Lukas Podolski says he’s never been part of a team like the current Arsenal squad hailing the togetherness of the group and the fun they have on the pitch.
The German international, whose previous clubs include hometown club Cologne and Bayern Munich, made his first start for the Gunners since August in yesterday’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City and spoke buoyantly about the Gunners title chances.
“We have a good team and we have a lot of fun together,” the 28-year-old told Arsenal.com.
“I’ve never been in a team like this before; we stay together, we have fun and we have played a good season so far.
“It has been really good and I hope we stay on top until the end of the season.”
In the aftermath of yesterday’s hard-fought win against Cardiff, Mathieu Flamini also paid tribute to the Arsenal’s squad team spirit.
“When you have opportunity after opportunity and you can’t find a goal it’s very frustrating,” he told Arsenal Player.
“These kind of games are not easy, but we played our football and found the goal so it’s positive.
“We have to fight for every point, we have to fight for every goal so it’s not easy but once again the team demonstrated great character, fighting spirit and a tough togetherness that is very important.
“The players gave a lot and we knew it was not going to be easy. Cardiff played well, they defended well so it’s not easy to find space in defence. We played our football and we tried to find this goal.”
Off the pitch by the time Nicklas Bendtner’s netted in the 89th minute, it’s fair to say Flamini enjoyed the Dane’s last-gasp strike (check this).
Now there’s a man with fire in his belly…
My reaction:
http://i.imgur.com/fjPFh8z.jpg
Tears in my eyes laughing. THANK YOU. Made my day.
http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/arsenal-2-1-newcastle-vermaelen1
Flamini’s celebration of Bendtner’s goal reminded me of Vermaelen’s goal against Newcastle a couple of seasons back. At 1:10, watch Rosicky’s reaction from the bench. These are guys who properly care about this club!
Breaks my heart a little to watch that. I’ve never been more furious during a match (Krul and his time wasting) and when Vermaelen scored and Van Persie got into it with Krul, there was just this massive vent of emotion from the crowd. I can remember those “Robin Van Persie” chants ringing out around the Emirates. We really loved him. Shame he’s such a massive c*nt.
I allways loved to see TV5 score! He was the best goalscoring defender of the league. although his runs cost us points every once in awhile.
Absolutely brilliant!
Outstanding. Bonus points for Keytar.
Fanfuckingtastic! One of the best collages I’ve ever seen. Even made my boss laugh instead of ticking me off for reading Arseblog at work.
#aha!
It’s clear to see that the players are willing to not fight only for the fans but for each other and I haven’t seen this in an Arsenal team for a very long time. Those are the qualities of a title winning side. The summer clear out of all that deadwood has done the team wonders!
Actually fair play to the fans too, positive atmosphere right up to the goal.
For each other as well*
One Bendtner.
Is park’s spirit among d team’s spirit. Where is he?
That the spirit of a good team work
I’ve been wondering when was the last time Poldi started a game and was not subbed. I remember blogs wondering whether this was a fitness thing last year, now I’m just puzzled.
Also a fitness thing this year…just came back from a long term injury.
plus he was bloody awful in that match & deserved to be off
I don’t think he played 90 minutes all season, which, as you say, is very confusing There were reports in the German press that he had an ankle problem, requiring surgery in the summer, but Wenger never confirmed this and the surgery never took place. I reckon the Germans invented it, or exaggerated the extent of the problem, because they were baffled and miffed at how little game time their national-team star had been getting. Wenger himself, when pressed, mentioned only tiredness and how the difficult the lack of a winter break was for Germans who aren’t used to playing… Read more »
If he’s so fond of the team, he’s gotta buck his ideas up and start working harder. Even wenger has said his attitude is not always exceptional. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of his. Jack of all trades and all that. Not an arsenal player, that’s for sure.
Entitled to your opinion of course, but personally I couldn’t disagree more.
Lighten up. Just last week he came on and made the difference. Still not fit and was played out of position yesterday.
Not a shot at AW. Couldn’t play Nik or Poldi for 90 or play them together. He got his subs and change of tactics right.
He works incredibly hard, but he gets too emotional. What he needs is to know exactly what the team needs from him, and what his role is, because currently he is being played all over the place and you can’t blame him for being confused. That security would undoubtedly bring the best out of him once again, and we might start seeing performances like the one against Barcelona all those years ago.
Fuck, sorry. Thought we were talking about Jack.
judging from the initial post, we could as well talk about amaury.
Do you know the meaning of the label “jack of all trades”? Podolski might be a 3 of spades at most trades, but is a master of one: scoring goals. Despite the fact that he’s so left footed I think Daniel Day-Lewis played him in a movie once.
Anyway, it’s enough to make him a very valuable member of the squad; at the very least he’s one of the finest bench options there is when chasing a game.
You need to shut up mate. we stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning to watch games and your slating a player i value as one of the best in the squad. we love Arsenal but there is no chance we’ll ever see a live game and like i said watch games in the early hours. get behind your players and your team
Me neither
Thank you Arsenal for making my day beautiful… You didn’t let me down yesterday which was my birthday! Good work guy… This year league is ours.
I’m a big fan of Podolski. I’d like him to play more regularly at his best position, LW. But that’s not likely. Wenger will want to play both Ozil and Cazorla when both are fit. It seems as though Wenger will persist with Santi at LW, even though he’s better at CM/ACM. Still, I’d like to see Poldi getting more time at LW. I’d be gutted if he left.
And is it just me or is Flamini sounding more and more like Wenger himself.
its Wenger sounding like Flamini…
The fans were great as well.
As the man says: It feels bloody good to be Gunner!
I spotted flamini’s reaction at MOTD yesterday. To be honest, I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. He gives his all to the cause every single game. I am delighted to have him back. All this positivity is rubbing off on fringe players as well. I have never seen bredtner so determined and driven. He has three goals (1 incorrectly disallowed at city) in three times he has played. All this reminds me of the 01-02 season where every player was giving his best. I remember Kanu of all people coming on to score very late against Hammers at home… Read more »
Now I’ve… had… the time of my life
And I’ve never felt this way before
Yes I swear
It’s the truth
And I owe it all to you-oo-oo-oo-ooo
BENDER!!
#aha now convince Lewandowski to come please #superaha
I admit i was a bit skeptical about the resigning of Flamini, but all he has demonstrated is dedication, determination and talent. An awesome contributor. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the team with this much positive enthusiasm and camaraderie. COYG!!!!!!
Wilshire was denied a 100% penalty.Now Moyes has complained Webb didn’t give his team a spot kick.
The question is when will the FA or ref boss take action against errant refs.
These guys in black shd be held accountable.
We have been done over a few times over the last few weeks. So no there will be no refs getting there stood down over performances in our matches. However because the mighty ushited have kicked off and whinged against one of there own Webb might end up getting bummed over.
It is great to see the team working for each other this season. We’re absolutely blessed in midfield at the moment. We can play most combinations and they tend to slot in quite neatly together. They know the game plan and are all contributing both in putting in defensive shifts and getting forward well. Flamini, for me, has been the best signing of the season and absolutely epitomizes the new attitude across the team. I know lots of us were unsure about him when it was rumoured he would come back, but what you get from him is absolute dedication… Read more »
Webb is off the Fergie payroll. No more favours for United.
We did however, get screwed by poor decision making. Couldn’t believe when Jack got fouled by Medal that a pen wasn’t given. Poor, really poor. But….we’re top of the league!
No signings yet? #WengerOut #GazidisOut #TanIn
It’s good to get confirmation but you could see the team jelling turning super glue since last season. It does reflect on the pitch and you have to be a right knob or a spud to deny it, although spuds are knobs.. Love Poldi ! top the league !!!
Forget special signings we just need more players like Mat.
If not arsenal where would ‘ve b?
#Aha.. #Aha..##Aha… That’s d sound I make when I cum after wanking… Thanks for using the Word/phrase Poldi
Blogger (and the Arseblog news team) – just a note to say THANK YOU for not putting those Christ-tickling autoplay Premier League News videos on your site.
I don’t ever think the blogs and Daily Mails of the world will ever figure out how terrible their sites are for tabbed browsing. You guys are a beacon of light in a sea of media Water Sheringhams.
You’re very welcome. Those autoplay videos are a fucking bane.