good morning folks...

always good to start off the day knowing that fabregas just had a hamstring strain, and not tear or pull, which would've put him out for a while. i actually think it's a blessing in disguise that fabregas can't play tonight against celtic. we've got a 2 - 0 lead (2 away goals by the way) so we can afford not to risk important players and i would like to see how an arsenal team without fabregas performs. and besides, not playing him tonight would give him more time to recover before the all important crunch match with united.

as for the signings, i think i'll leave it to wenger... back in the previous january transfer window, everyone was crying out for a defensive midfielder and wenger decided to go in for arshavin. yes, it didn't solve the defensive woes, but we got a match winner who was very instrumental to overtaking aston villa for the 4th spot (notwithstanding villa's almighty slump in form). so, even though i cannot for the life of me understand why wenger would wanna bring vieira back, if he decides to, i'm sure there will be a reason and a good one at that for doing it. however, given the choice, i'd take matuidi over vieira any day (in the current state of both players).

yeah, i'm quite sure the rumours about the 2 players are just that.. rumours. =)
i was just basing my explanation that if those rumours were true. and i would take matuidi because he's more defensive minded, who can provide competition for song, where all the other players listed are attacking (probably with the exception of merida). and of course, matuidi is approaching his prime (exactly how wenger likes it) as opposed to vieira, who is at the tailend of his career.

but yes, i won't be in the least surprised if this is the squad that wenger sticks with.

although the calls are less now, i still believe that we are still short of cover in that area.... if song gets injured, who will be able to step into his shoes? because i honestly believe that denilson can't carry the defensive workload alone and i'm not sure merida is able to step up so soon...
and if vermaelen or gallas is injured, who can take their place (especially since JD is injured and senderos is trying to tie up a deal with everton).

i'm just worried that our quality will not survive long enough to win a trophy if we do not have enough of quantity for that quality. =)

that's the common consensus... but i honestly doubt that diaby can stick to doing just defensive duty. diaby himself has admitted that he's a very attacking player and i believe even wenger thinks so... so if we play diaby there, our back 4 will have not enough cover and they will be stretched, especially if we make the mistake of committing too many midfielders forward to help out in attack, a scenario that is likely to happen given diaby's attacking nous... as i mentioned a few posts earlier, i don't think denilson is able to shoulder the main defensive duty on his shoulders, so a scenario where diaby is committed and denilson without adequate cover doesn't bode too well for me...

another thing is that diaby holds the ball too long most of the time, and this slows down our attack. and this is also dangerous because a holding midfielder's primary role is to distribute the ball out of defense, and do it quickly and cleanly, something i believe is lacky from diaby's play thus far. this was a point that starghazzer and i had previously pointed out as well....

ugh... woke up this morning and realised that i had missed the arsenal match.. decided to catch some shuteye before the match and next thing i know, it's time for work.. crap...

but it's good to see arsenal winning again, against a more physical side. the fact that we won without the talismanic fabregas is proof that we can cope when push comes to shove. however, as a few people have highlighted, i feel sad and slightly disturbed that eduardo dived to win the penalty. i'm an avid football player and supporter, but i've never liked watching anyone dive to get an edge. so even though i loved pires, i think his diving antics was a blot in his distinguished arsenal career. ronaldo, the less said the better. so yeah, wasn't too happy with the dive. and no, i don't buy the theory of we're due a dive ourselves, other players dive so why not us, etc. and i must say that i strongly disagree that diving is part of the beautiful game.. i think it's one of the things that is making this beautiful game not so beautiful...

and reading about how our fans also left the stadium without staying back to congratulate the arsenal players, i also feel a little saddened. granted, like what sigheart said, it's at night, got work the next day and all, but the players just managed to reach the promised land of the UCL group stages! but i suppose it's always easier to sit on my high chair and criticise them when i myself couldn't wake up for the match... heheh...

but all the doom and gloom aside, it's a happy day! we've reached the CL group stages and we've maintained a 100% start to the season in all competitions... our midfielders are free scoring alongside a certain french defender and our strikers are slowly finding the net, so yes, there is a lot to be hopeful and happy about. have a good day guys (and girl)!

EDIT: oh yeah, forgot about this not being able to keep a clean sheet... this is quite disturbing. but perhaps they've been working hard for 80 minutes to close down players and we've built up a sizeable lead, i guess a goal isn't too bad... although it definitely ain't good either... heheh...

This post has been edited by lostasylum: Aug 27 2009, 10:16 AM

yups.. definitely agreed... two wrongs don't make a right, and i hope arsenal doesn't that take that road.... we should win comprehensively, not in manner which is debatable...

i'm against the witch hunt that is happening now, but it doesn't make the act right in any way.

i guess the sad thing for me is that i've always held eduardo in high esteem in terms of footballing ethics. he seemed to be that hardworking player, doesn't make much of a fuss, and was just interested in playing football... so now watching the dive, i feel kinda sad cause i thought that he would be a good example for the younger ones to follow, to prove that honest footballing still counts for something...

yeah man.. i can totally relate to the feeling... =(
even though i don't think eduardo is a cheat, it's gonna be tough for him to rebuild that reputation of an honest, hardworking footballer again. just like pires.... non-arsenal fans remember him remember him for that dive more than anything else... but yeah, just hoping that this was an anomaly in an otherwise enterprising performance from him.

kaka91, hahahahahhahah.... i laughed when i read the part about eboue... but i must say that his goal was superbly taken. he seems to have found a new zest in the red and white shirt of the arsenal. i'm liking this new look, new feel arsenal.

and i think bendtner's backflick was totally awesome... some people make unfair comparisons between him and ade... but honestly, in terms of industry, ade's a slacker compared to bendtner. =)

dude, no one is saying it was fair that our players got kicked all over the pitch or that rooney's dive or gerard's dive was any better or justifiable. and yes, i'm sure many of us would join in the complaining and stating our distaste just like when eduardo broke his leg.
however, saying that it's ok for eduardo to dive because our players got kicked all over the pitch doesn't make the act right. again, like i said earlier, two wrongs don't make a right.

and yes, i do play football personally, and yes, i've been roughed up many times. i've dislocated my shoulder because of a challenge from an opponent player in a tournament before, so i know what i'm talking about it. but regardless, if i dived to win a penalty, the act is still wrong.

again, like what sigheart has mentioned, we weren't playing badly and we weren't in a desperate situation to score, so it makes the dive all that much harder to swallow. perhaps it was a spur of the moment, perhaps it was instinct, but whatever it is, it wasn't right. to me, i call a spade a spade.

but yes, i will agree that to label eduardo a cheat because of that one dive would be unfair.

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Added on August 27, 2009, 5:59 pmthey could if they wanted to...

SOURCE

This post has been edited by lostasylum: Aug 27 2009, 05:59 PM

i think it would be good to see if arsenal can hold their own against MU without having fabregas. the young ones have acquitted themselves well against celtic yesterday.... besides, if he's not fully recovered, i'd rather not risk it. i don't think we will be outplayed like we were last season in the CL.

it's an easy draw yes, but i hope the players won't make the mistake of thinking that the matches will be easy. they will still need to prove that arsenal deserve to be in the knockout stages of the CL.

let's hope the favourable draw will be used to our advantage, especially when we're planning a simultaneous assault on the EPL and also the FA Cup... =)

brilliant point raised. and to a certain extent, i feel that united's gruelling group which includes a trip to russia and also to turkey will be good for arsenal. imagine if we got that group and bergkamp was still playing... hahah... sigh, the good old memories of the non-flying dutchman... =)

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Added on August 28, 2009, 12:51 pmpersonally, i would tend to agree with giotto's POV. after all, all the teams in the CL are there by merit, because they are good. so to say that arsenal are favourites are somewhat premature. i'm guessing he's not being negative. he's just being cautious and realistic at the same time.

besides, despite being able to lock horns with europe's elite clubs, we still do not have the one thing that matters to say that "we've done it and won". we don't have the CL trophy.

for me, i will take each game at a time, all the while being quietly confident that this season represents a fantastic opportunity for arsenal. =)

This post has been edited by lostasylum: Aug 28 2009, 12:51 PM

this diving charge couldn't have come at a worst time... we're preparing for a physical and psychological battle against our bitter rivals and current champions of the EPL. just to rub salt into the wound, we've been on the receiving end of bad calls from united players who have either "conned" the referee into giving a penalty or guilty of play acting feigning injury from this very team....

however, i can see probably 1 main pro and 1 main con of this incident....

the main pro out of this whole storm in a teacup is the fact that arsene wenger is the master of the siege mentality. when the odds are stacked against us, wenger will bring the siege mentality to the table and more often than not, the arsenal players respond by playing like men possessed and usually winning a trophy after that. with the kids now grown up and the unity in the dressing room seemingly at it's best in the past 3 seasons, the siege mentality may just be tonic needed to make this arsenal team championship material.

the biggest con that i can see from this hullabaloo is that the referees will now have a bias against us. remember during the early years of wenger's reign when players like vieira and petit were collecting cards of various colours for fun? although i would say that many of it were probably deserved due to the uncompromisingly style of play at that time, there was also a big chunk of cards that were awarded simply because of the reputation that arsenal had as a rough team at that time. i'm afraid that now even though players like RVP, eduardo and bendtner get chopped down tomorrow, the referee will not have enough guts to award us a penalty. in fact, i am sure that alex ferguson is well aware of this psychological advantage that he has and he will ask his players to go out and play with an extra edge, simply because he knows the referee is in a tough spot.

however, whatever it is, for the battle tonight, i expect big match player arshavin to announce his arrival this season at old trafford. song and denilson must bring nothing less than their A game tonight to shut down the united engine room. of particular importance will be to keep a close eye on overlapping fullbacks fabio and evra who provide a dangerous outlet for united. vermaelen will face his first uber physical battle when he goes against wayne rooney. almunia will also have to ensure that silly positional mistakes do not happen today and he MUST be commanding of his penalty area especially during set plays...

if there was ever a better chance to make critics eat their words and signal our intent to wrest the EPL trophy from united, tonight is it.
it's gonna be a cracker...

hey guys... i know i'm a little late with my thoughts... but i made it a point not to think about the match because of the long weekend so as not to spoil it. =)

anyways, let's leave the penalty debacle alone already. what's done has been done and nothing's gonna change the final score.

however, let's not forget this is only the 3rd match of the season. and we lost to united AWAY. i would rather we lose now than when it comes to a title deciding match. we've still got loads of potential this season and i'm hopeful that the unfairness that the arsenal players and management must be feeling will hopefully fuel the fire of determination to win despite having everyone against them.

as for the post about "gerrard lim's liverpool diary", i thought that was seriously hillarious! hahahahah.. really helped to brighten this dreary monday. thanks!

you know, i'm beginning to think that arsenal should ban tony adams and ian wright from ever talking to the media about arsenal. they seem to spew out negativity and rubbish everytime they do... sigh... and to think that they are both arsenal legends...

- first goal, definitely almunia's fault. he should have made up his mind and go all out to save the ball. he looked it and then only try and scramble across before making a despairing dive that caused the own goal.
- our midfield was crap today. diaby should never have started (and should never start again) and fabregas could hardly pass to a team mate tonight
- we absolutely deserved to lose today. we had no desire and we were outplayed, outfought and outthought.
- ade should die.

^ looks like more and more of our former arsenal players are trying hard to destroy their standing as arsenal legends... that's sad.. sigh...