And now onto Tottenham (without Bale)

22 Replies

So that is that out of the way then. Another comfortable victory in the Champions League qualifiers see’s us into the main draw for the umpteenth consecutive time (it’s too late to Google and see how many. I think its 16 though?). Any doubt, of which there was a lot, was removed after the 3-0 lead in the 1st tie. And the game was secured with 2 brilliant goals from Aaron ‘The General’ Ramsey at the Emirates last night. And with that out of the way, we can concentrate on what will be one of our most important games of the season.

The visit of Tottenham Hotspur.

That lot up the Seven Sisters Road genuinely think they have a chance this year. In fact, they genuinely though that they have had a chance for the last four years ever since Robbie Keane said in 2009:

“I think it’s certainly even and if you look at the squads, I think that our bench is probably a little bit stronger than theirs at the moment.”

Well Robbie, once again the Tottenham bench might be better than that of The Arsenal’s, but it is the 1st 11 that counts. And like in every year of the last 18 (or is it now 19), Tottenham will be in our shadow. Yes, they might have spent big – over £60 million, but this is not the first season they have outspent Arsenal. In fact, in the last 10 years, Tottenham have spent nearly £200,000,000 more on players then Arsenal. And this is not nett spend, but gross spend.

It is not what you spend, it is how you spend it, and Spurs have a history of not spending it well. And their current crop, as previously discussed, are not as good as their big price tags might indicate. Anyone, enough of the bitching about that lot.

At the end of the day, as long as we play to the best of our ability, we should be beating that lot. Aaron Ramsey is running the midfield. Santi Cazorla now seems to of got fully fit. As has Jack Wilshire. And whilst Theo Walcott might not of yet shone, he already has 2 assists in 4 games.

Spurs meanwhile, started their last game with those prestigious ‘young’ talents Danny Rose (23) and Andros Townshend (any relation to Pete?). Yes, young Danny might have once scored a screamer against us, but so did David Bentley. And that was his career peak. I am sure Danny won’t go on to too many better things.

What it is about The Derby is the pride, the passion, the buzzing. There is no better game out their then derby. No matter the ‘mocking’, it is a cup final. Even if you become Champions, losing twice (or evening losing one and drawing the other) means that you will still be on the other end of some poor banter. It means so much. And a 4pm kick off on a Sunday. Let’s hope the game is the only thing that kicks off.

On a side note, it seems OK for Sky TV/BT Sport to move a game from a Saturday early game to Sunday 4pm for TV, despite the police originally moving it for ‘safety grounds’ but when it comes to there being no trains to get home (Sunderland/Swansea) things will not budge. But that’s for another blog.

But back to the derby. I am sitting here. It is Wednesday. 4 days to go. And I am already buzzing. The anticipation will only increase. Bring on Super Sunday. Bring on Tottenham.

Keenos

Ps: How small a club must Spurs be if there best player go’s ‘on strike’ to leave? That is so 2011.

10 Reasons why we will beat Fenerbahçe S.K

Leave a reply

1..We have already smashed them in turkey

2..Diaby is still injured

3..If we can Beat Fulham we can beat anyone…

4..Even they can’t fix this game

5..We can show off our new signing. If he’s not injured again

6..Sagna is looking to play in a new postion each game this season, look forward to seeing him running down the left wing

7..Ramsey could beat them on his own

8..Theo scared the life out of them last time

9..It might be a good time to blood some of the kids

10..Wenger knows another season in the Champions league means his bonus money goes up, again

Predicted starting line up Sagna,Sagna,Sagna,Sagna,Sagna,Ramsey,Sagna,Sagna,Sagna,Sagna,Postman

Predicted Score 2-1

What, if anything can make us forgive Arsene Wenger ?

15 Replies

So, as I sit here waiting for the Arsenal vs. Fenerbahce qualifier to kick of I got thinking about Arsene Wenger, the fans feelings toward him, the predicament he finds himself in and what he can do to rescue himself, if indeed he can.

The more I think, the more I wonder if he is happy? Does he feel he is doing a good job? In fact, has he done a good job?

I am no financial expert, and I certainly do not profess to understand the financial ins and outs of running one of the world’s largest football clubs. Sure, I see it all on face value. I see the club wringing every last pound out of the fans from season tickets, memberships, marble stones everywhere you look, merchandising and food & drink inside the stadium to even charging to be put on waiting lists for season tickets or club level.

The money going into the club must be at the highest it has ever been, but the money being spent always seems to be on the low side when it comes to player acquisition.

But…how much of this frugality has been required to help the transition away from Highbury into the Emirates?

Despite hearing the apologists saying that the footballing landscape has changed, and it certainly has, it does appear that we were fed a line from the club about the need to move in order to compete. That move was 7 years ago. Surely by now we should have been competing in the transfer market more than we have been. I, for one, am disappointed at the lack of activity and to return another profit on our transfer business would be considered as negligence on my part, but with 6 days left, is there time for Wenger to regain the fans trust in him, right the wrongs and restore the faith in him that, let’s be honest, we all had for him during the late nineties and early noughties.

Maybe, maybe he has been doing what is right for the club. The whole ‘He has money’ from the board, to the ‘I don’t have money’ from him was frustrating. The ‘If you gave me £40m to spend I’d give it straight back’ & ‘4th place is a trophy’ comments – were these all a smokescreen for what was really going on, maybe he didn’t have a penny to spend. The club are always going to try and save face wherever they can, it is a large PR machine than needs to keep a lot of people happy and I am a strong believer that you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

We have been linked with a whole load of players this transfer window, many of whom have signed for different clubs – the new found ‘In the know’ fools that you find all over social networking sites do nothing more than fuel fans anxiety and frustration and everybody would do well to give these people as little credibility as they deserve – fact is they know nothing. Arsenal has always done its business quietly and I have lost count of how many times we have made a signing that nobody, not even the ITK that professes to have insider information, saw coming.

That said, the past few days have seen us linked with names such as Benzema, Di Maria, Ozil, Rooney and Cabaye and the whole point of this piece was to play devil’s advocate and ask the question….

If Wenger spent the reputed £70m, £80m or £100m, depending on who you listen too, on some ‘top, top quality’ players and mounted a serious challenge for the title, maybe got to the final of the FA Cup and say won the League Cup…would he be forgiven? Would we understand more and be more patient with him? Would his respect, that he absolutely did earn all those years back, be restored?

Or is it too little too late ?

DHammy