright idea was it to give Freddie a four-year contract on £3.9 million a year? He has scored two goals in 25 league appearances.

Is football an industry full of ridiculous incompetents? Yes, but so are most industries.

Age catches up with every player and it caught up with Freddie years ago. It caught up with Cantona, Zola, Keane, Shearer, all of them.

Freddie played with Bergkamp. He can look back and say : I played with Dennis Bergkamp, what a player he was ! I played with Patrick Vieira too. And I scored in two consecutive FA Cup Finals in Cardiff.

Frank Rijkaard's former No2 Henk ten Cate was the studio guest with Balague for Real Madrid v Barcelona.

One of those games where the bookies were giving you money : Real 4 Barcelona 1.

It was interesting to see and hear Henk, after all those stories about how confrontational he can be, talking about Rijkaard and the dismal performance of his once awesome champions.

Watching it, Henk was visibly upset and said, "Only three or four players really cared, I don't want to mention names. It's devastating to see Frank like this. This is the guy who put Barcelona on top of the world. Too many egos, too many stars, it's a cycle. You have to change. They stuck too long with the same group, didn't refresh it quick enough."

Does Thierry Henry have a future at Barcelona?

"Playing like this, I don't think so. There's a blacklist and a whitelist - and he's not on the whitelist."

New MD at Arsene FC must "support Arsene"

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:03:16 +0000

The Sunday papers confirmed what I knew last week : that Danny Fiszman has hired headhunters to find a new MD.

The Sunday Times headline was : Arsenal flash the cash

The strapline on Wayne Veysey’s story was :The Gunners are ready to spend big money to attract a new managing director to support Arsène Wenger next season.

The first par was : ARSENAL are ready to make their new managing director the highest-paid executive in football. Director Danny Fiszman has ordered headhunters to scour the worlds of football, industry and media to find the “best person” for the job after Keith Edelman was forced out of his £1m-a-year post last week.

Does that mean Danny sacked Keith Edelman suddenly and had nobody in mind for his job ?

The Sunday Times said Richard Scudamore is one of the names in the frame. Last year I heard that Scudamore turned down the IMG job, the Mark McCormack organisation. I was wholly dismayed by Scudamore's fudge on third-party ownership of Tevez & Mascherano at West Ham, and his bungled presentation of the 39th game. On those issues he was everything a chief executive should not be. So I can't say that I fancy Scudamore for such a vital job as Arsenal MD at this very crucial time.

It's extraordinary that Danny had nobody in mind for the job. It may even be that Danny thought the commercial deals Edelman made were good deals. Did he think Keith was running the business well until two weeks ago ?

Memo to headhunter : check out Michael Kennedy. He knows football and players' contracts. Michael and his brother John are lawyers who support Arsenal. John is one of the movers-and-shakers on the London music business, while Michael looks after David O'Leary, Niall Quinn, Roy Keane, all those Irish guys. At the moment, I gather that Michael is virtually the chairman of Sunderland, working behind Quinny.

Clearly, Michael Kennedy must have had dealings with Ken Friar in the past. That should not be a disadvantage.

So my message to Danny is the same as my message to Arsene: win the summer. Get it right. You have to get it right. Get it right on the field and off the field. Get better people on board and improve the club quickly. This Arsenal club, and this team, are a long way from what they could be and should be. Yes, a helluva lot has been achieved under huge pressures. Arsenal is now a big club and a good MD is as important as the acquisition of a six foot four centreback like Lucio, Gilberto’s mate. With the right MD, and three experienced players, Arsenal could be a fantastic club by 2010.

But where are we, exactly, in this summer of 2008 ?

Well, this is the second summer without David Dein. If they get it wrong this summer they will not be playing to 60,000 people throughout next season. There are two billionaires waiting patiently in the wings and neither is on the board. Arsenal are working quietly with the American, which is the right thing to do, since Stan Kroenke is a very smart sports tycoon.

If results were to go pear-shaped next season, an Arsenal crisis would be the biggest story in world sport.

This is a massive summer because there's a definite tide of opinion against Arsene now. Fans do not want to watch kids who cannot win trophies. They are tired of watching Eboue and Senderos, they rarely see Rosicky or Van Persie, and they realise that Walcott might never do what Ashley Young is doing at Aston Villa.

Arsenal is a healthy, ongoing business but more and more people are getting fed up, and they don't like what they are seeing and hearing. It’s not just the usual neurotics. When the Online Gooner, the most sensible and supportive fanzine, is asking whether Wenger has taken the club as far as he can, we're getting into uncharted waters.

As I say, this is the second summer without Dein and Arsene never did appoint that Director of Football. We are now being told - make sure you note this - that the new MD has to “support Arsene”.

So it’s always going be Arsene FC, it’s always going to be a French club playing in the English League, and there will never be any dissenting voices within a 25-mile exclusion zone of London Colney.

The one-man show will continue and the spotlight will remain firmly on one man. When you buy the world’s most expensive football ticket, you buy into his ideas about how the beautiful game should be played. You buy into what he does and what he does not do. After almost 12 years, you know what he does, and what he does not do, especially if you’ve been reading ANR.

Remember not to ask : Is this team half as good as the Arsenal teams of 1998 or 2002 or 2004 ?

Fabregas watches Arsenal as Hleb & Flamini have a laugh

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:04:38 +0000

Arsenal 1 Everton 0 Bendtner 77

After 24 minutes the Sky TV camera showed Cesc Fabregas, 21 today, sitting with Hleb and Flamini either side of him.

Cesc was watching his team intently while the other two were larking about. It looked as if they've gone.

Arsenal can't play without Fabregas, so I knew it would be a struggle and a yawn. No balance, no partnerships, no verve. Walcott was a fish up a tree on the left wing and could not control the ball, while Eboue had a nightmare on the right. Song had his best game for the club.

Sub Traore crossed the ball once and overhit it and when it came back across the field to him from Bendtner, he crossed beautifully and Bendtner headed in powerfully from seven yards.

1-0 after 77 minutes.

That was Bendtner's 9th goal of the season. The Dane is 20 and this was his sixth Prem start and his 16th start in all comps. Nicklas Bendtner is a player. If he's sold he should go for £8 million with a 25% sell-on clause.

Jens Lehman came on for ten minutes and got the biggest cheer on the lap of honour. Deservedly so.

In 2003 Arsene needed a goalkeeper to replace Dave Seaman, who had been embarrassing for three years. The manager only had £1.5 million to spend. He needed to find a goalkeeper who cost £1.5 million or less. And he found Lehmann, who was an instant success and brilliant in the Invincibles and superb in the Champions League in 2006 until the final, when his wrist caught Eto'o's ankle in 18 minutes. He got a red card and a loser's medal. But he played well in the World Cup for Germany.

Arsene said, "It was a farewell and I wanted him to have a chance to say goodbye to the fans, that we respect him for what he has done for us. Jens was 100% professional, if not always an easy character.

"In all his time here, I have not know Jens to not be fully committed for a single minute. That deserves a lot of respect. He was the best keeper in the Premier League. He reads the game well, he is brave and had all the assets to come into the Premier League, because he is not frightened of anybody. Jens has became better and better, because at the start he was a bit upset easily sometimes, when people walked on his toes at corners. But he got more controlled through his career."

I was offered a free ticket for today. But meaningless games don't do it for me, so I didn't bother. In the light of what we saw on TV, that was the right decision.

Verdict : Arsenal were awful but they won.

Unbeaten at home this season.

David Moyes does OK with what he has. Everton have workmanlike players and play dungaree football.

Flamini doesn't deserve Arsene / Pato / Avram's job safe

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Flamini is still giving Arsene the runaround.

First it was March, then it was the end of April, now his deadline is Monday.

It's become boring. It's now a saga, a soap opera, it's so, so tedious. Is it just me? Or do you think Flamini's behaviour is insulting?

This is the guy who refused to play left back. I would have fined him two weeks wages for that. Matty, mate, you're not good enough to make it in Serie A.You will be ordinary over there, almost invisible. Inside two years you will be history ! Wake up !

The silence from Alex Hleb is deafening. I've not heard any more on that. I like Hleb a lot but don't mind if he goes.

The CL semi-finals were good games : a scorching shot by Paul Scholes beat Barcelona, two scorching shots by Drogba beat Liverpool 3-2. The venom in the first shot was for Rafa, who did Avram's job for him by winding Drogba up, calling him a diver.

Jamie Carragher's postmatch interview was a marvel of sanity, sportsmanship and commonsense. His dad knows a friend of mine. His dad doesn't go in the good seats with the other parents and wives. Instead, he supports Jamie from the Kop with his lifelong buddies and travels with them to away games as well.

Drogba, Ballack and Essien are great players, so Manchester United will have to play really well to beat Chelsea in Moscow.

I read that Arsene was upset at missing out on Ribery and Pato last year.

AC Milan bought Pato at 17 for $31 million from Internacional in Brazil.

Fact 1: 18 clubs wanted Pato.
Fact 2 : His agent did the deal personally with Berlusconi.
Fact 3 : Galliani doesn't know the terms of that contract.

Avram's job is safe.

You read it here first. His job is safe for next season. He speaks Russian and talks to Roman ten times a day. Roman is in Moscow sorting out Putin's future.

Some people in Israel have criticised Avram for using the Holocaust to promote himself but that is ridiculous. And Eyal Berkovic slaughtered him on the radio. So Avram is in good company. The names of people Eyal has slaughtered would fill a book. Or maybe two books.

Roman is flying Chelsea's whole staff to Moscow for the final. Reminds me of Elton John in the early Seventies. When he played Madison Square Garden, Elton flew his whole London office over. Why not, if you can afford it? MSG is a much better gig than Wembley Arena. About the same size but a superior design, so it holds 20,000 rather than 12,000. But I'm not saying Elton and Roman are similar. The Russian doesn't write songs with Bernie Taupin.

Have a good weekend !

Mine started at the gym this afternoon, where I had the pool to myself. What bliss. Half the trainers are Gooners so I told them some details on Edelman's departure, which I can't repeat here for legal reasons.

Mrs P says I can't see I've Got News For You tonight because we are watching James Taylor on BBC4. She likes James so much she once went to see him with Josh, our neighbour, at Hammersmith Odeon.

We were talking about that over dinner and recalled seeing James Taylor at the Festival Hall with Carole King supporting. She was pregnant and wore a pink dress and sang ten songs perfectly while playing the piano beautifully. After my rave review in Time Out, Carole's album took off and sold 14 million worldwide. The same issue carried my cover story with Rod Stewart and it came out 3 or 4 weeks before Maggie May. Rod recorded Every Picture Tells A Story at Morgan Studios, near where we now live. Today it's called Zomba Studios.

Edelman/ Flamini/ Karelis/ Stress/ Aisa

Thu, 01 May 2008 14:53:17 +0000

Edelman

Keith Edelman - right man, right time.

Talk to people with City connections and they say: "safe pair of hands." Would Arsenal have got the funding for the stadium through without Edelman? Would Arsenal have been able to re-package one part of the debt and get it re-financed at lower interest? Had they dillied and dallied, Arsenal would now be in a position like Liverpool with far tighter credit restrictions and a costlier stadium compared to a year or two ago.

The Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, said: "Keith has played a major role in the growth of the club since he joined in 2000. In that time we have successfully implemented the move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium that has underpinned the future of the business and confirmed our position as one of Europe's leading clubs. We are grateful to Keith for his crucial role in this transformation.

"Under Keith's stewardship the club has achieved record profits and the board owes him a debt of gratitude for his contribution. We wish him the very best for the future."

One ANR reader would like to draw the board's attention to Birds Eye ceo Martin Glenn who has been tipped as a potential future ceo for the FA.

Edelman was in the 'running football as a business camp' as opposed to the 'relying on the benefactor camp' and his departure with Ken Friar in as acting md, will lead to speculation veering to the latter, particularly with Usmanov and Kroenke in the wings, and some fans disgruntled about the amount of money in the transfer pot and aspects of income from other parts of the club.

Flamini

One ANR reader says he saw Flamini saying what looked like his goodbyes' in the City. Reading between the lines, as yesterday's deadline passed, it would appear Flamini is off.

The press have not been slow off the mark to speculate about replacements. The Times goes for Man City's Michael Johnston, who they say can support Fabregas in joining attacks. The paper also says Gareth Barry is a priority, but question whether Arsenal could compete against Chelsea and Liverpool, for the Villa midfielder.

Irish Examiner says press in Portugal suggest Wenger is already planning for life without Flamini, and has identified Algerian Kamel Ghilas, who plays for Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes, as his replacement.

Karelis

Reports in Greece say teenage forward Nikos Karelis, 16, has been given a trial with the Arsenal youth squad for a mini-tournament in Italy.

After the 10-day trial the striker who became the Greek Super League's youngest ever player when he appeared for Ergotelis last weekend, said: "we will decide together what will be my future."

Arsenal's stress

Dr Jeff Halperin, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Arsenal fan has emailed ANR to remind that he has written about the stress the team suffered in the latter part of the season.

http://www.sortoutstress.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55:arsenal-stressed-out-team-&catid=1:features&Itemid=2 Worthwhile project.

Arsenal Supporters Gala Dinner

Theme is to celebrate Arsene Wenger's achievement's ten years after his first double on Saturday 24 May.

Speakers include Oleg Luzhny, Nigel Winterburn, Ray Parlour and Perry Groves. There will be a raffle and auction.

Ticket prices are £69 per person for AISA members or for those booking a table of 10; £77 per person for non-members. The price includes a 3-course meal and starter drinks.

For more information please email AISA at aisa@fsmail.net (with Gala Dinner in the subject line) or call Lois Langton on 07769 655271 or Steve Goodwin on 07787 500667

And finally...

... a fellow Arsenal supporter has reminded us about the qualities that any incoming midfielders may need. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVARRpwRAvc&feature=related

Arsenal's best result since 2005 ?

Thu, 01 May 2008 07:50:42 +0000

The Sun headline is : Keith's Gunner walk

By PAUL JIGGINS

ARSENAL are about to drop a bombshell in the boardroom by announcing that managing director Keith Edelman is leaving the club.

SunSport can reveal that one of the prime movers who masterminded the Gunners’ successful switch from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium will confirm his shock departure tomorrow.The news will send shockwaves through the North London club’s Marble Halls and is bound to fan the flames of the power struggle simmering in the boardroom.

Edelman said he was bitterly opposed to a foreign owner taking over the Gunners when shareholders Stan Kroenke and Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov were circling the club looking to increase their stakes last summer.Edelman took up his £750,000-a-year post in 2000 and has been instrumental in boosting the Gunners’ revenues. He oversaw the redesign of the club’s crest in a controversial rebranding initiative and negotiated a £130million 10-year sponsorship deal with sportswear giants Nike.

Along with fellow directors Danny Fiszman and Ken Friar, he was instrumental in the club’s move to their £430m new home two years ago.

Edelman also persuaded airline Emirates to cough up £100m to sponsor the 60,000-seater stadium and the club’s kit.He is believed to hold only a nominal amount of shares but his exit could spark fears of a fresh takeover bid at the North London giants.

What do I make of that?

Well, it's Arsenal's best result since 2005, when Vieira's penalty went in against Manchester United.

Keith is a tough number-cruncher brought in by Danny to keep costs down. In July he will have been MD of Arsenal for eight years. He built the stadium, with a lot of help from Danny, Ken Friar and others, and did the re-financing. He's earned over £5 million from Arsenal and enjoyed a very, very high-profile job. He has other directorships, lives in St Albans, is busy with a £600 million eco-centre there which is four times bigger than the Eden Project in Cornwall.They have outline planning permission from Bedfordshire Council. It's a big aquatic habitat thing, I gather. He is chairman-designate.

Also, he hasn't walked. I'd be amazed if he has walked.

Clearly, many things at Arsenal could be better.And under a new MD, they will be.

Who is lined up for the job? Don't know. In 2006 I recommended Mark Ashton, a really great guy at Watford. I don't know what Ashton is doing right now or if he is available.

Mark Ashton is a humble, fan-friendly, dynamic visionary who has played football.

Danny lives in Switzerland and I don't know if he's heard of Ashton or met him. But I know Danny reads ANR.

Edelman's notice period will be a year, according to Sky Sports News.

Will Stan Kroenke come on the board right now? I wish ! But that looks unlikely. Usmanov would say : What about me?

Usmanov is about 250 shares short of 25%.

Tons more I'd love to write on this but no time. In fact, I haven't got time to write the above.

Please follow this story elsewhere. It's big news and good news. It's the first of many changes we will soon be seeing.

Tevez to Ronaldo or Rooney is way to stop Messi & Eto'o

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:55:46 +0000

Can't wait for tonight’s football drama.

In the first leg, Sir Alex defended and allowed Barcelona to build form during the game instead of going for the jugular.

His formula was : contain Messi, get a 0-0, go home, job well done. And they achieved that.

But Sir Alex wholly disrupted United’s shape and rhythm against a Barcelona team that is weak, divided, conflicted, sliding into break-up. United let Barca play their way into the game by making it their type of game, which suited Messi, the little wizard who is finding his feet again after injury.

Rooney on the right was kamikaze because it made him impotent and irrelevant. Alfredo di Stefano could not have played wide on the right in that game. Rooney was a fish up a tree because Sir Alex put him where he could not affect the play.

You don’t make radical changes to your team, your way of playing. You make small changes. You tweak it, you modify it slightly. If Rooney's fit, use him. And don't assume he will be fit for the second leg.

Man United can't do cagey. Rafa can, Mourinho can, but Fergie can't. If United played five holding midfield players, they can't do cagey. If they park the All-Blacks scrum in front of their back four, they still can't do cagey.

It's not in their DNA to do cagey and that’s why I invariably say that the best thing about Manchester United is that they always come to play, home and away. When Sir Alex does tactics, it's usually a horror show and I look through my fingers. And if I don't like what I half-see, I hide behind the sofa.

What we saw in the Nou Camp was an attacking team that tried to defend and thereby allowed Barcelona to have the ball. If you play a pass-and-move team like Arsenal or Barcelona, you have to deny them the ball because that breaks up their rhythm and flow. If you let them have 65% possession, you will struggle.

On Saturday at Chelsea, Sir Alex had a very bad day at the office and the score was Ballack 2 SAF 0.

Basically, he picked the wrong teams at the Nou Camp and Stamford Bridge and so he drew 0-0 and lost 2-1.

Rooney carried an injury to Chelsea, where Giggs should never have played, and where Avram Grant wisely went with Mikel, the big young bruiser, rather than Makelele, the tiny old assassin.

It was United's biggest game because winning would clinch the title. But Sir left out Cristiano Ronaldo for a game that he himself said was " unquestionably the biggest game of the season."

We have seen half a game between Barcelona and Manchester United.

Tonight we see the other half and I can’t wait. When Rooney went off with a groin strain after scoring the equaliser at Chelsea, it looked like something you might recover from in five or six days. He did not train on Monday and he will not have a pain-killer. His absence would put a helluva lot of pressure on Ronaldo to deliver, following his early penalty miss in the first leg

My view is that this Barcelona is a shadow of the team that played Arsenal in Paris in 2006. In fact, it's a photocopy of a shadow of the team that played Arsenal in that final. But Barcelona have experience and might remember who they used to be.

Tonight Frank Rijkaard will say to his team : Don’t defend the box ! Get the ball and keep it and keep it and keep it- and then score a goal. Don’t sit back, don’t defend deep and let them pound you !

Messi is magic, Xavi is busy, Deco is tenacious, Zambrotta is superb, Yaya Toure has been carrying a hernia injury and a calf injury all season, Puyol is a slow old warrior now.

SO ATTACK THEM DOWN THE MIDDLE !

IN A NUTSHELL : The most penetrating line of attack that Manchester United have is quick ball from Anderson to Tevez, who plays it to a running Ronaldo or Rooney. That is Momentum United and Momentum United win games. Tactical United don't.

Myself, I don’t think a team in decline can win the European Cup.

Sir has made a lot of basic errors lately, so I’m hoping he doesn't blow it again. I reckon Rio and Vidic can restrict Eto'o to shots from unfavourable angles or from distance. He won’t play Ryan Giggs or Darren Fletcher, will he ?

On Monday morning I walked round the corner to buy my Guardian and I saw John, my Gooner greengrocer. He whispered, so I knew it was one of those don't-tell-the-wife bets.

"I fancy over two and arf goals, Derby-Arsenal. Six grand to win four. Whaddya reckon? I think Derby might score but I don't care."

John has bottle and sometimes I talk him out of his riskiest gambles.

"Good bet ! Ever since Derby lost 4-0 at Spurs I said they're the worst Premiership team ever. And I've been proved right on that."

Arsenal won 6-2 to guarantee third place.

But third is nowhere.This squad may be the weakest Arsene has had since he arrived in 1996 . He must somehow acquire four more players as good as Sagna. But how can he do that for only £25 million?

Have you seen the new Guy Ritchie Nike commercial ?

Players dressed up as cowboys and indians? It's garbage. It is really, really embarrassing garbage. I've never regretted leaving the ad industry but when I saw it, I thought, "I could direct a better football commercial than this, even now ! I've got camcorder home movies that are livelier than this !"

Million miles apart

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:05:49 +0000

Derby 2 Arsenal 6

In some respects this was a microcosm of Arsenal's season - Van Persie showing early promise and going off injured; a lack of defensive concentration; failing to keep the lead after going ahead; missing a host a chances; four offsides given that clearly weren't; scoring some fabulous goals; and winning neutrals over by entertaining football.

In some ways too this was experience v youth - with Moore, Todd and Stubbs up against Walcott, van Persie and Bedntner.

Arsenal started with an end-of-season mood. It gave Derby a sense of seizing the initiative. And in the first twenty the home side just about shaved it.

Song and Fabianski hesitated; Eboue took the wrong decision volleying instead of heading a Bendtner cross.

Mears set up a chance for Villa who shot wide. And Sterjovski thought he'd scored as the ball deflected dangerously off Song for a corner. Mears and Villa combined well again forcing a corner.

On 24 Darren Moore sent a sloppy pass, Bendtner picked it up, send it to Van Persie who returned it for the Dane to hit it low past Carroll. It changed the mood of the game.

Walcott on the left set up an open goal for Van Persie, but he curled it wide.

Song gave away an uneccessary free kick on the left. From the cross, he failed to pick up Moore and Freddie Flintoff look-alike, McEverley, poked it in.

After some more missed chances, Toure put a great ball into the area, Van Persie peeled off Moore and chested it down and half-volleyed into Carroll's net. The Dutchman seems to score classy goals, and not easy goals.

At the start of the second, Toure looked like he wanted a goal with two forward runs and shots. Adeybayor, on for the thigh strained van Persie, should have scored when clear on the left but Carroll saved with his feet.

Denilson tackled well, passed to Walcott and his cross, via Eboue's two footed lunge found Adebayor who poked in the loose ball.

Bendtner set up Walcott with a straight ball down the middle, but the English forward rushed it and sent it wide.

Feilhaber and Lewis had a couple of shots in quick succession. But then a simple pass to Earnshaw saw the Welshman send a good right footed finish past Fabianski.

A minute later Gilberto (on for Denilson) sent a long diagonal to Walcott on left, and the Englishman cut in on to his right and fired into the corner.

Then a three-touch goal. Bendtner to Clichy to Adebayor - two long one touches and a short stabbed goal.

In injury time, Fabregas sent a straight ball onto Adebayor's run. The Togolese ran round Carroll and netted his hat-trick. The first time a striker has scored two hat-tricks against the same team in the Premiership, and his 30th goal of the season.

Arsene Wenger said: "it was typical performance. We were mobile, clean, and technically always dangerous. We had moments where we lacked concentration and were punished. Derby gave everything. But the longer it went on the more it looked like we'd score more goals.

"Derby didn't look like a team lacking confidence. They were dangerous on set pieces and closed us down but our technical superiority took over.

"Everyone impressed. Overall the young players did well. Denilson, Bendtner....

"Fabianski did well. His reading and decision making was good. He was sound, clean and quick going to the ground.

"It is always a problem not to win trophies. We were unlucky this year. I love this team, the way they play and behave and they have a great future."

Paul Jewell said: "In the first half we were terrific. They took a lot of energy out of us. We gave a lot of silly goals away. We are in the same league but we were a million miles apart."

Derby County: Roy Carroll, Alan Stubbs, Andy Todd, Darren Moore, Tyrone Mears, James McEveley, Robbie Savage, Hossam Ghaly (Benny Feilhaber 60) Eddie Lewis Mile Sterjovski (Robert Earnshaw 69) Emanuel Villa. Subs not used: Lewis Price, Marc Edworthy, Jason Beardsley

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski, William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure (Johan Djourou 78), Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Song, Emmanuel Eboue, Denilson (Gilberto 64) Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie (Emmanuel Adebayor 46), Nicklas Bendtner. Subs not used: Manuel Almunia, Philippe Senderos

Senderos and mass culture

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:42:26 +0000

From : Adetayo
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008
Subject: Senderos

Mr Palmer,

You are one hell of a writer/football analyst, but pray why do you think Senderos might become a different player under the circumstances you prescribe? Is there something wrong with the training regime at Arsenal? Please let me know.

From: Michael Simmonds
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008
Subject: Senderos

Myles,

As always really interesting post today. I'm fascinated by your comment :

The Independent says Senderos could be sold. In the right team, with a different training regime and a different dressing room, Senderos might become a good centreback. He has qualities. He has potential. He is 23 and still young enough to make it.

As a season ticket holder I've been to every home game this season so have seen quite a lot of Phillippe Senderos. I've thought for a long time that he had the potential to be a fantastic defender and a potential future captain of the team and at times he really lives up to this. He has been outstanding in some games - sure he makes some mistakes but so did Tony Adams at his age (and later)- but seemed to be way out his depth against Liverpool again (he was brilliant at Anfield last year though).

It would be really interesting to know why you think the training regime and 'the dressing room' works against him.

Presumably the training regime is against him because, as you've argued before, Arsene Wenger doesn't coach defence and has resisted your calls to employ a defensive minded coach? But what do mean that the dressing room is against him? There seemed to be real stability and unity in defence while Toure was away. Do you think that Senderos has no chance of making it now?

Keep up the blogging. It's always a great read.

Myles replies : Senderos might make it at Arsenal, even now. He has had some great games this season, as I've noted here at times. But dropping him to bring back Toure wrecked his fragile confidence. Most punters think he has a mistake in him but I reckon he would be more reliable in a defence that was drilled and knows exactly what to do with every ball coming in from every angle.

However, I would never compare an Arsenal player to Tony Adams, any more than I would compare one to Vieira or Bergkamp. You will not see their like again. Tony's ability to lead was rare. His ability to lead and see the whole game, not just his job, and to organise, to give shape to people around him, was something really, really special. He could mark his man, and also, simultaneously, dictate where he game would be played, so that it suited Arsenal and not the opposing team. Tony was incredible at that and the team trusted him. That was why Arsenal were able to take on and beat technically superior teams like Liverpool and Parma.

Cashley Cole says in his book that when Martin Keown tried to talk to Senderos he walked away from him and I doubt if Cole would report that incident if it had not happened. If Senderos refused the advice of somebody who has been there and done it, somebody who has played for 20 seasons and won 43 England caps, then he is tosser. The dolt who walks away from Keown's advice is the dolt who loses you a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield, then bursts into tears in the changing room, and gets on the phone to his parents in Switzerland. Did Steve Bould phone his Mum & Dad if he scored an own-goal? Does John Terry cry when Chelsea lose?

All I was saying (to myself) was that is Senderos speaks five languages and might be happier in the Bundesliga, where football is slower and his team might have a defence that is better organised. He might be surrounded by older men who knew how to score first and how to hold onto a lead for more than three minutes. That would build his self-esteem and allow him to develop his career. If he is luckier with injuries than he has been so far, Senderos could play till he is 35.

In essence, the training regime at Arsenal is based on enjoyment. It is scientific and highly specialised and it aims to rehearse fluent pass-and-move football at high speed. As Adebayor said, every morning I come in, it's attacking football.

When Arsenal are winning titles, as in 1998 and 2002 and 2004, the training regime is fine. It's fabulous. It doesn't matter that you can't defend set-pieces, that you ignore fundamentals of the game that have been there since 1888, like corners, heading and free-kicks.

Arsene's stated aim is to put on a training session every day that his players enjoy. He wants them to recapture the joi de vivre they had when they first played the game as teenagers, and express themselves collectively as well as individually. He believes in maintaining the stability and harmony in his group. He never shouts at them and will not let anyone else shout at them and he doesn't want his players to shout at each other. You probably read what Almunia said : The boss wants easy-going players with character. He doesn't like confrontations.

So Arsene protects them and indefatigably talks them up in the media and he even said last week, "I'm trying to protect them for next season."

He pampers his millionaire athletes in his utopian sporting campus behind radio-controlled gates, and they travel to games in a bus with black windows, and after the match they can leave the Emirates in an SUV with black windows and never have to see a punter or sign an autograph or hear a word that might contradict the boss. They are in a bubble at Colney and in another bubble at The Emirates. And, of course, playing in a super-stadium, where the crowd is further away from the pitch, they cannot hear what is shouted at them, which is very little anyway.

Unlike, say, Graham Rix. One day at Highbury, before I became a football journalist, we were standing in what later became the Junior Gunners, and Arsenal were warming up and the very skinny Graham Rix was fifteen yards from us, kicking balls from near the touchline.

A fan shouted, "Rix, where's your body?"

Rix could hear this clearly but he put his hand up to his ear to signal that he could not quite hear what the fan had shouted. So the guy again shouted, "Rix, where's your body?"

It was a bit rude, a bit silly. But it was not that insulting, just a bit of fun - and Rixie had heard worse many times.

You don't get that now, so footballers can be very vain and precious. Football is not interactive any more. There are far fewer people shouting insults like, "Get off the field, you're having a nightmare!"

All that banter was common when football was a popular entertainment. In that era, players and supporters were living in the same world. It's now a mass entertainment.

But it's ten to midnight and I'm too wasted to write a sociology essay tonight. See : The Way We Live Now, Richard Hoggart (1995), Chapter Four : Angles on Popular and Mass Culture.

Hoggart says : Mass culture is partial, mass culture selects and concentrates.

Myles says : Sky Sports is mass culture, not popular culture. Sky is hype and stars and superstars, global icons. Endorsement contracts : Tiger Woods shaves his chin with Gillette, Roger Federer shaves his chin with Gillette, Thierry Henry shaves his head and chin with Gillette. And Sky's hype created half of the consumers who "support" Arsenal now.

For example, 2,000 fans had tickets for Arsenal v Reading but didn't turn up. They are not real fans. When Arsenal was popular culture in the Seventies, those 2,000 fans would still have turned up even though the team could not win anything this season.

But a mass culture crowd, who consume a product that has been commodified by a revolution in communications technology, gets cheesed off more quickly, is less loyal, less involved, less forgiving, much quicker to moan and whinge and slag the team off.

ANR Breaking News : Hleb's gone, let's get Kranjcar !

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:45:11 +0000

At 4pm I saw Arsene on Sky Sports News saying Hleb isn't going.

"I find all the talk about the players completely disrespectful," he said, rather grimly. "When it comes directly from the club, enough is enough, we shall report them directly to FIFA from now on.

"If Inter are interested in Alexander Hleb, they should call us. We have heard nothing. I don't know why we always have to respond to these situations.

"Apart from Mathieu Flamini, all our players are under contract. You never hear me talking about players who are under contract somewhere else. If I want to buy someone, I call the chairman and I ask him if he is for sale."

That interview would have been recorded around 2.pm, probably.

But at 4.45pm I had a phone call saying (1) Hleb has gone to Inter Milan and (2) a fee has been agreed and (3) he will rent out his house in Hampstead, as the property market has taken a dive.

So I don't know what to believe now. I'm putting this is up because I trust my source.

Looks as if Alex Hleb has done 4 years in the Bundlesliga, 3 years in the Premier League & now he's off to Serie A.

I wish him well. I was a fan of Hleb's from day one. But he is not what Arsenal need right now.

And we have to live in the real world of mercenary footballers.

You are screaming : How much did we get for him?

Dunno. I'm telling you everything I know, which may be 100% kosher - or not. We shall see.

Hleb's price will come out in the Italian media very soon if this newsflash is right.

Slaven Bilic says Nico Kranjcar is the right man for Arsenal.

Good player : vision, skill, a powerful 23-year old who can whack a ball from 25 yards. Arsenal have needed that for years and years.

I'm reminded of the words Stan Kroenke used when his executives had a meeting, kicking around ideas for next season's NBA basketball team. It was a meeting in which Stan did not say a lot.

He listened to the ideas being kicked around, the arguments back and forward, and his executive posse gradually came out in favour of Allan Iverson.

The meeting ended when Stan said three little words.

He said, "Go get him !"

Yes, Iversen is a red-hot basketball player.

And he is tiny. He is only six feet tall !

Arsenal apology / Hleb /Senderos / Reina / Cristiano/ Deco

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:00:05 +0000

The Arsenal Property Company is in a period of apology and explanation.

Forget the three remaining games. They realise that they have to explain what has happened since Birmingham on February 23.

Arsene is doing a Q& A with shareholders.

A friend asked me yesterday if he should go. I said, “If you want to stay mad at him, don’t go. If you do go, you’ll be won over, you’ll be converted. He is spellbinding.He’s very, very persuasive. You saw what he was like at the AGM and that wasn’t even Arsene at his best.”

Last week Reading marked man-for-man, although the papers didn’t note that, as far as I’m aware. Murty followed Hleb all over the field and eventually Hleb got sick of it and slapped him and that is “violent conduct” and a three-match ban.

The Independent says Senderos could be sold. In the right team, with a different training regime and a different dressing room, Senderos might become a good centreback. He has qualities. He has potential. He is 23 and still young enough to make it.

Champions League afterthoughts?

I was too hard on Reina. Having seen replays of Kalou’s cross and Riise’s own-goal sixteen times, it was a wicked cross, hit early and hard, a very, very nasty ball that Reina could not have dived for.

Memo to all forwards: If you’re losing a big game in the 95th minute, hit the same ball that Kalou hit at Anfield. It might pay off.

Overall, too much negativity in the 1-1 at Anfield and the 0-0 at the Nou Camp.

Rafa nullified Chelsea better than I’ve ever seen them nullified before and he deserved to win the game 1-0.

Torres was a bit tense in his first megamatch. This semi was the biggest game he’s ever played and, with everyone looking at him to make the difference, Torres tried to make sure and took a second touch and hit Cech, the best goalkeeper in the competition, and the man who might win the European Cup for Chelsea, despite his injuries.

It’s a very weird, artificial, political situation at Chelsea.

The 30,000 geezers, and the media, think that John Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole are the brand. But they’re not. Chelsea is bigger than JT, Frank and Joe. But it's not a big club. It’s a medium-sized club with 40,000 punters and a rich owner.

Chelsea are slight favourites now but Torres can be sharper and Crouch may be important. Against them, Essien and Cech, two players who win games. Abramovich might say : Get me to Moscow and I’ll give you £5 million each.

In Barcelona, Sir Alex tried to do tactics and made a fool of himself.

But he got away with a 0-0 after Cristiano Ronaldo, a man bursting with Latin pride, tried to take the coolest penalty of all time. He changed his technique and hit it wide.

Putting Park on the left and Rooney on the right was crazy, and having Ronaldo down the middle took away his raison d’etre. That stripped the team of what Ronaldo does best : to boldly join an attack at very high speed, or to initiate an attack at very high speed.

Cristiano Ronaldo is not just a big, fast, tricky winger. He is a momentum player who adds cannonball force to an attack. You don’t take an Olympic slalom champion and put him in the London marathon, surrounded by a crowd that gives him no room to accelerate and no spaces to explode into. That was utter bollocks by Fergie.

Ronaldo only linked with Rooney once in 94 minutes. After 72, Rooney switched to the left and we saw the real Manchester United for 25 seconds. That was exciting but it was only for 25 seconds.

Carrick said they had a game-plan and it worked. True. Sir Alex was super-cautious because he wants to win it once more than Sir Matt and hes been waiting nine years to win it a second time. His record in the Champions League is piss-poor and he knows it. He even jokes about it.

No Vidic, Nou Camp, scared of Messi, first leg - he locked the game up. He has two ignition-men, two sparky players who get his attack going. But he didn’t use either of them. He had Anderson on the bench and Rooney on the right wing, where he had never played before, and where he kicked the ball three times, if that

United will win the second leg, I’m sure. But they know a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford will put them out.

So far this week the biggest clubs have not produced spectacular football and that’s understandable because there is strife almost everywhere.

At Chelsea, the rift is between Grant and the players.
At Liverpool, the rift is between the owners.
At Barcelona, the rift is between the players, I gather, between Eto’o, Deco and Ronaldinho. Deco is still a helluva player, by the way. He’s not finished. Arsenal should buy Deco. He’s a lot better than Hleb or Flamini. He could take some weight off Fabregas and teach him a lot.

At Manchester United, there's no rift. Just a team of champions and a manager who spent £53 million on Nani, Anderson and Hargreaves. He also got Tevez on loan and has to pay £20 million for him this summer. So Sir Alex has collected the strongest squad he’s ever had. No wonder nobody can beat them, even when he picks the wrong team. His players are so good, it doesn’t matter that he picks the wrong team.

Bottom line, then, a strange old week : Rafa nullified Chelsea and Sir Alex nullified Manchester United.

The second legs will be interesting and dramatic. I love big games where big players do big things.

Today I've seen the best thing I've ever seen on YouTube.

I'm serious.

This is the best thing I've ever seen on YouTube.

Check out the equipment the recording artists are using. Fabulous! So British ! So analogue !

This has made my May and May ain't even started yet. I'm gonna watch this clip every day. It's a tonic. It's medicinal, like Van Morrison, like Miles Davis.

John Terry can't out-manage Rafa, can he ?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:52:42 +0000

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Kuyt 42, Riise o.g.95
_____________________

Pepe Reina is a line keeper.

In the fifth minute of injury time a low cross from Kalou comes over in his six yard box and it's his ball but he doesn’t go for it. Cech would claim it, Almunia would claim it too. Most keepers would dive on that ball.

But Reina doesn’t and sub Riise had no right foot. If he'd had a right foot he would have put that ball into Row Z.
Instead, Riise ducks down and sends a bullet header past Reina to gift Chelsea an equaliser they did not deserve.

I enjoyed the first half, even though it was tactical combat rather than good football. It was a tense battle, balanced on a knife-edge, with Xabi Alonso pinging balls better than Jan Molby.

Torres was invisible for half an hour and suddenly Stevie G played him in and he took a second touch when he should have taken one and slotted it across Cech. Second touch, hit Cech, Rafa annoyed.

I’m thinking : After 65, bring Crouch on and win 2-0. Then Kuyt scrambles a goal, banging it between the legs of Cech after sloppy play by Lampard, who lost the ball to Kuyt before Mascherano miskicked a shot that broke for Kuyt to make it 1-0.

Second half, Liverpool were rolling and looked good for about 15 minutes, looked like getting the second goal. Babel was beating Paulo Ferreira for fun, so PF smacked him in the face with his arm as they went up for a ball. Then left back Fabio Aurelio was injured. He went off with a tweaked groin and Liverpool were never as dominant after that.

John Terry is managing Chelsea right now and doing it badly. He thinks the players are in charge and he thinks they are tactically astute enough to take on Rafa Benitez. They ain’t.

If I had been manager I’d have taken Drogba off after an hour, or earlier, as he was the worst player on the field.

I’m one of his biggest fans but DD was useless ! He is a great guy and a wonderful gladiator. But here he was a joke in a dire team performance. He wasn't fit, so what we saw was a caricature of the real Drogba. Even in his diving days he was never the worst player on the pitch. If he plays like that against Manchester United on Saturday, Chelsea have no chance.But I don't think he will start that game.They should get him fit for the second leg.

Joe Cole was hopeless, so Grant hooked him off and put Kalou on.

I really hate player-power. But at big clubs the stars diminish the authority of the manager. He should have put Kalou on for Drogba but if he'd done that JT would never speak to him again and the fans would want his blood and the media would slaughter him even more.

Grant should make them watch a DVD of that farce kick by kick and show them how wholly crap they were at Anfield. Only Cech, Carvalho and Ballack did their jobs. The rest of them stunk the place out and were very, very lucky when Riise gave them that lifeline.

Liverpool should have kept on attacking and gone for the second goal. They will never face a weaker Chelsea midfield than that. I knew Chelsea would miss Essien but I didn’t think they would miss him a much as that.

Sad to see Claude Makelele so far over the hill. He has been a holding player of genius, a black belt judo champion in football boots, a tiny assassin with a PhD in bodychecks. Maka has a vast repertoire of fouls and obstructions which are movements of seven inches and five inches.

Skrtel and Mascherano were good, Stevie G was decent, Torres showed that he is new to games of this magnitude. He will handle it better next time. He's a helluva player and may have the last laugh at the Bridge.
Before tonight, Liverpool had played nine European semi-finals without conceding a goal at Anfield. How professional is that! Now Reina and Riise have spoiled that amazing record

If Chelsea v Man United is a draw on Saturday, Chelsea are kaput in the title race.

So they would have only Moscow to go for. JT wanted a clause in his contract that he would manage Chelsea when he retired from playing! What planet are these guys on?

Chelsea’s core fans are all geezers (apart from a few thousand doctors, lawyers, accountants and City types) and the geezers think JT is their brother. He is one of them.

To play entertaining football, Abramovich will have to sell at least six players and put a proper coach in place. JT and his gang have so far resisted Grant’s attempts to get them to play more football.

They want to win ugly, the Mourinho way. And Abramovich has found that he can pay off Jose but the stamp of the Special One still lingers on their style and their attitude.That stamp is an asset but it makes them a team the owner does not want to see. He was absent on business last night.They say he is buying a coal mine in Zimbabwe.

Torres & Stevie G tonight, Ronaldo to light up Nou Camp

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:26:14 +0000

Liverpool v Chelsea is on ITV tonight.

Abramovich wants Chelsea to play like Barcelona.
He wants them to play stylish attacking football like Barca used to provide when they won back-to-back titles. When we watched that team we enjoyed flair, entertainment, surprises, excitement .

But Mourinho's players want to win.
And Avram Grant says he wants them to play with more style .

My money is on Rafa. I thought he would beat Arsenal and I think he’ll beat Chelsea as well.

Why? Because Essien is suspended and the great Makelele is over the hill. Because Drogba's not as awesome as he was, Lampard's not as prolific, John Terry can't jump so high since he had that bumper car accident.

When Chelsea were good enough to win the league twice they were not good enough to beat Liverpool in the Champions League.

Lampard missed two sitters the first time they played at the Bridge. I’m fairly judicious in my use of the term "sitter" because it depends who the player is as well as where the ball is.What is an easy chance to one player is not a sitter to another. But the two chances Lampard missed are two he will always remember. If he had slotted one, Chelsea would probably have won. If he had slotted both, the second leg at Anfield was irrelevant.

Those two chances, to a goalscoring midfielder like David Platt or Frank Lampard, were sitters. Nobody could believe he had missed them because he scored dozens of goals from easier chances than those two.If he scores tonight he might forget about the two that got away.

In six Champions League games between Liverpool and Chelsea there have been three goals and three 0-0 draws.

But all of that is history and history is bunk and history is pre-Fernando Torres. He did not come from Spain to read history, he came to write history. As you know, in games like this, unlikely goalscorers often pop up. Who can forget Wayne Bridge? Mascherano only scores one goal a season, so we would not talk about him.

Rafa Benitez is close to his third Champions League final in four years and he gave us a big clue when he said, "We know that we need to score and not concede, if it is possible."

He would say that. Rafa says that kind of thing all the time. I suppose I like Rafa because I was brought up on Brain Clough and Bob Paisley and then I spent eight and a half years with George Graham.

Therefore I love good defending and clean sheets. That, to me, is a big part of football. I’ve met Dixon, Adams, Winterburn and many other players. I can’t remember whether I’ve met Steve Bould but recall doing a phone interview with him. I can’t remember meeting Martin Keown either but I may have done. I vividly remember Keown’s first 20 games for Arsenal. He was amazing. He was incredible. He played 20 blinders in a row. I’ve never seen any centre half play 20 blinders in a row and never will again. Not at that level of intensity anyway.

In tonight's game the past means nothing when the whistle blows at 7.45 pm. This semi might not be what the experts expect. First legs are usually very cagey but there could be goals this time. Who knows, it might be a classic. I hope Liverpool win because I want Arsenal to be the first London club to win the European Cup. If Liverpool win by 1-0 on aggregate, fine.

In the Nou Camp, Barcelona will be scared of Manchester United.

Their pride could be hurt and they know that. The club is in an end-of-era mode, playing out time as Rijkaard and Ronaldinho prepare to leave, as Eto'o looks around.

Today it’s reported that Hargreaves might mark Messi man-for-man but I doubt that. Andy Gray reckons Messi will be facing Evra and Rooney in the right side, a near-impossible challenge for the rusty imp of the wriggling dribble.

Hargreaves will be used to block off the inter-passing of Xavi-Iniesta-Eto'o-Messi in front of the D. When Barcelona were great they applied their talent in groups to create tons of goals, as United do now in a different style.

Deco was a big part of their title teams but Rijkaard fell out with him. Intriguingly, it's Deco who was put forward for media interviews on Monday. Deco is combative, the kind of guy you need when you face the Red Devils.

A lot depends on Sir Alex's team selection.

He is capable of a bizarre line-up in an away game as big as this. When his team is announced I may be hiding behind the sofa with my hands over my ears.

Still, we do not expect to see the dumb defending we saw when Morten Gamst Pedersen threw that ball into the box at Ewood Park on Saturday. Jason Roberts ducked, the ball hit Vidic and then Ferdinand, and, as Evra stood like a statue, Roque Santa Cruz knocked in a goal that could have cost United the Premier League title.United will not be so sloppy against Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo says United have to win both the title and the Champions League to be regarded as the greatest Manchester United team ever. He is a star and a winner. If you play for United you live with history and try to beat history. I think that's good. It's always good to aim high. The lad has had a scintillating season so far and it will be interesting to see if he can turn it on in the Nou Camp.

As I say, Barcelona will be nervous. The main component of the Latin personality is pride. The main component of the American personality is salesmanship.The main component of the English personality is, I happen to believe, a sense of fair play.

What about the French ? Any suggestions?

Arsenal targets may terrify those clinging to the comfort blanket

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:44:49 +0000

Arsene Wenger has been a comfort blanket for the fans since 1998.

They go to bed at night and suck the edge of the blanket and enjoy sweet dreams.They are sure that Arsene Knows.

He’s also been a comfort blanket for the directors. They knew they could build Ashburton Grove if he agreed to stay.The board think Arsene Knows.

He’s also been a comfort blanket for the mainstream media because he is so different, so quotable, so charming.
In the main, the TV, radio and press reporters think Arsene Knows.

So the media allow Arsene to move the goalposts.
Last season he said, in effect : We play the prettiest football, we have the best kids.
This season, amazingly, he said : It’s not just about trophies, it's about style as well.

When the players talk, it’s often HMV.
His Master’s Voice.
But not when Gallas talks, not when Lehmann talks.

On Saturday, talking about the season after the Reading game, Arsene said something that would stop you in your tracks, even if you accepted everything he had said in the last two weeks.

He said, "This has been the best played at Arsenal since I've been here. The collective technical display has been the best in the last 12 years, but we have not won.”

Every Spring, in April-May, you have to know who to believe.

You have to look at those journalists who are closest to the club to find out what might happen in the transfer market.

One of those who knows the club best is Steve Stammers, who was on the Evening Standard and now works for The Sunday Mirror. Steve used to write Tony’s programme notes and Arsene’s programme notes. He wrote those for years without a byline.

Stammers is reliable and I generally believe what he writes. He says Arsene is in for Valencia’s Raul Albiol, a six foot two inch 22-year old defender in a team that’s 15th in the Primera Liga.

He’s also in for Huntelaar, the Ajax striker we all know.

He likes 17-year old Cardiff midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

He’s also looking for a third choice keeper who will be behind No.1 Almunia and No.2 Fabianski.

And that's it.
Yes, that’s it, says Steve.

Can that really be it? Because if it is, some Gooners will give up on next season right now.

For a few days I thought that Arsene had started to listen. But the Stammers piece suggests the opposite. What he wrote on Sunday is consistent with the club’s recent summers and also with most of Arsene’s remarks this month .

I can’t quote all his recent remarks and I can’t even quote all the remarks that worried me. But I can sum up his recent remarks in four words : You are all wrong. That is what he is saying, really. He is saying we know nothing, we are all wrong.

Last season Arsenal went out of three competitions in 11 days. This season they were flying for six months but collapsed after winning 2-0 in the San Siro on March 4. Three years, no trophies. Nothing since a jammy FA Cup in 2005, won on penalties after they had been battered for two goalless hours by Man United.

As Robbie Pires said, Arsenal is a French club playing in the English league. The last three captains have been French but now, we are told, Cesc Fabregas is being groomed to for the role and could take over this summer.

That would send a signal to the world's young footballers : Come and play with Cesc ! Arsene will put you in the first team.

But do young players learn from other young players? Don’t they learn from older players? How long will he stay if he is captain at 21 ? Does Cesc really want to play in a team that falls away every March ? Doesn’t he need four more players as good as Sagna to help him win trophies?

On Sunday morning I saw John, my gambling greengrocer, who was working when the Arsenal-Reading game was on and when the Blackburn-Man United game was on after that.

"What were yesterday’s games like?" he asked.

"The United game was a thriller. Brad Friedel was playing them on his own and winning 1-0. Tevez equalised from two yards with two minutes to go. A very exciting battle. It made the Arsenal game look like netball."

Score : Arsenal 2 Reading 0.

ANR replies : the Adebayor debate

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:35:30 +0000

Loads of comments lately, some abusive, some supportive, some whacky.

Many say : striker Niang of Marseilles isn't that good. And I accept that is probably the case.

We have many thousands of wonderful readers and we get marvellous emails.And we have done for the last 10 years.That is why I keep writing here, as much as I can. Which will sometimes be not a lot. Won't be a lot over the next 22 days. But I will do, as always, as much as I can.

I should say this : I do not write to provoke a reaction.

Yes, I let my frustration show. I still get angry.

My mistake, sometimes, is to write five minutes after a match has finished.

From: cescational
Date: Mon Apr 14, 2008
Subject : way off the boil

As good as some blogs are, you are getting under the skin of many fans. If 26 goals is not good enough from a person who has been playing upfront alone for 46 games+ is not good enough, I don't know what is. You seem to think that football is a game of championship manager where you can just say "5 in, 5 out". Well, it's not. Take it from a guy with an economics degree, studying for his masters, there's more to players than a price tag.

From : Face
Date: Apr 14, 2008
Subject: You must be joking?

Niang?

Ligue 1 is the 5th best league in Europe. Had he been a real class act, he would have been snapped up long ago by a top spanish/german club.

Benzema is a must buy, he is tailor-made for this Arsenal team. Young, direct, rocket fast, powerful, clinical and French.

Makes me laugh when people go on about how good Adebayor is and how he has got 20 league goals this season... my retort ? Michael Chopra would have scored at least 25 with the service this team gives the strikers.

Subject: Adebayor the clown
From : Phil Brunetti
Date : April 16, 2008

Tell me, Myles, what gives you the right to call 26-goal Emmanuel Adebayor "a clown"?

I check this page everytime I'm on the computer because I respect your view on the game and on Arsenal in particular, especially as you have frequently come in to contact with Arsene Wenger himself, which is alot more than can be said for the many thousands of Arsenal "fan" sites, 99% of which are complete bollocks.

However I was dumbfounded to read what you wrote about Adebayor's performance on Sunday and about the man in general. Yes, he missed a couple of chances but tell me what striker doesn't do that in a big game? Did Thierry Henry stick his one-on-one away with 20 to go against Barcelona in Paris? No he did not. Wayne Rooney missed a couple of sitters on Sunday as well, is he a clown?

Sometimes I just feel as if all you're doing is trying to provoke a reaction, which is what you're getting here, so well done.

Adebayor has been unplayable at times this season. The way he led the line against AC Milan in the San Siro, especially first half, was exemplary. Lest we forget that the man is 23! 23 years old and in his first season as Arsenal's no.1 striker he bangs in 26 goals, most weeks being played up there on his own. He's also developed the knack of scoring in big games, such as on Sunday and against Liverpool last week, even when things weren't always going for him. Even if he doesn't score/misses glorious opportunities/is a "clown", the defenders he faces will not have had an easy 90 minutes dealing with his pace and physical strength.

What evidence have you amassed to suggest that Nicklas Bendtner is "BY FAR" Arsenal's best striker? Even if he was, you later go on to say that Arsenal "actually have no strikers", something of a contradiction there, but that's beside the point. I don't have a problem with Bendtner, I think he provides an option when required and he could well turn into a fine player, but on the basis of this season then that sort of statement is ridiculous.

My final point surrounds your last post, about the Marseille striker (dare we say his name). If he's 28 and that good, then why is he still playing in France? Surely Arsene would have snapped him up a long time ago if he thought anything of him?

I understand alot of what being a football fan is about are opinions, and whether we agree or not with each other's is part of the fun of following a team. However, what upset me was that I have respected your opinion over the years, but with statements such as the clown one, I am starting to forget where that respect came from. I just find it rude, more than anything, to label someone who has clearly given us fans many good moments this season a "clown". It's symptomatic of the way fans have become of late.

People base their opinions on the last game, then decide someone's awful and needs replacing, then go and find out who's scoring goals in some obscure European league, then type him into youtube and all of a sudden there's our solution. Arsenal may have come up slightly short this season, but my word the boys gave it a fucking good go didn't they? I, for one, have no complaints about any of the players (yes, Eboue hasn't been great but imagine having 60,000 people on your back every week?) and certainly not about the manager.

So my message to you Myles, and to all those other Arsenal fans who have been quick to crucify Adebayor et al, is SHOW SOME RESPECT. They gave it everything, and it wasn't quite good enough, but next year and in the years to come it might just be.

Thanks very much.