It goes on, and on, and on. When will this roll of ours
stop? It’s been another fantastic week in Gooner Kingdom which has seen us climb
outright to the top of the Premier League table, progress to the next round of
the Capital One Cup as well as watch some of our nearest and dearest rivals
embarrass themselves.
If we say that the week spans from Sunday to Sunday, then we
brushed aside Stoke City with a little help from Mesut Ozil, picked our spot at
the Hawthorns as well as watched Ramsey run riot in his homeland.
For once, the atmosphere is positive around the Emirates and
on Twitter. All the summer arguing over who we’re signing, who we’re getting
rid of and what shirt numbers Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez are
going to wear seems a long, long time ago; and that is by no means a complaint.
Nowadays, Arsenal fans seem to be struggling to find
anything to disagree about so are instead resorting to mocking the teams below
us in the table (that’s everyone by the way) and gloating about our league position.
While it is still early days, I believe that we have earned the right to have a
little bit of a brag given the fact that we have taken so much shit from
opposition fans over the past few years for trying to increase the club’s
growth on and off the field without some millionaire sugar daddy dumped a load
of cash on us. It’s nice for others to be getting a whipping for once.
I usually talk about certain aspects of our performances over
the course of the week that I have enjoyed, or areas that I think we could
improve. However, I’m hanging that one up for the time being and am in the sort
of mood where I want to share with the Gunners Town readers the top five
reasons to be cheerful this Monday. Here is my selection.
Gunners Town
Top 5: Things to make a Gooner happy this week
Nicklas Bendtner; the
new Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
When I come to think of Nicklas Bendtner at the moment, I
can’t help myself but to smile and have a little chuckle. What a mind fuck this
guy has been over the past few weeks, never mind years. He’s gone from vowing
never to play for Arsenal again, to failing to obtain a move away, to starting
in the Capital One Cup and winning a place back in the Premier League squad.
Admittedly, when I first caught glimpse of this tall, lardy,
abominable snowman of a striker sat on our bench against Stoke, I thought we had
snapped up the Lidl version of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the sly. Whether his abortion
of a hair/beard combo was inspired by the Paris Saint-Germain hitman or not,
Bendtner has been heavily discussed over the past fortnight.
Personally, I thought he did very well against West Bromwich
Albion when taking all things into consideration. He hadn’t played for the club
in over two years, hell, he hadn’t played a game of football in a year due to
injury and was clearly lacking match fitness in a completely different Gunners
side to the one he last turned out for. But, not only did he complete 120
minutes against West Brom, he picked up an assist for Thomas Eisfeld as well as
cooly slotting home his penalty in the shootout. Not a bad turnout.
We seem to forget that behind all the arrogance, lack of
respect and trouble, there is a very good player there somewhere. Let’s take a
quick look back at his Arsenal career. He broke into the team at a young age,
carried us with his goals in Europe during a period where injuries had forced
us to field Andrey Arshavin up front. Then he was forced out on the left wing
(not a place for a man with his attributes) before falling behind Marouane Chamakh
in the pecking order. So he’s not entirely to blame for his demise.
But for now, let’s just have fun looking at how ridiculous
he looks, especially in these calamitous specs. It looks like an episode of
Made in Chelsea meets Man vs. Food. Top stuff Nikky B.
Gunned down in a
shootout
Let’s admit it, we all love a penalty shootout when we win
it. It’s a horrible thing to watch, especially when you know that you could be
minutes away from a pasting on Twitter and your friends, and I often think that
it can be an unfair way to settle a match.
However, it’s no doubt exciting to spectate and I was
thrilled to see some of the young players keep their bottle and send us through
to the next round. Admittedly, we were fortunate that the Baggies blasted two
of their spot kicks well wide of the target, but who cares, we won and we’re
through to the next round where we host Chelsea at the Emirates.
I have no idea as to whether we will put our strongest team
out for that game or give the youngsters another chance. We didn’t exactly have
much choice with team selection against West Brom, but Jose Mourinho is sure to
put a dangerous team out with the depth that he has at his disposal.
Regardless, I expect it to be a great game and a great
atmosphere when it comes about at the Emirates, and we’re still in it to win
it.
Moyes finally
realising his dreams
It’s hard not to feel sorry for David Moyes. Ok I lie it isn’t,
but I certainly feel no sympathy for Manchester United as a club. I agree that
you should always focus on your own club rather than take cheap pops as the
failings of others, but come on, United aren’t even in the top half of the
Premier League after six games! They would and have done the same to us!
Twitter has been in fine form as of late as well with an array
of awful yet amusing jokes aimed as The Ginger One and company following their
humiliating loss at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ to an impress Albion outfit. Here’s
a small selection of the camaraderie that’s been on display over the weekend.
David Moyes spent 11 years trying to get Everton above Man United and now he's finally achieved it.
— Uber Football Facts (@UberFotbalFacts) September 29, 2013
FORM GUIDE: Arsenal: WWWWW Liverpool: WWDLW Spurs: WLWWD Chelsea: WDLWD Man City: LWDWL Man United: LMFAO
— BBC Sporf (@BBCSporf) September 29, 2013
Mata mugs off
Mourinho
Why oh why does The Special One/Happy One or whatever shit
moniker Jose Mourinho is rocking nowadays not pick the man who has been his
club’s best player for the past two seasons? It’s hard to like Chelsea for
anything, but you have to admire a player like Juan Mata.
It’s no wonder Arsene Wenger was after him and if we hadn’t
fucked about and just signed the man then he could have been producing the
magic he has been performing over the past couple of years for us.
Mata is a talented player, but it just goes to show the
arrogance of Mourinho and his desperation to be in the limelight all the time
at Stamford Bridge that he refuses to start him in the Premier League. And
then, to really take the piss, he insists that Mata must change his style in
order to break into the team. Cheeky fucker.
You don’t like to see Chelsea succeed at all, but it was
nice to see Mata come on and make the difference against Tottenham Hotspur. 1)
Because it meant that Spurs dropped points, and 2) because it left Mourinho
with egg on his face after the Spaniard whipped in a perfect cross for his side’s
equaliser.
While it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for Arsenal and
the rest of the Premier League to see Mata left on the bench, it is nice to see
him make Mourinho eat his own words for now.
Szczesny back to his
best
I thought I’d end on a more serious and Arsenal-related note
and that is with the resurgence of Wojciech Szczesny. I’ve always been a fan of
the Pole, he’s had tremendous ability from a young age, a confident attitude and
a burning passion to be a Gooner which are all to be greatly admired.
He broke into the first team at the age of 20, an incredibly
young period for a goalkeeper, and hasn’t really been given any competition
since he made the number one berth his own, which has shown following some of
his dipping performances over the past year or two.
However, with his spot coming under threat recently from
Lukasz Fabianski, coupled with the arrival of Emiliano Viviano and a consistent
back four in front of him, Szczesny is back in top form this campaign. He has
already made some top-drawer stops this term and put in an assured, confident
display against Swansea when under immense pressure in the final 10 minutes of
the game. Kudos to you Woj.
Please leave a comment or give me some feedback on
Twitter and let me know your views, I love to hear them.
And remember, never forget you’re a Gooner!
Matt Cotton
Matt has been the editor of the site since June 2012 and was born into a Gooner family 21 years ago. He recently graduated from Southampton Solent University with a degree in Sports Journalism and strives to work in the Sports Media industry. As well as currently working as a reporter for Sports Mole and TIBS News, Matt has been providing football commentary for the visually impaired since 2008 at Arsenal, Exeter City and Wembley.
 
His earliest Gunners memory is watching the ‘Boring, boring Arsenal’ VHS as a six-year-old on repeat, to the extent where he could recite most of the commentary from that season. Matt was lucky enough to witness Arsenal lift the Premier League in 2002 as well as being present during the last match at Highbury in 2006, and at Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial a few months later at the Emirates Stadium. Matt’s favourite players include Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Tony Adams, with the 5-3 comeback victory against Middlesbrough in 2004 the best match he has ever spectated.
 
Matt is an optimistic ’In Wenger we trust’, kind of guy and believes that the glory days are not too far away…
 
Apart from his editorial duties, Matt will also be bringing his Arsenal knowledge to a column called “Where Are They Now?” – which focuses on former Gunners.
I was thinking he looked more like Osvaldo there, but what the heck, He’ll never be them.