The Unsung Gerv

Arsenal continued their climb up the table with a win against the Stoky Stoke.And that feeling of relief seeing no one was injured at the end was unmatched.Last year,we just nicked off the points with a header by our beloved Seb.We won it,yes,but no without losing two of our in-form players at that time.Cesc and Walcott were injured,I remember?

So  it was good that ALL Arsenal players were unscathed at the end of the 90 minutes.It wasn’t easy.Hard fought.Yes,but without some magic upfront,we’d never have won it.Gervinho and RvP is what I’m referring to.When they came together,it was totally different.Gervinho was good for the entire match but with Chamakh as his partner,most of what he created was wasted.And while I’m at Chamakh,he’s really turned into a bad bad player.I’ve supported the bloke for a long time but the fact that he doesn’t even face the goal most of the times really pisses if you’re a fan of the team in Red and White.And NOOOO!!!,Stoke have the same combo…But a Stoke fan probably wouldn’t be reading this.Or as it is,maybe not be reading at all.

Coming to the “One-man team” claims,I completely disagree.How can a team like the Arsenal,with their slow passing football be dependent on one player.How?Just cause Robin scores most of our goals lately doesn’t mean others are just standing puppets.A certain Gervinho scored one and assisted two.And to give credit where it’s due,he’s nothing short of brilliant since his arrival in the summer.The close control and quick feet he possesses is the best in the team.And whenever the ball’s at his feet,my excitement level goes up and I greedily except a goal-scoring opportunity.Every single time.

Arsenal support bigger than your forehead,Gerv!

Of course van Persie’s world-class and if we look at our current strikers,he’s miles away from the rest.That might be worrying looking at his injury record.An injury to him would probably be the worst that an Arsenal fan could think as of now.So yeah,he’s our best player.Yes,he carries the team forward.And yes,he’s inspirational.But he’s only ONE of the Arsenal players.And if the other 10 don’t play well,he’d be helpless.

I’d like to mention some other players too.Ramsey’s chip was unforgettable.Reminded me of someone present last year in the team.And Kozzer was a beast as usual.I regard him as one of the best defenders.Agree or don’t,I don’t care.His consistency and the effort he puts in never fails to surprise me.

I guess that’s it from me.Hope you read this and liked.Also,tomorrow’s Diwali,the Festival of Lights,so make sure you try to light up your neighborhood.

Till then…

We Are The Wiser,Smarter Man City

The transfer window closed at 4:30 in the morning here.I know many of you would’ve still been awake and looked at the on-rushing wheeling dealing.Sadly,I had to wake at 6 and hence sleeping early was the only option.Before putting the lights off,the last thing I read was the Arteta deal being called off.Obviously I was worried and looking at our current midfielders(before him and Benayoun’s transfer),there was no reason to think otherwise.According to my memory,Aaron Ramsey,aged 20, has played 90 minutes of the 5 matches we’ve played this season.Without a single break.A step too far for me.And it certainly showed in the last match which I wouldn’t want to mention(I still will!).

So the first thing I did on waking up at 6 was of course check the deadline deals.And to be honest,I had it in my mind that Arsene had left it too late.Again.The first thing I read was Anton Ferdinand’s transfer to QPR.A day which started with such a bad name couldn’t possibly get better.Thankfully,it did.

And then came Arteta.10m pounds.Bloody brilliant.*Let’s get ready now* Oh wait….. Yossi Benayoun was also in Arsenal stores.I hardly cared about that loan thing.For me,he’s a player as good as Tomas Rosicky.Not any better,not any worse.

And I knew no other thing could cheer me up as this.Simply could not.

Oh and did I forget to talk about the transfers we made before I slept.There was this big giant centre-back we all were craving for.No offence but he’d crumble any player who’d not give his 100% on the pitch.At least he can!

Personally(just to remind that this blog is mine!) I prefer Koscielny over him.You may call it my secret admiration for him or simply because he’s technically more astound.Either way it’s a win for me.Oh and I again forgot to mention the giant’s name…Per Mertesacker it is!

With Vermaelan, it’s called “Verminasacker”.Not by me.Someone more creative!

Dos Santos as a left-back was also signed yesterday.I don’t know anything about him and hence wouldn’t pass any judgments.Though i know he’s got some Brazil caps under his belt.Something which one of our regulars Denilson Pereira Neves never could.And he never will.Nor will his children.

Another thing was that the net spend on the recent 5 transfers was just a bit less than 50m.And then came all Torres jokes.I’m sick of them and no longer find them funny.If you do,Twitter’s the place for ya.Just that I don’t recommend so.

Last is the Korean captain Park.Again,no knowledge on my part.Hope he’s better than Bendtner who’s shipped himself to Sunderland on a year-long loan.Him claiming to be the best striker is just an oxymoron.Obviously.

If you might(just might) be wondering why I haven’t written lately,it’s mostly because of some team losing 8-2 somewhere.Not that I care.

I wouldn’t like to talk about it and nor should I.Would just like to quote P.B.Shelley from one of him poetry I read “If Winter is here,can Spring be far behind?” And I HOPE the spring has already arrived.Or maybe it will against Swansea.

Here’s hoping…

Is This The Time To Criticize?

….Arsenal are preparing themselves for Leeds United next weekend. Though the chances of winning or for that matter drawing are pretty low,a rusty draw could be on the cards.And with Arsenal’s best player Denilson starting,things are looking a bit less cloudy.Tottenham Hotspurs(or should I say “THE SPURS”) have just won the Community Shield(having won the League last year) and Liverpool look to have bought some real gems…..

While this might seem a bit exaggerated, the truth is that’s how most Arsenal fans feel right now.Shit players,Shit performances,Shit manager and a Shit club pursuing our Shittiest player.To be honest,that’s a a Shit fan’s opinion of Arsenal.The very fact that we haven’t  had a substantially good Pre-season doesn’t mean we are a bad team.To get facts straight,I think Man United lost to some team recently.And the score.8-2.

Neither does that make them a bad team(well,there are other reasons for that!) nor does our not winning the Emirates Cup.Absolutely not.

I agree we have lost some players due to injury(again) but most of them don’t look too serious to be concerned about.And with the possibility of them missing the upcoming friendlies, it might as well turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

As I write, the Community Shield(Don’t worry,Spuds aren’t in it) is going on.And United losing it 1-0.They might well come back and win it.And they might not.*And the noisy neighbors(not ours!) are 2 goals up now*……*And United have equalized now*

The point is,Arsenal will really be tested at Newcastle for the first time this season.Every result before that means nothing.Not a paisa(or cent should I say ).The opening fixtures aren’t easy at all.And fans calling for Arsene’s heads doesn’t improve the situation.

And I also have a different and unpopular opinion on the ongoing Arsenal transfers.Particularly the transfers-Out part. We were on the brink of losing Fabregas and Nasri.The fact- We haven’t.Plain and simple.True we haven’t bought many but those bought look good.Real Good.And it honestly looks like it hasn’t ended.The least we can expect is a traditional Centre-half adjusted to the PL.Can’t help it but that reminds me of poor Squillaci.

The surprise in this pre-season has been the great performances of our otherwise-average players.Rosicky seems to have found his Mozzart-esque touch back and Arshavin looks up and running for the season.The talent was always there but wasn’t showcased enough by these players.Hopefully, it changes this year.Apart from the senior heads, the younger ones are also looking good.Ramsey has probably been the most consistent player this pre-season, Frimpong,though not great, has been decent.Gibbs,Afobe and co also seem to have upped their games.And that’s not for the future,but the present.The 2011-12 season.

Call me naive,or call me optimistic, depends on you.But I do have this great feeling about the upcoming season and I just hope Arsenal have learnt from mistakes in the past and all of their miseries in the past.I HOPE.

*On a good note,one of this Blog’s posts: Reasons To Be Cheerful  just won an Arsenal Season Review DVD 2010-11 courtesy of JustArsenal.com*

Most Memorable Arsenal Matches

It’s just around 3 years since my support for The Arsenal began. At first, it was quite mild and I rarely watched them. But what amazes me is how far I’ve gone from their. Not a single match missed in almost two years(except the first half of CC semifinal 2nd leg ).  There have been good moments, bad moments and those brilliant moments. Along with it have come those awful moments like the Cup Final defeat. But it wouldn’t be fair not to suggest my journey with the Gunners as one hell of a ride.

Here are some of the most memorable moments of MY Arsenal-watching career(as a FIFA 11 commentator would say!). Just to inform you, its only been 3 years since I’ve started watching them, so I’m not counting the matches we’ve played before. This compilation is based on how great I felt when Arsenal finally won the game. Hope you like it:

7. Arsenal-Stoke City 3-1(Britannia)

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I know about Ramsey’s horrific injury. I was watching it with volume muted and all of a sudden I had the worsts of thoughts. I wouldn’t tell what that was but that moment almost made me cry. But after that, we showed some real grit and ultimately were rewarded with a penalty in stoppage time. That wasn’t all. The Verminator managed to get another one and at that moment, I thought that now the title was ours and our players would win it for Aaron Ramsey. They gave it their all but still ended up finishing 3rd.

6. Arsenal-Bolton 4-2 (The Emirates)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember the game where we were 2-0 down after Bolton scored the 2nd goal off a penalty. I do.Winning that game by more than a one goal margin would’ve taken us to the top of the league. And what I instantly thought after they scored twice was that we’d always crumble under the pressure of being at the top. And an hour later, I was proved all wrong. Goals from Rosicky, Vermaelan, Arshavin and another Arsenal player(c’mon you can’t expect me to remember that much. And if you do please inform me too!). And we ended up winning the match and going top of the league on goal-difference.

5. Arsenal-Hull City 2-1 (at their stadium)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicklas Bendtner, to remind you, can sometimes finish. And a predatory finish was what won us the game that was level at 1-1 at Hull and probably kept our title chances alive. Denilson(oh all our poor players did well at that moment). He went for a 20-30 yard shot which the Hull keeper failed to hold on. And Bendtner was, for once, there to pick up the pieces and win it for Arsenal.

4. Arsenal- Manchester United 1-0 (The Emirates)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were missing a number of key players. And with that, we were also missing some key ingredients such as our confidence. The feeling at the start of the match was a bit of worry and tension. All of that was gone when, just after 90 minutes the final whistle blew. We showed grit, determination and passion to win the game. Combine that with our quality and all that was left for Ramsey was to slot the ball home for the winner.

 

3. Arsenal-Barcelona 2-2 (The Emirates)

 

 

 

 

Maybe it was not the whole match, but the last 30 minutes that were too good to forget. Wenger brought on Theo Walcott and he split the Barca defencee like they were….. Arsenal themselves. Goals from him and Cesc at least kept the tie alive which eventually we ended up losing. Still it was a night to remember.

2. Arsenal Chelsea 3-1 (The Emirates)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A match that could be watched again and again by any Arsenal fan. Or a football fan in general. A game that had the biggest impact on Arsenal. We got to know our First-XI. We hunted the Chelsea players in pack and never allowed them enough space. For me, the most important match in the 2010-2011 season for us.

1. Arsenal- Barcelona 2-1 (The Emirates)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has got to be at the top.  There wasn’t a part of the room where I was watching where I hadn’t jumped around. This match and every single detail of it will stay in my head for a long long time. Bendtner to Jack to Cesc to Nasri to Arshavin to GOAL!!!! The stadium erupted. And so did I.  The best match I’ve seen ever and possibly the best Emirates has ever witnessed.

That’s it for you. Hope you’ve liked the list.Another reminder it’s pretty much based on memory so I may have missed a match or two. Feel free to post yours below.

Reasons To Be Cheerful

The season ended on a catastrophic note for the Arsenal fans. From quadruple to a double. From a double to the league title and from that to not even a guaranteed place in Champions League next season. But at least it’s over. Never witnessed such an awful run from an Arsenal side. Sure they did stumble sometimes but not like this. And this time, it’s all got to do with the players. They weren’t simply good enough when the going got tough.

We are not new to the not-so-new Wenger comments about how the pitch was bad and how the referee just lost them the game before it even started. Some times he was right, sometimes he was not. But now even he doesn’t make such comments. That shows how poor we’ve been.

I’m a big Wenger fan and have always kept faith in his policies. And now that he’s seen the faults in this team, he’s ready for the ‘most active’ summer of his Arsenal reign. This season has been a big roller-coaster ride. Promising so much but ending with nothing. But the positives can’t be forgotten. Jack’s rise, Ramsey’s return, Wojciech’s solidity and van Persie’s injury-free period for once. The team has shown more promise than ever, but also failed big time to live up to it more than ever.

Sunday has seen the departure of a will-be-never-remembered season as far as Arsenal fans are concerned. The opposite is true for Blackpool fans. Sure they were relegated but the year has to be a major highlight in their history. Arsenal were losing at the moment when Blackpool took the lead at Old Trafford, and my face instantly had a big smile. It was really disheartening to see them go down after giving us so much. But Yessss, Birmingham also went down and there was another glow(a bigger one) to see that.

Yeah Boy! Sorry to See You Go

Brum’s relegations is so very welcome as in the previous seasons, they’ve been the one to put a stop to our hopes of ending our trophy drought.

The fact that a very poor season has ended is a good enough reason to look forward to the next season optimistically.

Now it’s a 2-month time before the season again kicks-off. Really sad. My weekends will be so much boring now.

I used to return from my classes on Saturdays and Sundays and sat back and enjoyed the ever-interesting Premier League matches. Now that it’s over, don’t know what I’ll do to entertain myself on weekend nights(the average kick-off time here is 8-9 PM).

Here’s hoping that the promise is fulfilled next season from my beloved Arsenal!!! See you soon!

Also, I’d like some suggestions from you readers as to what I should write during this break. Please avoid suggesting transfer articles.

*This article has won an Arsenal Season Review 2010-11 DVD courtesy of Justarsenal.com*