Sorry for the lack of posting recently only I was 'kidnapped' by the missus and taken hostage on the sunny isle of Lanzarote for two weeks.
It was horrible. All that boozing, eating and all those late-night activities.
I'd much rather have been in rainy England......
Anyway I'm back now and pissed off. I miss Lanzarote but I'm pissed off today that we haven't signed a keeper.
I suppose there is no point dwelling on it anymore. We can't do anymore about it.
So moaning and bitching that we are stuck with Manuel Almunia between the sticks isn't going to do anyone or anything any good.
Especially Almunia's confidence.
We need to get behind Almunia now. Yes, Wenger should have signed a better keeper but he hasn't. What more can we or Manuel do about it?
He was brilliant against Blackburn and more than dealt with everything thrown, kicked or hurtled in his direction.
That's the Almunia we need to see more of.
I said in the past (rather naively) that the Spaniard had become one of the top keepers in Europe. I must have seen something to say that. Or I must have been pissed.
All I now is at the moment he is the Arsenal number one. Like it or not.
Personally I'm glad that Mark Schwarzer hasn't signed. I don't think he is any better than Manuel Almunia so he wouldn't have improved us in anyway.
The Aussie has played near on 15 years for clubs like Bradford City, Middlesborough and Fulham. If he was any good he would have played at a higher level ages ago.
I know Almunia's former clubs list the dizzy heights reached of Sabadell and Albacete but I still don't think Schwarzer would have been an improvement on him.
It may feel like a kick in the mouth but its the hand we have been dealt with. Its not Almunia's fault so support him. He'll need it.
Keep it Goonerish...........
90 comments:
here here, lets leave all the fake gunners to criticize.We have him,we cant change, two seasons ago he was great...maybe with some confidence and hard work he can get back to it!!
Go back to Lanzarote mate.
"I'm glad we didn't sign Schwarzer.."
"I once Almunia was one of the est in Europe" (seriously!!! When???! He has never been anything better than average even when he was at his best)
Idiot
Why, Wenger? Why?
Great minds.
I have just posted similar thoughts.
Agree 100%
Here is to a good season with Manuel coming back to his best.
@Hahaha
'I said in the past (rather naively) that the Spaniard had become on the top keepers in Europe. I must have seen something to say that. Or I must have been pissed.'
Did you read all that paragraph mate or just the parts you wanted to read?
Id rather be a 'Fake gunner' than somebody who thinks Arsene can do no wrong - its bordering on incompetence now im afraid - I look forward to all the excuses when clown A or b drop another clanger.
And seriously when was almunia ever great - 2 years ago - oh yeah when he let bently score from the half way line....
How have we enede up like this 5 years down the line
@ 2nd comment
In 08-09 he was one of the best keepers in the league. Believe me, I wanted him to go too, but if he can keep up some good form after the Blackburn game then it could pay off.
Last season he lost us a lot of points, but the season before that he saved us quite a few.
Nice one Mean Lean!
Well said, Wrighty. A warm reception for MA when we play Bolton would go a long way to rebuilding his confidence. I just worry about what happens if/when he does make a mistake this season because we all know there will be idiots like HAHAHA around, willing to do anything so they can say that they were right.
All that drinking and eating must have gone to your head. Get behind Allmunia, are you out of your fucking mind. Grow some balls and say something we want to hear. Come down out of Wengers hole
whats next? get behind falpianski and Wenker? Season done bye bye!!
Agree with you on this one Wrighty.
HAHAHA: go support the spuds moron!
Fuck Almunia he's shit.If you want to back a keeper who will cost us the league like he did last season good luck to you.Wenger didnt back him or why would he bid for schwarzer?So why should we.
I will get behind Almunia if he was standing by the edge of a cliff and push the clown off
Today we conceded the title.
Almunia was a shit keeper when we bought him 2nd choice at Celta Vigo.We have become a joke when it comes to goalkeepers.We will never win a trophy while he is our number 1.Is wenger mad?
Thank you for the first sensible blog post on the situation. Everyone is treating this like a disaster, when we need to get behind him.
Support the team you whiney bitches! Do use understand the term support or are use a bunch of glory hunters that jumped on the arsenal bandwagon 7-8 years ago when things where easy?? No matter what i'll be supporting the lads, what else can I do? Arsenal is my team and i Love IT!!!
i am a member(from greece) and i am traveling around europe every single year to support the cunts , well, i've had it. no more membership for me and no more of my sweet money in their pockets until he proves me wrong and wins something. if he doesn't , he can fuck off to spain along with the dwarf captain of his in the summer. enough is enough
"Dwarf Captain", this says alot about you mate! Your a fuckn tosser!!!
today wenger has proved he has lost the plot and hopefully his job,in arsene we rust.
Jack mate, your a joke of a fan!!
Are you gona boo almunia and the team because we didnt sign a 37 year old keeper or are you gona cheer them on so we can try end this minor baron spell?!
Wenger has transformed this SUPER club, show some respect or F.U.C.K. right off!!!
we've been behind him for 3 seasons & he keeps fucking it up.
Fake fans wont get behind him. Or Wenger. All they want is glory. Shame. Seems they all forget that only 1 club can win the league and we're currently competing with the experience of Utd aswell as the money of Chelsea, Man City and Tottenham.
Oh, Almunia is a capable keeper and everyone can make mistakes. Judge him on how he bounces back this season, so get behind the guy.
Thats why you gota support the chap now, whats booing and slagging the chap gona achieve?! Do any of you 'fake' Gooner fans comprehend this???
Hey Wrighty
Been a while since you last wrote!
Spot on. Almunia needs our support more than ever.
Recently started a blog, and was gonna post a few things today but that can keep till tomorrow. A few interesting views I believe you will enjoy :P
http://cescandthecity.blogspot.com/
If you have a spare two minutes would appreciate your thoughts!
to anon at 22:05
this statement
i am a member(from greece) and i am traveling around europe every single year to support the cunts ,
YOU ARE A FRACTIOUS BULLSHITTING YID. CUNT
wenger needs to go im afraid. move with the times people... Thanks for the good times AW... but you've lost the plot...
Why should we back him?.Wenger didnt.He wanted to sign Schwarzer but Fulham wouldnt sell.Almunia is damaged goods
this baron spell will last a hell of alot longer with a-this clown in goal and b-wenger in charge,you clown.
in arsene we rust
Wrighty :
You're right, we all need to get behind Alumounia & Flappy.
It's the only way the ball won't get past them ....
This supposedly Arsenal fan calls HIS team 'cunts'! Now im not bullshitting anyone here but if ANYONE said that to my face, i'd break their skull for them!!
My God, there are some nasty bastards leaving comments on this site. Yes, I too am disappointed that we did not sign a top class keeper, but Schwarzer was really not the answer at his age and bearing in mind the mediocre clubs that he has played for during his career. Wrighty is absolutely correct, we do need to get fully behind the team and Almunia. He is our No. 1 and true gunner fans, support the team regardless.
Jack,
How did you know i was a clown? Must take one to know one you Fuckn Mess!!! Get behind the team or join the Shitty outfit down the road! I heard they bought some donut off madrid??
Message to all those saying they didnt want Schwarzer.Our manager did.If Wenger had faith in Almunia why go after another keeper?.We are playing for 4th place not 1st.Almunia has had 3 years as our keeper and has failed
"all these fake gooners.." What a joke, sorry didn't realise it was 'fake' to express an opinion on the team. I suppose all you 'real' gooners weren't cursing when Almunia let the ball through his hands at birmingham and cost us the league last year. Very very sad to see that people who don't agree with Wenger are reduced to pariahs. Get a grip..
HaHaHaHaHa Almunia. Was he raised in a circus? hehehehehehhehe
Wenger truly has lost the plot.All summer has has been planning Almunia's downfall by going after another keeper.Now he is stuck with a keeper he didnt want.Thats what you call good management
Bang on Wrighty!
I hope the real supporters of the club take the fucking roof off next home game shouting Manuels name....it aint gonna hurt is it, he's ours and we need to cherish him, love or hate him. Its not like you can question his dedication or love for the club.
Supporter means you give support not criticism to the club at every opportuntiy....dont like it...Fuck off to Shite Hart Lane.
Wenger has worked wonders for Arsenal deal with it....I am more angry with the attitude of the plastic so called fans than my frustrations with the transfer market.
Noone has signed a decent keeper this window...ask yourself why...noone is selling!
Gooner Til I Die
Its not about agreeing with Wenger, we all know he can do a better job than you so your opinion is pointless mate?! What you should do as a self confessed 'fake' gooner is support the team no matter what and hope we win the title. No-one has a divine right to win the league, you do know that dont you??
I WOULDN'T EVEN FEEL SO BAD IF HE WAS MAKING AN EFFORT TO CHANGE SOMETHING OR FIX THE PROBLEM, LIKE SEND FLOPIANSKI AWAY! GET HIM THE FUCK OUT OF OUR SIGHT! AND GIVE SZCZESNY A CHANCE! AS GOD LIVES I'LL GIVE MY DEAD GREAT GRAND DAD A CHANCE NOW! HOW MUCH CHANCES ARE THESE TWO FUCKIN CUNTS GOIN TO GET B4 WEGER WAKE UP AND REALIZE THEY ARE SHIT! REMEMBER THE MAD GERMAN KEEPER ONLY GOT TWO GAMES AND WEGER GOT RID OF HIM INSTANTLY, WHY IS HE HANGING ON TO THESE TWO WHEN THEY ARE EVEN WORSE, WAY WORSE THAN LEHMANN EVER WAS! I JUST DONT GET IT!DO THEY HAVE SOMETHING ON WENGER OR WHAT!THIS IS LIKE UNFUCKINGBELIEVEABLE!!!
London Gun, spot on mate!!
The Emirates needs a good atmosphere for the rest of the season! That can only help the cause! Not these plastic bitches whining about a poxy 37 year old keeper?!
So you are not a real Gooner unless you back a keeper who Wenger wanted to replace? The same fans who said we should back Greedybayor just because he was wearing an Arsenal shirt.
@Anonymous 22.28
Try support the team for a change, that might help the team?! Jesus, its so poxy annoying talk to these plastic whinge holes?!
Lehman was a KING, Almunia is a clown.
I don't understand all this crap about getting behind Almunia. I used to cheer a clap when he makes a save, now I just think thank fuck for that. It's ok getting behind him when he has one his brief spells of confidence, but what about when he inevitably starts to make howler after howler. He's been playing for us long enough to demonstrate he's not good enough, he's not suddenly just going to become fit for purpose overnight. I know it's not his fault and he's a nice guy, but I don't give a shit. When he and his cretinous understudy start costing us stupid points by bungling about at corners and set pieces, do we all clap and sing their names like the idiots Wenger takes us to be.
We are all being mugged because AW no longer gives a shit about winning anymore, if we do win something it will be a fluke that is in no way attributable to his managerial decisions. You can bet your arse as soon as we Start to look like we are going to win the Carling cup AW will field a team that can't win as soon as we draw a difficult team. Why would we want to bother trying to win the Mickey Mouse cup when we can win fuck all instead.
Are we all supposed to blindly sing the names of goal keepers we now aren't good enough when they are costing
us points with incompetence we can see with our own eyes. Are we supposed to keep singing the paises of a Manager who has no interest in winning, just how much of a shoe string budget can you keep a team in the Champions League with. Perhaps we all just keep on prettending we see the Emperors lovely new clothes while we pay our exorbitant ticket prices.
Adebarndoor was a total different circumstance!! He was a prick with money on his mind 24/7.
Give Almunia a feash break will use? Whats booing and slagging him off gona do? It will cause friction within the team and support as well as making it easier for our opponents to overtake us?!
SUPPORT THE BLOODY TEAM MUPPETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Almunia is an excellent shot stopper and is as good as anyone dealing with those raking shots at ground level. However he always punches under pressure and strugggles to command in his box. His decision making is suspect too. I don't think we've helped him much in recent years with the Toure, Gallas partnership and basically any partnership with Gallas in it!! Make of that what you will. Expect significant impovement now. Support Manny Almunia. Lets give him the confidence to improve.
Liek you Writhy, I was also someone who had a lot of belief in Almunia at the start of last season. My faith crumbled with every new mistake and culminated with the Birmingham fiasco, ruining our good run of results.
I pray that what I saw in Captain Al will manifest itself this season and that he´ll prove himself to every Arsenal fan that hes got the quality needed to bring trophies to the club again.
Get behind the man and pray that he keeps his early form until at least the january transfer window.
Fake gooner? because i dont back a decision that is so wrong.Every Gooner knows we needed a quality keeper if we were going to win the title.almunia is not and never will be good enough.If you are happy about that i feel soory for you.Birmingham away last season say no more
Sorry Wrighty and all you others that mention Manuel having a great season in the past... WHEN??? he has always been a liability and now we are left with him as No.1 again, OMG, all we can hope is that we score more goals than we let in, cos we will let them in and some bad ones at that.... all 'kin summer we have had and it has not happened, even my poxy runner beans know we need a goalkeeper with a better than average C.V. I think Wenger is great but no new No.1 makes me sick to death, we all know we need a real goalie, probably even Manuel knew it... anyway as some of you have said, we now need to get behind Manuel, but I just think another season has just been wasted.. no wonder Cesc wants off... unless a keeper deal just has not been announced yet ??? we pray, but without David Dein our prayers go unheard cos the board are all deaf... old age has taken it's toll and no-one has bought them a hearing aid... or maybe it's the constant ringing of the till's profits that is of more interest to them... either way, what a bunch of tossers we have on the board, God help us all.
@Jon Jensen
Here here, i couldnt agree more!!
Chaps, as Wrighty clearly points out, he's not the greatest keeper in the world, but we should get behind him. It's not going to do any good moaning about him now.
Good post Wrighty.
Will we ever win the league again under Wenger?.After today the answer is no.Wenger has had 3 months to search the world for a keeper but we have ended up with 2nd best and a club like ours should not be settling for 2nd best.What about winning for a change
Wenger has nade a big blunder by not signing a world class keeper. That is the type of person we require between the post
Wrighty 7 - I agree with your comments. Schwarzer would not have been an improvement on Almunia (Given would - but there was no way Manc C would sell him to us). Wenger should have addressed the situation before now but Almunia is a lot better than many of the plastic fans who have commented on this blog would have us believe. He's what we've got so let's show him he's a key part of the club we support. As for the perceptive rocket scientists who suggest that getting rid of Wenger would be a positive move for the club, go and support Chavski because that's obviously your kind of club.
I wonder if it is so easy for Gazidis and Laws to recruit players to Arsenal now. Sure young talented players hoping to break into the first team of a major club if given a chance–they might be enthusiastic to come. French players who like Squillaci really admire Wenger and know they will feel comfortable at Arsenal with other players from around Europe and especially France–they seem to be ready to join Arsenal. But after several years of finishing third or fourth and several years, are experienced and quality players as interested in joining Arsenal?
It is a question I worry about because if this team doesn’t reverse that trend very soon, our young players will be mid and later career without achieving much and our best players will want to leave and we will still have the legacy and image of not being an attractive team team to established players. Not so good.
Wenger is fucking hopeless when it comes to signing keepers.Just one good one.Lehmann in 14 years.Almunia is not even the 50th best Spanish keeper.
We can only hope Wenger promotes Szczesny to number 2 keeper and Almunia breaks his leg,happy days
At Birmingham last season after the game Almunia was in the dressing room.He put his head in his hands but it slipped through
nothin we can do bout it.hes our number 1.hes goin to rise like eboue in a few months we b singin his name
@ tommy
know where ya coming from and agree
The crazy thing is we are one quality keeper away from winning the title but Wenger just cant see that.If we broke the bank and signed a top class keeper we would win the league,but Almunia is just average
Can we all shut up for a moment and step back?
Every player on our team makes mistakes. They are not machines. The only problem is that we remember goalkeeping errors more than we will remember a shot Fabregas fluffed, or a bad tackle made by TV. Sure, Almunia cost us points in the Birmingham game, but that ball should never have got there, it should have been dealt with. For every goal we let in, it means there is a defensive error.
I can appreciate that our goalkeeper is not of the same standard as Cech, or Buffon, or Van Der Saar, but whats the point in shooting our team in the foot by wrecking his confidence before he has even made a mistake?
He may not be the worlds best, but he is our number one. Wenger was obviously looking for a replacement, but its not as easy as it is in computer games, get a fucking grip.
Wenger himself said that now he has money no one wants to sell. Its clear that Hughes didn't want to sell and its also clear that Man City would rather leave Given on the bench to rot than sell to a top four rival.
Wenger has a quality goalkeeper coming up in Chesney. Who is it we need to thank for that? Its not the plastic fans.Its Wenger and the men -he has- chosen to scout out talent. Who is it we need to thank for Van Perie, for Fabregas etc.
We don't have a divine right to win the league and if you think Wenger only cares about being in the top four you have been reading too much shit on the internet.
And before you all start, I was there at the Porto game last season, right behind the goal. The difference is, im not ungrateful for what i have. I appreciate that there will be ups and downs in football and Wenger has brought us more success than most football fans experience. Most Arsenal fans just sound like spoit teenagers blinded to how good they have it. You want to really see what its like to have football depression? Go support Charlton. I live with a Charlton fan and trust me, we have it good.
Although I do agree that we need a keeper, to suggest that we would've won the Premiership last season with a better keeper is taking a lot away from Chelsea. They finished 11 points ahead of, and a world class keeper will probably get you 6 points at best. If we beat Chelsea twice, then that stat would be different, but you can't blame Almunia for 5 goals in both games!
I actually do think we can win the Premiership this season, with or without Almunia.
but maybe we have signed a keeper but it's just not common knowledge yet ? :-)
Wenger has done an amazing job for arsenal overall and in the coming seasons we ll win the premiership and / or champions leage . Almunia had bad games last season , true , but we also defended pretty bad as a team at times and had RVP and Cesc out in important games . At Blackburn we defended great as a team and Almunia did everything right - maybe everybody in the team has got the message now . Real fans will always support the team ...
I have never understood the doom and gloom brigade that seem to fill our ranks since we moved to the Emirates.
they are like the toxic byproduct that an extra 20,000 seats generates.
I suppose that this is the difference between an Arsenal supporter and an Arsenal customer.
3 games 7 points. In 2nd place only behind Chelsea who have had a very easy start. Anfield and Ewood park visited with no loss.
Who was in goals for us again?
Wenger will feed Ammonia (my nic for him) his magic mojo that he had previously stashed away & voila! He'll turn from being dipshit to world class overnight.
Anyway i'll still cheer the lads on, albeit from home since i can't afford the tickets.
Remember folks, with great expectation comes great disappointment.
Get behind ALMUNIA when was the last game of outstanding quality he played, when were his saves shown over and over again on match of the day i will tell you never hes a total cock and you fucking puppies that never watched Wilson, Jennings dont know what the fuck your talking about get back on your fucking leads nice uncle Arsene is taking you for a walk hopefully down to the canal
Lets give Almunia a chance. Wipe the slate clean. It's not like we have much choice do we. Wenger has made the decision that Al is better than Schwarzer by not signing him and I think he's right. If a real top class alternative was available, at the right price we would have signed him. My worry is when Fabianski plays, but maybe if the defence and midfield can protect him better he may grow with confidence. Confidence is the real killer with Lukasz. I would also like to see mannone & chesney get more of a chance though.
Bullshit we are now doomed to 4th spot at best he had the whole summer to fill one position and fucked it up, he is clearly delusional a bad keeper costs 15 points a season a good keeper gains them thats 30 points, this is my last season as a season ticket holder, why should I invest when they don't re invest my money.
We really do need to get behind Almunia. He is our goalkeeper and we as fans need to give him our backing. He might be useless but its not his fault that he's been given the job. Any one of us would take the job if Arsene Wenger was crazy enough to offer it.
We know now that this will be another season without trophies so instead of setting any expectations, let's just enjoy the season.
I say get behind Almunia. He is for now the best keeper we have. Schwarzer is not much better, if better at all. Almunia wears his heart on his sleeve and if he continues to play like he did against Blackburn, we can ask no more as his he did display the talent that he has actually got.
Half of you guys are fuckin clowns. i'd stand behind all you cunts and throw you off the fuckin cliff. Theres nothin any of you can do about it now, stop slatin' the guy and stay the fuck away from the emirates. The lane's that way cunts.
Hang on a minute, we're 2nd in the league after 3 games, 2 away, one at anfield and the other at ewood park. We beat Allardyce away for the first time in 8 years and survived an aerial bombardment from one of the most physical teams in the league and Almunia didn't put a foot wrong in spite of all the rumours around him. Plus we did this with our 2 best players out of form!!
Why the FUCK are so many Arsenal 'fans' throwing in the towel? Man U drew with Fulham, Spurs lost at home to Wigan, Liverpool got spanked by City and City got beat by Sunderland! Only Chelsea have done better than us and they've had the easiest opening 5 games you could wish for! And lets not forget they lost 3-1 to Man U in the Charity Shield!
Grow the fuck up you whinging pussies! Get behind your team and give them a chance to prove they have what it takes! Seriously! We got a draw at Anfield with No Fabs, No RvP and with a Debutant CB. We beat Blackburn at Ewood. Theo has gone up a level, Rosicky is looking back to his best. With Squillaci we now have 4 competent CBs who can interchange and play at the top level. We have a striker in Chamakh who looks to be everything Ade could have been and more if he wasn't such a lazy, mercenary cock. We have Bendtner coming back, Nasri coming back, Rambo coming back. Wilshere is stepping up, Gibbs is stepping up, hopefully Vela will do the same!
Things are looking up at Arsenal and best of all the pressure is off because everyone will be looking at Chelsea, Man U and City and expecting them to do the business.
We have a real shot at winning this year so quit your fucking moaning and start being a real supporter of our great Club and all our players!!
Amen, well said GOONER49, succinct, and to the point!
All this talk of confidence is quite bollocks to me. If confidence is such a key attribute then scouts who fly halfway across the globe in search of a useless comodity called TALENT should just form a cheerleading brigade & sing praises all day to the underperforming players.
If you came home one day to find out that your mentally challenged brother had killed your mother, wouldn't you be just a little bit angry, even though you loved him with all your heart?
So to me a "plastic fan" is the guy in an Armani suit sitting in the VIP section on Matchday who don't even bother to know who plays in goal.
Just my two pence worth.
I agree that we need to get behind Almunia as there is no choice now.
However, I don't agree with what you say about Schwarzer being no better than Almunia. He is world class and would have been an excellent signing.
I recall Vandersar in his early thirties and the clangers he made between the posts. The past 5 years he has been immense for ManU.
Give Almunia a break! He is a great shot stopper, arguably one of the best, however his decision making in set pieces is where has struggled. The lack of confidence is a two way street. I suspect not having two reliable and strong CB's AND a Viera type midfielder, may be part of the reason for his indecisiveness at set pieces.
Give him time, he will develop that part of his game.
Right now we supporters need to enstil confidence in the guy not take it away. Stop with the negativity and support your club and all players or migrate yourselves to the spuds. They can use spineless and spiteful supporters.
to all of those who aren't happy about our goalkeeper situation I ask what are you going to do about it? should we all booo Almunia every time he takes the pitch, or stop watching the Arsenal play? the reality of the situation is that Almunia is our number one. So again what are you going to do about it?
I cannot believe there are fans out there who actually will not get behind Almunia. Are you lot unaware of reality? You can blame Wenger but by going after Almunia you are just destroying his confidence which is counter productive.
I reckon that baggy faced cunt ol Harry is behind all the anti Almunia posts today.
I'll bet MA must be one of the happiest man after the transfer window was closed yesterday. I can virtually hear a sigh of relief from him. I believe what the fans ought to give him from now on is not confidence but a constant sense of crisis which is what really needed to drive him up to a better level of goalkeeping. The obvious eg. was his more than competent performance in the Blackburn game, when the rumour of bringing in another new keeper was flying around. Getting behind him will only send him back to his comfort zone and cost us more goals in the future. He needs to be constantly reminded that he'll be replaced if he ever drops his already barely satisfactory performance level again, even by 1 percent. He'll then pull his socks up and play to his max, and hopefully the damage is controlled to an acceptable level. Oh, those Spaniards...
Hey Wrighty! Let me be the 83rd person to welcome you back in cyber space! Well all I'd like to say today morning is that, I've read your blog long enough to appreciate everything you throw into it. Even the fact that this is one of your sentences "All I now is at the moment he is the Arsenal number one. Like it or not".. Probably you were thinking about your Missus on the Isle of Lanzarote??! Never mind, glad you are back.. Glad Walcott is on fire.. Not so glad about the goalkeeper situation but I always thought any goalkeeper other than Almunia and Fabianski would do..
Some gooners simply cant think.
YES, Arsenal need a better goalkeeper.
YES, Wenger failed to sign a better one.
YES, Almunia isnt great.
HOWEVER, moaning about Almunia wont help him nor the team.
Almunia is the best Arsenal have now, apart from supporting him, what can we do at the moment?! Supporting him doesnt mean we satisfy for the second best as someone says. Because this action will benefit the team most!
bonjour
i think all you arsenal fans should get right behind almunia, and i do mean right behind him, all along the goal line, hanging of the crossbar and clinging to the goalposts. that should do the trick.
aurevoir
IN ARSENE YOU THRUST
Wenger has such a crap record with signing goalkeepers. Manninger, Wright, Rabi Shaaban FFS!He only struck lucky with the mad German because he was so cheap and everyone else thought he was trouble. Wenger is clearly not a defensive coach and needs help. If David Dein was still around he'd have kicked Wenger's ass and told him to get his chequebook out pronto. We are so close to a title winning team, but the problem is Wenger wants to do it all for 2 bob and 2nd tier defenders. This club deserves AND CAN AFFORD better.
A few months ago I made a conscious decision never ever to post any opinions on football blogs again. Being a fervent gooner, and apparently currently undergoing the phenomenon that is trophy-cold-turkey – which if you believe the press, is a football condition only experienced by Arsenal fans – I naturally took exception to a statement posted by a Chelsea fan on the Guardian Football site at the end of last season, that agreed with the theme of a David Lacey article that Arsenal should forget about playing ‘good football’ and concentrate on playing ‘winning football’ instead.
Bristling with indignation at Lacey’s barely hidden thesis that ‘winning football’ is ipso facto ‘good football’, I proceeded to lecture the Chelsea supporter about fundamental tenets of philosophy and warned him about the crime of the ‘is ought shift’. He ignored my tuition and failed to see the non-sequitor of his argument; he stated that the object of playing football was to win games and that if a team won more games than any others, like Chelsea had, then clearly they were playing ‘gooder’ football than anyone else!
No matter how much I remonstrated and demonstrated that one cannot justify value judgements, i.e. ‘good’ football, on matters of fact, i.e. Chelsea having won more games, he would have none of it. I even suggested, much to my own personal discomfort, that it is quite possible that Chelsea could have played ‘good’ football as well as winning football during the season but the former claim was a matter of individual opinion unlike the latter which was factual and not open to debate.
As always, the blog exchange deteriorated into insult and abuse – and I suspect he is still paying a private detective to find me – when a timely intervention by my wife brought me back from the brink of insanity and a 12 hour night shift at the computer face.
She simply said, and I have to believe it was without any irony whatsoever, that my Chelsea sophist was only acting like any ‘good’ supporter would, out of loyalty to his club. If her assertion is correct – and as far as I know she has never been wrong about anything – then it’s about time we as supporters of football, whether it is good, bad, indifferent, or winning football, stepped back from our tribal allegiances and considered objectively what traits do indeed characterise ‘good’ football supporters.
It’s a cold autumn night in the mid-sixties at Ellersie Road, mistakenly known as Loftus Road, in Shepherds Bush. I am playing in midfield for QPR in a South East Counties floodlit match against Charlton or Leyton Orient, I can’t remember which. There was no Elvis for us as we ran on to the pitch, only the tinny, 2-year-out-of-date, echo of ‘Hermann’s Hermits’ evidently being into something good.
There were probably a hundred odd ‘good’ supporters watching us from the gloom of the steeply rising terraces. I can’t remember the score at the time but I do recall that it was the second half and we were attacking the ‘General Smutts’ end and defending the ‘Springboks’ end. My extended family lived on the White City Estate and my Nan had worked in both these pubs at some time, hence the geographical precision.
I remember breaking into the penalty area with only the keeper to beat and shooting. It wasn’t that powerful, I must admit, and certainly would not have hurt the keeper’s fingers as he pushed the ball around the post, if, indeed, he even felt it. I ran to pick up the ball to take the corner and as I did so, this ‘good’ QPR supporter – an old bloke in a raincoat – leant over the wall and hissed into my impressionable 16 year-old ear: “You shitbag!”
A few months ago I made a conscious decision never ever to post any opinions on football blogs again. Being a fervent gooner, and apparently currently undergoing the phenomenon that is trophy-cold-turkey – which if you believe the press, is a football condition only experienced by Arsenal fans – I naturally took exception to a statement posted by a Chelsea fan on the Guardian Football site at the end of last season, that agreed with the theme of a David Lacey article that Arsenal should forget about playing ‘good football’ and concentrate on playing ‘winning football’ instead.
Bristling with indignation at Lacey’s barely hidden thesis that ‘winning football’ is ipso facto ‘good football’, I proceeded to lecture the Chelsea supporter about fundamental tenets of philosophy and warned him about the crime of the ‘is ought shift’. He ignored my tuition and failed to see the non-sequitor of his argument; he stated that the object of playing football was to win games and that if a team won more games than any others, like Chelsea had, then clearly they were playing ‘gooder’ football than anyone else!
No matter how much I remonstrated and demonstrated that one cannot justify value judgements, i.e. ‘good’ football, on matters of fact, i.e. Chelsea having won more games, he would have none of it. I even suggested, much to my own personal discomfort, that it is quite possible that Chelsea could have played ‘good’ football as well as winning football during the season but the former claim was a matter of individual opinion unlike the latter which was factual and not open to debate.
As always, the blog exchange deteriorated into insult and abuse – and I suspect he is still paying a private detective to find me – when a timely intervention by my wife brought me back from the brink of insanity and a 12 hour night shift at the computer face.
She simply said, and I have to believe it was without any irony whatsoever, that my Chelsea sophist was only acting like any ‘good’ supporter would, out of loyalty to his club. If her assertion is correct – and as far as I know she has never been wrong about anything – then it’s about time we as supporters of football, whether it is good, bad, indifferent, or winning football, stepped back from our tribal allegiances and considered objectively what traits do indeed characterise ‘good’ football supporters.
It’s a cold autumn night in the mid-sixties at Ellersie Road, mistakenly known as Loftus Road, in Shepherds Bush. I am playing in midfield for QPR in a South East Counties floodlit match against Charlton or Leyton Orient, I can’t remember which. There was no Elvis for us as we ran on to the pitch, only the tinny, 2-year-out-of-date, echo of ‘Hermann’s Hermits’ evidently being into something good.
When Jens Lehmann was Arsenal number 1, a lot of gooners fans didn't like him and ask him to be replae by Almunia or any other goalkeeper. Now all the sudden that same fans say Lehmann is our last world class keeper. When we look back especially at the double winning season 2001-2002, who was Arsenal rely on to win the double? Wright and Taylor as the goalkeepers. Luzhny, Stephanovs, Upson and Grimandi as our defender. This guys are not world class. But Arsenal win the double anyway. What will all the Gooners say about that. You can read it my blog. http://marcmm03.blogspot.com
Isn’t it a beautiful time to be an Arsenal supporter after nights like last night? Was wonderful to watch and I was so proud. I’ve been constantly skeptical about Vela since he started playing for us. He seems to get an awful lot of leeway compared to our other young starlet up front, who up to this point has achieved immeasurably more. Being a rather ‘blinkered’ (according to friends) Bendtner fan I think I have a tendency to feel a bit put out by the Vela love in amongst other fans. Sometimes I feel the lack of criticism has held Vela back, and kept him out of the spotlight. I really expected him to be moved on this summer and was puzzled by the award of the number 11. Le boss obviously has faith in him, and as usual will probably be proven right when he bangs in 15-20 goals from the bench this season. However, does anyone really see him cementing a first team place? I just don’t get that vibe from Vela. He’s a good finisher but I don’t think he adds that much to the team. Which brings me on to another point. I had a conversation during the game with a friend and we came on to Man Utd and specifically players like O’Shea, Brown and Fletcher. Admittedly the latter has made a lot of progress recently, but these are players who for years who have been on the fringes of the Utd. squad, never being first choice players. However, they have stayed all their career. Now, with such a glut of youth talent coming through at Arsenal, do you think the loyalty of being born and bred in a club can give players the inclination to stay, being happy playing their supporting parts? We came to the conclusion that if the club is successful enough and winning trophies then yes, they will. If we can breed players like this, with a loyalty to Arsenal for a number of years who don’t expect to be automatic first teamers I think a period of dominance could be on the cards.
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