There are Arsenal legends. And then again there are proper Arsenal legends. For most of us
Patrick Vieira sits comfortably in the second catergory. From Shite Hart Lane to (Very) Old
Trafford he was a steam engine of a player. Strength, passion, craft, guile, he had the lot and
regularly delievered these qualities as a red and white colossus.
Benny was confused. Had Rafa not seen how good his wife looks!?It's not so much a changing of the
tide anymore - the dam has been broken. For the two North London clubs, the direction of the
rivalry has largely been one way over the past 15 or so years but no longer. Spurs beat Arsenal 2-1
on a blazing hot Sunday afternoon at White Hart Lane and they didn't do it by raising their game
and Arsenal lowering theirs: this Spurs display was worse than it has been in recent weeks and
Arsenal rolled out their best work in the same amount of time.
As most of you know I like nothing better than looking for positives in an Arsenal performance,
I also like to give our players credit where it is due, unfortunately following the display
yesterday it is very difficult to do either. That is not to say that we had a strong side out, it
was probably the weakest eleven we have fielded at Old Trafford, maybe ever under Arsene
Wenger.
Samir Nasri Money Talks - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Samir Nasri's departure means Arsenal lose another world class player after their prolific
captain Fabregas signed for Barcelona a week ago. However the difference is very clear. Fabregas
left after serving the club for 8 long years and he stayed for just 3 years.
Much like the government, a lot of the talk round Downing Street has echoed that of what has
been spoken about round the Emirates in recent months; Youth policy. What are we going to do with
the kids?
Since the arrival of Wenger, Arsenal have placed youth policy high on the agenda.
The summer season is one really I don't appreciate in football. Agents are calling journalists
left and right to distribute bs about how much club x wants to pay his player a sum of y which my
sons would have a hard time believing in. How many of these players are really worth the sums that
are being talked about?
SOURCE: REPUBLICAKATHMANDU, June 29: Nepal´s national football team coach Graham
Roberts on Tuesday said that his side was all ready for the first leg encounter against East Timor
in the Asian Qualifiers of 2014 Brazil World Cup to be held on Wednesday. "We are ready to go and
the players are 100 percent fit," said the pentagenarian Briton, who turns 52 on Sunday, during a
pre-match conference.
The FIFA World Cup Qualification had just announced the draw for the Asians football teams.
Timor Leste were put against Nepal, the Himalayas Nation. Nepal whose rank only 172 ; meanwhile,
Timor Leste only rank 201.
The first leg of this tournament will be at in Kathmandu, Nepal which have 42 degrees in
temperature.
I'm reflecting on the scathing post that I put up yesterday and am wondering now if I was too
harsh in my assessment. Clearly, we put on a second rate display (at best). But is it fair and
realistic to expect the players that took the field to perform at the standard that we're used to
expecting from our first team?
Arsène Wenger's men don't have any excuses left for their performance on Saturday. Even when down
to 10 men they should never have let a 4 goal lead slip. Any other team would have parked the bus
and spent the second half booting the ball out of their own half. And there is no shame in doing
that.
Neymar alongside São Paulo's Henrique
Check the new wave of talented Brazilians here
Brazil's U20s get their campaign in Peru underway against Paraguay this evening. Much is
expected from Ney Franco's talented side that includes the likes of Neymar and FIFA player to watch
in 2011 Lucas Moura.
