Some Gooners Are Hypocritical Over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Make no mistake about it, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has created a buzz amongst Gooners that is only comparable with Charlie Sheen mangled on Tigerblood.

The boy has burst onto the scene in explosive fashion since making his first league start for Arsenal against Manchester United last month. 

So much so, in fact, that many Arsenal fans booed Arsene Wenger's decision to take him off.

Now I can understand the frustrations of my fellow Gooners when Wenger made that decision. It made me feel frustrated too.

What makes me laugh about the situation now is that a lot of these same Arsenal fans ridiculed the decision to actually sign Alex in the first place and now they believe he is the new Pele!

I won't lie, when we paid £12m for Oxlade-Chamberlain last summer I was a little concerned, but not angry, that we spent that much on such a young player. 

But looking round various websites at the time of his signing you would have thought that Arsene Wenger had farted loudly in a lift full of people the way some reacted. They were disgusted we had signed another baby. 

Yet, just six months later, these same people are hailing the Ox as the messiah of Arsenal Football Club. Our saviour.

Please, don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Alex is proving the 'doubters' wrong, but wouldn't it be refreshing if some of them held their hands up and admitted it too?

Of course I can understand why Gooners were angry because, at the time, we were set to lose Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

But maybe we shouldn't be quicker than Beth Ditto chasing an ice-cream van to judge new signings, no matter what the age.

In the past we (and I include myself) have all reacted badly to a new signing before the person gets a chance to prove himself. Especially to someone who isn't a superstar purchase. 

Maybe the Ox proves that we need to hold our tongues a little because it can bite you on the bum in the future.

Wenger doesn't always get it right. Many of his past signings are tribute to that fact.

But I hope that some people have learnt to give some players time to prove themselves. Oxlade-Chamberlain is proof of that.

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Do We Need To Take One Step Back To Take Two Forward?

I haven't given up on Arsenal making the top four because I can't.

Despite Arsenal appearing to want to make it as difficult as possible to get there, something inside me makes it hard for me to believe we won't make it. And that something inside me is certainly not wind.

Perhaps its the season when we needed a Lasagna to make it happen gives me belief. We seemed dead and buried then but the football Gods smiled on us that day at Highbury.

That said there is a tiny voice, maybe a reality check, that keeps whispering in my ear that we won't finish in the top four. The first time under Arsene Wenger.

Now I have told this little voice to jog on but it won't go away. It keeps lurking there like someone watching you play on the fruit machine, waiting for you to spend your money, and then pouncing to win the jackpot.

That said, maybe the voice has a point. Maybe this is the season that we don't make the top four and, unless we win the Champions League, we won't be playing with the cream of Europe next year.

Can you take that? Can you take not hearing the chorus of the Champions League song booming round the Emirates next season?

Like Syrup of ipecac not having Champions League football at Arsenal would be hard to stomach. The thought of it makes me throw up in my mouth a little. 

As much I hate to say it, I have to concede, we might not make it. The reality is that its a real possibility we won't be there at the moment.

I think that Arsenal and, at times, Gooners have come to take the Champions League for granted. Season after season we have been involved with Europe's elite competition.

You never know what you've got until its gone is a very true saying. Perhaps it may ring true with figures at the club and will get things moving.

People say Robin van Persie will leave if Arsenal aren't involved. I don't think that is the case. If Arsenal show a summer of intent, then I believe he will sign a new contract.

Arsenal will have to show intent this summer regardless of whether we make the Champions League or not.

People are beginning to question the ambitions of the club and for a long time many Gooners have become unhappy at what direction the club wants to take.

Not being in the Champions League will not appease the money men at Arsenal but perhaps they need a kick up the backside for them to actually do something.

These days it becoming harder than one of Pele's erections after taking Viagra to compete unless you are spending money.

Despite what many say, Arsene Wenger has performed miracles with the funds available to him. To continuously qualify for the Champions League year after year is amazing. But not enough to some and I understand that.

Arsenal are a big club and sometimes a reality check is needed to remind them of that fact. The board have come to rely on Wenger to spend very little but achieve big things.

The problem is the boards idea of big things and many Gooners are totally different. Just competing for 4th place isn't enough for the fans of the club.

If it happens, finishing outside of the top four might seem like the end of the world at first. But maybe it could have a positive effect in a weird way.

Of course we would get slaughtered for not making it but maybe, just maybe the board and even perhaps Wenger, will wake up and start to act like a big club with ambition again.

Follow me on Twitter @_Wrighty7

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Lay Off Aaron Ramsey

The abuse I've seen thrown at Aaron Ramsey lately has been a sick joke.

Some of it has even bordered on things I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemy.

I couldn't believe my eyes at some of the stuff I've seen. I mean death threats?! Over a game of football?! Come on behave yourself.

That kind of shit has no place anywhere, let alone football.

Putting that aside he also has taken a lot of stick for his performances in a very unnecessary way.

People saying he is 'shit' isn't going to get him very far is it?

Aaron is a young man of 21 years of age. Just a baby really.

There is no need to destroy him. A little bit of constructive criticism is fine. But don't make him into a scapegoat because of your frustrations.

Take the game against Swansea, I thought he was below-par. But I tell you something, he certainly didn't hide and still wanted the ball despite not playing well.

That says a lot for me. The best players don't hide and although I wouldn't rank Ramsey alongside the best in the world, yet, he certainly has the character of one of them.

Some people forget he suffered a career threatening injury and was out for a long time with it. Just for him to actually be playing football again is a miracle.

We need to remember that and we need to remember he is a year behind in his progression as a footballer.

I think some people are annoyed that Cesc Fabregas left the club and that Ramsey is his supposed replacement.

But they are two completely different types of player. You can't compare them because Cesc was a one-off. Cesc is a genius.

Lately some of us Gooners seem to love someone to have a pop at. Eboue, Bendtner and even Arshavin have been victims. I've even seen Per Mertesacker get unfair stick.

Lets not start to dig Aaron Ramsey out too. People need to lay off him because he has all the attributes to be a top player.

Trust me, Aaron Ramsey is a gem and I am glad that we have him at Arsenal Football Club.

I'd hate to see him go somewhere else and become the talent I'm sure he will be.

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Wayne Rooney Over Robin van Persie Is A Disgrace!

On a serious, and I mean se-ri-ous level, I have no idea how Wayne Rooney could have been voted into the FIFA World XI over Robin van Persie.

Apparently over 50,000 professional footballers from across the world submitted their votes for the World XI team. And somehow, Rooney was voted in.

How did this happen? Did Rooney send round a few glamorous OAP call girls to each and every player to seal the deal because I am baffled?!

Robin van Persie has had one of the best years ever seen in the English Premier Leagues stinking existence. His performances, not to mention his goal tally, have been unbelievable.

The only player (in England) that has got near to his level of play has been David Silva of Manchester City, who has also been phenomenal over 2011. But he is a midfielder, a different position.

Wayne Rooney is a great player but he hasn't touched Robin van Persie over the course of the year. So how he stood side-by-side with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (as strikers) in the FIFA World XI stumps me.

It may seem like sour grapes because I am a Gooner but did Rooney actually do the counting of votes? I only ask as I doubt he can count over 20 because he'd run out of fingers and toes.

In my opinion, the only players who has performed above the Arsenal man over 2011 are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Those two have been unstoppable and are on another level to anyone.

Robin van Persie should have been stood alongside those two and claimed his rightful place in the top 3 strikers of the world. Not Wayne Rooney.

I bet something dodgy went on there. 

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Salomon Kalou-Oo To Be A Gooner?

Twitter (Follow me on @_Wrighty7) and the interweb is buzzing like a bumble bee today that Chelsea man Salomon Kalou could be on the move to Arsenal.

Now I believe this is the sort of deal that will be like Marmite to Gooners. Some will like it, and some will hate it.

I happen to think that Kalou would be a very good signing for the club. And if the reported fee of £3m is true then we have got a real bargain.

Of course I concede that the Ivorian isn't the 'Galactico' transfer that a lot of Arsenal fans want Wenger to make, but he is a proven EPL player. And a decent one at that.

Arsenal's style of play would suit Kalou as much as a sarong suits David Beckham. Very well indeed.

He is rapid, works hard, can score goals, and is very versatile. Kalou wouldn't need time to adapt to England, and from what I have read in the past, would love to join us.

What more do you want?

The fact that Chelsea want him to sign a new contract with them speaks volumes to me. They clearly still want him there, so if they rate him surely he isn't the 'shit player' I've seen him called?

This is the sort of signing I can see Wenger making. Yes it may appear like another stingy deal, but Kalou is a player that the Arsenal gaffer has admired from afar for a long time.

Kalou has six months left on his current Chelsea deal. Arsene is not being 'tight' nor is he hunting round the bargain bucket again.

This a real opportunity to gain a decent acquisition to the squad at a very good price.

Put it this way, if S*urs signed Salomon Kalou for £3m then I would be very pissed off and would question why Arsenal didn't.

Wouldn't you?

Follow me on Twitter @_Wrighty7.

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Arsenal Need This FA Cup

Being realistic the FA Cup is the last throw of the dice for Arsenal to win silverware this season.

We have as much chance of winning the league as Frank Lampard trying Diet Coke, are out of the pint of Carling Cup and the way Barcelona are playing UEFA may as well hand them the Champions League trophy now.

Now I know that Arsene Wenger counts getting into the aforementioned Champions League as a trophy but I don't.

You can not hold Champions League qualification above your head to thousands of Gooners like a cup can you?

That's why I think Arsenal need to win the FA Cup this season more than ever.

Arsenal need a trophy to shake that trophy-less monkey from our backs. We need to shake that little bastard hard.

People say that the FA Cup is a little disrespected these days, that it takes a back seat in the priorities. Well, I'd agree with that.

Maybe to get the magic of the cup back it needs a little shake up.

Perhaps the winners should gain entry into the Champions League instead of 4th place in the league?

Then, if we won it, I'd actually agree with Wenger that getting into the Champions League was like winning a trophy!

Whatever the case, Arsene must take the FA Cup even more serious than ever.

In the past the Arsenal gaffer and the FA Cup had a love affair deeper than the Mariana Trench. He loved the cup and the cup loved him.

We need that passion back. We need the FA Cup to flirt with Wenger and bring out his romantic side again because I truly believe winning it would launch Arsenal into competing again.

Arsenal just lack that winning mentality. That's why losing the Carling Cup final last season had such a deep impact on the rest of the season. We collapsed in a spectacular way after that defeat.

Who knows? If we had won that final we may have gone on and had another historic season.

This campaign hasn't been ideal for Gooners. At times I have wanted to pull my hair out and find a little bloke to beat up. Unless he is hard.

Winning the FA Cup would be wonderful. We need it. We need it bad.

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Arsenal Should Raid The Bundesliga Again. And Then Again.

As we know the transfer window is open and that means its silly season time again.

Arsenal will be linked with every Tom, Dick and Harry from the Tombs of the Nobles to Outer 'order' Mongolia.

Some of the rumours will make you laugh, others you can take more seriously.

Lukas Podolski is a player that Arsene Wenger is supposedly looking at. And by all accounts he is a serious possibility.

If the German joined the club I should imagine that at least 99% of Gooners would be happy with his arrival.

He would be welcomed to the home of football by his compatriot Per Mertesacker, who I think should start talking about Podolski's Arsenal DNA in the press.

I read today, and was quite intrigued, that Wenger was looking at a Bayern Munich player too.

For a change it wasn't Franck Ribery, a player mooted to join the Gunners by Nostradamus in 1547.

It was a winger though, and a very good one at that.

Arjen Robben is that player. 

Now whether or not there is any substance to the Dutchman rumours I don't know, but I would welcome him to the club with open arms.

I know that Robben is a bit of bitch at times, to say he doesn't like getting stuck in is an understatement, but there is no doubting his quality.

Of course he has had injury problems in recent years so that would be a worry, especially with our injury record!

However with Theo Walcott's contract situation, and Andrei Arshavin's lack of form, Arsenal could do with a decent wide signing.

Some will dislike Robben's Chelsea connections but personally I wouldn't give a shit about that and if it meant he would sign then I would go collect him myself.

I have no doubt that Robin van Persie would be over the moon if Robben joined and if Lukas Podolski signed too he would probably pen a new contract within seconds.

Follow me on Twitter @_Wrighty7

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