Welcome back King Henry!!! (It could have been welcome back Ginger Ninja too...)

Henry, a player which oozes so much class even at the age of 34. I was elated (yes, I was) when he signed on loan for Arsenal, those who know me know why and my prediction is for Arsenal to win a trophy this season, if not the Premier League.

The stage was set, against a team promoted to the Championship only last season - Leeds with plenty of history and fervor supporters albeit it's Leeds of 2012, not the Leeds of old with Robinson, Kelly, Radebe, Ferdinand, Harte, Bowyer, Dacourt, Bakke, Kewell, Smith and Viduka.

I did not watch the game, but I was with an Arsenal mate, he's Arsenal enough to stay at Highbury (right beside the Emirates) at a non-footie thingy and I told him from the onset before the game started that I am more than happy to see Henry back in the red and white of Arsenal. This is a player, for all the pain he caused against United was just so pleasing to watch. Etched in my memory: That bloody lob against Barthez, receiving the ball with his back facing the goal, 1st touch - flick the ball, swerve of his body, 2nd touch - lobbed it into the far top corner! %^&*()_ bloody good goal!

It was a fairy tale setting, with Van Persie on holiday, Camakh looking more like one of the JLS (Google them) than an all out striker he was touted when he arrived and Gervinho needing plenty of finishing lessons from Henry (maybe that's one of the reason why he was brought back?) it was pretty much all set for Henry to steal the show.

Drab first half, dull game, inferior opposition, I can't fault Simon Grayson, Wenger's sparring partner for the night - the game was lost even before it started. There he is, Henry, King Henry, immortalised in bronze, 11 goals against Leeds of ol', a quadruple in the last match between the sides sitting on the bench. With the hype, the cheer and the reception granted to Henry, it's the classic gamesmen tactic from Wenger, awe your opponents, bully them into submission just by the sheer sight of brilliance, not on the field of the game though with the injuries he has, but the sight of an all time legend. King Henry, glad you are back.

Sir Alex could have done the same had he brought Scholes back in the League Cup match against Palace, legend who left the club, not too match fit, Championship opposition, surely a timely well written script for a legend's 2nd debut? Sounds like Henry's debut tonight? Simillar but not so, knowing Fergie, he will persevere till the end, until needs must before he pulls the trigger, with Rooney's speculation in the press, he needed a diversion to drop it and drop like a hot potato he did, Scholes was the gambit up his sleeve, Rooney was sparred the pre-match hype. Sir Alex has done it in the past, offloading Rudd and Keane when they were too much to handle, giving Hernandez his debut much sooner than expected because of Bebe's flop and Scholes as a foil for Rooney's speculations, brilliant, just brilliant, ruthless, cunning but just brilliant.

Wenger too has the same streak, with Chelsea, Citeh and Spurs losing key players to the African Cup of Nations (yep, it's not the African Nations Cup) Henry's homecoming might just be the boost Arsenal needs to mount a January title challenge. The team just needs leaders, not just one, but one in each defence, midfield, and attack, like the Invincibles of old. I doubt a leader could be found for each 1/3 of the pitch in this January window, but at least he has Henry back, a Gunner through and through, one who will surely galvanise the team with his mere presence. Maybe wake up or inspire some mediocre players?

Scholes could do the same, with United's midfield in tatters, he could be a stop gap solution, but more than that an in-the-face reminder to the midfield foot soldiers-demoted-generals of United that Scholes, at his age, out from retirement will still be first off the bench when needed - buck up Carrick, Gibson, Anderson & Co. BUCK UP!

Arsenal's defeat: Icelandic Volcano Eruptions = Cancellation of flights = Train Travels = Longer hours = Bad performance???

Image above from monstersandcritics.com

As much as I love travelling, I hate long overland journeys (3 1/2 hours to Manchester). I would prefer the plane, but being a student, I can't afford it :(

My longest on land journey to date is the Beijing-Haerbin-Beijng trip, 12 hours each way!

A case of travel lag?

Professional footballers nowadays are quite spoiled I must say, flying to their games and then flying back. It is not only in the BPL that this happen, but certain clubs in the Championship does too (couldn't name the club since I couldn't verify this info).

It make sense, shorter travel hours, more comfy and of course, being part of the BPL gravy train, they could afford it.

However, with the now well publicized flying ban, these little pampered pooches must now travel via coach (bus in our language) or train and it seems one of two players/team were quite affected by this.

Arsenal's destruction

Mr. Wenger puts it down to 'lack of discipline and focus', you can read the article here. But my opinion is the players were rattled by the sudden change of travel arrangements. It's kinda like being used to driving an imported car but suddenly being given a Proton, or worse still a Perodua.

Make no mistake, the coaches they travel in are quite comfy I am sure, but the journey would of course be much more bumpier (coach) and less peaceful (coach and train). Someone might have missed that all important nap maybe?

Proof is in the next game

Nope, not Arsenal's next game against City (if this attempt fails, then Eastland/Blackburn game will be my other chances, also the Chelsea Stoke/Pool game if the flying ban is still imposed then) but a less publicized game in the Championship between Plymouth Argyle and Newcastle.

Here's some interesting facts: Newcastle is way way way up north, they border Scotland while Plymouth is way down south, even further than Portsmouth! That's 740 miles apart, 10 hours by coach or 6 hours by train! Oh yes...

The game would be played tonight, thus let's see the manner the results were achieved.

What I am looking for are:

1. Sloppy goals.

2. Destruction in the closing minutes

3. Beautiful goals, but Newcastle lose

To add a little bit of spice, Plymouth are 23rd, 2nd from bottom, while Newcastle are top of the Championship. This game still hold plenty of significance, if Newcastle wins or draw, they will be confirmed Champions, while at the other end, if Plymouth lose or draw, they will be relegated.

Pretty much the scenario with Arsenal and Wigan, title chaser v. relegation fodder, let's see if my hypothesis would be proven true: Footballers are too pampered to take any change in their travel arrangements, in short, they are pooches :)

Regards,
Ben Lai

Will it be the case of Spurs the King Maker or would Chelsea gallop away with the title?

Wenger was not the only Frenchmen to think Spurs

needs to prove themselves, Patrice thinks so too :)

Those who read my previous post would know what I mean. If you have not, here's the link.

Another weekend of football, a promise of excitement in the BPL (BPL is the proper name, not the EPL ;) ) with the title very much in the hand of Chelsea, but it is far from done and dusted. Any slip ups, and it will again open up. Judging from the already roller coaster ride of this season, I would not rule that out.

Spurs to earn their spurs?

Forgive me for the pun and cliche. But I am not the only one who thinks so. One very irritated winging Wenger agreed as reported here in his post match comment subsequent to his side's lethargic performance at White Hart Lane.

From a neutral perspective, the defeat of Arsenal was quite a performance from a club which invested so much but with very little to show, save for having a decent run in Cup competitions and their customary annual participation in Europe (albeit the 2nd-tier and less coveted UEFA Cup/Europa League). For a mid table club, that's quite an accomplishment.

Wind of change - new (ex)players, new manager

They were the largest spender outside the top-4 (and City) in the previous 3 seasons (signing plenty of ex-players) and the closest they got to breaking the dominance of the big-4 was in the 05/06 season where some dodgy lasagna denied them their 4th place finish and more crucially, handed the said spot to their hated neighbours. Would the defeat of Arsenal be the cornerstone of better things to come?

The goal scorers themselves were novice cowboys with a lot to prove. A first start, a stunning goal, Danny Rose's strike was indeed top-draw, so much so, he was as suprised as the shell-shocked-static Arsenal defence when it flew in. As for Gareth Bale, an unlikely goalscorer but more astonishing was the fact that throughout the earlier part of this season his name on the starting lineup was a bad omen to some quarters - Spurs did not win a single match in which he started. A goal for the critics perhaps?

Q&A time!!!

1. Was the performance just a one-off North London derby performance? Or;
2. Was it to gate crash Sol Campbell's return? Or;
3. Was it the most obvious question - bouncing back from the FA Cup defeat to Pompey?

I would answer NO to all the above. They are currently 5th in the League, just a point behind 4th spot City, with plenty to play for. Champions League is what they want and if anything, their gritty defending in the 2nd half against Arsenal showed how determined they are to take the final berth.

Now then, let's look at Spurs's remaining games: Chelsea (H) - Manchester United (A) - Bolton (H) - City (A) - Burnley (A).

As compared to City's: Manchester United (H) - Arsenal (A) - Villa (H) - Spurs (H) - West Ham (A)

Both team would be playing against title contenders tomorrow afternoon which could very well influence not only their own destiny, but also the BPL crown. Tasty encounters indeed, fireworks and seeing red, the card and maybe even blood is quite a possibility. The same goes for the following match for both teams, with Arsenal and Manchester United as opponents, notwithstanding this weekend's results, playing a Big-4 team would always be tricky.

City seems to have the upper hand thereon, with both team playing home matches in the 3rd game, it would be the penultimate game when they meet at the Eastlands which would ultimately decide the 4th place if they match each other's (or +/- 2) points in the first 3 games. I am quite sure it would not go to the wire and be decided in the final game or at least City would aim to put some space between them and Spurs by then.

My prediction for the week

Spurs to beat Chelsea at White Hart Lane with City at most taking a point (a very unlikely scenario) against their Red city rivals. Biased? No. Spurs are well known weak travellers, and if they do not take full points this weekend, it would take quite an effort to take full points when they visit Old Trafford next week. As for United's game against City, it would be tough no doubt, but with the recent lacklustre displays, I think they player themselves know that the finish line is near and it's all or nothing for the final push and I expect a slim win for United.