So, Monday morning, eh? After a win, eh? Tends to be quiet, eh?
That last one wasn't a question. It's true. After a win there's a lot less to talk about than
after a defeat. This, my friends, is not a bad thing at all. Much as I love the chatting and the
breaking up of the online discourse to tell people not to suggest such things about their
opponent's mother and the like, a day when there's little to complain about (although I'm sure some
will find a way), is no bad thing at all.
The last couple of seasons, seeing our midfield overrun, Wenger changed from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3.
This added more players in central midfield where too often we had lost vital games, but the
flip-side meant that the striker was isolated.
For 4-3-3 to work you need at least one of your three central midfielders to get into areas to
support the striker.
There are no excuses, yesterday we were outplayed and outfought by a newly promoted side, as
Swansea beat us 3-2 to seriously dent our hopes of making the top four.
The penalty decision was questionable, yes, but as has been the problem recently, we were not up
for this game at all.
The Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, who was the captain of the famous Invincibles and scored the
penalty that won Arsenal their last trophy in 2005, has been speaking about why he decided to work
for Man City rather than Arsenal when he retired from playing last summer. He was generally reviled
by Arsenal fans when [.
By Chris Wright
Another Sunday, another piece of shitty news. Socrates, the bearded, chain-smoking footballing
doctor and heart and soul of Brazil's 1982 World Cup side has died today after suffering a septic
shock in hospital in Sao Paolo.
He had been in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since being admitted to
intensive care on Friday (I've read reports suggesting it was after eating a bad stroganoff), but
he had also been suffering with illness for a while before that.
Still very quiet, as you might imagine.
The main story this morning is the news that football has come under attack from something
called 'common sense'. Robin van Persie has been allowed back to Arsenal to rest up as his
international manager has taken a hugely sensible approach to things.
Lampard, Vieira, Gerrard, Parker or Keane: who's our midfield general of the
decade?
Click the arrow on the right of the photo to find out who we rate as the Premier League's best
midfield general of the last ten years
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-10-31 17:31:26 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
One of the saddest effects of our poor form during 2011 has been seeing how lesser teams no
longer fear us.
The psychological advantage of having most opponents assume they would get nothing out of
playing us has been whittled away by a series of unfortunate events.
Throwing away a four goal lead at Newcastle; losing to relegation-bound Birmingham in the
Carling Cup Final; league defeats to the likes of West Brom, Stoke and Bolton:
All these and more have turned our shiny armour of invincibility into a tattered and battered
old coat of rusty chain mail, pock-marked with holes.
Apesar de já ter sido chamado aos trabalhos da sua selecção por diversas vezes, Givanildo Vieira
de Souza parece que ainda continua a ser um desconhecido para muitos brasileiros. Quando foi
chamado pela primeira vez, este blog registou um "boom" de visitantes que queriam saber mais
informação sobre o avançado que o FC Porto foi "desencantar" no Japão.
Written by gunnerN5
The period from 1996/7 to 2010/11 has been magical for us Arsenal supporters. We've been
fortunate enough to have seen an English club play Wengerball.
Never in our 125 year history have Arsenal supporters been able to watch such exquisite football
played by such a World class assembly of players.
Written by gunnerN5
The period from 1996/7 to 2010/11 has been magical for us Arsenal supporters. We've been
fortunate enough to have seen an English club play Wengerball.
Never in our 125 year history have Arsenal supporters been able to watch such exquisite football
played by such a World class assembly of players.
194 - ciento noventa y cuatro (by Dominic Vieira)
¿Quién es? ¿Cómo lo haces?
Me llamo Lionel Messi y juego fútbol. Nada más.
The wonder wizard scored his 193rd and 194th goal in Belarus as the defending champions thumped
BATE Borisov 5-0.
The man who always finds a job: Claudio Ranieri (By Dominic
Vieira)
Whether you think he's world class or not, it's clear Claudio Ranieri is a
lucky manager. Since the Italian retired as a player in 1986, he has rarely experienced
unemployment.
Will the revolution crumble tonight at the Mestalla? by Dominic
Vieira
Valencia is sailing in uncharted waters are they're sitting at the top of La
Liga, a position they've struggled to conquer since the glorious Ranieri and Benitez days.
By Chris Wright
Hot off the PA press come the first few photos of Samir Nasri arriving at Manchester City to put
the finishing touches on his contract and would you just cop an eyeful of those loafers...
After striding silently through the carpark in his blue suede ninja pumps, Samir then sashayed
up the stairs, gracefully pirouetted through a bemused office, bumped into Paddy Vieira and then
disappeared into a room with a large man with shiny brogues and a gleam in his eye.
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Lisbon, Portugal
Unfortunately he earned that label. On occasions he displayed a lethal scoring ability; remember
his glorious Parma days partnering an incredible Adriano up front? On the pitch he was a performer,
an icon to his country and a symbol.
The Theatre of Dreams has proven a nightmare for those who care for the history of New York soccer,
the much heralded "return of the Cosmos" after twenty-five years hiatus ends a 6-0 disgrace. After
the slaughter of MLS sides last month, I didn't anticipate Manchester United playing with similar
intensity.
The Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira is currently in Los Angeles in his role as coach for Manchester
City, but as usual he has been asked what his opinion on the state of the current Arsenal squad. He
believes that (like everyone else) Arsene Wenger's team play 'beautiful football', but have lost
the necessary strength to [.
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Nitra, Slovakia
It's a universal dream, a global sport and an undying desire; but not every boy has the
possibility to become a professional footballer. Some say it's for the talented, others for the
fortunate or for the hard workers.
That ambition transformed into reality for Afonso Taira as he signed his first
professional contract with Cordoba CF.
It is sad news that yesterday there was the retirement of one of the superstars of the Premier
League. Today we take a look at Vieira's best bits: Best goals Best fight Best interview Patrick,
you will be missed.
It is sad news that yesterday there was the retirement of one of the superstars of the Premier
League. Today we take a look at Vieira's best bits: Best goals Best fight Best interview Patrick,
you will be missed.
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Nitra, Slovakia
Intense transfer speculation is revolving around the Bundesliga with names such as Gotze, Tasci,
Reus and Vidal dominating scout reports. After a strong 2010 World Cup campaign revitalised with
the presence of several young talents, it's no surprise that the attention has transferred to
Europe's most populated country.
Written by Double98
Arsène Wenger has so far built 3 distinct teams.
The first team 96-00 was built on the rubble left by George Graham. At the time he got great
credit for rehabilitating and actually improving the side but then revisionists like Myles Palmer
started to justify their own agendas by questioning his achievement declaring it to be a George
Graham Built Side that won the double in ‘98.
A falta de la confirmación oficial por parte de los clubes, ya se puede decir que el portugués
Fábio Coentrao será jugador del Real Madrid las próximas cinco temporadas.
El fichaje del luso, hasta ahora en el SL Benfica, parecía embarrado en las últimas semanas, pero
su predisposición a jugar bajo las órdenes de
José Mourinho ha hecho llegar a buen puerto
las negociaciones entre el club lisboeta y el Real Madrid.
A summertime experiment to manage rising expectations - a note from the
editor
It has been just over a month since I left the shores of Barcelona and my five months of travels
and studies throughout Europe ended. The experiences from my trip will never leave, from playing
calcio with children in Cinque Terre to kicking around at Praia do Guincho with Dominic Vieira to
being a part of the Barcelona Independent Fútbol League on Saturdays for the Ovella Negra pub team
(my transfer fee was an Estrella Damm) to seeing the Amsterdam ArenA with the best Ajax fan
around.
The annual exodus form the Arsenal playing staff is about to start with Cesc ready to seal a
£40M transfer to Barcelona this weekend. This is not a major surprise, but will he be greeted on
his return as Vieira, Toure and Henry were, or will it be another Anelka, Adebayor return?
Manchester City are rumoured to be on the verge of signing Clichy for £7M.
Now that Andre Villas-Boas has been installed as the new boss at Chelsea, speculation is already
underway on what players the 33 year old manager will bring to Stamford Bridge and naturally, the
rumour mill has started by linking him with the star players at his former club, FC Porto in
Portugal.
The one very obvious candidate that has been linked in various media sources is leading striker
Radamel Falcao, who scored 41 times in 50 appearances under Villas-Boas at Porto last season.
The annual Fabregas to Barcelona saga is full swing, but there is a difference. Barcelona are
not prepared to pay anything near Cesc's true value.
Barcelona kicked off the Cesc transfer with a plea of poverty; they only have £45M to spend on
all transfer activities. This was directed at the Arsenal board, because whilst the Catalan
outfit pleased poverty to Arsenal, they were busy trying to sign Rossi from Villarreal for £40M,
Alexis Sanchez from Udinese for £35M and now David Luiz from Chelsea for £25M.
Numerous blogs, football news sites and tweets claim that Gervinho has agreed a 4 year deal and
Arsenal have agreed a £10.5M fee with Lille. Let's hope Gervinho brings something different to
our attack.
GoonerBlog is reporting that Samba has also agreed a deal with Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers have
agreed to sell Samba for £9M.
Barton and Bendtner's Battling Egos - AFR Podcast Ep13 iTunes /
Soundcloud / RSS
Oliver Sparrow, Dominic Vieira, and Eric Beard run rule over everything going on in the world of
football from the past week.
Topics include: Copa Libertadores, the latest in transfers and signings in the
Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, the CONCACAF Gold, Youtube's decision to stream all of Copa
América, the madness going on between Aston Villa and Birmingham, the talent on show in the UEFA
U21 tournament in Denmark, Arsenal Magazine's twitter getting hacked, hipster and egomaniacal Joey
Barton, Marcelo Bielsa reportedly agreeing to become Athletic Bilbao's new manager, FIFA's fixture
date farce, Budweiser being the sponsor of the FA Cup, and more.
Deulofeu y las Flores Azules - AFR Podcast Ep12 iTunes / Soundcloud /
RSS
Brazil legend Carlos Alberto leads us into the latest podcast saying hello to his "friends from
A Football Report." Dominic Vieira and Eric Beard are the duo holding it down on the pod this time
chatting from Lancaster University in England and Boston, respectively.
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Lancaster, England
It's like a 7 year old writing a Christmas list. Madrid based
newspaper MARCA are notorious for linking Real Madrid with a series of world class
players, how many times has this been done?
Last week we published parts one and two of GunnerN5′s rant .................. here's part
3.
Heart, Desire, Commitment, Passion, Pride.
Over the years we have been blessed to have players that exhibited many of these
characteristics.
Last week we published parts one and two of GunnerN5′s rant .................. here's part
3.
Heart, Desire, Commitment, Passion, Pride.
Over the years we have been blessed to have players that exhibited many of these
characteristics.
Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for
since about March of this year. I've talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and
varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone
gone.
Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for
since about March of this year. I've talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and
varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone
gone.
Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for
since about March of this year. I've talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and
varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone
gone.
Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for
since about March of this year. I've talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and
varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone
gone.
Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for
since about March of this year. I've talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and
varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone
gone.
