Apologies for the break in service - changing jobs and hours and many other things.
Quote:"But I'd give Arsenal credit for assembling a very strong squad there. Not only talented, but physically very strong, so they can take you on, whatever way you wanna play it, they've got the answer to you."
George Graham on the new Arsenal
Latest Features
Leeds 1 Arsenal 0
Elland Road - a bridge too far; a hostile place if ever there was one.
Remember asking a copper the way to the ground in the early eighties - the days of alsatians and frightened horses and 'e said:"don't speak with that Southern accent or ya'll get ****** up."
It will be all to easy to make Nelson Vivas (on for Nigel Winterburn late on with a broken nose) a scapegoat for the defeat - absent on the far post as Jimmy Floyd H.headed in a precise Kewell cross.
But if Arsenal finish the season as runners up - as now seems likely [but football is a funny ole game] as Arsene Wenger says - it is not a disaster. A prized Champions League spot is probably more important in the grander scheme of things.
One of the reasons Arsenal found it hard to score was that they were up against a mirror image of themselves - a rock solid defence founded on Arsenal principles.
The fact Parlour, Petit and Vieira were all booked in the first 30, restricted the ball winning capabilities in midfield - particularly when up against the spikey - Batty, Bowyer and Hopkin.
Arsenal seemed jittery and nervous and could not stick away the chances - and when is Kaba Diawara going to score? A player of promise has not fulfilled. He has unluckiness in his boots - having one off the line, another diverted by Martyn's foot at the last minute and a header which grazed the bar.
The talk about Nicolas Anelka departing would have been hastened by his disappearing act in the second half - when he was sorely needed.
Kanu made a difference when he came on for Overmars, and some of his passing and dribbling activated the saliva buds in anticipation for next season.
The future looks bright. The famous defence is together - perhaps for the last season - surely Wenger will use Grondin and Vivas to extend Lee and Nigel's Arsenal careers.
The age balance looks good - even if Dennis Bergkamp turned 30 this week.
But perhaps the most significant bright spot will be the opening of the new training ground next season, enabling Arsene Wenger to put into effect his long term blueprint for Arsenal Football Club.
IG
Brave failure at Leeds after Winterburn horror injury
By Myles Palmer
Would Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have scored that 86th minute winner if Nigel Winterburn had been defending that Harry Kewell cross in the 86th minute?
Probably not.
But we will never know.
Vivas came on and got on the wrong side of Hasselbaink who scored with a diving header.
The turning point of an exciting game came when Alfie Haaland's knee demolished Nigel Winterburn's nose after 75 minutes.
Haaland stupidly tried to pull the stricken Nutty Boy to his feet when he was clearly on planet Zargon.
Blood everywhere. Very worrying. Doctors. Stretcher.Play held up for five minutes. Arsenal's rhythm interrupted at a crucial time, just after Nigel Martyn had saved at Kanu's feet and and Jonathan Woodgate had headed a Diawara rocket of the line.
Jonathan Woodgate is the new Tony Adams. We must sign him!
Woodgate won Sky's man of the match with 71% of the vote.
A remarkable match, despite the abysmal refereeing of Gary Willard, who booked nine players.
Overmars passed to Anelka twice! Hooray!
Ian Harte blasted a penalty against the bar after Keown flattened Kewell with a wild tackle on 45 minutes. Hasselbaink rammed in a follow-up shot, and Seaman made a miraculous save (45 minutes).
Two minutes before that Seaman had made another miracle save from a Kewell 30-yarder which was flashing into the top corner.
Leeds pressed so ferociously that Arsenal had Parlour, Petit and Vieira booked in the first 36 minutes.That was inhibiting.
Batty had a lob (84) that proved he is no Nayim.
Tony Adams clattered Smith with a bodycheck.
The game changed a lot after Kanu came on for Overmars (65) and made some fabulous passes.
Diawara came on for Parlour(71) and went close with a header which shaved the bar.
Brave performance by a great team who ran out of steam, never finding the power which had sliced Tottenham apart last week.
Four Premiership defeats and second place.
ANR exclusive
Nikos Machlas could be coming! That is the latest hot story from a previously reliable source.
Machlas is 25, a fast, compact Greek goal poacher.A predator in the Tony Cottee-Michael Owen style.
He played for AEK Athens, then moved to Vitesse Arnhem in Holland, where he scored an astonishing 34 goals in 32 league games last season.
He has scored 16 league goals this term, and Vitesse are third in the table. For Greece he has scored 11 goals in 27 appearances before this season.
Machlas has been catching my eye on Eurogoals for the past two years. He does not duplicate anybody at the club.
He is quick, sharp, determined and prolific.A bit like Overmars, but a centre forward. Not as individualistic as Anelka, not as versatile as Kanu.
From what I've seen, a better player than Dani, the Mallorca striker Arsenal have been trying to sign.
Having left Greece and made it in Holland, Machlas clearly has the character to prosper in London.
The bad news is that Juventus also want him.
Postscript to 6 May
London bookmakers have cut Arsenal's odds for the title from 6-4 to 5-4, after the result against Derby County.
The Wenger-Ferguson axis continues until 2002 as Alex Ferguson signed a new three-year extension to his contract which will keep him at Old Trafford until he is 60 in June 2002.
Arsene Wenger is described in a new book, about being an Arsenal fan by the screenwriter, Laurence Marks, as "the Sigmund Freud of football managers".
Arsenal are the only team among 92 professional clubs this season not to have lost at home. They have also gone 18 League games without defeat.
Alan Smith relates how he fell for Jason McAteer's joke question:"Which end do they call the Clock End," after the Bolton FA Cup win.
At time of writing, Emmanuel Petit is in the running for The Footballer of the Year, as chosen by the Football Writers' Association.
Gianluca Vialli blamed the fact Chelsea are currently falling off the title pace a bit, due to the fact that Arsenal and Manchester United were currently "winning matches for fun".
Good to see that in the computer game FIFA 99, Dennis Bergkamp has greater shot accuracy and ball control than most. And if you put him in goal he excels, apparently.
Great accolade for Martin Keown, when after the Hundary match, Kevin Keegan said that Martin had established himself as England's No 1 centre-half, and that it was now a question of who played alongside him.
So Rory Delap didn't puke over the Highbury pitch on Sunday. The last couple of games he was sick, putting the reaction down to high energy drinks. Now he drinks water - everything seems to be in order.
Callum Murray, editor of TV Sports Markets magazine has claimed Arsenal, along with three other Premiership clubs are interested in pay-per-view. Its research has found that 3.25 million homes in Britain would pay £10 to watch a Premiership match, producing revenue of £32.5m for every game.
Accolade for Nicolas Anelka this week via the portable of Amy Lawrence:"Zinedine Zidane sang of an instant connection with Anelka. "I feel a spirit building with Nicolas; when I pass the ball forward I know he will be there."
According to the Sunday Mirror, Arsenal are the new favourites to sign £10m-rated Serguei Rebrov after Spurs balked at the price but Inter's Ronaldo is also fishing for a move to Highbury.
In an interview Kanu describes how when recovering from his heart operation he called himself Jack Lewis to escape the press.
Kanu adds:"There is more heavy tackling [in England] than I have been used to, more shouting and kicking. When the defenders foul you, they think you are pretending, so they shout at you."
Arsenal's goalkeeping situation was parlous over the last week, as John Lukic suffered a similar injury to David Seaman, badly bruised finger. Alex Manninger still has his arm in plaster after saving a training ground shot from guess who..Dave Seaman. Seaman incidentally performs wickedly if you put him up front in the computer game FIFA 99.
Arsenal have moved to 17th in the Reuters rankings with 77.56 points, but out of the top five best European defences.
Arsenal cheered up Sheffield United's season according to their annual report:"a good performance in the FA Cup for the second year running, including the historic game against Arsenal at Highbury, has, however, given our fans something to cheer about in 1999"
David Dein is reported as calling for the number of yellow cards before a suspension to be around seven or eight, instead of five as currently. The FA is reviewing the system in the Summer.
Dennis Bergkamp and Kanu won't be playing the Thai national side on 21 May. Peter Withe is helping the Thais with team selection, and reporters beware - Surachai Jirasirichote and Surachai Jaturapatrapong are all set to play (with their names on their shirts?).
The Manchester Evening News says that Kanu could not have failed to miss with the fifth Arsenal goal at Middlesbrough given his size 15 boots. They suggest that the FA takes action against the over-sized feet, and insists on regulation size ones.
Arsenal's Marianne Spacey has won the AXA F.A. WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE TOP SCORER, NATIONAL DIVISION award, the first of its kind.
Masculine edge to Arsenal's Womens Team victory in the FA Cup. Southamption goalkeeper Beer, was voted 'man' of the match, in one paper. However, it didn't stop Arsenal scoring a couple and retaining the Cup.
Womens' team manager Vik Akers warned that Women's football must go semi-professional otherwise it will die in Britain.
Postscript to mid-April
David Elleray was at one with the offside decision: "It wasn't my call. I acted on what my assistant told me. I haven't seen any video replay or anything. He told me that there was an offside in the build-up to the goal. I have to accept his view."
In case anyone gets swept up in the Arsenal disciplinary furore well emphasised by the press, it is wise to remember that the club was threatened with a £50,000 fine at the end of the 1996-97 season escaped punishment as their record improved
Peter Jones(of the Di Canio pushing fame) has been appointed the referee for the last FA Cup final of the 20th century.
The financial effect of the draw at Villa Park:Manchester United dipped slightly, down 1/2p to 185 1/2p.
Soccer analysts and lawyers have not ruled out media groups owning Premiership clubs, in the wake of the DTI decision to block BSkyB's move for Man U. Six Premiership clubs, including Arsenal wrote to the MMC supporting the United takeover.
One paper propounded a formlae to stop Man U:leave their defence with only one forward to mark, play tight on Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, and overwhelm Roy Keane in midfield.
One paper said:"'We shall not be beaten' is an Arsenal statement that stands out as starkly and bald as Jaap Stam's haircut."
Some other occasions on Sunday stopped the football supporting glitterati from seeing the semi, for example the Bafta Awards and David Frost's 60th. David Mellor said:"It was very inconsiderate of David to have his 60th birthday this afternoon when the football is on. He's put all his friends in a real dilemma."
The British Snooker Open was delayed by half an hour because of extra-time.
Arsenal fans greeted Kanu at Villa Park, by singing:"Nwankwo very much for the great goal Kanu, Nwankwo very much, Nwankwo very very much."
Marieanne Spacey scored a hat-trick and Faye White added two in Arsenal's 6-0 thrashing of Bradford City. Ex-Arsenal striker Paul Dickov scored the first hat-trick of his career, raising hopes of a Man City promotion.
The Arsenal defence has not conceded a goal for 673 minutes
Dani Garcia, the Mallorcan striker, linked with Arsenal, increased his transfer value still further with a 10th league goal of the season. According to the Observer, Dani has told Arsenal: `I'm ready to sign for you.' The striker had been linked with Sheffield Wednesday, but Arsenal, offering £6m to Wednesday's £4.5m, look to have the deal in the bag.
Is Dennis Bergkamp provoked on the pitch: "This happens all the time, everywhere, in big sport. It may be part of sport, nowadays."
In an interview rpeorted by Brian Glanville he adds:"The greatest disappointment was the day before [the Cup Final], when I knew I was going to miss it. I felt I'd progressed to 100%, but on the day of the final I made a movement and the muscle wasn't ready for it yet. If I could have got through that day, I could have played."
And on Marco van Basten: "I felt privileged that I played with him in Holland," says Bergkamp. "You can learn a lot playing next to him. Role model may be a big word. He was one of the players I admired and looked up to even when I was playing next to him."
And On Cruyff:"When everyone else worked on reinforcing their defence, Johan went for taking risks and for spectacular football."
The Sunday Times points out that the oldest footballer to make his debut for England was Arsenal's Leslie Compton, of Arsenal at 38, in 1950.
One letter points out (again) that 80 minutes elapsed in the Man U-Juve match before a yellow card was shown, which contrasts with:"previous night at Highbury, where one Graham Poll brandished yellows and reds like a defective traffic signal that couldn't find green."
Some analysts believe If the NTL-Newcastle deal gets the go-ahead, a flurry of deals is expected - with Carlton, Granada and United News & Media likely to target football clubs.
On Ofex, Arsenal held steady on the BSkyB news at £2,100 a share.
If the OFT rules that the Premier League's BSkyB contract is a cartel,
some
analysts reckon the top four clubs would share £117m TV revenues/yr.
Leeds' defender Ian Harte reckons the paret of the reason behind Leeds successful youth policy "probably goes back to the fact that he [David O'Leary] himself was only a kid when he first played for Arsenal."
Dennis Bergkamp said this week:"I play for a great club, a forward-thinking club and there are plenty of things left that we can achieve together. I want to finish my time in football at the top and I would be happy to remain at Arsenal for the rest of my career." Bergkamp's Dutch agents are reported to want to scrap the remaining two years of his current contract and replace it with a new four-year deal.
On the Cup Final last year:"I was there on the day watching from the bench but you don't really feel part of it. It was the biggest disapppointment of my club career. When I look back on my career, it'd be nice to think about having played in an FA Cup Final."
Arsene Wenger said:" I'd have been axed by Arsenal if I had taken four years to win a trophy."
It emerged this week that when Shevchenko came to London to play Arsenal in October, he was outraged to hear Dynamo described as 'Russian champions'.
Arsene Wenger admits to attending the theatre once or twice a year but
only
when invited by David Dein.
He adds:"Marriage usually stabilises. It gives players a natural
discipline
- they have to go home. They have more emotional stability unless
they are married to a nightmare. Four of my players are not married:
Petit, Vieira, Overmars and Anelka. Adams is old enough to be
alone. It is between 20 and 30 that is the problem."
And:"I would think at some stage he (Tony Adams) would be a manager of the club or somewhere else. I haven't spoken to him about it because I think he has some years to go as a player before he sacks me!". He adds"I can think of Bould, Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn and Adams as managers because they are all intelligent."
Wenger said of Arsenal's Champions League experience: our squad was too small;underestimated that two yellow cards come so quickly;and we underestimated the motivation of teams at Wembley.
Nick Hornby has come up with idea (according to the D.Telegraph) to help assistant referees get offside decisions right - a squeaky ball, so they can hear the pass when it is struck, rather than look in two places at once.
With the result on Sunday, Arsenal climbed to the second best defence in Europe behind Obilic Belgrade (Yugoslavia) with a 0.41 average/game. They are 18th in the overall Reuters rankings.
Premiership model collector Mike Pomeroy has slapped a £10m price tag on the models of David Seaman and Dennis Bergkamp, to put off people wanting to buy them. Must be hard up.
The coach of the Brazilian team said:"If Juninho had gone to Arsenal or Manchester United, his time in England would have been better," he said. "The players from big clubs here in Brazil are used to winning, to being champions and getting into the national team. Then it's not good if they go on to a small club."
Dani could well feel at home at Highbury. The club has been described as built on Wimbledon finances and Arsenal method and Lauren Etama-Mayer, from Cameroon, forms a partnership with Engonga in front of the back four that does for Mallorca what Vieira and Petit do for Arsenal.
Bizarre ruling is that Martin Keown will miss two games, not one, for his sending off against Blackburn - Middlesbrough (away)and Derby County (home).
Arsene Wenger backs docking wages for bookings and dismissals:"If such an idea comes from the players' union, or has their blessing, I think it is a good idea."
West Ham beat Arsenal 4-0, in the quarter final replay of the The Times FA Youth Cup.
Team Injuries
13/05
Manninger - broken arm (reportedly out for the season)
Nigel Winterburn - broken nose
Dennis Bergkamp's record (up to end March)
Goals - 9
Goal assists - 13
Shots on target - 31
% shots on target 57
Corners won 16
Points - 1286
Arsenal's record prior to Newcastle (supplied by OPTA)
Goals 43
Average/game 1.31
Shots 330
% on target 47
% goals to shots 10
Short passes 9072
Long passes 1232
Pass completion 79%
Crosses 422
Cross completion 21%
Goals conceded 12
Goals conceded/game .46
% of tackles won 66%
Blocks/interceptions 1688
Fouls 313
Yellows 47
Reds 5
Foul Play Table
Sheff Wed - 478
Leicester - 518
Aston Villa - 526
Wimbledon - 530
Man U - 584
Newcastle - 587
Arsenal - 598 (5 Red,47 Yellow,313 Fouls)
Riches League (Deloitte Touche) 1996/97 season
Manchester United £87.9m
Newcastle United £41.1m
Liverpool £39.2m
Rangers £31.7m
Tottenham Hotspur £27.9m
Arsenal £27.2m
Arsenal are third in the Premiership attendance League on 38,095
Goal Ratio League
Arsenal are 14th - 23 games and 24 goals
Goals/game 1.04
Minutes/goal 86 mins
Arsenal are second in the HOME POINTS league
Arsenal are fifth in the AWAY POINTS league
Arsenal are fourth in the S.Mirror's average attendance in 34 years league (!) - 31,149.
Arsenal have not lost at home for 24 games
Arsene Wenger is the 8th longest serving manager in the Premiership.
Arsenal are currenly third in the Mail 's Entertainment League
Anelka's Premiership record
Minutes 2018
Goals 12
Shots on target 38
Off target 37
Assists - 4
Passes - 592
OPTA Leagues
David Seaman 9th- 55
Lee Dixon -7th - 658
Nicolas Anelka - 10th -655
Dennis Bergkamp -9th -666
Most fouled
The NoW says Ray Parlour is the fifth most fouled player in the Premiership (on fouls for). He's been fouled 43 times prior to Preston. Ginola is top at 52.
Statistics - history (Premiership games up to Villa, from Carling OPTA)
Matches -16
Goals -15
Average goals/game -0.94
Shots - 218
% on target - 48
%goals/shots 7
goals against - 7
Average goals against/game -0.44
Tackles - 552
Tackles won - 70%
Fouls - 181
Yellows - 28
Red - 3
Arsenal are currently 10th in the MoS European League:
Played 27
Won 11
Drawn 11
Lost 5
For 31
Against 20
Points 54.3
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Postscript to end April
These are the odds the five leading UK bookmakers have Arsenal at for retaining the title: 6-5 6-5 6-5 11-8 5-4.
Bit of flak as Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira weren't present to pick up a PFA honour for their achievements in the World Cup. Arsene Wenger, who picked up an award said:"It's not my fault they are not here." Tony Adams picked up Nicolas Anelka's Young Player of the Year Award.
Anelka, Vieira and Petit all made it to the PFA Premiership team of the season.
Will Arsenal expect any favours from long time Arsenal player David O'Leary when the play Leeds:" We will try to kick their butt," says 'Spider'.
However, he redresses the balance in another interview:"Not many clubs do things like Arsenal do. I came here (Leeds) with the philosophy that there are people in this world with class. Regardless of money, some people have class. Arsenal did things with class. From top to bottom. And that's what we're trying here. All the money in the world can't buy you class. That comes from somewhere else."
The views of the managers on Saturday said it all: "This Arsenal team has got to be up there with the Liverpool of the 1970s and with the Manchester United of recent years. It was the best performance I've seen since I came here," was all Bryan Robson could say."One of the best performances there has been in my time with Arsenal," said Arsene Wenger.
24 Hours earlier Bryan Robson said:"Arsenal need to come here and win but it will be a hard, physical game for them. We've only lost once at home in something like 20 months so they know they're in for a tough afternoon."
One paper likened Kanu to the angular, elusive Asprilla with Newcastle, with one big difference. Kanu has far more acute an awareness of the position of his colleagues.
It emerged this week that Kanu's father, a spare parts car dealer (in one paper, but a business man in another), wanted him to be an engineer.
Saturday's result was Arsenal's most emphatic victory away from Highbury since 1935 and Middlesbrough's heaviest home defeat in their 100-year history.
Exotic merry-go-round transfer talk this week with Lazio after Anelka and Petit for an alleged £21m, and Arsenal looking at Duncan Ferguson as Newcastle want Dani for £10m.
How do you describe the second Kanu goal? Two papers tried as follows - leaping into the air and he executed the first volleyed drag-back flick most of us had ever seen; and - he initiated a sort of airborne Cruyff turn all in the one liquid move. With a flick cum drag-back he dispatched a back-heel volley into the bottom corner.
Perhaps more eloquent that Sky Sports' Clive Allen who described a Bergkamp pass: "That was a needle through the haystack job."
Arsene Wenger gave us more insight into Kanu this week: "He can play with Dennis and also off a striker. His confidence was very low when he arrived at Arsenal, but the boys were great with him and he has improved a lot physically since he arrived.
Alan Green was so impressed with Kanu's contribution he said (in the Belfast Newsletter): "It made me think how, if he'd been signed a few months earlier, Arsenal might well have been disputing the European Cup with Manchester United as well as the league title."
Now that David Seaman has signed up for a book deal, will he be hit by the"book deal curse" which seems to affect so many sportsmen?
In describing why it is better to be a woman that a man in a tabloid, Jan Simon says:" You know there's more to communication than how Arsenal got on."
Nicolas Anelka has criticised people who just call him Anelka. He wants to be known as Nicolas.
The Smallweed column proposes that after extra time in a cup tie, the game should be awarded to the team fielding most home-grown players. Doesn't particularly favour Arsenal.
What's with ex-Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell. His record since coming back to England: Played 4; passes 139, completed 58%; Shots 10, goals 4; crosses 4, completed 0%; dribbles 3, completed 100%.
Frankie Dettori paid David Platt back for getting him Arsenal tickets by riding his horse Handsome Ridge to victory at Sandown. Platt's horse has has now won six races all over Europe and more than £70,000 in prizemoney.
Is the title race getting to Arsene? He said: when you look at the fixtures, it scares you - so it's better that you don't"
Young Ghanaian striker Peter Ofori-Quaye, star of the World Youth Championships has said he wants to play for either Man U or Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger has been promised extra transfer funds after Arsenal announced a £12m three-year sponsorship deal with the computer games company Sega Europe.However, the Gunners' chairman David Dein said that it would not signal a spending spree.
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