Goonerburgh

Dear FIFA

2012-07-17T13:44:00.002+05:30

The Following is an excerpt from " Loudmouth " and this has been posted for bringing more people to read some quality stuff from English writers.

"
I find it hard to understand how anyone could be surprised that England slobbered their way out of Euro 2012 on penalties in the quarter finals. In fact, I find it hard to understand how anyone could even be disappointed. England did almost exactly what they always do. That’s not disappointing. It’s no cause for celebration either, but the appropriate reaction would be to feel exactly how you feel when anything that always happens, happens. Like when the Earth continues to orbit the sun. How I feel about that is exactly how I felt about England’s loss, and if you felt any different then you either over or under reacted.

Euro 2012 Team

Actually I lied slightly in that introduction. I was pleased when we proved that as a nation we’re still worse at penalties than a maimed swan with sub-average depth perception. This is not because I have an overwhelming hate of John Terry and Wayne Rooney; no, that hate extends to pretty much all professional footballers, English or not. In reality I was pleased because it meant the chance of being involved in a football related conversation, or at least being obliged to take part in one, fell dramatically.
Conversations about football tend not to be particularly invigorating. If you’ve ever seen two dogs barking at one another through a fence, with the barking becoming progressively louder over a period of minutes and occasionally being interspersed with dribbling and growling, then you will know what it’s like to listen to a “discussion” between an Arsenal fan and a Tottenham fan. Because both football fans are unable to draw from anything other than a depressing catalogue of biased clichés, no conversation can ever get past an opposing series of empty statements. Strip away any details about specific matches and players and this is near enough what you’re left with:
“Our team is really good”
“Yeah but you lost to that other team”
“Yeah but the referee”
“Football”
“Football”
And anyway, it’s not like one fan is going to be convinced that their team is inferior and elect to switch their allegiance even if the other fan is catastrophically good at arguing, meaning the argument is instantly rendered redundant as well as grating. So, as I was saying, England’s defeat means I’m probably less likely to have to mumble something about Balotelli being ‘erratic’ to try and make it seem like I vaguely care about Euro 2012.
Now, I must make it clear that I’m not one of those people who thinks that all sport is as dull as watching already dry paint continue to be dry and should be confined to a metaphorical bin. And I don’t try, as many of these sorts of people do, to prove a sport’s dullness by describing it in terms that in no way capture what it’s about. For instance, describing football as “a bunch of men kicking a ball around”, motorsport as “just some cars going round a track”, or golf as “pensioners endlessly trying to poke a ball into a hole”. Although obviously it is difficult to argue with that description of golf.
No, you might actually be surprised to hear that I like football - and if you were one of the people who found England’s defeat surprising then your eyes have probably leapt from your skull in shock. I’d definitely go as far as to say it’s the best sport in the world; great fun to play and, at its best, fantastic to watch. It just seems to me that the people involved in professional football have made it hard to enjoy and have ultimately put me off taking an active interest in it.
By this I don’t just mean the footballers themselves: that goes without saying. You don’t need me to construct an analogy to highlight how they’re all twats, and it’s a cliché to point it out anyway. In truth, I’d say more effective at making professional football unwatchable are pundits. During England versus Italy I was subjected to the commentary of Mark Lawrenson, who was so negative I started to wonder whether he was involved in some elaborate bet, possibly with the Grim Reaper, and stood to win £150 if he successfully sapped each and every droplet of joy from not just the match, but life itself.
I don’t even know why we need pundits, especially commentators. Their principal role is to merely describe what’s happening, almost as if no-one’s told them that what they’re describing is also being filmed and that their role is therefore totally unnecessary. And don’t tell me that they provide insight. Mark Lawrenson may have given me an insight into what it’s like to have a soul made of coal, but when it actually came to the football any ‘insight’ was essentially restricted to elaborately stating the obvious.
I just think it’s a shame that what is such a superb sport is made so unlikeable by the way it’s presented. Basically, if football wants to win back my attention, which I’m sure it does, it needs to have no pundits, no players, and no fans. Because these are the things that are wrong with it.
I’ll let you know if FIFA write back.

"

Arsene Wenger – The second coming

2012-05-18T11:55:00.000+05:30

The arrival of German International Lukas Podolski from FC Koln marked a change in Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy. The signing of the £11 million rated striker would be the peak of the change in the way players are bought into the club. But this change is not sudden, it did not start overnight. Maybe the actual spark was the 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Manchester United that hit Arsene right at his head; it really must have nerved him to watch his team lose so badly at the hands of his long-standing rival, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Dejection

That loss saw the panic button being pressed and saw Wenger bringing in a plethora of players (Park Chu Young,Mikel Arteta,Andre Santos,Per Mertesacker).Till that day,he had made only what you would call ‘ Wenger Signings’ which included Alex ‘Ox’ Chamberlain,Gervinho,Joel Campbell and Carl Jenkinson,all great talents, unproven and young. The difference in the two groups of players were easily identifiable, the second set,the ones bought after the 8-2 loss were all older and more experienced.

Change of ways??

Out went the regular scrimmaging for a bargain and a more readiness to pay the top dollar for the proven talent was seen in the old warhorse. It looked like he is more ready to pay money to get his targets before other teams come in and swoop away a deal. This also shows with his dealing in the current season. He already has secured Podolski and looks to add Yann M’vila, Shinji Kagawa and Matias Suarez to the ranks. All reputed and proven names (maybe the exception of Suarez, but what would Wenger be if he can’t bring in at least one gem??)

New-Boy Lukas

Seven seasons without a trophy would be enough for any person to take a change, and this has been long enough for Wenger and this could be part-II of Wenger’s reign at Arsenal. There are many reasons being said, some say it was the move from Highbury and the debt that followed. Some would say the loss of several high profile players in the span of 2-3 years. All this together forced Wenger to build a squad deeply based on Youth Development and Shrewd Bargain Buys and hoping that the team chemistry and raw hunger among the players would help them win trophies. Somewhere along the way, Wenger lost the plot, that foundation he built never had the strength to mount a serious challenge. There were moments of greatness but there was never enough substance for them to ever become serious enough. Each time, the failure was more hard to take and more players kept leaving off for ‘Greener Pastures’.

More to come?

Now it seems that the time has passed and Wenger is making a very hard effort to keep his best players and sign more well-accomplished ones. Wenger was heard saying that he wanted to build another invincible squad and I and rest of the gooner community hope that this is the dawn of a new age at the Grove.

For some of you viewers who are interested, Podolski's first interview as an Arsenal Player.

Transfer Rumors-The Good and the Bad (Part-2)

2011-06-18T23:01:00.000+05:30

Arsenal had the team with the most depth in the PL last season.That is a fact.But we lacked players who had a driving force,a player who could conjure up some real magic in our most desperate moments.

We discussed who all could be leaving in the first part of this post.Now we shall talk about who all could be coming in to the squad.

Probable New Gunners

Gervinho

What we need?

The Ivory Coast international who plays as striker or winger for the Ligue 1 champions Lille FC has been constantly linked with Arsenal throughout the summer.Latest news from various papers say that an agreement has been made and we are waiting for the player to return from holidaying to get his signature and get the personal terms agreed.He is supposed to cost around 11 million pounds and is seen as a strike partner to RVP.He is a skilled player who can play as a lone striker or a right winger,even work as a support striker.He has got good pace and dribbling skills,also he is very strong,also we can even polish his forehead and use it as a distraction to goalkeeper during set-pieces (lame-joke),

Eden Hazard

New Ronaldo?

Another player from Lille FC who is in Arsenal's radar is Eden Hazard.Him and Gervinho were two of the main reasons behind their first title in years.At 20 years old,he is already an established player and also he would be one who could stay in the line-up for years to come.He has got a lot of pace and is very comfortable with the ball,always looking to beat the defender (beats the defender most of the time!).He can play on both wings and also in attacking midfield. He is a player of very high standard and skill and don't come cheap.Lille will be looking at something between 20 and 25 million pounds.Maybe Wenger will be willing to break bank for this shining star.

Christopher Samba

Aerial Prowess

The 27 year old defender was rumored to join Arsenal in the winter transfer window and it still hasn't changed this summer.The Rovers center-back is a very strong and tall defender with bucket-loads of premier league experience.At this age,he would be at the peak of his career and he would be the perfect defender to use against the lesser teams of the PL against whom we struggle.He could also be a fantastic asset for us while defending set-pieces,With Rovers already down a CB,it would take some convincing (and spending) on Wenger's part to bring this Congolese player to the Emirates.

Gary Cahill

Winner in the air

A player similar to Samba in most aspects Cahill is a aerially powerful center back with good ball-winning ability.But his price has been inflated because he is English and Wenger will have to shell out 20 million pounds to sign him.At 26,he too will be at his best and could be a good partner for Vermaelen.As good as it seems,I couldn't see Wenger giving off such a huge sum for one player.But weirder things have happened and maybe he could end up at the Emirates next season.

Thats all the rumors we have for you today folks.Goodnight and have a great day tomorrow.You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook,Twitter & Tumblr as well! Take care!

Transfer Rumors-The Good and the Bad (Part-1)

2011-06-17T12:13:00.000+05:30

Well a season has come and gone and Arsenal are once again left wanting.At one point in the season we were in for a historic Quadruple,but as they say it, "We Choked",again.What went wrong? What is it that needs to change? Goonerburgh discussed this on its post on 27/04/2011,so we won't go more into it.
The topic of this post will be mainly about the transfers that could take place at the
Emirates,the entries and exits.We shall take a look through on who all could be
leaving and also a look at possible newbies.

PROBABLE Ex-ARSENAL PLAYERS

Nicklas Bendtner

Supremely Confident

Bendtner joined Arsenal in the summer of 2004 from the Danish club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub.He has had a pretty decent time in the club considering he has being played out of position by Wenger most of the time. In 196 appearances for the club,he has had 58 goals and 31 assists, a decent return by any standards,and in this season he has had 32 appearances (18 as subs) and gave a return of 9 goals and 8 assists.This,after being played on the right wing as a sub of Walcott,should be considered a good contribution.But the Danish Mr.Confident has fallen down the pecking order and with possible recruits coming in this summer,he could fall further down the ladder.He has gone as far as saying that he wants to leave publicly and supposedly Sporting Lisbon and Dortmund have made bids.With him down the pecking order,I would like to see him play some good football for some other club rather than sit idle in ours.And he is the kind of player who doesn't sit idle.Dortmund is the more exciting offer and I hope he gets it.

Carlos Vela

Mehican Chipper

The Mexican International,joined Arsenal in November 2005,but was unable to play till 2008 due to the lack of a work permit.He has had a disappointing time at the Emirates despite his massive promise.He will be remembered for his 'Chips' and was a classy finisher,but he failed to make even one PL start for Arsenal this season and his winter loan off to West Bromwich was a failure as well.With him being 5th choice (RVP,Chamakh,Nicklas,Arshavin)and with the emergence of J.E.T,chances of him starting for Arsenal in the future are getting slimmer.There are many clubs interested in signing him,with Galatasaray and Swansea City being the main 2 in the race.

Manuel Almunia

The man who fumbled...a lot

The Spaniard joined Arsenal from Celta Vigo in 2004 and since have made 109 appearances for the club.He has had quite a lot of opportunities to prove himself and has shown flashes of brilliance,but never was it consistent.He started this season as first choice goalkeeper,but fell down the ladder behind Fabianski and Szczesny. Even when both of them were injured,Wenger brought in the Mad German to play b/w the sticks rather than have him play.This showed the fall of faith in this once touted keeper.A lot of clubs are said to be interested in this glovesman and maybe he will go somewhere where he will get a lot of playing time.

Denilson

Not the no.1 prospect anymore

Maybe the most underrated player in the squad after Rosicky,Denilson has been very vocal about his desire to leave Arsenal.He joined from Sao Paulo after making only about 12 appearances for them.But Wenger was supremely confident when he signed him and early sights of him were very promising and it looked a bright future for this young Brazilian.This season has been anything but great,after making 32 appearances (12 as subs),he failed to score a goal or even make an assist.He was even criticized by many fans for his side passes.But they for one failed to see that the much touted "Best Passer" in the world made more side-passes than poor Denilson.He has been pretty disappointed,but chances have come plenty and well,he hadn't shined as much as he could have.Personally I would like to see him play for another season and then make a judgement.But he has been saying he wants to leave and we should respect it,also his loss is affordable,with the emergence of Wilshere and Ramsey.We could see him going to a German club mostly.

Thats it for the day people.Will come back later with the second part,where I will talk about who all could be coming in to the squad. Have a great day folks.You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook,Twitter and Tumblr.

Sky TV changed Football

2011-06-07T15:33:00.002+05:30

The 1990's saw a change in world football that was of epic proportions.The Premiership was born (with the help of Sky TV) and English Clubs discovered marketing.Till then,most of the football clubs ignored the most basic marketing strategies.The relied on meeting just the basic fundamental needs of the fans,which were,broadcasting the 90 minute game and selling a few replica t-shirts.They never imagined the untapped possibilities that lay in front of them.

Other brands envy football clubs.They don't have customers who are as fiercely loyal as club fans.They stick through thick and thin with the club.The trick for the clubs would have been to maintain and build future audiences by seeing them as customers as well as fans.

The Big Four

TV has been the main catalyst behind football's speedy commercial development.The worldwide broadcast of the Premiership brought in more number of fans than the clubs could imagine.All these fans were potential customers who could help in the rise of a club's revenue.This increase in number of fans brought the clubs to improve on its merchandising strategies.More replica shirts were made,along with other things like coffee mugs,key-chains,scarfs,watches etc. Merchandise stores started popping up in other countries,slowly expanding their worldwide market reach and value.This in-turn helped raise their revenue.By 2000, it was evident that some clubs were way better at marketing themselves than others.The vast gulf in b/w the top 4 teams and the rest in the Premiership showed and 'Superclubs' emerged.

Galacticos,batch of 2000

The revolution also changed the relation b/w club and player.The players have become more aware of their commercial power and now make more money than the older generation footballers could dream of.They have become media savvy and have a high valuation of themselves,a good example being the policy of 'Galacticos' favored by Real Madrid FC, where they have a group of star players with enormous commercial power.This brought about the formation of a team of stars rather than a star team.The trick is to bring about a balance in b/w the club brand and the player brand.

Arsenal in the Community

Brands need to be loved.Football Club Brands have a great advantage over brands of other kinds.They bring about not just love,but undying loyalty.Brands have the power to make money and even influence people.The can change minds,mood and behavior.So with all this power,comes responsibility as role models.So a perfect club brand would be the one which has a good balance b/w club and player and is a force for commercial as well as social development.

Season Finale

2011-05-22T11:29:00.000+05:30

Another season has come to pass and Arsenal have, as usual fallen out of the title-race towards the the end of the season.This has been a trend we have been following fot the past few seasons .From fighting for the title, we have fallen to scraping for automatic qualification into Europe.

This will turn out to be another season of what-ifs.What if RVP and Fabregas played more than 30 games each?What if Nasri continued the form he was in,the first half of the season?What if Arshavin was more consistent?What if Vermaelen wasn't injured?.But the biggest what if will be 'What if we had won the Carling Cup? ' Well the thing is,that is how life is.Things happen,and there is no productivity in simply sitting and thinking what it would have been had we had won something or had some player done better.All we can do now is focus on the future.

Our immediate attention should be on the final fixture of the league against Fulham at Craven Cottage,where we will have to win,in order to stand a chance for third place.We have to win,as well as hope for a City blunder to directly go into Europe next season.Otherwise,we will have to go through the qualifiers to get to the group stage.

Arsenal head to Craven Cottage with just 2 wins from the oast 10 matches.The manager puts this bad run of form mainly due to the loss in the Carling Cup final.He said more than the result,it was the manner of the loss that affected the players.He said "If you get that first trophy,then you hope more will follow." Well,we didn't get that trophy and more hasn't followed.So,we need to learn how to come back from such dissapointments on a much higher note

Arsenal could be playing without Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas,both of whom will be carrying their injuries in to the summer.Gibbs and Squillaci could be given starts along with Arshavin

Possible Starting Line-up: Szczesny,Sagna,Squillaci,Vermaelen,Gibbs,Song,Wilshere,Arshavin,Ramsey,Walcott,RVP

Only a win would do,and Wenger's men would do everything they can to secure that 3rd place and restore some lost confidence.So I would go on to predict a 2-1 win to the Gunners.

The Return of the Verminator

2011-05-08T12:00:00.000+05:30

The Stoke match on Sunday could see the unexpected return of Thomas Vermaelen after an Achilles injury that kept him out of competitive football for nearly the entire season and his return is because of the Hamstring injury suffered by fellow defender Johan Djourou.Arsene said that he is match-fit and that he doesn't lack any sharpness as his,was not the type of injury that would cause him to be in the bed all the time.His return would be a welcome addition to a side that just lost Samir Nasri,Diaby and Cesc Fabregas to small injuries.

The Arsenal defense has come under a lot of criticism this season,but statistics speak differently.Arsenal have let in the least number of goals from open-play (51% of the goals we have let in have come from set-pieces),but set-pieces still pose a big problem.And that big problem could come to bite Arsenal in their ass on Sunday if they are not alert the whole 90 mins.Stoke are a team who like to play football with their heads rather than their feet.Long throws(and I mean looooooooooooong) and free kicks are their main source of goals and up front they have a very tall and physical player in Jones. So Koscielny and Vermaelen will have to be on their toes and play very intelligent.A Squillaci-Kozzer pairing wouldn't worry me too much either as he was pretty stable in the ManUre match and I'd rather not risk starting Vermaelen against the physical Stoke.

With Clichy having a big chance of missing the match with a niggling injury,Gibbs might get a rare start.But I rather have Clichy recover in time and make the start.One of Arsene's mistakes this season was thinking Gibbs was ready to make the jump.If it were upto me I would have sent him on loan to one of the BPL clubs to get some premiership experience before coming back to fight for a place in the first team

Ruggers Beware!

Leaving all that,another big media story about this weekend's game is AarOne Ramsey's return to the scene of the crime,the place where it all nearly ended for him.15 months after that horrific "accident" that nearly ended his career,AarOne Ramsey is returning to the Britannia Stadium where he will start against Stoke.This would be the final step of his rehabilitation (unless Shawcross decides otherwise) for the 20 year-old."Yes [it is good for him to go back and] the earlier the better because there will always be a question mark about that.At the end of the day you focus on football and you play. It is like if you have a car accident - you do you never drive again? Of course you drive again and the earlier the better." said Wenger.

The midfield trio of Ramsey,Wilshere and Song bossed the United midfield last week and in particular,the partnership forged between AarOne and Jack was really effective as the two outpassed the United midfield.This is exactly what Stoke will try to disrupt and it will be the ones who come out of this battle unscathed who will control the match.

A lot of banter has being going on around Stoke fans about Ramsey and about how he did not accept the apology from Shawcross.Well to all those asses,I have just one question "If it was your leg broken by an opposition player causing you to stay on the sidelines for over a year,would you hug him the first time you see him again? I am guessing NO.Stop and think for a minute you WANKERS.Be grateful that not apologizing was all that he didn't do." Quoting tomorrow's headline from a friend "Ramsey scores a hat-trick,drives to Shawcross's home and does his mum." Something that he could be doing.......Now I am not saying that Ramsey shouldn't accept Shawcross's apology,but he is still a kid,a 20 year-old whose career nearly hit the trash before it even started.So let him grow up a little and one day he will forgive the guy.Maybe not today.

Aerial Prowess

On team news,we can expect a similar line-up from the second half of the ManUre game with either Squillaci or Vermaelen starting .Arshavin will start instead of Nasri and he could continue his good form into the Stoke game.Against ManUre he played a very good defensive game and i hope he continues that tomorrow.

Possible starting XI : Szczesny,Sagna,Koscielny,Vermaelen/Squillaci,Gibbs/Clichy,Wilshere,Song,Ramsey,Arshavin,RVP, Walcott

Pre-Match Press Conference & ATv Online Interview

It could be a very tough game,but I predict a 2-0 win for the Gunners with Van Persie and Walcott getting on the scoreboard.

You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.Thats all for today folks.Have a good Sunday.

PS: Happy St.Totteringham's Day!!!!

Grit,Discipline and Fighting Spirit

2011-05-04T15:30:00.000+05:30

Grit,Discipline and Fighting Spirit.These are the things that Wenger thought we showed in the match against ManUre.This is what we should have been showing for all the games.Fighting spirit,this was clearly something we were lacking in the past few weeks and it showed how much we were missing it.

This match was one that held great importance over the last few weeks and it was good to see the lads come into the game with a high focus level and determination.There was a feeling going around that we were gonna succeed.

Our captain Cesc Fabregas took a last minute injury during practice and was forced to sit out the game.Instead of bringing Nasri to the middle and playing Arhavin wide,Wenger put his trust into AarOne Ramsey.This was his first start for the club since he got 'Shawcrossed' and he showed to everyone why he was so highly rated.This just goes to show that if he gets some games and a proper pre-season,he could be much greater for the club.

AarOne Ramsey

Many have touted him to be the perfect replacement for Cesc if he chooses to leave this summer.Well,all these people are stupid.Not to take anything away from Ramsey,he is great and he could be a solution if Cesc leaves,in the long run,but not now.He is not ready,yet.He needs to churn out some more consistent performances and get himself established before we consider him for the job.

Coming to the match,we practically owned their asses dominating possession and creating some chances.Theo had a good chance of opening the score when he got on to the end of one of Clichy's crosses,but he put it over the crossbar. We also had a clear cut penalty denied to us when Vidic jumped high and 'played' the ball out of bounds.maybe the ref hadn't seen it,maybe he did,but there is no use talking about it now.

'Played' the ball

Half time came and Samir Nasri was subbed out by Arshavin because of of a hamstring problem.Instead of his usual attacking play,the little Russian was all over the place winning ball,successfully sliding into tackles and defensively more active than normal.His commitment into the game inspired the others to play better.

The loss of Djourou did not seem to affect the team much and Squillaci gelled into the defense prettty well and it was a good solid performance from the back four.Sagna was brilliant as was Clichy.Both kept the wingers quiet all match and also went forward whenever they could.Chezzers was brilliant at the back.He didn't have much to do most of the game,but when needed,he made brilliant saves to deny Nani from set-pieces.

The only goal of the game came from some real good football b/w RVP and Ramsey.AarOne played Persie down the right adn continued his run.Van Persie moved to the near end of the box and when he saw Ramsey literally screaming for the ball,he played him in and AarOne shot it first time and it went under Carrick's legs and into the goal.After missing more than a year and to come back into a game of such high calibre and score a beauty of a goal,it was well and truly deserved.

Into the last minutes of the match,ManUre had an appeal for penalty turned down.Replays showed that Clichy rammed his studs down the back of Owen's thighs (Kudos),but because of his theatrical dive,Arsenal were saved from another self-destruction.

After the game Arsene said "We had a good performance that had everything in it; discipline, fighting spirit and our usual passing game. Until we scored the goal, I feel we completely controlled the game. Then, because we have not won a lot recently, we tried to protect our advantage and were more under pressure. Overall, I believe we deserved to win the game"

This was a good way to respond to one horrid month and maybe we can continue this on to the end of the month and finish on a high note.

On a much lighter note,today is the birthday of our one and only El Capitan Cesc Fàbregas Soler. Fans from around the globe have wished him and all the readers can go to his twitter profile to wish him a Happy Birthday or Feliz Cumpleaños (Spanish).One of my dear friends Gurleen Kaur who is a mad Fabregas fan went all the way and made an entire animated e-book as his birthday present. It is ruddy brilliant and you all should have a look at it.

You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.Thats all for the day people,have a good day.

Pride,Revenge, Asswhooping

2011-05-01T12:49:00.001+05:30

This season has been one of a lot of ups and downs and we need to end it on a high.We don't have much left to fight for other than our pride.Its all about pride now and beating ManUre is just about proving that Arsenal are still a force to be reckoned with.

A month back,everyone looked at this match as the title decider. Four weeks down the lane, a lot has changed.Arsenal are virtually out of the race and ManUre all but need a draw at the Emirates to ensure the title return to Old Trafford.Well,the Gooners all round the world will be hoping that their team will make ManUre wait another week for that.

Winning this match is not about getting those three points.Its about proving a point.Its about showing that we are still a great team.People say that we should never fight for revenge.Well this match should be played for revenge.Revenge for the FA Cup loss.Revenge for the league loss.Moreover we have to beat them just for the fact that they exist.

In recent times,ManUre always seem to get the better of us.They sit tight and give a disciplined defensive performance and attack on the counter and score.This has worked for them in our previous encounters,so we should be ready for them and defend well when they counter-attack. Our full-backs will have their hands full if both Park and Nani start.Park has scored in his last three encounters against Arsenal,so Sagna should be on his toes.Clichy has gotten a lot better since our last meeting with ManUre but i still expect Nani to trouble him.So he should contain his runs and concentrate more on his defensive duties for the match.I expect Nasri and Arshavin to trouble their full-backs in a more devastating manner.So it should turn out to be a very exciting encounter.

Arsenal will be going into this fixture with virtually a full strength team.We have Thomas Rosicky returning from illness.We lost Diaby to a calf strain and also will be without long term absentee Lukas Fabianski.Other than that,we have the whole squad available.I expect Arshavin to start alongside Nasri.These two are danger-men who can shoot from almost anywhere and go through any defense.So Walcott might be benched to come on as the super-sub.

Predicted starting XI : Szczesny,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Clichy,Wilshere,Song,Arshavin,Fabregas,Nasri,Van Persie

Now for some good news.Thomas Vermaelen returned to competitive football after a long-term Achilles injury when he completed 90 minutes for the Arsenal Reserves in the goalless draw against ManUre reserves.This comes as a mental boost for the whole squad and he could still feature in the first team before the league ends this month.I would rather have him get some deserved rest and have a good pre-season rather than rush him back to the first-team.He is a vital part that we have been missing this season and we can't risk losing him to an injury again.

Lets hope he has had enough bed-rest

Our defensive capabilities will once again be tested this match and we have to get out of this unscathed if we are to even finish in third place.We have conceded penalties thrice in the as many games (Liverpool,Sp*rs,Bolton) and we should play well enough and contain them rightly so as not to give away any cheap penalties.Chris Foy will be the match referee and he has always been a fair one.Lets hope he stays one for this match as well.

I predict a 2-1 win with RVP and Arshavin scoring and Rooney getting on the scoresheet for them.A win here could be exactly what Arsenal needs to end the season with some sort of confidence.

That is all for the day folks.You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook. Have a great day and pray for a bigass asswhooping against ManUre.

What we really need...

2011-04-27T13:14:00.001+05:30

It finally looks like it could be over for Arsenal this season.We had been playing catch-up all season and finally we seem to have run out of steam.And this is more saddening than any of the other seasons as this one had so much promise and in the end,it looked like we just faded away.

Even in the last game,the guys showed no signs of urgency.There was a kind of lazed manner going around, the way they played in the first half.Only after Chezzers saved the penalty did i see some life.They pushed and pushed and some really good chances fell to some of the players,the best being to Samir Nasri when he got an over the top pass from RVP and was 1 on 1 with keeper and what did he do? He shot it straight at Jaaskelainen.He blew it when he needed to just calmly slot it in.

The goals we let in yesterday were in a typical Arsenal fashion,set-pieces.This just goes on to show,more than buying new defenders who will make the same old mistakes,its better we educate the ones we have on rectifying the regular mistakes we make while defending.

We can't have this happening often.

The manager himself admitted that 'defense' was a weakness in our team.I would like to disagree.It is not just the back four,but the team as a whole has been weak defensively.A team can be rock solid only when all the eleven players work together.Even when a mediocre team works as a unit to defend,they can be world class.So we need a team ethic which will help in making us a tough nut to crack.

Also,our players need to calm down,whenever we seem to go down,or the opposition piles up some pressure,we seem to panic and make silly mistakes.This is something else that needs to change.We need to be confident off-the-ball.

Talent-wise there is not much of a big difference b/w the Invincibles and the current team.The one major difference would be the mentality.The guys don't seem to have that real 'want ' to win.They seem to wait to get a chance rather than going out and taking it.

The teams of old used to put soo much pressure on the opposition even without the ball,this made them a very strong team to play against.We had some instances where we played like this,a memorable one being the 3-1 win against Chelsea.That high tempo has to be maintained throughout 90 mins,all through 38 games.

Bringing in new players will only do one thing,restrict the growth of the current crop,and we will have to sit around watching them make the same old mistakes. So more than bringing in new personnel,its about improving the knowledge of our current crop.We need to learn how to win.

I agree some of the deadwood needs to be let go.But further discussion into that shall be done only when the transfer window opens.Till then,let us support our players.They need to know that the fans are behind them.

Arseblog talks about how money is a big factor in the players' minds.How its not just the big name players,but the mid level ones as well, are all on good money and how some of them refuse to go to other clubs that offer them 1st team football,but not as much money.Players refusing to go to clubs who have a proud history, where they are guaranteed playing time just because the money is not great.

So when did playing the game become secondary motive?When did winning not matter as much as the wages you were on? This trend has created a sort of laziness or complacency in the players,that winning did not matter as much anymore.

Winning Matters

So more than anything,what REALLY needs to change is this attitude of the players.They need to prioritize things the right way and bring that winning mentality back.In the end, WINNING MATTERS.

Finally,i would like to talk about Le Boss. A lot of people have been shouting for the sacking of Wenger,our manager who has kept us in the top 4 throughout his reign.Something no other manager has managed.The Professor has been the best manager in Arsenal's history,period.But he has immersed so much of himself into his project in these recent years,that he might have forgotten what it is that was needed to win.I think he should take a step backward and have a look at the situation.I want the project to continue,but Wenger should concentrate more on the First Team from next season other than finding out all the prospects in the world.He should let his staff worry about that for once.THE LOSING STOPS HERE!!!!

The Losing Stops Here!!

A new Tumblr profile has been opened by Goonerburgh.Follow us there for the latest videos from ATV Online and quotes froms players and the manager and pictures and songs of Arsenal .You can also follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally we would like to give a shout-out to Arsene T-shirts.They are a group of Gooners who started a T-shirt business to fight all the anti-Wenger movements going around.

Have a good day folks.All sorts of comments are welcome,as long as it is constructive.

Bolton Preview-A Must Win + Arsene's Pre-Match Press conference Video

2011-04-24T11:00:00.002+05:30

Well its Sunday,and here we are,playing catch-up to Man Utd and Chelsea.Both the teams won their matches yesterday and Fernando Torres finally ended his cold streak(FINALLY!!).

Our mid-week fixture against Sp*rs was a tough one and the guys will have to bounce back quickly.I hope the unbeaten streak continues with a win.Playing away to Bolton is always tough,its gonna take some tough work to crack them.But with Bolton on a bad run having collected just 10 points from six games,there will not be a better chance to to beat them at their own ground.

Bolton have Owen Coyle in charge and he has changed the way Bolton play and has finally got players like Elmander and Kevin Davies to do well. Lonee Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea has been making waves like a certain Jack Wilshere did last season.He has found the net six times from eight appearances.

Not on the Losing Side
©WonderGunner

We haven't been on a great scoring form recently.Most of our recent goals came from just one source-RVP.That needs to change a bit.I hope the boss gives some sort of role other than that of a late-sub to Marouane Chamakh.I wish he would push him a bit more than he has done.Maybe he would have tried harder if he felt he was needed more.Hopefully he will be give a late chance in this game.

Walcott and Nasri scoring in the last game was a welcome sight and hopefully they can continue their good form going into the game.We need more people chipping in with goals at this point of the season.With Wilshere coming in for this game,you can expect Fabregas to maybe drop deeper during periods in the game to allow Jack to go forward.It will be good to see him play against some of his previous team-mates(maybe break their hearts by scoring a goal as well).

On the injury front,we lost Diaby from last game to a calf strain.He is certainly out from today's game,and will have a late assessment before the Man Utd game.Vermaelen has returned to full training and should be available before the season gets over.

We fielded a full strength team last game,and we will have to do so again today.I expect Theo Van Nasregas to start,along with the Jack-Song midfield duo.

Possible line-up:Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie.

Theo Van Nasregas

via ArseGirl

The last time we played them,it was in September and we beat them 4-1,with Kozzers,Song,Vela & Chamakh finding the net.This time around,we have a stronger defensive line-up and hopefully if we lose the clumsy tackles,we can expect a better display.I predict a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

Happy Easter Folks!!

You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.Thats all I have for the day folks.Happy Easter!

The Cesc Interview With Don Balon,Original and Full Transcript

2011-04-22T10:08:00.006+05:30

A lot of talk has been going around recently,about the interview Cesc gave to the Spanish newspaper Don Balon.I tried hard to get the original because of the fact that i just wouldn't believe all the shit the press were printing.Well finally with the help of my good friend Gurleen Kaur aka Wondergunner I got the original Spanish Transcript. I have published it below in English(translated using Google Translator).

Don Balon .- What image was a boy of 16 years on Arsenal?
"I knew I had a great coach, who gambled by playing young players like Henry, Bergkamp, Viera, Pires. Nor was I a fan of the Premiership, still abstracts on Sunday but that's it.Perhaps it was even harder to come here, nor knew where I was going ...

DB .- What has changed this picture eight years later?
-Buff. At all. I have also changed a lot physically and I've matured as a person. If I start I learned a lot has to analyze all this time, I also made mistakes and now I am, ultimately, much more complete.

DB .- Do you feel a child prodigy?
-No. Well, maybe at the beginning itself. Not now. I've been a couple of years that injuries have left me not evolve in the way he wanted.But with 17 years playing 51 games after winning the Cup with 18, playing the final of the Champions and the World Cup with 19. I remember well from my early days but people are not much. In those first three years was very fast, a blast to use. It's time that I have evolved, the change I made stronger. At age 21, after the European Championship, I had more injuries, everything has been less continuous and cost me more progress.

Child Prodigy?

DB.-First things first. His first season in the first team, with 17 years is not a team anyone ...
"It was a great team. 'The Invincibles', who came to win the Premiership without losing a single match. I started there and was between 15 and 18 more games where we knew no defeat. That year I played 51 games and many starts. The truth is that I feel a little part of that record, a total of 49 league games without defeat.

DB .- Is the best team he has played?
"No doubt. Wow, is that it goes without thinking. It was a year in which I evolved a lot. Even I sometimes wonder whether it was better at 17 than now. When you realize that you see, what happens is that before playing on a winning team and was impressive. Felt that if you made a bad game it was okay because your partner you solved it. Those players made you better. I've always said, as that team, either.

The Invincibles

DB .- things have changed a lot. Do you feel pressure now have to always offer the best version?
"Yes, yes, man, of course. That I have it very clear, which I pass failure on the man everyone has on the eyes. I hate to say but it's true. If I play bad, I feel the responsibility and pressure from the fans. It's something I had not ever happened but since I'm captain this is reality.Only Van Persie and I stayed in that generation, and we like a lot of responsibility. But it is what it is.

DB. "But I do not deny that something like ...
- Of course I like it! What happens is that sometimes it is too. Why? Because football is a team game. Nobody wins games alone. You win two or three throughout the course but not a title. Sometimes all that surrounds me is oversized but it is the responsibility of leading a team that is very young. The most important thing for me is that injuries to respect me because otherwise it is very complicated. And the continuity is what made me get where I am.

Arsenal DB. "This is a very young team but from the outside gives the impression that it always is. Is not it a loop?
"Look, I believe that the key is in a good combination. So I feel very, very fortunate to have played in the great team where I started.Because I was alone, also Van Persie, and the two were growing watching our idols. We learned from the best. Now it's different because we are all too young to have a person say, Guaaau!

DB. "Well, now the youth of the team are set and want to learn from you ...
- That and I do not know but I have only 23 years and that's important to remember. I started as soon as you appear to have 27 or 28. Then you look and I have a long way to go. So I was very lucky. Young people learned from the greats. It is now more complicated. Wilshere if you put the computer on which I played before ... is different. Do not say it is neither better nor worse. Before there were references, winning players, stronger and faster she learned playing with them.

DB .- Do you mind to associate the name of Wenger to him like someone who guides his steps, which decides for you?
"Man, he is the boss, I have a contract and he has every right in the world to decide. But the truth is no. You can see or interpret from the outside but not so. I always speak openly and honestly and he accepts quite what I say.

Wenger and Fabregas

"It seems DB. have to find a 'guilty' that you follow in the Arsenal ...
I do not know but it seems that if I do not step now I will not ever give. I have 23 years and if I go this summer, I'll have 24, if I go to the other, I 25; if I go to the other, 26, and if I go to another 27! Things have to bear with patience and bide our time. The day I leave Arsenal I will head, not because. Besides, who says you're going to play on the new computer? Or maybe you do not evolve. I here I have the good fortune to a personal level, despite not winning a lot, I'm getting very strong. Puyol and I talk to tells me that to 26 did not win anything.Puyol, who has won everything in the world of football! Patience and work is most important in life.

DB .- How is it that a technician as Wenger, who has not won anything for so many years, remains as little question?
"Man, it is now easier to understand because I've been here for many years. But it is clear that if you come from Spain and tell Emery, Guardiola and Mourinho who will be three years without winning anything is assumed that they will not follow. But here is different, the coach is a smart person and the club appreciates other things, that the team is always in the Champions League, which fights to the end, which serve young people, economic stability. I guess for the presidents that is important. Although I imagine there will be a time when you have to take the plunge ... Or win or not win.
DB. "That was getting at. The label accompanying the Arsenal is' never win anything but ... What soccer practice! ".
"It's true. When I started we won the Cup and then we reached the final of the Champions League, well, we do not win but you say, 'Ostia', you have won one less and Barcelona in the last minute. Do not give it as a victory but think, is the first time the club reached the final of the Champions League, have played millions of players here and we've got us. But from 2007 I already started to say that the''do not win but we played very well.'' And then you realize it does not work. Enjoy, during a phase of the championship, as this year, for example, when we were in four different competitions. And say, if I have it all! But after missing that final point and it is here where you have to make a decision: Either go to win or to train players.

DB. "Last year, following the departure of Adebayor, you explode as a scorer. What happened?
"Well, I changed my position. I'm playing more than playmaker, last year was the first in that position. I felt very good physically and most goals came when he was with Van Persie up. I get along very well with him for his way of interpreting the game.

DB .- Do you feel comfortable in this position?
"I still think that my position is a little delayed. Because you see the football face, give support, move fast ... In short, you participate more. Now all teams know me and I put a guy back. I'm not a player used to turn around and get back. Now I'm used to, do not play as many balls but I have more chance of giving the final pass and score. If the team needs me here because I loved it.

DB. I do not know if in this respect the emergence of Wilshere will be influenced. The kid is on everyone's lips.
"Normal is a great player. I love, going to crack. It is very strong for his age. I wish I had the leg strength he has. To which matures and improving the pass will be a great player.

DB. He assembled quite a stir because Guardiola said that the subsidiary had many Barca players like Wilshere. I do not know if it will seem a lot but what is clear is that next year will be Thiago Alcántara FC Barcelona first team. What do you know him?
"As speech is a great player. I've only seen a few minutes into the first team. But with little and you realize you have an incredible quality, is one of those players who do not know very well that position does. You can play attacking midfielder because he has dribbling and vision of the game but it can have an organizer. Let's see how it is defined over the years. I think it will be good for Barcelona and the Spanish team.

DB.-Fernando Torres to Chelsea ... Did you expected?
No! The truth is that how it happened, in so few hours, not what I expected. I imagined Torres outside the Premiership, but also to leave mid-season. But: I have clearly been a good decision.
DB .- And if you come to Chelsea with the millions made by Torres Cesc wondering, what do you do?
- Me? Paint pictures! Do not paint anything.

DB. "You know what I mean: imagine you are trying to convince an ambitious project ...
"Do not you see. If one day I'm leaving for Arsenal will never sign for another English team. Quite sure.

DB. He had heard the hype about Jon Toral, another player in Barca's youth system which has recently joined Arsenal. Were you surprised by criticism of his coach, given the similarity of his case?
"I think this makes the whole world. I was the first, yes, but there have been other cases that have transcended both. Manchester United also won Pique. Here the only thing that is clear is that in Barcelona there are homegrown real good that can come to play in the elite, 60% likely. But not everyone will do at the club and some players are aware of it.

DB .- Do you it was?
"Look, in the Barcelona first team reach the privileged: the Xavi, the Puyol. And then there are the superprivileged, Busquets and Pedro, they've won the lottery. They've worked but now a coach and told them, 'you play tomorrow. " This does not happen much. I have many friends who are still in Barca B, and Víctor Vázquez. Believe me, some were better than me. But you have to choose. Each finds his way.

Now that you have read the whole interview,you can see that the British Tabloids are a bunch of Cunts writing anything to sell their papers.

Also I would like to apologize to Abhishek Biswas,a dear friend.The earlier version of the interview I posted was actually translated by him and it took him quite sometime and I,just to save some time searching for the Spanish Article in the morning just reblogged it.Sorry Mate,really thought your version was a google translation.Sincere apologies..Took some time,but this is the GOOGLE TRANSLATION.

You should Check his BLOG out 'From the Heart of a Gooner'He is a Top Gooner and a Wilshere lover :).Follow him on Twitter.

Also i would appreciate it if you readers shared this on Facebook or Tweeted about this post.A lot more people need to read about this and understand how the media twists everything.

You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook and Twitter.Happy Good Friday folks and have a wonderful day ahead.

It aint over till its over..

2011-04-21T15:01:00.000+05:30

3-3.......The scoreline does no justification to yesterday's match.The game was so close throughout that it was anybody's game.Maybe we should have won it,Van Persie's strike was deemed offside (replays showed he was partially onside),which was wrong.At that point of the game,had we gotten that goal,it would have been 4-2 and we would have had some leg-room to work with.But no point talking about it now.

This draw puts us in 3rd place behind Chelsea who won yesterday.Now if we win every game from here to the end,and Chelsea beat Man Utd,it will come down to Goal Difference to decide the title.

The guys tried real hard throughout the game,you could see real passion in the their eyes.Cesc,Nasri,Van Persie,Walcott,and Wojciech all tried real hard.I was particularly impressed with Chezzers,man what a game he had.Arsenal found a new hero in him yesterday.He probably could have done nothing about the goals he let in,but the amount of saves he made.This should be enough to convince the fans that we don't need a new Goalkeeper

Nasri,after scoring the 2nd Goal (Theo Van Nasregas)

Yesterday saw the resurgence of one Samir Nasri.He had being pretty quite the past few weeks,but like Van Persie said,playing the Derby can change things and the way Nasri changed yesterday,WOW.I personally didn't want him to be subbed.Bringing Arshavin in was good,he had something new to add,but Bendtner for Walcott?Again playing on the right?Sometimes i don't know what Wenger is thinking.But well,he knows more than me.

Arsene said yesterday that the team's mental strength was outstanding.I disagree on that one point.If we had such good mental strength,would be have dropped a two goal lead?If you think about,the past few weeks,even for the fans,when we are 3-1 up,we still have a feeling that the game could change against us.I feel, more than the Carling Cup defeat,it was the 4-4 draw with Newcastle that really shattered the team mentally.We need to work around this if we want to consider fighting till the end,of this season.

Yesterday's was our 5th draw in 6 league matches.A win here or their would have made a huge difference.We are unbeaten in 16 games,but we need to collect more points that we drop.The team didn't lack much in effort.Maybe the fact that we had a real long game against a very tough team and Spurs had the weekend off had something to do with the game.You could see some of the players tiring towards the end of the game and you just can't blame them for that.

All we can hope for is we see the same heart and passion be shown by the players in all of the remaining games and hopefully the results go in our way.There is nothing more I for one could hope for.

I STILL BELIEVE.

Time to make 'The Final Stand'

2011-04-20T11:16:00.000+05:30

The next match for Arsenal can literally decide the way how the season will end,for the team.And is there a better stage other than Shit Hart Lane? Defeating our rival in their own backyard is the only way to gain back the lost 'Bragging Rights'. We have lost to Sp*rs in our last two EPL encounters,this is where it stops and we say enough,this is where we are gonna make our Last Stand.They are going down!!

Only a win will do,no space for mistakes.Anything less and we can kiss the title goodbye.A lot of people have already said their goodbyes and made their peace with it,but i am one of those 'Never Say Never' kind of guy.The season aint over till the last whistle is blown.So for now,i shall remain optimistic about our chances and those of you who want to correct me can just sod off!!

This match is fittingly important for both sides.Arsenal need the win to mathematically remain in the title hunt and Sp*rs need to win this 'game in hand' to get into that last UCL spot.We can expect a lot of goals and a lot of tempers flailing.After all this is a derby,and you shouldn't expect nothing less.Like RVP said "These kind of matches make you a man."

With Manchester Utd drawing yesterday,it seems like God still wants Arsenal in this race,and we should do everything we can to keep it that way.This makes the previous draw all the more disappointing,but well,we are Arsenal and we do things,the exciting way,and i wouldn't care if we won the title in the last match of the season.

For the first time since God knows when,we are heading into the final hurdle of the season with a full strength squad.Everyone is fit,except for Vermaelen who is back in full training,but will not be risked.The return of Bacary would be welcomed with a lot of smiles among fans.Don't get me wrong,i love Eboue,but i think Bacary is more calm and his presence in the defense will help them cope with the likes of Bale better.

Theo and Gareth,the two friends from the Southampton Academy will be up against each other on the wings and just the thought of them going up against each other is orgasmic.The pure pace the two have is unbelievable and so we can see a lot of through-balls from Fabregas and Modric.

Key Battle

With a full squad available,i expect Wenger to start with his best eleven possible,so i expect Walcott to start stead of Arshavin and I don't expect Diaby to get a place in this line-up(even-though i would like to see him start).Djourou and Kozzers will be our CB pairing with Wojciech as Keeper behind them.

Possible starting line-up: Wojciech,Sagna,Koscielny,Djourou,Clichy,Song,Wilshere,Walcott,Fabregas,Nasri,Van Persie.

Like i said earlier,only a win will do.Its not just about lost pride,its about survival.We need this win to still remain in the race,and possibly win the title.

In these recent days,I have seen a lot of fans loose their cool and abuse the players and the manager.They are taking a lot of heat from the fans and this is not helping our cause.Yea, we shout a little and that might help vent our anger,but what about the players,to make them feel like the fans are disappointed in them right before a big match? Does that help at all?

Some of the players have come out saying that they owe it to the fans to win this one,but I would say "You owe this to yourself,to prove that you are still winners and will remain to be."

Seven of the last ten games at Shit Hart Lane have ended as stalemates,so Arsenal need to bring out all their guns if they want to win this one and win they should.My prediction for the game will be 2-1 with Van Persie and Fabregas scoring for us and VDV with a goal for them.

Van Persie Pre-Match Interview

Walcott Pre-Match Interview

Wenger Pre-Match Interview

You can follow Goonerburgh in Twitter or Facebook.Thats all for the day folks.Have a great day.

41 Years Later

2011-04-10T11:40:00.003+05:30

For the first time in 41 years,we are traveling to Bloomfield Road,and the last time we played there,it was during our double winning season of 70-71. We travel this time around for the possible single.Only a win would ensure that.

Last week was a very disappointing one for the Gunners,drawing to a Blackburn side whose away form had been woeful to say the least.We were complacent and lacked that attacking instinct that normally gets us the goals.The players need to pick themselves up and give a disciplined performance that would get us the win.Even a 1-0 would do(i still hope for a repeat of the second match of the season),with Man Utd 10 points ahead of us having played on Saturday.It is disappointing that we will have to play 7 of our last 8 games on Sunday as we will have to be playing catch-up for the rest of the season.

Wenger had a very emotional conference with the journalists.Normally he has two meetings,one with the TV reporters and one with the journalists.He lashed out at the people for saying that we were disappointing and defended his players 100%.He asked that if consistently performing in all competitions for the past 15 years was not a victory the he didn't know what was.He went on to say that trophies are only one way to judge success,and he said Blackpool were very successful this season as nobody had expected them to do this well.For a full transcript of the journalists' conference go here.

On the injury front we have Song and Sagna with knee problems and Theo with and ankle problem.Theo and Sagna will have a late fitness test,but Song is out for sure,but they will be back next week for Liverpool for sure.Fabregas who came on as a substitute for our last game will start his 300th game for Arsenal today.He is only 23 and has played so much already.In a way it goes on to say that even though our team is young we still have some experience.

Blackpool are the kind of team we like to play against.They play the game as it is supposed to,and it will be a very entertaining affair watching two very attack minded teams go off against one another.Two players to watch out for would be Charlie Adam,whose dead ball skills are pure genius and DJ Campbell,who is back from a 3 game suspension,he will be looking to crash the party.

With Song not playing,we can expect Diaby to start.Wenger might prefer Diaby's physicality so he could have someone to bully the midfielders and be a great asset while defending set-pieces.If Sagna is not fit by the late fitness tests,Eboue will start instead.

Predicted Starting Line-up: Almunia,Sagna/Eboue,Squillaci,Koscielny,Clichy,Wilshere,Diaby,Nasri,Fabregas,Walcott/Arshavin,Van Persie.

Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing month and a like Arsene said, we need to get back in to good form before thinking about the title.I predict a 3-1 win for Arsenal

Wenger's Pre-Match Interview

Wenger's Pre-Match Press Conference

One of my friends Gurleen Kaur aka Wondergunner made this amazing animated video of Cesc Fabregas's solo effort against Sp*rs.It is fucking brilliant,i have posted it below and i would suggest you all to take a look at it.

You can Follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.Also follow WonderGunner on Twitter.

Wenger-He is still god,get that?

2011-04-06T11:52:00.001+05:30

After the recent results,a lot of blame has been put on the gaffer.It is really admirable of him to take the heat and let the players do their thing.For those of you who are pointing fingers,just take a sec and think,as a club we spend as less as some of the bottom placed ones and look at where we stand.We are in second place,we still have a chance to win the league,on top of that we are unbeaten since December.

For all the haters!!

Have some patience you asses.All of you shouting 'Out with Wenger',find me a replacement who will continue to help the club be self sustaining and go for all trophies at the same time.Wenger has managed to change the 'Boring boring Arsenal' tag,singlehandedly created the exciting football we play today,and established the club as a consistent trophy fighter without having to spend big money.

Maybe Wenger did make some mistakes.He or the board may have sold off too many first team members during the 2004-2006 period.This put a lot of youngsters in to the forefront.Maybe they were not ready for it then.A normal football team would be the perfect balance between youth and experience.With the experience gone,the youth had to cope with all the new responsibilities with nobody to guide them.Have a read at this article.They have written pretty darn well as to why we have been lacking trophies these past few years.

There will be nobody better than him.Everyone who has been supporting this club long enough will accept that fact.The team is not up-to the "Invincible" standard,that is what seems to be the problem nowadays.Everybody need to get this fact into their mind "This is not the same team!!!Well yea one of our teams from the past went through a whole season unbeaten,that was great,now get the fuck over it and live in the present.Enough with all the 'The invincibles were that,the invincibles were this'. Yea they were great,now lets start supporting the current squad.How about we do that a bit now ehhh??

Wenger is God

Wenger has been described as a coach who "has spent his career building teams that combine the accumulation of silverware with a desire to entertain and attack", and as "A purist, dedicated to individual and collective technical quality."His approach to the game has been an emphasis on attack. All his teams have played football 'the way it has to be played.'

The man has won FA manager of the year 3 times,French Manager of the year,twice,Manager of the decade, once and is an English Football Hall of Fame member.So maybe he may not know everything,but sure as hell knows more than anybody out there who dare question him.He ain't called the 'Professor' for nothing.

Wenger has been criticized a lot for not spending as much as he could have,but dont you think that would have hampered the development of our younger players??Also with the financial fairplay rules coming up,clubs like Man Utd,Chelsea,Man City and even Liverpool who are in a tonne of debt are gonna find life in the premier league different.So for now why dont we.for a change,just enjoy the beautiful game?

I will leave you all with a video to remind you all for the days to come,that 'Wenger is GOD!!!!'.To download the song in the background,you just go here. You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter or Facebook.

Player Close-Up: Jack Wilshere

2011-03-28T13:06:00.001+05:30

Full name: Jack Andrew G. Wilshere
D.O.B: 1st January 1992 (age 19)
Place of Birth: Stevenage,England
Club: Arsenal F.C.
Position: Central midfielder
Height: 5ft 7 inch
Blood Type: Arsenal

Jack Wilshere is perhaps THE brightest talent to have emerged from the Arsenal Academy since a certain Cesc Fabregas.Jack was born in Stevenage,England and grew up in Hitchin.

Jack is an Arsenal man through and through.He joined the Arsenal Academy at the age of nine and has never looked back.He rose through the ranks at the academy and was made captain of the the U-16s team and also made appearances for the U-18s after taking part in the Champions Youth Games at the age of 15.

Future main man for Arsenal and England

In February 2008,at the age of 16,he made his first appearance for Neil Banfield's reserve team.He started against Reading and scored the only goal of the match.By the end of that season,he had notched up 2 goals and 2 assists in three appearances for the reserve side.

His performances for the reserve side helped him gain a place in the first team at the start of the 08-09 season.He started to make mainstream news during the pre-season friendlies.His first appearance for the senior team was as a second half substitute against Lower League opposition Barnet,setting up a goal for Jay Simpson.he made his PL debut against Blackburn in September 2008.At the age of 16 years and 256 days,he broke Fabregas's record of Arsenal's youngest league debut-ante.He scored his first professional goal against Sheffield Utd in a 6-0 rout in the League Cup.But after that he did not play a heavy part in that disastrous campaign which saw Arsenal finish 4th in the league.

The 09-10 season was a very important season for Jack for many reasons.He signed his professional contract tying him for a pretty long time in January 2009.He played phenomenally well in the Emirates Cup with 2 MOM performances.He still failed to make his way into the first team,mainly because Diaby had a pretty good season.So Arsene Wenger decided to not let him waste his talent and sent him out on-loan to Bolton in the winter transfer window.He went on to make 14 appearances for Bolton and was soo impressive that they even tried to sign him on for another season.But Wenger had other ideas for this mistral.

10-11 has been the breakthrough season for this English Gunner.He started in the opening high profile match against Liverpool and has never had to look back.He has cemented his place in the Arsenal starting line-up adn started in almost every one of Arsenal's league games this season(missed out on 3 due to suspension).Eventhough he doesn't look the part, Jack is a very physical player with great creativity and vision.His passing is of the highest standards and eventhough he has been a bit shy in front of the goal in the
beginning of the season he has been taking a lot more shots of late.

One of the high points of his season would have been the Champion's league match(1st leg) against Barcelona,where he went up against what was touted as "the world's best" midfield pair of Xavi and Iniesta and stood his ground and caused them discomfort.He played a very influential 2nd half and completed 90% of his passes in the final third and nearly scored in the famous 2-1 win.

Xavi who?

Jack made his full England debut against Denmark in February 2011 and has since made a total of 3 appearances for the Three Lions.When asked whether the Arsenal midfielder is now set to be a regular first-team player for the national side, Capello replied: “Yes, yes, because he is good, because he plays without fear, and with confidence.Also for someone so young, he is a leader. It is incredible. I never saw someone so young be a leader on the pitch. It is incredible.Wilshere, after the game against Barcelona, he has arrived. He has arrived. You can understand the value of that sort of performance. As a young player, I think he is at the top, not only in England but Europe and the world."

Jack has grown to be a fan favorite and he often interacts with the fans through his Twitter account and his rivalry with Van Persie for the follower race has been endearing.He recently came in the news for shouting at a cabbie for wearing a Spuds hat.It only goes to show how much he loves the club and we as fans LOVE YOU.

This is just the beginning for young Jack.He has already being touted as a future England captain.He just needs to keep his head down and get on with his work and he will be a Legend for Club and Country.

Thats all for the day folks,I will leave you with an interview with Wenger about the latest developments at the club during the interlull.You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.Have a good day.

THIS IS GOOONEEERBUUURGH!!!

Interlulyaaaaaaaaawn

2011-03-24T11:53:00.000+05:30

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwn.....boring times these are.....living in a cricketing nation with no live football to watch......boring times these are....

So we go into a rather loong interlull knowing that quite a few of our players have packed their bags to go play for their countries,14 to be exact.For some of the players on this list it will be some very much needed playing time so they can get back into the groove for the final lap of the league.For others,it will be a bit too much football for the season.For example,Wilshere has featured for a hell lot of games for the club this season.The only games he missed were the one he got suspended from.So a rest would do him good.....but i don't think Capello is planning on resting him.

The injured players left back will have a good rest and will be ready for the remaining of the season,that list includes Alex Song,Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas.These are some pretty big names and they will have to be firing in all cylinders if we are to win the league this season.

Talking about injuries,we have some positive news.Johan Djourou had an exploratory surgery and it has been found that no further experiments need to be conducted on him,and that he will be out for a minimum of four weeks.And in the case of Wojciech,the keeper is set for a scan on April 5th(that far off???don't ask me,i don't know why).He is still working in the training ground.He says "I work in the gym everyday, working on my lower body and my distribution as well which will be very good for me. I’m not getting bored, I can still do a lot of stuff."

Back to what he does best

While we are on the topic of keepers,over the week there have been a lot of talk about getting Almunia dropped,but when you come to think of it,do we actually want a 41 year old retiree to be the one between our sticks?I know he is/was a great keeper,but the best option would be to wait it out and hope that by the time Wojciech is back,we haven't dropped any/many points.Maybe it is the return of Jens that was the problem,instead of keeping Almunia on his toes,he must have scared the shit out of him into making those mistakes on Saturday.Well,we'll never know(or maybe we will).

In other news,Russian billionare Alisher Usmanov has increased his stakes in the club to over 27% closing in on the 29.99% mark which prompts a takeover bid.His group,Red and White Holdings have been steadily acquiring shares since 2010 and maybe a change of scenery can be expected.

Our very own Cash Pit

We have a relatively easier run-in to the end of the season compared to the others,so there are hopes that United might tire out and so on.....but anything can happen.So here's to a great end to the premier league and let me get back to my sleeping.I shall leave you all with a video of an interview with Wojciech. You can follow me on twitter or facebook,your choice.Have a great day folks..

West Bromwich Pre-Match Videos+Jens Lehmann Interview

2011-03-19T10:57:00.001+05:30

Wenger's Pre-Match Conference

Wilshere's Pre-Match Interview

Van Persie Pre-Match Interview

Squillaci's Pre-Match Interview

Lehmann's Interview

Return of the MAD GERMAN?? + Ignasi Miquel Close-Up Vid

2011-03-17T13:47:00.000+05:30

It feels a bit weird today.The past few weeks have been kinda hectic and we had a match every mid-week other than the normal weekend ones.So to finally have a whole week in between games has been........strange.This break will do only good for the team who have had a tough week.

It has been a very interesting week this......We heard a lot of news.The return of an'Invincible',the early comeback of Johan Djourou or the rise in ticket prices to name a few.

A lot of stuff is going on at the Emirates and the return of Lehmann is the most exciting one.After the injury of Wojciech we were down with Mr.Inconsistent and Mr Debutant.Not the best of situations.When asked about the situation,Wenger said that he was considering an emergency loan.Well you can see the emergency,but its not like you are gonna get anyone good for loan towards the end of the season.So he went for the best available Free Agent.

This is how the whole situation went down (in my head).

The boss's office
ENTER JENS LEHMANN

Arsene Wenger(AW): Jens!!! What are you doing here?
Jens Lehmann(JL): Ummmmm i came here for the temporary coaching position.....for my liscence.....come on boss don't say you forgot..
AW: Ahhh yes i remember ziz,u are going to shout at ze kids....
JL: Yes boss.
AW: (Thinking)
JL: Umm boss??
AW: Jens,how are you?Physically?
JL: I am not that type....
AW: Bête,i mean,do you train?
JL: Again,i am not that type.
AW: Parfait(forgot he was ziz stupid),i mean do you play football nowadays?
JL: Football? Ahhh yes....i am as fit as i can be.
AW: Good,you know about ze current goalkeeper situation here i presume?
JL: Yes,you are stuck with the talentless Spaniard.
AW: Yes,and can you play backup for that talentless Spaniard? It pays more.
JL: You serious?
AW: Sure,after all we have one of ze biggest wage budget around,i can fit you in somewhere.
JL: Thank you boss!
AW: No problem,make you sure don't shout at anyone.
JL: Can't promise that.
AW: Ahh well, atleast not at ze kids.
JL: They are all kids!!
AW: You know what i mean.
JL: OK,Danke!
AW: Now leave.
JL: Good day sir.
AW: (Hmmmmm problem solved.)
JL: (I am back Spaniard..buahahaha).

The injury crisis going on at the club took a change in direction when the Swiss FA announced that the shoulder injury sustained by Djourou playing against Man Utd was not that serious and that he could be back before the end of the month.The Arsenal Medical team said differant and the article that was posted suggesting this has since been removed.

It is now understood that Djourou will undergo a corrective surgery later on this week.Given that Vermaelen is out for the season this is another huge blow for the year's campaign.Djourou had been the most consistent defender for the team this season and now we are left with a not so gelled combination of Koscielny and Squillaci.All we can do is hope for the best for now.

What Djourou should do to Recover

With two first team defenders out for the season,a lot of responsibility has fallen onto the shoulders of the reserve team captain Ignasi Miquel.Below is a video which talks about his life in London and his transition to the first-team.

Ignasi Miquel Close-Up

In other news,in the light of the half yearly financial losses,the club management have increased the prices for 7000 of the 'Club Level' seats by 6.5%.In the current economic situation this is a dangerous move by the board and could possibly scare away a few fans.I would suggest the Club management to try and find ways to increase their commercial pull and make money off from that.

Save a Life,Donate

On a personal note,i send my thoughts and prayers for the people of Japan,I urge every reader to make a donation to the 'Save The Children' charity who are doing groundwork in Japan.Save a Life,Make a Donation.

Thats all for the day people.You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.As usual have a great day.

Arsenal-0 Manchester Utd-2.....Bad luck continues

2011-03-14T14:37:00.000+05:30

It has been a very bad 10 days for all Arsenal fans.A draw against Sunderland,and 2 losses that cost us two competitions.These are testing times for Gooners.Hope we can get out of this slump and get on with it.

   Before the match,seeing the squad,there was a general air of curiosity about the 11 chosen by Alex Ferguson.With the amount of injuries that they had,they were forced to start with seven,yes seven defenders.Everybody was thinking their manager had gone mental,but none had the sense to see that Fabio and Rafael where very much attacking players and so they proved yesterday.But for me,the real man who changed the game yesterday was a certain Edwin Van der Sar.For unknown reasons,goalkeepers seem to have the game of their lives against Arsenal(this season in particular).I guess it is some kind of a curse.I shall put on my Mayan costume and dance around a fire,maybe that will work.

Coming back to the game,it was a difficult result to swallow.We lost the game even though we played well.We controlled the game and created real good chances.But when it came to taking those chances,we failed miserably.Two prominent misses were Chamakh's header and Rosicky's sitter.The finishing was sloppy.That was all there was to it.

   The first half we were controlling the game and playing some good football until,we conceded a goal in virtually the first chance they had.Some messy defending let Fabio have a clean shot on goal after Almunia had made a good save from a Hernandez header.This has been our primary weakness.....we keep dominating possession but,when we lose the ball,we become susceptible to lack of concentration in defense.If we are to win anything this season,we have to be sharper to the quick counters into the defense.

   Once we were one goal down,we looked likely to concede another one.Well this is not the right way to respond,but that was exactly what happened and there we were 2-0 down against a team playing seven defenders.Not the best situation to be in.On came Chamakh,Rosicky&Ramsey(YEAH he played!!) for Denilson,Diaby and Arshavin.Two who came on had chances to turn the game,but both of them missed their chances.

So it was proved once again that we were low in the 'Luck' department and we were out of another competition.Knocked out of two competition in a span of 5 days,and to think we had a chance for a quadruple only 3 weeks ago is all the more saddening.But I (as should all fans) believe in Wenger and his plans to attain Self-Sustenance.It will take time for the squad to mature into winners and i am willing to wait.Being an Arsenal fan is a tough job and it requires a hell lot of patience.

In the injury dept there were huge positives and negatives yesterday. Aaron Ramsey got some playing time yesterday.He showed some nice touches and made some good runs,but couldn't do much to change the game.But his is a welcome addition with Cesc out for 3 weeks.Maybe he could start against West Brom......

Rambo is back!!!

The bad news is the demise of Djourou's campaign.Sagna and Djourou collided in the penalty box resulting in a dislocated collarbone for the Swiss.It is a huge dent in our defense and we will have to run the rest of the season on an inconsistent defensive partnership of Koscielny and Squillaci.Maybe Miquel will also get to play a part.So we go into the last stretch of the league with two fit first-team CBs and one fit first-team keeper.Not soo good.

Wenger's post-match interview:

The manager has a tough job of bringing the belief of this team back in order.With no other target left,Wenger will have nothing else in mind other than winning the EPL.With the other teams having slightly busier schedules than us,we have a better chance of winning the league,and with Song, Walcott and Fabregas all back after the International break,we really have a good race to the finish this year.

Thats it for now folks!! Have a nice day!! You can follow the blog on twitter or Facebook.
I leave you with a video for all BUSSACA haters!

Transfer Alert!!! Chris Foy for £ 20 million...Arsenal and Man Utd interested

2011-03-12T10:34:00.000+05:30

The two big heavyweights of the competition face off in the quarterfinal stage today.Arsenal(10) and Man Utd(11) have 21 FA cup trophies between them.They have faced each other 13 times in the competition, and it has been pretty even with Man Utd winning 6 times and Arsenal winning 5 times (2 ended in a draw).

The fixture is a very important for Arsenal and Man Utd.It comes off the back of a disappointing week where they were screwed over by the referee in both their matches.Both the teams will be coming into the match looking to get back on track.

A lot of talk has been going on about referee performances in recent matches.Some of the decisions made by the match officials has been atrocious.People have even been talking about bought match officials.UEFA even charged Wenger and Nasri for their comments about the Barcelona match.Ferguson remained silent to the press after the Chelsea match.A lot has been going on.The talk going around,coming in to this match has been surrounding which team the referee,Chris Foy will be playing for....

Who will win the Transfer Battle?

Both teams are pretty depleted coming into the game.Man Utd are without Ferdinand,Anderson and Nani.So the pace in their game is depleted a bit.There are rumors that Valencia might play,but I don't expect Ferguson to start him.Arsenal are without Walcott,Fabregas,Wojciech(6 weeks at least),Song and long-term absentees Vermaelen and Fabianski.The team still looks pretty strong.

Arsenal have been forced into replay twice in this competition already,and another axtra match is hardly what they need right now.They should go all out and try to win this at Old Trafford.Manchester United have won all of their last eight home matches,and are unbeaten against Arsenal in their last six encounters.So the tide could change this time round and maybe Arsenal can pull off an upset.It would be a major uplift for the team,who have been pretty down in morale lately.

Arsene's pre-match conference video is posted below.He talks about the damage done by the UEFA to the club and that he wants them to apologize and so on....

Wenger's Pre-match Conference

Arsene says he will be playing his best side, so I expect Djourou and Kos to start alongside Sagna and Gibbs(maybe).Diaby should play,he should compensate the physicality of Song.Also Van Persie is expected to start after playing less than expected on Tuesday.

Possible line-up: Almunia,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Gibbs,Diaby,Wilshere,Nasri,Van Persie & Arshavin.

The last time these two teams met,Man Utd walked away 1-0 winners thanks to a Park goal.Both teams looked pretty even then and it will be the same this time as well.Both the teams look pretty strong on paper and it will be tough to predict a score.,I will go with a 1-1 draw with a replay at the Emirates on the cards.

I know all the fans are pretty down so I leave you with a video clip that will cheer you all up.Watch it,comment and share.Have a good day folks!!!

Nike CTR360

WOW!!! Refs really are ASSES!!!

2011-03-10T17:19:00.001+05:30

Barcelona are great at playing the beautiful game.We all know that.They were holding a class at it on the pitch.But we were adapting and holding on.......until the REF started to play as well.........Thats two games in a row now.....where we were robbed of a fair game.

The match was pretty one sided,but we could've held on for the draw.The second yellow card that led to Van Persie's dismissal really was a joke.There is no other way to put it,a yellow card for a second?? And no action for what Adriano,Abidal or Valdes did?? Well now we know who the Ref was supporting.

This is not wrong...IT IS LEGAL TO CHOKE
@WonderGunner

Barcelona totally dominated the first half.We didn't even get a shot on goal,but that was expected.We were playing Barcelona,masters of possession football.But we knew they would tire out in the second half.Signs of it were beginning to show as well,and we started roaming forward more.We got a goal and the game was back in balance.We stood a chance.....atleast till a moment of (absolute) stupidity from the referee.Once we were down to 10 men,playing against the world's best team(at the moment) was.......well it turned out to be a complete disaster...

One positive from the game was Almunia's performance.He showed that he still has quality.We all know that he has the quality,but there is no consistency to his performance.In the absence of Wojciech he has a good chance to reclaim the no.1 spot.Samir Nasri ran and ran the whole day.He worked real hard in defense and tried to move the game forward. In-fact the whole team worked real hard and they didn't deserve an ending like this.

There will be a lot of regrets and 'what ifs'.But what's happened,has happened.There is no changing it.We are out of the Champion's league and that's that.Its not easy being a fan.But we will just have to get through it.The team's response to this really matters.We are gonna play another very tough match this weekend.Man Utd away in the FA Cup.We all can say 'only a win will do',but all i say is'only our best will do',coz that is all that i can ask for.

The match had its list of casualties.Fabregas was reportedly playing through pain to finish the match and will be out of the FA Cup fixture against Man Utd.Wojciech was replaced by Almunia in the first half and has been found to have a dislocated finger.A detailed checkup will determine the amount of time he will be out of action.There has been a lot of rumors floating that he is out for the season.But there is no official confirmation.Reserve keeper Shea has been called back early from his loan spell to make the bench for the FA cup fixture.

Thats all for the day...Keep your chin up.....WE ARE GUNNERS!!!!! ONLY ONE ARSENAL!!!

Share and leave your comments......

©goonerburgh

Refs are Asses + Wenger Mindfucked Barcelona

2011-03-08T13:23:00.004+05:30

The Sunderland game was a disappointing one in many ways.We played pretty badly in the first half,but i thought we did make some pretty good chances,maybe we will do better.In the second half we totally dominated Sonderland and well,we still didn't win.We still didn't win.There seems to be a lot of that going around....We give our all and still not win,hmmmmmmmmmmmm why could that be???? LET THE BLAMING BEGIN!!!!
Blame it on the linesman
Got you feeling low man
Blame it on Bramble
Got you in a Shamble
Blame it on the R e e e e e Referee
Blame it on the R e e e e e e Referee
(to be sung to the tunes of 'Blame it on the alcohol' by Jamie Foxx)

Some of the decisions made during the match were sooo bad that........ahhhh i dont wanna talk about it.A clear penalty and a goal disallowed in the same match against the same team says a lot for itself....

   Sunday morning was pretty sad......but things started to get better as the day progressed.First i read that Wilshire was fine and ready to take on Barcelona,then later on in the evening Manchester Utd got pawned by Liverpool (one thing i love more than Arsenal winning,is Man Utd losing) thanks to a hat-trick by Kuyt(the ultimate opportunist) & crybaby Nani got injured(not as good an actor as C.Ronaldo).Finally things were looking good.So it became a weekend where we ended up a point closer rather than falling behind by more..

Now the focus is on Barcelona on Tuesday.We lead 2-1 on aggregate.But that doesn't matter.Once they get started,those guys can score a lot of goals.So what we have to do is hang on for the first 45 mins without losing a goal.If we do so,we pretty much have the game in our hands.

   A lot of talk has been going around this weekend about the team that would be travelling to Barcelona.On Saturday Jack Wilshere was said to be a doubt for the Barcelona fixture with some sort of ankle problem he picked up from the Sunderland game.When asked about the injury list,Wenger said "No Walcott. No Van Persie. Fabregas has a chance."

Come Sunday,Wilshere tweeted "Afternoon everyone..just to let you know i am not injured and if selected will be fit to face Barca! Few kicks but nothing too bad!"The Arsenal website confirmed this later on.Fabregas was reported to have a 90% chance of playing in the game,but Alex Song was confirmed out.When asked about this,Wenger said "Fabregas will have a final test today,It is 90 per cent he will travel and be fit. It is vital for us because he is important in the transition between attacking and defending. He is also the leader of the team so we want him there.Alex Song is completely out. He had a test on Sunday morning and it was negative. Wilshere will be fit. Everybody else who played on Saturday should be available."


   Monday morning Arsenal.com posted pictures of the team's final training session at London Colney.Surprise surprise,RVP is training with the team!!!The man who was ruled out for 2-3 weeks is magically back and in full training.The whole team looked pretty confident in the pictures,i mean who will not be???Their most potent goal threat was back to full training and had a chance to play in the all important tie....Ofcourse,there was no official statement till about late afternoon.

Manager of the Decade

Van Persie playing.....well that changes quite a lot,for Barcelona....Here they were,planning on ways to handle Bendtner and thinking 'Hey,we have this in the bag.",till Wenger enters with the ultimate surprise"Ermmmm guys......Van Persie is fit and will playing on Tuesday.......sorry(evil grin)..."That changes the whole game plan,we play differently when each of these strikers play,and it takes a very different approach to cope with it.I bet Barcelona players are shitting their pants thinking of how they are gonna cope with Van Persie,Arshavin,Nasri,Fabregas&Wilshere with both their starting center-backs out.......We still go into this game as underdogs,but with a more fighting chance...

Guess who's back?? Back again!!
courtesy @WonderGunner

Although even with Van Persie fit,i don't expect him to start.The risk of him to tighten up his muscles is great.I am hoping Wenger wont take that chance.With Song and Walcott out,i expect Diaby and goal hero Arshavin to start.The defense looks pretty solid with Kos and Johan at the back.With Wojciech back to his best,i expect both Sagna and Clichy to act more like wingers and make a lot of runs forward.Wilshere will play a deeper role in midfield and try breaking up the play between Xavi &co.

During the pre-match conference Pep said that he had a lot of players like Wilshere in his second team........wait he does?????I wonder,then why would Barcelona try soooo hard to buy Cesc from us if they have such talent.......(something to ponder on)

Predicted line-up: Wojciech,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Clichy,Diaby,Wilshere,Arshavin,Fabregas,Nasri, Bendtner

A win would do a lot in terms of morale for the team.A positive result would be the perfect preperation with another tough fixture against Man Utd (FA Cup) coming this weekend.

My prediction for the game is a 2-2 draw.I am sure all the fans will be happy with this result.Personally i would even take a 3-2 loss with us going ahead on away goal rules.....But I'd rather have the team squash Barcelona at Nou Camp and just show them their place.They are a good team,but are getting pretty vain these days....

Thats all for the day folks,post your comments below and follow me on twitter for more news and banter on Arsenal FC.

Wenger's post match conference + Arshavin close up vids

2011-03-06T13:51:00.000+05:30

Well we drew yesterday and it felt like a loss......i have a lot to write about,but i no pro to write when i am a disappointed dud.So i leave you with the full post match press conference with Arsene Wenger below.

Post-match conference

An Andrei Arshavin exclusive close up video is posted below for those interested..

Andrei Arshavin Exclusive