ooh to be a gooner - a rambling about all things arsenal football club.

north london is red.

i will never be one to moan about 'hard' it is supporting arsenal, like some people choose to, as most of the time its not: we do not have horrendous money troubles, we don't flirt with relegation season after season and compared to most, we have a great squad many of which are internationals led by a fantastic manager in arsene. as an arsenal fan, i am sometimes faced with disappointment like everybody else but frustration is the real issue - coming so close to winning a trophy but bitterly dealing with the fact we faded away in a premier league title race or conceding late goals in a cup tie after going ahead.
after the departures of fabregas and nasri in the summer, it was predicted that arsenal would struggle and to a certain extend we have: everybody around us improving their teams whilst we become an apparent 'selling club' to the likes of manchester city or barcelona. conceding eight goals at old trafford in late august confirmed what most arsenal fans already knew; we would not be serious challengers for the league this year and should be looking to achieve other goals, a good cup run and in contention for fourth place.

after a woeful start to the season, we eventually started to look like an arsenal team of a few seasons ago: winning the games that were potential banana skins but of course still making the fans sweat, never learning to do things the easy way (the 5-3 victory at stamford bridge a highlight in our good run). a mixed december meant a good start to 2012 was crucial to arsenal's hopes of finishing in a champions league spot but an almost disastrous january saw arsenal's only victories in the fa cup - one nil against leeds with the return of a certain thierry henry which dominated all the headlines and a remarkable comeback against aston villa winning 3-2 after going in two nil down at half time. there were no league wins at all to report on: losing against fulham, swansea and manchester united, with a 0-0 away to bolton to finish a tough month for the gunners.

the beginning of february offered happier times for us as we recorded back to back league wins, a magnificent seven scored against blackburn and a late thierry henry winner at the stadium of light, secured all three points for arsenal.
the next match was a trip to the san siro in the champions league: ac milan not the side they were but would always a pose threat to any side, particularly in the home leg.
arsenal were torn apart that night, quite distressing viewing as a supporter: everytime milan went forward, you almost expected the arsenal net to bulge. wave after wave of milan attacks saw the gunners defence lucky enough to secure front row seats to the masterclass from the italians. as soon as the second goal went in, our heads dropped and i'm sure many of the players were mentally already on the coach back to the hotel. the game ended four nil to the home side and with arsenal now effectively out of the champions league, the fa cup was our only realistic chance of silverware. within three days, we had been dumped out of that too after our second tricky trip to sunderland that week.
a side clearly mentally (and perhaps physically too) scarred from their midweek european adventure never looked as if we were going to win this tie. sunderland deserved their win and arsenal were forced to kiss goodbye to another competition.

so out of the fa cup, massively inconsistent in the league and realistically out of europe too, could there have been a better time for 'high-flying' tottenham hotspur to visit the emirates? their fans delirious at the thought of doing the double over us and finishing above arsenal in the league, something they haven't done for sixteen long years. earlier on in the week, jermaine defoe boasted in the press that this NLD meant more to arsenal as all the pressure was on arsenal and tottenham didn't need to win it - a foolish comment to make in my opinion. try telling tottenham fans its perfectly acceptable to lose against their arch rivals when a potential thirteen points difference between the sides would almost make it impossible for arsenal to finish above spurs.
mind the gap

for years and years, north london derbies weren't games that made me sick with nerves, they were matches you were just simply excited for. i used to strongly object to tottenham being referred to as our 'nearest rivals', claming they were neighbours. rivals inferred they were close to us in league position and history, which of course they weren't. it wasn't like playing manchester united or chelsea, games where we regularly lost as many as we won. the derbies are our chance to taunt - '61 never again', 'forever in our shadow'. but nowadays, arsenal fans go into north london derbies a little less confident.
over the last few seasons, particularly since redknapp took the spurs job, some have argued recent results indicate a power shift in north london: tottenham now apparently the bigger club and better team (very much depending on who you spoke to!)
by half three on sunday afternoon however, north london was still very much red and white: tottenham humbled and arsenal fans overjoyed. what better way to kick start your season again than putting five past your rivals?!

being two nil down at home after twenty minutes meant i could probably be forgiven for putting my hands over my eyes and muttering 'oh no, here we go again!' under my breath. shambolic defending with a deflected shot gifted tottenham an early goal and an outrageous dive from gareth bale resulted in a penalty to the visitors which adebayor converted from the spot as he so often does. a dive that olympic hopeful tom daley would be proud of, proved to be bale's last significant contribution of the day - 'cheaters never prosper' quite an appt saying here. arsenal weren't playing badly at all but had an enormous mountain to climb. a header from bacary sagna and the sweetest of strikes from captain van persie saw arsenal go into half time level and looking the side most likely to score next.
the second half began and again it was arsenal who looked the brightest: playing with a great tempo and players flooding forwardwith robin van persie at the centre of everything. on 51 minutes arsenal took the lead, a good goal from rosicky who had a great game - not often have i said in recent times, in fact i have been reasonably critical of him but then again, he doesn't put in a performance like this every week either! two goals in four minutes from theo walcott sent the emirates into ecstacy and made sure all three points would be against arsenal's name on the premier league table. two superb finishes from a player who had been virtually anonymous throughout the first forty five minutes, showing this young man still has an awful lot to contribute for club and country - write him off at your peril.

the highlight of the season thus far and a great day to be an arsenal fan, we won't be forgetting the 26th february 2012 anytime soon. ooh to be a gooner!

revenge (well kind of)

no you did not dream what you have witnessed over the last week or so: england did just win a one day series away from home, convincingly too! after a 3-0 whitewash in the three match test series, nobody gave england a chance. it is well known that pakistan are a great all round ODI side: their strong bowling attack seemingly making up for their batting weaknesses and england have struggled in the fifty over format game of late.

first one day international, abu dhabi, 13th feb

england win by 130 runs:


and essex win the game for england...
okay, so maybe this wasn't a real quotation, just my essex eagles pride shining through. match-winning partnership which saw cook score an impressive century (137 from 142 balls) and a valueable contribution of 50 from ravi bopara.




career best figures for middlesex fast bowler steven finn: 4-34




second one day international, abu dhabi, 15th feb
england win by 20 runs:



another day, another century...
captain cook steers england to victory and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.


third one day international, dubai, 18th feb
england win by 9 wickets:


an impressive bowling display from the tourists: pakistan bowled out for a modest 222. broad and finn taking three wickets each.


but the real star of this match was a certain mr kevin pietersen: allegedly drinking in the 'last chance saloon' after a poor tour of the UAE and regularly under performing in ODIs for england. a partnership of 170 put england in a fantastic position before cook fell to ajmal on 80. there was no stopping a red hot kevin pietersen who put in a fantastic knock of 111 from 98 deliveries.
england had won the series without really breaking sweat and saw they had a realistic chance of securing a 4-0 whitewash, revenging the humiliation they were subjected only a few weeks earlier.


fourth one day international, dubai, 21st feb.
england win by 4 wickets




jade dernbach takes 4-45 and hampshire left arm spinner, danny briggs takes two wickets on debut. not for the first time in the series, the pakistani batsmen fail to post a threatening score - all out for 237.


turns out one day centuries really are like buses for pietersen. you wait years for one, to defy his critics, those who question his place in the side and two come along in four days. a relatively early loss of three wickets put england under the most amount of pressure they had been all series but super kev came to the rescue.

england have now moved above pakistan into fifth in the ODI rankings. now for three twenty20 matches before england;s mixed tour of the UAE ends. the players then have a short break before flying out to sri lanka for a two match test series: england need to put in much better performances, especially with the bat. and also hope and pray that none of the sri lankan spinners have mastered the saeed ajmal doosra yet!

everything's changed.

its been an eventful couple of weeks for england fans - it's dominated the front and back pages of the national newspapers and if you turn on the television, you can't escape the events of the last week or so. first, on the 3rd february, it was announced by the football association that john terry had been stripped of the england captaincy for the second time, a statement read:

"Further to Wednesday's confirmation that the trial will not take place until after the tournament, the board has collectively decided it is in the interests of all parties that John has the responsibilities of captaincy removed at this time.
"This decision has been taken due to the higher profile nature of the England captaincy, on and off the pitch, and the additional demands and requirements expected of the captain leading into and during a tournament.
"The FA Board can confirm that he has not been excluded from the squad and that Fabio Capello is free to select him for the Holland fixture on February 29 and the European Championship."

whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? john terry has always denied racially abusing anton ferdinand and has vowed to clear his name. the fa chose to make this decision without consulting england manager fabio capello - even though in a press conference (dated 09/02/12), fa chairman, david bernstein, stated that a manager is the most important part of a football club or organisation. terry has been publically backed by all at chelsea but in a phone conversation with david bernstein, he was told that before the conculsion of his trial, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to captain his country.

capello came out in the italian press a few days later, saying that he 'absolutely' disagreed with the fa's decision. unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before capello had been summoned to a meeting with the fa board at wembley. it was announced later on that day that fabio capello had resigned and the fa had accepted this decision. in my opinion, capello had no choice. he had been driven out by a board who obviously enjoyed making the crucial decisions by themselves and saw their chance to dispose of the italian,a man that had quite clearly grown bored of. many people were obviously glad to see the back of capello after the disaster that was the 2010 world cup but fans who faithfully watch england in every match (not just jumping on the bandwagon for a tournament), know of capello's good work in qualifying for the world cup in south africa and the forthcoming european championships in poland & ukraine. after all, he's hardly not the only england manager to fail at a major tournament. all the england players spoke well of capello and seemed disappointed to see him go.

so four months away from the euros and england don't have a permanent captain or manager, and fans' optimism seems to be at an all time low: who can save us from another miserable summer? the bookies' favourite is harry redknapp, who seems a popular choice with most fans and would obviously relish the opportunity to manage his country. everybody is crying out for an english manager but personally i don't think this is deathly important - steve mclaren was appointed simply on the basis of him being english and his reign in charge ended in bitter disappointment. jose mourinho would be perfect for the job - he has respect from all the players, promotes a great style of football and is a proven winner in club football, maybe its time to test himself in the international game. he is on the verge of winning la liga with real madrid (and potentially, even the champions league too?), would he want to leave for the 'nightmare' job: a job where you're constantly under pressure, when part time england fans are calling for your head after just one poor result?

whoever the fa appoint, their first job will be to choose an england captain and i believe, they should no look no further than scott parker. the ultimate role model for team mates and fans alike: calm, collected, inspirational, passionate and likely to be in the side every game. steven gerrard would be next in line as vice captain (i'm not going to include ferdinand in the list of canditates for captaincy: he has shown no interest in becoming england captain again and his attitude towards playing for his country leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth) but due to injury and input from his club: rarely seems to wear the three lions anymore. joe hart would be a reliable choice too, a regular fixture in the team and one of england's best players. however he himself, has shrugged off speculation regarding him being given the captain's armband. ashley cole is the most capped player in the side but i'm sure cole would acknowledge himself that he isn't captain material. wayne rooney , argubably england's important player, has expressed an interest in becoming a possible england captain but his temper and past events will always count against him.
ultimately, there is only one selected captain but to be a major force in international football, you need leaders in all positions.

from the outside looking in, the fa and the english national team could be mistaken for being part of a soap opera: there's always arguing and disagreements, people getting involved in a number of scandals and inevitably, never a dull moment.

a nightmare in the UAE: england in a spin.

after an exhilarating and eventful summer which saw england climb to number one in the icc test rankings, they were back in action against a much changed pakistan from the side they faced in 2010 (no mention of spot fixing here please). with the exception of series in bangladesh, england's recent record in asia is woeful and this series did not come close to changing those alarming statistics. the players, staff and fans were obviously aware of the challenge posed by pakistan but it is unlikely anyone could have predicted what would happen over the next three weeks. DRS was expected to play a huge role and that it did - with a record 34 lbw decisions in a three match series. for the majority, the umpiring was fantastic and this was proved in the lack of decisions overturned when a review was requested. technology is to help the umpires, not to undermine them in any way.

1st test - dubai - pakistan win by ten wickets:
england were left humiliated after a comprehensive pakistan victory within three days at the dubai international cricket stadium. england won the toss and elected to bat first. the team news announced at the toss had been eagerly anticipated as many expected england to opt for a second spinner after monty panesar's great performances in the warm up matches. in the end, chris tremlett was selected over the second spin option and steven finn. saeed ajmal tore through the england batting line up taking career best figures of 7-55. england lost their first seven wickets for just 94 and matthew prior's seventy not out, the only highlight on the batting scorecard, that saved england from total embarrassment. all out for 192 was a huge disappointment to the english fans who had witnessed great batting performances over the summer and in australia last winter but the conditions suited the pakistan bowlers, especially the spinners - not just ajmal but part time bowler hafeez and left arm spin option (a must inclusion due to kevin pietersen's presence for england), rehman also impressing. the pakistani batsmen took control of the game after a great opening partnership of 114 before stuart broad bowled taufeeq umar, not long after azhar ali became his next victim. captain misbah-ul-haq and adnan akmal provided more runs before pakistan's long tail were wrapped up by broad and swann.
the england batsmen needed a better collective batting performance to keep alive their chances of winning the first test. however england's second innings started disastrously when they lost captain, andrew strauss early on. by the drink's break mid way through the afternoon session, england were 35-4 and in danger of losing their first test match as number one in the world. trott and morgan looked as if they could steer england to safety but they were removed by rehman and gul. after losing matt prior to the ever threatening ajmal for four, it appeared as if england would lose by innings but after useful runs from broad, swann and surprisingly, number eleven james anderson - england ensured pakistan would have to bat again but only set them fifteen to win. as expected pakistan's openers had no trouble reaching this target and achieved it within four overs.

2nd test - abu dhabi - pakistan win by 72 runs:
this was a must win game for england to save the series and needed a much better performance after the disappointment in dubai. due to a recurring back injury, chris tremlett was sent home to recover and monty panesar was selected as his replacement after the success of the pakistan spinners in the first game. pakistan won the toss and as expected, chose to bat first. yet again, broad was the pick of the england bowlers as they restricted pakistan to 257. misbah-ul-haq top scored with 84 from 173balls, which included four sixes. again england lost andrew strauss cheaply in their first innings but a crucial partnership between jonathan trott and alastair cook (top scoring with 94, falling just short of yet another century). a mini collapse occured - pietersen, bell, morgan and prior all falling without making valuable contributions. a lively fifty eight from stuart broad added to his great start to the series and helped england achieve a first innings lead of 70.
monty panesar fully justified his place in the team as he recorded great figures of 6-62 as only one pakistan batsman (azhar ali: 62) reached fifty. pakistan were all out for 214 and england were set 145 to win: a hard target for a side who had looked short of convincing in spin friendly conditions but again, the best side in the world is expected to overcome such challenges. england had the evening session and a further day to reach their target yet didn't take the game into a day five - the scorecard did not make pleasant viewing for anyone connected with the english cricket team. supporters could only watch behind their hands as england were crushed by a combination of abdul rehman and saeed ajmal: all out for seventy two with only two batsmen making it to double figures (strauss and prior scoring 32 and 18). the middle order drastically collapsed, kevin pietersen falling to left arm spin - which despite pietersen fiercly denying, it is apparent he does have an issue with left arm spin and won't be resolved unless he admits it to himself. argubably england's best players of spin, bell and morgan had again disappointed as people began to question whether they should be in the team for the next match. a lot of their problems against saeed ajmal are purely physiological - once it gets into your head that a bowler is unplayable, to score significant runs off them is almost mission impossible. england had lost the series and just after the dramatic end to the match, it was confirmed if pakistan were to beat england 3-0 and if south africa beat new zealand by the same scoreline on their next scheduled score: england would lose their number one status.

3rd test - dubai - pakistan win by 71 runs
and pakistan secure series whitewash...
with only pride at stake (and the small matter of ensuring our number one status), england were back in dubai with an unchanged team, despite coach flower promising to replace out of form players - an over ambitious statment somewhat as the whole batting line up was clearly out of nick and lacking confidence. pakistan won the toss and of course, elected to bat. a combination of devestating bowling from england, in particular anderson and broad, and poor batting from pakistan saw them all out for 99 - the perfect start for england in a match they were even more desperate to win. however, all the bowler's superb work and fantastic performances were yet again cancelled out by another disappointing batting performances from the tourists. all out 141, a promising partnership between strauss and pietersen gave england hope before the latter succumbed to the left arm spin of rehman, again. rehman took 5-40 as england only secured a lead of 42, which was hardly what england fans would have expected after bowling the opposition out for a modest 99. before the start of the series, younis khan was said to be pakistan's main batting threat and up until the second day of the third test, had had a very quiet series. after losing the two openers cheaply, pakistan supporters could have been forgiven for being concerned that they wouldn't captalise on another poor england performance.
by early afternoon in dubai, six wickets had already fallen (with sixteen falling on the first day) but strangely, not another fell for the rest of day two and half the morning session of day three: azhar ali (157) and younis khan (127) batted superbly and were the first two scorers of a century in the series - surprising seeing as we were all told tales of long, high scoring, dramatic games in the UAE. monty panesar and graeme swann took care of pakistan's tail but most felt as if the damage had already been done: pakistan set england 324 to win, incredibly difficult for a side who hadnt reached 300 throughout the series. a solid opening partnership of 48 from cook and strauss, was important to england who had regularly lost early wickets in every innings so far. however strauss was trapped lbw to rehman on 26 and cook provided some resistence with a crucial 49, before becoming another one of saeed ajmal's victims. cook had already been dropped twice in the innings with pakistan's fielding looking scruffy for argubably the first time in the series. despite useful runs from morgan and prior: england were well and truly beaten, all out for 252.

pakistan had dominated this series and deserved nothing less than a 3-0 victory: they had out-batted and out-bowled england throughout, saeed ajmal deservedly picking up man of the series. now onto the one day series, another tricky prospect for the three lions.