EPL Talk » Emirates Stadium

Chelsea Are Fast Becoming An Off Field Joke That Could Ruin England’s Summer

Paul Bestall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:23:35 +0000

The Marquis De Sade was never short of a quote or two, but one that currently could be applied to certain members of Chelsea’s first team squad at the current time sprang to mind after today’s latest off field crisis at Stamford Bridge. “Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust.” Now if there is one thing that I can’t abide in these celebrity soaked times, it is the celebrity sex scandal. Unfortunately, at this current time in the U.K., we can’t escape them

Especially when it seems to be a repeat performance emanating from the Kings Road in West London with a tiresome familiarity. Here we are, on the cusp of a World Cup, England’s overrated golden generation’s last chance to justify the guff, spin and marketing spiel that has surrounded them for the last decade. Just when it seemed the correct manager was in place to finally pull these egotistical bottlers to heel and create a side that finally delivered, we discover that several of them just can’t behave.

Now, I’m of the opinion that Ashley Cole is the best left back in world football, by quite some considerable distance, yet he’s such an unlikable character that it’s difficult to keep your personal view of him from tainting that fact. If there was ever a poster boy for what happens when you blow smoke up some one’s backside, throw money at them and allow them to behave as the wish with no thought of the consequences, then Ashley’s the result.

That animosity towards Cole probably began with his very ill advised autobiography, back in 2006 and one particular quote. “When I heard Jonathan Barnett (Cole’s agent) repeat the figure of £55K, I nearly swerved off the road. He (former Arsenal Director David Dein) is taking the piss Jonathan! I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.”

Swapping North London for West London in an undercover deal that was sprung in a restaurant didn’t help either and saw William Gallas swap places for Cole. It seems if you constantly give Cole the sensible option or the detached from reality option, he will always go for the latter much to everyone’s chagrin. Like a moody teenager, Cole seems to be his own worst enemy, creating a personality so loathed that the media queue up to take pop shots at him.

Now, I’m not spinning this tale out due to his wife’s unfeasible success here in the U.K., as it seems she is now held up as the nations sweetheart somehow, but if all this off field nonsense was bad enough, Cole fractured his ankle two weeks ago and faces a race to be fit for the World Cup. Recovery from injury is a tough enough ask, but when you’re faced with both a 15 week window, if not less, to prove his fitness and an impending and very costly divorce, life for young Ashley couldn’t be worse.

Of course, the irony in all this is that one of his dalliances has been outed as an employee of Liverpool F.C. and one lets out a sigh of inane boredom by the sheer stupidity of the situation, entirely of Cole’s own making. Capello has got England playing their best football in years, giving them a swagger and a confidence that had been completely destroyed under the dark 15 months of Steve Mclaren’s reign. I’m not angry that Cole’s cheated on his wife for what seems like the umpteenth time, I’m angry that he’s been stupid enough to put Englands chances of winning the World Cup in jeopardy.

Yes, he may have not got there through injury, but we needed our best team to be completely focused on his football. It seems being married to a pop star, earning £110,000 per week and playing for Chelsea and England simply isn’t enough to keep this mans mind on his game. Going on current form, I doubt he’s got much of mind to use, but still, its like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. It seems that England’s chances are being derailed by the behavior of certain players detached from the position they hold in country’s psyche. Grow up the lot of you, the joke isn’t funny anymore.

A Night At The Emirates: A Fan’s Perspective (Video)

The Gaffer — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:32:00 +0000

If you’re ever wondered what the fan experience is like going to a Premier League soccer match, or what it’s like going to the Emirates Stadium, film director Rohan Blair-Mangat has put together a five-minute video that beautifully captures the sights and sounds of a midweek football match.

Inspired by “Zidane – A 21st Century Portrait,” the video by Blair-Mangat is a unique and immersive documentary. Shot with a single camera (Canon 7D) on February 10, 2010 during the game against Liverpool, the film is about the Arsenal matchday experience from the perspective of the fans.

Hat tip: 101 Great Goals.

Chelsea Expose Flaws Of Arsenal And Their Beautiful Game

The Gaffer — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:03:59 +0000

Chelsea is a machine. Indestructible. Precise. Physical. Flawless. Arsenal is the total opposite. They’re more fluid, and play a beautiful brand of football that is easy on the eye. When the two opposing forces came together on Sunday afternoon, few would have predicted how Chelsea completely tore the Gunners apart, leaving behind an Arsenal side that looked lifeless on the green, wet pitch at Emirates Stadium.

If this wasn’t proof that Chelsea is going to run away with the Premier League title, I don’t know what is. In fact, I’ll go on record as saying that there’s no other team in Europe right now that can stop them from winning the Champions League trophy. Yes, they’re that good.

The most impressive aspect of Chelsea’s performance today was not up front where they scored three goals, but in defense. Chelsea’s defending was spectacular. But it wasn’t just the marking or the way their players came back to crowd the penalty box that impressed me the most, it was the pure physicality of Chelsea’s defense. And not physical in a negative way. Chelsea were physically bigger and stronger than Arsenal’s players who looked like pipsqueaks and were easily knocked off the ball (Nasri, Fabregas, Vela, Arshavin, Walcott, Denilson, Eduardo, and so on).

To be fair to Arsenal, the goal that the Gunners scored that was disallowed should have been ruled a goal. But as is often the case, annoyingly so, the referee gave an unfair advantage to Petr Cech despite Eduardo’s fair challenge for the ball. Despite that unfortunate decision by the ref, Arsenal will not be looking forward to the potential enquiry from the Football Association after one of their spectators threw a hand-held camera on to the pitch. Plus after Drogba scored Chelsea’s first goal, a rain of objects were thrown on the pitch including plastic bottles.

Calling Chelsea a machine is not meant to take anything away from how skillful Ancelotti’s side is. It’s just how perfect they seem to play their football in an almost machine-like manner where it seems impossible to beat them. Manchester United looks human next to Chelsea, capable of making basic errors and full of weaknesses, while Chelsea cruise forward seemingly with ease.

For Arsenal, it was another oh-so familiar game of football. Despite maintaining a lionshare of possession throughout the game, the side looks wimpy, was guilty of not taking shots when they had opportunities, took too many touches of the ball and appeared too predictable when moving forward. In comparison to Chelsea, the Blues were more direct with their football, more spontaneous and looked far more threatening when they had the ball in the final third.

Even with the addition of Theo Walcott, Arsenal lacked an explosive spark. The young Englishman who played down the right wing was far too reminiscent of a meandering Shaun Wright-Phillips as Walcott cruised down the wing but couldn’t do anything with the ball, often losing it underfoot or failing to get in a decisive cross.

Simply put, Arsenal was outplayed by a brilliant Chelsea side that achieved a massive psychological advantage of destroying the Gunners on their own turf. If Arsenal looked this bad at the Emirates, imagine how good Chelsea will look when they play the return match at Stamford Bridge.

So while Chelsea supporters, players and personnel will not admit it, the Premier League title is definitely in Chelsea’s bag and it’s not even the beginning of December yet. Chelsea is five points ahead of United, but in all reality Chelsea is miles in front of Manchester United in terms of confidence and performances. After all, Chelsea have now beaten Arsenal 3-0, Liverpool 2-0 and Manchester United 1-0. I don’t see anyone stopping them now.

Photo credit: Soccergoalx1.

Arsenal Hit By Double Injury Blow Just As Walcott Returns

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:53:25 +0000

Just when Arsene Wenger thought his injury problems were behind him, with Theo Walcott looking likely to return to first team action this week, Nicklas Bendtner decides to off road in his Aston Martin on the way to training on an empty road and Denilson has had a fractured bone in his back confirmed by Arsenal’s medical team.

Thankfully, Bendtner seems to be simply bruised and battered and no doubt a little shook up by his little escapade on the A1 yesterday on his way to training. Wenger seems to be taking a safety first option with the young striker, whilst he’ll miss tomorrow’s Champions League game against Olympiakos he should be back for the weekend fixture against Blackburn.

It’s unfortunate as his performance in the comeback against Standard Liege was probably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt since he’s been at the club. He was fantastic, pulling the Liege defence all over the place and dragging the Gunners back in to the match. he’s certainly been playing well this season and it’s a disruption he could do without.

The news about Denilson sounds a little more serious and it’s unusual as its taken over two weeks to confirm the injury he sustained against Manchester City. He has been extremely impressive so far this season, capped with wonderful goal in the 6-1 rout of Everton on the first weekend of the Premiership season. His work rate, passing and distribution have kept Arsenal ticking along despite the defeats to both halves of Manchester’s footballing rivalry.

After the progress he made last season, and the consistency he seems to finally have added to his undoubted talent, it’s a real shame. He’s pencilled in to return in time for the clash with Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday November 29th. To be honest, the run Arsenal have over the next 2 months, they’ll be happier with the quality of the opposition they face in the period he’ll be missing than later in the season.

December and January will be tough on most clubs, but Arsenal have to play Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton as well as their favourite away trip to Bolton Wanderers. At least they don’t have to go to Blackburn or play the return of the Gunners new grudge match against Manchester City.

Walcott’s return can’t come soon enough for the young lad BUT he really needs to ease himself back into action. Whilst he may have fallen behind Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright Phillips in the England pecking order, he needs to focus on returning to a consistent level of performance for Arsenal first. He doesn’t need to worry too much about England, they’ve already qualified for the World Cup.

With his attributes as either a winger, a striker or even playing as right midfield, Walcott has options few other players can match. Fabio Capello is quite aware of the qualities Walcott can bring to the England team, he simply needs to concentrate on getting a good, consistent season for Arsenal. If he manages that, he should easily be in the 23 man squad that goes out to South Africa come June next year.

Fabregas and Horton Prepare For Round Two

Paul Bestall — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:57:56 +0000

So, the FA have finally come out and asked Arsenal to respond within 7 days to Hull City and their Assistant Manger, Brian Horton’s, accusations that Cesc Fabregas spat at him in the tunnel. I’m amazed on several fronts, firstly the FA have managed to start an enquiry in the same month an actual incident happened, the fact that a little club ( as viewed by Soho Square) are actually going to get a chance to state their case to the FA and that we already have a lawyer already involved on Hull City’s side. Advice has been sought so now it’s in the FA’s hands.

What intrigues me and always has done, is the way that spitting in football is so frowned upon. Now, don’t get me wrong here, I’m no fan of spitting, but the ire that incidents like this create for such a minuscule display of immaturity and petulance still surprises me. Spitting just seems to fire so many people up, I could understand it 20-30 years ago, but still it probably attracts such anger from fans, pundits and the people on the receiving end of the projectiles.

Of course, the first real spitting incident I remember was this little gem, Rudi Voller still remains the only player I know to get sent off for being spat on and it was one of the major talking points of Italia 90. Yet, this new little tete a tete between Horton and Fabregas is unusual, now anyone who saw the pictures of Fabregas on the pitch that night can’t deny that he was certainly pumped up at the end of the game, but did he really have the audacity to then try and spit on Horton? Fabregas has denied it and claimed he’s never spat at anyone on a pitch, but something certainly happened between him and Michael Ballack once before. (Check it on Youtube, I’d include a link but the video has a soundtrack with some choice words, so just be careful where you watch it.)

Yet, just because he was pumped up after the match doesn’t make him guilty through pulling strange faces. I’ll be very disappointed either way when the story comes to it’s conclusion, but if he is guilty, what punishment will be given. It would surely be classed as ungentlemanly conduct, which I believe carries a 3 game ban, something Arsenal do not need right now. With a possibility of Arsenal playing in potentially 15 games, including Champions League and FA Cup matches and with him almost back to full fitness, Wenger will be counting on Fabregas to come into the team to give them a boost in the final two months of the season, he does not need him banning at this point of the season. If he did spit at Horton, then Wenger should throw the book at him, I hope he does.

Yet, I can’t see why Horton and Brown would lie about something like this, it’s a pretty concrete accusation to make about someone and the dossier that was sent to the FA is fairly substantial. Something definitely happened in the tunnel, so let’s hope the FA can work through the accusations and allegations and draw a line under the debacle and we can get back to football.

Why Chelsea Needs to Move to Battersea Power Station

The Gaffer — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:04:11 +0000

Ever since The Observer newspaper reported that Chelsea were seriously contemplating a move from Stamford Bridge in west London to a new stadium site next to Battersea Power Station, executives at the Blues have been acting very fidgety.

First, some background. The distance between the two locations is exactly three miles, but psychologically the locations are worlds apart. Stamford Bridge is in the very affluent boroughs between Hammersmith and Fulham. Battersea is south of the Thames river in the borough of Wandsworth. Chelsea is synonymous with the fashionable shops of nearby King’s Road. Battersea is best known for the Battersea Power Station, made famous for being featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album, Animals (pictured above). While the power station is a London landmark, it is so for all of the wrong reasons — giant smokestacks that pierce the London skyline.

So how and why have Chelsea been acting weird about the whole situation? First, Chelsea were very quick to deny the story but they contradicted themselves in the first two sentences of the official statement. The first sentence read “This story is total nonsense.” The second sentence then read “Chelsea is not actively considering moving to this site in Battersea.” The emphasis on the words “not actively” were added by me, but the message is clear. Chelsea is not refuting that they’re examining Battersea as an option. They’re just using doublespeak to diffuse the situation before Chelsea supporters become enraged at the thought of leaving their sacred home where they’ve been since 1905.

Three miles may not seem like much, but it’s a one hour walk from Stamford Bridge to Battersea Power Station. But more importantly, it’s a big psychological difference. North of the River Thames is synonymous with riches. South of the river Thames signifies the working class. As you move further outside the city centre of London to the west and the east, the north south divide becomes less important. But near the heart of London, it’s a massive deal.

Don’t forget that Arsenal played their early part of their existence in Plumstead, nestled south of the River Thames before they moved to north London and Highbury in 1913. That was after property magnate and Fulham chairman Henry Norris tried to merge Fulham and Arsenal together, but failed. By moving Arsenal to north London, Norris rescued the club from certain bankruptcy and extinction.

Here’s a satellite image of London to show how close but far apart Stamford Bridge is to Battersea. Notice how the smokestacks from the power station cast a shadow over the Thames directly above and to the left of Battersea, identified by the letter B below.

Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon was interviewed yesterday on Sky Sports and was asked about the stadium move. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a video of the interview, but you can tell from the following interview about Chelsea’s financial situation that Kenyon appears uncomfortable answering the question and is quite fidgety.

The potential move from west London to Battersea must be of huge interest to Roman Abramovich especially considering that the Russian billionaire holding’s have lost as much as $20 billion in paper value according to one source. The opportunity for Abramovich to redevelop Stamford Bridge into luxury apartments is immense. According to The Observer, “While Highbury is one of the more expensive areas of the capital in which to buy property, it is dwarfed by the value of land at Stamford Bridge’s west London location. While Arsenal were restricted to 711 apartments at Highbury, as the old stadium was a listed building, Stamford Bridge has no such limitations. With its far greater area, including the club’s Chelsea Village complex and extensive parking, at least 1,000 properties could be built.”

Despite Chelsea’s denials, the potential move from Stamford Bridge to the site next to Battersea Power Station makes economic sense. It would provide the Blues with a state-of-the-art stadium with a much larger capacity than the current Stamford Bridge (capacity 42,055), which doesn’t have much room – if any – for redevelopment. It would establish Chelsea as a much bigger Premier League heavyweight with a ground closer in size to the two biggest club stadiums, Manchester United’s Old Trafford (capacity 76,212) and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (capacity 60,000).

For Chelsea, it makes economic sense and is a move that the club and its fans seriously need to consider. Roman Abramovich won’t be around forever. Chelsea needs to start planning its financial future today to cope when Abramovich isn’t there to sustain the club. Battersea Power Station may be the answer.

Arsenal Desperate For The Transfer Window

Josh Allen — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:05:48 +0000

Another promoted side, another embarrassing defeat for the Gunners and the north London side look like they have taken a step back after being out muscled at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. Back are the bad old days for Gunners fans when they were pushed off the park by the likes of Bolton and Blackburn. Whilst they managed to overcome those teams this season it was same old same old for Arsene Wenger’s men as they were well truly beaten by a side that are one of the favourites to go down.

With Manchester United travelling to north London on Saturday the young guns look to be well and truly out of their depth in terms of a title challenge. There are even fears that they may not make it into the Champions League next season if their current form continues. The football odds now place Arsenal at 20/1 to win the Premier League and with a difficult month to come those odds may be even longer by the time we head into December.

The Gunners face Man Utd, Chelsea and Aston Villa in November with Man City away not an easy match either. Despite Wenger’s faith in his young squad it seems glaringly obvious to everyone that Arsenal need a) a midfield general and b) a leader. Perhaps the French manager is now praying that the transfer window will open early so he can draft in the players he needs but something tells me he will stick with what he has got.

Wenger’s gamble to stick with his current squad will be nothing short of a massive gamble because there is no doubt that Arsenal could attract any number of quality players. Whilst Wenger’s faith in his young squad is admirable patience is begging to wear thin around the Emirates with the ‘transition’ period from the last title winning squad to the next one taking longer than the fans may have expected. A trophy of some kind will be a necessity this season, although as the Premier League odds suggest they are going to be at least fourth in the pecking order for the FA and Carling Cup, being even further down the ladder when it comes to the Champions League.

This Saturday’s game against the reigning Premier League champions will be a good measuring stick of how far Arsenal still have to go before they can be considered title contenders. Whilst you can not totally write of the Gunners for the weekend, and an expected win in mid week against Fenerbache will certainly help boost confidence levels, it’s hard to see how they will overcome Sir Alex Ferguson’s team. For the time being Arsenal will be an exciting team to watch and when they turn it on a brilliant footballing side but for the time being Wenger’s men will have to watch on as the other three of the big four divide up the trophies.

Farewell To Highbury: Arsenal Video

The Gaffer — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:00:34 +0000

Highbury, one of the most remarkable grounds in the history of English football, will never be forgotten by the millions of people who have experienced a match inside its hallowed walls.

For those of you who want to go down memory lane, whether you’ve visited the ground or not, watch the following video that captures the beauty of Arsenal’s ground, which was their home from 1913 to 2006.

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