Morning Gooners,
Firstly congratulations to England for topping the group ahead of France after beating Ukraine 1-0. Theo and Ox both came on as subs but created little. England will now play Italy, who I have been quite impressed with and France will play Spain. The Euro’s continues to be thoroughly entertaining, long may it continue.
Continuing with the moments of the season theme from last week, the next two categories are up.
First of all, the Funniest Moment of the Season.
Plenty of moments that made all of us chuckle last season:
Szcz and his double Cruff turn.
As you may have worked out and are probably sick of hearing, this happened right in front of me and while I laughed I also almost had a heart attack! Fans love a player with the confidence to back their talent and boy oh boy does Szcz have the confidence!
The guy has been a revelation this season. He does make the odd mistake, show me a keeper that doesn’t in our league; his kicking is a bit wayward but he’s got the potential to be our number one for well over a decade. I still can’t spell his name though!
Wenger hugging Pat Rice (vs West Brom)
This classic moment maybe the last memory of Pat Rice happened in the final moments of the crucial away game versus West Brom. As RVP broke into the box, he fired his shot well over the bar (it still may be up in the air!) and Wenger’s reaction to hug Pat Rice summed up how tense the final minutes of the season really were. The funniest part of that clip is watching Rice show no emotion at all and remain super calm about.
I’ve never seen an Arsenal bench without Pat Rice, he will be missed by all. However, Steve Bould was a defensive legend for Arsenal, he’s got a footballing mind and I’m genuinely excited about him being the new assistant manager. I strongly believe his presence will have a positive impact on the players during the game.
Our Start
I wasn’t to sure about this entry but in hindsight I guess we can sit back and laugh about the start we hand and the fact we finished 3rd. Our worst start in 58 years and some disgustingly horrific defeats to United, Blackburn, Liverpool and Spuds. Enter the fact that our noisy neighbours were bragging about their best start ever , finishing in third place was even more hilarious. Now add in the unique situation that developed with Chelsea finishing 6th yet winning the champions league; the poor old Spuds finished the season in virtual 5th place and out of the Champions League places. Best start ever? What a waste.
The moment voted funniest by our readers was…
You just can’t help but laugh and then smile at what followed. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. John Terry, scum of the earth.
Lowest Moment of the season;
Unfortunately while there were some highs and some funny moments, there were some dark days. (I don’t really want to dwell on these!)
Blackburn 4-3 defeat.
This has to be one of the most surreal games in recent memory. Two Arsenal own goals in quick succession, the opposition scoring 4 goals but only having 3 shots on target and Arsenal missing a host of chances. A horrible embarrassing low to a team who were the joke of the entire premiership season and eventually relegated.
4-0 defeat to Milan.
This was a truly embarrassing moment with the whole of Europe watching on. We made Milan look so good through our own sloppiness and lack of game plan. This was my angriest moment of the season, how could Arsenal Football Club go away in a European game and collapse in the way they did? Knowing that this was the last time we’d see Henry in an Arsenal shirt too, a very low moment in our history let alone just our season.
2-0 defeat to Sunderland in the FA Cup.
All the talk of a reaction from the players after the Milan game and they delivered yet another limp performance that made it 7 years in a row without a trophy. *sigh*
The ‘winner’for the lowest point of the season was:
The 8-2 defeat to Man Utd.
Even typing that out was pretty painful. The game itself was just torture. Most of us knew that it was going to be a tough day but the way it unfolded would have shocked even the most negative fan (and believe me there’s plenty of them about!). However, was this defeat the catalyst to the spending spree in the transfer market that allowed us to secure Arteta, Santos and Mertesacker? Maybe. Without those 3 signings the season would have been very different.
How the hell did we finish 3rd?!!!
Have a good one Gooners!
~ @Tottz82
