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RetiredNo6

Listed below are comments made by RetiredNo6 between Wednesday, 1st July 2009 and Monday, 9th November 2009.

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Brazil's new breed of guard dog 4:33pm on 09 Nov 2009 To Chavelier: Petit was actually a full back primarily at Monaco. He had played centre half on occasion but was their regular left back before Wenger got hold of him.
Brazil's new breed of guard dog 3:33pm on 09 Nov 2009 Far be it from me to be sycophantic - but I've never read a Tim Vickery blog that is pointless. Now as for a few of his colleagues.......
Brazil's new breed of guard dog 1:21pm on 09 Nov 2009 I'm a gooner who was never a big Gilberto fan in the first place. He played his best football for us in the 06/07 season when we reverted to 4-5-1 more often than not due to long term injuries to RVP and Henry. This wasn't a surprise to me because I've always seen Gilberto as "just a holding player."

In a 4-5-1, where his job is just to screen the two centre backs and give the ball simple, there are few better at the job. But at Arsenal we played 4-4-2 in his early years.

The season before we signed him we had Vieira and Parlour as swashbuckling box to box midfield players who competed, passed got forward and scored goals. The next season with Gilberto our midfield lost an edge, became placcid and easier to play against.

In 2004 when we won the league unbeaten - plenty of people forget that it was the more energetic Edu who partnered Vieira in many of the crunch contests that season, indeed Gilberto spent a fair bit of time "filling in" on the right of midfield to close out games when we were ahead.

Look at the improvement in Arsenal between the last full season Gilberto partnered Cesc and the one full season that Flamini did so. We went from also rans to contenders. I don't believe in a Premiership 4-4-2 that you can afford a Gilberto Silva. If we had him now, in the new system he'd be perfect for the Song role although Song is doing very nicely indeed at this moment.

He was also a bit cowardly for a defensive midfielder. I remember in 2002/03 dropping vital points from a 2-1 lead at Anfield and Gilberto had three chances to win the ball back in the move which led to their corner, which led to a goal. He tackled half heartedly every time.

Gilberto is a rarity at Arsenal in recent years - a player whose medals will overstate his contribution.
Two worlds collide at Arsenal AGM 09:36am on 23 Oct 2009 Well I'm obviously in a position of knowledge far beyond the BBC here, given that I have spoken to Mr Kroenke after a chance meeting in the VIP departure lounge at Heathrow this summer.

I can't tell you what his intentions are - but I can tell you that a big part of what attracted him to Arsenal was the Old Etonian, Corinthian values of the way the club has always operated.

I find it highly doubtful that even he ends up in control he would want to destroy that very fabric which so much appealed to him.

As for the suggestion that Gazidis would ever try to force Wenger to buy.... you've obvioulsy not listened to a word the man has said since his appointment. He's talked about the need for the club to respect its model and be frugal as much as anybody.

That's why Arsenal works. Because the board, the Chief Exec and the Manager are singing from the same hymn sheet and are chasing the same vision.

What is required no is the Premier League title in May. The ultimate vindication.
Tangled in the Web 3:02pm on 12 Oct 2009 Oh look, the Heskey bashers are out in force again - how predictable. Go and look at the records.... England win more games and score more goals when Heskey plays than when he doesn't. Is that just an unfortunate coincidence?

As for the people lauding Bent. I like Darren Bent, but he's a one dimensional centre forward. He plays the whole game on the shoulder of the last defender. Most of his goals come from getting him in behind, into space that doesn't exist against the deeper lying defences of international football. Bent is a Premier League goalscorer, but not an international - in the Andy Cole or Ian Wright mode maybe.

Crouch can't do the same job as Emile, because he has no pace, which allows defences to push to high and close the game down against us. The only viable alternative to Emile is Carlton Cole. As far as I'm concerned it's Rooney or Defoe, plus Heskey or Cole.
Wrightie's rant gets ministerial approval 10:09am on 29 Sep 2009 The main problem is highlighted perfectly at the end of this blog when the FA are referred to as "Football's guardians." Can somebody please remind them that this is their PRIMARY reason for existance.

They exist to safeguard the national game. As I see it that doesn't mean cosying up to the Premier League it means taking a proactive role in youth development and helping to safeguard the future of my real passion: the non league game.

But the FA have lost their focus. The never ending list of Ad Men and TV execs they have had involved in running the Association over the past 15 years has nearly killed it. Let's hope that in Sir Ian Watmore, a former civil servant, service delivery will finally be restored to the top of the FA Agenda.

The FA doesn't exist to sell England shirts, or deliver exclusive commercial contracts for merchandise related to the national team. Nor does it exist to negotiate "lucrative" TV deals for the FA Cup and England team. They exist to make sure that the future of football in this country is in safe hands.

The should be focusing on getting Burton up and running, reducing costs for non-league teams in the current financial climate, and finding ways of providing real genuine help to the various youth football projects run very well, often on a shoe-string by local county FAs.

"Football's Guardians." It's about time they started acting like it.
Review of the week 11:36am on 21 Aug 2009 "the Crystal Palace boss escaped censure for his outburst over the affair that will forever be known as Ashton-gate."

Brilliant. That line was the pick, but had me chuckling throughout. How I love the football being back!
Robbo's Premier League predictions 12:44pm on 13 Aug 2009 Robbo:

If Spurs finish above Arsenal this season I'll walk to 'Boro (i live in London) and perform a rendition of Right Said Fred hit "Deeply Dippy" at the Blue Bell Karaoke Night.

You can hold me to that. Never. Ever. Going. To. Happen. (well not this season anyway).

And Chelsea won't win the league, but other than that......
How will the Premier League unfold? 10:34am on 11 Aug 2009 To akaTommySmith:

Fabregas isn't even our best player - so not quite sure how he's our "only" World Class player. The best player at Arsenal is Robin Van Persie and Arshavin certainly fits in the same catagory as somebody like Rooney in terms of ability and product.

I'm not sure abotut the term "worlc class" but I would argue that they fit into the same bracket as the others you've listed.
The fine tuning of pre-season 1:17pm on 01 Jul 2009 I'm a coach at a step 5 semi pro club and our boys were back on 22nd June, did the first 2 nights last week without seeing a ball - but equally it was not over exerting. There was no hill running or cart pulling of years gone by (there were when I played!!) just stamina building. Some ball drills were introduced in the third session last week and then on monday there was some actuall football for the first time. We've got a mix of ball drills and football planned tonight and Friday - and then the two sessions next week (which build up to our first friendly) will be pattern of play, team structure etc. Probably leave set pieces until we've played one or two freindlies and have a better idea of our starting XI

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