Questions about Arsenal

[Swerve]

I just saw a replay of the Aresneal Man U game and thought that it was quite a good match. Both teams held each other well, soo the goals were down to individual brilliance (as it should be in football). But having seen the game, I have some questions about Arsenal:

1. Why is Highbury soooo small? It reminds me of my high school field (I understand home field advantage, but that is a little peice of turf).

2. Why has the red mist descended on Highbury? 48 straight reds in 7 seasons is excessive even for certain places in South America. Why is this (and I am looking for solutions other than conspiracy theories against Arsenal).

3. Is Henry the fastest man alive (or premiership)?

4. Are Pires and Bergkamp cheats? I used to have the utmost respect for both as players, however, in recent seasons, Bergkamp has become a bit of a thug, which is unacceptable for someone of his class. As for Pires, I believe that he (and Jeffers) have become the 'new' Ginolas (going down even under light contact, again unacceptable for players of their quality.)

I think that Arsenal are a very good side and was just wondering about some of these things. If you guys have any ideas let me know.

 

[ryan_goal]

Re: Questions about Arsenal

Originally posted by Swerve

1. Why is Highbury soooo small? It reminds me of my high school field (I understand home field advantage, but that is a little peice of turf).

3. Is Henry the fastest man alive (or premiership)?

1. Highbury is always renowned for its smaller pitch size. it's said that it's easier for the gunners to defend. if anyone knows further plz tell me or correct me if i am wrong.

3. Craig Bellamy is fast too. dont know who's faster tho. actually it's hard to know who's the fastest since there are no tests for players' pace. the fastest player might be in a conference team, u never know.

 

[Vagegast]

I agree with the Bergkamp-comment. You should've seen him against Ajax. He was just pissed and took it out on the players of the other team. He's great class when it comes to soccer skills.

Everybody accuses van Nistelrooy of diving, while nobody can dethrone the king of diving: jeffers

 

[Bobby]

1. Why is Highbury soooo small? It reminds me of my high school field (I understand home field advantage, but that is a little peice of turf).

The space used for Arsenal Stadium (Highbury) is wedged in a residential area, so it has a lack of space, this will be different whe they move to Ashburton Grove.


2. Why has the red mist descended on Highbury? 48 straight reds in 7 seasons is excessive even for certain places in South America. Why is this (and I am looking for solutions other than conspiracy theories against Arsenal).

Arsenal play agressive, their hearts are always in the game, they all take after Arsene Wenger.


3. Is Henry the fastest man alive (or premiership)?

No, he's very fast, but the EPL has several fast players.



4. Are Pires and Bergkamp cheats? I used to have the utmost respect for both as players, however, in recent seasons, Bergkamp has become a bit of a thug, which is unacceptable for someone of his class. As for Pires, I believe that he (and Jeffers) have become the 'new' Ginolas (going down even under light contact, again unacceptable for players of their quality.)

Bergkamp is highly agressive, and gets punished. Pires obides by the rules more so than any other gunner (except Freddie Ljungberg, or a Keeper), so when he gets in a mess it's big news, he admits he has dived, and it takes a big man to do that (unlike van Nistelrooy, and yes, even Jeffers)

 

[antithesis]

The Highbury pitch is small, but not as small as it appears.
It's the camera angle because Highbury has the worse positioning for cameras in the world.
The actual dimensions are only a few yards shorter.

Those yellow cards are a joke.
You can tell by a teams methodology if they are a team that deserves 7 reds per season.
It's incomprehensible that a team that regularly is the second best passing team in the premiership, and the second best tackling team in the premiership, and more importantly the second-most successful team in the premiership, can have such a disciplinary record.
It's a combination of xenophobia, pre-judgement, and the snowball effect.
The snowball effect being that the more cards you get the more set in an officials mind to seek red-card incidents.
Let's be honest, that record is wholly unwarranted and you can see the manifestation of the bias on this board.
There are members here who will swear before a court that Bergkamp is a dirty player. That Vieria is a thug, and that Keown is guilty of affray on a weekly basis.

Obviously there are incidents that deserve red-cards, but how can you explain the fact that only Keane has been sent off for Manu, or that Savage has never been red-carded.
How can you explain that Henry was disciplined for having a t-shirt celebration with a message congratulating a friend, then suddenly it became okay to celebrate that way.
I won't go on, because there'll always be an idiot member who thinks all those red cards are deserved.

Henry is probably the fastest in the EPL, though RVN, Bellamy, Gallas and Owen ARE PROBABLY JUST AS FAST.

Finally why do you have a belief that Jeffers and Pires fall easily?
As compared to whom?
Pires is as honest a player as there is. Even the admission Ljungberg alluded to is a quote from The Sun, and that is debatable.
It really makes no sense to single out players as thugs and cheats, because there are very few of those around.
Only Keane can be classified as a dirty player in the EPL in my opinion.
You people keep mentioning Jeffers for two incidents that don't even merit recognition as diving.

 

[voetballiefhebb]

I have noticed Arsenal's drop in red cards this season. They used to be a very aggressive team. Then they sold Petit.

Highbury is small, but they have plans to build a new £400m stadium. **** knows how they can afford it though.

As clever as Bergkamp is, the guy is a ****ing wanker. Cheats far too much. Pires goes down far too easy. Pires and Henry are my two favourite players. I am starting to turn against Pires though because today it seems a grass blade can send him crashing to the floor as long as that piece of grass is inside the box.

 

[Swerve]

1. To Antithesis (and anyone else), I asked about Bergkamp, because he was blameless at Ajax, Inter and even in his early years as a Gunner. Recently though, in several replays, he can be seen sizing people up before an elbow flies or he steps on someone (I understand that a few others do this, but I am talking about Bergkamp, who at one time never did this). It even looked like he had a look at Silvestre before they clashed in the game this week.

2. This is just my opinon on Pires, but he seems to go down very easily. There are players much smaller a slighter that manage to ride out challenges and maintain possession (i.e.-Zola, Bellamy, Dyer, Juninho, etc.) As someone mentioned earlier he himself admitted to diving (I thought it was in L'equipe, but whatever).
Jeffers for as little time as he plays at Arsenal (4th or 5th choice striker) whenever he comes on he 'wins' a penalty. So, we need to examine some things. 1) Nobody is that good to consistently dupe defenders into fouling them in the box. 2) The rules are the rules, but in England you can't run around and not expect to get touched. Even Arsenal fans would have to admit to VERY slight contact being made on Jeffers by Riise in the Liverpool game.

3. This 'bias' that exists against Arsenal I believe is based on previous performances. Look at people like Alan Smith, Keane and now Bergkamp. A late tackle is sometimes overlooked by officials, but if it is consistent behavior, people begin to believe these actions are premeditated and thus should result in sending offs. Also, if it is a mass hysteria based on Arsenal disdain, how come professionals like Ljunberg (except when he is fighting with teammates at the WC!), Wiltord, Lauren, Henry, and now even Cole (trying to shed the 'cheat' tag I guess) are never in trouble with the FA? Most people don't even rate Campbell as a dirty player even though he has been sent of at least twice this year (and I don't think ever w/ Tottenham)?

4. As for Keane being the only person being sent off for Manchester, who else deserves to ever be sent off? Their defenders are very clean, as is most of the rest of the team. Scholes arrives late on challenges and is punished with yellows, fair enough. The only player other than Keane anyone could really make a case for is Beckham, who is a nutter at times and talks way to much to the officials.


As for any personal 'bias' I may have (which I thought about before asking these questions), here is some proof that I am not and was simply interested in other's opinions. I once thought that Viera was a butcher, but having watched him this season, I have little problem in saying the guy is class, and could walk into ANY team in the world.


Oh, and Antithesis is right about the field size, looks as though the pitch is just about as big if not bigger than other grounds.

 

[Bobby]

van Nistelrooy, his blatent assult on Martin Keown deserved 4 games.

 

[antithesis]

try playing football without having a look at the nearest defender, and I doubt you seriously saw every angle when Bergkamp played in his younger days.
Those camera shots are a product of technology and increased budgets.
Just three days ago I saw Vieri clonk two Milan players with elbows.
No hulabaloo over there.

Like I said, you can look at a team and immediately tell if they are an aggressive team.
Does anyone look at Arsenal and believe they are going to have opposition players carried off the field by medical officials.
You just don't get that feeling watching Arsenal.

 

[Amika]

i wanted to say this for a long time, that is highbury is one of the worst venue for live telecast matches cause of their low camera angle, we can't actually see the far end of the pitch.. although i must admit that they have the best ground staff in the land, the pitch condition is always in top class... most of my mates have the same feeling.. just hope that their new stadium will solve that problem..

as for bergkamp... who can forget he elbowed bowyer and went on create a goal for henry... which he got away with it... the stamping incident which the FA only fine him for something like a few thousand pound... he is a top class player but i just hope he put a side his nasty side of the game....of course keane is the most nasty player in the land..

 

[ryan_goal]

keano is nasty but is honest to what he did. his biography already proves that. btw what do u expect from a defensive midfielder and a manu captain? that's the way he's supposed to be. bergkamp? hmm....no way

 

[Frostwolf]

they should just keep the old highbury staff and shove them into the new jobs at ashburton grove. although i dont like the name. highbury is better...

and the camera nest (where the main cameras are placed) at highbury is much lower than at say anfield or OT, hence the crappy telecast views.

i when i first started up fifa, started a game at highbury and when the game started the camera was much lower and closer... so im thinking wow they even got realistic camera angles for the different stadiums...
turns out i accidently pressed one of the numerical keys which switched the camera into the "player" cam.

 

[Amika]

Originally posted by ryan_goal
keano is nasty but is honest to what he did. his biography already proves that. btw what do u expect from a defensive midfielder and a manu captain? that's the way he's supposed to be. bergkamp? hmm....no way

i think most arsenal players won't admit that they did wrong except pires.. if he ever admit that he dive.. (i didn't saw any articles or report that he said that.. please correct me or give a link to the articles.. cheers)

 

[Bobby]

i read it on Skysports.com, he said he was having a hard time holding it in....good player, should be more like him.

 

[PhiLLer]

Highbury is aweful for televised matches, you always tend to think the ball is out by about 20 yards when in fact it's still in.

As for Arsenal's red cards, I wouldn't call them a dirty team but certain players are out to get the opposition players, they have a very (too) agressive style which Arse Wanker relies on to cancel out the opposition.

Henry is mighty fast, especially with the ball at his feet. Him and Giggs are probably the fasted players with the ball at their feet.

Bergkamp? well, the guy should be shot in the back and dumped in a ditch. I hate him more than anyone, he's arrogant in that he can't take it that players might be better than him and when he doesn't get his own way he goes out to hurt players. On Wednesday in the match vs manutd in the beginning of the match he actually elbowed Silvestre. He looked around, saw Silvestre then stuck out and elbow and while Silvestre made an attempt to head the ball Bergkamp was just interested in getting his elbow stuck in, a dirty player!

I respect Pires as a player, I think he's a very good player but I think he's the same as Van Nistelrooy, sometimes when he's tackled he goes down a little too easy but it's not the kind of Jeffers or Ginola diving.

 

[jigger37]

Originally posted by PhiLLer
Highbury is aweful for televised matches, you always tend to think the ball is out by about 20 yards when in fact it's still in.

As for Arsenal's red cards, I wouldn't call them a dirty team but certain players are out to get the opposition players, they have a very (too) agressive style which Arse Wanker relies on to cancel out the opposition.


Bergkamp? well, the guy should be shot in the back and dumped in a ditch. I hate him more than anyone, he's arrogant in that he can't take it that players might be better than him and when he doesn't get his own way he goes out to hurt players.

Arsenal have an aggressive style to cancel out the opposition?..maybe ur refering to the arsenal team in the ukraine or is it in russia,cos its not the arsenal in england uve been watching,how the hell does a counter attacking team cancle out the opposition?.. i would have thought it was the opposition that usually tries to do that,isnt this why ppl say were out of the CL bcos teams neutralise our attacking play and stuff.Manu have a more aggressive play than arsenal, the two OT games this season and the last are proof. And btw, has it not been one of the main critisisms of arsenal generally that we are too laid back.

What isnt arrogant at arsenal,heck even the meat pies they sell are arrogant. Seriously though it seems ppl dont have anything to say anymore and use the word "arrogance" to describe every incedent, i would have thought envy or something would have been more appropriate for the scenario described up there.

I dont know about campbells' stats at spurs but uve got to admit that the slightest incidents gets highlighted at arsenal seemingly more than any other club and this isnt some conspiracy ****,did nistelrooy not elbow someone just recently but not much has been said about it compared to this(and it wasnt even an elbow nor was bergkamps' which was why he got a fine not a ban) and this message on shirt thing that sheringham,beattie, zola and who else have done but when henry does its headline news.

Btw highbury is simply just a small ground its capacity and the team that plays on it, is its difference to some others in the lower divisions, theres nothing else to it,its just a situation that has been left till too late.

 

[PhiLLer]

Compare manutd's and Arsenal's red and yellow card track record over the past 7 years (since Arse Wanker took over) and then come back to me.

 

[Digitarius]

Why is Highbury soooo small?

As it was answered. It is the smallest pitch in the Premiership now that the Dell has been ditched.

Why has the red mist descended on Highbury? 48 straight reds in 7 seasons is excessive even for certain places in South America. Why is this

It all comes down to reputation. I think Arsenal has cut down on their cards this season and this is because they're moving more towards flowing football then the defensive style they adopted when Arsene Wenger just took over. With Petit and a young Vieira in midfield, there're bound to be tackles flying in, and a lot of their red cards early on in their Arsenal career are deserved.
In the first couple of seasons under Wenger Arsenal (and maybe Leeds) were the dirtiest team in the Premiership. Now I would say otherwise.

Is Henry the fastest man alive (or premiership)?

No he's not. There was a footballers' sprint challenge and the winner was John Williams, a Third Division striker who has played for Cardiff, Swansea, Hull and Exeter.

Are Pires and Bergkamp cheats? I used to have the utmost respect for both as players, however, in recent seasons, Bergkamp has become a bit of a thug, which is unacceptable for someone of his class. As for Pires, I believe that he (and Jeffers) have become the 'new' Ginolas (going down even under light contact, again unacceptable for players of their quality.)

I think you're being very harsh on Pires there. I think most of the time you think he goes down easily is because he doesn't have the great upper body strength that a lot of players have, and the one time he has dived blatantly (against Valencia) he has come back and apologised, so well done to him.
As for Bergkamp, I think when he first arrived at the Premiership he found the physical style a bit of a shock, and since he has developed 'physical traits' of his style to cope with it. In recent seasons, he has used his elbow and stamps far too much for my liking.

There are members here who will swear before a court that Bergkamp is a dirty player. That Vieria is a thug, and that Keown is guilty of affray on a weekly basis.

Bergkamp IS becoming a dirty player. Vieira WAS a thug, and I'm sure Keown has never been done for affray, unlike Lee Bowyer and Jon Woodgate.

How can you explain that Henry was disciplined for having a t-shirt celebration with a message congratulating a friend, then suddenly it became okay to celebrate that way.

Maybe it warrants the same explanation as to how Manchester United were fined for giving an interview a few metres away from the 'designated area'?

Arsenal have an aggressive style to cancel out the opposition?..

That's what they used to do, but not any more with any frequency.

 

[Venkat]

BERGKAMP stamps and elbows too often
KEANE does not think what he is doing when tackling so he gets red cards
BECKHAM is as same as bergkamp(or little weaker , when it comes to using elbows) but gets off because of his star-status

 

[Vagegast]

Bergkamp's talent is still not being fully recognized. But after he quit the Dutch National team after 98, he seems to be going downwards. I'm a huge fan of him but I'm not biased, I saw the Ajax-Arsenal game Try arguing what I said in my first post to a Dutch guy