retired_jgirl87

stebs, read on and see how your career as a pundit has begun.

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There’s a new guy that has started at my work in the last couple of weeks. He’s an Australian and his name is Chris. I’ve had a few chats to him and he seems like a decent lad, but he has absolutely no knowledge about football. He’s willing to learn though, so I’ve been explaining him the rules and telling him all about the Arsenal and how they are one of England’s top teams of the last one hundred years. We were getting on well until bloody Andy popped his head over the partition and says Don’t listen to him, mate – he’s a sodding fair weather fan. Now Andy and I haven’t had much to say to each other since I found out that it was him I saw up at Liverpool back in October when I was supporting Spurs. He’d deliberately avoided going to the game with me. I’d only found out a few days later when I overheard him on the phone telling a mate about the game at Anfield. Anyway Chris says What do you mean by fair weather fan? and Andy replies He changes his team to suit the weather – you know, depending on the results. Chris looked at me strangely and asked me Is that true? I sat there for a moment and then I gave an honest answer. Yeah, I did have trouble deciding who I wanted to follow earlier in the season, but I’m 100% behind Arsenal now, just like I’ve been telling you. Andy just laughed and sat down behind his partition again. Just you wait and see what happens when Arsenal lose Chris, just you wait and see. Sodding Yid!!

Saturday 2nd April 2005:

Middlesbrough v Arsenal – The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough

With Vieira out through suspension, Pennant comes into the starting line-up on the right wing and Ljungberg moves into central midfield. Pennant has a good start as he sees a lot of the ball and uses it wisely. In the 8th minute he threads a pass through to Henry who is one-on-one with keeper Pieckenhagen, but the Frenchman’s shot hits the German’s legs and rebounds to safety. In the 15th minute Henry learns from his earlier miss when he runs onto an identical Pennant pass, but this time he places it wide of the keeper to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead. Middlesbrough are nearly equal just two minutes later when a total lack of communication between Campbell and Toure allows Hasselbaink to run onto a long kick from Pieckenhagen and advance unmarked on Lehmann in our goal. Thankfully our German keeper was on his game and he parried the effort well. Pennant was involved again in the 28th minute when he again set Henry free, but this time the striker squared the ball to his left and Edu ran in to curl a left-footer into the bottom corner from 25 yards to make it 2-0. Although we are two up at the break it has been a far from exciting match so far.

The chance to gain an almost unassailable three goal lead arrives as early as the 48th minute as Aliadiere’s intelligent flicked header sends Henry racing away again. Ehiogu manages to manoeuvre him to his left and Henry shoots into the side-netting instead of testing Pieckenhagen. The game falls into a dreary battle in midfield with Middlesbrough packing the centre of the park and therefore forcing both sides to get bogged down. Gilberto comes on for Pennant and he begins to make a difference as he picks out a couple of good passes for Ljungberg and Pires. Bergkamp replaces Aliadiere (as he has done frequently lately) and he goes to work trying to break the Boro defence down. A classic piece of Bergkamp magic gets him free on the left in the 78th minute and he pulls the ball back for Gilberto who rifles a shot against the post from 20 yards out. It is as close as either side has come to scoring since Henry’s chance early in the half. In the end Arsenal wins 2-0, but after our last match where we beat Newcastle 7-0 it is quite a comedown.

Middlesbrough 0
Arsenal 2 Henry 15, Edu 28

Middlesbrough: Pieckenhagen, Oude Kamphuis, Nosworthy (Hammell), Ehiogu, Bates, Mendieta (Aruna), Zanetti (Job), Boateng, Queudrue, Hasselbaink, Viduka.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pennant (Gilberto), Ljungberg, Edu, Pires (Clichy), Henry, Aliadiere (Bergkamp).

My MOM: Jermaine Pennant was lively and dangerous on the right wing until Boro jammed up the midfield. Another fine display from a quality Arsenal youngster.

Landmark #1: Thierry Henry notched his 25th goal of the season with the opener today. Bravo, mon ami!!

Landmark #2: I’ve now visited 50 league grounds after today’s trip to The Riverside Stadium. Bravo, moi!!


Next up: Arsenal v Norwich – Highbury, London

retired_jgirl87

The joke is on Andy at work after the new Aussie boy Chris asked if he could come with me to watch Arsenal play Norwich on Sunday. Andy has been quietly been trying to get Chris to join with him and go and watch Spurs play a match, but I reckon that my obvious love for the Gunners has convinced him that we are the team to follow. I think that it also helped when I downloaded all of our honours from the internet and compared it with those of Spurs. That and the fact that we are right in the hunt for the Premier League title as we only trail Chelsea by five points. Highbury is a much more interesting place than White Hart Lane at any time, but especially right at this moment. I’m looking forward to bringing a new Gunners fan into the Arsenal stable.

Sunday 10th April 2005:

Arsenal v Norwich – Highbury, London

It’s a very promising start to today’s match as Henry and Vieira both blast shots over the bar in the first 5 minutes. The lads step it up a further notch in the 8th minute. Pires crosses from the right-hand touchline all the way to the far side of the penalty area where Reyes hits it first-time from 20 yards and the ball bends around Green and flies into the far side of the net for a magnificent goal. After that we set up camp in the Norwich half and attempt to prise our way through their defence yet again. It takes until the 25th minute for the next clear chance to come and Vieira converts it as he powerfully heads home from a corner by Pires. Henry is the next to test Green after 32 minutes as he shoots from 15 yards out on a tight angle, but the young keeper tips it over. Vieira climbs high to meet a cross by Aliadiere after 38 minutes, but Green tips his header away as well. From the resulting corner the ball drops at Edu’s feet after a scramble, but he blazes it high over the cross bar from just 6 yards out. What a change for the Brazilian – just last week he scored a cracking 25-yarder, today he is missing from the six-yard box. Aliadiere has been doing some outstanding running off the ball and his movement is getting him plenty of room. Right on half-time Campbell sprays a pass out to Aliadiere on the right and the young striker beats Brennan before centring the ball for Reyes to head past Green and make it 3-0.

There’s no slowing down as the second half begins. Edu takes a free-kick after 49 minutes and curls it against the join of the cross bar and the post from where it falls into Green’s grateful arms. In the 53rd minute Pires takes a corner low towards the penalty spot and Edu runs in from the edge of the box to volley it home from 14 yards through a crowd of players and make it 4-0. Norwich is close to cracking completely and we could have a repeat of the 7-0 Newcastle drubbing on our hands. The clock shows 62 minutes when Aliadiere crashes a header against the post from a Pires cross. It’s only a few minutes later when Toure volleys a shot from the edge of the penalty area only to see Shackell head the ball off the line. A swathe of substitutions slows the team and signals Arsene Wenger’s desire to hold onto the result without conceding a goal whilst perhaps freshening things up enough to create one or two more goals for us. van Persie lets rip with a 30 yard effort that skims the cross bar after 82 minutes whilst Norwich finally raise a effort in the second half when Shackell spots Lehmann off his line and floats in a free-kick from the halfway line which goes inches wide of the post. In the end I’m very happy with the 4-0 win as we continue to hunt down Chelsea from our position in second place.

Arsenal 4 Reyes 8, 45, Vieira 25, Edu 53
Norwich 0

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pires, Vieira, Edu (Gilberto), Reyes (Pennant), Henry, Aliadiere (van Persie).

Norwich: Green, Helveg, Fleming, Shackell, Drury, Jonson, Holt, Francis, Brennan (Doherty), Huckerby (Mulryne), McKenzie (Jarvis).

My MOM: Robert Pires had one of those games where he involved himself in all aspects of our attacking dominance and was virtually unstoppable.

Reason #1 for Chris becoming an Arsenal supporter: The buzz he got from watching a quality team like Arsenal play near-perfect football. He’s hooked!!

Reason #2 for Chris becoming an Arsenal supporter: He loves the fact that we Arsenal supporters are known by the nickname “Gooners”. Go figure!!


Next up: Arsenal v Crystal Palace – Highbury, London

retired_jgirl87

Cheers Raptor. I like to acknowledge everyone who posts in my story, but I missed this one earlier because it snuck in at the bottom of the previous page. :cool:

retired_goddess

I was wrong about the middlesborough game i guess but i am proving to be right about a long run for Arsenal. Have to be a shocker for them to lose at home to Crystal Palace. I predict a 3-0 for Arsenal. Thanks for the great story Spav

retired_jgirl87

stebs, it looks like you're getting better at this pundit business.

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Chris and I are looking forward to Arsenal’s Wednesday match quite a lot. We’re both expecting to see a few goals knocked past Crystal Palace by Thierry and his team-mates. My new Aussie pal is fast becoming hooked on the Gunners and he has already planned our itinerary for the remaining five games of the season. It’s good to go to the games and have a mate that you can share the enjoyment with, even if I do still have to explain a few of the more technical moments to Chris as he is sill not completely familiar with all the intricacies of the game. One thing he is picking up is all the singing and chanting which is something that he finds quite alien from his sport-watching past back in his native land of Australia.

Wednesday 20th April 2005:

Arsenal v Crystal Palace – Highbury, London

The first 25 minutes of the match saw Arsenal create just two half-chances whilst Crystal Palace couldn’t fashion any. Aliadiere headed Lauren’s right wing cross just over the cross bar after only 2 minutes whilst Toure fired in a half-volley from the edge of the penalty area which went inches wide in the 8th minute. The next definitive attack bought the opening goal of the game. Lehmann’s goal-kick in the 25th minute found Henry who nodded the ball down for Pires on the half-way line. Henry quickly turned away from his marker and peeled to the right where Pires flicked the ball out to him. The French superstar made ground down the wing and he had several targets to pick out in the centre. One of them was Vieira who made a run to the near post and Henry whipped the ball in at shoulder height for his captain to plant a firm header past Kiraly and into the Palace net to put Arsenal 1-0 up. Just a couple of minutes later and Crystal Palace found themselves in even deeper trouble when the already-booked Butterfield disputed the linesman’s offside call on Ventola’s disallowed goal and was shown a second yellow card as a result, thus sending him from the ground. Before Arsenal could settle down to use their one-man advantage an arm injury to Cole and a shin injury to Pires meant that Hoyte and Pennant had to come on in their places instead. In injury time Henry had a great chance to double the lead, but he hit Gilberto’s cross straight into the body of Kiraly from only 6 yards range.

Vieira and Gilberto were proving to be the most dangerous of the Arsenal players when it came to scoring chances. The Brazilian midfielder headed a Reyes cross just over the cross bar after 53 minutes whilst Vieira came close to his second when he forced a great save out of Kiraly with his 20 yard effort in the 62nd minute. Arsene Wenger made his final change after 65 minutes when van Persie replaced Aliadiere, allowing Reyes to join Henry up front. Two goals in six minutes gave the scoreboard a more realistic semblance of the superiority that Arsenal had displayed throughout the match. When van Persie burst through the middle after 69 minutes and shaped to shoot from 16 yards out, it took a fine diving tackle by Hall to knock the ball away. Unfortunately for Crystal Palace it only went to the right side of the box where Henry picked up the loose ball and crossed it to the far side for the unmarked Reyes. He controlled the ball and moved in towards Kiraly before unselfishly sliding it square for the onrushing Gilberto to sidefoot into the net from just 6 yards out and make the score 2-0. It was van Persie who also played a major part in the next goal as he received Campbell’s long pass from defence out on the left wing after 75 minutes. A quick sprint took him nearly to the bye-line where he fired over a dipping cross for Gilberto to dive in and head with ease past Kiraly to make the score 3-0 in the Gunners favour. Routledge finally got a shot on target for Palace in the 82nd minute, but Lehmann dealt with it comfortably. The last chance fell to Reyes when he headed van Persie’s centre against the cross bar in the 90th minute, but Arsenal had the game well and truly wrapped up by then.

Arsenal 3 Vieira 25, Gilberto 69, 75
Crystal Palace 0

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole (Hoyte), Pires (Pennant), Vieira, Gilberto, Reyes, Henry, Aliadiere (van Persie).

Crystal Palace: Kiraly, Butterfield, Hall, Lucic, Borrowdale (Kaviedes), Lakis, Derry, Hughes, Kolkka, Torghelle (Routledge), Ventola (Watson).

My MOM: Gilberto even outshone Vieira today, which is saying something. It was a top performance by our generally unobtrusive Brazilian midfielder.

Looking forward to: The final run-in to the championship with our team in great form. Watch out Chelsea!!

Not looking forward to: The trip to Birmingham to play Aston Villa this weekend. Brummieland is never fun!!


Next up: Aston Villa v Arsenal – Villa Park, Birmingham

retired_embartl

here's where the run ends Spav :cool:

retired_goddess

oh yes. my pundiot career going well now. I think a 1-1 with Aston Villa

retired_jgirl87

BoN - I hate it when my readers seem to have a better idea of what is about to happen in my story than I do.
stebs - Wrong this time, back to your usual day job for you I think.

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With the end of a long season approaching, injuries were starting to play a big part in the make-up of the Arsenal side. Ashley Cole was out and so was his natural replacement Gael Clichy, so Ryan Garry was going to play his first game of the season at left-back. Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg were also both injured, so Jermaine Pennant would start off on the right wing and that meant a place on the bench for young Ryan Smith. However we still had more than enough firepower in the team to see off Aston Villa this weekend – of that both Chris and I were sure.

Saturday 23rd April 2005:

Aston Villa v Arsenal – Villa Park, Birmingham

It was lucky that we took our seats on time because straight from the kick-off the ball went out to Reyes on the left and he quickly crossed it to the near post. Aliadiere slid into to prod it goalwards, but Sorensen got a hand to it. Gilberto rushed in to hit the loose ball, but Sorenson got up to block his effort as well and complete a wonderful double save. All this in the first 20 seconds too. Aston Villa came back at us straight away in the 4th minute and the ball found its way out to the dangerous Bierofka on the left. He jinked past Lauren and drove a low ball across the six yard box. The South Korean midfielder Park stretched for it at the far post and connected well, but Lehmann imitated Sorensen in making a fine close range save. A couple of minutes later and a poor Lauren pass was intercepted by Park who played it up to Cole. The big man fed it off to Hitzlsperger who took it just inside the box before hitting a thunderous left-footed drive past Lehmann and into the roof of the net to put Villa 1-0 up. Aliadiere almost replied immediately as he ran onto Vieira’s through-ball, but Mellberg did just enough to put him off as he shot and the ball flashed six inches wide of the post. I could see why the Villa fans called Hitzlsperger “The Hammer” when he produced another crashing drive from 25 yards which beat Lehmann but rattled the cross bar before rebounding to safety in the 17th minute. The good chances were falling to Aliadiere instead of Henry, but the youngster was fluffing his chances. He drove a shot straight into Sorenson’s midriff when clean through after 28 minutes. At the other end Park’s corner caused all sorts of problems in the 37th minute and when McCann had a whack at it from 10 yards out Ridgewell dived at it and headed goalwards. Only lightning-quick reflexes from Lehmann managed to stop Villa from going two up. When the half came to an end I realised that I may well have seen the best 45 minutes of football so far this season. It had been thrilling end-to-end stuff and Chris and I needed the break to catch our breath.

The second half started at a slower pace and it took until the 55th minute for some goalmouth action to arrive. Bierofka’s run and pass had found McCann and he rolled a diagonal pass inside the box aimed for Cole. Toure found himself on the wrong side of the young striker, but he lunged in to reach around Cole. Unfortunately he only succeeded in toe-poking the ball past Lehmann from 10 yards for an own goal which gave Aston Villa a 2-0 lead. Arsene Wenger replied immediately by replacing Aliadiere with van Persie and Reyes with Smith. It proved to be an astute pair of substitutions when Smith took a pass from Vieira and dribbled past de la Cruz in the 63rd minute. He made his way to the bye-line and chipped a cross into the middle where van Persie nodded the ball home to make it 2-1. With the momentum returned to Arsenal, Wenger made a third change and bought on the attacking Fabregas for the more defensive Gilberto. Smith was proving to be useful in defence as well as he nodded Ridgewell’s header off the line in the 72nd minute. The thrilling play continued as Fabregas sent Henry on a clear run though the middle, but Sorensen dived at the Frenchman’s feet to produce a fine save. When McCann sent Cole clear of the Gunners defence in the 82nd minute I was expecting the worse. However Toure brilliantly chased him down and slid in to hook the ball away just as Cole was about to shoot. The ball rolled to Garry, but the young defender failed to see Park closing in from his left and he lost the ball 25 yards from our goal. Park played it into the feet of Cole who was just getting up from the ground after his earlier challenge with Toure. A quick controlling touch and then a shot on the turn from Cole skidded past Lehmann to give Villa a 3-1 lead. Arsenal threw everyone forward for the final few minutes. We had a series of corners and finally got something in the 90th minute. A scramble following a blocked attempt by Campbell saw Henry drive the ball across the six yard box. Hitzlsperger managed to block the ball, but as it bounced up McCann took a panicked swing at it and managed only to knock the ball into the Villa net for an own goal. That made it 3-2 with a couple of minutes of injury-time to play. Despite our best efforts though, Aston Villa managed to hold on from that point and they registered a win to end our great unbeaten run of nine games.

There I was sitting in the Arsenal fan’s section of Villa Park, wearing a Gunners shirt and sitting next to Chris in his Arsenal jersey. I desperately wanted to tear off the offending top and hide it away, but I knew that Chris wouldn’t understand what was happening, so instead I zipped up my jacket and looked to make my escape from this pack of Arsenal supporters. I’d got a bit ahead of Chris in the queue to leave when I remembered that he had my train ticket in his wallet. There was no way that I was going to be able to get away from this Arsenal loser and get around to the other side of the ground to celebrate the win with my fellow Aston Villa supporters. I’d just have to suffer in silence and travel back to London with my work-mate. Luckily Chris took my quiet demeanour as indicating sadness at Arsenal’s defeat and he didn’t talk to me too much on the way home. Little did he know that I was already planning how to get hold of a ticket for Villa’s next match up at Everton. That, and ditching this Arsenal shirt that was burning into my skin under my jacket.

Aston Villa 3 Hitzlsperger 6, Toure own goal 55, Cole 83
Arsenal 2 van Persie 63, McCann own goal 90

Aston Villa: Sorensen, de la Cruz (Samuel), Mellberg, Ridgewell, Jensen (Barry), Park, McCann, Hitzlsperger, Bierofka (Moore.S), Cole, Vassell.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Garry, Pennant, Vieira, Gilberto (Fabregas), Reyes (Smith), Henry, Aliadiere (van Persie).

My MOM: Thomas Hitzlsperger was to be found all over the pitch, setting up chances and scaring Arsenal with his powerful shooting.

What us Villa fans want: A UEFA Cup spot and the way we are playing, it’s very likely. Go O’Leary’s lads!!

What our Villa players did: Put paid to Arsenal’s title challenge and basically handed the title to league leaders Chelsea. Sorry Arsenal (not)!!


Next up: Everton v Aston Villa – Goodison Park, Liverpool

retired_embartl

Awesome :cool:

retired_swmchick2006

Ha!