Baltimore World Cup Soccer @ Slainte Pub

Friday,  January 27th

FA Cup:
2:30pm Watford v Tottenham
2:45pm Everton v Fulham

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Saturday, January 28th

FA Cup:
6:50am QPR vs Chelsea
7:30am Liverpool v Manchester United
12pm Brighton & Hove Albion or Wrexham v Newcastle United

Bundesliga:
9:30am Bayern Munich vs. VfL Wolfsburg

Serie A:
12pm Catania v Parma
2:30pm Juventus v Udinese

Liga:
12pm Rayo Vallecano vs Ath. Bilbao
2pm Real Madrid vs Zaragoza
4pm Villarreal vs. Barcelona

———

Sunday, January 29th

FA Cup:
8:30am Sunderland v Middlesbrough
11am Arsenal v Aston Villa

Serie A:
6:30am Fiorentina v Siena
9am AC Milan v Cagliari

Bundesliga:
11:30am Stuttgart vs Borussia M’gladbach

Liga:
4pm Malaga vs Sevilla

Ligue 1:
3pm Stade Rennais FC v Olympique de Marseille

After the 2-1 loss at Old Trafford, all eyes turned to Wenger and Arsenal’s front office… Is it the end of an Era?

Wenger has now been Arsenal Manager since 1996 for a total of 881 games and 502 wins. This season, and after a heavy loss 8-2 in August against the same Man United, Arsenal does not seduce. Van Persie and Chamberlain are probably the only hopes to “save” the season. Arsenal is now 5th, 10 points behind the Spurs who are sitting on the 3rd place of the table. Wenger’s philosophy is to stay away from becoming a new Man City by spending billions during the transfer window. He believes in Youth which made him become one of the best Manager of the World the past decade. However, it seems now that the recipe does not work anymore…. Talents are leaving Arsenal who ended signing veteran Henry back during the MLS break. The situation is not catastrophic… 5th in EPL, still running in Champions League and FA Cup. But Arsenal has been title-less since now 2005!

The next couple weeks will probably decide for Wenger’s future… A tough FA Cup match up vs Villa, three “easy” EPL matches until the Spurs Derby and AC Milan in Champions League.
I always respected his philosophy regarding the recruitment but a 7th year without a title will probably end Wenger’s love story with the Gunners.

OH and where has LeChat been? No where really, well at the pub if that accounts for anything. I have just been keeping a low-ish profile, not wanting to rile the natives so to speak.

Surprising thing, since ManCity himself got married, I don’t think I’ve seen or heard him. That is a good thing I suppose. It just means things have been not quite as loud.

BOY is he loud. HAHA!

The first weekend saw the annual breakfast buffet, which is a little thank you from the owners and management of the above mentioned pub. It was a decent spread and Chef is… well to put it lightly quite excellent at what he does.

I know Chef was in a competition in the past recent weeks and advanced pretty far with the help of TVGooner on his side. However, the judges were a bunch of wankers that gave the game away.

Anyways, the Arsenal crowd has been picking up quite nicely. There have been quite a few new faces in the crowd, joining in on the songs and having a good time. I hope it’s not just a world cup hangover and a few decide to stick around.

The Arsenal themselves have a few new faces as well, Chamakh, who received his first in the league against Blackpool last weekend. There has been quite a buzz about Chamakh’s hairdo. It makes him look a bit like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park. I think it must give him a good aerodynamic flow, but who really knows.

There is also Koscielny, whose name I had to cut and paste. I really wish Wenger would sign people with much easier names. Chamakh wasn’t a hard one though. K-star has picked up on some of the duties in the back. The back four is still a little suspect though and there hasn’t been a quality keeper signing, yet.

My understanding or from what I read in a certain English paper, the Arsenal have picked up another defender by the name of Sébastian Squillaci. Yes, that’s right, he’s a thirty year old as well, put to a three year contract.

Mr. Wenger has begun changing his policy on the signing of older players; from the Guardian.

… has admitted he is now willing to relax his “over-30s rule” by signing older players on longer deals, having previously only offered them one-year contracts. The Arsenal manager also indicated that no players moving on from the club would be sold to Premier League rivals.

He goes on to clarify the new policy, moving the age up to 32 for the year to year contracts and goes on by saying

It depends on the positions as well. If a central defender, then no problem to sign them until 34. But a striker is different. After 32 you go from year to year. A midfielder as well, after 32 you go from year-to-year.

This is all quite interesting. Still there exists the keeper problem. Midfield is more than covered. There are more strikers than positions, even though the quality of the finishing is still leaving something to be desired in my book. Defense still feels like it needs just one more piece.

Finally, not to repeat myself, the keeper issue, is still an issue. There is not much time before the window closes, so I’d like to cross my fingers and hope for a decent number 1 to appear holding up a green shirt.

I haven’t even been paying attention.. we are back to proper keeper green, yes?

~LeChat

Surprise, usually this is written the day after the game/weekend but since a certain person decided to try and wind me up a little bit on Facebook today before I got a chance to sit down and take a look at the scoreline. I’m going to perform a pre-emptive. Plus this week is going to be incredibly busy with work and other stuff.

Let’s take a look at what my dear old Manchester United supporting friend said.

Maybe Arsene really has checked out and is planning to go to Madrid next year. How else do you explain the collapse of The Arse like this?

My reply, which I won’t quote, since it is my reply, is that Arsenal and Arsene have been frighteningly consistent over the past couple of years. It’s like a roller coaster ride pretending to be a bobsled. I know there are some who are like, I don’t get it. That’s perfectly acceptable as it makes sense in my head.

The coaster is on rails, has a definite maximum speed and braking mechanisms in place and nice little seat belts for the big hills… so everything is for the most part not going to get out of control or too scary. The ride is inspected constantly and if it breaks down, maintenance is a radio call away.

In Arsenal terms, we will be in the Champions League and finish in the top 4, just like the last several years, no surprise there.

Bobsleds, on the other hand, lack these types of controls, so you never know what you are going to get. It might be a fun exhilarating ride but where is the bottom of the hill, who is on the brakes and what happens when it all goes pear shape? You’re not calling bobsled maintenance. You’re calling the medic or someone else in the worst case scenario.

In footballing terms, this would be probably most akin to Leeds quite a few seasons ago and maybe even Pompey currently. So, as an Arsenal supporter for way too many years, all I have to say is that this is the way it is, at the moment.

If Arsene decides to leave, so be it. If Fabergas, Van Persie, Arshavin, Rosicky, or insert random player name here, decides to leave, so be it. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west and the Arsenal is still the greatest team the world has ever seen.

~LeChat

I guess someone has to do it. It shall be myself. If anyone was to partake a moment and to watch the highlights of this thrilling match, you would see… absolutely nothing. Yes it was a let’s play to a boring nil-nil draw. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I do love my nil-nil draws when they are end to end action, pitched battles in the midfield and great saves by fantastic keepers but this was not one of them.

Sad part for the City fans is that they lose Given due to a shoulder injury. HOWEVER, I am going to blow my top here for a moment. There was an interesting bit of copy in the Guardian earlier today. ManCity is trying to make some deals to replace Given outside the transfer window. Earlier it mentioned the possibility of bringing in a keeper from Sunderland (Fulop) but the latest bit of news is to cancel Hart’s loan deal at Birmingham. Article

While the FA are currently considering this move, I find it appalling. You picked your squad, you have an academy, and you have a FAROE ISLANDS International as your back up. And as everyone knows, I give my support to the Faroe Islands. They are always a sleeper team come International matches.

Anyways, the reasoning behind it is that City is without a first choice keeper. And I quote.

The officials discussing the application have agreed that City meet the criteria, namely having no established first-team goalkeeping cover, and the club hope to be given official approval tomorrow.

By the way, has anyone seen the Arsenal first team keeper coverage? Can the Arsenal have a mulligan on the season? I mean putting in my own self-serving perspective, is it possible to bring in a first team striker or defensive midfielder?

Once more, I am happy to express my disgust with a football governing body. I know ManCity did not plan on losing Given or two back ups but that is what happens.

C’est La Vie.

~LeChat

I have to say that I have no ill will towards Arsenal  – especially the Baltimore Gooners types that split time between Slainte and that other bar… 4 or 5 years ago when I first started coming to games on a  regular basis – it was this unlikely bunch that tolerated my shenanigans the most. They found me annoying like a gnat but I pulled out some jokes and general enthusiam – which I think – for the most part – save for grumpy – they enjoyed.

So all-in-all the Arsenal and the Liverpool fans usually get my sympathy when it comes to games that have NO bearing on my season – and unfortunately – as the talent of City will grow it will be less likely that I root for them in any capacity outside of cups or end of the season game — or… of course… if they play Man U -

With all that lovey dovey stuff said – City v Arsenal weekend is just as Mega (for the standings at least) as last week’s City game vs United. Important for City – not really important at all for Arsenal. They don’t have much left to play for — and I hope they show up with that in mind — but I have a feeling seeing Kolo and Ade at the old yard – will get the blood flowing a bit – fortunatley for City half their team are in the hospital -

City’s lineup will look the following

…………………………..Given…………………………..

Richards……….Toure…………….Kompany……Bridge…

………………De Jong……………..Barry………………..

A Johnson…………..Tevez……………….Bellamy….

………………………….Adebayor…………………………

Richards will be the only change over last week – bench will have Viera, SWP, RSC, Onuoha, Ireland, and Zabelata – Mancini wants to give AJ a chance to make the WC team I think and will start him – even though SWP is the better match up here against Song – Bellamy looks to be breaking down from the practice reports I read online and both him and Nigel are looking for a break RIGHT after the season ends…

I hate to say it – but this race for 4th and the United Chelsea at the top – are the most interesting races to watch – I hope some people show up – despite your team affiliation  on Saturday afternoon and enjoy what could be a classic – City haven’t won at the Emirates in 10 years -

Final Score prediction – 2-1 City *heart -  2-0 Arsenal *gambling head

Yes, as you may or may not know by now, it took Wigan a full 10 minutes to dismantle any realistic title challenge that the Arsenal could have presented this weekend. I wish I could say the first 80 were spectacular but I can not even muster up the energy to do that at this time.

I am beginning to think that someone broke a mirror while building Ashburton Grove. There is something seriously amiss; whether it is the unyielding string of injuries that the Arsenal suffer every season or the almost got it moments which seem to be inexhaustible.  I am not one to promote conspiracy theories or the such, but this is unbelievable.

79 – There was a jovial spirit in the pub. The local Gooners were all jokes and smiles, enjoying the day, great food, great atmosphere and what was to be a more than assured victory at this point.

80 – A quip about Arsenal keepers only being decent for 80 minutes in a 90 minute game, still the mood remained jovial. Wigan got one and that was it. The Arsenal can hold out another 10 minutes, yes?

89 – The joviality turned to  a shattered silence. The once smiling and joking faces started realising that 80 minutes of decent keeping wouldn’t be enough. The Arsenal had gone from a comfortable win to an awkward tie, rather quickly. The nail was set in place but it would be fine. Chelsea dropped points and Man United barely squeezed pass Man City.

90 – The nail had been banged in, the coffin sealed and the dirt thrown on top. A smack of a post and the ball gently rolling into the back of the net as a stunned keeper stood there, barely moving.  And an even more stunned bunch of Gooners stood in a pub on Thames Street on a Sunday morning in Baltimore in pure silence.

The disappointment at what was supposed to be an easy game could be read upon every single person’s face, Gooner or not.  It was as if all hope and optimism had taken a back seat to the reality of another almost got it.

A few nods of farewell were exchanged… that was it.

~LeChat

Right about now, I have decided that suppressing memories may be a good thing.

Seriously, a loss to the Spurs is the last thing any true Gooner is willing to accept.

It was worst than (insert your own horrible disaster here)!

I remember exactly where I was… standing by my co-workers desk complaining about how my head and how my wrist were hurting. Then I realised that my body tends to fall apart and give me warnings when something utterly catastrophic has happened to a certain North London club.

It is the end of the world, my friends, well at least towards the end of the season as 2012 is fast approaching. Volcanoes in Iceland causing havoc, earthquakes in and around the Americas, flooding in Rio, and Spurs beating the Arsenal.

What’s next?

I figure the only positive thing that may have happened is that Crystal Palace Baltimore has their home opener this weekend. Some summertime football fun to look forward to outside of the World Cup. The 35rs are planning a tailgate around 5PM and the game is at 7PM. I personally know a good deal of pub supporters will be out, so come and join the fun and festivities at UMBC.

Switching gears for half a second, there is a great article in the Guardian about the beauty of the offside rule. LINK

Til the next debacle we call a football match gets along.

~LeChat

Just wanted to share the video of that incredible goal. I let you debate about Rose’s future… But yesterday at the pub, everybody agreed on the magic of the goal!

I really should take a nice little afternoon nap, as this heat is currently bringing me down. For those of you that know of me, you’ve probably enjoyed my very biting and self aggrandizing online journal of my life and football.

However, I will not be repeating that here. I will however tuck my claws in, for the safety of those around me. If you do care to peruse, feel free to check my profile for the link.

Wait? Who am I kidding.  ManCity let me loose on this blog and he knows what kind of chaos can abound from my very fingertips. Digital assassin.

It’s been an interesting few weeks of football to say none the less. The Arsenal had a clear chance at a title run a few weeks, which was blatantly tripped upon by a lesser squad. It was very hurtful. However, I’ve been through worst and probably will see that happen again very soon.

It is my understanding that Mr. Wenger himself is looking at his contract in the near future. I could not really be asked to read the article as I have two tons of paper on my desk at work that seems to just move around.

IF I COULD JUST FINISH.

Sorry I channeled Eduardo for a second there. Mentioning injuries, what sorrow amount of luck there has been in that department for the last couple of years. I know that I shouldn’t turn this into a self-pity Gooner session but really? Have you known a team which has become very shallow due to this amount of injuries.

I would love to say how unfair it is or espouse whatever conspiracy that is now floating around along the lines of Give the foreigners a kick, they can’t play in England. However, that consistent string of top 4 finishes and champions league final thrown in for good measure does me just fine.

The history of the Arsenal has always been that of the underdog. Chants of boring boring Arsenal were supplanted by lucky lucky Arsenal and at times some more devious exclamations by those of lesser cultural sensitivity.

Weekend Analysis

Well I have firmly placed our chances in the third spot. I do not really see Chelsea or ManYoo dropping much of anything at this point in time. While it could be a depressing aspect when the transfer window opens. I hope, nay pray, that those who have pledged themselves to the club over the last few campaigns will remain and continue to help us build.

The match against Wolves this weekend was not very well played. You can see the tiredness in the Arsenal boys but they have this inspiration that keeps their heads up and play the whole game. It is no surprise that our captain broke his fibula during the Championship tie last week. He would not have been able to play this week either way; too many yellows.

The inspiration came in the form of a last minute winner, from Bendtner himself. This is what football is about 90 minutes of action. Well you hope that it is good action and not 10 men behind the ball. Let’s just hope that inspiration flows through to the tie against Barca tomorrow.

Crystal Palace Baltimore

I mentioned this on the other blog and figure I should mention it here as well or I would not be a good 35er. The 35ers are the funtastic supporters group for Crystal Palace Baltimore who are now in the NASL.

Crystal Palace will begin their 2010 season in proper on April 16 at UMBC (home field) against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. So if you do wish to have a good time, come out and support your local boys who are trying to show the world what it means to be Palace Baltimore.

(rumour has it that the 35ers will have their own premium section)

Just who the heck are DC United!