Arsenal link roundup for Sunday, May 23

by Ted Harwood on May 23, 2010 1:08 PM EDT

There is quite a lot of talk out there this weekend about the Cesc Fábregas "deal", as one would imagine. The pundits have come out in full force in the UK Sunday papers; A Cultured Left Foot has a good roundup of these, and rather than give them links directly, it is perhaps better to read Yogi Warrior's summation of them over there. Here, though, are some more links that are certainly worth pointing out:

Actually, the usually solid Patrick Barclay in the Times offers a counterbalance to the free-market gloom surrounding Fábregas.
The Guardian has picked up a report that a Nigerian billionaire named Aliko Dangote is set to make a bid for Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith's 16% share of Arsenal. This bodes well for our current stable multiple-owner model (all jokes about wealthy Nigerians and email scams aside).
The official Arsenal site has interviews with both Arsène Wenger and Marouane Chamakh up for view.
Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledges who his real rivals are/were (hint: it's not Mourinho).
Dara O'Briain, a wonderful comedian and humorist, gives his final column for the Guardian his usual soft touch and smart thinking.
Zonal Marking has a wonderful, deep analysis of yesterday's Champions League final, which should make for interesting reading for Arsenal fans. It's food for thought, whatever one's stance on tactics is.
And finally, it's not the best quality, but here's a cure for the Mourinho blues (harhar), courtesy of Mr. Ljungberg.

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My favorite part of that goal

Apart from it being amazing is Lee Dixon sprinting out from behind the goal to celebrate

by Scrupio on May 23, 2010 2:02 PM EDT reply actions

Ah Freddie

God I miss that side. For my money Freddie and Super Bob were as good a pair of wingers as footballs ever seen.

On an aside, not sure if anyone watched the Final Saturday, but I have two observations:

1. I love football in HD. I wish comcast out here would get the FSC HD channel.

2. I hate Mourinho with a white-hot passion. The man has spent 100MM on the world’s best players at two clubs and has them playing kick-and-rush. Sure, they’re wonderful defensively, but its a horrible spectacle for the neutral. Certainly the fact that he keeps managing clubs I never had much love for in the first place doesn’t hurt, but man alive his teams play unattractive, insipid football.

Also, I hate to say it, but SAF only makes nice about Wenger in interviews these days because he doesn’t consider us a threat.

My twitter.

Things fall apart, its scientific.

by pjtopor on May 24, 2010 12:12 AM EDT reply actions

I would gladly watch Arsenal play unattractive football if it ended in a treble like Inter has this year

The object of the game is to win, not to look pretty. Arsenal have spent many years playing flowing, attractive, uninsipid football and they have nothing to show for it, so if you offered me the choice right now I’d say bring on the ugly if it gets results like Mourinho gets.

by pdb on May 24, 2010 2:43 AM EDT up reply actions

but if you don't win

it’s awful. Like with George Graham. Either Arsenal won 1-0, or it would be 1-1 or 0-1, but whatever it was, it would be awful

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on May 24, 2010 7:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Football in HD spoils any other football for me

I’m a DirecTV subscriber, and they STILL haven’t gotten FSC in HD. That damn HD logo taunts me every time I turn it on and watch it in plain old normal definition.

by HoodRiverDuck on May 24, 2010 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I find it funny

that soccer is the only sport in the world where people care about the aesthetic quality of the play. Nobody cares if a football team “wins ugly”, or if a basketball team does (the Bad Boy Pistons were a great example of this), but if for some reason a soccer team does it everyone hates it. Interesting.

by pdb on May 24, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure that's entirely true...

at least in basketball, I love watching the Phoenix Suns lose artfully. And one of the primary reasons I stopped liking the NBA was the era of nastiness and ugly play those same Bad Boys ushered in for 10-15 years. (For a while there, it was a rarity for a team to average >100PPG.) The NBA is finally recovering, but this is a huge reason I prefer college basketball: real team play as opposed to isolation plays designed to get Superstar A the ball.

by HoodRiverDuck on May 24, 2010 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not talking aesthetics

I’m talking about scoring goals. And George Graham’s teams didn’t score goals. Yes its a result driven business, but it needs to be entertaining

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on May 24, 2010 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd still support the team

but I’d hate supporting any side that played like Mourinho’s. It’s just wretched to watch. Like the 2005 FA Cup Final. I was happy we won, but I’d have been extra disgusted if we lost like that, playing the most negative football I’ve ever seen us play.

My twitter.

Things fall apart, its scientific.

by pjtopor on May 24, 2010 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Fergie

I think you’re right, pj, but I think that even if we were a real threat right now (and I think we will be next year), I think deep down Fergie knows that Wenger is the only guy to really have given him fits over the years, and he probably respects that somewhere in his icy Aberdeen heart.

by Ted Harwood on May 24, 2010 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions