Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does » 2008 » September
Some people never get it rightEarly in 2007 the story was going around that Flamini (who we signed from Marseille in 2004) was fed up with the lack of starting opportunities he had at Arsenal. He was played in a lot of games, but mostly as a substitute. Flamini didn’t leave at the end of 2006/7 of course, and went on to start in most games in 2007/8 – so he got what he wanted. Arsenal also played in the Euro Cup that season, and got into it again for 2008/9, as we all know. Flamini then left, as we all also know. He left for a team that did not qualify for the Champions League. Which looked a bit odd. Now we find he has left for a team that doesn’t include him in the starting line up either. He’s back to coming on as a substitute. So there he was. Virtually guaranteed a place in the Arsenal starting XI. On the edge of creating one of the great EPL partnerships with Fabregas. Playing in the top competition. And he gives it all up to be a substitute, and play against the likes of the Tiny Totts in the Diddly Cup. For some people the word “prat” seems just a perfect description. One might almost start beliving that all the chat on this web site about their being a “Curse of Arsenal” might perhaps, actually be true. Poor old Hleb out injured. That Mr Henry being kept out of the BarBarBarca-Sheep team by Eto’o and when he does play, being played on the wing. Mr Flamini not in the Euro Cup and not even in the team most of the time. It is enough to make you cry your heart out. Or not, as the case might be. How will the FA punish Tottenham H for the behaviour of their fans?There was a time, when Sol Campbell was playing at Arsenal, when we’d all sing the song that starts (in its recorded version) “Hey Baby, I wanna know…” The second word was changed. The club made a big fuss about it and said anyone who sang that naughty little song any more would be kicked out and have their membership removed. The club won, and we shut up… until that final moment when Tony Adams scored the last goal in the 4-0 win (the famous picture where he turns arms wide to face the north bank – indeed to face me – nice one Tony). We’d won the league, the players went off, and in the interim the DJ helpfully played some music while we waited for the guys to come back on, lift the trophy and stroll round the pitch. Yes the DJ helpfully played some records. Including, “Hey Baby, I wanna know…” and 38,000 gooners as one took up the song we had all been refused the right to sing. As one of the coppers at the time said, “We couldn’t arrest all 38,000 of them”. Personally I am not sure that this song, which refers in one word to the Totts Jewish origins is that offensive, but I fully recognise that I have no ability to understand what it is like to have been Jewish during a time of persecution, torture and extermination, nor to have been born into a family where that happened. So, I concede – if that song is offensive through its one word, I’ll back down. But backing down is not something fans of the Totts will do. Their behaviour towards Campbell since he left the Totts has been atrocious in the extreme – and has been undertaken not by a small band of nutters but by virtually the whole of the away support. The Sweet FA who claim to “run” our game has now been asked to act following a police complaint the behaviour of Totts supporters against Sol Campbell at Portsmouth on Sunday. Hampshire Constabulary said they couldn’t do anything because of the “sheer number of people involved” in the chanting. These people were all Totts supporters. The FA has said it is “awaiting reports from witnesses and officials at the game”. However even the dozy FA now understands that it has been contacted by the police. A Hampshire police spokesman said: “Our officers at the game were aware of the problem but it was not feasible to make arrests in that kind of huge crowd situation. So no arrests were made.” It will be interesting to see what the FA do. They have made a big fuss about what is said and sung at games in Croatia, and protested that Croatia only gets fined trivial amounts for the behaviour of its supporters. Will it act any differently this time? It will, in my opinion, be a defining moment. If the FA do not act, and act in the sort of way that they have demanded UEFA act over Croatia (expulsion from the competition is one of the things that has been demanded for Croatia), then they are saying, “when away supporters are gathered, and there are too many involved in the chanting for the police to touch, we won’t do anything much.” If that is the statement they make, it will be the most interesting statement the FA has made for years. Now I really am getting worriedI wrote the previous piece about the number of shots the teams had on saturday night, and then really worried. Could the Manchester Bankrupt figure of 32 shots be right? It seems insanely high. I took that figure from the Guardian web site – along with all the others – and so decided to go looking for stats on the games from other sites. Interestingly, no one else has that figure for Manchester B – the Sky site for example has 23 shots – still high but not as ludicrous as the Guardian. But more worrying is the fact that all sorts of other stats varied site by site. I won’t bore you with all the details, but basically from now on I am not going to believe any of these figures anywhere. They are probably made up by a bunch of journalists as they share their drinks before and after the game. Arsenal 18 Hull 8That scoreline is the number of shots each side had. To give you an idea of where that stands in the scheme of things here’s some other weekend scores based on goal attempts Wigan 10, Manchester Arab 11 Stoke 5 CSKA Fulham 14 Manchester B 32 Bolton 10 Aston V 12, Sunderland 9 Portsmouth 9 Tiny Totts 15 Everton 4, Liverpool Insolvency 11 Which tells us that mostly the team with the most goal attempts wins the game, and that in terms of goal attempts Arsenal were only beaten by an extraordinary high score from Manchester B – a score so high I really wonder if the stats are right. (certainly if these stats, which come from the Guardian are right, the most extraordinary thing is that Manchester B only got two goals). But I want to make a broader point – which is that if we had got a tiny number of shots then clearly we would simply be not working as an attacking forward moving team. But we didn’t. If you look at the same stats for the Fulham defeat the result was Fulham 5 Arsenal 15 And overall this starts to tell us where the problem is. Converting those shots into goals. It’s not a midfield thing, nor is it a defensive thing. It is simply converting those shots into goals. It is, don’t do a Hleb, do a Henry. Tottenham could turn to Venebles… or Untold ArsenalIt is the time of year when Tottenham change their manager. It matters not whether the current manager is a decent guy having a hard time at an insane club, or a jumped up twirp who really has limited ability and no power as the big men on the board do their crazy thing. One year they can’t stop buying forwards, the next year they can’t stop selling them Either way, about this time, the manager goes. So the next question is: who is insane enough to take over Tottenham at this moment. Answer: Mr Crisis-Club, Terry Venebles – and failing that, me. Mr V makes his money out of clubs in trouble – he goes in, screws it up, and then gets paid off – a good life if you can get it. To give just a few examples from recent years… Leeds United gave him £2m to go away after eight months, when he was also earning a £2m a year salary Crystal Palace gave him £1m after seven months during which time he was on a £750k,000 a year tax-free salary (that’s the equivalent to £1.5 million a year). They also gave him an interest-free loan of half a million, a rather nice house, a Mercedes Benz car and a signing on of a £135,000. (Quite clearly the man had money problems – I mean you don’t go to your employer for a whacking great interest free loan if you have a fortune stashed in the bank). Portsmouth had him for 17 months and then paid him £500,000 to go away. With this sort of track record I would suggest it is inevitable that Venebles will go meandering along the Lane in search of another short-term deal – just to help the club get into an even worse position than they are in now. But we feel sad for our friends from the High Street. So Untold Arsenal has offered to help. In a letter to the Tiny Totts we have stated that whatever Venebles asks for, we’ll do twice the job for half the money. Thus, if he takes them down to the Championship for £2 million, we’ll take them into League 1 for just £1 million. It is a deal that no self-respecting Tott could ignore, and I am sitting by the phone even as I write awaiting a call. After all, if they can employ Ramos, why not me? One defeat changes nothingHere’s a simple fact – we’re two points behind the leaders, with a goal difference that is only one worse than the leaders. Here’s another fact – our children’s team looked a dream and a half on tuesday. Or another fact – even if Manchester Bankrupt win their game in hand we are still above them in the league. Or another – when Manchester B screwed up earlier this season – or indeed at the start of last season – I don’t recall anyone saying, “that’s it, all over, that’s the end, Man B are dead in the water…” Of course not. Everyone takes it that their manager knows a thing or two about football, and has just had a bit of a bad run. I’m just another supporter, and, for what its worth, what I feel at the moment is… a) there is nothing written in the laws of the universe that says Arsenal have to be one of the top teams – after all for many years of my life the club has very obviously not been one of the top teams. b) I have never in all these years of watching the club seen football as exciting and stunning as in the Wenger era. c) The football I am seeing now is not worse than during the 2 Wenger double seasons – it is in fact better. d) The only period at all in all the years I have been watching Arsenal in which the team exceeded what is being offered now was the unbeaten season – but e) The prelude to the unbeaten season was a dreadful awful terrible dispiriting defeat at home to Leeds which lost us the league f) The aftermath of the 49 was a dreadful run where we couldn’t have beaten our own children’s team I don’t think this is a disaster at all – because I am not going to measure everything against out ability to win every single game. I loved the game against Sheffield U, I am not going to give up on this season after just a handful of games, I am certainly not going to start criticising Wenger just because we have lost two games this season by the odd goal, I am going to the game against Porto full of enthusiasm, the world did not end on saturday evening, and most important of all… If I was coming to this country from Brazil, with no knowledge of English football, but as an incomer was looking for a team to support, I would look for an attractive, attack minded team that could make a serious challenge to win the league. That would reduce the field to two – Manchester B and Arsenal. I would choose Arsenal because of the tradition, the ownership, and above all the pure style and quality of the club. One defeat by one goal changes nothing. Thierry ready to leave Barca – but what would we do with him?Thierry Henry said in an interview published on 26 September that he will consider leaving Barcelona in January if the coach Pep Guardiola leaves him on the bench much more. What the great man actually said in L’Equipe was, “For now, it is not a matter of the moment. But if things stay the same, of course we’ll have to talk about this,” Admittedly this isn’t quite the same as “I’ve had it up to ‘ere with this bunch of sheep and I want out and I want out now”, but maybe my translation skills aren’t what they were. Our old friend didn’t actually get onto the pitch during Bar-bar’s 3-2 win over Real Betis on Wednesday. Not even on the wing, which he doesn’t like (and if you recall that was where he was playing fairly uselessly when Wenger signed him and converted him to a centre forward. Our man in Barcelona said that he thought he would play up front this season when he decided to stay in the summer. Guardiola, speaking in that open, honest and truthful way that all Barca people use, said he didn’t want Samuel Eto’o anymore – and that left the door open. And following the normal pattern of Barca events Eto’o is now the usual starter. In L’Equipe the interviewer asks Thierry if the boss had told him he would be the regular starter in the centre forward slot as he was at Arsenal. Thierry replied… “It is true I had a talk with the coach before the season began. For me, this talk was very clear,” and added that on the strength of that he had turned down offers from elsewhere. So now it looks like he is off again and the android press will be running “Thierry’s coming home” stories just as soon as they can find someone who can speak French – and someone else who can write English. But what would we do with him? We have, in no particular order… Adebayor, thought to be leaving in the summer but whom the stats suggest scores 1 goal every 2 games – which is utterly astonishing. He runs around a lot which is good. Van Persie. Reckoned by most blogs last summer to be not even worth counting since he would get injured in the warm up to the first game, he’s doing incredibly well and clearly scares the shit out of everyone who plays against him. Bendtner. Reckoned by many web sites to be decidely third rate, he just seems to score goals – and fairly neat ones too. Carlos Vela. Ignored by most blogs or dismissed as “just another kid – we need proven ability” I gave him my vote as the potential discovery of the year, and so far he’s not letting me down. I’d at the very least have him on the bench every game. Eduardo. Said by many to be unlikely to return to his best. Due to return in about 8 weeks, so we’ll see. Where on earth would we put Thierry, wonderful player though he is, in among that lot? Criris News: an occasional guide to the cock-ups of our friends in footballNewcastle Zebras. The Zebras reach number one this week through the sheer weight of crazy events. Top of the pile must be the attempt to get the man from Dagenham whose business activities have raised the odd eyebrow, to be manager. That is manager of a club where the fans walk around the ground with banners about Cockney Mafia (whatever that is). The point about the Zebras of course is that they have only the slightest notion of what the word Cockney means (as in being born in the sound of Bow Bells). To them anyone who speaks an even vaguely recognisable version of English is a Cockney – so how were they going to react to Very Tenable (as he’s known in financial circles)? Meanwhile the Nigerian who sent an email saying that Ashley Ashley had won $10 billion on the local lottery, and if he would just send across his bank details the money would be in his pocket in half a jiff still hasn’t coughed up the cash. Now they are going to ask our old mate O’Leary to be manger after he did so well at Leeds U and Aston V. Oh yes and they did the impossible – they lost in the Children’s Cup to the Tiny Totts. WHam. So, Sheffield Untidy (who actually put up a jolly sporting show I thought on Tuesday at the Ems) have won their case to get a £30m cheque from WHAM. (That is the same WHAM that don’t have any money so starting selling players without telling the manager). Now we hear that the Sheffield players who were at the club when they went down (after Wham illegally used a player who they shouldn’t have used) are all suing WHAM for lost earnings. Bankruptcy is around the corner I suspect. Manchester Bankrupt. And speaking of bankrupts, Manchester B would be higher up the league were it not for the activities of others – for their financial outlook just got worse. We know about the failure to pay interest on debts last year, and their sponsor going bust. Now we find that another part of the financial base of the club is crumbling. This season, for the first time in quite a long time, season tickets are available, and not being sold. Worse, match tickets are going on general sale – again an unheard of situation. Of course this doesn’t mean that we will see an part-empty stadium (as we saw in the Children’s Cup match this week) for league matches – at least not yet, but with the manager Sir Alex F-Word demanding to spend billions every transfer window, and no buyer in sight, the financial good times are over. Just to think, before the Yanks came to Manchester, the club had no debt at all! The Tiny Totts. The crisis in the High Street is just continuous, so one almost forgets it is there. The Totts had a moment of glory when they beat the Zebras in the Children’s Cup, although both sides cheated by playing old men. And to hear the Totts talk (or “grunt” perhaps is a more accurate word) you’d think they had won the league. In fact I discovered that is exactly what they did think, until I pointed out that they were holding the league table upside down. Manchester Arab. Richest club in the galaxy, and they lose to…. Brighton. Not a crisis, I admit, but still, rather an amusing situation. Liverpool Insolvency. Still there, still giving out false messages. The problem with the Insolvency is that the battles between the owners is still going on, the club still can’t score goals, and for all their glory in beating the Bankrupts, they still aren’t a very good team. The stadium is certainly not going to be built either. And the fans of revolting. (If you see what I mean). Platini about to go even more ballistic over ArsenalBacking off from his attack on the Lord Wenger, Platini has now said this, “When I talk about business, I mean attracting young players aged 13 or 14. I can’t bear that,” Platini was speaking in an interview with French newspaper Sud-Ouest published on 25 September. So what on earth will Platini do when he discovers that Hoyte signed when 9 and Wilshere joined aged 8? The fact is that this sad outburst by a guy who was once a great footballer shows yet again the malign influence that the offices of UEFA have on otherwise intelligent people. It is a bit like what happens when a DJ gets hold of a microphone. An otherwise perfectly reasonable chap with a good knowledge of rock n roll suddenly starts screaming stuff no one can comprehend. Take the mic away and he calms down. So it is at UEFA. Take people out of the UEFA environment and they become quite normal again. But put them back in that Swiss building, and they lose all sense of reality. I suspect it is something in the air filtration system. Jack Wilshere to become manager of TottenhamI agree entirely with the comment made on my last post concerning the issue of Gascoigne – it is totally inappropriate to start a rumour over the supposed death of a man suffers from psychiatric problems. (My joke, you will have noticed, was about Newcastle, not Gascoigne). But the publication of the rumour did make me pause for a moment on the issue of rumours. Go to the BBC Teletext page 338 each day and you’ll see them pouring out in terms of football – and all presented as facts. I particularly remember the one about Arsenal signing Crouch (News of the Dickheads), during the summer which had me laughing all the way to the chippie. So, seeing as how far and fast the Gascoigne story spread, maybe UNTOLD ARSENAL could do the same, but without the overtones. For example, Newcastle Zebras are to be taken over by a Nigerian. Trouble is, that might be a bit far fetched – not even Newcastle could fall for that “you have inherited $20 billion and as a lawyer I want to give it to you – just give me your bank details” scam. So, how about, “Newcastle will have Dagenham business supremo Terry Venables as a manager.” But again you see no one would believe that the man who was sacked by Barca because his team couldn’t defeat Dundee, who was sacked by Australia because his team couldn’t beat Iran, and whose business dealings even Alan Sugar couldn’t stomach, would be given such a job. What we need is a rumour that is believable. Like the one that says you can now buy a season ticket at Old Trafford, without any waiting list. But again, surely if this were true it would have been in the papers wouldn’t it. Manchester Bankrupt have lost their sponsor, can’t pay the interest on their debts – but no waiting list? Surely no. We can’t use that. Or how about the one that Arsenal need a defensive mid-fielder. But you see even here people are not going to go for it, when Arsenal have yet to concede a goal from open play this season. It just makes the defence seem, well, ok. But we could run with “Wenger has lost it”. His inability to buy players clearly shows that he has no idea what is going on. We could try that one, because clearly the results show that… oh, yes well, How about… Manchester City, richest club in the galaxy, will win everything. They have a great manager and no one but no one is going to be able to do them over. They will win every game, and every competition, starting with the Carling C…. oops. I know, let’s go back a bit. Start of the season. The Tiny Totts will this year leap up the league, sweep aside all opposition, and take their rightful place at… OK, OK, I’ll get the hang of this in a moment. Newcastle will bring in Kevin Keegan and he will lead them into the golden age. Joey Barton has been seen pushing a wheelbarrow. Fabregas is going to Bara. Arsenal are going to spend £40m on a defensive midfielder. Arsenal are going to sign me as press officer… Actually this rumour stuff is harder than it looks. Why Flamini-replacement is a false conceptI don’t keep a diary of each game I watch, so when thinking of past games I have to rely on memory – which can be notoriously false. But having given that proviso, I am not sure that Flamini was as good as he is now made out to be. Certainly his games before the 2007/8 season were ok, but I would never have said he was stunning, and I do remember conversations with friends in the summer of 2007 where we wondered if he was going to leave or not, and the answer generally was “I don’t really mind”. When he was injured we never seemed to mind too much – or miss him too much. Last season was different, I admit, but was he that good, that special, that important? In one sense I’ll agree he was: he was the balance and support that Fabregas needed, and which allowed him to develop his game and during that process move forward to score more goals. Beyond that, he ran about a lot (I think there is a stat to say he ran about more than anyone else last year) and he tackled hard. All good stuff. But, Cesc has now developed a stage further, and there is a greater sense of completeness both to his game, and to the team as a whole, in my opinion, which makes it look more like the earlier Wenger teams – the teams that for many years included Gilberto. Gilberto was an utterly different player from Flamini, and one who, for part of his time at Highbury was not appreciated by all the crowd – despite the credentials of being a world cup winner and ultimately captain of Brazil. Only when out for a year did we really see what we had been missing. But the point I am drifting towards is that with Gilberto we won stuff, which we didn’t with Flamini. Of course one player does not explain what we won and didn’t, but it does make the point that the various Wenger teams that have achieved greatness have not done so by being mirror images of each other. We don’t replace Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Vieira, because they are unique players, and when they go, a new approach is evolved around the new star players. We build the team around the brilliance of Fabregas, and that brilliance includes his flexibility – which gives us flexibility in terms of who plays next to him, and how the pair of them then play. So what I am saying is that we should not get fixated on the need for a Flamini II – we could have an utterly different system, as we did with Gilberto. Fabregas / Denilson works, Fabregas / Song works, and I suspect Denilson / Song will work too. (Incidentally if it does turn out that Denilson is a really excellent player, then this current extended run can only help him – and help the club for when Cesc can’t play.) Vieira + Petit was not in any way the same as Vieira + Gilberto, but both worked, and that is what we have to remember. Wenger is not a one-dimensional coach. Personally I think the current combination will work – although I will be fascinated to see how Bischoff fits into the system Final thought: the story that Gaz “Gazza” Gascoigne has been found dead in a Newcastle hotel is just a rumour. Everyone should have known that from the start: there are no hotels in Newcastle. Lord Wenger faces an enormous problemWhat Arsenal desperately need is not more players, but rather more competitions. Consider the issue of the forwards. Adebayor and van Persie have the key positions up front. They might occasionally be rested or be injured – so in pops Bendtner who has shown his ability to score teams from the Tiny Totts and Notlob Wandering. But Carlos Vela clearly needs games – you don’t play centre forward in every match your country plays, score in the pre-season games and then score three (including one of utter majesty) in your first game for the club, and then… well, sit around until there’s another league cup game. So maybe Vela comes on and gets a few games as a sub, just to keep him happy, and with van Persie needing to be rested every now and then everyone is just about ok. Not perfect but just about ok. Except there’s the little matter of Eduardo. Now raised to god-like status he will be ready to play in December and will be expecting a run out by the new year. Assume (ok it is unlikely but just assume) that come the new year none of these five is injured. Then round 3 of the Sweet FA Cup interrupts the regular league games. Who are you going to play? Presumably Bendtner and Eduardo – leaving Vela wondering where his next game is coming from…. Of course injuries will play a part, and so the crunch may not arise, but the situation with the forwards is something that is reflected all over the pitch. Which is why I think we need another competition. And I reckon that the stadium would be filled whatever the competition was. (You may have seen shots of the Manchester Bankrupt stadium looking more than half empty – compare with the Ems 56,000 odd last night.) A competition for clubs that are not bankrupt perhaps? Cleric in Arsenal attackThe Pastafarian Bishop of Tottenham (The Rt Reverend Hardly Anyone) has condemned the tactics of Arsene Wenger (manager of Arsenal) ahead of tonight’s game with Sheffield United. As Untold Arsenal exclusively revealed earlier today, Wenger has taken the unusual step of playing an unborn foetus in the troublesome defensive midfield role. “This practice is specifically outlawed in Leviticus Chapter 3, next to the bit where it talks about not wearing cotton and polyester in church,” said the Bishop. “While none of us could complain about the yet-to-be-born playing in a wide attacking position, this approach is complete out of bounds.” Untold Arsenal also reminded readers in the earlier post that Cesc Fabregas had originally played for the club before he was conceived – a comment that also caused the Bishop to be more angry than normal. “We would have none of that in Tottenham,” said His Grace. “As can be seen from the displays this season – especially in the 0-0 draw with Wigan, while some of our players are not actually alive, all of them were at some time born.” Research by Untold Arsenal has shown that much of the Tottenham team does currently consist of Zombies. We put it to the Bishop that while it is thus technically true that all the squad had been born, the use of the Undead, especially in defence, was not morally acceptable. “In using Zombies, Tottenham Hotspur is staying true to the principles that have guided us through the last 100 years. We recognise minority cultures, and invite them into our ground. In fact, the Undead are usually admitted at half price.” The Lord Wenger was not available for comment. More on Pastafarians and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster can be found here. Nursery concerned at Arsenal’s use of 2 year olds in game v Sheffield UIn a dramatic move the Lord Wenger has announced that in addition to the usual round of two and three year olds that he normally selects for the Diddly-Widdly Cup, for tonight’s game against Sheffield Untidy he will be selecting a foetus to play in the defensive mid-field holding role. The foetus’ mother, who remains unnamed for legal reasons, said, “I am of course deeply proud that my son will play for the Arsenal Nursery Team against Sheffield Untidy. My son is not yet named, but I am sure that once I have seen him play I’ll call him Fla-mini.” While the move by the Lord Wenger is extremely unusual, the foetus will not be the youngest player ever to play for Arsenal Children. Cesc Fabregas, as will be remembered by all Gooners, played for Arsenal before he was conceived. “That was an unusual situation,” said a spokesman for the Arsenal Under 1′s team. “Mrs Fabregas told us that she was going to conceive, we got the date from her husband, and that was good enough for the Lord Wenger. But such circumstances are rare.” It is understood that special arrangements have to be made for such a young team. Rattles, last seen in the 1960s, are to be handed out to the crowd nearest the pitch, but the club has asked that the chant of “coochie coochie coo” should not be used, as it might distract the team. However there are concerns. The Principal of Sunny Sox Nursery School where several of the team normally spend their days expressed a worry that the game would take place “long after these boys are normally tucked up in bed asleep. I am writing to the Lord Wenger to ask him if all future games can be fitted in with the Nursery School’s playtime.” Jack Wilshere is a genius. Do we need a defensive midfielder?As we all know Mr Wenger did not buy in the transfer window (to the great dismay and frustration of most bloggers and commentators it would seem) because he felt that he had the squad he needed. My guess (and of course it is never more than that) is that the plan was to play Diaby next to Fabregas, and allow Cesc to move forward looking to score. But the early injury to Diaby and the unavailability of Bischoff meant that the system that had worked so well between Flamini and Fabregas had to be changed. Enter Denilson, and we return to a modified version of the Gilberto approach – the invisible wall mark II. Which raises these questions: a) When Rosicky finally returns to fitness does he return to the wing where Nasri has been playing? b) If Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, Denilson, and Bischoff were all fit, who would play next to Cesc? c) Is Ramsey ready for more of a place in the team yet, or is he just going to get emergency back-up and short fill-in jobs this year? d) Do we need to sign a new midfielder? The last one is, for me, the easiest to answer – absolutely not. I know I am out of phase with the vast majority of commentators on this, but I kept arguing the position through the summer and it still looks that way to me. If you say, “Flamini did x and we have no one to do x” then of course you need a new midfielder. But to me, and it is just a personal view, that is not how Wenger thinks, and it is not the right way to think. Players are individual, and have individual strengths. You have Ian Wright in the team, and you play to his strengths – down the middle. You have Henry in the team and you know he goes left, so you buy a right footed left winger who can score (Pires) and tell him to run into the middle when Henry goes out to the left. So to my mind Wenger was never going to replace Flamini with Flamini II, he was looking around at what he had and who was available, and then thinking, how can I change this to accommodate everyone in a winning formula. And to answer an earlier question – if Denilson and Cesc continue to develop as a pair, and the team continue to win, then that’s the pairing, and Diaby and others will lose out. One final thing – the strength among the younger players is now so great that every year we automatically have a couple of signings – players who break through. I suspect by this time next year Ramsey and Wilshere will be more fully integrated into the first team and there will be others moving up. The signings are done – it is just the press doesn’t notice them until they come out with all the old phrases about the “Wenger production line” when we play in the Little Cup – as we do tomorrow – and “Arsenal are broke” during the transfer windows when we don’t sign anyone. The truth of this final point is that the spivs own Manchester U, Chelsea and Liverpool, but they don’t own Arsenal. Tottenham hackers hijack GoonernewsSome hilarity on the excellent Goonernews site today (21 September) when at 1205 the official blurb on the right side of the home page read Welcome to Spursnews.com providing the latest Tottenham Hotspur News 24 hours a day from hundreds of football news sources. Every Tottenham Hotspur FC news story, all on one page. We link to the latest Tottenham Hotspur transfer news, player news and other Spurs news stories, from a range of well known sites. Yes, well, up to a point. It probably helps detract from the league table and the fact that Ramos is reported in that normally accurate (note – sarcasm) publication The People, that he wants to go home to Spain because he doesn’t like it in Tottenham. None of us like it much in Tottenham matey – but nice bit of hacking. “the old Arsenal failing of not scoring enough”That is a quote from today’s Observer (21 Sept 2008). The paper says, “…but it also hints at the old Arsenal failing of not scoring enough goals while the going is good.” Of course during the wonderful first half spell when the side repeated the torture of Blackburn Thugs last weekend it would have been nice if one of those post-hitting shots had gone in, or one of the keeper’s saves hadn’t quite come off. But it ignores something else… the simple fact that Arsenal are (at this moment at least) top scorers in the league with 11 from five games and a GD of +9. WHAM have the same scoring record although their GD is only +2. So if you are the top scoring club, is that really a realistic vision of what is happening? Not least following a trip to the Ukraine where the spirit of old Blackburn and Bolton lives on. Those who still complain bitterly that Arsenal should have bought and bought midfielders in the summer will say that as yet we have not played the other Big Three sides, and come to that we haven’t played Liverpool Insolvency either. That of course is undeniable. But it is also true is that after just one goal in the first two league games we’ve got 10 in the last three with just one against. And it is true that in the game against Notlob Wandering we played without Nasri, without Rosicky, without Eduardo, without Diaby, without Van Persie, without Bischoff, without Silvestre, without Theo for 75% of the game and without Clichy for 50%. It rather suggests that we have something going here and if we ever do get a full squad we are going to see quite a bit of rotating. It also suggests that Denilson really is Gilberto II. Now that is hard for Denilson, for two reasons. First Gilberto was captain of Brazil which is quite a monument to live up to, and second for quite a bit of his time at Arsenal he was not popular. In the time leading up to his year long injury he was the centre of complaints against the team (presumably from the same people who in the summer wanted us to buy every defensive midfielder under the sun, and it was only during that period of absence that many fans came to see exactly what Gilberto gave to the team. Denilson, to me, goes further. He scores (which Gilberto did less often apart from in the first season at the Ems) and he assists, (Gilberto tended to lay off the simple pass letting others do it). All in all it was a good day, and one can only hope for 22 sending-offs and a ground closure for racist chanting in today’s “game” between the Bankrupts and CSKA. That would complete a good weekend. Arsenal flourishes as capitalism endsAnother year, another financial statement. And another attempt by a bunch of spivs and their banker allies to destroy our lives and our finances. They had one go in the dotcom fiasco. Now they’ve had another bash with house lending. Worse, they are already planning the next attack. Amazingly, while clubs like Manchester U, CSKA Fulham, and Manchester Arab sail into debts of billions, Arsenal incredibly makes a profit. Of course you may have read some newspaper stuff saying that the club is in trouble because it is involved in property sales. So let me (if I may) remind you of one such statement. This is from the Independent, 17 April 2003. And I quote word for word for totally stupid lying word… “Arsenal’s move to a new 60,000-seat stadium at Ashburton Grove has been seriously delayed, it was announced yesterday. The news will heighten speculation that the project may never come to fruition and that the Gunners could end up as tenants at the new Wembley stadium, despite strong denials from Arsenal. “In a statement, Arsenal said that reports that the proposed move to Ashburton Grove might be scrapped were “completely untrue”. It added: “We remain fully committed to relocating [there]…. “One of the major “issues” alluded to in Arsenal’s statement is the financing of the project, which will cost around £400m if it goes ahead. The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is arranging a £300m loan for the development, has been attempting to syndicate that loan. By attempting to spread its risk – rather than underwriting the whole deal – the bank is showing evident doubts. Finance could be a problem if the loan cannot be syndicated and the RBS pulls out.” The fact that we now enjoy the comforts of the Emirates shows what a bunch of tossers most financial journalists and their allies in the spiv market actually are. So here’s the reality of the current Arsenal finances as governments rush to take over what’s left of the financial markets. Turnover is up again (£223.0 million from £200.8 million last year,) despite the downturn in the property market caused by the spivs. Broadcasting income up to £68.4 million (2007 – £44.3 million) from new Premier League domestic and overseas TV deals. But the matches at the Emirates is the most important bit of all, approaching £100 million a year, and rising all the time Improvement and extension of key player / management contracts resulted in total wage costs increasing to £101.3 million (2007 – £89.7 million), belying another story – that Arsenal don’t pay good salaries. Profit before tax of £36.7 million was up from last years £26.9 million. To compare our position with the Bankrupt clubs the debt is £318.1 million but this includes £133.5 million of bank loans used to fund investment in the Highbury Square. All this and much more will be recovered as the sales come in. Legal completions from the first phase of 65 apartments released at the end of July have so far generated sales proceeds of £18.7 million. It is easy to forget how awful it used to beWe thought of Bruce Rioch this week because he brought a Danish team of no significance to Celtic and got a draw. And then we remembered that one dreadful season he had with Arsenal – a further reminder of which was given last night on Arsenal TV with the showing of the last match of that season. We needed to win to get into Europe, and we did. We crept into the Diddly-Widdly Cup. There were many faces we’d remember. Bergkamp in his first season, Ian Wright (about to put in a transfer request), Dixon, Merson, Winterburn, Keown – so not a bad team then. But in effect it was awful. Terrible. Ghastly. I was at that final game – the last game before the great Lord Wenger arrived (with the slight interruption of the period at the start of the next season, of the most successful Arsenal manager ever – Pat Rice – under whose tenure we did not lose a game.) I don’t remember it as being so awful, although I do have strong memories of how Rioch was clearly not up to the exacting standards of Graham and I could never understand what Wright was doing on the left wing. But looking at it now one thing is utterly clear. If we had stayed like that, if we had not had the Lord Wenger, then Manchester U (as they were then known) would have marched ahead under Alex (as he was then known) F-Word, and they would not have had us popping up every now and then to burst the bubble. Then CSKA would have come along and we would be condemed to an eternity of mid-table drivel as we suffered throughout much of the period from the managership of Wright onwards until Graham. If you have not seen anything from the Rioch season try and get a copy of a video of that year and see what I mean. Of course it is right to wish to win the EPL again this year, and the Cups too. But let’s never forget how far this magnificent man has brought us since those awful Riochian days. Manchester U finances just get worse and worseThere’s bad news and then there’s even worse news for our dear old chums at Manchester Bankrupt. There is a thing called base rate – interest rates are worked out on that. It stands at 5%, which means that your mortgage costs you a bit more than that – maybe 7%. So it is with interest that we note that Manchester Bankrupt are paying… wait for it… 14.25% a year interest on the loans for which they have failed to pay the interest. According to the Guardian today Manchester Bankrupt have run up a $150m bill on the loans whose interest is accruing at 14.25% a year. No wonder they want a buyer. Especially when, at the same time, we find out that… The US Federal Reserve, took over AIG, the sponsors of the Bankrupts, by generously giving them a nifty $85 billion (that’s $85,000,000,000 just to be clear and not risk misleading anyone). It has now said, as predicted here, that it won’t “consider sports sponsorship a core activity.” This is such a contrast with Arsenal which has its loans as a mortgage at normal mortgage rates, and as such the club is not suffering one spot from the collapse of the capitalist system. (I shall be buying my tickets next week on the basis of barter – starting offer is two cabbages and a turnip – but I will be willing to raise the bid if necessary.) Arsenal draw as capitalism comes to an endSometimes I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or just giggle a bit and wander off into the night. The approach of the opposition in the Ukraine last night was aggressive in all its senses, and clearly Wenger was right to complain and be angry at the end. But the key point surely is that two years ago we would have lost that game, and complained. This time we got a draw, because we can stand up to it. That is progress and a half, and all the rubbish spouted on TV about the opposition not having won a game for 2000 years ignored the fact that they had had 23 managers in 6.5 weeks, until they finally found one guy who has utterly turned them around. You can pick and choose your silly stats, Sky TV, but it doesn’t change reality. Meanwhile as Halifax Bank of Scotland have gone the way of AIG and Lehman Bros, this really does look the end of capitalism as we know it – the bigggest crisis since, oh, I don’t know, dot com at the turn of the century. Problem is the only alternatives we have are either laughter or a retreat into the sort of state that Saudi Arabia is where women have no rights and they cut off your arm for adultery. I think I’ll take humour: and so it is with great joy that I repeat the words of the Daily Express. Bleary O’Leary, the man who played more for Arsenal than the rest of the universe put together, and who then fulfilled his sacred mission by utterly wrecking Leeds Utd and paving the way for them to enter the Beazer Homes Northern League (Division 3) is tipped to be the next manager of Newcastle Zebras. Oh joy. So there is a God after all. Manchester U sponsors taken over by US governmentAIG, sponsors of Manchester Bankrupt, have been taken over by the US government. The company told the government that it needed $80 billion to keep going, and rather than have the company crash, the government loaned the company the money, effectively giving the state an 80% stake. It is impossible at this stage to know if the Federal Reserve’s involvement with AIG will result in a change of stance. Certainly the sponsorship of a bankrupt organisation such as Manchester U cannot be seen as a prime activity for a government owned insurance operation. On the other hand there is a contract between Manchester and AIG – but most contracts of this type have get out clauses. They are expensive for the sponsor, but they can be activated, and if AIG’s new owners effectively decide to cut losses as and where they can, this could be one plug that is pulled. It is difficult to imagine that there is any real benefit to AIG at the present time of being seen on a Manchester U shirt. What is clear is that the value of club sponsorship is being downgraded very rapidly, and the money that will be gained from future sponsorships will be far less than those signed up for a couple of years ago. In this regard there Arsenal are in a very strong position having signed up a long term deal with Emirates Airlines, which includes the naming of the stadium for (I think) a further 13 years. The clubs that are going to suffer are those without a sponsor now (WHU and WBA) and those whose deals are coming to an end. A few constructive thoughts about Tottenham Hotspur…Mr Ramos – that awfully nice chap in charge of the football club that plays at 748 Tottenham High Road, has got 19 victories from 46 matches, a 41% win record. That might look fairly awful but regular Tottenham watchers (if there are such things) will know that this is fairly normal middle-of-the-road stuff for Tottenham. For example, Mr Ramos’ predecessor, a Mr M Jol, won 67 games from a total of 148 – a 45% win record, which clearly is better than his successor. I wonder if it might not be a jolly good idea for Tottenham to sack this manager and get someone else in. After all, that’s what they usually do. But no, I thought, enough of the cheap laughs. Let’s do a serious analysis of what is wrong at 748 High Road, Tottenham. Consider Martin Jol. OK as a ritual, we knock whoever is manager down the road, but inside me I thought Jol was actually a good manager struggling in an impossible situation. That 45% record is hardly wonderful, but he was trying to put together a consistently good team from a poor start. He also said that the club should aim to be 6th, which he could probably have achieved. But of course that was not acceptable to the dolts from up the road. But look at Martin Jol now. He is manager of Hamburg. Who are…. two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. While the Tiny Totts are two points clear at the bottom of the EPL. If you follow my argument that he was a good manager with an impossible club then the reason Tottenham are bottom is clear. Jol’s squad (which remember included Berbatov) was expunged in the January and summer transfer windows to create a team that could come 4th. Just how much trouble they are in can be seen by these two quotes from Ramos. First, “Don’t forget, this is the same squad that beat Roma 5-1 [in pre-season]”. Second, “We had little time to prepare…We have had Corluka, Pavlyuchenko and Campbell only since transfer deadline day. It’s a bit of an uphill struggle but we have a young squad.” You can’t have it both ways – and you certainly can’t call the Totts a young squad. Arsenal’s reserves are “a young squad.” In fact looking at who came on against Blackburn, Arsenal’s first time is “a young squad”. You know you are in trouble when even the excuses don’t make sense. And Tottenham are in trouble The Tiny Totts Top the TableTottenham Hotspur have made a dramatic rise to the top of the Chaos Table – the league listing of EPL clubs in a total mess. Having spent over £50 million in transfer fees this summer and once again let it be known that they are ready to break into the top 4, they sit hopelessly stranded at the bottom of the EPL. This is of course different from last year when they let it be known that they would reach the top 4, spent over £30 million on transfers and then sacked their manager. This year they didn’t sack their manager. With all the money gone, no wonderkids about to emerge from a second XI, and some rather unhappy fans lurking around, it is business as usual for the rivals to Leyton Orient. Other clubs that are featuring heavily in the Choas League at the moment: Manchester Bankrupt – not content with not being able to pay the interest of their loans their major sponsor – AIG – have now asked the US government for help to the tune of $20 billion (that is billion and not a misprint – they really do want $20 billion). With the ground full, the money spent and nothing much extra they can get out of marketing, there really isn’t anywhere much for them to go. Liverpool Insolvency. While the results look good the finances look awful and the supporters are revolting (which we knew anyway). Teetering on the edge of insolvency, the scheme for the new ground has been rolled up and put away, and the owners can’t find anyone to sell to. DIC who were just about the last-chance of anyone buying have said no thanks mate, and walked away. Newcastle Zebras. The great friend of the fans, the man who drinks pints illegally at the Arsenal, has now said, “I can’t go to games because I am afraid of my personal safety”, has sacked the manager and his support staff, and is losing games. No one wants to pay the sort of money Ashley is asking for, and no one wants to buy a club stuck right up in the north east. If Ashley gets fed up he could just let the club rot. The Chaos League is invented and written by Sir Hardly Anyone. Thank you for your support. How’s it going Mr Flamini? Mr Hleb?Early season league tables can be misleading – but they can also be fun. You know the joke – “Let’s read the league table – first Tottenham Hotspur… oh sorry I’m holding it upside down.” But even allowing for early season what-nots there must surely be a twinge of concern in the faces of Mr Flamini and Mr Hleb. Flamini today finds himself playing for a club that is one from bottom of the Italian League. Without the chance of being in the Champions League this season, and with two defeats out of two in the league, plus an incredibly embarrassing defeat by 2-0 defeat to second-division Swiss side Lugano in a friendly on Wednesday, it is not looking so wonderful working in Milan. There are already rumblings about the manager… who knows where it will end? Among the other old-boys life isn’t looking too smart for that awfully nice Mr Hleb who plays alongside Thierry. Having lost the season opener 1-0 at Numancia they then drew with Racing. And, oh no, would you believe it, ex-Arsenal dribbler and Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb went down with damaged ankle ligaments just before half time. He’ll be out for quite a while apparently. Barca have played two, won zero, drawn one, lost one. So there we have it. A warning, if one were needed, to all the others. Better stay where you have a chance of winning things. |
          |