help!

I am thinking of getting a new Arsenal shirt (I feel like I just got one, but oh well. I have an obsession and a money spending problem) but I can't decide which name to get on the back. I love them all so much and this feels like I'm picking favorites! So I need input.

poll by twiigs.com

tuesday night insanity

There are tons of things I should be writing about, like the wonderful 6-2 drubbing of Blackburn at the weekend, the beginning of hockey season and the awesome start that the Caps have had, or possibly even the reign of Napoleon for my French class.

Instead, I mark my brief return to the blogosphere by penning this masterpiece.


Lucy and I were talking this evening about football and Harry Potter (as we do) and the two subjects started to mix. The discussion started with Thomas Vermaelen clearly being a Slytherin. Not because he is evil (on the contrary, he is wonderful and amazing and full of so much win...wow, I'm pretty sure this infatuation is not going to go away anytime soon) but because he is pale and slightly vampire-esque and sticks his tongue out a lot like a snake. He just has a very Slytheriny vibe.

So we started sorting other footballers into houses, and this is what we came up with (side note: I was watching a replay of Saturday's Arsenal game, so a lot of these happen to be Gunners)...

Gryffindor [Head of house = Pep Guardiola]:

Thierry Henry
Cesc Fàbregas
Robin van Persie (although he could potentially be in Ravenclaw too...he's a smart guy)
Steven Gerrard
Theo Walcott
Raúl Gonzalez
Andres Iniesta
Alex Song (specifically Neville Longbottom. He used to be pretty hopeless, but he's really started to come into his own. Perhaps one day he will help to bring down Voldemort's army AKA Manchester United, OBV.)

Hufflepuff [Head of house = Guti AKA Professor Lockhart]:

Gonzalo Higuain
Vedran Ćorluka
Nicklas Bendtner
Manuel Almunia
Aaron Ramsey
Lukasz Podolski
Lionel Messi
David Beckham (Lucy tried her hardest to put him into Gryffindor, but I won't allow it because he was a ManUre player.)

Ravenclaw [Head of house = Arsène Wenger]:

Dennis Bergkamp
Niko Kranjčar
Iker Casillas
Fernando Torres
Xabi Alonso
Bojan Krkic

This house is pretty sparse...there aren't too many bright footballers around, are there?

Slytherin [Head of house = Sir Alex Ferguson]:

Thomas Vermaelen
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
...actually, all ManUre players.
Didier Drogba
Michael Ballack
...actually, all Chelski players too.
Torsten Frings
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Oliver Kahn
...and pretty much all Germans (especially the ones in the 2002 World Cup squad.)
Martin Skrtel
Karim Benzema
Vito Mannone
Alvaro Arbeloa
Artur Boruc
Gerard Pique
Carles Puyol
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Esteban Granero
Emmanuel Adebayor (Wormtail: used to be on the good side, but has gone very, very bad.)
All Italians (I know Steph will be happy about this one, being a Slytherin herself.)
Michael Owen (Lucy has dubbed him He Who Must Not Be Named, so clearly he's Voldy.)

Yeah so we put a lot of people in Slytherin. Like I said, not all of them are bad, some just have the right characteristics. But some really are evil, i.e. Drogba, Adebayor, and Ballack.


To borrow a phrase from my World Regions prof, I should really stop drinking. Good night, folks.

he's a cheat!

[Somewhat unrelated note: I typed Eduardo da Silva in google image search to look for a picture to accompany this rant. I need to not do that ever again. I am now equal parts saddened and disgusted.]

Diving is bad. No two ways about it, it just is. And it depresses and embarrasses me when players I like engage in such "simulation". Yes, I'm looking at you Eduardo. I even wore your shirt yesterday! I thought you were better than that. Please don't make a habit of it.

That being said, the media hype that's surrounded this is ridiculous. He is not the only player to have ever attempted to gain a penalty that wasn't deserved, and he won't be the last. He's not a serial diver, and I don't believe he will ever become so. At least I hope not. And even if the penalty hadn't been given, we still would have won 4-1 on aggregate. WHAT IS THE BIG FUCKING DEAL? The media don't get this worked up when Drogba dives in every single Chelsea match he plays in. The media don't make a peep when an English hero like Stevie G happens to fall easily. Eduardo is not a bad guy, and while he shouldn't have done what he did, it's not the end of the world. All I'm asking for is a little consistency here!

Also, if I were Eduardo I'd be extremely wary of going up against any challenge, let alone crazy Artur Boruc. He probably was trying for the penalty, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had gone down just to avoid getting run into again.

Lastly, I'd just like to point out that every Arsenal fan I've talked to and comment I've seen online have all agreed that it was a dive and it shouldn't have been a penalty. Even "I didn't see it" Wenger said it! I can't remember hearing the same honesty from most Chelsea fans about the Anelka dive in the Champions League semifinal or Man United fans every time Cristiano Ronaldo made like a swan. Yes, I may have a massive sense of entitlement here, but Arsenal fans rock. That's all I'm saying. The end.

for he's a jolly good vela

This afternoon was the Gold Cup final, and once again the USA played Mexico. Unlike two years ago though, this one sucked. 5-0 to Mexico, with all of the goals coming in the second half, and each goal being scored by a different player. Okay, so it was only the Gold Cup, and we were fielding what was basically a C team full of MLS players. But still, El Tri's recent World Cup qualifiers have been very substandard. Did they really have to choose this game to start playing well again?

The American fan in me is annoyed, slightly embarrassed, and a little worried as to how this will affect the World Cup qualifier at the Azteca in two weeks. The Arsenal fan in me is pretty damn excited, because let's face it, the second half was totally the Carlos Vela show. He only scored one of the goals but he set up several others. He was subbed on for Medina at the start of the second half and immediately invigorated the whole team. Here's hoping he can do the same for the Gunners this season. Who needs Adebayor? We've got Theo's Mexican Twin.

august isn't too far away

I know the season isn't technically over, but for us it might as well be. If Chelsea screw up enough we may be able to steal third place, and we could also take revenge on Man U and possibly even keep them from winning the title, but there's really nothing else for us to do for ourselves. We've secured fourth and there are no trophies for us to win (again), so all we can do now is look towards next season.

I'm no expert of course (I haven't even played soccer since I was about 13), but I've noticed some things that the team can work on for the 09/10 campaign.

Defence: Gaël Clichy and Bacary Sagna have been immense all season. Gallas, now that he's stopped complaining and being petty and started concentrating on playing, has been very good too. Silvestre...well, he's more hit-or-miss. He's had some good moments for us, but overall he's just not that great. And with the constantly being injured thing, he's really no help to the team at all. Djourou and Gibbs are young and have made some mistakes, but they are both shaping up to be talented players who will do well for us in later years.

One specific thing the defence can work on is not falling down. Yes, I'm talking to you, Clichy and Gibbs. I love you both, and you're both extremely hard workers, but a few (literal) slip-ups have led to goals being conceded at very inopportune moments, i.e. to start Spurs's comeback last October, and Man United's first goal on Tuesday, respectively.

Theo Walcott: I've been a bit underwhelmed by his performances this season. I know he's a striker at heart rather than a winger, but really, it's not like Wenger is putting him on defence. It shouldn't be that big of an adjustment. If you can score precision goals, you should be able to make precision passes, but his passing has been off lately. And with Robin van Persie, Eduardo, and Adebayor healthy and on form (not to mention Vela, and yes even Bendtner sometimes), the striker position is pretty well covered, so he should do his best to adjust to the wing.

Theo, I love you, so work hard this summer and be even more awesome next season.

Cesc Fàbregas: Cesc seems to be having trouble showing up to the big important matches lately. He hasn't been playing badly, per se, but he hasn't been playing particularly well either. I barely noticed he was on the pitch for the first half of Tuesday night's game, and the lack of Arshavin was even more apparent as a result. He never really had any issues before his injury, save for a few bad games, but everyone's got one or two of those. So I don't know, maybe it's a confidence thing?

Whatever it is, sort it out please Cesc. You're one of the best midfielders in the world, and you playing well usually means that the rest of the team plays well. And then we tend to win.

Nicklas Bendtner: Stop talking and getting shitfaced/dropping your pants and start playing. I know people mention the goals scored statistic as an indication of how he's not actually a bad striker (14 by the way, only two less than Adebayor and four less than van Persie) but imagine how much higher that number would be if he didn't keep missing the easy chances. I don't hate him, really. I've been frustrated with him, and I wouldn't be devastated if he left over the summer, but I don't hate him. I just want him to play to his full potential.

Manuel Almunia and Andrey Arshavin: Have been fantastic lately. If they keep on doing what they've been doing, I will be a very happy girl.

Emmanuel Adebayor: Incredibly talented, but often looks apathetic or bored. Everyone has bad days, but I think he can put more effort into his game sometimes.

Denilson, Alex Song, and Emmanuel Eboue: Ah, what to say about this bunch? They are just so unpredictable. Solid in one match, then making horrible mistakes in the next. Eboue in particular needs to a) not dive, b) not make bad tackles, and c) not whine. To his credit, he's cut down on all three and his game has subsequently improved. In fact, I think each one is improving. Song particularly has been doing quite well lately. I really don't know what else to say about them; they're all relatively talented, and each has had their moments of greatness, they just need to be much more consistent.

Tomáš Rosický: He is still an Arsenal player, right? Tomáš, get healthy and play, please.

Arsène Wenger: Buy a central defender, please. And a defensive midfielder. (I still want Xabi Alonso...any way to make that happen?) As you can see, Silvestre did not solve the problem. We can get by somewhat when our whole team is healthy, but when we have an injury (or two, or three, or four...) our defence suffers abominably. Gibbs will be a great player one day, but right now he's young and inexperienced and not really ready to start big matches like the Champions League semifinal against Manchester United. And as this season has shown, we can't win trophies relying solely on creative midfielders and a porous back four. With an anchor in midfield (like Patrick Vieira or Gilberto Silva, remember them?) the creative players are free to roam as they like, and that's when we play our best football.

I know I haven't gone through every player on the team, but this entry is long enough as it is. Players like Nasri and van Persie just need to keep up the good work and stay healthy.

I'm looking forward to see our youngsters getting more playing time soon too. Vela, Ramsey, and Wilshere have all been excellent when they've gotten to play, and I'd like to see more of the likes of Fran Merida, Jay Simpson, Mark Randall, and Rui Fonte. I believe we're also getting Hårvard Nordtveit back from Norway in August. Of course, there's always the risk of inexperience with the young players, but every time I've seen them play this season they've seemed to play with much more heart and tenacity than the senior squad, who have often looked listless and uninspired (especially in the tail end of 2008).

I'm looking forward to a few more entertaining matches this month, and a great new season come August.

Yay!

oh manchester, so much to answer for...

I made a playlist last October when the Cubs once again crashed and burned out of the playoffs, and I rediscovered it on the train back from London tonight. It's pretty awesomely emo. Most of the songs don't have anything to do with sports, but they are all sad and/or depressing. So if you are ever in a horrible mood thanks to your favorite sports team, slap this on the player and it...well, won't make you feel any better, but it might just fit your mood.

Sarah's Emo Playlist of Epic Sporting Failure:

1. I Know It's Over - The Smiths

2. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens

3. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

4. Bruised - The Bens

5. Atmosphere - Joy Division

6. Romulus - Sufjan Stevens

7. 23 - Jimmy Eat World

8. Gather To The Chapel - Liam Finn

9. Suffer Little Children - The Smiths

10. Vienna - Matt Costa

11. Sandblasted And Set Free - Maximo Park

12. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

13. Remember When - Liam Finn

14. Let Down - Radiohead

15. A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request - Steve Goodman (Okay, this one is pretty specific to Chicago. You may want to leave it off any non-baseball heartbreak lists.)

So yeah. Fuck Manchester United. I have nothing but pure, blind hatred for each and every one of them. I hope Cristiano Ronaldo breaks both legs trying to perfect his swan dive during training. I also hope SAF chokes on his chewing gum one day in the near future and dies a very painful death.

I'm also pretty upset with the Arsenal boys at the moment. I don't know that I ever really expected them to go through; the finals were always a longshot. But I certainly didn't expect them to roll over and die within the first ten minutes. Grow a pair and fight for your team, dammit.

aniversari feliç, el meu capità!

Happy 22nd birthday to Cesc Fàbregas!

The Arsenal babies are growing up so quickly. *tear* I still remember the days of "Fàbregas, woooaah, he's only seventeen, he's better than Roy Keane!" Now he's 22, and...well, the rhyme's gone, but he's still better than Roy Keane.

He came to Arsenal at the tender age of sixteen, in possession of very little English but rocking a pretty sweet mullet:

And now look at him. Given the captaincy at 21, like Tony Adams...

Scoring at AC Milan in the Champions League...


Taking the final penalty against Italy to bring Spain to the Euro semifinals...


And just generally being a fantastic player and playmaker. So happy 22nd, and here's to many more years at Arsenal.

peep set me up!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all are having a happier holiday than I am. Have been practically bedridden with flu-like symptoms since Friday, and haven't eaten a proper meal since Thursday lunchtime. My parents even bought me a chocolate Easter bunny from Fortnum & Mason when they were in town last week, and it looks delicious but I have no appetite. I am devastated. Nothing like chocolate to make you feel better.

On a funnier Easter note, the Sunday Source section of the Washington Post held their second annual Peeps Diorama contest, and some real gems made it to the finals. This one, titled "Peep set me up!" had me laughing for about 5 minutes straight.

Semifinalist: Jodie Smolik, 42, of Washington re-created former D.C. mayor Marion Barry's infamous 1990 arrest. "The Peep on the bed has been drinking champagne ordered from room service," she writes in an e-mail. "The FBI agents (or Funny Bunny Investigators) are hiding in the W.C. after having set up video cameras and providing a bag of crack to the Peep (please see dime bag with rocks on the dresser). Perhaps the Peep did set him up."

More positive news: Arsenal beat Wigan 4-1 yesterday away, ringing in another joyful St. Totteringham's Day. If I were hungry, I'd make myself some lasagna to celebrate.

family obligations

Sorry for the sparseness of my blog lately. My parents and little brother are in town and so I'm hanging out with them for the rest of the week. We're in Bath right now, and we're renting a car tomorrow and doing a tour of the Cotswolds.

I am really hoping that I'll be able to watch the match against Villarreal tonight, but I missed last Saturday's Citeh game (and Cesc's homecoming!) because we were on the Tower of London tour. We'll see if I can convince my parents to eat at a pub tonight.

Oh yeah, new song of the week: Let It Rain by Living Things.

the night hull froze over*

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
We're going to Wembley
Que sera sera!
Best. Night. Ever.

Hokay, so it wasn't exactly the most brilliant game I've ever seen. But it was my first Arsenal match--hell, it was my first football match--and it was an FA Cup quarterfinal AND WE WON after going a goal down in the first half...yeah, that all adds up to a fucking amazing time.

First off, let me say that live matches = fantastic. I don't see how anyone could make the "soccer is boring" argument after going to a professional game. I totally didn't think the whole short sleeved shirt thing through very well, so I was a little chilly during the match. But I didn't really notice it when the ball was in play because I was too engrossed in the action.

The other team's attack is so much more nerve wracking live too; every time Hull were at our end we were on the edge of our seats screaming "GET RID OF IT!" And by "we" I mean me, the guy sitting next to me, and his son, who looked to be about five or six. Baby's First Football Match or something, it was cute. The dad spent half the game explaining things to him, like "Number 23 is Arshavin, he's the best player on the field" or "Arsenal just made two substitutions. Niklas Bendtner came in for Song, although God knows why..."

Quick rundown of what I saw: Defense was very lethargic early on but picked up and did pretty well after Hull's early goal; Arshavin and Vela had a few lovely little exchanges; Walcott doesn't seem to like running down the middle of the pitch but also couldn't seem to get his crosses right as he had some surprisingly poor passes; Song had some unsurprisingly poor passes; Gibbs made a few great tackles; and Bendtner missed a shot or three. Most notably, he scuffed an easy chance where the goalkeeper wasn't even in sight. Credit to Hull's defense on that play though, they did well to clear the ball off the line. Overall, we should stop passing once in a while and actually attempt to shoot the ball. Novel idea, I know.

First glimpse of the stadium

View from my seat

The boys warming up

Gunnersaurus sighting!

Right before kickoff

New kid being awesome

Lull in the action

Arsenal attack that amounted to...zilch

I met two guys from Leicester walking back to the tube station after the match, who were very curious as to how a Yank came to be an Arsenal fan. They were also really excited when I told them I was from DC, and then they wanted to talk politics with me. And then on the train I sang "we've only come to see Eboue" with two other guys. Football is a great icebreaker; I haven't talked to this many random strangers in one day since like recruitment.

I come home to hear that apparently Cesc spit at Hull's assistant manager...? He claims he didn't (although what are you going to do, say "Actually yes, I did. Got a problem with that?"), but in that statement he also claimed he has never spit on anyone on the pitch before.

Um, Cesc? I think you may be forgetting this little encounter. And yeah, I know spitting is gross and the opposite of classy and all that, but I hate Ballack and might possibly spit on him too were I given the chance. (Ditto the whole throwing pizza at SAF thing, if that's true.) So more power to you. But I do hope this new spit-cident didn't actually happen.

Phil Brown also claimed that the only reason Hull's keeper was booked for time wasting was because the ref succumbed to pressure from the crowd and Wenger's complaints. All I have to say is, if he wasn't time wasting, then he is the slowest human being alive. But only when Hull were up a goal, of course. As soon as they started losing, every time he got the ball it was back in play immediately.

Curious...

I dunno, Brown's whole post match spiel sounded a little bitter. He was blaming everyone but his own team. But whatever, sour grapes. We won, we won, nah nah nah nah nah nah! And wow, I'm childish.


*Yeah, I know the Hull/hell pun has been beaten into the ground already. But leave me alone, it's one am and I can't think of anything wittier. Plus it was really cold at the game, so nerr.

ohmygodohmygodohmygod

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!

/incoherent

winning? what's that?

Check us out! We won one! I feel like I maybe shouldn't be so excited about beating West Brom, but under the circumstances (i.e. us sucking epically for the past several league games) I think a little celebration is called for.
It's too late for me to type up a legit recap of the game, because I have class at 9am tomorrow so I need to go to bed. But here are the important bits:

1) Bendtner scored two goals! Who'da thunk it?
2) King Kolo scored the other. He also set up the third goal, Bendtner's second.

3) Arshavin is really really short.

P.S. All of the dancing goal celebrations made me miss this bizness:

sick of this shit

Arsene is not impressed.

Why the hell is it so hard to win a flipping league game, Arsenal? Scratch that, why the hell is it so hard to score a flipping goal? This is our fifth consecutive league draw, the last four of which have been nil-nil.

Yes, we are missing lots of players. Fabregas, Eduardo, Adebayor, Rosicky (who?), Walcott...all very important, and I have no doubt that the team will improve when they return. However, there comes a time when complaining about injuries just isn't enough. The problem is that the team we're fielding at the moment should be good enough to beat Fulham at home. I mean, give credit to Fulham, because they're very good defensively this season, and they played well and deserved to get a point from the match.

But that's the problem, isn't it? We didn't deserve to win. Our finishing was shocking, and it wasn't limited to one specific player. It's like the team is going through a communal slump in form, and it's freaking annoying. Is it really so difficult, as a professional football player, to find the back of the net?

I guess some people would tell me to stop complaining. At least we're not losing, right? Yes, I know that there are many teams that are worse off than us. But the big four are held to a higher standard, and when they aren't performing up to their potential, then it is disappointing to the fans. And being one of the "big four" and not actually being in the top four is definitely disappointing. Not playing Champions League football next season will be disappointing.

One of the announcers during the game kept going on about how Arsenal fans were some of the most "unforgiving" of all Premier League teams. All I can say is that right now, we seem to have just cause. You can't tell me that Man United fans would act any differently if they were in our position. Actually, they'd probably jump ship and go support Chelsea or something. Fucking glory hunters.

I don't mean to be a bitch though, really, I'm just frustrated. Get it together, guys! Make me happy again.

quick notes

Lots of things have happened over the past few days that I haven't had the time or energy to blog about, so I'm just going to do a quick rundown and stick them all in one post.

1) Arsenal beat Roma 1-0 earlier this evening on a Van Persie penalty. Again, Bendtner was kind of shite. Eboue got a standing ovation when he was subbed off, which is good I guess (that the fans aren't booing him anymore at least), but he's still pretty crap too. Positives about the game? Um, we won.

2) This article says Fàbregas is scheduled to come back for the Man City game in April. My Citeh-loving buddy better come through with those tickets. I don't even care if I have to sit in the away section.

3) My sister got engaged. I haven't actually been able to speak to her about it yet (she told me on Facebook while I was in Brighton, haha) because she's always out when I call. So I don't know all the details yet, but it's pretty exciting! For those who don't know, the sis is 22 and is due to graduate this spring; her fiance is 24 next month, graduated a year ago, and works for a bank in Pittsburgh.

4) I have three essays due soon. One every week until the end of term, specifically. I should probably start writing those.

5) I'm starting to think about where to go in April, when I have a month off of school. If any of you have input, feel free to leave it in the comments!

6) Don't forget to vote in the Hottie World Cup! Specifically, don't forget to vote for the USA in the Hottie World Cup! We're beating the Italy B team, but not by much.


You should also vote for the Dutch, because they're behind. Ditto Croatia. They also have awesome promo videos:



First round voting ends at 12:01 am GMT on Thursday. And thanks to Kickette, Unprofessional Foul, The Offside, and everyone else who has helped to spread the word!

the ski trip that wasn't, part two: winging it

[Part one here]

Since precise planning led to nowhere but trouble, we decided instead to throw planning out the window and go on a spur-of-the-moment tour of the coastal towns of southern England. First stop: Brighton.
We've all decided that we love Brighton. The seaside was the perfect way to get our spirits back up. Plus, the fact that the beach is pebbly instead of sandy is great--no mess! Also, I love beaches in the winter because of the whole not-getting-burned-to-a-crisp thing. So we spent a nice relaxing hour or so just chilling on the seashore, and then we meandered over to Brighton Pier.I rode the bigger roller coaster and the big crane-arm-swingy thing (yes, that is the technical term for it), but most of the rest of the group were too chicken to go on the scary rides so they did the slide and the twirly one. Then we got noodles from a vendor, and Leonore got hers stolen by giant seagulls. Serious, these birds are totally Hitchcock-esque. But we got chocolate waffles on sticks, which made it all better.
Après ça, we walked up to the Royal Pavilion, which is this very cool building that George IV used to hang out in.After a few pictures, we headed back to the beach to watch the sun set.
We had originally thought that we would only spend a few hours in Brighton then head somewhere else or go back to uni, but we were having such a good time that we decided to stay overnight. So we found a Walkabout hostel that had rooms for £10, and went down to the pub area for dinner and drinks. Fortunately, because we were in an English pub instead of a Norwegian club, I got to watch the Arsenal FA Cup replay. And of course we all know what happened there.The rest of the group weren't into football, so they couldn't understand why I was flipping out so much about Eduardo's brace. But I didn't really care. After the 4-0 win and the triumphant return of the Crozilian, nothing could spoil my mood. We stuck around for a while, and met some British randoms after an awkward picture-taking incident. One of them was in love with my friend Victoria, and gave us £20 to spend on drinks, so we got lots of shots. Which did nothing. We suspect they weren't real alcohol.

We eventually got bored of the pub, so we left and walked around Brighton looking for a dance club open on a Monday night. The guys followed us, claiming they knew where to go, but we ended up at a grody hole-in-the-wall pub far away from the beach. So we left (after Mark got Victoria's number) and went back to the hostel. One of the windows in our room was broken and they didn't have enough bedding for all of us, so even though I was sleeping right next to the heater it was absolutely freezing. But I guess you get what you pay for. It was still totally worth it, because we had a fantastic time.

Part three, coming soon.

what ballers do on their off time...

thanks Venice!

ugh.

Well...that was annoying.

0-0 draw and two players off injured. And of course, a first half red card. (I don't even know what to say about Eboue anymore, he's just...aglfdkjsdfjgs!) Considering these hitches, it was good to hang on to a nil-nil draw. Considering we were playing Tottenham, we desperately needed the points, and Eboue was a total douche when he didn't need to be, the game was not satisfying in the least.

And because of the hamstring injury to Ade and the buckets of blood pouring from Clichy's head resulting in necessary subs, neither Arshavin nor Eduardo got playing time, even though they were both on the bench for the first time (at least this season, in Dudu's case). Ah well, baby steps I guess.

Speaking of Eduardo though, I went to the official Arsenal store yesterday and got this:


I'm pretty excited about it, no lie. I can wear it next season while watching Arsenal compete in the UEFA Cup...

there's a first time for everything...we hope

Fun fact: Arsenal have never beaten Tottenham with Cesc Fàbregas out of the lineup since he started playing for them. This bodes well for us, seeing as we're playing them away on Sunday sans skipper.

This facial expression pretty much sums up my feeling on the subject.

I'm not really one to believe in superstitions or curses or anything of the sort (unless it involves the Chicago Cubs) but this particular streak may be more than coincidence. Quite simply, we play better when he's around. On paper, our results haven't been too bad since El Capitan was injured, but watching the games is another thing entirely. Of course he's not the only one out of action, and maybe Arshavin will help get the creative juices flowing again. But until then, it's back to boring, boring Arsenal.

hey look, this time it's real. i swear.

Okay, I think I can believe it now. This transfer has been far too exhausting. I need a nap. Or a drink.

wait what?

I thought the Arshavin deal saga was over days ago, to no fruition. But apparently not. Now it looks as if it's actually going to happen, as long as Arshavin himself stops being stubborn.

I still think we need a couple of defensive players, but if this works out, the Russian will go a long way towards healing our injury woes. Once all of our creative players are back and healthy (I know, keep dreaming right?) we may have to shuffle the team around a bit and possibly even sell a player or two--probably Bendtner--but it will be nice to actually have some depth to the bench.

I'm happy about this. I like Arshavin. I mean, granted, I had no idea who he was before last summer, but I think he could fit well into the Arsenal lineup. And while I love the youth system we have going, it is a refreshing change to see Wenger sign someone who isn't 16 and needs a few years to mature before he can play for the full side. We've got problems now, and we need people who can play now.