Losing is My Religion

It's difficult to keep track of whether Arsenal are having a time of glory or a massive crisis. They seem to flit from one to the other almost seamlessly and breathlessly, several times throughout the course of a season. Sometimes it manifests itself as a title challenge that goes completely awry in the midst of Spring. On other occasions, a shoddy start to the year is met with a strengthy revival. Always, an injury is attributed to the bad times and a hero to the good. Always, they seem to end up about fourth.

It's been a running theme for maybe five or six years now, with Arsene Wenger having his job scrutinised with a steady increase of pressure. This year was maybe the worst start he's had to a season since his Arsenal tenure began, with embarrassing defeats to Man United, Blackburn and Tottenham peppering the smiles at the Emirates. However, the resurgence was swift and brutal, with Arsenal going on a run of 8 league wins in 10 games. Robin van Persie found his feet in spectacular fashion, scoring a hatful of goals effortlessly and looking like the world-topping genius he'd always threatened to become.

Now Arsenal are having a period of indifference. Well, I say 'now' - I mean prior to last night (but we'll get to that). A few turgid defeats mixed with a couple of decent wins (including a 7-1)... it's not exactly the form of champions, but over a year their current spell of form probably represents today's 'average Arsenal'. They are inconsistent, unreliable and don't have the solidity required to win trophies.

Then we had last night's horrific defeat in Milan. With the Premier League title out of sight, Arsenal only had this and the F.A. Cup to go for. They can now write the Champions League out of their wishlist, as they folded with a disturbingly frank submission to the Italians. At no point was the necessary fight and determination on show, with AC Milan (not a team on top of their game in recent years) destroyed the Gunners.

One begins to wonder whether, after years of vain attempts to win trophies, the Arsenal squad of today has acquired a losing mentality. It seems that Wenger's team, like no other in their position, allows the collective head to drop significantly when things go wrong. It's a trend that seems to have begun back in the 2007-08, but let's go back further than that. Their last trophy was the F.A. Cup victory of 2004-05. In the following year, Arsenal were disappointing and finished fourth. However, that seemed somewhat insignificant given that they had reached the Champions League final.

As Arsenal tends to be a younger squad, it's easier to expend effort more harmfully on certain competitions, and I'm of the belief that the core of Arsenal's team had been channeling their energy into resilient European performances. Let's not forget, they had to battle past Real Madrid and Juventus in their run to the final, so the league performance might have suffered as a result. Therefore, a lot of hope was on the shoulders of the Champions League final for that squad, and when they failed they may have set themselves a harmful mentality from then on.

Now, you may argue that most of the players from that season are no longer at the club, but these things have a way of passing on through a team. Just look at United's continued drive for success as an instance. Arsenal's 2006-07 season was more disappointing, as the key members of the invincibles started to leave or turn themselves down a bit. Henry had a much weaker season than usual, and players like Pires, Bergkamp and Campbell had found new pastures. It was a time of transition for Arsenal, and a year without a trophy is never too harmful in these cases, especially considering Wenger managed to maintain the levels of performance well enough to keep the side in the Champions League.

As I said before though, 2007-08 was the breaking point. The squad's youngsters were now beginning to play major roles in the side, and things began working well. Arsenal found themselves in pole position to win the Premier League, but everything came to a shuddering halt late in February. Just a few minutes into Arsenal's game away to Birmingham, the Gunners' rising star Eduardo suffered the most horrendous of leg-breaks, and the Arsenal team couldn't cope. After seeing the traumatic injury, the Arsenal team nearly managed to pull together a victory, going 2-1 up against Birmingham. However, the Blues won a last minute penalty and scored it. One of the most striking things that day was captain William Gallas' reaction. He desolately sprinted to the other side of the field as the penalty was being taken, and reacted with outlandish agony when it was scored. As the senior-most member of the team, that set a terrible example for the rest of the squad - that when things go wrong, you can lose your head.

Although I can't know for sure, I think this is where Arsenal's mentality broke down. If you look at their squad today, there's few players who were brought into the team at their senior years, so there's few outside agents to set a real impression of confidence on the squad. Instead, we have a lot of players who have been through plenty of near-misses in their time, and don't really understand the thrill of winning a major trophy. It was so important for Arsenal to have won that Carling Cup final last year, but another setback only serves to re-emphasise the notion that will be plaguing the youngsters' psychologies - that they can never win.

So is this Arsene's fault, and should he be sacked? In a way, it is his fault. Although you can't blame him for a few of the misfortunes (such as losing the Champions League final to strong opposition, or the trauma of Eduardo's broken leg), he really needed to step in and make a change to the way things were going. He could have done this by buying players with a track record of success as opposed to untrialled youngsters or foreign talents who lacked experience. Either that, or he could have been a better man-manager. I suppose that's easy to just say, but it is important for a manager to be able to pick a squad up from defeat, and Arsenal's main problem seems to be that when something goes wrong, they hit a massive downward spiral that takes months to recover from.

It's true that the squad isn't good enough. Arsenal cries out for more competent defenders and a stronger midfield, but I still believe that the team has more talent than it shows. Certainly with the weapons they have they should not be collapsing to 4-0 and 8-2 defeats, and they certainly shouldn't be reneging on 4-0 leads themselves. Of course Wenger needs to improve the squad if he wants to win trophies, but he also has to change the way that team thinks. Whether he's the man that will ultimately do this, I couldn't possibly say. This is all just how I see things though, and I could be completely wrong.

Football Round-Up: Some Great Foot-Bal-To-Tell-Yi About

It was Super Soccer Special Sky Sports Smashing Spectacular Stunning Sunday yesterday, so naturally the most significant action of the weekend took place on the Sabbath. However, there were stories galore and this here little page is all set to round them up like cattle. Even though I just made a point about how much more occurred than the two Sunday games, I’m going to be a hypocritical monster and start with yesterday’s action.

Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur

So nearly was this City’s first slip on home turf this season. However, the league leaders were able to stabilise themselves just in the final nick of time, as they overcame a resurgent Tottenham side to retain their 100% record at the Etihad Stadium. Just as Redknapp’s Spurs began to look like a reasonable bet for the title, they encountered the toughest fixture in their calendar. Pulling a determined face, they braved the worst of the storm as they went 2-0 down, and without so much as glancing at the ground, pulled themselves back into the game. Despite losing the match a stroke before the final whistle, Tottenham will continue to be encouraged about their own ability from this match.

The first half was a simmering affair that suggested a game could be on the cards somewhere along the line. After neither team really threatened, the game sprung into life like a squirrel being awoken by an angry fox. On the 56^th minute, David Silva being the silky awesomeness he is, sliced the defence apart with a wonderful threaded pass to Samir Nasri, who took on the shot first time with an extremely clinical finish. City celebrated, but didn’t let their minds wander as a few minutes later, a corner was whipped in and Joleon Lescott used all of his body to bundle the ball into the back of the net. Tottenham had been destroyed by a three minute double-salvo.

As much as this can deflate teams, Tottenham are a strong balloon. Hang on, that metaphor still suggests weakness. Actually, they’re more like a football. A leather one. Stronger. Well, anyway, you know what I mean. What I’m trying to say is that Jermain Defoe pulled one back when Savic made an error and allowed the titchy striker a one-on-one opportunity with Hart, which the experienced Defoe would not refuse.

Before City could wipe their eyes with shock, Gareth Bale had levelled things to 2-2 with a sumptuous curled finish from range. Having enjoyed that brilliant goal, Tottenham begun to sense a victory on the horizon. Both sides were having chances up until the last few minutes, when Spurs came within inches of an incredible victory. Gareth Bale pounced on another Savic mistake and powered forward into the box. He pulled the ball back for Defoe who, stretching all 3 foot 7 of him, could only deflect the ball wide of the post.

Naturally, when there’s a story at Manchester City, Mario Balotelli isn’t far away. This time he was involved in a nasty and practically indefensible incident before winning and scoring the decisive penalty. Having tangled up with midfield rock Scott Parker, Balotelli appeared to direct a stamp towards Parker’s head. It had a regrettable deal of intent about it, and Balotelli will be lucky to escape a severe punishment for the incident.

However, right after Tottenham missed their massive opportunity, Ledley King brought Balotelli down in the Spurs penalty area and the referee was given no choice. The Italian dispatched the penalty without blinking, and City continued to march on.

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United

“Anything you can do, we can do... similarly” was the (probably reluctant) cry of the United fans yesterday as they cruised to victory in a numbingly sedate game at the Emirates. This match will have drawn yawns from around the country as Arsenal showed they had extremely little to offer against an efficient United.

A turgid first half was only livened up in the final minute when Ryan Giggs’ curly cross was met by the enormous leap of Spanish Football Club Antonio Valencia. This will have given Arsene Wenger an excuse to release all of his pent up rage upon the team talk, and indeed Arsenal did look fired up in the second half.

They began to create chances but were suffering from ‘Diop-finishing’ syndrome, blasting the ball all over the place and nowhere near the goal. However, the quality of Robin van Persie shone through for the bazillionth time this season, as he found the degree-specific angle to slide the ball past Lindegaard in the 71^st minute.

Despite Wenger’s success in riling the team up, the Frenchman (who still looks like a man going through a perpetual bout of flu) decided to ruin everything by making a couple of laughable substitutions. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had looked impressive, was brought off and replaced by the calamitous Andrey Arshavin, who did nothing. Still, Arsenal had the momentum so it would be fine, right? It wasn’t enough. Ten minutes later, United mesmerised the Arsenal defence with a beautiful game of penalty-box pinball. A great move allowed Danny Welbeck to thud home the winner.

United had to win this game following City’s victory over Tottenham. They’ve shown a great deal of strength in emerging victorious at The Emirates. Both sides continue to impress, and if one thing is certain, then it is that the winner of this season’s Premier League will have deserved it immensely.

Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish looks to be losing his Kingly magic. We have seen a great deal of shortcomings in the Liverpool team, and only one conclusion can be drawn – they have spent their money atrociously. With their struggles to get a result at home and now this crushing defeat against a lowly Bolton side, one has to wonder whether or not it’s time for his majesty to abdicate.

You have to give Bolton credit for securing the victory, but let’s make no mistake – Liverpool were poor. Mark Davies seemed to have a nasty infectious disease on his boots as the Liverpool defence kindly ran away from him as he bore down on goal. It was a simple finish to give Bolton the lead.

Nigel Reo-Coker showed what inimitable a truly wonderful class he has with a well taken second goal, before becoming furious over Craig Bellamy’s existence. The stumpy Welshman was the man to give Liverpool hope when he wrapped onto Carroll’s pass and struck home to make it 2-1 before half-time. Bolton were not to let it slip though, as Gretar Steinsson thumped home a volley to seal an excellent victory for The Trotters.

Bolton required hope. It was an entity they seemed totally devoid of up until now, but this victory could finally spark the revival everybody has been expecting.

Everton 1-1 Blackburn Rovers

Everton have spent this whole season on the periphery of everyone’s attention. I don’t think anyone’s even aware of their existence once Match of the Day is over, such is their ability to find that mid-table obscurity. Blackburn, however, are big characters in the relegation fight and will be delighted to continue grinding out results that could prove crucial in their struggle.

Blackburn were more than worth their point as they battered the Everton woodwork and generally appeared to be more spirited during the game. Despite this, The Toffees carved out a lucky lead when Fellaini got his arms all over the ball before Tim Cahill scored from close-range. It was his first goal for over a year, and his first non-headed goal since ever.

Blackburn persevered, embodying this newfound iron-grit that has infused the whole squad. After David Dunn smacked the post again (with the ball, I should add), Morten Gamst Pedersen attempted one of his irritatingly-good free-kicks. Howard parried it and as Cahill attempted to clear the ball away from goal, the ball hit David Goodwillie and bounced into the back of the net. David Goodwillie has three goals for Blackburn now, and I don’t think he’s done anything towards them except stand in the right place.

The game ended as a draw, which Blackburn will be both happier with, and slightly aggrieved by.

Fulham 5-2 Newcastle United

Right. I haven’t seen the highlights of this one, so I’m going to summarise without the usual match report-type bit. Fulham had been dipping their toes in the relegation mess a little bit up until this victory. However, the squad looks decent and Martin Jol has a proven track record when it comes to Premier League management. It never looked like Fulham had the ingredients for relegation, but this comprehensive victory over high-flying Newcastle will have done a lot to make that fact feel more secure.

The Cottagers owe a lot to Clint Dempsey. The yank has been tremendous in his five years at the club and it always feels like he is still improving. A hat-trick in this game pays tribute to his goalscoring prowess, but as we know Dempsey has so much more to his game than that. One wonders if Clint Dempsey is one of the most underrated players in the league.

Newcastle are under the scrutiny of having to cope without the brilliant Demba Ba, and it looks like they’re struggling. However, it clearly wasn’t for goals, as they scored two away from home (which most sides would be happy with). I’m guessing there were defensive issues for United, and that won’t bode well for this second half of the season if they are still harbouring European ambitions.

Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea

There’s little to say about this game. Norwich were predictably pegged back by Chelsea, but Fernando Torres’ extraordinary misfortune in front of goal saved the day once more. The troubled feminine Spaniard forced some spectacular saves from John Ruddy as well as missing other excellent opportunities.

It’s really quite amazing how Torres just cannot score at the moment. It’s got to the point where, by definition, he has to possess a quantum anti-luck in order for this barren run to make any sense in a universe without the paranormal. Still, at least his efforts were better than Malouda’s big opportunity, which I believe is still rising and should pass the Moon on Wednesday.

Norwich take another impressive point, Chelsea disappointingly drop another couple. Form does not change in this one.

QPR 3-1 Wigan Athletic

Tufty-haired Mark Hughes enjoyed his first victory with QPR as they secured a vital three points against their relegation rivals. Surprisingly, this was only Rangers’ second win at Loftus Road this year, and that sort of form is exactly what Hughes will be looking to change. They say ‘start as you mean to go on’, so signs are good.

A pretty blatant handball gave QPR an early advantage when they received a penalty for a moment of blind stupidity. Helguson just managed to squeeze it past Ali Al-Habsi, but the Omani goalkeeper was to get his own back later. He could do nothing about Akos Buzsaky’s spectacular free-kick ten minutes later though, which was directed beautifully into the top corner of the Wigan Athletic goal.

Hugo Rodallega looked at Buzsaky’s goal and thought to himself “That looks good, I might have a go at that”. Sure enough, Rodallega took his free-kick just as well as Buzsaky had, and another spectacular goal allowed Wigan a sniff of recovery. It looked like that would be negated when Heidar Helguson won another penalty after being brought down by Sammon. However, that redemption for Al-Habsi I alluded to earlier was completed here when he clawed away the Ice-man’s penalty terrifically.

For a man with a pretty bland name, Tommy Smith showed he was capable of the odd extravagance. From 25-yards out, the former Portsmouth and Watford striker crashed in a drive that stunned Wigan and put the game to bed. QPR hauled themselves out of the relegation zone, but Wigan are beginning to get cut off at the bottom. Though they always seem to find a way out of the dirge, it looks like Wigan will require a truly great escape this time around.

Stoke City 1-2 West Bromwich Albion

I don’t like Thomas Sorensen. I don’t have anything against him personally, but in my view he’s blocking the extremely talented Portsmouth-graduate Asmir Begovic from making himself into the greatest goalkeeper ever in the world. However, it’s only fair to say that the Dane was a tad unlucky when he allowed Morrison’s whistling shot to slip past him during Saturday’s game between Stoke and West Brom. The effort curled very late on and Sorensen happened to commit himself just a little too early. It was an unfortunate way for The Potters to go behind.

Stoke nearly got their own slice of luck when they were awarded a very soft penalty following Gareth McAuley’s challenge. However, Jon Walters’ effort was collected by Ben Foster, and the opportunity went to waste. Not to be deterred, Stoke did eventually get their equaliser very late on after Pennant’s free-kick (also a soft decision) found the head of Cameron Jerome, who poked it home. It looked like they had rescued a point.

Did I have you there? Did you think for a second that Stoke had drawn? No? Well, how did you kn... oh, I put it as the headline on this section. Oh, and you watch Match of the Day. Well, that’s one way of getting a football round-up, but... not the best way. Anyway, Dorrans’ angled free-kick broke Stoke hearts when it nestled into the bottom corner after missing everyone. Another important win for a relegation-threatened team. A surprise for Stoke.

Sunderland 2-0 Swansea

Two excellent goals allowed Sunderland’s fantastic run under Martin O’Neill to stretch further. Despite being the best passers in the league and having Britain’s answers to Xavi and Iniesta, Swansea offered little in the way of attack which may have disappointed frustrated bespectacled statisticians.

Stephane Sessegnon, who is without doubt my favourite player in the world at the moment, pulled off a brilliant one-two with James McLean before managing an absolutely sublime finish to put Sunderland ahead 15 minutes in. It was a fantastic goal, but would later be bettered. In the meantime though, Swansea had a good deal of possession without showing enough initiative up front to make the vital difference in the scoreline.

Then came the better goal, just five minutes before the end of the game. Stephane Sessegnon knocked the ball to Craig Gardner who took one touch before firing in a beautiful dipping half-volley that gave Michel Vorm no hope. The midfield maestro looked to his adoring fans with a casual smile as they applauded another tremendous goal, and another impressive victory.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Aston Villa

Crumbs! I haven’t seen this one either. I know, it’s a shoddy football round-up when there’s a couple of games that I didn’t even get round to watching the highlights of (not to mention the many football league games I always ignore), but I didn’t want to wait any longer on this and I wanted to make sure I keep posting these. Anyway, I’ll stop going on about myself and start talking about the football that I didn’t see.

Robbie Keane has re-integrated himself into the Premier League with a couple of goals. Despite his MLS status, the least you can expect from someone like Robbie Keane is an eye for goal when he is offered the opportunity, and Alex McLeish seems to have devised a plan to keep a number of very reliable strikers at the club. Darren Bent, of course, comes with goals written into his contract. He scored a penalty to put his Premier League tally up to 99 (You may remember me saying he had 99 last week but... I didn’t).

Aston Villa move up to 11^th and appear to be heading towards a similar mid-table obscurity to that of Everton. Meanwhile, Wolves just can’t grind results out when it matters. If points were awarded for playing good football and looking generally impressive, Wolves would never be anywhere near the drop zone. However, they have a troublesome tendency to drop points too easily. It needs to change.

Goal of the Weekend: Craig Gardner’s volley that dipped like a rollercoaster and was just as much of a thrill.

Team of the Weekend: I’d be tempted to say Fulham despite having not seen them. Instead I’ll plum for QPR

The ‘Huh, that’s Different’ Award: I’m going to venture into the scary world of the football league and give a mention to the hilarious incident in which Bury players Coke and Schumacher nearly came to blows over who should take a penalty.

5 Pompey FA Cup Memories (and one to forget)...

To celebrate the third round of the FA Cup, I thought I'd pay tribute to my five most memorable FA Cup moments as a Pompey fan. It's fair to say that Portsmouth have had a chunky wedge of fortune in the tournament over the past few years, but there's been more to the great cup memories than the two mazy runs to Wembley. As ever, I must stress that I am a snapper of whipper levels, so these memories will be recent. Consequently, there's no Liverpool semi-final from 1992 unfortunately. Still, let's have a look...

5. Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea 15/5/2010

What better way to end a beautiful and tragic era in a club's history than with a trip to the most famous ground in England, to compete in the final of the oldest club competition in the world? It was a truly joyous day for Portsmouth fans regardless of the result, as the fixture itself was a symbol of the team's fighting spirit both on and off the pitch.


That said, there were fears of a heavily embarrassing defeat for Portsmouth. Chelsea had just come off the back of a 7-0 victory against Wigan, sealing their title in which they scored over 100 league goals. It seemed as though Pompey would be lucky to get out of this game without having conceded double figures.

But the battle through adversity continued and Portsmouth held theirselves firm in the face of relentless attack. Chelsea hit the woodwork a mind-blowing 5 times in the first half. David James' goal was leading the charmed life of a leprechaun's garden, and each defender had put in a career's worth of last ditch tackles. Namely, Aaron Mokoena spent the whole of the first half throwing himself around the area like a fish in order the block the many, many Chelsea attempts.

In the second half Pompey stumbled upon their cruel ray of hope. Aruna Dindane was felled in the area and a penalty was awarded. Kevin Prince Boateng, who had been one of the standout performers in a grim year, stepped up. He could only manage a nervy, tame effort and it was pushed away by Petr Cech. Chelsea then predictably went on to take the lead with a Drogba free-kick, before missing a late penalty through Frank Lampard.

It was a highly entertaining game and despite the result, the Portsmouth fans waved their flags and cheered in jubilation. It wasn't to be our cup, but it was to be our day.



4. Portsmouth 1-5 Arsenal 6/3/2004

This would seem an odd choice, but I think it celebrates a lot of what is great about Portsmouth Football Club. Back then, the days were carefree. We were flying high in the Premier League for the first time in over a decade, Harry Redknapp looked at home in the club's hotseat, Milan Mandaric was loved, the team was entertaining, the stands were full. Everything was great for Pompey, and this was made gleefully apparently when the fans were undeterred by a rampant Arsenal side.


The Gunners that evening were the best they've ever been. The passing was intricate, clever and beautiful, and the goals did flow. The creme de la creme de la creme simply had to be Thierry Henry. Breathtaking throughout, he came away with a brace during a truly stunning performance. All this simply left Portsmouth fans in a state of awe. They began to sing "can we play you every week?" and gave Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira standing ovations when they were substituted.

It was this phenomenal response that made the game so great. The atmosphere at Fratton Park that evening was beyond anything I've ever seen. At 5-0 down, the Pompey supporters continued to sing songs such as "We're gonna win 6-5", "Linvoy for England", and "Let's all have a disco". It was the most celebrated drubbing of a home team by the home fans in living memory. When Teddy Sheringham finally broke the Arsenal defence with a consolation goal, the cheers were enormous, as if Portsmouth had just scored a winner.

At the end of the night, everyone had praise for the Pompey fans. Thierry Henry donned a Pompey shirt before returning down the tunnel, and both managers could scarcely believe what had occurred. It was, without doubt, the best 5-1 defeat we've ever suffered.

3. Portsmouth 1-0 Liverpool 22/2/2004

Finally, a victory! This was not only a triumph over a very famous team, but a triumph over one of the most inept refereeing performances of all time. Having come back from 1-0 down at Anfield to force a replay, Fratton Park witnessed a game in which almost everything was weighted against Portsmouth.


The first half was a fairly even contest, with a few classy touches from Steven Gerrard providing Liverpool with some good opportunities. Emile Heskey and Bruno Cheyrou forced some good stops from Shaka Hislop. The Trinidadian 'keeper also had to make a strong save when Gerrard thundered a free-kick on goal.

It was the second half in which the controversy began. Referee Mike Messias made the bizarre decision to pull play back as Milan Baros was about to shoot, awarding Liverpool a free-kick. The kick was whipped in and Baros handled the ball in the area, but Messias awarded a penalty to Liverpool, as he had adjudged Linvoy Primus to have handled the ball.

After a few minutes of furious protests from the Pompey players, Messias finally agreed to talk to his linesman. The linesman told him he was an idiot, and the decision was reversed. Liverpool fans were not to worry though, as a stunning tackle from Matty Taylor dispossessed Milan Baros in the penalty area and the referee decided, once again, to award Liverpool a penalty.

Cue more furious protests, but this time the linesman left the referee to his own mistake and the decision stood. Michael Owen took the spot-kick, but it was an awful attempt and Hislop comfortably saved it. A few minutes later, Richard Hughes squeezed a daisy-cutter past Chris Kirkland to give Portsmouth the crucial goal. Despite what seemed like an extra game's worth of injury time, Pompey held on to a thoroughly deserved victory.


2. Portsmouth 1-0 Cardiff 17/5/2008

Well, yeah. I mean, you can't have the best FA Cup memories without the moment we actually won the bloody thing. I don't really even have to sum it up to be honest, it's obvious how meaningful, exciting and amazing this day was, and if you need a clue, just check out the celebrations on Southsea Common the following day (Spoiler Alert: Literally everyone was there).


Harry Redknapp's short-term affair with Lady Luck at Old Trafford aside, Portsmouth's FA Cup run in 2008 was devoid of many thrills. Not that this mattered, once the Premier League giants collapsed hilariously, the intimidating tag of 'favourites' suddenly fell on the shoulders of Portsmouth, and it became imperative that this famous old club didn't splurge the chance to grab a truly overdue trophy.

The semi-final win against West Brom was so nervy, nobody came home with any fingernails. The final continued in a similar vein, with neither side throwing their faith into the attack. Kanu had the best early chance, dancing his crazy dance around the Cardiff defence only for his lack of zimmerframe to impede him as he tumbled away, clipping the ball onto the post as he fell.

Not long afterwards though, John Utaka drilled a ball into the area and hapless throw-in phobic Fin Peter Enckelman parried it onto the toes of Kanu, who flicked it into the empty net. There was restrained euphoria, and the Pompey fans breathed a little. Cardiff had some decent chances in the second half, but the game never ignited. Portsmouth came home with the FA Cup, and once the final whistle had gone, relief turned into unrestricted joy.

It was the peak of a great side that would go on to die through financial troubles. Never before had Pompey fans seen a team like that of 2008, and probably never again will we see such an assemblance of quality. The great thing, though, is that unlike a lot of teams who have come and gone without upsetting the elite, Portsmouth made their brief spell at the top worthwhile with this single victory.


1. Portsmouth 2-0 Tottenham 11/4/2010

This is my all time favourite FA Cup memory. Growing up as a Pompey fan, my life coincided with the Premier League era perfectly. This game made everything come full circle. Despite the confirmation of the inevitable relegation the previous day, few Pompey games have been celebrated so vigorously as this one. The victory meant so much to every single Pompey fan that attended that day.


There was history to this game that added a context worth appreciating. The man who defined Portsmouth's time in the Premier League (whether we like it or not), Harry Redknapp, was now making a success of himself as Tottenham manager, having deserted the club for a second time the previous season. He had recruited players straight from Pompey, such as the now-maligned Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Younes Kaboul and Niko Kranjcar. These were people who had benefitted from Pompey's high-times and escaped before they had to suffer the damp patch. They weren't necessarily hated, but I'm sure all Pompey fans wanted them to taste a little bit of bitterness before the team ended their time at the top.

With the squad running on empty, morale low and one of the only shining lights Jamie O'Hara ineligible for the game, hope was emptier than a psychic's promises. Portsmouth fans travelling up the A3 had come to a conclusion during the journey that they were there "for the occasion" and "the result didn't really matter". There was no doubt in our minds that defeat was not only likely, it was assured.

Cue the craziest, most committed rearguard action to have ever graced Wembley. Tottenham had a staggering 31 attempts on goal throughout the game, and not one of them could find the back of the Pompey net (except for a header from Peter Crouch, but this was ruled out for a dubious foul). Portsmouth limped to half-time at 0-0, and crawled to full-time with the score still goalless.

Still, nobody was getting carried away. "A brave performance" and "We've done well to go this far" echoed throughout the stands. The players came back on the pitch and action resumed. Fans continued to be stoically expectant of the Tottenham winner.

Then it was a single slip from Michael Dawson. Frederic Piquionne couldn't miss, and before we could even contemplate that there was another goal to be scored in on the pitch, Portsmouth were 1-0 up. The noise was deafening from the blue end of the ground. Nerves carried on wrangling though, as Tottenham now desperately started chasing an equaliser. The tension was more unbearable than a penalty shoot-out, and I remember saying to my Dad "Why couldn't we have lost this 4-0 like we were supposed to".

In the second period of extra-time, Aruna Dindane suddenly broke down the field. Palacios clumsily brought him down inside the penalty area, and the sweet sound of the referees whistle met our ears. We had a chance to seal the deal, and Boateng set the ball up against his former team-mate. He thumped it home with a confidence that wouldn't have been matched by anyone else in the stadium, and Portsmouth went on to record a famous victory.

It was a tremendous day. Not only was it an unexpected win. Not only were we in the FA Cup final. Not only had we defied all the odds, predictions and pundits. Not only had we put one past the likes of Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and the rest. Not only did it give us the opportunity to have a big day out at Wembley one last time before we sailed calmly into the Championship. Not only was it a testament to our continued survival from the clutches of financial abyss.

It was Harry Redknapp's little crushed face as well.

And a day to forget...


Portsmouth 1-4 Leyton Orient 5/1/2002



Ten years ago yesterday. I don't remember a lot about this game other than it was utterly depressing in every single way and Portsmouth were awful. We did go 1-0 early on through an own goal, but after that it was a laughably pathetic submission to a Division 3 team. Robert Prosinecki, possibly confused by Orient's Croatian-style Red and White shirts, barely hit a pass right all game, and there was hardly anyone left in the ground by the final whistle. It was one of the most miserable January evenings I can recall.

Best season ever?

Cor! 8-2! Blimey! 6-1! Wowzers! 5-3! Swizzle! 4-3!

Just some of the sounds you will have no doubt heard during this year’s Premier League season. And there’s no question such unrepressed emotion about the football so far is justified. Defences seem to have gone to sleep whilst attackers are running riot. The top teams are collapsing against one another leaving the title race gaping, whilst the bottom teams battle on in promise of a gutsy relegation fight.

This year was perfectly poised to be an absolute classic. Manchester United’s rather uninspiring summer signings looked like it would put them in difficult stead for the year. In contrast, their rivals Man City could boast a gamut of new recruits that gave them the potential to really tough it out with the big boys. Meanwhile, Chelsea would have to deal with another new manager, Arsenal seemed to be crumbling, Liverpool were resurgent. It was going to be amazing.

And by God, has it delivered, but perhaps not in the way we expected. United remained relatively firm up until their hammering at the hands of Man City. Their transfer deals looked to be working a treat with Jones holding firm in defence and Young adding a classy creative spark up front. Furthermore, youngsters such as Cleverley and Welbeck began to look the finished article, integrating themselves into the first eleven seamlessly.

However, the aforementioned thrashing by Manchester City has certainly rubber stamped a more-than-worthy challenge from United’s pesky rivals. City’s potential was really up in the air until that first whistle was blown – nobody knew if the team was truly going to hack it at the top following their FA Cup victory. Also, with so many fresh faces thrown into the side, it was not impossible for the team to become unbalanced.

Despite this, they have absolutely flourished in the league this year. The team looks strong in every department and certain players, such as David Silva and Edin Dzeko, ooze quality. Few would doubt the title credentials of City, who are having a season that speaks parallels with Chelsea first EPL title win in 2005. That said, if they are the best side in the league it’s not by a huge margin, and with this in mind it’s all setting up for an epic Battle of Manchester this year.

But what of Chelsea? The team who often threaten to dominate during the early stages of the year? With Andre Villas-Boas in charge it could be said, with due fairness, that this is a transitional season for Chelsea. A manager so young will need time to develop his own team and style, but this is not to say Chelsea are definitely out of the title race this year. So far they have played some impressive football, with Mata looking all the £24m that was paid for him. However, the defence looks jaded, as evidenced by the 5-3 thriller that saw Chelsea defeated. Furthermore, Torres still isn’t back to form and it looks like Drogba and Anelka are starting to wane.

The other contenders would normally be Arsenal; however they have been through a real crisis at the start of this season. An uninspiring start was followed by the stupendously tragic 8-2 defeat to Man United. Since then they have been inconsistent and haven’t looked at all like title challengers. Only Robin van Persie’s extraordinary form has kept heads above water in North London, and his influence has been enough to see the team win a few games and rise to 7^th. It’s perhaps not a complete disaster, but it’s certainly not encouraging for The Gunners.

And how about Liverpool, the team who spent big money to establish themselves as a successful team once more? It’s been on and off for them. Their form has been solidly Europa-League standard, but they are lacking the spark that will make them potential championship winners once more. Suarez has had a funny year, looking classy but not so effective. Gerrard has returned from his long injury, which is a big boost, but again it seems as if Liverpool’s season will be one of consolidation.

All this, combined with the excellent form of Tottenham and Newcastle, and the trials and tribulations of the promoted teams, balances the season in a spectacular way. I can’t remember a time where I’ve felt more excited about the possibilities of the year. We’re going to have an incredible title race, the chase for Europe will be superb, and the relegation fight will include unbearable tension. More to the point though, the games themselves have been excellent examples of interesting, attacking and incident-filled football.

No season have I ever, so often, come away from watching a game and remained on that high for days after. Long may that last.