Arsenal v UEFA - who will win?

Arsenal are determined to take Eduardo case very seiously, they have released a statement, which strongly state that they won't let UEFA get out of this easily.

The club statement says

"The Club is in receipt of Uefa’s reasoned decision in relation to the charge against Eduardo.

We strongly believe that the decision taken is deeply flawed and not based on any forensic review of the video evidence available.

There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in Uefa’s judgment and we intend to appeal".

Now what will happen to this case. I don't know, but surely Arsene is not ready to let go so easily.

Let me know what do you think.

UEFA Ban Eduardo - Your Thoughts.

News has just come in that UEFA has banned Eduardo for 2 Champions League Matches for "deceiving the referee" to win a penalty against Celtic in the 2nd leg of the CL play off round which Arsenal eventually won 3-1 and 5-1 on aggregate.

Under Normal Circumstances it would have been a just a yellow card so a 2 match ban sounds illogical.

Arsenal can appeal against the decision in 3 days.

Give me your thoughts on this decision.

"Eduardo should be banned for eight games"

Former Liverpool star Stan Collymore, have a problem with Arsene defence of Eduardo

Writing in his column for The Mirror, Collymore stated:
“Wenger said UEFA’s treatment of Eduardo is a “witch-hunt“ and vowed to protect his player.
“But having seen the footage, I cannot believe Wenger can support Eduardo so strongly.
“I would like to see managers like Wenger acting to protect the integrity of the game and helping to stamp out diving by condemning it.
“As it is, UEFA have decided to get involved and good luck to them.
“But their threat of a two-game European ban for Eduardo is not enough and personally, I’d happily see all cheating players giving an eight-game ban.
“There is no point hitting a millionaire in the pocket by fining him so you have to start looking at other punishments as an effective deterrent.
“If a player can’t play for eight games he would think twice about diving because he would probably lose his place in the team.
“Managers like Wenger who also harbour and protect cheats should get a four-match touchline ban.
“It needs to be done to clean up the game and rid it of cheats.”

Yes he's right may be its should have started against Liverpool and Manchester United , who have history of diver's, Stan should look at his Liverpool captain first before speaking about other team, and his eight match ban comment is just rubbish.

In Defence Of Eduardo.

Fabregas out for ManUsa clash, which is a big blow for Arsenal as he failed to shrug of his Hamstring injury and for this I blame you Mr Wenger(most of the fan would agree with me), but thats in the past now we have to look forward, Since Cesc is not available we will be playing Diaby(I think) in his place and Ramsey is also injured.

It will be tough against ManU, this will be a real test for our new boy Vermaelen, Rooney will be a real test for him, lets all hope he pass with flying colours,

Now to the debate of the century. Eduardo is the only diver the world of football has seen, he has been diving all these years but was only noticed against Celtic, he even dived when Taylor broke his leg(F*** U Taylor), Gerard, Rooney, Drogba, Ronaldivedo etc etc are players he should need to learn from, that how to play good football without cheating.

Now I am feeling much better, I took out all my frustration in the above paragraph, now for some serious stuff, UEFA acting like a group of Muppet's here, they are charging Eduardo for something which had no outcome on the result and like Arsene said "they are opening a very dangerous door". Hell yeah! they are.

That means every decision a manager feels was incorrect will be challenged by the club and UEFA have to take action against it, if the law that UEFA has charged Eduardo with is it Applicable only in the Penalty box or anywhere near the box where a free kick can result in a goal or anywhere on the field. They have to clearly mention this what the law exactly say, and if this is the case why Ryan Babel was not charged when he fell in the Penalty box which eventually kicked Arsenal out of the CL and was mroe crucial than in DUDU case, and what about Dirk Kuyt when he pulled Hleb inside the box and no penalty was given, shouldn't these players be charged.

I don't know what problem they have with Arsenal in Particular but I completely agree with Arsene in defence of DUDU and I think all fan should. If this is law for everyone than I am cool with it but the way Eduardo has been singled out as if that Penalty won us the Champions League is just not acceptable.

Let me know what you all think

Till then........

Player Rating - Arsenal 3 Celtic 1 And MOTM

Congratulation to all our Players for doing a fantastic job over the two leg, Will not talk about Dudu dive, The reason Arsenal qualified is because they were the better side over the two legs and not because Eduardo won the penalty as most Celtic fans and media thinks.

Player Rating:

Almunia: Was not troubled by the Celtic defence. 6

Sagna : Solid performance going forward as well as defending. 7

Gallas : Well kept Celtic striker's in his pocket and was solid, i loved it when he dribbled past Celtic defender as if he was not there. 7

Vermaelen : I cannot remember a header he failed to win in the entire match. loved his attitude throughout the match. 7

Clichy : Slowly but steadily he is finding his true rythym maybe that long injury lay off helped him learning his mistake and clearly it seems he has been working on it during his re-habiliation. 7

Song : What can I say about him, was not as good as the first leg but very strong in the middle breaking Celtic attack. 6.5

Denilson : Star man, was brilliant throught out the match, he simply frustrated Celtic players, so much so they all started kicking him trying to intimidate him but could not succeed for the first time I saw Denilson actually getting on the face of a player refusing to bow down. I loved his performance. 8

Eboue : Just missed my MOTM award but I can say that this is one of his best performance in the middle of the Arsenal attack, his first touch has improved and his has shown a strong character, took his goal very well

7.5

Diaby : Decent performance from the Frenchmen, helped Song and Denilson well and was strong in midfield. 6

Bendtner : Not bad for the big Dane but one can see frustration on his face for not scoring so far in four matches, did troubled the Celtic defence whenever he had the ball. 6

Eduardo : Controversial penalty won by him, I seriously believe Dudu was not trying to con the ref, he might have caught in two minds and fell over, because I cannot see him exagerrating while diving, he just fell over thats it, overall fantastic performance from him, loved to see him play twice in one week.7

Ramsey: 6

Wilshere : 6

Arshavin: took his goal brilliantly. 6

Let me know who was yout MOTM

Comments and Suggestion are most welcome.

Eduardo Is No Diver.......Match Thoughts

Well was it a dive, I don't know may be it was a dive but does it matter in this tie and even I saw the video, personally I thought Eduardo was caught in 2 mind and fell over. Even if he dived who cares everyone does that. But what is surprising here is Celtic player are calling for 2 match ban for Eduardo, is this some kind of joke that you want player to be banned just because he won a penalty, I don't think Eduardo have a reputation to cheat on the football field.

Talking about banning Eduardo, UEFA can never do that, simply because they are shit and corrupt, there is no two way about it, what happened with Dogbark last season in the CL semifinal against Barca, he abused in front of millions watching on television, what UEFA does ban him and then later lift the ban on him, but no one is complaining.WHY?

One suggestion to all Celtic players and fans, go home prepare for Europa league because you are not good enough to beat Arsenal (even without the penalty Dudu won ) and stop calling him a cheat because he has no record of diving in his career. So I give him a benefit of doubt and one more thing learn to play football, kicking opposition player is no way of playing football. You all make me laugh when you say that this penalty won Arsenal the CL berth, because Arsenal would have thrashed you even without that penalty. So stop moaning about it

Now about the match, two players where a stand out performer last night
1. Denilson
2. Eboue
these two player where every where on the pitch, Denilson was harrassing the Celtic midfield and his tackling has improved, though his positional sense was always good that too has improved too. Eboue well he is some character, his first touch was good he was creating havoc with his trickery, forcing Celtic players to commit fouls and took his goal very well. If we can recall he was in a similar position in CL quater final against Roma and he made a mess of it, this time he made no mistake, this proves how strong mentally he has become.
But my man of the match is Denilson for his tireless work throughout the 90 min.

Highlights --Arsenal 3 Celtic 1

1st goal Eduardo and First half highlights




2nd goal Eboue




3rd goal Ashavin

Arsenal v Moaning Hoops - Preview & Prediction

The day has arrived when Celtic will play Arsenal and after tonight I hope their players & fans STFU, since the day they were beaten at their home, from Celtic manager, players and even some celtic fan (who believe they were not kicking Cesc all over the park and Cesc was Diving) just cannot seem to keep quiet or I should say they are using this opportunity to make a name for themself by giving interview to every bloody newspaper everyday, so lets hope we not only beat them tonight but thrash them like never before.

Cesc won't be taking part in this fixture, if reports are to be believed Ramsey will be playing in Cesc place and I really hope he does, But my instinct say Ramsey will have to do with a place on bench with Abou Diaby playing today.Rosicky is back in training but will be available for weekend match,Song, Sagna and Clichy are set to return after being rested last weekend against Portsmouth,

Formation is expected to be same 4-3-3 with Arshavin, Van persie and Bendtner upfront and Diaby, Denilson and Song in the middle and with the same back four that faced Celtic in the first leg.

Formation could be somewhat like this

---------------------------------Almunia

-----------------------Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

----------------------------------Song

--------------------------- Denilson Diaby

----------------------Bendtner Van Persie Arshavin

Prediction : 3 - 0 Arsenal

Let me know whats your prediction and Formation for today

Injury Update and Transfer's

Finally it has been revealed that Cesc will be available for selection against ManU this weekend thats a good news I should say considering that he could have missed for 3 weeks, along with that rumours are that "little Mozart" yes you are right Tomas Rosicky has been training and could be in contention for ManU game. He can be included in the squad at the weekend if our manger is to be believed. That's a positive news.

'Cesc's scan was quite reassuring,' revealed Wenger.

'He has no muscular strain, but it will take a few days to settle down. There is a chance he will be fit for Old Trafford.'

The Arsenal manager continued: 'I rest players who I feel need a rest without considering the game after.

'My target is to win tomorrow's game, it's a massive game for us and after that we will see what we do for the weekend.

'It is not job done, it is job to do, to finish. That is how I approach it.

'Celtic have no choice - they will have to come out and have a go at us.

'We will be faithful to our tactical approach and will try to put them under pressure, play very high up and try to win the game.'

Wenger insists there will be no sense of complacency tomorrow night, even though the odds are stacked against the Scottish side.

'We know there is so much at stake for us. I do not think we are in danger of easing off at all,' he said.

'We know how quickly football can change and that makes it interesting as well.'

The Gunners boss insisted: 'For the success of our season, to be strong at the Emirates is vital.

'Any time you show any weakness at home, it can have big consequences for the rest of the season.'

Well its obvious home game is where one team have to win maximum points. If stats are to be believed ManU won the last 3 title because of excellent home record.

If Arsenal are to win the title this season we have to win 90 percent of the points at home.

Boss is not worried about Cesc absence as he clearly believe that Ramsey can step into Cesc position, this is what Arsene has to say about him.

'It is another chance for Ramsey. It is a big season for him.

'However, do not forget he is only 18.

'I believe his target for this year, I told him before the season, is between 15 and 20 games.

'The way he is developing, he could get that.

It won't surprise me if we all see Ramsey name in the starting line up.

Regarding transfer rumours we are nowhere near signing anyone confirmed Arsene, I hope he don't forget that there is hardly a week left in the transfer market to close.

Celtic tomorrow.

Match preview and Team news to follow

Complacency...................Arshavin

Good morning everyone, not much happening on tuesday like monday but yes, Liverpool lost to Villa last night 3-1, lets see how the media write about Liverpool couple of early defeats compare to what happened with Arsenal last season, Lets not get into that toipc

Arsenal are fantastic at the moment and Arsene rightly asked his lads to not to be complacent, and concentrate on Tomorrow night Celtic game,"We experienced a very physical game over there. We know the job has to be finished, but we are still in a strong position. The result will be determined by the way we play the second leg." We should qualify for the group stages of the champions league.

Arshavin has been speaking as to why he left Russia even though he was earning a lot more compare to Arsenal

Arshavin said

"I wanted to see what real football looks like. I wanted to see what the game is like when you play for a world-class team and play only on world-class surfaces and meet only star players every week - as opposed to having to travel to play at half-demolished stadiums, sometimes with artificial pitches, where the result of your game can depend on what the referee is feeling like that particular day.

"I'd won pretty much everything in Russia and if I'd stayed it would have been known that Andrey Arshavin was a very good player for Russian football, but he was not required anywhere else in Europe. When I go back I want people to say, 'Yes, there are good footballers in Russia'.".

And he is more interested in Champions league more than premier league

He added: "I want to win the Champions League, I'd prefer that to the Premier League."

So do we Andrei, and this shows how competitive Arshavin is, for him money is not everything. I remember the day he came to London on a snowy day to complete his transfer some newspaper said he is being greedy and becuase of his personal terms the transfer was delayed. I can't see any truth in this.

No Cesc for Celtic match lets hope he should be back to face ManU.

More to follow.

Comments and suggestions are welcome

Calling All Gooners.......Arsenal

Celtic game reminded me of old Highbury days whenever the opposition player's use to walk on the turf of the Highbury statdium, you could see the fear in their eyes, for first few minutes the way they play you can sense the tension, the pressure gripping their mind such was the atmosphere at the Highbury such was the noise at the Highbury. Good old days ain't it?

But since we moved to the Emirates stadium, that passion, that energy seems to have reduced, I agree that our team has been on the downfall since we built our new stadium, but are we forgetting that we are still the same old Arsenal fan, no matter on what stadium are we playing on Emirates or Highbury, the atmosphere made by the Arsenal fan should be same. Such was the noise at parkhead it made an average team like Celtic play well, it helped them raise their level of performance, if we create such atmosphere inside the Emirates week in week out, imagine what it can do to a talented Arsenal team.

Lot have been said about booing our own player inside our own stadium by our very own fan, so I think its time we show that the we can create a better atmosphere than any other team in the premier league, not even in premier league in the entire globe.

For the first game of the premier league, Home team will be supplying you all the red and white scarf as mention on Arsenal(dot)com. So I would request all the Arsenal fan to show their true colours and bring back the old Arsenal day and send a message to all the club around that when they come to Emirates 'winning will not be an option for them' .

Let's intimidate them till the time their legs and mind freeze.

Quick mention of our travelling gooners, they are always fantastic on the road, expecting the same support from all the Arsenal fans at the Emirates.

Arsenal v Portsmouth Preview and Team news tomorrow.

Comments and suggestions are most welcomed

Let me know what you think.

UP THE GUNNERS

Cesc MOTM - CELTIC 0 ARSENAL 2 - Player Rating

Many will say that it was a lucky win, but I say it was a well deserved win. Because we were the better team throughout the 90 min and even Tony Mowbray accepted it.

First goal by gallas you can say was lucky but what i liked about that goal was Gallas run when he started the run he was on an OFFSIDE position, when RVP11 passed the ball to Cesc he came back in, the way he loose his marker was also very good and he also have every right to claim the goal because I assume the Celtic keeper had covered Cesc shot and one more thing I liked is that Cesc has once again started to take a pot from the distance which usually he avoids so its a positive thing. Talking about the second goal fantastic work by Diaby to dribble past couple of players and feeding the overlapping Clichy and the hard low cross from him found the legs of Celtic skipper Caldwell and into the back of the net, even if Caldwell had left the ball Bendtner was lurking behind him and he would have finished it any how. so great result just have to keep a clean sheet once again when Celtic visit the Emirates.

PLAYERS RATING

1. Almunia : Didn't have much to do only one shot on goal from Celtic. He was very well protected by our back four 7

10. Gallas : Brilliant performance once again, got a goal as well , though he was trying to avoid contact with the ball and the highlight of the match was when he intersected the cross from Fortune which was destined to find Celtic player on the other side and boy he looks happy now after the departure of Kolo and he is smiling these days. 7.5

5. Vermaelen : I really don't want to hype his performance but in these last two games he has been fantastic, a no non-sense defender most Arsenal fans been asking for, the way he jumps to win header, considering he is only 6 ft is brilliant, his tackling is fantastic and positional sense is good and the highlight of this match was his brilliant run to deny Scott Brown to take a shot on goal which was destined to be hit at the back of the net. 8

22. Clichy : Another solid game for him was troubled by Celtic pacy winger but he managed him very well was involved in the second goal, Overall pretty decent performance but still have not reached the heights of 07-08 season. 7

3. Sagna : Good game from Sagna as usual need to work on his crossing though he and Nikki B were working good. 7

15. Denilson : Another good performance from the Brazilian, once again he showed why Wenger shows so much faith in him, at the begining he was a bit shaky the reason could be the brilliant park head atmoshphere but as the game went on he was solid in possesion and tackling, he seems to have worked in gym a lot, he has become strong physically, anothere good performance from him this new formation is really helping his game. 7

17. Song : Well what can I say about him, never in my wildest dream i thought Song can be this brillaint, his tackling, positioning, strength I hope Cameroon do not qualify for the ACN. So that Song don't have to leave in January for a month or so. He was excellent from the word go. 8

4 . Cesc : I think Wenger was playing with Celtic coach when he said Fab is 50-50 for the game,

because wenger knew that Celtic will be trying to shut Fabregas at every opportunity and thats exactly what they did but Captain Fab still ran the show just like Xavi for Barcelona he was everywhere and this new formation has given him the freedom to dictate the play, another brillaint performance from the captain and my man of the match for the day. 8.5(star man)

52. Bendtner : Not as good as the previous game but was good helping Sagna a lot in tracking back and winning and intersecting play I really think that he and RVP should change positions 6.5

23. Arshavin : Well our little Russian is taking time to adapt to this new system I suppose. Was not his usual self but worked his sock off for the team and got his foot in whenever required. 6

11. Van Persie : He was also not very effective throughout course of 90 min. He was trying too much to dribble past player and win free kick but it almost backfired in the first half as the celtic could have taken the lead, only for Vermaelen to deny Celtic the goal 6

Celtic 0 - Arsenal 2(Arsenal Learning To Get Results)

Arsenal were Lucky to score 2 goals but no one can deny that Arsenal were strong defensively.
To be fare Vermaelen, Song, Gallas,heroes of the day. I assume he is the no non-sense defender we been looking. With this result we are alomst assured qualification to the champions league group stages.
Match report and rating to follow.

UP THE GUNNERS

European Nights Are Back.

Good morning to all the gooners.

Can't wait for the tonight match against Celtic, the reason why I am looking forward to this match is pretty obvious, one don't have to stress how important it is for Arsenal to qualify for the group stages.

European nights are back!

Same old newspaper coloums where player come out and speak about how they are going to prepare to face their opposition and they are not scared, tactics blah! blah! blah!.

But in case of Celtic everyone from manager to players and even the ground staff(hyperbole) have been speaking about Arsenal. OK you are not scared of Arsenal then why do u keep talking about Arsenal everyday?.

Now I forget to mention former Celtic players as well, for e.g. Alan Thompson, according to him our players are going to face a "culture shock". I don't know what does he mean by that ?

My meassage to all the Celtic players and Fans. Beware the "Men are coming to town".

Team news to follow (I hope Cesc is fit to play)

UP THE GUNNERS

Why Arsenal Will Beat Celtic At Parkhead?

Because Arsenal are better than Celtic thats why.

And if I remember Tony Mowbray also beleives in Arsene beautiful football philosophy and thats is the reason why West Brom were relegated from the premier league last season, now I am not saying that Arsene is wrong but One need to have player's of such quality and eyes to spot talent and nurture them and Offcourse 'Arsene Wenger' and there is only one Arsene and fortunately we have him.

Celtic fans are positive since they have never been beaten at home by an English side in champions league.

Wow! thats actually awesome(considering the quality of SPL) but one more thing, they never faced Arsenal at the back of such a brilliant away win that too at goodison park and Everton is a better team on paper and on field than Celtic.

I am surely not expecting an easy game but if our lads can play even 75 % of the way they played against the Toffees then I cannot even imagine Celtic can get a draw against us.

All Arsenal fan will be happy if we can get a 1-1 draw but I am not expecting anything less than a win with a clean sheet, I know this is difficult but why expect less when we have a sqaud to do it.

Can't wait for tuesday.

Celtic Beware ! (The Men Are Coming To The Town)

The boys have finally matured and now they are men. I am surprised by many pundits speaking about lack of experience in the team but I find it hard it hard to figure out how do you gain experience, according to anti-Arsenal pundits the squad is too young to compete at the top level.

This is confusing, now first they say that our lads don't have experience and then they say that they are young. I want to know does playing for long time give a player experience or playing at the top level right up their with the best.

So will they prefer a 27 year old who has been playing in some shitty league or a young 22 year old boy who is been playing with the best since he was 18 or 19 years old, competing at the top level. I would certainly pick the latter.

Anyways I loved it when this pundits were eating their own words after Arsenal destroyed Everton, since they all predicted a home win. I am trying very hard to not get carried away by this result but certainly I am very confident now about the Celtic game just like the team I am taking one game at a time.

Celtic fan were very happy when hoops won against Aberdeen 3 -1 and all the Celtic fans were happy that they will playing the same way against Arsenal. But as soon as they found out about Arsenal result I am wondering what will be going through their mind, also Tony Mowbray is trying hard to show that he is not bothered about Arsenal form. Well I cant blame him though.

Celtic pre-match preview and team news to follow.

and one more thing

ADE STFU

So Celtic It is !

Arsenal have been drawn to face Celtic in an all-British tie later this month to reach the Champions League group stage.

Celtic, following their victory over Dinamo Moscow earlier this week, face the daunting task of Arsene Wenger's men.

The first leg will take place on August 18 or 19, days after both sides begin their league campaigns.

It is the first time the two clubs will meet in European competition and the prize will be a path to the lucrative stage of the competition.

The play-offs were divided into two groups, with Lyon's clash against Anderlecht among the "non-champions'' ties. Romanian side Timisoara face Stuttgart, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina will play each other, while Panathinaikos or Atletico Madrid will make up the other teams that go through.

From the "champions'' route, FC Sheriff play Olympiacos, Salzburg are up against Maccabi Haifa, FK Ventspils face FC Zurich, FC Copenhagen and APOEL of Nicosia face each other, with Levski Sofia and Debrecen the final two teams.

Now this tie can be tricky, luckily the first leg is at celtic park, if our boys can handle the crowd and score atleast a goal, then we can be confident of a great show from Arsenal at the Emirates. Hoping for a good first leg match and all the best lads

What do you guys think ? let me know

Get well soon Tomas and Nasri.