16th of March, 2011.

Arsenal visited the Nou Camp a fortnight after making history by being the first team to beat the emperors of modern day football, FC Barcelona. Barcelona being the home team wore their traditional Red and Blue so Arsenal was forced to wear the Yellow away kit. Everybody thought that van Persie’s injury suffered at Wembley in the Carling Cup final would cost him his place in this tie but I was as shocked as every gooner when I saw Arsenal’s No. 10 take to the pitch. Wojciech Szczesny was having a brilliant season and the match against Barca was going to be a massive test for him but Dani Alves halted it with that free kick that ruptured a tendon in his finger.

Barcelona dominated the game from start to finish and the statistics after the game was too glaring for everyone to see. Barcelona had 19 attempts on goal with 10 shots on target while Arsenal had …….

Barcelona also had a lion’s share of the possession with 69% and completed 724 passes while Arsenal had 199 but the game will be remembered for Massimo Busacca’s act of incompetence which incured Wenger’s wrath but he was suspended for one game with van Persie and Nasri. That was Arsenal’s last Champions League game in the campaign so the suspensions were due to be served five months later so Wenger was seen with Boro Primorac at the stands when Arsenal played Udinese on Tuesday but he communicated with Pat Rice via phone calls from Primorac so the chums at UEFA have decided to have disciplinary proceedings against Wenger with the aim of handing him further bans if he’s found guilty.

An official from UEFA said,

“Disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger for not abiding by the decisions of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body in relation to the one-match suspension he served during Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League play-off game against Udinese Calcio.

According to the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, a manager may not communicate with his team during the match for which he is suspended and may follow the game from the stands only.”

Handing a ban on Wenger will not stop him from selecting his proposed XI that will play Udinese in Friuli. It will only stop him from making his in-match tactics. Pat Rice is good enough to manage Arsenal for a night so I’m hoping that the ban won’t be lengthy.

Amid all this, Wenger has come under serious stick from Arsenal’s lack of transfer ruthlessness in recent times and the sale of Cesc Fabregas and the potential sale of Nasri without replacements haven’t gone down well with the fans but former VP David Dein has urged the fans show Wenger some respect.

He says,

“That’s always an option open to him because it could come to a stage when he will say, ‘Well, I have had enough.’

“At least that’s how I feel and I feel the fans should feel that. They should at least give him the respect that he deserves for what he’s done”.

He said a lot of things but his quote of the day was,

“Under Arsene Wenger’s stewardship, they’ve had good times and very good times and there’s no reason to expect why we shouldn’t see them again.”

We can’t deny the fact that Wenger has done a lot for Arsenal but he has lost the plot in recent times with his continuous faith in youth and lack of transfer signings and it has been disastrous to Arsenal’s title challenge as well as other trophy hunts but we still hope for the best though.

Ryo Miyaichi is an uncapped Japanese rare gem that has represented the nation at the junior levels. The bloke went on trails with Arsenal last summer and was handed a professional contract but he was sent on loan to Feyernoord in the winter of 2010. He was so good in his loan spell that he was called Ryodinho. He made 12 league appearances for Feyernoord, scored 3 goals and laid on 5 assists in his 5-month stint at the club.

There were reports emanating that Wenger was ready to start Miyaichi against Liverpool and he might get that chance thanks to Rosicky’s injury doubt and Gervinho’s suspension. Miyaichi has been thankful for his loan spell and has promised to work hard for his opportunities.

I believe that Miyaichi might do well enough to usurp the inconsistent Arshavin and with Walcott producing on and off moments, Wenger could give Ryo the opportunity of a lifetime even if he has the threat of the Chambered Ox to contend with because it seems as if Gervinho will be a ‘first teamer’ as far as I’m concerned.

There’s an article on Miyaichi revealing that he’s going to be a hitter.

In other Arsenal related news, Chelsea is closing in on a move for Mata, Nasri says that a move to Manchester United would be a dream and van Persie says that Carroll reminds him of Shearer.

Mata has been touted as a very good replacement for Fabregas and Arsenal is in dire need of creative talent in the middle so I will be cross if Villas-Boa Constrictor hijacks Arsenal to sign the chap.

Van Persie must be very funny to liken Carroll to Shearer. For starters, the great Alan Shearer doesn’t look like a WWE wrestler called Edge. Shearer is also a great goal scorer and a scorer of great goals. Carroll on the other hand is an overhyped expensive signing that has managed a meager 2 goals since his £35m move from Tyneside but that’s van Persie’s opinion though.

As I’ll always say,

“Opinions are like arseh*les, everybody has one.”

The preview of Liverpool’s game will come in tomorrow’s post.

Sayonara.

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