Making it Pro

Right now, America is in the middle of Football season - That's American football, not soccer.

To a foreigner, like myself, there are two types of American football fans:

The pro fan and the college fan.

In South Carolina, the enthusiasm for American football is exemplified by the fact that non-alumni are far more ferocious in defense of their university team than the students are. Is this hypocritical? Of course, but then so is college football. The university pretends that their team consists of outstanding athlete/students playing American football in between lectures and classes.

The college fan, on the other hand, knows that the NCAA is just the NFL's minor league. That most of the juiced-up morons playing for the likes of Clemson, find it hard to work out the New York City subway system with a map in their hand, let alone sit through a lecture on Kant or Keynes.

Only one or two college athletes turn professional. The rest, graduate with a no expenses paid bachelor degree or drop out into obscurity, wanking over their high school days where they were cream of the cunts.

Every summer, Arsenal take on about 10 new full time apprentice professionals, who in almost every way have given up leading a normal life. The apprentices have two years to prove to Liam Brady and his staff that they are worthy of a professional contract.

In many ways, the apprentices had decided, many years ago, to give up on living a normal lifestyle. From the moment Arsenal approached them, which for some was as young as 9 years old, they had lost interest in school work or any other educational advancement. Their life was now consumed by soccer and making it pro. By at least 15 years old, all of the new apprentices had been coaxed, coached and encouraged in almost every way - except financially - to sign professional apprentice forms for Arsenal.

Of the 10 apprentices signed, only one will sign pro forms with Arsenal. Three of four others might make it pro at other clubs lower down the leagues. But probably none of them will ever be a first team regular. The rest, who get offered nothing, will probably end up at 18 without a job in soccer and unqualified for anything else.

The earliest any professional club can offer a pro contract to an apprentice is 17 years old. Most get offered a pro contract at 18. Only the exceptionally gifted get offered a contract at 17. The maximum length of time a pro-club can offer a 17 year old, in his first pro contract, is 4 years. At 18, they can can sign a 5 year contract.

So if Arsenal offer a 17 year old a pro contract, he must be very good. If they offer him a 4 year deal, then he is exceptional and will probably make it to the first team.

Below is the list of 17 year old's who were offered 4 year contracts by Arsenal:

Cesc
Walcott
Djourou
Ramsey
Merida
Nordtveit
Gibbs
Wilshire

Keep it Arsenal

Something To Think About

Two stories have grabbed my attention this week. They involve issues that we’ve already discussed and that I have vowed not to revisit, but based on what I’ve read I have to make an exception. Please bear with me.

Before I continue, let’s be clear. I am not asking anybody to forgive Emmanuel Adebayor because of a few quotes attributed to him. I just want to know the impact (if any) that his comments have had on you as an Arsenal fan and more importantly, as a rational adult.

Generally speaking, in life we can be in one of three mental states – child, judge, or adult. It’s in our adult state that we find reason and make sound decisions. Obviously, our former striker was not in any state to act rationally when he raked Robin van Persie’s cheek. And he was probably just as far from rational when he sprinted to the away fans to let them have some of what Arry and a few others would argue that they deserved.

Speaking about his assault on Robin, Adebayor has been quoted as follows: 'It's one of the things that you can't do in football. That's for sure. It's true that if someone did that to me it would annoy and hurt me. I regret it, for sure.'

Not exactly an apology but nor a denial of the fact that he focked up. I’m not sure if it’s enough. But am I the one to judge?

On his confrontational stance with Arsenal fans, he stated the following: 'I talked with the coach and he told me I was one of Arsenal's best-paid players, that the club was in the red, so maybe they wouldn't be able to pay me any more - it would be better for me to go. I asked him: Is it your choice or the club's?"

'He answered: "It's everybody's choice, from the whole club". I was pushed out.'

He continued, 'Everybody says Adebayor went for the money. I think a lot of people are wrong because Arsenal bought me for five or six million and they sold me three-and-a-half years later for £25million. So people should know that it's not me who wanted to leave for money, it's Arsenal that forced me to go.'

I doubt Arsenal fans care that Adebayor has made an attempt to set the record straight about his departure from the club managed by the man he has said, ‘gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. ' I also doubt that they care any at all that he took offence to chants insulting his mother. Frankly, I don’t know the chant he’s referring to. Honestly, I don’t. The only Adebayor chant I know is the one sung when he was in full flow for Arsenal, scoring goals and helping the team win games - the one he once stated that he longed for, the one that he should have tried hard enough to hear from the fans in his last days at the club, whether he was ripe for selling or not. That would have been the adult thing to do.

As much as Adebayor is offended by insults hurled at his mother, he must remain professional. He must remain in his adult state. He must not judge the fans. He reacted like a child and then judged the fans.

I’ve long accepted that he is not worth the energy. He’s gone. He’s not our problem anymore but I just had to ask the questions.

The second issue deals with Eduardo and that penalty vs. Celtic. The Eduardo issue showed a lot of people up for who they really are. Again, let’s be clear. I don’t like when players feign fouls to win penalties, or worse, to get an opponent sent off. I accept however that it happens and that my team may or may not be on the “right” side of the outcome. Eduardo fell over easily but the acrimony that followed went beyond anything that the “crime” (and certainly not the player) deserved.

I’ve read an interesting piece by Tony Gahan. He compares Eduardo’s situation to that of Steven Gerrard in a ‘What If’ manner that I found worth contemplating.

World Cup Final England v (insert name of hated country here - so many to choose from). 0 - 0 in the 93rd minute and Stevie G is hacked down in the box - clear penalty and he bravely picks himself up to score from the spot. The 44 year wait is over and England are World Champions at last. But wait - some of the foreign media are claiming that Stevie dived - surely not? How could this be - the goalkeeper comes out and takes his... oh dear, no contact made at all? Stevie will be a little disappointed with that when he sees it again. Still, it’s only the (insert name of hated country here) so that's OK - but wait here comes FIFA with a life ban for Stevie as he stumbles out of the celebratory party at 4am with JT and the boys and an instruction to replay the game later that day. We must stand up to cheats they say - of all countries surely you English understand? Without Stevie a slightly worse for wear England lose 4-0 - a victory for honesty and fair play says the world and who are we to argue? The moral high ground has just become a very lonely and dangerous place to dwell!

I stress that I am in foreign waters here. I’ve asked questions that are probably best answered by psychologists. I’ve touched on the implications of the proverbial shoe being on the other foot. I don’t know what side of either debate you fall on but both examples put focus on how much our stance on an issue is influenced by our own stake in the matter.

Not Welcome

Sol Campbell is set to train with Arsenal in a bid to revive his career.

He is a member of the Invincibles squad, but has ceased to be thought of fondly in my eyes.

Sol Campbell walked out of Arsenal and Highbury at half time of a match where he was brutally slaughtered by West Ham.

He subsequently asked for his release on the condition that he would go abroad to prolong his football career. He signed with Portsmouth soon after.

The fact that he's being allowed to do this is solely down to the affection that Wenger feels for his older players.

He claimed, during his 13th anniversary interview, that 99% of his players have been a joy to work with. Any guess as to who falls into that 1% bracket? I'll venture a guess that two of them are English, but they're not Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole.

Halloween

The image above should make you sick. It came about last year, after Spurs equalized in injury time at The Emirates Stadium, after coming back from 4-2 down.

That day felt worse than a death in the family. Revenge will take place on Halloween.

Enough of Spurs and moving on to Sunday's 6-2 win against Cuntburn Rovers. There's a couple of things I want to bring up:

If a goalkeeper takes a long free kick/punt on the edge of his own penalty area, then the defending team has to push up high to create an offside trap in order to stop attacking headers in their own penalty area.

Arsenal's defense failed to do this on Blackburn's first goal. That worried me.

Blackburn's second goal was down to a lucky deflection.

Blackburn's third, which never happened, should have come from a penalty decision that never happened. First, Gallas was too lackadasical in the challenge on Dunne. Then, Vermaelen hurried his challenge, instead of holding back a little and committed a blatant penalty. Cesc had Vermaelen covered, in case the already unbalanced Dunne had got past him. Communication is key when it comes to defending.

It was obviously lacking for Arsenal at that point.

Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty against Manchester United when Darren Fletcher brought down Andrey Arshavin. Rooney dived in that same game and won Manchester United a penalty. Eduardo was deemed to have dived against Celtic so you could argue that events even themselves out. Except, Eduardo got a mountain of flak and a ban for his so called dive but Rooney got away with his, because he's England's only hope in the World Cup this summer.

Celtic, by the way, have lost all of my respect.

Arsenal has on paper, a reasonable run of games ahead of them. Birmingham City at home should be 3 points. So should West Ham away. The North London derby against the Scum is on Halloween. Remember last year? 4-4 it finished after Arsenal were leading 4-2 until the 89th minute. Remember David Bentley's goal/celebration at the end. Now, that's a game I want revenge from.

There are no Arsenal games until October 17th because of World Cup qualifiers. There are, however, some interesting World Cup qualifiers. Russia v Germany; Argentina v Peru; Denmark v Sweeden; Honduras v USA; Ireland v Italy.

Let's hope that the Arsenal players come back injury free.

Keep it Arsenal

Post Match View - Blackburn Rovers F.C.

I've tried to think of the most difficult result to stomach from matches when Sam Allardyce was the opposition's manager. There were many. I couldn't target just one. His teams have frustrated us over the years. Simply put, I don't like the man. He epitomizes everything I feel is wrong with the traditional English approach to football.

Frankly, for a league that trumpets how it is the best in the world, I find it hard to accept that managers like Sam Allardyce are still employed in the EPL. Worse, when a team that plays the style of football that Arsenal does is challenged not by a similar approach with emphasis on technique, movement, and passing but by pushing the envelope and trying to get away with as much physical, rough play as possible, I have to ask how it helps the league's profile.

This touches on a different issue for a different day but Sam Allardyce does English football's progress no favors at all.

The week leading up to the home fixture vs. Blackburn was dominated by Arsene becoming the longest standing manager in Arsenal history. And all the plaudits are fully deserved. Few would argue that.

For me it was fitting that the celebration climaxed with a match against a thorny if not despicable opponent, Sam Allardyce. Fitting was how Blackburn literally jumped to an early lead - Vermaelen was beaten well by the taller Steven N'zonzi in as picture-book an illustration of Route One football as you'll ever see - only for us to equalize with a terrific strike by Vermaelen himself.

Fitting was how David Dunn (who at one point did his best Toni Schumacher imitation to take out Vito Mannone) would put his side ahead, only for us to come back just three minutes later with Robin scoring an equalizer. That's three in three matches for van Persie. All of them key goals as well.

It was fitting that Thierry Henry would be in attendance to watch us put six in Paul Robinson's net. Mind, if it weren't for Robinson, we'd have scored even more. It should be said that we escaped a few close calls ourselves but there was no doubting which the better team was.

It was fitting that Theo would score and look as fresh as can be. He's come back and contributed to us beating a team that we should beat. Dropping points to the lesser sides does not help title chasers.

It was fitting that Niklas Bendtner who escaped a car crash would come on and score. He could and should have scored twice. Having added the sixth, he became the sixth different player to net for us in the macth.

It was fitting that Andrei scored as well. I loved how he quickly responded with threats to Robinson's goal almost immediately after we went down 1 -0. He and Robin could be setting up for a tight race for leading scorer. I still feel he hasn't got out of third gear yet. That is scary.

It was fitting that Cesc responded to doubts about his commitment to the club with a goal and four assists. Clearly a Man of the Match display. The badge kissing may be a tired, over-used gesture but it was nice to see. Let's enjoy him while he's with us and just forget the back to Spain stuff.

The most fitting of all was the look on Allardyce's face towards the end of the match. I never forget who my enemies are. I'll never forget the look of anguish and helplessness on his face on the day we celebrated our greatest manager.

Let that be a lesson to you Mr. Allardyce. Respect Arsene Wenger for the great manager and the great human being that he is. You can do worse than to try and emulate him. But you won't try to because it's not in you to do things with the class and dignity that Wenger oozes.

Go back to your cave Mr. Allardyce. You do football no favors.

Slaughter the Right People

I had no intention of bringing up Emmanuel Adebayor in any way ever again. He's dead to me. However, when he was let off the hook based on the "extreme provocation" by the Arsenal fans, I feel a duty to defend our cluster of fans who were there that day.

I have been extremely critical of Arsenal fans in the past. I think the fact that the Emirates empties out before matches conclude is utterly disgraceful. I think their treatment of certain players goes beyond what would be construed as constructive criticism. I don't mean just the fans who attend matches at the Emirates, I mean the armchair managers at pubs also.

But, I have nothing negative to say about our away support. They are die-hard Gooners who understand the difference between slaughtering a player and supporting a player. In fact, I'm dead certain that they are the ones who have backed Adebayor and Eboue during their low ebbs with our club.

These fans have been pointed to as the mitigating factor for the favorable decision going Manchester City's way. There have been reports that these fans have chanted racist songs at Adebayor. Some have even suggested that they threw bananas at Adebayor, a claim also falsely channeled by El Hadji Diouf at Everton fans. I wasn't at the ground obviously, but I've read that these things are simply untrue. They gave Adebayor stick, but wouldn't you be tempted to as well if you had read all the things that Adebayor had said about our club after he left us. Now, there is no way to really condone the things that some fans did when he celebrated in front of us, but that has to be understood within the context.

You have people like Harry Redknapp saying that Adebayor was justified in giving us the stick back. He claims that if we racially abused him, Adebayor was just giving it back. A bit rich from Redknapp considering it was the Scum who originated the Elephant Chant about Adebayor. Redknapp also slates Tevez for not celebrating against West Ham claiming that Tevez has no history with West Ham so what does it matter. Well, for the record, Tevez was voted Player of the Year by the West Ham fans that year and remains a cult hero for helping stave off relegation that year. I guess that's no history, huh Harry? You're just bitter because your nephew gets rightly slaughtered every time they play against Chelsea.

Our fans have been targeted as some fierce provocateurs, while the West Ham and Millwall incident goes largely ignored. Our fans are hardly what you would call "hard." And for that reason, I have to stand up and say that they're not worthy of such criticism.

Which leads me to Sam Allardyce, the classless walrus who masquerades as a mastermind.

All sorts of people gave Arsene Wenger praise yesterday. Ranging from promising managers like Roberto Martinez and old war veterans like Neil Warnock, the endorsements came flooding in.

Cue Sam Allardyce talking about how it is some sort of an achievement considering that Wenger has stayed manager for 13 years. It was hardly a ringing endorsement, although the English media said Allardyce was praising Wenger. That was mixed with comments about how he knows how to get at our team and that mutual respect was as far as it went with our manager. Even Allardyce's mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, now admits what a visionary our manager is. In fact, I wonder if Allardyce would even know what ProZone was without Wenger's presence in the Premier League.

To all this, I'll just point out the following:

- Allardyce seems to think that his teams can get results against our team. Well, look deeper and apart from a couple of draws and a defeat, it's largely untrue. Largely helped by a gifted player in Nicolas Anelka, he's just taking the piss if he thinks he knows how to stop our team from scoring.

- Since he left for Newcastle, his reputation has largely diminished. He's a failure, plain and simple. There are those that suggest he should have garnered the England job over Steve McClaren. He failed too, but look what he's doing now opposed to what Allardyce is trying to replicate at Blackburn.

- This Blackburn team is far different from his earlier Bolton sides. He lacks the ideal target man for his primitive offensive schemes, and he lacks the hard men in midfield to keep things tidy. He thinks he's unearthed the next Patrick Vieira in N'Zonzi, but to that, most would ask, "WHO?"

I hate Sam Allardyce. He's a petty, worthless man who has brought nothing to the English game.

On Arsene's 13th anniversary, I would love to see Allardyce reduced to a footnote in Wenger's illustrious history with our beloved Arsenal.

Myles Palmer wrote a book about Arsene Wenger, called The Professor, which was the first of its kind. It gave him kudos and a huge ego. Now he thinks he is the inside voice on evrything Arsenal. He makes claims on his website like a fortune teller on who Arsenal are going to sign and the latest gossip on Arsenal players.

These claims can never be checked and the signings that he says are 100% certain never happen.

He claims that Arsenal are going to sign Veira in January. That Vieira has already passed a medical back in August but he never joined because Arsenal could not get $1 million to Inter Milan on deadline day.

It took me 30 seconds to buy MagicJet on my cellphone. It cost Arsenal $1.8 to buy two 16 year old center backs from Switzerland this summer. It therefore baffles me as to why Arsenal would struggle to find $1 million to buy Vieira or ran out of time to buy him when it takes 30 seconds to buy something off the TV and it costs $1.8 million to sign two Swiss kids.

Now Myles Palmer writes that Wenger doesn't like English players mainly because he doesn't think that kids from a council estate can handle fame and success. It's why Wenger won't play Jack Wilshire.

Jack Wilshire doesn't come from a council estate. Neither does Kieran Gibbs or Theo Walcott.

I hate people like Myles Palmer.

Keep it Arsenal