medal worthy at olympiakos

So, our unbeaten start to the season  game to an end against Chelsea at the weekend, meaning that our Champion's League tie against Olympiakos was not only a chance to take a significant hold on the group but also to restore our momentum.

Progress

So, we were having a frustrating start to the season. Then we played Liverpool. The team pulled out an inspired performance and things seemed to be coming together. Then this weekend we played Southampton and really hit it out of the park.
The performance level of the whole team really seems to have gone up several notches over the past couple of matches. The whole team has been really really excellent, with everyone putting in a shift. I really want to commend the defence, who seem to have made a massive leap forward, due in no small part I'm sure to Steve Bould. Per Mertesacker has, so far this season, been outstanding. He seems a completely different player from last season. Kieran Gibbs has improved massively and was brilliant on Saturday, running up and down the wing like no one's business. Carl Jenkinson seems to be improving too and Thomas Vermaelen is reliable and strong as always and seems to be taking to his new role as captain very well. Sticking with defense (sort of) Mikel Arteta is really starting to make defensive midfield his own. Simply, he kicks ass. He's strong, he's efficient, he's calm and unflappable and he's an excellent passer of the ball. And now for a sentence I never thought I'd say; let's hope Diaby comes back quickly because against Liverpool he really showed us what we've all been waiting for. Then we have the rapidly forming understanding between Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski which is just glorious to behold. I'm very very excited to see what those two could do for us this season. And even Gervinho is having something of a renaissance. His performance on Saturday harked back to the promise he showed when he first arrived. And I'm hoping he can get an extended run in the team and take his chance. There is of course still the Giroud problem to solve but I think the solution to that may just be time and a the confidence he'll get when he hits his first goal.
And tonight marks the exciting return of Champion's League football. I for one can't wait. Arsenal in Europe is generally an adventure (of both the exciting and stressful kind) so I can't wait to see what this year's campaign has in store.

Review of the Season

Now I've managed to get over the stress of the final day of the season I'm finally ready to look back over the season. The start was an absolute nightmare, actually nightmare is an understatement for what happend against Manchester United but somehow from the jaws of utter ignominy we managed to snatch some kind of victory. This season kind of summed up what it is to be an Arsenal fan in a small microcosm.

So close yet so far

Well what a situation we nearly had on our hands there. Arsenal came within literally touching distance of the biggest comeback in Champion's League history. Seriously, the fingertips of Christian Abbiati are all that kept us from a fourth goal, history and extra time. Having said that, even though ultimately we still fell short I'm still very very proud of all the boys. I know there are many, many different reactions to this game but for me they really managed to restore a sense of dignity and hope following the first leg. I know we still lost but the boys put in such a courageous, determined performance that its impossible not to be pleased with them. Tomas Rosicky in particular carried on his fine recent form and scored a lovely little goal (much like his lovely little self.) Once again, as you all know, I could not be happier about this, there is nothing I want more than to see my (beautiful and talented) little dumpling doing well. It wasn't just Tomas though, everyone played their part. Robin was (as always) excellent, Koscielny and Vermaelen were super hardcore at the back, Bacary Sagna was flying up the wing like nobody's business, Song was a total beast in midfield. The list goes on. The first half was an absolute revelation, they totally owned both Milan and the whole pitch. Alas the colossal effort they put in was their undoing as the pace of the game and the weight of the deficit took its toll and by the end they were all just too tired. Also we had a lack of options on the bench to change the game but to be fair to Le Prof its not really his fault as we have a lot of midfielders out injured and he can't just pull players out of thin air (I wish.) But as hard as it is to take that even though they were so good, even though we got so close, we're still out, its good to know that the team can fight that hard for each other and dig that deep for a performance. I really, really hope we can keep up this brilliant spirit we've found.
Oh and I never ever thought I would be saying this but well done Gary Neville. It is 'bingo time' my friend, it certainly is.

Revival

Well, it seems the whole season wasn't over after a couple of months after all. The revival of our season continues apace. They were all waitting for it to shudder to a halt when we drew with Fulham but we're not readyy to lie down yet. Oh no. I'm honestly over the moon with the spirit the boys have shown to drag ouur season back kicking and screaming and put together a fantastic run of late. Yesterday's result was a rousing 4-0 defeat of Fulham. The list of goal scorers made for pleasing viewing too with goals coming from all over the park courtesy of super centre half Thomas Vermaelen, centre mid supremo Mikel Arteta, king of the wing Gervinho and of course the man himself. Our very own superhero. The unstoppable RvP. And we are now up to the heady heights of fifth in the table. Yes. You better be looking over your shoulder because we're catching up.
And what about in the league of champions? Well only one English has so far qualified for the knockout stages. The team in question? ARSENAL. Yes. YES. Working together to lead the way people. All of the boys should be very proud of that little fact.
Speaking of facts, I learned some very interesting ones about Andre Santos, a man who is very quickly becoming a cult hero amongst my friends and family. We love the guy. We learned that he drives a green and black smart car (the colours of his first team) is a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing and has apparently taught all of his teammates the dance to his favourite Brazilian record.
And a not so gentle reminder to comment and tweet your votes for my Christmas story, either the grinch or Christmas Carol. Do it! There's not long left to have your say.

Gradual Progress

Very slowly, very quietly, against everyone's expectations Arsenal have gone top of their Champion's League group and back into the top half of the Premier League. I feel a tiny little bit excited but also I don't want to jinx it. Yes yes there are still some issues to be worked on BUT let's focus ont he positives here people, that's what we're all about here at Sports Wall. The confidence of the team is obviously still a little fragile but RvP is in fiiiiine form. In the game against Sunderland he scored two fabulous goals, put in a proper captain's performance and reiterated his commitment to the club in his programme notes. What a guy. Then we have Wednesday's game against Marseille. A solid defensive showing. Yes I'll say that again. A solid defensive showing. The back four actually looked pretty assured. Even Djorou at right back who was out of position. While he was on the pitch Jenkins looked very promising making some lovely, quick little runs down the flank. In both games the boy Chesney has continued to look very confident and assured which is precisely what we need. Tomas Rosicky played very well on Sunday, then played the entire 90 minutes, which is very encouraging. Wednesday's game also spawned our fun new game 'Where's Andre Santos.' Its a lot like 'Where's Wally' and originates in the fact that the commentator mistook Andre Santos for someone (we can't remember precisely who now) who looked absolutley nothing like Andre Santos. So now we like to spot him all over the pitch.

Two steps forward one step back

Well it seemed as if things were going in the right directionn. Firstly we had a three nil victory over Bolton. And in this match something very cool happened. Robin van Persie scored twice which took his total for the club up to 100. Awesome. Then there was the mid-week Olympiakos game. It was a very strange game. On the one hand Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a lovely goal to become the youngest English goalscorer in the Champions League and Andre Santos scored his first goal for the club and Tomas Rosicky was captain. But on the other hand there was some extremely sketchy defending going on leading to the narrowest of escapes with one of their shots cannoning off the crossbar. But still the boys held it out extremely well and above all we were the ONLY English team to win in the Champion's League mid-week. But then the derby happened. A two one loss to Spurs. However, there aare things that must be considered. One: their forst goal was a handball. A clear handball. Again officialdom contrives to rob us. Two: for most of the game we were the better team. And that is a very important thing to keep in mind. The level of performance was much improved and we still have important players on the sidelines. Also  Francis Coquelin played very well in the centre of midfield. The boy has potential. It always seems like I'm saying the same thing after these results but I really do beleive its impoortant to find the positives. Because that's what being a football fan is. You don't just give up when its difficult, that's not how it works. When your team is struggling you just have to scream and cheer a little louder and with a little more feeling. You get behind them because if you don't, you shouldn't have been there in the first place. Because if you really love your team you can't just switch that off.

A Champion's performance

Now I don't need to tell you all againthe angst that's been hanging around the Emirates of late. BUT last night the boys exorcised all that. And how. Now I'm sure that you had all heard just how important this game was in the build up. Crunch qualifying time. Then at the end of the first half disaster and Di Natale strike. Suddenly it's just got real. Things are looking a little bit terrifying. Then the second half dawns, Tomas Rosicky comes on as a sub. Everything changes. Fluency and vitality come back into our game. Our little dumpling did us so proud and its not overstating to say he changed the game with his creativity and experience. And damn I have never seen him fly in to so many brilliant tackles before. But the drama was not over with. Oh no. A penalty is conceded. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And his name is Chesney. Holy Lord is that boy something. What a save. He has come so far this season its unbelievable. I am so very excited to see how he keeps progressing. Gervinho was also excellent last night, his pace is electric and those mesmerising little runs he's capable of are just what we need. I was also impressed with Jenkins, he stepped up very well in his first start in Europe, a very strong and mature performance. I could not be prouder of the whole team, this is exactly what they and we the fans needed. Perfect timing guys.

A play-off and a fond farewell

I watched the Champion's League play off tie with Udinese this week with interest. I must admit that when I first saw that we had drawn  them, I was slightly apprehensive, maybe even a tiny bit worried. I've seen them in Serie A before and they're quite a handy team. But all in all given all the recent circumstances and shenanigans I think the team performed admirably. I've slagged Theo off goodness knows how many times and how badly but I will grudgingly admit that his goal was a good little finish. And although the level of performance dropped in the second half, we did still manage to defend pretty well and didn't commit our old mistake of letting in a silly goal. The boy Chesney once again looked very assured, which makes me feel much more positive about our make shift squad. Also Mr Vermaelen is turning into one hell of a player, all round quality really. And I'd forgotten how ripped Bacary Sagna is. So yeah, that was a nice thing to be reminded of.

Also this week there was a massive departure from the Emirates. We all heard  about it. But there was a less publicised departure too. A much more upsetting one. Emmanueel Eboue left us. Now I know he hasn't always had it easy throughout his time at the Emirates, I know he wasn't everyone's favourite, I know he made mistaakes but don't we all. I've really developed a soft spot forr Emmanuel Eboue over the last few seasons. What I loved about hhim was his relentless optimism, his boundless energy and the fantastic way he always always cheered everyone on from the sidelines. He was always first to join in with celebrations. He is frankly hilarious. In our house we  always had a joke based on the Simpsons where when we saw him we used to say "I was saying E-boo-e" (it was boo-urns in the simpsons.) So I will seriously miss our little ray of sunshine and I would like to say: Thank you for everything Emmanuel and good luck to you.  Let's all relive the tuly wonderful 'space pimp' moment shall we?

Mes Que un disgrace

Did you all see it? More importantly did you hear the whistle? If you answered no, you have working ears and mental faculties, if you answered yes then congratulations you have superhuman hearing.
I'm talking about the Arsenal vs Barcelona game of course, but where do I even start?

on top of the world

Sorry for the delay readers. But finally today I can share with you all the unconfined joy I've been feeling that not even a draw with Leyton Orient could spoil. I've been floating on air for a week. All because Arsenal defied the odds and did the impossible. We beat Barcelona. Oh yeeeeeeaahhhhhh. The boys were no less than inspiring. It was a hell of a game. What a difference a year makes, they put in a mature, committed and aggressive performance. It was glorious to behold we went a goal behind and there was no dropping of heads, no loss of spirits it galvanised them and they upped their game. The pace in midfield was thrilling, the counter attacks were absolutely blistering and there aren't enough superlatives to describe Robin van Persie's performance. Jack Wilshere truly manned up and actually delivered a performance he's threatened for a long time. Alex Song was an absolute colossus, blood and thunder as always. And the boy Chesney, he gets more impressive every time I see him. I think the most important and impressive thing is his confidence, he's willing to get yelly and he actually dominates the penalty box (mind you he is 6"5 but its more than a height thing.) All in all I was very very impressed. Its not just the result its self, its the massive morale boost it'll give to the team.
Moving on to the weekend's result. I know a draw with a team a couple of leagues below isn't ideal but there are two very important positives to take from the game.
1.) Tomas Rosicky finally scored again. Its been a long time coming and damn does he deserve it. It'll do wonders for his confidence and it can only help him find the net again. aaaaaaaand
2.) Ignasi Miquel. He looks like a hell of a prospect at centre half. Such authority in an eighteen year old (!) is incredible. Plus he's cute as hell.

Top of the league!

What a week! Arsenal have reached the exalted position of top of the league courtesy of a two one win over Fulham and Chelsea dropping points. Rejoice!
The goals in the Fulham were absolutely exquisite from the man of the moment Samir Nasri. He's on a one man goal trail and watching him is such a joy. There was a shaky defensive moment with a Laurent Koscielny sparked out cold but we perservered and the rewards were delivered. Oh to see my beloved team at the top. What a sight. I can't stop looking at the table.
Then we had the excitement of the Champion's League and the terrifying on the edge scenario we found ourselves in.It was touch and go over our qualification and at one point we found ourselves right on the edge as the Partizan equaliser went in. Then we kicked it up a gear. Two One. Then three. Joy unconfined throughout Sports Wall HQ. So there we have it we're sitting pretty on top of the world right now.
BUT there is the spectre of the draw for the next round looming with potentially Real Madrid or Barcelona lying in wait. But hey ho Bring it on, we'd have to beat someone good to win anyway. Positivethinking Gooners. And tonight its the big one. Manchester United. Here we go. Cross everything people.

Crazy days at the schoolhouse

Its been a crazy old week. The champions league result at Braga was just bewildering. Raging does not even cover how I was feeling. I was just deflated and it did take me a while to get over it. I went through my usual ranting of how unfair life is and how unacceptable the situation was. At the end of the day we shouldn't be losing games like that, it was getting beyond a joke. At the time i felt they needed to suck it up and pull themselves together, stop this mental block. Which to an extent they now have. Today we managed to win. It was a must win game and we did. It was very important that we did this to regain the momentum. BUT we're not completely sorted, there were worrying signs today. We were shaky and didn't close the game out properly when we should have. We did at about 85 minutes but we should have done it before then given how we played. I think the new mission statement is 'lets see how close to stress related heart problems we can push Ruth.'
But lets get away from the doom and gloom. A win will bring back the confidence and we were top of the league for a couple of hours. Samir Nasri played exceptionally well today. Andrei Arshavin scored a goal which will do him the world of good. And our favourite Czech Tomas Rosicky was captain (more evidence he should do it permanently.)
But Jack Wilshere was pants

Fillippo Inzaghi - A Tribute

He's a champion,  he's an athlete, he's an Italian, he's a man who looks damn good in pictures.
We're putting the spotlight on one of our longest-standing and most beloved harem members today. Filippo Inzaghi we salute you. Last night, he passed Gerd Muller's scoring tally in the Champion's League and he's also now AC Milan's all-time top scorer in the Champs League. That's why we're saluting him today. We're paying tribute to him because he's a true legend of the game. The most brilliant thing about his record breaking haul last night is that one of them was apparently offside! That sums up one of the reasons we love Pippo, He is thirty seven years old and has a twenty year career and he still flagrantly, blatantly and carelessly breaks the offside rule. And every time he does he's shocked that they pull him up for it. His reactions to this are priceless, he looks as if he takes every wave of the flag as a personal insult. Which brings me to another reason we love him, I have never such an eloquent, glorious expression of disgust as the one Pippo sports throughout football matches, truly its poetry in motion. I also love him because of the longevity of his career, I remember him as a fresh-faced youth at Juve, I remember how he got that scar on his lip (that's dedication) and i've grown up watching him play football. Football wouldn't be the same without him, he's a one-off, an original and we LOVE him. They don't call him SuperPippo for nothing.

Party in Belgrade

Imagine a massive wave of relief crashing into a pure golden shore of happiness......
Congratulations you just recreated my feelings last night at the wonderful three one victory over Partizan in Belgrade last night. What a fantastic way to shake off any lingering hangover from (whisper it) west brom. Lukasz Fabianski unexpectedly was the man of the hour last night. Yes you read that right. He saved a penalty and produced a stunning save at the end of the game. I could not be more pleased for him and for all the boys. This could well be the shot of confidence that he so badly needs. It was so heartwarming to see him looking so happy after both saves and at the end of the game, an especially nice touch was the congratulatory hugging and patting form the other boys which can only have added to the atmosphere of joy. Oh to have been there in the middle of it all...but I digress. Another encouraging sight was Lukasz gaining the confidence to actually yell at people in his box, VERY very good sign.
All in all an excellent night for the gooners in Serbia. Perhaps Tomas Rosicky should be captain more often....just a thought......

Champion's League Tuesday

Happy Champion's League tuesday to one and all. Tonight Arsenal take on Partizan Belgrade, in Belgrade. Good news is that Manuel Almunia isn't playing after the shocker he had on Saturday but bad news is that Lukasz Fabianski is playing instead. Hmmmm. I might start a one woman campaign to install Vito Mannone in goal, right now.
Despite our ongoing goalkeeping crisis I'm feeling quite positive about the match tonight. A good result could be just what the boys need to boost their confidence and get them back on track. Also our earlier good performance against Braga means the pressure is off a little which is precisely the incentive they all need.
Also I hear our harem's very own little dumpling Tomas Rosicky may be captain tonight. In my eyes this is always a smart move. He's been captain of his national team, has bags of experience and is above all total quality.
So Puno sreće to all the boys tonight! (That's good luck in Serbian!)

Arsenal Diary - mixed feelings

Well this week perfectly encapulates the the rollercoaster of emotions that comprises being an Arsenal fan. Firstly we had the opening game of the Champion's League campaign and a glorious six nil win against Braga. It was a wonderful game. Everything I love about Arsenal was on show the football was flowing and slick, the passing was quick and accurate, the attacking moves were sweeping and incisive. Not to mention the goals, which were fabulous. I was carried away on the crest of the euphoric wave of the 'beautiful game' as it truly should be played.
And then it came to an abrupt end. Yesterday's match against Sunderland was a different prospect all together. It was a scrappy game really. For the first fifteen minutes I wondered whether we'd bothered turning up. Even after we scored (a candidate for goal of the season even at this early stage, seriously look it up) we still weren't performing as we could and should have been. After half time we did improve and looked much more solid and cohesive, the crucial moment however was Tomas Rosicky's penalty miss. My heart broke for him as soon as it flew over the bar, I've never felt anything quite as strong during a football match. I actually got stabbing pain as my heart sunk in my chest. I genuinely felt terrible for him. Then when I thought I couldn't take any more the equaliser flew in. At first I was raging mad, I was yelling and shaking, throwing a cushion around. The usual angry rants about injustice and selfishness and why god why came out. Then I calmed down to just despondency, I sulked. I was so upset and despairing. Now I've levelled into grudging acceptance and the thought that maybe its not actually the end of the world and could just be a blip. Let's all hope so.

Arsenal v Blackburn. Progress

A very important result this weekend. Its not just three points, it represents a significant step forward in our league ambitions. We have now suceeded in closing out a difficult, physical game where we failed last year. If we want to win the title we can't afford to slip up in games like this so while its still early this was a significant win. I left the house with a spring in my step and cheered just a little in the street.
Also Champion's League draw was this week and Arsenal drew Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga and Partizan Belgrade. Its a decent draw really, we have a good record against Portuguese teams and Partizan don't have great deal of Champion's league experience so despite the distance for a couple of away matches I'm hoping this should be a decent group for us.