FANTASY FOOTBALL TIPS

A five goal turnaround sealed an emphatic win for Arsenal today, sending Gooners the world over into a boss-eyed frenzy of jubilation while fans of Tottenham returned weeping to their caves.

By no means was it tantamount to a cup final but on the one year anniversary of the Carling Cup debacle there are some parallels to be drawn. A loss today would have compounded a dreadful week for Arsenal. Effectively out of two cups and stranded in the league, it would have been a hammer blow for the collective moral of the team, much like the effects of that game one year ago today where our form spiralled into freefall and arguably is still in a chaotic state. Where’s the consistency in a 7-1 win against Blackburn followed by a no show in Milan?

Yet our level of resilience, drive and team spirit today is the kind of inspiring performance that could have the inverse effect to that of the Birmingham game. Now I’m sat here believing we can get five against Milan. And why not? If we play with such tenacity again, it’s not such an outlandish claim.

Rosicky’s goal is a perfect example of how we can change simple things for the better. Looking back at the replay we had five men in the box, four of which were running at speed toward the goal. This is what we used to do to devestating effect but have stopped doing this year. The slight deflection for the cross off the defender was fortunate but that’s football. You can’t score if you don’t shoot and if you don’t attack you never will.

Talking of which, we had a lot of shots today, again something we don’t do often enough. Our level of creation was phenomenal; a little bit of urgency and movement can help this team pay dividends. The quality is not vintage Wenger but there’s enough there that if we maintain this sort of team play and desire, then we have a base to build on again.

In the years when Spurs couldn’t buy a win against us it was almost expected that we would win or at the very least not lose the North London derby. So what made today all the sweeter was the fact that this is the best Spurs team in over two decades against our worst team in fifteen years. And we spanked them.

Two years flies by when you're beating the scum.

My stream cut me off before I could see who got the official man of the match but I’ll hazard a guess it was the little Czech midfielder.

On a personal note I’m chuffed to bits for him. Before his spell of injuries Rosicky was a really strong player for us, scoring some beautiful goals–one curling effort against Liverpool and a long range screamer in the Champions League stick out in the memory–before his efficacy started to wane as his injury problems started to rise.

Not too long ago reports were circling that his wife lost their unborn baby and who knows how something like this affected his game. Sometimes people forget that players are people too. Yet he never showed a lack of desire and after two years without a goal he got a decisive one to make it 3-2 and the emotional look on his face as he wheeled away epitomised our team spirit today.

There was so much to talk about after the match: bad defending, Theo’s frustrating inconsistancy, Robin’s brilliance, more bad defending; so maybe I’ll do some more posts in the next couple of days after the elation has subsided and we can look at things a little more objectively.

For now, let’s just bask in what was a memorable game and hopefully a turning point in terms of our general performance.

And finally, let’s all laugh at Tottenham.

ha ha

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Please excuse the lack of activity since the last post, you see I’ve only just finished a self-imposed media embargo so I could concentrate without distractions on banging my head against the wall.

Once again in a very short time frame we’ve self-combusted, thrown in the towel in a pathetic fashion and exited two competitions, one I feel we had a realistic chance of winning, the other the Champions League which at a most basic level is just plain nice to be a part of. At least it is when we don’t record our heaviest loss in the competition it is.

Since then the Emirates cogs have been ticking over, providing Gooners with much food for thought both on and off the pitch. Arshavin, Ju Young Park, Yossi Benayoun and Marouane Chamakh all played for the reserves a few days ago against Norwich. The little Russian nabbed a brace, Park and Yossi played excellently by all accounts getting a goal each, and starlet Benik Afobe scored to round off a 5-0 victory.

One of our most expensive ever signings scores against a 'keeper no one's ever heard of in a reserve game.

Looking at the positives here, this was an opportunity for these fringe players to vamp up their confidence with an easy run out. It’s just so hard to believe that a year ago Andrey got the winner against Barcelona, Chamakh’s dip in form was deemed temporary, and Benayoun and Park were names few would have thought would ever be wearing an Arsenal jersey.

Elsewhere deep inside the Arsenal vaults, the fat cats have released a statement regarding ticket prices for next year. Nobody knows if their initial plan was to hike them up further–they have a record of breaking promises–but they haven’t, and they might be cursing the rotten form of the playing staff for effectively backing them into a corner.

There’s just no way they could justify–to what is already a pretty peeved mob–yet another increase in tickets after the recent run of games. So as it is, there’s a freeze on normal tickets for the 2012/13 season, whilst Club Level prices increase by roughly 2%. Let’s see how loyal  the “prawn sandwich brigade” are when it’s FC Klashnikov 74 in the Europa League and not Barcelona coming into town.

Yet we’ll only be playing such ridiculously named Europa League outfits (I made it up by the way) if we finish just outside the top 4, which, yet again, has become a polished turd that Arsene and the board are trying to reward us with  as a sign of a successful season, namely because it’s the best we can hope for.

But it’s not. Finishing 4th is not a success or a victory. It’s natural to want to finish as high as possible but actually winning something, that’s a real success.

Those voicing concerns that we won’t be able to hold onto our best players nor will be able to keep signing the best players if we exit this entirely made up top 4 power group might need to look back over the last few years to see that ultimately it doesn’t matter, at least where Arsenal are concerned. Our best players have continued to leave us (mostly for the lure of more cash) and the best players have continued to ignore us (mostly for the lure of more cash).

It points to the fact that most modern day footballers follow their wallets. And yes we can and should overhaul our financial dealings but the sad fact is that no matter what we offer there are other clubs that can simply offer more. What can change however, is our football style and mindset, but that’s a job for Arsene right now as he’s the one in charge.

And this really sticks in the throat to admit it but one only need look at Tottenham to see how unimportant 4th place is. Their ascent up the table to media labelled “title challengers” was all achieved with only one previous top four finish. They might have spent cash, but it seems to have spent within their means. The difference is, they’ve bought well and are playing confidently–two things we simply haven’t been doing recently–without needing 4th place to act as some sort of prerequisite.

*washes mouth out with soap*

That all links nicely to the final part of this post: Spurs. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a big deal. For the first time in almost two decades they’re coming to our ground with a swagger that suggests they don’t think they’re going to win. No, they think they’re going to batter us. If we are going to start moving up the league and finishing as high as we can, then we need to erase the last few games from our minds and start playing for the pride in the shirt. There’s not much else left to play for. And there’s no better time to show that then in front of our own fans on Sunday.

That cannon on our chest is there for a reason. It’s there to obliterate little cocks that stand on basketballs.

Come on the Arsenal

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Prior to the game up on the AFC Blog Facebook wall I posted the video of Cesc’s goal last time we played Milan, and after mentioning Henry in 2003 and Cesc in 2008 I asked who our San Siro hero would be tonight. I meant it in earnest; the San Siro has been a welcoming venue for Arsenal and after some positive games as of late this could have been a night where we really showed some mental strength and threw away that ridiculous handbrake metaphor for good.

But that didn’t happen. In fact–from an Arsenal point of view–nothing happened, and Roy Keane summed it during the half time pundit chat as he said, “Arsenal haven’t turned up tonight.”

It was a dreadful collecive performance. It’s not an irregular occurrence for us to have a worse bark than our bite, holding more possession but not doing much with it. Tonight we didn’t even have any bark. We looked more like a stray mutt wondering around aimlessly looking for a spot to defecate. Our passing was laboured, wide of the mark, our movement didn’t involve any moving; we were guilty of all the things our critics have accused us of being.

But instead of dwelling on the game tonight–because that’s tantamount to an emo kid self-harming plus we all know what happened–it might be better to look at the factors that have culminated in that utterly shambolic performance.

It’s well documented that many former players after leaving the club still feel a strong affinity with the Arsenal. You just have to look at Henry’s behaviour since coming back to see that and even Samir Nasri curiously wished us well for the Milan game and tweeted today “once a Gunner, always a Gunner”.

Even with silly shorts Patrick knew how to win

After the final whistle another former Gunner who still feels that bond, Patrick Vieira, offered his thoughts on what went wrong, tweeting “Really sorry for the result for Arsenal – there was a lack of leadership.”

When van Persie rifled a low volley into the corner after Henry cleverly found him with a flick, the Milan ‘keeper celebrated his save like he’d stopped a penalty in a World Cup final, not prevented his team from conceding while they’re three goals to the good and cruising. We never looked so animated even after the fourth goal went in.

This is also something Dennis Bergkamp touched upon today in an English newspaper when discussing our chances against Milan.

“You need a few strong characters who can get the team going, in training as well as matches.  

“Sometimes you need more of a winning mentality than a passing mentailty.”

It’s extremely difficult not to agree with these formers players, especially as they know what they’re talking about, their trophy cabinets will attest to that.

In a few hours it will have been exactly one year since that wonderful game at the Emirates where Arsenal triumphed over Barcelona. In midfield that night were Jack Wilshere, Fabregas and an in-form Nasri. Since then, one decided a sub’s bench made of 50 pound notes was better than playing for us, one went to play for his childhood club, and one has suffered a season-long injury.

They are three players with the determination to change a game single handedly and we haven’t found similar replacements for them. And so tonight we witnessed a midfield that took part in one of the worst Arsenal performances I’ve witnessed.

What makes it all sadder is that was Henry’s last game for the club. What a way to bid bon voyage to a club hero. It’s almost shameful.

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Business doesn’t stop just because the transfer window is closed, and as such there’s been some tasty news morsels emanating from the Emirates this week.

First off, master of the cheeky chip Carlos Vela has spoken out about his desire to stay in Spain. Currently playing for Real Sociadad and fresh off from scoring against Barcelona, Vela was asked about his future, to which he responded, “I would stay at Real. It is too early to talk about these issues but I do not close the door to Real. As I said, I’m happy here and would like to help the team stay up. Then we’ll see what happens in the summer.” 

Since coming to North London in 2005, Vela has made more than twice the amount of appearances for loan clubs as he has Arsenal, and in six years has joined four different teams on short term deals. Unlike Wilshere, Coquelin, and Szczesny who all spent just one year away on loan, Vela doesn’t seem to be able to hold down a spot in the first team and probably sees a brighter future permanently away from Arsenal.

Essentially, Wenger took a chance on one of the brighter stars of the young Mexican golden generation, it didn’t work out, and so it looks like he’ll be off in the summer. Good luck Carlos, and thanks for the classy chip memories.

While one young gunner looks certain to be departing this summer, another has made a commitment to extend his contract and fight for his place in the team.

Speaking to a French newspaper who revealed the extension of his deal until 2015, Johan Djourou said about the squad and his chances,”The competition is enormous. I work in the shade while waiting for another chance to show my potential.”

Funky French translation aside, the message is pretty clear and good on him. It’s welcoming to see a player not happy to rest on his laurels and willing to fight for his spot on the team sheet, especially when we have at least two centre halves keeping him out of the squad right now on merit. Let’s hope he puts that belief  into practice.

Finally, captain van Persie gave a massive vote of confidence to Theo Walcott after the Blackburn game, going so far as to claim that one day the rapid winger will regularly notch 20 goals a season. “Trust me, he will score. He will get 20 goals at least every season. You will see. Have faith in him.” 

After checking his paltry goal tally for this season and having the fear of God put into him by the captain’s sound bite, Theo was quick to respond and play down expectations. “One of my main jobs as a winger is to get assists. The goals are a secondary thing.”

It’s hard to argue with Theo’s point, after his trio of assists against Blackburn he’s now level with Nasri, Nani and Bale in the assists table. Still, it’s also difficult to disagree with Robin’s prediction when you look at Theo at times. He’s one of the fastest in the league and when he does score it’s usually with aplomb. But those instances are too sparse in comparison with the amount of chances he spurs.

His overall game needs to improve; he looks at his most effective when a great midfield pass has done half the work for him and he doesn’t have to beat a defender.

Robin’s words sound like the stuff of a captain trying to support his player. But if Walcott works hard and grows in confidence I think he has all the attributes and skill to be that 20 goal a season man.

One step at a time Theo (just remember to put one leg in front of the other when you’re doing it).

What did you think of the week at the Emirates? Spread the Arsenal love by leaving a comment.

PS Thanks for all the questions for Per and big kudos to those who wrote theirs in German, we’re doing it in Per’s native tongue so you saved me some translating work.

It’s always a great feeling to finish the day on the right side of a hammering, so to mirror our drubbing of Blackburn here’s seven reasons to bee a happy Gooner.

1. This is a little tongue in cheek but looking back at our dreadful start to this season it’s nice to know we’ve hit the fabled 40 point mark and are now virtually assured not to be relegated.

2. Finally we recouped the minus six goal difference Manchester United took from us in the game we dare not speak of.

3. Alex Song is turning into quite the maverick. That was his  fifth assist in twenty games.

For a holding midfielder that tally is pretty impressive. And when we look at those instances in isolation and marvel at the manner of them, for a man who’s probably used to getting bloody noses from being that high up the pitch his classy and intelligent assists are remarkable.

4. People will point to Walcott’s paltry goal count for the season as a stick to beat him with, and while that number is pretty low, as a wide player setting up goals should be just as important for him. He got three today and by all accounts put in a good performance. He’s owed us one.

5. Where to start with the Ox? Hunger, drive and all the talent and potential to apply his innate skills. It’s going to be fun watching this kid grow at Arsenal.

But brace yourselves, there’s an incoming Wengerism heading your way. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain really is like a new signing. Still there? Good. Before today he’s rarely featured apart from some eye catching cameos but he still hasn’t played 90 minutes and with his little playing time in the league he’s produced one assist.

Wenger said after the match today that “He was not ready earlier in the season. He has made a big step in the last months.” Against Blackburn he was the man, and for all those asking where was our attacking purchase in January, well, there he is. Except we bought him in August. That’s just how we roll.

6. Ramsey / Rosicky. Rosicky was given a start in the middle and Ramsey finally got a deserved break. I’ve really felt for Aaron at times this year. Including games for Wales he has already played 36 times this season and we are only half way through. Fatigue and high expectation to run a midfield like Fabregas could is too much to ask, especially when we consider he still might not be fully back to his best after nearly having his leg kicked off.

He’s a great prospect who has needed a rest as he’s looked like he has run out of ideas in the final third of late. A little breather will stand him in good stead and it was made even better to know that Rosicky can step in and, judging by today, play just as good.

7.  Steve Kean, a charmless nobody who had the cheek to bask in his own supposed glory after Balckburn beat us earlier in the season,  giving interviews and attending football shows telling anyone who’d listen how he had scouted Arsenal and worked out how to beat  them. We scored half of their goals that day. So thank you Arsenal for sending him back to the wastelands with a seven-goal rout, the cherry on top courtesy of another goal from Thierry Henry.

Thierry passed to Robin, Robin passed it back. Thierry saw the gaping goal and said I'm having that!

In years gone by Henry wouldn’t have even looked up for the pass as he drove on toward goal concluding with his trademark side foot into the far corner.

Instead he staggered his run and gave it to RVP, the man who scores when he wants. He was probably content with just the three for the day and so he kindly gave it back for Henry to score his 228th Arsenal goal.

I’m loving every minute of Thierry coming home. Seeing his love for the club shine through is a disposition a lot of the other players could do with and aside from that his experience and advice will be a different kind of education for some of the players.

But it’s a bittersweet story, not only because this quick fling with the ex that got away will be ending soon because they’re going to go back to the rich American she left you for, but also because things are not quite the same. He’s carrying a few extra pounds and lost that jump start accelleration that saw him terrorise the league for all those years. No one will care though, he’s already scored more goals than Chamkh and he’s fat and old, but man, to have him in the shape he was in in 2003. We would be so lucky.

Without trying to spoil the party, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s fair to say you can only beat what’s put in front of you but we haven’t been doing that of late, and today it was only Blackburn.

As much as I’m riding high on the buzz of seeing Arsenal run riot again it’s sobering to put put it in perspective. The fact that we went into this game without the expectation that we would batter them means we’re not completely on the right track.

But to improve we had to start at some point, and hopefully today was that day. Let’s push on from this, hit some form, and see how high we can finish.

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After a stalemate on a cold dreary night up north we ended a losing run of three games in the league and almost immediately the daggers are out again for certain players, and as always, the manager.

It’s very easy to get angry in the aftermath of disappointment and failure, and since last night there’s been a hefty amount of vitriol doing the rounds. After some time to digest the game and it’s implications, I’ve decided to try something different with this post and turn the attention away from the team and put it on the people who really make the club: us.

Generations before Arsene Wenger arrived at Highbury and long after his succeeder departs the Emirates, the one constant throughout will be the fans. Without them, Arsenal–or any club for that matter–wouldn’t exist.

So what’s our role in the perverted story that Arsenal Football Club has become? To support? To buy merchandise? To turn up in our free time and jeer when things don’t go how we want them to?

While free speech is a notion that should always be advocated, especially if you’re paying one of the footballing world’s most expensive season ticket prices, there’s no reason why a bit of common sense and empathy can’t help someone bite their tongue.

Yet there was a twisted orchestra of boos as Arshavin replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain during the Manchester United game.

It’s debatable whether the ire was aimed at him or at Wenger’s decision to remove the impressive Chamberlain. What’s not in doubt is the where the jeers were directed at the Villa game before the match had even started as Arshavin’s name was called on the tannoy.

As Chamberlain left the field in the United match, it was obvious that the crowd were displeased at his removal. Players aren’t thick and of course he would have received their displeasure as a sign that he was having a good game and that probably made him feel pretty good about his own performance.

But it’s likely that anyone booing at his replacement didn’t stop to think what their actions might mean in the long term. Maybe that night when Chamberlain ran the game back through his head, a few thoughts crossed his mind. With the footballing world at his feet, this kid’s going to accumulate a lot of England caps and one day might set a major international tournament alight much like the vodka bottle-sized Russian did during Euro 2008 before we signed him.

Perhaps Chamberlain contemplated what would happen if he hit a bad patch, stopped scoring and started making mistakes. Are the same fans that lamented his removal last week  then going to be volleying insults at him as he leaves the field, only for him to arrive home to find death threats sent via Twitter just like Aaron Ramsey was subject to after the Swansea and Bolton games?

There was a lot of love for Andrey after he single handedly stopped Liverpool with four goals all those years ago. But not any more.

And all of a  sudden Arsenal doesn’t seem like a nice place to be playing the game at these days.

Over Christmas I was back home in London and my Dad gave me his ticket for the Wolves match. A draw and a flat performance was soundtracked by the worst experience I’ve ever had at a home game. Around my seat nobody was happy. Singing was only instigated by a pocket of die hard Gooners who are probably so afflicted with love for the club they go to reserve away games. Around me there  was only slagging off and moaning. It wasn’t fun.

While it’s a basic human right to be in a society where free speech is allowed in any form, whether it be booing, singing songs about an opponent player’s dad washing elephants, or even the freedom to enjoy the game in silence, surely it’s better to use that privilege not to spout hate at something we’re supposed to love.

Dennis liked Arsenal and trophies in equal measure.

In 2004 Dennis Bergkamp gave an interview recounting Arsenal’s title ambitions midway through the season. We had just lost two games in a row–games which saw us exit the Champions League and FA Cup–and suddenly our title bid was looking wobbly. The next game we went in at half time at Highbury losing 2-1 to Liverpool.

We won the game 4-2 and I’ll never forget Henry scoring a goal after a run so mazy Carragher fell over and headbutt Biscan in the crown jewels. Dennis doesn’t mention anything like that in his interview but he does recall, “It was a little difficult at first but the atmosphere and the fans were just fantastic.”

Despite the comeback last week when we were 2-0 down to Villa at half time there was no such sentiment. Nope, just booing.

Bergkamp also once said, “I really like Arsenal. But you, do you really like Arsenal? Or just with trophies?”

Now is a time we should all be asking each other the same thing.

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**For the record I’m not asking anyone to remain silent and just accept things the way they are. Constructive criticism is a separate notion and something to be used to encourage us to continually want to improve–Arsene might claim to have poor vision whenever something controversial happens on the pitch but there’s been no instances of him being hard of hearing.

And of course it goes without saying, none of this is intended to reflect the actions and views of all Arsenal fans, only those who took part in the mentioned incidences.

Three goals in seven second half minutes gave Arsenal fans the comeback they were all craving for and the team a trip to the north east to look forward to for the 5th round of the FA Cup.

It was the kind of schizo self-sabotaging performance we are not strangers to from the Arsenal but thankfully that summary only applies to the first half as the team came out assured with an enterprising second half show.

Other than Fabianski in goal it was as strong a fit starting 11 as we could have fielded and from the off we kept hold of possession well. Yet we never really looked like threatening and the first 30 minutes were pretty subdued aside from a stinging Vermaelen free kick and a shanked Walcott effort from inside the box.

In the meantime Villa looked disinterested with attacking and were quite happy to watch us knocking the ball around them in safe areas while they waited for their chance. Their opportunity came twice and they ruthlessly took both, one from a simple short corner headed home by Dunn, the other a good finish by Bent from an acute angle as he latched onto a through ball on the 45th minute. We may have seen most of the ball but we went in for half time reeling from two sucker punches.

I don’t know what was said/eaten/thrown at the team during the interval but it worked. We started with much the same emphasis on possession but this time we were turning it into some dangerous chances and Mertersacke’s header was cleared off the line from an early corner. Oxlade-Chamberlain was jabbing his way down the wing showing the kind of directness we’ve lacked at times while the movement off the ball from most of the forward players increased, and eventually brought around the seven minute turnaround. In a nutty nutshell, it went like this: two confidently dispatched Van Persie penalties came either side of a Walcott goal courtesy of a rebounded clearance that went in off his shoulder after he wriggled his way into the six yard box from the byline. It wasn’t pretty but who cares. If we’d lost by two penalties and a shoulder spectacular there’d be no sympathy for us from the critics, so I don’t see why there should be any grumbles when we win by such means.

Liverpool got a similar goal when they beat us at home this season so it was nice to see the comedy goal karma come back round in our favour for once.

Robin scores his first penalty with ease.

After we took the lead we looked comfortable in possession which was a good sign considering our tendency toward meltdown in the latter stages of critical games. Arteta made his injury comeback and excellently recycled the ball time after time, even slipping Henry through shortly after he came on but his touch was poor so there was to be no Thierry magic in this round of the FA Cup.

In other good news it was great to see Henry on the bench talking to the younger players. At the Leeds game the camera showed him regaling Walcott, hopefully inspiring with tales of Champions League finals and league titles. Today he was smiling and chatting with Szczesny. Lord knows what advice he was giving the young Polekeeper–perhaps Irish fans will think it’s something to do with his handling–but I always like to see happy players and any words of wisdom he can impart to the team than all the better. I hate it when the camera pans to the bench and we are greeted by a silent row of emotionless faces while Wenger assassinates his latest Evian bottle.

All in all, a good day to be a Gooner, and as frustrating as it was to concede two sloppy goals at least we saw some resilience from the team, a spirit summed up best by kel’s comment in the previous post’s thread: “So at last we show some BALLS!!!!!!”

Well said.

And finally, a big welcome back to Bacary Sagna, man we’ve missed him.

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Hello to all. Andy here.

You’ve surely all realised in recent times that I have not been contributing much at all to the blog.

It’s been a huge disappointment of mine that I haven’t been able to do so, but the simple truth is that work has got the better of me of late and I haven’t been able to put the same energy into the blog that I would like.

So all things considered, I have decided to changed my role on AFCB.

After discussing things with a good friend of mine Mark, a terrific Arsenal supporter who I met during my time in Berlin, I have decided to step aside and let him take over the reigns.

As he will tell you in his welcome message below, Mark will be handling the day-to-day happenings on the blog, news updates, match reports and all the stuff that recently, I simply have not had the time to do.

My input will be scaled into an editorial: managing the content on the site and contributing feature articles and opinion pieces on an irregular basis.

It’s been a tough old season for Arsenal fans, by far the toughest since I started this blog almost five years ago. But over that time we’ve forged such a great community of supporters on this blog and I don’t want that to be lost just because I have become a little bit too busy.

With Mark now on board I sincerely hope we can reignite the joy within this community and you as loyal readers can once again get the great content and interaction that you have come to expect.

As a final comment, if you are in any way inclined to check out the new online + design business I am now co-directing, which has been taking up most of my time, poke your head in at Moonshine Madness and take a look around. Most appreciated.

– Andy

Introducing Mark

Hey all,

My name is Mark and I was lucky enough to be asked by Andy to join the blog.

I’ll be chipping in with reports, news and all things Arsenal, so I’m using this post to introduce myself and tell you all a little bit about me so you don’t think someone’s jacked the site.

Until I was 11 I went to school only a goal roar away from our beautiful old stadium of Highbury, one which we never heard because only weird kids are at school on Saturdays at 3pm.

I’ll never forget the time Arsene Wenger kicked our playground ball back over the fence as he was on his way to lunch. Anyone who could kick a size 4 plastic ball with such technique as he displayed was destined to go on to achieve greatness.

Now I am living and working in Berlin, where Andy and I met, slowly losing my hair from ripping out chunks of it during the games as my Iraqi Goals stream freezes every time we play.

Apart from the dedication and hard work Andy puts in to run this page, what drew me toward wanting to be part of it was his tagline: Arsenal, with Love.

Right now supporting the team can be hard work, what with so many of the fans divided and throwing online invective at each other, coupled with poor performances and results.

The blog reminded me that even if you want Wenger out now, or if you’re willing to blindly follow him off a cliff, or even if you’re just this guy, we’re all bound by one thing: we love the Arsenal.

So I’m happy to be a part of it.

– Mark

That was amazing.

The movement, the control, the finish. The exaggerated sulks, the slow-motion running, the memorable celebration.

It was like he never left.

If you’re going to use the 34-year-old’s goal as evidence that Chamakh/Arshavin/[insert attacker here] isn’t up to it, that it shows what this squad currently lack, I don’t begrudge you.

But I do feel sorry for you.

If you couldn’t enjoy the simple joy of Thierry Henry’s winning goal, you should give up on football.

Monday night wasn’t about the mind, about solving problems or technical analysis. It was about the heart.

Thank you, Thierry, for another unforgettable moment.

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A very quick one today to say a belated ‘Merry Christmas!’ and an early ‘Happy New Year!’ for 2012.

You guys all know how much I appreciate you as a community, your comments and opinions and loyalty has been superb once again in 2011.

Rather than talk, talk, talk, I’d just like to wish you all the best and leave you with my favourite post of the year about my favourite Arsenal moment of the year: ‘A moment in time’.

Enjoy, and once again, all the best!

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Arsenal take on table toppers Man City at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, and bookmakers Betfred, Boylesports and Paddy Power look to have underestimated their chances by offering a tasty 5.5 about them causing a bit of an upset.

That really does look a massive price for the Gunners who have been in terrific form in recent weeks and currently sit in fifth place -  just nine points behind the league leaders.

Chelsea proved on Monday when coming from one down to beat City 2-1 that Roberto Mancini’s men are far from invincible, and Arsene Wenger will have taken plenty of encouragement from that result.

The stats certainly give Arsenal a better chance than what the bookies think, as City have lost at home to the Gunners 10 times in the Premier League and 20 times in all competitions.

The home side also really struggled in last month’s Carling Cup clash between the two sides, winning 1-0 with their only shot on target.

I really do think Arsenal are capable of serving it up to the City slickers, especially given the goal scoring exploits of Robin van Persie.

The Dutchman has simply proved just too hot to handle this season and has now netted 33 goals in 32 Premier League games in 2011.

He has also scored an incredible 18 goals in his last 16 PL away appearances, so at 7 with Boylesports to net the opener has to be worth a punt.

Another good bet, which has served us well so far this season, is for him to score anytime during the 90 minutes. Boylesports go a standout 3 and that looks incredible value (some firms go just 2.25!).

When it comes to the correct score market I like the look of a 2-1 win for Arsenal as it’s hard to see City not netting. That outcome can be backed at a whopping 19 with Betfred andBoylesports and will do for me.