The Goon Blog

I have only seen the highlights of the game, and overall it was a good way to end the season and it seemed that once our fourth goal went in we rather took our foot off the gas and tried to play a bit of fantasy football, with little end result. The most important thing is that this season is over and we can look forward to some new arrivals over the summer.

One thing I noticed was the strong support there was for Arsene Wenger with banners all over the ground and the march before the game attracting many, many people before Stoke fans tried bottling our fans outside the ground, the cunts.

Here are a few pictures courtesy of Arsespeak on twitter.

And on the support he got, Wenger had this to say:

“It makes me feel appreciated and even more regretful that we couldn’t give them what they wanted this season. I am very respectful for their faith in me. It’s very warming and it makes me even more determined to pay them back.”

Let that be the end of ANY rumours about our manager leaving for the foreseeable future.

Part of me is very glad this season has come to a close now, a fair bit of damage has been done this season and the last few weeks in particular. The relationship between the players and some fans has been deteriorating, as has the relationship between some fans and the manager. I must emphasise the use of the word SOME.

The summer break gives the manager time to plan for next season and strengthen his squad and it also gives the fans time to cool off and start to build up to another season starting in August.

Suffice to say that from now on The Goon Blog will keep you updated with all the Arsenal news daily over the summer and there will be a fresh blog nearly every morning and if its not posted in the morning it will almost certainly be published in the afternoon.

Right, back tomorrow.

’til then.

Often on a Sunday I write about the performance of the day before. Yesterday we played well, it was OK, not much more and not an awful lot less. But what is the point in doing that today? We know the season is pretty much over, we have just had to go through the ordeal of watching a squad of hideous cunts in red lift the trophy we have not lifted in a long time now.

I would rather not go into too much depth if you don’t mind.

I will summarise. Defence: Sagna had an OK game, got skinned a couple of times, same for Gibbs really. Going forward Sagna had great intent but his crossing is woeful, Gibbs is fantastic going forward. Toure was a bit hot and cold like usual and Song, I thought, was immense.

I remember him playing in defence a year ago against United at Old Trafford and he was shaky. He has improved tenfold.

Midfield: Started with Cesc further back with Diaby supporting van Persie, Denilson held the fort behind them with Arshavin and Nasri out wide. Cesc was lively and hit the post towards the end, Diaby had his bad moments but overall was much improved on his recent performances. Nasri was terrific and Arshavin running with the ball was a sight to behold, especially as the United defence soiled their pants whenever he went to run in their direction. Denilson had a blinder. Another much improved player.

Striker: van Persie. Not in the game at all to be honest, lost his effect from free kicks. He worked hard though, unlike a certain moaning, braided haired Togan bellend.

Wengers reaction + highlights.

The only hope I get from this is thinking back to last season when Real Madrid won the La Liga after the ‘El Classico’ against Barca. The Barca players had to applaud the Madrid players off the pitch and watch them wildly celebrate the league title. Barca have hit back this season and have pretty much secured the Spanish league title. They are in the Champions League final and have secured the other domestic trophy on offer if my memory serves me correct.

Now Arsenal, lets do what Barca did next season please. It would be very nice indeed.

Moving onto the most unpopular man at the Grove at the moment, Emmanuel Adebayor. If you have not seen his football focus interview yet it is worth a look, he basically has issues with the fans for believing what is written in the papers. His endless flirtations with Barca and Milan last season left him with little respect from the fans and he basically says that because the fans do not have the same love when they sing his ‘Adebayoooooor give him the ball and he will dive on the floor’ song… – Ok, I may have altered it a bit but anyway – because the fans do not sing with the same love and conviction, he does not feel he should play like he used to, running after lost causes and generally make a total and utter nuisance of himself.

Ade was left out of the squad entirely and maybe Wenger saw that interview and has decided enough is enough, he has just got to go.

In my opinion Adebayor will be off in the summer no matter what Wenger thinks. The fans don’t want him here and he knows that. All he wants is his money, he does not care about the man he once was.

The nobody from Togo who had attitude problems and was warming the bench at Monaco.

Its all messed up now Ade, and its all your fault. Sorry but its sad to say that you are no longer welcome here. Goodbye.

’til tomorrow.

When asked where he could play at Barcelona he replied in no uncertain terms:

At least at Arsenal I am playing. At Barcelona I think I would be sitting on the bench, like Aleksandr Hleb.

Alex you really got bantered off there mate, how is that cottage in the rural spot of countryside that is Barcelona?

One thing that strikes you about Andrey Arshavin is his humility, mixed with self-confidence and then that mixed with him not mincing his words when he wants to get a point across. The thing is he does it in such a way he demands respect and his opinion demands respect, he is not a yes man but at the same time he is anything but a trouble maker. The man is brilliant and is already one of my favourite players. This interview is well worth a read.

Now by now I am sure you have heard of the happenings at the shareholders meeting with Arsene Wenger the other day, and the manager rightly defended himself in the face of some quite harsh criticism of his team. I thought some of the things said were disrespectful.

I do not like Silvestre one bit but calling him ‘geriatric’ is well over the top. The guy is 32, old in footballing terms maybe but I bet he is younger than the man that insulted him. There is no reason to get personal.

Earlier on today I read this article, and I tell you what, its all true. I will highlight a couple of points made because I could not put them any better myself:

• Arsenal, I believe, are paying around £20m per year in interest (forgive me for not checking the exact numbers. Mancs are paying 60m +), and are well on the way to financial stability. In five years’ time, their annual income will be a match for anyone and should be generating significant surpluses for investing in players.
• I acknowledge some experienced signings will help. A stopper centre-back, a defensive midfielder (although Song is very close now – the problem is that the remainder of the midfield, particularly Walcott, are extremely poor defensively, therefore whoever fills that role needs to be outstanding). And a centre-forward to replace Adebayor.
• But we will still not win the league! Consider: why pay £25m for a 27 year old who is at the level one of the youngsters will be in 12-24 months? Then the 29 year old is worth £10m and/or the youngster has left because he didn’t get the opportunity to complete his development.

At the end of the day Wenger is in a lose lose situation. He spends big money and he puts the future of the club as risk. He doesn’t spend much money and he gets it in the neck for not winning anything and putting faith in players that are not ready.

Yes, he has cocked a few things up and that is something I accept and believe he should he questioned for.

Wenger said at the meeting I mentioned at the start of the post:

“When you look now at people assessing the situations of the clubs, it has become ridiculous in fairness, You sit here, you are in the last four in Europe, and every day, you feel you have killed someone. It is unbelievable. If you do not take a distance with it, you think ‘what kind of world do we live in?’

“We lose against Man United who have 10 times more resources, it’s not a shame, they are the best in the world, congratulations to them. If you play tennis tomorrow, you lose against Nadal, you can still say you are a good player.”

I do think that changes have to be made but with the resources available to Arsene Wenger I am of the firm opinion that very few other managers would be able to finish in the top four, get to the semi-finals of the champions league and the FA Cup. He should be praised for that.

Here is a fantastic summary of the shareholders meeting.

Right, onto the game this weekend and we need to shake off this feeling of negativity. I think its a good thing we are playing United away from home because it gives a chance to get out of the cauldron of pressure that is the Emirates, the players do feel under a hell of a lot of pressure there and after the last two displays they could do with a little break from that the poor, precious daisies that they are.

We are underdogs, massive, massive underdogs. Lets not get that wrong. Im hoping that the lads go out there are give everything they possibly have to start to make up to our most loyal supporters, the away fans, for the shambolic last few performances.

Remember this after we got tonked in the FA Cup last season?

We need that kind of support today. Lets just hope the boys step up to the plate and we can piss on United’s parade, for today at least.

thanks for reading. ’til tomorrow.

As shown today. A lightening start simply wasted by a defence that needs to be replaced in the summer barring Sagna, Gibbs and Clichy. Maybe Gallas could stay but we need a dominant, intelligent and TALL center back. It must be number 1 priority this summer without doubt.

Chelsea didn’t even play well but they took their chances, we were forced to attack and left big gaping holes at the back, it was Tuesday revisited and whilst not as painful or on the same scale, it hurt like fuck.

It looked like we could do to them what we did to us but our lack of a striker really killed us to be fair, van Persie for all his tricks skills and creativity is not an out and out striker.

You could tell from Bendtner’s inclusion and subsequent goal that he was what we were missing. It was a terrific finish from the Dane and he has improved a lot recently. His play on the ground is not perfect but he is capable of classy moments but he possesses one of the best headers in the league. I have a feeling that next season he will be a big player for us.

This isnt going to be the longest match report ive ever done because quite frankly there is not too much to say but now is the chance to get my opinion of Abou Diaby out into the open.

He has all the skill but just lacks the ’something’ and a little bit of intelligence.

Some of his ball control can be outrageous, as can his tricks and mazy runs but the basics are not there. His passing can be woeful, he appears lazy sometimes and just totally and utterly helpless.

It is best for both parties if he moves on, be it to another English club or abroad. We would not get a big transfer fee but it will help his overall game if he goes, or at least goes out on loan for a season. I remember when he came he looked a brilliant prospect but then he got that horrible injury and he has lacked something since. Maybe missing out on a lot of football at a crucial age has meant he is a bit behind in the footballing education to a player who has not had to sit out for a year due to a horror tackle.

One thing is clear and that is Wenger has a hell of a lot of work to do to mould all these prospects into the world class players we know they can be, but he can’t afford any more mistakes when it matters, he can’t respect the other top four clubs as much as he does. That is where I honestly think he is going wrong at the moment because when it really matters we play totally different, its only ever worked once and I don’t see it working again. Even then it went to penalties and that was the last thing we won.

I’m rambling now so I will leave it there. Chins up Gooners: It could be worse, we could have just lost to Sp*rs.

’til tomorrow.

This is pretty much like a wooden spoon play off, similar to the World Cup’s third place play-off.Chelsea have pretty much sealed third place but if we beat them today it could get a little bit interesting – and that’s why I expect Arsene Wenger to field the strongest possible team.

We have the same team available as Tuesday night as Andrey Arshavin is a big doubt after picking up the flu, lets hope the swine is fit because he is our best player by a country mile at the moment.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Vela/Bendtner front two because they linked up very, very well against Pompey but saying that, Chelsea are a much better team. In midfield Fabregas is certain to start with Theo and probably Nasri down the flanks if Arshavin does not make the team due to his illness. Song should slot in beside Fabregas though Denilson has a shout for being included because of his fine performance last weekend.

The back-line will probably remain Sagna, Toure, Djourou and Gibbs. Wenger has already said that Gibbs will start every game injury permitting whilst Clichy is on the sidelines and I think he has become a firm fans favorite. The slip was so unfortunate and you can see how much it hurt him to play a part in Manchester Utd scoring, he seems like a fighter and its likely we will see a barnstorming display from our latest classy left back.

The game could well just peter out into a draw because there will not be much hunger in the players on the pitch, third place is not exactly much to play for is it? You don’t get a trophy for it.

I want to see a fast paced, snappy and clinical performance from the lads today, it would be the start of making up for the dire performances over the two legs of the CL semi and the FA semi, though it would only be the tip of the iceberg.

This won’t be a game for tackles flying in from all directions, especially with Chelsea having  a final in the next few weeks. Hiddink might use a few squad players and wrap the Lampard’s and Drogba’s up in cotton wool to ensure the season, and his tenure, ends on a high note.

Personally, I don’t have much motivation for this game. I still hurt a lot from that cuntfest on Tuesday night but come 4 o clock, I will be cheering on the Arsenal, hopefully to victory.

’til tomorrow.

Morning all.

As expected we fielded somewhat of a young team…I heard somewhere it had the lowest average age ever of a Premiership starting team, I think this stat summed it up.

On the Arsenal bench there was a total of 0 Premiership starts.

Arshavin, captain for the day, lead by example and vocally, he made sure his men knew what they were doing and his own performance was yet another of sheer class, two more assists to Bendtner and Vela for the first and third goals took his tally to nine for the season. Add that to six goals he has already scored and it shows the effect he has had on the team. Simply brilliant.

Catch all the highlights here.

For the first goal an Arshavin corner was cleared by the defender and taking the rebound on the half volley, he delivered a lovely ball for Bendtner to power a header at goal, David James proceeded to gloriously fuck it all up and Arsenal were one goal to the good. Great start.

Vela was then denied a stonewall penalty before Arshavin had one appeal turned down. Moments later Arshavin burst into the box and the defender just managed to nick the ball away, Arsh went down under the tackle and the ref blew for a penalty. The Russian made it known to the referee that it was not a penalty but in-fact it was a corner, the ref ignored his advice and Bendtner slotted a cool penalty home. It was great to see from Arshavin, it will increase his popularity in England tenfold.

Vela sealed the game with a stunning finish, taking the ball from Arshavin he crept forward into the box and lashed a left footed shot into the bottom corner, its his first Premiership goal and wrapped up a very good performance from the Mexican.

To see the younger players get a run out was very encouraging and the performance was nice to see, they really seemed to want that victory and deserved it. Portsmouth got their spell in the game but didn’t take advantage of any chances that fell their way so they can have no complaints at all.

The performance of Aaron Ramsey was an insight into the sheer quality the lad possesses, he has the potential to be one of the finest passers in the country. One pass really caught my eye… Leading up to the ex-spud getting sent off for bringing down our Russian master, Ramsey played one of the passes of the season, a little curled pass into Arshavin’s feet. It was a Cescesque pass. You can see why the comparisons are made.

Our focus must now switch to the game on Tuesday, rumour has it that van Persie will be fit to start which is a big boost.

More on that, and hopefully a bit of team news tomorrow.

’til then.

Stan Kroenke is now the largest shareholder of Arsenal. The club have said:

Arsenal Holdings plc (the “Company”) has received notification that on 1st May 2009 KSE, UK, Inc. (“KSE”), a company controlled by Stan Kroenke, a Director of the Company, acquired 4,839 ordinary shares of £1.00 each in the Company from members of the Carr family, including Richard Carr, a Director of Arsenal Football Club plc. The  shares were acquired at prices of £8,500 per share and £10,500 per share.

As a result of the acquisition, Stan Kroenke has a beneficial interest in, and controls voting rights over 17,613 ordinary shares in the Company, representing 28.3% of the Company’s issued ordinary shares.

Richard Carr, Arsenal Director said: “It has been a wonderful ride and the family have enjoyed every minute of it. I hope there will be many more magic moments for us in the future.”

Peter Hill-Wood, Chairman of Arsenal: “I would like to pay tribute to the long-standing commitment that the Carr family has shown towards Arsenal. The Club is hugely indebted to them for the role that they have played in the development and success of the Club over the years. The Board particularly wish to thank Richard Carr for his hard work, effort and integrity since joining the Board in 1981 and I am pleased to say that Richard will continue on as a Director of the Club.”

Not really going to go into the details of it as there really is not much point but I will again point you to an exclusive I published months back where a source pointed out to me that Kroenke will take over Arsenal.

What this really does mean is that Usmanov, the troll mirroring oligarch billionaire criminal cunt, who has lost a lot of money recently (HAHAHAHAHAHA! – sorry) has no say in the running of the club and will not be able to launch a takeover of the club as Kroenke can just simply overpower the fat troll. Arsenal Football Club is slowly changing.

Moving on….there are noises that Fran Merida might be given a chance against Portsmouth tomorrow, I’m unaware as to the strength of the rumours but hopefully we put out a side decent enough to get something at Fratton Park. A win would secure our top four place and keep alive chances of third place, it would also give us a little momentum going into the big game on Tuesday which I will move onto in just a moment.

I am expecting wholesale changes to be honest, out go Fabregas, Adebayor, Nasri, Walcott and Song and in come Ramsey, Bendtner, Merida, Diaby and maybe even Bischoff. Sagna may be rested for Eboue and Vela could also play on one of the wings. To be honest, guessing this starting eleven will be a totally pointless exercise so you know what? I’m not going to do it. Three points would do me fine though.

You can’t really blame the players for having one eye on Tuesday and to be honest if they feel like leaping out of 50/50 tackles I endorse it….just this once. Any more injuries and I will probably cry because I’m sick to the back teeth of them. There has not been a week go by where we have not had a ’setback’ or a ‘knock’ or ‘niggle’ or any other word for injuries. Get some more medical staff in with some of the ticket revenue because it looks like they are needed I can tell you. The club doctor has not been lonely this season.

I expect us to deploy a 4-4-2. You hear that Wenger. A FOUR FOUR TWO. Like the magazine?

It does not work in the big games, that has been proven by two shite semi-final performances in the last few weeks so a switch back to our best formation would be much appreciated. Nobody really cares about this game but its still important in its own way… Pompey have nothing to play for but we have not got a good result down there in a few years and they are always tricky to beat.

I’m not sure what else I should say before the game…I don’t think I’m going to be able to catch it as Ive got an errand to run…to be honest I don’t think it will be much of a spectacle.

Here’s to three points and no more injuries. Bit of a scatty post today.

til tomorrow.