the score line says it all...

i'm not going to bore you with a page full of superaltives about a nil nil draw. a dull nil nil draw at that. neither side really looked capable of getting a goal and getting all three points. the match itself lacked entertainment until adebayor came on. and then a couple of minutes later, we were back to the same, end to end action. many people use 'end to end action' to describe the game in a positive light, i'm not. so cheers arsenal, for giving me a good game to report back on (!)

lets forget that game now and concentrate on monday's game at blackburn. never an easy game as chelsea and united fans will tell you and we've had enough problems of our own there in the past.

we all know they play the complete opposite to us but lets them give them a footballing lesson they won't forget, we'll play them off the park fairly and through quality football.

you let me down but giving up on you just isn't a option.

that's the best it got i'm afraid.

i don't really know any other 'top teams' who can go two nil up with 1O minutes to go and at the final whistle, be the losing team.
wigan deserved to win, we played poorly. this is probably the perfect opportunity to slate individual players (and fabianski showed today, that first thing on the summer shopping list is a new, decent keeper) but i suppose, it's a team game and the team performance simply wasn't good enough. even when we were two nil up, we looked nervous and the free flowing football didn't turn up.
on paper, this was an 'easy game' but games aren't played on paper, they're played on the pitch and as today proved, anything can happen for 9O minutes on a football pitch.

just incase we hadn't already lost the chance of the premier league, today made sure that we'll be waiting another year for a trophy.

arsenal football club - you don't half annoy me sometimes and make me want to punch walls but compared to others, we haven't the worst season ever and i'm grateful for the high points of the season :)

the best part of the day;

theo walcott scoring a cracking opener. are you watching fabio?

heartbreak at the lane.

i'm sorry that this is extremely late but i wrote this wednesday night and hadn't got to uploading it yet. this is written before today's game and my next blog will be about the game against wigan.

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i fear that yet another promising and in places, damn right exciting, season will come to the end without anything to show for it. in a game where trophies is everything, our stunning football doesn't get enough credit but at the same time, maybe it's not quite enough. i'm not going to sit here and make here excuses for not winning a trophy in europe or back here at home. i said at the beginning of the season, that chelsea were the team to beat and overall this season, they've been the best team. it'd take a miracle and a half for us to win the league from here. however, we still have plenty to play for. i mean, united haven't cemented second place yet. in my opinion, it's chelsea's to throw away, without meaning to use cliches. pipping united to second place would be quite satisfying.

arsene wenger said he'd stay at arsenal as long as there was an improvement each season and i believe there has been this year. just 3 weeks ago, we were looking promising in the league and in europe. last season's struggle for 4th place has been almost forgotten as were firmly in the title race past november this time!

one day soon, i'm sure the patience of the true and loyal arsenal fans will be rewarded ♥

season 1O-11; it's got arsenal football club's name written all over it.



5 months but you're back (L)

"life's about grabbing your opportunities and this team can make history"

Barcelona 4 Arsenal 1 - Welcome to the Messi show.

well okay, we won't be making champions league history this year but it's not all doom and gloom is it?

last night proved to that even in the most difficult circumstances and regardless of the situation, we're up for the fight. i mean barcelona are the european and world champions. some teams would have gone there trying to play for the 0-0 for 89 minutes and then nick a goal at the death and if we had have done that, us arsenal fans would have no complaints cos a clean sheet and that one goal would have been perfect. come on though, this is my arsenal fc who i adore and know so well, we can't play for 0-0, so i pretty mich knew we'd go there goal hungry.

only a few minutes in, we were showing that barcelona aren't only ones who can play beautiful football and then i can't believe my eyes, i see theo sprinting with the ball and then giving it to nicklas bendtner and then.. and then.. BARCELONA 0 ARSENAL 1 if i'm dreaming, don't wake me up.

for three minutes, i was living in a fantasty world. i wasn't quite prepared for this and an even bigger surprise was that we had added an extra physical element to our game. we were no longer the pushovers or the soft lads from london. we were actually tackling! (not always succesfully though) not something i'm used to if i'm being honest.
for a short perioid of time, our attacking players were bossing the game and looking alive, whereas the defence were beginning to lose the plot. for the last 25 minutes of the first half defended poorly and without giving our players excuses, did you see who we playing against?!

adjectives fail me when it comes to messi. sensational? world class? execeptional? all these and more. as i'm watching, i find myself holding my breath and waiting to see what magic he creates next. i wouldn't say he's the best player that ever lived because i think it's incredibly hard to choose out of plauers of such quality but he's up there for sure.

our wounded defence had to deal with bojan and pedro who are very promising and quick young players, as well as the brilliant messi. the quality of the barca forward three illustrated that this year, at this moment, we're not able to compete at that level, we don't have the options available that they do.

they coped with their injuries and suspensions by bringing in extremely talented replacements, we did not, we couldn't cope with the loss of so many players.

as the match carried on, their attacking players shone and our faded into the background and at times, became spectators like the rest of us.

on occasions, we did show promise but unfourtunately those moments were far too rare. an excellent and exciting run by gael clichy, my heart started beating a bit faster but the thought of a comeback was destroyed just 30 seconds after it was born.
nicklas bendtner was getting as frustrated as the arsenal fans at the nou camp and back home. the midfield weren't creating anything for him. maybe we could have swapped midfields at half time to give us a chance?

even when the barcelona players were more relaxed, they still looked so comfortable in possesion, i was green with envy.

so in simple terms, we were outplayed and outclass. they were pretty damn brilliant and we were nothing special. what really hurts is that i know we're capable of so much more and that our performance at the nou camp doesn't reflect all our efforts in the competition this season.

i'm praying now that we can build on this defeat and hopefully, we can take our frustration out on tottenham hotspur.

yes i'm upset and heartbroken but football has broken my heart on various occasions and i'm not dead yet and neither's our season. we're not dead or finished either.
even though tonight we suffered a heavy defeat, my lads never gave up and they'll have no idea how much that means to me.

so come on the arsenal, the premier league could still be ours, so lets not this slip away from us. a nice 5-0 win against spurs will mend my broken heart ♥





so maybe if we do go another season without a trophy, people will give up on us. but don't you worry arsenal fc, you're not getting rid of me. you're pretty much stuck with me FOREVER.

that's the wonder, the wonder of you.

this how thierry described last night - ""Emotional, special, amazing". i couldn't agree with him more.

after such a game of beauty, i should write pages and pages full shouldn't i? but the truth of the matter is, 20 hours later, i'm still speechless.

i haven't seen a game liked that in many years of being an arsenal supporter. usually, it's us playing the beautiful football, those passes and tocuhes which make you stop breathing for a second. however yesterday, we had competition, stiff competition.

first half - we were completley outplayed. i mean, our minds and our feet were still in the dressing room. they deserved to be two nil up within 1O minutes and i was getting worried, if we'd have carried on like that, it would have been a cricket score! the rest of the first half was pretty similar, to go in at half time level, we were extremely lucky.

the second half starts; 23 seconds in - we're one nil down and after his heroics in the first half, manuel almunia was in a poor position and let the lanky rat take full advantage.

not long after that, we give the ball away and the same result. ball in the back of the net and we're staring defeat in the face.

then comes the change.

COMING OFF FOR ARSENAL, NUMBER THREE, BACARY SAGNA. COMING ON NUMBER FOURTEEN, THEO WALCOTT

and what a change that proved to be. as soon as our theo came on, the game changed. the amount of pace he has, never fails amaze me. i was always think, 'how can he get to a ball like that when it's yards and yards in front of him?'.

then that goal was scored.

'It was not just a goal. It was a lifeline.'

as soon as we got the first goal, for the first time in the game, we were on top, we were the ones doing the pressing. all we needed was that second goal, the goal that would send us to the nou camp with just some hope.

thierry comes on and the tears run down my face. seeing him playing at the emirates not in an arsenal shirt actually made my heart hurt. the reception he got as he came on shows that he's still the one.

cesc chases down a pass in the penalty area before getting taken down by puyol. the referee points to the penalty spot and brings out a card. a red one. the challenge wasn't meant with intend to cause pain but he was the last man, so he had to go.

against his beloved boyhood team, cesc scores a penalty. an excellent penalty, seeing as he only has one fully working leg.

we found out a few hours after that he took that penalty, that at the very moment, he had a broken leg. and the way he scored that penalty, you shouldn't have thought it would you?

and now he's out for the rest of the season. another thing going in united favour's, them losing rooney for 2-4 weeks gave us and chelsea more of a chance but then after cesc's injury and also william's, again its looking unlikely.

but as last night proved, we're no quitters. we fight till the death and i love that about this team. we didn't win, it wasn't our best and scoring three goals at the nou camp is going to be bloody hard but it's not over yet.

it's only half time.