"Keep the faith" ...? Yes, we will ...!

Like every other Arsenal FC supporter I do also have high expectations of the club under Arsene Wenger in the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA-Cup.

After four years without a major trophy, finishing only fourth this season (-behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea) in the Premier League, and being knocked-out in the Champions League (-against Manchester United) and the FA-Cup (-against Chelsea) at the Semi-Final stage, I am very much disappointed with the over-all result.

On the other hand, we should not only look at the negative side, but at the positive side as well. Considering that this very 'young' team (the average age is somewhere between 23 and 24) went to the Champions League and FA-Cup Semi-Finals and finished fourth after a 21-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, it seems like it can only get better over the next few years. That is definitely a very promising situation in my opinion.

The club is generating similar income to Manchester United and Chelsea and the team plays still some of the best football in the world. It is all up to Arsene Wenger this summer to take an open-minded approach to improving the team for the next season. Besides keeping the faith in young players and holding-on to the current squad (especially Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas and Manuel Almunia), he has to draw a fine line between waiting too long to decide the team is not quite strong enough and being more active in the transfer market than in the previous summers, spending some money and making 2-3 necessary additions that could have a huge impact to the team.

Besides a new player in the center-back given the fact that it was really hard to cope without injured William Gallas, there is also the need of one experienced player in central-midfield.

With Tomas Rosicky, Eduardo and William Gallas coming back from injury next season and players like Manuel Almunia, Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Kolo Toure, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo and Alex Song, I will continue to keep the faith in Arsenal FC.

Cristiano Ronaldo's "smart" move ... wishful thinking ...!

Will Sir Alex Ferguson continue to tolerate Cristiano’s "bitching DIVA-like" behavior at Manchester United, or will he show "the world's No.1" that he definitely is not the best person to "lock horns" with … ?

Ronaldo's childish reaction to his substitution in the second half – while being up 2-0 (and having scored one goal) against local rival Manchester City this past weekend – is surely a challenge to Ferguson's authority and a 'signal' to Real Madrid, who are expected to throw another bid at ManU this summer …


How else could a 'throwing a training top to the ground' , 'mumbling displeasure while on the bench' , 'shaking the head' by the "bitching DIVA" be otherwise described? Ronaldo's stupidity (throwing down his training top) showed a lack of respect to the club that has rewarded him so generously – even after admitting he wanted to 'move on' to Real last summer ...

As we have seen in the past – outbursts and 'signals' do not seem to work with Sir Alex …:

… when he was tired of David Beckham's celebrity lifestyle in February 2003 he sent him off to sign with Real Madrid …


… he dropped Ruud van Nistelrooy from the team (150 goals in 218 ManU appearances until then) following a training ground 'clash' with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006 … and later sent him off to sign with Real Madrid …


… he was annoyed by Gabriel Heinze's attempt to move to Liverpool in 2007 … first he refused to allow him to join Liverpool ... then sent him off to sign with Real Madrid …


It seems like Ronaldo had it all planned …! - : He must be thinking that if he angers Mr. Ferguson, he might be "sent off to sign with Real Madrid" as soon as possible …(!) (!) (!) … and it seems like he is already fantasizing being strolled down Madrid's famous tourist attractions by Juande Ramos (if he survives of course) this summer ...

3 things about the Chelsea - Barcelona C.L. Semi Final

1. (very) poor referee ...: Can somebody please tell me why the UEFA would choose a Norwegian referee to take charge of such an important game anyway ...? Is it because (I guess) the guy speaks Spanish and English ...??? ... or because he refereed the Norwegian Cup finals of 1999 "between Rosenborg and Brann" and 2006 "between Fredrikstad and Sandefjord" ... ??? Hidding is absolutely right pointing out that UEFA has to get top-notch referees who have experience of the big leagues, like Italy, Spain, England and Germany so they can cope with such an important game ...!


2. Drogba clearly could have scored twice ... straightforward: Maybe then he wouldn't have to assault 'officialdom' wild-eyed and raging instead, after the game was over ... for turning down 3 Chelsea penalty appeals ... His aggression was a true embarrassment, upright by the fact that he was wearing flip-flops ...! I am wondering what the UEFA's decision will be on his confrontation ...


3. Hiddink should have pushed on a third forward player from the bench...: When Barca was down to 10 men for the last 24 minutes of the game and put on more pressure on the Barca defense which was already missing two important players (Marquez and Puyol) ...