Banet 1 - 2 Arsenal

A warm July afternoon saw Arsenal kick-off the 2008/09 campaign with a game at Underhill against League 2 side Barnet.

The early exchanges saw Barnet on top with Almunia called upon to make an early save. Arsenal eventually settled down and started to dominate with early glimpses of Ramsey's ability on display. Bendtner had two early chances but his first touch let him down.

After 16 minutes, Arsenal conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box, which was taken by French player Gillett. He curled the ball around the wall and Almunia was unable to prevent the Bees taking the lead.

The goal knocked Arsenal and silenced their fans. It was not long before Arsenal started to pass the ball around and try to create chances. Arsenal's best chance of the half came after a mazy run from Denllson, he found Walcott who created space for himself, but his shot was well saved.

Most of the work and creativity came from Welshman Ramsey. Playing Traore on the left wing did not work, as Traore lacked the final ball, plenty of running but no end product. Nordveit showed a lot of promise and composure, making a couple of worthy interceptions.

Arsenal went in at half-time trailing 1-0, Arsene Wenger knew that the team was not sharp enough in front of goal and changes will be made.

Wholesale changes were made in the second half, including a debut for new signing Francis Coquelin.

Neil Banfield's reserve played like a team and within 10 minutes Mark Randall and Nacer Barazite both came close to equalising.

Where Ramsey left off, another Arsenal starlet, Wlishere picked the ball up on the wing, threaded a great ball to young Simpson who made no mistake in bringing the Gunners level on the hour mark. Arsenal continued to push forward and in the 75th minute another great ball from Wilshere found Simpson, who looked up and played a ball ac cross to Barazite who buried the ball to give Arsenal the lead.

After the goal Arsenal lost some of their composure, they created little and were content to see the game out.

What has Wenger learnt from this outing? Ramsey, Randall, Willshere are players to be considered for first team, duty. Traore is no winger, he will become a much maligned figure on the wing. Bendtner let himself down, so it will be interesting to see him over the next couple of weeks, will he add pressure on Adebayor or will he be content to play second fiddle to the Togolese striker. Overall a good work out, now on to Austra for the next phase of pre-season..

First Half Starting Line Up
Almunia ; Sagna; Nordveit; Hoyte (J) ;Clichy - Lansbury; Denilson; Ramsey; Traore - Walcott; Bendtner

Second Half Starting Line Up

Manone (Szczezny -75) -Agogo Dunne -75); Hoyte (G); Rodgers; Steer - Randall, Wilshere; Barazite; Coqeulin;- Fonte; Simpson

The End of The Invincibles

With the departures of Lehman and Gilberto, Arsenal’s Invincibles have been disbanded, leaving only Kolo Toure from that famous team.

In 2003/04, Arsenal achieved something no other team in the modern era has managed to do, they went a whole season unbeaten.

Who would have though that when Manchester United were awarded a penalty and van Nislelroy stepped up to take it that Arsenal would go the season with losing a game.

Just as that match was the turning point in the season, it was ironic that the next time Arsenal visited Old Trafford, a dive by Rooney led to a penalty and the end of the Invincible’s run.

What Arsenal fans want to know is why did we not build from that team? What went wrong in the years that followed?

Part of the reason was the arrival of Abramovich at Chelsea and his ability and willingness to spend £200M a season to ensure the Blues bought anyone they wanted and won the title.

But that does not excuse how the squad was dismantled and has taken so long to re-build into a squad worthy of winning the title. What we must remember is that this squad was the culmination of 5 years building, tweaking and selling be Wenger.

Were the players sold too soon and were they replaced on a like for like basis?

Martin Keown, Sylain Wiltord, Ray Parlour and Kanu were released that summer as they had become peripheral figures.

Keown’s replacement was Senderos a player who can go through several games and look an accomplished defender, but then can hit a rut for no reason and look like a Sunday morning park footballer.

Jose Antonio Reyes was an adequate replacement for both Kanu, who never performed for Arsenal once he had been given a new contract, and Wiltord who never quite settled into the Arsenal system. The only problem was that Reyes never liked London and it was not long be fore the lure of Madrid was too much. Reyes has not been replaced, though Walcott could do a better in the long run.

Ray Parlour was to be replaced by Hleb a worthy replacement, but not somebody who was prepared to “tough it out”.

Patrick Vieira was sold in the following summer, Arsenal have never replaced PV4. It was a folly to sell Vieira with no replacement lined up, more so as Arsenal allowed Edu to leave that summer on a free transfer. Allowing players to leave on a free transfer is a regular theme at Arsenal. The eventual replacements for these are Diaby and Denilson, both young and so far they have not shown anything to make people believe they are the real deal.

The last season at Highbury 2005/06 saw the biggest upheaval of the Invincibles and you wonder if anybody realized how exposed Arsenal would be left by this move. Bergkamp eventually retired, and even though van Persie has tried, nobody will ever replace the Iceman.

Campbell was allowed to leave on a free transfer as he wanted a new challenge abroad, though he ended up at Portsmouth. Gallas was to arrive that summer and apart from one moment of pique, he has proven to be a true captain.

Robert Pires waved adieu to the fans at the Stade de France where he graced the pitch for 13 minutes before being substituted. Wenger let Pires go because he was not prepared to give him a two year contract. Rosicky came in for Pires, but he has been in sick-bay too often for Arsenal fans to remember what he looks like.

Summer 2006 saw the departure of Ashley Cole over £5K a week, his replacement Gael Clichy has made people wonder why he was not picked ahead of Cole in the first place.

Lauren was the next to leave, again going to Portsmouth where he joined Campbell and Kanu. Bacary Sagna, is a great replacement and nobody can complain.

Summer 2007 saw the departure of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Eduardo and Adebayor are his replacements, but it is a tall order to replace such a talisman as Henry became. Whether these two can ever emulate Henry only time will tell. Also leaving last summer was Freddie Ljungberg, who by this stage had spent too much time recovering from his tattoos to be effective. Wenger never replaced Ljungberg.

Whilst every squad comes to an end, what Wenger did wrong in the dismantling of the Invincibles was the speed with which players left and that their replacements were not eased into the team. It would have been better for Arsenal if the new players came in and spent a season playing with their “Invincible” and then moving the Invincible on later. This was done with Fabregas who played alongside Edu and Vieira and the same is true for van Persie and Adebayor, but the others were thrown in at the deep end.

Arsene went on record to state that last season’s team was better than the Invincibles, well let’s hope that this season’s squad goes on to bring some silverware to the Emirates,

Arsenal TV Increases Hours

The Arsenal TV will has announced that it will be revamping its programme schedule in time for the new season.

Due to popular demand the channel will be launching extended transmission hours from Monday 21st July onwards. The channel will be broadcast for an additional three hours per day during the week and a new eight hour broadcast on a Sunday will also be introduced.

New Channel Hours:
• Monday to Friday: 4.30pm - 2am
• Sunday: 6pm - 2am

Arsenal TV can be found on its NEW position of Sky Digital at channel number 435.


Watch Arsenal's pre-season friendlies on Arsenal TV.

BARNET V ARSENAL – Saturday, July 19th
SZOMBATHELYI HALIADAS V ARSENAL – Tuesday, July 22nd
BURGENLANDIN V ARSENAL – Monday, July 28th
STUTTGART V ARSENAL – Wednesday, July 30th
HUDDERSFIELD V ARSENAL - Wednesday, August 6th

Gilberto Arrives in Athens

Gilberto arrived in Athens last night evening to a hero's welcome with over 1500 Panathinaiko fans cheering on the Brazil international at the airport and mobbing his car.

Gilberto will become the highest paid player in Greece when he signs for Panathinaikos today and is officially unveiled as a PAO player, in their attempt to wrest the title from arch rivals Olympiakos.

Gilberto leaves Arsenal after a successful career having joined the Gunners in 2002, making 170 appearances and scoring 17 goals, he lost his place last season due to the fine form of Flamini. In discussions with Wenger this summer, the Arsenal manager could not guarantee the Arsenal vice-captain a regular place in the team.

He rejected a move to Everton, stating that he wanted to Panathinaikos as they were competing in the Champions League.