Bleacher Report - Articles by Brad Simkulet

Arsenal's Dreary Summer: What Beating Portsmouth Means for Arsenal Fans

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:17:56 -0400

If Stan Kroenke takes over Arsenal in the summer and offers up big bucks for the transfer pool (unlikely though that may be), Saturday's 3-nil defeat of Portsmouth by Arsenal should be, and was quite possibly meant as, a reminder that Arsene Wenger won't be spending the bucks on anything resembling an established player.

For anyone who has been paying attention, there will not be a new Keeper coming into the Emirates. Almunia is Arsenal's No. 1, considered by Wenger to be "the cream of the Premier League," and he is at Emirates and England to stay. Fabianski and Mannone will remain his backups. There will be no shake up in goal.

There could be a shake-up in defense, maybe. But is that likely? The only way a shake-up is truly going to happen is if Kolo Toure rattles the door for an exit again, and Senderos doesn't return to fill the gap.

Those are two too many "ifs" for anything serious to change on Arsenal's backline. Wenger will rely on the full backs he has, and their cover (which, to be fair, is one of Arsenal's strengths), and he will imagine the fitness of Gallas, Silvestre, Toure and Djourou will be more than enough to get him through in the centre.

Expect Havard Nordveit to start playing with the big boys now and then, and expect an unknown French defender to make his way to the Emirates as a back up. But expect nothing else.

Expect absolutely no changes in the midfield. Song has earned the right to play defensive midfield, and Wenger is going to stick with Diaby and Denilson no matter what their play suggests.

Nasri, Fabregas and Arshavin will remain the mainstays. But as Arsene reminded us against Portsmouth, there are four (dare I say five) young Gunners who will be making the step up soon, and Arsene will not want to bring in anyone new to hurt their chances of a first-team spot.

Ramsey is a guaranteed contender next season. Wilshere, Merida, Randall, and Bischoff will all be brought through by Arsene.

Oh, there'll be plenty of talk about Gokhan Inler and other folks, but nothing will come of it. Did I forget Rosicky? I am sure Wenger hasn't, and we'll keep hearing about his imminent return all season long.

Up front there is likely to be only one change and that is Adebayor out and someone in to replace him. Who's coming in?

Santa Cruz seems a good bet with Salomon Kalou as another possibility, or someone we've never heard of from France.

Regardless, we'll be watching Bendtner take over Adebayor's role, with Van Persie and Eduardo struggling with their injuries all season and Vela finally stepping into their role because he'll remain fit, and they won't.

At Fratton Park, Arsene Wenger started Ramsey in the midfield and brought in Bischoff, Merida and Randall, as much to remind us of what's to come as to "blood" his young players and give his main squad a break. And the same goes for Vela/Bendtner up top.

Don't expect money to be spent because it simply will not happen. Not as long as Arsene Wenger is in charge.

Until Fabregas and Van Persie head for greener pastures, Arshavin is the last big name you're going to see coming to the Emirates.

Arsenal's Motivational Memorandum

Brad Simkulet — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:58:59 -0400

After the draw in Kiev and before the game against Bolton at the Reebok, Arsenal players were reportedly given the memo below. It is said to have been written in conjunction with a sports psychologist and is geared specifically towards teams who are in the midst of tricky away fixtures.

So far I have no way of confirming whether this is a genuine memo, although it certainly sounds like the product of an Arsene Wenger managed side.

The confidential nature of this memo—if it is real—makes the leaking of it quite a shock, but it is an interesting insight into the psychology of Arsene Wenger and the group ethos of the Arsenal.

CONFIDENTIAL

Team meeting 19th September 2008-09-22:

The team:

* A team is as strong as the relationships within it. The driving force of a team is its member's ability to create and maintain excellent relationships within the team that can add an extra dimension and robustness to the team dynamic.

* This attitude can be used by our team to focus on the gratitude and the vitally important benefits that the team brings to our own lives. It can be used to strengthen and deepen the relationships with it and maximise the opportunities that await a strong and united team.

Our team becomes stronger by:

* Displaying a positive attitude on and off the pitch

* Everyone making the right decisions for the team

* Have an unshakeable belief that we can achieve our target

* Believe in the strength of the team

* Always want more - always give more

* Focus on our communication

* Be demanding with yourself

* Be fresh and well prepared to win

* Focus on being mentally stronger and always keep going until the end

* When we play away from home, believe in our identity and play the football we love to play at home

* Stick together

* Stay grounded and humble as a player and a person

* Show the desire to win in all that you do

* Enjoy and contribute to all that is special about being in a team - don't take it for granted

The High and the Low: The Weekend's Best and Worst in the Premiership

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:11:06 -0400

The High

Denilson: Arsenal’s young defensive (and sometimes attacking) midfielder is slipping nicely into the support role for Cesc Fabregas, in much the same way that Mathieu Flamini did last season. With two goals in his last three Premiership games his offensive return is beginning to solidify his place in the squad. This may just be his year to step up to the Big Gunners, after all.

Mark Hughes: The 6-0 dismantling of Pompey has got to make Sparky feel pretty comfortable. He’s got two talented Brazilians—Jo and Robinho—adding firepower and star quality, he’s got a reborn Shaun Wright-Phillips in support, and he's still got another Brazilian, Elano, to find his steady health. Plus, he’s got an open cheque to strengthen the squad in a major way come January. Mark Hughes may never take over the reins of Manchester United simply because his life across town may be too good.

Michael Chopra: Back from injury and Chopra grabs a brace for Sunderland’s first home win of the season. That’s the way to put pressure on El-Hadji Diouf and Djibril Cisse. If he keeps it up and Kenwyne Jones comes back strong, Roy Keane will have one of the finest stables of attack outside the top four.

Fans of the Premiership: The fact that every team in the Premiership—except Tottenham—has at least one win already this season is cause for celebration. Maybe things are finally balancing out and the league is starting to find some equilibrium (of course, that may all fall apart if Manchester City lives up to expectations). Still, even if it isn’t, the early days have certainly been much more interesting.

The Low

Wayne Rooney: The grumbling is beginning. His goal return is not what Manchester United fans were promised. He spends too much time defending when he should be forward. He is too hot tempered. And now he’s being compared to Alan Smith. Yikes. He better find his best form again soon or Tevez is going to take his place in the starting XI.

Tottenham Hotspur: Two draws. And this is the team that, before Berbatov’s departure, was supposed to threaten the top four for the second year running. At this rate Spurs will be lucky to avoid being the worst team in Premiership history. Juande Ramos’ job is, most certainly, on the line.

Mike Riley: Don’t hand out a free kick then blow the whistle for full time, Mike! Just blow the damn whistle or let the free kick be the game’s last action. One or the other. Not both.

Rafa Benitez: An excellent week turns to disaster—again. His biggest mistake was leaving Gerrard on the pitch when Stevie’s attempts for the 100th goal were clearly getting in the way of Liverpool’s attack. And his insistence on sticking with Kuyt’s abject play is as pig-headed as when he stuck with Crouch during the interminable goal slump when the friendly giant first arrived at Anfield. How many times is Benitez’s inconsistent leadership and stubborn nature going to be allowed to derail Liverpool? Endlessly seems to be the answer.

William Gallas: How the French Defender Is Turning into a Respectable Captain

Brad Simkulet — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:56:41 -0400

I am not suggesting that William Gallas is anywhere near a great captain. Specifically, he is no Tony Adams or Patrick Vieira. But he is a decent captain, and he is getting better.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about that night in Birminghman.

That was low. We all know it was low. And William, undoubtedly, knows it was low. He's certainly taken enough stick—and gracefully—o understand how people feel about his actions.

But it was a brutal game. A hard-fought game. A game that Arsenal did not deserve to draw. It was a turning point in the season. It was a game when Eduardo suffered a horror tackle from which he still has not recovered.

It was a game in which Gael Clichy was blamed for a bad tackle which replays showed was clean. It was a game in which an undeserved penalty led to the draw.

(I have no sour grapes at all. Even though Clichy’s challenge was ultimately clean, he was always risking a call by throwing that tackle, particularly at full speed in front of the ref, and Clichy knew that going in).

Subsequently, Gallas’ theatrical crying was one of the shabbiest displays a captain could ever succumb to. It was a damning moment, and it rightly called into question Gallas' captaincy credentials, very nearly losing him the armband in the offseason.

But here it is, a new season, and Gallas still has the armband and he is still leading Arsenal. For now, I think Arsene has made the right choice.

Sure, Fabregas (who will obviously be our captain in a year or two) and Toure are contenders, but wouldn’t we rather the former concentrated on becoming the best while the latter simply concentrates on getting back to his stellar form? I know I’d prefer that, for now.

Apart from those two, there really is no one else who could fill the role besides Gallas. And when it comes down to it, Gallas isn’t doing such a poor job.

He has had some bad moments, clearly, but the game against Dynamo Kiev is a perfect example of his good moments—and he has more of those than nights like Birmingham.

Bacary Sagna got himself into trouble, much like Clichy, by making foolish and unnecessary contact with defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojević. There was no real foul from Sagna, and in slow motion, it was a clear dive by Vukojević. But Sagna is still to blame, not the ref.

At full speed, the incident appeared to be a spot kick.

Only the hindsight of slo-mo revealed Vukojević dragging Sagna to the ground. Regardless, Sagna should know better than to make contact in the box, thereby inviting the attacker to go for the spot kick. It is Defending 101.

The deed was done, however, and there was no turning back. Kiev went up one-nil at home.

But what was Gallas’ response? Did he cry on the sideline like he did last February in Birmingham? No. Did he get petulant and bully Kiev players? No. Did he scrap with the refs and make an ass of himself? No. Did he hack down the offending midfielder? No.

All of those are the mark of a shabby captain.

Instead, William Gallas scored a goal. An important goal. The important goal. And he salvaged a point for the Arsenal.

That is what good captains do. They lift the team.

Some do it with fight, some do it with bite, some do it with goals. Gallas is one of those who does it with goals. And the man is a central defender.

So far this season he has scored in every Champions League game. Three goals in three games. A great return from any defender for a full season, let alone two rounds of a competition. Pretty impressive, no?

So even though he takes much stick, I think it needs to end.

The best captain in the Premiership right now is Steven Gerrard (oh, how it hurts to say), but William Gallas is not that far off the mark.

Is he ideal? Probably not. But being the Arsenal’s captain keeps him stable, and when the chips are down he mostly comes through.

Plus, I am willing to bet that the Birminghams are behind him.

Gallas is passionate, fierce, he fights for the club, he scores goals, and he leads by example.

He might not be the best captain, but he is ours. And I stand by him.

After all, the man improves every game, and that has to count for more than something.

Fabio Capello: What Makes England's Boss Great?

Brad Simkulet — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:50:08 -0400

After England’s typically lackluster performances against a fading Czech Republic side and an abysmal Andorra side, it may seem a bit of a stretch to call Fabio Capello one of the world’s managerial greats.

But I’m going to do it anyway. Fabio Capello is great. There is no denying his record.

His trophy case is packed full of accolades. Six Scudettos (although one was taken away), one Champion’s League (against Barcelona), one Super Cup (against Arsenal), four Supercoppa Italianas (with Milan and Roma), and one La Liga title with Real Madrid.

And that is just as a manager.

The titles don’t lie. Fabio Capello is good. Very, very good.

Which leads me to the question I have been asking week after week: why is this manager so good?

The answer with Don Fabio is perhaps the most ephemeral of all the attributes I have been exploring. Respect.

Capello’s gift to all the sides he manages is respect. Respect from manager to player, from player to manager, from player to player, and respect for oneself.

That may not seem like a big deal, but it goes a long way.

Consider this passage from Patrick Vieira’s Autobiography: “What surprised me the most about [Capello] was the way he handed out forfeits to anyone who stepped out of line, regardless of who they were. He would argue with Maldini or Panucci...because he’s got a really strong character.”

On the surface this might appear harsh, but it is the sort of “tough love” that breeds respect. If you are a young player like Patrick Vieira coming into the AC Milan side from Cannes, and you know that Paolo Maldini can sit out a game just like you, you will respect the coach, yourself and even Maldini more.

And we are seeing this play out in the England squad at the moment as Capello prepares to forfeit two goals to Joe Cole for his tactical indiscipline during the Andorra game.

A culture of respect may be just the thing needed to forge the raw material of England into a force to be reckoned with.

Capello’s demand for respect can also be seen in his attitude towards team rules.

“We are professionals," said Capello, addressing press concerns about his rules shortly after taking over the Three Lions. "We love this job and I believe that we also have some obligations towards fans and I think we need rules to work by and we need to work in an orderly fashion.”

The rules included strict punctuality, an insistence that the team breakfast and lunch together during international breaks, a ban on flip-flops and mobile phones, and that Capello himself would only use players’ last names.

All of these are clear attempts to build respect within the England side and, perhaps, control the egos that seem to eat away at England’s togetherness.

But this is nothing new for Capello. This is the way he has managed all his teams.

At AC Milan the rules at breakfast and lunch went so far that no player could leave the table before their Captain, thereby creating a clear hierarchy with respect as the focus.

It is this ability to command and create respect that makes Fabio Capello truly magnificent as a manager.

When players respect Capello they will adhere to his tactics—which are usually spot on —and this will allow them to do their jobs without a need for personal glory or individual accolades. This is the attitude of winners.

When players respect each other they will play for each other as a unit. This is also the attitude of winners.

And when players respect themselves, when they actually care about staying fit and playing for a cause, their respect will spill out into every facet of their career and life. This too is the attitude of winners.

For Fabio Capello respect = silverware. And his trophy cabinet proves that respect works. England are lucky to have him.

Next up: Arsene Wenger

On Deck: Guus Hiddink

Performance Enhancement: Drop The Guilt and Bring It On.

Brad Simkulet — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:19:02 -0400

I have no problem with performance enhancing substances in sports. Any sports.

There. I’ve said it, and boy does it feel good to have that off my chest.

How can I make such an outrageous statement? How dare I set my opinion against one of our sacred cows, our great sporting bogeyman? Pretty easily actually.

My opinion developed many years ago when I was playing excellent baseball in Canada and generating interest from professional scouts.

It was made clear to me when I was only 15 or 16—through very careful implication because no one would actually say the word—that if I wanted to make it to the big leagues I had to bulk up, juice up, drug up, take steroids.

I fought with the idea for a couple of years, watching people around me take them and make massive strides. And I very nearly took them myself. I can admit now that, in fact, I would have taken them if chance had not intervened.

You see, I was a catcher. But I have leg perthes, a degenerative bone disease of the hips and legs that will cause my hip joints to come apart once the bone deteriorates beyond the hip’s ability to stay in its socket.

If I had gone on to play ball I would have sped up the deterioration and lost my hips about a decade ago, cutting my career incredibly short and hastening the need for plastic hips.

But I never had to make the decision to hasten my hip collapse, nor to take steroids.

When the scouts discovered I had leg perthes, I was off the list. I was too great a risk for investment, and I wasn’t “so good” that the risk was worth taking.

So baseball slipped away from me, and I never took steroids.

But I would have. Yes. I absolutely would have.

We all know about the risks of taking steroids. Even back then I was aware of the effects it could have on my body, both positive and negative, but risks be damned.

People take risks everyday, and with nowhere near the payoff the risk of performance enhancing drugs gives athletes.

In the U.S., you may avoid taking steroids because if something goes wrong you wouldn’t be able to afford the medical care needed to keep you alive and functioning healthily. But if you are an athlete who is good enough to become pro you are also likely to be willing to take risks. It comes with the territory, and if you succeed as an athlete your multi-millionaire status makes medical bills entirely irrelevant.

Elsewhere in the world, medical concerns are less important and the medical risk is nowhere near as great. Most everywhere that has professional sport outside the U.S. also has nationalized health care. You don’t have to pay for care. The state gives it to you. So why not take the risk? If you succeed in sport it can change your life, the lives of your family and children, and give you a living doing something you love.

And if you don't succeed, the state will still pay for your dialysis.

In the end, the chances of success with steroids for someone who shows the requisite talent are a hell of a lot better than playing the lottery every week. More risky, for sure, but with a better chance of a real pay off.

Let's face it. If you are a good athlete, performance enhancement is a temptation that is almost impossible to resist.

But there is something else we need to face: fan culpability.

We all know what fans want. We want home runs, faster skating, harder tackles, tireless running, higher jumps, and world records being broken in inhuman ways. And that makes us tacitly responsible for the use and proliferation of performance enhancement.

The point of sports is always to go higher, faster, better, and the reality of sport is that higher, faster, better can only come these days through enhancement. Whether that enhancement comes in the form of NASA-inspired bathing suits or hormone therapy or performance enhancing drugs or even, eventually, surgical alteration, fans demand it because the old standards become mundane. We simply tune out.

But few fans want to admit their roles in the move to performance enhancement. It’s much easier to get all moral, express our indignance at “cheaters,” play the “role model” card, and talk about the destruction of sports as we know it than it is to admit the truth.

And what is that truth? The truth is that damn near every athlete at the Olympics, damn near every athlete playing at a professional level in every sport, damn near every record-breaking performance has had some contact, somewhere along the line, with performance enhancing drugs.

But as the drugs become better, so do the ways of dodging testing. And we all know this, which is why our anger is saved for those who are proven to have taken "performance enhancing substances" rather than for the culture, of which we fans are a part, that promotes performance enhancement in the first place.

So I say forget the testing and forget our indignance.

I am not being ironic when I say that we should let performance enhancement happen and take away the guilt. Make enhancement an open and honest part of sport.

Let the athletes enhance themselves, help them do it as healthily as possible, and let all of us, athletes and fans, enjoy the performance benefits in a guilt-free environment.

If you don’t want to enhance yourself and become a professional athlete, you don't have to. Enhancement is the price you pay for sporting greatness, and if you don't want to do it you don't have to.

And even a teenager is able to make an informed decision for him/herself.

José Mourinho: What Makes the Special One Great?

Brad Simkulet — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:19:59 -0400

Few attributes are more important to success than arrogance.

Arrogance can translate into confidence in one’s self, can breed confidence in one’s followers, and can give one the psychological edge over one’s foes. Most successful men and women have some level of arrogance.

But José Mourinho is the god of arrogance.

He has so much arrogance that he could share it out to all the geeks in every high school in the Americas and still have enough to make him one of the greatest football managers in the world. And he is, most certainly, that.

Mourinho rose to world prominence after FC Porto’s victories in the 2003 UEFA Cup and 2004 Champions League, and he’s been an irresistible footballing force ever since.

He went on to lead England’s Chelsea FC to back to back League titles, back to back Carling Cups, an FA Cup and even a Community Shield. And now he manages Inter Milan, one of the most talent laden teams in Serie A.

It is probable that he will be one of the greats for many years to come, but the nature of his greatness suggests he will not stay in one place for long. Don’t expect him to sink in roots like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

To date, the longest he has ever managed a team were his two complete seasons (plus an extra month and a bit) at Chelsea. Mourinho’s arrogance does not lend itself to stability.

He is a master at playing football to win. He doesn’t have any ideals he feels compelled to uphold about the “beautiful game,” and his tactics generally reflect this. They are simple but effective.

He plugs up the midfield, builds an impressive defense, and finds a target man who can score like a machine.

Whether he’s got Roman Abramovich’s money at Chelsea or the lesser cash he had at Porto, Mourinho is undeniably talented at motivating his assembled parts into winners.

But none of these average to above-average managerial talents can match the x-factor that makes Mourinho great.

That x-factor is his aforementioned arrogance.

His arrogance is unparalleled in World Football, and for a while, no matter where he hangs his coaching cleats, it makes him unbeatable.

How does it work to make him great? There are two answers.

First, it relieves his team of all pressure. Just look at what he did for Chelsea.

Abramovich’s billions, the buying power that assembled the Chelski squad, raised performance expectations to a massive level for the London Club and could easily have overwhelmed the players. Any team of players, no matter how talented, can become rattled by such expectations.

It has happened countless times in every sport.

Expectations run high and performance can’t match. Brazilian sides have been “destined” to win at the World Cup, and they’ve slipped; dozens of baseball teams should have won the World Series but imploded; even favored Olympians have ended up with a Bronze when they should have won the Gold—all because the expectations destroyed them psychologically.

But that didn’t happen to Chelsea.

José Mourinho walked in with his arrogance and declared that he was the “Special One.” Thus all pressure was magically lifted from Chelsea. No one cared to bother the players, to dog their every move, to examine them until they caved.

All anyone cared about was the arrogant jerk who set himself above Wenger and Fergie and every other manager in the world.

Second, Mourinho’s arrogance causes fear and trepidation in managers and squads alike.

Sure, there are one or two managers who cannot be fazed by his arrogant mind games, and a couple teams that cannot be daunted by how “special” Mourinho and his teams are, but most managers and squads can be fazed and daunted, and it shows in the way they play.

Managers tend to be more conservative against Mourinho; squads tend to be too respectful of Mourinho’s men, giving them space to control the game; hence, Mourihno’s arrogance makes his foes more likely to lose.

Of course, arrogance eventually loses its ability to confound the competition. And that is the risk Mourinho takes in his career.

His greatness can only work for a team for a short period, and then he must move on.

But so long as there are leagues he hasn’t conquered and trophies he hasn’t won, the “Special One” will be ready to dazzle his competition with the x-factor that makes him great—his arrogance.

And what a gift it is.

Next up: Fabio Capello

On Deck: Arsene Wenger

Sir Alex Ferguson: What Makes Manchester United's Manager Truly Great?

Brad Simkulet — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:19:56 -0400

There can be no denying that Sir Alex Ferguson is a great manager.

During his career, which stretches from St. Mirren to Manchester United, he has won 14 domestic titles, 20 domestic cups (including England’s Community Shield 8 times), and seven European or International Cups.

That total puts his greatness beyond all debate.

But what is it in Alex Ferguson that has driven him to such outrageous success? Many would say there are too many reasons to be counted, and they might be right. But I say it all boils down to one factor—his ability to make audaciously risky decisions and stick by them no matter what fans, pundits, and his players think.

The man trusts himself, and that makes him the ultimate managerial winner.

Yes, he’s a solid tactician. Yes, he’s got an eye for talent and the pocketbook to bring them to Old Trafford. Yes, he’s a heck of a motivator. Yes, he’s as intimidating to other managers and teams as the Red Devils' stadium. And yes, he’s a man you wouldn’t want to cross.

But, all of these things are a testament to Fergie's belief in himself and his decisions.

Who else would have supported Rio Ferdinand during his year-long drug test suspension? No one. Who else would have sent Beckham packing at the height of his talent? No one. Who else would have cut off his right hand after using him and his infamous mouth to instill fear in his younger, arrogant players? No one.

Who else would have brought in an aging Swede for a title push for only half a season? No one (at least not in the Premiership). Who else would have thrown Ole Gunner Solskjær in at the end of a Champion’s League Final? Maybe a few, but I doubt it.

What is glaringly obvious about each of these moments is that Fergie acts the way Fergie believes will work—and it almost always does.

In most cases, like sticking by Rio or sending Beckham to Madrid and Keane out the door, his decisions are calculated for the long-term and precisely weighted. They leave us scratching our heads, but they always turns out to be sound.

In other cases, like the addition of aging Henrik Larsson or the use of Solskjær, the decisions are short-term or instant, more a product of Fergie’s gut, and they also turn out to be entirely valid.

And these are only a recent handful of his risky decisions. He’s been taking these kind of risks for his entire career.

Don’t believe me? Well, you should. You can’t take Aberdeen to European glory without taking risks. Just ask Don's fans.

And how else do you explain Fergie's second love, horse racing? You can't love the ponies if you don't love taking chances.

Simply put, Sir Alex Ferguson is a risk taker. The ultimate football risk taker. And, wouldn’t it be beautiful to see him taking those risks for the combined British team in the 2012 Olympics?

If he does, you can be sure that Gold will be coming to the UK.

Next up: Jose Mourhino

On Deck: Fabio Capello

West Ham Termination: Fredrik Ljungberg Out of Upton Park

Brad Simkulet — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:59:36 -0400

After only one season and 25 starts with the Hammers, Fredrik Ljungberg has been released by the London Club.

One year ago, Ljungberg made a surprise £3 million move from Arsenal to West Ham, citing the need for a new challenge and West Ham's burgeoning ambition as motivators for the move.

Ljungberg never really made an impact on the West Ham side despite his successful nine year stint with Arsenal, which included one undefeated season, two League titles, and three FA Cups.

He is said to be weighing his options, and while he hasn't ruled out retirement, he is apparently considering interest from both Asia and the MLS.

"I gave my all at West Ham and enjoyed my time there," said Ljungberg on West Ham's official website, "But the decision is the best for the both of us. Now I will take my time to consider my football future."

The termination of Ljungberg's contract is said to be "mutually acceptable to both parties."

Arsenal Experience: Do The Young Gunners Need It Or Are They Making It?

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:56:17 -0400

There’s much talk floating around about what Arsenal needs in the transfer market to succeed in the upcoming season.

A powerful central defender is generally agreed to be a necessity, someone in the mold of Tony Adams, but it is a team role that Arsene Wenger has assured fans he will not be strengthening.

Instead, Wenger’s focus is in the holding midfield role, where the main candidates being discussed are Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry, Udinese’s Gokhan Inler, and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso.

The Gunners’ loss of Gilberto Silva and Mattheiu Flamini has certainly precipitated Wenger’s interest in defensive midfielders.

Wenger does have a couple of talented youngsters who could fill the position, most notably Abou Diaby and Denilson, with the latter being the most likely choice, having already filled that role from time to time. Most pundits suggest, however, that what Arsenal needs most in a defensive midfielder is “experience,” which, it is implied, neither Diaby nor Denilson have.

And these same pundits seem to think that Wenger’s best choice for the position, despite the manager's comments to the contrary, is Barry.

This raises some interesting questions.

What constitutes “experience”? And does Barry have it?

If experience means nothing but age, 27-year-old Barry is a good choice. But if experience means more than age, if experience means playing in tough situations, huge tournaments and meaningful cup games, Gareth Barry might not be the best choice after all.

Compare Barry’s numbers to 20-year-old Denilson’s: Barry has 38 goals in 327 appearances for Aston Villa; Denilson has zero goals in 35 senior appearances split between Sao Paulo and Arsenal.

Barry has 20 senior caps for the English National side; Denilson has zero senior caps for Brazil, but he captained their U17s to the 2005 South American Championship title, and remains captain of Brazil’s U20s.

Barry was in the losing side for the 1999/2000 FA Cup and won the 2001 Intertoto Cup; Denilson was in the losing side for the 2007 Carling Cup, but he won the Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Championship with Sao Paulo.

So far as playing and leadership experience are concerned the two men are comparable (Barry captains Aston Villa and he served as England U18 captain), but as far as trophies are concerned Denilson Pereira Neves has the decided advantage.

So is it just age? Is it simply emotional maturity that matters? Perhaps so, but winning things must have some sort of positive impact on a player’s maturity and experience.

Considering the comparison between Barry and his potential Gunner competition, what makes Barry a better choice than Alonso, whom the most recent rumors have Arsenal linked to once again?

Probably the only thing that edges Barry as a potential target past Alonso, a man who has won the Champion’s League, the European Cup, and the FA Cup, is that Barry is English, which has nothing to do with experience and everything to do with necessity in the Blatter/Platini era.

Clearly, Alonso is superior in experience to Barry, and it is arguable that Barry is only vaguely and intangibly more experienced than Denilson. So couple these facts with Barry's outrageous £18 million price tag, and he becomes an extremely unlikely target for Arsene Wenger.

Furthermore, knowing Wenger’s love for youth, Alonso also seems an unlikely choice even if he would be the perfect fit with his amigo, Fabregas.

The most likely signing, it seems to me, is Inler, despite Udinese’s insistence that Inler is not for sale. The 24-year-old Swiss International fits the bill for Wenger's transfer policy and game philosophy: he is cheap, fast, strong, and young.

As for experience, he has played in an Euro Cup, which is more “top level” experience than Barry can claim.

Let’s face it: Pundits and fans may want Wenger to buy experience, and he may even pay lip service to experience in interviews, but when it comes down to it Wenger buys “quality” and lets the “experience” come as it will.

Expect Inler or some other surprising “quality” defensive midfielder to be joining Arsenal soon, rather than the unlikely Alonso

And just forget about Barry. It ain’t going to happen.

Carling Cup Glory: It's Time For Arsenal To Win This Year's Competition

Brad Simkulet — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:41:21 -0400

After watching Arsenal's young Gunners manhandle Stuttgart today, I am heading down to my nearest betting office and putting money on the Arsenal, right now, to win this year’s Carling Cup.

There’s always lots of talk about the talented youth at Arsenal, but that youth is a little older, a lot more talented, and ready to start going some serious damage at a high level.

They took on a nearly full strength Stuttgart side that won this year's Intertoto Cup on Sunday, and beat them 3-1 with goals in the second half from Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner and 16 year old Jack Wilshere (a player so new to Arsenal's reserves that he doesn't even have a picture on their official website).

Sure it's pre-season, but for a crew of youngsters to take on a crew of internationals and dominate them is impressive whenever it happens. But I digress.

In last season's Carling Cup the young Gunners made it to the semis where they were famously dismantled by their North London rivals, Tottenham. Spurs went on to win the whole thing, but if recent action by Arsenal's youth is any indication of things to come 2009 will not see a repeat of 2008.

Just consider Arsenal’s probable Carling Cup starting XI: Lukasz Fabianski, Armand Traore, Philippe Senderos, Johan Djourou, Justin Hoyte, Jack Wilshere, Alexandre Song, Aaron Ramsey, Mark Randall, Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner.

There are a few players in that group who will be semi-regular in the Arsenal first team, but most of the side are subs and reserves. Yet it’s still a side that any of the teams just promoted to the Premier League would love to boast.

Now consider the subs Arsene Wenger will likely draw upon: Vito Mannone, Tomas Rosicky, Eduardo da Silva, Gavin Hoyte, Theo Walcott, Nacer Barizite, Amauray Bischoff.

Not a bad bench.

This is all speculation of course, but it is an educated guess built on Wenger’s consistent use of the Carling Cup to both rehabilitate injured players and blood his youth. This season that policy will likely bear fruit.

Arsenal’s young Gunners can do impressive things, and winning the Carling Cup is absolutely within their grasp.

Watch for Vela and Bendtner to dominate the scoring, Ramsay, Wilshire and Song to dominate every midfield they face, and Arsenal’s baby defense to finally show signs of real strength.

Who cares about the Carling Cup?

Well, most Premier League fans don’t care about the Carling Cup, but their clubs give them no reason to care.

Some may think the same can be said about Arsenal, but that’s not the case.

Youth is so important to everything Arsenal does, that every true Gunner knows and loves the young players nearly as well as they know and love the first team regulars.

The Carling Cup is as important to Arsenal as it is to any team in the Coca Cola Championship and beyond.

The Arsenal want to win. Their players want to win. And this year I am betting nothing will stop that from happening.

Water, Sand, and Babes: The Sports To Watch at The Summer Olympics

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:30:53 -0400

I am not a fan of the Summer Olympics.

I grew up in Calgary and lived there when they hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988. My mom was a figure skating coach, so alpine skiing, hockey, bobsled, speed skating, ski jumping, skeleton, and cross-country skiing always meant the Olympics to me.

Add the fact that the quality of all the “summer” sports I really love to watch, like baseball, football (soccer), boxing, and tennis, pale in comparison to their professional or international counterparts and there is no real choice for me.

I prefer the Winter Olympics.

But there are two events that can make me tune in no matter what else is going on in my life.

One provides artistry and titillating physical control. The other provides frantic motion, agility, and surprising bursts of strength.

Most importantly, they both provide male fans with perfect venues for a little summer afternoon voyeurism no matter who we have for companionship.

I am, of course, talking about synchronized swimming and womens' beach volleyball.

There are numerous ways to enjoy these sports.

You can watch these sports with your wife or girlfriend, validating your “metrosexuality” (or your deep understanding of your feminine side) by discussing the “artistic impressions” of a lovely Russian water duet or the “strength and speed” of some sweaty American girls in bikinis with their legs covered in sand.

If you play your cards right this can even lead to some summer sports of your own.

Or, if you prefer, you can watch synchro and beach volleyball with your straight friends, actively appreciating the inner diameter slope of an Australian swimmer’s strong thighs or admiring the bosoms of beautiful, exotic, lean women in tight sports bra/bikini tops as they jump and jiggle for the balls.

Watching with the boys does lack the potential ancillary benefit of watching with your lady, but who doesn’t love to sit around with the boys, drink some beers, and drool over babes? Exactly.

But wait! If your wife or your straight friends aren’t available you can even enjoy these sports with your gay friends, pondering the underlying gynocentrism of dance in the pool or the violent, man-hating, beating of balls on the beach.

So if you play your cards right, a day watching synchronized swimming and womens' beach volleyball can even become an exercise in sports and philosophy.

Yes, when it comes to the Summer Olympics there is really no sports that can compare with Synchronized Swimming and Womens' Beach Volleyball.

Sure, some may suggest Womens' Gymnastics, but that’s all a little too Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for me.

I’ll take healthy, well-waxed, nose plugged swimmers, or strong, well-waxed, deeply tanned volleyballers any summer day.

On second thought, maybe I am a fan of the Summer Olympics after all.

Arsene Wenger's Baby Gunners: Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey Are Ones To Watch

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:53:28 -0400

Arsene Wenger's skill for nurturing talent is legendary, and two new members of Arsenal’s first team squad look likely to be the next boys that the Frenchman turns into men.

Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela have taken very different paths to the Gunners (the youth program at Cardiff City for the former and three Spanish sides via Guadalajara, Mexico for the latter), but both have shown great promise in Arsenal’s warm–up fixtures, particularly in the 10-2 slaughter of Austria’s Burgenland XI.

Granted, the Bergenland XI posed no serious challenge to the youngest Gunners, but that doesn’t reduce the obvious quality these two players possess.

Vela had the flashiest day, completing Arsenal’s second hat track (Nicklas Bendtner struck the first) just before the hour mark. He also had two shouts for a penalty, one in each half, which the Austrian ref ignored.

But scoring goals and the threat of goals wasn’t what was most impressive about Vela’s performance. It was his poise with his first touch.

His foot is glue, and when the ball hits it sticks. But that's not all. Once the ball is stuck to Vela’s foot he has the patience to wait for his opening and pick his spot carefully, even under pressure, before taking the shot.

Can he do the same against Chelsea and Liverpool? Only time will tell, but if he can, he will be one of Arsenal’s most dangerous and important men in front of an opposition goal.

If nothing else, maybe Vela can teach Emmanuel Adebayor a thing or two about bringing balls under control.

Aaron Ramsey is also exceptionally talented with the ball at his feet, only in a different way from Vela, rivalling outgoing Alexander Hleb as a dribbler of the ball. His footwork kept the Burgenland XI constantly at bay, as would be expected against such weak opposition, but Ramsey was equally strong against a much tougher Barnet side in Arsenal's opening training fixture a week before.

Close control is not the only thing Ramsey has going for him, however.

Much like his potential midfield partner Cesc Fabregas, Ramsey appears to have a natural talent for finding space in the midfield. Every time he touches the ball there seems to be an empty zone that surrounds him.

Still, his game still has some holes, particularly when it comes to defending from set pieces, but the boy is still only 17. If his skills grow at Arsenal, as they should, Ramsey may soon be pushing for a place in the England side ahead of teammate Theo Walcott.

First things first, though. Ramsey and Vela need to make Arsenal's starting 11, which is a notoriously tough nut to crack. Just ask Bendtner and Walcott.

Even so, if Ramsey and Vela continue as they've started they should be pushing for a regular place in Wenger's team in very short order.

Arsenal's Greatest: Offering an Alternative Top Five

Brad Simkulet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:33:18 -0400

Recently a www.arsenal.com poll asked their readers to vote for the creation of the Gunners’ Greatest 50 Players List, and as fan voted lists go, it was pretty fair. But, of course, I couldn’t help but disagree.

How could any fan not?

So here are my top five Gunners and why agree or disagree with their rank on the official Arsenal list.

1. Tony Adams (3rd on the Arsenal list)

He is the god of Arsenal. The all-father of our pantheon.

Tony Adams, known to the Gunner faithful as 'Mr. Arsenal' spent “fourteen years as captain, [with] 669 appearances and 10 major trophies, including League titles in three different decades.” For Gunners in their thirties, Adams is Arsenal.

He is the face I think of when I think of Arsenal. I think of him before Wenger, before Henry, and before anyone who’s playing for the Gunners today.

Some would say he doesn't deserve top spot because of his personal life, but I think his humanity and failures, like his imprisonment and alcoholism, make him even more important as an Arsenal captain and hero.

Tony Adams never gave up. He overcame. And he bridged the gap from “boring, boring Arsenal” to Wenger’s beautiful game. He may not be Arsenal’s best player, but when everything about him is put together and considered he is the greatest. Absolutely.

2. Ian Wright (4th on the Arsenal list)

Any list like this is bound to prefer goal scorers over everyone else, and while that is something of a shame, it is also understandable. Goals are fun to watch. Goals win games. And no man scored more game winners for Arsenal than Ian Wright.

Sure, Theirry Henry scored more goals, and much more beautiful goals, but Ian Wright scored an incredible number of goals during the George Graham years when “One-nil to the Arsenal” was coined.

One hundred and eighty five goals for Arsenal is incredible at any time, but it is even more impressive at a time when Wright didn't receive the service that was possible in the Wenger years. Wright is, quite simply, Arsenal’s most impressive goal scorer.

3. Thierry Henry (1st on the Arsenal list)

Two hundred and twenty six Arsenal goals.

Henry didn’t just beat Ian Wright’s goal scoring record, he smashed it, and maybe that is what earned him a place above Ian Wright on the list.

It is an achievement that earns him an undeniable place in the pantheon of Arsenal greats, but looking at the goal scoring record, and the goal scoring record alone, ignores some important factors that should influence his final ranking.

First, Henry scored his goals while being fed chances by the “Invincibles” and their close relatives; it had to have been a lot easier than scoring from the half chances that were Wright’s bread and butter.

Second, there was Henry's unsuccessful stint as Arsenal captain, and that can’t be swept aside. It was his greatest challenge, but I feel he needed to pass if he was to truly deserve a higher place in the pantheon.

I'm not saying he isn't great. He is. And third place is a healthy position. I just don't think he can be considered the greatest.

4. Liam Brady (8th on the Arsenal list)

Quite simply, Liam Brady was the best midfielder Arsenal ever had. He made Arsenal punch above their weight at a time when Arsenal had no business playing as well as they did.

He made goals, he scored goals, he bossed the midfield and we loved him. I’d take Brady over Vieira, Fabregas, or anyone else you can name. If only he was playing today...

5. Cliff Bastin (18th on the Arsenal list)

If Ian Wright and Theirry Henry are in the top five based on their goal scoring record, then Cliff Bastin has to join them.

The man played outside left and scored 178 goals in 395 games in a career cut short by the war. It took nearly sixty years for his record to fall at the feet of Wrighty, and if that isn’t worth a place in the top five I don’t know what is.

Let’s not sweep him to 18th place simply because none of us saw him play. He is Arsenal’s history, and he deserves to be ahead of the vast number of Gunners on our all-time list.

Should We Care About the MLS All-Star Game? You Bet We Should

Brad Simkulet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:42:26 -0400

World Football may not be familiar with names like Pat Onstad, Dwayne De Rosario or David Beckham (sorry...couldn’t resist that one), but that doesn’t make their appearance in our All-Star game any less impressive.

Admittedly an All-Star game is not very football-like. You expect an All-Star game from Baseball, American Football, Hockey and Basketball, but football, or soccer if you prefer, is just not an "All-Star game" sort of sport.

I get that.

And, you know, I’d hate to see a Premiership All-Star game or a La Liga All-Star Game, but I can’t help getting excited about what the MLS does every year.

It has given North Americans a chance to see some great teams, like Chelsea and Celtic, who manage to make a competitive match of it even though they are in their pre-season warm-ups.

Some would say that the competetiveness of these matches reveals the lack of quality in the North American game, but it needs to be remembered that the MLS All-Stars have only played together as a team for two days of practice before they face their friendly rivals, which does mitigate their fitness advantage to some extent.

Regardless, the games are often very entertaining, and last night’s All-Star game at BMO Field, the home of Toronto FC, was another example.

The MLS All-Stars defeated Alan Curbishley’s West Ham United by a score of 3-2 in a game that was packed with almost everything a fan could want.

Dean Ashton opened the scoring with a cracking shot to beat MLS and New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Ries. Then West Ham almost immediately conceded an equalizer when Colorado Rapids Midfielder Christian Gomez struck a near-carbon copy of Ashton’s goal at the other end.

Just before the half, the Chicago Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who had already made Gomez’s goal, struck the goal of the match from the edge of the box, curling the ball around the outstretched gloves of Robert Green.

Blanco was off at the beginning of the second half, and it took a while for the MLS All-Stars to get back to their attack, long enough for Dean Ashton to lace a shot at the net and watch it take a crazy ricochet off Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad and past Reis for a Hammers equalizer.

The final drama was left for Toronto native and Houston Dynamo Dwayne De Rosario.

The attacking midfielder drew West Ham captain Lucas Neill into a somewhat rash challenge, took a dive and somehow got the penalty call from the ref.

There were no boos from the hometown fans, however, when he bashed the spot kick against the underside of the crossbar and the ball ping-ponged into the net for the game-winner.

Five goals, some beautiful and some ugly, a dive in the box, a penalty kick, some poor refereeing, some surprisingly effective footwork by David Beckham (LA Galaxy), and some excellent end-to-end football made the 2008 Pepsi/MLS All-Star game a match to remember for the legion of North America’s burgeoning football fans.

That is why the MLS All-Star game is something we should all care about.

It is exactly the sort of forum, odd though it may be, to kindle a love of club football in the psyches of all North Americans.

Every year, more and more fans enjoy the MLS. It may never be their favourite league, particularly when anyone can find a TV package to watch better football from across the sea, but as the MLS quality grows, its drawing power grows.

North American kids may just find themselves loving the team and pitch they grew up watching right in their backyard, and isn’t that what we North Americans are always told is the true heart of being a football fan? Supporting your local side? If that is so, the MLS All-Star game is a key component in our recipe to becoming true fans.

So it’s time that everyone in North America who cares about football picked a North American team to cheer for and got excited about our game.

The more we care, the more the MLS will improve. It will never match La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 or the Premiership, but it could come damn close. And how cool would that be?

Hating Alexander Hleb, or Why Want-Away Players Should Shut Their Mouths.

Brad Simkulet — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:56:42 -0400

I try to hold myself above being angry at footballers who leave my team, and usually I succeed.

When Thierry Henry left Arsenal, even after he said he would be a Gunner for life, I quickly forgave him and moved on. When Freddie Ljungberg left for West Ham I was annoyed and a little amused by his claim that he was going to West Ham for “a chance at hardware,” but in my heart I wished him well for his loyal service and for that great red Mohawk.

Hell, I'm even forgiving of Mathieu Flamini (of whom I may be the only fan in the world) and feel that Arsenal is to blame for his departure, not the man himself.

Admittedly, I was less successful controlling myself when Sol Campbell went mental and Ashley Cole Adebayored his way into Stamford Bridge, but I always managed to keep my anger to a minimum.

I can’t be so kind when it comes to Alexander Hleb.

The man needs to shut up, and for the second time (sorry Cashley) I do not wish an ex-Gunner well in his chosen move.

Hleb is just not that good. He is not Ljungberg, he is not Pires, and though I am sure he aspires to be as good as these great Gunners it was never going to happen.

Therefore, how can Hleb possibly imagine himself to be too big for Arsenal?

Undoubtedly, his idiot agent has something to do with that. Perhaps, also, it has to do with the fact that he is the finest player for his national team. Which team is that again? Oh yeah, Belarus!

My 4-year-old son (hey... he has scored 14 goals in seven games) would probably rank second on the Belarussian team, just behind Hleb, so that's not much of an accomplishment.

The truth is that Hleb is only slightly above average.

He had two awful seasons with Arsenal, and one passable one. Yes, he is great with the ball at his feet, but he often makes poor choices when passing. He is petulant and dangerous when he tackles, and he was saved more than once last season when he was dispossessed by Flamini and Fabregas. He never shoots the ball, and when he does it is almost always weak or off-target.

And this is the man who feels he is too good for Arsenal and can then speak intelligently about what is wrong with the North London club.

He’s already off in Barcelona trying to unsettle Fabregas and Adebayor (as if the Togolese ego needs any more unsettling), and then he compounds his already aggravating behavior by being quoted in the Daily Telegraph as saying, “When he [Wenger] leaves, I think this is a difficult time coming for Arsenal.”

So now he is not only unsettling current Arsenal players but, potentially, future Arsenal signings.

It’s a shabby display, and it shows very little knowledge of a side he has been a part of for three years.

No team who loses a manager of Wenger’s caliber will be absolutely okay when that manager leaves (both Arsenal and Man Utd fans have to be at least a little afraid with life after their leaders), but from the very beginning Wenger has been preparing Arsenal for his absence.

It is not just Wenger alone who finds the talent hiding in France, Belgium, Mexico, and wherever else, it is a huge scouting system that now runs almost on its own.

Wenger has implemented fitness and health regimes that will not disappear when he leaves, and the Emirates Stadium will make it easier and easier, year after year, for future managers to plug the gaps with experienced players.

The future isn’t just bright under Wenger, Arsenal’s future is bright period.

But then how can I expect the man who once claimed the hustle and bustle of London was too much for him, only to want away to Barcelona, to have any logic when it comes to the team he has left behind and is now trying to mess with even after getting what he wanted? I can’t. And I don’t.

But I'll tell you what I will do.

I will watch Barcelona religiously this season looking for one beautiful bit of comeuppance that is sure to arrive numerous times a game: Monsieur Henry glowering at Hleb after an errant pass.

It was the image that encapsulated Hleb’s two crappy seasons at Arsenal, and it is sure to be a regular addition to match day at Camp Nou. It was also obvious how much Hleb hated it, so seeing it every week will give my Hleb-hate a pleasant jolt of weekly vengeance.

Arsenal: Why We Don't Need Any More Transfers

Brad Simkulet — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:28:47 -0400

Two midfielders in, three midfielders out, and rumors of more moves on the horizon seem to be making it a nervy summer for Arsenal fans. But are the nerves really necessary?

The answer is definitely not.

To listen to pundits and fans talk it seems that there are massive holes all over Emirates Stadium, but in every supposed hole there is a possible solution.

The loss of Alexander Hleb, for instance, is no loss at all. His first two years at Arsenal were dismal, and his last year with the Gunners was merely promising. He had some impact and was one of the better parts of our team, but is in no way irreplaceable.

Enter Samir Nasri, a full French international with some solid years at Marseille, the confidence to take a shot on goal, and ball skills that rival and maybe even eclipse Hleb.

The loss of Arsenal’s two defensive midfielders, Flamini and Gilberto, seems more problematic because Wenger’s currently signed no replacements, so it is this position that is receiving most of the transfer speculation.

Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso are the leading candidates to make the transfer. Either would be welcome additions to any side.

Barry would raise the English-to-Foreign ratio on Arsenal, which will be important in the years to come and might give him the slight edge as a genuine target despite his inflated price tag.

But transferring in either of these men is probably unnecessary. Alexandre Song and Denilson have been growing with the reserves and with occasional first team action—even a loan spell in the case of Song—for the last couple of seasons, the time is right for them to step up into the first team.

Some argue that neither of these players are Cesc Fabregas, and that, therefore, their graduation to a permanent place on the squad is a mistake. But surely that argument is fallacious.

Fabregas is a prodigy. He came in at 17 to displace Patrick Vieira—one of the greats in Arsenal's central midfield—making not just the position but the team his own. That takes something special, and very few players are able to do that in the world, let alone on the same team.

But replacing Flamini and Gilberto is not the same as replacing Patrick Vieira.

Neither Denilson nor Song need to be better than the men they are replacing, only as good, and surely Denilson can be at least as good as Gilberto given a prolonged run in the side.

Moreover, Song’s few first team performances as a center back have shown him to be surprisingly promising. He is fast, tireless, and brave. The perfect combination for a defensive midfielder, which is Song’s preferred position.

And then there is Abou Diaby, who showed tremendous promise before his leg was shattered by Sunderland's Dan Smith, and has had trouble coming off the bench since regaining fitness. He plays a similar game to Vieira and could make great strides if he were given a chance to become a regular in the side.

There are options, and potentially good ones, even if it is a bit of a risk to go with the youth. Yet this is just the kind of risk that often pays off for Wenger, and the talent he nurtures.

Another important thing to consider is that all of Wenger’s young side are a year older. They are growing up and into their roles, and they will be better than they were last year.

Plus, his midfield general just won the Euro Cup with Spain, playing a significant role in that victory. Arsenal's experience is growing and growing.

Even beyond the midfield, prospects look bright.

Arsenal has a wealth of attackers, the best full backs in the league, and two top drawer first choice center backs in Gallas and Toure.

If there are any holes they are the reserve defensive positions. Senderos and Djourou are both better when they are playing regularly, which cannot happen unless there is an injury to the main men, and the rest of Arsenal’s defensive corp is relatively untested. But that also means that few fans have seen what's coming, but the rumblings about Nordtveit and others is, as always, promising.

It is important to remember too that even Gael Clichy was considered a sketchy replacement for Ashely Cole. But not anymore.

Like any team, Arsenal would benefit from the arrival of any excellent player, but the truth is that Arsenal doesn’t absolutely need a new player to succeed. They would help, they would be soothing to the collective Gooner consciousness, but they are not necessary.

Of course, no one will believe that until Arsenal win a significant competition with this new crop of players. But we'll all know for sure come May 24, 2009.

Brokeback Montanha: One Man's Love-Hate Relationship with Gilberto Silva

Brad Simkulet — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:30:52 -0400

Gilberto Silva has rarely done anything other than frustrate me, yet I find myself misty eyed at his departure.

Why? Easy.

Despite his being an energy sucking hole in the midfield, his tendency to make sloppy, poorly timed tackles, his occasional sketchiness as a protective shield for the defense, his lack of pace and his overwhelming desire to pass backwards, Gilberto seems to be a truly kind and inspirational guy.

He is well known to Arsenal fans as the man with the sad eyes, the big smile, and the mandolin. He's been a father figure to many of the younger players, particularly Denilson (whom he took under his wing shortly after the young Brazilian came to Arsenal). And more importantly, there never appeared to be a single teammate who didn't get along with him.

Then when Arsenal were sorely in need of a captain with Thierry Henry injured, Gilberto suddenly upped his game and filled the void to great effect. In fact, that short glowing period was probably Gilberto Silva’s finest spell at the club.

He scored goals from free kicks and the spot. He started pressing forward (a rarity from Gilberto), and he gave some much needed experience, and thereby confidence, to the very young Gunners that surrounded him.

And all of this after recovering from a broken bone in his vertebrae, which healed after only a year off.

But Gilberto Silva’s best moment in an Arsenal kit came last season when he was displaced in the midfield by Mathieu Flamini. While Jens Lehmann grumbled and complained about losing the number one spot to Manuel Almunia, Gilberto Silva quietly went about his business, training well, coming on when needed, and supporting the team the best he could.

Even when pressed by journalists to express his discontent over sitting on the bench, Gilberto maintained a “wait and see” attitude. The man is obviously a class act, and I am truly happy for him that he received a hero’s welcome at Panathanaikos.

He was easy to mock and shake my head at when he was wearing the gun, but I am going to miss him.

Now that he’s moved on, though, I have a new summer dilemma: Who is going to be the target of my anger and frustration all season long? After Pascal Cygan left it became Gilberto, but now that Gilberto’s gone it could be a tough call.

Oh wait... I just remembered that big, bald, Swiss bloke who likes to run really slowly in front of goal. Senderos, you’re the new man I'll love to hate. Promise.

San Siro Surprise: Arsenal Continue to Fight

Brad Simkulet — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:03:00 -0500

Now that Arsenal fans have spent the superlatives and the bile has poured forth from the dissenters, it is time to make a reasonable assessment of what happened at the San Siro.

There can be little argument that Arsenal were great.

Despite what some people have said, Milan did not play poorly. Arsenal actually did play that well.

Carlo Ancellotti said it best: “[Arsenal] deserved to qualify because they did not allow us to play as we wanted.” An honorable and bang-on assessment of the match.

And that’s saying a lot considering last night’s loss for Milan is likely the death knell of Ancelotti’s Rosseneri coaching career.

Elsewhere on the pitch, Mathieu Flamini announced his presence to anyone and everyone who has so far failed to pay attention to his abilities. Flamini (with some help from Sagna and Fabregas) nullified the World Footballer of the Year, and silencing Kaka takes some doing.

It was done so well, in fact, that Kaka’s frustration reached an uncharacteristically petulant level. He earned a yellow card for dissent after Sagna closed him down for the umpteenth time.

Arsenal fans should also be thrilled by the possibility that Theo Walcott has finally earned himself a place in the starting 11.

Walcott has featured in three straight games now, and he has made an impact in each and every one of them. And setting up Adebayor’s injury time goal after breaking Kaladze’s tackle was even better than his two goals against Birmingham.

Moreover, Walcott’s goals and assists may just lead to a relegation of Emmanuel Eboue to the bench.

Eboue is insufferable and much hated by the bulk of Arsenal fans, whereas Walcott is much loved despite the pace of his development. Theo’s performance suggests that it won’t be long before Eboue is slithering out of Wenger’s reckoning—and staying there.

So Arsenal's victory was well earned, but it was also an impressive show of a team-wide ability to overcome adversity.

Humiliating losses to Tottenham and Man Utd., in-fighting between strikers, a horrific injury that debilitated the entire squad and led to two tough draws, and an overly emotional captain losing the plot at a critical moment—these are the sorts of happenings that can kill a team.

Arsenal didn't let that happen, though. And many positives over and above mere victory came out of their “coming of age” at the San Siro.

Of course all the aforementioned, but then there’s also the brilliant performance of Cesc Fabregas, the return of Arsenal’s team spirit, and the excellent tactical display by Arsene Wenger. Even Arsenal’s little record of being the first English team to beat Juventus, Real Madrid, and AC Milan in their strongholds!

But it is just one step.

It’s one step toward this year’s Champions League Final. It’s one step forward in the young Gunners’ burgeoning careers. It’s one step in this squad’s march to greatness.

But it is only one step.

This Arsenal team can and will win trophies. They proved their metal and true potential at the San Siro.

Will they win something this year? I think so, but even if they don’t it is not the end of the world for them or for their fans.

They are just starting to grow, and when they reach their full potential they will be unstoppable.

Until those trophies come, however, let’s just enjoy watching them develop.

And with any luck twenty years from now my son and I will watch Arsenal in a CL game, and we’ll see Cesc Fabregas play his final European match with the same dignity and class Paulo Maldini displayed the other night.

European football will be diminished without Maldini, and I am sad he had to lose. But if his unparalleled career came to an end just as other great careers were born, this is a fitting tribute to the Italian legend.

Arsenal is Done

Brad Simkulet — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:00:39 -0500

I saw the end of Arsenal’s season today, and I don’t feel as bad about it as I thought I would.

In fact, I feel shockingly okay about what I saw today.

When this season began no one gave Arsenal a chance to even finish in the top four, expecting the Gunners to lose their spot to Tottenham Hotspur. But a top four finish is very nearly unassailable.

When this season began, everyone but Arsene Wenger and Sir Fergie thought the loss of Henry was a massive mistake, but his absence liberated an Arsenal squad who needed to play for each other rather than their superstar.

So put in context the 2007/2008 season is a triumph no matter what happens in the end, and it provides the groundwork for a serious run at trophies next season

But today I saw the end of Arsenal's season, and it wasn't pretty.

I saw four things today that make me believe the Gunners won’t finish first and they won’t win a trophy. Here they are:

1. Eduardo’s injury was ugly.

It came from a sloppy an unintentionally dangerous tackle. The red card was the right call, but Wenger’s call for Martin Taylor’s career to end with his sloppy tackle was more than a little over-the-top (although it is important to note that Wenger has withdrawn his comment after seeing the replays). All that aside, it was a massive blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.

Eduardo da Silva has become an intregal part of the Arsenal attack.

It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t scored as many goals as Adebayor in recent weeks. His presence makes space for Adebayor, he helps link the midfield to the goal, he is a constant worry for defenses, and most importantly, he has settled into the rhythm that Arsenal have developed over the season.

When he is replaced by Bendtner the rhythm breaks down, and when Robin van Persie comes back it is unlikely he will be able to step seamlessly into Eduardo’s role.

That’s not to say that van Persie couldn’t single handedly save Arsenal’s season -- he could -- but he could also struggle to get comfortable and throw Arsenal’s attack into disarray.

Eduardo will be missed, and I think missing him will be decisive.

2. Almunia’s hands are a little questionable.

McFadden’s free kick was a dinger (so was his penalty kick. Great game, McFadden). But Almunia got a hand to it, and I’ve always been taught by my coaches that if I get my hand on the ball there is no excuse for it hitting the twine.

I know that’s not always possible, and I’ve touched more than a few that I couldn’t save, but then I play for crappy teams with other overweight middle aged beer guzzlers -- and I pay for the right to be bad. I don’t make a ton of cash in North London playing for Arsenal like Almunia does. His standards have to be higher than mine.

I am not saying that Lehmann is the answer, nor am I saying that Almunia is terrible.

Lehmann was great once, but his prime has passed.

But there has to be a better keeper out there than Almunia. I love him as a back-up. But I want a keeper who can steal us games. Almunia is not that guy but for now Arsenal is stuck with him. That will cost us dear.

3. Adebayor’s ego is out of control.

I don’t know if Adebayor saw that Nicklas Bendtner was wide open when he decided to take that low shot in the second half or not. I don’t know if it was linked to their row of a couple weeks back. I don’t care.

Adebayor played it selfish. Adebayor made the wrong choice. Adebayor lost the points. Simple as that.

Sure we can point to Clichy giving away the penalty in extra time (which was a dodgy penalty at best. Clichy got the ball, then the man. That’s no penalty). But if Bendtner had scored, as he should have and would have, Arsenal would have won 3-2.

Adebayor’s ego got in the way. And it gets in the way too often.

4. Gallas gave up.

I felt for William Gallas today. But he was also the man who told me that the season was over.

His tears at the end of the game wrenched me.

I’ve been impressed with him all season, and he did better as captain than I ever expected. But today, when Arsenal lost, Gallas was devastated.

I will not be surprised to see him give up from now on. And I’ll be only slightly surprised to see him leave in the off season. Gallas body language said it all.

The season ended against Birmingham.

What a shame that Senderos third successive excellent performance and Theo Walcott’s best game in Arsenal red should have ended the way it did. But that’s football.

I hope my gut is wrong and that there is a trophy out there for Arsenal. If I’ve misread the things I saw today, and we do win a trophy...well, that will make an excellent season a complete success. If not there is always next season.

And in the end, I am proud of the Gunners no matter what happens.

Mathieu Flamini’s Not-So-Surprising Rise in Arsenal's Midfield

Brad Simkulet — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:34:57 -0500

Anyone who consistently watches Arsenal football will be familiar with some version of what’s become a commentator mantra:

“No one could have expected Mathieu Flamini’s improvement this season.”

Undoubtedly, Flamini is having the season of his life, but for many Arsenal fans it is entirely expected.

Don’t believe me?

As the 2007-2008 season began, I faced my traditionally difficult dilemma: Whose name would I get on the back of my jersey?

My choices were down to two—Robin van Persie and Mathieu Flamini.

I chose van Persie.

Clearly I made an error since van Persie has spent his season in the treatment room, but I should be forgiven that error considering the preseason rumours of a Flamini departure.

What’s important in my personal story is that before “the season of his life” began, Mathieu Flamini was already an Emirates hero of mine. And I know I am not alone amongst Arsenal fans.

So why are we not surprised by Mathieu Flamini’s fantastic season?

Three reasons: his fitness, his tenacity, and his fantastic spell as Arsenal’s left back.

On a team as universally fit as Arsenal one must be an incredible specimen to be considered the most fit—and Flamini is that. For ground covered, most good players average 10-11 kms. Flamini is currently beating that total by three, averaging an excellent 14 kms a game, and he is always as fresh in the 89th minute as he is in the first.

More importantly, however, his work rate is not all that is exceptional. It’s what he does with his work rate. His tracking back is impeccable, his tackles are spot on, and his attacking influence is always growing.

And that’s where his tenacity comes in—Flamini never, EVER, gives up. The rare time that Flamini makes an errant pass, he chases down the recipient and gets the ball back.

The rare time he blows a tackle and earns a yellow card he refuses to turn off and play it safe. He keeps tackling and making challenges.

He is so tenacious that his nickname in the Arsenal locker room is “Little Gattuso.” Certainly that says it all.

Moreover, it is Flamini’s natural tenacity that has kept him at the North London club. He has been on the fringe at Arsenal for as long as Fabregas has been at the heart of the first team, but he hasn’t given up. He’s played where he’s been asked, when he’s been asked, while always maintaining his desire to achieve a regular role in central midfield.

During the 2005-2006 season Arsenal had a serious crisis at left back. Ashley Cole and Clichy were hurt for the long haul, and Wenger tried player after player in the position before settling on Flamini as his best answer. Cygan, Senderos, Eboue, Hoyte all took a turn, but they were either hurt or not as good as Flamini, who took the position and made it his own until Clichy was healthy again.

He bombed up and down the flanks with impunity, reeking havoc on opposition defenders, sticking tight to opposition attackers and providing killer crosses, which have continued right into this season when they can finally be capitalised on by the airpower of Emmanuel Adebayor.

He was so good in the position that Wenger almost made Flamini Clichy’s permanent competition.

Lucky for Arsenal he didn’t. And luckier still that Flamini didn’t head back to France in the off season where he was guaranteed a starting place in central midfield by any number of French sides.

Instead, Mathieu Flamini decided to stay with the Gunners and fight for his place—a place that seemed unassailably Gilberto Silva’s. But stay he did, and Mathieu Flamini is now rightfully Arsenal’s number one choice to partner Cesc Fabregas.

As the season moves into its final phase, all teams begin to consider who their best players of the season have been. Commentators tell us that Arsenal’s most improved player is Flamini and their best player is Adebayor.

I disagree.

The most improved player must go to either Manuel Almunia or Alexander Hleb.

And for me the Player of the Year must be Flamini. He makes goals, he scores goals, and most importantly he prevents goals.

He is, quite simply, the best defensive midfielder in the English Premiership today—and he is Arsenal’s most valuable player.

Now all Arsene has to do is make sure Flamini signs that new contract.

He’s a player L’Arse can’t afford to lose.

EPL Title Chase: How Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United Can Win

Brad Simkulet — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:35:10 -0500

It’s facetious to say, but it’s true:

There are some obvious things Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea can do to win the League.

They need to stay fit, score goals, keep clean sheets, and win games. Whichever team manages the most of these important footballing elements will win the title.

Obviously.

But there are also a few less obvious things that each of the three can do to improve their chances...

Of the three, Arsenal have the least to do to improve their chances—despite the fact that Manchester United are favoured to win.

Arsenal most need to keep doing what they’re doing.

Goals are coming from almost everywhere. Adebayor and Eduardo continue to score from the front; Rosicky, Fabregas, and Flamini have been chipping in goals from the midfield, and even Bendtner’s been scoring goals when he comes on as a sub.

They are none too shabby in defence either.

In fact, they’ve been surprisingly solid in the absence of Kolo Toure. Even shaky Philippe Senderos has settled into his role beside William Gallas, returning to a semblance of the form he promised two seasons ago. And Manuel Almunia continues to silence his critics in goal.

Still, a quarterfinal knockout of the Ivory Coast from the African Cup of Nations wouldn’t hurt. Toure’s return would certainly add security, if nothing else. But that seems unlikely.

So what the Gunners really need is for Fabregas and Hleb to return to their dominant early season form.

They’ve both been decent, and Fabregas remains influential even when he’s having a bad game, but if both of them were to turn it on in the last third of the season, Arsenal would become nigh on impossible to beat.

Chelsea have the hardest task, simply because they're the farthest back, but a title is definitely not beyond their reach.

What they need most is consistency in midfield and attack, and the only one providing it right now is Michael Ballack.

In fact, their most consistent performers are either hurt or away at the African Cup of Nations, leaving the mercurial talents of Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips as their primary goal scoring threats.

On any given day one or the other can score a brilliant goal, but they are just as likely to miss a sitter, as Wright-Phillips did against Portsmouth on Saturday, leaving Chelsea in a position where the best they can do is grind out a result.

And more and more of those results will be draws unless Avram Grant’s side finds attacking consistency and finds it soon.

Beyond the Chelsea attack, Avram Grant needs to have the guts to stay with his in form players.

In the weeks to come, his injured and away players are going to start trickling back. But should Ballack, who has finally found his legs in the Premiership, be booted for Lampard?

The answer is decidedly no.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t be.

Likewise, Alex and Ricardo Carvahlo have created a strong partnership in defence, and even without Carvalho by his side Alex remains strong, but Alex will be quickly replaced when John Terry is healthy.

And that is not necessarily the best thing for Chelsea.

Indeed, the return of Lampard and Terry could very well be the undoing of the Blues.

Manchester United, on the other hand, have an entirely different problem facing them.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the Premiership’s most consistent player. He is in top form, he is healthy, and there seems to be nothing he can’t do.

But therein lies the rub—and potentially the toughest task facing any of the title hopefuls.

Ronaldo’s dominance is beginning to affect his teammates, and if anything happens to him or his form the Red Devils could find themselves in serious trouble.

Too often lately, United have relied on their superstar to win games. They are becoming less and less a team, and more and more a one-man show.

Tevez and Rooney occasionally show up with a goal, but their influence is dwindling. Giggs and Scholes are always looking for Ronaldo, which is completely out of character for them, and they are missing better passes to other players.

Only Nani seems unaffected by Ronaldo’s form, and he continues to go for goal regardless of Ronaldo’s field position.

Even worse for United is that their opposition is beginning to discover their Achilles' heel.

If a team can shut down Ronaldo, they can shut down the United.

It’s already happened this season at Upton Park and White Hart Lane. There’s no doubt it can happen again.

So how can the United players overcome their seemingly unwavering tendency to let the best player in their midst dominate their play?

It is up to Fergie or fate.

If fate manipulates proceedings and Ronaldo gets hurt, United’s other top players and their strength in depth will bring them back together as a team—stronger for Ronaldo’s absence.

Or Fergie can take matters into his own hands and manage his team into taking responsibility as a unit, with Ronaldo as an element of the team rather than their raison d’etre.

And while he’s at it, Sir Alex should entrench Michael Carrick in defensive midfield and drop Own Hargreaves.

(Only after Manchester United plays Arsenal in the FA cup, though. I’d much rather see the Gunners face the overrated Canadian than the underrated Englishman.)

All of this could be moot, of course, if Ronaldo stays in form.

If that happens, Manchester United must be considered favourites to win the Premiership.

But if something goes wrong in Ronaldo-ville the Red Devils could easily slip out of the race.

Chelsea and Arsenal fans everywhere will be making offerings to their gods for just such a slip up to occur.

I’m going to sacrifice a cow myself.

Manchester United-Tottenham: Spurs Defence Bedevils Red Devils

Brad Simkulet — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:08:12 -0500

It’s easy to forget how good a defender Jonathon Woodgate is, which is no surprise since his injuries mean we rarely see him play, but Manchester United were handed a stark reminder Saturday afternoon in their hard fought 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

In perhaps the gutsiest move of the January transfer window, Juande Ramos brought the Man of Glass over from Middlesborough to bolster his defence in the seemingly perpetual absence of Ledley King.

Perhaps bringing an always injured center back in to cover for another always injured center back isn’t the wisest idea, but it looked like a stroke of genius against Manchester United.

Woodgate wasn’t just exceptional in his position, his presence elevated the entire defence.

And none of his fellows benefited so much as Michael Dawson.

When Dawson is asked to play a lead role in the Spurs defence, he falls apart. But put Dawson in with a great partner—King or now Woodgate—and he looks like a world beater. He won the man of the match against United, and deservedly so.

He and Woodgate nullified Manchester United’s attack from start to finish, and Dawson’s poise and strength against Cristiano Ronaldo were first rate.

With the center of the Spurs defence rock solid, the wings of the Spurs defence could also excel, and Pascal Chimbonda and Alan Hutton did just that.

Both men menaced the Red Devils on the attack, and both men were back to clean up anything that needed cleaning.

Put all four Tottenham defenders together and they may very well have been the best defence in the Premiership this Saturday—an even more amazing feat considering that Alan Hutton is as new to the Spurs as Woodgate—having just completed his transfer from Glasgow Rangers—and want-away Pascal Chimbonda’s replacement, the other Gilberto, is on his way from Hertha Berlin.

And the fifth man in Spurs’ defence, Radek Cerny, wasn’t half-bad either. He made two fine saves and proved himself, again, to be a solid replacement for error prone Paul Robinson.

In the end, Manchester United’s only goal cannot be blamed on anyone in Tottenham’s defence. It was attacking midfielder Jamie O’Hara’s mistake. Some slack marking on his part, Carlos Tevas took advantage, and Manchester United stole a point.

It was a cruel blow to a defensive unit whose performance should have earned not only a victory but a clean sheet.

But Manchester United aren’t favoured to win the Premiership for nothing, and any mistake anywhere on the pitch can lead to a United goal.

Still, Tottenham won an important point for themselves and stole two important points from Manchester United—putting their North London rivals, Arsenal, back on top of the Premiership (thanks for that, by the way).

It was undoubtedly a bitter sweet draw for Tottenham, but it is a draw for which they can be truly proud.

But before I wrap it up, I need to say one last thing about the Spurs defence.

Imagine how good they’ll be if Woodgate and King manage to stay healthy at the same time.

They'll be scary good.

Moreover, if that happens, Tottenham Hotspur will be one midfielder away from truly breaking into the top four.

And as an Arsenal fan I am okay with that, just as long as they stay at the bottom the top four.

Good on Ya: A Personal Note to Tottenham Hotspur

Brad Simkulet — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:18:14 -0500

No excuses. No whining.

I hate Tottenham as any good Gooner does, but I also have enough honor and integrity that I can make an honest assessment of what I have seen.

Tottenham Hotspur thoroughly whooped Arsenal tonight at White Hart Lane and they deserved every goal they got.

Player selection be damned. Tottenham beat a strong Arsenal starting squad that included Gallas, Hleb, Sagna, Bendtner, and Walcott (who continues to disappoint).

Injured defense be damned. Tottenham made Arsenal's defense look bad through their exceptional strength on the counterattack and injuries to Djourou and Senderos can be no excuse. The simple truth is that Gallas and Hoyte simply couldn't handle the Spur's speed and cutting edge—and they paid for it five times.

Big stars be damned. Fabregas, Adebayor, and Eduardo were either shut down by Tottenham or came on too late to make a difference.

Poor play all around be damned. Arsenal didn't play terribly. In fact, a couple of Arsenal players still impressed. Diaby had a solid game in midfield, Gilberto had his best game of the season, and even Bendtner played well despite the own goal. Tottenham were just that good. And congratulations to them for being so.

Tottenham outplayed Arsenal at every turn (much as Arsenal did against Birmingham two Saturdays ago) and they deserve their trip to Wembley.

One other important note: Arsene Wenger needs to take a serious look at his players. There is no question that the Gunners have incredible team spirit and a love for one another, but this team of youngsters is making a habit of losing the plot in big games.

Some of these players lost to Barcelona in the Champions League Final two years ago. Most of them lost to Chelsea in the League Cup Final last year. And they lost again tonight to Tottenham Hotspur in an intense semi-final.

This team doesn't just need to win a trophy to prove they are great. They need to win a trophy for themselves so they can prove that they know how how to win. So far they are great at almost getting there. Now Arsenal need to really get there.

All I have left to say is, "Go Everton! Go Chelsea!"

It won't be the same as an Arsenal victory over the Spurs, but at this point I'll take anything I can get.

Arsenal-Birmingham: Déjà Vu as Gunners Return to Their Wasteful Ways

Brad Simkulet — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:28:06 -0500

Sometimes the better team on the day doesn’t just fail to win—they don’t deserve to win.

That happened Saturday at Emirates Stadium.

Apart from one minute of luck for Birmingham and a very brief spell of attack for the Blues, Arsenal dominated every aspect of the game—except goal scoring.

And the only team responsible for Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge was Arsenal.

I know some will say that Birmingham defended well and fought hard to get the draw, but that gives Birmingham credit they simply don’t deserve, flattering a team that got lucky and faced an opponent who were in self-destruct mode.

When it comes down to it the only Birmingham player to turn in a solid ninety minutes was Liam Ridgewell—and his performance was nowhere near enough for Birmingham to walk out of Emirates with a point.

Moreover, to suggest that Birmingham played a good game this weekend is an insult to Middlesbrough, who actually deserved their win against Arsenal last month, and Sevilla who thoroughly whooped Arsenal at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The blame for Arsenal’s draw falls squarely on the shoulders of Arsenal themselves.

In his post-match interview, Arsene Wenger admitted that Arsenal “thought it was going to be too easy.” And that sentiment showed throughout the match.

Arsenal dominated the first half in the way Arsenal dominate, holding possession, passing brilliantly, winning the ball back quickly and playing at a high tempo. It was obvious from the grins on the players’ faces that they were having fun.

Too much fun, as it turned out.

Arsenal were so enamored of their own skill that they looked like a pair of drunken father’s playing keep ball with their five year olds at a summer picnic.

And as soon as that attitude set in they were bound to drop points.

Fast forward to the second half and the Gunners were completely asleep when O’Connor popped a weak header off Fabregas’ immobile leg and past a flat footed Almunia.

Arsenal's confidence and swagger evaporated, and they panicked.

From that point on Arsenal reverted to their 2006-2007 form. Last season they were infamous for letting bad teams draw level and shut up shop while Arsenal tried desperately for a goal that would not come—and suddenly they were in the same situation.

Their foolishness rightfully cost them.

Arrogance is important in football, particularly when you are a top team, but it must be tempered with realism. Against Birmingham Arsenal had the former in abundance, and were justly spanked with the latter—teams will never win if they don't take their opponents seriously.

Birmingham at Emirates will likely prove to be Arsenal’s most important game of the season.

Either they will learn the right lesson, regain their seriousness and continue fighting for the title, or they will implode.

Back in November, they were classily outplayed at Sevilla by a team who beat them at their own game. It was an honorable loss, which was easy to bounce back from. And Arsenal easily bounced back.

A month ago they were tactically beaten at Middlesbrough by a tough, dedicated side. Another honorable loss that was easy to bounce back from, and Arsenal easily bounced back.

But on Saturday Arsenal scraped by with a dishonorable draw against a Birmingham side that they had insulted for the entire first half of football. Their display was an insult to the Blues, the Blues fans, their own fans, and most importantly themselves.

And one must wonder whether they will be able to bounce back.

If they don’t smarten up then Saturday will mark the end of their promising season, coming as it does at such a critical moment in the schedule.

Arsenal have presented themselves with their most important test to date.

Will they be able to pass this test? I hope so, but I will have little sympathy for them if they fail.

And neither will my family, since they will have to put up with me being a crabby bastard until the 2008-2009 season begins.

J’Accuse: Thierry Henry Lays Claim to Scowling Celebration

Brad Simkulet — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:44:43 -0500

Opening arguments were heard today in a case that could literally change the face of international football.

Barcelona striker Thierry Henry, known throughout the world both for his antiracism "Stand Up, Speak Up" campaign and his amazing goal-scoring record for London’s Arsenal FC, has brought a civil suit before the World Court.

Henry and his lawyers claim that his "patented" goal scoring celebration—Henry's bored, scowling, 20-yard stare—has been stolen by his Arsenal replacement, Eduardo da Silva, thereby violating an implied trademark.

In one of the shortest opening arguments on record, Michel Reinhart, the primary lawyer for the plaintiff, said that, “Eduardo da Silva’s sullen expression will speak for itself.”

Da Silva’s defense countered with claim that Thierry Henry “does not and cannot hold copyright on a lack of expressiveness.”

The mess seems to have started after M. Henry tuned into Arsenal’s Carling Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers. A close friend of the Barcelona striker who watched the match with him reported that Henry “glared at the television the way he used to glare at Hleb for his sloppy passes.”

Da Silva, known simply as “Eduardo” to Arsenal fans, scored two goals against Blackburn, catapulting the young Gunners into the semifinals against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

His celebrations for both goals were of the decidedly minimalist variety—as have been his celebrations for every goal he has scored for the Gunners this season.

“I can only remember Thierry Henry showing such obvious dissatisfaction after scoring a goal,” ruminated David Pleat after Da Silva scored notched his second tally. “Perhaps Eduardo is feeling ill.”

Neither Henry nor Eduardo were present in court for the opening arguments of their case, but Nicolas Anelka was seen skulking about after the arguments were finished.

When asked by reporters what he made of the case, Anelka simply replied, “No comment.”

However, the man known in London as “Le Sulk” is expected to follow the case closely, with an eye towards bringing his own case against the winner.

Unfortunately, Eduardo da Silva’s grunts on the subject were unintelligible, and Thierry Henry was unavailable for comment.

Geiko is also expected to pursue court proceedings against the Brazilian-born Croatian striker for impersonating their Neanderthal—assuming they don’t sign him to a long-term endorsement contract first.

Reality Check: Why Gilberto Silva Must Leave Arsenal

Brad Simkulet — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:44:37 -0500

Arsenal's worst performances this season all have one thing in common—Gilberto Silva started in midfield.

The first on the list, and the worst performance by far, came at the Riverside against Middlesbrough. Arsenal were deservedly beaten 2-1, and even that scoreline flattered the Gunners.

There were lots of issues that day, but Gilberto's play continues to stand out in the mind a month later.

Gilberto spent most of the game passing backwards and hoofing longballs to the front. When he did pass along the ground, his balls were leaden, ineffective, and often intercepted by the Boro midfield.

To make matters worse, he was partnered with Lassana Diarra—and Gilberto necessarily reduced the quality of the Frenchman's performance.

Diarra has skill, there's no doubt about that. But he has to be partnered with a creative midfielder who can take advantage of his work rate and endurance—which is why Diarra fits in so well with the French National Team, where he's surrounded by creativity, and can work seamlessly as a link man

Diarra has been strong when he's been partnered with Cesc Fabregas or Denilson. But when he's stuck in the midfield with Gilberto, the Arsenal team bogs down into an uncreative morass.

And this phenomenon doesn't just happen to Diarra—it happens to all of Arsenal's less established players.

As was the case with Thierry Henry last year, Gilberto's presence inhibits the play of everyone else. When he turns to the safe back pass and slows down the tempo, the rest of the team follows suit.

The only bright spot against Boro was Thomas Rosicky, a player who's secure enough in his own quality (he is the captain of the Czech Republic, after all) to be unfazed by Gilberto's presence.

To be fair, Gilberto is a defensive midfielder. He is not and has never been the most offensive-minded Gunner (hell, I have a shirt that declares "I saw Gilberto pass forward").

When things are going wrong and he doesn't have an Henry or a Fabregas dictating the pace of the game, Gilberto falls back on safety and comfort. That's understandable—but it's also counterproductive for a team trained in fluency and attack.

Gilberto's greatest strength is his defensive fortitude. His greatest weakness is his inability to shift seamlessly to the attack.

And this was evident again during Arsenal's 1-1 draw at St. James' Park against Newcastle.

After Arsenal took the early lead off an Emmanuel Adebayor goal, Gilberto slowed things down, playing right into Newcastle's hands.

Again he was partnered with Diarra, and again the Gunners ground through the game with no inspiration.

Gilberto wasn't terrible—he never is—but he was more effective at countering Arsenal's attack than was Newcastle's defense.

Then there was Arsenal's FA Cup tie at Burnley on Sunday.

Arsenal came out 2-0 winners against the Championship side, but the match really should have been a repeat of the Gunner's 2-1 loss at Boro.

Eduardo scored an early goal on a chipped pass from Kolo Toure—which makes one wonder why Arsenal's center back has to create chances when Gilberto is in the midfield.

It should be the role of the Brazilian World Cup winner or his understudy Denilson—but Toure had to bomb forward to make the pass, as the midfielders were nowhere to be seen.

Regardless, the Gunners took the lead—then quickly slipped into Gilberto's comfortable second gear.

Gilberto sat in the midfield and led the Gunners into lethargy. Long balls started flying, and back passes became the norm rather than the exception—and Gilberto was the hub of it all.

And so a game that should have seen a flood of scoring became a boring grind that could easily have gone the other way.

As I see it, not enough has been made of Gilberto's displacement in the midfield by Mathieu Flamini. Many think the shift is like for like, but that's simply not the case.

There are a number of reasons Flamini has taken Gilberto's spot, but most importantly, Flamini gives up nothing in defense while adding the ability to transition into the attack.

Flamini fits the style of football Arsene Wenger has created: Attack, attack, attack...and defend to attack again.

Flamini does it. Gilberto does not. And that is why Gilberto is no longer Wenger's first choice to partner Fabregas

Don't get me wrong—I love Gilberto, and I loved what he did for us last year while Henry was hurt. But that's not enough.

No, he's not solely to blame for Arsenal's poorest performances this season, but he has to take a huge portion of responsibility.

There's no avoiding it and no denying it, no matter how much it hurts: Gilberto is no longer an Arsenal man. The team has changed, and he no longer fits.

It doesn't matter that Gilberto is the captain of Brazil. It doesn't matter that he was part of the Invincibles. It doesn't matter that he's a likable guy and a consummate professional.

He needs to move on.

The Real Problem with the NHL: Hockey Sucks

Brad Simkulet — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:38:29 -0500

I used to love hockey.

“Used to” is the operative verb phrase.

How did things fall apart? It’s easy for me to blame the lockout, and that certainly had a hand in things—but the real reason is both simpler and more complicated:

Hockey sucks.

Yes, I said hockey sucks. Shocking isn’t it? Especially from a 20-year fan of the Edmonton Oilers who's lived most of his life in Canada...but there it is.

Hockey sucks.

The reason?

The NHL powers-that-be staged the lockout to legislate the end of the offside trap.

They can claim it was about other things, but we all know the truth. The owners needed to break the Players Union to eliminate the offside trap—and they did just that.

And therein lies the deficiency of hockey as a sport.

European football, American football, and even baseball have adapted naturally to shifts in strategy by individual teams.

But when the New Jersey Devils became the kings of the offside trap, there was no adaptation—no discovery of how to overcome the über-boring Devils.

Teams threw themselves against the Devils’ wall and failed. Rather than adapting to win, other teams adapted to survive—and the NHL became a snore to watch, at least until the playoffs.

That doesn’t happen in other sports.

Consider soccer. When a team decides to bottle up the midfield against Manchester United with a 4-5-1 formation, the Red Devils shift to a long-ball game.

In American football, the very concept of special teams sprang from the sport’s ability to naturally adapt to game strategies and situations.

And what about baseball? Japan was able to win the World Baseball Classic by playing a fast, daring game perfectly suited to counteract the USA’s steroid monsters.

The NHL, on the other hand, legislates change.

And that, more than anything else, is why the current state of the game is so dire—and that, more than anything else, is why I never watch hockey anymore.

The game is incapable of natural advancement. Important tactical changes are a thing of the past. All hockey can be from this point forward is what it already is—a game of board room hacks, messing with past beauty to make a buck.

Everton-Arsenal: Gunners Grind Out a Win

Brad Simkulet — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:29:45 -0500

Arsenal's victory over Everton at Goodison Park was ugly, uninspiring, and a testament to the Gunners' determination.

It's also precisely the sort of win Arsenal are going to have to keep getting if they're going to win the Premiership title in May.

Everton were a team on a mission. They came out flying in the first half and dominated Arsenal throughout, having the bulk of possession and the only chances on net—including a scrappy goal from Tim Cahill that came off Everton’s first corner of the game.

At the half, it seemed that Arsenal were about to fail as Manchester United had earlier in the afternoon at West Ham. Set pieces were the Achilles' heel for the usually rock-solid United defense, and looked like they might be the problem for Arsenal at Goodison.

But it was not to be.

90 seconds into the second half, the tables turned for good. Eduardo da Silva pulled down a long ball from the back and coolly slotted it past a sprawling Tim Howard.

It was Eduardo’s first touch inside the 18-yard box, but it was all he needed to find the net for his first Premiership goal and eighth in all competitions.

Eduardo nabbed his brace 11 minutes later with a sneaky handball to pull the ball away from Phil Jagielka’s hip and onto his feet. When no whistle blew, Eduardo scored with a calm that was reminiscent of Dennis Bergkamp at his peak.

There's no doubt that the goal should not have counted, but to be fair to referee Martin Atkinson the handball was only visible in one replay.

Regardless, the score put Arsenal ahead and they never lost their grip—even after Nicklas Bendtner’s meltdown in the 74th minute.

Bendtner disappointed from beginning to end in his first EPL start. His passing was inaccurate, his touches were wooden, and his tackles were worse than sloppy—they were dangerous.

Bendtner's efforts certainly weren’t malicious, but the laws of the game make no concession for motivation, nor should they.

Truth be told, he deserved two yellow cards early on and a straight red for the tackle on Andy Johnson that finally saw him sent off.

That should have been the break Everton needed, but it wasn’t.

Moments later, Emmanuel Adebayor capitalized on a terrible miscommunication between Tim Howard and Joseph Yobo. With a quick toe poke, Adebayor slipped the ball past the American keeper, then followed it through the box and into the net.

The goal put Arsenal up 3-1, and it looked to be game over for Everton.

But the true end for Everton came when Mikel Arteta earned a red card for an elbow on Cesc Fabregas. Arteta’s infraction was even less malicious than Bendtner’s—but it's the action that counts, and his elbow clearly made contact with Fabregas’ face.

All that was left was for Arsenal to run down the clock, and they seemed to be content to do just that until Adebayor noticed a gap in the defense and slipped the ball through for Abu Diaby, who flicked it on to Tomas Rosicky.

It took until the waning minutes of the game, but Arsenal and Rosicky finally found the patented, pretty Arsenal goal, condemning the brave Toffees to a 4-1 defeat.

It was an unfair result for a tough and unlucky Everton side, and had their defense excelled the way their midfield did, the outcome would have been very different.

Still, Arsenal’s resilience and their ability to punish sloppy defending ultimately sealed the deal.

It was ugly, but the right team won—no matter what David Moyes said in his post-match interview.

Best of 2007: Adieu Thierry Henry

Brad Simkulet — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:34:00 -0500

Back in the 2006-2007 EPL season, Arsenal had a long spell without their “talismanic” captain, Thierry Henry.

Nearly every Gooner I know was desperate for Henry to come back. According to them, Arsenal needed his leadership, his speed, his skill, and his scoring.

But that period without Henry was arguably the best of Arsenal’s season. It seemed that the Gunners really didn’t need any of the things Henry provided—and while they weren’t great without him, there were glimmers of hope for the future.

Alexander Hleb’s confidence grew because he didn’t have Henry scowling at him if a pass went astray. Kolo Toure and Gilberto were captains who instilled confidence in the youngsters rather than fear. Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas were shooting because they didn’t have Henry to pass to. And Emmanuel Adebayor excelled under the increased responsibility he never had when Henry was on the pitch.

It was clear, in other words, that it was time for Henry to go.

And go he did—which makes the best story of 2007, for Arsenal fans, the defection of Thierry Henry to Barcelona.

Everything Arsenal hinted at during that spell without Henry in 2006-2007 has come to fruition in the first half of the 2007-2008 season.

Henry’s departure has freed the Gunners from their past. No longer do they have to live up to the Invincibles, nor even pretend to aspire to something so unlikely. No longer do they have to play a game tailored to Henry's magic. No longer do they have to put up with the constant inter-squad squabbling about Arsenal’s ambitions.

Without Henry, the Young Gunners have been free to make their own history. They're in charge. They're the ones to blame if things go wrong, and the ones to applaud if things go right.

And so far this season, things have been going very right.

Even if they fail to win any trophies, Arsenal have achieved what everyone said was impossible: They’ve been competitive.

No Henry was supposed to mean no chance of a top-four finish. Instead, Arsenal recorded their finest ever start to a season.

No Henry was supposed to see Tottenham leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the table. Instead, Arsenal have already done the double on their North London rivals.

No Henry was supposed to be doom and gloom. Instead, it's meant an Arsenal rebirth.

So here it is—Boxing Day 2007—and Arsenal are in second place with 44 points.

Sometimes the best moves that can be made during a transfer window are the moves away from a club.

Just ask Arsene Wenger.