can't be bothered tarting this bit up

22/10/03 - titled - oh, me so lazy OR I've been here before

Plenty of times you look around in Europe and you think, I've been here before and yes it's the same place, same sights, same smell, yes everything has worked against us. No matter how good, how strong and no matter what events Arsenal come back from in Europe we seem to lose something and we're left with nothing more than a group of "world class" players looking at each other in wonder thinking "where are we going wrong. If you look at this picture, the players are great, the team play well together and there is plenty of that drive and determination needed but something happens in Europe that doesn't happen elsewhere and it seems this is something Wenger focuses over and has tried to tackle and not reached the ultimate Wenger aspiration of fighting it over. It may as well be said though, this is early days in Wenger's world and he can overcome this. Deja Vu.

I for one don't think we were running on luck as many have accepted lately. We completed a run that basically saw off some great opposition and for me, it was the opposition who were lucky, with Sky Sports intervention and the odd freak goals here and there. They were unlucky that Wenger had decided to apply a remedy of defensive play around a counter attacking game that was strong and he had kept hold of his "world class" outfit to add gel to this. Still in Europe we fail. I for one think this is all part and parcel of Arsenals success. Wenger needs to try something totally different in Europe. I think we get easily sussed out by our continental partners. I think if your a team in Europe and you want to be the best, you as a manager watch the best and seeing Arsenal dominate in a league as they have done is part of the reasoning behind us being sussed at such a high level. If we have managers watching US week in week out they will find our weaknesses and will know how we play and how to dominate us.

Early last season, Wenger changed things around and tried something totally new after a double winning season. Totally bizarre outing really because it's a case of if it aint broke don't fix it but it was all going so well until, we were sussed out again. Still, being the world class outfit that we are we fought out games as hard as you could and came out with wins at the end of it all. This year around we have adapted a different notion to tackle these scenarios. Trying to go defensive so most of our teams will try and fight against us in games but our defensive play is more organised and more cohesive. Liverpool looked like they were trying everything like a group of Manchester United last minute "catch the pigeon" routines but no, Arsenal were too strong for that. Still we're dominant in that light and can take apart most teams. Chelsea too and in another dimension, Manchester United as well if it wasn't for horse dude decided to use Vieira as a steeple, that could have been our game. Again though, but this time around - I don't think we will be sussed out in the premiership and for Wenger if he wants to dominate in Europe he needs to apply a totally new game plan where we are not like we are in the Premiership and our players try a totally new strategy. Take last season at Old Trafford FA Cup. How would Fergie have adapted so quickly with a Jeffers and Wiltord combination? Difficult really but our strength was our major point there.

So in Europe it is different. We are probably watched by most managers in Europe. If you are in any field you will look around for the best in thatfield to learn from them. So as Wenger and Fergie are the best they will be watched and analysed for all their games. How do these guys do so well in knock out and domestic competition in the toughest league in the world? So in simplicity I think Wenger doesn't do as much homework on European teams. I think Wenger is the manager he is and has the know how to take apart most teams but in Europe differences occur and Wenger has never done the homework to take them apart.

Our opposition in Europe on the other hand are a different breed to us. Getting in to the Champions league for them is a holy grail and they respect it and also the teams involved. Taking on Arsenal will be a big day for them and they will take it as major game. Even our premiership competition relish the day we come to them so the way our European competition react to us will be bigger and with far more respect and it is with this respect where another manager will suss us out. First of all these teams are the strongest in their country and secondly they want to do as well as possible in this competition.

At the end of this game I saw a team that basically was scared of us. We were battling and throwing balls in all over the place. Most of them kept their ground though, they didn't move. It was like they had found critical points in the box and basically had them manned. This is to say also though if we had played and acted faster we could have won the game. We waited and used a strategy which wasn't working. Pires driving and nothing. Henry with man after man around him. That is respect. Even after the game I didn't see them celebrating the win as much, because they knew they should have got at the least a draw and no where near a win.

Ultimately to win in Europe we have to try something totally new. Most football is won off the field rather than on, based on what is said in the dressing room before the game and how the manager and team react to the game. We're looking at slow influx of youth. I'd like to see Pennant and Aliadiere may have been the man today to really mix it up. Major factor at Liverpool after a second watching of the game. All these are what are needed to outwit an opposition and is something that is missing at Arsenal.

So maybe if we did focus primarily and totally on Europe we could get a snowballing effect out to our other competitions and feed off our experience in change. Our new defensive play works well and even teams attacking in an all out seagull attack can't outwit us. Some fine-tuning for Europe would help. So yes, most of this is written in the faith and belief that we can and will make it through to the next stage in Europe because we have a weird group and Inter are having problems. More respect in Europe against lesser known competition could just be what we're looking at like "damn these guys are good, we better try really hard here". It is the Champions league, it is dominated by probable and definite Champions so it is well worth addressing that.

 

04-05/10/03 - titled - side-note - Wenger style

Any player at Arsenal will have to go through the Wenger martial arts type training academy :

Wiltord : Master, I need wine. Good wine at Liverpool.

Aliadiere (God in Training) : Master Wenger, I wish to become a master in the way of football, teach me how to train my skills and defeat the evil football warlord who has stolen the secret book on footballing excellence and horse training. The way of the horse is becoming a nose in the tree (Chinese movie humour) for our people and my village has no food and no Jackie Chan movies.

Master Wenger : First you must wax the floor, paint the fence, sweep the floor, carry loads of pails of water and learn to do the splits and stand crane like and stuff. Then you can learn the ancient crane curling of the ball, the rhino heading of power, the tiger style for vicious tackles and the snake in the eagles shadow dribbling motion followed by the Enter the Dragon through ball hoof diminishing super kick. Then we will see if we can sell you for more money or play you in our team and let you take on the 11 Horse Men of Old Toilet - the most vicious Kung - Futbol masters ever...

(wenger goes off to make some wine for wiltord and prune his bonsais - Aliadiere stands crane like)

04-05/10/03 - titled - Jesus was resurrected and Masters came to his presence

I am going to sue Kewell for almost giving me a heart attack. I was so scared of the man he should have come with a health warning yesterday. Buggered the kangaroo went to Liverhoof and not the training academy of excellence that is St Wengers School for gifted footballers.

What is so bizarre about going to Liverpool is they think they are something special. Yet the more I visit Anfield Road now, the history is there but the football had become less of an attraction. That changed yesterday. The Scouse revival was back. Hoofier had finally found the Wengerfied gene that had been remained unactive for a dominant hooftastic gene. Not many hoofs around no matter how much fat bloke behind me sang out in praise of the hoof. It may have died yesterday.

Shame for the scousers though Wenger had adopted the Brazilian Central midfield and Bob was back to prove to his many critics, boo me, and I will show you what to look forward to when you have to take me on one on one. Why fans boo a player of Pires, Silvain or any other Arsenal player I will never know.

That being said, for now, Kewell was an absolute god. He definately gained something from watching Liverpool as a kid and being a fan. This guy could make no error, apart from those he made in the box. Unlucky and not enough time but this guy just highlighted what Arsene could have done and what Houffier has. For once the Liverpool folk were attacking and attacking at great depth but the fact remained Arsenal were at Liverpool for a fight and that's what they got. The brilliance of the game and the reaction of the game was based upon an end to end fight for glory. Both teams wanted it and both teams fought in depth to it.

Now Kewell just missed the calling really. Yes, he supports Liverpool and it runs deep but for gods sake man, this team haven't reached that edge yet. Their consistency is not like Arsenals. Arsenal have developed and conjured together a method of playing that is far better than most Premiership teams. They have the fight and the struggle to achieve endlessly and this is where the league and knock out competitions differ but Arsenal have grasped both perfectly well. A lot of Arsenals games can be taken bit by bit and analysed to see exactly what Arsene does to try and gain advantage and win a game. This is partially present in his aims to gather consistency and control in the league. Yeah, it hasn't always worked but with what Arsene has had at his disposal he has done very well. Competition has always been difficult and Arsenal doesn't have the depth in squad many other European teams survive by but don't meet Arsenals record based upon depth in squad.

So, Liverpool. Hubcaps aside they were pretty silent. It was eerily quiet around Liverpool after the game. Last season a draw and they had thought it was the Scouse new year. Merrily and ecstatically they hit the Liverpool alleys to rejoice and fireworks could be heard around Liverpool and seen up and down the Lancashire and Welsh coast and as far afield to their bitter rivals in Manchester who didn't see what the fuss was all about because of the lack of United fans in Manchester who were hoping City would do well against Arsenal. Meanwhile in London yesterday Liverpool fans travelled back down south wondering why they support Liverpool. No it was no longer the eighties and Liverpool had been beaten by Arsenal and have never remained the same. Some could say the same about the effect Arsenal had upon United in the double year. The media attraction and control remained at Merchandise Towers but the fact they have been bitten hard with two Doubles from a team in London with a lesser capacity and Market hold, must hurt hard. Manchester United grabbed hold of the footballing world with excellent business planning, something Liverpool didn't grab hold of because the directors kept the money from their glory days and the fans thought they were something brilliant, they still do but Wenger proved Football is far from won with a good attacking strategy. It's a good footballing mind. Liverpool were good but were beaten by a weaker Arsenal side. No Vieira, so a Brazilian central midfield were used and no Fred, so Parlour and no Bergs so Ali to Sil.

Wiltord bashing - odd as the Drunken Master came on for a slightly limping Ali to go alongside his two other Musketeers to try and grasp a push and shove effect. I had a feeling Wiltord was going to come back from pathetic criticism with a bit of a spark and he did. I went on to some messageboards and lists yesterday and after some intensive Wiltord bashing by probably fat people, they were very quiet. Some Wiltord justifiers and people with sound footballing minds ;^D stated Wiltords excellence yesterday and nothing more was said. Wiltord was good. He was probably what was missing alongside Pires' runs. A good attack needs another striker, we could say, to exploit the defence. Aliadiere was doing well with this. Great positioning by the youngster and some great moves. He really got stuck in. So since Jesus, (pires) needed another master to go alongside the exit of god in waiting Aliadiere, Wiltord added that. The way Pires, Sil and Henry move is quite remarkable really and tones of the too posh to push is there, but if these guys pushed their posh, as they did yesterday, some great things can be seen. Henry wasn't at his best yet but still gave Liverpool something to worry about. Toy with their confidence and mentality to break down any possibility of control in the game. It's the kind of effect Vieira has too.

Basically with the introduction of Aliadiere in such a tough game, and swapping him for Sil who came on later was a clever killing of two birds with one stone. Wenger highlighted bringing in some new player to the club and then played Ali ahead of Sil and Kanu in a major game away from home. Then leaving Sil on the bench to probably consider a slump in form, he gave Ali the vote of confidence he required. For a first outing he made Jeffers first run for Arsenal look like fat bloke center forward pub man. It was a brilliant entrance to mess with Liverpools play. He needs practice at Premiership level like most guys do and most Arsenal players did but I think Ali learnt a hell of a lot in that game and will gather a lot of attacking experience from watching Arsenal Atack.

So... scousers and their Liverpool love is still being haunted and the return of form from some glory days were again stunted by a greater manager and a greater group of elite players. Arsenal fans were furious at the amount of hubcaps being removed. I think. Then the scouse fans were asking for my stub too... to sell on ebay I guess.

Liverpool will never change for me. It is still a great football club. To have a team that changed football for so many around the world so dynamically is a very special thing. Arsenal are doing it now too as they have won Doubles over a small period and Wengers extrovertive and introspective changes in the squad that leads to a quite subtle, silent and beautiful approcah to football.

04/10/03 - titled - hubcaps are the sound of one scouser clapping

I kid younot when I say the powers of the Scousers can be heard echoing across the waves of mediocre TV Channels and second rate European trophies. These guys have the inconsistency of a brilliant thoroughbred Donkey. Although at times they can win games and at times they can appear brilliant with fancy names they are nothing more than a bunch of scared footballers who line up alongside their goal together trying to stop any goal going in. The fact remains, a frenchman arriving at Liverpool started such a stir that they thought they had found Arsene Wenger. They felt they too could play like Arsenal.

So, as history has it they played crap. Entered in to Mickey Mouse trophy after Mickey Mouse trophy the talentless wonders scrounged their way to wins still feeling they had signed Arsene Wengers forgotten Cousin as a manager. Eventually Houllier revealed his wonderous creation. Hoofball which still echoes across the lands as a dismal display of using top athletes as a wall and getting pitbull looking players (Owen) and elephant hybrids (Heskey) to race across at break neck speed as they fire seeking balls.

But - this may help us tomorrow. Fight fire with fire I say. What is missing in Arsenals gameplan? Will we continue to pass the ball around. No - Basically we should try some seeking balls and get the 10 men defence to run around like keystone cops and bump into each other. Such calamities could force a penalty for us or Gilberto Silva to come racing in a la speedy gonzales (ariba aribe andre andre) and score a tap in. This may be the secret we need. We could dazzle them with our French man musketeer like turning their nose up with their jiggling of the legs and running around spinning like wonder men (Wiltord). Then fire in the undeclared weapon of a "hoof" and win the game.

We need something new. The scousers are getting at us and a hoof could just be the trick.

I think Kolo is desiganted as the supreme Defender now. Who'd have thought the very man who we couldn't put in any position because he was a nowhere man, a wanderer, a kung fu david carradine type man who wandered across the lands searching a position. He was here, he was there, he was every where Kolo, Kolo. So Arsene has finally decided to put him in the classroom corner of football. The Center half and so Kolo is designated to run around like crazy in a carefully quarantined and monitored area where one wrong move will lead to Kolo being scapegoated. He was amazing. Keep the man still...

Now even Keown and Campbell have to fight over his partnership. Keep Campbell I guess for speed against the Elephant and the Pitbull. Then send Keown to scare the scousers into silence in the kop end and to stare Owen from scoring by giving him the Ruud Van Shithimself eye.

Thought for the day : The wonderment of Horse Steroids are nothing if someone spikes them with Donkey DNA, Ruud.

03/10/03 - titled - our players are in the ICU

It's called haunting but optimistic.

Manchester United lost and so did Chelsea. This is called wonderful. The sheer joy of having a rock solid group to take apart and seeing your domestic competition with easier groups AND THEN, lose in those groups is an unsettling relief. We should be cheering and psyching our nations teams many say but we were given the hard draw in the "champions" league. This is probably because we have the stronger team and the Manchester Coronation Street collective and the Russian Soap Opera Twinned Football Club from London have weaker manipulated clubs thanks to Fergies Horse Loving buddies at the Uefa general meetings.

What Arsene does at these meetings I don't know but on TV he looks like he is far away from his beloved footballing videos. More later tomorrow I guess...

Thought of the day.

When is a giggs not a giggs? Probably, when he is a Sheep. Point being - sheeps can be footballers too.