The Confrontation: The Dark Knight – Featuring Arsene Wenger

“This town deserves a better class of criminal.” — The Joker

Building on what Batman Begins established, The Dark Knight brings the conflict into the open. The main character tries to solve the problem, only to find his situation worsening. He learns that he lacks something that keeps him from his goal.

A year after Batman Begins, Gotham is a better place. Batman, Gordon and the new DA, Harvey Dent, have organized crime on the run. Batman’s mission to save Gotham by inspiring hope seems to be working. Bruce begins to hope that he might be able to retire the Bat-mantle. To live an ordinary life in a Gotham saved from its corruption.

The 38000-strong crowd, who thronged Highbury week-in and week-out, was clearly the most spoilt set of fans across Europe. The sleek one-touch interplay Arsenal deployed, with explosive counter-attacks and exquisite technical skills were unmatched, let alone in Europe, but anywhere across the world. En route they became the only team in modern football to have gone through the season unbeaten and this feat was achieved with a distinct blend of finesse and panache. Not to mention unfathomable authority. For 49 games, Wenger’s men were possessed and no one could touch them, no one.

Arsenal played ‘Champagne football’ which was duly lauded by purists and critics alike. After another FA Cup win in 04-05’, it was success in Europe that N5 now most longed for. In 05-06’ they almost came home in Paris but heartbreak was all they managed to return with through the ‘Channel’. This marked the end of a Golden phase in Arsene’s Arsenal sojourn. With all the big names having departed by the end of 06-07’ season, building a team able enough to reflect on the past, compete in the present and re-conquer the summit in immediate future was on top of Wenger’s priority. Shifting bases from the ‘Art-Deco’ Highbury to the ‘State-of-the-Art’ Emirates nearby, levied huge financial constraints on the club which meant Arsenal had to do all this the hard way!

They were always there..

Enter the Joker. The Joker arises as a response to the Batman. If Batman inspires hope, calls people to be better than they are, the Joker exudes chaos. He calls out the worst in people.

Just like the Joker, trophies and money were ALWAYS there in football, but now, it’s belligerence was coming to the forefront! And nobody knew the reasons behind his/its sudden appearing!

Like the archetypal Fool, the Joker seeks to undermine the main story, to point out the foolishness of the main character and his quest.

The film’s central conflict revolves around Harvey Dent, the new DA. His Bat-inspired war against organized crime has earned him the nickname “Gotham’s White Knight”, and Harvey embodies all of Bruce’s hopes for Gotham.

Harvey represents everything Batman hoped to inspire: an ordinary citizen who chooses to fight evil.

The Joker recognizes this, so at both the macro- and micro-level seeks to reveal the base corruption of humanity. The Joker wants to prove that Gotham really is fallen because people are fallen.

All Batman’s attention is on Gotham itself. Though throughout the film, he’s a step or two behind the Joker, he finally manages to stop the Joker from destroying the two ferries, and the Gotham-ites on the ferries all choose not to kill each other to save themselves.

The Joker, however, reveals that the ferry plot was not his final gambit. Rather, while the Dark Knight has been distracted, the Joker targeted the White Knight. It turns out that when Harvey lost Rachel, when he came face-to-face with true evil, Harvey broke.

Harvey embraces the Joker’s vision of chaos, and goes on an avenging killing spree. Gotham’s White Knight, their champion and new symbol of hope, falls into the Abyss.

Batman’s mission failed: he wasn’t enough to inspire Harvey when it really mattered.

By the end of the 2007-08 season, it seemed that Arsene had saved the Arsenal, we were almost there. It seemed that Arsene’s philosophy was still valid in days when money was beginning to over-shadow football, the rapidly changing nature of professional football in Europe! Wenger had saved the people on both the ferries!

But it turned out to be a pseudo-victory! The modern game was changing, clubs were made to spend more, which was against Wenger’s philosophy. Also, many top clubs were buying more established players rather than growing their own or developing them from a young age, such as Manchester City, Chelsea, etc.

Just like Batman’s famed ‘no-killing’ policy, Arsene Wenger too has his own famed ‘youth and controlled spending’  policy. Batman actually had a moral obligation to rid the world of the Joker once and for all and so did Arsene Wenger to win trophies for Arsenal. But, they both stuck with their ideals, which to some extent led to their ‘downfall’.

Then came the Joker’s ace in the hole – Harvey Dent!

Gordon: The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose hope.
Batman: They won’t. They must never know what he did.

When Gordon and Batman see what Harvey has become, they despair. Standing over Harvey’s dead body, faced with the undoing of all they’ve worked to achieve, Batman and now-Commissioner Gordon make a terrible choice. They blame Batman for Harvey’s crimes and lie to Gotham, telling them that Harvey died a hero.

Batman flees into the dark, alone, hunted and vilified by the city he’s trying to save.

Just like Batman, Arsene Wenger took the blame for the departures of club captains  Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie (Arsenal’s White Knights – Our symbol of hope!). While Harvey destroyed Batman’s and Gordon’s plan for Gotham, Fabregas and Van Persie didn’t fail to do their bit too!

Because he’s the Hero that Arsenal NEED, but not the one it completely understands right now..

Just like Batman, Arsene Wenger has chosen Secret Honour! He suffered the public disgrace and took the blame for the crimes of Fabregas and Van Persie.  He sacrificed himself. It might seem far-fetched. The nobility of the gesture is too much to comprehend when set against the disgrace and insult he has had to suffer from his own people(Arsenal fans – the Gooners) and critics. He’s stayed silent, while most managers in his situation would have turned around pointed the finger at the club. He’s taking the heat when, actually, he doesn’t really deserve it!

“The only sad thing is that sometimes your work is destroyed by others. You want to see a player in his prime doing it for your club. But it does not work like that all the time.”

Next time, Part III, The Legend Ends  – The Dark Knight Rises. Here’s a preview: There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wenger.

Thanks for reading!

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The Setup: Batman Begins – Featuring Arsene Wenger

The Setup (Batman Begins), introduces us to all the characters and themes that will be important throughout the story. It establishes the central conflict and fundamentally changes the main characters. 

Batman Begins introduces us to a Gotham saturated with corruption. We meet Bruce Wayne, whose parents were murdered in a mugging-gone-wrong when Bruce was just a boy. Bruce tries to avenge his parents, but is thwarted by the organized crime that runs Gotham. The mob is so powerful that the few good citizens – the DA or cops like Jim Gordon – are too scared to try to make a difference. Like everyone else, Bruce is unable to fight the mob, so – unable to avenge his parents – he leaves Gotham searching for answers.

‘1-0  to Arsenal’

‘Boring Boring Arsenal’

If phrases could describe the way a team played its football, then these were it. Possessed with a water-tight defense consisting of the famous ‘English Back-4’ and David ‘Safe Hands’ Seaman, between the sticks, attack surely wasn’t Arsenal’s forte. And mid-way through the 96-97’ season, it all changed! It all changed with the arrival of a man who was greeted by the Highbury faithful with the chants of ‘Arsène Who’ –  one of the most famous derogatory headlines ever to be published in British sports history, is now indeed a quotation of mockery and irony, as the man nicknamed “The Professor” has become a pivotal part of English football for the best part of two decades, a true cornerstone of footballing philosophy. But, let’s not get there just yet, we have a trilogy to complete!

While Bruce Wayne found his answers in The League of Shadows(not entirely though), Arsenal Football Club found theirs in Arsène Wenger!

“If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely… A legend, Mr. Wayne.” — Ras al Guhl

Bruce returns to Gotham. He realizes that for the city to rise up, to cast off its corruption, the ordinary people need a symbol, someone to show them they don’t have to be afraid of evil. Bruce adopts the persona of the Bat, a childhood phobia. Using the Bat-personal and his League of Shadows training, he wants to turn fear back on the criminals. Bruce’s plan works. Acting as a vigilante, he not only provides Gordon and the DA’s office what they need to arrest Gotham’s top mob boss, his work inspires them to take the risk. Things start to get better in Gotham. People start to get better in Gotham.

When Arsene Wenger first came to Arsenal, the first thing he said was that the training facilities were not good enough. So the club invested pounds 17 million in a new site. He even brought with him a Sports Scientist. The ideas on things like diet they introduced made a big difference to the fitness levels of the Arsenal players. Remember Bruce Wayne setting-up the Bat-cave with his butler, Alfred? He had to make sure he assessed the situation with ageing players [old relationships]. Just like Bruce did with Alfred(Pat Rice) and Rachel.

He won the League and FA Cup Double in his first full season. After their opening day loss to Blackburn Rovers (1-3), they made up a twelve-point deficit over Manchester United to clinch the title, procuring it with two games to spare.

But just like Batman, who was constantly at war with the mob, Arsenal often ceded the title to Manchester United have always been dominant in the Premier League, and the next season saw Arsenal fail to retain the title by a single point, while they were knocked out of the FA Cup Semi Finals courtesy that magical slalom by Ryan Giggs. And who does not remember the longest running feud, Arsene Wenger(Batman) v Alex Ferguson(mob boss, Carmine Falcone), in the Premier League that has at times been laid bare for all to see on the touchline, with fierce words clearly exchanged between the pair.

Arsenal went on to win several trophies in the next few years, including the Double in 2001-02 and another FA Cup in 2003.

The first major turning point in the trilogy‘s arc occurs when Bruce learns that the League of Shadows is still planning to destroy Gotham. The League (Chelsea + Roman Abrahmovic) is working through Arkham psychiatrist Jonathan Crane(Jose Mourinho), who manipulates his patients through a fear toxin and archetypal Scarecrow persona. The League plans to release this toxin(money!) into the city and let it tear itself apart.

The Batman(Arsene Wenger) stops Scarecrow(though temporarily) and kills Ras(No, Arsene couldn’t kill Roman), saving Gotham. And as Lieutenant Gordon(Arsenal fans – the Gooners) observes, Gotham will never be the same again.

Arsene Wenger’s Red and White Army wrote themselves into history with that 49-game unbeaten run, and all was well at Highbury!

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I Do that defines Me.”

Next time, Part II, The Dark Knight. Here’s a preview: Things were always going to get worse before they got better.

Thanks for reading!

All the cool kids can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

THE Problem.

It is not about the government, not about the education system, not about social ethical codes; it’s about how we perceive India. How many times have we heard somebody saying “Ye India hai, yahan sab chalta hai” (this is India, everything is OK here) or how many times have we ourselves said “India ka kuch nahi ho sakta” (no good can happen to India). India is us and we are India, the sooner we understand this the better it is for us and the nation. The solution to most of our problems lies within ourselves and our outlook. A simple change in our own mindset will change how we look at our nation, and how others related to us look at our nation. That is how we spread the 6 letter word, change. So next time when somebody would ask about the problem/problems of India, I would smile and say I have no problem! What about you?

Who is the main antagonist in Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire?

 

It is not any of the humans. There are some characters that people love to hate, namely: Lord Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Lord Walder Frey, the Boltons. You may like some characters more than others, and we’re rooting for the Starks for the most part, but George R. R. Martin is very careful not to let anyone be too good and even when we’re pretty sure someone is bad, he turns them around and has us rooting for them. All humans are shades of grey.

The title of the book series hints at what’s really going on in this world – A Song of Ice and Fire.  We can clearly see 2 great forces at work, Ice and Fire. In the first book, the Others appear north of the Wall (forces of Ice and cold) while the dragons are born and Daenerys Targaryen discovers her power (forces of Fire and heat).  Ice and Fire, both rising in power simultaneously. 

The antagonist is…

The Great Other

The Great Other is the god of darkness, cold, and death in the faith of R’hllor. His true name is never spoken. He is considered the enemy of R’hllor, the Lord of Light. Followers of R’hllor believe that there are only two gods, R’hllor and the Great Other, who wage an eternal war over the fate of the world. All forces of darkness, cold, and death are believed to be only servants to the Great Other.

The Great Other somehow resides north of The Wall, in the Lands of Always Winter.  He (or she?) created The Others (The White Walkers) who in turn create the zombies who plague the Wildlings and the Night’s Watch. The Great Other is probably responsible for the strange cycle of Winter that covers Westeros at random times.

Dracarys!

The White Walkers/The Others!

   

R’hllor represents Fire, and his forces are not just the Red Priests like Melisandre.  The dragons are also powered by R’hllor, the Targaryens contain the blood of dragons and probably the blood of R’hllor, while Varys & Illyrio Mopatis are somehow scheming for the return of Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons, probably to counter the rising threat of The Others north of the Wall.

 

The primary purpose of this post was to put forward a perspective so as to people stop branding every character as good or bad and enjoy the show/book better without having to search for the real antagonist. I hope I succeeded in doing so.

Thanks for reading!

All the cool kids can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

How did Sherlock survive the fall?

The final fall?

‘There is a clue everybody’s missed’: Sherlock writer Steven Moffat 

For the time being, we cannot say for sure what the ‘clue’ was, but what we can do is – speculate. 

The first thing to remember is Sherlock was ahead of Moriarty, all the way to the end. It appeared on the roof as if he was a bit dumb, but he was only acting dumb because he knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew he was going to “die”.

The second thing to remember is that Sherlock chose the meeting place. This is important because by choosing the meeting place he has control over the stage.

The third thing to remember is that the call that sent Watson to see Mrs. Hudson because she was shot, turned out to be a fake. That fits in pretty well with the canon. He needed him out of the way while he dealt with Moriarty and staged his death.

When Sherlock leans over the building and we get a shot of the pavement, there’s a chalked out rectangular near the bus station. Rather suspicious. I reckon that’s precisely where the lorry is parked.

Remember, Sherlock sends Watson back? In-fact he sends him back twice!
Watson sees Sherlock jump, but he never sees him land because his vision of the pavement is blocked by a single-storey building standing between him and the pavement in-front of Barts.

Molly

Molly: What do you need?
Sherlock: You..

As soon as the latter stages of Moriarty’s game dawn on Sherlock, it’s off to Molly he runs, to tell her not only that she counts, but that he needs her help. Her access to dead bodies (she worked in a morgue), pathology reports and medical personnel make her a sure thing for some kind of involvement. But which was it? A corpse-swap? A false report? Both?

Remember how Irene faked her body? I’m assuming Sherlock used the same method. Also, another key point of evidence is that, if Sherlock were to have died, he would have landed spread-eagle on the pavement. However, it looks like he was rolled from a certain laundry truck.

The trash truck

If you look closely, you will notice that the lorry was parked exactly where the rectangle was chalked out on the pavement.

Filled with rubbish bags (but is that all it’s filled with?), the open-backed vehicle was parked next to the spot on the pavement spot where the body landed, and pulled away just as the crowd rushed to the scene.

The truck was a prepared and cushioned landing spot, parked precisely to block Watson’s view (and presumably that of the sniper Holmes was also trying to fool) giving Sherlock time to break a blood capsule or two and move relatively unharmed to the pavement where he played dead.

If not that, then the truck could still have been there to obscure a switch of some kind, and to carry off the non-Sherlock body, whoever that may be.

The mysterious cyclist

A cyclist “accidentally” knocks John to the ground, giving Sherlock and the ground crew time to dispose of the fake body. Could he be someone from Sherlock’s homeless network? Maybe.

On his way to the body, Watson was knocked down by a timely cyclist. This was no accident. Again, this was part of the plan. Either John was concussed or maybe he is injected with a small amount of sedative because when he gets up, his vision is blurred and his speech is slurred. This is important because if he was fully compos mentis, he would realized that the body lying on the pavement was not Sherlock, it is another body in a prosthetic.

Watson

Vision – blurred. Speech – slurred. Fit enough to make medical judgements?

After returning from the wild goose chase, Watson arrives at the scene and is made to fix his eyes on Holmes. Witnessing the fall, he’s then knocked down by the cyclist, and blocked by the crowd (of Sherlock employees?), before he eventually reaches the body.

If the body was indeed Holmes feigning death on the pavement after landing safely in the rubbish truck, his heart would be racing. How then, could a medical doctor be fooled into thinking he had no pulse?

A tricky one, this, with possible explanations being that either the body was indeed dead and made up to look like Holmes, or the more prosaic solution that Watson was in no fit state to make medical judgements.

Mycroft

Is that grief and regret we see flash across Mycroft in the Diogenes Club, or could it be the careful poker face of someone in on the plan?

Mycroft, remember, practically is the British government. He’d have the resources at hand to stage any number of fake public suicides one would imagine, and he’s not squeamish around corpses as the flight of the dead proved. But Mycroft’s involvement rests on this: Would Holmes have gone to him for help? Seems highly improbable to me, but it is a possibility.

Lastly, is Moriarty dead? If Sherlock can fake a deadly plunge, why can’t Moriarty fake a suicide?

Thank you for reading.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree? Leave a comment below.

Remembering Ayrton..

Ayrton Senna was one of the greatest racing drivers the world has ever seen. Possibly its most talented.

He died at age 34 at the Imola circuit in 1994 at the now infamous Tamburello corner.

In 2010 a documentary titled Senna was released, it won many awards though was not a well publicized film. I recently watched this film (again) and it was one of the best I have ever seen. Not just one of the best documentaries, but best films ever.

Even if you don’t follow racing and aren’t familiar with the details you will still be amazed by the story in the film. Besides being a great driver what makes the Senna story so incredible is the rise to glory and its tragic end. The chronicle of Senna’s meteoric rise in Formula 1 is only matched by one of the darkest weekends in the sports history. It is a rather eerie feeling that the man who would be king almost knew that he would die in a race car and that that weekend was the time for it.

“If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you’re no longer a racing driver.”

“Senna was a force of nature, a powerful combination of spectacular raw talent and sometimes terrifying determination. He had the good looks of a romantic hero, a charisma that could quieten any room, the eloquence of a poet and a spirituality with which millions felt they could identify. His dark eyes were windows to a soul of complexity and volatility.” – Andrew Benson, BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Today he would have completed 53 years. A man of unquestionable talent, a huge heart, deep dedication in everything he did. Happy birthday Ayrton Senna, a myth, a legend, a hero!

Whether you loved him or hated him, Ayrton Senna was special..And not just on the track..

The Iceman’s Top Quotes

Night before the race
Q: What do you do in the night before the race?
A: I sleep!

Funny newspapers
What the papers write about me afterwards makes me laugh.

F1 driving is boring sometimes
Q: Is it true that sometimes you’re bored in the car?
KR: Only when I am in front by a country mile, like in Melbourne last year. Then you are thinking about other things or you’re playing with the buttons on the steering wheel. Then I suddenly missed a breaking point. This year unfortunately we haven’t had such race.

The silly press
Formula 1 would be a paradise without the media.

Learning Italian?
Kimi at the Ferrari event 2007: I’m not going to a language school to learn Italian, that’s not what I came to do at Ferrari.

Army service
If the army would be voluntary I wouldn’t go there.

Donut at Belgium GP
On question about his donuts at the end of the last year’s Belgium Grand Prix, his reply was: “I lost it!”

Just racing
Driving is the only thing I love about F1.

Wrong ERA
My life would be much easier had I been a F1-driver in the 70’s with the guys. I was definitely born in the wrong ERA.

Importance of the helmet
Q: The helmet has a special meaning for many drivers. How important is it to you?
KR: It protects my head.

You have to listen!
Q: Would you go to any other team than Ferrari?
KR: Probably not.
Q: Definitely not?
KR: I said probably not.

Why Kimi became a race-driver and not an Ice-hockey player
I have decided to do motosports because I don´t have to get up there so early in the morning.

Interviews are so …boring!
Q: The most exciting moment during the race weekend?
KR: I think it’s the race start, always.
Q: The most boring?
KR: Now.

New strategy?
Kimi seems to have a new strategy to get rid of the journalists:”Ah, go and interview Mikko Leppilampi. He likes to talk.”

Just 5^th place…
Q: Kimi, what’s the 5th grid place like?
KR: It’s the 5th grid place.

There is no willingness to talk
Kimi makes clear that the mean press doesn´t belong to one of his favorite conversation partners. (Thursday before the first race of the Season)
KR: Come back tomorrow. I have still holidays today.

Finnish music
Q: What is on your I-Pod?
KR: Mostly Finnish music, all sorts. You wouldn’t know, so it doesn’t matter what I say.

A bit mad?
Q: Are you satisfied with the result? (Kimi again failed to score any point)
KR: Do you think I am?

Sauber, the boss
Q: What kind of relationship do you have with Peter Sauber? Is he a father figure or godfather?
KR: He is my boss.

He really doesn´t know??
Q: What´s about your new Tattoo? Is it permanent?
KR: I don´t know.

Is Kimi lazy?
Q: Kimi, how is the cooperation in the Team. Do you get along with everyone?
KR: Yeah it´s fine. But they have a much harder time with me than I with anyone else.
Q: What do you mean?
KR: I am a bit lazy sometimes.

Alonso doesn´t matter 
Räikkönen isn’t affected by Alonso’s mental games. “I couldn’t care less what that man thinks!”

Kimi disagree with Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton said that winning his first race felt better than having sex. Kimi´s reply to that was: “Maybe he never had sex.”

What Kimi makes flip out
Q: Kimi, have you ever got angry about anything, and jumped up and down and shouted?
KR: Yeah, many times but of course you’re not happy if you retire or something but I guess it mostly happens more in normal life than in racing.
Q: Can you give us examples?
KR: No, not really.
Q: What are the kind of things that make you angry in normal life, as you say?
KR: If you keep asking questions like those.

A very precise statement
Kimi tells about the track conditions at the new Formula 1 circuit in Singapore:” It is narrow in some places, wide at the other – it depends on where you are.”

Evening without Jenni
Kimi Räikkönen on the question whether he likes it when his wife accompanied him to the races:” Yes, without her the evening in the hotel room is so boring.”

Kimi is worried about overlapping
Q: What advice would you give to the rookies Nico Rosberg and Scott Speed?
KR: I hope that they are good in making room!

Dancing is not his thing
Kimi on finish Independence-Day Party at the President’s castle: “I think I will skip the dancing part. Maybe someone else dances with Jenni if she wants.”

Kimi´s stay in Canada
Q: Kimi, how you spent the days here in Canada before the GP in Montreal?
KR: I arrived here on Tuesday. So I was here yesterday.

Italian?? Nothing for Kimi
An Italian interviewer tries to get Kimi to say something in Italian.
KR: You can talk Italian if you want to.

What a logical ritual
Q: Do you have any special rituals when the helmet is concerned like many other drivers have?
KR: I wipe it, so that I can see better.

Hoisted with their own petard
Q: Gossip Media asks how have you prepared for the Season?
KR: I usually get to read from your magazines what I have done.

Schumi wants to be well represented? Kimi thinks yes!
I’m not interested in what people think about me. I’m not Michael Schumacher.

Without words
Q: What makes TAG Heuer (Kimi´s main-sponsor) so special?
KR: It’s ok.

About whom he is talking here? 
Kimi answered a question about his lack of emotion after winning a grand prix.
KR: It’s not my style. Yeah, winning feels good, but I’m not the type of guy who jumps up and down and rubs it in everyone’s face.

Things you can do in Finland
Well, in summer there’s fishing and shagging. And in winter the fishing is bad.

Kimi´s extraordinary hobby
Q: Kimi, do you have any hobbies?
KR: I collect walnuts.

The classic
Q: Kimi Räikkönen doesn’t seem interested in the proceedings going on up there. Kimi, you missed the presentation by Pele.
KR: Yeah.
Q: Will you get over it?
KR: Yeah. I was having a shit.

Nacho who?

Arsene Wenger seems completely satisfied with the performance of Spanish players in his Arsenal squad. Having brought in Mikel Arteta from Everton and Santi Cazorla from Malaga earlier, Wenger now turns to Ignacio “Nacho” Monreal, (former) Malaga and Spanish international full-back to cover weaknesses in the back line.

Arsenal fans know exactly what their biggest concern is when Kieran Gibbs is injured – Andre Santos. But, this post is not about Andre Santos, so moving on..

Although I have seen him play only a few times for this Malaga this season, but the purchase of Nacho Monreal is one surefire solution for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. He is a player who is consistent, strong, and known to be very speedy. Monreal is also a player with good ball keeping skills. The most important thing in self-Monreal is he is a left back a tough, able to build an attack from the flank, but he also has very good defensive instincts. Statistics (via Squawka.com) showed that ​​Monreal has made 24 successful tackles out of 29. And here are some additional statistics.

Monreal also possesses very good attacking instincts. He has scored 1 goal and assisted 2 goals during 15 games with Malaga this season, with a 85.3% successful pass rate, and a 0.4 key passes per game. The following are statistics of his Offensive Passing (via WhoScored).

Here are the overall statistics for Nacho Monreal during 14 games (via Squawka.com).

Nacho Monreal is the figure that replaced Capdevila on the left side of the Spanish defense and managed to get his first cap in 2009. The extraordinary development of Jordi Alba with Valencia and Barcelona is what makes him the second choice in the current Spanish national team. He was also an important figure behind Malaga’s successful CL group stage campaign this season and their 4^th place finish last season.

Fees are estimated at £ 8.5 M, which is a great for Arsenal, although he will be unable to play in the Champions League because he has played with Malaga (cup tied). However, a great signing by Arsenal on deadline day.

This is what Arsene Wenger had to say about his latest signing in his press conference held earlier today:

“He is a technically gifted player, a good crosser in the final third and strong in the air.

“Monreal will add quality to our squad and of course, to our defensive unit. We all look forward to him playing for us.”

Why Arsenal?

This one goes out to everyone who at some point of time has asked me – “Why do you support Arsenal, they never win anything”.

Most remember why we fell in love with our teams, but for me I do not know how I fell in love with Arsenal for the first time. I do know it was love at first sight and it was because of a guy named Sayan Maitra! O:)

For me, no other team compares and I am sure that goes for every other passionate football fan out there in the world. I am in love with Arsenal’s beautiful passing, the finesse of their game, the highs and lows(Not that much, throws me into depression :|) of their seasons, but most of all the hearts of all the players and fans who each and every day give all their love and support to the game. Loving a team requires more than loving them for winning games and titles. Loving a team requires to love them through ups and downs, winning and losing because as an Arsenal fan this happens to me every season. Like every fan in the world, I know the next season is going to be our season. That season will be the one we break through to win a trophy.

As passionate fans of the game, we have a special relationship with our teams. Like any other relationship that requires love, our hearts have been broken a couple of times in the process. In the end passion and love always win over broken hearts because if you are a real football fan, chances are you feel the exact same way I feel when I see Arsenal play.

“I care so much because Arsenal is the only thing capable of putting that week-long smile on my face” 🙂

Yaadein..

:I don’t generally scribble in Hindi. This was just one time before leaving school, a little something that I had written for my friends. 🙂

Picture courtesy: Debankar Moulik

Kuch baatein bhooli hui..

Kuch pal beetey hue..

Har galti ka ek naya bahana..

Aur phir sabke nazar mein aana..

Exam ki poori raat jaagna..

Fir bhi sawaal dekh kar sar khujlana..

Mauka milte hi school bunk maarna..

Aur doston ke saath ghoomne jaane..

USEY dekhne roz school jaana..

Dekhte dekhte yes sir/yes ma’am bolna..

Har pal ek naya sapna..

Aaj jo tootey phir bhi hai apna..

Ye school ke din,

Phir na milenge yaad rakhna..

Inn palo ko jee bhar ke jeena..

Yaad kar har roz.. muskurana.. 🙂