What we really need...

It finally looks like it could be over for Arsenal this season.We had been playing catch-up all season and finally we seem to have run out of steam.And this is more saddening than any of the other seasons as this one had so much promise and in the end,it looked like we just faded away.

Even in the last game,the guys showed no signs of urgency.There was a kind of lazed manner going around, the way they played in the first half.Only after Chezzers saved the penalty did i see some life.They pushed and pushed and some really good chances fell to some of the players,the best being to Samir Nasri when he got an over the top pass from RVP and was 1 on 1 with keeper and what did he do? He shot it straight at Jaaskelainen.He blew it when he needed to just calmly slot it in.

The goals we let in yesterday were in a typical Arsenal fashion,set-pieces.This just goes on to show,more than buying new defenders who will make the same old mistakes,its better we educate the ones we have on rectifying the regular mistakes we make while defending.

We can't have this happening often.

The manager himself admitted that 'defense' was a weakness in our team.I would like to disagree.It is not just the back four,but the team as a whole has been weak defensively.A team can be rock solid only when all the eleven players work together.Even when a mediocre team works as a unit to defend,they can be world class.So we need a team ethic which will help in making us a tough nut to crack.

Also,our players need to calm down,whenever we seem to go down,or the opposition piles up some pressure,we seem to panic and make silly mistakes.This is something else that needs to change.We need to be confident off-the-ball.

Talent-wise there is not much of a big difference b/w the Invincibles and the current team.The one major difference would be the mentality.The guys don't seem to have that real 'want ' to win.They seem to wait to get a chance rather than going out and taking it.

The teams of old used to put soo much pressure on the opposition even without the ball,this made them a very strong team to play against.We had some instances where we played like this,a memorable one being the 3-1 win  against Chelsea.That high tempo has to be maintained throughout 90 mins,all through 38 games.

Bringing in new players will only do one thing,restrict the growth of the current crop,and we will have to sit around watching them make the same old mistakes. So more than bringing in new personnel,its about improving the knowledge of our current crop.We need to learn how to win.

I agree some of the deadwood needs to be let go.But further discussion into that shall be done only when the transfer window opens.Till then,let us support our players.They need to know that the fans are behind them.

Arseblog talks about how money is a big factor in the players' minds.How its not just the big name players,but the mid level ones as well, are all on good money and how some of them refuse to go to other clubs that offer them 1st team football,but not as much money.Players refusing to go to clubs who have a proud history, where they are guaranteed playing time just because the money is not great.

So when did playing the game become secondary motive?When did winning not matter as much as the wages you were on? This trend has created a sort of laziness or complacency in the players,that winning did not matter as much anymore.

Winning Matters

So more than anything,what REALLY needs to change is this attitude of the players.They need to prioritize things the right way and bring that winning mentality back.In the end, WINNING MATTERS.

Finally,i would like to talk about Le Boss. A lot of people have been shouting for the sacking of Wenger,our manager who has kept us in the top 4 throughout his reign.Something no other manager has managed.The Professor has been the best manager in Arsenal's history,period.But he has immersed so much of himself into his project in these recent years,that he might have forgotten what it is that was needed to win.I think he should take a step backward and have a look at the situation.I want the project to continue,but Wenger should concentrate more on the First Team from next season other than finding out all the prospects in the world.He should let his staff worry about that for once.THE LOSING STOPS HERE!!!!

The Losing Stops Here!!

A new Tumblr profile has been opened by Goonerburgh.Follow us there for the latest videos from ATV Online and quotes froms players and the manager and  pictures and songs of Arsenal .You can also follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally we would like to give a shout-out to Arsene T-shirts.They are a group of Gooners who started a T-shirt business to fight all the anti-Wenger movements going around.

Have a good day folks.All sorts of comments are welcome,as long as it is constructive.

Bolton Preview-A Must Win + Arsene's Pre-Match Press conference Video

Well its Sunday,and here we are,playing catch-up to Man Utd and Chelsea.Both the teams won their matches   yesterday and Fernando Torres finally ended his cold streak(FINALLY!!).

                          Our mid-week fixture against Sp*rs was a tough one and the guys will have to bounce back quickly.I hope the unbeaten streak continues with a win.Playing away to Bolton is always tough,its gonna take some tough work to crack them.But with Bolton on a bad run having collected just 10 points from six games,there will not be a better chance to to beat them at their own ground.

Bolton have Owen Coyle in charge and he has changed the way Bolton play and has finally got players like Elmander and Kevin Davies to do well. Lonee Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea has been making waves like a certain Jack Wilshere did last season.He has found the net six times from eight appearances.

Not on the Losing Side
                                                                          ©WonderGunner

                 We haven't been on a great scoring form recently.Most of our recent goals came from just one source-RVP.That needs to change a bit.I hope the boss gives some sort of role other than that of a late-sub to Marouane Chamakh.I wish he would push him a bit more than he has done.Maybe he would have tried harder if he felt he was needed more.Hopefully he will be give a late chance in this game.

Walcott and Nasri scoring in the last game was a welcome sight and hopefully they can continue their good form going into the game.We need more people chipping in with goals at this point of the season.With Wilshere coming in for this game,you can expect Fabregas to maybe drop deeper during periods in the game to allow Jack to go forward.It will be good to see him play against some of his previous team-mates(maybe break their hearts by scoring a goal as well).

On the injury front,we lost Diaby from last game to a calf strain.He is certainly out from today's game,and will have a late assessment before the Man Utd game.Vermaelen has returned to full training and should be available before the season gets over.

            We fielded a full strength team last game,and we will have to do so again today.I expect Theo Van Nasregas to start,along with the Jack-Song midfield duo.

Possible line-up:Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie.

Theo Van Nasregas

                                                   via ArseGirl

          The last time we played them,it was in September and we beat them 4-1,with Kozzers,Song,Vela & Chamakh finding the net.This time around,we have a stronger defensive line-up and hopefully if we lose the clumsy tackles,we can expect a better display.I predict a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

Happy Easter Folks!!

You can follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.Thats all I have for the day folks.Happy Easter!

The Cesc Interview With Don Balon,Original and Full Transcript

A lot of talk has been going around recently,about the interview Cesc gave to the Spanish newspaper Don Balon.I tried hard to get the original because of the fact that i just wouldn't believe all the shit the press were printing.Well finally with the help of my good friend Gurleen Kaur aka Wondergunner I got the original Spanish Transcript. I have published it below in English(translated using Google Translator).

Don Balon .- What image was a boy of 16 years on Arsenal?
"I knew I had a great coach, who gambled by playing young players like Henry, Bergkamp, ​​Viera, Pires. Nor was I a fan of the Premiership, still abstracts on Sunday but that's it.Perhaps it was even harder to come here, nor knew where I was going ...

DB .- What has changed this picture eight years later?
-Buff. At all. I have also changed a lot physically and I've matured as a person. If I start I learned a lot has to analyze all this time, I also made mistakes and now I am, ultimately, much more complete.

DB .- Do you feel a child prodigy?
-No. Well, maybe at the beginning itself. Not now. I've been a couple of years that injuries have left me not evolve in the way he wanted.But with 17 years playing 51 games after winning the Cup with 18, playing the final of the Champions and the World Cup with 19. I remember well from my early days but people are not much. In those first three years was very fast, a blast to use. It's time that I have evolved, the change I made stronger. At age 21, after the European Championship, I had more injuries, everything has been less continuous and cost me more progress.

Child Prodigy?

DB.-First things first. His first season in the first team, with 17 years is not a team anyone ...
"It was a great team. 'The Invincibles', who came to win the Premiership without losing a single match. I started there and was between 15 and 18 more games where we knew no defeat. That year I played 51 games and many starts. The truth is that I feel a little part of that record, a total of 49 league games without defeat.

DB .- Is the best team he has played?
"No doubt. Wow, is that it goes without thinking. It was a year in which I evolved a lot. Even I sometimes wonder whether it was better at 17 than now. When you realize that you see, what happens is that before playing on a winning team and was impressive. Felt that if you made a bad game it was okay because your partner you solved it. Those players made you better. I've always said, as that team, either.

The Invincibles

DB .- things have changed a lot. Do you feel pressure now have to always offer the best version?
"Yes, yes, man, of course. That I have it very clear, which I pass failure on the man everyone has on the eyes. I hate to say but it's true. If I play bad, I feel the responsibility and pressure from the fans. It's something I had not ever happened but since I'm captain this is reality.Only Van Persie and I stayed in that generation, and we like a lot of responsibility. But it is what it is.

DB. "But I do not deny that something like ...
- Of course I like it! What happens is that sometimes it is too. Why? Because football is a team game. Nobody wins games alone. You win two or three throughout the course but not a title. Sometimes all that surrounds me is oversized but it is the responsibility of leading a team that is very young. The most important thing for me is that injuries to respect me because otherwise it is very complicated. And the continuity is what made me get where I am.

Arsenal DB. "This is a very young team but from the outside gives the impression that it always is. Is not it a loop?
"Look, I believe that the key is in a good combination. So I feel very, very fortunate to have played in the great team where I started.Because I was alone, also Van Persie, and the two were growing watching our idols. We learned from the best. Now it's different because we are all too young to have a person say, Guaaau!

DB. "Well, now the youth of the team are set and want to learn from you ...
- That and I do not know but I have only 23 years and that's important to remember. I started as soon as you appear to have 27 or 28. Then you look and I have a long way to go. So I was very lucky. Young people learned from the greats. It is now more complicated. Wilshere if you put the computer on which I played before ... is different. Do not say it is neither better nor worse. Before there were references, winning players, stronger and faster she learned playing with them.

DB .- Do you mind to associate the name of Wenger to him like someone who guides his steps, which decides for you?
"Man, he is the boss, I have a contract and he has every right in the world to decide. But the truth is no. You can see or interpret from the outside but not so. I always speak openly and honestly and he accepts quite what I say.

Wenger and Fabregas

"It seems DB. have to find a 'guilty' that you follow in the Arsenal ...
I do not know but it seems that if I do not step now I will not ever give. I have 23 years and if I go this summer, I'll have 24, if I go to the other, I 25; if I go to the other, 26, and if I go to another 27! Things have to bear with patience and bide our time. The day I leave Arsenal I will head, not because. Besides, who says you're going to play on the new computer? Or maybe you do not evolve. I here I have the good fortune to a personal level, despite not winning a lot, I'm getting very strong. Puyol and I talk to tells me that to 26 did not win anything.Puyol, who has won everything in the world of football! Patience and work is most important in life.

DB .- How is it that a technician as Wenger, who has not won anything for so many years, remains as little question?
"Man, it is now easier to understand because I've been here for many years. But it is clear that if you come from Spain and tell Emery, Guardiola and Mourinho who will be three years without winning anything is assumed that they will not follow. But here is different, the coach is a smart person and the club appreciates other things, that the team is always in the Champions League, which fights to the end, which serve young people, economic stability. I guess for the presidents that is important. Although I imagine there will be a time when you have to take the plunge ... Or win or not win.
DB. "That was getting at. The label accompanying the Arsenal is' never win anything but ... What soccer practice! ".
"It's true. When I started we won the Cup and then we reached the final of the Champions League, well, we do not win but you say, 'Ostia', you have won one less and Barcelona in the last minute. Do not give it as a victory but think, is the first time the club reached the final of the Champions League, have played millions of players here and we've got us. But from 2007 I already started to say that the''do not win but we played very well.'' And then you realize it does not work. Enjoy, during a phase of the championship, as this year, for example, when we were in four different competitions. And say, if I have it all! But after missing that final point and it is here where you have to make a decision: Either go to win or to train players.


DB. "Last year, following the departure of Adebayor, you explode as a scorer. What happened?
"Well, I changed my position. I'm playing more than playmaker, last year was the first in that position. I felt very good physically and most goals came when he was with Van Persie up. I get along very well with him for his way of interpreting the game.

DB .- Do you feel comfortable in this position?
"I still think that my position is a little delayed. Because you see the football face, give support, move fast ... In short, you participate more. Now all teams know me and I put a guy back. I'm not a player used to turn around and get back. Now I'm used to, do not play as many balls but I have more chance of giving the final pass and score. If the team needs me here because I loved it.

DB. I do not know if in this respect the emergence of Wilshere will be influenced. The kid is on everyone's lips.
"Normal is a great player. I love, going to crack. It is very strong for his age. I wish I had the leg strength he has. To which matures and improving the pass will be a great player.

DB. He assembled quite a stir because Guardiola said that the subsidiary had many Barca players like Wilshere. I do not know if it will seem a lot but what is clear is that next year will be Thiago Alcántara FC Barcelona first team. What do you know him?
"As speech is a great player. I've only seen a few minutes into the first team. But with little and you realize you have an incredible quality, is one of those players who do not know very well that position does. You can play attacking midfielder because he has dribbling and vision of the game but it can have an organizer. Let's see how it is defined over the years. I think it will be good for Barcelona and the Spanish team.

DB.-Fernando Torres to Chelsea ... Did you expected?
No! The truth is that how it happened, in so few hours, not what I expected. I imagined Torres outside the Premiership, but also to leave mid-season. But: I have clearly been a good decision.
DB .- And if you come to Chelsea with the millions made by Torres Cesc wondering, what do you do?
- Me? Paint pictures! Do not paint anything.

DB. "You know what I mean: imagine you are trying to convince an ambitious project ...
"Do not you see. If one day I'm leaving for Arsenal will never sign for another English team. Quite sure.

DB. He had heard the hype about Jon Toral, another player in Barca's youth system which has recently joined Arsenal. Were you surprised by criticism of his coach, given the similarity of his case?
"I think this makes the whole world. I was the first, yes, but there have been other cases that have transcended both. Manchester United also won Pique. Here the only thing that is clear is that in Barcelona there are homegrown real good that can come to play in the elite, 60% likely. But not everyone will do at the club and some players are aware of it.

DB .- Do you it was?
"Look, in the Barcelona first team reach the privileged: the Xavi, the Puyol. And then there are the superprivileged, Busquets and Pedro, they've won the lottery. They've worked but now a coach and told them, 'you play tomorrow. " This does not happen much. I have many friends who are still in Barca B, and Víctor Vázquez. Believe me, some were better than me. But you have to choose. Each finds his way.

Now that you have read the whole interview,you can see that the British Tabloids are a bunch of Cunts writing anything to sell their papers.


Also I would like to apologize to Abhishek Biswas,a dear friend.The earlier version of the interview I posted  was actually translated by him and it took him quite sometime and I,just to save some time searching for the Spanish Article in the morning just reblogged it.Sorry Mate,really thought your version was a google translation.Sincere apologies..Took some time,but this is the GOOGLE TRANSLATION.

You should Check his BLOG out 'From the Heart of a Gooner'He is a Top Gooner and a Wilshere lover :).Follow him on Twitter.

Also i would appreciate it if you readers shared this on Facebook or Tweeted about this post.A lot more people need to read about this and understand how the media twists everything.


You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook and Twitter.Happy Good Friday folks and have a wonderful day ahead.