Barton the berk, Warnock’s teeth, Suarez the cheat – the weekend round-up

Here’s my round-up of a strange, strange footballing weekend.

First up, Arsenal. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Defensively, we are all over the place. This was definitely a game of two halves if I’ve ever seen one. I thought we looked pretty solid in the first half and going forward we looked like the Arsenal of old. Gervinho looked lively. Should he have squared the ball to Van Persie when the score was 2-1? Possibly, but you can’t blame him for shooting; we’ve been accused of trying to walk the ball into the back of the net, so it’s refreshing to see a selfish player once in a while.

Djourou is not Arsenal quality, plain and simple. Positives were Andre Santos and Mikel Arteta; both players looked decent.

I’m not going to dwell on the Blackburn game though, because I’d be here all night.

Joey Barton has a blinder. He gets clattered. He clatters someone. He winds up the fans. What else do we expect from Joey Barton? Funny thing is, when the ref blew the final whistle, he shook Karl Henry’s hand, and once he had a bit of back-up from team-mates, he give all the big one again. Yep, you’re the hard man Barton. The same ‘hard man’ who got flicked in the ear by Gervinho and went down like he’d been shot. Shocking stuff. An embarrassing player if I’ve ever seen one.

Did anyone see Neil Warnock’s false teeth on Match of the Day? Wow! I haven’t noticed them before, but if you missed it, be sure to try and catch it somehow, because they are a diabolically false set of teeth.

Man United beat Chelsea 3-1, which has convinced me even more that Man United really are the luckiest team in world football. Not sure what the stats were saying, but in the first half Man United were 3-0 up and by all accounts they had 3 shots on goal, and Chelsea had about 10! I might be wrong.

Ramires missed an open-ish goal, and Torres missed an open goal after rounding De Gea. Torres, along with Carroll, really is the biggest waste of money in world football. Funny enough, I posted this article when Torres was transferred to Chelsea, and a lot of fans battered me for it. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Just check out some of the comments from that article, it’s priceless.

Also, I’m still convinced that Javier Hernandez (Little Pea-nis) is the most over-rated striker in the Premiership. He is pony.

Tottenham actually looked quite decent against 9 men. Suarez is possibly the biggest diver in the Premiership, and definitely the biggest moaner. Great player, but he needs to cut out his antics.

Finally, well played to Swansea. A great three points for the Welsh mob yesterday, and they looked decent.

Goodnight all.

Is it really what it seems to be – Arsenal’s injury crisis

I read an article on another Arsenal blog based on another article on Goal.com (I know I’m NOT supposed to go there since I like Wenger but what can I say!) mentioning a coach, Raymond Verheijen, in some forgotten league outside civilization who implied that Arsenal’s training sessions, warm-ups and exercises are all wrong and that this is the principle reason for our horrible injury record.

Normally I would shuffle this stuff over to the loo and flush it away with the rest of the anti-Arsenal offal we see on the net but it did get me thinking (I know I’m not supposed to do that either!) and wondered if, in some inexplicable way, this guy had actually hit on something. Here is the gist of his argument:

The problem is a lot of people think ‘more is better’ in terms of sessions.

Traditionally, people assume you have to develop the body first before you play the game.

They push players to extend their limits to get fitter because they copy the training methods from other sports. In a lot of sports, indeed, more is better such as cycling, running, gymnastics or swimming.

You have people who make football so unnecessarily complicated. Because of this scientific invasion people stop thinking themselves and stop using common sense. The world of football is brainwashed by fitness language. That’s why I always say, ‘Get back to basics’.

How is it possible that 10 different clubs have 10 different fitness coaches who use 10 different training methods? Players are the victim of subjectivity. Training methods should not be based on someone’s opinion or past experience. The training methods should be football-specific and use different principles to athletics and hockey.

At Arsenal he has suffered several muscle injuries which cannot be put down to bad luck.

Arsenal is only just another example of an underachieving team because of injuries due to incompetent periodisation and injury prevention.

His theory seems to be that the training methods Football teams currently use are too varied and are often based on the common ¨understanding¨ of what unrelated sports fitness and strength building exercises  should be but that Football is a different kettle of fish from all other sports. He felt that any team that trained continuously and intensively, using the traditional disparate methods, invited recurrent injuries, because these exercises and methods didn’t fit the Footballers’ needs or physiology. That does make a bit of sense and could be looked at, if it is even marginally true, as one of a number of reasons for such recurring injuries.
I am not a physiologist nor sports trainer but I did a great deal of work in Women’s soccer and we did discover that females are more prone to certain types of recurring injuries because of their different musculature and way of running, turning and jumping. When we adapted our warm-ups and length of time we did such exercises, we found that there were far fewer serious injuries to the girls. It was also interesting to note that a study done by our provincial FA showed that women were 50% more likely to get injuries playing football than males of the same age!
If this is true for Women’s football, then maybe it is true for men as well so AFC need to review their methods, have a sports medicine specialist tailor-make a new training and exercise regime and start applying alternate fitness strategies asap. I know Wenger is very open to new technologies and approaches so hopefully he will instigate a better program than the obviously ineffective one we are using now!

However, there are a number of other elements that probably contribute to our perennial rash of injuries and here are a few:

1. Half the EPL pitches are inadequate for safe play and worsen as the winter season approaches.
2. Certain teams love to charge opponents dangerously, which is encouraged by their managers and ignored by officials. The principle is that their opponents don’t like it up them and get intimidated thereby beating skill with force!
3. A number of Arsenal’s regularly injured players were brought back into competition without an adequate rest and rehabilitation period due to desperate need.
4. Certain players were not permitted to take time off from the competition and so played too many matches, with inadequate recuperation time between games, due to lack of backups.
5. We are a smallish and lightweight team compared to about half of the EPL Clubs and that becomes a disadvantage when competing against stronger, rougher sides. Thus our increased injury risk.
6. Because of the Cups, National and International competitions and no winter-break, our best players will often play 2 games a week and quite often 3 games of high-intensity Football. A few of our best players were injured on meaningless International duty.
7. We have to question the rehabilitation procedures AFC provide. Players seem to get re-injured all too quickly and repeatedly (Gibbs, Diaby, Walcott, etc.) so why isn’t our physio team able to prevent these recurrences?

Nobody (other than Wenger?) knows what the exact problem(s) is but since 2005, we have been severely hindered by our failure to keep a fit team over a complete season. When added to the bad officiating we’ve endured and the serious media attempts at dismantling of our reputation, we have to be focused on remediating the injury epidemic before anything else.

Article written by Don McMahon.

9 new players, added experience, arsenal fans still find something to moan about

After an exciting transfer window, and Arsene Wenger sticking to his promise of being ‘active’ in this transfer window, you would’ve thought it would shut up a few of the haters. Wouldn’t you?

We’ve signed a mixture of experience and youth, and made some really good acquisitions in the last two months, yet we’re still not happy?

What is it with Arsenal fans? Why are a number of them just ungrateful, and never happy? I feel sorry for Arsene Wenger, he just can’t win with some of the fans.

We’ve been crying out for a big defender, who wins aerial battles, so we sign a 6ft6in centre-back, with bags of experience, and the captain of a top quality Germany team. Now the fans are moaning that he’s slow!! Tony Adams, Sol Campbell and John Terry are / were not the fastest defenders in the world, but they all read the game well, and that more than makes up for pace. Some Arsenal fans wanted Cahill, at almost double the price of Mertesacker. Because he’s English? Seriously, Cahill is good, but not that good.

We sign the South Korean captain as a back-up to Robin Van Persie, and people are moaning that we didn’t sign a Benzema! Do you really think Benzema is going to warm the bench at Arsenal? Of course not. Funny enough, Park Chu-Young has been capped 53 times and scored 17 goals, and Wayne Rooney has been capped 70 times and scored 26 goals. Not really much in it is there? My point is, he’s back up to our main man, and give him a chance before we judge him.

Then we sign a left back, who at 28, has bags of experience, and 22 caps for Brazil. That’s an improvement on what we had.

Some may argue that Benayoun isn’t a capable replacement for Samir Nasri. Well, he’s not, because he’s not going to be our first choice winger. Gervinho is clearly the replacement for Samir Nasri, and I’m sure his stats will be a lot higher than Nasri at the end of the season. Talking of Benayoun, I don’t rate him too highly, but I’m happy for him to come off the bench with 20 minutes remaining and in need of points. He’s definitely got that in his locker.

Mikel Arteta is an absolutely fantastic signing for Arsenal. Sure, he’s no Cesc Fabregas, but let’s face it, we need to switch our strategy and go for a different player, as we’re not going to replace him like-for-like. We did a similar thing years back when we replaced Vieira with Fabregas.

Some say Arteta is injury-prone. He’s played an average of 25 Premiership games a season over the last 7 seasons. Not bad going for an ‘injury-prone’ player if you ask me.

It seems like in the midst of the transfer activity in the past 48 hours or so, we’ve forgotten about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He could make a big impact this season, and again, I’m happy for him to make an impact from the bench.

The fact is, our squad is strong, and we seem to have capable cover for all areas. Sure, we could do with improving the second string players, but we’re not going to have two world-class players for every position, no team in the world has this luxury.

So, to you ungrateful Arsenal fans, who were screaming for Wenger to sign players, you’ve got your wish, now make the most of it, and stop looking for faults.

Have a good night people. Let’s hope for some exciting times ahead.

New mates and transfer news

It may look like it’s a depressing time for the Gunners right now, especially over here across the pond. With an extremely heart-breaking loss at Old Trafford over the weekend, as an Arsenal fan, I must admit that my sail has limited wind behind it. We get the majority of our English Premier League news from The Original Winger here in the States and today some exciting news is surfacing.

As Arsene Wenger continues to build a team that looks extremely shaky right now, the thought of having the American Clint Dempsey is outstanding. He plays such passion and dedication for his club and he would be a delight to watch with a Gunner badge. As we all sit and watch the newcomers enter The Emirates, keep in mind that this may in fact be a rebuilding year. With Chu Young Park joining the squad, it looks as if Wenger is looking to make some quality moves before the end of the month. Good luck Gunner fans and we are all very hopeful for the deal to go through for Dempsey. If you get a minute, go check out The Original Winger site and if anything, you can surf the site for all the beautiful women.

Article written by Daniel Mercer. You can follow Dan on Twitter.

Armand Traore fails fitness test at QPR

Rumours coming out of QPR is that Armand Traore has failed a fitness test.

The main reason for this is because I’ve heard that the fitness test involves a defensive test where QPR place a winger in front of you with the ball at his feet, and the objective is to win the ball at least once from 37 attempted runs.

Great news for QPR fans if it’s true.

Depressing times for an Arsenal fan

I just need someone to give me a big cuddle, and say, ‘don’t worry, everything is going to be fine’. That’s how I feel right now.

In all my life as an Arsenal fan, I’ve never felt so down and so pessimistic about our hopes of winning a trophy. What a depressing day to be an Arsenal fan.

It is early doors, and of course it’s well and truly mathematically possible for us to win the Premiership, but based on our opening performances, and our lack of quality in certain areas, we can pretty much put the Premiership to bed right now.

With the Arsenal v Swansea game coming up soon, you can buy Arsenal soccer tickets here. Tickets for the Borussia Dortmand away game are available now.

At the start of the season, I was confident that we COULD win the Premiership, and that 4^th place would be a shocking season. Right now, 4^th place is looking like a fantastic position to be in.

I honestly think we’ll finish in the top 4 once again. Regardless of what the media want to believe, we are better equipped than Liverpool, and we know that they either start off well or end well, but there doesn’t seem to be anything in the middle.

The only positives to take out of today’s battering, is that if we did only lose 1 or 2-0, then Wenger may believe that this squad is capable of big things once we get a few of the big boys back. A thrashing might be just what we need for Wenger to go out and put his hands in his pockets, and buy big. We need three marquee signings. Whoever those three players are is anyone’s guess, but we definitely need a big centre-back, and defensive left-back, and a creative midfielder.

There weren’t many positives to take out of today’s game to be honest. I felt sorry for Koscielny, as he actually looked quite decent in moments, and he definitely doesn’t deserve to be on the end of an 8-2 defeat. Armand Traore looked absolutely abysmal from the off. Jenkinson looked out of his depth, but he’s only just being introduced to the big stage, whereas Traore has no excuses. He’s a player who’s already had two seasons out on loan, so the experience is no excuse for him. It’s down to his quality, he’s probably the worst full-back I’ve ever seen in Arsenal shirt. I can’t remember the guy ever having a good game.

If you think I’m singling out Traore, then you’re wrong. We had about 8 other players out there today who just weren’t up for it, or are just not good enough for Arsenal Football Club.

I could be here all night if I was going to moan, and I’m going to cut this short because I’m too depressed to write anymore.

I would like to give massive kudos to the Arsenal away fans that sang and sang until the final whistle today, and stayed till the end. It can’t be easy knowing you’ve got that long depressing journey home, but these fans done well. Fair play.

Roll on Wednesday night, and let’s hope Wenger pulls out a few surprises and signs Sneijder, Kaka, Cahill, Samba, Benzema, Ronaldo, and Messi.

Professor Wenger’s magic transfer formula revealed

Countless as the stars in the firmament and innumerable as the grains of sand on a beach, our dubious Gooners ask the same question over and over: Why is Wenger waiting to buy players?

Following exhaustive and almost subterranean research, data review, behavioural analysis and sophisticated computer generated forecasting and predictions, I can now confidently reveal the mystery and magic behind the Master’s transfer formula:

It’s simple really…

1)      Question A: Is the player(s) available? If yes go to point 2…

2)      Question B: What does the scouting network say? If they give the green light, go to step 3.

3)      Question C: Does the player really want to come to chilly England and to the Emirates? If yes go to point 4, if no, see if he can be convinced, if yes proceed…

4)      Question D: How much does he cost in total fees (agent, transfer, wages)? If too much, try and bargain down his club, if you succeed move ahead to point 5

5)      Question E: Do his wage demands fall within the AFC guidelines? If too high, try and bargain him down and if it works go to step 6

6)      Question F: Are there any other more affordable choice(s)? If yes, move on to them.

7)      Question G: Is he CL tied? If yes, put him on the back burner and wait until he’s available on a free transfer.

8)      Question H: Does Wenger feel he’ll add quality and NOT hinder his young Gunners development? If he isn’t a hindrance, proceed to step 9

9)      Question I: Is he fit and healthy? If he passes a full medical proceed to step 10

10)  *Question J: Can he fit into the AFC style & philosophy?  If yes, proceed to step 11…

11)  Question K: Can a deal be worked out within the transfer window? If yes go to step 12…

12)  Question L: Has his agent or another club hijacked the deal? If yes start all over…..

This system, of course assumes that there are sufficient transfer funds available and that the board has authorized their disbursement. It also assumes that these purchases fall with the EUFA fair play and the FA local home-grown guidelines.  See how simple it is to manage a transfer….but I am sure you experts knew this already!

* AFC’s style and philosophy are summed up as follows; the player is never bigger than the club, ballooning egos are unwelcome, teamwork and belief in the Club are crucial for success at AFC, show respect for Wenger and he’ll show respect for you, behave off the field as well as you behave on it,  greed is not a reason to abandon ship, communicate with the manager before going public, as he is always willing to listen, loyalty is rewarded with loyalty-disloyalty and treachery will have you going to Manchester City.

Article written by Don McMahon.

Arsenal qualify but my nails aren’t in the best shape

After a nail-biting second leg against Udinese, who took a half-time lead and had a penalty saved by Szczęsny, I am have literally felt a weight was lifted off my shoulders after the stress of wondering what’s going to happen to our team this season.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have obvious concerns, notably the lack of replacements for Cesc and Nasri, but I’m sure that Arsene Wenger will bring in some new recruits in the next few days, and I have a sneaky feeling he’s going to surprise a few people in this transfer window.

Firstly, what a game of football for the neutrals. Two attack-minded teams who really went for it from the off, and full credit to Udinese who are a cracking team, and it’s a shame they won’t be in the Champions League, especially after losing three of their biggest players in the summer.

Arsenal didn’t play the most breath-taking football in the world tonight, but they really did grind out a result, and it’s the kind of hearty performance that we have been lacking in key games.

Onto the players. You can’t fault Szczęsny, and he made one of the best penalty saves I’ve ever seen, in a very important part of the game.

Jenkinson was absolutely solid, and didn’t look out of his depth at all. He didn’t looked nervous at all, and was possibly my man of the match.

Sagna was steady as usual, even playing out of position. Vermaelen was solid, and Djourou looked had a decent game even though he was at fault for the Udinese goal.

Frimpong was getting stuck in, and the boy has got potential to be a big, big player for Arsenal in years to come. Song was steady in the first half, but improved a lot in the second half when reverted to his familiar role. Ramsey played well tonight, but he’s no Fabregas replacement. In my opinion, the jury is still out on Ramsey. I’d like to judge him at the end of a full season though.

Gervinho was in and out of the game, but he made a difference late on, and his energy and pace troubled Udinese late in the game.

Walcott. Hmm. Great finish, but probably our most enigmatic player, bar Diaby. Still not convinced he can offer Arsenal a lot, but his stats are decent, and he’s coming back from injury. Once again, I’d like to see Walcott last a whole season before I judge him.

Van Persie looked good tonight, but he still looks very isolated up front. He’s going to miss the support of Nasri this season, but I’m sure we’ll sign a replacement to help him out.

One other player who needs to get a big mention, and that’s Tomas Rosicky. He was absolutely quality when he came on tonight, and we shouldn’t forget that before his injuries he was one of the top midfielders in Europe. He’s had a tough time with injuries over the last few years or so, and he could be a key player for us this season. He’s still only 30, so he’s still got a few good years in him.

After watching Udinese over the two games, I really do like the look of Agyemang-Badu. He was absolutely quality in both games against Arsenal. Obviously, Di Natale was always going to dangerous and he proved that over both games too.

All in all, I’m ecstatic with tonight’s result, and I’m sure this will give some Arsenal fans a little bit more confidence going into the big Premiership clash with Man United on the weekend. What a bloody hard start we’ve had!

A new soap opera at The Emirates.

Apparently the Hallmark channel has signed a deal with AFC to produce a new Soap opera entitled; WESTENDERS starring Arsene Wenger in the lead role as Arsend Wanker, a greying father (who was abandoned by his partner Fruitless Fanz) and now supports his 5 children, Gloomy- the eldest whiner, Doomer – the youngest crybaby, Moaner – the 28 year old infant, Groaner – his twin, Goner – his mentally challenged and severest critic, and finally Faithful his adoring daughter and biggest aficionado.

Supporting characters include Dean David, the erstwhile family menor and Stanley Cranky, the landlord and Arsend’s employer at The Emirates Arsenal. Arsend is the plant manager there and is responsible for preparing the artillery crews for the coming competitions.

Here is a brief preview of the season opener entitled: All is Lost

Arsend enters his posh caravan after a hard day at the office. He is greeted by Faithful who berates him in a cheeky way,¨ Hallo daddy, you’re working too hard and taking on too much!¨ Arsend replies, ¨Zut alors ma cherie, who will do it if I don’t?¨ Instantaneously his 4 other offspring crowd around him and cry, ¨wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh we want some new toys, waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, we want new playmates, wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you have lost ze plot!¨

Mr.Wanker, alert as always to his children’s needs replies, ¨I ‘ave been working all ze day and night to try and find new toys and playmates zat we can AFFORD but it is not easy in zes recessionary times!¨

The 4 ingrates, totally indifferent to reality and ignorant of anything important chime in, ¨Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, we don’t care if we can’t afford them, you have credit cards, you have a line of credit at the bank, you can take out a second mortgage, you can send Faithful out on the streets with a mattress, you can sell all our toys and playmates, wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh we want new silver toys and superplaymates that cost wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much, and if we don’t get them we’ll tell Mr. Cranky to fire you, wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¨

Arsend, being the kind and understanding father that he is, tries to reason with his 4 brats but they refuse to believe him ,despite Faithful’s intercessions. ¨You whiny little cretins, you are so spoilt by our dear father, you forget so quickly what it was like before he took care of us! Stop being so selfish and start helping to set things right!¨ With a powerful kick she sends the Moaner & Groaner twins flying into the broom closet, sticks Gloomer back in his crib and bitch slaps her oldest brother Gloomy back to the stone age. As he flies off in to the distance, we hear a fading wail,¨Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh we want a trophyyyyyyyyyyyy……….¨

Arsend, upset at this familial divisiveness, attempts to calm the waters by calling up his mentor and best friend Dean David to seek his sage advice. Mr.David tells Arsend, ¨Stop treating these moronic kids like they deserve any attention or should be listened to. They know nothing and you’re the boss, stick to your guns, do what you think is best, just like you’ve always done…it has worked in the past and will work even better now!¨ Arsend, relieved at hearing such sound advice returns to see his boss Mr.Cranky and is reassured that he and the Executive Committee are totally behind their manager.

However he still has to deal with many broken toys and a few that have been taken out of commission because they were not functioning properly. Faced with having to use 2^nd choice or untried artillery against the dreaded Mugmashers, his best efforts reap no rewards as his crew fail to handle this lot and also lose 2 more to toys. He wonders to himself if his luck will ever change!

This is the basic plot and storyline proposed by the Hallmark Channel and scheduled for broadcast in the 2011-12 season. Be sure to stay tuned to this channel for future episodes.

Article written by Don McMahon.

Barton / Gervinho / Song / Taylor – A Few Embarrassments

Firstly, for the wrong reasons Joey Barton is making back page headlines once again, due to his ridiculous behaviour and acts of cowardice once again. To be fair to him, I can understand why he went down, because having your ear flicked by Gervinho must be pretty damn painful.

Joey Barton was clearly upset after Song trod on his leg minutes before the incident, and Alex Song should’ve been sent off. Song is a stupid, stupid player.

Let’s get one thing clear, Gervinho did not dive. He went down easy, granted, but he did not dive. Why didn’t Arsenal get a penalty for the Barton man-handling him in the box? I can’t understand the rule about an off the ball incident, and the inconsistency of what should be awarded. Can someone please explain this to me? I am honestly puzzled by it.

Song’s behaviour was unacceptable, Barton’s behaviour was unacceptable, and Gervinho’s behaviour was unacceptable, but I do have more sympathy with him. What are you supposed to do when a player grapples you like that?

The biggest cheat of the day is none other than Steven Taylor of Newcastle. His ‘elbowing gesture’ towards the referee and the linesman was diabolical. This is a player who, when splitting up Barton and Gervinho, was seen to be forcing his elbow into Gervinho’s throat, and he has the audacity to accuse Gervinho of elbowing. Diabolical behaviour and something needs to be done about this cretin. It’s not the first time Taylor has cheated. A few years ago, there was an incident where Taylor was taken out by infamous sniper, Hans Football.

Steven Taylor, an embarrassment to English football.

Another thing that puzzled me was the Arsenal players’ reaction towards Barton after the incident. Minutes after a fellow team-mate was sent off, and attacked, Alex Song was seen to be cuddling Joey Barton. That is not on. Can you imagine the likes of Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira doing that sort of thing? Actually, can you imagine the current Man United, Man City or Chelsea team doing that? They would be livid, and back their team-mate all day long. Arsenal really need to toughen up. I’m not talking about becoming mindless thugs, just players who stick by each other. Fair play to Vermaelen, Szczesny, and Rosicky; they seemed to want to get involved.

It’s a shame Barton, the ‘hard man’, likes to dish it out but he’s the first player to make a meal of things when it heats up. He did it with Diaby last season, his clacker properly went and he went down like a sack of spuds, scared and wanting Diaby sent off. He’s done it again. It’s cowardly behaviour. He’s fine when he’s drunk and loaded with his weapon of choice, a cigar, but as a sober man, he’s very, very cowardly. Such a shame that he resorts to this, because he’s a decent player, and one I actually wanted Wenger to sign a couple of weeks ago

On a side note, I thought the back five were absolutely solid yesterday. Obviously, Newcastle aren’t the biggest threat in world football going forward, but they are a physical team, and the defence dealt with everything thrown their way yesterday. Glad to have Vermaelen back.

Szczesny looked confident and assured, dealing with crosses efficiently. Sagna had a typically steady game, and Gibbs looked decent. Vermaelen and Koscielny look like they could form a decent partnership, but as soon as we get an injury / suspension, then we’re in trouble.

On a separate note, Luis Suarez looked dangerous for Liverpool yesterday, but he really needs to cut out the diving, and the card gesturing towards the ref. Such a great, great player, but such a cheat (note – I’m not talking about the penalty, that was a clear foul, but his overall diving is shocking). Gutiérrez was doing the same thing every time he got fouled by an opponent yesterday. Stop waving that imaginary card please gentlemen.

Overall, not too many positives to take out of the game, but not too many negatives either. St James’ Park is a tough place to go, and a point is not the worst scenario, considering it’s the first game of the season, and we were without Fabregas, Wilshere and Nasri. Fellow gooners, don’t get disheartened by this result.

This is an interesting article by Gary Neville. I don’t like him as a pundit or a footballer, but for once he seems to be talking sense.