Fads in May 07

1. Romario claimed the 1,000th goal of his career.

2. Leeds is in administration. A once big club in turmoil.

3. Kaka seems like the best footballer in the world right now.

4. AC Milan beat Liverpool in the Champions League final. No Istanbul Revisited.

5. Paris Hilton gets 45-day jail term for knowingly driving without a valid licence. The term has since been reduced to 23 days.

6. Thierry Henry is named as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

7. Sam Allardyce is the new Newcastle boss.

8. Man Utd are the new English Premiership champions. The stronghold by Chelsea is broken.

9. F1 is coming to Singapore. A night race.

10. Juventus are promoted back to Serie A.

11. One-eyed dragon gets the death sentence for slaying Milky Pig.

12. Singapore's drive to be an education hub took a severe knock when UNSW shut down its Singapore campus just barely 2 months.

Woo-Kash Fab-Yan-Ski

Young Polish international goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has signed for Arsenal from Legia Warsaw on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

Let's hope he could turn out to be another of those goalkeeping greats for Arsenal. Also, to kickstart more signings for the coming season...

Those great Arsenal moments...

1971
Beating Liverpool in FA Cup Final to win their first ever Double. The title was also won at White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspurs.

1989
Needing to win by two clear goals to lift the title. The Gunners did just that with a last–minute Michael Thomas strike at Anfield.

1991
Arsenal lost just one game en route to another English Championship title. The only match was lost at Stamford Bridge.

1993
Arsenal beat Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup Final replay. A bloodied Andy Linighan headed home the winner.

1994
The Gunners beat Parma in the Cup Winners' Cup Final. A lone Alan Smith strike at Denmark won the game.

1996
Arsène Wenger is appointed as Arsenal manager.

1997
Dennis Bergkamp was simply the best footballer on planet Earth in 1997. That hattrick at Filbert Street was sensational. Ian Wright broke Cliff Bastin's goals record.

1998
A final day win over Everton clinches Wenger's first title. I remember Tony Adams scored with a swaggering Ian Wright-attitude. Arsenal won their second Double.

1999
Kanu scores an incredible hat-trick in 3-2 win at Chelsea. A thrilling comeback match.

2000
Thierry Henry hooked a wonder goal over Barthez in the Arsenal vs Man Utd encounter.

2002
Arsenal beat Chelsea at FA Cup Final in Cardiff. Parlour and Ljungberg were the scorers. Dennis Bergkamp scores an amazing goal against Newcastle. Wiltord’s goal at Old Trafford secured another Double.

2003
I saw an awesome Arsenal display that won 5-1 over Inter Milan at the San Siro.

2004
The 'Invincibles' clinch the title at White Hart Lane. The Gunners were unbeaten for a record 49 league games.

2005
Beat Manchester United on penalties in FA Cup Final. We saw Patrick Vieira’s final kick for the Gunners. Thierry Henry became Arsenal’s all-time record goal scorer.

2006
Arsenal are the first English club to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Thierry Henry’s magical solo run was simply out of the world stuff. The Final Salute match saw Arsenal beat Wigan 4-2. I almost cried when Henry kissed the Highbury turf. The Gunners lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League Final at Paris. The club moves from Highbury to Emirates Stadium.

Season 2006/07: Not that goonerrific

Season 2006/07 has finally ended… been one long, painful and arduous one. Terribly disappointed…been a supporter since the early 80s. The level of disappointment was equivalent to one particular season when Terry Neill was at the helm. I still remember… Arsenal lost 5-0 to Spurs back then.

I would tend to agree… once a club goes on with any stadium plans…cash strapped situation, the team will suffer. So, to begin with…the season of The Final Salute surpassed expectations when the Gunners reached the Champions League final. Domestically, they were pretty abysmal.

For any gooners wondering, how many “transitional” seasons to go before we start winning trophies again. I would say that Roman’s roubles sort of unsettle the balance, or even, revolutionise the modern game. It would be then left to the guile and tactics of Wenger to overcome such adversities. Sir Alex just did.

Losing players like Bergkamp, Pires, Campbell, Cole, Reyes and Lauren at one go wasn’t easy. This loss of experience was just too much for this young team. Towards the tail end of this season, came the bomb. David Dein resigns and there were eminent talks of Yankee Kroenke wanting to take over Arsenal.

Coming to the players... It is always like that, South Americans probably needs a longer time to sink in and blend. To be fair, it took them some time but I reckon Edu, Silvinho and Gilberto were great. Julio “The Beast” Baptista, I really don’t know. I find him totally inept. I dare conclude that Reyes is better. At least, he could draw fouls.

Pires’ boots are too big to fill. I reckon Rosicky would suffer from this expectation. The Czech’s goal rate is really nowhere near Pires. Adebayor looks like a dead ringer to Kanu. In fact, he is also nowhere near Kanu’s standard when compared to the Nigerian, who once paraded his skills at Highbury. In short, he might still be the not-so finished article thrown to the fray too early. Denilson is okay, a rough diamond…but, he really needs time to be honed.

I has always proclaim in my earlier posts that Diaby is the next Vieira…however, the team must know how to draw the best from him. I am wondering which is his best position?

A half fit Henry didn’t help the cause either. He was really overworked during season 05/06 and also at the last World Cup. Does it seems that he might be frustrated with his “lesser” colleagues round him. Would he have felt this way with the likes of Vieira, Bergkamp, Petit, Overmars and Pires around him? It's anybody's guess.

Cesc is fantastic. The fact that he was played almost in every match shows one flaw – there is no able replacement in his role. Scary… what if he got a long-term injury? Too much reliance on this young Spaniard, the moment he is on an off-day at the field, the Gunners would be in trouble.

Is Theo that frighteningly good? Only after the shoulder operation, his full recovery, then we can tell….I can only hope that he is that frighteningly good.

Lastly, for next season and beyond…I reckon that winning ugly is important. Not necessary to pass the ball to death…then try to score. Please turn ball possession, passing and those incredible ball movements to goals. We need that. Only that can win matches.

Another big wish…to see Arsenal going out and buy big. Buy real big! The really very, very good, super, super players. With the Russian revolution in place at Stamford Bridge, these are different times. Would there be time to discover and nurture the young Vieiras and Anelkas like the yesteryears. It is time to go for the tried and tested. I think all departments need reinforcements…goalie, defenders, midfielders and strikers.

Season 06/07 has ended with modest measure. For this coming new season, I still optimistically stay in awe of the endless possibilities that this Golden Generation might bring. On the strength of that Carling Cup final display, this Golden Generation beckons...

It is common knowledge that Wenger's sights has always been set on the future, to venture far beyond the confines of just playability and brings us, cosmic football.

As one particular banner always scream at every home match in the Emirates, "In Arsene, we trust".

Thank you, Baptista

When I saw the line-up last night, I was thinking...maybe, third place was not in Wenger's mind. Julio "The Beast" Baptista enjoyed a third penalty miss in his Arsenal career so far. Many can argue that he took it well, but, to me, it got saved. Heck.

The Gunners had the lion share of chances during the first half and that's about it.

Baptista's miss and the draw against Pompey meant the Gunners ended up in fourth spot. Sigh...

Where is Cashley?

Chel$ea were without Cashley, Sheva, Ballack, Carvalho, Drogba, etc. Well, I thought the Gunners would boss them around at their own turf. In fact, the Blues turned on a lion hearted performance in their must-win match at the Emirates.

Arsenal grabbed the lead when The Dutch Beast upended the Brazilian Beast. I actually thought Khalid Boulahrouz needn’t challenge Baptista from behind. The awkward Brazilian, while all set to shoot, might had, in any case, fire wide. Gilberto stepped up and despatched the spot-kick confidently.

Chel$ea came storming back in the second half. Why not? They badly needed a win to keep their faint hopes of retaining their title alive. They poured their players forward… once again, Essien scored against the Gunners.

Joe Cole had a beautiful goal disallowed and Emmanuel Eboue struck the cross bar in the dying minutes for Arsenal. To sum it up, the draw left me sort of fuming. Gilberto’s goal won the title. For Man Utd, not Arsenal.

Damn… Cashley wasn’t playing. It would be great to see the many Gooners pelting him with celery. Gilberto scored. The Brazilian will go down in history as the first to score in the season opener against Aston Villa and the last one to score again in this final home match of this inaugural season at Ashburton Grove. Let’s hope he is not contemplating to head towards Turin as rumoured.

Sigh.. the season is gonna end soon. I do hope that there are some big name signings or whatevers. With Wenger, we all know, he would probably buy some unknown player(s) and mould them to world beaters. Whatever it is, I am always a red and white Gooner and I still believe the Golden Generation as led by Fabregas would surface soon…

The Inept One

Till today, I still wonder what frightening potential that Arsene Wenger saw in him. Perhaps, two seasons ago, he was then scorching the La Liga scoring charts. Became hot property, snubbed Arsenal and left for Real Madrid.

Then came the Loan Exchange, Reyes went the other way. This Brazilian bloke, known affectionately as the Beast, was acquired and many expected him to score goals alongside Henry, Adebayor and Van Persie in the Premiership.

Plenty of expectations….he didn’t start soon…used more in FA and Carling Cup matches. The only highlight of his season was that 4-goal haul at Anfield. I thought the rudiments of a great striker was taking shape. I was wrong. Thereafter, it was misses after misses. I’ve never seen someone donning the Arsenal shirt played so badly.

Among all the Brazilians… Silvinho, Edu or Gilberto, the Beast sure stands out as the worst Brazilian import ever. Even my friend, a neutral fan, called me, and said “Baptista is starting, this guy will spray the ball everywhere. Arsenal sure gone fxxx”. My, how right he was.

I thought Baptista ever lamented that he didn’t have enough first team chances…well, the big chance did came when Henry and Van Persie were out for the rest of season 06/07. Out came the big stage for the Beast to perform.

What did he do? Yes. Sprayed the ball everywhere. He did everything wrong. His headers goes awry, his touch let him down repeatedly, he balloon countless chances, hit rugby shots, squander possession with apparent nonchalance… he even collided with Diaby when an open goal was there for the taking. His entire package looks crude and his reading of the game was woeful.

He really irks me... from his failure to supply a final telling ball or to get a shot on target after reaching a promising position. He never contributed more than the rare flashes of flair, it hints of some samba talent rather than actually achieving it. To be fair, the Beast needs prodigious resolve to prosper in his striking role so well illuminated by the likes of Bergkamp, Wright or Henry. Sadly, this quality is what the Beast do not possess.

With two games left before the end of season 06/07, I hope he gets shipped back to Madrid. I am sure he hasn't lost his grip on his game, his vast potential can be better tapped back in Spain.

Let's not be so sure... a different struggle may awaits...