Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal – 29/08/09 – (Premier League) 30 August, 2009

Well what a disappointing ending that was then. A fantastic strike from Arshavin to put us 1-0 up and comfortable in the game at Man United’s own ground before two lucky goals leave us with 0 points to take back to North London.

It was just one of those days really.

The opening stages of the game were as you’d expect, tight, tense and neither team taking any risks. It looked as if the first half was going to end a stalemate at 0-0, there had been a few chances but you couldn’t really say either team especially deserved the lead over the other.

Then, about six or seven minutes before half time Andrey Arshavin picked up the ball in the box. However before he even had time to think about what to do next in came the committed Darren Fletcher in what is one of the worst challenges I have even seen inside the box. He literally slid right through him completely taking Arshavin out and the only contact he made with the ball was when his elbow touched it as he was clean underneath our Russian.

I’m not saying there was intent to hurt Andrey in the challenge but he was certainly lucky to come out completely fine, if he had of been stood any different we could be talking about his broken leg today.

So anyway I immediately jumped up shouting, “PENALTY?!!” (to the television screen) and watching in amazement as Mike Dean waved it away. I couldn’t fucking believe it. However before I had time to chuck my beer across the room Arshavin picked the ball back up outside the box and let loose a belter inside the top left corner. What a strike.

What a player he is and you know it’s not a fluke because this is not the first time we’ve seen him finish like that. It was the perfect justice for not winning the penalty and meant we were 1-0 up at half time.

I felt confident at the break. Our centre backs were playing really well and we looked strong across the park. I said on my twitter I just hoped we could keep it going.

I think everyone was expecting United to come out flying but it us who so nearly got the second of the game. I think it was Arshavin who put a low cross in from the right and van Persie did well to get in front of the defender to poke it goalwards. Somehow Ben Foster got an outstretched leg on it to keep the home side in the game. It was a close as you can get to scoring and how things might’ve changed if we’d have gone 2-0 at this point. Robin was very, very unlucky and I think Foster was counting his lucky stars.

We continued to play well and as you’d expect it was United who scored completely against the run of play. Rooney was put through but was heading well wide and off the pitch. In an incident very similar to Eduardo’s penalty decision Almunia decided he had no choice but to come out at Rooney and slid in with his arms forming a nice little obstacle for Wayne Rooney to tumble over. It’s a shame but that was always going to be given as a penalty, Manuel didn’t do much to help himself. Rooney took it himself sending Almunia the wrong way, 1-1.

Just 5 minutes later we found ourselves behind. Ryan Giggs’ free kick from the right was swung in nicely but there was no United player in there apart from I think it was Rooney lurking at the far post not really in any dangerous position to score. Luckily for United though Abou Diaby was on hand to pull off a bizarre own goal looping a header over Almunia. It looks in the replay almost as if he’s tried to aim it towards our goal… whether that was intended for Almunia to catch or to be off target I don’t know but it was a terrible defensive header.

I couldn’t believe it but from being quite comfortable at 1-0 we were down 2-1 and you can’t really say the home side deserved it.

We threw Bendtner and Eduardo on but you could almost tell it was game over. To have thrown away a lead in the manner in which we had it just felt like it wasn’t going to be our day and we knew if referee Mike Dean had anything to do with it we weren’t going to be given any luck.

We were given one last chance by the officials when 5 minutes of injury time was announced. We did manage to get the ball in the net in that time but unfortunately for us it was offside. William Gallas as he does was in a forward position trying to get us another vital goal and he showed a lack of instinct straying just offside at the final moment to rule our goal out.

The ball came into the box and Gallas rose to head it square to van Persie, he took it down for what he thought was a late, late (but deserved) equaliser but just when the ball was played into Gallas he had stepped offside. Well spotted by the linesman I have to say as much as I hate to admit it.

The commentator had said it was offside before the ball was in the net so I saved myself the embarrassment of wildly celebrating in vain but the news of the decision took a few seconds to filter through to Arsene Wenger who had started celebrating already. When he saw the offside, as you do – kicked the nearest object to him in frustration, a water bottle. Quite innocently kicking the bottle in disbelief – not in anger or in some sort of way to rebel, just… kicking a bottle. The 4th official was very quick to call over Mike Dean and tell him to send Wenger off. An awful decision, he did nothing wrong.

Anyway it wasn’t just that it was the very public humiliation of Arsene in front of the home fans who had been singing, “Sit down you paedophile,” all afternoon. I’m sure you’ve all seen it, I don’t need to go into it but apparently the FA will be apologising to Wenger for the way he was treated and so they should. Well, it should really be Mike Dean and his official for not only making a very poor decision and judgment of the situation, not only for humiliating him like that, but also for causing such a fuss over a very little and silly matter when there was 96 minutes gone of the game and the tie very much over.

Well anyway it finished 2-1, deserved or not and we left with no points. It a shame because we really played quite well even without Cesc Fabregas and came away with nothing. The captain was missed and it might’ve been a different story without him but we should be proud of ourselves.

It a shame we’re going to have to wait a couple of weeks to get this loss out of out minds because we’re going into an international break but next up it’s another trip to Manchester to face City. It’s going to be a tasty one, build up to come nearer the time.

Thanks for reading.

Manchester United Preview: Cesc doesn’t travel 28 August, 2009

It seems a bit early in the season for a game as big as this but for either team it could be a massive confidence boost for the winner. Man United haven’t had the greatest of starts ever and with quite a few players out we might actually for once be fancied at Old Trafford.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I think we do have a chance tomorrow. We’ve started well this season and confidence should be high. This is the first big test though and this is where we find out just how well we really are playing. However Celtic Park was tough and Goodison Park is a difficult place to go (despite how Everton played that day), so you could say that this isn’t our first tricky away trip.

We’ll have to go there without Cesc Fabregas who has been ruled out. Obviously it’s a massive blow but we’re just going to have to cope. We have plenty of other great players and everyone in our side is capable of the kind of balls Cesc is known for. I’m sure he is gutted, he loves the big games like this and would’ve done everything he can to get fit but Wenger says he is not 100% and will not travel.

He is back in training though and Wenger did say he looked positive so we can look forward to him returning after the international break. Tomas Rosicky is also back with the squad but tomorrow is too soon for him. We could see him too at Manchester City. Theo Walcott could also return in a couple of weeks which would be good to see. I’m looking forward to what TW14 can do this season. Part of my excitement could be down to this video.

Aaron Ramsey is also a doubt for tomorrow with the injury he picked up Wednesday night but I don’t think he was expecting to start anyway. Here’s how I see the starting XI:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Diaby – Denilson
Bendtner – van Persie (c) – Arshavin

I think it is a choice between Diaby and Eboue for Fabregas’ place in the team, they have both put in good performances in recent games so hopefully they can reproduce that tomorrow. Whatever happens I hope Wenger sticks with the formation that has served us well so far this season.

I have been very impressed with Thomas Vermaelen this season but tomorrow he can show us just how good he is at the very top level. He says he is looking forward to the game and isn’t nervous. I’m not nervous about him either, I think he is absolute quality and he and Gallas look like the makings of a great partnership. I’m looking forward to seeing how he does tomorrow.

As for Man United, they are without Rio Ferdinand, Van der Sar and Rafael meaning they will have promising ‘keeper Ben Foster in goal with Jonny Evans partnering Vidic in defense. We have to see those injuries as a bit of a bonus – it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy but the home side will certainly miss Ferdinand and Van der Sar.

I don’t know what more to say, this is Arsenal vs. Man United – you don’t need to hype it up, it’s the game of the season. I wish I was going up to Manchester, those of you who are enjoy it and do us proud. The rest of you I expect to fill pubs and living rooms wherever you are.

Enjoy the game. Thanks for reading. COME ON YOU GUNNERS.

Arsenal 3(5) – 1(1) Celtic – 26/08/09 – Champions League Qualifier 27 August, 2009

My day start at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, setting off nice and early from Bournemouth to get up to London in good time for the match. Or so I thought. The radio was telling me that the section of the M25 I needed was completely closed thanks to some stupid gas leak and was causing long tailbacks on the M3. To cut a long and pointless story short after a lot of stressing, maybe a little bit of speeding and a whole lot of panicking I made it up to Hertfordshire to collect my tickets and back down again to North London just as the game was kicking off. How – I don’t know but I’d made it and after a quick jog to the ground I was very happy to be in my seat.

Last night I was sat in the upper tier behind the north goal, not my usual or preferred seat but what a view it was from up there. You could see a lot more of the game compared to my usual seat in the 4th row in thecorner and it gave me a much better chance to witness some good individual performances.

I had heard the team on the radio and was surprised that Arshavin and van Persie were joining the injured Fabregas on the sidelines. Instead we chose Eduardo, Diaby, Bendtner, Denilson, Song and Eboue with RVP and Andrey ready to come on off the bench if needed.

I thought it was a little risky but the players who had come in took their chance well and were very impressive. Eboue looked very good and even got a very well taken goal in the second half.

I was most impressed with our centre backs though, from the height I was at I could see how every play was cut out and how well they were reading the game and clearing everything that even came close to threatening Almunia’s goal. I’m am quickly falling in love with Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas is continuing the good form of last season into this one. I am extremely happy with our back four for this campaign – I just hope they can stay fit.

Anyway onto the game itself. Before the match everyone was saying how the first goal was going to be important. Well we knew that and you could see that we wanted it. We had a few chances but it eventually came just before the half hour mark from the penalty spot. Eduardo who scored it, calmly putting it down the middle.

However it’s not the goal that everyone’s talking about today, it’s the penalty decision. Even though I was hundreds of meters away, I did think at the time it looked a bit soft; it looked as if Eddy was searching for the foul and was running out of play anyway. Texts started coming through from friends at home saying it was an awful dive and I finally saw the replay this afternoon. I do agree, it was a dive and it shouldn’t have been a penalty but I have to follow on what most other Arsenal bloggers have been saying today. Everyone has been going mental about this, branding Eduardo a cheat, calling it a disgrace etc etc…

There’s never usually this sort of uproar when a member of another English side goes down like that is there? It’s only because it’s Arsenal… you don’t get this sort of reaction when it’s Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney. I’m not going to go on and on about it because I’m sure you’ve read similar stuff elsewhere but if Eddy does get a ban then so be it, he should be punished for it, but this is not the first time this has happened and everyone’s reacting like we’ve fucking bribed the referees or something.

I liked what Arsene Wenger said in response last night:

“We got a penalty against us two years ago in the Quarter-Final of the Champions League that made the difference when Babel dived. Nobody ever apologised to us, it was a blatant dive and nobody spoke about it.”

Anyway so we were 1-0 up after half an hour and that was pretty much game over, Celtic needed three to get back in it and it was never going to happen.

The away side did have the ball in the net before half time when McDonald turned in Fortune’s cross but it was ruled out for offside. I did think for a second that the game could get a bit more interesting with this but even if that did stand I’d find it hard to see Celtic scoring two more and not conceding.

The 2nd came in the 58th minute, one of the night’s many clever back-heel flicks, this one from Bendtner put Diaby through who squared to Eboue. He took a couple of calm touches to create some space before making it 2-0. Great goal, didn’t expect that out of Eboue. Then he was then ridiculously yellow carded for lifting his shirt over his head; he didn’t take it off, just lifting it over his head… I think it’s a joke.

Diaby was soon replaced by Ramsey who was looking to impress again but he picked up an injury. He was limping around for a while and carried on but was taken off with a few minutes to go. Not sure how bad that is yet but we’ll wait and see.

Arshavin and Wilshere also came on (71mins) and it was the little Russian who scored our third after just a few minutes being on the pitch . It was a nice little move between him and Ramsey and once Andrey had a sight on goal I just knew it was 3-0. A good little run out for him ahead of the weekend.

With the final kick of the game Celtic got one back. The ball came over to the left hand side and Donati volleyed what I think was supposed to be a cross-goal ball but ended up being a great finish in the opposite corner. If he meant it then fair play to him.

Whatever the media say about our goals in the first leg and our opener last night you must agree that we were the far superior side over the two legs and really showed the gap in class. The result means we are through to the group stages and the draw was done earlier today. We’re in Group H with AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos and Standard Liege. You have to feel that is a group we should be winning. We kick off in just under three weeks away to Standard Liege so more build up to all things Europe nearer the time.

Ok that’s it for tonight. I’ve got a Theo Walcott video for you tomorrow plus build up to the Man United game. Exciting.

Thanks for reading.

Celtic Preview: We’ll have to do it without Fabregas 25 August, 2009

First off I think another apology is in order for completely disappearing for a week. Well I went back to London unknowing that I have no internet at the house. It’s amazing how life just comes to a halt with connection to the world wide web.

So I went to the Portsmouth game at the weekend with no idea of team news or anything and have only just found out that we will be without Cesc Fabregas tomorrow night who has picked up a hamstring injury. The boss says there is a chance that he could return for the trip to Man United but he is definitely out for the crucial second leg against Celtic.

Arsene has said the injury wont bring about a change to the new formation and Aaron Ramsey could be the man to step in. I like Ramsey, he came on for the second half at the weekend and showed that he too has an eye for the goal. However I’m not sure whether Wenger would be so keen playing such an inexperienced player in a game like tomorrow night’s. I see it as a simple choice between Diaby or Ramsey though and Arsene might go for the slightly more defensive option.

Here’s my guess at the team:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Denilson – Ramsey
Bendtner – van persie (c) – Arshavin

Although we are in a strong position 2-0 up and although we have got Man United away at the weekend, Wenger will not be resting any players. He says he’s going to start with his best team but it wouldn’t surprise me if things go according to plan we’ll see some stars taken off.

I’m not as worried about this one as I was the first leg. We’ll have our own fans behind us this time and in a much more familiar place. Also, Celtic have to come out at us and we all know that is when we play our best. If that is the case then I think we will have good fortune on the counter attack, especially with a team like as the one above.

I’m expecting the visitors to come out flying; we’ll need to be mature and strong in the first quarter of the game, hold on to the clean sheet and get the game in our control. Then I think we can start to build on our two goal lead.

If Celtic do come and score first, we need to show our maturity even more to stop the inevitable bombardment from Celtic. We just have to remember we are still winning and just stop them from having the ball.

I’m driving up from Bournemouth for the game and heading back straight after. Bit of a long trip but I think it’s going to be really worth it. The atmosphere was good I thought at the weekend but I’m expecting better tomorrow night. The visitors will be noisy and I think we will give it right back to them. Remember to bring along your scarf from Saturday if you were there – if this is your first home game of the season then dig last season’s scarf out and lets get some colour in the stadium.

Ok then well I’ll speak to you Thursday with the match report. Enjoy the game and if you’re going lets hear you in full voice for The Arsenal.

Arsenal vs. Celtic Preview 18 August, 2009

In a few hours time Celtic Park will be rocking and our young side will be going out to qualify us for the Champions League. It feels a bit strange to me that so early into the season we have this massive game to play. Never mind how good you think Celtic are, any team in the world struggles at their place. We need to carry on that good form from the weekend and show that we will not be intimidated by the atmosphere.

We might have to do it without Fabregas, Sagna and Denilson who are all doubts for this evening. They will all be taking fitness tests today and I pray that all three come through alright. I won’t be so confident if we have to play without our captain tonight after his performance at Everton. He brings us together and surely Celtic will fancy their chances if he is ruled out.

We have got Diaby back though and of course Arshavin is now eligible to play in Europe. I’m sure he’s looking forward to showing us what he can do on the big stage.

I think we’ll line up with the same team that put six past Everton:

Almunia
Sagna – Vermaelen – Gallas – Clichy
Song
Fabregas – Denilson
Bendtner – van Persie – Arshavin

Obviously that’s depending on how those fitness tests go today. If Sagna is out then Eboue will just come straight in at right back, Diaby would come in for either Cesc or Denilson but if both were ruled out I reckon we would drop Andrey back into midfield and start Eduardo up front.

I’m just looking forward to the match now, it’s going to be a great game I’m sure. I bet those Gooners that are lucky enough to have travelled north are having a great time and will do us proud in the away end.

An early goal would help us tonight. Then we can settle down, play our own game and force Celtic to come at us. I’m confident ight now but anything can happen.

Right I better go. Enjoy the game, thanks for reading.

Everton 1-6 Arsenal – 15/08/09 – (Premier League) 17 August, 2009

What a start to the season. I know I’m a bit late with my report and the hype has died down a bit now but I still feel this was a game very much worth me reporting. Everything went right for us and it feels good going into the new season.

Wenger played the new 4-3-3 as expected and it worked really well. We had Arshavin, van Persie and Bendtner across the top who were creative, deadly and causing problems for the Everton defense. Then behind them we had Fabregas and Denilson who were on great form with the impressive Alex Song behind them.

In defense there was a debut for Thomas Vermaelen who had a great game. When we signed him there was talk about his height, or lack of, but his technique in the air was fantastic and after the game Arsene Wenger said how pleased he was with his new signing.

I was always a little bit worried about opening the season at Goodison Park, a difficult place to go and dropping points is always a possibility. I thought it was going to be a tight game and the opening stages suggested that it was going to be well contested but a great first goal in the 25th minute set the tone of what was to come from the visitors.

The move started with a ball over to the right hand side to Bendtner. Typically he chested the ball down brilliantly before beating a defender and squaring to Cesc Fabregas. He could’ve been tempted with a first time shot but instead saw Denilson coming in on the right in a better position and passed it along the edge of the box. The Brazilian struck it beautifully curling it perfectly inside the post. Nothing Tim Howard could do about that one. I have to say I think it was a little bit fluke, I know he meant to do that but I don’t think even he thought the shot would come off so well!

Everton had a spell of a few minutes trying to get back into the game but our defense stood strong. Denilson cleared a header off the line keeping us in the lead. If that had gone in then it might’ve been a whole different story.

In the 37th minute we made it 2-0 and it was pretty much game over from there. Robin van Persie put a free kick towards the back post and debutant Thomas Vermaelen made a good run to lose his marker, rose well and headed across goal to score his first goal for Arsenal. It was great for him to score in his first league game but also good for us to know we have another goal threat at set pieces.

Four minutes later William Gallas decided to join his defensive partner on the score sheet. This time it was Fabregas taking the free kick from the left hand side, the ball was dropping towards the bottom right corner but Gallas got a touch on it just to make sure. Once again the Everton defense had allowed us a free header to score.

At half time we were cruising 3-0 and David Moyes must’ve been furious at those two free headers. We were on fire and it was going to take something special from the home side to get back in this one. They needed to start the second half well but we had similar ideas and we got a 4th just a couple of minutes in.

It came from an Everton corner and we broke with Denilson putting van Persie through on the left. He took it down the wing and found Fabregas with a low cross who had sprinted up the pitch to get in a goal scoring position. Cesc calmly put it through Howard’s legs to open his account for the season. A great goal, classic counter attacking Arsenal.

Everton made a triple substitution bringing on Saha, Rodwell and Gosling but there was no way of a comeback against this Arsenal side, especially at 4-0 down. Possibly Moyes bringing on two teenagers in a game like this was a signal to the chairman that he needs money to spend.

We made a sub of our own, Eboue came on for Bendtner who I thought had a good game in his new no.52 shirt. A couple of minutes after the change we made it 5-0.

In the 70th minute Fabregas picked up the ball in midfield and drove forward in acres of space. With the Everton defense too preoccupied with marking the attackers Cesc had time to take it on his own, line up a shot and squeeze it into the bottom corner from range. It was just a reminder that you can’t allow Fabregas any time or space and he showed us just what he can do.

He celebrated by lifting a shirt with ‘Jarque 21′ on the back. A tribute to the Espanyol captain who died recently of a heart attack at just 26 years of age.

With two minutes to go Eduardo made it six. We were playing it around in the area trying to get off a shot; Arshavin’s trickery managed to work an opening and tried to dink it into the far corner. It hit the woodwork but Eddy was following it up and was there to tap it in off the post.

Saha did score just before the end but it was merely a consolation. A shame we couldn’t just hold on to the clean sheet at the end but I guess when you’re 6-0 up you can forgive it.

So yeah, a great start to the campaign and we are top of the league. Tomorrow night we play Celtic and I’ll be keen to see whether we can continue that form in Glasgow. Come back tomorrow for the match preview.

Thanks for reading.

Everton Preview: We’re back 14 August, 2009

Finally, the season starts tomorrow and I can’t wait. We start with a tricky visit to Everton and with two trips to Manchester coming up it’s important we don’t fall behind so early again. Everton will be setting their sights as high as forth so will see us as competitors. They will be well up for tomorrow’s game and it’ll be a tough test for us so early on.

However all the noises coming out of Arsenal in recent weeks says we are up for this two. We are hungrier than ever for trophies and our young side say they have learned from the mistakes of last year. Wenger insists our target is not just to make 4th and is aiming at the title. That’s how is should be really. I think this year is going to be more open than the past few years – Man United have lost players, Chelsea have only made one signing and Liverpool will be up there again. We’ve signed Vermaelen but lost Adebayor and Toure so I think a signing or two and we can count ourselves as major title contenders.

We’re not far off though; a couple more players and I believe we are level with the rest of the top four. Wenger says we’ve got the money for most players if he feels the need to add to the squad but when asked about Hangeland he said there was no news. He was also asked about the Chamakh and Senderos latest but gave nothing away.

Wenger gave us some team news yesterday and has today confirmed Diaby and Walcott will be out but could play at Celtic. So for tomorrow we are going to be without Fabianski, Djourou, Walcott, Diaby, Nasri and Rosicky. I believe this season we will play a 4-3-3 so this is how I see us lining up as Goodson Park:

Almunia
Sagna – Vermaelen – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Fabregas (c) – Denilson
Eduardo – van Persie – Arshavin

I’m happy with that defense, I think that is a good back four for this season. I’m not sure about that midfield above though. Unless Ramsey or Wilshere get a surprise start then I guess Eboue will play on the right. Denilson and Fabregas are certain to start, not sure what order Wenger’s going to put them in though – It could be Denilson to the left of Cesc or one behind the other.

Arshavin and van Persie should be one of the first two names on the team sheet. I’ve put Eduardo in there too but Wenger might feel that’s a bit too attacking. I don’t know, we haven’t really got many options; I see it as either Bendtner or Eduardo.

It’s a good enough team but it worries me is that’s it the first game of the season and I’m already talking about the lack of options we have. It will be interesting to see what Wenger goes with anyway.

As for Everton, Jo is just returning and they hope he’ll be fit for tomorrow but there’s no certainties. Not sure whether Lescott will play either after all the transfer request and Man City business. We’ll have to see.

Other than that I think Arteta, Jagielka and Yakubu are out but they’ve still got players to choose from. Cahill will start and he always seems to do well against us. If we can shut him out of the game in midfield that will help us.

I’m confident in our back four and I’ll stick my neck out and say we could get a clean sheet tomorrow. It’s a tough task especially against Everton and we’re not really known for keeping clean sheets. I’m probably talking crap but I’d like to see our new-look back four put in a solid performance.

I think we also have the ability to score goals. Arshavin and van Persie are always a threat and I hope they can turn it on tomorrow. My money would be on Andrey to score.

I don’t really know what else to say, I’m just excited for the season to finally start and hope we can begin with three points on the board.

Have fun those of you going, I’ll be watching in the pub down here. It a 5.30pm kick off and we’re on ESPN so make sure you get down the pub if you’re not subscribed to that.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the game.

A month out for Djourou means we need another defender 13 August, 2009

Well, that’s what I think anyway.

Arsene Wenger has given us a bit of early team news ahead of the weekend revealing more injuries that expected. We already knew about Nasri and Rosicky but we’re going to be a few more short going into the new season:

“We have some problems. We have Theo Walcott, who is not available. Diaby has a little groin problem but he could be available. We have lost Johan Djourou and Lukasz Fabianski because they had injuries. Lukasz had a cartilage surgery. He will be out for two months. Johan has a knee problem that will take some time to cure – one month.

Thomas Vermaelen played 45 minutes for Belgium last night and came through OK so he will be available.

Tomas Rosicky is two weeks away, Samir Nasri three-and-a-half weeks now. But it will be six or seven weeks until he is available for training.”

Talk about starting as you mean to go on… We have a good set of players to pick a starting XI from but behind that there aren’t a lot of options – Wenger is taking a gamble with the squad so thin and looking like he isn’t going to add a lot more.

Johan Djourou was sent home from the Swiss squad this week after being unfit to represent his country. I’ve been told it’s a recurring problem, something to do with fluid in his knee that caused him troubles last year. It’s come up again which is not good, we were hoping the rest over the summer might sort him out but it doesn’t look the case. He is supposed to be our cover for Gallas and Vermaelen but if we can’t rely on his fitness that’s no good.

That means an injury to either of our first choice centre backs and we’re going to have to play Silvestre. And no one wants to see that. I’m not just being silly because he’s spent his career at Man United – he’s just not good enough; he’s slow, clumsy, old and a liability.

That’s why I think we need another defender. Wenger has said before he likes Hangeland but hasn’t approached Fulham. The player himself says he is focused on Fulham but would consider a transfer if approached. He would be a great buy but would he be content coming to Arsenal knowing he wouldn’t be guaranteed a first team place? He’d certainly be up there fighting with Gallas and Vermaelen which would be great for competition, but on a personal level he might prefer to stay with Fulham and be guaranteed a name on every team sheet. After all, they are in The Europa League this season too.

We’ll have to see I guess. I hope Wenger agrees that we need one more centre back and Hangeland is considered. However, the Philippe Senderos deal still isn’t completed and Wenger could avoid making a signing by keeping Big Phil.  I have a feeling that once we’ve played Everton on Saturday a deal for Senderos will go through quite quickly but with Djourou’s latest injury I’m hoping Wenger has second thoughts.

Luckily Vermaelen and Gallas are both fit at the moment, so in the short term we need not worry. He was a concern but got through 45mins with Belgium last night all ok (full list of players in international action here).

He’s looking forward to the new season and has told the official magazine that he’s not worried about his height. A few have concerns that he is under 6ft but he says he is confident in his jumping and heading ability so it doesn’t matter. I’m not worried about it, he’s looked solid in pre-season and I’m looking forward to seeing him at the weekend in his first proper match.

In other news Cesc Fabregas says he used to think Arsenal didn’t really want him claiming scouting him 44 times meant we couldn’t have been very sure about him! Well to be honest if I was a scout for Arsenal and I spotted someone with the talent of Fabregas, I’d go and watch him as many times as I could!

Nicklas Bendtner has changed his number to no.52. He hasn’t told us exactly why apart from, “It’s a special number to me personally” but does say he will personally pay for anyone’s shirt who has the old no.26 printed. Arsenal bloggers have been speculating on what the number change is all about but I suspect Wenger asked to see twice as much from him this season and to take the piss he doubled his squad number.

Super Nick has also been talking about his future saying he wants a contract extension. Good stuff. I know some people are critical of the Dane but we have yet to see the best from him and with Adebayor gone this could be his break-through season. We saw a big improvement over the course of last season and I suspect he could get even better. That old lazy, sulky, clumsy Bendtner has gone now I think and he’ll win over a lot more fans this year.

And finally, remember the other day I showed you the designs to decorate the outside of Ashburton Grove, well there’s a much more in depth article on Online Gooner I want to point out to you. It’s a bit of a long piece but well worth the read as it talks about all the plans to ‘Arsenalize’ the stadium over the near future including plans to move the Clock End clock inside the stadium, the renaming of quadrants, murals around the lower concourse, a second Red Action area and loads more. Definitely worth a read so go check that out and see how things are going to change over the next year.

We’re just two days away from the start of the season now! A match preview of the Everton game tomorrow, until then.

Random bits on a Monday 10 August, 2009

Nothing terribly exciting going on today I’m afraid. Saturday’s post-match interviews have finally come out and Arsene Wenger was asked whether we might be signing anyone before the season starts. He sounded doubtful but then again the season starts in five days so that doesn’t surprise me. He reiterated that he is happy with the current team and feeling confident. I know I’ve said it time and time again but I am also happy with the current team, we have a great starting XI but it’s what’s behind that which bothers me. Rosicky and Nasri are already injured and no doubt there will be more to come once the season gets properly underway. I just hope he makes a couple of additions before the deadline is up.

Defence is an area people would like to see us strengthen, especially if Senderos does go to Everton. We have a good pairing of Gallas and Vermaelen – behind that it’s Johan Djourou but then it’s Silvestre and possibly Song. I’d like another one in front of Silvestre in the pecking order just incase but I doubt Wenger will do it. However Djourou is telling us he’s ready for the first team and really wants to make an impact this season:

“I am still young, I have a couple of things I need to work on still and I still want to learn, but I want to step up now. It’s my time. I’ve learned from Kolo, from Sol Campbell when they were at the Club, and now I’ve got that experience that I need to play in those big games, week-in and week-out.

I signed for Arsenal when I was only 16 so it’s been a good learning process. Centre back is an experienced position, you’ve got all those big players and you can play until you are late in your age, so I think you have to be patient. Now I am 22 and you can see that I have learned a lot. For me that has been fantastic and now it is time for me to step up.”

I like Johan, and I’m not worried about him being our 3rd choice this year. He sounds like he is going to do his best and that’s all that we can ask for. I’m just worried if both Gallas and Vermaelen pick up injuries at the same time and we have to play Silvestre. Hopefully that scenario wont come about but I would sleep a little better knowing there was another option in there.

I’ve heard Tomas Vermaelen is a bit injury prone too, I might be making this up but I swear I heard that he’s had a few problems at Ajax. He’s already picked up a groin problem this pre-season forcing him out of the Emirates Cup and Valencia trip. Well Wenger says he should be fine for the opener at Everton so I guess that’s all that matters. I just hope he can stay injury free for his important first season.

Jack Wilshere has been called up for the England U21s who play Holland in a friendly tomorrow. He wasn’t in the initial selection so I don’t know if he’s in Stuart Pearce’s plans but we’ll see. Theo Walcott has also been called up to the full England squad who have a friendly with the Dutch on Wednesday. This despite his only pre-season action being 45mins against Valencia on Saturday. Wenger’s not angry though because he says Theo still needs a friendly to warm up for the season. As long as it is only a ‘friendly’ and Holland don’t go and injure him, then Wenger will be angry.

Barcelona say they are interested in Fabregas if they can get him on the cheap. Oh really? That’s nice…

Just before I go a couple of mentions of things newspaper-wise. In today’s Guardian they’ve got a Season Synopsis with the Premier League just five days away. They’re talking about Man United without Ronaldo, City’s prospects after spending almost £100m, World Cup stuff, Newcastle’s chances of getting out of a tough Championship, Carlo Ancelotti’s Twitter, the Michael Owen-style brochures you might have missed, the possible shift in power from the Premier League to La Liga, ESPN and the BBC’s involvement in showing live football, a funny look at the new and very complicated Europa League, Uefa’s experiment with five referees per match and team-by-team guide and previews of the Premier League/Championship/League One/League Two and the Scottish Premier League.

I know it’s a bit late in the day to be telling you but you might be going down the shop later…

Or if you’re planning on an evening in, take a look at The Mirror’s new dedicated football site. Here’s the Arsenal section, it’s got some great images from old times, wallpapers, interviews and all sorts on there. Worth a look even just to browse the image galleries.

Right then that’s Monday done. Tomorrow we edge even closer to the start of season. Woo!

Thanks for reading,

Valencia Inflict First Loss & New Designs for Ashburton Grove 9 August, 2009

Last night we traveled to Valencia to for our trickiest and final pre-season friendly. Unfortunately we lost 2-0 with goals coming from Michel and Villa. I must admit, I didn’t watch too much of the game. I got home from work about 25 mins in and then when I did start to watch, the connection wasn’t very good and couldn’t see much on that tiny Arsenal TV Online screen – They should really sort that out, if they want to go on and on about their game coverage it should actually be a decent quality and then people might use it more.

Not only that, the Arsenal.com match reporting is awful. First off they reported the score as 4-0 to Valencia. I remember they got the score wrong a few weeks ago on our Austria tour too, it’s just the sort of thing you don’t do. Also they say that Fabianski saved a David Villa penalty midway through the first half despite also saying he came on for Almunia at half time…

I makes it even harder trying to report on a game I didn’t get the best coverage of. Arsenal.com, sort it out.

Anyway so yeah I didn’t get to see much of the game but I did pick up bits. Fabianski’s penalty save, whatever half they think it was, is good for his confidence but unfortunately we couldn’t keep the clean sheet for Lukasz. The first goal came from a free kick out on the right, it was put in low to a busy box and after a couple of touches it fell at the feet of Michel who smacked it inside the post. A lucky goal, the ball could’ve gone to anyone but you could argue that we should’ve cleared it first or thrown a body in front of the shot.

The second goal came right at the end. David Villa broke down towards are goal and despite being forced into shooting from an angle he calmly put it through Fabianski’s legs. Lukasz didn’t seem to be in much comfort though, it looked like he tweaked his hamstring minutes before and was just hanging in until the final whistle.

Oh and another dig at the official website, where’s the post-match interviews/transcripts? Nowhere yet anyway. So I can’t tell you how Fabianski is doing, if we got any other injuries or anything.

I hope no one is getting worked up by the result. Ok, we lost yeah but it’s only a friendly. We made a whole load of substitutions giving the whole squad a run out. The game was more about getting us ready than getting the result. We might even take a positive from losing, to lose any game isn’t nice for a player and the team should pull together and stop it happening again. Safe to say if this was a Champions League game it would’ve gone a lot differently.

Ok moving on and there’s been some images of Ashburton Grove artwork leaked. You know outside the stadium that big, gray concrete area behind the Arsenal badges and Emirates logos? Well we’re going to sorting that out in the new future with this new mural. If you click this link you can download the images that Arsenal sent to Islington Council for approval, including a mock up of the design actually on the side of the stadium. I guess I like it, it’s better than a big slab on concrete and it’ll take the attention away from the big Emirates logo.

I’ll wait until it’s actually up before I start thinking what it looks like. Apparently it’s all been approved so we could see it up in time for the Portsmouth, but you know what they’re like it’ll probably be around Christmas…

I’ve only got a couple of initial queries – where is Dennis Bergkamp? And what are those two guys on the end doing to Cliff Bastin and Thierry Henry?

And finally today, Theo Walcott’s been talking about how we must learn to grind out results and play a bit dirtier. He is right; we have in recent years been know sometimes as a team you can kick and bully and nick a result off. We have to dish some of that back and not take any shit.

That’s it for today then. This time next week we will have played our first game of the season. Who’s excited?

Celtic in the Champions League & news round up 7 August, 2009

Hello there. Apologies again for randomly disappearing off the face of the earth. I’m back in Bournemouth after a hectic trip back to London, haven’t really stopped to be honest. I’m not going to go through everything I’ve missed because I’m sure you have read it elsewhere by now.

However the draw for the Champions League Qualifiers has just been done and it’s Celtic. It’s a great tie and although a bit tougher than we might’ve hoped for this early stage, what a game it’ll be. The first leg will be up at Celtic Park and then the deciding tie will be in London which I think will be an advantage. Visiting Celtic is always going to be tough and I’m glad that we haven’t got to go there in the second leg to secure qualification. I think a lot of people predicted this tie and it’s set to be a classic. There’s no doubt we should be winning this but it’s not going to be easy. Celtic hadn’t won away in Europe in God knows how long until this week, I’m not sure how long it’s been until we last didn’t make the group stages but I don’t want to be looking that stat up either…

Celtic are one of my teams to be honest, I’ve been up to see them a few times with my Granddad having a few season tickets up there. I’ve even got a couple of Celtic shirts. I’d like to go to Glasgow for the first leg, it’ll be a great trip but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it with work and other stuff going on. I’ll see. I bet there’ll be a load of you organizing it this afternoon and I am so jealous of you.

There’ll be plenty more build up nearer the game, it’s less than two weeks away so not long to wait anyway. We’ll bring this up again nearer the time.

In other news, Tomas Rosicky has picked up a hamstring injury but Wenger has tried to play it down. Arsene says these kind of problems are normal after a long period out of football and we’ve seen this before. The word is about 6 weeks out, which in itself isn’t the end of the world at this stage but what bothers me is that we’ll be lucky to see him back in those 6 weeks. I’m expecting this to take a bit longer to heal and then when he’s back what if he picks up another injury straight away? We’ve seen it before in Eduardo’s comeback season.

After all the hype about Tomas’ return, I’m starting to realise we can’t rely on him until at least January. Wenger wont admit this though otherwise he’d be forced to sign even more players. Hopefully Samir Nasri can make a speedy recovery to cover us for Rosicky’s inevitable niggles.

Jack Wilshere could be an option on the wing as an attacking midfielder but I know Wenger is reluctant to throw him in. Sure, he’ll do something special and impress everyone but he’s not ready for a first team schedule, we can only afford him to play a part now and again. Arsene has compared him to Rooney in his early days, I think we all remember him and that last minute goal for Everton against us. One of them from Jack and then I think I can forgive the Shrek comparisons.

Before the Emirates Cup Arsene Wenger said that all transfer business would be done before the game in Valencia. Well that’s tomorrow. So either nothing is happening or he was talking crap. I don’t think our chequebook is closed; I bloody hope it isn’t anyway. We’ve been bidding for Chamakh this week but yesterday Wenger sounded negative about a deal happening. Bordeaux have put a ridiculous valuation on him seeing as he becomes a free agent next year. We’re in a good position because we’re not desperate for him. I believe this one will go down to the final day of the window when Bordeaux realise they either have to take our decent offer of £7m or £8m or face losing him for free.

Wenger says he expects business to get moving in the final week and still insists we are looking at one or two options, “One could be in the defensive areas, and one in the attacking areas.” We’re no closer to finding out who those players might be but it looks unlikely to be Patrick Vieira. However he has responded to the talk of Hangeland saying we have looked at him but made no contact as of yet.

I think he is waiting for the Senderos deal to be completed before contacting Fulham. But then in turn I think Everton are waiting for Lescott to move to City before completing the Senderos move. Once that happens then we can expect some action. Fulham are concerned about losing Hangeland and I’m sure Roy Hodgson will do what he can to keep him. I just hope that if Wenger is serious about buying another defender (which he should be) he has another option lined up if Hangeland doesn’t happen.

As I said, we’ve got Valencia tomorrow so I’m sure there’ll be press conferences and such in the lead up to that bringing us more news. So no excuse for me not to update then? Well… I am working all day tomorrow up until kick off so I can’t make any promises. Sorry! Speak to you soon.

3-0 vs. Rangers, Chamakh, Vieira and more… 3 August, 2009

I’ve had no Internet since Saturday night so sorry for the late update but there you go. It’s amazing how my day becomes so incredibly boring without internet access and how my mind goesastray without any Arsenal news. Well nothing has happened so I guess the top story was yesterday’s 3-0 win over Rangers…

I was at the game and after missing Day 1 of the Emirates Cup it was nice to be back watching Arsenal at the Grove. We started with a fairly strong side and found ourselves 2-0 up after 10 minutes. The Rangers fans had come in their numbers and we’re well up for it. It roused the home support a bit more and it ended up being a decent atmosphere for a pre-season game.

I’m sure you know what happened in the game so I’m not going to bother going into depth. It finished up 3-0 making us Emirates Cup champions for the second time, celebrations were muted unless you’re Emmanuel Eboue who seemed to be making the most of the silverware.

Once again I’m going to have to single out Jack Wilshere who picked up the man of the match award for the second day running. He was just class again but Wenger has tried to talk it down. Arsene was asked whether he might get chances in the Premier League this season and hinted that he would not be a regular but if the opportunity came he wouldn’t hesitate picking him. Fabio Capello was watching from the stands but after the game Jack said he’s concentrating more on getting in the Arsenal side than representing his country!

He’s in a great position because he has it all ahead of him. I’m sure the Carling Cup will be his chance to impress this season and if he gets a couple of league appearances, then great.

Overall, we played well yesterday and we’re creating some nice football. We look to be coming on nicely this pre-season and we have another week of training before a good test away to Valencia on Saturday. Wenger says all transfer business should be done by then… but then again you can’t go by anything Wenger says to do with transfers. He rarely lets slip about is what is actually going on and usually tries to throw the press off the scent.

However we could have a player in by the weekend still and Bordeaux have confirmed that we have made a bid for Marouane Chamakh. The president says we bid just €7m but they value him at double that. I’m pretty sure we won’t be splashing out over €10m for a player such as Chamakh so I’m guessing Wenger will submit an increased ‘take it or leave it’ offer. At the moment though he looks the most likely player to arrive this week.

It surprises me that Wenger is going for another striker after saying this Emirates Cup proved we have decent attack. Most will say our priority should be a central midfielder or a defender but he still could be looking at one of those as well. We’re going to have to wait and see but at the moment the only player we’re being linked with in those positions is Patrick Vieira.

Wenger still hasn’t ruled out the move so there’s still the chance it could happen. I would love it if he did come hence getting my shirt printed with this yesterday. A bit optimistic I know but oh well. I believe I said in my last post how Vieira’s signing could be justified, I think he could do a job here but it’s not down to me, it’s down to Wenger. This week should be quite telling about Patrick Vieira’s future so just sit back and see what happens.

I’ve got to go now but before I leave I want to tell you about the chance to appear in a Nike advert for Theo Walcott this week. On Thursday there’s going to be some filming done at The Grove and they’re looking for people to get involved. Rather than just use extras in the crowd they want to try and get proper Arsenal fans to come down.

It’s from 9.30am until 4pm, a bit of a long day I know and I’m not sure what you will be asked to do exactly but Nike will provide you with lunch and a free Arsenal home or away shirt of your choice. And obviously you could feature in the advert itself. If you’re interested in getting involved then email your name, age, contact details, preferred shirt and size, and ideally a picture to nike[at]knucklehead.co.uk (replacing [at] for @ etc…)

Not sure if I will be able to make it myself but I’m thinking about it. So if you’re free on Thursday, get an email sent and get down to the Grove.

Right that’s it I better go. It’s Member’s Day tomorrow so enjoy that those of you who are going. Otherwise there’s an Arsenal XI playing Borehamwood at 7:30pm.

Thanks for reading.

2-1 vs. Atletico Madrid, Senderos to Everton & more news 1 August, 2009

Full time has just gone at Ashburton Grove and we beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 with all the goals coming in the last five minutes. Yesterday Wenger gave us a bit of team news – Diaby has a slight knee problem, Gibbs & Walcott aren’t fit yet and Rosicky & Clichy would play a part in the Emirates Cup. Well Rosicky started in his long-awaited return home and Clichy made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt for a while in the second half.

Jose Antonio Reyes also started in a strong Atletico Madrid side but was strangely booed by the home support. Things didn’t work out for him at Arsenal but I didn’t think he deserved the jeers at all. A bit of a shame, but he didn’t seem that bothered. When he was subbed off in the second half a few had turned those boos into applause but it was still a very mixed reception.

The first half was slightly dull, in a competition where shots on target count there was little goal action. We were playing decent stuff but nothing to shout about. TR7 was taken off at half time after a decent performance – he was not afraid of a challenge and was just a yard or two offside for what would’ve otherwise been a great comeback goal around 5 minutes in. He, Eboue and Traore came off at the break being replaced by Merida, Clichy and 17-year-old Wilshere.

Young Jack was the highlight of the game, easily picking up the man of the match award. He had an outstanding 45 minutes and showed Arsene Wenger that he is ready to fight for a place in the first team squad. After the game, Sky pundit (it’s only) Ray Parlour said he would risk Wilshere in the Premiership and after today’s performance it’s hard to argue with him.

We started the second half well; we controlled possession and had a load of chances. In the end it took the introduction of Eduardo, Fabregas and Arshavin before any goals came. They came on in the 66th minute, took a while to settle into the rhythm but the exciting combination of Cesc & Andrey made it 1-0 in the 85th minute. Fabregas was put through down the right but instead of crossing, cut back on himself towards the edge of the box. He clipped a ball over the far post and Arshavin volleyed low inside the near post. A good goal.

We lost our concentration though and Atletico looked to have spoiled the win seconds later when Pacheco was put clean through the defence to make it 1-1. It looked like Arshavin’s opener wasn’t going to get us the win but the little Russian came up with another right at the end. He took a chance on intercepting a looped back pass and with his first touch got to it before the ‘keeper taking it round him. The ball looked to be heading out for a goal kick but he slid to the ball making contact with it on the byline but somehow directing it into the open goal using the pace of the ball. Maybe a bit lucky but he is such a genius I’ll give it to him.

So 2-1 it finished. I watched over the internet today but I will be there tomorrow. Looking forward to it even though it looked half empty today.

There is a bit of breaking news this afternoon and that is that Philippe Senderos has apparently signed for Everton. He was sitting behind the bench with Almunia today, not in the squad but still present. However a lot of trustworthy sources are reporting that a deal has been done. Its all word of mouth at the moment so no links for you but I’m taking this as pretty much true. There has been talk of Everton bringing in Big Phil so they can sell Lescott for big City bucks and it looks like it might be going ahead. Expect news on this in the next couple of days.

If it is true then its even more money in the bank and surely we might be buying sooner or later, especially if Eboue leaves too. No doubt the rumours will come flooding in for defenders but at the moment the top story is Patrick Vieira.

Arsene was asked about him in yesterday’s press conference and had a lot of interesting things to say. He admitted he has spoken to the former captain but only on a personal level. However conversation of a move back to Arsenal did come up and the manager has refused to rule it out:

“I speak to Patrick. I speak to many players who have been here because I keep good connections with them. He has gone through a difficult period in the last season and I am aware that he wants to come here

I think Patrick is a legend here and he would always like to come back to this Club. That would be his first choice. He is a professional footballer with emotion and you always like the club where you’ve spent time. But as a professional as well, you always give 100 per cent for whichever club you sign for.

At the moment we need to look at the level of experience in our squad to make this kind of decision. There is a football decision and then there’s the psychological impact of a player of that stature coming in. We are nowhere near to making a decision like that. But it is a possibility. We don’t rule it out and we don’t say we will do it. That’s my decision at the moment.”

I’ve underlined all the juicy bits there and out of the blue this does look like a vague but interesting opportunity. Arsene once before said he could see Vieira becoming a central defender in his later years. He said yesterday that he would think about bringing Paddy back and now with Senderos apparently gone no doubt this idea of using him in defence will crop up in his thoughts.

It would be a risk though – there’s no doubt that Vieira wouldn’t be the player he used to be. However he would have the same knowledge and reading of the game plus the experience to guide and carry the squad; whether he has the legs to carry himself though is a different matter. We’d have to take a look and see how he’s holding up physically nowadays but I said on my twitter earlier that I could imagine him coming on with 20 minutes to go 1-0 or 2-1 up, calming the game down and making sure we hold on to the lead sitting behind the midfield.

At the moment I’d say the chances of a return are low but we can’t rule it out. More on this exciting story as I hear it.

Wenger also spoke about the other ins and outs this summer. He has reacted to Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud saying Wenger had contacted him about Chamakh. Around the Adebayor transfer he looked certain of coming but it’s all gone quiet. Wenger didn’t comment on Jean-Louis Triaud’s claim so we’re no clearer on the possibility of that. He also spoke about selling Toure and Adebayor to City saying you can’t chose who to sell your players to and if they hadn’t bought them, they would’ve only bought someone else.

And finally, Daniele De Rossi has denied making any contact with Arsenal about a move and is fully committed to Roma. That’s fair enough, I never really thought there was anything in the stories anyway.

Bit of a long post today, well done if you got through all off it. I’m off to London early tomorrow morning for day two of the Emirates Cup. I’m looking forward to being back at the Grove and hopefully we can win the trophy; we’re top of the table on 5 points after today so we’ve got a good chance. Maybe speak to you tomorrow evening, if not Monday.

Thanks for reading.