Chamakh heads in, Henry heads out, and Pires inserts boot
Good morning folks. Yesterday’s blogs were fun and the commentary from the readers very good. Many of you mentioned Marouane Chamakh’s header againsy Olympiakos as eviudence of what this yopung player brings to the Arsenal and of course, I went and had a look.
I remember it now. I remember seeing that live last season and remarking that he seems absolutely fearless when it comes to heading the ball. But maybe it was a one off?
Nope (warning: rap music).
He’s just plain aggressive. Note how many times he gets punched in the head by keepers in that video and remember that’s just one season (supposedly). Between Chamakh and Vermaelen (and Sol giving lessons) we should win every header next year — every one, no hyperbole. Now, if we can get some decent crosses…
Couple of other weird stories today. West Ham reportedly bid for Thierry Henry and Robert Pires reportedly doesn’t want to go to Philadelphia because it’s not a beautiful city.
The Henry story is obviously just the new Wet Hams owners making it look like they are going to spend money this off season. They know Henry isn’t going to play at West Ham, he’s repeatedly said that he’ll never play in the Premier League again. Plus, he wants £75,000 a week and for a player who’s skill level has dropped as precipitously as his that’s an insane wage. No, he’s going to play for the Red Bulls after the World Cup. Mark my words.
As for the Bobby Pires story, I sympathize. The Philly Union stadium is actually not in Philadelphia but in the suburb where I was born. Actually, suburb would be a compliment, try “burned out industrial wasteland.” I love my home town but no one thinks of Chester, Pennsylvania as a wonderful place to live. Just to put it in a little more context, Robert Pires would be moving from Vila-Real a lovely old town in Valencia on the Mediterranean known for it’s oranges to Chester on the Delaware river known for its casinos and economic depression.
Not only that but Philly fans are world renown for how quick they turn on their players. If I was him, I’d think long and hard about whether I really need to keep playing football if my only option is Chester.
And finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the interview that Rafa Benitez gave to Gooner’s favorite journo, Guile Ball-gag. I’m not sure which is worse, Guile Ball-gag cashing in on his recent Fabregas generated notoriety or Rafa Benitez defending his record with the ghosts of Istanbul, again.
My favorite line was when he said that Liverpool won 4 trophies in his 6 years at Liverpool. I had to go look up what the hell he was talking about: Champions League, check; FA Cup, check; Charity Shield, uhhh; UEFA Super Cup, what???
That’s not four trophies, that’s two trophies and two exhibition games for fuck’s sake. I mean, only a megalomaniac would count the Charity Shield amongst his accomplishments.
We get it Rafa, you won the Champions League, with a team built by another manager. We also get it that you finished 5th in the Premier League that season and UEFA had to create a new rule just for you so that you could play in the Champions League the next. We also remember that the very next year you won the FA Cup, still with the other man’s team. And we get it that you count one game tournaments as equivalent accomplishments, because you’re a muppet.
I hope Benitez sticks around a few more years, he’s endlessly entertaining. My only question is, do you think he’ll manage Liverpool when they make the drop next year? From what I can tell, the banks are going to force them to sell Torres and Gerrard and they still might be insolvent. That would mean losing 37 goals and a 10 point deduction where middle of the pack would be a good result.
Comments
u can have the best headers in the game mate.. but with 3 of the worst crosser of the ball in world football.. yeah.. i meant fcking sagna.. fcking theo.. and fcking clichy.. wats the bloody point i ask u..!!!
20mnts a day of crossing drills.. thats all i ask from the 3 of them fcking thickhead.. 20mnts a day of your well compensated phat ass time..!! is that too much too ask!!??
Yeah…I just don’t understand how professional footballers can be that terrible at crosses…I don’t expect them all to be perfect, but the majority of them coming from these three are just god-awful. I was by no means a star player in high school and college, but even my crosses were better! That’s sad! Let’s hope we can sort this out for next season…I’m starting to salivate over the clips of MulletMan’s headers!
I’m all set for Chamakh-attack, but it still weirds me out that every time I see him I think “Christiano-Ronaldo-with-a-worse-mullet.” Maybe his club initiation can include a buzz cut?
poor man’s bendtner!
i couldn’t care less if he looks like that ladyboy ex manc as long as he does the biz.
Remember Cesc came into Arsenal with a Mullet too.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AaoPbpzgw3Q/SbB12QAt3-I/AAAAAAAAAVM/9jfmnniWyZc/s320/cesc+fabregas.jpg
Mullets. The devil’s hairdo.
Philly’s not a beautiful city? No, it’s not. It doesn’t want to be. It’s a city that likes its stars to get down and dirty. It’s why Phillies fans love Jimmy Rollins but booed Mike Schmidt. It’s why Flyers fans loved Dave Schultz who could do nothing but fight and booed Eric Lindros, pretty boy. They made an exception for Julius Erving, who proved he could work hard, too. They probably wouldn’t put up with early 2000s Arsenal- or 1970s Ajax-style “beautiful football,” going more for Inter- or Bayern-style gut-it-out games. That’s why Super Rob wouldn’t be a good fit for him. But if he wants to come to the Red Bulls, and Henry too, I’d loove it, loove it, as Kevin Keegan would say.
As for Chester, at least it’s got the Commodore Barry Bridge. In the days before cellphones, I once had to make a phone call outside their toll booth. You know what I found at the base of the payphone? Somebody’s dentures. I swear, I’m not making that up. Chester, Pennsylvania makes Linden, New Jersey look upper-class.
@Uncle Mike, The only good thing about Chester, PA is the Iceline Arena where they play some prestigious hockey tournaments.
Hey Uncle Mike – Schultz could shoot too! lol…And Dr. J…Well, I’d imagine any city could get behind a guy who’s been with 20,000 chicks! lol
So Inter won the CL. 2 great goals from Diego Milito. Mourinho effectively sealed off Robben with 3 defenders. No Ribery meant the Altintop on the (L) and his best days were when he was at Schalke.
What was really impressive was Eto’o doing the RB thing and I almost mistook him for Maicon.
The key player on the field was Wesley Sneijder. Inter had him and Bayern Munich had no one who could match him.
Has anyone found Daniel van Buyten’s jock strap?
How many times were Arsenal beaten on long punts from a GK (Robinson for one ) and a goal.
Free interviw with Wenger after the Marouane (the fighter) Chamakh (“and in this corner, weighting in at…”) signing.
Wenger said and I quote, “up front we have what we need” and on the question of new signings, “1 or 2 more signings that’s for sure.”
Settles that doesn’t it.
Apparently Bendtner is making noise about the ‘medical treatment’ he got for his groin injury and will that injury plague his WC tournament.
Bring back Gary Lewin!!!!!
First came Owen Coyle and Bolton. There Wilshere sometimes looked like a round peg in a square because he was not a hoofer but a passer. So be it. Coyle is desperate to get Wilshere back. I don’t know that Bolton is necessarily the best place to spend another season on loan but what the hell.
Leeds also came with their hat in hand looking for Jack the lad. Now comes word that Houghton wants him at newly promoted Newcastle. I don’t recall what kind of football they play at Newcastle, since it got them sent down and it brought them back up. Next thing you know Ian Holloway will be ringing up Wenger looking for some spare players to tide him over until his club drops next May.
Yes Chamakh looks a really useful player. But why was the announcement brought forward? So that Wenger can spend the weekend and next week negotiating with Barcelona? Can only mean one thing Cesc is going- question is only for how much and which players will soften the blow- but blow it will be. If Arsenal were just going to no deal Barca- that would take about 5 minutes over the phone.
@goonergerry, speculation drives commentary on the blogosphere. Our manager indicated that he hoped to finalize signings b4 the WC. If he is looking to add 1 or more players (after Chamakh, then his window is closing.
Regardless of Cesc’s situation, Arsenal need to address GK and CB, at least that’s my uneducated guess. Gallas was given until end of May to let the club know of his plans …….so I’d be inclined to think CB decision is up and coming.
@joni goonah,
You can also have the best crossers in the world, but if no one is in the box to pressure the defenders then end result will be the same.
Look at some video of Arsenal this season and you will notice that when crosses are coming in we only have 1 or 2 players in the box. Look at video of other teams and you will see 3 or 4 attacking players vying for the ball. I remember seeing Bendtner crossing the ball to 5′ 6″ Arshavin with three 6 foot + defenders surrounding him. That just aint going to work.
Main problem is we have too many players who don’t attack the goal but like to hang around the fringe of the area. What we really need to do is to coach our players to put pressure on defenders in the box even if they are not good headers.
Hi Tim, I have a suggestion, not sure if this is possible at all!! But looks like a lot of gunners are getting seriously worried about the kind of news coming out of Barca and think there’s a lot of truth to it.
Would it be possible for you to maybe run a comparison of the kind of news that was coming out of Barca this time last year, and also how long Arsenal/Cesc took to make a statement after the news from Barca. A lot of gunners feel there’s a lot of silence (on the part of Arsenal/Cesc this time round) so a comparison should put things to rest (one way or another). Thanks.
I would, if I didn’t know that there’s at least a kernel of truth to the story that Cesc went and spoke to Arsene.