Football is coming home - literally.

Well Saturday is here, kick off is in just less than three hours and i am really looking forward to this one. We still have the players out that i said on the previous blog and a team re-shuffle is bound to happen, i think the team will look something like this:

==============Almunia==============

Eboue=====Toure=====Silvestre=====Clichy

Denilson======Cesc======Song======Nasri

========Van Persie===Adebayor========

Van Persie had a knock over the international period so i don't expect him to play 90 minutes, maybe Vela or Walcott will come on after 60 or so minutes as Bendtner is out. Silvestre will make his first start in the absence of Captain Birds Eye, (no more capi) and Eboue should go to Right Back in the absence of Sagna. All except Gallas are expected to be back for the Turkish trip.

Theo will be rested after his international exploits, Wenger thought he was tired after the Sunderland game two weeks ago;

“We play Tuesday again so that would be four games in 10 days,”

“We have done our observation [tests]. They are not linked especially with the England matches but we do know how the individual players respond to repetitions of games.

“Before Walcott went away with England I already felt, after the Sunderland game, he looked tired. He’s the kind of player who plays with a lot of energy, every time he goes he goes 100 per cent.

If he does come on late i wouldn't rule out a goal for him because his against a tired defence can be very interesting to watch!

Arsene Wenger has compared Theo Walcott to Messi, saying that at Theo's age, he is a better player than Messi was;

“He’s different [to Messi at that age] and I think he’s more,”

“If you have to look for a weakness in Messi you would say it is his ability to run without the ball, behind the defender.

“When he takes the ball to his feet he’s like a Ferrari. But Theo is more a guy who has the timing to run off the ball and that is something that is difficult to find.

“We had Marc Overmars who was especially good at that and I’m a great, great lover of movement off the ball.”

And i am a great, great lover of Marc Overmars. A truly outstanding footballer, i still remember being in the Wembley crowd in May 1998 when he poked the ball through the legs of Shay Given. What a player.

Aaron Ramsey is close to the first team says Arsene, and he could be in line to feature today;

“He is close because he is in the squad tomorrow,”

“He is 17 and a half years old, you have to be realistic as well. I think nowhere in the world do players so young get regular chances in the squad as much as here at Arsenal Football Club.

“On top of that, you cannot rush me to make it any quicker.”

I think he has a brilliant future ahead of him. I cant wait til he is 20-21 and a first team regular. Him and Cesc in the same team and with the creativity they have is a truly orgasmic thought.

Expected debutant Silvestre will give us help defending free kicks according to Arsene, and Almunia still wants to play for Engerrrrrrland. (ATVO only).

Well, here's hoping for a nice 3-0 today, i doubt it though, i have been wrong with every prediction so far!

til' tomorrow and up the Arse.

Bad team news as we approach the trickiest week of the season so far

I will warn you now, what you are about to read will contain a lot of injuries!

Arsene Wenger spoke this evening about the state of the squad returning and the following are out of the visit of Everton and the trek to Fener in midweek.

Definitely out: Gallas (Hamstring) Bendtner (Ankle) Sagna (Knee)
Rosicky & Eduardo (Long Term)

Possibly out: Van Persie (Hamstring) Fabregas (Broken nose) Djourou (Concussion)

Well that is a right royal pain in the arse! The plus side of all this is that despite the break Fabregas should be alright for the weekends game, Wenger saying;

"It should not stop him playing. He is here now [at the training ground] and is being assessed."

Diaby will also be back in the squad for the weekend. I have a feeling Wenger will be really careful this time in bringing him back, building his fitness up gradually, maybe a few reserve games will do him good.

There will be one thing for certain and that is that its going to be a brutal week for the squad, many players put out 90 minutes twice this week and i would not be surprised to see a little bit of squad rotation with a very hardworking performance needed in midweek.

It seems we are always hit hardest by the international breaks, that's 5 injuries this time. Its damn unlucky.

It also seems Armand Traore may move on next summer if he does not get a guarantee of regular football. I found this quote particularly interesting though. He has been playing on the left side of midfield a lot this season but this, just maybe hints at the fact he prefers to play at left back;

"Obviously I want to play every game now but Gael Clichy is a great player in my position there at the moment."

Another youngster, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has stated their desire for first team football, i can really see this becoming a regular occurrence, especially when Merida, Lansbury and Randall are wanting first team football. We have to face the fact that many of them will leave.

I'm not really that eager to go over topics other blogs have covered but Fabregas's comments the other day do have me worried a little, maybe he is starting to get a little frustrated. However, the most concerning part is this phrase;

"We find it very hard to win matches, as we do not possess enough experience."

Winning is very much a habit and we are very inconsistent at the moment, that is down to the inexperience i am sure. But the question is, do we stifle youngsters with a more experienced player?

The answer, yes or no, will have people disappointed.

Right thats your lot, thanks for reading and i will be back with more team news when its about.

Players rushing injuries?, Gilbert career at Arsenal over?

First things first, apparently there have been some stories floating around about Rosicky's health, some reports go as far as to say Thomas is in hospital in London. But, his agent has rubbished these so called reports, saying;

What appeared in the press about Tomas being hospitalised in London is complete nonsense.

Well that told them! It just goes to show, never believe everything in the press. But as you know as well, don't believe agents either. In fact, don't believe anything unless it appears on Arsenal.com!

It seems he is progressing well, his agent saying that the reason behind his latest setback was his rush to get back playing again;

"Everything is going according to the plan. Tomas' first comeback was rash, now we are treating the situation more carefully.

This coincides with comments from Robin Van Persie today, it seems to be a common problem with our players, or maybe the staff;

"After my previous injury, I made the mistake at Arsenal of kicking the ball with all my force in my first training session,"

You would have thought that he might have been a little bit careful? a little bit? Or there would have been someone to tell him, or bloody well make him take it easy!? This is not the first time something like this has happened and i am pretty sure it wont be the last, anyway, it needs sorting.

He will be back for the Everton game though;

"But I do feel very good. I trained hard the last couple of days and all the tests were positive.

Going on to say;

"I just want to be fit and play as many games as I can. The entire pre-season went well at Arsenal and in the league too.

"Picking up a hamstring injury can happen to any player at the moment."

He is a luxury player, i think he thinks he is undroppable, i do feel he needs a bench spell to

A) Save his legs and minimise injury risk

B) To raise his game.

He is a fantastic player but i feel he could be better at times.

Now all you loyal Goon's the price of the Carling Cup game with Wigan is as low as a tenner a ticket. I was really looking forward to going til' i saw the date, Tuesday 11th November. My birthday! But, sadly i have an exam the morning after, maybe not the best idea.

Bollocks!

Now Kerrea Gilbert. I remember the first time i saw this right back and i liked him. He was young and had very good potential but when he had a few loan spells that broke down because of arguments questions were raised over his temperament and attitude. Sadly it appears his latest flip might just put the end to his Arsenal career. He was arrested on the 24th September and will also be charged with being drunk and disorderly in January of this year. It is the latest in a bad few months and years for young footballers, and in my opinion its because they have too much money. Michael Chopra has just came back after gambling problems, Jermain Pennant has spent time inside, as has Joey Barton. To much money to young.

I also have a few kind words for Alisher Usmanov:

Fuck off you lumpy fuckbag.

Back soon Arsers.

Injuries, Hleb is annoying me still, Gallas on the captaincy + Free Stuffs!

Afternoon Gooners, as the International break is the most boring time in the universe like ever i have left it off a few days to give you one big, informative Goon!

As you probably know, Van Persie is broken again, a hamstring injury i am told. What has he done this time? wrapped it round his neck and hung himself on it? Really, its getting really really stupid, maybe just maybe Arsene will have had enough and ship him out to Italy or something and try to cash in, he must have cost us millions in medical bills. Gallas is also injured, but his injury has not been met with the same attitude, the 'feduppiness' and dismay that Van Persie's has recieved or the same sort of attitude that an injury to Cesc would recieve.

Gallas has, for the first time described the incident at Birmingham last season, conceding he 'flipped his lid';

I made a mistake. I must admit I flipped my lid. We should have won that game easily.

"Before Arsenal, I spent six years at Chelsea. That team was capable of getting ugly wins. If we had an opportunity to win a cup, we would never miss it.

"There I became imbued with the winning culture, which doesn't exist yet at Arsenal.

"Of course, some of my Arsenal team-mates could not have appreciated my behaviour against Birmingham.

William. Shut up. This is Arsenal, not Chelsea, we are not a similar club, we are not run by some oligarch cunt with billions in the bank. We had a winning culture in the invincibles season but that was when the whole team were at their peak, this team is not even near its peak. Its bound to be inconsistant.

He also said he was made a scapegoat;

"The controversy about my captaincy? People had to find a scapegoat as we didn't win any trophies last season.

"So, they talked and talked again about the Birmingham match. Indeed I made a mistake. I must admit I flipped my lid. We should have won that game easily

Well you should be keeping your head held high, picking your players up. Not them picking you up, you are the leader so lead them. Its your responsability as captain of this great club to help them win things, something you are not doing at the moment.

O and Gallas, there are no easy games mate. Thats why we lost to Hull.

Now, when you think back to last summer when Hleb went to Barca did you consider that it might be part of a ploy to get Cesc there? Just think... They are best mates, its Cesc's hometown and he has confessed he loves the club. Something not right about that and now Hleb has tried to get Cesc at Barca, the cunt.

He said;

"We get on very well on and off the pitch. For me he is like a brother. We call each other a lot to talk about things,"

"He tells me he misses me at Arsenal and, without wanting to detract from anyone, I would love it if he came to Barca to be a part of all this.

"I will keep boring him until he changes his mind. If in the end he listens to me, I think it would be great for Barcelona."

He is a grade A prick and it looks as though he wont have his way though;

he doesn't stop insisting that he is very happy at Arsenal and with Arsene Wenger.

Thats 100% Cesc, honest and doesnt let people influence his decisions, unlike the mug that thought Barcelona was a hamlet.

This is a few days after the Spanish press yet again twisted the qoutes of an Arsenal player, claiming Cesc will leave at the end of the season.

Roy Keane has had a dig at Arsenal this week, claiming Arsene has little to do with the youth at the club;

"But you go on about the kids coming through but a lot of them have been bought from other clubs, not through the academy at Arsenal. It's the same with Chelsea."

Roy, to be fair some have been brought in from other clubs but there are a lot that have been raised at Arsenal, and just buying in a young player doesnt mean they are instantly fantasic, it takes years of teaching and nurturing. Cesc was good when he came but he is now great. Wenger has taught him a hell of a lot and it will be the same for Merida, Barazite and Ramsey to name a few.

Also, Adebayor has again gone back on a decision to retire from his country, he does like changing his mind. How much money do you think they paid?

Sagna has also said Arsenal need to defend much better. Not that we really needed to know that son!

Now for a little tip off on how to get a free, yes FREE Grolsh pint glass!

http://www.grolsch.co.uk/signup/?campaign=GLASS

Go to that site, register, and then enter GR50004 as the promotion code and the store as Tesco.

Bang, you have a free glass coming to your house!

Oh and a tip, it doesn't do the old 'You already have used this address'. So send to however many live in your house!

Any way of getting through the credit crunch!

No need to thank me! Leave us a comment.

Anyways il talk to you again soon.

Enjoy watching Theo tonight.

Post match round up

“I think it was perhaps the most complete performance of the season.” - AW

After the win yesterday Arsene Wenger has praised the teams attitude. I feel it was a much better overall performance, despite the opposition being total and utter rubbish, but you can only beat the team in front of you and thats what they did in style.

Wenger said;

“We were focused. I thought at times we were a little bit too tense, especially at the start of the game. But we were focused and at that level, whether it is the Premier League or the Champions League that is vital. I believe that on Saturday we were caught by a lack of focus.

“I think the team is maturing and there is big potential in the side. We want to be intelligent and in the end you measure that on how well we do together.”

The start was nervy but that wasn't surprising, i feel the crowd didn't help, there were massive groans everytime a player made a mistake and that cant be nice at all. Saturday is done, this was a different game and we needed to get behind the team, im not having a dig at fans i just feel we dont help ourselves sometimes. Liverpool and Fenerbache fans make their staduims a couldron, so should we.

Theo and Cesc were picked out for special praise after a fantastic performance from them. The boss said;

[cesc]“I think he was outstanding tonight. He was good defensively and offensively and overall it was the ‘complete performance’.”

[theo]"Theo was dangerous again and he makes big progress and a big improvement. It was the response I wanted. It is half of the response of the week, the other half comes on Saturday"

The boss also confirmed that Theo is not injured. Great news.

Manuel Almunia has also praised the performance and expects it to be repeated at the weekend, the 'keeper is an important part of our team i feel, he is not experienced on the pitch but he has sat in many dressing rooms many times and offers the experience of knowledge and also experience of life to the younger players, some of whom have not yet seen 20 years of age.

He has though admitted attitude was our downfall against Hull;

"I think Hull deserved the three points because our attitude wasn't very good during the game."

Onto Van Persie now; he seems to have really pissed Sneijder off when he was at the Euro's, apprently their conflict stems from Van Persie taking a free kick 'against his team-mates wishes' Just seems the latest bust up in a long line of bust ups in the Dutch camp.

He has also been spoken about by Adebayor, who believes their partnership can fire us to glory this season;

"We are working hard for the team - he has got the same ambition as me,"

"We are here to help this team, we are here to help win something so I'm very pleased with the way he played against Porto.

"I gave him a pass and he gave me a pass. That shows there is a good relationship between the two of us.

"We are very happy and hopefully we can help this team win something this season."

Why not? on their day they are two of the worlds best strikers so they really should be firing us to glory! I have faith in them.

Well thats about it today. Join me tomorrow for an interview with Yogi's Warrior from 'A Cultured Left Foot'. A link can be found on the links section to his blog.

Thats it from me, take care gooners.

Arsenal 4 Porto 0

Well that was all rather nice wasn't it? A great response from the boys with Van Persie and Adebayor among the goals again, but, it should have been much, much more.

It started off nervy, Porto had some great opportunities that again exposed our very weak defence, Clichy had to clear off the line after Gallas lost his man, again. However, Theo Walcott terrorised the back line of Porto all night constantly running at them, looking for the killer pass and just plain pissing off his full back! I have to mention a stunning save from Manuel Almunia, Gonzalez let off a thunderbolt and he dived full stretch to his left to deny the Porto forward. A magnificent piece of goalkeeping.

The first goal was a very nice poke home for Van Persie after Adebayor slid the ball across the goal, he managed to get the ball out of his feel to slide it in at the near post. 1-0 and the fans wanted more. Much more.

The second was from Adebayor as he headed a fantastic cross into the ground that bounced up and out of the reach of the disparing keeper, Ade and Van are back alright.

Van Persie's second and Arsenal's third was a result of some simply horriffing defending, VP skipped round 2 players, was allowed to stroll past Porto's most experienced defender and prod nicley home. We were crusing and with 43 minutes to go a cricket score was possible.

This was when we had a whole host of chances, Walcott somehow missed an open goal, same goes for Nasri and Adebayor should have made it seven. You have to wonder what this team can be if they are more clinical. Walcott had the defenders shitting their panties and Nasri was a threat from range. Fabregas also pulled a save out the keeper with a shot from the edge of the area. He was truly immense. He cant be 21 can he?

Enter Vela, his first touch was to skip around 3 players, lay it off to Nikki B who just couldnt work the space to shoot. The commontater was shouting 'Watch this boy go' and the nations eyes were fixed on him. what a talent. Bendtner has looked brilliant too.

Adebayor made it 4 after Bendtner was felled in the box, sent the keeper the wrong way, cue dancing and badge kissing and the like. I want to see that more often Ade.

There was even time for cult hero Eboooouueee to do some step overs Ronaldinho would have been proud of, sadly the second time he tried it he trod on the ball. I love Eboue, he has his haters but he never fails to either enrage or entertain!

Overall, a very positive performance from the boys, the same defensive worries are still there but it looks like Wenger is going with the policy; you score more than you concede, you win. I hope it works! Saturday is not forgotten but Arsenal are well and truly mixing the cement i mentioned earlier and thank fook for that.

Take care out there.

Night.

A change of mentality

Well, that was all rather shite wasn't it! I'm sorry i have not been here for a few days, i will try and get someone to blog when im not available!

First things first, I think we were piss poor, Ive only seen the highlights and it was enough to make me sick, the pints of beer didn't help either but you can see why Arsene Wenger feels sick, i think that players that do not give 100% should be dropped from the squad. And if they do it again just get them the hell out of the team. I don't care if its Gallas, Adebayor, Van Persie or even Cesc, it just cannot be tolerated. They get paid far to much to piss around on a pitch and give 50%, at the end of the day the fans pay their bloody wages so they best sort themselves out or fuck off to Man City. Its Monday evening and im still fuming.

Now, Gallas. He feels that complacency wasn't an issue? It was clear to see the team thought they could smash a few in in the first 20 minutes, run around, look interested and be back home in time for tea and paella. It doesn't work like that in the Premier League. Gallas, sort your damn attitude out and lead the team. But, sort out your bloody defending, its shocking! that's about the third time he has made a mistake that has lead to a goal this season, it cant carry on. We are behind as it is and if we play like that against a Chelsea or Man Utd, we will get torn a new arsehole. The captaincy needs reconsidering because Gallas' attitude is poor, his defending is poorer and his captaincy is just plain crap. If Benitez managed this club he would have been played up front now and who knows, he might be more clinical than Adebayor, its not hard.

But the focus now switches to our game at home tomorrow night and god help up if we screw this one up. The manager has said there will be changes but denies they will be punishments to players. I feel Vela and Bendtner deserve to start up front, Vela has been fantastic since his return from Spain and Bendtner has been scoring also, they have showed commitment, something lacking on Saturday evening. Van Persie is a great player technically but is inconsistent, he has to improve and if he doesn't I'm afraid he may be on his bike. I feel we will go in with a 4-4-2 but whoever makes up the team i don't know, Song is out, Nasri back in and i feel the team will probably be pretty much the same. Maybe Bendtner being started in place of Ade would give him a kick up the arse?

I would love to see Djourou start instead of Gallas but i don't think it will happen, that is the one place that Wenger really annoys me. The partnership of him and Kolo does not work and it will hardly fill the team with confidence!

For once Arsenal will go into the Porto game as probably the most experienced side, no inexperience excuses now please, its time for this team to win something and they had better do after Saturday, and the performance at Fulham.

I am at a loathe to say this but this year, and by year i mean 2008, we have now turned in three totally half cut performances, the defeat at Old Trafford in the FA cup, the Fulham game and now the Hull game, its a habit that is starting to become more and more common and Wenger has to stop it, at the end of the day the buck stops with the players but Arsene has a big influence on them and therefore he has to take some of the blame too as he concedes.

Tomorrow the boys need to step up to the plate, a defeat today could well prove terminal in our Champions League campaign and after we have already flushed half out title hopes down the shitter we just have to win, and win well too. I don't expect a cricket score but i sure as hell don't want a 1-0.

I made the mistake of expecting a cricket score against Hull and i well and truly damaged my credibility as a blogger that talks sense. That was a mistake that wont happen again.

Ive cut the quotes out today as i wanted to add more of my view, the weekend was a step backwards, tomorrow has to be a step forward and its got to be twice as big.

Come on Arsenal.

Please leave your views on the game, your comments are needed to keep this alive!
I will come back to them in the following blogs!


Til' Tomorrow.

Is this really RVP? + Show that cash AW!

I dont think ive seen Van Persie this poor before. Honestly. He was poor today, and last week too. Ok, he has not had many games over the last two years but he looks a shadow of his former self. On the two games so far this season he has seemed to have lost a bit of pace, become fustrated and therefore maybe tried too hard. This showed when he took freekick after freekick and put them either in the crowd, or the wall.

Remember against Ajax in the Amsterdam tournament and he had a go at Walcott? He did it again yesterday. I think he is trying to re-pay the faith put in him, and re-pay AW and the fans for being injured so much.

Robin has the talent to be one of the best in the world but it seems to have literally disappeared in the last month or so.

Now, it might just be the time for Arsene Wenger to get his cash out and buy a proven class player, be it Alonso, Barry, whoever. Just get your chequebook out Arsene because another trophyless season is just not on. Denilson isnt/wont be ready, he looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights. We need cover for Cesc because without him, we are much much weaker. Nasri may be that player that can replace him but he didnt look too great today either, he still has to adapt, like any other foreign player needs to. Adebayor was good in the build up, he has really improved this side of his game, but the chances were wasted in the end.

Today i think Eboue played well. He ran at the defenders, caused problems and that led to freekicks in our favour. I like the player. He adds a bit of personality (all be it OTT at times) and is very loyal to the club, he gives his all and that is all you can ask of a player.

Now, before i get dismembered by people calling me a pessimist, i really do think that the international break screwed the team up. Denilson and Almunia were the only players training last week and that showed in our passing today, players didnt really know where each other were and we lacked the player to drive the team on when it was needed.


There is something missing from this team and Wenger has days to fix it.

Earn your Money Arsene, and SPEND IT!

Back tomorrow with all the transfer speculation and Arsene's thoughts on the loss at Fulham.