That match against Barcelona was somewhat typical in that we lost, a ref made a terrible
decision, and it has ended our Champion's League hopes. It's the Barca trifecta, the dirty
gits.
The whole thing was marred by the sending off of Robin Van Persie. What was a Barcelona
advantage at 1-1 quickly turned into a Barcelona win when Arsenal went a man down.
That Carling Cup final was a thrilling match. We played well, as did Birmingham. Despite owning
the majority of the possession, having more shots, more shots on goal, and just generally putting
on a better performance, we lost.
I'm not going to go into details about why we should've won, or why we didn't deserve to win, or
what we should've done differently, or how unfair it is.
Much like a poorly written young adult novel that oozes overtones of sexual innuendo with
vampires, our match against Stoke has left me bereft of words. Sure, we got a win, and ultimately
that was the single-minded goal of the day. However, the looming Sunday cup match against
Birmingham ultimately decided the true takeaway of the Stoke match from Wednesday.
Arsenal's victory over Barcelona yesterday was the stuff that dreams are made of. A bit of a
rivalry has been developing between the clubs, and Arsenal has now tipped the scales in their
favor. It was an epic performance against an equally brilliant challenger, and Arsenal deserve much
more praise than anyone outside the Arsenal blogosphere are giving them.
THE DAY IS AT HAND.
It's put up or shut up time for the old Arsenal. Today we host Barcelona in the fabled
Champion's League in a game which surely the entire world will be watching. When we have a global
audience for big games like this I get extremely excited and extremely worried.
For one, the lads have the opportunity to really strut their stuff and make what many people say
is "the best team in the world" look like a bunch of school kids.
And suddenly Nasri is back! Arsenal have announced that Nasri is fully fit and has been named
for the squad against Barcelona. That's just in the nick of time. Let us rejoice.
It's really nice to have a player in the squad that beats injury recovery estimates.
Saturday's match against Wolves was the ideal way to set the mood for Wednesday's clash with
Barcelona. Robin Van Persie was in great form as he finished both goals for us. The rest of the
squad was also up to the task, and this is evident in the fact that Wolverhampton had 0 shots on
goal, and only 2 shots to begin with.
Fellow gooners, it has been far too long since I paid respect to Robin Van Persie in wallpaper
form. The day of reckoning is at hand. Van Persie shall now be praised on desktops all across the
globe.
This new wallpaper shows Robin Van Persie in all his glory as he celebrates yet another in a
long list of fantastic goals.
A lot has been said about the Newcastle game, but I haven't had a chance to chime in yet. My
very quick summary is that we lost that match for three reasons, in order of importance:
- Phil Dowd and the assistant referees
- Arsenal rolled over too easily
- Diaby lost control
Dowd's decisions were atrocious.
The fine folks at FIFA have turned a wary eye towards neck scarves. Also known as Snoods, these
light circular pieces of fabric keep players necks warm during the chilly winter months of the
premiership. They've become much more popular nowadays after being first used by Tevez. Now a
number of players, Gunners included, sport the snood.
So right now, as I write this, Fabregas and van Persie have been taking pictures of their
teammates as they sleep. I'm not sure what kind of a team bonding experience this is, but it's
clear that this is how you are supposed to treat your teammates.
Wilshere is awake and tweeted that he is never going to be able to sleep while travelling
again.
Sometimes the internet is a terrible thing. Like when it creates a storm of hate around
something from nothing.
It began with a match in which the referee made some horrendous calls. Then it boiled over when
Moyes called out Fabregas after the eventual win against Everton. Moyes claims that Fabregas said
"How much are Everton paying you?
In the match against Everton, or should I say the match against that joke of a ref Lee Mason, a
great celebration took place after the game winning goal.
Koscielny smashed the ball into the back of the net with a perfectly timed header. In that
moment of surprised euphoria, he ran to the corner with his arms spread wide.
That was a dirty, scrappy match that we won yesterday. There wasn't a stretch of the match that
wen't on for more than 5 minutes (I think) that didn't have a rough tackle, foul, or whistle.
Unfortunately, in the first half, the ref was entirely one-sided.
I am beyond angry at the announcers for that match.
What. The. Hell. Was. That.
That was probably the craziest last-day-of-the-transfer-window ever. There were some pretty high
figures being bounded about over some equally high name players. Sort of. The new Liverpool owners
are literally going for broke to try to rescue their season.
