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Harry Really Has Made A Difference
Yes, it was pretty poor opposition but just like it wasn't (just) the scores but the performances and general mood of the players that was so bad under Ramos, so is it so good under Harry. I will freely admit that I was not one of the ones who was over enamoured with the appointment of Old Twitchy but I admit I was wrong (for now).
His obvious handling of Modric is one point but if it was so obvious, why was Juande cocking it up so royally?! Straight away Harry has been very prominent in the media (no surprise there) in lording Modric and after the first game, against Bolton he made a bee-line straight for him as he left the pitch for a few words of encouragement or congratulations, whatever it was it's working. He has been vociferous in his praise of Modric, playing him where he wants to play and as a result he seems 10 ft taller.
A further point is that the English players look a lot happier and playing with a lot more freedom. Whether Harry is letting Tommy Hud have ketchup or letting Bentley use his favourite hair gel before a match I don't know but it is so noticeable that they are enjoying themselves so much more than when Juande was cracking the whip. Bent, Bentley, Hud they all look like different players.
Hud was everything that is good about him last night and although I think the slower style of the opposition helped him, he was ubiquitous in all that was good in the midfield, creative and using both feet with equal adeptness, not to mention that goal. I really don't think he would have done that under Juande because he would probably not have been on the pitch for one thing but would have felt stifled to try it if he was.
I know a lot of people will be saying that under Harry we have had a lucky point against Arsenal, a lucky 3 against Liverpool and victories against two poor teams in Bolton and Zagreb but compare that with what went before it. These facts speak for themselves and with every game, we're getting better and more confident and the horrors of August and September are becoming a distant memory.
With Bond, Sherwood and Ferdinand joining Harry there is a real sea change and I think the much-maligned Levy deserves credit for (finally) accepting his error and totally changing things, I can think of a lot of stubborn Chairmen who would have dug their heals in over the Director of Football debacle and let things roll along rudderlessly, although it did take long enough. I'm not saying that the as yet untried duo of Ferdinand and Sherwood are going to be top coaches but if they had been working with Bent and Hud respectively prior to the Zagreb game then this is just another example of the inexplicable midas touch of the droopy-eyed one.
Anyway, in just two weeks of Harry I am rejuvenated and so it seems, are the players.
Stephen Marshall, THFC
A Struggle For City...
I think Man City are going to struggle this season.
They have a great attacking section to their team but their defence is woeful. FC Twente cut the defence open so easily in that game last night. If only Huysegems had a left foot rather than a spoon attached to his left leg.......
Jockey B
Wenger's Cunning Rant
I am surprised that no one sees Wenger's outburst for what it is; a way to divert attention, and criticism, from his young, skilled, but fragile team onto himself. I think he is prone to some whinging (really what manager isn't?) but in this case he was right to stand up for his team. Arsenal's lack of a true captain made this managerial outburst necessary and predictable.
He will now, no doubt, be fostering an "us against the world" mentality on the training ground and in the changing room. All too predictable but necessary.
Nick (I still think Wenger looks like an evil wizard from a movie where there are both good and evil wizards) V.
Expecting A Thrashing...
Does anyone else think we're in for another 6-1 thrashing?
Actually, now I come to think of it, it might do us some good to reflect on that game at Old Trafford. We played Luzhny, Grimandi, and STEPANOVS in defence and had Manninger and Vivas on the bench. Who knows, maybe it was the horrifying gap in class that day that convinced Wenger he would have to turf out the dross and bring in Sol Campbell to strengthen our defence. Result? League and Cup double the following year including winning the title at Old Trafford.
Wenger's hoping that our team will perform better against the big boys than the minnows. Fat chance, but Fergie might be doing us a favour by putting us to the sword again if it precipitates the same realisation for Wenger that it did seven or so years ago. It'd be a bitter pill to swallow - and I would clearly prefer to see us win it or put up a good fight, but I honestly feel I'm being realistic/preemptively optimistic in the face of a battering - but maybe a necessary one for our chances in the coming years.
Will (Martin Laursen would be nice, though he'll probably fancy sticking with a team in the Champions' League next year) O'Doherty
Tomorrow Never Comes For Arsene
I thought I'd write in about Philip Cornwall's article on Arsene Wenger, as I found it to be (from a neutrals viewpoint) an interesting point. Le Professor is going through possibly his roughest patch since joining the club (Arsene Who? Etc.), and the 365 mailbox is receiving more and more letters from Arsenal fans, questioning his actions (or lack of, particularly in the transfer market it would seem), and even those saying it's time for him to move on.
From a personal opinion, over the last 12 years or so, it's been Arsenal who have most frequently made me sit up and go 'wow, that's brilliant football' when watching Match of the Day. They haven't always been the best team obviously, but in terms of entertainment they have become renowned for possibly the most attractive football around - I seem to recall during their unbeaten season Portsmouth fans applauded them after comprehensively taking them apart with a magnificent display.
Arsene is the man who has made that happen, and the days of 'boring, boring Arsenal' under George Graham are a distant memory - that is part of what makes me admire him as one of the best coaches in the World. However, it's becoming harder to argue that his ideology isn't keeping Arsenal from fulfilling their potential (in terms of winning trophies anyway), and that he is constantly building a team for tomorrow, that will always fall that little bit short today.
What is it we fans want from our team? Well, the goals are different depending upon what club you support, so it may be winning trophies, qualifying for Europe, or simply surviving relegation. The thing is though; football is a never-ending, perpetual pursuit, which means that there are inevitably ups and downs for all clubs and their fans, in varying frequency and magnitude, and it's this which keeps football interesting. It's akin to that Mitchell and Webb sketch that plays on the (only slightly cynical) view of football being nothing but an endless cycle of games that quickly lose all meaning. This often results in clubs and their fans having to wait many years for their day in the sun, and thus makes the brief time in the spotlight all the more enjoyable when it comes.
Then, either the club falls back to where it was before, or the goals of the club change by becoming more ambitious. Either way, the result is the same in that a sense of normality creeps in and the buzz dies down again. In Arsenal's context, winning doubles and going an entire season unbeaten raised the bar to wanting to maintain that level of success - and while expectations have come down slightly in recent years, it's the hope that remains sky-high. For Arsenal fans to celebrate properly again, the team needs to win a meaningful trophy.
Achieving such a goal will be especially tricky, given the strength and financial clout of Man Utd and Chelsea, with Liverpool becoming more competitive as well; so building a team for the future is the method they have chosen to do so. However, doing this, in a way, sacrifices success in the short-term in the hope of achieving it down the line. It's not as simple as that of course, as no team has the luxury of choosing when it wins a competition, but the old saying 'there's always next season', can lead to complacency when it comes to chasing success in the present.
Of course Arsene would like to win trophies this season, but he seems reluctant to splash out on improving his squad for the here and now, presumably because he sees it as too much of a risk. But is that any more risky than placing hope that success is just around the corner? Often it requires taking chances that makes the difference ('who dares wins' and all that). For instance, Berbatov may yet prove to be a failure, or he may be a key factor in Man Utd winning the treble - no pressure on what could be construed as a £30.75m bet. Such stakes don't sit well with masters in economics, but in football there's no such thing as certainty - only probability.
Every team had peaks and troughs, but Arsenal haven't had a peak for too many years now (comparatively speaking of course - for finishing third or fourth is now the norm). It's fine building a team, but soon Arsene and Arsenal will have to say 'this is the year we're going all out for it, I'll do whatever it takes' - even if it means spending £50m on a goalkeeper, defender and midfielder.
Nick Hamblin, Bristol
Good Point, Shame About The Spelling We Can't Be Bothered To Correct
How can Adebayo say none of the Man Utd players can fit into an Arsenal team when Silvestry, already rejected by Man Utd is in the starting line up at Arsenal???????
Please Ade, spare us your HALABALOOOO
Trevor Muchedzi
No Need To Leave Arsenal Early
I am an Arsenal season ticket holder and can confirm that Ryan Frost and London Gooners excuse for leaving the game early is absolute bollocks. I always leave after the final whistle and have experienced no more than a 10 minute wait at Finsbury Park, or a 20 minute wait at Arsenal tube station. A case in point was the Spurs game when I stayed and saw all eight goals and was home in Upton Park by 11pm, bearing in mind that the final whistle was just before 10pm. If you believe these liars I'd still have been stood outside the tube station involved in some kind of police bundle or whatever the hell they are wittering on about.
The fact is that Arsenal have the worst, most fairweather fans in the Premier League, and I am constantly embarrassed by them, as are most true lifelong Gooners that I know. Two examples of the typical type of modern Arsenal fan - there is a guy I work with who was a Watford season ticket holder but changed to being an Arsenal fan at the start of the 2005/06, and the person who sits behind me who started last night saying how great Bendtner was and how we should sell Adebayor, and by half time had changed her mind and thought we should be selling Bendtner and couldn't wait for "Ade" to be back.
It's no coincidence that these two people left early last night and left the Spurs game early.
Ollie
...Having never been to Emirates, Ryan Frost's account of the problems encountered getting home after a match sound reasonable. Still, it doesn't explain the fact that so many seats are empty when the second half begins (only three toilets too?), the atmosphere is non-existent among home fans (reading their tube maps?) and the team is getting booed for draws against Spurs and Fenerbache as well as being down to Everton at half-time (the majority of fans visiting the stadium these days are daytripping plastic corporate dickheads?).
Droopy
Questions, Questions
Oh so many questions....
1. When will this Arsenal whinge fest end?
2. Where is F365's Steve Martin when the boots are raining in on Arsene?
3. Why was Deco sent off? (no, really 'why' was. Deco sent off?)
4. How bad is league football in Scotchland that the Glasgow pub teams are streets ahead of the other sides?
5. Why has it taken so long for football followers to appreciate what Fletcher brings to his team?
6. Ditto FFL, but in his case you need to ignore the media hype?
7. Why is kicking an opponant to gain an advantage considered part of the game but diving is cheating?
8. How many of us agreed with the Arse fan earlier in the week who wanted them to lose every match from now until Christmas?
9. How bad is next weeks's mailbox going to be following an. Arsenal ManU game?
10. How lucky is Lewis Hamilton (lifestyle, job, cash, bird, etc)
Andy G, Cheshire Chelsea
Home And Away...
I think the last post by EZY is just about there on the home and away topic.
Since 'home is relatively easy, away is difficult' teams are more willing to accept a point away from home and are either consciously or subconsciously more cautious. On the flip side the home team that are playing are operating the same philosophy in reverse.
Possibly.
Paul
...Pete Gill,
Never use the word guesstimate ever again.
That is all.
Donal (Improving the English language one day at a time) Keane
