We're off to Gay Paris...

Blimey we've only gone and done it! It's a perfect ending to the final season by reaching the Champions' League final to play Barcelona. I didn't really get that excited last night as the nerves go to me as we played so poorly and scraped through - cheers JENS. However, it doesn't mention that in the records just the fact we have finally reached the final. Eurostar is booked so just a hotel (easy) and tickets (unsure) to get...

Spurs (1-1) - 22nd April 2006

Okay let's be upfront and honest (as hard as it is to say it) - Spurs deserved a point, maybe more, on Saturday. They certainly played the better football until we finally decided to bring on pace & power in Henry, Cesc & Eboué. Eboué has been a revelation since the ANC - returning with confidence and willingness to drive forward as well as the pace to be a sturdy right back.

As much as we all love and respect Arsene Wenger and as much as we hate all things Spud related I'm not convinced on this "they should have kicked the ball out" argument. At the time when passions are high I shouted "cheat" as much as the next man but Arsenal players stopped and didn't react to the situation. Considering how upset Freddie was on kicking the ball out against the Spanish cheats last week perhaps we need to rethink all this "honour" bollocks.

So the dream of winning the CL and taking 4th may now be our only option - even if Spurs drop points to Bolton or West Ham I'm not expecting us to win our last three games, especially if we get to the CL final. Let's face it this may never happen again so let's concentrate on Tuesday and worry about qualification or not later on.

Villereal (1-0) - 19th April 2006

Well we've one foot in the final but the Spanish side showed enough quality (if not much punch) that suggested they will make it very hard in a week's time. I arrived early to take a last walk around the old stadium (see above) and it's a very different place 3 hours before kick off. The scarf sellers are out in force (do they all have every scarf of every club in Europe?), the stalls are setting up and, strangely, the stadium reverberates to the sound of the Champions' League theme music!As for the game, this was a different animal to the previous 2 home legs. Villereal are a predominantly South American side who play with a defensive outlook and the over dramatic art of diving, time wasting etc. We had an early goal disallowed (wrongly), they had a good claim for a penalty (only seen after on TV) and we scored the vital goal at a good time. 1-0 was about right and certainly better than the potential 2-1 if the 2 decisions had been different. So a clean sheet from the greatest european defence ever(!) gives us a 60:40 chance in the final. I hope my eurostar tickets haven't jinxed it!

Pre-Match Nerves - 19th April 2006

I don't suffer from nerves too badly but this week will test that to the limit. When you actually stop and contemplate the significance of tonight's game against Villereal it's quite scary or exciting. Which one you choose is, of course, entirely dependent on your "half full, half empty" mentality. Football fans, in general, see life pessimistically and Arsenal fans (I believe) are more pessimistic than the average fan. As a group we were generally not bothered by the Juve/Madrid games as the role of "underdog" fits us more comfortably and now we have to look forward to a game where the public and media "expect" us to go through. All we can see, however, are the goals of Sally Forlan, the tricks of Riquelme and the knowledge that our record breaking defence has an average age of 22 and will collapse dramtically! Oh snap out of it Mark- come on you rip roaring gunners - what a six days lie ahead.

WBA (3-1) - 15th April 2006

We're getting to that point of the season when every game is a "last" of some sort or another. This was the "last" 3.oo k.o. on a Saturday Afternoon - something that has been more and more of a rarity in the Sky dominated era of TV coverage but still a strange feeling. The walk down Avenell Road (see picture) will only be taken three more times and each time for an incredibly intense game. During this game the players' (and perhaps the crowd's) minds seemed to be on Wednesday and the CL semi-final. It's always dangerous and is very worrying considering who we play between the 2 legs of the semi!

Thankfully, class told and the day designated as "Dennis Bergkamp Day" was made complete when he rolled back the years to make one and score one of his trademark curlers (well pre-2002 it was trademark) to finish off a lacklustre West Brom. It was also nice to hear Bryan "man of the match" Robson whine on & on at the end of the game....

p.s. Adrian Childs is smaller than you think when you meet him.

Highbury Memories - 3rd May 1998

The arms raised, the nodding head and the general acclaim of a family showing adoration towards their favourite son. It wasn't the fact that he had settled our first premiership as the result had been sealed long before this goal. The sheer beauty of the goal was important - a defence splitting pass, neat chest control and a powerful left foot volley - but not the most important thing.

No, the reason this goes down as one of my favourite memories (beyond its place in my top 5 goals seen at highbury) is simply that the creator and executor of such a beautiful goal were not Bergkamp & Overmars, Petit & Wright or even Vieira & Platt but two people much entwined with the "old boring Arsenal". If anyone had suggested in 1994, in the dire days as George Graham's team struggled to play anything other than 1-0s or 0-0s, that we would witness Steve Bould and Tony Adams conjure up a moment like this, I politely suggest they would have been certified insane. It still gets the tears swelling as much as seeing the montage of Rocky and Mickey Thomas's goal at Anfield -it was that special. Apparently a certain Terry Venables saw TA when he was 15/16 and thought he was one of the most gifted footballing defenders he had seen. George made him a great defender but Arsene reinvented him as a footballer - what might have been???

Aston Villa (5-0) - 1st April 2006

The euphoria surrounding the performance in midweek against Juventus was still in the air before and during this game. There was the emotional remembering of a legend with the reminder that today was 5 years since the death of "rocky". It was also great to see that fans can appreciate the true geniuses that transcend club rivalries - Aston Villa fans heartily applauding when TH was substituted after yet another 2 "great goals" for goal of the month - and just for good measure RvP popped up with a gem of an individual goal. So an easy win but a tinge of worry as both Cesc and Eboué went off injured - fingers crossed for Wednesday.