Arsenal Back On Track: Quick Review of Events Past

Arsenal qualified for the Champions League round of 16 for the 12th year running after a 2-0 victory over Montpellier, the French League 1 Champions.

Following the convincing victory (as usual) at the weekend over our so-called rivals ( but not in our class) Tottenham at the weekend, qualification from the group stage of the Champions League was a very welcome thing indeed. I must admit that I have become so used to qualifying from the group stages that I never really think of us failing to qualify. A lot is made of finishing first in the group because you get the team which finished second in another group. Well, all these teams are very good and you can't go into a competition hoping not to play certain teams. If you are afraid of a team, then you probably don't deserve to win the competition anyway.

I know a lot of you Arsenal fans worry about facing Barcelona, and we just might get them in the next round. But honestly, much as we fear one or the other team, they too are afraid of Arsenal. We are not exactly a pushover. Let's give ourselves some credit.

The positives were the goal by Jack Wilshere after nearly 2 years from the game through injury. He is looking increasingly sharper and fitter game after game. Just wait until he plays for England and... arggh! Olivier Giroud was responsible for nodding the ball into his path and Wilshere just clipped it over the on-rushing keeper. That goal will do him the world of good and his celebration showed. I hope he can now start to score regularly from midfeld, cause we need goals from that area of our team

Lucas Podolski did what his left foot is very good at and that is to fire fierce shots into the net. In this case he fired in an amazing volley after a chip from Giroud. Podolski for me is a very good finisher, perhaps even better than (ouch!) Robin Van Pussie. No doubt Van Pussie is a good striker, but I think Podolski is better than him all round. Time will prove me wrong I guess.

African Brother Gervinho has returned from injury, just in time to start preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations I guess... But I hope he continues the good form he was showing before his injury because he does bring something to the squad.

So, two very convincing wins in spite of our dodgy defending... I know, I know.

In other "events" Thierry Henry could return to Arsenal in January for a loan spell- again. I say no! Please go and buy a striker once and for all, I like Thierry but we need some more fire power up front. It's not like we are broke so please Arsene: spend some fucking money this January!

And that's yer lot for now, i'll be back soon with more rumblings on all things Arsenal.

COYG!

Manchester United 2 - 1 Arsenal: Thoughts- Arsenal Get The Last Laugh

Arsenal had last laugh at United

Arsenal once again came away from Old Trafford with their tails coiled firmly between their legs but with the last laugh. Yes, scoring with the last kick of the game was nothing but a kick in the teeth to United from a dying horse. The 2-1 scoreline is very flattering really. It was a one-sided match and very embarrassing to be an Arsenal fan. It was a gutless performance from Arsenal.

I am surprised and honestly embarrassed by Arsenal fans blaming the referee for our loss. Come on people, for the first time, in years, I actaully think the referee did well for us at Old Trafford. We cannot blame him for our loss. This is one that falls flat at the feet of Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff.

We did not have any attempt on target during the 90 minutes of normal play and the 2-1 scoreline really flatters us. Of the team that got hammered 8-2 last year, only Aaron Ramsey remained for this fixture yet the result is probably worse. We had no injuries to use as an excuse. The players just were not up for this match.

Arsene wenger said that the defeat last season was due to "exceptional" circumstances. This defeat was due to one circumstance: the sum of the differences between Manchester United and Arsenal. Put simply; the difference between the two teams.

Thomas Vermaelen must be dropped. His confidence is so low right now that he can't do anything right. The weight of the Captain's armband is making it worse for him and the team as a whole. In big games such as these, you need strong characters and I'm sorry to say he appears to be a very weak character at the moment. He is making the kind of errors you get from a player who knows he is playing out of his depth. He lacks the fire, drive and anger required of a Captain or a senior player in short. He looks like Pascal Cygan reincarnated.

He was responsible for undermining the team spirit early in both halves, thus encouraging United. His first mistake lead to the Robin Van Pussie goal. Then in the second half, when you thought the team would have regrouped and come out fighting, he made a similar mistake which lead Van Pussie to cross for Valencia, who missed the ball completely and fell on his ass, when the net was empty. That sort of performance from the Captain undermines the whole team and must be punished. How can the team ever pick themselves up when the Captain is making a mockery of the importance of the occassion?

Football is about psychology. When a team is psychologically weak, the opponents pick up on that vibe and you are fucked. Thankfully United don't know how to fuck or they would have really fucked us. Right in the Arsenal. Yup.

Andre Santos for me, is an embarrassment. Running for Robin Van Pussie's shirt at half time? What the fuck was that all about? He was not only shaming himself but also the Arsenal fans and Arsenal Football Club! where is your pride for fucks sake? If I was in that dressing room, I would have punched him in the face and made sure he can't come out for the second half. What sort of fight can you honestly expect from players who have that sort of mentality? No pride to wear the shirt, no sense of shame! Or was he doing it to wind up the Arsenal fans? I honestly hated Santos in that very moment. He didn't play any worse than others on the day, but FFS! Santos! There was a moment in the second half where Arsenal were on the attack, the ball was passed to him by Cazorla and instead of delivering a cross into the box, he opted to shoot into the stands. That summed up the fight in this Arsenal team for me.

Aaron Ramsey was played out of position on the right-again. I twitted at half time that Wilshere should come off, Ramsey play centre midfield and Theo on the right. This was also because of his early yellow card and the fact he is off the pace and generally prone to do a Paul Scholes kind of tackle in any game. Instead Arsene Wenger left him on the pitch and as we all know, he got a red card. Ferguson on the other hand took off some cunt in his team to avoid a red card. Arsene Wenger says he left Wilshere on so that we could be more offensive! I'm sorry Arsene, but currently Wilshere is far behind Ramsey in terms of match fitness. Ramsey could have done a better job with his energy and ball retention in there, perhaps allowing Arteta to move further up the pitch. Again, these are all tactics that a manager must be able to try throughout the course of a game, instead of being rigid in your tactics when clearly they are not working.

This for me is the key difference between Ferguson and Wenger. Ferguson will let Rooney play as a midfielder  whenever they play Arsenal because of his energy and general ability to cause us problems all over the pitch. Arsene Wenger will never set up a team to negate the threat of the other team, even though clearly this never works. Even Barcelona change their team formation to counter the strengths of the opposition and thus make themselves superior in a match.

Furthermore, the team should have been more fired up for this game than what we saw. I mean first Van Pussie insulted them and the club in the manner he left. Then there is the whole wanting to be the better team in a big game clash. I'm sorry, but I can only blame the manager here. The team lacked belief/fight/spirit/confidence/purpose/ideas/conviction/edge- name it all- they lacked it. It's like they went there hoping not to be embarassed by the scoreline at the end of 90 minutes. That was not a team which genuinely believed it can compete with Manchester United.

The whole situation adds credibility to Van Pussie and Nasri's allegation that we lack ambition. We can insult them all we like but at the end of the day, I think it is becoming clear that we just are not competitive enough to win the league.

Without being too negative, I have said in the past that we keep changing players/teams every year. I mean from the same fixture last season, only Aaron Ramsey was in the starting line up! It means we have a completely new team yet the gap is not closing. we always have the best players (technically) in the league yet we never deliver when it matters.

I have also said in the past that we have changed everything in the about the club except the coaching staff. Much as I love Arsene Wenger, I cannot shake this ever-brighter realisation that his time at the top of elite coaches might be up.

Perhaps he would be better off moving into a director's position or better still being the youth team coach because honestly, the man just never seems able to get the best out his senior players, brilliant footballers they always are. And worse still the players never seem to play for him. They join the club because of him (especially the young ones) because they are guaranteed first team football and a rise to stardom under Wenger.

After they outgrow him, they piss on him and buzz off. And the pain on his face and his body language when we are losing so harplessly like a team of little girls playing against grown men is just too much for me to bear. I feel so embarassed for Arsene wenger. Surely a gentleman as dignified as he is out to realise that he mustn't be subjecting himself to such humiliation?

WE LOVE YOU ARSENAL!! WE WANT OUR ARSENAL BACK!!

The Arsenal supporters were class on the day (except when they started calling Van Pussie a rapist! WTF!). come on Arsenal fans, we are better than that. there must be a difference between an Arsenal fan and a fan of any other team in the league! get a hold of yourselves and stop letting us all down. Remember that it takes one imbecile to paint all Arsenal fans imbeciles.

But chanting went on long after the game. If I was an Arsenal player, I would ask myself "what have I done for the fans today"? and most importantly, WHAT I'M  I DOING FOR THE PRIDE OF THE SHIRT I'M WEARING? Santos clearly has no pride. Running after Van Pussie to collect a sweat- soaked table cloth from a bitter rival and take into our dressing room is a mockery of your team, your club, the fans and yourself! Shame on you Santos! I don't condone him being abused with his wife, but surely he must be shamed. I would, at the very least, tar him, feather him and send him out at half time in our next home game to apologise to the fans and the team at half time.

The usual defeat sound bites can be found on the official Arsenal website. I will not bother.

We have a tough away Champions League fixture against Schalke tomorrow. We really have only one thing to do and that is to go and win that game. But looking at our current form and attacking threat, I wont torture myself hoping for 3 points.

I will support the Arsenal, not because I believe we can win the League, Champions League or any cup/bucket or dish placed before us, but because I LOVE ARSENAL.

COYG!!

Manchester United vs Arsenal Preview: Here we go

A quick COYG before kick off. A lot has been said but I only want one thing: 3 points. We never win much at Old Trafford, thanks to poor refereeing and poor performance on our part.

This is one game that has an extra edge to it, thanks to Robin Van Pussie. But we shouldn't want to win just because of him, we should want to win because of the bigger picture; the league title.

We need all our players to be at their best today, we must be ruthless in front of goal and above all else we must say ; Fuck You! To Manchester United.

Catch me on twitter: @the_afrogunner

And for those of you going to Old Trafford please send this message to Manchester United fans from Afrogunner; We are the Arsenal!

COYG!!!