Some perspective from ANR:
A quick calculation of the squad transfer values (in) are roughly £234m v £39m. In fact the likely Arsenal first eleven cost just £8m more than a Chelsea substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips. And the Chelsea subs bench over three times the cost of the Arsenal first eleven.
Chel$ea-Arsenal. Fox Soccer Channel. Sunday 8 a.m. PST.
So Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chel$ea tomorrow, a fixture that I always love since it reminds me of Chelsea-Arsenal 1999, when Arsenal were down 2-0 to Chelsea with only 15 minutes to play. Chelsea had the stingiest defense in the Premiership (at the time) that year; in fact they had not conceded a single goal at home yet that season, so a loss was damn near certain. In the 75th minute Kanu pulled one back for Arsenal, and then miraculously scored another in the 83th minute to secure a great come from behind draw. Except he wasn't done. In the 90th minute he scored an absolutely ridiculous goal(better video here, way better commentary from Martin Tyler here), giving him an amazing hat trick, Arsenal an amazing win, and securing himself as an instant Arsenal legend. I can't find it, but a few years ago there was match report by a Gooner who had tickets to this match but couldn't go because his wife went in to labor, and he was at the hospital listening to the match on the radio, and long story short they named their baby Kanu because of his performance in beating hated Chelsea in miraculous form- the kind of crazy obsessed fan story that would have been on Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer if it existed back then.
"He's tall, he black,
he's had a heart attack,
Kaa-nuu, Kaa-nuu!"
So fond memories for me, although lately Arsenal haven't done shite against The Blues. Kind of like a bizarro Georgia-Tennessee thing going on (Tennessee won 9 in a row over Georgia in the 90s, only for Georgia to win the next 4 in a row and 6 of the next 7). Amazingly, Arsenal did not lose one time to Chelsea in any competition between 1995 and 2004, but since then Arsenal have not beaten Chel$ea once in any competition over the last 2 seasons. It seems unlikely that Arsenal can do the business over Chel$ea at Stamford Bridge, but as I said before Georgia played at Auburn earlier this year, all things are possible. They have already gone to Old Trafford this year and beaten the league leaders Manchester United without TH14, so you never know. That being said, William Gallas is injured and Kolo Toure is suspended - facing Sheva & Drogba without your 2 best defenders is a tall, tall order. Arsenal's back 4 tomorrow will have an average age of 21, and Drogba has made Senderos his bitch in recent meetings. All of these things scare me more than being without TH14.
The big talking point is of course Ashley Cole, Cashley Cole, Cuntley Cunt, or whatever you choose to call him. This is the 1st time that he will face his old club since the shameful and stupid way that he engineered his move from Arsenal to Chel$ea, which caused a grat deal of bad blood between the two clubs and between Arsenal fans and Ash himself. The root of the issue was a secret illegal meeting (that wasn't so secret) in a London hotel between Cole & his agent, Mourhino and other reps of Chel$ea 2 days before a massive Arsenal-ManU match. Illegal for starters, they all lied about it and denied it ever happend, then Ash decided that somehow Arsenal had betrayed him and not vicey versey and wouldn't shut up about it, even writing a book that no one seems to be buying. This from someone who was a London boy and Arsenal fan since a child, who the club took in and turned from a youth team trialist to the best left back in the world, a fan favorite and Arsenal legend and future captain in the making. Now he is public enemy #1, made even worse that he went to cross town rivals Chel$ea of all places.
Arsenal fans have printed 20,000 fake 20 pound notes which they presumably are either going to wave at him or throw into the air, and to be sure he will get a shitload more schtick from the travelling Gooners, and deservedly so. I'm with Arseblogger on the whole thing.
Funny
He'll either be rattled and somewhat ineffective, or he will play a blinder and score 2 goals.
Here's hoping that Adebayor can channel Kanu 99 and the Arse can do something special. I'll be rocking the shit out of my red 1999-2000 Kanu kit for sure. And I love the fact that Mats aka Mad Jens of North London is talking shit about Ash - you know he is fired up and will be up for it and play a blinder tomorrow, and probably a get a yellow or red card to boot. I love that guy.
Come on you Gunners!
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