Stoke Preview: Must turn terrible Britannia record around 26 February, 2010

I’ve been waiting all day for an update on our injury situation and it’s now 8 o’clock and it looks like all I’m going to get is a link to subscribe to Arsenal TV Online. Luckily there was an update yesterday and I take it that is still the case:

“Gallas (calf), Diaby (knee) and Arshavin (hamstring) are all out but Eduardo joins in training tomorrow [Friday] and we will decide after training.”

I was waiting to see whether Eduardo would be included or not but Arsene doesn’t usually give his team away. My guess is it’s bad news and they’ve chosen not to publish it all over Arsenal.com.

We are a weakened side for sure but we did alright against Sunderland. We didn’t play our best then but we still did enough. The main lesson to learn from our last game is that we need to kill our games off, we were lucky not to come away with a draw so we need to take our chances.

Stoke won’t let us play our free flowing football and will not allow us shots on goal. That’s why we must finish our opportunities tomorrow. Bendtner will be our only striker again so I hope he’s been working on his shooting this week. His height is always an advantage but Stoke are not a short team and it won’t be easy for him in the air tomorrow. Nick has a tremendous self belief and he needs to show that tomorrow, I’m hoping he can add to his goal last weekend.

I’m glad we have Song tomorrow but I really think we will miss Diaby; his strong and penetrative football would’ve been really useful at the Britannia. Denilson or Ramsey will fill in and I’m hoping it’s the latter. He has a lot more belief that the Brazilian and will bust a gut for this team. I just don’t see Denilson racing back 50 yards to help out the defence whereas I’ve come to expect that brilliant quality from Ramsey.

In defence I think Campbell is likely to return to the side. Silvestre did ok last week to be honest but I’d feel a lot more comfortable will Sol partnering Vermaelen. However I’ve heard people talking about replacing Clichy with Silvestre to give us a bit more height and I see their point. It’s an interesting tactic but I don’t see Wenger going for it. Arsene reckons Clichy has been improving and I don’t see him dropping him now. Last week Eboue stepped in for Sagna and did a very good job. I want him to start again tomorrow, he was our best player last weekend so I don’t see why he shouldn’t. I reckon we should play like this with Sagna coming back and Eboue replacing Walcott:

Almunia
Sagna – Campbell – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Fabregas (c) – Ramsey
Eboue – Bendtner – Nasri

Every time I write my XI before a game I totally forget Rosicky is fit. I wouldn’t bet against him getting a start somewhere in there. Maybe he will come in alongside Cesc or possibly flank the attack opposite Nasri but then again I’d still like to see Eboue and Ramsey. Luckily it’s not my job to make these decisions. I don’t think this is a game for Theo Walcott. I’d like him as an option from the bench and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him feature late on but I wouldn’t start him. Although he looked slightly improved last Saturday he didn’t quite cut it and tomorrow will be a physical test too. I think he will be a better option coming on against those tiring Stoke legs.

The home side played 120 minutes in midweek and although they will be on a high from knocking City out of the FA Cup they will suffer for it with fatigue. On the other hand we are completely fresh which gives us an advantage. We’re a fit team anyway but come the 70/80 minute mark tomorrow evening we really should be all over Stoke.

Our record there is quite frankly awful, two visits and two losses. That must stop tomorrow. It’s going to be a really hard game just like the others but I think this time we can do it. All they have is that fucking throw and if we can defend that then we can defend Stoke. “We only score from a throw-in” is the current favourite chant at the Britannia and they have a point. They should only cause us a threat from Delap’s long throw, we should be good enough to defend them in open play so I’m hoping if we can defend the throw then they wont cause us a threat.

A few weeks ago when we lost in the FA Cup we had Fabianski in goal of course. He failed to deal with the throw after just a minute gone and it set the story for the game. I know Almunia isn’t the best decision maker ever but I’m crossing every finger and praying that Manuel will deal with the threat tomorrow. We will have been working on this in training this week for sure, now lets get our heads screwed on, concentrate and put it into practice.

I’ve heard a couple of different tactics for defending Rory Delap this week. One is to stand a man on the line right in front of him and try put him off. I remember Henry doing it a few seasons back and the referee didn’t have any problems with it unless he started jumping. That might work but it’s really a case of trying it and seeing if it hinders his delivery. The other idea was if we kept three attackers up field Stoke wouldn’t be able to bombard the box as they love to do. They would have to keep defenders back to stop the break and they wouldn’t be able to cause that chaos in the box. It’s a risky tactic but it’s a bit different and I like it. However I can almost guarantee we wont try it.

I know I’m going on and on about this fucking throw in but there’s one more point I’d like to raise. When we played them in the cup a few weeks ago they had this ridiculous towel routine going on which made every throw in last literally 30 seconds in preparation. It doesn’t sound a lot on it’s own but Delap does about 5-10 of these and half and that adds up to about 2-6 minutes in stoppages. Add that to all the other incidents in the game and there should be a shit load of added time at the end of each half but the referees failed to acknowledge that last time around. It’s a bit of a petty thing to bring up but if they’re going to allow them to us that towel they need to account for it. However the other way of looking at it is if we are winning then we should be using that towel at every opportunity not just to slow the game down but also to fuck them off. Especially for short throws. I reckon Eboue should wipe his arse on it every time the ball goes out of play. ‘Excuse me ref, Towel please.’

I’ll shut up about Rory Delap now and hope that we can nullify his threat tomorrow. I’m going to the game and hoping we can make it 1 win out of 3 trips to the Britannia. Still a crap record but it’s a start. I’ll report on my trip to the beautiful city of Stoke either Sunday or Monday so speak to you then.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS,.

Midweek [lack of] News Round Up 25 February, 2010

Still very dull and quiet round these parts. With no midweek game there’s been nothing to really talk about but then again hopefully that means our players will be fit and raring to go this weekend. We’ve got a very tough trip to Stoke on Saturday and we’re going to need to be at our best – we’ve been there twice and lost twice. Eduardo Da Silva is looking to return to the side this weekend and is sick and fed up of all his injury setbacks:

“I have stopped looking back, thinking about negatives and I’m looking forward now because I missed games and had a year out which affected me.

I’ve not got a problem with the leg now but I do suffer muscle injuries because I was out for so long and now I’m working so hard to come back. But I’m getting stronger physically, I’m stronger mentally, my confidence personally is growing and I believe I’m at a club where we can win titles and trophies because we are one of the top ten teams in the world.”

I’m not counting on having Eduardo’s services this weekend. For the past three games he’s meant to have been back so I’ve kind of lost faith in when the manager tells us he will return. If he does pass the necessary fitness tests then he probably won’t be fit enough to last 90 minutes anyway.

I’m not sure he’s the type of player we’ll need at the Britannia anyway. He is easily pushed off the ball and might get muscled out of the game. However he is the sort that can turn a game in an instant with something magical – but we haven’t seen that in a while from him.

I’m glad we have Bendtner available at least. His physical and aerial presence will be a good asset and he proved his strikers instinct with the tap-in last weekend. We could certainly do with Robin van Persie who’s not afraid to get stuck into a physical battle and is easily one of our best players. According to his national manager we could have him back earlier than we think but I’m not so optimistic. The Dutch have always tried to play down his injury, first diagnosing it as a two week problem and then constantly shortening the recovery time against our own estimates. He’s saying early April but I think what Wenger said last week will be more accurate and that was late April at the earliest.

Tomorrow we will get a full update on the latest injury news so we’ll get a better idea of who we will take to Stoke then. I must admit I am a little bit worried about the game, it’s a horrible place to go and our record shows that. Last night Man City were beaten there in the FA Cup and they will be on a high from that for sure. However it did take 120 minutes to separate them though so hopefully they’re suffering a bit of fatigue.

A full match preview to come tomorrow.

In other news The Mirror’s John Cross has been talking about our early leavers at Ashburton Grove. It’s a familiar sight nowadays seeing the stadium almost half empty at the final whistle and it is frustrating for the players and fans. What difference does half an hour make on a Saturday afternoon? I know some people have places to go and that is fair enough but 20,000-30,000 people can’t all have to be at the dinner table for 6 o’clock or wherever people have to be.

It’s a real shame but I don’t see it improving drastically. Yes the queues are bad for the tube but why miss the last 5-10 minutes of the game just to go join a line of people? I very rarely leave early, only if I genuinely have to be somewhere. I hate queuing too, I’m a very impatient guy so I find the best tactic is going to the pub or the shops for half an hour after the game until they die down.

It’s a bit of a pointless topic to discuss really when I think about it, everyone’s different and you can’t tell people what to do but it is a bit embarrassing sometimes. In quiet weeks like these though all there is to discuss is pointless topics anyway.

That’s about all I can muster for this afternoon, tomorrow’s press conference should bring us a load of fresh stories; fingers crossed it’s good news. Before I go, if you haven’t seen this photo of Eboue, Arshavin and Bendtner, you need to – it’s amazing.

Thanks for reading.

Theo Walcott meets bowls team & more 23 February, 2010

Sorry for my unexplained absence once again but in fairness not a lot has happened. We beat Sunderland 2-0 since we last spoke which was to be expected with all due respect to them. The visitors didn’t offer anything except for a couple of breakthrough one-on-ones that Almunia did well to stop. It was an unnecessarily tense game; it was 1-0 for most of the tie when it really should’ve been killed off much sooner. On an unluckier day we would’ve conceded and drawn but we held out.

Since then there hasn’t been a lot of news. There’s a load of stuff on Theo Walcott though, my favorite being him meeting the Arsenal short mat bowls team. Whether he was just having a trial or there to finalize a deal I’m not sure but I’m sure we’ll soon hear the old ‘long term contract for an undisclosed fee’ line and I wish him the best of luck there.

In all seriousness though, Theo isn’t having the best of times at the moment. I’m not saying he should retire and go join the bowls team but he needs to sort out his football game soon. He says he’s feeling as fit as he ever has which is a start but he’s still lacking form. On Saturday he was involved a lot more than he has been of late but most of the time he gave the ball away, made the wrong decision or ran into nowhere. He did have little flashes of form though and if it wasn’t for a fine low save he might’ve ended up on the score sheet after a dodging run into the box and shot inside the near post.

Being World Cup year every time you analyze Walcott’s performance there is talk of his chances of making the squad. Capello was there on Saturday but he’ll need to see a lot more before he picks Theo for the trip to South Africa. Wenger thinks he will make it but I think it’s 50:50 at the moment.

I know some English Arsenal fans won’t be supporting their country at the World Cup but I will; it does hurt a bit cheering for cunts like Terry, Cole, Lampard and Rooney but there’s nothing I can do about that. I really hope Theo finds his form firstly for Arsenal but then hopefully he will make the squad and I will have someone I can genuinely cheer on this summer.

Anyway were getting sidetracked… Theo’s also spoken about our title bid and is happy with the position we’re in. I told you there was a lot of Walcott related news today. He says, “There is a smile on everyone’s face at the moment,” and the spirit in the camp is good. We’re six points off the top and anything can happen with the remaining fixtures. As he says, we’ve just got to take each game as it comes and see what happens. We’re just two points off United now and if top spot is a bit optimistic in your eyes, then 2nd is a very realistic target. Man Utd host West Ham tonight though so will be looking to make a bit of ground, however us and Chelsea will have a game in hand over them.

Nicklas Bendtner’s also in the news this week after his goal at the weekend. I backed him to score and it was nice to see him on the score sheet again; it was a bit of a tap in but a real striker’s goal and they all count. Bendtner’s comeback pleases Wenger and Bendtner is pleased that Wenger is pleased with him. He still has some time to go before he can say he’s fully back but that goal will have done him some good.

Wenger talks him up all the time and he is the main reason behind not signing a striker last month so he really has to produce this season. He should get a solid run of game from now until May and he needs to prove his worth. He’s only just turned 22 so he’s still got loads of time to develop into the star he thinks he’s going to be, but we kind of need him to produce now.

That’s about it really as far as news goes. It really is a quiet week. Barnet are playing Bournemouth tonight down here so I think I might go and watch that, it’s usually 0-0 every time I go to watch Bournemouth so hopefully there’ll be some goals tonight. The one time I did go and see a goal was last season when Bournemouth won 1-0 in the very last minute. However I couldn’t celebrate as it was fucking Darren Anderton who scored in the final minute of his last game for the club. Everyone was going mental singing his name I was just fucked off, sulking in my seat. Stupid, fat, floppy-haired cunt.

Anyways, thanks for reading. See ya.

Sunderland Preview: Almunia & Song in, Sol’s a doubt and Diaby, Gallas, Arshavin & Eduardo all out 19 February, 2010

So it’s back to the league tomorrow and back to a Saturday 3 o’clock kick off – I’ve been getting used to seeing us on the telly. We’ll be looking to put the disappointment of Porto behind us and get back to winning ways in the league. That horrible run against Villa, United, Chelsea and Liverpool is over now and you could say it’s downhill from here. Every single game is winnable now including our toughest matches away to Spurs and Man City at home.

I’m by no means expecting us to win every league game until the end of the season but it is possible. It would be quite some achievement though. Mainly wins and few draws and we will be right up there in this title race. We can’t afford to lose any more games now, we won our last game against Liverpool and we need to back that up now with another win tomorrow.

The team news is that we’re still without Gallas, Arshavin and Eduardo which is a real shame and Abou Diaby is a fresh body to the injury table. Sol Campbell had tests today to see how well he recovered from Wednesday night and we will make a late decision on him. It’s fair to expect a player his age not to be able to play 180 minutes in a few days but I’d be a bit worried if we have to play Silvestre.

Gallas and Arshavin are set to miss Stoke away next week too which also sucks. Eduardo is supposed to be back but then he has supposed to have been back all of our last three games so I’m not counting on him. No word on the extent of Diaby’s injury but his record is not good…

Almunia and Song do return though which I suppose is good news. Maybe Song will play central defence ahead of Silvestre if Sol doesn’t make it? It’ll be good to have Alex back though. Also despite Wenger backing Fabianski it looks like Almunia will be back keeping nets again. Not sure how I feel about that to be honest, I guess it is for the best.

So will all those injuries in mind this is how I think we might line up tomorrow:

Almunia
Sagna – Campbell – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Fabregas – Denilson
Rosicky – Bendtner – Nasri

However if it were up to me I would drop Rosicky back alongside Cesc and play Eboue right attacking midfield. He has been very penetrative when he’s come on recently and I’m surprised he hasn’t been given a start in that position. At times he looks like the only one who really gives a shit and I like those sort of players. It’s amazing how Eboue has turned himself around in the past year or so, there’s still a bit of diving in his game but he really puts the effort in and is a danger going forward.

We’re still really lacking strikers though and that January just gone with no one brought in still looks like a bad idea. We could do really with van Persie back but it looks like it’ll be late April at the earliest. We might’ve been one of the top scorers in the league but we certainly haven’t been in the past month or two. We’re struggling to score and create enough chances plus we really need that guy up there that can score a goal on his own. Wenger has still yet to convince me that we didn’t need anyone.

Hopefully that can change tomorrow though. I said the other night that Bendtner needs a goal and that still applies, I wouldn’t back against him scoring tomorrow; Apart from Fabregas I don’t really see where else a goal is going to come from. Nasri and Rosicky are dangerous but they don’t score bags of goals. Maybe it’ll take another set piece for the centre backs to get a head in.

We need to be solid defensively too. ‘Solid defence’ aren’t really words you associate with Arsenal but we need to do our best. I have faith in Campbell and Vermaelen but not really in Clichy and Almunia – I hope they are in good form tomorrow.

Speaking of ‘good form’, that’s not exactly how you’d describe Sunderland at the moment. Their last win was against us in November but I don’t think they will fancy doing the double over us. After a great start to the season they’re now just three points off the relegation zone. They have bad injury problems too and could be without six midfielders tomorrow but Fraizer Campbell could return.

They are a side that we really, really should beat. It sounds cocky but anything other than a strong three points tomorrow is a very bad result for a team chasing the title.

So here’s to a good performance, three points and all smiles again tomorrow. Come on you Gunners!

Speak to you Sunday.

Porto 2-1 Arsenal – 17/02/10 – (Champions League) 18 February, 2010

I said before the game that last night was a massive opportunity for Lukasz Fabianski; with Almunia not performing it was his chance to make an impression and make his case for the no.1 shirt. Well he certainly made his impression, two calamitous mistakes find us losing going into the second leg.

He made silly mistakes in the Stoke game last month, add that to the performance at Wembley last season and Fabianski has gone from possible first choice ‘keeper to possibly never getting the chance again. He’s really hurt his own reputation now and will struggle to get back in the fans’ good book. Just a few weeks ago most Gooners were screaming for Fabianski to come in for Almunia, now we’re back to square one with some even calling for Mannone to step in – he had a good game at Fulham but he is not ready yet.

I’ll save the whole goalkeeper debate for another day but it is crystal clear we need to sign a stopper in the summer, we should’ve done it in January but that’s Arsene Wenger for you. No one we have at the moment is good enough for the level of football we play at. Everyone’s laughing at us and I’m fed up of it.

Anyway so on to the game and it was an explosive start, right from the first 30 seconds this game was intense and was one of the better Champions League 1st legs I’ve seen in a while, certainly for the neutral. We wanted to make an early impression but Porto had obviously seen how weak we are defending the counter attack and were causing us problems.

Inside two minutes Sol Campbell was called upon to make a goal-saving challenge when he was skinned on the left. Fair play to him though he got back and made a great tackle. Hulk had a shot go just wide of the far post but it was Porto’s lamest of chances that gave them the lead after 10 minutes. Clichy was easily avoided on the right wing and Valera put in a low cross straight to Fabianski who fumbled it over his own line. What a terrible, terrible piece of handling – it’s basic goalkeeping skills and he fucked it up on the big stage. I do feel sorry for him but it should never have happened.

We had chances of our own and responded well to the goal looking to get the quick equalizer. Bendtner had the best chance and looked to beat Helton at his far post but the shot was deflected and went just wide. From the resulting corner Cesc’s ball dropped deep to the back post for Rosicky to nod it back in, Campbell was there and headed it under the crossbar to make it 1-1.

The home side were clearly hurt by our goal and we were on top for the rest of the half. We really should’ve made the most of our pressure though and the closest we came was when Bendtner’s looping header was touched over the bar. However those two Bendtner chances I’ve mentioned are almost all he did all game, he was provided a few shooting opportunities but they were struck way off target. His only real threat was aerially and it’s clear he needs to work on his shooting. He’s only just back from injury though so I’ll let him off for now.

We started the second half well too and should’ve had a clear penalty five minutes in. Rosicky was tripped from behind in the area and went down (not like the home side did who appeared to be picked out by a sniper in row Z every time they felt contact from an Arsenal player, fucking pussies). Whether intentional or not it was definitely a trip and it was a clear penalty. The referee who is without a doubt one of the biggest cunts I’ve ever seen chose to ignore it despite falling for most of Porto’s dives throughout the game.

However Martin Hansson had yet to out-do himself. He was the man to miss Thierry Henry’s handball against Ireland but last night he went one better by almost pulling on a Porto shirt and scoring the second himself. A ball was played forward by the home side but was over hit and Campbell defended the ball for Fabianski to come and collect but accidentally got a touch. Fabianski stupidly picked it up and the referee responded to Porto’s claims for a free kick inside the box. The rules clearly state that a free kick is given in this scenario for an intentional back pass which it clearly wasn’t, however if in any doubt Fabianski should’ve booted it away and not tempt Hansson into a decision.

That wasn’t the worst part though. The referee demanded the ball off us waving it over and gave the ball straight to the Porto striker before clearly standing in Campbell’s way while he let them play on and pass it into the net. I couldn’t fucking believe it! If Martin Hansson was a Porto player in that position he would’ve done exactly the same thing, ushering the ball back off Fabianski then stand in Campbell’s way when he tried to defend it. It would’ve made no difference if he was wearing a yellow or blue and white shirt last night for that incident.

I think it has to be questioned; it wasn’t even just bad refereeing it was a clear obstruction on Arsenal. Wenger was furious that they were allowed to take it quickly insisting that the referee didn’t award them a free-kick, he didn’t even award them a penalty he pretty much just awarded them a goal for a back pass that wasn’t even a back pass.

I’m very upset about this as you can probably tell but it’s over now and there’s nothing we can do about it. The game ended up 2-1 and those two goals will stick in the memory a long time. We played better than Porto, should’ve scored more when we had the pressure on them but gave away two incredibly stupid goals. We’re still in it though because of that away goal and a simple 1-0 at home will send us through, but with this defence I don’t know if we can keep a clean sheet.

Watching the highlights back last night Fabianski wasn’t as bad as reported but he made two terrible decisions and you cannot afford to do that. He made a few decent saves but just those two little things over 90 minutes and he has ruined it for us. It’s a real shame but that’s just the way it is.

It was a bitter-sweet game for Sol Campbell who actually defended very well and scored his second Champions League goal in as many games but he will rue that second Porto goal. He did play well though and I’d have no problem with him coming in at any point the rest of this season.

The second leg isn’t for three weeks now so hopefully we’ll have a few players back by then. Next up it’s Sunderland and we need to pick ourselves up for that. Build up to that one to come tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Tonight’s line up vs. Porto 17 February, 2010

Fabianski
Sagna – Vermaelen – Campbell – Clichy
Denilson
Fabregas (c) – Diaby
Rosicky – Bendtner – Nasri

Subs : Mannone – Vela – Walcott – Ramsey – Silvestre – Eboue – Traore

Sorry no time for a preview today, turned out to be a busy afternoon but about to stick on ITV to watch the game. The line up is as expected after yesterday’s injury announcements. It’s by no means our best team and Porto will be looking to exploit our weak links. It could be a 4-5-1, we wont know until the game gets underway but that is the XI.

Despite calling Fabianski ‘a very talented goalkeeper’ Wenger has revealed that he has been playing Manuel Almunia through injury which is very interesting. In the past Wenger has always been quick to talk up Fabianski and highly rates our no.2 but yet he has resisted playing him even with Almunia injured. Tonight he gets his chance though and he really needs to perform.

Bendtner is the only out and out striker with Nasri and Rosicky joining him in that front line. He needs a goal and tonight would be the perfect time to get it.

Sol Campbell finds himself playing Champions League knockout football just months after playing in League Two with Notts County. Lets hope he’s up to the task, his last game in the competition was the Champions League Final in 2006 and I’m sure the commentators will be keen to point that out every five minutes tonight.

Right I’m gonna go put a pizza on and grab a beer. Enjoy the game, I’m a bit nervous to be honest – would happily take a score draw now if it was given to me.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Arshavin, Eduardo, Gallas, Song & Almunia out for tough Porto clash 16 February, 2010

The weekend off from football has not done our fitness any good and we’re without five first team players for the trip to Porto. Eduardo’s ‘small small’ hamstring problem he picked up at Villa Park that was supposed to put him out temporarily sees him pass the three week mark – absolute rubbish. Arshavin told us last week that he was struggling so we expected him to be out but then I thought we’d have Eduardo to replace him. Gallas, Song and Almunia have all picked up new injuries since our last game and it means Campbell, Denilson and Fabianski will all undoubtedly start tomorrow night.

We are without doubt a much weaker side with these new injuries. Thank God Vermaelen is playing through the pain otherwise we would have a very weak defence indeed against a Porto attack that is going to be difficult to stop at home. Our attack is very weak too with only Bendtner, Walcott and Vela as strikers in the squad – all three have just returned from injury themselves. The front line will undoubtedly have to be strengthened with Rosicky, Nasri or even Eboue. Song’s a big loss from midfield too, there’s no Eastmond in the squad so Denilson must be playing defensive midfield; he wasn’t performing well in the position and since hasn’t played in a few games so will have to prove he’s a strong swimmer when he’s thrown in at the deep end tomorrow night.

Today’s news has made me feel a lot less confident now. Porto will be loving this news. Yesterday I spoke about us possibly getting a 1-0 or 2-0, now I’m hoping for a score draw.

It just makes you even more frustrated at the fragile nature of this squad. How is it that we are so unlucky with injuries? Arsene Wenger said a few weeks ago that it’s got so bad it’s more than a coincidence now and will have to look into it. I have no idea how long those five will be out for, Eduardo well we’ll probably see him fit again late 2012, Gallas has a calf strain, Song has a knee problem and Arshavin has a hamstring injury but there’s no time frames on those yet. Hopefully they’re not out for too long.

We’re being told Manuel Almunia has a problem with a twisted finger and Wenger did not want to take a gamble. He’s not very consistent with his betting Arsene Wenger – sometimes he loves a gamble but sometimes he’ll use anything as an excuse; you’d think that with Song and Gallas out he’d want to keep in our no.1 ‘keeper to be as strong defensively as we can. Well he’s chosen to leave him out and it’s a chance now for Fabianski. If he plays well tomorrow night he could well see himself starting again at the weekend and he could soon find himself our first choice goalie. He has to take this chance to stake his place.

He’s capable of making some really good saves so a few of them tomorrow and I really think he could end this season as our main ‘keeper. Everyone’s getting a bit fed up with Almunia now so this is his chance to push for the no.1 spot.

The only other bit of news was that ticket prices have been frozen for another year but to be honest I wouldn’t have expected anything different. Not only is football not the most financially viable thing to go and watch at the moment but nothing has been done at the club to merit a rise in prices.

Tomorrow night’s match looks a whole lot more challenging now, I don’t know if it’s still excitement I feel in my belly or if it’s nerves but I’m anticipating the game. Preview to come tomorrow afternoon, until then.

[Insert Arsenal related headline here] 15 February, 2010

Wow it really is quiet isn’t it? There really is nothing going on in here. So much so that some blogs have published the most blatantly Photoshopped picture of Arsenal’s 2010/11 kit. You have to be a bit gullible to believe that is really a leaked photograph. There has been talk for a little while now that next season’s strip will be an all-red number to commemorate our 125th year anniversary. It dates back from when the club formed as Dial Square and two former Nottingham Forest players who were part of the original squad sorted out kits that were borrowed from their previous club.

Nike will always jump at any kind of commemorative kit opportunity and the lazy thing to do would be to reproduce the first kit we used. Despite a couple of years ago making a big fuss about Herbet Chapman introducing white sleeves and how ‘Arsenal’ it was. 124 years ago we looked like Nottingham Forest, that’s in the past – how about an iconic simple red shirt with white sleeves with ’125th anniversary’ stitched around the crest? That’s what I would like to see anyway. If they’re so desperate for an all-red release then how about releasing it for a one-off match or a reversible number like this one haha. I love seeing next season’s kits as much as anyone so as soon as I see anything that’s clearly not fake I will let you know.

Attention has started to turn to the game against Porto on Wednesday night. They’ll be a press conference tomorrow which will bring us a load more news and an injury update but Arsene has still been talking and says Porto will not be easy:

“The minimum requirement is not to lose the game and be out of the tie. A clean sheet will do, but we are team who will not hide – we want to play. However, we want to make sure defensively we are okay.

From the outside, sometimes you are seen as favourites, but that does not matter. Porto have been consistently in the Champions League and you know you will get a tough game, so I will not be surprised.”

I don’t see us being out of the game after the first leg but a few slip-ups at this level and you can be. We have been suspect defensively recently so I’m glad to see Wenger is concentrating on that. I’m not expecting to go to the Estadio do Dragao and win but if we can keep a clean sheet then we could come away with a 1-0 or 2-0. As long as we’re not losing after the first leg then I think I’ll be happy though. If I was into sports betting then I would go for a 1-1.

Porto will not be looking forward to our visit that’s for sure. They might have the better record at their ground with one win and one draw against us in recent years but they know we are a tough side, I went when we beat them 3-0 at home and we were all over them. Midfielder Bruno Alves says they must keep Cesc Fabregas quiet if they are to have a chance, everyone knows that but the skipper loves this competition and he’ll want to deliver another match-winning performance.

I’m looking forward to a bit of Champions League football, it’s been a while. There should be a load more news tomorrow so I’ll speak to you then.

Man City FA Cup Previ… oh, wait. 13 February, 2010

Feels weird to have no football this weekend… The players will probably be enjoying the weekend off but I don’t know what to do with myself. I even looked into going to watch local side Bournemouth, 150 miles away at Dagenham & Redbridge! Instead I opted for a lazy lie in and I might consider watching some FA Cup games later.

Not a lot of news as you would expect in this mini-non-international-international-break-kinda-thing. The top story, which is old news now, is the injury concern over Alex Song and Andrei Arshavin. Song might make it back for the trip to Porto and I’m really hoping he does, we’ve played there twice in the last few years drawing one and losing one so it’s going to be a tough game. Denilson will be hoping to make a return to the team but I just really don’t feel confident in him.

Arshavin has since confirmed he will miss the Porto game and is looking to be back next weekend at the earliest. It’s a real blow because just as we’re getting strikers back Arshavin is now injured! Bendtner will start in Portugal but I don’t think Eduardo will be available; he’s just coming back from another hamstring injury and is likely to be on the bench.

In other news Cesc Fabregas has been talking about the age of our squad insisting that is no excuse anymore:

“They are 29, we are 23. As a team, we need to be stronger.

We can’t hide behind people saying we are too young or we have injuries. We just have to compete. People say you must learn from your mistakes, but you learn how to play football when you are 12, 13, 14, 15. You don’t learn these things when you are 25.

Of course, you can still improve, always improve, but the basics must be there. If you play for Arsenal, it is because you have to have these attributes. That is why I do not believe age is an excuse.”

I guess he’s right, I am guilty all the time of thinking ‘oh it’s ok they’re still young and learning, maybe next year’ – and I really shouldn’t. I know we are capable of winning so the age should no longer be an excuse. I’ve always thought that in a few years time if we manage to keep this squad together we’re going to be one of the great forces in football, but I shouldn’t be so patient all the time. We should be ready to win things now and at the moment it looks like likely to be another barren season. Well the hope is still there but we’re not favourites.

At the beginning of this season Wenger was adamant that this team was ready and actually promised that we would win some silverware this year. He was sure that we would compete in the Premier League, which to an extent we have but a lot has been down to the poor form of our rivals, but he said we would win one of the cups if we didn’t win the league.

At the start of the season I thought that we would win the FA Cup and that would be it for the season. I think Wenger probably thought that too but took too much of a risk with his weakened side at Stoke. I didn’t think we were quite ready to win the league or the Champions League this season so I honestly thought we could go one step further this year and reach the FA Cup final. I think Arsene expected us to be playing this weekend and so did I, however I didn’t expect us to be in the title race still at the same time and Arsene had to make a choice: rest a few players in the cup and give us the best chance in the Premiership, or go for the FA Cup with no guarantee of winning it if but have players not 100% fresh for the league games. He chose the former and the gamble didn’t quite pay off.

I think it was our best chance of a trophy this year but it’s over now. We either have to put an amazing run together in the league or go all the way in Europe for the first time in our history, otherwise it’s going to be 5 years since we opened the trophy cabinet doors. I can’t say I’m overly confident that we’ll do either but if we did it would be fucking amazing – at the end of the day I’d take the two competitions we’re left in over the FA Cup every single time.

Jack Wilshere’s been talking about his Bolton move and says he wants to prove to everyone he’s ready to play in the Premier League and apparently Silvestre isn’t happy and wants out. And that’s you up to date.

Enjoy you’re weekend whatever you decide to get up to. We should be travelling to Man City today but instead Stoke have the pleasure of that trip. Oh well, I guess there’s that little thing called the Champions League to concentrate on.

See ya.

Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool – 10/02/10 – (Premier League) 11 February, 2010

What a fantastic set of results last night, we were due a bit of luck after the terrible time we’ve been having recently and things are starting to look a whole lot better. With Man United drawing with Villa and Everton beating Chelsea we’re now just six points off the top. Still some way but it gives us hope. Add that to Wolves beating Spurs (again) and it was quite a Match of The Day last night!

However I said before the game that we needed to forget about the top two and concentrate on the teams below us by beating Liverpool. Last night’s win gives us the breathing space of 8 points between us and the Scoucers which is a relief. It was a massive game for them last night but it looked very much like they came to Ashburton Grove for the draw. The first half was incredibly boring, we found it hard to get going and Liverpool just didn’t look like doing anything. The only highlight was when Bendtner had a clear shot at goal but it went over the crossbar and that was about it.

We needed to pick our game up in the second half and we should’ve been boosted by results elsewhere around the country. I’m not sure if the players knew that United and Chelsea were drawing at half time but it might’ve inspired them.

Once the first chance came after the break the game exploded into life, you expect a little bit more from Arsenal vs. Liverpool than what we got in the first half but we got it now. Both sides should’ve opened the scoring early in the second half, both chances coming within seconds of each other. Gerrard’s chip put David N’gog through and he got ahead of our defence to go one-on-one, Vermaelen had no choice but to back off to save giving a penalty away but just as it looked like all hope was lost Gallas stuck a leg in out of nowhere and made a great tackle. Almunia got the counter attack going straight away and Rosicky found himself through on goal too but his second touch was very poor and Reina collected.

These two chances were followed by attacks from both teams and it was exciting end-to-end football – a huge contrast from the first half. Everyone was starting to get a bit more imaginative with their play and both sides looked capable of scoring. I might be a bit bias but I thought we were the more dangerous, we certainly had more of the ball and were creating the best chances.

Nicklas Bendtner, who I was not expecting to start, was getting in the thick of it and could’ve scored on a couple of occasions. He had a strong claim for a penalty midway through the half, Howard Webb was quick to react though and booked him for diving. However the replay showed that there was contact and the defender’s leg did come across into the path of Bendtner. He might’ve made a bit much of it but it was certainly enough to trip him and it should’ve been a penalty.

We didn’t have to wait much longer for the goal and it did eventually come in the 72nd minute. Bendtner was involved again, he had possession of the ball in the area but spread it right to Rosicky who put in a great cross for Diaby. Abou rose well and had a free header to make it 1-0 to The Arsenal.

The goal did look like it was coming but it was getting to that stage where you thought Liverpool might just hang on to a 0-0. It was vital goal in our season and you could tell by the reaction of the fans, players and manager.

We dropped back a little after the goal, we had Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue and Fabregas going forward but Diaby and Song went and sat in front of the defence. We were more than happy with 1-0 and weren’t going to risk throwing this one away.

The visitors threw on Babel and he almost scored a brilliant equalizer but his long shot was well saved by Manuel Almunia. He’s been the subject of a lot of criticism recently but credit where it’s due, that was a great save to tip it on to the bar.

There was one more heart-in-mouth moment at the end when Gerrard lined up a free kick in the 94th minute. I’m sure you’ve all seen Cesc’s handball from the wall and it was fucking brilliant! The captain was making a right nuisance of himself and he wasn’t going to let Liverpool score this late on. Liverpool went mad appealing for a penalty but the final whistle was blown and we won 1-0. In the replay you can see that it clearly hits his arm but you could say it would’ve hit his head anyway. Plus it was outside the box.

Gerrard was furious with the ref after the game and said:

“The referee told the Liverpool wall in the first half that if anyone raises their arms above their waist he was going to give a penalty,” said the midfielder. So for some crazy reason he didn’t give it. He told me after the game he hadn’t seen it.”

Ha ha ha! Make you feel a bit lucky that we got away with it though! Cesc was also critical of last nights shit referee and you can watch his post-match interview here.

That win secures our place in third for the moment and we can start looking up again. We’re still very much the outsiders for the title but we definitely have a chance. Andrei Arshavin thinks we must win all 12 of the games remaining to win the league. If we did that then yes I reckon we probably would be champions but if we manage to stay unbeaten then we’ll have a very good chance.

Thanks for reading.

Liverpool Preview: Forget about the title, tonight is about 3rd vs. 4th 10 February, 2010

After everything that’s gone on in the last couple of weeks we really need to take a step back from it all now. All the talk has been about the title race and our chances after losing to Man United and Chelsea. Are we out of it? Is there still a chance? For the moment, we need to put these thoughts to one side and concentrate on the job at hand.

Liverpool have not had a good season but with just the Premier League to concentrate on they’ve crawled back into a healthy position compared to a couple of months ago when it looked like they might not even make 4th. Now, they’re setting their sights even higher and want to challenge us for 3rd. It shows just how quickly and dramatically the league table can change.

So for at least just tonight we need to concentrate on what’s below us and not above us and keep Liverpool at bay. Anything but a win tonight is going to catalyze a 3rd and 4th place battle between us, Liverpool, the scum from down the road, Villa and Manchester City. I do not want that – let them lot all scrap for 4th place, lets win tonight and set our sights on 3rd and higher.

Saying all this though, beating Liverpool isn’t a walk in the park. We beat them 2-1 earlier in the season but needed a kick up the arse from the manager at half time. I think the motivation is all there this time though; even when we looked dead and buried against United and Chelsea we kept on fighting. We simply lost because they were better quality teams that us. However I believe we are a better team than Liverpool and I believe we should register our first win in three weeks tonight. It’s kind of surprising in these low times like this but I am quite confident about this evening.

Team news is the same – we still have no strikers so Arshavin will start and Bendtner will be an option from the bench, Eduardo is not fit enough to make the squad. Andrei looked lively in our last two games but failed to put away his chances, I’m hoping he can continue his fine record against Liverpool by converting tonight. The rest of the team picks itself really with Diaby back and Wenger refusing to accept criticism of Manuel Almunia. The only doubts are the full-backs. Sagna keeps coming off early an obviously has a slight problem so I could see Eboue starting tonight. On the other side Gael Clichy is not playing well and there has been suggestions that we could move Vermaelen or Gallas into his place and bring in Campbell at central defence. Both Vermaelen and Gallas have experience playing at left back, it’s not an unfamiliar position to them so it is something for Wenger to ponder. Arsene will have to make a decision as to whether Clichy can improve his ways otherwise he may find himself on the bench tonight.

Liverpool are on a high after winning the Merseyside derby and are currently unbeaten in seven games. Centre-back Sotirios Kyrgiakos was sent off in that game though so is suspended tonight. Aquilani is apparently ill plus Torres, Benayoun and Johnson are all out injured. They won’t be looking forward to playing us tonight, it’s a massive game for them and although we’ve lost two on the trot they know will be looking to bounce back tonight.

Enjoy the game those going tonight, get behind the boys as this win isn’t going to happen on it’s own. We really, really need the three points otherwise our season will have quickly turned from a title race into a European place fight. Win though, and we might be able to start thinking about what’s above us again. And with Man United playing at Villa Park and Chelsea going to Everton, you never know we might get back in this earlier than you think.

Come on Arsenal.

Press conference round up: Wenger hits back, transfers & Eduardo out for another week 9 February, 2010

Earlier today we had the pre-Liverpool press conference which has generated quite a bit of news. However there was a lot more talk on the recent back to back losses and where Arsenal’s season goes from here rather than tomorrow night’s 3rd vs. 4th clash.

Arsene Wenger was quick to cool the situation down, back the team and wasn’t going to let the media stir up any trouble:

“It looks to me quite easy to solve having looked at the way we have conceded the last two goals and that is it. It is important that we support each other and show solidarity and show that people who try to destroy that are not right.

This is a team that really wants to win and you have seen that on Sunday until the last minute of the game. Of course when you find yourself running after the score and you are playing against big teams, you threaten to be caught on the counter-attack and that’s what [happened with] the second goal on Sunday.

When it is 0-0, we don’t over-commit but we have found ourselves in the position in the last two games where we have to take massive gambles. That puts you in a difficult situation.”

It’s a shame we conceded so early in both games against Man United and Chelsea and I’m sure it would’ve ruined our game plan. However we still shouldn’t be caught on the break at 1-0 down so early in the game, there’s no need to take ‘massive gambles’ and risk conceding another when there’s so long of the game to go.

He talked about not naming and shaming and says we can look where we went wrong and change that next time. However Gael Clichy must but put mainly to blame for both goals on Sunday. As much as I love the guy he’s not playing well at all right now and when Wenger says he will look at the problems, the problem was Clichy. I’m not saying that we should’ve played someone else at left back but Gael broke basic defending rules for both Chelsea’s goals and really needs to get his head screwed on.

Arsene refuses to give up the title race although members of the Chelsea squad are saying we’re already out of it. I’d agree that it is unlikely now but Wenger has reminded us that we have an advantage with the fixtures we have got left, and after this week we wont have to play the top four again. He says that in sport luck constantly changes and if we refuse to give up we might find ourselves back in the hunt in a few weeks.

That’s what we have to hope for now really. It’s the Arsenal way to just keep going until the very end – until the final whistle and until it’s mathematically impossible. That is what we need to do now. The way this season has gone United and Chelsea are bound to lose and draw a few more games this season, it’s our job to drop less points than them and win as many as we can along the way. We must go on an unbeaten run now if we are to have any chance, I think if we lost any more games then that will be that.

This attitude has got to start tomorrow night because if it doesn’t we’re going to find ourselves looking at the teams below, rather than above us. Liverpool want to fight us for third now and will be just two points behind us if they win tomorrow. Th threat isn’t just them either, Tottenham aren’t far behind and Man City will be even closer if they win their two games in hand they have over everyone.

Arsene was also questioned about his transfer intentions this January. He’s adamant that he did try to bring players in but made the point that our problems at the moment are defensive rather than going forward. To an extent he’s right but we only managed to score one deflected goal in the two games against United and Chelsea. We didn’t have one single fit striker and he goes on about having to find someone that is better than what we already have… but if you don’t have a striker then surely anyone is better than what you already have! It’s no use keeping on about his lack of action in the transfer window – it’s over now. You can hardly be surprised though, he always does this and it’s very frustrating. I really thought he was going to make some addition this times because it was very clear we needed them.

He didn’t give anything away about Chamakh but you have to think that we are the favourites to land him. The fact that he’ll probably be joining us on a free in the summer probably had something to do with our lack of action this window. I guess a loan would’ve been more appropriate last month and I’ve heard we did try and secure some loan deals in addition to the Campbell signing but it didn’t happen.

All we can do now then is wait for our strikers to get back to full fitness. Robin van Persie wont be back until at least the end of April so we can almost forget about him. Eduardo will miss tonight but we should have him back for next week. Bendtner is slowly returning but he is clearly not fit enough to start a game yet. Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott are not really effective enough to be considered options at the moment; Vela is apparently out injured but Walcott is available. The Englishman just needs games now though, he will get better I’m sure of it but everyone’s patience is wearing a bit thin at the moment. If we weren’t so injury ridden I’d suggest a few reserve games to get his confidence up but we need him in the first team squad.

We just have to take every game as it comes now and hope United and Chelsea drop points. However I think the most immediate task at hand is to keep Liverpool at bay by beating them tomorrow. There’ll be a match preview at some point tomorrow afternoon so I will speak to you then. Thanks for reading.

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal – 07/02/10 – (Premier League) 8 February, 2010

In yesterday’s preview I spoke about our chances of losing and how the winners would go on to be strong title favorites. Well it happened and we’re now the clear outsiders in this title race. We’re 9 points off the top and it’s going to have to take another big turnaround to get back in this. Yesterday I ended the blog by saying:

“Lose, well I just hope I’m not sat here tomorrow talking once again about missed chances, defensive lapses and poor displays.”

I’d like to assess that now, I think missed chances are unfortunately once again a talking point. Arshavin should’ve put us level at 1-1 when Fabregas lifted the ball over the defence to his feet. His shot came straight off the leg of Cech which was extremely unlucky, it would’ve been a great goal and changed the game. We had chances in the second half too, Nasri found himself one-on-one but hesitated and lost the chance and Fabregas almost bent in a low free kick – had either of them gone in it could’ve been a different story.

Defensive lapses? Well as a team I think we defended much better than against United. Yes, we were caught out on the break which was something we were meant to put a stop to but I think yesterday’s defensive errors were more down to individual problems. For the first, Clichy was on the back post, as he should be but then decided to walk across goal into the box to have a natter about something leaving his corner completely open for Drogba to put it in.

For the second, Chelsea broke on us but we still had men with the ball. Clichy had his man but for reasons unknown to me he left him and started to drift infield. Not to mark anyone, just came infield for no reason. The only thing I can think of is if he thought he was back on his own and was doing his best to cover all angles but he had two or three men back with him! When Clichy realised he got over to Drogba as fast as he could but he made it easy for the African to side step him and made it 2-0. I could moan about Almunia’s lack of effort to get the save in but we should’ve stopped the ball long ago.

However that last part I mentioned, ‘poor displays‘ I think we righted that wrong at least. We had something like 70% possession and most of the game was played in Chelsea’s half. We played well and a lot of people said afterwards we were the better team. However we lacked Chelsea’s cutting edge, their extra bit of quality and their rock solid defence. Yeah we played well but playing well isn’t always enough. Sometimes it helps if you actually have a striker on the pitch too…

We kept going and going which was to be expected but never found that first goal. We really should’ve converted those chances we had but to be fair they were pretty much all the chances we had. We pressured and pressured had loads of corners and worked the ball well but not much ever came of it. We were sending in a lot of crosses from wide which baffled me when our best headers of the ball in the middle were Walcott and Fabregas (who I should mention nearly scored a header with about 10 minutes to go). Also Cech was claiming almost every ball in the air, it was easy for him defending against seven dwarfs.

Wenger said before the game that you would be able to see our ‘mental strength’ that he keeps going on about and I guess he was right. However I find myself a bit pissed off with the Arsenal manager today. In the week he said something about ‘in England everyone thinks every problem is resolved by signings’. Well if your problem is not having one single fit striker then I’m sorry but the solution to that is bringing in a striker. It’s simple. At the beginning of the window he said we would be active and we would be looking to bring someone in quickly but we were left waiting all month.

He can go on about money and about how we have enough strikers in our squad but when do we ever have a fully fit squad? It’s frustrating that Wenger has this mentality of ‘we’ll be better next year’ and ‘give the current team a chance’ when they are quite clearly problems that can be solved straight away. We were so, so close to a (pre-mature?) title challenge this year but he just chose to stick with what we’ve got. He took a gamble and he lost.

It’s a shame because we’re getting so close but ending up so far.

So just one point out of a possible nine in this decisive run of four games. We’ve lost two our two main title rivals and I don’t think you can really argue that we’re the third best team in the league. Man United were just better than us last weekend and the same was true at Chelsea yesterday. This young team still needs time but one day we will get there.

Next up it’s Liverpool and for the first time in months we find ourselves looking down on the table. Liverpool have crawled back up the league and a win at our place Wednesday night would bring them within two points of us. We cannot let that happen. Yesterday was a must-not-lose but we lost, Wednesday we really cannot afford to lose. All the talk today on the official site is that we will keep going right until then end with this title challenge, well then we better win some games, starting against Liverpool in a couple of days time.
Build up to that in the next couple of days. Until then.

Chelsea Preview: Make or break time 7 February, 2010

Last Sunday was massive, and seven days later we’re playing in a game just as important. OK it didn’t go quiet to plan against Man United but we can forget about that if we win today. We could get ourselves three points behind Chelsea today and four behind United with a win, and with our run-in that’s a title challenging position for sure.

However lose and we will be 9 points behind Chelsea and lacking confidence going into Wednesday’s game against Liverpool who could in turn beat us and find themselves two points behind us.

I’d like to believe we’ve been really focused on the task at hand this week. Wenger cancelled the players’ day off after the United game to get ready for today. There’s hasn’t been much news on the official site either, I don’t think we’ve been faffing around with interviews, crossbar challenges and Super Soaker contests this week – I hope it’s been strictly business.

It needs to be really because lets face it last weekend was not good enough. We need to highlight where we went wrong and get it right for today. I don’t want to see us caught out in defence again, there’s no excuse. There should be complete concentration for the entire 90 minutes because that’s what it’s going to take to win this game.

Unfortunately we’re not boosted by the return of anyone. Diaby had a fitness test yesterday and I guess we wont find out the results of that until an hour before kick off this afternoon. I’m guessing he’ll be on the bench; with Liverpool in the week and Porto coming up we don’t want to force him out for longer. We already know Vela and Eduardo are out but Nicklas Bendtner is apparently not fit to start either. It’s a shame because I really thought he could do a job today. Here’s how I think we’re going to line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Fabregas – Denilson
Nasri – Arshavin – Rosicky

If it were up to me though Ramsey would be partnering Fabregas. Denilson has played himself out of favour with the Arsenal fans and I’m getting a bit impatient with his performances. Aaron is a determined player and you know you will always get 100% from him whether he plays well or not and I always have time for people who put effort in.

People are talking about starting Walcott too, his pace could limit Ashley Cole’s advances forward and as much as we might not to admit it, he is a threat down their left. Sagna needs to be all over him today. We need Clichy on the other wing to have a good game too, he’s been lacking a bit recently but what a better time than today to get it right though. He has been really trying hard though hence the lack of abuse he’s getting.

Almunia will stay in goal. Arsene was asked whether Fabianski should replace him but cited his performance at Wembley against Chelsea last year as a reason for him not to play. I don’t get it, he’s always been a big fan of the Pole and now when we need a goalkeeping solution he’s saying no? Arsene says goalkeeping is the hardest job in football and also believes Almunia is putting too much pressure on himself. It shows, he looks a nervous, flapping wreck and we’ll need him to perform a lot better today.

As for the home side they have Mikel and Drogba back from the African Cup of Nations, but no Essien who will be out for another month with the injury he picked up at the tournament. However the big talking point it obviously John Terry. Ancelotti has assured he will start and he will captain this side after his terrible week on the front pages of the papers and losing the England armband to Rio Ferdinand of all people. I’ve already heard countless songs about Terry and I’m sure they’ll be in full voice today, some of them are brilliant. I’m not expecting our noise toparticularly upset Terry but if his head isn’t 100% in the game we might be able to capitalise on that.

Today’s winners will certainly believe they can go on and win the title. It’s a huge game for both sides. I’m hoping, praying, crossing everything and believing that we can win today. If we can pull it off I’ll be over the moon. Lose, well I just hope I’m not sat here tomorrow talking once again about missed chances, defensive lapses and poor displays.

Come on you Gunners, give it everything you’ve got.

Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Diaby ‘a maybe’, Eduardo & Vela out 4 February, 2010

I’ve been waiting for an injury update since Monday and still nothing has come up on the Arsenal.com home page. However turn to our dedicated injury room and there’s a free video in there with an update ahead of the Chelsea game:

“Campbell is back in the squad. Diaby is not yet back in normal training. If all goes well, if he progresses very well, we’ll still have to wait until Saturday.

Eduardo is already ruled out of the Chelsea game.”

He went on to confirm Diaby as ‘a maybe’ for Sunday before updating us on some longer term injuries:

“[Djourou] Still two months. We have to be patient with him. He is working, progressing well, working well but he is not an immediate resource.

[van Persie] Rehabilitation is going well but I think before April would be a little bit premature.”

He also told us that Carlos Vela was out. I never knew he was injured to be honest I just thought he was out of favour; he hasn’t offered a lot when he’s been involved this season. It’s a shame because I thought he might make an impact. He still needs time.

Wenger also reminded us that we have Walcott in the squad. In another interview he’s told us to be patient with him again and insists if he has an injury free season ‘he will have a good end of season’.

Theo is a popular topic of conversation at the moment. Yesterday I linked to Gunnerblog’s article on him and if you haven’t read that it’ll still be up there. He’s had such bad luck with injuries this season, it’s been frustrating for the club to have such a stop-start season and also disruptive personally for his World Cup chances. I believe Wenger though, he hasn’t played much football this term and he needs to get a run of games together, he’s still a developing talent remember and you can’t expect him to come straight back with a bang. Give him time and I think he will produce.

I’m not saying by the end of the season he’s going to be the new Theirry Henry but I think his England chances are still in the balance if he can stay fit and get in the team from now until the end of the season. I don’t expect him to start on Sunday, it’s too much of a deep end to throw him into but just like last Sunday I expect him to come off the bench. He might not be able to string together a full good performance yet but he’s still capable at this raw stage of his comeback to do something dangerous, he just needs to try be less anonymous and get in the game.

So Diaby will have a late fitness test to see whether he can play. I don’t know when that video was recorded but I’m sure we’ll get another update on him later tonight or tomorrow. I really hope he makes it though, not just because he was in good form recently but Denilson looks clearly struggling at the moment. The Brazilian didn’t look so bad at the start of the season but he’s not playing well at all at the moment and any weak link will be exploited by Chelsea just as United did.

We need the type of player like Diaby at Chelsea. He’s strong, penetrative, reads the game and is a threat going forward. Lets hope he makes it.

And that’s all the news there really is at the moment. Really is worryingly quiet round here, I hope that means we’re in deep preparation to re-mount our title chase on Sunday. Speak to you tomorrow.

We can still come out of these four games well + news round up 3 February, 2010

I suppose the big story today is Chelsea’s failure to put distance between us and United by drawing 1-1 with Hull last night. It was their game in hand but could only manage a point meaning they’re just six points away from us now… going into Sunday’s ‘six pointer’.

It’s a teasing result. A result that still gives us a bit of hope in the title race. A win on Sunday could put us within three points of the leaders which would be a great position to be in going into the season run-in.

This run of four games we’re in the middle of has been a bit of a mini disaster, there was so much hope and belief going into it but we find ourselves two games down with only one point gained. However a win at Stamford Bridge would turn it around and we could still come out of this run with a bit of credit.

It’s difficult to judge because we all saw how hopeless we were against United, there’s going to have to be a big change of character before Sunday. I’m sure that’s what Wenger will be working on now. However last night’s result could just add to our misery this weekend, those two points dropped have lifted us a bit and we could get brought right back down to earth with another loss.

But then again… last night just proved that the top three haven’t stopped dropping points and this title race is far from over despite whatever happens on Sunday. I find myself in a really strange position, I don’t know what to believe anymore! Are we still not good enough? Are we out of it? Are we gonna put a run together? Are we gonna win the league? Who knows?! It’s exciting I guess but it’s doing my head in! Win on Sunday and we’re going to hype up our title chances like crazy again, lose and then we’re still not totally out of it… I need some fucking closure! Oh the stress of being an Arsenal fan.

Nicklas Bendtner has been talking about his injury and is looking forward to get back playing again describing his time out as ‘hell’:

“If you look at the programme now, there are only four months left, then we are at the World Cup. It’s gone so quickly. When people say they have been out with long-term injuries and they say it’s hell, I can completely understand that now.

It’s difficult [spending time out injured], and you come in to training each day doing the same things. But you motivate by telling yourself that one day soon you will be better. When you come back you know you will find yourself again, and you are going to be strong.

I’m a naturally happy guy, whether I’m injured or not. It’s harder when you are out injured because a big part of your life, and something you love is taken away from you.

You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m almost back to 100 per cent now and I’m going to get better and better all the time. I feel fine in training so let’s see.”

Wenger chose not to buy this January despite saying that he would add a striker as soon as possible, the reason behind that was probably down to the return of this man. He needs a few weeks to get into the swing of things but I really hope he can get back to his best in this season run in. I rate Bendtner and he did really well before he got injured last year. He is hard working, strong and he can set up and score goals. He didn’t start on Sunday but I’m hoping he might be alright for this weekend, I think we could really do with a player like him against Chelsea.

In other news some Montenegrin defender called Stefan Savic is claiming he has agreed to join Arsenal in May and will be soon signing a pre-contract. The 19-year-old says we fought off Birmingham City and Tottenham to sign him, which doesn’t really inspire me to be honest. However he could be one for the future, who knows? We need to be in the market for central defenders this summer but I wasn’t really expecting this sort of signing, hopefully he is another gem for the academy rather than a replacement for Campbell/Silvestre/Gallas.

Arseblog has news of the exciting Wellington who has impressed in a behind closed doors friendly against Dagenham and Redbridge this afternoon. He really is meant to be the real deal but then again so was Theo Walcott back in the day.

There’ll be more build up to the Chelsea game on Sunday. Things are a bit quiet news-wise at the moment but we’ll probably get an idea of all our fresh injuries in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading.

Arsenal 1-3 Man United – 31/01/10 – (Premier League) 1 February, 2010

One point out of a possible six halfway into this vitally important run of four games, it’s not going well is it! There’s no point in getting all upset and angry about yesterday; we need to pick ourselves up, figure out what went wrong and bounce back in the next game – just what Cesc is saying here. Next up though is possibly the hardest match we could get, Chelsea away. There’s no point going there thinking we’re going to lose though, we have to do everything we can this week to prepare. We’re not out of the title race yet, in fact if we pull off another win at Stamford Bridge we’ll blow it wide open again. However, lose and the title will look a bit of a long shot.

Lets focus on yesterday for the moment though. A 3-1 loss that was very similar to Chelsea defeat in November and the Champions League Semi 2nd leg exit to United last season. We were just outclassed really, we didn’t look prepared and never really got settled. It’s such a shame because games like yesterday are built up so much and our performance (once again) lacked the sort of quality you come to expect – it’s just a bit depressing really.

We didn’t start to badly to be fair, for most of the first half it was a pretty even game. Both sides looked a bit cagey but were still getting forward. Arshavin was looking dangerous and really should’ve opened the scoring on a couple of occasions.

It really looked like anyone’s game until a tactical change by Man United, they started with a side designed to nullify Fabregas but decided to switch to a team to be stronger going forward. They took a risk and Fabregas showed what he could do with the extra space almost setting up a goal but in the end it paid off for the visitors.

A period of pressure and good team play preceded a fine individual goal just after the half hour. Nani out on the right wing was all over Clichy, he just couldn’t handle him all game. With a great piece of skill flicked the ball between him and Nasri to make space to get into the box. He flicked a cross over Almunia right in front of the goal, Manuel tried to get back and flick it over the bar but ended up being a lame tap into the back of the net… it would’ve been converted anyway if he’d missed it.

We pushed for the immediate response but paid for it and was caught out on the break. The ball was given to Nani on the wing who drove up field before squaring to Rooney. It was easy for the league’s top scorer and suddenly it was 2-0 out of nowhere.

Two bad bits of defending inside four minutes and we were two down. We might’ve overcome the same score line against Bolton a few weeks ago but Man United have never ever lost a game after being 2-0 up.

They nearly got a third when Nani’s shot was deflected wide. A goal back before half time would’ve been massive but there was just as much importance at this stage just not to concede again.

We needed to start the second half well. But we didn’t. United made it 3-0 and it was another goal on the break. Park received the ball on the halfway line and began charging at our goal with two in support. It was just Clichy vs. Park, Rooney and someone else. You can’t blame Gael too much on the goal as whatever he did it would’ve ended up with a one-on-one opportunity. In the end he tried to get in the way of a squared pass forcing Park to go alone and hope Almunia would get something on it. He didn’t, and it was 3-0. Game over.

Arsenal being Arsenal we didn’t stop trying. We kind of knew that we’d lost but we still gave it a good go – you never know what might happen. We did have a few chances but nothing really was going for us.

Wenger threw on Bendtner and Walcott replacing Rosicky and the hopeless Denilson. Nicklas did alright after coming on but Theo was anonymous again.

Rooney should’ve got a second when he went clear after Eboue (who came on for Sagna) slipped but shot just wide of the post. As much as I wanted us to score I was thinking damage limitation was just as important.

With ten minutes to go we did finally get one back but it was far, far too late. Fabregas took a free kick quickly on the left for Nasri to swing in the box. The ball fell to Vermaelen on the edge of the box and struck it well in the air. It took a deflection on the way in but who cares, that’s Vermaelen’s sixth goal in the league.

The goal still gave us the faintest of glimmers of a miracle so we pushed on. Walcott had a header cleared off the line from a corner, we were pushing everyone up now just to try get us back to 3-2.

Almunia nearly rounded off another poor game by clearing the ball straight to the opposition’s feet. I think they were a bit surprised by his stupidity themselves and missed the chance.

In the 89th minute Gallas had a free header right in front of goal but the ball came awkwardly to him and put it wide. Could’ve easily scored and set up an interesting 5 minutes added time but it wasn’t to be and the game ended up 3-1.

I think both sides will argue that they should’ve scored at least two or three more than they did but you cannot deny Man United were worthy winners. Both sides had problems defensively but the visitors proved their class with their organization.

It’s too early to talk about our title chances now, next Sunday will tell all. Lets hope Wenger spends this week sorting us out and we’ll come back looking to prove a point at Chelsea.

Thanks for reading.