Wins Are Now as Infrequent as White Unicorns

Born under a bad sign.
I’ve been down since I began to crawl
If it wasn’t for bad luck,
I wouldn’t have no luck.
(Born Under a Bad Sign, Cream)

Thanks Jack Bruce, I couldn’t have put it any better. This season has been full of bad luck so far for the Arsenal as the Gunners once again lose 2-1 to Fulham (Go here for a match report). Easy sitters have been missed, the woodwork has been pounded to death, and stand on your head saves by opposing goalkeepers have permeated the matches so far this year. But surely this can’t be the only reason. It isn’t the only reason, and stop calling me Shirley. Anyway, luck, or lack there of, isn’t the sole reason for this loss and some of the weaknesses of the squad are becoming readily apparent. In my opinion, some of the biggest concerns right now are a) the amount of youth/inexperience, and 2) physical stature of many of the players, and d) attitude.

The squad right now is very young and there is a big imbalance between youth and experience. You can’t have a team of geezers and win the Prem every year as displayed by the Bolton Home Care club. But you do need veterans with experience who have been around the block, have had to take their lumps, and know how and when to step up. Last night the more experienced players for Fulham like American Brian McBride and Boa Morte were completely out-playing the kids in the midfield and back line. Kolo was the veteran defender at 25 and unfortunately he had an off night. Some grizzled veterans might do the squad a bit of good. Wenger is brilliant at finding these diamond in the rough kids before anyone else (thus getting them cheap, like Cesc) but sometimes you need a squad player who isn’t brilliant but gets the job done when needed.

The second issue is somewhat related to the first and that is the physical size of the players. A lot of the team are smaller physically due to age and also stature in general. As much as American Football pundits would like to disagree, soccer is a physical sport and there are times when you need a bruiser in there who isn’t afraid to get stuck in and will go for the 50/50 balls. We don’t need an ass like Robbie Savage, me and many others agree that some old style players along the line of Parlour, Keown, Adams, etc. would do the squad some good. I really wish Baptista would get more starting time because they call him “The Beast” for a reason. I saw a lot of players lose the ball easily and not go into tackles that needed to be made. If you easily cede the ball to the other team, it will be tough going.

The last big problem has been the attitude of some of the players. Henry is a wonderful footballer, but goes into these “oh, merde” funks and shows no fire or commitment. I don’t think he is totally giving up and that he doesn’t want to win, rather it seems his Gaelic indifference shines through at times as seen last night. He just isn’t all there and this isn’t the attitude you like to see in your captain.

BUT, with all these issues, I still feel the Arsenal have a very good squad and show they can play some of the best football in Europe. Ask Liverpool. They have also had loads of bad luck with near misses. Some of it can be attributed to poor finishing, but hitting the woodwork that many times can’t always be because of crap shooting. The Gunners are now, unfortunately out of the Premiership race, but they can and need to qualify for Europe again by getting into the top 4, plus they have a shot at the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and the Champions League. The season isn’t over and we don’t all need to start panicking. If we can put away the scum for North London this weekend, we’ll all feel a bit rosier about the future!




Now that we’ve got Arsenal’s problems sorted, on to the Wolfmother show I went to in Houston last week! I had seen that the fellas were going to be in Houston this week, but didn’t think that I’d be able to make it as it was on a Tuesday and I’d been to the moon and back the previous week. But alas, work actually did me a favor by sending me out to Galveston for Tuesday and Wednesday, which meant I would be in the area for the show. So I dialed up Tickegouger.com on the old internets and picked up 2 tickets for the little sis and myself. After taking care of business in G-town, I headed north and went straight to the pub to await my sister who was still in class. An order of fish & chips plus a few pints later and I was ready to go. Met up with the little sis, changed into more appropriate attire (jeans & a T-shirt because I’m sooooo rock & roll) and off we went. Finally, after long negotiations with the jughead parking attendant we got to the show, bought a beer, and headed into to watch the opening act. I would tell you who they were, but their opening number was so horrible we retreated back to the bar so we could get another beer and escape the crappiness. I guess maybe I’m showing my age, but I feel a band playing a rock show, especially an opening band, needs to come out, grab you by the cajones, and say “Hold on my son, cuz here we go!” Instead, these guys came out playing some slow, weird song and I couldn’t hear half of it. I don’t know if they did a sound check or the technician bumped the board, but it took awhile before I could hear the guitar and even longer before vocals came through. Oh well. I wasn’t there to see them anyway.



After the din of the opening act died down, the roadies cleared the stage and got ready for the main event. At least that’s what I assume happened because I was still in the bar area drinking. Finally, the time seemed about right, we ordered a roadie (well actually a next roomie) and went in to wait for the Aussie trio. Out they came and launched in Dimension, which coincidentally is the first song on their album, so everything seemed in order. They, however, had that grab you by the cajones flair and rocked out!! Even my sis who hadn’t really listened to them was toe tapping and nodding to the tunes. The music was loud but good, and even though the sound quality left something to be desired (which I blame on the venue) it was golden to me. Andrew Stockdale belted out the riffs on some nice Les Pauls while bassist Chris Ross kept the beats thumping and the organ trembling. I’d tell you the set list, but I was busy enjoying the show too much to scribble notes like a Deadhead. The boys ended the set about an hour later with White Unicorn, a nice little jam and Mind’s Eye, then took a quick break. The crowd was electric and wanted more, so (as expected) the guys came back out for an encore started with Vagabond and Colossal, which I called! Hoohah! Then, as I thought they were done for the night, Chris Ross started the bassline to Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown!! What a great song and it was good to see these guys pay tribute to Page, Plant, and company. The final song was Joker and the Thief which had all the energy an encore song needs and included a guitar solo by Stockdale on the bar next to the stage. We left the show elated and partially deaf, which is the true measure of a great rock show. So, all in all, it was a great show and I could go on for pages, but I’m a bit tired and have work to do. Tomorrow is the big Sperz preview, so make sure to come back.

Adios