So, just as I predicted, Russia are through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 after outclassing Sweden 2-0 overnight. It’s just a pity that Andrei Arshavin didn’t net the first or I would have made quite a little bit of cash on a first goalscorer bet. Ah well.
You have to marvel at the brilliance of Guus Hiddink as a manager. Over the past 10 years he has achieved respective levels of success with the Dutch, South Korean and Australian national teams and he can now add Russia to that list as well. What’s more, he has done it by adopting a new style with each and every side and playing to the strengths of the squads at his disposal.
With Holland at France ’98 he kept with the national ideal of playing total football and with Korea at the 2002 World Cup he overcame his side’s lack of height by playing with great speed and movement. With Australia at Germany ’06 he ensured his side were the fittest and most aggressive at the tournament and with Russia at Euro 2008 he has played to their main strength – their exciting attack – and consequently minimised the effects of a mediocre defensive department.
Russia’s strong showing thus far has also been down to the strong performances of striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, left-winger Yuri Zherkov, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and especially the returning Andrei Arshavin. Expect all four to move to bigger clubs at the conclusion of the tournament.
In Group D’s other game Spain ensured Greece went home pointless with a 2-1 win made possible by goals from Ruben de la Red and Daniel Guiza. If they’re names that sound familiar it’s because they were both tentatively linked with a move to Arsenal just over two weeks ago. An interesting coincidence, or a sign of things to come? I’d suggest the former.
In terms of any other Arsenal news there is the amazing revelation from Barcelona vice-president Marc Ingla that the Spanish club are negotiating to sign Alex Hleb. He also mentions that if Arsenal want too much for the Belarussian there’s a good chance that Barcelona will pass.
“The negotiation with Hleb is still in progress and despite him being a player with special qualities, if his club are not ready [to sell him], we have other options in mind.”
Yawn. Soooooooo tireddddddd……. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Sorry about that. I’m over it though, seriously. What happens happens and there’s not much more to say.
Tonight sees Germany take on Portugal in what should be an excellent match-up. I’m tipping Germany to go through although I have a feeling it may go all the way to penalties. Wouldn’t it be great to see Jens Lehmann save from Cristiano Ronaldo to win the match? Heh heh – more tomorrow.
What do you think?
Have your say on Alex Hleb or Euro 2008 by leaving a comment.
we will not sell him
we will not sell him
please alex go, I can’t think of this traitor coming back, because he has nowhere else to go, stick him in the reserves, but please never see him in a first team shirt again.
And I’m starting to think about Ade in the same light, but I’ll let it go for now.
we are all losing the plot. all we need is a two great centre backs and partner cesc with kolo (captain and vice captain). gallas is rubbish, and kolo is the mid field enforcer we need to fill in for flams. have to go: gallas gilberto hleb eboue
I was watching the match in Sweden. Needless to say, the Swedes were not impressed. Their defense was absolutely terrible!
Apparently this site has been attacked by viruses of some sort and is a risk. Thought you would like to know what popped up when i clicked this link.
Safe Browsing
Diagnostic page for arsenalfcblog.com/
What is the current listing status for arsenalfcblog.com/?
Site is listed as suspicious – visiting this web site may harm your computer.
Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 9 time(s) over the past 90 days.
What happened when Google visited this site?
Of the 8 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 4 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 06/17/2008, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 06/17/2008.
Malicious software includes 10 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new processes on the target machine.
Malicious software is hosted on 2 domain(s), including wp-stats-php.info, 61.155.8.0.
Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?
Over the past 90 days, arsenalfcblog.com/ did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.
Has this site hosted malware?
No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.
How did this happen?
In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.
Next steps:
* Return to the previous page.
* If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google’s Webmaster Help Center.
I love Arsenal with all my heart and the fact that we are not winning anything just makes me realise that we were just unlucky with those injuries.
We have to prepare for those injuries and have no excuses next time.
According to my analysis. Wenger should bring in renforcement and let those who want to leave show their back. With the likes of Hleb, I have no sweet words for him. With the fascination of the move to barcelona, i know its not going to be easy for him. There is competition and it will take him time to fit in. Anyway if he stays, well and good otherwise FUCK OFF HLEB YOU ARE STILL HALF BAKED.
@ Gunneraus – I’ve had some troubles with the site that I thought I had fixed. Currently working with StopBadware.org to fix the problem.
Sorry for the convenience and thanks for the heads up.
We were unlucky because RVP was scoring and then got injured and then Rosicky got injured and we needed a good winger with his abilities. Then we lost our striker which meant Adebayor was partnered with young strikers like Bendtner or Walcott. Then we lost our backbone when Sagna was injured. Wenger needs to buy 2 defenders, a centre and a full-back, a defensive mid (Frings) – a winger (Fritz, J.Cole, Nasri) and a striker (David Villa, Arshavin). Whilst I am looking forward to seeing how Wengers signing – Ramsey does, I believe he needs to buy a couple of first-teamers.
As for the Euro – I want Germany to win simply beacuse I hate any team that Ronaldo plays for however I have hated Portugal since they knocked England out of the Euro 2004, when the ref disallowed a Sol Campbell goal in the 93th min that would have won the game. Hope Germany win it in the 90 mins but if its a penalty shoot-out- both keepers are known for their penalty saving ability so aslong as Lehmann saves from Ronaldo ill be happy.
@ Jay – Good reasoning behind wanting Germany to win. I agree and also hope they do it. Should be a great game 🙂
Is Yaya too much for Helb? If not yes please.
Hey Spanish – why doesn’t Wenger go after the bigger names in the world and why does he insist on the younger footballer so much? I like the players that he manages to acquire, but would it hurt him to stretch out and get an experienced Defender at some point? F you Hleb – be gone and Ya Ya would be an excellent addition.
@ AgentDavis – There would doubtless be a number of reasons why he works like this but the two biggest for me would be:
1. Young players are less developed and more likely to be able to be developed into a particular system or way of playing. Too many ‘superstars’ are set in their ways and would be very difficult to convert to the Arsenal way of playing.
2. Wenger likes to try and assist in profiting the business. Arsenal doesn’t have an owner like Abramovic or Thaksin and the manager’s way of looking for cheaper alternatives is a more sustainable way of achieving success.
Thoughts?
few rumours flying around that Wenger showed interest in Arshavin for 10 mil at 27 might not be Wenger’s cup of tea but still 10 mil is a bargain you hear so many players linked with Arsenal who are supposed to be good and you search youtube hoping to find some footage of these players and you end with some dodgy cilps Arshavin is the only player with the saying (It does exactly what says on the tin) this guy is the business. I’ve watched him in Eufa cup final he ripped Rangers apart and again sweden.
I ‘ve mentioned earlier that portugal are poor dealing with high balls and Germany made sure they exploited it.Brilliant tactics from the Germans.
The talk now would be about Scolari this man is coming to England payed 6 million pounds a year and according to many he’ll give Wenger and Fergie a footballing lesson.Laugh!.I have a feeling he will not last the season.
We Will Not SELL Him!!!
We wish to thank you once more for the stunning ideas you offered Janet when preparing her post-graduate research and, most importantly, with regard to providing all the ideas in a single blog post. Provided we had known of your blog a year ago, i’d have been saved the pointless measures we were having to take. Thanks to you. Palm Beach Gardens
You made some decent factors there. I regarded on the internet for the problem and located most individuals will go along with with your website.
very interesting article. I believe that such websites are the most valuable, since communicate reliable information and not rumors. Keep it on.
Almost all I can state is I am not sure what to comment Except naturally for the excellent tips which have been shared using this blog Ill think of a
Spot on with this write-up, I honestly believe that this amazing site needs a great deal more attention.
I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for the information!