The Professor Speaks

ESPN Soccernet has an interview with Arsene Wenger online. IN it, the gaffer speaks of the upcoming season, Henry's leaving, Anelka's not coming and avoids talking about his future.

ESPNSoccernet: But that is why Thierry Henry left. Because of the
missing promises to bring in any big players.

Arsene Wenger: 'Neither Arsenal nor I make promises to anybody. A
club functions best if everyone sticks to their job. Everybody must stick to their role and a
player cannot intervene. But at the moment of his departure I did not get the
feeling that Henry was unhappy about our recruitment policy. Henry left because
he wanted to leave the club. Besides, I took time to thank him for everything he
did for the club. But the club also did a lot for him. Nobody stays here
forever.'

Well said. And it has to be understood as aimed at current players as well as fans. Stick to your role. Don't try to manage the club.

ESPNSoccernet: You have been a big believer in the return of
Anelka to Arsenal. And he also wants to come back. But he hasn't signed yet. Has
Peter Hill-Wood laid down a veto against this move?

Arsene Wenger: 'The President has not said no. I can get Anelka if
I want. But we chose Eduardo instead because it was easier to work with a player
who had no prior history at the club. Besides, we have plenty of strikers with
Eduardo, Bendtner, Adebayor et Van Persie.'

The bit about "prior history" is the key. In the States we call it baggage.

ESPNSoccernet: It is now two years since Arsenal has won a trophy.
Is that acceptable?

Arsene Wenger: 'What people don't understand is that we played in
a new stadium and my players needed to adapt to that. But of course it was
completely unacceptable that we were 16 points behind the league leaders by the
end of October. This season I want us to compete for the title. We want to be
respected for our style of play. And I will try to apply the tactics that
respects the philosophy of the club. It was very interesting to see what we
accomplished in the Carling Cup. It is a good competition to develop young
players. But it is not a major trophy. What we are interested in is solely the
English title and the Champions League.'

Um, Arsene, there's a simpler, more direct answer: No. This year we will compete for the title like our lives depend on it.

Norman Hubbard also makes the case that Arsenal will miss JAR more than some think. It's a compelling argument, particularly in the point about Arsenal's relative shortage of wing players. However, one cannot overlook the fundamental fact that JAR was too frail and too precious for the EPL, and apparently too sweet to play outside in rainy conditions. As the old saying goes, "and if my grandmother had balls she'd be my grandfather."

Meanwhile, putative Centre-back William Gallass says that Arsenal has to play with some this year:

"In the past we have relied too much on lovely football to see us through," Gallas told The Sun.

"But we have learned from last season. Sometimes you have to fight to achieve success.

Arsenal are Alive!

The Professor likes his side. What can I say? I'm ready to be persuaded. When the season rolls around and Arsenal start beating the likes of the Reds, the Blues and the Devils then I'm convinced. That's what its about, isn't it? We're competing for the EPL title, or we aren't. Second concern is the Champions League.

Meanwhile, over at Arsenal World Chris Parry makes a persuasive and positive argument that Stan Kroenke is getting set to take majority ownership (and bring David Dein back). Both are positive (and apparently interlinked) in my mind. If Kroenke brings better resources to the club, all the better.

On quite the different note...the dead are alive...on the Internet

A Wee Bit of PreSeason Optimism

Wow. Arsenal have just signed Kaka out from under AC Milan!
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Just kidding. We're still in the same straits we were last week. Nonetheless, the Gunners produced a couple of 2-1 wins in the past 48 hours in their Emirates micro-cup, beating  and Inter Milan on successive days.

The Gunners opened the micro-cup with a 2-1 winner over Paris St. Germain with goals from Matthieu (or as Bobby McMahon calls him, "Matty") Flamini and a "Look what I found at my feet, better kick it in the net" game winner from Nicklas Bendtner, his first as a Gunner. Bendtner then proved that scoring was not as easy as it looks by following that with a weakly taken penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The PK came about when intreprid Alexander Hleb was taken down in the box while looking for a lane to the goal.

Against Inter, the boys went down a goal early, but fought back to draw level with a self-putback from Alexander Hleb (is this boy attacking the goal this year or what?) and then the winner from RVP, the man who would be king of Emirates. This season is RVP's to have. If he finds his stride - and keeps his cool (Memo to the gaffer: Keep RVP and Lehmann apart on plane flights) this could be a special year for the young Dutchman.

One item of concern from the news reports:

Despite dominating for long spells Arsenal fell behind to a well-placed header from Inter's Honduras striker David Suazo.

For long periods, it looked as though Arsenal had found no solution to their lack of cutting edge from last season.

Some of the Gunners' approach play and passing was
exquisite, but they failed to carve out many chances against a stubborn
Inter defence.

Yoinks! That sounds troublingly familiar.

Reading the match summaries I'm surprised by the number of names I've never heard before.
Bendtner. Sagna. Kieran Gibbs. Mark Randall. OK. I'm gonna spend a week studying the Arsenal website.

Anyhow, I'm beginning to get excited for the season. Yes, we're still a dark horse team given the lack of
obvious improvements through signings, but I've got faith in the Professor. He will mold this side into a fearsome attacking side with a stingy defense. This season, I believe we will continue to amaze with a passing game that patiently builds until the opposing defense makes a lapse and then we strike. Watch out Chelsea, Manchester U and Liverpool, The Gunners are coming!

Catfights and Dogfights

Gael Clichy responds to Freddie's claims that Arsenal lacks ambition:

"For two years we hear Arsenal are not competitive any more but last season we won both matches against Manchester United, drew both against Chelsea with what is supposed to be a young team, so I don't know what's wrong with that.

Gael. It's that 4th place finish. Gunners don't like that. But, hey, way to stick up for the team.

And in American football....this Michael Vick dogfighting case is just sick. If he's guilty, I hope he spends  long time in hoosegow. People who do this are little better than child molesters in my book.

Ok, it's a real stretch to call Gael Clichy's response to Freddie Ljungberg's comments a catfight, but...with the Michael Vick news, it was too tempting to pass up. I'm weak. I can't help it.

Freddie's Gone

Freddie's gone. To the Hammers. While I hate to see Freddie go - he has always been a sparkplug - he has seen limited action in the past 2 seasons, with injuries and new personnel coming on. It may have been time for him to move on...

The Professor Reading This Blog?

Does Arsene Wenger read Out Of My Head? Of course he does. A day after I posted about the cons of swooping for Nicholas Anelka, The Professor came to his senses and declared he had no further interest in The Incredible Sulk. Quel coincdence, non?

He is happy with the current squad and touts Msr. Theo Walcott to shine. I'd almost forgot about lil' Theo. Given that he's 18 now, isn't it time for him to start making an impact? Rooney, Messi, Fabregas, they were all bona fide talents by 18. So far, Theo has been the fast guy with potential. This is the season for the young lad to make his bones. Come on, Theo, make the gaffer forgot all foolish thoughts of Nicholas Anelka!

Oh, yeah. And some guy from England is making is debut in the MLS tomorrow in a friendly v. Chelsea. Only time will tell what the true impact of bringing David Beckham over from Real Madrid will be on American soccer and the LA Galaxy.

Every American sports reporter on the beat, who is furiously boning up on soccer, has the same story angle: Will David Beckham finally get Americans to like soccer?

How annoying. First, Americans already love the footy-ball. It's the most popular youth sport in the states. Professional soccer, on the other hand, is an animal of a different stripe. That aspect of the sport hasn't taken off. Yes, the overall quality of players is lower in the US than just about every where else outside of Antarctica (Hey, I personally contribute to that weak broth talent pool!).

And there is some truth to the argument that when you bring in better players, people will come to watch. But you know what, there are a lot of dreary teams in England and elsewhere that on average outdraw your typical MLS team. The differences are not so much quality, but competition from other sports and fan base loyalty.

Here in the US, we've got scads of professional and amateur teams to choose from. Here in the Seattle area, where the USL Seattle Sounders play, I could choose to go see a Sounders game, or I could also buy a ticket to see the Seattle Mariners play baseball, the Seattle Sonics (at least for the time being) in B-ball, the Seattle Seahawks play the football that allows you to carry and throw the ball, the University of Washington football team. I believe there's also a hockey team or two around. What are the EPL teams competing with? Cricket?! Come on, that's no competition at all.

Add to that the incredible brand loyalty that comes from growing up in a culture where you identify with a team from an early age (often) and stick to it through adulthood. If you're a Newcastle supporter (and God help you, if you are, you poor sod) you're part of a long history with that club, that comes with its own songs, history and lore.

The Sounders don't give you that. You can trace the team back to the 1970s NASL heyday but it's still not the same.

I remember a couple of years back reminiscing with an elderly friend of mine who is a lifelong Liverpool supporter. He was telling me stories about matches and what the crowd was singing and how they'd improvise the songs to react to what was happening on the pitch, or on the sideline. As he recounted these tales, his eyes fairly sparkled with a light and joy that comes from revisiting fond places in the mind.

When American soccer can breed emotions like that, well that's when soccer will make it in this country. Now, if Becks can accomplish that, he's done his job.

Out of his Head

Most of the time I believe that Arsene Wenger is a football genius. Then, he starts off flirting with the idea of re-signing retread Nicholas Anelka to replace the sublime Thierry Henry and I have to wonder whether Henry's departure has made him a bit loopy.

We have a saying on this side of the water, Arsene: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

You've been down this road before, and was not a happy camper and became disruptive to the team. He demanded to be let off. In fact, he carried his attitude problem with him to subsequent clubs. It's why he's known as "The Incredible Sulk."

Six teams in 10 years. This is not a player who will be anything more than a band-aid. He won't be long at Emirates before his wanderlust returns.

And as for the product that strikers are signed for, goals, there's not much there. Last season, Anelka had 11 in 35 appearances. Granted, it seemed like half of them were against Arsenal. But if you sign him, you'll want him to be scoring at the other end of the pitch and there, he's not a proven commodity anymore. In fact, in his entire career he's never scored more than 17 goals in a season. That was at Manchester City four years ago.

This isn't a real striker signing, Arsene. Resist the temptation to revive past relationships. Challenge the big clubs for a real striker.

The other big four clubs have all strengthened themselves. Liverpool nabbed Fernando Torres (who, by the way, I think is going to be huge in the EPL. This kid really impressed me in the World Cup). Man U looks set to nab Carlito, who is also the real deal. I don't know about the Hargreaves kid; he just doesn't strike me as the second coming of Roy Keane. Chelsea - well, they actually stepped back a bit with the loss of Robben, who I thought was one of their most important players after Terry, Drogba, Essien and Cech. Malouda does not fully compensate. But, after all, they are Chelsea and they are still loaded for bear.

My point being that signing Nicholas Anelka does not even keep the Gunners at pace with the other big EPL clubs. Those youngsters had better be ready to evolve this season.

Meanwhile, I hope Arsene comes to his senses.

A Brilliant Copa Final

I got back in town yesterday afternoon from a loooong soccer tournament in the lovely state of Oregon. BTW, our southern neighbor reminds me of Richard Nixon's infamous quote about democracy. It'd be a lovely state if it weren't for all the Oregonians. Man, what's up with that place? I've yet to see a more motley collection of uptight, angry, and just plain ill-tempered people.

Enuf of that. Spent some time with the DVR to watch the Copa final with Brazil and Argentina. While I'd expected more of a match, I was happy to see the gold and green boys whomp Argentina 3-0, particularly without their big name stars. (Though, it was a bummer not to see Gunner Gilberto - one of my favorites).

The last goal was a sublime piece of football. It started with an in the box clearance, which was placed where it posed the least danger. Robinho then left-foot cleared the ball upfield right to Vagner Love, who executed a high-speed show-and-tell with 2 defenders before threading a beautiful pass between the Argentinians which was met by an onrushing Danny Alves who finished with a laser precise strike just inside the far post. The whole thing took mere seconds and was as murderously final as it was beautiful to watch. The Argentine players at that point were just plain outclassed and they knew it.

Think I'm kidding:

"We're totally ruined," Esteban Cambiasso said. "Losing like this penetrates your soul."

Said Brazil Coach Dunga

"We came to rescue the self-esteem of the Brazilian worker, who wakes
up in the morning and returns home late at night, whose only
satisfaction in life is seeing Brazil win a football match."

The players then pledged to donate half of their professional salaries for the coming year to Poverty relief and workers' rights.

...Just kidding about the last one

Arsenal signed a couple of players now, including a 24-year-old French defender of which I know nothing. Apparently, he's considered a back-up for when Eboue and Toure disappear for the African National Cup. Good, as far as that goes, but I have to think not addressing our primary need at this point.

Too Quiet on the Gunners Front

Another day another big nothing from Arsenal. Come on. We need some players!

A great game from the Copa with Argentina smashing Mexico and setting up yet another classic in waiting with the Samba Boys. I'm off to tournament land this weekend but will get the DVR set for this baby.

Cheap Gunners and Bra Know-How

William Gallas hits out at Arsenal's lack of action on player acquisition. Sayeth the French defender:

"I am not at Arsenal to play for third place," he said.

Hear. Hear.

In my never-ending quest for knowledge I stumbled across a couple of YouTube-like sites for how-to videos. VideoJug and AskanExpert. I haven't exhaustively gone through them yet, but they look interesting. VideoJug has a wide range of topics that are covered, including a dating section that contains a rather funny explanation of how to unhook a bra. Where were these guys when I was 15 years old?!

With Henry gone, I had begun to worry that the rumour mill would want for work and might even have to begin laying rumour millworkers. I'm happy to report that those industrious artisans of the rumour mill trade are happy back at work, crafting Cesc Fabregas rumours now.

It has been traditional for some time to suggest that men driving certain cars, or driving cars in certain ways, are compensating for, let's say shortages in a certain physical department. Now the Australian Road and Transit Authority has come right out and made an ad campaign centered on this theme. Nice...