If there was any consolation, this was the first time this season we had really deserved to lose: both the defeats to United and City were particularly galling because we were the better team.
Credit Sunderland. While their performance wasn't out of this world, they did what they had to do. Click to continue reading...

You may remember that back in May I reviewed a football for this blog. You probably don't, but such is life.
If you do, you would remember that Soccerpro asked me to give an "honest, unbiased opinion" on the blog and in return, I could keep the product they sent me. To me, it seemed a fair offer, so that was exactly what I did: I wrote an honest review - that it was a good football, and in return I had a lovely football to play with until I kicked it on the neighbour's roof, never to be seen again. Click to continue reading...

Coming in late last night, a little tipsy, I noticed a friend had emailed me a link to a Youtube clip of Van Persie going off injured after a tackle by Giorgio Chiellini.
If you watch the video, Chiellini does little wrong. Robin bursts into the box and he comes across to cut it out - whilst my original reaction (below) was to blame him, I don't think this is fair. Click to continue reading...

A couple of weeks ago, it was hard to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic. Many commented that the general criticism of Arsenal post-West Ham was over-the-top.
But the problem was, that on the 29th of October 2008, at about 9.30, the season so far had provided enough to be pretty optimistic. Click to continue reading...

Count the years off one by one. Every single year in this decade we have played Spurs home and away in the League. And out of twenty matches we haven't lost a single one. Not a single one.
Even if we had lost one, we could still reflect on the annual difference between the teams shown by the League table. Click to continue reading...

With Lukasz Fabianski's injury, it is pretty unlikely that a single one of the players involved in Wednesday's Carling Cup match will start the North London Derby tomorrow. As such, it is very difficult to draw any great conclusions from the Liverpool match.
In terms of momentum, it will mean nothing - maybe it will inspire the players for the next round but no more than that. Click to continue reading...

Sunday marked 361 days since the 29th October 2008. Or in other words Arsenal 4 Sp*rs 4. So a year on from letting a two-goal lead slip in a London derby, we did it again.
Every year Wenger tells us how this team is improving. Yet, year-on-year we can see no change.
Partly, our failure to win was the referee's fault. Click to continue reading...

Whilst Arsene Wenger's managerial ability is regularly praised, his wit does not always seem to be appreciated. After all, English is the man's third language and yet his cunning with the language is something I can only aspire to.
Indeed, the only manager who been at the helm of his club for the same amount of time is Fergie. Click to continue reading...

The phrase which was needed earlier to explain the result was 'in the greater scheme of things'.
Now it will be used. (Ironically, I'm not taking the piss).
The point is (geddit?), that whilst it was two points dropped rather than one gained, in the greater scheme of things its completely irrelevant. Click to continue reading...

Wenger got the team wrong last night. But first, it's important to recognise a couple of things.
Firstly, a draw away in Europe is never a bad result. We had six points on the board, now we have seven. So despite Alkmaar's last minute equaliser we're sure to go through. Which is more than can be said for Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

Speaking to many of my friends, there was the suggestion that Birmingham were no real enemy and Saturday's match was just a routine three points. Not for me.
Birmingham are the masters of PR management. It is easy to forget that it wasn't just Eduardo's injury that went against Arsenal on that fateful day at St. Click to continue reading...

Hark back to 2006. It was the first season at The Grove and despite many more tickets being on sale on a match-by-match basis, many gooners couldn't get a ticket to watch their club in the plush new stadium. It was nigh on impossible for Red members to get a ticket.
In those times, we couldn't buy a home draw in the Carling cup. Click to continue reading...

For various reasons, I had to pass on my ticket to the match on Sunday. Tragic, that is. Truly tragic. Because I missed one of our best performances for many a moon.
And it highlighted an important point. Keep Fabregas, Rosicky, Arshavin and RVP fit, and we have a brilliant team. A big, fat 6 in the 'for' column is testament to this. Click to continue reading...

I came in from the match last night, coughing up phlegm and regretting my attendance, to my traditional 'just returned from the football' conversation with my mother, where she feigns interest in my evening out.
She tends to know the score and little else. Occasionally she reads a match report. Click to continue reading...

That headline is somewhat contrived. But it does underscore an important point: a year ago, Arsenal wouldn't have won 1-0 yesterday. Mr. Wenger often says the team is growing but year-on-year between 07-08 and 08-09 it seemed to have gone backwards not forwards. We were toothless in midfield and conceding stupid goals. Click to continue reading...