“It has been a mixed start to the season for Arsenal, as promising away performances at champions Manchester City and a rejuvenated Liverpool have been balanced against a disappointing home defeat to Chelsea. However, there is an air of quiet optimism among the fans that Arsène Wenger’s new-look side will be able to mount a challenge once the new players have fully gelled. It certainly feels better than last year when the Gunners were on the wrong end of an 8-2 thrashing by Manchester United. In fact, Arsenal recovered well after that disastrous start to finish in a creditable third position, securing qualification for the Champions League for a hugely impressive 15 seasons in a row.” Swiss Rambler
Arsenal – The Song Remains The Same
October 3, 2012Big-spending Zenit face Milan under strain of divisions and defeats
October 3, 2012“It’s not difficult to pinpoint where it started to go wrong for Zenit. Last season they won the league by 13 points, lifting the title for the second time in succession. Although they were beaten in the Super Cup by Rubin, they began this season with four straight wins, despite a fixture list that looked testing: there was a 3-1 triumph at CSKA and then a 5-0 demolition of Spartak. At that stage, it looked as though Zenit might cruise to a hat-trick of Russian titles.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
HH2: The Other Herrera
October 3, 2012“An autocratic manager of South American descent, a success in Spain but enjoying his peak years at the sharp end of catenaccio-fuelled 1960s Serie A. Articles about the well documented life and times of Signor Herrera are not exactly thin on the ground, but this time Helenio takes only an unfamiliar supporting role. This is actually the story of one of his main managerial contemporaries, the unrelated Paraguayan Heriberto Herrera, or HH2 as he was to be christened by the Italian press. He was a manager who is barely known today despite a career that reads like a diluted and histrionic free version of Helenio’s. He may not have amassed the prodigious trophy haul nor the media adulation of HH, but he did joust gamely with ‘il mago’ and bloody his nose on several occasions.” In Bed With Maradona
Time to stop complaining about time?
October 3, 2012
“Sir Alex Ferguson was exceptionally grumpy on Saturday night. His Manchester United side was trying to mount a furious comeback against Tottenham and ran out of time: The referee gave four minutes of injury time, added a handful of seconds and that was that. ‘The biggest insult is the wasted time,’ Sir Alex fumed. ‘It’s an insult to the game. It’s denying you the proper chance to win a football match.'” ESPN
Inconsistent Arsenal still lacks ‘moral courage’ despite changes
October 3, 2012“Some things never change. All season the question has been whether Arsenal had, at last, found the defensive resolve to make it a genuine threat for honors. A 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Saturday provided the answer; the same old flaws, the same old weaknesses persist. It can seem, at the highest level, as though soccer is primarily about control of midfield: dominate there, and the chances will come. But that is assuming all else is equal, and for Arsenal it rarely is.” SI – Jonathan Wilson