The final point worth raising pertains to Chelsea and Man Utd. “Local” Gooners marginally dislike Chelsea more, perhaps due to the London rivalry. Yet “foreign” fans detest Man Utd more. Given that the game has gone global in the past 20 years since the advent of the Premier League and therefore become more accessible to countries around the world, those abroad have grown up in an era of Man Utd dominance. And not just on the pitch either. Success leads to gloating fans, and last week’s blog comments included many (especially from Asia) who stated that coming into contact with such gloryhunters had been a decisive factor in their dislike of the Mancunian reds.
Then I moved to a new continent, and I learned a new language and started watching a new football team. A team that actually won trophies and even beat Arsenal on their way to winning one of those trophies (Argentine Arsenal that is) and even though I fell in love with this new team, particularly their
If signing a striker to combine with Robin and share his goalscoring burden isn’t enough to show ambition to the captain, then not much will. And if Giroud does end up as a replacement, at least we avoid a repeat of last summer’s Cesc/Mata situation. Huge credit to the Club for acting quickly and decisively. And that’s without mentioning Podolski, another player I am hugely excited about. I’ve watched his performances in the group stages very and reckon he’ll fit like a dream into our current
Yes, he showed encouraging signs of being able to step up in matches for Arsenal – most notably the North London derby where a shocking first-half was transformed into a sparkling second – but I can’t see him replicating this for the national team just as yet. Simply because his international colleagues don’t believe in him as much as his club ones do and the rigid 4-4-2 formation doesn’t exploit his
The former can be solved in a somewhat straightforward manner. Prune the squad of underperforming and overpaid members (you know who they are) and replace them with genuine quality that can be relied upon to step up. Oh, and keep RvP. I personally have taken great heart in the acquisition of Lukas Podolski and am equally excited by the rumours surrounding Yann M'Vila. I sense a shift in the Club's recruitment policy over the past twelve-months and I hope my instinct doesn't prove to be a mirage. Signings of the calibre and experience of Arteta, Mertesacker and Podolski give me optimism that change is afoot. A couple more arrivals in this bracket plus
Stoke City away needs to be our Sunderland FA Cup game or our Tottenham away match. Basically we need to show some backbone and produce our best under pressure because make no mistake about it, we are under pressure and the only way to relieve that pressure is to win against Norwich at lunchtime on Saturday. I am already cacking myself about that game so I don't know how I am going to survive on Saturday. Theo Walcott has spoken about the need to vary his game and not