~ Arsenal 2014 ~

Man City won crucial ties, scored more goals & rightly deserve to be the champions of 2014.

However, Gunners stayed at top of the league for the maximum number of days - 128 and ended up finishing 4th. 

It doesn't matter how many days the team stayed on top of the table unless they remain their at the end of season. 

COYG! win the FA cup and end the trophy draught.

~ Mr Wenger, 17 years at Arsenal ~

This image has been created by an Arsenal fan, Shahid Shaikh.

Mr Arséne Wenger, the Frenchman, completes 17 years at the club. I have followed the club from 1998  through its highs or lows, and I have always admired him for what he done for the club. Am one of those Gooners who thinks "WengerKnowsBest". 

Gooners have had to live without a trophy for 8 seasons now & the pressure has been on the board, players & especially the manager for his style of play and operations. After having let go of key players season after season and crawling for 4th place finish in the last 2 seasons, most fans had lost their faith in Wenger. The way this season has started off & with our explosive last day signing of Özil from Real Madrid, those fans with "WengerOut" chants have gone silent.

Mr Wenger did surprise everyone with Özil signing, at £42.5M, a new club record for a player. Historically, he has always groomed young players into fine footballers. This time he broke away from his principles and tradition. 

Today, we beat Swansea to go on top of EPL table once again { above Sp*ds :D }. I know its too early to be celebrate. Still an amazing feeling for Arséne's 17 years at the club. The best part being, Spurs drew Chelsea; both the Manchester clubs, City & United lost. Above all, MUFC is at 12th place :P

This would be one of the best weekend for Gooners across the world :)

Some quotes on Wenger:

Jamie Carragher, former Liverpool defender:

“Wenger was responsible for some of the most harrowing and unnerving days of my career.”

“Arsenal conquered all before them from 2002-2004, culminating in them being called the Invincibles after going unbeaten for a whole season. Outstanding  footballers and also supreme  athletes — they had everything. When you stood next to them in the tunnel before a game, the panic would roll in.”

“They were the best I ever faced, the only team that left me feeling technically and physically inadequate. From goalkeeper to striker, they were built like tanks. If you tried to tackle them, you would bounce off them.” More here.

Stan Kroenke, Arsena's majority shareholder:

“Arsène knows how we feel, what our philosophy is, what we want to do and I feel like we are totally aligned. I think he wants to do it the exact same way as we do.”

“I really enjoy Arsène – very smart, very intelligent. He has an absolute view on how he runs that team and the club. He has earned that right. Don’t look for me to interfere with that. I have learnt over the years that sometimes owners try do that and it is not so good.” More here.

Mr Wenger talking about his 17 years at Arsenal:

“It's a long time and a short time,” said Wenger. "I don't know where the 17 years have gone.”

“Our job has a good advantage - you just look forward to the next game. You never look back. I believe that is the most important. Of course when you look backwards, there's a lot of effort and consistency in effort behind that. For me the most interesting is tomorrow's game.”

“[I've never thought] that I don't really need this anymore. I want it even more. I think the good thing about football is that it's unpredictable and the next game is always a discovery and a new adventure and so you focus on that. All the rest is decoration.” More here.

via BBC

~ Art of running a football club ~

Swiss Ramble rightly nails on all the finer points of footballing economics.  who play such fast paced game on the field also have a clever Manager who has been made the club more profitable. The biggest irony of having good bank balance is that we haven't won any Silverware.

We might be the richest club in  but have failed to land any players this summer. Signing experienced players would definitely help us stay in contention when the team needs to cope with injuries during the season.

A very insightful post, with lots of facts & graphs that doesn't make you sleep, even though it speaks about accounting, taxes, balance, et al. Now is the time for #Wenger to spend some £ and take the challenge to the next level in EPL & Europe. 

Arsenal - Money Don't Matter 2 Night   

~ St Totteringham's Day ~

ArsenalFC beat NewcastleFC to finish among the top 4 in the EPL. As Gooners we aren't happy just finishing top 4 & qualifying 16th time for the Champions League. We want the team to win trophies & silence those the babies of the Million £££ Clubs who love taunting Gooners, offline & online.

We have played very well in the last 45 days of the season winning 8 of the last 10 games.

Reaching the Champions League ahead of Spurs completed a superb turnaround after they trailed by seven points at the beginning of March. Arsenal have now finished above Spurs 18 seasons in a row.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and his team saluted their joyous supporters, who sung "are you watching, Tottenham?" with added fervour. You can read more here.

The goal from Laurent Koscielny in the second half gave us the victory against Magpies.  

The celebrations at the bench on the final whistle speaks for itself for Arsenè Wenger & the players. 

Good to see a happy locker room. The Gunners deserved the 4th place finish. It's time now Arsenal Board & Wenger add some valuable assets for the next season. 

For all you Sp*ds or BaleFC fans, even though this has been your best season in EPL, it ain't good enough to finish above us. The infographic below should remind the reality. Mind the gap & Happy St. Totteringhams Day. For the un-initiated - "St Totteringham's Day is the day when Arsenal fans celebrate the fact that Tottenham can no longer catch Arsenal in the League. It is a movable feast, but usually falls in March, April or May. It is the day to collect on bets made by over-optimistic Spurs fans in the close season who think that "this is the year". More here

All Arsenal FC photographs from Stuart MacFarlane, the photographer at ArsenalFC.

~ End of Fergie Era ~

Image: BBC

Like many other, Fergie era has come to an end in the year 2013. Even though I dislike MUFC, have a lot of respect Sir Alex for what he has achieved for the club & EPL in general. Don't think there will be another manager of this caliber to rule MUFC or another English club in a long time. Not to discredit from Mr Professor

It would be interesting to see who will be appointed as Manager @ MUFC & also how would MUFC perform without Fergie. Will there be void due to Fergie's departure? Only time shall tell. 

Am very sure that Fergie will still be part of MUFC as a Director or something more significant. Hope SAF recovers from his hip surgery, which he is slated to undergo soon. Wish him luck &  life.

Am happy that we won't be having Fergie Time anymore in EPL ;)

H/T: BBC Sport

~ EPL 2012 ~

For the 14 years of watching EPL, I have never seen the frantic last day of business in the league. There is lot at stake for the two Manchester clubs. Manchester United would like to retain the title; where as Manchester City would like to be crowned as the New Champions of English football.

Elsewhere the battle to finish on sweet 3rd place just got bigger between Arsenal, Tottenham & Newcastle. All the three clubs need a win to stay in the next season's Champions League. To end the season with 3rd place is more crucial, as Chelsea controls the destiny of the 4th spot for Champions League as of today.

If Chelsea win the Champions League against Bayer Munich next week at Munich. Then they automatically qualify for the next season, despite finishing outside the top 4 positions in the EPL.

Common Gunners give it a good fight and let's end the season with a 3rd place finish.

~ Stay away Mancini ~

Mr Mancini now wants to sign the Premier League leading goal scorer, Robin Van Persie. Common Man City don't you already have enough forwards in your team? Why target #Gunners every time? 

You already have signed Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor. Isn't that enough? Stay away from Arsenal, Mr Mancini.

Hail the Gunners

You can never predict the result of any game in soccer, yesterday's fixture betweem Gunners & Lions was one of them.

I caught the live action only when Rooney had scored a goal against the Gunners . I knew Gunners would strike back and it came from 2 late goals of Robin van Persie - the current leading goal scorer in this EPL, who substiuted Alexander Hleb & Thierry Henry - the captain himself.
It feels so good to win a match against your arch rivals & even better when you have beaten them twice (home & away) this season.

May be we won't win the EPL this season, but a win against ManU is worth more than the championship.

More news @ Arsenal.com | Arsenal wins thriller