The Arsenal and Me – Harrison’s Story

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A broken down car and a sprint to a packed main road as a 6 year old boy. Who would have thought that would be the start of my Arsenal story.

Well, how about if I told you my dad and I were running a bit late to the invincible parade, that make it acceptable to leave the car on the side of a backstreet?

That is the first memory I have of going down the Arsenal, and not a bad one really as I got to see all my idols that day and ever since that day it’s been Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal.

Still to this day I remember the time I was told I was going to my first competitive Arsenal game. My 7th birthday, 2nd April 2005, Arsenal played Norwich at home and the moment I walked into Block 20 in the Clock End will stay with me forever. Thierry Henry had been my idol from the moment I could say Football, so it couldn’t be more necessary for him to get a Hatrick on my first game to help Arsenal to a 4-1 win. I am really not someone to get emotional about anything but even as a 15 year old that only went to Highbury 4 times, whenever someone mentions anything about Highbury it brings a tear to my eye and I remember how much it hurt me to watch that last game vs Wigan and seeing Thierry kiss the turf.

From that 7 year old boy to me now at 15 years old, now a season ticket holder and in my first season on the away scheme. I honestly don’t know where I would be without Arsenal. I have met so many great people, some that I go to every game home & away with, through Arsenal by things ranging from a Junior Gunners Christmas party to being on the BSM Boat to Fulham. It hasn’t been fun growing up recently in a community of West Ham and “London’s finest” Manchester United supporters but that family feeling and the nod of the head whenever you see another Gooner down the street is what keeps me going.

Up The Arsenal

Harrison

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Man Utd 1 The Arsenal 0 – Heads up everyone, We deserved a draw

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Confidence is a funny old thing isn’t it.

There were a lot of Arsenal fans speaking to me yesterday and in the days leading up to the game about how they thought we would win and we finally had the chance to go to Old Trafford and get a result. Don’t get me wrong I love the confidence but we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We have had an amazing start to the season, an amazing week with the wins against Liverpool and Dortmund but if this loss brings us all a little closer to earth I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Being a fan that goes to games my opinion always seems to change, if only slightly, after I see the game or highlights back. There is always something else you see, something you wouldn’t have noticed or taking in when at the game. I was at the game yesterday and came away thinking we were poor, we had a go in the second half and should have taken one of our chances to get a point, but ultimately I didn’t think we did enough.

After watching it back on TV I changed my opinion slightly and think we did ok. We had a lot of the ball and restricted them to a few opportunities, it wasn’t the best game but we were not as bad as first thought. The second half was better than the first with chances coming and we moved the ball around better. Although we had possession we struggled to get going in the final third, chances and creativity were lacking, we just wasn’t as fluid as we have been so far. We didn’t drive forward as I would have liked us to. The flu virus that hit the camp meant we lost Per and Rosicky which were 2 big blows. It meant our midfield had Ramsey on the right with Flamini and Mikel holding the line which didn’t help us at all. Ramsey cannot create on the right, he needs to be in the middle and it shows Wenger knows that when he finally switched it later on and put him back in there. Rosicky has been excellent in recent games and we missed him yesterday, he has been doing so well in getting the team forward, the way he gets his head up and drives is a big positive and when he is not playing we miss that. We did so much better when Jack came on, we moved forward and made those chances, he took Ozil’s position in the number 10 role and played it better than the German had. Stories coming out this morning about how Ozil was also hit by the virus are yet to be confirmed but it would explain a lot as I think he was missing a lot of the time. When he was out on the right he got more of the ball and looked better, maybe Jack should have started in front of Ozil if he was ill.

Giroud did well up front working hard for everything, trying to hold it up and bring other players in but when we have no midfielders driving on to join him he is always going to struggle. There were a couple of times when he got the ball and could have looked up to drive on himself but he doesn’t have that pace, he doesn’t have that game in him unlike Suarez for example. He can get the ball anywhere on the pitch get his head up and run forward. We do need another striker and it has to be someone different to Giroud, someone with pace and skill to run at defenders and finish. I think Bendtners time has come to an end, I get the feeling from Wenger that he really doesn’t want to put him on but has no other option. That is his own fault however and should have brought someone in when he had the chance in the summer. Bendtner was ready to go and has released more stupid quotes this week slagging off the club, saying about how he wanted to go, he clearly doesn’t want to be here and we don’t want him here. Get rid ASAP please.

I think the defence look solid and felt comfortable together, they did very well considering the late change and playing against two quality players in Van Persie and Rooney they had to be on top form. We have been accused of not being tight enough at the back recently but you can see the improvement the defence has made. Vermaelen came in and did well alongside Koscielny, Sagna and Gibbs on the widths also impressed and deserve credit.

I don’t think United looked that dangerous at all and we defended against them well especially without Per. That loss was huge for us and the reason we went 0-1 down. Had he been on the pitch there is no way RVP would have got up to that ball to head it in. They didn’t do a lot and it was a pretty even game barring a few instances. We were unlucky and should have taken a draw. We had a few big chances, Sagnas crosses late on were incredibly good and we should have got on the end of one of them, Ozil’s shot which he should have hit across the keeper, Giroud should have pulled the trigger instead of taking another touch and there were a few other occasions, Ozil exchanging passes with Giroud, if only he carried on the run he could have been in.

Overall I’m disappointed as I think we were due a draw but the most important thing is to get our heads up and look to the next game. We have to remember that we were missing Per, Rosicky, Theo, Chamberlain and Jack didn’t even play the first half. This result doesn’t make us a bad side and we will see how we respond next against Southampton at home.

Something I have to mention is how many Manc fans are on the train to and from Euston. It must be embarrassing for United as a club to know that so many fans come up from London on the train for their home games. My train was packed with them and I have seen it before from when we have been up there but it still shocks me every time. There were 2 youngsters at London Bridge who had come from Euston, they obviously live in South London somewhere and travelled the length of the country to watch United. Why they don’t support a London club is beyond me! Tells you everything you need to know about their fans, late comers and glory hunters.

Heads up Gooners, onto the next one
Up The Arsenal!

Matt

manutd

Remembering the Arsenal Players that died during WW2

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The Second World War was to prove a tragic time for a heavily bombed Highbury. No less than 9 of the 42 professionals on Arsenal’s books in 1939 failed to survive it, the highest loss by any Club. The nine players to lose their lives were, Sidney Pugh, Harry Cook, William Parr, Leslie Lack, Bobby Daniel, Hugh Glass, Cyril Tooze, Herbie Roberts and Bill Dean.
Here we Remember them.

Lack, a Spitfire pilot, was killed in a ‘friendly fire’ incident while Parr was shot down during a mission to hunt down a German U boat. Cook died while training to land a plane on an aircraft carrier. Daniel went missing on December 23rd, 1943, while serving as a Flight Sergeant Gunner. His Lancaster bomber was lost without trace during a mission to Berlin.
Three other players known to have died were members of the Royal Fusiliers. Hugh Glass drowned at sea in 1943 when his ship, the Ocean Crusader, was sunk by a U boat, while Cyril Tooze was the victim of a sniper’s bullet in Italy on February 10th, 1944. Perhaps the most popular player to die was Herbie Roberts, a member of the team that won the League Championship three times between 1932 and 1935, who became a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers. He died of a skin disease, erysipelas on June 19th, 1944.
Finally, Bill Dean, a goalkeeper, died when his Royal Navy ship HMS Naiad, was hit by a torpedo in March 1942. His death was particularly poignant. When Dean had made his debut for Arsenal in 1940 he had said, prophetically: “Well I have fulfilled my life’s ambition, I have played for Arsenal.”

Sidney James “Sid” Pugh Rank: Flying Officer Date of Death:15/04/1944 Age: 24
Henry Bennett Cook Rank: Sub-Lieutenant (A) Date of Death: 26/02/1943 Age: 22
William Wilfred Parr Rank: Sergeant Date of Death: 08/03/1942 Age: 26
Leslie Martin Lack Rank: Sergeant Date of Death:18/03/1943 Age: 22
Robert Norman Victor Daniel Rank: Flight Sergeant Date of Death: 24/12/1943 Age: 21
Hugh Glass Rank: Greaser Date of Death: 26/11/1942 Age: 23
Cyril Ernest Tooze Rank: Fusilier Date of Death: 22/01/1944 Age: 25
Herbert Roberts Rank: Lieutenant Date of Death:17/06/1944 Age: 39
William Benjamin Dean Rank: Stoker 2nd Class Date of Death:11/03/1942
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

By

clockpop

Sources –

http://socqer.com/questions/1531/does-anybody-know-the-names-of-the-nine-arsenal-first-team-players-that-had-lost-their-lives-in-world-war-ii/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/mobile/2WWfootball.htm
http://www.cwgc.org/glorydays/halloffame_ww2.html