It's been all about one word this week, and no not Eboué - though he did get the hump with my latest thinly veiled attack on him on Allgoonerdup last week and decided to try his own thinly veiled attack on the Boro goal. Fair enough, credit where it's due, he looked like he was trying last weekend. But the word of the moment is 'draw'. Along the way it seems, this word has gone from being a fairly positive thing, to one with negative connotations. I suppose it is only natural and in some ways we have been the architects of our own dissatisfaction. With a team that rarely fails to score, and in a league with such polarised wealth and ability, a draw is no longer the result it once was. We have grown to expect wins, hate losses and be disgruntled with draws. That said though, the top of the league is tighter than ever with the usual two horse race (no.. this doesn't mean Ruud Van Nistelrooy) now a three horse race and small margins the difference. So in that light, 4 points from a possible 12 hasn't been ideal and it does mean we have handed over the momentum to both United and Chelski.
Meanwhile in the European Cup we have that word again - draw. And so it's those scouse cup specialists who are in a bit of a run of form with that strange Spanish girl up front doing the business. My feeling is that, like AC Milan, it isn't the worst team for us to play. And much like the Milan game, in previous matches against the USA Reds, when we have put out our first team, we have tended to dominate possession whilst not being able to breach the final line of defence. Torres and Gerrard will always be dangerous, but I think our lads have a lot of confidence against Liverpool, and it is in many ways better to take on a team we know well than have to face a mystery bunch in Shalke or a hostile away game on the far side of Europe at Fenerbahce.
So its CSKA Chelski this weekend. There's no hiding from this - it is a crucial match. We need those players who are capable of stepping up in these big games (Hleb, Fabregas, Gallas) to do more than that - we need them to get a step ladder, a second hand escalator from a shopping centre, and one of those ropes you climb up in school gyms - that's how much we need them to step up. A loss see's the blue scum level with us in the league, which a few weeks back seemed implausible. A win though would severely dent them in the sprint to the line, and put pressure back on United. Goals have dried up lately but with the quality we have, perhaps it is just a matter of statistical probability that we are due a few goals soon. Either way.. lets hope our players are quick on the draw this weekend - the best kind of draw.
By Paul Wright
It seems to have passed by unnoticed, however it actually was St Totteringham's Day at the weekend - woohoo!! At least that's one thing us Gooners can be smug about. Hopefully I will get time to do an eCard or a screen saver for all you good people to either keep or send on to your spud mates if you're unfortunate enough to know any.
Once you get there have a look through the different categories to make it easier to choose just which shirt you want. Is there a shirt you like but would prefer it in a different colour? Well have word via email (shop@allgoonerdup.com) and we'll see what we can do for you, see how helpful the staff are? Go on, have a butchers - The Allgoonerdup Shop
OK, competition time again folks and your chance to win a fantastic Manu Adebayor (without the Olympic dive) inspired t-shirt. All you need to do to win this fine bit of clobber is tell us this. When did Le Gaffer splash the cash to get the big Togo forward to these shores? Easy isn't it?
Send your answers, name and postal address plus your choice of t-shirt, colour and size to:
iwannafreebie@allgoonerdup.com
Competition closes Monday 24 March.
Good luck Gooners.
Latest standings after the weekends game.
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Got something to rant about? Want to see what the discussion of the day is? Well jump on board The Allgoonerdup Forum and register if you haven't done so already and have your shout about Arsenal and general football topics.
Rosicky injury woe: Czech mate (!) Tomáš Rosický has revealed his sicknote waving injury shenanigans are started to frustrate him. Not as much as they're starting irritating us Gooners fella. I really rate Rosicky but damn - how injured does he want to be? It's becoming a joke, even Darren Anderton put in more time on the pitch... That's your lot, we out of here, au reviour mon amis...
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
| Sky Sports One |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| Click here for full list |
 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Click here for full list |
Buy Arsenal Tickets with
 |
||
 |
||
|
RSS Feed