Carling Cup Adventures

More exciting adventures in the Carling Cup last night. No disrespect to our lovely opponents but we won at a canter last night and what a canter. A thouroughly brilliant display from the boys. Laurent Koscielny had a cracker of a game, Johan Djorou was absolutely supreme at the back, captain (!) Tomas was great, Wojciech Szczesny was really impressive in goal, Theo was so so energetic and Nicklas Bendtner scored an absolute wonder of a goal. Overall I am one very very happy gooner. I don't want to get carried away and jinx anything but it was one hell of a convincing performance. More of that please boys! Keep it up my lovelies.

The Harem explained

I feel like I should explain one of my regular little tags. We regularly have 'harem watch' here at the Sport's Wall so I'd like to clarify what my harem is. The harem is the name for the (vast) collection of boys that we like to keep tabs on for various reasons (mainly because they're pretty.) So we have boys from the worlds of football, moto gp, tennis and so on all collected together because we like them and like to know what they're doing. I like to imagine that they all live together for my convenience. SO I think we'll do a focus on some of the members of the coming weeks. Included in the harem are: the entire Arsenal squad, Diego Forlan, Tomas Ujfalusi, Lukas Podolski, Edinson Cavani, Fillippo Inzaghi, Guti, Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Marco Boriello, Simon Kjaer, Serdar Tasci, Sergio Romero, Jonas Guttierez, Pavel Nedved, Dani Guiza, Raul, Christoph Metzelder, Matty Flamini, Landon Donovan and that's only the footballers I can think of off the top of my head. Also from the world of tennis Rafa Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Gael Monfils, Fernando Gonzalez, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Moto Gp gives us Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Melandri and  Toni Elias and Randy on his hondy. And some randoms Apollo Anton Ohno (Speed Skating) Evan Lysacek (Figure Skating). My my that's a list

Revenge is a dish best served with three goals.

What a weekend. The tide of optimism has definitley returned to Ruth's 's Sports Wall. The Man City match was important for more than just the score. It was important that we continued the resurgence after last week's win. Check. It was important to beat Man City after the fiascos against them last year. Check. And it was extremely important to beat one of the teams challenging for the places around us. Big Check.
Not only that there was further PROGRESS made during this match.
One- Lukasz freaking Fabianski. What a difference. Whatever he's been doing since Belgrade is working. And working big time. He should keep doing it. I don't want to jinx anything so i'm crossing my fingers and touching wood as I type this but I hope he keeps developing in the vein he has been.
Two- Samir Nasri. Boy is he on form. A stunning performance. Commanding, creative, threatening. Everything an Arsenal player should be.
Three- Nicklas Bendtner- Returns from injury and BANG a goal. I like the new Nicky. More Please.
Four- Alex Song. An absolute beast in midfield all day. Strong and fearlessbut most importantly did not get carried away after getting booked. Topped it off with a goal.
And finally the whole team. For all those complimentary points we didn't play particularly well which makes the score even better. We won without looking truly convincing and that people is truly PROGRESS

Ruth's Europa Cup Special

Now I know lots of people take a dim view of the Europa League, saying its just a consolation competition and doesn't mean anuthing or whatever but not me. I'll come out and say it. I like the Europa League. I like lots and lots of very different very random teams throughout Europe for various reasons so the Europa League is ideal for me. Last night for instance I got to watch two of my favourite uruguayan boys in a row. Not to mention Quique Sanchez Flores and The Master Criminal himself Tomas Ujfalusi. First I watched Liverpool v Napoli which although goalless was very entertaining, not least for the amount of Edinson Cavani hair flicking on show. I love Napoli, they manage to encapsulate both good old fashion Calcio values while at the same time being capable of producing fabulous fluid football moves out of nowhere. Then ITV gave me an unexpected gift showing Atletico Madrid straight after. I adopted Atleti last year and followed them the full way through the Europa league to victory and thoroughly enjoyed every game. They can be very very frustrating but like Napoli are able to produce a moment of brilliance in a split second from literally nowhere. I also caught a hugely entertaining Porto match in the highlights package, some fun with Sparta Praha and a goal fest in Bern of all places. So lets all give the Europa cup a chance, go on you know you want to.
If that isn't enough here is a list of just some of the beautiful boys from our watch list who are currently involved in the contest:
Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar) Diego Forlan  Sergio Aguero (both Atletico Madrid) Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart) Guti (Besiktas) Edinson Cavani (Napoli) Martin Caceres (Sevilla) Mauro Camoranesi (Stuttgart) Alessandro del Piero (Juventus) Radamel Falcao (Porto)

Moto Gp - Late updates

I feel i've been a bit remiss lately on the moto GP updates front. So here I am finally catching up. I think my lazy attitude is partly down to the fact that my beloved Dani Pedrosa broke his collarbone and missed the races at Sepang and Phillip Island. Upset wasn't the word. I was so far beyond upset it was actually unbelievable. Watching races without Dani there is a very strange experience for me, It just isn't the same. Don't get me wrong he isn't the sole reason I watch moto GP, I do like other riders. But he's such a big part of my enjoyment of the sport (ironically) that I can't help getting irritable when he isn't around. So the last couple of weekends Andrea Dovizioso became acting surrogate for my affections. I already love Dovi but I had to step it up in Dani's absence and I really enjoyed yelling him on for all I was worth because sometimes I feel I neglect him due to my overwhelming obsession with his teammate. Luckily Valentino also felt the need to step it up in Dani's absence (coincidence? I think not) and provided some thrilling moves and amazing amazing duels that kept me distracted. Phillip Island sucked as usual with Stoner winning by a mile, Dovi having mechanical issues and Vale having a terrible start. But hey ho lets all look forward to Estoril (in HD!) and hopefully the return of Dani and Vale's very special podium moments.

Joyeux Anniversaire

We have an extra special birthday to celebrate today here at Ruth's Sport's Wall. All the boys have had to work extra hard today. Because today is Arsene Wenger's  birthday. Oh yes. The King of the Emirates Stadium turns 61 today so many many happy returns to our favourite grumpy, french silver fox today! We hope he gets all that he wants for his birthday (which we suspect maybe a trophy and/or some wine) Also since its his birthday I'd like to express my full, unreserved admiration and respect for such a wonderful manager and also awesome person. You're my hero Arsene! Keep up the good work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuobtturnpQ&feature=player_embedded
(awesome video tribute)

Quote of the Week

Another set of crackers this week folks.
 "It is not God who tackles people, it is players" - Arsene Wenger. Confucius couldn't have put that one better.
"When I tackled him I didn't want to kill him" - Emmanuel Eboue really isn't that kind of guy.
"I've got nothing against foreign managers, they are very nice people. Apart from Arsene Wenger" - Tony Pulis gets bitchy.
 And an absolute gem from Rafa Benitez referring to....erm....who knows...
 "We have a saying in Spanish, which is: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk'"

Back on Track

Well Well. The cloud of doom and gloom over my little house has been lifted once again. The Arsenal rollercoaster rolls on as dizzying as ever. After a disheartening couple of games we're firmly back in the game this week. Not only did Arsenal complete a very important coming from behind victory against Birmingham, but Chelsea nad Man United dropped points by both drawing.
As I said we came from behind to win. This is very important as falling behind from being in a dominant position and being unable to recover has been a persistent fault of this Arsenal squad for some time. I'm not saying that this one game cures that completely but it goes some way to gifting some confidence and proving we can do it. Plus both losing and winning are habits. It was very important to break one habit and form a new one. By coming back fighting this week we prevent ourselves from falling too far behind. While I would like to emphasize the word early in that sentence I still feel its important to be right in the race even now.
Other positives from this weekend's game are the return of Nicklas Bendtner from injury. I know its only Bendtner but he can be a handy player sometimes and having one extra attacking option can only be a good thing. Also apparently Theo and Cesc are nearing returns for midweek. Rejoice gooners and roll on tomorrow night.

Australians and Penalties

I've been watching more of the Commonwealth games of the past couple of days and I've come to the conclusion that Australians are unbelievably good at sports. Really unbelievable. Like phenomenally good. I say this because I watched them totally cane everyone at swimming, produce mind-blowing performances at diving and then this morning totally kick hockey's ass.
An interesting fact about Australia: their hockey team is called the 'hockeyroos.' How awesome is that? Which brings me perfectly on to another thing about amazing Australian sporting stuff. During their gold medal penalty shootout this morning (which they won, duh) I heard the Australian hockey coach give possibly THE best advixce on how to take penalties I've ever heard. His pearl of wisdom was "Don't worry about feinting or dummying it, don't worry about the goalkeeper's movement just hit it at the target as hard as you can."
Now that is brilliant. Not only did it totally work for hockey, it works for football too. Or I assume any other sports with penalties. Its so simple but so genius. Just hit the target. When you really think about it, this is the method that stands the highest chance of success. If you over complicate your penalty by attempting to confuse or second guess the keeper your chances of missing are higher. But if you simply blast the ball at the target you have a much higher probability of scoring because at least its in the right are straightaway.
So the lesson I have learnt from the commonwealth games is in strategic terms always keep it single. Also that Australians are awesome.

Athletics

I've been watching the athletics in Delhi this week. I enjoy big athletics tournaments. And the commonwealth games is no different. I've managed to catch a few running events which have been good. The one thing I enjoyed most unexpectedly (or not if you know me) was the men's swimming relay. Just wow. Holy Cow were those australians good, a stunning performance, also kudos to south africa. I've also enjoyed the diving, which I find absolutley fascinating, the precision involved is mind blowing. I'm not normally very patriotic for dear old blighty but I did cheer a few times for the home nations this time. And it was very nice to see a healthy medal haul. I've also caught some throwing events, high jump and long jump and I'm hoping to catch pole vault tomorrow afternoon as its a sport i do enjoy.

Toothpaste Toni takes the prize

We'd like to extend our congratulations to this fabulous man right here. Toni Elias or 'Toothpaste Toni' as he's known in our house (because of his gorgeous smile of course) today won the (very first) Moto 2 world championship. We love Toni. Not simply because he's lovely, but because he's a fearless rider who works unbelieveably hard and also he's a great person. A very deserving winner who has ridden an absolutley blinding season.
Also congrats to some guy named Jorge who won something today.

International Harem Watch

Some of our favourite Boys have been in action during the international break. Our selected highlights:
The Czech Republic got a well-deserved and long awaited victory in the qualies. The assist for the only goal was provided by recent birthday boy and resident genius Tomas Rosicky.
Andrei Arshavin should be cheered up by his Russian side winning 3-2. Reports that the inspiration was a drawing of a beaver in a hat are unconfirmed.
Holland won one nil. Game 100% less foxy due to absence of Robin van Persie.
Uruguay won a friendly 7-1. Must be all that extra attention Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan have been getting lately...

Quote of the Week

Its the return of quote of the week and my my has there been some crackers this week.
"He needs to see a mental doctor." The coach of Sparta Rotterdam referring to leg-breaker Nigel de Jong.
"With the exception of one time, when Barton tried to hack me down, players are not 'evil'" Samir Nasri weighing in on the 'dirty tackling' debate.
"His moves were legal but on the limit, from my point of view. We have seen the way he likes to fight, it happened before with Gibernau, then with Stoner, and now with me. Maybe in the future his rivals will get a little bit mad and we will act like he usually does" Jorge Lorenzo takes issue with Valentino Rossi sticking it to him in Motegi.
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha." Valentino Rossi's unconfirmed response to Jorge.

Birthday Greetings!

Another one of our favourite boys has a birthday to celebrate! So  Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám to our lovely little dumpling! Tomas turns 30 today which is a little weird for me as I remember first watching him in an international match as an adorable nineteen year old when I was (eek) ten. He's been one of my favourite players ever since. The harem are planning a surprise party as we speak, but I think we can already guess who Tomas' favourite birthday gift is.....

Hindsight

I've calmed down now.
I can now look at things in a rational, sane way. With the benefit of a little distance things aren't as heart-crushingly bad as they first appeared yesterday. There are positives to be had. Yes you heard that right. Progress has indeed been made, a small amount but progress nonetheless. Let's get the obvious one out of the way, we desrved to win and it was not for lack of trying that we didn't. We dominated the game much better than the last time, we limited their attacks and actually defended decently for large portions. Progress people. Also Lukasz Fabianski. Is he even the same guy as a few weeks ago? Apparently that penalty did him good. He looked much stronger and more convincing, made some very good saves, didn't do anything silly, wasn't at fault for the goals and once again yelled at people in his box. A vast improvement. Promising. Andrey Arshavin looked much better yesterday. Banging in shots like no ones business and wreaking merry hell without Ivanovic. Marouane Chamakh made a nuisance of himself in the box. Tomas Rosicky looked brilliant when he came on, lovely to see him back to player I've always known he is.
So there it is, a spark of hope.

*insert string of profanities here*

Gutted doesn't even come close to describing the feeling i have right now. I'm so disappointed its unbelievable. I've had it with this shit seriously. The same thing year after year. Its just not fair and its beyond a joke now. What really sticks in my throat is to dominate a game like that and lose to a team that basically does nothing for 90 minutes. I know there's positives to be found somewhere but to be honest right now I'm finding it very hard to concentrate on doing that.
THAT display from Chelsea is not what football is about for me, and that's what makes it hurt all the more. The refereeing was an absolute joke, the ref might as well have just worn a blue shirt and be done with it. It's all just salt in the wound.
I just feel so despondent, a massive heavy feeling in my chest and I could cry I really could. They didn't deserve the win and we didn't deserve this agony. again.

Get Well Soon Dani

Oh Dear. Weirdly a day after I posted a picture of him in a cast Dani Pedrosa has broken his collarbone. Its so heartbreaking, just as he was hitting a run of form. I'm sending lots of mental hugs and love Dani's way and I hope he gets better soon. We've got all the available harem members on cheering up duty buying grapes and promising back rubs (that means YOU Vale.)