I would like to say that I am really disgusted by some of the comments made on about Arsene Wenger. I am a die hard Arsenal fan and whilst I do not fully agree with some of the decisions Wenger makes, there is no need for people to be saying the harsh and frankly unfounded comments they have made.

We haven’t won a trophy in 5 years, it does hurt. Would it be nice? Of course but that will come. I have faith in that. This man has changed the way Arsenal is as a club today. He has had his run ins and mistakes this season but 99 percent of the time he has delivered. As for being gracious in defeat, I think most of the teams that beat us were just lucky, example Newcastle but some really fought to the end and deserved what they got. I am not one of those fans that only see black and white, I truly believe we have some problems defensively, something which I’m sure will be addressed on the training pitch. In my opinion there are problems in that department as a fan I admit that but we are still one of the best teams, infact the best team in the league. Even after we dropped points at Wigan we bounced back with a good thumping of Birmingham and i see a lot of hope in my team. Walcott is inspired and I think given the right chances he could be exceptional. Jack Wilshire is so gifted on the ball and I cannot say enough about the Nasri-Fabregas partnership. So Wenger isn’t splashing the cash in january,is it fair? Yeah it is who am I to say how much a team has or is willing to spend? However when people are insulting our players, its when i have something to say. Most of Arsenal players have come from the youth academy setup to become the players they are today. That is where Wenger shines as a manager. We don’t feel the need to spend ridiculous money when we can nuture great talent.

Yes we have spent some money, Arshavin was 15 million pounds or so. Vermaelen and Koscielny were 8 million or so. The money is available to Wenger and if I’m honest with myself, I hope he signs one center half and a left back this January, it would strengthen the squad we already have in place. That’s all for now until we face manchty at the Emirates. By the way u can follow me on twitter @luchthegooner or facebook at kevin ‘luch’ walubi.
CHEER-I-O

As 2010 comes to a close we look back over the year, and it hasnt been such a good one. There have been many bad moments, false hope and doubts from the fans, but then again theres what do you expect from arsenal. On the other hand theres been great performances, a few great goals and we’ve come close to showing our full potential. Whats to follow in this post is an award like ceremony of a few categories.. Tell me your award winners in the comments section:

Best Player:

Samir Nasri- Carried us through when we had so many injuries by scoring so many good goals. If it wasn’t for  his brilliance we would have lost a lot of points, for example Fulham.

Most Improved Player:

Alex Song- many doubters at the start of the 09/10 season, but shut them all up after a very good season, and his carried his fine form over to this one. I would say his our unsung hero, a crucial part of our fragile team, and when u look at it whenever he didn’t play we got bad results. Maybe im over acting a bit, but Song is defiantly a crucial man in our team and has vastly improved (from virtually a nobody into a key man) in the space of half a season. Also very close- Gibbs, but too inconsistent, and Wilshere.

Best Prospect for Future:

Jack Wilshere- already a very good, consistent English man at arsenal. Cemented his place in the first team and his only 18! SO much more to come from the man, but even if he didn’t improve any more he would still have a place at Arsenal.

Best Game to be At:

Man City 3-0 Away- GREAT atmosphere, great performance, tense the whole way through and no one really expected us to achieve much. After Fab missed the penalty everyone thought we would blow it, but super goals from Song and Bendtner made the away fans go mental. And best of all we beat the SCUMMY(er) manks.

Most Surprising Game:

Chelsea 3-1 Home- All the press and most people in general had written us off for this game, and nobody would shut up about our poor record against Chelsea over the last few seasons. However a super Alex Song goal on half time, and then 2 goals within 10 minutes of the restart shocked nearly everyone across the country- and the world! After Chelsea scored one, we thought we would blow it, but no we actually held on to a lead! Great performance to shut up the anti arsenal press this country drags along.

Greatest Moment:

Chelsea 3-1- Theos goal. The shock of us being 3-0 up ! So much laughing and smiling around the ground. These moments are unbeatable. Also with mentions: Fabregas staying in the summer and Eduardo’s consolation goal in the 5-1 belting of Shaktar.

Worse Player:

Denilson- consistently bad. Almunia and Kos close contenders, but both have there good games, while Denilson may have had one at the very most. Doesn’t actually do anything.

Worse Game To Be At:

Wigan 3-2 Away. 5 hours there, 5 hours back. Bad traffic. No atmosphere. Place is a shit hole. Easy looking game. Blew it. Let in THREE against a shite Wigan team. Ended our title hopes.

Both the Yids game was also pretty bad: 2-1 at shite hart lane cos of a now unheard wanker scored a wonder goal, and outside the stadium after the game they were celebrating like they’d won the league.

3-2 the other one, 2-0 up, blew it again. Could have gone top. 2-0 half time, cruising. Bale. Van der Vaart.

Worse Moment:

Kaboul Goal. 3-2 Yids.

Most Disappointing Player:

Arshavin. The little russian doesn’t work hard at all, yet still scores and gets handfuls of assists. He has so much potential to be a match winner every week for us, but he never tries! Its so annoying to watch because he can be so much better if he could be bothered to put the effort in. You can’t even take him out the team just in case he does pull off a wonder goal! Also in contention: Clichy and Rosicky.

Most Annoying Player not at Arsenal:

BALE. Over rated, annoying cunt, already scored 3 goals against arsenal. The sooner he goes to a big European club the better, or just dies, leaving Tottenham with no money for him. You can’t deny his talent, but the way the press rave on about him gets to ya. Also worth a mention: Evra, Drogba, Ashely Cole, Nani, Van der Vaart, Fletcher, Shawcross and N’zogbia.

Overall been a roller coaster year. Negative outweigh positives, but still a lot of potential. Five points off the top of league, Semi final of Carling cup against an easy team, Fa cup 3rd round against an easy team, and a titan clash in europe. This year might be the one. Fair to say we wont win the Champions League, and realistically cant see us win the league due to our inconsistent-ness, but still should go for it. Very good chance at league cup, and we should give Fa cup our all. Winning the 2 domestic cups would be a good season, and stepping stone to greater wonders!

Please leave your thoughts below. Till next time

At the start of the season most, if not everyone thought that chelsea would walk away with the league this year, and at this moment in time they are 4th, 3points off leaders Man Utd- who have a game in hand. Virtually everyone said that chelsea had by far the strongest and most in depth team in the league, but now when they are in a terrible run of form doubts have been aroused about the team and the manager. I must admit i did think they would win the league, but have always thought we have had a stronger starting 11 than chelsea, and now that i think about it i also think we have better back up than then. I think we have a lot better attackers, but they obviously have a better defence. Heres a comparison between the starting 11 of the two sides…

Fabianski v Cech: No match really here with the chelsea shot stopper winning here. Many say he is coming too old for the job, but he is only 3 years older than fabianski so our goalie cant use age as an excuse.

Sagna v Boswinga: Sagna all day for me here. Although Boswinga may be better attacking, he is shite at defending, where as Sagna is good at both.

Vermaelen/Squillaci v Terry/Alex: As a partnership chelsea win all day long, but individually Vermaelen is better than Alex. Arsenal need more bulk and ariel presence, which chelsea already have.

Clichy v Cole: Unfortunately cole, better at defending and attacking and a lot less mistake prone.

Song v Essien: However good Song has been for us, no one can deny how good and crucial Essien is for Chelsea. Even though Song does the job for us very well, Essien is better both defensively and attacking, and now that Song decides to attack more, he has lost something for the team.

Wilshere v Obi Mikel: Both very good at their jobs. Obi Mikel has hit a bad run of form while Wilshere is thriving, and Wilshere is also a lot younger with a good ability of attacking as well as playing defensively, and therefore Wilshere wins here.

Fabregas v Lampard: Both key players for teams, but no argument here… Fabregas

Nasri v Malouda: No argument here either, Malouda had good form at the start but has done fuck all recently while Nari has been top notch. Nasri all day long.

Arshavin v Anelka: Totally opposite players. Anelka works hard, but is less gifted with talent, whereas Arsh is lazy but is technical superb, when on top of his game. Both have a lot of assists. Anelka is more consistent whereas Arsh can pull of magic in a split second, but does little else all game long. Hmm a hard one..

RVP v Drogba: Two of the best strikers in the league. Both aren’t having the best of form at the moment, but RVP is still recovering from injury, whereas Drogba is struggling to score. If both were at their best i would have to edge to Drogba, as he in less injury prone, strong, super fit and still technically superb. On the other hand his more likely to die ‘cos of Malaria..

Best Starting 11: Cech. Sagna, Terry, Vermealen, Cole, Essien, Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Drog        (6-5 to Arsenal)

In other news Denilson has ‘tweeted’ a few times, declaring himself to be staying at arsenal, saying these 3 things:

‘i am arsenal 4ever guys…..’

‘Will take arsenal with me to the rest of my life…….’

’4 the last time guys….. l am arsenal 2day…..2moro..and….4ever’

This should end specualtion of him leaving in January, and although i wouldnt be sad to let him go, he needs to stay in order for there to be a back up for Song. We could also bring Ramsey or Lansbury back, anf Frimpong will be returning soon, so maybe letting him go wouldnt be such a bad thing.

Caught Offside have claimed a deal has been made with Lazio for Bendnter, but this is probably complete bullocks. Bendtner needs to remain at Arsenal for when RVP gets injured so he can provide competition with Chamakh.

PreMatch on Chelsea later this week, till then …

With the Arsenal Stoke match being called off, there is new match to report on, obviously, and with no football going on till till the 27th there is a long week for eager arsenal fans. The snow caused us to not be able to beat stoke and return to the top of league, however on the bright side the team will have another week to refresh their energy, making it 2 weeks without a game, before the crucial league match against chelsea. This ‘winter break’ could be what the team so desperately needs at this stage of the season, and as we have seen from previous years, we go into the new year in bad form with many injuries, and the season tends to freefall in the January to March stage. Hopefully due to the 2 weeks off this wont happen again this year.

We’ve been drawn against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. This tie alone adds to my suspicions that this trophy is heavily fixed and fiddled. Anyway, i personally think its a good draw, ‘cos if we go out (chances are we will) we can go out with a bang, and if we do somehow go through we look like heroes. The odds are stacked majorly against us, and considering we have 12-14 games (depending on replays) in the same month, im not so sure we should even take this game seriously. I’m seeing a 3 man defence and a all out attack. We have nothing to loose. The Spuds got drawn AC Milan, Man U got Marseille and Chelsea got Copenhagen. Hopefully Milan can pull the strings against spurs, and i can see Milan just edging through. Man U should beat Marseille , and if Chelsea dont beat the worse team left in the competition (typically always getting the easy ones) i will be more than shocked.

Best news for gooners out there is that we have been drawn against Ipswich in the League Cup Semi Finals after they beat West Brom 1-0 from a well taken penalty. We play them away at Portman Road on the 10th of January, followed by a home leg on the 24th of the same month. As i was writing that i realised we’re at home last- so thats good news as well, for a bit of great home support, if things go bad (hopefully) – it seems to be all going for us at the moment ! With Birmingham also beating Villa surely, leaving Arsenal,West Ham, Ipswich and Birmingham still in contention- SURELY arsenal have to go on and win this cup, ending our 5 year drought. If we dont win the cup now, SERIOUS questions have to be asked about out team and the manager; but we’ll cross that bridge if it ever happens.

Other News throughout the day: Arsene Wenger has surprised us all (NOT) claiming he will not bring any fresh faces in during the January transfer window. ”I don’t know where to put all of my players. We already have fantastic players, international players, who are not getting enough games. Our squad is as good as Manchester United and Chelsea’s – that’s what we want to show in the second half of the season. My policy is to stick to the squad I have, we will not be on the market.”

With this news i find the following a bit hard to believe but according the Middlesborough Chairman has told that the prosperous under 21 goalie, Jason Steele is not for sale- following a reportedly £4million from arsenal. Even if it was true i believe that another young goalie is not the answer to our so called goalkeeper problem.

Chelsea have been the only ones reported to enquire about Eden Hazard, and are odd on to get the great young player that arsenal have been strongly linked with. However Hazard himself has claimed he wants to join Arsenal! He is defiantly leaving Lille at the end of this year, and it seems he is defiantly coming to England, so it will be interesting to see how this story unfolds.

Till tommorow

A good win against Wigan last night saw the end of our so called bogy month over. With loses against Shaktar, Newcastle, Spuds and Braga most of us couldn’t wait for December to begin. However despite all the losses we are (somehow) only 2points off topspot, in the carling cup semi final, we have a good draw in the FA cup and we still have a good chance of going through in Europe. It seems at the moment that the season may be a good one for us, and surely we must be able to win the league cup now- with Man U out and no very challenging teams left. We dont want to be complacent, as we’ve shown before but anything other than winning it would be a disaster!

Mr Wenger seems to be playing down our chances and telling the team to stay focused on the game ahead (Fulham at home). He also says that a lot of work is still needed to win the Carling Cup, and although its not on his priority list the team still wants to win it. This is what he said in his post match interview :

“You have seen it in the Premier League, and tonight with West Ham, it can happen to Manchester United, to Chelsea and to us this season”

“We have to accept there are no guarantees, even if we are in the semi-finals, that we will win the trophy. You have to fight in every single game to win.”

“The supporters always want more, which is completely natural.”

“You cannot say that  is not important, but we should also not make obsession of that.”

We want to focus on the quality of our performances, and the rest will be the consequences of those performances.”

“The major trophies are the Champions League and the championship, but if we can win this as well, we will take it.”

“We want to win trophies and be at the top, but you can only do as well as you can.”

“At the moment, we are at the end of November and are in quite a good position in all of the competitions.”

When asked about RVP’s performance Wenger said:

“Robin showed his class, and still needs games because he has been out for a long time”

“It was positive he played for 70 minutes tonight and let’s hope he has no reaction, then he will become stronger and stronger.”

“It is impossible to say at the moment,” he said. “It is not a big injury, but we have to wait. In the next three days, we will know more.”

In other news Real Zaragoza, Celta Vigo, Salamanca and Osasuna as well as Swansea city are all linked with Carlos Vela. I feel sorry for the guy, he missed all them good chances last night and will probably not be played a lot because of them. But he needs to be played to get his confidence up and (hopefully) improve his game.

Cesc talked about his injury in the programme notes last night and he wont rush back to into the team. He said that the team played very well without him at Villa and so he believes that we can cope without for a while. However he told of his frustration of being injured and not being at his best this season.

Imagine your favorite team playing 10 games in a course of one month which includes three different championships, it’s quite mouthwatering for a diehard fan. And being an Arsenal fan, it’s the same case with me too. But one thing that bothers me is that “are the Gunners tough enough to cope with this rough”? With quality players like Cesc Fabregas, experienced players like William Gallas, talented players like Arshavin and Vermaelen and fragile players like Walcot and Rosicky, does Arsenal need anything else?

Arsenal has to play in FA Cup, Premeir League and most favoured Champions League with some tough oppositions and with some not so tough. One thing that bothers me are the back to back matches against Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. I think it’s synonym for Arsenal to swim through a lava pool. Most of the Arsenal fans are suggesting Wenger to bring a striker to further strenghten the attack to make it easier for the gunners to pass this stage easily, but Wenger may have something else in mind. I won’t mind a new striker joining us who might be well experienced than Bendtner. Hope to the Arsenal that they pass this month with charm.