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.

What I learnt from this weekend of football

Where do I start? What a ridiculously interesting weekend of Premiership football this was. After our ludicrous draw with Newcastle, after taking a 4-0 lead at half-time, the Newcastle game wasn’t the only shock of the weekend.

Anyway, this is what I learnt from this weekend of football:

Female referees are the way forward

After Phil Dowd’s abysmal refereeing, I think the way forward is to have more female referees. I’m sure they can’t make as many mistakes as Dowd. He sent off Diaby for pushing Barton, but managed to book our goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, after Kevin Nolan pushed him! The second penalty was an absolute joke; I’ve watched it over and over again and I still can’t work out what he’s given a penalty for. The final goal came from a free kick awarded to Newcastle, after Dowd managed to spot a foul on Barton that nobody else seemed to notice. As I’m not biased, Newcastle had a perfectly fine goal ruled out for offside, when Best was clearly a couple of yards onside.

Where’s that female assistant when you need her!

Newcastle don’t give up

Fair play to Newcastle. Regardless of my excuses, I can’t take anything away from Newcastle for the way they battled back from 4-0 down.

Man United will struggle

Man United suffered their first defeat of the season to Wolves, and their dreadful away record in the Premiership continues. They’ve only won 3 away games all season, and they’ve got to travel to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Blackburn and Newcastle. They’ve had the easiest fixture list so far.

Torres cost about £40m too much

I wrote an article in the week about Torres costing too much money, and being a very over-rated striker. Lots of Liverpool and Chelsea fans ridiculed me, claiming that the players heart wasn’t in it at Liverpool, and this was the reason for his lack of form over the past couple of years. He had another stinker today. Maybe his heart just isn’t in it after a £50m transfer. The most over-rated striker in world football.

The Premiership is the greatest league in the world

Once again, an amazing weekend of football with lots of twist and turns, and a total of 43 goals in 10 games, proves again why the Premiership is the greatest and most exciting league in world football.

The biggest shock being Tottenham beating Bolton, proving that anyone can beat anyone in the Premiership.

Joey Barton’s shorts are too tight

What is Joey Barton thinking? What is with his love for ridiculous fashion statements. First we had his moustache, now his tight shorts. Sort it out Joey.

All in all, a very exciting weekend of football, which could have been a lot better for Arsenal, but could also have been a lot worse. We’ve gained one point on the leaders, Manchester United, and we would have taken that all day long before 3pm yesterday.

Newcastle board: You should be ashamed

So, Chris Houghton has been sacked as Newcastle manager with the team sitting in 11th place in the Premiership!

That is an absolutely shocking decision by the Newcastle board. I don’t know how the Newcastle fans feel, but I can’t imagine they’d be too happy.

This is a man who took Newcastle to the top of the Championship last season, with 102 points, and to my knowledge hasn’t spent too much money this season.

What the Newcastle board expect from a manager after being promoted from the Championship is beyond me.

The club said it was looking for someone “with more managerial experience”. Good luck. I’ll tell you right now, you’ve had managers with more managerial experience in the past and it’s backfired.

Houghton has worked wonders at Newcastle. I hate to say it because he’s an ex-Tottenham player, but you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

Good luck getting that new manager in place. I’ve heard Phil Brown is available.

Chelsea slip up gives Arsenal a lifeline

With Arsenal losing to Newcastle 1-0 at The Emirates earlier in the day, our season really was in doubt, until Chelsea lost 2-0 at Anfield to struggling Liverpool, to give us an absolute lifeline.

Not much to say on the Newcastle game. We were absolutely shocking, and it was possibly our worst performance in the last few seasons. I don’t want to take anything away from Newcastle though.

The ironic thing about the Newcastle defeat is that Tottenham move to 7th, and Newcastle move to 5th in the Premiership. To think, this is one of Tottenham’s best season’s ever, and one of our weakest, yet the gulf between the two clubs is huge.

Onto player ratings:

• Fabianski – 1 – Had a great few games recently, but the mistake was inevitable. How a goalkeeper can get beat in the air by a player the same height is baffling. I’m guessing his arms/hands give him a 15 inch advantage!
• Sagna / Clichy – 5.5 – Neither player can cross a ball. If we had two full-backs who could cross, I honestly believe we would be 10 points better off at the end of a season.
• Squillaci – 8 – My man of the match. He was quality.
• Koscielny – 7.5 – Solid game from Koscielny. His red-card was deserved, and he could miss vital games because of it.
• Song – 7 – Steady game from Song.
• Wilshere – 8 – I thought he looked sharp again, and I’m surprised he was substituted. Fabregas should’ve come off.
• Fabregas – 3 – I would go as far as saying this was his worst ever game in an Arsenal shirt. Absolutely shocking.
• Nasri – 7 – Looked sharp at times, but no end-product.
• Walcott – 5.5 – Hit the crossbar, but apart from that he didn’t cause much concern for Newcastle. Sad to admit it, but Enrique has Walcott in his pocket.
• Chamakh – 5 – Bad game for the Moroccan. Wenger was right to replace him early on with van Persie.

Overall, a poxy performance from Arsenal, and we’ve now lost two home games to newly promoted sides, which is a shock for the system.

All in all a surprising weekend of football all-round. If Arsenal can lose to Newcastle at home, Chelsea can lose to Liverpool, and Tottenham can score two goals against Bolton, then it proves anything can happen in football.

On a side note, can anyone can tell me what Joey Barton’s little tight shorts are all about?

Arsenal v Newcastle: Starting line-up and match prediction

After the disappointing defeat Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek, Arsenal are out to prove a point against a Newcastle side who have impressed in the Premiership this season.

Newcastle’s mentality could be totally knocked after the Carling Cup defeat to Arsenal, or they could attack the game hoping to get one over Arsenal. I get the feeling that Newcastle won’t be coming to The Emirates for a draw; they’ll be out to win this game.

Cesc Fabregas will be back in the starting line-up for Arsenal, which is a massive plus for the Gunners. I hope Wilshere continues with his run in the team; he rarely has a bad game for Arsenal.

Vermaelen is still out. No idea when he’s back to be honest, but Djourou, Koscielny and Squillaci have been coping in the absence of our defensive kingpin.

Robin van Persie has got a headache, so he’ll be out for another 18 months.

My starting line-up for the game will be as follows:

Fabianski

Sagna     Squillaci     Djourou     Clichy

Song

Wilshere     Fabregas

Nasri     Arshavin

Chamakh

Based on my selection above, we definitely seem to have a stronger squad, and Wenger will have selection dilemmas when we have a fully fit squad. The only reason I’ve left Rosicky and Walcott out is because Wenger may believe that they both need a rest. I just wish Gibbs was fit, because time is running out for Clichy. His lack of intelligence, and crossing ability, is costing us.

I’m predicting Arsenal win this one, but it won’t be as big a win as some people may suggest. I’m going for 1-0 to Arsenal, with a goal from Chamakh.

In other news, Arsene Wenger has been accused of having an affair with a French rapper. Priceless. This is the equivalent of Alex Ferguson having an affair with Mary J Blige.

Also, Tottenham lost 4-2 to Bolton today. Such a shame for all their fans to be brought back down to planet earth. Silly bastards.

We’ve swapped links with Early Bath Blog & Football Gifts. It’s a great blog, and definitely recommended for fans of all football teams, who like the see the humorous side.

Newcastle 0-4 Arsenal: Best team in England on current form

After successfully taking care of Newcastle 4-0 at St James Park, without really getting out of first gear, you can only assume we’re hot favourites for the Carling Cup this season.

One thing I will mention is that the second goal should not have counted. Was Walcott offside? That’s debatable, but I’d give the defender the benefit of the doubt. Did Bendtner clearly obstruct Mark Williamson? Yes, he did. The goal should never have counted, and Newcastle fans should be understandably disappointed. It wouldn’t have changed the game to be fair, but it’s still a shitty way to concede.

Based on our current form, both the Man United squad and fans are clearly shitting themselves about the prospect of trying to win the Carling Cup, and trying to catch us in the Premiership. Can’t wait until we have the second half of our squad back from injuries. There’s a lot to look forward to this season for Arsenal.

Back to the match last night.

Goalkeeper: Sczesny in goal looked like a proper keeper. We’ve got high hopes for this boy and he definitely didn’t disappoint last night. His night was summed up with the final touch of the game, when a corner was delivered and he raced out and punched it clear with conviction and power. This is similar to an old-fashioned defender just clearing the ball into Row Z. Sometimes you need that.

Defence: The full backs looked decent enough last night, although Eboue really needs to cut his diving out. It’s a shame he goes down so easy, as this reflects on the rest of the team. Djourou looked solid in the air, winning everything, but still dodgy on the floor. Koscielny had a solid game.

Defensive Midfielders: Denilson looked steady last night. I’ll be honest; I’m not entirely sold on Craig Eastmond yet. He is only 19, and he has only played a handful of games for Arsenal. I’m sure he’ll be decent, but I’m not seeing it yet.

Offensive Midfielders: Rosicky had a very good first half, but fizzed out a little in the second half. Overall, had a decent game. Walcott was quality, regardless of the two goals. He looks like a new player. Carlos Vela looked absolutely diabolical if I’m honest. I don’t know what has happened to this player. He promised so much when he first joined Arsenal, but he continuously fails to deliver in the ‘bigger’ games.

Striker: Bendtner was quality.

An easy game overall. We didn’t really play our free-flowing football until the game was dead and buried, but we’ve still got a lot of positives to take out of the game; Bendtner, Walcott and Sczesny in particular.

After scoring an average of 4 goals per game in the last 3 games, West Ham are not going to fancy coming to The Emirates on Saturday at all. The game is far from a forgone conclusion, but the last few games will definitely give Arsenal confidence, and West Ham are a delicate team right now.

Newcastle v Arsenal: Match prediction and starting line-up

St. James’ Park beckons. A fixture in which we undoubtedly do not have the best of records, but a fixture that you make note of in the calendar. The stadium and the fans are credit to what football is all about. It could be anything but fixtures involving Newcastle are never dull. Fast paced, rough tackles and an intimidating atmosphere. A fixture you end up remembering for the rest of the season. I think this cup, albeit the Carling Cup, will have an edge to it.

Arsene has finally decided that he would be taking this competition seriously. It’s not a wise decision sprouting out of the sudden respect for this competition that the Frenchman’s conscience generates. He can afford to rest people yet field an experienced team. He has a squad with depth and his hand forced to field a strong side. He rests Arshavin, Rosicky walks in. He rests Nasri, Theo walks in. Gibbs for Clichy, Eboue for Sagna and so on.

So back to the side then. I expect Chesney to get his first start of the season. The positive noises from Chesney tell me that he has been promised this run. Let’s hope he doesn’t disappoint.

Chesney

Eboue     Djourou     Koscielny     Gibbs

Denilson     Eastmond

Walcott     Rosicky     Lansbury

Bendtner

I hope to see Koscielny back. Djourou looked out of sorts and if indeed it was due to rustiness, he could oil it in the Carling Cup. Theo should play so as to regain match fitness and so would Bendtner. Lansbury will get a chance to build on his performance against the Spuds. Rosicky and Denilson should complete our eleven. I named these two last since these are the players I am not sure Arsene would start with. Eastmond / Diaby might get a game in lieu of them. Rosicky would start since he really can’t name anyone else in this side as captain, can he? Eboue as captain! Wouldn’t that be funny? I hope Arsene doesn’t do any such thing.

I didn’t name Vela since I think Arsene has written the eulogy on his Arsenal career. He has flattered us to deceive too many times. With Chamakh, Bendtner and Walcott ahead of him, alongwith Wellington Silva arriving, I would be shocked if we see Vela not leave us in January. If not, he will leave in the summer for sure. Almunia might be gone as well. The only thing is we may have to find a bigger fool to take him away from us in the first place.

There has been talk of Newcastle resting players for this fixture. We certainly seem hungrier for this game. I am looking forward to the match, as I look forward to every Carling Cup game. You get to see some fresh faces. Bendtner and Walcott to score, Chesney to keep a clean sheet. Arsenal to win 2-0.

Article written by V.Vikas (http://www.arsenal-view.blogspot.com/)

FIVE STAR POOL AND LUXURY VILLA

Aston Villa suffered yet another defeat, this time getting demolished 5-0 against in-form Liverpool, to ease some pressure off Arsenal and put us firmly in the driving seat for the 4th place and Champions League spot.

Villa have only manager to gain 1 point from a possible 12 in the month of March, which always proves to be a very big month and generally separates the boys from the men, and that’s exactly what has happened with Arsenal and Aston Villa. We’ve proved we can cope with the pressure, and they clearly can’t. Was it always going to happen? Of course it was.

With Liverpool scoring for fun, many of their fans are getting ahead of themselves and actually believing they will go on to win the league. Don’t kid yourself fellas, and don’t get too excited, the league will belong to Man United come May. You’ve had a good run of form, but your arseholes will go again. Interestingly, Arsenal could play a major part in deciding who wins the league.

I actually missed the Newcastle game, so I won’t be including any player ratings from that game. I saw Match of the Day, and the goals from Diaby and Nasri will definitely be up for Goal of the Month for March. I’m sure most Arsenal fans will tell me Diaby is the best player on the planet after scoring that goal, but I’m not judging him on the goal, I’d like to know what his performance was like. I’ve heard mixed opinions so far.

Great question from Match of the Day last night, who is the highest scoring Englishman in the Premiership? If you missed the question, and don’t look on the internet, have a go at cracking that one.

NEWCASTLE v ARSENAL: TEAM NEWS AND PREDICTION

We haven’t lost in 15 Premiership games, since the humiliating 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on 22nd November, and I expect that to be extended to 16 games after the Newcastle game today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking Newcastle and by no means is it an easy game, but on current form we look unstoppable and I think we’ll nick it.

The only team news we know right now is that Eduardo, Walcott, Rosicky, Fabregas and Adebayor will not make the trip to St. James’ Park.

I think we’ll start with the following team:

Almunia, Sagna, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Eboue, Nasri, Song, Denilson, Arshavin, van Persie.

I’m hoping we start with Djourou and Bendtner but I think he’ll go with experience against a gritty Newcastle side.

Prediction: 1-0 to Arsenal with a goal from van Persie.

If anyone has any team news, then please inform!