I wish. I think...
I did have ideas of covering sports for a while and still do to some extent but hasn't worked out that way.
I've played obviously but also coached some youth teams which was very eye opening to just how much a coach can influence everything.
I've just been a huge sports fan since I was a kid, the amount I follow including some very obscure ones are scary and definitely not recommended, but when it comes to football, and I'm not sure why exactly, I don't really follow it as closely as I have in past years.

Actually I really feel out of touch sometimes but at least I still have my memory of previous years.

I see Eduardo's injury is still talked about. So here is one more fact I think many of you don't know. Karma is a bitch. Oh, wait, you know that.

2 years ago during a training session of Dinamo Zagreb (Eduardo's club before moving to Arsenal) in a similar tackle Eduardo broke the same bone (fibia) of his fellow player Marijan Buljat. Marijan was a hot prospect, with his first cap in Croatia's national team played a short time before the injury. 2 years later, he still can't find his old form and is struggling to get into starting eleven for Dinamo.

Hopefully Eduardo won't take such a long time to return to the same level as before the injury.

In case anyone is curious, I saw a brief snipet on an Arsenal board about the extent of his injury. This was from the Croatian NT doctor:

"It's an open sprained ankle injury, with the fibula being broken and the tibia intact. The greatest injuries were to the ligaments in Eduardo's ankle. (...) The doctor that performed the surgery was very pleased. A full reconstruction had been done and he's optimistic about Eduardo's return. (...) Eduardo says he's not in pain and will continue rehabilitation in London. He'll start physical therapy in a month."

yea, that looks about as bad as dave busst's broken leg. hopefully he'll be able to lead a normal life when he recovers

Thank you Renaissance!

yes, that long 18 months between Graham and Wenger must've been awful

Even before this weekend, I kept getting a feeling that things were/are slipping away for Arsenal. Mostly it has to do with the keeper situation. As I have posted a number of times before, I have never been sold on Almunia, but nevertheless, he has played competently while the petulent Jens was riding the bench.

Yet, the question was always there about whether Almunia has the chops to be a big-game keeper. I seriously doubt he does. More to the point, as the tension builds, he seems to keep getting strange injuries. Perhaps the pressure is getting to him? In any event, if Wenger has decided that he is sticking with Almunia, he should have shipped out Lehman at any price to remove the distraction. As it stands, we have two keeper problems and no answer.

I have no quarrel with the future direction of the club, but things were really shaping nicely for this season (and probably about one-year ahead of expectations). Once it became evident that the team was finding its form much sooner than expected, the keeper situation should have been addressed.

Muflon: Are you Slovenian? Did you ever play at Paradise Poker under "Muflon?"

Anyhow, I feel bad for Edu, but its a danger of the game. Whether its a cost of doing business, or something else, the elite teams should always have it in the back of their mind that lesser talented clubs are 1) possibly going to try to slow things down with contact; and 2) challenges from less-talented competitors are not going to be as precise as one would hope. That should factor into the game plan.

Of course, a cheap-shot is a cheap-shot, and those have no place in the game, but physical play is a different animal.

With that being said, physicality is just as much a part of the English game as speed, and it should remain so. In many sports there is a dynamic between styles of strength and speed; force and finesse; boxing and punching.

However, to keep that balance (and I agree with others) the officating must be more consistant.

Yes Almunia should have saved the freekick but we should have scored 5 and had a penalty

Agreed, but again, I have been adressing this all year long. Whether he stops that shot, or not, the situation is bad with him looking over his shoulder all the time with Lehman on the bench.

I mean, this guy had to leave practice because of a ghost in his house; how can he be expected to deal with the ghost of Jens?

Hahaha... really? I missed that. I know a lot of footballers are superstitious (don't touch the cup etc) but this is of a different order.

Anyways, get a ****ing grip Arse - I can't have Manure winning again.
Ok? Ok.

saw a replay of the penalty call. Really disapointing call, and I think the ref botched it. Yet another reason they need replay.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

meh. clichy deserved teh penalty for being so daft.

You can't possibly be in favor of replaying every penalty situation... that is right above TV timeouts, shot clocks, and a penalty box on my list of things that the EPL, FA, FIFA or whoever should implement to "improve" the game.

The goal line sensor they have tested in a few games seems like a good idea but I think we should leave the game alone for the most part. Replay would suck the life out of football.

We gave them a good game in the Cup around that time maybe the I managed to get the last ticket for that game, think Giggs popped up and scored the winner very late on. Think we beat Arsenal around that time as well played them twice in a week Berkamp totally destroyed us that night. In fact her eis the goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I64PGPOZcQ

Those were the days I was stood in the bit of stand under where the camera was, do miss those olden days of standing and Roker Park.

One of my favourite memorable moments at the ground, I was almost close enough to be one of the ones pushing him back on the field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU8Lwixj6mk

meh, everton won

I don't see how tv timeouts, shot clocks, or penalty boxes are even remotely the same thing as reviewing penalties that are called. The game already stops for christ sake and the fourth official can easily review it in a matter of 15 seconds or so.

2-0. Liverpool your having a laf

Only 5 off chelsea now and there game in hand is against spurs they could certainly drop points

Yes

Not haha at all, I was listening to FiveLive last night where they suggested the very same thing. Whinger is by far and away the worst manager for seeing on field incidents if his players are the culprits, yet remarkably on this occassion saw things perfectly. Also, magnanimous is not exactly a term he's familiar with. They more or less said the apology came from higher up at Arsenal. I believe that totally.

To be fair, there are currently no worse referees in Europe than the English, the best - Poll/Durkin - have been pensioned off. A sign of the times is that probably the best two now are Webb and Rennie, who were lauighed at (and Rennie demoted) in recent seasons. The Spanish refs are probably the best in Europe at this time, and the Italians have always been solid. I used to think Scottish refs were poor, but at the moment I'd rather have Mike McCurry than any single ref in the EPL, they've become so bad.

Instead of listening to Whinger, name me one team that uses this tactic?

As I'm not English I'll counter. The reason, that the top 3, and Liverpool, have been so dominant is due to one thing - money, and the fact that they have bought success. The richest clubs in the world are English, they have simply been able to outspend their domestic counterparts, and this has caused the imbalance more than any other factor.

[ ] Informed comment

I know Wenger will never admit seeing anything wrong that an Arsenal player does. I know that makes him look like a twat to opposition fans, but I don't care. He does it for a reason. he does what he thinks is best for Arsenal, not what makes him look good in the eyes of pundits and opposition fans.

To suggest Wenger retracted his statements because of solicitors or higher ups telling him what to do is still "Haha". Wenger pretty much does what he wants, no higher ups at Arsenal has the balls to tell him what to do. For better or worse. If he retracted his statement it was because after calming down on the bus back and hearing Taylor went to see Edu at the hospital he realized he was out of line in his "heat of the moment"-comment. It's not like he hasn't appeared in front of an FA panel plenty of times for opening his mouth.

Using the choice of words as proof is just silly. First of all his English is excellent, he is fluent in French, Alsatian and German. He also speaks some Italian, Spanish and Japanese. And who's to say he doesn't get advice from PR men after he decides he is gonna say something?

About referees, unfortunately the English ones are pretty gash. Always feel we have better refs in the CL. If that is because the best of the best refs CL, or if furrin refs are generally better I don't know.