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Saturday 25 February 2012

Arshavin leaves, Tottenham (h) preview

More of this please

It's been a glorious Saturday here in South-East Kent. We've had lovely warm sunshine all day which couldn't be much more of a contrast with the weather of two and three weeks ago. This morning I went out with the wife and children for a walk/bike-ride around the village and thought just how nice our Country is when we have decent weather. Frankly there is nothing better than a lovely day in this part of England.

I was really surprised with the departure of Andrey Arshavin last night. Following Wenger's comments at the press conference he seemed set to be here for the rest of this season. You begin to wonder if things are being done at Arsenal without the say-so of our all-powerful Manager. In January I was very much in favour of the likes of Arshavin being shipped out. Back then, of course, there was the chance to bring in a replacement or two. Letting him go in February just seems absolutely bizarre. We are a team lacking in creativity and goalscorers, yet we have weakened our squad by allowing that type of player to leave. Of course the counter argument is that Arshavin has been anonymous all season so we're not likely to miss him, and there can be little argument with that. However, the one thing Arshavin has consistently proven is that he is a big-game player. That being the case I would have had him in the side tomorrow, playing behind Van Persie.
I have mixed emotions regarding Arshavin. His quality as a footballer can not be questioned. Arshavin is one of the very best football players I've seen in an Arsenal shirt. The first year after he arrived he was consistently brilliant, and he was a the sort of experienced leader we needed on the pitch (he even captained the team in a Premier League match at Portsmouth just a couple of months after his arrival, such was the impact of his influence on the team). The little Russian should have gone on to become an Arsenal legend. We will never be able to understand why that hasn't happened. My belief is that he was simply lazy, and didn't want to put in the hard work necessary to stay fit enough for the Premier League. He started to coast badly, and that's the only reason that a player like Theo Walcott (a whole-hearted trier, but a more than limited footballer) was able to oust him from the team. I nearly choked last night, however, when I heard Charlie Nicholas criticising Arshavin for displaying all the failings that could easily be thrown at himself. There was no hint of irony from Charlie and he really went down in my estimation.
Overall I am just deeply disappointed that it didn't work out for Arsenal and Andrey Arshavin. Whatever may have happened these past eighteen months we can't deny he was a fine footballer and a great character. The way some people reacted to him after the Manchester United game the other week was out of order, but that is the way of many modern Arsenal fans. I will remember the man with some affection as we will always have the four goals at Anfield and, even more joyously, the winning goal against the best team I have ever seen when we beat Barcelona this time last year. Thanks Andrey, all the best.

Tomorrow we have to "welcome" the knuckle-draggers to our place for the North London Derby. I can honestly say we have no chance whatsoever in this game. After all they have the single greatest Manager in the history of the game and Gareth Bale is far and away the best player in the whole World (Lionel Messi? Nowhere). You have to admit that this is the most formidable team we have played in about forty years. Their dominance of the Premier League and European Cup this season is the sort of thing that Arsenal supporters can only dream of. Let's be honest here Gooners, when did we ever have a squad to match this current Tottenham side? I, for one, will feel privileged to get to watch the football version of the Harlem Globetrotters tomorrow.
Frankly, I can't be bothered to write a proper preview of a game against the swamp-dwelling neanderthals today. We know it's going to be very tough to beat them as they are having a decent season, and we're having a poor one. For once we are not the favourites. On current form we should lose but, as I was reminded by a Tottenham supporter the other day, this is the North London Derby, and form is irrelevant. I hope Arsene pulls a master-stroke and gets some of the old boys in the dressing room before the game to tell the players exactly what it means.
Whatever the outcome tomorrow we must remember simply this: We are better than them, because we are ARSENAL. They are inferior to us because they are Scum.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

14 comments:

  1. shame about the necessity for abuse of spurs fans - also shame about the lack of wit and imagination - but at least you admit with refreshing honesty that you are going to lose

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  2. I think the writer of this blog has had a sense of humour by-pass, maybe when he grows up and leaves nursery school he will see sense
    COYS

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  3. Sad you had to go and reveal your true (child) IQ level in the last couple of paragraphs! Never mind!

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  4. Sense of humour failure by the Spurs fans judging by their comments. The second to last paragraph is hilarious with tongue firmly in cheek. This exactly sums Spurs fans up. We as Arsenal supporters do realise that Spurs have had a tremendous season so far, but you win nothing in February, they are rightly favourites going into the match. I also expect them to finish at least 3rd. But it is exactly this sort of defence of their club that could haunt them tomorrow, they will be absolutely gutted if they don't win tomorrow, we expect to lose, they expect to win, who will hurt more?

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  5. Yeah, why are we scum? Is it cos we stole your territory? Is it cos we got you relegated when you were 5th from bottom (not in the bottom 3) after an FA vote, the only time it's happened and stinks of corruption? Is it cos you spent s... loads of money on a stadium you can't fill and has a lame atmosphere compared to WHL? Or is it cos were a million times better than you and you can't take it? I think there's only one team that can call their rivals SCUM, SPURS!! Arsenal FC and their fans are the only real SCUM. DEAL WITH IT MATE IT'S YOUR HISTORY NOT OURS!!!!

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  6. yeah right !!!sense of humour of a 5 year old

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  7. Feeling holy, ha I hope you do cos it's as near as you'll get to heaven. Actually, I think you'd be hurting a lot more if we win, as you'll then be 13 points adrift of us and could add to you not achieving CL qualification. Apart from that, I think we can afford to give 3 points up without it harming our position more than you. If you think the last paragraph the idiot wrote was so funny, why don't you sign him up and manage him as a comedian? Read my previous post!

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  8. Oh deary me, what has happened here? It is with good humour, my many friends, who happen to be Spurs fans, and I'll be watching the game with two of them, constantly trade minor insults such as Scum etc... with each other. The stadium you talk about, the blueprint of which your club actually wanted to copy, is easily one of the finest in Europe. It plays to almost full every home game, and I'll grant you the atmosphere isn't exactly the best, that's the problem when too many of the prawn sandwich brigade come along and buy up the seats. You'll inherit that when you finally build a ground that befits your team if it fulfils the potential it obviously has (unless of course your Arsenal supporting manager, read his autobiography) stays, rather than takes up the England job. "A million times better..." that's some claim. Deal with the humour boys, it's part of the game, always has been, always will be, otherwise your obvious hate will consume you.

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    1. That's funny cos the stadium I'm talking about has thousands missing from it quite often and when do you ever play away games at your home ground? Also I'd like to point out that you must be talking about someone else's club, cos our future stadium is a completely new design, not modelled on your crappy half empty one. The stands are virtually on the pitch with a one tier stand behind one goal, the design has been copied by Liverpool, who plan to build their own. Just to repeat they are following our design not yours, because it's revolutionary and will create a much better atmosphere than at Highbury, woops sorry where is it now? I'll pass on the biography thank's I like him whatever he's written. I'm sure he won't be supporting Arsenal when we finish above you this year. By the way I have a great sense of humour that comes out when something funny happens, get used to losing cos you'll have lots of it in the future!

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    2. Oh yes the only reason you lot call us scum, is cos we call you scum, but you definitely earned the title, where as we've done nothing to you lot apart from beat you. I wanted to remind you of your history in my first post because it's all Arsenal fan's keep bringing up. I hope you enjoy your history, cos make no mistake we'll be enjoying the future.

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  9. As I said, banter, it's part of the game, come on, stop taking yourself so seriously. I haven't mentioned history once, but as you like talking about it, let us put it into perspective. 13-2 League Champions, 10-8 FA Cups. To show fairness, I'll also include your 2-4 European Trophies, and 2-3 League Cups. Let us not forget your 0-2 Football League Division Two triumphs. Are you still that bitter over an incident almost 93 years ago? I had to look up the exact circumstances, but it would appear no conclusive proof of wrongdoing has ever come to light with regards to Sir Henry Norris. Sounds a bit like a recent case involving your manager and the tax-man, Rosie47, woof! woof!

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  10. Rosie47 woof woof indeed! Innocent. Unlike you woolwich gypsies.guilty. Cant wait to hear the creepy hush of the emirates tommorow. The ARSEnal 12th man. Cant wait to see crossed armed drooling re tards booing the gaelic childcatcher. That tide, it seems to be......

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  11. One final thought before the game today, I'll ignore stew.thfc, as it looks like a 5 year old wrote that one. Whoever wins, nothing is decided today, but I'll speculate that Spurs will finish 3rd, and finish higher than Arsenal this season. It's only taken you almost a generation. I'll also remind you with that success comes expectation, and that would appear to be the situation Arsenal are in at the moment. Enjoy.

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  12. Erm? My only thought is that class is permanent. Here endeth the lesson.

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