Three things that made me happy today

One: Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby had an altercation in the changing room at half time of the game against Blackpool as a result of the Frenchman’s needless first-half booking for kicking the ball away.

Two: Jack Wilshere said that Jens Lehmann was so vocal and passionate on Sunday that it was like having an assistant manager on the pitch.

Three: Johan Djourou is back in full training and Wojciech Szczesny is set to return against Liverpool this weekend.

That is all.

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Comments

  1. Great to heat that Joro is back man – i’d hate to see the squid at the back – lets hope wenger can bring in some old heads to keep stability – we can do it lads – One game ata a time

  2. Was absolutely fantastic seeing Lehmann, RvP and Cesc have a go at him like that, even if Lehmann doesn’t play another game this season I’d say keep him on the bench so he can keep inputting some of that passion into the side.

    What i don’t get is why Wenger didn’t learn from this when we had Sol back last year, you could see that he has easily the most passionate and determined out of the lot of them and we are seeing the same here. We need a proper leader on the pitch.

  3. Only time will tell if this stan s a good thing for Arsenal or not. Unfortunatley there has obviously been problems and unsettlement in the boardroom over the past few years hence the departure of the Great David Dein to whom Arsenal owe as much to if not more than Arsene Wenger. Apart from bring Wenger to the club it was Dein that sold his shares to Fiszman which ultimately led to the building of the new stadium. He was also very instrumental in signing some of the finest players ever to put on the the famous shirt (Wright, Bergkamp, Viers etc etc).
    It is unfortunate that Mr Fiszman is of ill health and this must surely be why he is selling his shares at the best price to KSE.
    As for Lady Nina, well I can only say that her husband’s grandfather must be turning in his grave at what has happened in recent years. The board seem to have been sitting on their assets much too much to encourage Mr Wenger to buy the final pieces to the puzzle. I’m not sure whether the present day make up of the board have made the football as high enough a priority as compared to business proceedings. It’s important to balance the cheque book without losing sight of why we exist! When Hill-Wood and Dein were in the boardroom it kept Wenger on his toes and gave him a conscience, these days he seems to answer to no one.
    I myself would have prefered Red & White Holdings to take over the club because this enterprise has the backing of David Dein and this would surely have led to the reuniting of Dein & Wenger. If by some chance someone from KSE does read this, BRING BACK DEIN. I think he is one of footballs brightest lights that Arsenal stupidly let go.

  4. Killer

    Dont make Dein out to be a saint yes he did the negotiations but he got fizman involved when he needed money and Kronke involved as he thought it would add a premium and finally when he the board wanted to keep the status quo threw his toys out of his pram and sold to the Russian.

    All that it needs is the board to say 4th place is not a trophy and we want real success we have put in place a vehicle for the team to be built now build a winning one

  5. @killer
    1. David Dein is no longer associated with Red & White so currently has no direct opportunity of returning to the club.

    2. Dein was agianst building the new stadium, it was Fiszman and Keith Edelman who along with Ken Friar made that happen. Dein tried to get us to buy the OLD Wembley stadium in the late 90’s.

  6. We need somebody to lead those young guys! Maybe someone like sneijder or a (good) player that played for The Arsenal some years ago.
    I’m not sure we will win manure on 1rst may, so for me we won’t win nothing(again) this year, and that’s why we NEED good and experienced players. maybe 1 keeper, 1 defender, 1 midfield an 1 forward(just like RvP) and finally we will have a GREAT team

  7. whatever double d’s faults-he had a great partnership/relationship with wenger & kept him in check-utmost he is a fan with a passion for the club -get him back on board in some capacity stan!

  8. Killer April 12, 2011 at 1:09 pm” BRINGS BACK DEIN. I think he is one of footballs brightest lights that Arsenal stupidly let go”.
    Mr Dein left AFC for many reason and when he left four years ago it was due to “irreconcilable differences” – the biggest one being his desire to see AFC move to Wembley, rather than build a new stadium. Another was the 75m offered by and taken from the Russian, the third was his ambition to take over AFC by buying the shares and liaising with the Russian, the fourth is as a director of Red & White Holdings he is now considered an aggressor to the Board of AFC, he would never return, and finally, he himself introduced Stan the Man to the AFC Board, a man who would never ever take him back.
    Furthermore Mr Dein and Mr Wenger were great friends, and yes he may have been the culprit for buying all these players of the past, but AFC made strategic decisions to spend very little since 2006, instead they have almost paid off the new stadium, they have little debt. The team have been in the top four throughout. And Yes I know and accept its time for moving up, to win thing… we have had our difficult years. But No Dein… Just Win.

  9. Lucas Quaresma “and that’s why we NEED good and experienced players. maybe 1 keeper, 1 defender, 1 midfield an 1 forward(just like RvP) ” Lucas sweetheart, Arsenal does not have £100m to spond on players of that quality and experienced. Try and be realistic, we are not Man City or Chelsea. The American likes Arsene, that should give you a hit of where his buying thoughts lay. Its so easy to write buy this buy that, its not going to happen. Arsenal ill recruit from the youth team, and remember we have two new signings already.. Ryo and Wellington. We have a great young keeper, and a good second one… Kosser and Johan and Thomas V are excellent and young. Think, always think.

  10. Three things to make us all happy indeed and if I were to chose a favourite then it would be the first one. To me, RVP seems to have what it takes for a leader, but it’s like he’s waiting for something, maybe a green light from Wenger, some encouragement and recognition as such from all the players in the squad, or for him to be captain? It’s been said many times, Cesc seems to lead more through example, but it’s been obvious on a couple of occasions (ahem, Newcastle) that this team needs someone there who shouts and screams ang gets pissed off, someone who can control our players, put them back into their place when they go astray. Now, the things is, RVP doesn’t NEED to be captain to do all these things, he and Fabregas can complement each other in being the true leaders of this team, not to mention that the Dutch also has the advantage of maturity, that can come into play at the toughest times.

    Oh, Johan and Wojciech back in action for the end of the season? Makes me think we actually have strong chances to beat Liverpool, Tottenham and Utd. – yea, I know, there might be that tiny chance I’m being delusional… again.

  11. Good news indeed that the two major factors that have led Arsenal all this far are now fit and set to return for the very injury mement of the season. No good lover of Arsenal FC can write off the contributions of Wojciech Szczeny and Johan Djourou. We missed them terribly but to God be the glory that they guys are back. But if i may ask, what is wrong with Alex Song, the midfield gate?

  12. I tink its a good thing for Arsenal from my own perspective and I hope when Stan invests in the transfer market Arsene wont ignore him. We really need a squad that can stand firm even during hard times and also a match winner since there are few of them in our squad now.

  13. Lets not get carried away here. Yes, it was a feel good win against Blackpool, but they could have hardly made it easier for us. I was frankly very surprised at their choice of tactics, gung-ho manager non-withstanding. They really could do no worse than play a high defensive line and give Fabregas all the time and space he wanted to play his laser passes.

    So far, what worries me is that we haven’t shown that we have got what it takes to open up opponents who are defend deep and resolutely, and I’m not sure we have enough in the tank to get through our next 3 must-win games. I’m still quietly hopeful that the team will prove me wrong.

    On a side note, is it just me, or has anyone else noticed shades of the Henry-Vieira-Pires combo in our current trio of Fabregas-RVP-Theo? IMO, some of our best play (and results) this season have come from the understanding between this trio.

  14. You win the Arsenal Blogger’s Award for brevity and succinctness this week for sure.
    Your points also happen to be spot on, BUT with the West Ham league match at the weekend and booting the Chavs out of the CL today, unfortunately Man U are once again schooling us and everyone else on how to win.

    They are clearly peaking at the right time AND we have to face a resurgent Liverpool who are on fire under King Kenny. It will be sooo sweet if we manage something beyond 2nd place…

  15. The thought of a fired up Andy Carroll up against a make shift defence doesn’t fill me with confidence, given our anxieties against lesser teams. But I remain optimistic (or deluded) that we can sneak the three points at home and ManUre could slip up in their next fixture away to the Toon. I saw them play Chelsea this morning and I know they keep winning but refuse to believe that they are hugely better than us. I told you I may be deluded. Their shedule of big games may yet catch up with them.

    On a side note, how good is Ryan Giggs. The man is ageless. If only Bergkamp could have kept going!

  16. I’m not sure if anyone has posted this before but there is also some happiness in reading this article.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1375076/Arsenal-clearout–Arshavin-Clichy-Bendtner-Gonners.html
    I don’t want Arshavin to leave though. He isn’t a complete failure. And Gael Clichy, really? I thought he was a decent LB. I can see a good replacement though in Leighton Baines. Oxlade-Chamberlain seems like a valuable asset to have. I know Hazard is good, but I’ve read before he slacks off. Without a stern leader on the pitch like Lehmann, I fear for his habits at Arsenal if he did come. The article suggests Diaby as leaving but he’s not in that big picture. I wouldnt want him to leave though. He’s not too bad. He’s done pretty well in lieu of injuries. Neur would be an interesting buy although I think that Szcsesny should be our number one keeper. Mannone will be coming back as well..

  17. i love arsenal very much but the result is not satsifying all the supporter.

  18. I for one wouldnt want Arshavin to go. For me, he’s one of the only 3 world class players at AFC (the other 2 being RVP and Fabregas). Sure, he frustrates at times, but I’d put that down to lack of confidence and being surrounded many times by players around him who simply aren’t on his level. He’s one of the few guys who relish a big game, and he’s certainly capable of magical moments which we often need. Not to mention his assists stats.

  19. @ Jay.D – The problem with that article is that (1) It’s from the Mail and (2) It makes no sense. How could they possibly know what Wenger is going to do?

    There’s just no point taking notice of stuff like this. One or two might go but getting rid of seven players? Unlikely.

  20. It was sickening watching Chelsea and Man Utd playing in the CL quarter finals knowing that Arsenal were dumped out in the last round. Watching the way Man Utd defend you can only wish that we had half of their will to win, organisation and a man at the helm who the players will do anything for. You can’t imagine Arsenal players running through brick walls for Wenger. It’s as much as he can do to get Arshavin and Denilson to run at all. At least tonight we will be able to see Spertz dumped in the same way we were. We need to dump the rubbish and bring in some quality this summer, lets hope Wenger is up to the job because very few Arsenal supporters still believe he is, we will see.

  21. And yes mate you should never believe anything you read in the sun and the mail in lodnon

  22. @alfie- Good points: Whats so impressive abt man utd defendeing is how simple they make it look. Ferdinand and Vidic are miles better then what we currently have, they alomost never break a sweat. Whilst our defenders get praise for last ditch tackles, Man Utd defenders dont find themselves in those sort of positions in the first place. The amount of space we allowed Blackpool at the weekend was scary. Better teams will punish us. Liverpool are looking good and I am very worried.

  23. Considering the changes in defense we’ve had, and the injuries, I think we’ve done very well. No denying it could be better, but defending isn’t just down to the defenders. Look at CB situation last year. Vermaelen, Gallas, Djourou (nominally), Silvestre, Campbell. We lost 3 experienced defenders there (no matter how happy we were to see them go), and got in two defenders new to English football. Koscielny and Squillaci. Then we lost our first choice to injury.

    What if a similar situation happened to ManU? They were to lose Wes Brown, John O’Shea, and Ferdinand (Silvestre, Campbell, Gallas), promoted Smalling (Djourou), and maybe Evans as well. And then lost Vidic to a season long injury (Vermaelen). Even if they got in 20 Mil pound replacements, I do not think they would do much better. In fact, they are not doing much better now. Indeed, we have conceded 2 less goals in admittedly one less match. Yes, ManU defend well, but so do we. it’s easy to get caught up in media speak, and focus on certain hair raising moments. ManU have them too, except it’s not our hair being raised, so we don’t notice it as much.

    Besides, Vidic and Rio get away with a lot of fouls that our defenders simply do not. That is not an excuse, it is a fact.How many reds should Vidic alone have had this season? A quick check on the statistics reveals that Vidic in 30 games has been called for 34 fouls, has 1 red, and 7 yellow cards. Rio Ferdinand is more interesting. In 15 games, he has committed a grand total of 1 foul, and obviously, 0 cards. None. For a Centre Back, I don’t care how good you are, or how much your team attacks, that is a quite extraordinary statistic.

  24. I might also add that we have lost 4 GKs to injury this season. ManU have nowhere near that depth, even if they do have a great first choice. Hopefully Szczesny will be back for Liverpool.

  25. The Beeb is reporting that both Djorou and Sczeszzzzny will be back for Sunday’s game. Now that’s the best news you could hope for short of a gastro bug laying low the entire Manure squad the night before our game with them! Where’s that Spurs lasagne chef when you need him?

  26. No worries leftcoast. God knows you need to have a laugh being a gooner. It’s either that or the loony bin! Be interesting to see if AW picks both Djorou and the young Pole (I give up trying to spell his name). I’d certainly like to see Djorou back cos I think we need someone with some his stature to deal with Carroll. It’s a real season breaker this game. Fingers crossed we can edge it.

  27. @shard – I read a very good piece yesterday on Valencia at UTD. how he came back from a serious injury and eased back into the team without any niggles – wheras our players are bloody hopeless – if they came back from something like that then they woulld be constsantly out

  28. Valencia spent 6 months out , not 10-12 like Ramsey and Eduardo. (Poor Diaby is always forgotten in that regard). His injury was a genuine accident, rather than the ‘accidents’ induced by thuggish behaviour, thereby at least lessening the psychological problems to a comeback. In any case, unless you are a doctor, and a specialist in the field at that, I doubt there is any way to compare injuries like that.

  29. Just picked this from another site & made a slight addition.
    Is kinda relevent to this post. Read….

    The interior of one of Arsenals local pubs… A darkened room with a very conspiratorial atmosphere. REG and STAN are seated at a table at one end of the room. FRANCIS, dressed in Activist gear — black robes and a red sash around his head — is standing by the bar. He is addressing an audience of about eight MASKED Activists. Their faces are partially hidden.

    Reg: What has Wenger ever done for us?
    Xerxes: Changed our perception from ‘boring Arsenal’ to one of Europes most entertaining teams.
    Reg: Oh yeah, yeah he did that. Yeah. That’s true.
    Masked Activist: And the new stadium and training ground!
    Stan: Oh yes… the stadium and training ground, Reg, you remember what the Highbury used to be like limiting our attendence to 38K.
    Reg: All right, I’ll grant you that the way we play and the stadium and training ground are three things that Wenger has done…
    Matthias: And the world class players…
    Reg: Well yes obviously the world class players… the players go without saying. But apart from the way we play, the stadium and training ground and the world class players…
    Another Masked Activist: Premiership trophies…
    Other Masked Voices: FA Cups… Community sheilds… Champions League final…
    Reg: Yes… all right, fair enough…
    Activist Near Front: stability and consistency…we always qualify for the champions league
    Omnes: Oh yes! True!
    Francis: Yeah. That’s something we’d really miss if Wenger left, Reg.
    Masked Activist at Back: A decent youth policy!
    Stan: And it’s great to feel we are where we are off our own backs.
    Francis: Yes, he certainly knows how to buy a bargain… (general nodding)… let’s face it, he’s the only one who could in a transfer market like this.
    (more general murmurs of agreement)
    Reg: All right… all right… but apart from better stadium and training ground and players and trophies and youth policy and cup finals and shrewd buys … what has Wenger done for us?
    Xerxes: Secured our future?!
    Reg: What!? Oh… secured our future!? yes… shut up!

  30. I know our new facility is a gleaming giant psalm to state-of-the-art stadia.
    But, oh how I miss Highbury!
    Bigger is sometimes neceessary but not always better in every way.

  31. Anyone seen the new away kit?? It’s hideous.. Ugh.. Damn you Nike. Only hope is that these pictures turn out to be wrong..

  32. @alfie, @khilen, no point trying to get through to people like @shard who always has his head deep deep in the sand. I can see what your saying but dont blame the players because wenger does not purchase real fighters made of steel. He rathers silky creative tech players who look very good on the ball when passing and moving.

  33. While Arsenal play very attractive football,the difference between them and Man Utd is that the latter is comprised entirely of players who will contest and normally win every 50/50 ball.The likes of Rooney,Vidic, Giggs, Fletcher and Evra refuse to countenance defeat.They rarely surrender even single goal leads. as said elsewhere we need a big,hard Staam-like centrehalf and a big,hard Vieira-like midfield general and a big,hard, Shearer-like centre forward. Funnily enough I think Szczesny ,while probably spelled wrongly and definitely unpronouncable,is the new Schmeichel. So there you have it Mr Arsene.

  34. Dont know if its already been mentioned here but. August 26th 2009 Arsenal beat Celtic in the CL qualifiers 3-1 (5-1 agg) but Eduardo goes down for a dubious pen for one of the Arse goals. Their was contact, but admittantly a dive by Eduardo, but as a sporting contest the incident beared little relevance to the overall result. August 27th 2009, An orcastrated media campagin begins by mainly red tops and the Mirror in particular to get the guy deported / banned from football forever, you name it. The topic of cheating dominates radio phone-ins for the week after and the player himself is even booed by opposing team fans for about the next 10 games he plays after that. April 13th 2011, spurz need to win a game 5-0 to progress to the CL semi-final. The next 90 minutes that follow involve several laughable and pathetic attempts at diving to deceive the referee into awarding penalties free-kicks, and red cards against real. April 14th 2011, Red tops reaction concentrates on Gomes howler. And some people laugh when I say their is an ongoing media conspiricy against the Arsenal. Paranoid, no not me. ha ha ha

  35. @theicehammer

    Why don’t you try ‘hammering’ some sense into me? I’ve told you before that I’m open to being swung around to your point of view. I’m yet to hear any good points from you though. All I hear is your opinion on what Wenger is doing wrong at the football academy, and some cliches about ‘steel’. You proclaim it’s time for Wenger to go simply on that basis, and you seem to have a gripe with me because I argue differently. If anyone has a right to be emotional and reactionary about a discussion on Arsenal, it’s me. Not a self proclaimed West Ham fan. Argue your position properly and I listen, head in the sand or not. But why do you have your head up in the clouds? If you have a point, then say it. If you deem that to be beneath you, then fair enough. But if you want to just occasionally descend to have a snipe and then get back on your high horse and run, I’m not having it. Over to you..

    Sorry Andrew, I didn’t feel like letting it go. But thank you for that.

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