Monday, November 24, 2008

Arsenal's season so far..

It has been a turbulent week for my beloved Arsenal. However, it has to be said that the signs were coming as early as pre-season…..

Before the home game against Aston Villa, we have lost to Fulham, Hull and Stock City. The inexperience young team also allowed Tottenham to grab a 4-4 draw although we were leading with seconds left. The talent is there for all to see, most prominent in the 2-1 win over our arch rival Man U. After the debacle of Villa at home, we followed up with a successive loss at Man C. To rub salt into the wound, Man C actually put 3 behind us and we had no reply.

As early as pre-season, we lost so many players that that it easily adds up to a century of experience. Lehmann, Gilberto, Flamini, Hleb and even Senderos left, were sold or sent on loan. These few players add up to hundreds of premiership games experience. In addition, they had leadership and some were outspoken enough to rally the young ones. The painful part was that they were never replaced. To add to the trauma of losing so many experienced heads, Adebayor and Fabregas were duly psyched by the yearly bombardments of transfer interest from the usual suspects. In fact, I have a deep suspicion that Ade would have signed for Milan if Ronaldino did not sign for them.

After dragging ourselves through pre-season, we started dully and were never on the same pace as last year. The midfield fluency was gone as Fabregas find himself surrounded by new teammates. There was no Flamini to cover his back and no Hleb to do the simple one-twos that he got so used to. Fabregas had to go for his Hollywood passes in order to increase his tally of assist. The rest of the team struggled as our main man suffered. He also had to lead the team as all of the sudden; he is the most experience guy in midfield. Being so young himself, the burden on his shoulders made it difficult to express himself freely on the pitch.

In William Gallas, we have a time bomb ready to explode anything. He is like a nuclear weapon; extremely useful when you have him under control and utilize properly while extremely dangerous when he goes all haywire. As great as his reading of the game, scoring of crucial goals and fierce tackling is important for the team, his lapse of concentration, his crazy foray upfront and that bloody big mouth are causes of concern for the manager. His latest contribution is like an explosion on an international level. His fierce criticism of his team mates and disclosure of intimate dressing room details rocked a boat already in troubled waters. Instead of leading as a captain, he made a bigger hole in his own boat to sink it faster. True to form, the young gunners were sent to the slaughter house and suffered a most humiliating lost of 0-3 to Man C.

The problems are obvious to all, but what are the solutions? These will not be clear, but there are a few basic things for Wenger to do immediately:

1) Order has to be restored in the dressing room. If there is any truth in Gallas’s ranting of young brats and in-house fighting, Wenger has to step in and discipline the boys.
2) Wenger has to decide what to do with our crazy captain. Sell him, bench him, make him apologise to his teammates or just deep freeze him. A decision must be made in order to move on from this episode.
3) Confidence and Morale must be restored. Senior members of the team must take the initiative and lead the younger ones. There are not many left, but we must make do with what we have. Off hand, Toure, Almunia and even Clichy and Adebayor can do their parts.
4) Team Spirit must be instilled. If it takes a trip to some cold forsaken mountain top to do teambuilding, so be it. Throw the whole lot there with minimum food and drinks and see how the environment can turn them into men with a mission. At the end of the day, it is one team, Team ARSENAL. Not team Africa, team France or team Europe.
5) All the players must understand what ARSENAL means. Arsenal is a club with a fierce tradition to fight, to win and to be passionate about football. Over the years, how much blood has been spilled on the pitch? How many passionate footballers have graced the pitch in front of the fans, willing to die for the club? All the players must understand this passion.

After the Man C game, we have already suffered 5 losses this season. We have yet to face Liverpool and Chelsea. As we travel to Stamford Bridge next season, can we avoid a third successive defeat? Only one team can prevent that and that will be Team Arsenal. Wenger must lead this team out of the doldrums. Go Gunners!!!

My short trip to the ICA for my passport..

i am so impressed with ICA. hahaha...
in and out within 15 mins..

at first a bit stressed,... have to queue outside and it was very very long until behind the building.. so i sms my boss..
5 mins later... i was in...
2nd floor with a number, it was called within a min of me sitting down...

then thumb print etc signing on my new lovely pre-prepared passport... (once again, thanks to the magic of Internet)

another 5 mins +, Wala! I was out....
A happy customer.!!! haahhaaa..

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A crazy week for Arsenal.

Will the week get any crazier?

We lost to Villa. We lost Walcott to a stupid injury. We lost a useless captain. We lost Toure and Adebayor to more stupid injuries. We lost Fabregas to a suspension.

Finally, we lost humilatingly to Man C. When is the last time we lost so many goals?Will we lose our manager? i am worried.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Gallas is a prick

Gallas is an A*(ho&^ ..

i hope he never dons an arsenal shirt ever again.

Good Riddance...

Monday, November 17, 2008

Soccerpro.com

Hi Guys,

Recently, I bought some jersey & soccer stuff off the internet from SoccerPro.com. Its easy to use and full of soccer stuff. I got the short and long sleeves home jersey of the Gunners.

The Arsenal Jersey is great on the details and also shipped to us with minimum hassle.
They also have a large variety of soccer jersey available here: Replica Soccer Jerseys
Maybe some of you can get the English national jersey.

So I thought I should give it a shout here! Feel free to check it out!

Inspiration

I went for a talk last Thursday and it was really worth the trip.....
Some of my extract:
1) What should you have or do to succeed?
a) Strong family ties
b) Passion for what you do
c) Read! Don’t reinvent the wheel

2) What characteristics make a good entrepreneur?
a) Person who wants to be in control
b) Person who wants to make decision
c) Person who wants to take charge of his life

3) Why be in Business?
a) Want unlimited Income
b) Create Passive Income stream
c) Leverage on OPT, OPM, OPE (Scalability business. Can Magnify)
d) Freedom – To give you more life
e) Most reliable way to create wealth (Your job can be gone tomorrow!)

4) How to go about planning it?
a) What lifestyle you want? Can be $1500 or $20,000 a month. What you want?
Sit down and plan with your spouse/family. And then share the ideas/aspirations. And set a TIME LINE!

b) What strategy for your business?
Plan this out with your partners (if any) or else force yourself to sit through and create it.....

,,,,,,

Anyway, makes me think about life a lot....

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Young Guns of Arsenal

After the breathtaking football that thrashed a full strength Wigan 3-0 in the Carling Cup, the world is convinced of the talent in the young guns of Arsenal. However, who among the young ones would become full blown Gunners?

Fabianski has come a long way after the 5-1 reversal by Tottenham in the Carling Cup last season. Although still suspected at crosses into the box, his reflex saves are reminiscence of Alex Manninger in his prime. His 2 reflex saves in the Wigan match, particularly against the red hot Zaki, served to remind us of how good he can be. At the moment, none of the other contenders (namely Vito Mannone or Szczesny) for the goalkeeping job measures up to Fabianski. Of course, with Almunia still at a young age for goalkeeper and the possibility of Wenger adding a more season campaigner if a right price appears, Fabianski needs to be patience and grab all the chances given to him to succeed at Arsenal.

There is a lot of talent in the full back department to burst into the first team. Gavin Hoyte, Kieran Gibbs, Kerrea Gilbert and Armand Traore are snapping at the heels of first team players of Clichy, Eboue and Sagna. It should only be highlighted that the first team players are also on the right side of 25. In addition to the established fullbacks, Wenger also had the penchant to play Toure, Djourou or even Gallas as emergency fullbacks when required.

So, which young gun would be able to break into the starting eleven? My best bets are Hoyte and Traore. Justin’s younger brother Gavin has displayed great determination and leadership in his many years at Arsenal. He is captain of the reserves and has also led the Under 18s in this time there. Combined with speed, agility and courage, this 18 year old Englishman is a real asset that should not be sold. On the left side of the defence, Traore has been knocking on the door like forever. Only the form and determination of Gael Clichy has managed to keep the skillful youngster out of the first team. Faced with 2 talented full back, Wenger sent Traore on loan to gain valuable playing time and experience. Watch Armand as he would come back stronger than ever to challenge Clichy for the spot.

Our aging center backs are an invitation for the young guns to step up. Sad to say, I can only see Djourou making the step up at the moment. Djourou is the tallest centre back that we have at the moment. He is strong in the air and can pass out of defence. With valuable experience gained with his time at Birmingham, he is the only viable replacement for old guards of Gallas and Silvestre. If Toure stays fit, I dare say that Djourou would complement him and together, we would have a very mean pairing as our last line of defence.

In midfield, I can see a whole bunch of kids challenging our already very young midfield for starting places. However, 2 of them really stand out for a variety of reasons. Jack Wilshere has already been labeled the new Liam Brady. The kid is quick and turns fast. He can pass and he is strong on the ball. With good dribbling skills, he has already managed to squeeze past defenders and opened his Arsenal account. He is so good that he won the Man of the Match against Wigan last Wednesday! The funny thing is that he is not of a legal age to drink his prize! (Champagne)

Aaron Ramsey is another one for the future or some say next season. With his Wales background and rugby playing experience, he has added bite into an otherwise ‘soft’ midfield. The 18 year old can tackle, can pass, can cross and is really strong on the ball. Shades of Vieira come into mind when he is marauding up the field into enemy’s territory and in time to come, I am very sure that Wenger’s payment of 5 million for a kid will be a very valuable investment.

With the current crop of strikers vying for limited space, it would take a real gem to break into the first team among the likes of Adebayor, Robin Van Persie, Eduardo, Bendtner and Walcott. Out of the mist and onto the stage, Carlos Vela provided a timely reminder of Wenger’s talent in scouting young talent. Already dubbed the new Maradona, Vela gained a bigger reputation for himself by proving himself in the La Liga with Osasuna over 3 seasons. He gamely built on that with a hat-trick against Sheffield United and a brilliant flicker over Kirkland in the Carling Cup tie against Wigan. It will suffice to say that Wenger would have a hard time keeping our front players happy for this season and next. Vela would definitely add to this problem with a sparkling run in the Carling Cup.
In summary, the young guns are ready! On their day, they have proven to be more of a match for anyone. Would Wenger be brave enough to throw some into big matches? On account of their performance, I dare say some are already ready to step up. Go Gunners!!!

Big mouths should be shut.. or else end up like clowns....

CHELSEA coach Ray Wilkins accused Arsenal of disrespecting the Carling Cup by playing a team of kids instead of their star names. And he insists Chelsea will not devalue the competition by doing the same.
He also taunted Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger by claiming the kids experiment has left his club trophyless.
This was of course before Chelsea LOST out to Burnley last night.
Wilkins even added: “It’s all about winning trophies when you’re a big club. The fact we’ve won the Carling Cup twice in the last four years and Arsenal have won none justifies our policy. You enter a competition to win the competition. Why go into it if you’re not concerned whether you win it?
So Who should be talking now? The kids that got into the last eight and may win the Carling Cup? OR the clown that blasted his mouth off before anything happened?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Resurgent Gunners

After beating manure 2-1 over the weekend, the younger than young gunners took on Wigan and won with a convincing 3-0 victory.

What a turnaround from last week.

All the gunners' fans are really basking in the warm glow at the moment.....

GO GUNNERS!!!

Quote of the week

The mark of a successful man is his consistency........

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Quote of the week

Life sucks...
Hang in there and suck harder...

(You may just suck hard enough and succeed.)

debacle loss to stoke...

unbelievable and sad loss to Stoke city.
Time to buy !!! Buy Buy!! We need defenders!
We need DMs!!
We need big players and EXPERIENCED ones...