By Ian Grant
Sean Doran
Richard Wright
You keep wondering on the site whether Arsenal can win anything with a good goalkeeper, does this mean you’ve totally given up on Richard Wright, altogether?
When he first got his chance for the club,in around that penalty save against Panathinaikos at home, he blew everyone away,people were asking would Seaman get back into the team when he was fit again and fans were singing “Wright Wright Wright” in the stands. Then came the Charlton game and now once again Arsenal are searching for another goalkeeper? Was it or is it more than just a crisis of confidence and is Richard Wright even a serious option anymore?
On the subject of new signings, it’s starting to seem that summer 2001’s spending spree has turned out to be a majority 3/4 failure. Sol has been a success but Gio is out until Christmas and Jeffers can’t go one game without picking up some injury. After finally regaining fitness and playing against Gillingham he is out of the next game with a groin injury? Farsical.
What do you think?
Keep up the excellent work on the site. I, like everyone else, believe yours is the only one which stands out. The only one which is actually interesting to read. Keep it up.
haha, u arsenal fans are so funny hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa keep dreaming lads! u will never be number one
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Shaba
Newcastle Vs. Arsenal
Arsenal to draw Newcastle 2-2
Scorers: Pires and Wiltord/Henry
Laurent Robert and Carl Cort to score for Newcastle.
United to win their fixture making them go clear at the top of the table.
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Mike Patis
Bergkamp’s goal
Wasn’t Kanu’s goal against Spurs at White Hart Lane 3 years ago – where he flicked the ball over the head of the Spurs defender, ran around him and volleyed it into the net, better?
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Gerry Griffin
Dennis’ Goal
What was Ally McMoist doing not making Dennis’ goal – “Goal of the day” and in fact questioning whether he really intended to do it …
GG
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JJ
Unsung Heroes – Lauren, Luzhny, Grimandi, Stepanov
We haven’t heard enough praise for Lauren, Grimandi and Luzhny (ableit a hot-headed liability sometimes).
Lauren has played in 3 different positions since returning from African Nations Cup duty. His versatility has been a real asset in times of crisis for Arsene Wenger. Lauren is also hitting good form. He has scored twice and could have done so at Newcastle on saturday, his forward play and crosses are getting a lot better as well his defensive play. He has done very well to see the team through the difficult times.
Another versatile Player is Grimandi. You never hear him complain about not getting a first team place. Yet whenever he comes in, he has committed and ready to go as if he was a first team player. This season he has been in 2 positions – midfied and defence.
Luzhny has been more relaible than usual also during this crisis spell. Played in nearly every defensive position this week and nearly scored what would have been an amazing strike on saturday. At left back in St. James Park, he was strong and didn’t get a booking.
Perhaps also a small mention for Igors. He’s young, tall and looking stronger and stronger. I think he is close to fully adapting to the english game. He has been very good over the past few games. As much as I adore Martin Keown, I would like to see Igors keep his place beside Sol. The match practice, I think, (and his Latvian coach has also said) would bring out his true worth and make him much better.
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neil mc carthy
bring back anr
i am rather dissappointed at the standard of anr of late, it appears that the once opionated, informative, interesting style of writing has delapated into a web page which has unfortunately become merely a report of match by match with a brief analyse. lets hear what myles is thinking what he feels should be happening and how the club is developing along with some of the behind the doors rumours which we of course all love to hear and respect anr as a source. bring back the coloums which were more like the long chapter of your favourite book than a brief report of a match which we all saw and have already read about this is why we come to anr.uk.
hoping we get the great anr of old
Neil McCarthy
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Anonymous
Myles Palmer
Who is Myles Palmer?? Your analysis of games is extraordinarily accurate unlike the 5-20minutes highlight packages shown by ITV and even Sky. Well done indeed. What is your history? OBEZ
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Ben Joseph
why was viera so awesome in last three games
In answer to your question Miles, I would give a lot of credit to Giles Grimandi. Playing along side Giles, Viera is released from that more defensive role, he can charge forward and join his mates in the attack without having to cover back so much. Giles fills in the gaps in the middle, he blocks passes and sticks his foot in. Furthermore when Giles gets the ball he does not sit on it and does not run forward. One touch and a quick pass, perfect for Arsen.
Ray Parlour on the other hand distrubed this balance on tuesday night at derby. Sure, every now and then Ray can hit a good pass and have a good sprint, but Viera did not have the confidence to run forward and join his mates in the attack. Instead he spent much of his time filling the spaces at the back and mopping up after Ray. This would not have been neccesary with Gils or even Edu? Ray is not a one touch man, he is better than that on a good day. But on a bad day his dodgy runs and poor passes are a hinderance to Arsenal. I hope he does not play at Newcastle! Gils is no supestar, but we play well with ten men, so stick Gils in front of defence and let the musketeers charge at the front.
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Spencer King
The FA & Sky
What are your thoughts on the links between the FA, Sky & Man U?
Clearly the Henry 3 match ban has brought about a lot of anger amongst gooners, some of whom seem to think there’s a conspiracy against all things Arsenal. They seem to think that men in grey suits are having secret meetings to make sure Arsenal fail to beat Man U to the title. My view? I think they should stop watching hollywood films.
The problems we (arsenal) have seem to be:
We’re easier to give a card to than most other teams. We have a reputation of indiscipline that has grown and grown, so referees know that if they card an arsenal player there won’t be a huge fuss, just another card added to the tally. This is especially true over Viera, who often gets booked for tackles that a Scholes or Gerrard gets away with every week. Decisions like giving penaltys at Old Trafford to the away team are obviously v.tough & brave decisions to make. Referees are only human. Yes, some of them seem to want to be superstars, but ultimately everyone wants to take the path of least resistance.
Arsenal indiscipline is a good story. There’s no doubt that events the media highlight get special attention. If Sky cameras pick out a bad foul, the papers will follow suit and suddenly you can’t get away from it. Arsenal make a good, easy story. Especially the ‘Arsene comes out with another excuse’ story.
Bearing in mind that (in my opinion at least) Sky can influence the FA’s decisions I have 2 main questions:
How would Sky make the most money?
By a tight finish with Man U winning. A tight finish would gaurantee audiences, but everyone knows Man U have the most supporters. That’s ignoring the fact that Sky own 10% of Man U shares.
Would Henry and Viera be treated the same if they were English?
My answer is no. Which is a serious worry as that’s grounds for racism, and the last thing everyone needs is for things to go to court. If Viera and Henry were on the way to the world cup with England there’s no chance they would be treated as they are.
Henry’s outburst worth the same punishment as Carragher throwing a coin into the crowd? Don’t make me laugh.
Thanks for all your work on ANR, it’s greatly appreciated. I don’t always agree with what you say, but it’s always thought-provoking and has given a whole new insight to Arsenal.
Spencer
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Fidel Mbaya
Midfield pivot system
I have recently heard on Talksport some commentators discussing the ‘midfield pivot’ system used at Arsenal. I am not sure what this means although I can only assume it refers to the fact that both Pires and Wiltord/Ljungberg cut inside alot thereby forcing Vieira and Parlour to do a lot of covering in wide positions when they leave their wings. Can you explain it?
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Jonathan
Re: Arsenal to shade Newcastle – but the Man United game can’t come soon enough
Loved the article but don’t forget that Man United are as much in charge as us regarding winning all their games, If they do, they win the title as well.
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Chris Cotton
Fixture chaos
Any ideas on how Arsenal are going to fit in all their fixtures if they reach both the Champs Final and the FA Cup Final? I cannot see any way they could do it.
Chris
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Karen
Dennis Bergkamp’s goal against Newcastle
THE MUPPETS DIDNT EVEN GIVE IT GOAL OF THE DAY!
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Paul Burland
Edu grew after scoring!
I’m a big Edu fan! At last he got a break. Playing out of position wide left he had more impact over 60 minutes than Grimandi had in the whole game. Tackling, scoring and forward thinknig and sensible passing. We DESPERATLY need to see Edu and Vieira teamed up in midfield!
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markshark gunner
sat
just gotta agree with you miles,kanu just left me fuming i really cant get to grips with him on sat,he did nothing for us at all.
taking edu off left me speechless as well,just dont get that one at all.
i guess i was like you looking at the team i couldnt work it out about freddie,kanu and no bobby or dennis
thanks for your comments and keep up the good work on your interesting thoughtful and entertaining site.
lets hope we all have something to smile about at seasons end,surely this year we will get the league and cup.
cheers mate
markshark.
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Philip Rogers
Piece on Bergkamp
I agree with every word you wrote. I live in Paris and have a close contact with the French national team coach – who says that Bergkamp is one of only two players in the world to be able to execute that move (the other is Romario).
I very much enjoy reading the perceptive, witty and entertaining articles you write.
Best wishes
Philip Rogers
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Robert Moir
Newcastle draw in the FA cup!
Myles, Love the site by the way, just reading your comments on the draw with Newcastle. Do you think we got the exact result we wanted and AW was playing for? I think the reason is clear enough, in fact you said it yourself: “This FA Cup replay means that Thierry Henry will miss only ONE Premiership game.”
That aside, it was nice to see Edu score, and it is great to see how well Stephanovs is finally doing. At last he’s the player AW said we were signing instead of the player everyone accused him of being after the debacle at Old Trafford.
Regards
Rob
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Jason Gooi
Kanu/Wiltord
Kanu was a flop against Newcastle and Wiltord simply explosive
Kanu has to shoulder most of the responsibility for Newcastle dominating the FA Cup quarter-final. He has no stomach for the infamous Arsenal work ethic, except for the last quarter for the second half when things looked desparately close to a replay or even worse. His performance and attitude were both lacklustre. And he is too much of a show-boater, Kanu always likes to hold the ball even for a few seconds and seldom engages the one-touch play that we thrive on. With nippy, speedy players like Wiltord and Ljungberg around, Arsenal were always going to benefit more from the Bergkamp style of touch football. Kanu has world class ability with his feet but he was the worst player at holding on to the ball. He tries fancy dribbles and twists and often ends up losing the ball. Arsenal being unable to have any decent moves in the last third is all down to him. In contrast, Wiltord was exceptional against Newcastle. Faultless in his commitment, Wiltord formed the springboard of most Arsenal attacks through the middle and through the right. He rarely loses the ball, hustles defenders and attackers from midfield and his forages down the right have been the highlights of recent Arsenal displays. Definitely, his assists from the right to his Arsenal colleagues have received less plaudits then they deserved. I think Myles Palmer, if he is reading this should be slowly dispelling any previous prejudice he has against Wiltord. For certain, Robbie Keane is not 10 times better than Arsenal’s 4th French musketeer?
By the way, a 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-2 etc. win tomorrow night will not be enough to guarantee a place in the quarter finals due to UEFA’s byzantine rule-book. Any of the above would mean that, should Juve beat us 2-0, and Juve and Depor both beat Leverkusen, we’re out! 2-0 tomorrow night might be enough as our goal difference is better than Depor’s after our 4-1 against Leverkusen.
Thanks for the best Arsenal site on the web!!
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Obasi
Deportivo
Hello,
Great website and awesome match analysis…..accords with my game observations…well done.
I thought I’d provide you with the definitive clarification on the position with the Deportivo game at Highbury tomorrow. This is also confirmed in an article on the UEFA official website. Keep up the good work and look forward to reading your match report soonest.
By the way, I’ll be at Highbury myself.
Regards Obasi
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Mark Burland
Freddie
As I was watching the game I got to thinking who the real amtch winners are on our team. Henry tonight seemed to have one of those games where he just can’t seem to wind up the big shot. Vieira looked content to trot around the park.
I only thought we had a glimmer of hope when Freddie, albeit unfit, came on. Sure enough, a surging run and we suddenly have a penalty. But I also knew at that moment that the ref would again throw out the rulebook in favour of the GK and in that same moment, all hope we had of even scoring a goal vanished.
Roll on Turin, perhaps the biggest game in Mr Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal?
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Anonymous
Paul Vaessen
I’m sure you haven’t forgotten Paul Vaessen!
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noel reynolds
football speak
myles, can i just say you write some of the most intelligent football speak i’ve read. granted, i’m an arsenal fan but i still struggle to find as cogent football journalism as what you write (oops sound like ernie wise there). henry winter is good but he lacks the ‘snal angle. kin hell, mccoist still reckons bergkamp fluked his newcastle goal. keep up the excellent work. having been a fan for 25 years this is undoubtedly best side in red and white i’ve seen – our football deserves a trophy this season. power, pace, movement – that’s what it’s all about. i saw arsenal win in 89 as a student on merseyside. my god those post hillsborough scousers were magnanimous – i was clapped out of the pub. depor to win next week, and arsenal to get the draw; and arsenal to meet them and beat them in the final (i hope). as i say, great journalism.
cheers,
noel reynolds
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David Cox
Myles Palmer-Wiltord!!
I think your opinions on Arsenal v Deportivo are spot on, and don’t you think that despite recent promising performances, if we can get anything like what we paid for Wiltord we’d be doing very well. There’s no subtelty in his play compared to Bergkamp, Henry, Pires or Vieira, and yes, perhaps he’s a good sub, but 13m for a sub for Arsenal FC??? No, thank-you! I know they’re just tabloid reports, but if we could swap him for Anelka I’d be very happy, wouldn’t you?? Also, Van Bommel and Vieira for a midfield partnership next season!!!
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Shaun
Deportivo’s playing style
Deportivo’s thrashing of Arsenal really made me wished that we could play like them. Never have i seen our squad being toyed and manipulated around like some puppet on the pitch. How can we play like that with our present squad and what kind of players can we add on in order to achieve that? In fact is it possible with Wenger in charge? Seems to me that only Spanish clubs are capable of playing like that. Even when Bayern Munich defeated us, it wasn’t never that skilful. Your thoughts please.
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Benth, Norway
Juve – The Arsenal
Good afternoon, Mr Palmer.
Just wondering: according to the rules – isn’t there actually only one option to keep us out from the next round:
– Arsenal loose against Juve, and Leverkusen steals a point or three from Deportivo (can’t imagine they win, though)?
If Juve wins – let’s say 4-1, they will still be out because of the 1:1 draw we got in Leverkusen. They are in fact out already, because they can’t get more than seven points – and in the mini-league between The Arsenal, Juve and Leverkusen, they can’t get more than six points. Arsenal have already seven and Leverkusen have four. They are out, and know it!
Leverkusen have seven points and MUST avoid the mini-league! Their only option is to steal a point from Deportivo (they will not win – I promise….) and hope Arsenal loose against a – probably – uninterested Juve.
Did I get it right?
Have a nice evening
Benth Castberg, Norway
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Jarek Grabowski
Viera?Figo?
I just read on some internet pages about possible exchange Figo-Viera between us and Madrid. I love Viera’s football very much, buf if we have to sell him such option would be just great. I admire Figo’s football, his movement, pace ang skill. Above all he is a fighter, real one. Very quick (quicker than Viera), with great skill (better than Viera) and handsome (something for Ladies-Gunners).
Such exchange (again if we have to sold PV4)would be much much more welcomed than just selling him.
Jarek
Gunner from Poland.
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Ben Dean
Post-Deportivo
It’s been an interesting few days since the Deportivo game, i think in particular because of the way the press have tried to explain the result having hyped Arsenal up so much before the game took place.
I think there are a number of reasons why we lost two nil but the press have not hit the nail on the head at all.
Firstly I thought Gilles Grimandi was very obviously completely out of his depth. He gave the ball away too much and positionally was always in no man’s land not sure of which way to go; to the man with the ball or to move off deeper and cut off the options of the man passing. This was accentuated by the fact that Deportivo pass very quickly and do not dwell on the ball. His game can work at a lower level but he was found wanting on Tuesday. It left Vieira against two very good midfielders which is impossible even for a player of his ability. The criticism Vieira got was not merited for this reason.
Secondly Wiltord, like Gilles, can do a job at right midfield in an average premiership game. But to play aginst one of the best sides in Europe with a striker playing in an already depleted midfield is just not sensible. Wiltord tries hard but it left Lauren very unsuppported going forward and defensively. In my opinion Lee Dixon should have played right back with Lauren right midfield and Edu in instead of Gilles.
Thirdly Deportivo are the best ‘team’ in Spain. Very well organised, slick passing, and some very talented efficient players who all work very hard for each other.
I could bore you with more but I think the team selection was key and also the amount of players we had out injured make it very hard to compete at a top european level, even if the squad can cope with the injuries domestically,
yours,
ben dean
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Barrie Whipp
Free Kicks
Excellent point on free kicks.
For all TH14s ability, the “chip it ove the wall” technique is so predictable. In fact it was nice to see DB10 in control on Sunday. SW11, AC3 and “The Player of The Year by a mile” can all contribute too.
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Mark Burland
17, 4
I want to comment on how good it felt to see 17 and 4 reunited in the centre of midfield.
No one has ever replaced the Petit of that double winning season, and I feel thats the reason we haven’t yet followed up on the success of that year. Grimandi is a good player to have in the squad, but is he a true partner for Vieira? No way!
Edu, on the other hand, has what it takes to cement that midfield again. As he showed on Sunday, he has a good left foot, he’s able to play the odd through ball, he’s tall, he does the simple things well.
Not only that, but he has the positional sense to be able to work well with Vieira.
I hope Mr Wenger sticks with this partnership in midfield. I hope that it was always his aim when he bought Edu. He is still young and has had injury problems, but he was with Corinthians since he was 4, so he has been brought up on football, he knows the game very well, he is a smart talented player.
Two crucial goals in two important games are nice too! Hopefully if Vieira isn’t having to worry about Mr Invisible Grimandi not covering him he will make those surging forard runs a little more often.
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Angus Wheaton
Free Kick Lessons
Dear Myles,
Thanks again for your perceptive insights. I’m always glad to see your articles appear via Arsenal World. I was really interested to read your views on the Arsenal free kicks, in short saying that Henry monopolises the free kicks.
Often commentators say that the Gunners are traditionally powerful at corners and set pieces, but I don’t think this is the case now. Remember when Bronkhurst and Bergkamp completely screwed one up earlier this season – it ended with the other team racing towards our goal with the ball. Incredibly embarrassing.
Do you know whether Arsenal spend much time practicing their set-pieces? I’ve read that Arsene is a man who regards his players as grown-ups and spends little time going through plays that he thinks they should already know and be able to do. I think this must include free-kicks because we rarely seem to have any set plays in the magic box. I think we really miss out on a lot of goals from this department – when you compare this to Man Utd, who hauled a goal back on the weekend with a free kick, then we have a lot of potential for improvement. Surely with Bergkamp (chip, drive), Wiltford (power drive), and Henry (curler, chip) we can do much better.
Yours sincerely,
Angus Wheaton
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Danny Fahey
Edu
Can i ask you your opinion on Edu’s impact already and what he offers us for the run in.
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david owusu nimako
arsene , please hear me
hi i would like to suggust to our distinguished coach that there is a promising young striker from ghana playiny fot olympiakos in greece and that if possible he should study him for sometime and sigh him. he is Peter Ofori- Quaye.please do becuase he is such a good player.i hope you call him for justify and i can assure you he is good
thank you
david from ghana
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