Gunners to Shoot Blanks against Manchester United?

Another promising year for Arsenal looks as though it will end with a whimper. For most clubs, a top four finish in the Premiership and semi-finals in both the Champions League and FA Cup would be seen as a cause for celebration, but not Arsenal.

They like to keep up with the Jones and their Jones are Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. At the pointy end of the Premiership you need to deliver results and that means holding up trophies with red and white ribbons dangling from them.

Throughout the course of the season Arsenal have played some scintillating soccer and truth be told they haven’t been that bad, but the onus is on them deliver each and every game.

Could it be that the Gunners are yet to recover from the loss of Thierry Henry and Fredrik Ljungberg? Both were tough, uncompromising and personified the Arsenal spirit and character. Sure the likes of Samir Nasri, Mikael Silvestre and Andrey Arshavin came into the side, but they aren’t in the same soccer league as these two.

You also have to factor in the departures of Jens Lehmann, Mathieu Flamini, Aliaksandr Hleb and Philippe Senderos. All were good players and their departure marks the end of an era. From the starting XI which took the field for the 2006 Champions League final only Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure and Cesc Fabregas remain.

In recent times, Arsenal has played second fiddle to the other teams in the transfer market, especially Manchester United. Speaking of United, they travel to Old Trafford this weekend to play the Red Devils. After the Champions League semi final loss they would love nothing more than a win here. While it wouldn’t mean anything as far as Arsenal’s current season goes, it may light a spark that they could take with them into the 2009/10 season.

Soccer betting has United as favorites but that has never troubled Arsenal in the past. If they believe in themselves, they are more than talented enough to leave Old Trafford with three points.

Arsene Wenger cops a lot of stick and this would be a good way for him to silence his critics. And for once the Liverpool fans will be cheering him on hoping that he pushes all the right buttons to have the Gunners firing.

David Wiseman is a sports analyst who works for Betfair Australia. He will be providing us with regular opinion from Down Under. As well as football, he is, being an Aussie, a huge fan of Cricket, afl and nrl rugby league.

Looking for Football Writers

As you can see, sadly, I don't update my blog anymore. However, I've now dedicated my time to Soccer Fan Base (SFB), a forum which also has a blog at http://soccerfanbase.com/blog.

So in an effort to get more writers for Soccer Fan Base's blog, I'm advertising on my old blog to find people who are willing to write for SFB. So if you are interested either email me at darrenczw@gmail.com or leave a comment. However, when leaving comments do remember to leave your email. I have received comments whom I want to reply to but he or she did not leave an email address. We might even be willing to pay you if you are willing to write for us.

I hope to hear from some of you, and hopefully get some talented writers.

Peace out
Dariano

Shock Move- Silvestre to Arsenal

The headlines says it all.

Mikael Silvestre moves to Arsenal from one of their hottest rivals, Manchester United, for an undisclosed fee.

Shocking. Waste of money. Rubbish move. Seriously?

All those may just be some of the reactions Gooners will get when they first hear the news. I'm not sure if you feel the same way, but I actually have a funny feeling he will be a good signing.

Let's just think about it, it's obvious that Silvestre was signed as a backup, or more specifically, a replacement for Justin Hoyte (he's fucked off to Middlesbrough). He has been plagued by injuries most of the time at United, and didn't make a big impact. But I trust Arsene Wenger's eye for talent. If he signs someone, that someone seldom becomes a flop. It's already natural. I feel Silvestre will be the solution for the lack of good cover for defenders last season; when Kolo Toure went away for the African Cup of Nations, Djourou and Senderos tried to take over but they were extremely shaky. When Sagna got injured it was Hoyte that took his place most of the time, and he's rubbish. Eboue would be a better replacement but he's standing a few inches towards the goal and was played in midfield instead. Silvestre can play on the right or center, and I'm sure deep down all of you know Silvestre is better than Hoyte in right back and perhaps, surprisingly, Senderos in the center. The fee I believe would be at a cheap price, so if he becomes a good backup it's probably already proven that Arsene Wenger has a better mind and eye for talent than Fergie.

Still remember the days when you were complaining last season about Gallas lack of maturity and the squad's lack of experience that actually led to us slipping the title away last season? Well if you're one of those people, then you better not bitch around anymore because Arsene Wenger just answered your prayers. Silvestre has 9 fucking years of experience in the Premier League, so you would say he's going to become one of the most experience players in the Arsenal squad, even more than Gallas.



LMAO at the picture above. It's been a long time since a player in a Manchester United shirt come to Arsenal. Fergie will regret it, that's something I feel will happen.

That's all. I'm still looking for the comments, please just feel free to air your views and tell me how you feel about this article and the content. Should Silvestre really come to Arsenal? Will he be a good signing? Any problems with my articles? Come on, tell me in the comment box. Thanks for reading.

Arsenal vs WBA

Oh man. How long has it been? Last update,

Friday, July 25, 2008

Well, I've finally decided to get off the couch and those games just to "revive" this blog. It's half-dead, and I'm not sure if it could be salvaged, but I'm giving it a try anyway. All those out there, my apologies for not updating the blog in a long, long time.

Nevertheless, it's back to some "proper content". I watched the Arsenal vs West Brom match, and I got loads to say. So where else better to share your thoughts than your own blog? Here's what I felt:

- Eboue is crap. He's playing in midfield and that's fucking strange. He loses the ball too easily, can't seem to defend well, and I'm still wondering why Arsene Wenger is still keeping him in Arsenal.
- Adebayor, FFS, improve your finishing. You worked on it and it got better last season, but still you're missing the net way wide when you're one on one with the keeper. Don't try tricks unnecessarily, pal. Lose the ball and all you will get is boos from the fans. I seriously feel why Arsenal is criticized for that "lethal touch" is because of Adebayor. Whether he can achieve the same amount of success as last season will only be decided by time. Heck, Arsene Wenger even make him sign a long term contract!
- Now back to the positives. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna, rock solid as ever. They picked up where they left off last season and kudos to them and Arsene Wenger for that.
- Denilson had a good game in midfield. He took over the duties of Fabregas while he was away and he took it well. His assist for the only goal in the match proved jsut that.
- And finally, who else but Samir Nasri? Great impression, and yes, I agree with Arsene saying that this young kid from France reminded us of Robert Pires. expect more from him. But don't forget, he played in the center, so when Fabregas comes back he's going to be shifted to the right, and this is the part where I may get worried.























Well that's all from me. Hope you enjoyed my article. Share wth me your thoughts about the match in the comments section. Thanks for reading, take cares.

Clichy feels "old"

Gael Clichy feels that he's old, not literally but just an expression. With Arsenal's squad average age at a record low, Clichy feels "old" and a senior player the younger players looks up to. And FFS, he's only 22. Here's what he said on Arsenal.com:

"I don't really feel that old myself, but when you have players like Jack [Wilshere] at 16 and Henri [Lansbury] at 17 on the pitch with you then you have to say you are old. That's it.
"Even last season I felt a bit like this - now I feel it even more.
"I am 23 soon. That does not give me any pressure and if I can give advice to the younger players then that is a great pleasure for me.
"So maybe I don't feel old but I don't feel young anymore and I have to get used to it.
"At the same time, I know I still have time in my career and I hope to achieve great things."

This sort of brings up a much debated question, "Is Arsenal's squad too young?" Some say the younger the better, but the others say that we're inexperience; we lack the "old guns" to ensure we can last and maintain our form to the end of the season, and our inexperience often goes out of hand (eg. Bendtner and Adebayor's incident, when they had a squabble). To make things worse, we just sold Lehmann, Hleb and Gilberto. Hleb's okay, but he's considered a senior member of the squad. Gilberto, no doubt, is perhaps the driving force behind Arsenal at times. Jens Lehmann? He has played as much football as Fabregas has eaten food (little exaggerated). Him leaving would further add on to our inexperience and Arsene Wenger don't really seem to be doing anything about it. Aaron Ramsey, if he's considered experience then Toure would be legendary. Samir Nasri is still young and his attitude may get out of hand at times.



Is a young or old squad better? Do you agree with Arsene Wenger sticking to his youth policy? And will our lack of experience affect our performance next season? Tell me in the comments section, cheers from Dariano.

Legendary "Comebacks"

Just when we thought they were dead and gone for good, these 2 old Arsenal legends suddenly had a "comeback". And coincidentally, the 2 strikers partnership have been considered one of the most lethal in the club's history. Yes, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Thierry Henry- We're talking about the legendary Henry we knew about 2 years ago. Not the current Barcelona one who seem to never be able to find his best form there. He said that Arsenal will win something this season, be it the Premiership or the League Cup. He has faith, and believe Arsenal can end their 3-year drought of non-silverware. He said,

“Last year I said Arsenal would win something,”

“People laughed at me.
“They laughed even more when they finished the season with nothing but how many people fell in love with their football?
“At the start of the season everyone wrote them off. A couple of months in and everyone was saying, ‘Wow, Arsenal play some great football’.
“They were the team everyone loved to watch and rightly so because they played great stuff.
“I don’t know what it is about the club but they always seem to produce something special. They always seem to be able to inspire players. I still think they can win something.”

That's some great speech there, but it's not all.

“Alex is a great player and I’m glad he’s signed for us,
“He can play on the left, on the right or up front on his own.
“He has a great left foot, a great right foot and his vision is great. I’m going to stop talking now because I’m starting to make him sound like Pele!
“I think he’ll be great for us because he’s an exciting player. He’ll fit in at the Nou Camp and I think the fans will appreciate what he brings to the team.”

Eh... Well, Hleb has leave so I don't think it matters to us anyway.

Another Arsenal legend, Dennis Bergkamp, have become Ajax coach recently, working under manager Marco van Basten. I hope "The non-flying Dutchman" had came to Arsenal instead, but at the same time I feel Ajax is probably the better place to start as coach, and also to get some sort of a license from UEFA. It is said that he will be looking at some of Arsenal's youngsters, in the hope of bringing them to Ajax. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but it should be good, knowing Bergkamp's character. I hope he will just recommend some players to van Basten, and then loan them from us. I hope that they don't go poaching our youngsters instead (ironically). One player whom I feel would benefit from the "Arsenal-Ajax" partnership is Nacer Barazite. A great Dutch player with massive potential, him going back to his home country and getting some experience there is probably better. So to put it simply, Ajax is our "feeder club". No offence. Anyway good luck Dennis, hope you will one day come back to Arsenal. Some youngsters here need to learn some values from you (you know who). Imagine Adebayor and saying "Arsenal will win silverware" about 10 years later. Do you think it is possible? Let's just wait.

Please tell me how you feel about this 2 legends speaking up, is it a good or bad thing? Will Henry be right? Do you think Ajax will poach our youngsters? Tell me more. Cheers from Dariano :)

Latest News- RVP and Gallas on the way out?

Rumour nowadays.



One of the latest transfer rumour surrounding Arsenal is that Robin van Persie, more affectionately known as RVP to Gooners, is being linked to Juventus. This is highly unreal, but it is said that 15 million pounds can seal the deal. This leads me to think: are we actually being bullies in the transfer window? Firstly Adebayor, then Hleb, and now van Persie. I hope Arsene Wenger steps up and prove to everybody that we shouldn't be victims of bully, and give a big NO to Juve. We should also make new signings soon, because at this rate our squad will only be fighting for a UEFA Cup spot.



One more very funny rumour is that William Gallas may be the latest player on his way out of the Emirates Stadium. He is said to be targeted by both Barcelona and PSG, and 5 million pounds seems to be enough for the current Arsenal captain to move to the Spanish and French club. Anyone out there thinks that this is possible? This is probably false, but I trust you all won't believe that I made a post just to tell you a false rumour, don't you? I just wanted to take some time out and think. So rather than cracking our brains thinking whether this is a true rumour or not, I feel we should sit down and think: Can we really cope without William Gallas? Is he such a good player? He's already 31 this year, he is still a vital part of the team but think about it: just like how Robert Pires left Arsenal, when do you think it would be Gallas's turn? Next season? This season? Believe it or not, I sense something bad may happen to Gallas this season. Be it injuries or another player outshining him, one day it will be time for the current Arsenal skipper to call it a day at the Emirates. The big question is, when? Then who should replace him?

Share with me your thoughts, and let's just hope Arsene Wenger wakes up.