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.

New Signings To Have Little Impact

First, I apologize for no post in the past 3-4 days. I was somewhat busy through that period and even if I wasn’t, I had very little to write about. Couple that with the ongoing French Open and there was very little or no time to write. As you might know, India’s Sania Mirza reached the Women’s Doubles Final. I won’t say she’s a good enough player because she isn’t but it is sure as hell I wanted her to win. Sadly she didn’t. There was also the small matter of the Men’s semifinals the latter of which was completely heart-throbbing and exciting. But nonetheless, lets talk about Arsenal, shouldn’t we?

Now as one might expect, the transfer rumors are circulating around the web as fast as Bolt himself. And you’d think you’re somewhat in a dream when the likes of Benzema,Falcao,Higuan,Hazard and co are all linked at the same time to your favorite club. And then comes everyones Dream XI for the next year. I confess even I like to do such things but are they really worth it.

Here’s the point I’m trying to make.

The core of this Arsenal team is well and truly there and all it needs is some tweaks here and there. That probably means around 2-3 or at max. 4 new players combined with the young-blooded youth players. There’s wouldn’t even be that many changes in the first team though. Just 1 or 2. So is it safe to say that with a Parker or a Samba or even a Benzema in our team, would we seriously improve. Remember it’ll be their first season with us and to make a straight impact at a club like Arsenal is, to put it politely, not an easy task.

It’s not that no one does that. Some actually do. But that number is very minute. Especially those players coming from outside the club, or in a worse case, outside the country. That’s why Wilshere and Szczesny are now first-team regulars. And Squillaci is not. I agree that Koscielny and, to a lesser extent Chamakh, have had a very solid first season in England but we all know how Chamakh faded in the 2nd half.

Like the last season, I expect our own youth players to outperform the players brought from outside. Its not that I’m saying the new signings would be worthless as they won’t be. A Parker will provide much-needed depth and steel to our midfield. Any goal-poacher will finish the ample chances our forwards love to create and miss. A versatile defender would add quality and quantity to our back-line. But the impact won’t be huge. It ain’t supposed to be. And even if it isn’t, these players are required. For me, to provide freshness to the squad. A spark which we’ve lacked recently. A leader to man up the team when it gets tough. But that doesn’t mean he has to be from outside. A look at Wilshere this season supports my argument.

So all in all, no matter how little minority of fans might accept this, new players would in most cases fail to make a very big impact. There might be an exception.That’s what I hope for. But it will have to be the current players to step it up to show the world what “The Arsenal” stands for.

                                                                                   

Season Review: Part I

This marks the beginning of the review of a pretty disappointing season for Arsenal. From challenging on four fronts to fourth spot in your domestic league, it has been a lackluster end to a very bright start. Mind you we had played extremely well for the until that Cup Final defeat. The highs of the season have always been followed by lower lows.

The first part of the review will concentrate on the journey of our goalkeepers. From Almunia to Fabianski to Szczesny to Lehmann, our keepers have had a tough ride.

Hero:

Wojciech Szczesny

When a player who is 4th choice at the start of the season finds himself being 1st choice at Arsenal despite being only 21, you know he’s done something extraordinary. No one expected him to play for Arsenal at least this season. But now that he’s done it, the demand for a top-quality goalkeeper seems to have vanished. The fact is, we’ve got one now.

Villian:

Arsene Wenger

I know he’s not a keeper. But the way he treated Almunia is far worse than his display against West Brom. Almunia never had the quality to succeed at Arsenal but despite that, Wenger continued with him in goal. Last summer, he tried to sign Schwarzer which was quite a public affair. But it failed and it was Almunia who was supposed to be our 1st choice for the whole season. And if it was not for Szczesny to put some outstanding displays, we might have been in a much worse situation. Sorry Arsene,you got that completely wrong.

Highlights:

Szczesny’s performance against Barcelona at the Emirates.

Awesome. That’s what I felt for Szczesny. Remember he was playing for the first-time in Europe. Against Barcelona. Against the likes of Villa, Messi and Iniesta. I’m damn sure without him(i.e. with Almunia), we’d have lost the match.

Lowlights:

Almunia’s performances home and away against West Brom. He cost us 5 points in those 2 matches alone.

The one at home looked to have ended Almunia’s career at Arsenal. But so is Arsenal’s luck that our top 3 keepers got injured and we were back to square-one with Almunia having to play against West Brom again. He had a brilliant game against Barca just a week ago, but that didn’t stop him from coming off his line and intentionally making himself look like a real joker.

Most Memorable moment:

Szczesny cutting through Gareth Bale’s legs to clear the ball. Not one Arsenal fan can forget that. The derby at White Hart Lane. The Pole just scissored Bale’s legs and even winked after that. Maybe that’s why we all love him so much.

Wish For Next Season:

Szczesny to be in goal with Fabianski as backup.

Both Szczesny and Fabianski have shown they’ve got the mettle to play at the highest level. There’s no doubt who should be first choice among these two but not giving Fabianski even a place on the bench would be somewhat unacceptable.

That’s all about our keepers. Next up is the defence.

That’s my verdict on our keepers. What’s yours?

Is Arsenal Only About the “Youth Project”

Arsenal play Fulham away on the last day of the 2010-11 Premier League season having performed completely awfully in the last few games. Based on our recent form, we are placed 18th in the table. That shows how bad have Arsenal performed in recent weeks. We’ve always had a bad record during the ‘Business’ end of the season but this season it seems to have stretched itself. 5 points in the last 6 games. That’s unacceptable.

As usual, there are fans who want to sign “Checked & Verified” players at the club to take it forward.Many claim to have inside knowledge about the transfer dealings. Everyone wants a Parker,Hazard,Benzema,Cahill,Samba, Vertonghen,Melo…… zzzzz .The thing is, if you are preparing for a wishlist, why not Messi and Ronaldo. Every Arsenal fan knows that Arsene would not sign more than 2-3, or maybe 4 players. And not more than that amount will be offloaded.

A Man's Got To Believe His Child is Better Than The Rest

It’s true that this summer will be the most challenging for Arsene after a sixth consecutive trophy-less season. So will he break the shackles and buy superstars or will he go for youth once again.The truth is, I don’t know and know that other fans also don’t know but pretend to know.But that’s not the problem.The problem is does Wenger himself knows or not. I’ve seen such a confused Arsene for the first-time in my football-watching career. He’s always been confident but calm in his approach having complete faith in his youth policy.

But looking at his recent mishaps on the touch-line, one wonders whether his faith is still there. And trust me, it’s the most important. The mentor to have faith in his disciples.

I don’t know whether it’s the case or not. But if it’s not, then the problems have deepened as no matter who we buy this summer, the core of the team will still remain the same. At least 8-9 current players will still be in the first-team next term.And it is important that the manager believes in them. This season saw Szczesny and Wilshere rise to the occasion and perform like Premier League veterans. Szczesny despite having made errors has the support of our supporters. Frimpong will definitely do the same next year. So it is still about our youth players having to step up that final level and not about the players we buy. I personally don’t know who’s to be bought and I guess Wenger is the one who should know, not me.

The most important thing this summer will be if Wenger still believes in his system but understands that some transfers are necessary because if they weren’t, we would’ve won something this year. The likes of Bartley,Frimpong, Lansbury and Miyaichi should be given a chance to prove themselves. Fans might suggest that Arsenal have been doing this for years without bearing fruits. But do you think Wilshere and Szczesny would have become stars if they weren’t given a chance.

So stop saying that you know and hope that Wenger knows. After all “In Arsene We Trust”

Szczesny’s Attitude the Best at Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny has had a meteoric rise in the footballing world this season. Initially 3rd choice, he’s come a long way to establish himself as the first-choice keeper.

1st Premier League appearance: Man United at Old Trafford

1st Champions League appearance: Barcelona at the Emirates.

Such scripts are written only for the greats.This guy is surely one. He’s got talent, confidence and charisma. The big stage doesn’t frighten him and instead he relishes such occasions. His attitude towards the game is worth noticing. Unlike other Arsenal keepers, he’s not afraid to cut through the onrushing Bale’s legs.He’s not afraid of Barcelona or for that matter any other footballing giant.The sad thing is, many other Arsenal players are.

When asked whether the Carling Cup final defeat had led to the end-of-the-season collapse at Arsenal, he replied,

“If you ask my opinion, I put it behind me straight away and I was focused on all the games coming up, so for me it made no difference.

I think when we lost the Carling Cup we still had a very good chance to win three trophies, and we are disappointed that we didn’t.

That’s unlike other players whose comments show that they were down after that loss and could never recover from it. I also feel the same way and I’m sure many other fans also do. But not Chesney. He didn’t let his confidence drop and he’s one of very few player whose performance levels have not dropped after that game.

He is still young and inexperienced but that does not imply he’s not ready to be our first-choice next season. He’s way better than other Arsenal keepers and I’d rank him the sixth best keeper in the league after Van der Sar,Cech,Reina,Hart and Gordon.He is good enough to become better than any of these and I’m sure he would next season.

Fabianski has proved many doubters wrong with his solid performances but for me he’s still not good enough for Arsenal.What I mean to say is, if he makes an error in a big match, it might take him eternity to come back from it. That’s the biggest difference between him and Chesney.

Szczesny’s mental strength is probably better than any of his team-mates.He’s still prone to that odd-mistake and his kicks are awful. That part has to improve and if there’s any player to do so, it is him. Despite being only 21, he’s the best Arsenal keeper I’ve seen during the times I’ve supported them. He can be ours for more than 15 years and there are other areas of our play which need strengthening than the goalkeeping one does.