Mobile telecom giants, MTN have been on my nerves today. What’s the essence of having a BlackBerry if you cannot enjoy its limitless features. Every thing the phone has to offer is strictly dependent on the parent mobile network. Blogging happens to fall into that class.
The grueling month of January is dead and gone with the month of “love” replacing it. The highlights of this month will certainly be our Champions League encounter against the BarcAliens and our Carling Spoon final against Birmingham.
Laurent Koscielny joined Arsenal from FC Lorient for £8.25m. With the absence of Thomas Vermaelen, he and Johan Djourou have forged a very strong understanding and have worked very hard in the heart of our defense. They even have a catchy nickname called Djourcielny. He was born on the 10th of September, 1985 in a French town called Tulle. The way his career has turned around is a massive fairytale. 4 years ago, he was plying his trade in Tours FC, a Ligue 2 outfit. In his next season with the club he missed only 4 league games and scored 5 goals in the process. This earned him a place in the French Ligue 2 Team of the Year. FC Lorient snatched him up for €1.7m. He was also ever-present in the club that has a fish with a ball as its logo and missed only 3 league games.
When the Mercenary, Silvestre and Send Errors left the club due to expired contracts, AW the Alchemist felt that it was time for Koscielny to step into the limelight by signing him from FC Lorient after one season with the midtable french outfit. His amazing ability to anticipate the ball and tackle superbly earned him the Gooner Daily nick “Kos100%tackle”. Besides he had a 100% tackle rating in Ligue 1 in the 2009/10 season.
Speaking of “100%”, you can see our historic “Arsenal 100% Everton 0% possession” picture at http://plixi.com/p/74224505 . I had the liberty and time to “pause” live television and take the shot with my phone. That’s what PVR’s are for.
Koscielny has been very outstanding this season for Arsenal FC. I still feel that he’ll get the nod ahead of Djourou to partner Vermaelen when he’s fully fit.
There’s an adage that says,”For every disciplined effort, there’s a multiple reward”. Koscielny has been rewarded for his fine form by earning his first call up to join the Les Bleus. I hope that he tackles Patrice “Monsieur Tuck-in” Evra during training. I still have thoughts of those “training centre” comments in my head.
I just hope that he doesn’t get injured representing the Frenchies. Our players have this thing for getting injured on international duty. Good luck to Kos100%tackle anyway.
At the start of the 2010/11 season, AW the Alchemist knew that certain reinforcements had to be made because the previous season ended without any silverware for 3 main reasons which includes Injuries to key players, lack of desire and goalkeeping blunders.
The media always say that no player goes out to injure our players. rVp was out for 5 months because Chiellini thought that he was part of an Itie rival “family”. El Capitan was out for 3 months because the BarcAliens didn’t like the fact he was trying to save Mother Emirates Earth. The Mercenary Gallas was more or less a regular customer.
The issue of the desire to win and kill off games was collective within the team. Some players were not just up to the challenge. It’s good to see that there’s a massive change in that aspect this season.
The final factor was the issue of our goalies. Almunia had an on and off season. Fabianski’s blooper against Porto will definitely rank among the top 20 howlers of all time.
This season started with us being strongly linked to the oldest footballing Aussie in existence, Sir Schwarzer. Mark Hughes’ stubbornness ensured that we were going to stick to the same lot that we used last season.
We gave Fabianski so many pre-season games to show what he was made of. That 6-5 game against his former employers Legia Warsaw gave us a cause for concern.
Almunia was drafted back into the squad when the 2010/11 season kicked off. His best performance was probably in that away victory against Blackburn. He lost his place when WBA visited the Emirates. This made AW the Alchemist give Flyin Fabbi another chance to grab the bull by its horns. Flyin Fabbi grabbed this bulls by its horns and of course….balls.
His performances against the Cash Money Oil Money Billionaires, Wolves and Everton were World Class. While Fabianski and Almunia were fighting for the number 1 spot, Vito Mannone and Wojciech Szczesny were waiting for their own chance to shine.
Don Vito was sent to Hull to get good playing time. Szszsz used the Carling Spoon as his avenue to give AW the Alchemist something to think about. Fabianski’s hip troubles ensured that Szszsz made his league debut against the Red Hell Owners in Old Strafford. The beauty of it all was that he wasn’t overawed by the intimidating fans or the stars that were present on the pitch.
He made himself big against the Brazilian that reminds me of T-Pain and he also saved the RooThug’s audacious chip. He also hired his pet sea gull to poop on the RooThug’s jersey when we had conceded that penalty.
Szszsz had a run of games and has made some splendid saves. He has also kept some clean sheets. I feel he needs to improve on his diving to the left hand side of his post. Ipswich’s Priskin and the Brown Haired Louie of Everton scored in that position.
AW the Alchemist said that the Number 1 position is “he’s to lose”. Like Fabianski before him, he has fought hard to win his place. I don’t see him relinquishing it anytime soon.
With many more important games coming up let’s hope that our newly crowned Number 1 will be up to the challenge.
There’s an old SpanEnglish goalie breathing down his young long neck.
The Newcastle preview comes up in tomorrow’s post.
Here’s to Wojciech “Szszsz” Szczesny
Our biggest, tallest and youngest keeper.
Sayonara
