Friday News Roundup 25 July, 2008

Hi people, sorry I haven’t been very active on the blog this week, haven’t had a chance to sit down and write anything. Thankfully, there hasn’t been a lot going on anyway so I haven’t missed much.

I’ll start at the beginning and we drew 1-1 with Szombathelyi on Tuesday night. I could write a match report but there is really no point now. It wasn’t really a game to talk about anyway really. It was the second warm up friendly of the season and it was played in a very relaxed manner.

We did see Carlos Vela for the first time. He looked sharp and should’ve scored twice and set up one in the first half. If it weren’t for Walcott stubbing his foot after going through on goal on the ground and Vela’s decision making then it would’ve been a very exciting debut.

However, I did still manage to take some negatives out of his performance don’t you worry. He seemed to think he had all day on the ball and often took a touch too many. Very early on Bendtner put a great cross in for him and it looked like an easy header but he tried to take it down on his chest and was dispossessed. However all his faults can be excused seeing it was his first game of football since May and it’s way, way too early to judge. Looks exciting enough though.

The home side went 1-0 up after some poor defending from the Hoyte brothers, Almunia came out but he was chipped. Gavin Hoyte did well to get back and tried to clear off the line but the linesman gave it. Did look to me though that he stopped it from crossing the line, oh well.

The Arsenal goal came just before half time. The ball was crossed early from the left, Bendtner leapt like anything to take the ball down beautifully and played a calm little ball through to Walcott who finished perfectly in off the far post. Good goal.

There weren’t as many changes at half time in this match but by full time it was pretty much all reserves. In the second half Wenger gave Sagna and Clichy a new challenge by partnering them at centre back. It was a valuable experience for them as being full backs they often need to get back and cover the central defenders. They did ok there, Clichy had a good game overall as captain (again) and nearly score a free kick late on.

It finished 1-1 and they all lived happily ever after.

I suppose the top story this week has been Kolo Toure contracting Malaria. His pre-season preparations were halted and was taken to hospital in Austria for checks. Although common in Africa, it’s a very serious and life-threatening disease. I haven’t heard any updates since the news broke but I’m assuming he’s going to be ok. He might miss the start of the season through illness but it looks like he’s going to be alright.

Also this week, Emmanuel Adebayor has reportedly said he’s staying at Arsenal. This comes after him discovering no one actually wants him, not at his ludicrous valuation anyway! He was ordered back to pre-season training this week but it was unsure how long he’d be with us; now it looks like he’ll still be at Arsenal come September 1st. There’s a picture of him training here with all the other players. This is the first photo of Adebayor that’s gone up on Arsenal.com in about two months and it does feel a bit strange to see him wearing the Arsenal kit. If he says, ok, and if he gets another 30 goals, fantastic, but that’s not going to stop me forgetting what he’s done this summer.

And finally Bendtner says he’s looking to get into the first team this season. He looked handy the other night in Austria so if he carries on improving he might get a shot. At least he’s trying rather than complaining.

That’s it for today people, you’re officially up-to-date. Thanks for reading.