Gunnerrific

Well that was a well won point… or was it? 90+ minutes of football in the freezing cold rain resulted in a total of 12 shots, 3 of which were on goal, from both sides. I don’t know if this should be attributed to playing away in Prague, the weather, or the squad selection. Regardless, I think I liked the squad selection given where we are in the season and the importance of the game. At least we got a point and kept our undefeated record alive.

We’re through to the next round though, so Come on Arsenal!

There wasn’t anything particularly attractive tonight but we cant hope for it every match. Surprisingly enough, Alex Song wasn’t all that bad. Typically when he steps on the pitch I get a case of the pee shivers out of concern alone. He managed to be all over the place, just like his hair.

Clichy looked formidable as usual, clamping down his side and providing plenty of offensive gusto. The more I see Clichy play, the more I like him. Almunia bailed us out as well, which was quite nice of him. More and more reasons to let Lehmann go…

Barcelona beat Rangers as expected, further hurting their chances of breaking through. I hope the Rangers can pull it off. I like that Beasley fella’. Henry scored a goal but I don’t necessarily want to see the highlight… he’s dead to me! United won, again, and are guaranteed a spot in the knock-out round. Booooo.

Liverpool won their Champion’s League tie today 8-0 against an embittered Besitkas side. Besitkas clearly would have been better off forfeiting the game to retain their pride in beating Liverpool back in Turkey land. Liverpool has been looking depressingly, or rather joyfully, inept in their last several games, domestic and internationally. Today they managed to turn the table on poor little Besitkas, who was thumped around like the red-headed stepchild that is John Arne Riise.

Jamie Carragher somehow managed to escape any more foul trouble despite his penchant for violence and flailing body parts. Perhaps he didn’t deserve any discipline today but he has certainly warranted it in the last 5 or so games leading up to today. At what point will the FA review his previous infractions and choose to discpline him? Never, cause the FA are idiots.

Anyways, on to the Arsenal. Sweet, sweet, Arsenal. Our match against United was well played and we managed to escape with a point. However, I don’t think that we looked particularly strong at any point in the match. Would it be fair to say at this point that united are looking like a more sturdy and resilient game-winning team, despite the fact that we are tied with a game in hand? You tell me. I’m just posing the question.

Tomorrow we are Prague to play against… Slavia Prague. I’d expect a standard match where we secure a couple of goals and then hold them to it. I’ll maintain this perspective even though Wenger has omitted four of our core players out of the team. Hopefully it will give the others a chance to get in a groove together. Let’s just thank God this is the first time we’ve seen a major rotation of the squad in a match that is crucial… how could someone really support this week in and week out? Supporting Liverpool must require a level of impatience not even worth having.

Come on Arsenal!

It looks as though our fourth place spot has been secured. Potentially we could take 3rd if Liverpool slips up, which is quite possibly with their focus on the Champion’s League final… lousy scousers. Given the turmoil of our season, the injuries, and the new blood, fourth is really good. In fact I’m quite happy with it.

United have done quite well with Rooney and Ronaldo playing lights out. Chelsea’s Drogba has just been a ridiculous goal scorer for them. Liverpool has played just about as well as we have over the season, which is certainly reflected in the points.  Losing to all of those lower table teams at the start of the season was our undoing that we could never recover from though.

The biggest and most exciting developments this year were the arrival of RvP, the dominance of Cesc, and the clear capability that Diaby has displayed. The worst part about the season this far, for me, has been Hleb. I don’t understand what he is doing out there half the time.

Today United fell to Milan, which I was quite disappointed with. Really, I wanted United to go through for an all English final. If it can’t be the Arsenal, it had better be an English team over those diving Milanese cunts. First the Italians win the cup, and now they have a team going to the final. Hell, given the events of two years ago they will probably win it now.

There has been lots of news about a supposed new white kit. I think it looks pretty nice, but it sounds like I’m in the minority. What should we do instead, keep the same kits that we have right now? Bah.

What a remarkable performance by “the kids” on Sunday. This final was by far one of the most wholly entertaining matches I’ve seen in a long time. I am still reeling a bit about everything this game included and I feel like I need to watch it again to see everything. However before that happens here are some things that stood out the most:

The Performance

Sure, a win would have been better, but barring that Arsene and the team proved everything they set out to prove (and more) about the quality of the youth program at Arsenal. We were the better side for the majority of the match, and there’s a special sort of joy that comes with seeing a team who’s average age is just under 21 make Chelsea’s costly first team look like the poorer side.

Oh, and Theo’s goal! What a magnificent build-up to a finish that was pure class. His first Arsenal goal really couldn’t have come at a better moment or looked any prettier.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about the team’s performance. Diaby looked immense out there and his ability to anticipate the flow of play and break up Chelsea’s moves was breathtaking. I might go so far as to say that he looked like Viera from the 03-04 season. His work on Sunday makes the news of his injury all the more frustrating. Let’s hope it isn’t too bad this time. Traore is really coming along, too. While he looked a little raw trying to deal with some of Chelsea’s seniors this was by far his best performance and any mistakes he made during the game were overshadowed by his promise.

The Controversy

I’m glad John Terry’s injury wasn’t as bad as it looked because it was definitely a tense few minutes in the pub while waiting for him to get medical attention. I’d also like to join in the applause for Arsenal physio Gary Lewin. It seems like he’s always the first guy out there to help out when someone is injured. Kudos to him.

The “brawl” was really not that bad. Toure definitely overreacted to the foul but didn’t do much more than yell at Mikel until Lampard tried to get involved which led to Cesc holding him back by his neck and things just descended from there. At least that’s how it looks to me. Adebayor didn’t deserve a red card and there’s been some talk that the referee might have carded the wrong guy, meaning to send off Eboue. That actually makes sense after watching this video. Arsenal have appealed Adebayor’s card with the FA so hopefully it’ll be overturned. And can we please get rid of Eboue already? He’s ridiculous.

Cesc has been getting a lot of stick for being “a brat” lately but I quite prefer Goodplaya’s take on him. A sore loser with impeccable taste in loathings.

Here’s a question: What’s the deal with the celery that was being chucked towards Cesc everytime he took a corner? Is there a meaning behind the celery that I’m missing or is it the only vegetable that Chelsea’s fans could get their hands on?

Jens is out of the squad for tomorrow’s match against Bolton. While that’s not really newsworthy it gives me a great segue into presenting a humorous video of our favorite keeper:

Hopefully Almunia can pull a few stunts like those tomorrow. Arsenal need to do their best to keep Jens around for at least a few more years, at least until he can impart a little of the unique mix of insane skills and hilarity that make him such a joy to watch. If he leaves, I’ll be sad to see him go. I can’t be the only one right?

Gunnerblog should really be praised for what was a brilliant write-up for yesterday’s Liverpool-Arsenal clash. We managed a 37 goal win over the bumbling Liverpool side.

Lehmann’s world cup note sold for about a million euros. That’s just as insane as he is! Meanwhile, negotiation talks will start soon about his future. I hope he stays with the club, though he doesn’t have much left in him.

Arsenal.com’s full write-up of the postponement is here, with a fabulous picture of the foggy pitch.

The classic ArseWeb has a write-up about the Arsenal Ladies winning against Blackburn. Those Arsenal girls sure know how to win, they should maybe let the boys in on the secret.

Zidane is apparently a silly twat, stating that Cannavaro deserved all of his awards. Apparently his so-called ‘friend’ and team-mate Thierry Henry is someone he didn’t feel like mentioning. I just hope all the stories have omitted parts of the conversation, like they normally do.

Over at Arsenal, wtf? Freddie Ljungberg is being called out for his on and off pitch antics. Particularly the headaches, the wages, the shit talking, and the poor form as of late. I don’t know that we need to let him go (or even mention it), but a stern talking to could just do the trick.

As usual Arseblogger gets it right in regards to Arsenal banning flags in the stadium. It’s a really poor idea and the club shouldn’t stoop this low.

There is some insight form FSC correspondent Bobby McMahon over at his blog in regards to Arsene’s recent behavior. It’s true, he’s been quite emotional.

Dwight4007 – Arsene Wenger has been having some emotional control issues lately. Given his fantastic success over the past 10 years, is he displacing some frustration over the play of his young team onto opposing managers and match officials?

Bobby – Probably.

Accurate and genius.

And finally I thought you might enjoy a nice little movie of Kung Fu volleys. Of course VP11′s super strike from earlier this season is featured.