You can stick the Ruski's millions up his arsenal

[Bernard's briefs]

Personally I think Duff was so ineffective because he doesn't have the space
in the crowded middle of the park to do his best work. What on earth would
possess anyone to pay £15/£18 million (whatever it was, it was a f*** of a
lot of money) for a world class winger only to play him out of position?

It was noticeable that both defences were playing a high line, condensing
the game into a small space either side of the halfway line. this meant
there wasn't much space to produce the prettiest football. In my humble
opinion it was perfect circumstances for a speedy winger like Duff to
exploit.

Sure Glenn Johnson is inexperienced. I seem to remember many people pointing
out Ashley Cole's defensive naivety when he started for England and they
haven't stopped since. If I was a betting man, I wouldn't mind betting that
they will be saying the same about Johnson when he eventually dons an
England shirt. No doubt one of you can correct me if I am wrong, but he
ain't half promising for a youngster who I believe has spent most of his
career as a centre back and as such a promising English youngster, he was
the one Chelsea purchase which I was most envious of.

Sitting opposite the dug-out, it was noticeable the marked contrasts in
managerial styles. Arsene spent the majority of the match sat placidly in
his seat in the dug-out, rarely jumping up to remonstrate over a particular
injustice. I don't know how many of you have actually taken the stadium tour
and sat in the dug-out but those who have will appreciate quite what a lousy
viewpoint one has of the game. It's why managers often sit in the directors
box, where you have a far better view of the tactical development of the
game and can see where spaces are appearing which can be exploited and where
your defence is most likely to be exposed.

We are sat at the front of the West Upper, quite low by today's standards
and I often notice the difference when we move to the rear of the stand to
sit nearer the exit for the last few minutes (in order to get home before
Treacle tears the flat apart), in seats vacated by the part-timers. I
suppose I can hardly take the mickey, when I am so often late in arriving
and have missed more than my fair share of early minute strikes, but while I
can understand people leaving their seats in a game that is long since dead
and buried, I was once again astounded on Saturday to see the stands
emptying long before the final whistle of a game which still hung in the
balance.

OK so we looked comfortable enough, taking the ball to the corner flag and
sitting on our single goal lead, but considering the beauty of the game is
how quickly it can turn, I will never understand how people can possibly
head for home when there's a chance of missing a crucial moment

Meanwhile it would seem from the fact that most managers who start out
sitting in the stands but who soon head down to the dug-out, that the better
perspective does not make up for the closer proximity to the pitch. I guess
they soon get frustrated that they are unable to influence matters from a
seat so far away from the action. However I haven't sat in dug-outs
elsewhere, but at Highbury I was shocked to discover that with the camber in
the pitch for drainage purposes, when seated in the front of the dug-out,
you cannot see the below calf level of the players on the other side of the
pitch

In fact I am surprised Arsene has never used this excuse amongst some of his
many 'didn't see it' statements. But while Wenger was his usual inscutable
self, Ranieiri's animated figure kept catching my eye. He appeared to spend
the entire ninety patrolling his permitted area in such a highly agitated
state, kicking every ball and making every challenge. It was exhausting
watching him and I can't help but have some sympathy for a man who must feel
like every match might be his last in the employ of Chelsea's capricious
money man

I wonder how long Abramovich will continue sinking millions into the Kings
Road coffers before it dawns on him that money might be able to buy you
love, but it don't guarantee Premiership success. Although one of the
benefits of not having such unlimited resources is that Arsene doesn't have
anywhere near the sort of selection dilemmas of the tormented Tinkerman. How
hard must it be to remain patient during a game and stick with your initial
selection, when you have any number of possible world class permutations on
the bench?

However I still feel we might benefit by a little more competition for
places in the Arsenal starting eleven. Perhaps Arsene believed Aliadiere
wouldn't be under so much pressure starting away from home at Anfield but to
bring back Wiltord in the susbsequent game doesn't really send out the sort
of signals that he needs to win back his place in the team. To my mind it
suggests to Sylvain that while his performances have not been ideal, he is
better than anything else that we have at present.

Besides I would like to see Aliadiere given more than a rare outing in the
starting line-up (especially if Sylvain can't sort out his contractual
wrangles). Otherwise a single ninety minutes to stake his claim for a more
permanent place in the team could result in the youngster being guilty of
trying too hard to impress.

Talking of youngsters, did anyone see Hoyte and Bentley playing for England
last week? Someone said that the match was on the box and I am gutted to
think I missed an opportunity to see how both are progressing

As far as Gilberto is concerned, I'll have to agree to disagree with some of
you. Paddy's absence in recent games has in my mind highlighted that
although the Brazilian can be seen covering the turf and plugging holes in
brief bursts, I don't believe his overall work rate is sufficient. Against
sides of a certain quality, I think he can be a liability because he doesn't
get in the face of some opponents kick enough to break up a move and prevent
them having the time to get comfortable on the ball and work out how best to
break us down.

The other point I have noticed and hopefully by commenting on it, it will
never happen again, but it's occurred on a sufficient number of occassions
for me to notice that Gilberto seems to make several challenges where he
might get something on the ball, or even be successful, but we don't seem to
end up winning possession. However perhaps I am being picky and like Paul
says, no matter what grievances I might have about Gilberto, or Pires'
apparent lack of bottle (even Paul Wilson in the Observer talks about him
'wimping out of a one-on-one'!), or about any of our players, I absolutely
cannot abide hearing them get stick from our own supporters.

Especially those amongst our crowd who are much quicker to get on the backs
of our players than give them some encouragement. I wish we had a more matey
moniker for Gilberto and Edu. I can't recall the first names of either of
them but I guess they are a bit of a mouthful. When I scream out 'come on
Gilberto' to my mind it does not sound nearly so supportive as 'allez
Robert'. It bothers me because I want them to know that I am offering
screams of encouragement, but by referring to them so impersonally by their
surname it might easily be perceived as though I ak suggesting that they
could do better

I would imagine that it is probably the names of Gilberto, Pires, Parlour
which I holler out at the very top of my lungs most frequently, as my
screams of encouragement are usually the only way I can vent my frustration
at hearing some around us have a pop at them (without getting into arguments
each week because I often have to bite my tongue to prevent me from pulling
up the worst of the persistent whingers by suggesting that I would like to
see them do better!)

I suppose it is for the most part an instinctive reaction from the crowd and
is therefore always likely to happen, but what really bothers me is when you
get a collective groan from the crowd as a move breaks down. There was a
nose bleed moment on Saturday when Kolo found himself storming forward with
the momentum of a ball winning tackle in midfield. If I am not mistaken, he
played a one-two and when he received the ball back approaching the penalty
area, sadly he screwed his shoy well wide, with absolutely no danger of
working Cudicini.

Despite some comical albeit amicable comments like 'stick to the day job
son' around me, no-one was upset, more encouraged by his adventurous
approach. Nevertheless, the collective groan which Kolo will have
undoubtedly heard certainly won't encourage him to continue to play in such
an ambitious fashion and might leave him having second thoughts about making
a fool of himself on a subsequent occasion.

My feelings about the possible perceptions of a player when using his
surname are the reason I always attempt to wrap my tongue around Nwankwo's
awkward first name. My missus has a theory that Kanu's career has and never
will prosper at THOF because the fact that it sounds like we are booiing him
will always result in bad vibes (I suppose Rona's theory would also apply to
Edu).

Having not seen too much of them, I can't be certain but I think that in the
reserves they have been using Nwankwo in the middle of the park as opposed
to up front but I don't think the ageing process' affect on his pace is a
problem because it is not like the languid Nigerian's football has ever been
about speed.

[Bernard's briefs]

No one was happier than me to see Nwankwo put a sock in the mouths of some
of his persistent slaggers by for once having an opportunity to earn his
considerable amount of corn. It is undeniable that Nwankwo is capable of
being one of the most entertaining players on a football pitch in the world,
with his ability to conjure up some of the most breathtaking feats with a
ball and confounding the opposition with skills which are absolutely second
nature to him. It is their spontaneity which is so astounding, compared to
the sort of preconceived step-overs of a one trick pony like Utd's Ronaldo.

It is not so much that Kanu has been leeching £40 grand a week from
Arsenal's anaemic coffers whilst sitting on his backside which bothers me.
But it is absolutely criminal that the footballing world has been denied his
prodigious capabilities for such a long period with Kanu coming on for the
briefest of cameo appearances for so many months, where instead of us
Gooners in the stands being happy to have him appear on the pitch, perhaps
to change a game and offer some additional threat, it has always felt as
though Wenger has been forced to throw him on as an absolute last resort.

Kanu's languid approach to the game and probably everything else in his life
makes him an easy target for all the accusations of laziness. And I know it
is hard to have sympathy for a player who appears happy to sit on his
backside and do 'bubkas' for his barmy salary, unprepared to go anywhere
else to play football if it involves a pay cut. However it is hard for all
players to slot in for the last fifteen minutes of a match and immediately
adapt to the speed of surrounding events, especially when they've had so
little opportunity to perform at the frenetic pace which is only found in
competitive first-team Premiership football. I imagine this must be a
particular problem for Nwankwo because no matter what circumstance he is
thrown into, he only knows how to play one way.

Whatever is going on in the game around him, Kanu plays at Kanu pace, where
his unique style of football is totally dependent on his amazing ability to
find time amidst the hurly-burly of the most heated confrontation, to come
up with his sublime skills. It is therefore hardly suprising that we have so
often been disappointed on the odd occasion when he's made an appearance,
when he appears to be so easily dispossesed of the ball.

I don't imagine it is easy for Kanu to switch on his peculiar style like the
flick of a light switch and I sincerely hope that one of the advantages of
our understrength squad will be that we might see Kanu remind us of the sort
football which so enthralled us not so long ago. Let's hope that he's not
just destined to do it against Chelsea and Kanu disappears again, unable to
do justice to his unbelievable ability with the Arsenal just desperate to
get him off our hefty wage bill.

We might well need Kanu in Kiev. I think Arsene is 100 per cent correct and
I have been saying the same thing for many seasons. As I see it, one of our
biggest problems in Europe is that we don't approach the games in the same
fashion. I don't think there are many European teams which could cope with
the frenetic pace of Premiership football because they are used to a stop
start style, where once you lose possession you drop back and defend your
goal in a zonal fashion, letting the opposition do what they want in their
own half of the field.

I am sure it is a largely pyschological problem and it appears Arsene is
doing his best to address this according to the papers (although hardly the
most reliable source for information about the Arsenal). However for some
seasons now I have been convinced that considering the respect many of our
players have worldwide, if we could combine the undoubted quality we have,
with the frenetic 'in yer face' pace of Premiership football, we would
frighten the life out of many sides.

It would require a lot of hard work, defending as a team, doubling up on
closing down opponents the moment they get the ball. No doubt it is an over
simplification, but I am convinced that many foreign teams are so used to
having all the time in the world to set up attacks from within their own
half of the field, if we could exert sufficient pressure the ball would be
come a hot potato which none of them would want and we would be able to
capitalize on their mistakes

It might not be quite so hard as some of the press are making out, to secure
a much needed victory in Kiev. Or at least it might perhaps be easier than
at THOF. To my mind we have become a team which is undoubtedly at its best
when counter attacking. World Cup winners like Vieira (although I will be
surprised if thet risk his fitness in Kiev), Henry and Pires have developed
such fearsome reputations that we are used to teams coming to THOF and
getting all eleven men behind the ball, making them very hard to break down.

The two recurring themes to the pompous punditry my missus has to put up
with sitting beside me in the West Upper are "one goal ain't gonna be enough
because we are bound to concede" and "apart from a set piece, the only way
we are going to conquer this lot is on the counter attack" . With our
amazing pace being one of our most potent weapons, it is the sideways and
backward pass, or the stop to look up and conside the options which I find
so frustrating, when you know the best bet would have been to go hell for
leather to leave our opponents flailing in our wake, unable to get back in
sufficient numbers to smother our attack.

With what I believe is a big pitch in Kiev (or at least a lot wider than
THOF) and against a home team who will be expected to make some token
efforts to take all three points, we might have more opportunity to exploit
our counter attacking potential than at THOF. Hopefully we will finally
score our debut goal in this season's European competition and perhaps right
the wrong of the debacle against Inter. The press was full of absolute
poppycock about Inter's amazing performance in that match, as proven by the
Italian's less impressive domestic efforts.

Hopefully we will continue to have some of those crucial little bits of luck
which have been with us so far of the sort that seemed to desert us entirely
last season. Although as euphoric as I was when fortune continued to smile
upon us on Saturday with Cudicini's cock-up, the nett result is incredibly
frustrating. If you were to base your opinions of the outcome on the
babbling reports in the red-tops, you'd believe that there was nothing more
than poor Carlo's careless handling between the two teams.

Sure we might not be sitting pretty atop the league and taken all three
points if it wasn't for the Italian goalkeeper's gift-wrapped present but
the sleaze pandering schlemiels of the press have almost exclusively
concentrated on this error and have patenly failed to inform the public
about a one sided second-half which said a whole heap more about the two
teams' Premiership pretensions than a single blunder by an otherwise
impecable keeper (no doubt the Rooney rumours will give way to several
stories about Roman coughing up another few million for every keeper in the
game)

The three points earned on Saturday might prove crucial come the end of the
season but as far as I am concerned it was all about proving a point and I
only wish I had a few Chelsea supporting mates to be able to rub it in
today, sure you can buy us a new ground while we win the Premiership for
you!!

Let's hope we can use Saturday's result and that it will give us sufficient
momentum to go to the Ukraine and do the job which will put us right back in
the Champs League frame

Peace & Love
Bernard