Team Injuries
Week-end 09/01
Seaman - shoulder ligament
Hughes - groin inflammation - needs a scan
Winterburn - according to D.Tel - got a kick at Vale Park
Adams - back and back January? First competitive match next week.
Ljungberg - abdomen
Suspensions
Vieira - 3 games from 11 January
Vivas - five yellows - 1 game from 11 January
Arsenal v Liverpool record
Last 11 games - Liverpool won 9, drawn 2
Arsenal have not lost at home for 20 games
Arsenal are currenly third in the Mail 's Entertainment League
OPTA Leagues
Dennis Bergkamp 3rd - 1010
Emmanuel Petit -5th 1067
Alex Manninger - 8th - 723
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. Ginola is top at 52.
Statistics - (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
Petit's record (prior to Leeds)
Shots on target 6
key passes 14
tackles won 71%
interceptions/blocks 21
Winterburn's record (prior to Leeds)
Key passes -3
successful tackles - 47
tackles won - 65
interceptions in air 45
Players in OPTA's top ten leagues
NoW:Goalkeepers: Seaman - 3rd - 53
Defenders:Dixon - 9th -468
Strikers: Anelka 6th - 539
Anelka's record (prior to Villa)
Attempts on target - 28
Attempts off target -30
Assists - 1
Key passes - 8
Tackles - 28
Arsenal are currently 10th in the MoS European League:
Played 22
Won 8
Drawn 10
Lost 4
For 22
Against 15
Points 34
They are ahead of Juventus, Barcelona and Ajax. But behind Chelsea, Man U, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
Arsenal 0 Liverpool 0 ( in 8 sentences)
Sterile game, lot of energy, Liverpool very defensive.
Best chance - Upson header - saved.
Manninger, whose confidence and body was battered at Deepdale, pulled off two good saves
Liverpool penalty claim, involving Upson, denied.
Bould off in clash with Redknapp.
Upson and Grondin looked good.
Young forwards - Boa Morte, Wreh and Anelka - less impressive.
Goal shyness meant two points dropped.
Arsenal team
Winterburn is out after receiving a kick at Vale Park (D.Tel) .
Anelka looks to be back - most press, with Boa Morte on standby for Marc Overmars (20%) chance of playing (knee). Wreh looks to be in for Bergkamp.
Tony Adams will play a competitive match next week.
For Liverpool Bjornebe is suspended, Ince is struggling with flu and Heggem returns. Fowler is likely to get the nod over Riedle to partner Owen.
Ferguson apology
Alex Ferguson has apologised to Arsene Wenger over comments about his team being too aggressive.
He said he was stitched up in off the record comments, and that AW was right to be annoyed.
The D.Mail points out that the important point is that he said it - the fact it was off the record is incidental.
Vieira red card stands
An appeal to the FA to get the red card rescinded has failed.
Vieira starts a three match ban on Monday. He will miss the Wolves FA tie and two Premiership matches
Burchill?
The NoW says Arsenal will bid for Celtic's 19 year old striker Mark Burchill, today.
It says he has Owen's pace.
Anelka revelation
Nicolas Anelka has been voted Revelation of the Year, by France Football.
Dani?
The People say Arsenal are after Dani the 24 year old, £6m rated Mallorca striker .
Reeves memorial fund reaches £17,000
Sun: The memorial fund for the late Coventry steward has been closed at £17,000, according to the paper.
Wenger speaks out on Redfearn
Most press focus on Arsene Wenger's reaction to referee Uriah Rennie's decision not to revisit the red card given to Patrick Vieira at Charlton.
Wenger intimates that Redfearn's face clutching helped Rennie make the decision. But Redfearn claims contact was made with his face.
Thanks to: Myles Palmer, Gary Jacob, Bob Bateman , Adrian Barker, Gary Cohen, and Paul B
Weekly hits on this page - 5642
Wenger on Liverpool game
"Usually we create many chances and don't score. Today we weren't creative enough in the final third. Liverpool looked like they had an Italian coach not a French one.
"Liverpool maybe wanted to stay four points behind us - it is not too bad for them. They didn't come out. We found ourselves in front of eleven players."
Press - at a glance - 8-9 January
"We are not all angels at Arsenal. But we don't come from hell either." Emmanuel Petit - D. Mirror
"If he sent me a letter, he sent it by horse, because I haven't received it yet." AW on Ferguson's apology over his "off the record" scrapping comments.
Today it is clear football is show-biz - less about the game - more about Soap and personalities.
All part perhaps of soccer selling papers - or as a mate puts it " a ceaseless gnawing at a bone without any meat left on it."
When Arsenal's disciplinary record gets a fairly high billing on News at Ten (Friday) then either it was an appalingly slow news day, or the world has gone crazy.
The disciplinary row which has clearly got out of hand, was re-ignited by Mr Bean.[I thought it was a joke at first]. The FA's compliance officer allegedly told Wenger and Curbishley to cool their row over Vieira's sending off or face an FA misconduct charge.
Rich blooded quotes abound in the press today - like they'' have to put me in jail to shut me up' - AW claiming his right to free speech in a democracy [Well done that man]. Followed by 'what do you expect - fine Fabian Caballero for two million pounds' - on the Deepdale incident [do not pass go, go to jail, do not collect £2m pounds - sounds more like a case for the Monoplies Commission].
The most interesting quotes are from Houllier in several papers, who says:"If he [Wenger] was an Englishman, there wouldn't be a problem." That puts an interesting xenophobe spin on discipline debate. Hmmm perhaps something that football loving Karel Van Miert of the European Commission Competition Directorate would be interested in, perhaps.
It is clear Wenger and Houllier are mates - the latter asked the former's advice about the Liverpool job. And the latter says of the former yesterday that he has the right balance of skill and steel in his side - that's his team, not the man, of course.
And speculation (Guardian) about giving Wenger Fowler on the cheap was denied: "I haven't contacted Liverpool about Fowler, " says Wenger, who also re-iterates over Fowler's alleged £35,000 contract offer at Liverpool - "we are not about to change our wage policy."
Many articles on Jermiane Pennant, who is set to fly the flag for Arsenal - at 15. Most focus on the compensation fee of around £2m that Arsenal are set to pay Notts County when Pennant is 17, but one goes with £1m.
Gary Brazil who is involved at Notts County says he the best youngster he's ever seen, and Arsenal are reported to have known about him for two years.
The 15 year old England schoolboy winger who has been at Notts County since he was ten has signed for Arsenal, will represent Arsenal u-17s and be part of their Academy, going to school in Walthamstow.
Notts County make it clear that Arsenal were not one of the clubs involved with underhand tactics, trying to lure Jermaine with promises of cash at a later date - where have I heard that before? - and a car for his Dad.
Of course, there's a squabble with someone claiming to be his agent.
In other articles Alan Hansen (Express) says he thinks Emmanuel Petit is a better all round player that Roy Keane. But that although Arsenal can retain the title, their discipline could be a problem vis a vis their 'thin' squad.
Emmanuel Petit in his Mirror column admits he was frightened for his physical safety in the early days here (in the light of protection from refs) . And says docking points for disciplinary offences looks crazy, saying a better system would be like for driving licenses - two points for dissent - 12 for a badly injuring a fellow player with a foul.
There's an article on Pat Rice in the Guardian ( quite good) about him changing his attitude in the modern game and not falling into the trap of - saying :"it wasn't like that in my day."
Meanwhile in transfer speculation, Rangers are set to join Celtic,
Arsenal, West Ham and Benficia in the chase for Liverpool full-back
Rob Jones, who will become a free agent in the summer, says the
Scottish Daily Record. Jones, 27, completed a long fight back
to fitness from a knee problem when he appeared for the reserves
this week.
Meanwhile the D.Mirror - earlier in the week, says Arsenal and Tottenham are after Steve Howey, the £2.5m rated Newcastle central defender. He is out of contract in the summer.
Press - at a glance 7 Jan
Strikers dominate Arsenal news today.
Both tabloids and broadsheets mention Fowler's rejection of a £30,000/week contract. Although as ever the sums are at variance £1.7-£1m.
Best article by far is by Ian Ross (Guardian) who says that Houllier might sell Fowler to his mate Arsene ( the two chat regularly on the phone) for £7m.
One paper says Blackburn won't go above the £1m ceiling for Fowler.
Meanwhile the Sun says Arsenal are set to lose out - if they were ever interested in the first place - on Mark Burchill, the Celtic striker, who appears to want to stay in Scotland.
The D.Star and D.Mirror both go on Dani, the ex-Real Madrid and Spanish u-21 striker, who is being compared to Dennis Bergkamp.
They both say that a £5m bid and five year contract has been rejected by the club. But the Mirror says that Arsenal may go back and up the offer.
The Mirror also says that Arsenal have until the weekend to tell Flora in Estonia whether they want Andreas Oper the young striker who had been on trial at Arsenal.
The other main theme is discipline. The D.Mirror points out that Redfearn has the worst yellow card record of the Premiership, whereas Vieira is 12th. The Sun says Highbury has the fourth worst sending off record after Chelsea, Everton and Blackburn.
The Independent also points out other bad disciplinary records of Premiership clubs this season - Everton 59, Chelsea 53 and Blackburn 45. The Indy also reports that the ultimate Premiership sanction is a suspended fine, not docked points, as has been discussed in yesterday's press - amongst others The Mail.
And finally Premiership refs are to get linked up with linesmen ( assistants) next season with microphone based communication systems. The Times points out that the RFU (rugby) sometimes has difficulties with linesmen picking up illegal radio operators or security firms. The mind boggles.
Preston 2 Arsenal 4
This match was a blatant advertisment for a fourth official and video evidence.
Alex Manninger says:" I play Austrian, not Australian Rules Football," following another unpunished clattering from a corner.
OK, that aside, it was a great cup tie, with the threat of an upset and a fight back involving two of the historic greats of English football.
But ultimately the scoreline is a reflection of incompetent refereeing. Had it been fair, then Arsenal should have had three penalties, Caballero sent off, and Preston a goal knocked off.
They say magic is based on focusing the audience's concentration on one object, while the magician does his trick unnoticed.
Football is becoming a bit like that. The referee concentrates on the ball and the play around it, the assistants look at lines and offsides, leaving a vast area of opportunity for illegal 'trickery'.
[I once asked Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders what he thought of the 'professional foul'. He said:" what foul? There are around fourteen types of fouls that the spectators don't see, that would make your hair stand on end." As Ron was balding at the time, didn't pursue the hair analogy]
Preston started as if they'd been drinking mugs of orange juice with spoonfuls of creatine all day.
They looked small compared to Arsenal, but they got in and at 'em like terriers.
When Lee Dixon cleared a Michael Jackson effort off the line, you could sense there'd be another thriller.
And Preston's determination resulted in the first goal - a near post scramble from a cross, a hook back and Nogan fires in.
The second brought a rarity - a move which few had seen before. A player [Nogan] stepping into the opponent's goal round the keeper and back in at the far post. Illegal? Is the area between the goal-line and the net out of play? Something a FIFA committee will be debating for some time, no doubt.
What was illegal was the hand in face job on Manninger as he leapt for the ball. It left Nogan a simple header in at the far post.
Memories of Sheffield United, Millwall and Wrexham came flooding back.
That woke Arsenal up. Parlour had the best chances, but one was blocked and another went wide.
Boa Morte had the beating of centre back Murdoch all night. And he was clearly brought down in the area twice with the Preston player playing the man not the ball. Two clear penalties denied.
Boa Morte's leg gets whipped away in the area- no foul. All part of the new football?
But justice was done near half-time when the Portuguese player turned and shot low - a deflection taking it past Lucas.
Free kick at last: Overmars tripped by Eyres (off). Petit equalises with free kick
Arsenal turned on pace and power football in the second half. Overmars, now had the beating of the Preston defence, and as he outstripped four defenders, Eyres came in and tripped him on the edge of the area. Another turning point as the Preston man was off, and Emmanuel Petit underlined what a massive player he's become by bending a beautiful free-kick into the net.
Arsenal were now rampant . Caballero was being held on a run in the area and flicked his hand back catching Kidd who went to ground. The ball worked its way to Petit who had a simple tap in.
The fourth was inititiated by Boa Morte. Caballero, who influenced the game considerably when he came on for Mendez, dummied. Overmars dropped his shoulder one way, and went the other before coolly flicking it under Lucas.
The game gave Arsene Wenger a chance to see how some squad players shaped up under pressure. Mendez had a poor game, although he did have one or two runs in the first half.
Manninger , more worryingly, had a 'mare', probably unsettled by the Australian Rules Football being allowed.
Vivas showed his class, and seems to improve with every game. And Caballero showed he could develop into a good target man, with a sense for goal and a strong physical presence. Things seem to happen with Caballero - just like the old Badedas ad., which is no mean thing for a target man/striker.
Arsene Wenger said:"It was very difficult. They [Preston] played like World Champions in the first half. They were quickest to the ball. But they lost some pace and determination in the second half. "
Preston manager David Moyes said that the turning point was Boa Morte's goal just before half time. " We thought that if we stopped Petit and Vieira we'd have a chance. But we couldn't keep it going for 90 minutes. However we're disappointed we didn't get a draw."
Press at a glance - Tuesday 5 Jan
Most press report on Wenger's retort to Ferguson, saying what the Scotsman said is clumsy; that teams should be respectful of each other; that Man U have more bookings at present; and that you don't win Cups and Championships by causing a fight.
Alan Curbishley weighs in saying he wishes Arsene would shut it over the Redfearn-Vieira incident.
Vieira will start a three match ban if Arsenal fail with an appeal to get the red card rescinded by the FA.
Meanwhile, Graham Hunter in the Daily Mail resurrects the Kanu story,.
The piece says that Kanu had a cartilege op on last Wednesday in Amsterdam, and a deal could go through this week.
The important line is " according to Kanu's camp, unconfirmed by Arsenal."
Could be agent speak, upping the value after negative PR. Who knows?
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS
This is a distant relative, George Mutch, scoring the winning goal in the 1938 Cup Final for Preston against Huddersfield in the last minute of extra-time.
I mention it for two reasons.
Firstly because the press has been full of reminiscences of Preston and Arsenal Cup games. Preston beat Arsenal in the Cup that year.
Preston were renowned for taking on Scottish players and developing their talents. George Mutch came to the club after Alex James moved from Preston to Arsenal, and played alongside the legendary Bill Shankly.
And secondly by way of explanation of where this site is coming from.
Growing up with tales handed down of Northern soccer from the thirties [a closer relative, Sandy Mutch, played in goal for Newcastle], it puts some of the things going on in football today into some sort of perspective.
And also from this author's perspective, that football is in the
blood as opposed to the pocket and hope that this site reflects
that.