Having been trophy-less for the past four seasons it is becoming difficult to measure the success of the current team. Obviously they were a long way off the Premier League title this season but having reached the semi finals of the Champions League and FA Cup they were marginally close to shaking off their trophy-less tag.

Every football fan would love to see their team better the season they had before and gradually improve as a squad. Having finished 18 points adrift of leaders Manchester united, Arsenal have left a lot of room for improvement and every fan would love to see this gap bridged. But for the Arsenal faithful, it isn’t just the gap they want bridged
- they would love to see Arsene Wenger win another Premiership crown to add to the three he has already won.

Can you see Arsenal overturning an 18 point gap on the season previous? I find it hard to believe Arsenal will be able to outsmart Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool next season. To overturn such a significant gap in one season would be extraordinary and I’ll be measuring next season’s success on how competitive they are amongst
the top four.

Having been mildly successful in the FA Cup and Champions League this season, reaching the semis in both, they were close to having a successful season. However, the ‘Premier League never lies’ so they say, and over the course of the season the table always reflect what position the club is in. With their defensive frailties throughout the
season it’s fair to say fourth was a realistic outcome on the season as a whole.

Arsene has strengthened the defence with the signing of Thomas Vermaelen and if reports across various newspapers are to be believed he is in the hunt for a holding midfielder also. If they manage to keep hold of their core squad as well (which is looking likely as the summer progresses) the first team squad should be stronger than this time last year.

With two key areas hopefully being strengthened this summer, what are your expectations for next season and what would you regard as a successful season?

In two weeks time Arsenal will travel to the Italian capital to try and continue their Champions League campaign, taking a slender 1-0 lead into the Stadio Olimpico. Some have questioned whether this lead will be enough against one of the great sides in Italian football. However, having witnessed the Gunners best performance for some months against Roma on Tuesday night there is plenty more to take away with us on the 11th March than just a one goal lead.

Many had expected, including myself, that Roma would come to the Emirates and defend for their lives having had such a poor record against English sides in the past, with their 7-1 defeat to Manchester United just a few years ago a possible stark reminder to what can happen to the Giallorossi on English soil. However they came to play on Tuesday night, certainly aiding Arsenal’s game plan, as unlike so many sides that come to the Grove now Roma opted not to try and grind out a result.

The game was as open as they come which suited Arsenal and the hope would be that if the game is anything like the first the Gunners can steal an away goal. Despite only taking a one goal advantage into the game my belief is that we will be more than capable of nicking a vital away goal, as long as the ball doesn’t drop to Nicklas Bendtner! It would be easy to criticise the Danish forward for his three missed opportunities but I won’t as I feel he has come in for enough stick in recent weeks and hopefully won’t get too much game time once Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor are back to full fitness.

I was extremely impressed by the way Arsene Wenger set up his team in mid-week as well, despite Bendtner having to play on the left wing. Samir Nasri reveled in his role just behind Robin van Persie and caused the Roma defence all kinds of problems. So as the old saying goes if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and I’d hope Wenger sticks with the French youngster in the same role for the trip to Italy.

The positives coming out of Tuesday’s game for me outweigh the negatives of not taking a bigger lead into the second leg. Arsenal’s injury plagued squad have enough quality to see them into the quarter-finals of the Champions League based on what we have seen. The Gunners have a mixed away record this season in Europe but always seem to pull it out of the bag when they are in Italy, last seasons win against AC Milan the prime example.

Arsenal’s Premier League title dreams have all but gone but the dream is still alive in Europe, as well as the FA Cup, and if they can get an away goal and then a kind draw in the quarter-finals with the big named players set to return before the semi-finals and final there is no reason why Arsenal can’t go one step further than the 2006 disappointment.

Arsenal advance to Champions League proper.

Nasri: 1-0: Watch

Gallas: 2-0: Watch

Walcott: 3-0: Watch

Bendtner 4-0: Watch

Full Match Highlights

Sorry for the delay, big hard drive crash. Don’t buy anything from Western Digital, especially that My Book.

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This fucking blows. Another bad decision, another loss. It’s been the story of our season. Senderos fucked up large twice but we had this game won until the ref intervened. AGAIN!!!

Liverpool are diving cunts, Masscherano is a twat born of multiple whores etc. etc. He picked up enough fouls to be red carded based on principles alone.

Sorry for the language but I am tired of seeing Arsenal lose or tie despite deserving to win. This is not exaggeration, we have gotten fucked over too many times this season for it to be a coincidence. I am pissed but proud of the boys, they fucking handed it to Liverpool in the dumping ground of a shit stadium that is the Kop. The ref called the weakest penalty possible, it could not have been worse especially given what happened in the first leg.

Abou Diaby: Download :: Watch

Hyppia: Download :: Watch

Torres: Download :: Watch

Adebayor Goal followed by HORRIBLE penalty decision against Toure + Penalty Kick:

Download :: Watch

Babel – meaningless goal, don’t miss the snarky fucking cunt of a commentator saying that the penalty is less of an issue. Fucking cocksucker.: Download :: Watch

View Match Highlights

Download Halftime Report

That should’ve been at least a 3-1 win. I wish the refs would start doing their job a little better, that tackle on Hleb was a penalty if I ever saw one. Even Kopite Andy Gray couldn’t believe it. We missed a lot of chances which is always disconcerting, especially when the next match is away from home. I’m not too worried though, as long as Bendtner doesn’t block any more goals, I sense a 3-0 pounding next week. Conceding the away goal will probably mean Liverpool’s going to sit on it and play for a scoreless draw which they’re so bloody good at. That’s alright though, because Arsenal are due for a breakout.

We were unfortunate and very unlucky not to score at least 3-4 goals, it’s going to even out in the next leg. I’m not happy about the number of long balls we play, it’s something that’s totally un-Arsenal like, we’re better of passing it into the final third and taking chances with further-out shots instead of hoping Adebayor latches onto one, controls it, creates and finishes. I don’t even remember the last time he scored like that.

Don’t worry Gooners, this second leg will be ours. Match Report.

Adebayor scores: Download :: Watch

Kuyt scores: Download :: Watch

Match Highlights + Analysis + Interviews: Download :: Watch

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Save for the opening 15 minutes, the Gunners dominated AC Milan, at times into submission. But it wasn’t until the 84th minute that the Arsenal – after missing several easy chances – struck courtesy of Cesc Fabregas’ 25 yard seeing eye strike which had no chance of being stopped. Fabregas had earlier hit the crossbar and Senderos, Walcott and Eboue had all missed excellent chances to score and bury the Italians. Late on it felt like this was going to be one of those wasteful performances that has sometimes plagued this Arsenal squad, but the young Gunners found it within themselves to strike while the metal was hot. Fabregas is the hero of the night as Arsenal progress into the quarter finals of the Champions League. Emmanuel Adebayor dispatched Milan with an injury time strike setup by Theo Walcott who took full advantage of a desperate AC Milan squad that was hopelessly trying to score twice with minutes remaining.

The game wasn’t without controversy, Hleb was given a yellow card for diving when the replay showed a clear infraction on the part of the Milan defender. Several harsh yellow cards, a questionable offside against Eboue and in general a referee that looked to give home-field advantage had to be overcome for Arsenal to progress.

The atmosphere in the arena was electric and tensions were mounting late in the second half when it became clear that the first goal would prove to be the decisive one. As AC Milan stepped on their back foot, Arsenal continued to press and ask questions of the Milan defense and ultimately broke through, very much deservedly.

2 Nil to The Arsenal.

Arsenal.com Match Report

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Emmanuel Adebayor – Post Match Interview

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Fabregas Goal 1-0 Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=IYSGkadGNg0]

Adebayor Goal 2-0 Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=h5tPB_NbI8A]

Full Match Highlights

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1926307507737786154&hl=en-CA]

1st Half Highlights Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=qMeDL9qRvZs]

Adebayor’s header at the end would’ve been nice but in the end we have nothing to show for dominating the game. A win at the San Siro will be difficult but if there’s one thing Arsenal know after this game, it’s that they have what it takes to beat Milan. As the boss himself said, we were a little nervous in the final third and deserved at least a couple goals. Toure’s early injury looked to be a setback but Senderos filled in nicely, Fabregas was awesome and Hleb magnificent. Milan were backtracking for the better part of the match only choosing to attack when Arsenal chose to take a break from their onslaught.

The best chance of the evening fell to Adebayor in the closing seconds but his open-net header hit the crossbar. He should’ve scored. Earlier in the match, his five yard pass was too strong which would’ve been a sure Arsenal goal. The big man did cause Milan problems all game long with his size, but never connected on any of the tempting crosses from Sagna or Hleb. The introduction of Bendtner to add some height saw the largely ineffective Eduardo taken out but he couldn’t free himself for any clean headers. Theo Walcott, an injury time introduction, created the final Adebayor chance and got around his defender with ease. Wenger will be sure to use this weapon nicely in the away leg.

Kaka was held in check and Arsenal played smart football on the back-line never allowing Milan and the dangerous Alexandre Pato any room to create. Jens Lehmann didn’t have to do much but his quick outlets, confident clearances and leadership in the back was a welcome sign. Lest we forget, Jens is still a good goalie.

Arsenal tie 0-0 but dominate against the mighty Italians. In two weeks time, this young Arsenal squad will play the biggest game of their lives. After dominating AC Milan for a large portion of this contest, we have the confidence we need to pull of the first ever win by an English club against AC Milan in the hostile atmosphere that is the San Siro. It’s time for the Gunners to pull of yet another Italian Job, just like they did years go against Inter Milan.

Match Report

Match Highlights Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=N9zGBUSHmUc]

Arsene Wenger Post Match Interview (Audio’s a bit off) Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=i_9axZdDgCM]

Starting Lineups and Introduction Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=UHBE2V2lzMA]

We mustered a draw away to Slavia Prague and dropped all three points against Sevilla in Spain. We needed to be punished for those indiscretions and the sentence was handed out today. Instead of facing the likes of Fenerbahce, Schalke 04 and Celtic we were drawn up against European giants like AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid with the only silver-lining being a chance to draw FC Porto.

So it’s current Champions League holders AC Milan that we’ll have to tackle first and Arsenal are fully capable of beating the Italian side that is currently struggling in Serie A with the balance of power in Milan being shifted from red to blue. AC Milan’s domestic form has been very poor and they’ve become a mid-table club with an 11th place league standing. However, their dominance in Europe has continued from last year as they collected 13 points with a 4-1-1 record in Group D.

Going into the draw it was obvious that the team you wanted to play to advance to the quarter finals was FC Porto but if such wasn’t the case, I’d rather the Gunners faced Barcelona and end up going head-to-head with Henry with the chance of paying back the Frenchman for his off-season indiscretion. But that’s not the case and we have to arguably play the greatest European club of all-time. Get pumped.

Here’s the video of the Champions League Draw:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grcYvzdzzNk]

Arsenal Managing Director Keith Edelman summed up the Arsenal reaction:

“We’ve only played them once in a competitive tie. We drew at Highbury in 1994 and lost 2-0 at San Siro. Hopefully we can turn it around this time. We would probably have preferred an easier one at this stage but this is a great match, everyone will look forward to it tremendously. Arsene has built a great squad and we are confident. We’re playing good football. We’re doing well off the pitch as well as on it and we’re looking forward to a very exciting end to the season.”

Here are some predictions for the first knockout stage of the Champions League:

Arsenal v AC Milan: This is Arsenal’s year to return the Champions League final and AC Milan’s European competition hasn’t been terribly challenging with Celtic being the only “good” team they’ve faced. Expect their poor domestic form to show up in the group stages. Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate.

Celtic v Barcelona: Celtic’s nice run in the group stage is bound to come to a screeching halt at the first opportunity against a stacked Barcelona team. Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry are simply too much to handle for the Celtic back-four and don’t look for them to be scoring much against Marques and Co. Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate.

Lyon v Manchester United: Lyon’s resurgence in the latter stages of the group stages was impressive and the win against Rangers at Ibrox was impressive at all levels. The French champions will battle Manchester United but unless they score a goal or two at Old Trafford, it’ll be hard for to progress. Manchester United 4-2 on aggregate.

Liverpool v Inter Milan: Liverpool is read to implode. Inter Milan is in super-form and there’s no reason to believe Hyppia and Carragher can contain Crespo and Ibrahimovic. Getting any goals in Italy is out of the question and unless a highly unlikely dominant home performance surfaces for Liverpool, Inter will progress. Inter Milan 3-1 on aggregate.

Roma v Real Madrid: This might be the tightest matchup of them all. Madrid is leading La Liga but has issues from the left-back position all the way to the top and Roma have shown that their a fiesty club, after last year’s embarrassment at the hands of United, they’ll be ready and will know how to play. Roma on away goals: 2-2.

Fenerbahce v FC Sevilla: Sevilla looked good in winning the group but so did Fenerbahce in mustering up 11 points against a group which had Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow. Fenerbahce plays with grit while Sevilla plays with style and although as a Gunners fan I think the edge will always go to style, I’ll pick Fenerbahce to display a tight performance in Spain and eek this one out. Fenerbahce 3-1 on aggregate.

Olympiacos v Chelsea: I haven’t seen Olympiacos play much. At least I’m being honest. Olympiacos did finish tied in points with Real Madrid Group C so there’s something to be said there. Chelsea bulled it’s way through in Group B and by all accounts this should be a tight one but one must favor Chelsea and their experience: Chelsea 2-1 on aggregate.

Schalke 04 v FC Porto: I did not watch a single game of either team in the group stages and cannot comment but you’d think FC Porto would move on.

Match Report.

Extended Highlights

Highlight Pack Download

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Click here to thank the guy who made the goal videos.

Diaby ’8 1-0: Download

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Bendtner ’42 2-0: Download

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Zaharia ’69 2-1: Download

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A bad, bad game by Arsenal. We didn’t need to win this game but even so this was a performance which stunk of careless passes, missed defensive assignments and even laziness. Eduardo put us up early and after that we simply switched off and expected Sevilla to run away with their tails between their legs. That didn’t happen. You could look at our first loss of the season as a burden being lifted, it’s better to lose here when there’s little at stake than concede valuable ground in the league table. However, it’s not the loss that bugs you so much (even though the prospect of finishing second isn’t great), it’s the way we lost.

A weakened side which featured the return of Philippe Senderos was presented and Senderos was back up to his old tricks, giving away balls, letting headers go over his head and scrambling to make up for his undoings – the first Sevilla goal a direct result of his carelessness (video below). Senderos never had the quality of a first team Arsenal player and today was further confirmation of that. The Arsenal defense were worked heavily all game and the midfield’s inability to maintain any possession had a lot to do with that. It got so bad that Wenger brought in Rosicky to inject some sanity into a midfield which was giving away balls for fun. Cesc Fabregas was talking out as a precaution after a slight hamstring pull.

Gilberto’s best days appear to be behind him and I’m doubting that he’ll even get a charity contract from Wenger. It’s completely apparent now why Arsene Wenger chose Gallas as captain over Gilberto but in all fairness to the Brazillian, he hasn’t really gotten any playing time this year where he could establish a rhythm. Asking him to perform against a motivated and determined Sevilla attack might’ve been a bit much, same goes for Senderos. Denilson stepped in at midfield and although he’s a fine player his control just wasn’t there today. The communication between him and Traore was often poor resulting in Sevilla to easily pick off passes between the two.

There weren’t any bright spots except perhaps the play of Eduardo and Bendtner, unfortunately our midfield failed to supply any sort of ammunition to our two strikers. Well, I should say one striker because we had the 4-5-1 deployed with Bendtner up front, a formation that hasn’t yielded much success and should by all accounts be ditched in favor of a traditional 4-4-2. Packing the midfield never was our thing.

It’s best to forget a performance like this and attribute it to severe levity. Arsenal are now two points behind Sevilla and if the status quo remains, we’ll be playing a group winner in the Round of 16. And you just know it’s going to be Barcelona.

Check out the match report and make sure to latch on the feed. The BBC match report has the post-match interview with Arsenal captain Kolo Toure who praises Sevilla. It also mentions something about Arsene being sent to the stands, pretty mundane stuff, let’s just move on.

Eduardo 1-0 ’11: Download

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Keita 1-1 ’24: Download

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Fabiano 1-2 ’34 (plus phantom freekick): Download

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Kanoute 1-3 (foul + penalty) ’89: Download

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