I write this blog post today, in reality I should be packing my bags – why you may ask? Well, of course, you’ve guessed it, I depart for South Africa tomorrow – a very exciting adventure to support England and of course, all the beloved Arsenal players that will be putting on a show out there too.

One player who technically isn’t an Arsenal player any more is Philippe Senderos and in reality, stints at Milan and Everton over the last two years have really meant that he’s not been an Arsenal player for about the last two years. I, for one, wish Senderos all the luck in the world. He always gave 100% when at the Arsenal and was very fond of the club. The major problems I believe were down to confidence and the ability to make a mistake, something which Arsene eventually had to call time on. But I do believe that his time at the Arsenal would have given him the experience he needs to go on and become a good player and I think after his training and experience at Arsenal, Internationally, at Milan and then up in Everton, he will finally become the player he was supposed to be under the guidance of Roy Hodgson. For any Liverpool supporters out there – I doubt Hodgson is going to be your new manager if he’s busy signing players down at Fulham…!

But back to all things Arsenal and we’ve got quite a few people down at the World Cup and for those of you who aren’t sure who’s going, here’s a quick overview of the World Cup Arsenal team…

Goalkeepers – None

Sagna – Song – Gallas – Clichy
(France) – (Cameroon) – (France) – (France)

Eboue – Cesc – Diaby
(Ivory Coast) – (Spain) – (France)

Van Persie – Bendtner –  Vela
(Holland) – (Denmark) – (Mexico)

Due to the desire to show you a 4-3-3 formation and due to the fact that Alex Song plays centre back for his country, I’ve put the Cameroonian at the back – hopefully that’s a good guide to who will be playing at the World Cup. The consensus says we should support France as we have 4 French players and a French manager, but I’ve got a sneaky eye on Holland – and I think most of you do – of course, I mean that as a second team – and it’s England as our first team!

And that will be my first game of the tournament, on Saturday – England vs USA – and I can’t wait – I am officially over excited, but I love it. Although Arsenal have no English players at the World Cup, we could end up with one, with the Daily Mail confirming that Joe Cole has been released by the club on a free along side Michael Ballack. The news broke just a day after £8m Benjani as well as Petrov and Sylvinho were released by Man City.

“Joe Cole and Michael Ballack will signal the start of a free transfer stampede when they are formally released by Chelsea. After Manchester City showed the door to striker Benjani, winger Martin Petrov and full back Sylvinho, Chelsea will follow by letting England midfielder Cole and injured Germany World Cup captain Ballack leave after failing to offer them new contracts. Cole will become one of the highest-profile free transfers in England, but will not hold talks with any club while he is with England’s World Cup squad in South Africa.”

As I said yesterday, I have major reservations on whether Joe Cole is anywhere near coming to Arsenal. My view is that he would stay at Chelsea, but with news that he’s now been released, I think he will go to one of 4 clubs. He wants a high pay packet, and Man City can certainly offer that, but only Man United and Arsenal can offer him guaranteed Champions League football. Being a London lad, it suddenly makes a move across the capital a little bit more appealing for us and for him. Of course Harry Redknapp is trying to get on the case, but I just can’t see Cole going to Sp*rs, it would be too much of a drop to go to a side who will never win the title.

In transfer news, I was crawling through the Lorient FC forums today to get some info on potential target Laurent Koscielny and found some very interesting information… here’s a snapshot in bullet point format:

• We’ve scouted the player several times
• We have spoken to Lorient about him in January
• We had initially offered 5 million Euros which was rejected a month ago
• Their director said that would sell for anything less than 15 million Euros
• Their fans believe Koscielny is their best player
• We came in with a second bid of 8 million Euros as well as the option to loan Francis Coquelin for a season
• The club entered into negotiations and ending up rejecting the second bid
• We came in with a final bid of 10 million Euros and the loan of Coquelin
• This bid is said to be verbally accepted and could happen in the next few days
• The forums also revealed that the consensus in France is that Mexes is joining us from Roma
• The French centre back is said to be costing us about 10 million Euros too as he’s fallen down the pecking order at Roma

After finding out all of that, I really did feel like a detective – but I did feel more confident that we have a centre back or two on the radar and something could really happen in the next few days. Of course, these points were taken down by reading the Lorient FC forum, and although some did have sources, some didn’t – but I don’t see why they would be talking about this so much if there was nothing in it… and with Sol potentially off to Celtic and Gallas reportedly having agreed a 2 year contract worth £10m with Panathinaikos, both the aforementioned players should and could be very important and realistic signings.

For now my friends, adios – until tomorrow…

Bonjour mes amies… the World of Arsenal is back from a four day mini break in Las Vegas and what a great time to go out there it was. My fellow Gooner JAT did give you a rough account of the rubbing with the celebrities that Las Vegas gives you, and previous trips have involved Wayne Rooney and Matthieu Flamini, but to meet Maroune Chamakh this time round was a massive highlight. The French speaking Moroccan isn’t really at all fluent in English. My other fellow Gooner Totti is like a super duper talent spotter and sharply located Chamakh at Wet Republic in Las Vegas. (For those of you who clicked that link, yes, we had a luxury bungalow next to the top 100 models). And Chamakh, like myself, is a high roller, aka, top baller… not only did we see him there, we bumped into him at XS in Encore (yes, I was actually staying in that hotel too)… our conversations with the player were broken at the least, but when I asked “will you score 30 goals next season”, he answered, “yes, yes, I will”… so he obviously understood what that meant… I’ll get onto the Arsenal news very shortly, but before I do, a special shout out to Paris Hilton who was also raving at XS and Jermaine Pennant, who also turned up, with a seriously large afro!

The trip actually was packed with celebs and you can throw in David Trezeguet, who has remarkably thin legs and Marcus Bent (sorry for walking straight past you when you were in the queue), not to mention another lot that Totti saw (Tom Huddlestone – apparently very rude, Victor Anchibe, James Vaughn, and David Dunn…. who apparently called us a pack of French c*nts – when I say us, I mean Arsenal of course – to which Totti replied, you’re just a f*king northern b*sterd…. all in jest I think)…

Meanwhile back in London, not much happened whilst I was away, but since I’ve been back, it’s been story after story after story.

Before I touch on some of the headlines, I’d like to express my point of view on Arsene Wenger’s signings this summer and the recent sales that have seen Toure, Adebayor and potentially Gallas leave the club. Of course, Cesc is the lastest name to be linked with a move away from the club. Many people say that Arsene has a warchest of cash and that he should spent it to avoid Cesc leaving. They say that if he doesn’t then he is doing his job properly. I’ve heard from various other Gooners that protests are being organised against Arsene Wenger.

Now, how on earth people can be so short-sited and actually believe that we are better off without Arsene Wenger is beyond me. If Arsene doesn’t spend money on players then there are reasons and those reasons will only benefit the club. We may think we know it all, but Arsene is the one that has to balance a squad of players, a crazy transfer market, where players like Roque Santa Cruz go for £20m and Ronaldo’s for £80m. He has to balance the budget of a club, manage the debt and ensure we can challenge. In fact, we were recently given the title of the best run club in England. Do you think the reason Arsene doesn’t splash out £100m on 4 new players is because he doesn’t want to the club to succeed? Of course not. He wants the future of the club to be sorted, both with the best young players and a sound financial background. To sign a player of Maroune Chamakh’s quality for free whilst a player with a similar record in the French league, Karim Benezma, cost £30m – sometimes, I wonder whether our fans would prefer to spend money rather than have a quality player. If we do move for Joe Cole, we’d have a £15m player right there and someone who can perform at the highest level – although I think it’s a smokescreen from the player’s agent to negotiate a better deal at Chelsea. Personally, the options for Joe Cole, I believe are staying at Chelsea and get the deal he wants and by getting his agent to speak to City, United, Sp*rs and us, he gives himself major bargaining power.

My call to Arsenal fans is that we should realise that we wouldn’t have won many titles and cups without Arsene and wouldn’t have made it to two European final’s nor moved stadium without the Frenchman at the helm. Be patient, respect the players, the manager and the future.

Now onto Cesc… and there have been more stories linking Cesc with Barcelona coming out of Barcelona and now a u-turn from Yaya Toure whom was almost set for Man City before the deal collapsed… on Toure, his agent said:

“There’s a lot of interest in the deal (for Toure). Arsene Wenger likes him and Arsenal are interested. If the conditions are good, everything can be finished soon. He could come into the Cesc deal and Barca and Arsenal are struggling to come to an agreement. Everything has changed with City, because they talk a lot but then afterwards they don’t appear to be a rich club but rather a bankrupt one.”

I’m not convinced that this statement is purely independent because it was shortly followed by Laporta.

“If a player of this characteristics, who also has the privilege of being Arsenal captain, announces to the club that he understands his time there has come to an end and he wants to continue his career at a club like Barca… I always want players in my club who want to be there and they should have that commitment. If a player shows legitimately that he does not want to be at Barca, immediately I open the doors and defend the interests of the club, but I try to reconcile them with those of the player and the buying club.”

And as expected the tapping up is a) public and b) continuing to happen. At this point, Arsenal legally can complain to Fifa. Whether or not we will is another story all together. With Barcelona reportedly still owing us £12m for Henry and £4m for Hleb, there is a cause for concern over their finances. I couldn’t understand how these debts are still outstanding by looking at the accounts, but I think they’ve past their deadlines.

Joan Oliver, who is a director at Barcelona spoke of our recent reaction:

“They said they would not sell, it’s logical therefore that they have not set a price for him. We made a formal offer. The only official response we have from Arsenal is that they are not ready to sell the player, for which it would be difficult for them to be putting a price when they say they are not selling. On our part, after having made an offer we are ready to sign the deal this very morning. We still have time to do it, but it is a deal we cannot do just by ourselves.”

And surely they have to interpret that as a NO, but instead they’re using it to further discuss the transfer. I personally believe Cesc will stay this summer and that Arsene will be loyal to his aims and strengthen the squad. It would be nice if we heard a statement from Arsene right about now…

Okay, that’s a wrap for today, I’ve got to recover in time for the trip to South Africa, and we’ll be leaving this Thursday…. I’ll be back tomorrow with more folks, but until then…

This morning, I awoke from my vibrating blackberry. It’s Dev on Blackberry messenger:

Dev: Dude, please write a blog for me…I am in Vegas

Me: I’m a little hungover…and there isn’t much to talk about, but sure. And it’s 4am in Vegas right now…just so you know…easy to lose track of time there

Dev: Thanks bro. I’m currently in a club with Marouane Chamakh – he’s a proper geezer!

Me: Oh sweeeeet!

Dev: He told me he’s gonna score 30 goals next season

Me: Super sweeeet!

Dev: I am also talking with David Trezeguet…Marouane is my translater

Some of the more regular WOA readers will know that Dev has a knack of crossing paths with Gooners on his travels. He’s seen Flamini in Vegas and Dubai, Cesc and Senderos somewhere else, and he managed to spend an evening with the whole reserve team at Dubai airport while they were out there playing that 7-a-side tournament last year. Moral of the story is…we all need to start holidaying with Dev.

Me: Ask Marouane if AW told him Cesc will be staying for definite….

And that is where our conversation ended. Even Dev is doing his best to ensure that the Cesc saga continues while we sit here biting our nails.

So while I agreed to write today’s blog, I was being serious about the fact that there’s nought to talk about. Do you really want me to go over the ‘Joe Cole has DEFINITELY signed for Arsenal’ stories? With no official comment from anyone, it would be a rookie supporter who convinces himself that this is a done deal. From what I’ve read, my conclusion is that we’re interested in him, that nothing will be sorted until after the world cup, and that we’re not alone in our pursuit. I would go further to say that if he has a good world cup, we’re less likely to sign him, as we won’t be able to offer the same money as ManUtd, city etc will. Although some stories say he wants to stay in London. Oh how I hate summer transfer rumours.

One thing I’m definitely not talking about is Cesc. If you need your daily Cesc-to-Barcelona fix (you gluttons for punishment you) then you’ll have to check him out on newsnow.

RVP is banging a few goals in isn’t he? I’ve not kept count but it looks to me as if he’s scored in every pre-tournament friendly. And how friggin cool is this shirt for a world cup shirt?

That’s about all my brain can manage today. I’m off to the Rage Against The Machine gig at Finsbury Park later. It’s going to be weird heading down that way for something non-Arsenal related. A final note, you can follow World of Arsenal on twitter (@worldofarsenal) for daily updates and quotes etc. I do enjoy Dev’s tweets. Also recommend Mirror writer (and apparent Gooner) John Cross (@johncrossmirror). He’s the only one we can trust! I’m on it @j1mm7t – come say hello! Enjoy your Sunday.

This morning I’ve awoken to many a pun, Wallcott Shock, Wall-Boycot, Wallycot, etc etc, but all in all, the matter of factness is that Theo Walcott is not going to be playing football this summer and it’s a shame that just a young talent has ended up being discarded by a manager who seemed so likely to take Theo that other players like SWP and Lennon were 2nd and 3rd choice behind the right winger and scared for their places – that is, until, Theo played those two friendlies…

The game against Mexico was interesting and his pace and trickery was in full display… but his end product? Well, there was no end product. Rooney’s anger at Theo for the few bad crosses he gave him spoke volumes. And if your star striker and best player gets frustrated with his supply, then you got to re-consider. And that’s why Capello had the likes of SWP, Johnson, Milner, Cole and Lennon in his squad. When Lennon came on and make that marauding run, I thought to myself, damn, that’s been more effective than Theo has been all day with his final ball.

But I believe the writing was on the wall during the Japan game when Theo was very poor – but then again – so was everyone. SWP had his one and only chance to shine – and he had to take it. He played well against tired legs and really forced the issue home.

If I were Capello, would I have taken Walcott. Definitely. Would I have started him? No, definitely not. Walcott best attribute to come on against a team with tired legs, a team who are tiring and the injection of pace kills them. We’ve seen Theo play for us as a substitute and as a starter this season and I have to say, as a sub, he’s been brilliant, turning games, baffling defenders… as a starter, he’s been woeful. The difference is huge. As an impact sub, I have to say, he is one of the best around. Despite his failings, he’s shown he has an eye for goal as well and the ability to finish, cite the Croatia game.

Why didn’t Capello choose Walcott? I think it’s down to the fact that he didn’t think he could be effective from the start and that says more for his indecision in who will start for England than anything else. How has this happened? Well, after a promising season last year, his partaking in the Under 21′s tournament basically burnt him out. He went on to get injured in November and miss pretty much most of the season. He’s not recovered yet, that’s for sure.

Martin Keown spoke about Theo’s exclusion and had this to say:

“He runs at a frightening pace, he is rapid, but when he gets into those positions he is not able to think quickly enough, does he pull it back, does he shoot or does he go on his own? His decision making is the problem, he hasn’t been able to do that. Under Capello it seemed as if he has been getting it right in the main, under Wenger, no, there has been a problem, whether or not that is the coaches’ fault, it has to be the players, he has just not played enough games. He has become a bit of a one-trick pony in terms of going for the line. People just double up on him. When he has got time and space then he finds it a problem and he has got to sort that out with his game.”

Personally, I think that criticism is harsh, when a player is good, you normally get teams doubling up on them. As a result, it frees up a different player and tires out the opposition.

But it’s a good thing for Arsenal in one way – the player will finally get a chance to rest up. Of course, he won’t get the International experience that we all hoped would better the player, but for Theo – it’s all about getting your head down and working hard.

It’s a bit strange to think, but Cesc and Song (and Diaby, lol) apart, the rest of our midfield aren’t going to be there – in fact, Samir Nasri, Thomas Rosicky, Andrei Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Denilson are all going to be absent from the world’s premier competition – and what exactly does that say about our midfield players? Okay, yes, Wales, Russia and the Czech Republic aren’t there, but my point is that those lot are our first choice midfield. And they will all be very much rested and should, I hope, should have some fire in their belly’s next season!

Many people are saying that this is the formation / players that will be used by Capello for opening game:

Green

Johnson – Terry – Ferdinand – Cole

Milner – Gerrard – Lampard – Cole

Rooney – Heskey

What would your XI be?

The England squad was announced today and the following 23 will be travelling to South Africa: Keepers: James, Hart, Green – Defenders: Cole, Warnock, Ferdinand, Upson, King, Terry, Carragher, Johnson – Midfield: Lennon, SWP, Cole, Milner, Carrick, Barry, Gerrard, Lampard – Strikers: Heskey, Crouch, Rooney, Defoe. The big news is the inclusion of Shaun Wright Philips over both Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson. It’s a strange one, as I really thought Shaun Wright Philips would have been behind both Johnson and Walcott. Johnson having ousted Shaun Wright Philips out of the Man City squad.

With the Theo exclusion, I have to say it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that he would be in the squad, but his form has let him down and his appearances against Mexico and Japan were pretty bad. There is a major worry that I have for Theo. I think he’s lost all confidence – and that has come through in games for Arsenal and England – the player will be very very low on confidence next season. But it’s not he worst decision. Theo’s been pampered in the last four years and has to get his play and his form sorted for club before he can think about country…

Theo out? Good or bad decision?