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.