football: the beautiful game

[Magsåvningsreserven]

yay, another vintage old trafford capitulation coming up, can't wait!

modric's head's not right.. bloody hell.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

[readytoignite]

yay, another vintage old trafford capitulation coming up, can't wait!

modric's head's not right.. bloody hell.

i think it was a crafty move by redknapp to show levy what the season will look like if he decides to sell. i mean it's not like a 3 point banker.

i'd like to know who decided to tell our players to shoot at first sight rather than looking for other options. totally responsible for lennon failing to look up for vdv

[clover]

alright... time to get it done arsenal!

[polishmike]

alright... time to get it done arsenal!

Did they spend some money on a center back?

[clover]

nuh just talking about about the CL game to advance to the group stages:o

[Kasper]

nuh just talking about about the CL game to advance to the group stages:o

can't believe i'm relieved that we made it to the CL..........

this is gonna be a long season

[Magsåvningsreserven]

"The City supporters are really passionate and it reminds me of [playing for] Marseille," Nasri said. "Arsenal have good fans but they are not that passionate since they moved from Highbury to the Emirates.

ow

[JohannesDeSilentio]

It's true though. Highbury was sacred ground. Ashburton Grove could not possibly steep itself in the club's history in only a handful of seasons. It's also too expensive. You go there for Carling Cup though, when the yout get in for cheap, and that stadium goes hard.

Anyway, grounds for my earlier optimism reinforced by the team's showing in Italy, terrible refereeing notwithstanding, Udinese gave good game. If only teams in the prem attempted to play us so positively. Again, as in the first leg, the Udinese full backs pushing on allowed room for both Walcott and Gervinho to run at the isolated centre backs, creating two great direct goals. This almost never happens in the prem. Rosicky from three years ago made a great cameo, like to see more of that please. Szczesny was excellent. All in all it was fun stuff, but the hyperbolic ARSENAL RENAISSANCE cheerleading in the sporting press is as laughable as the WENGER OUT, ARSENAL IN CRISIS mode of two days ago. Still need another CB, another creative midfielder, and a decent centre forward, either to back up Mr Arsenal himself RVP, or to allow him to drop back into the Bergkamp role he used to dazzle in. Annoyed that Chels signed Mata for a lowly million more than we bid for M'Vila, not in the same league. For Mag and the rest of you spuds, I'll leave you with that lovable little thug Wilshire:

http://twitter.com/#!/JackWilshere/status/106465484353966081

[cJajce]

at least you didn't draw city's group: bayern, villareal, and napoli. (still see them making it out though).

[polishmike]

mZPRBtfgV94

and you even got the song ready

[chchchip]

I'm in love with Frimpong.

http://twitter.com/#!/EmmanuelF4/status/106004890110791680

[Demronick]

Good UCL matchups for the EPL teams

It'll be interesting to see how city performs..

I'm itching to see who will wenger buys before the window closes D;

[Magsåvningsreserven]

whX0NtIZb9s

damn

[78]

that was fuckin scary... seeing him just pass out in mid air... and pop off the ground... glad to hear he's conscious and able to talk...

Mata n' Lukaku looked very very impressive... me thinks Malouda's time's up at Stamford Bridge... lets get Danny n' Lukaku on at the same time!

[clover]

UzfY-aXGcBY

damn that's scary... glad he's ok.
youtube comments are pretty brutal too

[clover]

I'm itching to see who will wenger buys before the window closes D;

arsenal is going to sign park chu young from monaco

[chchchip]

^ i hope this isn't true cause that most likely means Hazard is a no go since Lille was about to sign this dude.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

what is redknapp playing at? still, fair play to city, they played very well and deservedly crushed us.

sigh, reminds me of the good ol' days, growing up watching spurs being hammered week in and week out lol.

i get the feeling harry's bored with the job now and has one eye on moving elsewhere (england? *shudder*)

really proud of our fans though.

now, i hope arsenal get something from the united game to restore some pride for london..

[Nov Spur]

sigh, reminds me of the good ol' days, growing up watching spurs being hammered week in and week out lol.

For me, its a bit of a relief. I was beginning to miss that feeling of shame I got whenever I wore a Spurs shirt.

[Dan.]

London really is falling down, hilarious.

An that was karma getting Dogbreath back for the hundreds of times he's cheated free kicks.

New editions at Liverpool looking more and more settled each week.

[chchchip]

let the relegation battle begin!

honest to god think that he won't buy anyone. left it to late. (reverse pyschology concept)

[Magsåvningsreserven]

fucking hell.

in a way, it's even worse when you consider fergie was standing up for wenger earlier. pity party shit.

[zeen]

doomed to be an arsenal fan. I wonder what wenger has to say. Maybe he would spend some cash.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

also, man u've got some great youngsters coming through. best batch since nevilles, scholes, butt, becks, etc.

[zeen]

AW - "I know in England when you lose a game, signings are a solution, but first we have to get our players back. We had 8 out today"

screw you aw

Yep man u has some promising youngsters. Incomparible to arsenal. Just look at man u's bench!

[chchchip]

average age of the utd team today:23

average of arsenal: 23.6

youth policy fully exposed.

[Rain]

Manchester United was the youngest player to play. The speed of the team to play quicker.

They focus on playing the ball through defender of the opponent as well.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

I have scarcely ever been so depressed after a day of football. Sure, it was fantastic football from the Manchester-based clubs, but it has hammered home the final nail in English football’s coffin. Arsenal were the last challenger to the billionaire playthings who could compete with their own, honestly-earned (and even that is relative, given the stitch-up of the Champions League) resources, and now they cannot even come within a country mile.

Doubtless people will dump on here demanding Wenger spend; forgetting the morality of a world where billions are on the poverty line, and fans wanting billionaires to give millions to millionaires to boost their egos, it is a bald admission that there is no earning success. Just buying it.

The only hope we have is for the global franchises to do one and form their own league. Everyone who supports every club other than the Manchesters and Chelsea are a Star Trek redshirt, the blokes standing at the back of Dad’s Army, the Washington Generals; we are all bit-part players only tolerated to allow the transcendent brilliance of iffy money to wash over us. So that the plebeians in Singapore and Shanghai and Lagos and Kensington anywhere else where they cannot be bothered with their own games glom off on our sport.

Football in England may at the top echelons have never been better. But English football is dead.

Let’s all join the Bundesliga instead. 70,000 crowds paying a tenner to get in, Wolfsburg winning the title, innumerable World Cups and Euro titles, and what penalty do we have to pay? The top two don’t get runs in the Champions League every year. I don’t see a downside...

. .

[Nov Spur]

Couldn't agree more with that quote. Reminds me of an article I read late last season from a Spurs perspective (but its true of most teams and rivalries) about whether or not supporters resent Arsenal more for obvious local rivalry reasons, or City for changing (read: ruining) the game with their money. Even in the relatively short six or so years I've been following the English game a whole lot of the old romantic customs have been bled out for the sake of clubs buying trophies. The sad irony is that when a team like Abramovic's Chelsea or this new look City are celebrating with the trophy, the idea that the victory is cheapened by the manner in which it's won is lost on most people. Certainly makes me envy a league like the Bundesliga.