Tag Archive for Jenkinson

Why Ramsey Is My Player Of The Season

April 23, 2013 Arsenal, Guest Bloggers 63 comments

Today I welcome a man who blogs for NLIR almost as much as I do. I’m delighted to have him and you’re going to love his writing, put your proverbial hands together for Mr Billy Dunmore (@EducatedGooner)  Take it away Billy…..

The subject of Aaron Ramsey has been blogged to death this year, but I felt unashamedly compelled to justify why I think that the young Welshman deserves the title of Arsenal’s player of the season. I expect many will disagree, many may even disregard this view, but I hope that some readers will appreciate where I’m coming from, whether they end up agreeing or not…

Firstly, I’d like to state that within the constraints of conventional parameters with which we measure how well a player has performed throughout the season, I understand why most fans will most likely opt to choose a player such as Santi Cazorla. I won’t attempt to argue against Santi as the probable popular choice for our player of the season, but rather I will put forward the reasons why Ramsey will almost definitely be my choice. At the end of the day, the way you judge my opinion is up to you, but I respectfully ask that you read on with an open mind and don’t assume that I am blind to the achievements and performances of other players in the squad, because I’m not. Read more

Are Arsenal The Most Hated Team In The League?

April 19, 2013 Arsenal 59 comments

Football is loved worldwide for a number of reasons but I think the biggest reason is its ability to evoke emotion. I usually feel a multitude of emotions when I watch Arsenal but for the past few weeks I have found that the dominant emotion has been anger.

Unlike some of my frothy-mouthed fellow supporters I haven’t been angry about team selection, tactics or the inclusion of Gervinho/Ramsey/Mertesacker or league position. No, I have been getting increasingly angry when watching Arsenal due to the commentary.

So-called experts, pundits, commentators and co-commentators seem to derive pleasure from criticising Arsenal at every given opportunity and are always looking for ways to fault Arsenal.

Of all the teams that are considered “big” Arsenal seem to be the only club that suffers from unrelenting criticism. I don’t classify all of these teams as “big” but the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool all seem to garner praise from the press and TV pundits regardless of their actions whereas Arsenal it seems can do no right. Read more

Arsenal or Ajax tickets – Is it any better on the continent?

March 28, 2013 Arsenal, Premier League 7 comments

I’ve chatted with a few buddies recently about ticket prices and arguing until I’m blue in the face that Arsenal do not have the most expensive tickets in the EPL. The two chaps I spoke with are not Arsenal fans, one is a Liverpool fan and the other is a Bristol Rovers fan (I live in Bristol these days).

The Liverpool fan hasn’t been to an away game for over 10 years and maybe makes it to Anfield about 4 times a year, once for the Merseyside derby and the other times for what we Gooners know as category C fixtures.

The Rovers fan however goes to every home game and 80% of away games with The Gas. He has never been to the Emirates although he has said he would love to but can’t justify the cost especially when him and a few other mates hop around Europe a few times a year catching games in other leagues in countries like Belgium, Czech Republic, Holland, Portugal, Austria and Denmark or any league where you can name at least one “decent” team for less than the price of day in London. Read more

Mertesacker Is Still Our Top Defender

February 7, 2013 Arsenal 48 comments

Back in July I wrote a piece on Mertesacker saying I believed Mertesacker to be our best defender (the definition is important so bear with me) and most disagreed. A few months into the season and things had changed and only the minority didn’t like him. Fast forward to now and we’re back to the majority not liking him. What do you think the odds will be that in a few months time everyone will love him again? I’d be willing to put a few quid down with Betfair Premier League on Per finishing as a top 5 rated centre-back at the end of the season.

Why do some Gooners fluctuate their opinions on a player so drastically? First Giroud was a top signing, then he was the next Chamakh and now he is a top player again (although some will still have you believe he is crap).

I preferred Cahill when we signed Mertesacker and was disappointed we signed Per instead of Gary. I soon came to prefer Per and was glad we signed him instead, and thought he was our best defender. I still think that today. I still think Mertesacker is our best defender. Gibbs and Jenkinson for me have been the stand-out performers but I still think that Mertesacker is our best defender.

I don’t understand the negativity from some supporters toward Mertesacker. You don’t make over 80 appearances for the German national team if you are an average player let alone a poor one. Germany is blessed with great players so to get the level of caps Mertesacker has you need to have a little something special about you.  Read more

Monreal Is Cause For Renewed Positivity

February 1, 2013 Arsenal 50 comments

The transfer window has slammed shut and Arsenal have managed to sneak in a deal for Peter Crouch lookalike aka Spain international Nacho Monreal to the delight of some supporters. To the chagrin of others it seems that one was not enough and whilst I agree that the team needs further strengthening I have woken today with a renewed positivity.

I feel I have always been good at looking at the positive side of things, especially when it comes to Arsenal, whilst maintaining a reasonable degree of balance. I have never identified with any group or acronym that exist nor will I probably ever. I am an Arsenal supporter and my opinions are my own and not defined by others and I’d like to think the majority of Arsenal supporters would see themselves the same way.

Our newest signing... and a good one to boot

We’ve signed Peter Crouch!

I think we have the makings of a special team. The current squad I think are good enough to make the Champions League spots and good enough to win the FA Cup too but probably a few players away from title winners. The players that will “complete” our squad will hopefully arrive in the summer and I’m quite confident that hopefully is actually certainly.

Arsène said that he almost signed one more player and I wouldn’t want to speculate who but I think it would have been a big money move.

We were close to one more signature, it did not happen because of the desire of the clubs to sell or not sell. It is only linked with that.

Arsène Wenger – 01/02/2013

The signing he did make I feel has really added to our squad despite being told yesterday that Monreal lacking a YouTube video means he is a bad player!! Read more

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