Arsenal face Bolton in the FA Cup 4th Round 8 January, 2007

The draw for the 4th round of the FA Cup was made this afternoon and Arsenal will face Bolton; the match will be played at Ashburton Grove on the 27th/28th January. It’s another tough tie for us and I thought we’d be awarded an easier match after having to knock out the holders Liverpool in the third round. Bolton have been our bogey team recently but the problem has usually been visiting the Reebok. It’s the first cup game at home this season and I think we might’ve been in a bit of trouble if it was at their ground. We lost 3-1 at the Reebok earlier in the season but I think we should beat them when they visit us for this one.

We’ll be looking for a bit of revenge for what they did to us in the Premiership and I don’t think they’ll be too happy about the draw either, they knocked us out of the FA Cup last year but Arsenal will be looking to right those wrongs this time. Chelsea continue their luck with the domestic cup draws as they’ve got Nottingham Forest, they knocked out Charlton in the last round but I doubt they can do the same to Chelsea this time round. Manchester United have got Pompey at home, a fairly tricky tie but I expect them to progress. So we’ve got Bolton in the 4th round of the FA Cup, more build up to that nearer the time.

The main news at the moment is Anthony Stokes. Nobody really knows where he is going. On Saturday it looked like he was going to Charlton and was having a medical for Alan Pardew’s side. It seemed like it was a done deal but now everyone is saying he’s going to Roy Keane’s Sunderland; and just to mix it up he’s saying he hasn’t ruled out Celtic. I suppose I’m still slightly bitter at Wenger letting Stokes go, I thought he should’ve been given another loan but hopefully Arsene knows what he’s doing here.

Anthony took the SPL by storm and when he returned from his loan quite a few Gooners were exited to see how he’d fare for Arsenal. However as soon as he returned talks turned to finding Stokes a pernament move away from Ashburton Grove. Maybe Arsene has predicted this boy won’t be as good as we think and if he has he’s a genius but he looks alright to me. Anyway, something is likely to get sorted out this week for Antony’s departure. I would’ve liked to have seen him play in the Carling Cup tomorrow night but it doesn’t look like he’s going to be an Arsenal player for much longer now.

Arturo Lupoli is also looking to find a deal to move away from Arsenal. He’s been saying that a move back to Italy might be on the cards but Arturo is considering saying at Derby. He’s doing well there on loan at the moment and he scored a hattrick the other week so I’m sure the Rams would be keen to keep him. His Arsenal contract expires in the Summer so I’m pretty sure it’ll all get sorted out then.

Arsene Wenger has praised Tomas Rosicky for his double-goal scoring display at Anfield on Saturday saying he can become the next Ljungberg/Pires. We need a goalscoring midfield so not to rely on the strikers so much and Super-Tom looks like he’s the man. He was unlucky with injuries earlier in the season but he’s back now and I’m sure he’ll be looking to add to the three goals he’s scored so far this season. Here’s what Le Boss had to say:

“He can be like Ljungberg and Pires. Together they scored 25 goals a season and that is worth a lot of points. At the moment we haven’t had that and it is important to get it, especially in games like [Saturday's] when the strikers get a little less service. It is important that goals come from midfield. Rosicky can score more goals because he is quick, he has good timing and he is very accurate in his finishing. I think he puts too much pressure on himself to finish and he sometimes rushes his decision making. I hope this will help him to be more calm in front of goal.”

Tomas has got big shoes to fill but I think he can do it, Wenger has pulled off a great signing here and hopefully he’ll Rosicky will fulfill his potential. We’ve been playing him out wide but it is clear he prefers to play as a central attacking midfielder; his first goal on Saturday was in that postition. I’m not sure whether Wenger told him to go there or whether he naturally drifted into the middle but it worked. I look forward to seeing how the season continues for the Czech.

That’s about it for today. I’ll try to get a match preview up tomorrow ahead of our Carling Cup game. Have a good day.