I miss Theirry Henry

Well. Now wasn't that fun. What a match! There is so much to talk about that I'm not sure where to begin.

Hmmmm.

Ok, let's begin with THAT goal. Although, Manu Adebayor comes in for stick from Gooners now and then one can dispute his industry and after this electrifying goal to seal it yesterday surely no one can now seriously dispute his talent.



A definite goal of the month contender.

Next. Captain Kolo Toure's last ditch tackle on Berbatov. Unbelieveable. With Almunia gone walkabouts and the match still anyone's to win, Toure's tackle was potentially a turning point for the season.

But in a match that was a cracking example of Premier League football at its absolutely most passionate, technical and action packed Cesc Fabregas stood out by a mile with his complete domination of the match . I could talk for ages about him but let us just for now say that the recent Four Four Two magazine should quick reevaluate his position in world football.

Did you see MOTD? The line on our match was about sp*rs missed chances. HAHAHA. Their missed chances? Diaby hit the cross bar. Adebayor missed two sitters. Denilson shot at Robinson in a one v one and Hleb side footed for an easy save what should really have been a goal. We really should have destroyed sp*s by three of four goals. However Alan Hansen still said the sp*rs should have won. Oh dear. But Hansen did talk about our grit and determination. I've long noted these aspects of this particular team but the media media seem unable to admit was is very clear. It simply does not fit with the image of Arsenal as a young, foreign and technical side that we fight until the bitter end of matches. And win.

I always thought that the Vieira/Henry led Arsenal lacked a bit of bottle. But this new side is different. And slowly people are starting to realise it. For me the most interesting part of the match yesterday was Sagna's retribution on the oafish Huddlestone. Half his size, Sagna thought he would should Huddlestone what the Arsenal thought of his squaring up to Almunia. Whisper it folks... this is a TEAM. And one that fights for each other.

So. Three points. Three point lane. Three goals. Top of the table. Obviously Arsenal were delighted to beat a "top 4 side" and with Derby next at home and a victory shy Chelsea at Old Trafford hopefully we can make hay while the sun shines and hold on for fourth. It wont be easy. Because we obviously miss Thierry Henry though.

But Arsene Wenger has signed up for life.

And we will this week announce that our turnover smurfs that of Manchester United and become the second biggest club to Real Madrid. And the numbers suggest that we will pass Real and become the biggest club in the world next year.

And we have the youngest squad in the Premier League.

And we're top of the table.

Hey Bobby, what's the French for doom and gloom?

Transfer Rumours - Gisele

Arsenal FC have today announced a new tasty Brazilian signing... the model Gisele Bundchen.

With so much speculation surrounding the club this summer its nice that Arsenal can concentrate on involving extremely hot South American models into our commerical interests. We are a club with our priorities straight.

Well done.

Anyone with any doubt about liking our new kit will surely be convinced by this photo with a striker. Oh and Thierry is in there too.

In other *news, doing the rounds on the internet is a photo of Thierry Henry sporting a San Antonio Spurs jersey. Laughably, the sp*rs lot are yappin' that this is somehow derogatory to the Arsenal and that Thierry is now proclaiming his love for Tottenham.

Au contraire, my tiny Tott friends...given that the San Antonio Spurs just won the NBA (see Tony Parker's left hand)... they have much more in common with the Arsenal than any other North London clubs.

Proud Frenchmen wearing Spurs on their chests while holding a major trophy is delightfully Gallic humour.

We May Have To Fight Our Way Out Of Here

Let me set the scene.

A quiet wintry afternoon in Toronto aka final site of my seemingly endless North American Christmas vacation. At least a hundred sp*rs supporters are rammed into what tends to be my local watering hole for trips to Canada.

It's 2.45pm.

There is a Gooner (Tom) to my immediate right and two others on the far side of the bar suggesting that most Arsenal supporters in Toronto are gainfully employed and unable to find a way to this rare bar in Toronto that allows for both Setanta broadcasts and a "welcome" sign for dozens of English sp*rs supporters.

The bar is literally packed. On a Wednesday afternoon. With apparently underemployed sp*rs supporters.

I'm on holiday. Still. Ta Dave. Yes, that is a "ta" for you Dave.

The pre match banter is friendly enough. An English sp*rs supporter asks Tom if Arsenal had a supporters club in Toronto (I happen to know that there is http://www.arsenalcanada.com/ please visit if you're interested... they just got a grant from BMO to run the site/club) because of the fact that we were sat in the official sp*rs Canada supporters bar.

Tom didn't know so I chipped in that like North London, the Arsenal Canada supporers club should simply move into THIS bar and take it over... noting of course that the bar would obviously then require a much more substantial trophy case.

And then the match started.

Arsenal are nervy early in the match and Senderos and Toure are giving the impression that they have never met before. Spurs score from a Berbatov free header as three Arsenal defenders and one Spanish keeper are statue-like in front of goal.

Kolo meet Swiss Tony. Swiss Tony meet Kolo.

The bar goes mental. Lots of mouth breathing histrionics. Blue shirted arms flailing about. Unemployed men delirious with joy.

I am absolutely unconcerned.

Yes, our teenaged midfield (ok Diaby has just turned 20 but Cesc is 19, Denilson 18 and Walcott is 17... thats 18.5 on average... or 18 and a half fingers and toes if you support sp*rs) has early problems with Huddlestone and Zokora and the sp*rs first team. I note that Diaby on the left is an odd choice. We look a bit imbalanced particularly when Lennon is on the ball and running at Diaby/Traore (17).

Denilson goes shoulder to shoulder with Tony Blair favourite Steed Malbranque and Steed rather easily lets the little boy knock him over. "There was absolutely nothing in that" I shout over the throng of sp*rs support. No one disagrees. But Greame Poll does and sp*rs line up a free kick.

And they score again.

Or rather, Julio Baptista gifted sp*rs a second goal with an extraordinary finish.

The bar goes mental. Apparently heterosexual men in white and blue dry hump each other with girlish squeals of ecstatsy. Beer is spilled on unemployed men with names like Keane and Berbatov proudly emblozened their backs in wild attempts to lubricate the humping.

2-0 sp*rs. At home.

And the banter starts. Geez. A little song begins letting Brazilian International and 2005 £24m sp*rs *transfer target Julio Baptista know that he is "not very good" as images of a contrite Beast flicker in the darkened bar. Freshly lubricated men begin slating Arsene Wenger and openly wondering how sp*rs will line up against Chelsea in the final.

I am absolutely unconcerned.

Tom notes this.

I explain to my Canadian Arsenal supporter friend that this is sp*rs. sp*rs have long mistakenly believed they are a big club and can sign the likes of Ronaldinho, Kaka, Pirlo and Baptista (note above). They also have a very big tendency to be mouthy well in advance of it being safe to do so (please see 2005-2006). 20 minutes of football have been played in a two leg semi-final.

Baptista misses pretty much the same chance he scored an own goal with at the close of the first half. He is once more "not very good" and his late miss ensures a half time of unfortunate banter and planned trips to Cardiff. At least my Richards Red tastes good.

Second half.

Rather than the change Tom and I wanted to see made at half time of Hleb replacing Diaby, Wenger stands pat. Cesc begins to marshall things in midfield and I find myself repeating "This is better" on several occassions. Fabregas is everywhere and doing everything. We are much more threatening but the banter continues.

But then Baptista scores.

My first pumps and I run across the silenced bar. "Get in!!"

I sit down and note the deathly silence of the bar. I ask openly to my blue *friends "Why has the bar gone so quiet?" Many look over at me but no one answers. Baptista stops being "not very good". My Rickards Red tastes better and I can now clearly hear the commentary which I enjoy. Also, my match comments now seem to hover over the bar. I like that.

I openly note that Baptista is on a hat trick. Tom ruefully laughs. I like Tom.

Baptista scores again. A pin could drop in the bar and you would hear it. I criss cross the ball with my arms aloft. I settle back at my table but without sitting lean over the throng of sp*rs support and helpfully note the away goals rule.

And then Arsenal really kick on. With Eboue, Hleb and Flamini on (Flamini on much later than I would have hoped) Arsenal spend the final 10 minutes running the sp*rs first team ragged and threatening to win the match.

And then I saw the most remarkable thing. Previously yappy sp*rs supporters begin to leave the bar with 5 minutes left in the match. At home. The match drawn. I seriously couldn't believe it.

Tom notes that a man in a heavy fur coat behind us is giving us evil looks. He tells me that we may have to fight our way out of this bar. I tell him I hope so. Hehe. And don't even look back. Because in all seriousness, sp*rs know their place. The truth is for all the bluff, bluster and yapping at half time they expected an Arsenal comeback every bit as much as I did. Why? They are sp*rs. That is their place.

sp*rs

And so ends another Christmas in Toronto. The 2007 bit was fanastic but I could have done without the Sheffield United result and the moronic yappin of the random Liverpool lot that watched that one with me. My "good luck in the cups" surely still echoes though.

Back in London for Bolton on Sunday. Can't wait. Fat Sam needs a smack. And I think the Emirates will give him a nice welcome.

"We Will Beat sp*rs"... Ta Arsene

Arsenal and sp*rs share a patch of North London but actually little else given a decade of results. Yet one by one the likes of Paul Robinson and Pascal Cygan Chimbonda popped up in the media this week to talk up their chances of beating the Arsenal. That's fine. The faces change over the years but the North London derby talk does not.

That said, I found the robustness of the Tottenham banter this week to be more humorous than usual. Apparently a few *workmen at Emirates buried some sp*rs trinkets under the pitch. It was hilarious then that Arsene Wenger buried sp*rs on the pitch.

Once the banter died down, Emmanuel Adebayor went about quieting his critics (many of these Gooners lost for a scapegoat since Cygan took his horror show to Spain). This was most enjoyable but not really surprising. I've long hailed his attributes and believe that he's a better partner with both Van Persie and Henry than they are with each other. His performance against sp*rs was a masterpiece of leading the line. But again, this is only a surprise for those who don't understand football or limit their Arsenal match exposure to match reports in the Times.

What was actually surprising for me about yesterday was the performance of Gael Clichy in marking Aaron Lennon out of the match. Clichy also got forward and admirably offered Arsenal width as Rosicky drifted into Bergkampesque space just behind Van Persie and Adebayor.

Clichy also forced Lennon to move to the left (and into Eboue's pocket) in what was Clichy's best performance for the club. While I expected him to offer width and pace on the left of defence this season, I certainly didn't think that he had the ability to effortlessly deal with the pace and direct attacking of the young England star.

Clichy looks precisely the sort of player to replace what Ashley Cole offered the club at left back. This has been long expected from Clichy, but the fact that he's never had a long first team run at the club due to Cole and injury made him more a prospect than a certainty to replicate the Chelsea defender.

And he'll need to be on top form this week with first Porto away on Wednesday and then Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on another Super Sunday.

The Porto match is absolutely crucial for the club. We must progress in Europe to avoid the embarrassment of ending up in the Uefa Cup alongside the likes of sp*rs and their excrement coloured kit. There is a media fuelled sense that we've not been strong in Europe, but a disallowed Henry strike aside, Arsenal have been excellent in the CL this year (frighteningly strong if by year, you mean the whole of 2006) and lead our group. The bottom line is... Porto need a point. We need a point. I think common sense will prevail and Wednesday will be a yawn fest of tentative cagey football.

I am intrigued by the Chelsea match. They are very powerful and have not lost at home in the league in 40-something matches. In spite of the crisis talk, Arsenal have actually done quite well in the Big 4 table this year with victories against both United and Liverpool. I expect that Mourinho will set up quite narrow against us, so the battle will be on with Rosicky, Hleb and Cesc mixing with Lampard, Essien and Ballack. And like Chelsea, our width will come from the fullbacks. Without getting too excited by what I'm terming the Arsenal Christmas party at Stamford Bridge, we can win. And win well. Without Henry. Certainly our chances of catching Chelsea for the league this season will die if we can't beat them. The prospect of being only 7 points back of Chelsea with that lot still to come to our place is delicious.

If that happens... we're back in it.

btw... we drew Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup.