Bleacher Report - Articles by Vincent Chow

If Media Quit Taking Shots, It Would See Arsenal Gunners Still Have Weapons

Vincent Chow — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:05:51 -0400

Two days in the Emirates Cup gave two very different perspectives for the Gunners fans.

On the face of it, it seems as if Arsenal isn't in that much of a crisis, at least not as bad as the media are making it look like.

Yes, we have lost a 20-plus goal striker in Adebayor, and yes, we have lost our last "invincible" in Kolo Toure. But to be honest, these are two very good sales instead of what will stop us being in the top four.

As many fans have already suggested, Adebayor is good, but not indispensable. He has all the ingredients to become the best striker in the world in my opinion, he is so talented and his physical attributes are just as good as Drogba. But at what cost?

If he is going to keep that lazy attitude and greediness, I prefer not to have him in the team, even if he does turn into the best striker in the world. He wants money at City, so Wenger gave him what he wanted. That's it.

King Kolo is slightly different. He is hard working, he plays with his heart and soul for the Gunners and he will always be in the fans' hearts. But, he's just not the defender we need now. He doesn't get on with the team and he doesn't particularly like to play with them.

This has been proven by his recent comments about how Arsenal has lost leaders and stars in Vieira, Henry, Parlour etc. and how we are not competitive anymore.

If he has these sorts of feelings in his heart, then I prefer him to move on rather than stay, since I really don't particularly like players in the team who keep thinking about the past but not accepting the challenges ahead. He has never played well alongside Gallas anyway. To be honest, he has not been "world class" ever since the superb Champions League run in 2006.

We often looked to him to be our leader during these tough few years where we lack experience, and quite frankly he never stepped up to the plate and satisfied. Remember the League Cup final against Chelsea when he was captain and got sent off? Who gave away the penalty against Liverpool in the quarter final?

Whether it was a foul or not, he should have never let Babel got past him in the first place. Adebayor just scored what could've been the winning goal, yet, Toure, the man we looked for to save us, disappointed and could not concentrate to secure our lead.

The Emirates Cup showed the world how good Arsenal are going forward, and thus, Adebayor should not be missed. Yes, we can improve, but it is not necessary to do so in this department.

Van Persie, Eduardo, Arshavin, Walcott, Rosicky, Nasri, Fabregas—within these seven players I see at least 50-60 goals in them. Honestly.

RVP (if stay fit) will get 20-plus goals, Eduardo (if fit) at least 15-plus goals, Arshavin at least 10-plus goals, Walcott, Fabregas, Rosicky and Nasir at least five-plus goals each. There seems to be no problem in Arsenal's attack.

The problem in the past few years has never been about going forward. It has always been about the defence. It is not just the back five we are worried about, it is the defensive midfield which also really worries the fans.

Denilson is just not good enough (at least not consistent enough) to play this invisible but crucial role. With Xabi Alonso transfer listed at his own request, I cannot imagine Wenger not being interested.

No, Alonso is not a tackler, but it is not necessary to get a tackler. We just need someone who will always sit deep in order to pick up the loose balls deep in our own half. Denilson and Song both move forward and lose their positions far too many times.

Alonso doesn't need to do so, because he can spray a pass from anywhere on the pitch. He is similar to Pirlo, who will sit around the centre circle and always be available for a pass to get the other midfielders out of jail. He will also press the opposition players to hassle them into mistakes, rather than going full out to slide everywhere on the pitch.

Upon receiving the ball, he will then spread play to create more space for attacks. He can hit it long and switch sides, or he can keep it short and simple. That is important for the team simply because Fabregas should not be given that job.

Xabi Alonso is as good as Fabregas when it comes to dictating play, but Fabregas is at his best when he is in and around the opposition box. He can play deft through balls or turns defenders and create chances. But he will not be in that position if he always needs to drop deep to pick up the ball to dictate play.

The reason why Denilson is used time after time is because Wenger thinks Denilson can do that job for Fabregas so our skipper can do his damage further up the pitch. Wenger, quite simply doesn't want to have a strict tackler in the team. I am sure that is why he hasn't signed Inler or Melo or any other tough tackling players who had been linked with a move to the Emirates; the reason being his proposed tactics doesn't include a battler in the middle.

He wants the whole team to have one style of play only, and that is to win technically. To control the game by passing the ball, to create triangles in midfield to keep the ball moving.

I don't think he would want a tackler in the middle of the park if that tackler is a player who doesn't offer the same dictating skills of Fabregas.

That is the reason why Wenger is going to use 4-3-3 this season. If you look at Barcelona, yes, they have Yaya Toure, who is a tackler, but he is also superbly sound in possession. Unlike Song, who is a good tackler but not especially good at controlling the game with his passing abilities.

To have three players in midfield with none of whom are proper tacklers means the squad must defend as a team. The midfielders must be disciplined.

Denilson and Song clearly are not experienced and disciplined enough as they are always caught out in counter attacks. Alonso, with his experience and style of play, will be in the position to stop counter attacks, as he does not often move past the centre circle!

The second position that Wenger must strengthen is defence. Senderos is back, which is not really great news. He didn't make it before at Arsenal and he will not make it now. He is just not good enough.

Vermaelen, I have reserved judgements, so let's wait and see. But the feeling is, he is a good defender and good organiser in defence. He is tough and strong, but, playing alongside Gallas will not help him fulfil his potential. Again, he is too similar to Gallas.

He might have a good leap, but what is a good leap when the opposition's striker is about one foot taller than you? Can he jump 10 feet high?

Even Cannavaro, who many believe has been the best defender in the past decade, needed a commanding player next to him to play at his best.

That is why we really need a tall, composing defender, like Hangeland from Fulham, aged 28. He would be a much appreciated signing. He is strong in the tackles, and composed in possession. He is 6'5" and doesn't look like he can be muscled out of a challenge—he and Vermaelen look to be a good combination in defence.

People are suggesting Sakho from PSG, but I don't think that is the way to go, he is too young. I know he is really talented and is likely to grow into a world class player, but Wenger has done enough nurturing for now.

So enough teenagers, it is time to insert some "oldies". If Sakho is ready to come to Arsenal and sit on the bench so Silvestre can go the other way, then good. Yes please...

I like the thought of Vieira returning on a pay-as-you-play basis. At least Wenger is thinking of older players rather than setting a target to field schoolboys to play against Rooney, Gerrard, and Drogba.

This current squad is so good and yes, really it is very good considering how little money we spent on it compared to the other big three.

But still, I do not think it is strong enough to win the big trophies like the Prem and CL.

It would really be such a shame and a huge waste if we do not win anything with the current crop of players like Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie, Rosicky, and Eduardo. These few years, we have played the best football the club has ever seen, and these players really deserve to win trophies because they are truly world class athletes.

My hopeful team for the season 09-10 would be:

Almunia (Fabianski),

Sagna (Eboue), Hangeland (Djourou), Vermaelen (Gallas), Clichy (Traore/Gibbs),

Fabregas (Diaby/Ramsey), Alonso (Song), Rosicky (Nasri/Denilson),

Eduardo (Walcott/Wilshere), RVP (Bendtner), Arshavin (Vela)

This would be as strong as it gets for the current team. Of course, I would love to have Vidic instead of Hangeland and Messi instead of Eduardo, etc.

But with the £40 million Wenger has in his disposal after two good sales, spending

£30 million on Alonso (plus Denilson going the other way) and £10 million on Hangeland (plus Senderos going the other way) would be just enough for mounting a serious challenge on all fronts this season.

It will all be worth it.

Arsenal Legends During Arsene Wenger's Era: David Seaman

Vincent Chow — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:04:20 -0400

How could anyone forget him? Quite simply the greatest ever goalkeeper to have played for Arsenal.

As Wenger once described, Seaman might look soft at times, smiling all the time and never losing his cool. But he was had a tough mind, "Mr. Safe Hands" was filled with confidence inside.

Confidence is so important for goalkeepers, and after the "Nayim from the half way line" and Ronaldinho "cross/shot free kick", you wouldn't have blamed the man for losing confidence. Yet, he always picked himself up and was the most consistent goalkeeper to have ever played for the Gunners.

Arriving at a then transfer-record for a goalkeeper, 1.3 million pounds, George Graham replaced John Lukcic, who was loved by many Arsenal fans, with David Seaman, who made a name for himself after his heroics with Q.P.R.

With Wenger as manager, Seaman won the F.A. Cup three times and the Premiership twice. Having played all 38 league matches, he conceded only 17 league goals in the 1998-99 season.

According to Wenger, Seaman was not technically as great as perhaps the other great goalkeepers such as Banks, Buffon or Schmeichel. He also perhaps didn't havethe best reflex. But what he lacked in technique, he replace with athleticism. He had a big frame and was fantastically agile for such a big man. He was remarkably consistent considering the amount of matches he has played and the amount of mistakes he made.

Yes, the mistakes were costly in terms of silverware, but no one can forget the amount of match-saving-saves he had made for club & country, and the guy, is without doubt, the best goalkeeper to have played for Arsenal under Wenger.

Greatest Save

The one that springs to the mind first is the one I am going to choose. That save against Sheffied United was something special. Fittingly, this save came in his 1000th career match, where Seaman captained the Gunners to a 1-0 victory in the F.A. Cup semi-final.

Peschisolido of Sheffield United thought he was heading the ball into an empty net from a yard out. But Seaman, aged 39 at that time, jumped backwards and stretched his right arm to scoop the ball away from goal.

The save brought comparisons to the Gordon Banks' save from Pele, and quite deservingly so. Even Peter Schmeichelclaimed it was the greatest save he had ever seen.

Most Memorable Match

For England, perhaps the match against Scotland in 1996. But for the Gunners, it is obviously going to be the same match as above, the F.A. Cup semi final against Sheffield United.

Yes, he might have made more saves in other matches, but that save was so important that, having conceded the league title to Man Utd, Arsenal were in desperate need of a trophy, and without that save, which occured in the last 10 minutes of the match, it could've been all over in terms of the trophies that year for Arsenal.

Most Memorable Moment

That save, was great obviously. But to me, as my 'Arsenal Goalkeeping Hero', I just felt his final match for the Gunners, the F.A. cup final against Southampton, 2003, beats everything, emotioanally at least.

He made a tremendous savefrom Brett Ormerold's thunderous volley from a tight angle, a save which Wengersaid was "technically perfect". The camera then focused on Seaman, who was looking like a man with a mission.

He very much knew that it was his last game for the Gunners, but his focus on the task at hand was just phenomenal. For me, the greatest moment of his Arsenal career, under Wenger at least, was when he lifted the famous trophy as he bids farewell in 2003.

What Did He Give to Arsenal?

That famous back four is wrong...it should be the famous back five. Seaman was very much a part of that unbreakable defence and as mentioned above, 17 goals conceded in 38 premiership matches in no easy task.

He was a strong leader for the team too, he was very close to most, if not all the players in the team. In terms of his play, apart from stopping shots from going into the net, he was excellent at claiming balls from corners, and once he caught the ball, very importantly, he was absolutely brilliant at distributing.

With counter-attacking such an integral part of Arsenal's play, espeically during those years, Seaman's quick, accurate yet powerful throws led to many counter-attacking goals. Why he kept a place in the starting line-up till he was 40 at Arsenal? Simply because no one was better suited for that spot.

What Did He Give to The EPL?

Opposing fans obviously will keep reminding Gunners fans of the half way line incident, and how it was his mistake which underminded England's world cup dreams in 2002. Yet, he was one of the most iconic goalkeepers in the history of the EPL.

Every football fan in the world have heard of Schmiechel, but just as much have heard of David Seaman too. He actually had the popularity and ability to start debats over whether he is better than the great Dane (even though, no he is not). He has been a key figure for the EPL as well as for his club, and of course, as well as for his country.

Biggest Shame

Just such a shame that people remember him for his errors rather than his heroics. All the penalty saves he had made, for England against Scotland, for Arsenal against Sampdoria etc.

He deservs a lot more respect than he gets. Whilst Arsenal fans obviously still loves him, the great man really should be recognised as one of the best ever goalkeepers in English footballing history.

"The greatest Wenger XI"

Next up- Central Defender

Seaman

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? Vieira ? ?

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Arsenal Legends During Arsene Wenger's Era: Patrick Vieira

Vincent Chow — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:26:58 -0400

My next few articles will be about the greatest players (in different positions) to have played for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.

This comes at about the right time when people are starting to question Wenger's abilities as a manager, these should be a timely reminder of what the great manager has given us since taking over the managerial role in 1996.

Patrick Vieira arrived at Arsenal in September 1996, actually before Wenger took charge (which was in October 1996). Vieira was in fact Wenger's first signing for the Gunners, and till this day, arguably the most important.

He was influential in all three of Wenger's premiership winning campaigns, also won four F.A. Cups with the Gunners, along with four Community Shield winners medal. The Frenchman was significantly awarded with the Captain's armband after the great Tony Adams retired in 2002.

The Frenchman played with power, drive, and for such a big man, unbelievable skills andtechnique.

Flicking the ball over the opponents, dragging the ball to turn markers, outrageous long passes with the outside of his boots, but what Arsenal fans miss the most, his tackling ability and his raw, demanding, physical frame which simply scared opponents before they even stepped on the pitch.

During his peak, he could single-handedly dominate a midfield. Quite rightly so, during 1998-2002, he was very much known as the most complete midfielder in the world.

Gerrard, in his autobiography mentioned Vieira and how difficult he was as an opponent to play against, Lampard in countless interviews claimed he dreams to have the same influence of Vieira and in an interview with the Daily Mail in 2004, he claimed Vieira was just a "Monster" who scared the s*** out of opponents.

Roy Keane, though he won't admit it, but he knows it, that Vieira was the best opponent he had ever come across.

With such great performances came great interests from big clubs, none more so than greedy Real Madrid and even, Manchester United. Vieira was seen by Sir Alex as the best possible partner for Roy Keane, even though the Frenchman had very much been a thorn for the Red Devils over the years.

Obviously though, Paddy was never going to break the fans' hearts and join his greatest rival.

Real Madrid, who were going through the Galacticos era, intended to sign the best players in every position (Ronaldo and Raul, Zidane and Figo, Beckham and Roberto Carlos , etc). To them, Vieira was obviously regarded as the best central midfielder, and the Spanish Giants knocked hard on Arsenal's door every transfer window.

When the most glamourous club in the world is interested in you, you obviously become slightly unsettled. Look at C.Ronaldo for example. Vieira was tempted and was just a signature away from leaving the Gunners for 20+ million pounds. At the end, a dramatic U-Turn occured with Vieira opting to stay at Highbury.

Some claim it was because he loved Arsenal, some claim it was because of the paycut he would've had to take at Madrid. In his autobiography though, he claimed that he stayed because he thinks he has more freedom to express himself on the pitch in an Arsenal shirt.

But at Real, everything are seemed controlled, he would have to defend and defend only at Real, whereas at Arsenal, he can remain the complete player that he is.

Andhe made the right choice it seems, with the Gunners going invincible andwas unbeaten during their title winning season, while Madrid were trophy-less for the second season running.

Greatest Goal

In my opinion, that goal against Man Utd in 1997. A strike from just outside the box which swirled and dipped, that big Dane in Man Utd's goal was well and truly beaten (shame Paddy injured himself with his goal celebration...).

Most Memorable Match

So many to choose from. Again in my opinion, the F.A. Cup final against Liverpool in 2001 was perhaps his best match for the Gunners, even though we lost it to Michael Owen (not liverpool, just Owen).

Up against a young Steven Gerrard, Vieira taught the scouser a lesson on how to dominate a midfield. Whenever Gerrard picked up the ball, Vieira was breathing down his neck, hassling him and stealing the ball from him.

When Gerrard tries to win it back, Vieira does the tricks that worked countless times again, using his physique, and to simply powering his way past the midfield, or using clever touches to play his way out of trouble.

He never hoofed the ball forward. His style was to play his way out of trouble, either by running or passing, and you hardly ever see that in players of his size.

He was immense as Gerrard himself admitted in his auto-biography. He was on the losing side on the team's note, but on a personal note, he was by far the best player on the pitch.

Most Memorable Moment

Again, so many to choose from.. The type of rivalry he had with Roy Keane is unlikely to be seen again in the EPL. Arsenal VS Man Utd was the biggest match for about six years in the EPL, and Keane VS Vieira was the battle everyone looked forward to, not Van Nistelrooy vs Henry.

But to me, nothing beats the penalty kick in the F.A. Cup final against Man Utd in 2005, the penalty kick which won Arsenal the famous trophy, and what proved to be his last kick as an Arsenal player. Deservingly so.

What Did He Give to Arsenal

As I mentioned above, he is arguably Wenger's best signing to date. Because he was Wenger's first signing and he never left the starting lineup when fit. Arrived at 3.5 million pounds, he was the heartbeat of the all conquering Arsenal side during 1998-2004 which won trophies after trophies.

Henry scored the goals, but think about it, if Arsenal didn't have the ball, how would Henry score? Vieira did the most important thing of all, and that was, actually getting the ball and maintaining possession.

He broke opponent's attacks with hard, thumping tackles, then gives a simple pass to start lightning counter attacks, or simply drives forward with the ball, beating three or four players with pure power, to set up/score a goal.

If people suggests the current Arsenal misses Henry, I would rather think every team in the world would miss a Vieira. League positions with Vieira, third-first-second-second-second-first-second-first-second.

League positions since he left, fourth-fourth-third-fifth (at the moment). Not saying he is the reason for Arsenal's drop in league position, but stats are stats, and it proves just how important a player he was for the Gunners.

What Did He Give to The EPL

You might not realise it, but he has actually had a massive influence in football. How often did you see a gangly, lanky midfielder before Vieira? Most midfielders before him were shorter, but more mobile.

But after Vieira, the amount of midfielders withsimilar frame have become hot properties around the world, andalso, the amount of players playing with a goal of "I want to become a Vieira," Yaya Toure, Diop, Sissoko.

Most managers (especially the continental ones) realise, that every successful team needs a Vieira type player to break plays and drive the team forward, andthis trend was very much started by our very own Wenger!!

Combining physical power with sweet touches, that is something we hope to see in Abou Diaby.

Biggest Shame

Apart from the fact that he left—he really picked up far too many cards. He had been sent off nine times in an Arsenal shirt during his nine seasons at the club.

The biggest shame, however, was that in the latter stages of his Gunners career, he had far too many injuries. Fitness problems led to rather poor performances by his high standards.

The emergence of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard slowly meant that Vieira's helm as the most complete EPL midfielder was slipping away from him, and the Gaffer knew, if the great Frenchman was ever to leave, it was now, in 2005, to Juventus of the Italian Serie A.

"The greatest Wenger XI"

Next up- Goalkeeper- (You know who...)

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? Vieira ? ?

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Frustration Vs. Optimism: Which Side Are You On as a Gunners Fan?

Vincent Chow — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:05:07 -0500

Note: The following interview was not carried out in reality.

F = Frustrated Fan O = Optimistic Fan

What do you think of the Gunner's Season so far?

F: Poor, really poor. I have been watching the gunners for 12 years and I have not seen them poorer than this. We have won nothing since 2005—nearly four years now—and we are supposed to be one the biggest teams in the world, nevermind in the UK.

Why are we falling behind Villa and perhaps even Everton now? Why do we need transitions which takes us five steps back without even stepping forward? Losing out on a Champions League spot will see Wenger getting sacked I think, the board must surely realise he is past it.

O: We haven't been consistent that's true, but we have shown so much potential. Against Man Utd we won with a first team average age of 21. How many teams in the world can do that? Won against Chelsea also, and Roma. With all the players coming back, and all the youngsters gaining experience, we should get to fourth spot no problem. Our defence has been solid since December and I hope this continues.

Do you think Wenger should've bought a defensive midfielder last summer or this January?

F: Of course, Denilson is failing to dominate the midfield for us. At first I thought he was a fantastic talent—in a Fabregas mould—but now all he seems to do is run around like a headless chicken. He has passed the ball more times than anyone else in the EPL, yet all his successful passes go sideways or backwards, whenever he does a forward pass, it goes wrong.

I actually think we should buy a defender for defending against targetmen such as Drogba and Zamora. A midfielder like Flamini to compliment Cesc and a striker who can finish, unlike Adebayor and Bendtner! We are lacking in every department.

O: We would definitely have welcomed one but I think there wasn't anyone available at the right price. Wenger is not going to overpay for a player. I think this team is still strong enough though, look at the Carling cup performances, no one was complaining there.

I think the squad is great really, we have the right blend of experience now, Rosicky in midfield would be key with his experience, he is 29 next season. Toure and Gallas at the back, and undoubtedly Van Persie is the most experienced striker we have. We have the right blend I think.

What has been the reason for Arsenal's poor form this season?

F: A lot of reasons—Eboue, Bendtner, Denilson, Song are clearly not good enough for the team. They are young but so what? If you are good enough then you play, if not, then you are out. Simple.

But the biggest blame goes to the manager who keeps playing these rubbish players. We have injury problems yes, but why didn't Wenger buy more in the summer to prevent this? We should have invested while we had the money on a DM, simple as that. Now it is coming back to haunt us.

O: We have been unlucky with injuries. We really needed Fabregas, Rosicky, Eduardo and Walcott this season yet they were all out for 3-plus months. Wenger couldn't have prepared for this, no one can predict injuries, especially when it is all in one particular position, midfield. Even if they can, where can you find a better player than Fabregas and Walcott for a reasonable price?

Also the Gallas outburst obviously didn't help team morale.

Do you still think the future is bright for Arsenal?

F: Not exactly. We won't qualify for CL now we are so far behind and have the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd to play.

We fail, then Wenger will leave probably after messing things up. Fabregas will follow him since the only reason why he is still here is because he wants to repay Wenger.

Adebayor will go to whichever club which pays him high enough wage for his designer clothes and flashy cars. Van Persie will leave after the club turned him into a world class player, just as so many before did, Hleb, Flamini for example just used us as a stepping stone to become a world class player.

O: Of course! Look at our young players. Flamini was 24 last season, Denilson is still 20, who is to say Denilson won't be as good or better? Flamini remember was not setting the world alight when he first joined.

Hleb was 26 last season, Nasri is 21, yet already showing he has even more potential than Hleb. Also we have Ramsey, Wilkshere, Vela, Simpson, etc. coming through. They will be great players.

The future will be all ours I think.

Do you think Arsenal are well equipped to win trophies now? Or the future?

F: Nope, we already messed it up. As I said, we won't qualify, and then we are doomed for the rest of the decade. So many players will leave and we will have to use players like Merida and Song in midfield or something.

When is the boss going to realise we can't win things with kids, which has been proven after four trophy-less seasons and also three seasons where we competed for nothing but fourth place.

O: Yes, next season already we have a great team. Almunia is improving all the time, Toure and Gallas looking a good unit again, Clichy and Sagna are the two best full backs in the EPL, Fabregas will be back and will have a proper pre season under his belt, Arshavin would have adapted to the EPL playing style by then. Nasri would have had a season under his belt, the strikers will benefit from the midfield's extra experience. All the youngsters will get better.

So I think we have a big chance for next season. If we can't win next season, it is OK, we can fight for the one after next. As long as the team sticks together.

Do you think the team has been given too much pressure from the fans? Should'nt us as fans be more supportive?

F: Why? We have not won anything for years and we are right to expect more! This is Arsenal and we are supposed to be a big team, otherwise what's the point of wasting so much money on such a great stadium if we are just planning to play in the UEFA cup?

We support them yet they are failing to repay us. It is not fun to pay 40 odd quid to watch an average arsenal side being beaten by a mediocre side like Hull.

O: I think so, afterall the team is so young. We should give them confidence and encouragement instead of stepping on them while they are down already. We give them so much pressure that they are failing to score even at their own home.

The above interview is just fantasy, both views were created by me, since I have been thinking, neither of them are wrong. All are facts and all are valid points. Yet, whichever side we are on, we are Arsenal supporters, and we should be proud. Which side are you on though?

Fabregas, Walcott, Rosicky: Gunner Be Back

Vincent Chow — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:37:06 -0500

So close last season ... Arsenal led the Premiership for more than half a season, beating Milan 2-0 at the San Siro only to be cheated by referees against Liverpool. Carling Cup semi-final (well, deservedly out I think). Yet, a year later, a club seen as filled with potential last season has become a club with an uncertain future and facing a major crisis.

Yes, there has been a lot of opinions about what caused this downfall for the Gunners.

The manager? The board? Injuries? Influential players departing?

Well, a combination of all, obviously. But we must look deep into the facts before leaning towards the crisis mode which the press are trying to exaggerate.

With four big players out and missing for half a season, Rosicky, Fabregas, Eduardo and Walcott, the team lacked a lot of attacking power. Those chances that Adebayor missed—imagine if Eduardo had been there.

These would've been more than welcomed during these hard, difficult three months where we really struggled to find the back of the net: Walcott, with the pace to open up defences and also his ability to keep Eboue on the bench; Fabregas' ability to control the pace of the game along with his killer pass and playmaking abilities; Rosicky's running on the wing and speed of passing.

Adebayor's form has obviously been affected by the lack of creators in midfield. His game depends on midfielders finding him with the right pass, or midfielders making off the ball runs into the box so he can get space to find a shot. His 30-plus goals last season came as a team effort, not just his. We shouldn't blame him alone for his lack of goals this season, although he can improve his work rate.

With players coming back, Arsenal can only get stronger for the end of the season.

As Eduardo's comeback already showed, the team is in dire need of some positive injections. Two goals already from the Croatian; He is back with a bang.

One is back with a bang, now imagine three.

Don't forget the little Russian whom Wenger signed too. I am actually thinking we have too much up front now, nevermind not enough!! And with the defence finally looking a bit more solid, we will have no one else to blame but ourselves if we fail to make it to fourth place in the Premiership.

Yes, Wenger's priority this summer should definitely be purchasing a central defender (I think he is willing to let Toure or Gallas go), he should be buying a replacement instead of letting Senderos come back and letting him single-handedly destroy our own defence.

Djourou has impressed, but you cannot depend the defence on a young man's shoulders. Silvestre is experienced and is a proven winner, but he is no good in the air and his best asset back in his glory days was his pace. Yet I doubt he still has those sprinting muscles in him now. So an experienced, powerful, commanding defender should be Wenger's top priority.

In terms of a defensive midfielder, however, I would give Denilson/Song/Diaby these last few 12 games of the season as an exam. Rotate them around Fabregas but never let them play together in central midfield. They all lack creativity.

If they fail, then Wenger must invest in a strong DM, a Mascherano/Diarra type midfielder will do us a world of good. If they pass, then Wenger can save money and pat himself on the back and say he just unearthed another gem.

This season, any trophies should be seen as a bonus considering how important fourth spot is to the club. Without that spot, the Gunners will be losing massive audience, massive revenue and also, most importantly, ability to draw big players to the club.

As supporters, there is nothing we can do but to sing our hearts out and support the team. The players will react far better to our cheers rather than jeers; Just look at Eboue.

One Thing Arsene Wenger Doesn't Have As a Manager: Luck

Vincent Chow — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:58:44 -0500

Arsene Wenger is seen by many as one of football's managerial greats. Hugely intelligent, imprinted attacking principles and a strong emphasizes on youth development rather than huge wage bills and over-the-top transfer fees, etc., etc. However, as a huge fan of his, I have finally discovered something that he just simply does not have. Actually, let's be more accurate, it is something that he did have, but somehow lost in the past few season—luck.

Luck plays a huge part in football, there is no doubt about that. Champions League final 2008, John Terry slips, and misses a penalty as the ball strikes the post. Now for those who want to argue that it was a matter of ability that made Terry miss the penalty, please think again. The toughest of mentality is installed in Terry's mind yet the pure matter of luck derived him from picking up Club football's most prestigious trophy.

"What has happened to Arsenal?" "Sack Wenger?" "Time to spend Wenger!" These have been the title in most of the recent articles about Arsenal football club. Yet, I think most do not quite understand what really happened and what problems Wenger is truly facing.

Let's rewind the clock to the beginning of last season, 2007 to 2008. Wenger decides to let Thierry Henry leave the club, despite the fact that the squad had no proven 20-plus goal striker to replace him.

Now I am sure that Wenger didn't want Henry to leave, but the fact is Henry wanted to go and it is simply wrong (at least in Wenger's case) to hold him back after Thierry had given so much to the club. Thankfully, the young team took full responsibility and started the season by storm, scoring freely and was playing, as Robin V. Persie put it, "football from another planet."

Just as the team was in full flow, one of the star performers during this amazing start of the season, V. Persie (who had just scored a brace to secure three points against Sunderland at the Emirates) had gotten injured during an international match. Now all of us know what happened after that, he came back, and got injured again.

He then came back again, but got hurt again. His guaranteed 10-plus goals would've gotten us across the line for the first trophy since 2005. But bad luck restricted his availability, when we most needed it.

When RvP was injured, the Gunners were blessed with another outstanding finisher flourishing, Eduardo Da Silva, the proposed replacement for Henry. The man was scoring from all angles and knocking in crucial goals. However, again we all know what happened here, the classy Croatian went to St. Andrews and had to end his brilliant debut season there. A clumsy challenge unfortunately led to a double fracture on his leg and ankle. His absence meant another 10 less goals to be scored for the Gunners.

Rosicky has been injured since January 2008 until now. No one can deny how important he is to this Arsenal side as he is the player with the most experience in Arsenal's far too inexperienced midfield. The title was lost in April and the Champions League exit followed.

Failure to win any trophies led to money grabbing players such as Hleb and Flamini, who were both essential to Arsenal's midfield engine, leaving the club as they wanted to "challenge for major trophies" (Milan in UEFA Cup...) or was sick of the City and wanted to leave "hectic London" (is Barcelona that much quieter?).

In a four man midfield, two of them departed, one has been injured for over a year, and the final one, perhaps the most talented and important to the team, was being over-used, even during the summer where a normal 20 year old would be enjoying the sun and getting drunk every other night. Fabregas will not regret that, obviously, as he won the first major trophy in his career. (Can't compare F.A. Cup to Euro Championships...) But his heroic efforts for Spain meant Arsenal had to start the season without him, as he was given more time to rest than others, and thus, less fit to start the season.

Fabregas did not return to the first team until the CL qualifier against Twente. He wasn't at his best this season due to the fact that he is simply exhausted from all the football he has played. He was handed the captaincy after Gallas's embarrassing public outburst. His form started to improve and so did the team.

But, just as Wenger thought it couldn't get any worse, the new skipper got caught in a challenge by Alonso during the match against Liverpool, damaged his medial ligaments and will be out until April. There is nothing anyone can do but to pray to god that we will still be in the race for fourth place, and the CL + FA Cup by that time.

With three of his midfield partners injured, Fabregas have had to lead the midfield very much all by himself. Though Theo Walcott has shown considerable improvements this season. Terrorizing defenders with his direct running and improved final delivery. However, just as he was hitting peak form, he dislocated a shoulder whilst training with the England squad. Another one of our better midfielders gone...

So, first Van Persie, then Rosicky and Eduardo, which already cost us one title challenge and Champions League progression. Now Fabregas and Walcott are sidelined and with the uncontrollable departures of Flamini and Hleb, has left us almost no chance to win any trophies again this season. Injuries are very much down to luck, and Wenger just seems to be running out of it. But that is not all.

When you are so down to your bare bones, you will have to use all the resources you have. Let's make one thing clear first, the current Arsenal midfield is class, at least on paper. Rosicky, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, and Walcott, it is like a dream team on Football Manager. But with three of them out injured and one of them yet to adapt to the EPL, the team seems to be lacking players in this department.

No.'s 26 and 27 are both my "least favorable" players at Arsenal. But who else is available? Diaby is out now as well, so the only midfielders we have are Song, Denilson, Nasri, and Eboue. Some might argue that Ramsey, Wilshere, and Vela should be given a chance to play.

But it is so important not to damage their confidence now, the team is playing so poorly that every game they start might actually have adverse and serious effects on their developments as a footballer. With young players, the last thing you want is for them to start questioning their own ability.

So again, it is not Wenger's fault that he has to play Eboue, it is just pure logic. Yet he is being blamed by fans that he has lost his mind! Wenger is not blind and I am sure he can see the fact that Eboue is just losing the plot. He is even more hated by Arsenal fans than Cygan and Stepanovs!!

Bendtner, again, who else is going to play instead of him? Eduardo is out, Adebayor is off form (and injured now) and RvP can't start every single game if we want him to stay fit for the rest of the season. There is no choice for Wenger, but to play this clumsy and wasteful Dane. When fans keep asking for a plan B, a big striker for another option, they blame Wenger, now Wenger is playing him and the fans are still blaming him.

Money doesn't grow on trees at Arsenal, we can probably go out and rebuild a whole, brand new team. But that team will need time to gel and the risk would be failing to build a good enough team to win trophies and to repay debts. Imagine Arsenal as another Leeds Utd...Who would want that?

I have not even started to mention the refereeing decisions which cost us games yet. Yes, Wenger might have been wrong to place too much trust to Denilson, Diaby, and Song at the start of the season, but to be honest here, we have all praised these three players, they have all shown great abilities before, yet, when the one thing they can't do is handle pressure. When they are thrown onto the big stage, in the starting 11, in the EPL or Champions League, they just all seem to struggle, or at least, far too too inconsistent.

So again, what is Wenger to do? Buy now to replace these youngsters who have so much potential? Or let them develop and place trust in them since youngsters after all needs the manager's trust in order to have confidence to express themselves.

The players are letting the manager down. Although the manager has the responsibility to accept the blame, it is far from the truth that Wenger is "out of his mind," and it is unbelievable to hear anyone wanting him out of the club!!

We should consider what problems he is facing before criticizing him.

₤20 Million Andrei Arshavin: Worth Havin?

Vincent Chow — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:39:27 -0500

As suggested by many for some time now, Arsenal just do not seem to have the money to compete with other big spending clubs around the world. While Man City are throwing ₤100 million at AC Milan (which I find quite humiliating for the Italian club, anyways), the Gunners are having problems raising an extra ₤10 million for the one player that Wenger deem 'special' enough to bring into this highly talented squad.

I have to highlight the fact that I am not complaining, having been a fan for 12 years now and I have never felt any shame in being a gooner, we might not buy the biggest stars, but we produce them. I love the fact that we don't need to go down the foreign ownership route in order to compete in this league, and yet play the best football in the UK (although we have been off the mark in the last few games) and are loved by fans across the globe by doing so.

I would love to see us improve on that however, to really challenge for the league title like we did last season. Every Arsenal fan will want to see Arsenal win. We were very close last season, yes, but this season, a series of unfortunate events led to us slipping to fifth place, three points behind Aston Villa, and the champions league spot seems to be getting harder and harder to reach every passing day.

Injuries to key players such as Fabregas (just promoted captain and was finding his form), Walcott (was enjoying the best form of this career so far), Rosicky (our most experienced midfielder and a goal threat from midfield) and Eduardo (the best finisher at the club) have hurted us.

Also, constant disturbance from changes around the boardroom, rumoured poor dressing room atmosphere, Gallas's public outburst etc etc. are also key reasons for our disappointments. Agian, I am not moaning, but it would really be a disaster if we do not get into the CL...

In terms of the defence, early season's instability saw us droping important points, espeically at home. Djourou is doing quite well at the moment actually, he has a good leap and good built. The fact that we have been winning 1-0 obviously means we are improving in that sense. Also Wenger stated at the start of the transfer window that he will not strengthen defensively, so we can all expect to see the same old faces at the back.

The team is lacking creativity, however, there is no doubt about that. The past few games saw us creating very little and we had to be grinding out results time and again.

Well, it does show resilience and character, which are also key for delivering us the first title since 2004, however, with Walcott out for another month, Cesc for two more months at least, and Rosicky probably not being able to find form until next season perhaps, we definitely lack a lot in this department, espeically without Hleb now (who I actually think is a player as creative as Cesc).

Bringing in Arshavin is just common sense, whether we will or not remains to be seen. He will surely add flair and creativity to the team, a few goals as well. He will also install belief in the squad, and in the fans too, since spending large money on a big player should show Wenger's ambition to fight for the title.

Unfortunately, we tend to be stuggling with the negotiations at the moment. Whilst Zenit are looking for a ₤20 million transfer fee, the Gunners seem reluctant to go further than the ₤10 million region.

My opinion is, ₤15 million is the max we should pay for this player. Not because I don't believe he is good, because I think he is an awesome player, but to spend ₤20 million for a short term target seems quite risky for a club which who are still paying off heavy debts.

The short term target is obviously to get into the CL for next season, which will very much bring back the money we spent on him. He is 27, however, relatively young in the footballing world, but quite 'old' in the Arsenal world! He can perhaps give five more seasons at the top level.

The long term target of the club is obviously to see the youngsters we invested in to blossom; e.g. Walcott, Denilson, Nasri, Ramsey, Wilshere etc. In terms of creative players in the midfield, we have Fabregas, Rosicky and the above five. There are seven players here, if we do bring in Arshavin, it will make that eight, just how are they going to share playing time?

How long is it going to take him to adapt? Six months? By then, all our players (touch wood) should have recovered, which player should we be sacrificing in our first team? Walcott or Nasri on the wing? Rosicky? We must play a defensive minded player in the middle, and I doubt Arshavin will replace Cesc in any case.

I am not saying we shouldn't buy him, in fact, I am just trying to warn fans not to get over depressed if we fail to land him in the end. Where we might blame Wenger in not spending more to get him etc. He has his reasons, I would love to see him in the team, but if his arrival disturbs the developments of Nasri and Walcott, Wilshere, and Ramsey, who all in my opinion will become world class, then ₤20 million might really not be worth it at all.

Again, I would love to see him here, really, but the fee has got to be reasonable, I am sure Wenger knows this too.

Everyone Makes Mistakes: Wenger Must Realise That He Needs to Change

Vincent Chow — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:53:38 -0500

Arsenal's performances in 2008 have very much been parallel to the global economy in 2008: unstable and inconsistent to say the least. It has been too inconsistent for many's liking, obviously too hard to handle for the likes of Flamini and Hleb anyway.

The fact is, Arsene Wenger had his youth philosophy right from the start of his career at Arsenal. The best team he has had was arguably the 2004's invincibles, and here is a comparison between that side with the one we have now.

Lehmann (2004) vs Almunia (2008)

I don't think there will be too many doubters here. The 2004 Lehmann was very consistent, not making mistakes and made so many outstanding saves. Almunia does not make many mistakes either, however, he also rarely makes outstanding, near impossible saves which the Lehmann of 2004 did. So 2004 wins this one comfortably.

Lauren (2004) vs Sagna (2008)

How much I miss this guy. Lauren was a great servant for the club, gave 100 percent in every match, stood up for the team, and never went missing. Attitude wise, he was as good as it gets.

Sagna, however, in terms of ability, is ahead of Lauren in almost, if not all departments. Yet I will have to say Lauren in this one since ability and attitude are both important, Lauren's attitude is what the team is missing. I am not saying Sagna has a bad attitude, but Lauren's was just inspirational at times.

Toure (2004) vs Toure (2008)

Interesting one isn't it? But many will agree his performances since the 2nd term of last season up until now just have not been good enough for a club like Arsenal.

We have to bear in mind that he has had so many different defensive partners during these past few seasons. He was great with Campbell, complemented each other very well. He was great with Senderos in the Champions League campaign of 2005-2006. Yet he just can't work with Gallas nor Silvestre, something against the French obviously...2004 wins.

Campbell (2004) vs Gallas (2008)

Difficult one, Gallas on his day remains one of the best in the world. Quick, strong and a good reader of the game. Campbell, however, was just a rock in 2004. Nothing went past him and he was a great leader at the back, always talking and people actually listened to him, something that Gallas really doesn't seem to be able to do.

Whether he is captain or not, he just does not have the ability to lead a back line. Which is a big problem for Arsenal now. Along with the fact that Campbell is about 2 million times better than Gallas at defending high balls. Campbell wins this one.

Cole (2004) vs Clichy (2008)

There will be many arguments over this I am sure. The strongest area of Arsenal's 2004 team was the left channel. Cole, Pires, and Henry could rip any team apart; that does not make Cole a better player than Clichy, but at least far more effective for the team. Plus, I still think Cole is a better defender than Clichy. So, unfortunately, Cole wins, although I do believe Clichy will become much better.

Ljungberg (2004) vs Walcott (2008)

Ljungberg was just fantastic. He was not 10 out of 10 at anything but he is 7/10 at everything (perhaps apart from heading or dress sense).

He doesn't have the pace of Walcott's, he doesn't have the skills and technique of Hleb's, yet he is the best of the three, at least judging by the 2004's season anyway.

Walcott is still young, but we are looking at 2008 here. Ljungberg's double figures in goals season after season, along with assists are far more important than skills and pace. Neither Hleb or Walcott could do that.

Also we must remember how good Ljungberg was at tracking back and helping out Lauren. This guy would run all day for the team. Another victory for 2004.

Vieira (2004) vs Fabregas (2008)

This is by far the toughest, but this epitomises what the whole article is about: two different styles. I have always believed that Vieira was the most important player for Arsenal during 1998 - 2004 (yes, more important than Henry), just like how Fabregas is the most important player for us now.

Despite not getting many goals, Vieira was the platform of the team. He drives the team forward using his raw physical power, as well as mental power. In fact, 90 percent of the attacks went through him, either with him winning the ball in midfield in the first place, or him working the ball out of tight areas to open play up. Fabregas drives the team by his skills and intelligence.

He is the best passer of the ball Wenger has had at Arsenal, one of the most assured in possession as well. He dictates the tempo of the team, he is the link between defence and attack, and to be honest, nearly 100 percent of Arsenal's attacks go through him now!

I think readers should know how much I love Fabregas, but judging purely on achievements, I think three premiership trophies speak for itself. Remember they are two different types of player.

But I would love to have Vieira in this team now, he can stabilise the defence as well as push the team forward. Would love to see him play alongside Fabregas when he was in his prime.

Gilberto (2004) vs Denilson (2008)

No question here I don't think. Obviously, Denilson has the potential, but Gilberto was class at snuffing out dangers. 2004 wins. The 2004 Arsenal conceded the least in the league, and Gilberto was a huge reason for that. The main problem in 2008 has been the defence, I know we can't blame it on Denilson, but does he have the same "cleaning up" ability as Gilberto? Which again is what the team needs right now?

Pires (2004) vs Nasri/Rosicky (2008)

Wenger is right, Pires was the best left sided midfielder on the planet in year 2002, and he was still one of the best in 2004, after the ligaments injury he suffered from, he lost pace and a little bit of his agility too.

But he still gave 15+ goals to the team that season, he was the top scoring midfielder in the Premiership. Rosicky just doesn't know how to stay fit, and even when fit, I doubt he can offer the same stats of Pires, and Nasri obviously has the potential to be as good as Pires (not sure if better though).

But in 2008, or 2009, neither of them will have the same influence as Pires of 2004. It's another win for 2004. This team needs goals from midfield, and only Nasri is giving us that at the moment.

Bergkamp (2004) vs Van Persie (2008)

I am a huge fan of both. Both have outstanding technique. Both have that arrogance and attitude and both can turn a match by one piece of magic. Bergkamp offered a lot of assists, but not goals in 2004. Van Persie has three assists and eight goals in the premiership this season.

Yes, Bergkamp is a better player, but Van Persie has been great when he has been fit, which he is. Comparing 2004's Bergkamp to 2008's RvP, then finally 2008 wins one.

Henry (2004) vs Adebayor (2008)

Might look simple, but its not. Based on 2007-2008, this would have been really really difficult. Yes Adebayor is clumsy and lazy, but Henry was every bit as lazy and sometimes, like Adebayor, goes missing in big games.

If just comparing Henry's 2003-2004 to Adebayor's 2007-2008, Henry I think wins by a whisker. Because he offers as many assists as goals to the team. Also please note that Adebayor has not performed at all this season, he might still have the goals, but his overall performances have been abysmal so far in my opinion.

Synopsis and Wrap-up

So out of 11 players, for me anyway, only one player in the current team would have made the 2004's title winning team. To be honest, I think even the 2004's team would find it quite difficult to compete with the Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea teams this season, never mind the 2008's team.

Yes you might argue that last season we were so close to winning etc etc. But why did we lose it in the end? Because of these things:inexperience, inability to defend high balls, set pieces and also lapses of concentration. The worst of all, inability to kill games off by taking chances. These are problems that the 2004's team did not have, or at least they coped with it well enough to win trophies.

The point of all these is to show Wenger that, yes, his youth policy has worked in some way. He is now internationally praised by doing so, and also, we have still been able to get into the top 4 without spending as much money as Spurs, or Villa, or Man City or Portsmouth etc etc. But in terms of using this team to win the league, we are still quite very far off.

Everyone makes mistakes, and the mistakes that Wenger made were:

Firstly, his over-protection of the players.

If one can pick themselves up when they are down, then it shows real character. But how down and hurt can the players be if the manager never put pressure on them? Bendtner for example, yes, Wenger maybe right in saying that he will turn into a good player (which is doubtful..to be honest), but if he is not good enough now, how can you risk the team's performance in order to help him develop?

The same goes out to Eboue, Denilson, Song etc. If they are not good enough now, how can you rely on them to win the Premiership? As Bergkamp said in 2005, you cannot take two steps back in order to move one step forward.

Do you see Liverpool, Chelsea or Man Utd doing the same thing? Playing youngsters with great potential as regular first team players? Rafael Da Silva maybe, but he is already playing well, unlike Bendtner or Eboue. Give them a chance, that's fine, but when they don't take their chances, you have to bring in reinforcements. Otherwise these players will never grow since they feel as if they will have a chance in the 1st team no matter how poorly they play.

Secondly, the lack of experienced players with good leadership in the team for the young players to combine with. This is true when you look at the current starting line up. The only experienced players are Almunia and Gallas who are consistently in the team.

You can be as experienced as you want, but you have to pass the experience on by leading the youngsters, not blaming them or avoiding responsibility to tutor them. Almunia is not a leader simply because he doesn't have that personality, or the respect of the team.

If you are the experienced player in the team, the minimum you should do is to perform week in week out, rather than actually being the worst player on the pitch (Gallas, that's you)! This is why Wenger needs to buy quality experienced players, not the likes of Almunia or Silvestre, but someone who is, firstly, a proven winner, and secondly, still have ability to perform for the team (unlike Silvestre)!

Finally, being stubborn in his philosophy. I love the fact that he has his own philosophy in playing football the "right" way, and to buy intelligently instead of spraying it on rubbish like Spurs had done.

But you always need to have a plan B, in order to protect the club when plan A doesn't work, or even if plan A is not working as quickly as planned. Look at us now, we are struggling for goals, and struggling to create chances. But what can we change? We should always have players on the bench who can offer different things to the starting players (obviously not rubbish like Bendtner and Eboue who offer nothing).

In terms of the transfer market, one of my previous articles is about how I support his approach about being careful and not hinder the youngsters development, I stand by that point, but what if the youngster is obviously not good enough? Is it going to take another 10 years before Bendtner and Eboue can pass the ball successfully to a team-mate more than 10 times in a match?

If so, how can we mount a title chanllenge at all? They have both had a lot of chances to show themselves yet they still haven't performed. Whereas players like Vela, Wilshere and Ramsey, who have actually been doing quite well, are not being given enough chances. How does this work?

Wenger needs to get a few things right now. The most crucial problem now is Fabregas's injury, and looking at Arshavin is good but I still doubt Wenger will spend so much on him. We need creative players since all our creative players are either in Barcenlona or injured.

The second thing he must do is to put more pressure on the sqaud. The pressure from the fans and the press means alot less to the players unless the manager does the same, if he keeps saying he believes in this team and that he won't buy to replace them. then our players are only going to be in the safety zone until some other club come in to buy them.

The Stoke Saga, the Title Race and the Battle Against Man Utd

Vincent Chow — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:08:07 -0500

For every Arsenal supporters, the past week has been a complete nightmare. A 4-4 draw against Tottenham was painful, the defeat against Stoke added to the pain, and the stalemate against Fenerbahce concluded a disastrous week. However, what really hurt the team and the supporters was the criticisms thrown at the team and Wenger during the week.

Faye said that Arsenal players are soft, Sorensen claimed the Gunners lacked spine, and all the pundits complaining about Arsenal's preference on style over results. These comments led to a reaction by Wenger, which the British media took full advantage of.

Wenger did an interview with the club's official website, the main message he tried to send across is that his team are not softies but brave men, that the player who tackles hard is not brave, but the player at the receiving end of it is.

I could not agree more, and actually started to think even C. Ronaldo is a brave man because no matter how many bruises he ends up with, he keeps doing the tricks and keep taking players on. However, the media took these comments and diverted the comments into criticisms towards the Stoke players, claiming that they intentionally tried to injured Sagna, Walcott, and Adebayor, which I did not see anywhere in the interview with the club's site.

The pundits reacted, claiming that Arsene is a sore loser, and that he is just diverting the attention away from the poor performances. The Stoke hierarchy each had a snipe at Wenger by saying that he is this and that, blah blah blah. Wenger tried to talk sense into the footballing world, and ends up taking a beating, ironically, this is true bravery.

Anyways, the criticism towards Wenger was unfair, but the harsh words aimed at the team were. There is no doubt that they are not performing well. Firstly catastrophic defending against Tottenham and Stoke, secondly, lack of creativity against Stoke and Fenerbahce, and thirdly, an increasingly lack of fight and bite in the midfield.

Denilson and Fabregas in the middle of the park might work on PES and FIFA, but it just is not working in reality. Denilson's work rate is as good as Flamini's, but his positioning, passing, and aggression are way below what is needed for a big team like Arsenal. Fabregas's performances have been rather below average due to this.

Hleb's departure meant that attacks are not as inventive as last season, because Walcott just doesn't have that in his locker, which again damages Fabregas' game because he and Hleb worked perfectly for each other. So without two of Cesc's greatest partners, the midfield is looking poor.

The defence hasn't changed much from last season, but the midfield's vulnerability led to an even more leaky defence now. Teams are scoring all kinds of goals against us. So to sum up, we are lacking in attack and defence, due to our midfield.

Winning the title is still a possibility for the Gunners—we are six points behind, so if Arsenal win against Chelsea and Liverpool home and away, that is six points already. However, as noted in my previous article, Wenger must change a few things in the team. I am not going to repeat those again here, but he must do something in January.

The match against Man Utd is the biggest so far this season for Arsenal. This match is still the biggest match in the Premiership in terms of people watching across the globe.

The match will be decided by the midfield battle, remember when Arsenal won at Old Trafford two seasons ago? The midfield performance that day was top top class, as was the match against AC Milan last season. So despite not being a big fan, 4-5-1 is crucial tomorrow.

Diaby, Fabregas and Denilson in the middle, Nasri on the left and Walcott on the right with Bendtner up front on his own. Fabregas and Denilson will have to drop deep and win balls from Carrick and Anderson, Diaby will have to become the free man in midfield, picking balls in and around the area and use his quick feet to open up options left and right.

Bendtner will have to run the channels to open up the width and drag defenders out of position. That way, Arsenal should be able to keep the ball and have more possession than United. If United end up having more of the ball, there is no chance for Arsenal at all.

It is win or bust tomorrow for Arsenal, no doubt about it. No, I will not blame Wenger if Arsenal don't win the league this year, but not many others will accept it, and if the pressure does get to him, then we might be seeing our greatest ever manager out the door. Get behind the team and support them!

Final Pieces Of The Puzzle: Three Problems the Gunners Must Solve

Vincent Chow — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:49:37 -0400

Eight games played, five wins, one draw, and two defeats. These stats tell you how inconsistent the Gunners have been so far this season. Especially when you consider the fact that both defeats came against Fulham and Hull City, teams who were, all jokes aside, expected to struggle at the beginning of the season.

Both defeats showed the true weakness of the current Arsenal team, which can be narrowed to three main ones:

1. Inability to compete aerially—meaning that we are struggling at set-pieces, or against teams who play direct football. Yes I know we won against Bolton and Blackburn, who are also renowned to play route one, but there is no denying that this problem cost us points against Fulham and Hull City. Gallas and Toure are both poor at winning aerial battles, and the team always seem to be so nervy when defending the second ball. This is a huge problem when we play against teams who play with a big target man.

2. Lack of Plan B—when it all clicks into place, we will create as many chances as we want. But the problem is, against Fulham, we managed only one shot on target in the whole match, we just hardly created anything.

Against Hull City we had more chances but mostly half chances. Then against Sunderland, we were very poor at creating chances also, despite having a goal wrongly disallowed. Putting Bendtner on does not change a game, he is not an impact player, only Theo Walcott is in our team. So what do we do if he is unavailable and find ourselves trailing at half time, like against Hull and Fulham?

3. Eboue—Okay, if you have read my previous articles, you will know that I do not like to blame individual players. But Eboue really does not look like an Arsenal player at the moment. He is sloppy in his passing, always wanting a few extra touches on the ball, meaning our attacking play slows down because of him, plus he does not have any composure at all when it comes to shooting, thus we would be lucky if he scores five times this season.

I can only see Walcott as a good enough right midfielder at the club, what will happen if he is out for a large chunk of a season? No creativity or goalscoring threat on the right would be like Usain Bolt running without his right leg.

These three problems are huge for Arsenal at the moment, even in games where we won three or 4-0, we looked shaky in defence. Against the better teams, we would be leaking in a considerable amount if we defend like that. And against "lesser" teams, we tend to always struggle to move up a gear.

The passing is good around the box, but we struggle to provide final balls, when that happens, we are so vulnerable to the counter attack especially with Denilson still lacking experience in where to position himself as a DM, and Clichy and Sagna bombing forward.

We are already four points behind the leaders, Chelsea and Liverpool, any more points dropped would be a disaster for Arsenal. Wenger has to address these problems, especially the defensive problem, since to be honest, we have not looked solid at the back ever since 2004...

Curse of Kiev - Gunners Made to Rue Missed Chances

Vincent Chow — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:44:29 -0400

Arsenal's first test in this year's Champions League group stage began at the Valeri Lobanovski Stadium last night against a hard working Dynamo Kiev side with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Even though Arsene Wenger has said that getting a point would be a good start, many would feel that it was two points dropped by the Gunners.

Having started well, Arsenal began to lose the foothold of the game and Kiev began to press and gain more and more possession of the ball. Midway into the second half, Ismael Bangoura gave Kiev the lead with a controversially awarded penalty. The Gunners looked lost after conceding the goal.

They struggled to string passes together and looked vulnerable to the counter attack, if the Kiev attack had more composure and conviction, the game could have been out of reach for Arsene Wenger's team. It was to be William Gallas's night, however, as the Arsenal skipper came up with the vital equaliser.

The goal was as controversial as the penalty, as replays show that Gallas could be offside by the time the ball reached him, thankfully, the linesman blinked at the crucial time. Alarm bells were ringing for Kiev as soon as the 4th minute when Van Persie drifted in field and picked up a delightful pass from Theo Walcott, the Dutchman's right foot drive was saved by Kiev's goalkeeper making their defence looked to be there for the taking.

Kiev's defence was at fault again when Adebayor somehow drove past two defenders and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Yet, the in-form striker curled his shot wide. Fabregas had a close range effort saved after failing to connect with the ball properly.

The Ukrainian team had chances of their own albeit mostly half-chances. But in the 64th minute, Bangoura got away from William Gallas on the right, laying the ball to his full back who striked a good cross into the box. Bacary Sagna had a tangle with Vukojevic, and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot.

It was rather harsh on Sagna as he seemed to be the one being fouled. Bangoura slotted the penalty with ease and Kiev looked home and dry for a famous win. Arsenal were failing to carve out chances and lost possession far too many times, leaving Wenger a frustrated figure on the sidelines.

That was until Theo Walcott whipped in a low cross that took a couple of deflections before reaching Gallas's toe for the simplest of finishes. Arsene Wenger will not be too happy about the scoreline, nor the performance, despite creating chances, the team lacked the killer instinct yet again.

The team also looked very shaky at the back when they were chasing an equaliser, they got away with it here, but won't be able to do so in the Premiership or against better oppositions in Europe.

How Cesc Fabregas is Developing into the World's Best Midfielder

Vincent Chow — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:10:47 -0400

When Patrick Vieira came on as a substitute against Sheffield Wednesday in 1996, you could not help but expect him to become one of the biggest names in English, if not world football. His drive and his passing, along with his strong and robust style, made him a darling to most Arsenal fans.

When young Cesc Fabregas played his first match outside the League Cup, against Manchester United, he created even more expectation from fans, because he outclassed perhaps one of the greatest midfielders ever in Roy Keane—he made the Irishman look abysmal.

He was still a teenager, yet he started four consecutive Premier League matches in the wake of Vieira and Edu's injuries at the beginning of the 2004-05 season. In all four matches Arsenal won, and Fabregas was already making himself a worthy member of the first team.

He is a player of absolute class, who reminds me most of Paul Scholes in his prime. Even though Wenger compares him to the great Platini, I can't agree since I have never seen Platini play.

But Scholes and Fabregas are very similar, they have superb vision and creativity, they like to play at their own pace. They can spray the ball long or short, quick or slow, and they both like to burst into the box when they see a good goal-scoring opportunity.

They are players who can always help you get out of trouble, which is why players always pass to them, because they always do the right thing with the ball. They are both dangerous outside the box as well.

He has become the heartbeat of the team, without him, the Gunners are much more vulnerable in midfield. He dictates the midfield through skill and intelligence, not power and bite.

He is the most important player in the squad, and he gained this role when he was only 20-years-old, and it is a role that he thrives upon. I can't think of any other midfielders who had been able to do that at the age of 21. Not even the great Stevie Gerrard or Roy Keane.

However, one attribute that stands out the most must be Fabregas's maturity, and his outstanding rate of improvement. Playing in the central midfield role demands great physicality, but also great mentality. We all know that Cesc has all the skills needed for the CM role, even though he lacks physical statue and speed, as he makes up for it by his tremendous mentality—he always looks to improve, never gives up a fight.

His passion means that he never stops working, never stops looking for space to attack, and never stops going forward or tracking back.

That is what separates him from players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Robinho etc. He is a complete player, who never stops working and also has his feet on the ground. Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard also deserves praise in this department, but I expect Fabregas to surpass them in the future in the ranking of best midfielders in the world.

The next step for Fabregas will be to show consistency and an ability to deal with the ever increasing pressure on his shoulders. Also, that he can establish a new partnership with either Denilson or Diaby. There are arguments that Flamini was a key reason in Cesc's blossom last season, and that without him, Fabregas will not be as influential.

Well, that we have to wait and see, but from his intelligence and already proven adaptability, it really is a question of time before becoming the undisputed best midfielder in the game, just like how many believed Vieira was.

I would not swap him for any player in this world, because his potential is truly, scarily unlimited.

Damn, how do you do it Arsene?

Arsene Knows—Why Wenger Is Never Hasty in The Market

Vincent Chow — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:53:42 -0400

The transfer window came and went so quickly that it feels as if it never happened.

As usual, the Gunners kept their noise down and completed a couple of discreet and low key signings in Aaron Ramsey and Amaury Bischoff, a much delayed signing of the talented Frenchman Samir Nasri, and one shock signing in Mikael Silvestre.

Whilst Wenger refused to give anything away, some could have guessed that the door for new players to the Emirates was already shut when Wenger saw his team cruise past F.C. Twente and Newcastle.

Trust me when I say that I am disappointed as an Arsenal fan after seeing Wenger refuse to further strengthen the team, but this disappointment only strengthens my respect towards the man himself.

This is because I found a way to actually understand and agree with his policy.

The word was spread that Wenger had 30 million pounds in his safe for reinforcements, and critics poured in straight after, questioning Wenger's stubbornness and ignorance.

The answer is because the odds for a 30 million pounds gamble turning out to be a beneficial success was not good enough for Wenger.

Here is the reason why.

Gunners fans were hoping for an established holding midfielder to arrive, and names such as Gokhan Inler, Xabi Alonso, and Gareth Barry were reportedly on the top of Arsene's list. But I think none of the three ever came close to signing for the Gunners.

Wenger has reiterated over and over again about his policy in signing players; firstly, he will not go for anything over the 15 million mark, even if he is super-natural it seems.

Second criteria is that the player must have the ability to slot right into the team, understand the team's ethics and play in the club's philosophy.

Thirdly, Wenger wants a player who can gel with the rest of the lads, on and off the field.

None of the three players mentioned had that ability, not in my opinion anyway. None of them were worth the gamble.

Lets just say if Wenger did buy a 30 million pounds midfielder to partner the most talented midfielder on earth (yes, that's Fabregas), and this club record signing failed to adapt and play consistently to justify his price—what would be the fans' reaction towards Wenger?

How many Premiership managers have been sacked because of crazy, over-priced signings? Wenger obviously is not as stupid as them.

Another risk of signing a new player is the risk of undermining the growth of the young players. I think Denilson will not be able to shine this season, not consistently anyway, but I do believe he will be a great player, better than Gilberto at the very least.

Diaby too, will be a very good player since he has all the ingredients, just lacking consistency. The same goes for Ramsey, Alex Song and perhaps Bischoff too.

However, if Wenger does bring an established player, this player will want to play every week, and I am pretty sure if Wenger is prepared to spend that much on him, he will play.

Yet, the point is that you can only field 11 players and with a new midfielder, the youngsters will be restricted in terms of playing time. They will also start questioning their own ability and perhaps wants to leave. I do not want to see any of these players leave, but in the world of football now, footballers requesting a transfer is as simple as beating Philippe Senderos one-on-one.

Not many will understand what the youngsters at the Gunners have built. They have developed a strong understanding for each other, as professional as they are, they play as friends too. They all enjoy playing football together, they all get on well. They want to work hard for each other and win something together rather than individually.

Any big, risky signings are only going to disturb the rhythm of the development.

If there is a player who is suitable for the Gunners and is under the criteria set by the boss, then please, come in. But just how many are there? Name one (realistic) player who you think will definitely succeed at Arsenal, and you will be surprised by the amount of people who will disagree with you!

If Wenger does fail with his policy at the end, then yes, criticism should be accepted. But if he changes his philosophy and principles, and starts to lose confidence in himself now, then I am sorry, he is not the man to manage the famous Red & White.

Arsene-knows...

Summer Preparations: What An EPL Season to Look Forward to!

Vincent Chow — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:08:33 -0400

Whilst Manchester United won both the Champions League and the Premier League last season, they were not the run-away winners in either competition.

Chelsea ran United so close last season, and remember, Arsenal led the league for the longest period of time last season.

United were not as consistent as they would have liked. A poor start, along with surprising defeats against Man City, West Ham and Bolton, were not signs of champions.

Despite that, it would be difficult to argue against them being the best team last season. Would things be slightly different this season?

Man United are on the verge of a brilliant signing in Berbatov, a striker who just looks destined to be a United player with his skills and swagger. He looks to be the ONLY big signing that United are going to make this summer.

But what a signing it will be. If they can keep Ronaldo, they will have to get his mentality right. At times, he plays for himself rather than plays for the team.

There is no doubt that he is a great player, but his mentality has got to change. If not, I think Fergie will chuck him away, because he won't allow that in the club.

Scholes, Giggs and Neville's contributions to the club is undoubtedly unmatchable. However, the three of them will really have to fight to get into the starting line-up. The pace in the EPL is harsh on older players like them. Don't be surprised if they are used as bit-part players.

Chelsea have signed two excellent players in Bosingwa and Deco. The two Portuguese players are both excellent technically.

Deco will give Chelsea a lot more creativity and flair, which is what they have always lacked in midfield, and Bosingwa should finally sort out the right back problems that Chelsea have had.

Robinho is a question mark; I personally do not see the point of it since he is not physically competent for the EPL, and he lacks the team ethic to play for a team like Chelsea. Well, maybe Big Phil can prove me wrong.

What I do know, however, is that Chelsea is going to be there or there-abouts, simply because they have the toughest mentality out of all four teams. They can always swim against the flow and cast doubters wrong. They will not lose games without a fight.

Despite a poor end to the season, Arsenal were (being an Arsenal fan) a revelation for the EPL last season. This is because they were so written off last season that it was unimaginable to see them do so well at the start and winning at places that fans expected the opposite, such as West Ham, Bolton, Everton away.

Last summer, I was talking to friends about predictions, and I said to them Arsenal had the best team spirit at that time, because I saw how much they wanted to win trophies in the Emirates and Amsterdam tournaments, how they fought for each other. Unfortunately, a chain of events led to the bonding and morale being disturbed, which is why the team struggled.

It is hard to predict whether Nasri and Ramsey can give Arsenal much this season. Both are young, one is foreign and in need of time to adapt. Ramsey is inexperienced and probably won't be in the first team much this season. So Wenger is yet to make a signing which is going to immediately improve the team.

Wenger did say he is in the market for one more midfielder, which is surprising, since the team's weakest area is obviously the defence. It was the area which lost us crucial games last season.

However, perhaps he is trying to fill the void left by Gilberto, Flamini and Hleb. What I think is that he does not believe in Denilson, Diaby and Ramsey being able to step up this season.

Liverpool have been the most active out of the top four in the summer in terms of transfers. Mendy, Dossena, Degan, Pacheco, Cavalieri are all unheard of to be honest, I doubt many have seen them play.

Now what Rafa is planning is pretty mysterious to be honest. They have strengthened mostly in defence so far, which is the area that they have always been solid in. They want to bring in Robbie Keane and Gareth Barry too, and both are likely to sign.

Liverpool will always lack something in their locker, and that is the consistency required to win a league. They have not had that for a while.

If Torres or Gerrard gets injured, alarm bells will start ringing. They have got to start stringing wins together instead of winning every other fixture.

So, the predicted starting XI for the big four should be something like this. Bracketed players are potential signings.

Man United

GK: Van der Sar

RB: Neville CB: Ferdinand CB: Vidic LB: Evra

RM: Hargreaves CM: Carrick CM: Anderson LM: Ronaldo

FW: Rooney FW: Tevez (Berbatov)

N.B Scholes and Giggs are not included, because I am sure they will not play regularly due to their age and fitness.

Chelsea

GK: Cech

RB: Bosingwa CB: Terry CB: Carvalho LB: Cole

DM: Essien

CM: Lampard CM: Ballack

AM: Deco

FW: Drogba FW: Anelka (Robinho)

Arsenal

GK: Almunia

RB: Sagna CB: Toure CB: Gallas LB: Clichy

RM: Walcott CM: Fabregas CM: Diaby LM: Rosicky

FW: v. Persie FW: Adebayor

Liverpool

GK: Reina

RB: Finnan CB: Carragher CB: Agger LB: Arbeloa

DM: Mascherano

CM: Alonso (Barry) CM: Gerrard

FW: Kuyt (Keane) FW: Torres FW: Babel

These are obviously my own opinions and predictions only. I am only going to cover the top four, here since I honestly have not looked too deeply at other teams in the league.

Are you feeling the buzz already? Well, I am seriously looking forward to the opening day. I want to hear some predictions from you guys!

Greatest Ever Gunner: Thierry Henry: Any Arguments?

Vincent Chow — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:46:56 -0400

Just watched today's Arsenal friendly match against Barnet. The commentator was saying how when Thierry Henry played against them a few years ago, the Barnet players were told to back off and try not to injure him... and that just reminded me how much I miss the biggest superstar Arsenal FC has ever had.

The Arsenal website had been collecting votes from fans (mainly Arsenal fans I suppose) this summer, and used the results to put together a list of the top 50 ever Arsenal players.

Now for those who haven't visited the site before, here are the results:

Thierry Henry
Dennis Bergkamp
Tony Adams
Ian Wright
Patrick Vieira
Robert Pires
David Seaman
Liam Brady
Charlie George
Pat Jennings
Freddie Ljungberg
Marc Overmars
Kanu
David O'Leary
Sol Campbell
David Rocastle
Pat Rice
Cliff Bastin
Ray Parlour
Martin Keown
Lee Dixon
Emmanuel Petit
Brian Talbot
John Radford
Ashley Cole
Paul Merson
Alan Smith
Charlie Nicholas
Nicolas Anelka
Frank McLintock
Ted Drake
Nigel Winterburn
Sylvain Wiltord
Danny Clapton
Sammy Nelson
Kenny Sansom
Michael Thomas
Steve Williams
Bob Wilson
George Armstrong
George Eastham
George Graham
Andy Ducat
Malcolm Macdonald
Alan Ball
Alex James
Frank Stapleton
Tony Woodcock
David Jack
Peter Storey

Any surprises? My footballing idols and heroes are Dennis Bergkamp, Ronaldo and Zidane and they are all my greatest ever seen full stop (my generation... still 22 years old...) But somwhow I find it difficult to argue against Henry being voted as the number one. And here is why.

He is the greatest goalscorer of the football club. 369 appearances, 230 goals and 82 assists. That means he played a key part in AT LEAST 312 goals that Arsenal have scored in his 369 appearances.

It is quite a phenomenal record, I would be surprised if anyone have better stats than that in European football. Some are great scorers, or scorers of great goals, or great goal makers. Henry was all of them combined.

He was close to winning the most prestigous individual prizes twice, and I think many believe he should have at least won once. No Arsenal player has ever reached the fame he has reached, nor the records he has broken. Statistically speaking, he was the best of the best.

Now I believe that at least 50%, maybe 60% of football fans are glory hunters. No joke, especially outside of Europe. This makes having a global superstar in your team extremely important, and Henry is the only one who has given us that.

He was in the commercials, contracted to Nike, massive posters of him everywhere and stuff. Obviously there was Freddie with his CK's, but Henry was like the Gunners' Beckham. Earning revenue for the club even when he is not kicking a ball. I have friends who are not interested in football and live in Hong Kong, and the only Arsenal player they know is, unsurprisingly, Thierry Henry.

I am saying all this to just let every Arsenal fan reminisce about his greatness. He was not at his best last season at Barca, (I thought Wenger taught everyone that Henry should play up front, not on the wing...), but he still ended up being their top-scorer (19 Goals).

I really feel that if Henry has one more great season, likely to be at Barca, he will be remembered as the greatest striker in this decade. Ronaldo was best in 1990-2000. Henry can be for 2000-2010.

But Henry has to prove that he can do it in another club as well, like Ronaldo has for like every club he has played for bar AC Milan. I hope he does, because to me, it is the least he deserves.

Henry might have gone, but he is most certainly not forgotten, he might have been the only world superstar Arsenal have had, but wait a minute... Cesc is arriving...

Once Again, Arsenal Apparently Doomed...

Vincent Chow — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:02:48 -0400

For the past three seasons, Arsenal's title challenge had been written off before the season even kicked off. Perhaps it is common sense when you consider that during this time, fans and pundits had to comment on how Arsenal would cope after the sales of Vieira, Pires, Cole, Campbell, Henry, and the retirement of Bergkamp.

These players were the pivotal figures for all the success that Wenger had brought to the club.

All the successful teams built by Wenger had at least one or more of these players, and ever since they all left, the medals dried up, unless you call the Emirates Cup and Amsterdam Tournament something to behold.

The point is, Arsenal have been struggling since the departures of all these players, especially Vieira. I am not saying that the club would be winning if Vieira was still here, but it is a fact that the record for the past three seasons has just been difficult to accept for gooners.

Remember how Arsenal was written off last season when Henry packed his bags to Barca? Tottenham fans must had been having the best days of their lives when they were expecting a season of total failure for the gunners.

Yet, Arsenal bounced back and earned a respectable third place in the table after leading for most of the season.

This season, Arsenal are being written off yet again. This is due to Flamini's departure (not exactly Vieira, lets face it), added by Hleb and Adebayor looking set to join the shipping list (not exactly Pires and Henry either).

I just do not understand why Arsenal are written off already. To me, selling them would be good businesses, Hleb is good, but, to me, he is not what Arsenal needs since he just cannot score. If I had to choose I would prefer one who would at least shoot more than one with creativity and flair but lacking end product.

Adebayor is different, yes, I do think he has the potential to become the league's best striker, and a challenger for Henry's records even, but, if he is so temperamental and greedy as the newspapers are suggesting, he might as well leave now.

Henry scored like 100 goals before he was awarded a hefty contract, yet, Adebayor who had one good season is asking for 100K a week? Both Hleb and Adebayor had one good season, actually, pretty outstanding comparing to their performances in the past, but to turn their backs so quickly on the gaffer is a joke.

Selling these two players would actually improve the morale of the squad, since I feel having two unsettled players would disrupt the whole team.

Also, I feel that Nasri is a good enough player to not just replace, but actually to improve the Arsenal midfield after Hleb's departure. No he is not proven in the EPL, but he is 21, he is extremely talented, has guts, has technique, and, also, he is french, which at least reduces the chance of him stabbing Wenger in the back like Hleb and Ade did.

If Adebayor does leave, I think Wenger might (since I don't know how much faith he has on Bendtner), dive into the market for Ajax's ace Huntelaar, who is an extremely good finisher and very strong in the air.

If he does arrive, this will be the potential Arsenal line-ups for the coming season:

GK: Almunia

DEF: Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy

MID: Walcott/Nasri, Diaby, Fabregas, Rosicky/Nasri

ATT: Huntelaar, Robin van Persie

2nd XI

GK: Fabianski

DEF: Hoyte, Song, Djourou, Traore

MID: Walcott/Nasri, Denilson, Ramsey, Eduardo

ATT: Bendtner, Vela

To me, it is not a bad squad at all. Diaby is different from Flamini obviously, but he is good enough if he is given a chance to play CM, only that Fabregas will have to be more disciplined.

Do not write Arsenal off yet...

The Summer Starts Here—Euro 2008 Ignites the Year of Football

Vincent Chow — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:01:14 -0400

This season has been one of the most fascinating in my opinion. The rise and falls of different clubs, the consolidation of the Premier League as the strongest league in the world, the fact that young players such as Ronaldo, Messi and Fabregas have grabbed all the headlines this year.

Things have just been a little more exciting this year compared to the past, and guess what, it is about to get better.

Well, better as least for some, England fans are obviously not going to be pleased that the Euros will not include players such as Gerrard, Rooney and Lampard, who all deserve to play at the big stage.

It is a shame, but to be honest, the team only have themselves to blame.

So, everyone will have their own opinion about who will win, who will star, who will fail to deliver, and who the dark horse could be. Here are mine,

Winners: Spain. Reason is that the law of average told me so. They have failed to deliver for such a long time, even bigger under-achievers than England!

Although some will argue that their team hasn't changed much since the World Cup two years ago, I believe that there has been massive change in their team, and that is the fact that Torres has been given the experience at the highest level.

He has never set any big tournaments alight before when playing at Atletico Madrid, but the season with Liverpool has given him so much confidence that he can do it on the big stage, plus given him experience playing against the best defenders in the world. Players like Fabregas also gained a lot this season, if they can gel like Adebayor/Fabregas or Torres/Gerrard, then Spain will be a real force.

Dark Horse: Croatia. I think this will be a lot of people's choice, they have knocked out one of the best teams in the world in England at Wembley, by actually outplaying them, which seriously takes some doing.

Yes, Eduardo will be out and the fact that he is the top scorer means he is most likely to be sorely missed. However, a team that boost talents such as Modric and Krancjar in the midfield will not lack creativity, if the strikers can finish off the moves, they will be in the mix with the big guns.

Disappointment: France. Yes, they have some huge name players, Vieira, Henry, Ribery, Thuram, Makelele etc. However, when was the last time France has played well without Zidane?

They can be as well prepared as they want, but the average age is not helping, the fitness of the team also is not helping and the most important thing is that without Zizou, the team simply lack that inspirational leader that can always lift the team with something special. I predict failure to get past the group stage.

Top Performer: Fabregas. Only if he plays, I am not sure if he is a definite starter, but if I was the manager, I would just play him.

This is the sort of stage that he most thrives on, every big game this season he has been outstanding, and in the World Cup he was fab as usual. The fact that he will play with Iniesta and Xavi also helps since it gives him a chance to attack more.

Top Scorer: Torres. If I am predicting Spain to win, Torres will have to score. Spain's attack depends on him and David Villa, but Torres will score more.

Biggest Flop: Ronaldo. Many may ask why after the season he has had, people will predict him to be the biggest thing on this stage. Well the reason is because Portugal is no Man Utd.

He will not be playing the same role as he does in club football and Portugal's type of football is completely different from Man Utd's. He is not a winger at United, but more like a free attacking role, but he will be more disciplined when playing for his country, unlike Torres who is an out and out striker.

One to Watch: Montolivo. He is a great talent, even though he will not be a starter for Italy, but those who have watched him at U-21 level and for Fiorentina, he has been fabulous. He is different from Pirlo that he attacks a lot more, but he has the same vision and technical ability as Pirlo. If he plays, he will rock.

I will be supporting: Well, I know I named them as the failure, but the Arsenal connection is going to make me support France I am afraid. I hope they can do it, but just can't see it...

Arsenal vs Liverpool 5/04/08: Ratings & Analysis

Vincent Chow — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:30:52 -0400

Arsenal:

Almunia- (7)- Good save from Crouch early on, had more to do today than in midweek and personally think he did well.

Hoyte- (6)- First impressions will show that he is not ready for the big games. But i think he did well considering the united and spurs game which he did not perform well.

Toure- (7)- Think he did well even though he was beaten repeatedly by Crouch.

Gallas- (7)- Same as Toure really.

Traore- (6)- Same as Hoyte really.

Gilberto- (8)- Think he was fab today. Won many balls in midfield and passed it well. Best performance this season from him really considering he hardly played.

Eboue- (6)- Better at right back but again wasteful when in advanced positions. Reminds me a bit of Jose Reyes, end product often lacking.

Fabregas- (5)- Rated 5 because he sets the standards really, and he didn't match that today, looked tired and jaded. For once lost his cool and composure today.

Flamini- (6)- Jaded near the end. But have got to admire his energy and will to win. Was not easy to play today considering the lack of movement up front and Liverpool's defending

Walcott- (6)- Some bright spells, but again, a little lacking in the end product department. Needs a lot more games in my opinion.

Bendtner- (6)- Well taken goal, I love the fact that he is so confident, but still inexperienced and need time to develop in my opinion.

Subs-

Adebayor- (6)- Worked the Liverpool defence well. But just lacked that spark to create I think.

Clichy- (6)- Glad he came on as I think he is essential for Arsenal's attacks. Tried his hardest really.

Hleb- (6)- That touch near the end..SHOCKING! But I am not one of those who like to blame my players. Pressure got to him I think.

Liverpool:

Reina- (6)- At fault for goal. Still no clean sheet against Arsenal.

Finnan- (7)- Always thought he was one of the best in the business. Solid today especially first half and used the ball well.

Arbeloa- (7)- Same with Finnan.

Carragher- (8)- Such a rock at the back no matter where he plays. Block after block and just led his line so well. Can always expect a good defensive display when he is in your team.

Skrtel- (6)- Think he needs to improve in his reading of the game and positioning. Allowed a few long balls head to the forwards without pressuring them and shutting the pass out.

Plessis- (7)- Admirable composure since this was his debut. Strong in the tackle, tidy passing. Good talent.

Lucas- (7)- Good passing, sees passes early and has got good feet. Naughty tug of the Fabregas's shirt though. Worked hard to stifle Arsenal's midfield. Supported Crouch well.

Pennant- (6)- Gave silly free kick away for Arsenal's goal, and did not produce what was expected of him which was to whip crosses in and work the right flank.

Benayoun- (7)- Again worked hard to win balls in midfield and closed off Arsenal's angles for passes. Not as creative as usual even though he kept the ball and supported well.

Crouch- (8)- Different class today. Won countless balls in the air and good touch and skill for the goal. If Torres scored that every pundit would have been creaming about it. Man of the match performance really.

Subs-

Gerrard- (7)- Came on when Arsenal were beginning to leave space behind. Sees forward passes quicker than anyone else in Liverpool.

Torres- (6)- Needed time to get into the game and wasn't given enough time. Wasted a couple of good situation but again his pace and movement is great for counter-attacking. Always working the centre-backs.

Voronin- (5)- Wasted one great chance and one good chance.

Game Play:

Draw was pretty much the right result. Arsenal were suspect of wasting good situations especially with Eboue, Bendtner and even Fabregas. Liverpool worked well to stop Arsenal's passing, have to say though Arsenal just weren't at it today particularly the first half. Fatigue to key players is one of the reasons, lack of good back up players is another. Both sides had chances to win the game but Liverpool always looked threatening despite Arsenal throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Liverpool. Not as good a game technically as wednesday's.

Tactics:

Wenger should have put 2 up front a lot earlier. I understand that he is cautious over Liverpool's attack and wanted stability but Bendtner was not useful on the wing and Adebayor lacked support. Liverpool played it just about right, with Benayoun and Lucas always joing Crouch in attack and winning the second balls. Senderos could have started today to at least match 3/4 of Crouch's height but I think Wenger was looking for mobility for the second balls more than actually challenging in the air. Different from Wednesday was the fact that Liverpool looked a lot more threatening up front with Crouch. Again, tactically fantastic by Rafa i think. Seems like he has found a way to play against Wenger.

In my opinion the title is now out of reach for Arsenal and today's game took a lot out of the players again having to come back and chase the game. Tuesday looks like a daunting task now.

English Premier League: The Best in the World...but What About the Future?

Vincent Chow — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:50:15 -0400

Being a football fan since the 90s, I dreamed of an Arsenal team which can be named amongst the best in the world, to have the same touch of class with teams like AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Inter Milan etc.

Trust me, in Hong Kong (where I was born), throughout the 90s, the Premiership was a very special league, but whenever we talk about the best teams in the world, Spanish or Italian teams came to our minds first.

I still remember playing Championship Manager 3 back in about 1999, I always chose those foreign teams ahead of the Premiership teams because they simply had the best players.

The likes of Baggio, Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Carlos, Rivaldo, Cannavaro, Raul etc. The premiership had names like Beckham and Giggs, Bergkamp and Zola etc. but any of you I think would say, the best of the best seldom coming to the EPL.

I still remember, Fiorentina and Parma, who were like the teams striving for fourth place in Serie A, had better teams than arguably Arsenal, Chelsea AND Liverpool at that time.

Players like Batistuta, Rui Costa, Thuram, Buffon, Ortega, Crespo, Di Livio, Veron etc. Those are big big players!

That is not mentioning Sven's Lazio and Capello's Roma as well who had Totti, Nedved, Nesta, Candela... the list is endless. Serie A was the league to be in.

Come Football Manager 2008, what does the Italian teams have now? Kaka obviously, Pirlo maybe, Ibrahimovic maybe, Gattuso a very big maybe.

Barcelona obviously is like Beverley Hills for footballers and boasts the best of the best.

But this time round, I realised that most of the highest-valued and sought after players are indeed playing in the Premier League. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Fabregas, Ferdinand, Terry, Drogba, Essien, Torres, even bloody Downing is valued higher than most key players in the other leagues!

What has changed so quickly? Why have Italian teams suddenly dropped out of the picture? How about the likes of Fiorentina and Parma? Valencia and Deportivo may I say?

I think most importantly, obviously, the influx of hundreds of foreign players and foreign managers, the amount of money the EPL are making compared to La Liga and Serie A, and also the general belief of the British clubs that they are better than those teams in Europe.

Four teams in the last eight of the Champions League, with United beating Roma for god knows how may times, Liverpool hammering Inter and Juve three years ago, Arsenal outplaying Milan, Madrid and Juve a couple of seasons ago, and Chelsea beating Valencia and Barca etc.

There is an argument that finally we are the teams that others are dreaming to be. We also have teams like Tottenham and Everton, even Pompey and Villa who are capable of playing any big teams around Europe as well, ok, they might not beat them but they won't get beaten easily in my opinion.

I hope this period will continue for the EPL, but we should know that nothing lasts forever in football. It wouldn't surprise me to see maybe La Liga taking over after 10 years, or Serie A storming back as well, since seriously, some of their youngsters can beat the English ones quite easily.

When you see the amount of foreign youngsters in the EPL, it is frightening. The likes of Montolivo of Fiorentina, Bojan of Barca, Silva of Valencia, Soldado of Madrid, these are domestic players that the EPL don't produce anymore.

We have to take advantage of this golden period for the Premier League before it slips out of our hands. The F.A. might actually have to think of something intelligent and practical in order to achieve that...

As bad as this might sound, I think one of the ways to do that is to ban the amount of foreigners in first teams, or even the squads in the EPL.

I know my team Arsenal will suffer a lot from that, that is true. But looking at Fiorentina against Everton, their team was mostly made up of Italians, and they were fantastic in my opinion.

I know there is no ban in Italy or Spain about this, but their lack of money actually meant they had to build from bringing domestic players through. I really hope teams in the UK can do that too and then maybe, just maybe, we can bring the World Cup and Euros back to the home of football... finally.

Arsenal-Liverpool: Match Ratings and Analysis

Vincent Chow — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:20:09 -0400

I do this for an Arsenal forum, so I am planning to do it here as well and see what other fans' views are.

Rating = (lowest) 1-10 (highest).

Arsenal

Almunia (6) Pretty much had nothing to do but pick the ball out of the net.

Toure (6) At fault with the goal, caught square by Gerrard, he is a better defender than that.

Gallas (7) Solid considering the lack of attacking by Liverpool, but nevertheless dealt well with the counter attacks and Torres's pace.

Senderos (7) Some Senderos dodgy moments with a couple of poor headers and clearances. But overall a good game and looking confident for once.

Clichy (7) Outrageous pace but some immature moments, can still improve defensively.

Eboue (5) Severely lacking confidence, thus lost his usual driving runs and creativity. Still think he is better attacking from right back position and overlapping although he doesn't defend well.

Fabregas (7) Much better in second half when Liverpool started to get tired. Could have scored a couple.

Flamini (7) Worked hard as usual, and distributed well. But should have tackled better against Gerrard in the run up to their equaliser.

Hleb (7) Disappointing on the left, but a revelation in the number 10 position. Should have started there with Van Persie on the left to keep width. What a run for a dead-on penalty though.

Van Persie (6) Sad to lose him to injury again but he hasn't looked fit enough for the past few games. The team has somehow learnt to play better without him despite the fact that he is our best striker.

Adebayor (7) Impressive up front, worked hard and physically tested Hyypia and Skrtel. Good movement for the goal too. His best performance since San Siro.

Subs

Walcott (7) Good little cameo although dropped a little bit on the right.

Bendtler (6) Defensively excellent in clearing Fabregas's shot on the line! Did not offer much.

Liverpool

Reina (7) A couple of good saves despite not having to do much. Some good distribution too.

Carragher (7) Did very well against Arsenal's attacks on his flank. Also a great block at the end. A great leader from the back.

Skrtel (7) Shaky at times but overall restricted Adebayor's threat. Looks a good buy by Rafa.

Hyypia (6) At fault for goal and lacked pace a little bit.

Aurelio (6) Didn't do much in attack and didn't do much in defence.

Mascherano (6) Could not get close to Arsenal's midfielders in the second half but better at first.

Xabi Alonso (6) Spent half the game chasing shadows but was Liverpool's hardest worker, covered the most ground. Did not get much chance to show his creativity though.

Gerrard (8) Great play for the goal and overall a threat from counter attacks. Inventive in attack and worked well with Torres for winning free kicks in dangerous positions. One down point is that he didn't defend enough for the midfield since Fabregas and Flamini had too much time on ball in the second half.

Kuyt (7) Good goal from a good run, excellent worker and played as a second right full back. It WAS a penalty though, got lucky.

Babel (6) Did not see much of the ball and did not do much with it when he did have the ball. Benayoun should have started to keep possession a bit more.

Torres (6) A threat but Gallas and Clichy did very well against him since it is difficult to outpace them.

Subs

Benayon (6) Didn't have much of the ball, but kept it better than Babel.

Lucas (6) Didn't have much time to impress.

Voronin (6) Don't think he even touched the ball.

Analysis

Game Play

A very good, and well-mannered game. It is not very often that you see a good tempered game between the top four.

Typical Liverpool performance away from home in the Champions League.

Defensively very well organised and took their goal well. However, pretty much outplayed by Arsenal in terms of football, didn't create much at all even though some may argue that they shouldn't have since they had an away goal.

Arsenal on the other hand should have won this game, could have won it by a two goal margin even. The second half was only played in one half and Liverpool rode their luck a little.

Tactics

Arsenal got it wrong in the first half. They should have been defending much better on the flanks which is how they conceded the goal. Too narrow at times with Hleb on the left drifting in and Eboue not offering much movement on the right.

Substitution worked well with Walcott offering directiveness and pace. Unlucky not to win.

Liverpool got it right on the other hand, limited Arsenal's plan of dropping the ball between defence and midfield thus restricting Fabregas space to slide balls through. Defended wide positions well by often having two defenders vs one attacker on the flanks.

Attacking-wise, they can still improve as a team, it is one thing defending well but more goals will be needed if they are to win things. Fatigue could have been the factor for their laboured offensive performance.

Hope you enjoyed the read, please give me feedbacks on how I could improve. Thanks.

The Next Best Ever? Finally a Player who Truely Graces the Premiership

Vincent Chow — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:16:13 -0400

Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry..the list goes on for the great players who have graced the premiership for years.

However, the one thing that comes to mind will be the lack of 'FIFA best player' or the 'Ballon'd'or' which truly set these players apart from the other great players to become a Kaka, Ronaldinho, Zidane etc.

Just why have these players been missing out at the greatest individual awards in the world of football? Are they really not good enough? I find it naive to say that NONE of the premiership players apart from Michael Owen (who won the ballon'd'or) deserved to win these golden awards.

However, if Cristiano Ronaldo fail to win either if not both of these awards this year, the F.A may find themselves dealing with a new silly problem that they might have to controversially solve. Has there ever been a player who could toy with defenders the way he does? Yes, Thierry Henry had all the mesmerising skills and scored eye-popping goals, however, he had to compete against the likes of Ronaldinho and Zidane in the years when he played at his best.

This season, however, only one player can challenge the mighty Man Utd winger, and that is the wonder-kid of Barcelona, Messi. Although I personally believe that it is as hard to separate the two as it is to study rocket science, it is not difficult to argue that statistically, there are no better player than Ronaldo in the world at the moment.

Messi has not played consistently due to injuries. Whereas Ronaldo has been fit all season, and just about single-handily won half of the games for Man Utd. Being an Arsenal fan, it is a tough pill to swallow, to accept that Ronaldo is quite possibly, the next big thing in terms of putting himself into the level of the Pele, Maradona and Cruyff.

This is because the lad is at the peak of his career at just 23! If he can produce this kind of form for another six to seven years, there is no way in the world that he can't be mentioned amongst those names.

Let's just hope he won't be playing against the gunners for those six to seven years..