Football News And Views

Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle

Arsenal were once again on hand to pile on the misery for Kevin Keegan who just days ago was labeled ‘The Messiah’ by many in the media. Three games without a goal  now for Keegan’s Newcastle side who in all fairness have had to travel to The Emirates twice in a few days and it’s no easy place to go. Saturday’s game ended 3-0 to the Gunners and the league game was a repeat and it was just as easy for Arsenal as it was before. I didn’t expect Newcastle to win but I did expect them to learn from their mistakes from Saturday but they never really had any of the game and Arsenal were in control throughout.

Newcastle held out for a while and it took Arsenal nearly 40 minutes to find the break through. Flamini sent in a delightful cross from the right hand side for Adebayor to easily header past Shay Given. Adebayor had a shot over the bar just minutes before the opening goal and that was about as far as first half chances went. Newcastle started the first few minutes of the second half looking brighter but couldn’t do anything with the ball. Michael Owen found himself offside on so many occasions as the Newcaslte midfield tried to find him and this did not help Newcastle’ cause.

After 72 minutes the goal of the match came and it had looked like Arsenal were going to get anotehr one and they did in some style. Cesc passed the ball from the left to Flamini who struck the ball from 20 yards and it floated into the top corner. Just as it was on Saturday 2-0 was game over but again it wasn’t enough for Arsenal who got the third from Cesc Fabregas who couldn’t miss after being played the ball square in the box from Bendtner. It was a typical Arsenal move.

So where does this leave The Messiah and his new recruit, Dennis Wise? I think the next few days are critical for Newcastle United. They need to bring in a few faces. They clearly need a centre back and a defensive midfielder. They are missing Martins and playing Owen up front or with Alan Smith behind him does not appear to bring much joy. A winger should also be on their shopping list as they never really looked threatening out on their wide positions. A lot of people will be looking at Keegan and wondering if he is the man for the job but only time will tell. Losing at The Emirates is not a problem but his side need to bounce back. They have a local Derby with Boro at home next, a tie which is very much winnable and if Keegan wants to live up to his Messiah tag then 3 points is critical.

Yesterday it was announced a third club was interesting Woodgate hours before he made his move to Spurs. A lot of places announced that this club was Arsenal but it is now being said this is a hoax and Arsene Wenger has denied all reports on Arsenal being linked with the centre back. and had very little to say on the matter.

“I do not know where that story came from,” he said. “There is no truth in it at all. We have never been in touch with Middlesbrough about Jonathan Woodgate.”

To be honest I do think Arsenal need another centre back as I don’t think Djourou is good enough and Senderos is inconsistent and without Kolo Toure at the moment Arsenal are a little short at the back. A lot of reports say Arsene is interested in Joleon Lescott who I personally think would be a great signing for the Gunners but with Yobo playing at the African Cup of nations, Everton would not sell Lescott now and I don’t think they will sell him cheap anyway.

As for Spurs they have a good signing in Woodgate if he can stay fit. Ledley King and Woodgate could be a great pairing but neither of them have stayed fit long enough between them. If they do get a run of games together at the back then Spurs may be able to sort out their lack of clean sheets.

It’s nice to see that George Burley has taken over as the new manager of Scotland. There is no doubting his ability after being successful with Ipswich and more recently at Hearts, where he briefly challenged Scotland’s top two with them. His international ability however is unknown but that has been said about many successful club managers who have gone into the International scene.

Scotland fans will of course be hoping that George Burley pick up where Alex McLeish left off and personally i think he has the players under him to be able to do so. The first aim for Burley will be to reach the World Cup and he is confident he can do it.

“This job gives the opportunity to try to do something, to try to get to the World Cup finals, and as a manager you couldn’t ask for more than that.”

“It’s something I’m really looking to. I feel I’m ready for it.

“Let’s got for it, two, two-and-a-half years, can we qualify for the World Cup? That’s my aim.”

Scotland were unlucky not to reach the European Championships after their brave displays against France and Italy and if they can get the big results in the world cup qualifiers against the likes of Norway and the Netherlands then I can see them reaching the World Cup Finals and even as an Englishman I believe Scotland have what it takes to do this and under Burley they have a manager who will bring the best out of the players.

I was thinking of something offensive and polite to use as the title of this post but couldn’t really find anything to use. What can you say really about Lassana Diarra. He joined Arsenal on deadline day so he could get first team football. No one said he would be promised first team football and surely he should have already known that Arsenal have a handful of really talented centre midfielders, second only to the crop at Manchester United IMO (on paper at least). He soon made it clear he wanted to leave. I find it hard to believe he thought he was in with much of a chance especially as Cesc Fabregas will always start in the middle and Gilberto, Flamini and Diaby are all talented players as well as Denilson who looks promising. Diarra did get his chances in the cup games but didn’t make much impact. All the before mentioned centre midfield players have scored this season already for Arsenal too.

So Diarra was sold to Portsmouth. A little bit of profit was made for Arsenal and Portsmouth got themselves a promising player for a low figure. However no matter how good Diarra is or how good he thinks he is he still lacks any type of personality. He proved this straight away at Portsmouth by saying the following:

Portsmouth is a respectable club, which has achieved a very good start to the season. Some people say I made a mistake by joining Portsmouth considering Les Bleus. I don’t think so. The people at Portsmouth know I will not spend my life at this club. If I shine, if a really big club wants me, I know already that everything will go well.

Nice that he thinks so highly of Portsmouth. They are a mere stepping stone in his bid to get a first team place at a bigger club. Instead of helping his club progress he wants to just help his career and let other scouts see that he is a good player. I hope after this statement he struggles to make an impact at Portsmouth and I hope a big club never comes in for him. At this stage in his career he is not good enough t play in the first teams at Chelsea or Arsenal and he could be a real star at Portsmouth but his attitude could disrupt harmony and as it did at Arsenal it could also restrict his chances.

The draw for the 4th round of the FA Cup was made earlier today at Soho Square and it threw up a couple of interesting ties. The one that most people will be talking about it undoubtedly the prospect of Liverpool hosting Havant & Waterlooville from the Conference South if both sides win there respective replays. Apart from this it was a relatively disappointing draw from the giant killers propesctive but there were a few all Premiership ties with Arsenal hosting Newcastle or Stoke, Chelsea being away for once against Wigan and Tottenham or Reading visiting Old Trafford. The draw in full can be found below with matches taking place the weekend of the 26/27th of January.

Arsenal v Stoke City/Newcastle
Coventry v Walsall/Millwall
Oldham v Huddersfield Town
Swindon/Barnet v Fulham/Bristol Rovers
Wigan v Chelsea
Luton/Liverpool v Swansea/Havant & Waterlooville
Southend v Barnsley
Southampton v Norwich/Bury
Man Utd v Tottenham/Reading
Portsmouth v Plymouth
Derby/Sheff Wed v Preston
Watford v Wolves
Peterborough v Charlton/West Brom
Sheff Utd v West Ham/Man City
Mansfield v Middlesbrough
Tranmere/Hereford v Cardiff