Sunday, June 6, 2010

Barca - prepare to face further embarrassment from Arsenal!

After Barcelona were slapped in the face as they skipped towards claiming their “easy signing” Xavi Hernandez has once again revealed how desperate he is to play with Fabregas (note sexual innuendo).

It seems all Xavi can think about is how to get Fabregas to go Barcelona and the number of times he has mentioned it, I’m starting to think that there is more to it than meets the eye. While he repeatedly mentions how it would be great to see Cesc in a Barcelona shirt, it is not normal for a player to talk about someone so much that it has now come to a point where I actually think that Xavi is just sexually attracted towards Fabregas and that is why recently he spoken more about Cesc’s “DNA” than he has about the Spain’s chances in the World Cup.

Admittedly, Xavi is the best midfielder in the world in my opinion. However, he really needs to think of other methods of coming out the closet than to use Cesc as a tool. Saying it once is enough – yes we get it, you want Cesc to succeed you at Barcelona. But to repeatedly talk about a switch to Barcelona when WE HEARD HIM THE FIRST TIME is just annoying and sick.
Clearly, the presidential candidates and the Barcelona staff are using Xavi to make the noises in case allegations of tapping up comes in to play, at which point the club cannot be penalised directly. However, it seems now that it is Barcelona that are playing into Arsenal’s hands. Confused? Let’s break down the events of the rumours regarding this transfer since they kicked off in the summer.

Arsenal FC kept quiet and watched all along how the Catalans started their dirty tricks by unsettling the player. While some Gooners were scared to death and some already deciding that Arsene Wenger had killed the team and calling for his head, the club have been keeping note of what movements Barcelona have been making. They kept on making noises in papers and the radio stations which they have “influence” over since Cesc said IF he left Arsenal he would go to Barca (find me ONE Arsenal fan that DIDN’T know that...wasn’t exactly shocking news – there’s more chance of finding Chamakh’s signing a surprise a month ago).
Cesc then revealed vague details about his conversation with Arsene Wenger. There is only speculation regarding what was said in that conversation. Everyone has their own version regarding what may have been discussed.

Having thought about the situation and the way pieces of the puzzle have been laid out, it seems that Wenger’s message to Cesc was, “let’s see how bad they want you”. Do they want to sign Cesc as a tool in the presidential election game? Or do they truly believe that Central Midfield is a position they need to strengthen for next season? They have Xavi, Iniesta and the young man Pedro who scored over 20 goals for them last season. So do they really need Cesc. And if they do, where do they plan to play him?

Cesc repeatedly mentioned that Arsene told him to “concentrate on his football”. Is it worth for a 23 year old bright talent to go Barcelona and sit there on the bench pondering what could have been like Alex Hleb once did? Personally, I think Wenger said to him, “let’s see what price they put forward for you. If it’s a healthy one (£50m+ in my opinion), then they really do want you and we can discuss a deal should you wish to move. Anything lower and the message is clear that they are putting a front to the rest of the board in order to gain votes in the elections.”
Cesc, Wenger and all the Arsenal fans know that he will go Barcelona one day. But it is more important for Fabregas that he leaves at the right time when he knows he will be playing lots of football at his peak and that the first name on that team sheet is his.
As soon as the transfer window opened, Barca faxed in a piece of paper with approximately £30m on it.

With that figure, they will be HIGHLY lucky if we returned to them a reply with Cesc’s left boot in a parcel. It was an insult of a bid to say the least - both cheap and disrespectful to Arsenal FC and Cesc Fabregas. They further happily announced to the world they have made the bid and all anti Arsenal fans were so excited you would think they were all about get laid with Miss World).

The speculation and Barcelona’s “glorious” bid lasted less than 24 hours as Arsenal came out to with the statement of rejection. The reply was so direct and “shocking” to some quarters of Catalonia, the media tried to resurrect the story by saying we are entering a bidding war with Barcelona. Apparently, Arsenal’s statement of “we will not make any counterproposal or enter any discussion” and that we expect Barcelona to respect us as they have stated seems to have come across as “please make another bid because we are ever so desperate to ship out our captain.

It’s disgusting and sickening how the media try to manipulate direct statements to cater for their sick fantasies. The words were loud and clear and to Barcelona, it was almost public humiliation. Kind of like proposing to a woman in public and see her say, “Yuck!! No!”

Barcelona are now acting like a pack of dogs by recreating media noises and in doing so, they are damaging their own reputation. They may be a club that produces bright talent and try to show what happens when you do things “the right way” but the tapping up and unsettling of other players is the same old dirty tricks Real Madrid have used for decades and Barcelona are no better.

And in doing so, I believe they are playing into our hands as I don’t think that Arsenal will let the self respect of our club fall by letting this go. It will now be a matter of time before Barcelona reap the “rewards” of what they earned by facing some disciplinary from football’s governing body. The calm manner in which we said "no" in the first place gives an indication that we already know they will not respect our position and Arsenal will take action. It is unsurprising that UEFA have not stepped in already as we all know Mr. Platini’s dislike of the Premier League

However, if we can launch an official complaint, Barcelona can be put into their place albeit on a temporary basis because as we all know, “once a c*nt, ALWAYS a c*nt”

Keep the faith!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Theo better than SWP, but does not deserve to go to South Africa

Theo Walcott was the “surprise” omission
from Capello’s 23 yesterday. Many pundits and journalists agreed while others disagreed with the decision.


Walcott is miles better than Wright-Phillips and has made more significant steps at the age of 21 than Shaun Wright-Phillips (SWP) has at 29. However, he's not in form and the first game is 10 days away which was a worrying factor for Capello.

Personally I could not be happier that Theo has been left out of the final team. He doesn't deserve to go for his ignorance of the manager’s advice last summer which has resulted in his omission from the final 23 for South Africa.

Large sections of the media have pointed the finger at Arsene Wenger for Theo’s lack of development. It’s as if any player that plays in Wenger’s team must without fail turn into world class material and if they don’t, then “Wenger destroyed his career”.

When Arsene signs a player, he tailors an individual development program for them that will see them rise to the top of their game. It is the reason Ramsey chose Arsenal over Manchester United. Wenger showed him his plans to develop his abilities that will see him play at the highest level. The program is in no way a guarantee or indication that the player will turn out great. The hunger, desire and motivation MUST be there. If the player does not have the motivation to do well, then their training counts for nothing. Why is it that players like Clichy, Gibbs, Fabregas, Bendtner and van Persie have all made it but Theo hasn’t? It’s because they have all showed the desire and passion to become a great. Many criticise Bendtner for all his arrogant talk yet not ONE person, Arsenal fan or not, that has watched Bendtner play can ever criticise him for the effort and determination he shows on that pitch.

Theo IS better than SWP and his omission from the squad will only do him good. He has had everything his way in football and it is now time he had a set back (that wasn’t another injury) to get him to think about his career and double his work rate on the pitch.

So far in his football career:
- He got his move from Southampton to Arsenal.
- He got into the England World Cup squad
- He got chance after chance to play for England despite not always having earned his place.
- He got Champions League football

I disagree with those that say he hasn’t made progress. Let’s have a look at his seasons since his move to Arsenal

2006/2007 he went to the World Cup in Germany at 17 but didn’t get a chance to play. Once he returned, he started to make some appearances for the Gunners in our first season at the Emirates Stadium. He will notably remember that season for that goal he created against Liverpool, running past 4 of their defenders to set Adebayor up for a tap in. He will also remember that fantastic goal in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea.

Then in 07-08, he very much looked the part to say the least. Theo scored some really good goals against Birmingham City, ripped AC Milan’s very experienced defenders to shreds.

After a quiet summer due to England not being involve in the Euro’s, September 2008 saw Walcott make his mark on international football when he scored his hat-trick away against Croatia. It was the moment when although the rest of England were amazed and talking about how he has developed, Wenger said he was unsurprised by what happened.

Now come last summer (2009) Walcott decided to play for BOTH the England senior AND the U21s team. That was the beginning of the end for Walcott’s chance to play in South Africa. He had no pre-season rest, nor preparation. And it is clear that playing well for England does not necessarily guarantee a place in future teams, but playing well over a season for your club can!

To sum up, he tried to play two full seasons with Arsenal with two summers of competitive games at international level for 3 different teams. He was warned by Wenger not to play for both England sides. Yet, Theo insisted on doing so and it proved to be the main reason for his injury problems this season. He went to matches lacking fitness and to add insult to injury, got his ankles taken by that dirty Liam Ridgewell (unsurprisingly plays for Birmingham City) and more shoulder problems.

Theo needed a negative twist in his career to get him thinking about his game. He knows he is better than SWP and also Lennon (anyone else notice he runs like a girl?). Walcott can sit back and watch the world cup and watch how the passion and desire to do well on the pitch made Capello pick SWP ahead of him. This could be the best thing that happened in his career and he needs to learn to draw strength from disappointments. Wenger has always said he is mentally strong and he now has the opportunity to show that.

The plus side for Arsenal is that he can be fresh for the new season (unless he decides to enter some England Reserves tournament somewhere).

On a final note, is anyone else getting sick of the complaints about the football being used in the World Cup? Every world cup Adidas claim to make the most spherical football(wonder what the shape of the others were) and every world cup a host of goalkeepers complain about it. The complaints are obviously pre-excuses in case they make a mess in front of the world during a game and can shift blame elsewhere so a nation of hopefuls are not ready to egg them. All I want to say to these keepers is

- you earn more in a week than I do in one year
- GET ON WITH IT!!!
- They’re not likely to change the balls now
- Maybe its time you grow a pair!

Just before finishing, does anyone see something wrong with this or is it just me??

Rene Higuita – Goalkeeper
69 Caps, 8 Goals

Jose Luis Chilavert – Goalkeeper
74 Caps, 8 Goals

Emile Heskey – Striker
58 Caps, 7 Goals


Keep the faith!