London Calling

 

Well, after the last couple of weeks it was good to be travelling again! 

I’ve been staying at Jazz’s in Tynemouth, and one thing I love about her flat is the view across the bay.  OK, you may be laughing about views of Tynemouth but compared to the view from my front room it’s superb as all I can see is the back of the next row of ‘Hovis’ houses!

Anyway, the view on Tuesday morning was drizzly and grey but I was getting the train down so wasn’t all that bothered.  I’d booked the tickets online, and thanks to the strange vagaries of the booking system it was either book a return ticket at £60-odd, or two singles (on the same trains) for £10 each.  Don’t ask ‘cos I don’t know!

My train was due to leave Newcastle at 12.30 but as I needed to go to the bank and do a couple of other bits and pieces I got on the Metro at Tynemouth at about 9.30.  I was feeling all pleased with myself about being so organised until the train stopped a couple of stations later because of vandalism on the track.  They’d laid on a replacement bus, which after taking an age to turn up decided to break down a mile away.  So half an hour later we get on the replacement replacement bus which took us to the next working station.  By now I’ve already realised that the bank isn’t feasible and the early lunch I fancied is going to have to be hurried, but the moments panic I had on the platform when I saw the clock saying 12.10 was horrible.  Until I checked the time and realised they’d forgotten to put their clock back last weekend!  Phew.  I managed to get my lunch and get on the train and got all the way to London (and on to George’s where I was staying) without any more problems, which was rather fortunate as they’ve just made the trains completely non-smoking.

We had a spare ticket and we took a guy from round the corner.  I’m not sure how old he was (late teens or early 20’s) but it was the first time he’d been able to get a ticket for a couple of seasons and his sheer delight and enthusiasm was fantastic.  If he told us once that he was excited he must have told us 100 times but sometimes you need to be around someone like that to remember how great it really is going to games live.  It’s easy to get blasé about going to matches when you’re doing it week in week out but I still get a buzz from every game I go to.  But as I said it’s nice to be reminded how lucky I am from time to time.

Manuel Almunia – why?  In all the years I’ve been going there’s never been a goalie that I’ve had less confidence in than him – not even Vince Bartram!  By all accounts he’s absolutely superb in training…  He’s a pretty good ‘instinct’ player but every time he has time to think he’s in trouble.  There was one moment in the first half where he got a hand on the ball near the penalty spot.  The next day I read about it in a couple of papers as a ‘great save’, when in reality he was just damned lucky.  From behind him you could see how hopelessly out of position he had been.  I don’t think the players can be that confident in him either.  I mean, Bobby might do some strange things sometimes but how else do you explain him deciding dribbling along our goal line was a better bet than letting the keeper have it!  And he kicks like a mule’s dead Granny!  Please Manuel, if only for my poor heart, please get homesick.  Spain’s a wonderful country and surely you’d be happier back there than in cold grey England…and trust me it’s going to get much colder. 

Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the fact that they only had a couple of 100 fans, or maybe it was the fact that for most people qualifying from our group is now nothing more than a formality, but it took a while for any atmosphere to be generated.  The first real chanting was from the (by now drenched) Clock End who made a few suggestions as to what Jose Mourinho might like to do (or probably not like to do!).  Jose might think he’s good at the old bluff and bluster but this week Arsene has played him like an old fiddle (more on that next week).

So another Champions League victory.  Played 4 won 4.  Only 100% record in Champions League.  Would this be a good time to mention how I told you a while back that selling Vieira was the moment we won the thing?  Who said too early!  Actually, like Bergkamp has said we haven’t done anything yet and we need to remember that.  There’s still one hell of a lot of work to be done, but we can still laugh at the mancs and chavs as we enjoy a couple of post match drinks in the 12 Pins. 

Thursday train back up Friday drive back down.  I really need to get my life organised better.  Maybe I should hire a secretary?  Or a plane…

But no it was the battered Peugeot and the M1 again on Friday, although the journey was completely uneventful and actually rather relaxing in a strange way.  Even getting the train and tube to Highbury on Saturday was fine, and my first problem was with the ever more frustrating box office who must be recruited for their ability to be as unhelpful as possible.  To be honest they act like they’re doing you a favour rather then serving a ‘customer’, and the harder it’s got to get tickets, the more above themselves they’ve got. 

Needed a drink and met up with Mac, Dr Dom and Steve at the 12 Pins for a couple of calming brandies and some words of comfort.  Then George turned up with his brother Andrew.  Now Andrew is on a stop over from Washington to somewhere so for the second time in a few weeks my efforts to get to Highbury seem pretty lame! 

I’ve got to be honest I’ve lost track of the theme days, as have most fans.  When we used to stand in the North Bank anyone arriving less than an hour before kick off was late!  We’d meet up on the terrace and chat and chant and have a laugh.  If there had been theme days then they’d probably have gone down well but now you maybe sit with one or two mates, and the rest of your mates are dotted around.  So rather than turn up early most fans are doing the socialising elsewhere and getting to their seats for kick off.  Shame really.

As for the game – well it was a bit cat and mouse for 30 seconds and then the cat realised the mouse was crippled and that it had a new toy.  Robin got the start his recent bench performances merited and continued to show how he’s a one-man plan b.  There’s been a lot of talk over the years about Wenger not having a back up plan but I’ve always thought that misses the point.  The whole point of Wengerball is that there can be no plan b because that would be to admit that plan a doesn’t work.  And if plan a doesn’t work then the whole thing’s gone tits up.

CageBoy is different because he is CageBoy.  You can see when he gets the ball, the way he shields it and makes himself big before twisting past someone.  Pure cage football skills.  He can be the boy we leave forward to hold it and supply the runners and hit with long balls (or he could just score them like he did on Saturday).  Most importantly the boy can play Wengerball.  And (thanks to George for pointing it out) he’s a little bugger – after the lino had given a few iffy offside decisions against Thierry the next time the ball was played forward CageBoy was standing a yard in front of the lino continuously checking over his shoulder that he was blocking his view.  I liked that.

When CageBoy scored the first it actually put him level on goals with the worlds greatest player, but with Thierry on the field that was never going to be the case for long, and as for that overhead… I don’t think his first touch was what quite what he intended but when the ball spooned up you could see him decide instantly to go for it.  Poor keeper, I kind of felt sorry for him as Thierry shaped up.  What must have been going through his mind?  Probably just trying to keep his bum cheeks tight!  Shame Goal of the Season wasn’t settled Saturday.  Or maybe he was aiming for the post… http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=aRHk8ol0vTw

By the way, it was never a corner for their goal.  Came off their player.  Looked like his arm to be honest but I know the sort of journey home their fans had facing them after a complete humbling so let them have a moment…  Mind you it was a good game to improve the growing confidence that’s apparent before the (damned) international break.  And I’m sure Thierry was thinking that maybe he should have played safe and controlled the ball rather than go for the overhead (he had the time) because he immediately stepped it up – and scored.  There was also a lovely move near the end that reminded me of the 49’ers.  Ah, the 49’ers – safe in their record for a year and a half now.  At least.  Actually, how many games are we on now?

Finally, a few words about our Jose.  Reyes has had some stick this season for his lack of goals but for me he’s played his heart out and deserves a break.  There’s no doubt that the boy is a striker but as with Wiltord he’s the sort of striker that is going to be better employed for Arsenal playing wide.  His long range passing (especially cross-field) is fantastic, for me he’s the best long passer we’ve had since we lost Liam Brady to Italy.  And he keeps racking up assists.  I know it can get frustrating sometimes when he produces a great bit of skill then gets tackled a few seconds later but the main reason you notice his mistakes is the main reason I think everyone should get 100% behind the kid – he’s a grafter.  When he gets out of position he’s always willing to bust a gut to get back to where he should be.  When he gets fouled he gets back up and puts himself in where he is likely to get fouled again.  Basically, he never hides and is everything an Arsenal player should be.  Once he gets a couple of goals under his belt he’s going to be sensational.  Trust me.

Come on you Red(currant)s.