AC Milan v Arsenal preview, New home kit is awful

Oh for fu...

So it's back to European Cup action tonight and the sort of game that European competition is really all about. When I was growing up AC Milan were the best team in the World. They had Maldini, Baresi (the dirtiest, most cynical player, I've ever seen), Rijkaard, Gullit and, the best of all, Marco Van Basten. Even in 1995 when I first got to see them in the flesh at Highbury they were still number one. Arsenal gave them a decent going over in the first-leg that night but couldn't score. In the second-leg we were outplayed, but had a perfectly good goal by John Hartson disallowed at 1-0 down. An equaliser would have landed the Super Cup, just a week or two before George Graham got sacked.
The current vintage of AC Milan gives little for Arsenal to be frightened of, or intimidated by. Any team with Kevin Prince Boateng as first-choice is lacking something. The fact that Milan are top of the Italian league perhaps says more about the state of Italian football than it does for the quality of their team. Having said that they did get a draw in the Nou Camp in this season's first group matches. While there is certainly nothing to fear, there is plenty to make Arsenal realise they are in for a tough game. Milan are a well organised team and will be tough to break down. They have Ibrahimovic (who only plays when he feels like it) and Pato (who seems to have not yet fulfilled expectations for his quality) up front. They have enough to hurt us, but only if we allow them to do so.
The Arsenal team is also lacking in certain areas, obviously. That is clearly why we are scrapping for fourth instead of first in the Premier League. However, with the attacking players we have at our disposal we have more than enough to put the Italians under pressure. The pace of Walcott and Chamberlain will scare the hosts and make them wary of coming forward too much. Anyone who saw the way Bale and Lennon got at them late on during Spurs' visit to the San Siro last year must appreciate Arsenal's greatest weapon tonight is speed. Personally I see a case for leaving out Robin Van Persie tonight and playing Thierry Henry instead. The lower pace of the match will given Henry time on the ball, and allow him to bring his wingers and Rosicky/Ramsey (whichever gets the nod) in to the game high up the pitch. There is also the small matter of trying to keep RVP as fresh as possible during a very busy period of big games. We have one more match to make use of Henry, so let's see him play from the start.
The need for Arsenal to score in Italy is paramount. If we can't win the game (which is a very tough ask) I would take any score draw. A defeat by the odd goal, provided we score, would not be a catastrophe, but I don't like the idea of going in to the home game facing a deficit. The away goal is all important, and a late 1-0 win would do me just fine, thanks very much. It's a big night for two giants of the European game.

Pictured above are three new Nike shirts for next season (with thanks to some bloke I don't know on Twitter). The one on the left is Arsenal's new home shirt. I can only say that it is horrible. What is with the dark neck and the blue hoop on the sleeve? Then there are the black socks. What exactly is going on here? It really is time for Nike to be ditched as the stuff they are producing is not only poor quality, but it has increasingly little to do with the heritage of Arsenal Football Club. Red shirt with white sleeves is not that difficult, surely?

Sunderland (a) preview - a very special Arsenal mascot

This young shaver will lead Arsenal out tomorrow

Arsenal are in Premier League action tomorrow at Sunderland. I hadn't realised until Arseblog pointed it out earlier in the week that we really do have a hard stretch ahead of us. The period from mid-February to mid-March has broken our season a few times in recent years, and the fixtures that we have over the next four weeks or so have the potential to do it again. Two away trips to Sunderland, two games with AC Milan, and also Spurs and Liverpool make this the toughest part of the year for Arsenal. Win those games and we'll be set fair. Lose any of them and we could be in serious trouble. The terrible run from Christmas until last week could be brought in to seriously sharp focus should we struggle in the next month. We all know that the games in December and January were the bread and butter points we needed to pick up. Winning those fixtures would have afforded some breathing space. As it is we have no room for dropping further points at this stage.
With the need for points being so acute we could probably have done without having to play Sunderland (and the fact that we have to go there twice makes it even worse). Since the manic Martin O'Neill replaced Steve Bruce they have been one of the form teams of the Premier League. That has coincided with Arsenal's dismal run. However, I would suggest that Sunderland are due for a defeat. They've had a fine run, but they're still nowhere near being a top team. The fact is if Arsenal play the way they did against Blackburn they will destroy the opposition. My fear is that this Arsenal team is too inconsistent. We have also been here too often in the past, with a superb performance followed by the kind of "turn up and we win" misconception that has so often cost us points.
The team news is reasonably encouraging. It seems that Kieran Gibbs will travel to the game, as will Marouane Chamakh. Any hopes that the Moroccan would regain his form and confidence in his time away with his national team were scuppered when he was dropped from their team. With Thierry Henry making his final Premier League appearance tomorrow (please come back again next season Thierry) we are back to square one in the striker department. I can not understand why Henry's loan has not been extended. Arsene says we must be "fair" to New York Red Bulls - utter nonsense. All those who said bringing Henry back would be a mistake have been proved wrong, in my view. It's been great having him, and we will be far worse off without him.
In terms of Sunderland I have been very impressed by McLean, who has very much been given his chance by O'Neill. The youngster has come in and scored goals, which is more than can be said for Nicklas Bendtner. Big Nick is not allowed to play against Arsenal, but I doubt he would have got a start anyway. You know that they will be strong and committed. Arsenal will have to work very hard off the ball if they're to bring back the points tomorrow.
I would very much have liked to be there tomorrow, but work intervenes. I have more reason than usual to want to be at the game as my nephew, Freddie (named after our famous Swede) is the Arsenal mascot for the day. He can't wait to lead the team out tomorrow, holding the hand of Robin Van Persie. He will also be the last Arsenal mascot to get to have his picture taken with The King. I hope Freddie can bring us some luck tomorrow. It seems that Arsenal and Sunderland will really be looking after him and the family tomorrow. With a bit of luck he'll get to have a few shots at Szczesny and stick one in the net in front of the travelling Gooners. If you're going to the match then please give Freddie a wave and a cheer (his mother should have put a red streak in his blond hair so that you could all sing to him!)

There won't be a another blog post until Monday evening at the very earliest. I would like to do more, but I won't be near the internet until at least then. I hope that by the time I preview the AC Milan game we have three more points in the bank, and Freddie has a special picture with The King and RVP.

The overt racism of the English media

...because the English have done so well at the job

Fabio Capello's departure last night was almost simultaneous to the publishing of yesterday's blog post. If you missed it in the maelstrom you can read it here.
The past twenty four hours in football have, naturally, been dominated by the job of England Manager. There has been precious little chance for any proper football news to break through. As a result tonight's offering is not about Arsenal (though I do want to quickly mention the £5 return coach fare offered by the Club for the FA Cup game at Sunderland next week, a super gesture from Arsenal FC). In fact this blog is not even really about England - most regulars here will know that international football is a tedious sideshow as far as I'm concerned and exists only in the Summer when there is no Arsenal to watch. Tonight's post is about the reaction of the media to Capello's resignation, and their clamour for Harry The Twitch to take over.
In the past few weeks the media in this Country has been questioning how far we have really come in tackling racism in the game. Frankly it's a stupid debate as racism is not prevalent in football grounds in this Country. Sure, it exists in some of those that watch football, but that is true of some people in any walk of life. The high profile incidents involving Luis Suarez and John Terry have brought the issue to the fore. Arrests at football matches for racist remarks etc have been reported in the press - these arrests are nothing new, but the current climate made them "news." What has been particularly clear from our media, whether it be the printed word, Sky, BBC, TalkSport or whoever, is that racism is unacceptable in any form. It can not be condoned or encouraged. Racist remarks and views are to be stamped out. These are the sort of phrases we have been hearing in the media since Luis Suarez was first reported by Patrice Evra, and it's difficult to argue against, I'm sure you'll agree. You can imagine my shock, then, to see fat Barry Fry on Sky Sports News last night shouting in to the camera, and I quote, "...we don't want any more of these foreigners. We've had enough of foreigners." That's right Barry, we could do without these successful Manager's coming over here and helping us qualify for major tournaments with the most overrated talent in the World at their disposal. He went on to say how "they don't have the passion" and that the next England Manager must be English as "they can show the passion for our Country." Not that Barry would be guilty of using his own stereotype in order to get his point across. I'm sure he didn't realise it, but what Fry said was inherently racist. And Sky allowed it to be broadcast, and then replayed it all night and all morning. These foreigners with no passion - Arsene Wenger? Jose Mourinho? Carlo Ancelotti? Paolo Di Canio? Barry Fry wasn't alone, mind you - he merely set things off and running before a number of others picked up the baton and ran with it.
On the BBC website we had Alan Shearer and Peter Reid talking about "foreigners" and their failings, and how they don't "get" our ways and "don't understand" our media. Dan Walker of the BBC stated on Twitter that Capello's "unwillingness to master the lingo was frustrating" - to who, exactly? The muppets in the press? It hasn't been a problem to Trappatoni in Ireland, and his English is far worse than Capello's. There is this misconception that the foreign bosses can not inspire players. I remember Gareth Southgate complaining that Sven didn't get the players going at half-time in the Brazil quarter-final in 2002. This overlooks the fact that, if you need a Manager to get you buzzing to win a World Cup quarter-final, it says rather more about you than the man in charge.
Then we come to the written press. It is here that we have to put up with people like Oliver Holt and Charlie Wyett, serial offenders at getting their facts wrong, who seem to have forgotten that they are reporters. They are there to report, not to give opinion, not to set a public agenda, not to speak for the masses. These press journalists have been full of the "English passion needed" nonsense all day long. Of course this has brought them to the conclusion that England's leader must be Harry Redknapp. That conclusion has nothing to do with him being the biggest rent-a-quote in the history of football, obviously. The stuff on Twitter last night and this morning has been quite incredible. It seems that Fabio Capello was nothing more than a failure - two pretty flawless qualifications out of two (what happened under the last English boss?) Brian Woolnough had the gall to mock David Bernstein for describing Capello as a "great Manager." I would suggest that Fabio Capello's record as a football manager puts him among the legends of the game. It seems that history is to be expunged in the interests of showing that British is best. Who needs all that foreign technique etc when you can have English tubthumping instead? According to the press a man with one FA Cup to his name is a far better bet, because he's English, than a man with numerous Title's and European Cup's, but is Italian.
Sky Sports News today has actually been embarrassing. It has been wall-to-wall "Redknapp for England." It resembles the sort of thing you get with the US Presidential race. Sky have elected Harry as the "popular" choice for the job, and are being backed up by the press. Harry, it seems, is the Messiah of English football (I suppose after yesterday I can't quote Monty Python to finish that sentence). In the face of this storm the FA are being left with no choice.
If I was on the FA Board I would make sure to appoint Harry Redknapp as England Manager. I would keep every press cutting, every interview and every piece of video that demanded his appointment. Then when it all goes wrong, as it inevitably will, I would use it to defend Redknapp to the hilt. The press want him, let them have him. But then use their nonsense to beat them over the head with when they change their minds. We have, of course, been here before. The media demanded that Kevin Keegan should get the job. The FA gave it to him. It quickly became apparent that there was something missing. The media turned on Keegan. Most football supporters knew Keegan wasn't a top Manager before he was appointed. In the end he realised it himself and fell on his sword, genuinely honest to the end.
The main point of this post was to point out that the press have been slating Luis Suarez, various supporters and John Terry in recent weeks, for racism. They have made it clear that the guilty must be punished. I just find it ironic that their view of the "personal qualities" of a "foreigner" are what dictates whether or not someone should be England Manager. That is a prejudiced and racist standpoint. Of course the England Manager should be English, in an ideal World. But when there are no English Manager's with the requisite achievements then you must look for the best man for the job, regardless of his nationality. Little Englander syndrome won't do. And the media should not castigate people for racism when what they have done in the past twenty-four hours is effectively tantamount to the same thing. Let's face it, we couldn't understand why a "foreigner" was appointed to Arsenal in 1996, but Arsene Wenger showed he was the best man for the job. Maybe, just maybe, the problem with the England team is not who the Manager is, but the fact that the players are just not good enough, and haven't been since 1966.

George remains the scapegoat for football's crooked ways

George Graham - note the blazer and tie - Arsenal Class

So Harry Redknapp is officially innocent. I have to say I am seriously surprised. The main question with regards to the case must be this: "If you have nothing to hide, and are not trying to conceal something from someone, why was your Monaco bank account in the name of your dog?" British justice, as everywhere else in the World, can be very odd, but there you go. There's nothing more to say about any criminal aspect, but questions should (but won't, as the FA is toothless) remain with regards to the football aspects surrounding the money involved. By this I mean the fact that Redknapp (and he is far from alone in this, it seems) was paid part of a transfer fee to sell players.
Back in 1995 Arsenal used the "bung" case against George Graham as the excuse they needed to end his glorious reign over the Club. George was off in the Summer anyway, but Arsenal were heading for relegation and the Club needed a reason to get rid of their most successful boss since the 1930's. It was ironic that the arch-disciplinarian, a man who was classy in everything he did, a man who knew who he represented (to quote Bertie Mee), should be caught with his hands in the till. What has become clear from Redknapp's trial is that the "bung" is now woven in to the individual contracts of club officials. I have heard Barry Hearn on TV this evening explaining that he has the same deal with his Manager at Leyton Orient. It seems that "legalised bungs" are now prevalent in football. I have to imagine that this is a direct legacy of the treatment of George and his long ban from the game.
I just don't understand how a Manager can be paid to SELL his Club's best players. Surely, if a man is being rewarded for selling then he will do his utmost to do just that, rather than concentrating on winning instead. As sad is it may be that is simply human nature - we are all greedy, deep down. Of course George was done over for making money on players he bought, rather than sold, but I find it very difficult to imagine that this practise is not still ongoing. Nevertheless the fact remains that George is the only person ever to have been found guilty of it. Had he not admitted his wrongdoing he would almost certainly have got away with it (and I do not seek to excuse what George did - it was wholly repugnant as he was effectively taking money that should have belonged to Arsenal Football Club).
Amongst all of this shadiness is the fact that football is a very dark business. There can be no doubt that the game is corrupt to its core. The business with George in the mid-90's merely skirted around the edges of a wider issue. Football was bent then, and it is bent now. George Graham was made a scapegoat and that suited the FA and its new Premier League. Certain other Manager's seriously got away with it, but the media didn't really care as they had a target to focus on. George was their lamb to the slaughter while others were free to fight another day, and win a few more trophies (George recommended two players from the same agent who paid him, to a certain Manager at another Club - did he not receive similar payments? I would find it hard to believe otherwise). The FA was happy as justice was seen to have been carried out and a clear message sent. The events of the last two weeks, in a court of law, appear to have shown that the message was interpreted within football as an invitation to "legalise" a practise that remains banned in the English game. Everyone involved gets paid something, but only the supporters suffer - just ask Portsmouth FC die-hards.
I would like to call on the FA to stamp out this way of conducting transfers. What does this now mean for supporters who pay to watch their team? How many fans are out there thinking that the Manager of their Club is trying to push them forward, get them promoted, get them to Wembley, win the League etc when, in fact, they are simply looking for the next big transfer deal out of the Club so that they can be paid handsomely? Maybe I'm in a small minority, but I see this as a terribly frightening turn of events for football. What is the point in supporting a team if the Manager is being incentivised to sell players, rather than be successful on the pitch? After all, I thought football was about winning matches, not selling players.

Frimpong gets another bad one, Afobe to replace Park?

Afobe - some rare good news on the injury front

It's been a day of very mixed news for two of Arsenal's brightest young prospects, Emmanuel Frimpong and Benik Afobe.
Frimpong has suffered his second cruciate ligament injury in less than two years. As rotten luck goes this is about as bad as it can get for a young man trying to make his mark. Frimpong had a very decent first half to this season as a squad player at Arsenal and was tearing it up at Wolves until Saturday, when his loan spell was brought to a very painful halt. Frimpong has quickly established himself as a bit of a cult figure with the Gooner faithful since his debut against Liverpool. What he may lack in "technical" ability he more than makes up for in sheer effort, strength and determination. With time, and good coaching, his ball-skills can be improved - just look at Alex Song - and he and Coquelin were battling it out to be the understudy in central midfield. Frimpong isn't everyone's cup of tea, however, and it is often remarked that he lacks self-discipline on the park. Again, I would argue that his youthful exuberance will soon give way to a learned experience. That, ultimately, was the purpose of his loan at Wolves. Having already been set back a year by his knee injury on the eve of last season you have to feel extremely sorry for him. If there is a small bit of good news for Frimpong it is that this injury is not in the same knee. You would have to think that gives him a good chance to recover. He will be out for most of the rest of the year.
The flip-side to Frimpong's injury is the return to full training (with the first-team, which I believe is telling) of Benik Afobe. The young centre-forward impressed on his first-team bow against New York Red Bulls in pre-season, but was promptly struck down with a serious hip injury. Since then the only sight we Arsenal fans have had of him has been sitting with Jack Wilshere at home games. Afobe had a highly successful spell at Huddersfield last season and could have been expected to go out to a Championship, or maybe even a Premier League, side this season. Personally I think he was in the thoughts of Arsene Wenger as a back-up to Van Persie and Chamakh. I wonder if, had Afobe not got injured, Ju Young Park might have actually been getting paid to play some football in Lille, rather than watching Arsenal from the bench. It is likely now, if he gets fit enough to play, that Benik will be loaned out for the rest of the season. However, I just wonder if, with Henry going back to America and Park being totally ignored by Wenger, the youngster may find himself promoted between now and May. His injury seems to have a lot of similarities with that which effectively ended Freddie Ljugberg's career at Arsenal, so I hope that he can recover somewhat better than our prolific Swede. Afobe is a goalscorer, and Arsenal will certainly need one before the season is out - a Kevin Campbell style impact would be very welcome indeed.

Arsenal 7 - 1 Blackburn - a win to warm the cockles

Class

Arsenal's past, present and future combined yesterday to score six of Arsenal's seven goals against the hapless Blackburn Rovers. It was nice, first of all, to see Paul Robinson keeping up his consistent record against Arsenal - he is, without a doubt, the most overrated goalkeeper of his generation. Apart from that it was wonderful to have such a performance from Arsenal. I suppose it had to happen after the missed chances of Wednesday, though I would have preferred to not have one or two of yesterday's strikes if it had meant a win at Bolton as well.
I wasn't going to be able to get to yesterday's game even before I was ill, as work was intervening. It's annoying that my son has also been unwell and probably will not now get his chance to see Thierry Henry play for Arsenal (unless we get another instalment next season - unlikely). There is no doubt that The King's last minute goal was a real icing of the cake for Arsenal. It serves right all of those who either stayed away deliberately or who left early (why leave early from an early kick-off?) The so-called "black bin-bag protest" turned out to be, as you might expect and hope, a load of old rubbish.
The main part of the win was in place long before Thierry got his goal. That was thanks to the front three combination of Van Persie, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott. Just occasionally Theo gets it right, and yesterday was one of those. These moments are all too fleeting and brief, but it shows that he can do the business at times. I imagine Martin Olsson will be regretting his comments that Walcott was "no threat" when he last came up against him when playing for his Country. Perhaps Theo had taken note and was ready to show his stuff. Whatever it was, credit where it is due.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seems to be one hell of a talent. He is exciting and powerful. He has an eye for a pass. He can finish. He is almost certainly going to go to Euro 2012, which is a tournament he could do without, frankly. The lad has real class. It's a shame that Wenger didn't get him in sooner as he would surely have been a better bet than Theo and Arshavin have been for most of the season. Now that he is in the team we have to enjoy his presence. He might, just might, provide a bit of inspiration between now and May.
At the head of it all, of course, is Robin Van Persie. His goalscoring since January last year is of Wright and Henry proportions. The fact that he has been fit throughout that period shows what he might have already achieved had he not been afflicted so badly by injury in his career. I still don't believe Robin will be at Arsenal next season - he still hasn't signed a contract - so we will have to make the most of him while he is here. Right now Robin is The Man and we could not do without him.
I'm not going to say too much more about the game. I could not see it live, so I feel a little detached to be honest. I've watched the whole game on Football First, with the idiotic Tony Gale as summariser (two-footed tackles are a "foreign thing" according to our Tony - what a clown) and it really was a marvellously dominant performance. I would say that Szczesny was at fault again on Rovers' goal as he sets himself up wrong at free-kicks - that's four or five this season that he hasn't got across to because he doesn't stand in the centre of his goal. I would also say that Alex Song's passing has undergone the most improvement I've ever seen in a player - the ball inside the full-back is now becoming a trademark for him.
The one other thing I want to address before I sign off is the ridiculous smugness of those who still believe in the Manager. It was a magnificent performance, a magnificent victory. It highlighted all that is great about Arsene Wenger and the team's he sends out. However, it does not excuse what has gone before this season. It doesn't mean that everything is now alright. It certainly doesn't make me "feel really stupid" for wanting Wenger out. Such sentiment, that was prevalent on the forums and Twitter etc last night, just sums up what a bunch of mugs some of our supporters are. Why can't we just enjoy the win without all that other nonsense?

Hopefully the blog will get back to normal ahead of a quiet Arsenal week as I recover from my recent ailment.

Bruised Bendtner wants change, Bolton (a) preview

Nicklas Bendtner - not as I had expected him to be

I'm writing this from my sick-bed. This time yesterday I was in good health. Today I have been downed by the dreaded man-flu. It really is unpleasant and it means I'll be keeping this a little more brief than I had intended. I was going to write about our surprise transfer business of yesterday, but it will have to wait.
Rather randomly I bumped in to Nicklas Bendtner last night. It seems that Nick had been given a bit of time off by Sunderland following his broken nose and he chose to take a short break in Dubai. Who says footballers have a tough job? I have to say that Bendtner was completely the opposite sort of character to that I had expected. I thought he would be arrogant and aloof, dismissive of the public. After all, this is how the popular press have chosen to portray him over the years. Instead I was greeted with a smile and, after confirming that his face was on the mend (he still sports an impressive shiner on his left eye) I asked about his future. When asked if he was coming back to Arsenal he said "perhaps if everything changes around." I found this an interesting response and asked if he meant "with a new Manager?" Again he smiled, and then said "we will see." He then graciously signed an autograph for my son and went on his way. Not Pulitzer Prize winning stuff, I grant you, but it struck me that he was a player who has had his card marked by Arsene Wenger. He won't be coming back all the while Arsene is in charge. Most supporters will not be too disappointed. Those who have read this site for a long time will know that I always defended Bendtner. I felt he was underrated, and I was certain he would be a success at Sunderland. His comments about Arsenal earlier in the season, where he said he would not ever go back, made me annoyed and I realised that my defence of the Big Dane had been misplaced. He has, of course, not been a revelation at Sunderland. I was wrong about Bendtner as a player, but I am pleased I got the opportunity to meet the man and realise that the real Bendtner is not the man he is portrayed as. I would have liked to have more time to speak to him, but that's the way of it. It's just nice to get a small chat with anyone connected with Arsenal Football Club.

The results last night mean that fourth place is looking even more distant. A failure to win at Bolton this evening would see it starting to disappear over the horizon. The team news is good, with Sagna possibly getting a start, and plenty of others returning to fitness. I think Arteta will return to the starting eleven tonight, though Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey were both outstanding on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised to see Arshavin start in place of Oxlade-Chamberlain - today's news on Jack Wilshere will give Arsene Wenger food for thought over the playing time he gives to the young man (the timing of the news of Wilshere's "setback" does not surprise me - there was no way Arsenal would let it leak out while the transfer window was open).
Arsene said yesterday how it was a tough game on Sunday and he would have to assess certain players. I think he may have been preparing the way to rest Robin Van Persie and start with Thierry Henry. Personally I would rather see RVP start (and Henry could then be the one to play ahead of Chamberlain) and try to get the job done. The last thing Arsenal need tonight is to be chasing the game again.
Bolton have their own problems, but confidence should be good after they stuffed Liverpool in their last game. Ryo can not play for them against Arsenal, which is no bad thing for us. It would come as no surprise to me if a certain Kevin Davies was back in their side tonight though. Never  underestimate the value of his loose elbows and ability to con referees in to awarding free-kicks.

That will do for now. More tomorrow. Hoping to feel better by then.