You have just won the Arsenal prize of a lifetime…

TotalArsenal

Just a bit of fun whilst we wait for the real footie to recommence and the folly in the sandpit finally comes to an end (let there never be a world cup in winter again!).

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Imagine…

You won a prize, the prize of a lifetime. You will travel across the globe in eighty days with a current or former Gunner – player or manager, male or female – by ViP car, boat and plane.

  1. Who would you pick to travel with you?
  2. Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again?
  3. What three music albums would you bring along?
  4. What three books would you discuss with them?
  5. Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey?
  6. What three big football questions would you ask them?
  7. Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey?
  8. Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them?

By TotalArsenal

49 thoughts on “You have just won the Arsenal prize of a lifetime…”

  • Who would you pick to travel with you? Arsene Wenger, Dennis Bergkamp
    Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again? Arsenal v. Barcelona
    What three music albums would you bring along? Abbey Road, CCR, Carmina Burana
    What three books would you discuss with them? Football-Arpad Csenadi, History of Football, FIFA Laws of the game
    Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey? Rugby, UK/ Emirates stadium/ The Neu Camp
    What three big football questions would you ask them? (how to improve the offside rule) (Is football bent) (Manchester United and referees)
    Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey? Pele
    Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them? (The unbeaten one)

  • Arsene wenger the game which made us invincible any three what arsene would like to hear thre arsene books we could debate the best bits Copenhagen Paris and Turin . How many holes in a goal net what was it really like to go a season unbeaten get rid of the offside rule Ian wright cos it be a hoot unbeaten season

  • Who would you pick to travel with you?
    Dennis Bergkamp – the Greatest
    Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again? Aug 97 – hattrick game v Leicester
    What three music albums would you bring along? Mozart, Beethoven, Portishead
    What three books would you discuss with them? Jan Wolkers, Turks Fruit, Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund, DB, Stilness and Speed
    Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey? Rouen, Bangalore, Kerikeri, New York (yes it’s four but I can break the rules)
    What three big football questions would you ask them?

    What’s the secret of a truly happy footballer?
    Who’s got closest to being the next Bergkamp?
    Why did Wenger asked him whether he wanted to move to another club late in his career? And why did he say no?

    Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey? Thierry bien sûr!
    Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them?
    The Invincibles one.

  • Ramsdale
    White Holding Gabriel Tierney
    Partey Xhaka
    Vieira Odegaard Nelson
    Nketiah

    Not a bench, a kindergarten – which is great!!!
    Big day for Fabio-Reiss-Eddie, if they want to make Edu think twice before splashing money in order to solve GJ’s injury conundrum
    COYG – feels so good to have you back, boys

  • Juve in vintage catenaccio mode
    Reiss-Fabio in “1970 Brazil” mode: wonderful “aerial” one-two; Fabio’s perfect volley would have deserved to hit the back of the net but Sczezny’s backup would have none of it – what a save

  • Not what you’d call an ad for the return of club football
    Juve play like a handball team, 9 of them packed in a semi-circle just outside the edge of their box – but of course, just as Italians teams of oold used to do, they stung us right before HT, so 0-1 it is.
    We should have scored, though – how Eddie could hit the post and not the back of the net after a misunderstanding between keeper and defenders gifted him the ball six yards out from the empty goal, is a mystery which would have been fvery unny in a Mr. Bean episode, but I’m not sure Mick and Edu will have found it that hilarious
    Fabio’s been excellent, Granit-Tom rule the midfield
    I hope Reiss’s injury is nothing serious, Marquinhos was invisible after comin’ in, I wish Mick had given Cozier-Duberry a chance …
    COYG

  • off: ben, tom, granit
    on: cedrix, mo and … cozier-duberry on the left wing
    come on kiddo
    Marqunihos RW, while Fabio – brilliant, so far (RW) – fills in Granit’s hole in midfield

  • Bis repetita … Juve’s box was turned into Alamo for 44 minutes, but they make it 0-2 on the 45th
    Disappointing scoresheet, of course, but let’s make no mistake, Juve have their best crop of young players in ages, and Ellegri has turned into 2018 Diego Simeone, in order to build back the club’s confidence … let’s keep that in mind if we want to win the EL
    There were positives: Fabio, as I already said, Kieran too: he’s fit, focused and looks like he’s done his “from LB to LDM” homework. Nwaneri was unafraid, every time he has a touch he breathes in pace into our passing. As for Amario Cozier-Duberry, he’s our new BS7, no less
    Bring on the Hammers
    COYG

  • I got to say only caught last ten minutes and ACD stood out on the left wing hope to see more of him.

  • 1. Charlie George
    2. 1971 FA cup final
    3. Joe Cocker’s “Stingray”, Kevin Coyne’s “Blame It on the Night”, Tom Waits’s “Blue Valentine”; Tom Watts’s “The End”; David Peace’s “Red or Dead”; J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”
    4. “Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois” restaurant, Île de la Cité – Île Saint-Louis, Paris ; Caravaggio paintings in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica – Palazzo Barberini ; Boca Junior’s “Bombonera” on Superclásico day
    5. Do you agree you know everything there is to know about a man after watching him play football for 5 minutes?
    You would have done much better than Colin Bell after Sir Alf took Bobby C. off against Germany in Mexico, 1970. Why?
    Not until 1973 did Ajax get knocked out of a European Cup after Arsenal did just that in 1970. Arsenal were such a young side then, how come they didn’t capitalize on the 1970 Fairs Cup triumph?
    6. Nick Hornby
    7. 1988–89

  • 1. Who would you pick to travel with you?
    Following TA’s rulebreaking tradition, I’d rather invite 9 players to be able to play 4+1 vs 4+1 on board (sky deck, handball court). The players, and their justifications:
    – Dennis Bergkamp (come on, he is the prophet, a class, elegant and smart player)
    – Nicklas Bendtner (another legend, and a total crazy guy – I hope in the best sense of the word)
    – Santi Cazorla (a cheerful fella and a magician of the ball, whom I’d try to convince to come back to Arsenal in an official capacity)
    – Emanuel Eboue (a constant source of fun and mischief)
    – Rob Holding (he is a great guy with superb attitude and personality, impossible not to love him)
    – Vivianne Miedema (she is Dutch, she is cute, and she is the best female player at the moment)
    – Charlie Patino (a loyal academy kid, a deep-lying orchestrator, and the next Frenkie de Jong)
    – Alexis Sanchez (my all time #2 favorite, a universal attacker, yet I would gloat upon him)
    – Fran Stenson (the other team needs a goalie, and she is really hot)
    PB(me)-Holding-Cazorla-Bergkamp-Miedema vs. Stenson-Eboue-Patino-Sanchez-Bendtner

    2. Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again?
    The (probably) greatest comeback in history: Reading 5–7 Arsenal

    3. What three music albums would you bring along?
    The Essential Leonard Cohen, Da Best of Inner Circle, Johnny Cash: Country Songs

    4. What three books would you discuss with them?
    – Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    – Fredrik Backman: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
    – Stephen King: The Green Mile

    5. Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey?
    – Seoul (South Korea) – the best place I have ever been
    – Sun City (South Africa) – the place I want to visit the most before I kick the bucket
    – Tongariro National Park (New Zealand) – well, that’s a close second

    6. What three big football questions would you ask them?
    – Messi, Pelé, Henry or C. Ronaldo is the GOAT?
    – Best formations for ball possession and counterattacking?
    – What can a club and what can FIFA do to limit the advantage of wealthy clubs?

    7. Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey?
    – Arséne Wenger for Arsenal related discussion purposes
    – Gordon Ramsay (16 Michelin star chef) and/or Jim Jefferies (stand-up comedian) for purely entertainment & hedonistic purposes
    – Clint Eastwood to meet another legend

    8. Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them?
    2001-2002 the Premier League & FA Cup double
    + 2006-2007 women quadruple season

  • Sigh, Juve going all catenaccio. Glad I wasn’t born in Turin.

    A fine set of questions, Total.

    Who would you pick to travel with you? 80 days together with one person? Hmmm. If I wasn’t married I may choose someone else. It will have to be the urbane polymath that is Arsene.

    Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again? Arsenal 7 Everton 0 or Arsenal 2 Barca 1.

    What three music albums would you bring along? The complete works of Bob Dylan, David Bowie & The Who (if box sets are allowed). Otherwise, “Blood on the tracks”, “Slow train coming” and “Unforgettable fire”.
    What three books would you discuss with them? Book of Genesis, Gospel of Luke, Book of Revelation.
    Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey? The Okavango Delta, and if a time machine were available: North Bank of Highbury. and the Garden of Eden.

    What three big football questions would you ask them? 1. How do you think the match would have played out if Lehmann hadn’t been sent off? 2. If you could only have had one of either TH14 or DB10 at Arsenal, which would you have chosen and why? 3. If you could go back in time which decisions would you change (both life and football)?

    Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey? Bob Dylan.

    Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them? 70-71. I was young, impressionable, loved the shirts, the music of the time, and Charlie scored that goal.

    Total, I will set a place for you and Denis at our table.
    PB, Tongariro is like being on another planet.

  • Stuart, have you been to Tongariro? Lucky you.
    The 7:0 victory over Everton (featuring Arteta) is such a great game. With the crowd chanting to Arsene and/or the 36y Dennis Bergkamp: ‘One more year!’. And defeating that magnificent Barcelona team is also an immortal Arsenal game with an unsung masterclass from Jack Wilshere.

  • 1. Who would you pick to travel with you?
    – Arsene offcourse as I have many questions to ask and discuss.
    2. Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again?
    – the finals of Champions league
    3. What three music albums would you bring along?
    – would leave the choice to Arsene as I am a Indian music lover and he may not have much interest.
    4. What three books would you discuss with them?
    – The Professor, Arsenal the making of a modern Super Club, why we kneel how we rise.
    5. Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey?
    – Brisbane, Sau Paulo, Rio
    6. What three big football questions would you ask them?
    – FIFA, Tactics and Next innovation in Football
    7. Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey?
    – Thierry Henry
    8. Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them?
    – The Invincible season

  • PB, The Central plateau with the volcanic trinity of Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe are a few hours drive south of us. My three sons and I did the crossing together a few years back. Tough on the knees but expansive for the spirit. Some of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was filmed there.

    King Leo. Deserves all those accolades. He is now up there with Pele in my book.

  • Great responses, a joy to read. Many original choices which shows the diversity in thought and backgrounds of our bloggers.

    Madhu, it would be great to hear some Indian music that you like.

    PB, nine players… Ah this waters down your responses too much imo. I like the footie questions, though.

  • TA, I see that you ahve mentioned Bangalore as a place you like to visit. If you ever happen to Visit Bangalore please let me know, you can stay with us in my humble abode. Bangalore is my city and where I have spent most of my life.
    Regarding Indian music, there are multiple flavours. There are primarily two flavours of classical music called Carnatic (South India) and Hindustani(North India). both are very different but based on what is called as ‘Ragas’ which provides framework which which to Innovate. There are other forms of regional music which is an offshoot of the above two versions. Offcourse the most famous is the bollywood music which are songs within Indian Films a unique feature of Indian movies. Basically Indian movies are like musicals with songs intertwined between the story. Then there are other forms of music like Ghazals, Devotional music, folk music etc. So you do have a lot to choose from :).

  • Hi Madhu,

    I’d love to visit you and talk about Arsenal all day long in Bangalore. I would try and meet all regular BKers accompanied by DB10 on this magic trip and a stop in Bangalore would no doubt be on of the highlights!

    I will find out more about Indian music next year. Thank you for the overview and any links are welcome. I think I know the beautiful word Ghazal from Seth’s A Suitable Boy. Thanks a lot for this.

  • The folly is over. We have a world champion penalty takers. Finals should never be decided like that. That Messi is the best ever I knew already before the World Cup. Happy for him that he crowned it with the ultimate title,even though it is through taking penalties better than the Dutch and French did.

  • Morning all.
    I want to thank you all for your lovely responses to the fact that I am now cancer free. As we all know cancer is a nasty beast that creeps up on us – so I am very fortunate to be in a clinical study where a get full thorax and CT body scans every six months – so if it does recur then it will only be at the early stages and likely very treatable.

    Total, my apologies for not responding to your wonderful post, I’ve just been too busy of late – but I will still make my best efforts to add my thoughts.

    After watching the world cup I have a very simple question – whatever possessed our “management” to sell Giroud and Martinez, they are still incredible players.

  • GN5, Giroud, I can understand (Auba and Laca being about). It is Martinez’s sale that befuddles me. He came on to stand-in for Leno during an injury lay-off, made it look so easy, went on to help us finish the season with some clean sheets and won us the FA Cup and community shield to boot.

    Why was it not the easy decision to challenge Leno to earn back his shirt? We weren’t so broke as to desire the £20m that much, were we? Anyway, all water under the bridge now.

  • I can understand Martinez being let go back then. Leno was Nr1 and Arteta was loyal to him. Martinez had to fight for his place but he wanted guarantees which Arteta was not prepared to give to him.

    Wenger made a much bigger mistake to force Giroud out whom he simply undervalued. Giroud-Auba would have worked much better than Laca-Auba. The latter combo just never worked whilst Giroud, as has been proven since time and again, makes others play better whilst also scoring plenty himself. Sanchez and Ozil benefited so much from his play

    Giroud loved being a Gunner but Mr Fifa salesman saw him as a commodity and was happy to sell him to the Chavs.

  • Meadow Pk, FA Youth Cup 3rd round
    Arsenal 6 Millwall 0
    Gower 13’ Nwaneri 26’ Rosiak 29’ Cozier-Duberry 52’ Benjamin 75’ Benjamin 90’
    Looks like Jack’s taking the Cup very seriously – not really surprising, is it?
    Newcastle away in the 4th round it’ll be – a much tougher nut to crack, probably
    Two tweets from Jeorge Bird’s thread:
    “A lot of very good performers – Cozier-Duberry probably the standout” first, and:
    “Some of the things that Nwaneri can do are scary. It won’t happen but he would probably be ready for a loan spell already”, then.
    From someone who’s seen so many youth games, so many brilliant young players, as Jeorge, this last tweet speaks volumes imo
    COYYoungGuns

    FIFA-AW is a bitter pill to swallow indeed, TA …

  • Lol @ Mr.FIFA salesman. I guess you have a point with regards Giroud and his all-round value. To be fair to Wenger, most fans didn’t get Giroud and his sale was not criticized much as we looked forward to a more spritely pair of new and proven forwards. Who could have predicted Giroud would still be doing it at this level, at his age?

    For a keeper and at his age, I would still keep Martinez over Leno; but I get Arteta’s choice of sticking to his No. 1.

  • Yes Eris, not all fans knew how to value Ollie, partly because of this British obsession with speed. For the same reason Mertesacker and Xhaka have suffered so much unnecessarily.

    But Wenger was paid to know what others could see, yet he sent him packing.

  • Hi TA
    Here are some links . The first 3 are a modern take on classical music and you would be able to recognise the instruments. These are from movies.

    The next two are pure classical music. First is a Carnatic version and second is Hindustani instrumental.


    hope you find it interesting.

  • Thanks a lot, Madhu.
    Like so many guys my generation, I’d had a foretaste of Indian music in the wake of the Harrison-Shankar’s collaborations. Then Shankar’s daughter Anoushka rekindled my interest in sitar delights – she’s so lovely that it might not have been for strictly musical reasons, though.
    Anyway, I never dug deeper than that but I’ll be more than happy to follow your lead, so keep enlightening us please

  • Who would you I’m tempted pick to travel with you?
    Ray Parlour – I think it would be fun as well as informative!

    Which one Arsenal game would you want to watch with them again and again?
    Either our championship-winning game at Anfield in 1989 (the Micky Thomas one) or beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in 2006 when TH14 outclassed the classics.

    What three music albums would you bring along?
    This is the trickiest question of all as my music collection is so vast but today I’ll say Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II, Focus III and ‘SOAR’ by Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita

    What three books would you discuss with them?
    The Romford Pelé, Wenger’s ‘My life in Red and White’ and a book of Ray’s choosing

    Which three places would you insist on visiting with them along the journey?
    Galapagos Islands, Machu Pichu and Hawaii

    What three big football questions would you ask them?
    1. Wenger’s ‘My life in Red and White’ was pretty boring. What controversial or funny moments from his time with us should he have included?
    2. Arsene’s absence from the Emirates since he left us has given subsequent managers space but surely it’s time he was welcomed back. How do we make that happen?
    2. How to root out the corruption which is endemic throughout FIFA?

    Which extra guest would you invite for the Paris to Istanbul sub-journey?
    I’m tempted to say Agatha Christie, especially if we were travelling by train! She lived a couple of miles from where I am now and was president of my local drama group. However, I think that Alex Scott would provide much better company for Ray and I!

    Which Arsenal season would you want to rewatch all over again with them?
    The Invincible season.

  • Madhu, I enjoyed all the music pieces but the last one, the Hindustani instrumental music, is magic: so peaceful and so moving – like I am on a journey through the most serene natural landscape. Thank you for sharing.

  • Great responses, OX10. Ray Parlour because he would also be fun, is a fine choice. You really like the Americas then! Lovely places to visit, no doubt.

    Yes I was thinking about Alex Scott too. Alex is an amazing woman and I love her enthusiasm for the beautiful game. Such a fresh breath of air compared to the likes of Keane and co.

  • It isn’t that I especially like the Americas, I have never been to South America and both choices there hold a fascination for me. I have been to the US on a number of occasions but never to Hawaii and as a ukulele player that would be like a pilgrimage.

  • The ukulele was invented there and is a Hawaiian word, it means jumping flea! There are a number of small guitar-like instruments that were developed in Portugal. Portuguese immigrants brought some of these instruments to Hawaii and the ukulele evolved from them. The ukulele became the de facto national instrument when King Kalākaua adopted it and incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings.

  • TA, thanks for the comments and glad you liked the initiation to Indian music. Yes most Indian classical music transports you to an ethereal world. Indian classical music has connection to the devine.
    Le Gall – Yes Anoushka is beautiful and she does play sitar very well. her fathers collaboration with Western music exponents are some of the great assets. Hope you like the music that I shared.

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