On Song and Other Points
“It was July 2005, and I came here with the chairman of Bastia,” Song told Arsenal TV Online.
“I walked into the dressing room and saw Robert [Pires], Thierry [Henry], Dennis [Bergkamp]. It was unbelievable; they were players you watch on the TV.
“I just asked myself, “Alex, what are you doing here?”"
Countless others would ask the same question after seeing him play his first matches for Arsenal. They made up their minds early – they did not want him in the team. “What the f*ck was Wenger thinking,” they thought.
This is in no way an effort to bring attention to how my colleagues at eighteen86 and I got it right while so many others were ready to send Alex Song packing. We fully acknowledge that he is not the finished article. He still needs to work on his passing and like all Arsenal players, his consistency. He has improved his reading of the game and his positional sense but there is always room for improvement.
On the plus side, Song has given a level of legitimacy to the Wenger youth plan. I heard a guy say this past weekend that he takes back what he said about Arsene’s policy. I was eager to hear him explain. He went on to say that he was a non-believer in the approach to building a team from scratch with kids but now he sees the value in the method. More important than one guy saying so is how there is a general consensus growing among many of those who were previously against it. We’ve bought potential world class players early and nurtured them. Key to the whole scheme is how we’ve managed to keep (most of) them thus far.
The plan can work, you know.
I am not suggesting that Alex Song is world class. He isn’t but can anyone doubt his improvement and importance to the team? I’ve asked a few people to tell me who are better holding midfielders in the EPL. Naturally, Michael Essien comes to mind but he really is more than a holding midfielder. Mascherano comes up next.
…and then there were none.
I tell them that just mentioning Alex Song in the same sentence as Mascherano says loads. Just last season, I was ridiculed for even suggesting that he was worthy of a first team place. A man whose opinion I respect likened him to a lesser Eric Djemba-Djemba. You remember him don’t you? I remember him for planting his foot in Sol’s groin (no yellow by the way for the first failed replacement for Roy Keane. Surprised?). The news highlights only showed Sol’s retaliation. Maybe you don’t remember him since I can’t imagine that there are highlights of anything else Djemba-Djemba’s ever done.
I am not one to say I told you so, but he ain’t no Alex Song.
Song provides cover for the CBs in a way that most reserve players do not. It is seamless when he lines up for us at the back. People forget that we bought him as a central defender. His versatility is best priceless.
In a little less than one week, it will be 15 years since Argentina and Germany played a friendly at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Lothar Matthaus still had enough left to play his 105th international for Germany. He played as a libero but with a slight variation to the classical role. He played in front of rather than behind the back four. In essence, that is what Alex Song does for Arsenal.
When Gallas and Vermaelen were showing up on the score sheet every week, it wasn’t just because they like to get forward and know what to do in front of goal. They were given the freedom to get there by Song. There’s a trust that’s built amongst players that gives them the confidence to try certain things they wouldn’t try otherwise. The back four and Cesc trust Song to that degree. Our captain’s spectacular form is partially due to the freer free role he enjoys.
When players leave for the African Cup of Nations in January, the fear is that Wenger won’t have a plan to replace Song.
Heh! The guy has gone from a hated player deemed as ‘just not good enough’ to striking fear in the hearts of Arsenal fans who don’t think that the manager will spend on cover for him. Fans who used to doubt the player now see his value to the team.
I don’t know what Wenger will do in January. Maybe a deal is already in place to bring back PV4. I can’t imagine Mourinho helping us though. I heard someone mention a loan move to bring back Flamini. It’s not the worst idea but one very unlike Arsene. Maybe Wenger will promote from within. Or he might not make a move at all. We shall see.
Alex Song has made his point.
Other points:
Are Liverpool in freefall? Do they have a squad capable of reversing the current run of bad form? Imagine if Arsenal were going through the same thing. We were poor at times last season but we were also among the most consistent teams for a large part of the season. On current form, Liverpool will be happy to make the last four of anything.
I didn’t realize City are without a league win since the leaves were still green. Oh dear! Again, imagine if Arsenal were in the same boat. The media (and fans) would be in a frenzy – “Frenchie Has Lost The Plot,” “Dein-Usmanov Coup Imminent.” Arsene would be ridiculed to no end – “Ha! you can’t win with kids you stubborn, half blind Alsacian.” Gallas and Vermaelen would hate each other with rumours of a fight video taken down from YouTube by the club. Cesc and Arshavin would be off to Catalunya with Thierry and Bojan coming to London. The curse of Kolo would hang over the club.
And they’d never let us forget selling that other guy to City.
Where are the endless, tabloid-type Liverpool and Man City in Crisis headlines?
The FIFA U17 World Cup has gone under the radar, if you’re interested.
Three Things
1) Darren Fletcher is an overrated idiot. He should shut up.
2) I hope nobody brings up Eduardo when talking about the N’Gog penalty decision yesterday. People certainly will, but there’s a world of difference between the two.
3) For your amusement:
Arshavin chose to be the shark. Credit to Kickette.
Is that David Beckham or Morrissey?
Some things never change. My wife has not sucked my cock in two years, Spurs fans still believe that they are a top four team, and Alex Ferguson gets away with another verbal attack on a referee after his team has lost.
Then we have the MLS play-offs which I compare to teenage dating. Trying to get a wank in the back row of the movies while Aladdin is playing. Meanwhile the real players are smoking weed and drinking Crown in some decked out pad with the sounds blaring. MLS will always lag behind the NBA and EPL. Teenagers trying to get a wank, that’s all it is.
Then there’s the pathetic LA Super Classico ruck with David Beckham showing off his new haircut which looks as though some mental patient cut it. Shaved sides, long on top. You look like that miserable singer from the Smiths, Morrissey. You pathetic tosser!
So we have just under two weeks ahead of us with no Arsenal matches. Sure we have the Ireland verses France World Cup qualifying play-off, but really, that game is like methadone for a heroin addict. We Arsenal fans have to wait until November 21st for our next fix – Sunderland away. By the way, Steve Bruce, the Black Cats manager looks scary. A monster in fact. He looks like someone staring at themselves through the back of a spoon. Horrible.
Last words come from Roy Keane again. Today he talks about Wolves manager Mick McCarthy and ex-Ireland boss Jack Charlton during a tour of the USA in 1992.
“In the morning we were due to fly home, Steve Staunton and I went out for a drink. We forgot about the time and were late arriving back to the team hotel. The rest of the party were sitting on the coach outside. Steve and I raced to our rooms to pack our bags. As we boarded the coach, ‘Big Jack’ started ranting and roaring: “Where the fucking hell have you been? You’ve kept us all waiting.”
“Why didn’t you go without us?” I shot back. “I didn’t ask you to wait.”
In the silence that followed, I looked him straight in the eye. He neither frightened nor impressed me. He was a bully who didn’t like it when the ball was on the other foot. He backed off. I took my seat in the back of the bus.
“You’re right out of order, you.” Looking up I saw Mick McCarthy Captain Fantastic himself, glaring down at me.
“Go and fuck yourself,” I told him.”
Keep it Arsenal
Post Match View – Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Before Ronald Zubar knocked an Arsenal corner into his own net with his thigh, Wolves were applying effective pressure in midfield and even had a few chances to go ahead. They were also playing a high line in defence. Missed chances, leaving so much space behind the back line, and exerting so much energy from the start were always a recipe for disaster.
The own goal burst Wolves’ bubble for sure, but even if it had not happened, I doubt they would have been able to maintain the same level of effort as in the opening period throughout 90 minutes. The energy levels of Arsene Wenger’s teams are underestimated. Time after time, we’ve seen teams apply tremendous pressure early in matches only to run out of steam and be punished by the fitter Gunners.
Can you recall stamina ever being an issue with Arsenal?
As it turned out, we ended up winning 4-1. A second own goal and strikes from Cesc and Arshavin ensured that there’d be no shock result. Another injury and another late goal allowed however, have made the victory a bit less satisfying. Nonetheless, we managed to gain ground on Man Utd. Chelsea squeezed out a 1-0 victory against them at Stanford Bridge in a match that featured Jonny “Ninja” Evans.
There has been criticism of how vulnerable we can be in defence. Late goals allowed against Everton, AZ, and West Ham point to a need to stay focused every minute until the final whistle. Another criticism has been that we haven’t beaten any top four teams. Some say that our losses to both Manchester clubs are more telling than the unbeaten streak we’re currently on. They say the high scoring football we’re playing has more to do with weak opposition than our own prowess. They say that recent talk in the media about us being legitimate title contenders is just talk.
Outsiders will always doubt us until we raise a pot or two, preferably the EPL title, at minimum. It’s more important that the players know how good they are and how much they can achieve together under Arsene Wenger than what critics think about them. Yesterday’s three points have put us in second place with a game in hand.
This is a very interesting season so far. The criticism we’re getting tells me people are afraid of The Arsenal.
Mick McCarthy
Mick McCarthy either looks like an American Bald Eagle or Bert from Sesame Street.
Last week, after getting the rub of the green on two different calls, he said this:
“We’ve had a few go against us this season and I’ve accepted them with good grace, it’s about time someone else had to. Brilliant. Superb.”
That quote made me laugh, and I find him to be an entertaining man overall. When he was last in the Premier League with Sunderland, he routinely called it like it is, mainly calling his team pathetic.
After all these years, I do not know whether he is a good manager or not. I do know that he’s good enough to win promotion to the Premier League routinely.
Yesterday, he said:
“I won’t be sat with a beer in my hand thinking we just let them roll us over and tickle our belly. We will try to play on the front foot. It is not written in stone under Premier League rules that Wolves can’t get anything off Arsenal.”
That made me laugh as well.
Wolves and Sex
“Boxing helped me develop as a sportsman. Skipping and sparring made me more agile. I also acquired a certain confidence when confronted by physical aggression. I was still very small for my age and the techniques and disciplines learned in the boxing ring provided me with a psychological edge: I could look after myself even though I was small and shy.”
Roy Keane (ex-Ireland captain).
On Saturday, Wolves host Arsenal. Wolves are a physical side. Tough in the tackle, organized, very fit, and aggressive in the air. To stop Arsenal from winning, they will try and stop Arsenal and Fabregas from playing: cut off the flanks, pressurize early, test their keeper with high crosses, don’t give them time on the ball.
In games like this, players like Gallas, Song and Vermaelen are key. It will be a physical battle. Soldiers are required. The artists will perform in the last 15 minutes.
Wolves have no artists, just foot soldiers.
Remember Wolves only want a point. Arsenal want a win.
In a game like this, attitude is key: Take the field with the wrong attitude and no matter how much ability you possess, you will lose.
It’s like sex.
Men are like Wolves, women are like Arsenal. A man does not need foreplay. A woman does. She needs slick one touch, two touch moves. Stroking the ball around like a feather gently stroking her breast. She needs candles that smell of spice and lavender, gentle but progressive music, good wine, gourmet cushions on the bed, silk, romance, two hour haircuts in her favorite salon and massages of love.
Men, like Wolves, need a long ball down the middle, a big man to win it in the air and scrambled goal to help them avoid the drop. Once it’s in, who cares about the aftermath – it’s all about the three points, another notch on the bedpost and staying up for the next EPL season. After all, a goal is a goal and a hole is hole.
Making love has never been an Englishman’s past time. They leave that for foreigners. Wolves are not love makers when it comes to football. They, like Stoke, don’t claim to be. They leave that to the Arsenal’s of this world.
A side note. I went to climb a mountain with the missus the other day. We got very high up. She got vertigo, I got annoyed and we climbed back down the mountain before we made the top. As we climbed back down, I watched her ass and decided I wanted to screw. I pulled her into some bushes. She asked what I was doing. I told her I was feeling frisky. She told me that she couldn’t just pull down her pants and let me “go for it.” Other hikers could be around, we could get arrested, where were the candles of lavender, the soft music, the romance? By this stage my moss, algae, H1N1 covered fingers tried to unzip her jeans and put a long ball into the box. She gave me the red card.
Wolves and Stoke she was not. But at that moment, I had descended into Rory Delap of Stoke: the throw-in King. All I wanted was the ball thrown into the box and a scrambled effort for a goal. Style didn’t come into it, not when you are in the bushes. It’s all about getting it up, getting it in, and getting the three points.
Female orgasms are for the Arsenal’s of this world. Not the Wolves.
Keep it Arsenal
There Was A Game Today
Arsenal won 4-1.
I am pleased.
Here’s Your Chance Kieran
Gael Clichy has been struck down with another back injury. At the end of last year, Clichy sustained a back injury which was initially forecasted as a four week injury. That eventually sidelined him for the entire season. Kieran Gibbs stepped in to secure the breach, and while he did the best he could, he ultimately will be remembered for slipping in the Champions League semi, allowing United to walk into the Final.
So, here we are again. Clichy with another back injury, and Arsene saying he’ll be out for one or two months. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out for longer; we just cannot be sure with those pesky back injuries (remember Gilberto Silva in 04-05).
Wenger seems a bit unnerved by this, if only because he wants a full squad so he can rotate in the upcoming weeks.
That being said, we do have left backs as cover, Wenger pointedly saying that we do not lack left backs in the club. That in itself is a boon, considering that the left back position is amongst the most scouted across the world. It is quite simply a hard position to recruit.
And here comes Kieran Gibbs. With the knowledge that Capello is watching his development, if Gibbs performs to his potential, he could play well enough to permanently dislodge Clichy.
I love Gael, but he’s not without his flaws. He was a fantastic player until the slip against Tottenham, and after that, a combination of nerves and injuries has made him look, at times, unspectacular. With rumors of Real Madrid hovering, perhaps if Gibbs plays well enough, Clichy may be sold. I would miss him, but Gibbs has the potential to be better.
Clichy will never possess an attacking mind. His crosses are below average, and he’s been put on a leash by Wenger recently. Kieran Gibbs has been solid, and he’s a converted winger, the same as Ashley Cole.
I could care less about the England factor, but a more important thing to keep in mind is that Gibbs would be an Arsenal Academy player.
Today, against AZ, Gibbs will be given the chance of a lifetime, for oftentimes Arsenal players make their way into the starting XI by way of injuries.
We must show that we have learned our lesson. And Gibbs must show that he has learned his.
Take That Harry!
Dig below any surface and you will find remnants of the past. Examine what you find and you may find clues to the future.
Harry Redknapp has always left a football club in a very bad financial situation. He screws them over with big transfers and a wage bill that they can’t afford. He’s still being investigated for taking back-handers and tax evasion. Look at West Ham (fired for taking bungs), Portsmouth (can barely afford to pay their players), Southampton (relegated two divisions), and Bournemouth (went into administration).
The man is trouble.
Spurs fans were moaning that they were missing Defoe, Lennon and Modric. They argue that if Arsenal missed Robin van Persie, Cesc and Vermaelen we would struggle. They miss the point. Both teams have had injuries to key players – it can’t be used as an excuse.
Spurs have failed to beat Arsenal in the last 20 Premier League games.
Arsenal face Manchester City in the last eight of the Carling Cup. It means a return to the City of Manchester Stadium and Adebeyor. I doubt that he will play and if he does he probably won’t score. Who knows or cares? Arsenal will play their reserves which will include Jack Wilshere and Fran Merida. Because of this City will not be as pumped up as they were back in September. To beat the Arsenal reserve team, you have to be at your best. The reserves will be at their best and looking forward to this one unlike last season when they faced Burnley at the same stage.
Wednesday we play AZ Alkmaar. I hope that we can qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League as soon as possible. For example, we travel to Athens for our last group game in December and then face Chelsea 3 days later. I hope we play the reserves for that one.
Last word: Kenwyne Jones is banned for Sunderland when we play them in two weeks. Do you fucking care? I thought fucking not!
Keep it Arsenal
