Yesterday was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in a long time. I went to Craven Cottage not long ago but this was worse. There were quite a few players missing from the squad so selection was difficult, but for some reason Arsene decided to play Baptista on the left and Aliadiere up front. It did not work. Nothing worked for us. The boggy Brammal Lane pitch was not working in our favour and we couldn’t do any of our slick passing moves. We had two decent shots at goal, one was Rosicky from the end of a good passing move and he shot with the outside of his foot but it was near enough to the Paddy Kenny for him to make the save. The other one was a bit of a scramble when Baptista drove into the box and the ball fell to Van Persie who shot against the ground but Jagielka tipped it over the bar.

Sheffield United scored just before half time when Rosicky lost the ball on the edge of their box. United broke and had us outnumbered at the back. Alan Quinn passed to Nade, Toure was marking him but the ball went straight through his legs and he was through on goal. Something in Lehmann’s mind said run out and he came out to the edge of his box making it easy for Nade to slot it in the net and make it one nil.

I still thought we could win the game but we didn’t create anything. To be honest, we just weren’t good enough to beat Sheffield United. It was the same old story it’s be every game: sloppy football. We gave the ball away more than you could ever imagine, it was ridiculous and you could just tell it was only a matter of seconds before we gave it away again.

Baptista is wasted in midfield; I don’t know why he doesn’t just tell Wenger that he is a fucking striker. Still, he wasn’t amazing anyway when he was put up front. He is no ‘Beast’ he gets pushed off the ball way to easily, young Cesc Fabregas is better at shielding the ball than ‘The Beast’. Baptista needs at least another year to adapt to he English game, he looks lost. There was one time in the area when he was given the ball to shoot but he took a touch. Why the fuck did he control it? Could’ve probably been a goal if he’d just smacked it but no. Anyway, if he does stay then I reckon he’ll come good one day but for now, he still needs time.

Around the 60th minute Paddy Kenny got injured and with no substitute ‘keeper on the bench Phil Jagielka was in goal. Surely you’d think we should shoot at every opportunity to test this new goalie but no. There was just one shot from Van Persie that he had to tip over but nothing else tested the midfielder. It was extremely frustrating to watch.

There was not one player on the pitch who had a good game, I can’t even think of one who had a satisfactory game. We were a waste of space. We’ve got Charlton on Tuesday and you’d think that’s an easy game but I thought yesterday would’ve been a walkover, well it was for Sheffield. We better buck up our ideas before Tuesday. I think we might have a few players back for then. I’m quite worried and I shouldn’t be, sort it out Arsene. That’s all I can stand to write today. Have a good 2007.

Quite an unbelievable title but we have a dozen players who are not 100% for the trip to Sheffield. Adebayor, Hleb, Henry, Ljungberg, Gallas, Eboue are all definitely out; Gallas is still “two weeks away”. Djourou & Walcott are probably out with minor injuries. Fabregas, Aliadiere, Song and Baptista have colds but are still in the squad, I doubt it’s enough to make them miss the game but it was enough for Arsene to mention it today. This is what le boss said in his Friday press conference:

“We have viruses and everything at the moment. We don’t have long-term injuries in fairness they are short-term, a few days. But at the moment a few days is missing two games. Hleb got injured today on his shin. He is having an X-ray. We don’t think it’s bad but he will miss this game. Walcott has a bad back from yesterday. Then we have Henry, we have Gallas, Eboue, Ljungberg, along with Adebayor who has a thigh strain and Djourou who has a slight hamstring which again is a question of days.

I don’t know how many will be back for Tuesday - Eboue, Hleb maybe - while Gallas is doing well but he is two weeks away. He might play at the earliest in the Carling Cup against Liverpool. He hasn’t suffered a setback but his injury was worse than we expected. It’s a tendon in his thigh and at the start we thought it was not as bad but it was worse. Lauren is in the squad tomorrow but he’s not ready to start. We have a few colds, Fabregas, Baptista, Aliadiere, Song, but they will travel.”

Not the sort of news I was expecting today but it’s really only Hleb and Walcott that we did not know about, I’m not really counting those colds because I don’t see it forcing someone not to play.

If we’ve now got Hleb, Walcott and Ljungberg injured, I’m not sure who we are going to play on the wing. Obviously Rosicky will be on one side but who on the other? Well Van Persie has played there a number of times this season but I was expecting him to partner Baptista upfront. The defence will look as expected: Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Senderos and Clichy. Then in the midfield we will either have 5: Van Persie, Flamini, Gilberto, Fabregas and Rosicky or we will have four with Flamini on the bench. Then up front we will have to have Baptista and Aliadiere or one of them alone. Arsene will have to decide whether he’s going to be comfortable with a lone striker with not much experience and have 5 in midfield or have that unusual partnership upfront with 4 across the middle.

These extra injuries will probably mean Denilson and Lauren will be on the bench for the first time in the Premiership this season. Sheffield United are having selection problems of their own so it might be two unusual teams taking to the field tomorrow.

Obviously that is the main news story today but also Emmanuel Adebayor has won Togo’s foreign-based Player of the Year Award. It’s the second year in a row Ade has picked up the prize, he won it last year for his efforts with Monaco and this time round he’s been recognised for his incredible improvement at Arsenal. I can’t imagine there’s much competition for the Award but it’s always nice to win something.

Thanks for reading.

Robert Pires has revealed that he would love to return and play for Arsenal again. He left us after not being happy with just a one year deal and went to Villarreal who offered him a two year contract. Now Robert has said he’d like to play for Arsenal one more year after he’s done in Spain. Here’s what Bobby said:

“There is less pressure here at Villarreal. Arsenal is a big machine. After my two years here, I would love to play one last season for Arsenal. Arsene, boss, have you got the message?”

Clearly he’s not just saying it and he does actually want to play at Ashburton Grove. I’m pretty sure Arsene won’t bring him back just for the fans like Fowler was for Liverpool by Benitez. I don’t think he wouldn’t get a place in our squad anymore, he definitely wouldn’t be a regular like he was. I suppose it would be nice to see Pires back at Arsenal but I don’t see it happening. He’d have to take a considerable wage deduction because he wouldn’t be a first team player and he wouldn’t get his old number back. It’s probably a bit of a nothing story but I’m sure Wenger will think about it.

Johan Djourou picked up a slight hamstring injury in the first half against Watford. However the injury was only very minor and he should be fit again for the Sheffield United game. Senderos replaced him at half time and had a much better game than his Swiss team mate, Wenger will have to decide on Saturday which one out of the two. I think it’ll be Big Phil because Arsene won’t want to risk Johan aggravating that injury. Adebayor also picked up an injury at Vicarage Road, Ade picked up a thigh strain and it will see him missing the next game at least. Emmanuel has been in top form recently and hopefully this injury doesn’t change anything.

Adebayor’s injury will give Baptista the opportunity to play up front against Sheffield Utd. I think he’ll be a big hit up front, when he came on against Watford he came so close to scoring. I hope Wenger gives him the chance on Saturday, up to now he’s been playing him in midfield and I think that has been stopping him from playing his own game. I’d love for The Beast to score this weekend and then put pressure on the other strikers to earn their place in the team.

Nicklas Bendtner reckons he is good enough to get into the Arsenal team, he sounds as if he wants to return to Arsenal instead of staying at Birmingham and is very confident about his return:

“The plan is that I will stay at Birmingham until my loan spell expires at the end of the season. Afterwards, I will go back to Arsenal and break into the team there, I feel my chances at Arsenal are good. I am just as good as all the others, and it’s only Thierry Henry who is certain to play. In case we get promoted, I might stay, but I would prefer to move on. I have also heard that foreign clubs are interested in me, but I am just thinking about Arsenal.”

It’s good that he’s thinking about Arsenal and thinking about breaking into our squad but if he thinks he will be the no.2 striker with only Thierry Henry ahead of him then he is mistaken. Van Persie is a very good player and I think most people will agree he is much better than Bendtner, Adebayor has improved massively this season and would now be ahead of Bendtner easily. The Beast is still an unknown quantity but if asked Julio Baptista or Nicklas Bendtner I think the Brazilian would pip the boy from Denmark. Nick’s got alot of work to do if he wants to get in the Arsenal team but it’s good news that the ambition is there.

Neil Warnock says he field a weak team against Arsenal due to the fixture congestion. No Neil, you are going to field a weak team because you are the manager of a shit club. More news ahead Saturday’s game to come in the week. Have a nice day.

Not a very convincing win but a great day-late Christmas present none the less. I managed to get a ticket in the end, went down to the ground very early and waited around for a while outside the Arsenal area. One guy offered me a ticket for £250! TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY QUID? I just laughed and told him he’s never going to get that. When I went to Arsenal vs. Real Madrid without a ticket someone offered me one for that, even then it was a ridiculous price and today was Watford not Madrid. 45 minutes before the game I overheard someone saying he had a spare because his son couldn’t go, I asked him if he would sell it to me and he gave it to me for face value. Fucking brilliant! Such a nice bloke not to make me pay tout prices, it was only £35 in the end.

It was the same team that put 6 past Blackburn on Saturday so I was pretty confident we’d beat Watford comfortably. We started slowly and I accepted that because it was cold, we had a game a few days ago and the Turkey was probably still uneasy in the stomach. However we didn’t really pick up our game and we were not dominating like we should’ve been. Watford certainly created the most in the early part of the game, they didn’t look too dangerous but that had the majority of attacks. That was the thing that kept me going, although Watford had more chances they lacked quality whereas the quantity of our attacks was made up by the quality of them. Foster made a few good saves from close range and probably kept Watford in the game.

It took us until the 19th minute for us to score. The goal came from a Tomas Rosicky corner which was whipped into the near post, Toure knocked it on and captain fantastic had a free header by the far post to make it one nil to The Arsenal. That’s 2 headers from corners for the Brazilian and that goal was his 8th this season. One nil up against Watford it should be game over but credit to the home team for pushing on.

I expected Arsenal to take confidence from this goal and go on to get a couple more however Watford equalized 5 minutes later to let us know they weren’t just going to let us walk all over them. Bouazza got down the left and Toure deflected his cross but it went straight to Tommy Smith in the area and he shot passed Lehmann to make it 1-1.

It was pretty much all Arsenal up to half time but we were still not playing well. That beautiful football that we saw in the second half against Blackburn seemed like years ago, you wouldn’t believe it was the same team and only a few days ago. Watford had a chance with Bangura who shot just passed the post before half time.

Senderos came on for Djourou at the interval, I still don’t know why but Big Phil had a great game and was rock solid in that second half. We started with ambition after the break and we looked like we were going to take the lead soon. Rosicky forced a good save out of Ben Foster early on and then a few minutes later Tomas put in Adebayor who was through on goal if it wasn’t for an interception from Shittu.

However that momentum soon died down and the second half became very tense viewing. As in the first half the majority of attacks were going Watford’s way but the real goal scoring chances were ours; however we couldn’t convert anything. Theo Walcott and Julio Baptista came on to try and get us a late winner. Both substitutes had a big influence on the game and The Beast nearly scored with his first move of the game. Theo is always a lift for the team when he comes on and he was getting down the wing and playing some good balls like he normally does. Julio was playing a more forward position and was looking dangerous too, he nearly scored a few times, one shot went just wide of the post; his second goal for Arsenal is only a matter of time away. Hopefully he’ll get a few more chances from Arsene and with a performance like today’s and with RVP and Adebayor looking tired towards the end I wouldn’t be surprised if he started in Sheffield.

It looked as if we were not going to get the winning goal, we had many chances but nothing would go in. At this point our front two looked absolutely knackered, they’d done well all game and chased down everything. They were feeling it though and it was difficult for them to make a difference in the late stages. Adebayor was still trying though and went to the ground in exhaustion a few times, Robin looked as though he’d giving up though and we needed him to play. Then, 7 minutes from time RVP came up with the goal, it was typical Van Persie: having a quiet spell in the game and then to come up with a goal. However the credit for the goal has to go to Theo Walcott, Gilberto picked up the ball in a defensive position and saw Walcott open out wide and played him through. Theo sprinted and played a through ball to Van Persie who took the ball into the box and shot round the ‘keeper causing the away section to explode. It was a good goal and classic counter-attack Arsenal.

We could’ve scored one or two more in the final minutes with some good chances coming close to a goal. However we had to be careful that the team in 20th place didn’t nick a last minute goal. The final whistle seemed to take ages to come, but in the end it did and Arsenal were 2-1 winners on Boxing Day taking us up to 3rd. It wasn’t a good performance but it was three points and isn’t that all that matters? I spoke yesterday about how inconsistent we are and we proved it again, it would be nice to pick up and bit of form and carry it on week-in-week-out but a win is a win.

We have Sheffield United in four days so some build up to that one to come. Until then.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all had a good one and Santa brought you what you wanted. If you’re reading this today you’re just as sad as me going on the computer, but the evening on Christmas Day is so relaxed and tiring instead of being slumped on the sofa in front of some awful film I have chosen to write on the site.

We make the short trip to Watford tomorrow to face the team bottom at Christmas. It should be a walkover and we should be confident after putting six past Blackburn two days ago. However this season we have been so unbelievably inconsistent you cannot predict anything. If we do not win it will most definitely be 2 points dropped, we should win and I believe we will; I don’t even want to think about what would happen if we didn’t. It was 3-0 at home against the Hornets; anything like that again would do us just nicely.

Watford have no new injuries ahead of the game but they are still without Marlon King (Gooner), James Chambers and Clarke Carlisle. Ashley Young and Darius Henderson are threats going forward and ‘keeper Ben Foster who is on loan from Man United is very good. They are by no means an easy team to beat, they’re unlucky to be bottom of the table and they will be desperate to get anything out of this game.

Wenger won’t underestimate Watford and will field a very strong team, it’s not likely to be very different from Saturday’s team but I do hope Baptista gets a game and hopefully it is as a forward. He still hasn’t been given the chance to prove himself and I think this is the perfect game to let him show what he can do. By playing The Beast it is not weakening the side, playing someone like Song or Aliadiere would be but hopefully Arsene doesn’t do that.

I don’t think I am going to the game, there’s quite a few people I know with tickets in the Watford end but I don’t think I’m going to be able to nick one off them, I’d love to be going in the Gooner section but it was impossible to get tickets. If anyone wants to give me a ticket for Xmas I’d love them forever, but if anyone has actually got any spares please tell me, I would pay for them. I might go down and watch the game in a bar, it’s on Sky Sports 1 and kick off is 5.30, enjoy it to those of you that are going…lucky bastards

There never is much news on Christmas Day but I’ll fill you in on what happened recently. Jens Lehmann has said he may leave Arsenal in the summer. The German no.1 had a good game at the weekend and is still a firm favourite amongst the Gooners but he’s getting on a bit now and he’s at the stage where he’ll get one year contracts at a time. Last season was definitely his peak for Arsenal and we’ll need to be finding a replacement for him soon; I don’t feel that one of the reserve ‘keepers we have at the moment is going to be the successor to Mad Jens. This is what he said when he was asked if he’ll be leaving Ashburton Grove:

“I don’t know, but in the talks about my future, Arsenal definitely has top priority. A one-year contract wouldn’t be so bad. But I’m not saying that there is a 100 per cent chance I would stay in the event of an Arsenal offer. One has to look closely at everything. If there is no agreement with Arsenal, I’m open. I might not make a decision until May. I’m pretty relaxed about my whole situation.”

I’d like for him to stay on but he’s not going to get any better or any younger and one day he might decide to move on to a new challenge. This summer Arsene will have to look to bring in a new ‘keeper to guard the Emirates goal in years to come.

Thierry Henry has said he wants to become an Arsenal legend, you might argue he has already reached that status but he wants to become what Maldini is for Milan. He’s also revealed that one of the main reasons he stayed at Arsenal was due to the fans and their support to try and get him to stay:

“How I am thought of when my career ends is very important to me. I would like to be seen as a Paolo Maldini type of player so that when people speak about Arsenal, they speak of me. It’s something I feel strongly about. Titles and trophies can be won and they stay with you but loyalty remains even longer. When you arrive at training and you see you have received so many letters asking you to stay, it has an effect. When you get that on a daily basis it counts for something.”

In the summer I was desperate for Thierry to stay but this season he has been off colour and not the same player. It would be excellent if he can find his form again this season when he returns in the new year.

That’s enough for a Christmas Day special on The Cannon. I’m off to go watch a crappy movie. Enjoy the game tomorrow.

Quite a pleasing title I think you’ll agree

Well yesterday I got my birthday present from Arsenal, a whopping 8 goal thriller. Two penalties, a header, an overhead kick, a one-on-one, two Van Persie goals and a last minute Flamini goal. It was by far the most exiting game at the Emirates stadium so far, it had depression, jubilation, tension and comedy (love you Cesc for the nutmeg on Savage :)). We started with the team everyone expected and there was good feeling around the ground, everyone I heard thought we would win and were pleased to have Rosicky back.

When the game started I was thinking to myself we can’t go one down again, and you know what? Two minutes later we did. Nonda played Bentley through who brought down Toure forcing him to fall onto Bentley. The ref pointed to the spot and it wasn’t the only shit decision he made, the ref was terrible; he really did not know what he was doing. Nonda took the penalty, he placed it low to Lehmann’s right. He went the right way but it was a well taken penalty and out of the German’s reach. 1-0 down, at least we had 87 minutes to sort it out.

We didn’t have to wait long for the equalizer through, captain fantastic Gilberto popped up at a Robin Van Persie corner to head us back level in the 10th minute. From a corner on the left we hit the bar and from the resulting corner RVP played a brilliant ball in to the edge of the six yard box, Gilberto leapt like a salmon and headed into the far corner of the net. 1-1 C’mon The Arsenal.

The third goal was scored by Alex Hleb. It was a beautiful move with Fabregas playing it to Adebayor who fed in Hleb into the box. Alex rounded one defender and then slotted the ball calmly into the opposite corner of the net past Friedel. We were 2-1 up now; 20 minutes ago I was thinking it was going to be another one of those days but credit has got to go to the boys for fighting back so well.

Blackburn still looked dangerous so we really needed to get that 2 goal cushion, so we did Adebayor played a ball over the top for Van Persie who was hacked down by their captain Neill and it was now our chance to score from the spot. Adebayor put the ball down which was surprising, I thought Gilberto would be taking it but for some reason he wasn’t. I wasn’t very confident of Ade converting; I knew that Friedel is a very good shot stopper. However it was a very good penalty sending the ‘keeper the wrong way, we had that two goal cushion now and went in at half time 3-1 up.

The second half we started well, we didn’t score but we were playing some excellent football and forming some great moves and passing triangles. However after the hour mark we began to get sloppy again and we conceded with just over 20 minutes to go from some poor defending. A ball was crossed in from the right and it went to a man unmarked at the far post who only managed to hit the bar, but the ball rebounded straight to Nonda who converted with an overhead kick from close range. Blackburn we back in it now, one goal and they could earn a point.

We were very sloppy at this point in the game and it’s been the same old story every game: STOP GIVING AWAY THE BALL! We do it far too much and we get punished for it, it was quite tense watching and it was obvious someone was going to score before the whistle went. Thankfully that man was Robin Van Persie. Some good skill in the area to confuse the defender and then he shot along the floor and the ball just bent nicely into the far corner, a really nice goal. 4-2 now, surely game over?

Blackburn were all over the place now and were playing very open with no shape trying to somehow score, that favoured Arsenal and we added two more goals before time was up. Adebayor played a great through ball into the box for Fabregas, and instead of shooting Cesc squared it the Robin who was able to slot the ball it the net with ease. 5-2 now, Robin on his hattrick.

There was three minutes of extra time and we waited until the very end of that to make it six. Cesc Fabregas had the ball out wide on the left and Savage was trying to steal it, Cesc skilled him a few times but then finished with a beautiful nutmeg to allow him through, he had a shot which was blocked by Friedel but it came out nicely for Flamini who just shot into the empty goal to finish to 8 goal thriller.

A fantastic performance all round for Arsenal, there were quite a few players having a great game and not one who had a bad one. Rosicky was excellent and how we’ve missed him. Was nice to see six Arsenal goals in one game, all the goals were really good and well constructed. We’ve got bottom of the table Watford next so hopefully we can continue that form. I’d like to see Baptista up front at some point, he was great at that training day and I really want him to get the chance to prove himself. He came on in the 89th minute yesterday so had no time to impress.

Last night I realised there are 31 days in December and I could’ve gone to Sheff. Utd. away, however I was too late and they’ve all sold out. Shit. Oh well, going to Anfield next month so that’ll be good, sorted my travel out for that one yesterday.

Hopefully a special Christmas day Watford preview tomorrow. If not, have a great Xmas. Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow we face Blackburn at Ashburton Grove and it was announced yesterday we have a few injury troubles. Emmanuel Eboue picked up an ankle injury against Portsmouth and has not recovered in time, you’d think Lauren might play but Arsene has chosen not to rush Ralphy back and Justin Hoyte will play right back. Flamini is also an option to replace Eboue but he it looks like he will also be out with a shoulder injury. Gallas has still not recovered even though he was expected back about two weeks ago, it looks as if it’ll be another fortnight before we see the Frenchman. Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg are both still out and we’re looking at seeing them back in the new year.

Here’s what Arsene said yesterday about our injury situation:

“Eboue came off with an ankle injury in our last game against Portsmouth. We thought it would be a matter of days but he will certainly be out on Saturday against Blackburn. It will be Justin Hoyte who plays. There was a small injury to Mathieu Flamini that meant he could not travel to Liverpool. So I don’t know whether I will have him in the squad or not on Saturday. There is no way back yet for William Gallas, he’ll be one or two weeks more. It is difficult to set a time on Thierry Henry. Freddie Ljungberg’s hamstring injury was 21 days so it is two more weeks from now.”

Quite a few big names there but we can cope without. Eboue was a bit of a shock but I’m glad is putting his confidence in Hoyte rather than rushing Lauren back. The team pretty much picks itself but this is how I’d like to see us start tomorrow:

Adebayor must start after proving how influential he is to this team last week, don’t know what was going on with Aliadiere starting last week but I hope he’s resting on the bench tomorrow. I’d be surprised if the team was anything other than that, the only reason would be if Arsene was to rest any of them, hopefully he’s learned his lesson last week and at Wigan that he cannot afford to. It would be nice to see Lauren get a run out, he’d get a fantastic reception and I’m sure everyone is keen to see how he has recovered.

Rosicky is back and Lauren is pretty much back, now Abou Diaby is setting his sights on joining them. Arsene has said that he’ll “come back to full training at the beginning of January” and he’ll be “playing games at the end of January.” Can’t wait for Abou to get back and continue his mission to fill Vieira’s boots, hopefully the injury won’t have altered his playing style or commitment long-term.

Recently we’ve been linked with Wigan’s left back Leighton Baines. I doubt the story has any truth behind it as Wenger has come out many times saying Gael Clichy will be the successor to Ashley Cole. However Wigan are worried and so they should be, Baines is a good player and is an important member in the England under 21’s. Paul Jewell has said that £4million is nowhere near enough to take him away from the JJB. I don’t think we have got eyes on him anyway and we’re got better players in Clichy and Traore. Speaking of Gael Clichy, he’s been saying he and his Arsenal team mates need to concentrate over this Christmas period.

If you can remember, a while back Arsenal were linked with Ghana midfielder Stephen Appiah, well last summer Wenger made an offer to bring him to the club. Many fans were unhappy with our lack of transfers this year but at least Arsene tried to bring in some real talent to the club. Appiah decided to stay at Fenerbahce but he’s revealed he got some interesting offers in the transfer window:

“At the start of the season I received offers to move. Among them were clubs as important as Barcelona and Arsenal. I had to say to all of them that, no, I preferred to stay at Fenerbahce. Barca and Arsenal made me very attractive offers.”

Fair play, if he wants to stay then we can force him to come, at least Arsene tried to get him though.

It’s Jesus‘ birthday on Monday, he may have been dead over two thousand years but the media have been linking us with a move for the winger. Anyway, it’s not Jesus’ birthday yet, it’s mine; so I’m off to enjoy my day. Thanks for reading Gooners, and guess what…a match report to come.

Mwhahahahahaha!

Well when I say ‘World’, I really just mean England; And I say ‘take over’ I more mean to say ‘dominate football’. The Togolese striker, Emmanuel “The Super-Sub” Adebayor has said that one day Arsenal will be the team to beat in England. This is what he told the Daily Mirror:

“When I look at our squad I think we’ll be unstoppable within the next two seasons. With talented guys like Emmanuel Eboue, Cesc Fabregas, Johan Djourou and Theo Walcott, we’re the future of the English game and everyone can see that now.”

Ade is still quite young himself and he’ll probably be in that incredible team of the future. I think this is the one thing that keeps Arsenal fans from going insane. These past couple of years we’ve had some ups, but mainly downs and now our target is forth place, alot different from what most Gooners’ are used to. However they all know that will the young team that Wenger has been building up we will be a major force in football in a few years time. This is how I see our team looking as it stands with no transfers:

Goalkeeper: Vito Mannone
Back 4: Eboue, Djourou, Senderos, Clichy
Midfield: van den Berg, Fabregas (c), Diaby, Efrem
Strikers: Walcott & Van Persie

However, a few years after that we would still have a great team:

Goalkeeper: Lee Butcher
Back 4: Hoyte, Djourou, Connolly, Traore
Midfield: Walcott, Denilson, Muamba, Merida
Strikers:Bendtner & Stokes

So the future is very, very bright for Arsenal and I think any team in the world would be proud to have the promising young squad that we have. Obviously those teams above will change and there will be transfers in and out but there is just two possible teams of the future. I reckon Cesc will become captain after Henry moves on, and then Connolly will take over after Fabregas. It’s a very exiting future but we have to concentrate on present times, those good young players will leave if we’re no longer a top flight club and the whole plan will be ruined. As for this season I reckon we are looking at third or fourth, a nice stable position but there’s have to be a major disruption to either Chelsea or Man United for us to squeeze into second or possibly first. I thought with both Cech and Cudicini injured I thought Chelsea would slip and drop points all over the shop opening up that 2nd place but praise must go to them for staying up there.

Arsene Wenger hasn’t given up on the title though, we may be 14 points behind Manchester United but Arsene is still fighting. This is what he had to say:

“It looks far away, and that is why I believe at the moment it would look a bit pretentious to say that we will be champions this time - but on the other hand, I have not given up. I feel there is potential in the team and we are not missing a lot. Perhaps we are lacking that bit of concentration and the games at home where we are always 1-0 down at set-pieces. Overall what makes me positive is this team can make a great comeback because they have a special character and special qualities.”

It’s nice that he’s still trying and I know that he won’t stop until it’s mathematically impossible, he’s said that before, and even then he won’t just give up, he’ll still push the team to do their very best. I think Arsene knows that it’s pretty unlikely for us to be champions but at least if we are up there pushing the top two then if they slip up, we are there to pounce.

Not alot of news around today either, you’d think with the bust Xmas period there would be. That’s your lot for today, hopefully I’ll have a Blackburn preview tomorrow but it’s my birthday so I don’t know. I’ll try anyway. See you later.

p.s. I almost forgot, the Liverpool Carling Cup game has been moved to the 9th January so the semi-final origionally organised for the 10th will have to be moved too, more on that nearer the time.

Last night I didn’t get the chance to collapse on my sofa in front of the game because it got called off due to heavy fog. I found out about 6 o’clock that there was going to be a pitch inspection at quarter past. They decided there would be another one at 6:45 and a final decision would be made then. The referee Martin Atkinson said the conditions were not good enough for the game to go ahead and the game was postponed. It was clearing up at this point and both managers were happy to play the game but Atkinson’s decision was to do with the fans.

He and his officials went up into the stands to check it out and said that many fans would not be able to see the game. I wouldn’t mind that, it would be quite hilarious not being able to see areas of the pitch and be a completely different experience. I’m sure the atmosphere would’ve been amazing if the game went ahead; could you imagine if we scored at the opposite end of the ground where the fans were unable to see and then you see Alex Song storming through the mist in some sort of Matrix fashion, would’ve made fantastic viewing.

The game was called off an hour before kick off and by the time 7:45 actually came it was pretty clear, they should’ve called it back on and had a late kick off because it’s going to cause some major problems rescheduling this match. Every mid-week and weekend slot is taken up between now and the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. It looks as if the game might have to be played the when the semi final is meant to be and then push that fixture ahead to another time. There were ideas of having the game tonight but Liverpool have to inform Merseyside Police at least 10 days prior to a football match scheduled at Anfield.

So now it’s looking like we’ll play at Anfield in the FA Cup in the evening on Saturday the 9th and then again in the Carling Cup either the Tuesday or Wednesday. We may as well just stay up there. If you think it’s annoying the game was cancelled, think of how all the Gooners that travelled up there must feel. All the way to Liverpool. 200 miles for nothing. I promised you a match report today but I hope you’ll forgive me that there isn’t one, but you can find one here.

Tony Adams came back to Arsenal as an opposition coach at the weekend and won a point with Portsmouth. Arsene Wenger has said he could one day become manager of Arsenal. He didn’t have a very good start to his career as a manager with Wycombe but who knows he might get good. I know the fans would like to see Tony as our manager but I’m not sure if the man himself would. He missed the last day at Highbury and DB10’s testimonial so I’m not sure if he would like a return to Arsenal.

There’s not much other news, only that Thierry Henry won the French Player of the Year award for the fourth year in a row. It was a bit of a given that he would so no surprise there. Thierry to make it five next year? I wouldn’t bet against it.

That’s it for today arse fans, have a good day.

Ralph Lauren played in a reserve game last week which was a significant step towards his recovery and now he’s been named in the Carling Cup squad for tonight’s trip to Anfield. I was at the open training session on Monday and it was very nice to see both Lauren and Diaby out on the Ashburton Grove pitch. I don’t think Lauren will be getting 90 minutes tonight but I think we might see him at some point. It’s fantastic news that he’s back to 1st team football though and hopefully he’ll be back playing regular football soon.

The rest of the squad is Toure, Senderos, Rosicky, Baptista, Denilson, Song, Poom, Almunia, Aliadiere, Hoyte, Walcott, Traore, O’Cearuill, Merida and Randall. You can see some of the big names have been left out but there are four or five players that are regular 1st team players, I hope we field the strongest possible line up out of those names with all the main ones starting. I doubt Lauren will start and I expected Walcott to be rested; Theo played 89 minutes against Wigan and 83 against Pompey so I didn’t think the 17 year old would be playing most of this game too. However with the names that are in the squad it looks like he will be playing.

So, across the back I’d like to see Hoyte, Senderos, Toure and Traore. Then in midfield Rosicky, Baptista, Denilson and Merida. I think the Brazilian pairing in the middle will work well and Merida can play central and left midfield, he is a good player but I don’t see anyone else who will play left wing apart from a striker in a 4-5-1. Then up front I’d like Aliadiere and Walcott starting, Jeremie is the only out and out striker named in the squad however Baptista and Theo can play as a forward. I think Wenger will go with a 4-5-1 though dropping Walcott back into right midfield and possibly playing Rosicky through the middle or on the left.

I see Lauren coming on in the second half for a run out but he might start and then be replaced later on so not to aggravate any injury. Wenger has praised Ralphy for his commitment and his effort to get match fit again. It was a terrible injury nearly a year ago and we have to give credit to him. Here’s what the boss had to say:

“It is nice just to have him back. If you think what Lauren has gone through recently, the strength of character this guy has shown is amazing. And when you are at a big club that is the first quality that you need. There was a question mark about [his future] I must honestly say. But his desire, his strength and the way he practiced and worked so hard during his rehabilitation was top, top class. But I am not surprised. I know him and I brought him here. Lauren is an exceptional human being. That is why he came back It is great to have such an experienced player and such a winner with us again. When you have him in the side then you always have a chance.”

Nice words from Wenger; I’m sure he as much as anyone is exited about Lauren’s return. We’ll see if he’s still got it tonight or we may see him against Blackburn on Saturday.

While there’s all this good injury news on Lauren, Ljungberg’s injury will see him out until 2007. He’s been injured alot this season and to be honest, this time I am not bothered. Freddie has not been great this season and last season it was evident he was on the decline scoring only one or two goals. I believe the Swede will be on his way soon, he’s been incredible for this club, a great member who I will never forget but everybody’s time comes to an end one day. Rosicky is back now so we’ve got a more than good enough replacement in him.

A quick word about that open training session thing yesterday. The players were about half an hour late out leaving a couple of thousand Gooners sitting waiting in the English winter. They ran about a bit and stuff and did a little passing and moving and defence verses attack. I left early to go and buy tickets but I think they had a little game at the end. The highlight for me was seeing Lauren and Diaby out training. Ralph was training with the others as normal but Abou came out late and was running lengths with a coach. They both looked quite fit and ready and hopefully they’ll be pushing for places in the team in the very near future.

As I said I left early to buy tickets, it took me three attempts to buy the bastards. Firstly the cash point buy the box office wasn’t working so I queued up only for them to tell me they don’t accept my card. So I ran for 15 minutes to the nearest cash point but it was one of those ones that you have to pay for so I withdrew the minimum I thought I needed for the tickets. Then I ran all the way back, queued up again, then to find out the tickets were ₤34 not ₤27. So I had to run all the way around the stadium to my mate to borrow money because I wasn’t gonna go to that bloody cash point again. So then when I finally made it to the front of the queue for the third time I thought that would be it. But no. When the guy went off to get some change he came back and told me that I’d only given him ₤50 not ₤70. I was going mad because I had somehow lost ₤20. Anyway, in the end I managed to get the tickets for the FA Cup game in Anfield in the end but it was one hell of a struggle. No idea how I’m getting there yet.

Ok, it’s the Carling Cup at Anfield tonight though. There were tickets for tonight on sale yesterday too but God knows how I would’ve got up to Liverpool so it’s just Sky Sports 1 and a sofa for me tonight. I’m not expecting anything but hopefully we’ll progress, I don’t know how strong a line-up Liverpool will field but they won’t be easy that’s for sure. Match report tomorrow, until then.

p.s. Sorry for the lack of blogging this week, my internet’s been broken and whatever but I’m back.

Another terrible first half. Wigan was bad and I expected improvements but we were shocking. We started with Aliadiere and RVP up front in a 4-4-2 but Ljungberg picked up and injury in the 7th minute and Theo Walcott replaced him. So we had quite an attacking side out but we were just appalling. We had a couple of chances form forced errors but we didn’t create anything. I was sitting very high up and dead in the centre behind the goal so I could see exactly how the team was shaping up and forming their moves…or lack of them. After 40mins I’d had enough and it was a rare early trip into the concourses at half time. I was not happy with the team and I knew we would have to start fresh in the second half. As I was queuing up for my drink a bad 1st half just got even worse as Pompey scored.

Portsmouth weren’t great themselves but to be fair they are not a great side. They didn’t create a great deal like us but they kept the ball well and did look dangerous. The goal was scored by Noe Pamarot with the last move of the half, Portsmouth got a free kick 30 yards out on the right wing. The ball was whipped in and it hit the post, for some reason Lehmann decided to dive into the net so when Pamarot was unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box he was able to head into an empty net. I was not happy but I didn’t think this game was lost.

The second half started and the first half ended, with another Pompey goal. We won the ball near the corner flag by stupidly gave it straight away again, the ball was crossed in to the back post were an unmarked man in blue shot at goal. It took couple of deflections and was set nicely for Mathew Taylor to volley on the edge of the box, it looped over Lehmann and went into the far corner of the goal, another good goal for Taylor and for the first time at the Grove we were 2-0 down.

That second blow made me feel sick, I was just walking to my seat when they scored and I was still upset at the first goal. I felt like leaving because we were never going to score two goals the way we played in the first half. The atmosphere was shit up to now and no wonder the team don’t do well at home, as we sat there in silence Pompey were singing, “You’re supposed to be at home!” Too right they are, yesterday’s game had the worst atmosphere out of all the games this season. However after we went two down the crowd perked up. The second goal was scored in the 47th minutes so at least we had a fair amount of time to sort it out.

Adebayor was brought on after their goal and he changed the game, with his first move he got into the box and had a penalty appeal turned down. Three minutes after coming on, Ade started our comeback scoring passed David James. Hleb played a fantastic through ball to Walcott from the halfway line and Theo was past the defence on the right ready to cross it in. He kept it low and Adebayor had forced his way ahead of Campbell and tapped the ball to the ‘keeper’s left. 2-1, come on Arsenal.

We needed to keep that momentum to score again and we did, two minutes later. Adebayor crossed in from inside the box, it went past the box and Walcott knocked it back to Gilberto who was on the corner of the six yard box, he shot on the turn and it trickled past James and sneaked into the far corner. Ashburton Grove erupted and we were back level at 2-2.

2-0 down I thought this match was lost and I thought Portsmouth were going to be the team to stop our unbeaten record at the Emirates Stadium. The atmosphere was electric now as the Gooners’ tried to inspire our team to complete an incredible comeback. We had a few good chances to nick the third but we wouldn’t have deserved the win anyway. We were shit the first half and not amazing in the second, arseblogger is right, questions have to be asked of yesterday’s team. And don’t forget the manager. Arsene was dismissed from the bench after arguing with the referee at half time. The team selection was a bit of a shock, gilbertosilver and I couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw Aliadiere warming up. I said I’d like for him to do well, he didn’t do badly but he actually did nothing, Sol Campbell had him in his pocket and was not causing Pompey any problems.

His replacement was fantastic though. Adebayor had one of his better games and like at Wigan, he saved the day. When he first arrived at Arsenal I was not keen on him at all but this season his emerged as one of my favourite players. He must’ve been tired from the last game for him not to start. We’ve got Liverpool next in the Carling Cup on Tuesday, we won’t see a full strength Arsenal team but I’m pretty sure the Scoucers will field the best possible side. They played very well against Charlton this weekend and we’ll have to play very well not to beat them.

I’ve had to write too many negative match reports on this site, hopefully things will improve over the next few games. I’m off down to the Grove tomorrow for some open training session, it’s free so why not? I’m going to buy my FA Cup tickets for Anfield while I’m down there, Henry is targeting this for his comeback game; I’m exited for this one already.

Thanks for reading.

It was the draw for the first knockout round of the Champions League in Nyon yesterday morning and Arsenal were drawn with PSV Eindhoven. It was probably the best tie we could get and when PSV’s name came out I was hoping Arsenal’s would follow. In September 2002 we beat them 4-0 with Gilberto scoring in 20 seconds and in 2004 we drew 1-1 at Highbury. It’s by no means an easy tie and I’m sure Arsene Wenger will not underestimate the Dutch champions, we should progress to the next round but lets take each match at a time. Coming 1st in our group means we get the 2nd leg at home which is always good, we travel to Holland on Tuesday 20th February for the first leg and they come here on Wednesday 7th March. Here’s the draw in full:

Porto v Chelsea
Celtic v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
Lille v Manchester United
Roma v Lyon
Barcelona v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Inter Milan v Valencia

Some very interesting ties there: Mourinho etc make the trip back to Porto and hopefully the runners-up from our group do the business over Chelsea. Celtic play AC Milan in a tough tie but I think Celtic can progress if they play well, Milan are not doing well domestically and the Glasgow outfit will be looking to cause an upset. The current holders Barcelona were drawn with the previous winners Liverpool, Barca will be the favourites but I think Liverpool has what it takes to beat them. It’ll be an interesting game and definitely one to watch.

The game isn’t for two months so I’ll build up to the game a bit nearer the time.

Today Portsmouth makes the trip north to London. They’re doing very well this season but they shouldn’t cause us any problems, they most definitely can but if we improve on the performance up in Wigan we should pick up another three points here. Pompey are having a bit of a striker crisis at the moment, in the week they had no fit strikers but ex-Gooner Kanu faces a late fitness test ahead of the game. However that’s still only one striker, there was talk of playing another ex-Gooner Sol Campbell up front as he’s the only man who has experience up front. It would be funny to see old Sol as a forward, but torture if he scored. If I remember correctly Sol scored a great goal against Portsmouth for Arsenal a couple of seasons ago in the last minutes when he was in a forward position, today he’ll be looking to do the opposite. There is alot of talk about the return of Tony Adams to North London. He was missing for the last game at Highbury, DB10’s testimonial and apparently Patrick Vieira’s testimonial. I’m sure he’ll get a fantastic reception from the Gooners and so he should, so what if he snubbed us for the last and first games at our respective stadiums, he is still a fucking legend in my mind.

Injury news Arsenal-wise isn’t great either. Tomas Rosicky and William Gallas were expected to play in this game but both are not included in the squad. Rosicky is just fit but Wenger doesn’t want to rush him back and has left him out of this one, he’ll be in the team for the next game though. Gallas is also short for today’s match, he’s at least another 10 days away according to Mr. Wenger but we’ve got talented back up so I’m not too worried. However there’s good news on Ralph Lauren, he played his first proper football yesterday in a friendly behind closed doors against Hoang Anh Gia Lai from Vietnam. He captained the Arsenal reserves against the V League side and managed 55 minutes with no problems, this is great news on Lauren’s recovery. He’s expected back next month and it couldn’t come any sooner: Eboue is getting quite sloppy at the back and I think it’s mainly down to him not having any real competition for his place in the team.

I hope we go 4-4-2 against Portsmouth, we stupidly went with one striker at Wigan and it didn’t pay off. It really was poor tactics from Arsene and even I know that a 4-4-2 is best to play a side like Wigan. Wenger switched to 4-4-2 for the end of the game and hopefully he’ll continue that for this game. I think the team should be Lehmann, Eboue, Djourou, Toure, Clichy, Ljungberg, Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb, Van Persie and Adebayor. Walcott will probably still be tired from starting against Wigan so he shouldn’t start but maybe he’ll come on later in the game. Ljungberg will start purely because we haven’t got another Wigan and Baptista won’t be in the starting 11 simply because Fabregas and Gilberto are better. If Wenger does go 4-5-1 he might put RVP out wide and switch Hleb for Flamini but hopefully these are the names I’ll be shouting from block 123 Upper today.

Best of luck to he boys today, I’d love to see us win convincingly, I don’t mean lots of goals, just a performance where we deserve the win (unlike Wigan). I’ll try and update the site asap but I think I’m going out after the game so I’ll probably be Sunday before I publish my thoughts on the game. Until then, good morning.

The first half was absolutely shocking and ideas that we were improving were quickly dismissed. There was no Fabregas who as rested as I thought he might be and Hleb was replaced my Walcott. Before the game I was saying we needed to let Cesc sit out of this one but we really missed him and you could see how much of a vital player his is to this team. We played a 4-5-1 again and we really need to stop, it just didn’t allow us to create anything. We should only use this formation against the top teams and ones that will cause us problems. Wigan is not one of those teams and neither is Portsmouth so hopefully we’ll go back to two up top on Saturday.

I can’t even bring myself to write about the first half, it was a terrible performance from the boys and there was no urgency or quality about our play. We just kept giving the ball away again which is something we’ve been doing alot of recently. Things did get better in the second half but still we weren’t playing anywhere near as good as we can. I liked the look of Clichy in the second half; he was getting down the wing well and crossing in some good balls. In the 52nd minute Gael crossed and there were three Arsenal players in the box (for once) and the ball arrived at Walcott’s feet. Theo didn’t really know what to do and pressure from Wigan’s defenders forced a corner. The ball was whipped in and headed out by a defender but it went straight to Ljungberg who drove back into the box and squared the ball across to Adebayor but it was too far in front of him and the attack was over.

We were starting to find some rhythm now and starting to create some decent attacking moves. 2 minutes later Gilberto played an excellent through ball for Adebayor but he couldn’t quite reach it but he was clean through if he got it right. The game was much more open now in the second half and it was pretty much end-to-end attacking football.

In the 56th minute Baptista played a great ball through to Walcott on the right who squared it for Adebayor to tap into the open net. Somehow Ade couldn’t get a touch on it with the pressure from a defender and the ball just went running past him. Should’ve really been one nil here.

Wigan were having chances of their own though and we had to make sure our defending was tight so we didn’t concede. Josip Skoko picked up the ball on the outside of the box and shot a powerful shot towards goal, it looked dangerous but it went straight at Lehmann who was able to divert the ball away from goal.

Kolo Toure had an excellent game at the back and he needed to be with all the attacks we were letting Wigan have. Kolo only made one mistake in the game, just after the hour mark. We were passing the ball around the back four when he got the ball stuck underneath his feet and Camara pounced to steal the ball and had only the ‘keeper to beat. Toure did incredibly well though to force the Wigan striker out wide and nick the ball back off him.

Baptista got a rare start today so everybody had one eye on the Brazilian to see what he could do. His first half wasn’t especially good but neither was anyone’s. I was trying to watch his game but every time he got the ball he was closed down by an opposition player. He did play some clever through balls and some nice passes but I still can’t judge him, he really needs a good run of games. He took a good free kick on 66 minutes, the ball was heading for the top left corner dipping over the way but it went just wide. He was substituted just after that along with Flamini as Fabregas and Van Persie came on to try and get a wining goal. Things were getting a bit rushed and nervous and bringing on these two was good for the team. Also we switched to a 4-4-2 after the subs came on and our shape looked much better, Wenger must realise this is our best formation.

With 5 minutes to go we won a free kick near the half way line and Cesc played a great long ball over the top for Adebayor to run onto. His first touch wasn’t great and Kirkland just collected it before it could be knocked into the goal. However two minutes later, Fabregas played another long ball over the defence for Adebayor and this time his control was good and he simply slotted it between the ‘keepers legs to get the last minute winner for Arsenal.

Cesc was really influential when he came on and I think it might’ve been 0-0 if it weren’t for him. It could’ve been 1-0 to them if it weren’t for Toure. We might not have deserved that win but I’ll take a scrappy three points any day. That win puts us up to third, 10 pts behind Chelsea and 15 behind Man United; there’s only 5 points between us in 3rd and Everton in 10th though so we can’t afford to drop points and be overtaken by the chasing pack. It’s the draw for the next round of the Champions League tomorrow so I’ll write up about that at some point. See ya.

Yesterday was a big day for The Cannon as the site got it’s 100,000th hit. It’s quite a big milestone for my site and I know in comparison with the bigger blogs that’s nothing and they probably get that in a week, however for my small and fairly new blog, I think that’s quite impressive.

The Cannon was born on 18th May 2006 when I’ve just arrived home after a disappointing trip to Gay Paris. In Paris I met with several well known bloggers and it inspired me to write a website of my own. I didn’t know how long I’d stick with the idea or where it was going but it was something to fill my time. Since then there has been 150 posts (this one being no.151), 748 comments and as I type 100,667 hits. I didn’t think when I started I’d get this far by the end of the year so I’m pretty chuffed; I remember when I got my first hit, that was pretty exciting.

Tonight we make the trip up to Wigan and we should be returning with all 3 points. Toure is back but Rosicky and Gallas are still out and will probably play against Portsmouth on Saturday. Thierry Henry is also out and isn’t expected to be back until after Christmas, the side have proved we can do well without him but luckily our next 6 games are not that tricky.

Tonight I think we should go 4-4-2 with Van Persie and Adebayor up front. Then Across the midfield Ljungberg, Gilberto, Baptista and Hleb. And in Defence Eboue, Djourou, Toure and Clichy. I think Fabregas and/or Flamini should be rested for this one, it’s not showing Wigan any lack of respect because we’ve still got real quality there but Cesc really does need a rest. Also I’d pick Djourou ahead of Senderos but if Wenger will I do not know. The game is on Sky Sports 1 I think but there are still tickets left last time I check so get your arse up to Wigan if you can, it might be a game to remember, you’ll never know. The last one was…

Yesterday I was saying how Bendtner and Lupoli might look away from Arsenal this summer, well today Arsene has said he will not be selling Anthony Stokes or Nicklas Bendtner. I’m sure he’s keen to keep Lupoli too but Arturo has an ambition to play back in Italy and I don’t think Arsene will stop him. Nicklas and Anthony have been doing incredibly well at their respective clubs on loan and Arsene has warned off all the interested parties saying, “They both have a future with us and we want to keep them.” I’m not sure whether the two will be playing in Arsenal’s colours next season or whether they’ll opt for another loan deal but at some stage these two will be important members of our squad.

Alexander Hleb has been saying poor finishing has been our major downfall this season. Alex smashed a shot way over the bar at Stamford Bridge in the final minutes at the weekend and he is probably the main culprit for what he is saying. He is right though, a few games this season we’ve had so many chances but we were unable to stick the ball in the net. Here’s what Alex had to say:

“I have watched United a couple of times. If they have chances, they use them. Their execution is on the highest level. Even if we just converted one out of five chances, we would be right up there with them, even if we weren’t quite on the same level. And we would have had fewer problems in the UEFA Champions League too. Of course we’re the ones to blame for missing from unthinkable positions, though bad luck does play its part too.”

Hopefully that run of luck is over now and hopefully Alex will sort out his shooting. Last season he never shot at all but now he’s got an eye for goal but more than a few times he’s blasted it well off target.

Enjoy the game tonight, thanks for reading. As always a match report to come. Until then.

Theo Walcott won the 2006 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award on Sunday, he came second one year ago but this year he picked up the main prize. 2006 has been a fantastic year for young Theo, In January he joined Arsenal FC from Southampton after an impressive spell at the Championship club. Then he was picked by Sven for England’s squad that would represent the country in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Also towards the end of this year Theo has made several appearances for Arsenal and is proving to be a massive member of our squad. I think Theo definitely deserved the award this year and hopefully it will give him the confidence to go on to greater things.

Two other Arsenal youngsters have been in the news this week. Arturo Lupoli and Niklas Bendtner have been saying how it is quite likely that they won’t return to Arsenal in the summer. It’s something that has been in the news for a while now and I’m sure most Arsenal fans do not want to see these two leave. They are promising strikers who could possibly one day be the future partnership up front for Arsenal; they’re both scoring goals for fun at their respective clubs and obviously enjoying their time there.

Lupoli is currently on loan at Derby and is looking at his options around Europe for his next move:

“The contract with Arsenal expires in June and there isn’t an agreement for the renewal. To remain I want guarantee, and I’m not referring to financial matters. I’ve accepted the loan to Derby because I know there is not space at Arsenal. Should it be up to me at this point, I’d like to come back to Italy. In England I’ve had two important years, it’s been really constructive. Offers? Valencia and Liverpool have followed me. In Italy there are Fiorentina, Udinese and Napoli.”

It’s good that other clubs are noticing Arturo but Arsene Wenger must be hoping that he’ll return to Arsenal soon. He might need a couple more years out on loan but if he is patient then he’ll been in the first team squad at Arsenal; surely that is worth waiting for?

As for Bendtner, well he’s said it’s pretty much Arsenal or Birmingham:

“Arsenal need to give me a sign they are going to play me. I’ve had a taste of regular football and I don’t want to be back in the reserves again.”

A bit of a cocky attitude you might say but it just shows this boy is keen to play his football. I don’t blame him for wanting assurance from Arsenal before he returns, maybe another year loaned to the Blues is a good idea but if he did come back now then I think he might get a place on the bench. Aliadiere has been a substitute a few times this season and in my opinion the Dane is much better than Jeremie. However Nicklas would be behind Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor in striker selection.

I hate the way good, promising youngsters go out on loan and then don’t bother coming back. I know that they will like it at their temporary clubs because of all the first team football and they will be treated as a very valuable member of the squad. However if they wait a few more years they will be playing for Arsenal instead of Birmingham and instead of Derby. If they just have patience then their footballing career will be so much better than what they think it might. But there’s nothing I can say that’ll change the minds of these two ambitious strikers.

Arsene Wenger reckons that Gael Clichy is definitely the man to replace Ashley Cole long-term at Arsenal:

“Gael is the answer, 100 per cent the answer. When we lost Ashley Cole, we were thinking ‘OK we have got Clichy, injured’ but with a lot of potential. What he is doing now at the moment after being out for one year is quite amazing. He is handling it very well and he is getting stronger with every game. It is a good challenge for him, because he will be compared to his model. He always said ‘Ashley Cole is my model’ and he will be compared to his model. Ashley is playing well and I am not surprised because we lost a player who is 26-years-old, the best age for a football player. But Gael has the potential.”

Clichy is only 21 and is very much still learning his football but I also think he is the one to replace Ashley Cole. The two came up against each other on Sunday and swapped shirts after the game and now Gael must learn to be just as good as our old left back. He’s got alot to live up to though, Cole is probably the best left back in the world, so committed, a great football and very quick too; obviously I wish the whole thing with the book and the money never happened but it did, and now we have to move on and find someone new. Someone said something the other day tat made me think, Ashley Cole always gave 110% when he was in an Arsenal shirt, even at the end of last season when it was obvious he was leaving he still gave everything his body would give. I remember when he came back after his long injury last season, it was the Middlesbrough game when we won 7-0. Ashley wasn’t quite fit yet but Cygan picked up and injury and we had no other option but to bring him on, in the end he aggravated his own injury by returning to football too soon but he got a great reception. Ah! What am I saying? I feel dirty. Cole, you twat. Fuck off. That’s better…

And finally, Jens Lehmann has been saying that Fat Lampard likes to tease players in the game. Apparently Lampard is an ‘insult specialist’ whereas Drogba does nothing wrong and is actually a nice bloke. He’s what Jens said:

“Nothing happened with Drogba, I like him. I think the handshake between us says it all. You can have passion in the game but, as long as you get on with people nicely, it’s okay. He didn’t insult me in comparison with his team-mates - I never insult anyone - and I can’t complain about him. Some of his team-mates insulted me terribly but Drogba never does that so I have no problem with him. Lampard is a specialist in insulting people very badly but Drogba doesn’t say a word.”

Interesting. Drogba and Lehmann never seem to get on and I don’t think Jens actually likes him but possibly more respects him.

Possibly a Wigan preview tomorrow if I’ve got time. Thanks for reading.

A couple of weeks ago Arsenal had three very important games coming up that would shape our season. Tottenham at home: The first North London Derby at the Grove. Porto away: A result was vital to secure progression in the Champions League. Chelsea Away: A tough match against the Champions to show our ambitions this campaign. Spurs were a walkover but the two draws couldn’t have been more different, at Porto the ball was just passed around and nobody wanted to attack, as a draw was enough for both sides. However the draw at Stamford Bridge could not have been more different; It was a feisty game with passion and non-stop attacking. We played Chelsea at their strongest, apparently the best team in the world, desperate to get points to catch up with Man Utd and we held them to a draw. For a side sitting in 7th before the game that’s not bad.

We started with a 4-5-1 with Hleb, Gilberto, Fabregas, Flamini and Van Persie in midfield; a team that we expected really although Baptista could’ve been playing ahead of Flamini but the Frenchman turned out to have a great game. I think The Beast will be heading back to Spain after this season; it’s a shame because he’s a really talented player and if only Arsene Wenger would give him a chance. He played against Newcastle I think and had a shocking performance but I think he is past that now and he’s scored his first goal against Hamburg. I reckon he’ll start against Wigan on Wednesday, the tickets are on general sale by the way so if you can make it I’d recommend you go. I’d be there myself if it weren’t a mate’s birthday.

Anyway, the game had a slow but promising start and both teams had spells of possession equally but you could tell it was going to be a cracking game. No real chances were created in the first 15 minutes, there were a few attacks that could’ve developed but nothing came of them. In the 17th minute Ballack struck a long-range shot that just went wide and soon after that Lampard hit the post leaving Lehmann stranded but eventually we got it clear.

Before the half hour mark Van Persie hit a shot just wide, it was heading quite slowly to the corner of the goal but Hilario had it covered anyway. Then a few minutes later there was another nervy Chelsea attack, the ball got cross in which Senderos cleared straight to Essien but Gilberto flew in to block the shot. We had a few other chances before half time but nothing really decisive. Just before the break Chelsea nearly took the lead; A cross came in which Lehmann tried to catch and missed, the ball ended up at the feet of Essien and his shot was only stopped from hitting the back of the net by Cesc Fabregas who was standing on the post. The teams went in at half time 0-0 and you could say we were lucky not to be behind but thanks to some strong defending it was still goalless.

Both teams went close early in the second half, Van Persie headed over the bar and from Lampard’s free-kick Drogba headed just wide. The game was quite open, as it was in the first half and it was edge of your seat stuff as either side looked like they could get a goal. Fabregas hit a long range shot but it went straight at Hilario, it looked promising when Adebayor played the ball across to him but there wasn’t enough pace behind it and in the end was a comfortable save for the Chelsea 3rd choice ‘keeper.

An Arsenal vs. Chelsea match would be complete without the handbags between Lehmann and Drogba and halfway through the second half they were at it again. Drogba went down in the box appealing for a penalty, which Allan Wiley dismissed. Lehmann for some reason decided to push him on the back as he was leaving the box in a sort of fuck off/hurry up kind of way from which Drogba toppled to the ground like a tree. I really don’t know why Jens does all this because one day he’ll give away a penalty for doing something stupid and we will not be happy. Anyway, in return Drogba squared up to Jens and barged him over and then it was Lehmann’s turn for some theatrics. Both of them got yellow carded for it but really Jens shouldn’t have started it in the first place.

It looked like it was going to be a thrilling 0-0 draw but Mourinho wasn’t happy with that and threw on SWP and Robben to try and get a goal. They did cause Arsenal some problems: In the 70th minute the ball was stupidly given away to Robben who sprinted down towards the goal and fired in a shot which Lehmann managed to block but it was still in he six yard box and Gilberto managed to save the day again by knocking the ball away from Drogba just before the Ivory Coast striker was about to shoot. Another nerve-wracking moment, there were less than 20 minutes on the clock now but in the back of your mind you could tell there were still goals to be had.

It looked like it was going to be Chelsea who’d score and really, our tiring defence looked like they were hanging on for dear life. And then, we scored! Flamini picked up the ball just outside the area and played it out wide to Hleb in a crossing position, all the Chelsea defenders went back into the box expecting a ball to be played in leaving Flamini still on the edge of the box now unmarked. Hleb played the ball back to him and Flamini fired into the corner of the goal. Hilario got his fingertips to it but it wasn’t enough and we were leading with 10 minutes to go. If Cech or even Cudicini was between those posts it might’ve been a different story, Hilario has been okay for Chelsea in recent games including getting a clean sheet against Barcelona however today he just wasn’t good enough.

Every Gooner around the country went insane and I was jumping around my living room shouting at the TV. I could see the move happening and when the Flamster stuck the ball in the back of the net I exploded, the 3,000 odd Gooners at the Bridge went mad too as Flamini ran over to celebrate the goal. Then Ashley Cole came on the TV screen and that just made the goal even better. 1-0 to the Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and we were fucking loving it.

It was by no means over though, we had to keep it tight and defend well because Chelsea can score out of nothing. After our goal it was pretty much non-stop attack for Chelsea, they went close a few times but we hung on and were still leading. Then for some reason Wenger stuck on Ljungberg for Van Persie, it was one of those games where the team was performing well and there was no substitution that would help us. Then one minute later Essien equalized with a wonder goal, the ball was played back to him by Lampard and he struck a bullet from about 30 yards that swerved past Lehmann. No goalie in the world could’ve stopped that and all I could do was applaud such an amazing goal.

Chelsea weren’t done though and were desperate for the winning goal Essien hit the bar from practically underneath it, on the replay you can’t believe how he’s missed it and we were very very lucky still to be level. Also in the very last seconds Lampard squeezed a shot towards the near post and Flamini just got enough on it to deflect it onto the post. We had our own chance to win the game though in the final few minutes, Hleb found himself with the ball unmarked in the box but he just smacked the ball and it went miles over. I nice placed shot and maybe it could’ve been 2-1 but in the end I don’t think us winning would’ve been a fair result. So it finished 1-1, a fantastic game we might have complaints about there was a foul by Cole in the build up to Chelsea’s goal but it’s over now, that’s football for you. Luck evened itself out when Essien hit the bar.

The captain Gilberto Silva was incredible and put in an inspiring performance giving all he had. If only our main captain could have games like this week-in week-out we would be laughing. Adebayor is growing from strength to strength and looks a much better player now than he was last year. I was never his biggest fan but I really do like the lad now and I hope he can net a few more goals this season. Senderos looked quite shaky and Drogba got the best of him a few times, he made a few good interceptions but overall he didn’t have his best game in an Arsenal shirt. Clichy was good but over on the right Eboue was sloppy once again, gave the ball away too much and missed quite a few tackles, he’s only young and he will get better but he really does need to improve to play at this level. Fabregas had a quiet second half but overall he was very good in my opinion, some clever little passes and generally conducting Arsenal’s play from the centre was his game. He’s been desperate for a rest recently and I think on Wednesday Baptista should come in for the Spaniard.

Once again our away support was amazing, you could hear us in full voice throughout the game and well done to the few who smuggled in the phones and notes. We could hear you singing about Ashley Cole load and clear and it was wonderful.

The game was meant to be all about Ashley Cole but to be fair it died down once the game got going. He played alright and I’m sure he’s delighted with his foul that lead to the Chelsea goal. Can’t wait to give him my fair share of abuse when he comes to the Grove.

Arsene recokons that draw means we are still in the title race. Not so sure myself but you never know. That’s enough for today; build up to the Wigan game to come, until then.

Yesterday the club released this statement saying anyone bringing the inflatable phones or fake banknotes that would be ejected from the ground. Fair enough if the club says they don’t like the abuse that we will give Cole but they should be able to stop us for taking these objects in. It’s not as if they are knives and guns. I’d love to be going to this match, I for one would definitely be taking the big phone and banknotes in, obviously I wouldn’t be waving them about as I entered the stadium but once I was safely inside and the game had started I’d get them out. Even if we don’t mange to have the phones and banknotes I’m sure it’ll be great fun at the Bridge tomorrow, win or lose. I’d love to be going, it’s going to be an amazing game to be at; if anyone wants to give me an early Xmas present you know where I am.

Arsene Wenger has been saying ‘we should respect what Cole did for us”. What’s that? Get greedy and write a book about how we ruined his career? Obviously as the manager of Arsenal he has to say these nice things about Ashley Cole, however we the fans are allowed to voice exactly our opinions. When Gallas left Chelsea the Club sent out statements saying how he’s disrupted the club and just wanted money (it’s does beg the question why they wanted Cole to replace him but oh well) whereas Arsenal picked out what Cole had done for the club. That’s class. Chelsea do not have class.

I absolutely hate Chelsea; I hate them more than Spurs. Not just because they are cocky bastards but because they have ruined football. I suppose that means I hate Abramovich more but still Mourinho is a twat, Drogba is a twat, Cole is a twat, Essien is a twat…they are all twats. I’d love for us to beat them tomorrow, it really would be great for this club and who knows, we could consider ourselves title contenders again. Well maybe not but we’d be getting close to it. I believe we can beat them, Thierry believes we can beat them and I think most Gooners will say we can beat them if we perform like we know we can.

Yesterday it was announced that Djourou will be fit, that’s a massive relief otherwise we probably would’ve have to of put Hoyte in central defence. We’ve got Eboue on the right who’ll need to have a big game defensively to stop Cole’s surging runs, could you imagine if Cole scored tomorrow? Oh God I don’t even want to think about that…So this is how our back four will shape up:

Then for the rest it’s a bit harder to pick, I think Wenger will go with a 4-5-1 but I’d like to see two strikers. Below is the midfield and attack I think will start tomorrow and below that is what I would pick.

I’d really like Baptista to start but I really don’t know where he’d fit in, I’ve got this horrible feeling that he’ll go back to Madrid at the end of his loan and I’m pretty sure Reyes will want to stay there. We’ll just have to see how it goes. It will be interesting to see what team Arsene does actually go for. I just can’t wait for the game to start. Remember this game isn’t just about Ashley Cole, of course it’s a big part of the game as it’s the first time he plays against Arsenal but at some point we need to forget that and concentrate on winning the game.

Enjoy the game people, happy weekend.

Just before the massive game against Chelsea we’ve got really unlucky with our centre-backs. William Gallas targeted the Porto game as his comeback but wasn’t fit and is now only 20% likely to play against his old club. Kolo Toure is suspended after picking up a booking against Fulham and Senderos got red carded in that game but I’m not sure whether he’s suspended for this or not. Then to make matters worse Johann Djourou picked up an injury in Portugal and might miss the game too.

That’s all of our centre-backs out! However Wenger is “reasonably optimistic” that Johann will be fit for the Chelsea game and we really do need him to be. I think Senderos will be available though so it looks like it’ll be a Swiss pairing at the back on Sunday. If (touch wood) Djourou doesn’t make it then we’re going to have to put either Gilberto, Song or Flamini at centre-half. Hopefully Alex doesn’t set foot on Stamford Bridge otherwise we could be in for an embarrassment.

Even without these defenders AND Rosicky AND Henry I still think we have enough to cause Chelsea some problems. I’ll be sad if we lose but I’m half expecting us to pull off a result on Sunday. Even if things don’t go our way I’ll just be happy if we give Ashley Cole plenty of stick. I wish I was going but those who are have been asked to print off and take these Ashley Cole Banknotes along to wave at the bastard (you can see them on a link from this blog). I’m sure there’ll it’ll be great fun for all the Gooners going, I might go down to a pub in London to get a bit of atmosphere and sing “One man went to bed with Ashley…”. Jens Lehmann has been saying that Ashley Cole deserves everything he will get from the Arsenal fans, good on him. Alot of professionals would be saying he’s done alot for us and deserves some respect but Jens gets the idea. There’s a little less pressure off this game now seeing as we’re no longer challenging for the to spot, hopefully we can use that to our advantage and get a result.

In other news, Thierry Henry says he doesn’t regret choosing Arsenal over Barcelona despite Arsenal not challenging for the Title. He says there is such quality here and so many youthful players coming through we will be fighting for silverware. It’s really nice that Thierry has belief in this club and he will be very much a part of any triumph the club might have in the future. I’m sure he above all wants to win this Champions League after coming so close last year. Could 2007 be our year? Who knows?

That’s you lot for tonight, I wanna go to bed. Thanks for reading.

What a strange game.

We started with a weak 4-5-1 with Adebayor up front and Gilberto, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb and Ljungberg in midfield. The first half we were poor, we gave away the ball way too much and just created nothing. It really was not a good performance. We got caught in possession a few times and didn’t look comfortable on the ball whenever we got it. Also some sloppy defending allowed Porto a couple of chances hitting the woodwork twice. It was nervy stuff and with news filtering through of CSKA winning in Hamburg we had to make sure we didn’t concede.

We created on chance though just at the end of the half. Hleb played some clever one touch football with Fabregas and found himself in the box to right of the box and played a low ball across the goal. It was cut out by a Porto defender but just behind him was a man in red who would’ve tapped it in if it wasn’t intercepted. That was about as close as we got in the first 45 minutes and it finished at half time 0-0.

The second half wasn’t alot better. It started off a little bit brighter for us but it soon went back to the same old stuff from the first half, we had a few half chances but nothing really notable. Then from about 70 minutes both teams gave up and their managers were telling the players to slow down and go back. It was strange stuff to watch as Toure passed to Djourou, then Djourou to Eboue, Eboue to Toure, to Clichy, to Djourou, to Toure, to Djourou…and so on and so on for about 5 minutes straight. The last 20 minutes of the game was jus spent passing the ball between the players and kicking the ball of which both teams were happy to do. A few times one player would decide to attack despite his manager’s directions and would lose the ball allowing the oppositions defence to have a passing game.

At about 85 minutes the two Porto centre-backs were standing facing each other about 5 metres apart passing it back and forth about 10 times. It was incredible to watch and see as all the other players on the pitch walked around watching them. About a minute later Van Persie decided to close them down but it only mean that they passed it to someone else and carried on. Anyone would’ve thought the game had been fixed.

Anyway, the draw meant we are through to the next round and Arsenal will either play Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSV, Roma, Real Madrid, Celtic or Lille. Obviously we’d prefer to get PSV, Roma, Celtic or Lille this early in the tournament but they are all still quality sides and we proved last season we can beat the top sides. So whoever we get we should just accept and concentrate on beating. It would be nice to get Barca and get some revenge for last year’s final but it would be also good to get Celtic for the atmosphere and close proximity to home.

That must be the shortest match report I’ve written but if you saw the game then you’ll agree there really wasn’t anything to report on apart from us giving the ball away needlessly. Got Chelsea next, build up to that to come. What do you think of the new header logo? Not sure if I prefer the old one or this. See ya later.

Tomas Rosicky has picked up another hamstring injury ahead of tomorrow’s vital Champions League game with Porto. It looks like he’s going to be out of action for three weeks, missing some important fixtures. He’s just recovered from an injury so to pick up another one so soon is not good, hopefully all these injuries won’t have any lasting damage on his body but it’s not good for his to keep sitting out.

So Tomas is out of the squad for Porto and so is Gallas. Big Willy targeted this game as his comeback but he’s not been able to get fully fit in time. Hopefully that means he’ll be nice and fresh for Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge. Also Henry is out of the squad as he was on Saturday but he was suspended for this game anyway. We’ve played a 4-4-2 for the last two games so I am unsure of what formation we will chose, however I think we’ll go with Lehmann, Clichy, Senderos, Toure and Eboue at the back. Then in midfield Hleb, Gilberto, Fabregas and Ljungberg with Van Persie playing on the wing or upfront depending on the formation. Then Adebayor as the striker. We’ve also got Baptista who’s said he’s not happy on the bench so he might play and Theo Walcott is also in the squad.

If we avoid defeat then we will proceed to the next round however if we lose, we need Hamburg to beat CSKA Moscow or draw. We shouldn’t really be thinking about that though, we should be aiming for all three points and to top the group. We shouldn’t have a problem in Portugal, even without Rosicky, Gallas and Henry I feel there’s more than enough quality in the side to beat Porto. It should be a good game though and the Portuguese side will be up for it as they will go out if CSKA win and they don’t.

There have been reports recently that Henry has fallen out with Wenger and the manager dropping him from the side. Thierry left training on Friday in a mood but he said it was because he was sad about missing the Spurs match with his injury. At first I thought that there probably was an argument but I really have no idea but I’m not really that bothered. Henry could do with the rest anyway and if there was a fight then it would’ve been because he has a passion for this team and wants to do everything he can for it. In the papers they are saying that Titi disagreed with the 4-5-1 formation saying we do not work with an alone striker, I think Wenger has noted this and had played against Fulham and Tottenham with 2 strikers. I think all Gooners will agree that the two formations suit different games and one will be better for different matches than the other. I do not know what’s happened with Henry and I do not know how long it’ll be before he sees some football again. Hopefully it’s not too long because he is officially the best striker in the world and he needs to be out on the pitch.

My next post will be talking about the Porto game; hopefully it’ll be something like the Spurs one. Until then.