Arsenal Football Club should be thrown out of the Premier League with immediate effect!
Firstly, manager Arsene Wenger doesn’t play English players and secondly they don’t play English football - perhaps, La Liga or the Serie A would be a more suitable environment for the finest football I’ve seen this season. Actually, on further reflection Spain and Italy don’t really deserves this dreamy stuff either.
How about this…you and me start a mass petition and persuade Phil Anschutz, Randy Lerner, Tom Hicks, George Gillette or the Glazers to stump up the cash and bring the whole club, lock, stock, the bloody lot right here to the US of A. For those of you that remember the Lakers and ‘Showtime,’ forget that because it looks pedestrian when you compare it to Arsene and his Roadrunners…peep, peep!
One could argue that Tottenham is a team that is looking for an identity however this was the North London derby and regardless of their mental state the fans would supply the needed energy for this clash. This makes the Gunners performance even more impressive as they went to hostile territory and simply blew Spurs away despite falling behind early on.
The statistics tell a story of domination as Arsenal took 16 shots of which 10 were on target forcing Tottenham goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, into one spectacular save after another. The possession percentage was ridiculous as Wenger’s kids controlled 59% of the game and they showed steel as well booting the home side in the air on 22 occasions. No wonder Wenger was moved to say “there is something in this side; quality, of course, but also a mental strength’.
It’s interesting to me that throughout Wenger’s post match interview, he constantly referred back to this ‘mental strength’ because before the season began I think that was an aspect of the team that was being questioned. With the departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona, there was a void as the Frenchman was the talisman and undisputed spiritual leader. That void had also shown itself last season whenever Henry was missing which unfortunately for the Gunners was frequently. Now after a few matches it’s Thierry who as they sit unbeaten at the top of the table - and to think this has been achieved with a suspect goalkeeper in the form of Jens Lehmann makes it all the more remarkable.
I believe that the Professor is in the process of laying the foundations for his third great steam after the 97/98 double winners and of course the ‘Invincibles’ – and this one could be the best of the lot if it sticks together for a few more years.
There is a sparkle within the squad that was missing in the waning months of the Henry era and according to a conversation I had with ex-Arsenal great, Lee Dixon, the Frenchman carried far too much power within the dressing room. Without that powerful personality casting a shadow, Cesc Fabregas has simply taken his game to a new level while Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky have a year of Premiership football under their belts. Up front, Robin van Persie now knows that he is the ‘man’ and Emmanuel Adebayor despite still missing chances has a hungry looked that he never previously possessed. And at the back, Gael Clichy looks better than ever alongside the super consistent Kolo Toure and new signing Bakari Sagna.
When you look for a possible weakness within the squad I think there are two main concerns. One may be a possible lack of depth, which was the Achilles heel during the last campaign and I’m not entirely convinced that this has been properly addressed either. Two is the desire to score pretty goals instead of just lashing it into the back of the net.
The key for Wenger and any team for that matter on topic number one are to avoid injuries at crucial times -will the Premiership gods smile on them?
Question number two is the essence of Arsene Wenger and is something that we’ll endlessly debate – sexy football versus effective football.
For the sake of football and the pleasure that Wenger’s team gives us let’s hope that injuries do not become a factor and that they’ll always play the sexy way.
Good god Webster, you are ridiculously reactionary.
Dempsey has one good game and you proclaim that he could grow bigger than Fulham and jump to a Big 4 club.
Arsenal takes apart a disintegrating Spurs squad after an international break and it could be the best Arsenal squad in the Wenger reign.
If Chelsea beat United at the weekend I guess we will be hearing about Mourinho's "greatest coaching job ever" or if United beat Chelsea how "a resurgent United is heading for a second treble only this one will be better and far more dramatic"
Worse than a tabloid
Last edited by alincoln on September 17th at 6:07 AM.
Seriously Webster, you were hatin' on Arse just 2-3 weeks ago. You had them out of the top four passed by Tottenham, based on what I have no idea.
I like you and I watch you on FFF but really you blew this one and it was obvious, and now you've gone too far the other way. Arsenal will do well but I doubt they will win the league. They are an entertaining side though aint they?
Mas - Like I said on Saturday ,if it`s entertainment you want you can`t beat an Arsenal game ,I can`t remember the last time they where involved in a "bad" game.
If Chelsea do not win the league ,and I`m starting to have my doubts ,then I would much rather the Arse win it than the other two!
The rest of the league is grateful that Lehman had one slip through otherwise the rest of us Non-Gunner fans would be looking up at a big early gap in points.
That being said this last chap in goal (Almunia) is about as sketchy as they come. My guess is that the village in spain where his parents live have alot of disabled rabbits crawling around without any feet due to the fact that the rules of Karma dictate that a massive sacrifice of Bunny Hooves be collected and hung around the parents home of one who has had such luck.
As a Yank who had choose a team in the Premier League I would of loved to have rooted for the Gunners. But goodnight... Who is there to even like on that team? Go ahead and list them but it won't matter because in the end it came down to two teams. Fulham who had two Americans at the time. McBride and Boccs or Which ever team had Wayne Rooney on it. Why Rooney you ask? Because he is a "Ball of Hate" in a football/soccer uniform.
So while I can enjoy the artistic game that is Gunner football I will be cheering on Man U and Rooney and keeping an eye of Team America aka. Fulham.
Last edited by Soccerhacks on September 17th at 4:50 PM.
Gunners Rule!!! Fabergas is finally getting his just due -- everyone knew he was good, now people see how good this guy really is.
Henry was my favorite Gunner, but even I recongized that it was time for him to go. Injuries caught up to him last year, and he was still young enough to get a nice reward for selling him to Barca. Besides...I think Adebayor will do just fine -- I'd rather have him playing healthy than an Henry in and out of the lineup due to injuries.
Still....it's early in the season! If you recall, the start of the '04-'05 campaign (after their undefeated season) was equally impressive -- they killed everyone early on during the start of that season. Then, right on the door of game 50, they were beaten (pretty handily, as I recall) by ManU...and they never quite recovered after that.
So, as much as I love the Gunners, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves -- there's a LOT of ball left to play.
Good post -- keep up the good work....and Go Gunners!!!!
Anymore naysayers after they casually dismissed one of the better and classier sides in Europe, in Sevilla, without having to get out of second gear!?
You Gunner bashers are in denial right now. I love it.
While the start of the article nicely shows an ironic start, the headline seems to show praise for Arsenal while the rest of the article itself looks to be highly critical.
Is an Arsene Wenger 'classic side' bad for football in general, football in England? He may not have many English players but as long as the rules show he's not doing any wrong, you'd be hard done by to continue arguing and persisting for him to have his ways thrown out of England. Want something done, take legal matters and talk to the powers that be. Whatever system that has to be taken for such a change to occur, then try it out but until then, the man is just doing his job and doing it well.
Hard to criticise the 'effective football' and 'sexy football' bit when they're currently doing both admirably.
For the sake of football, lets hope that Wenger just continues to do what he does best. Whatever his philosophy of football is, its easy to see that it's most likely for the better of the game and is working to the delights of the Arsenal faithful.
Scary part about Arsenal is that this start is without:Jens (starting 'keeper), Gallas (starting central defender), Gilberto (last year's captain), and of course Henry's departure. This depth is why the big 4 remain the big 4. A non-starting 11 player for Arsenal or Man U might be a key player, if he was on another team. This depth is required in order to compete in league, while still having a healthy side for the various other cup competitions. I'll wait for real judgements on the Gunners until we've played some of the bigger clubs on the road.
Who will break into the 'B4' and who will avoid the drop. So many questions will be answered over the next nine months because it's back - the greatest show on earth - The Barclays Premier League.
