It's been a busy day and I can hardly remember when the last time we played, let alone the last time we played in the premiership. Okay, so as things stand, we're 10 points behind the leaders Liverpool and this weekend is a vital weekend for us in terms of catching up. With Chelsea taking on Manchester United this Sunday, tomorrow's game means that a win will see us gain ground on one of the two teams.

You'd expect Liverpool to beat Stoke, but then again you'd have expected us to beat Stoke too, so fingers crossed Stoke can get a result. Although Liverpool's last away game was the 5-1 demolition of Newcastle, so it's most unlikely to happen.

So, injury news... Gallas has been ruled out for three weeks with a hamstring and will join Silvestre on the sidelines. Denilson will return after missing the FA Cup game and Toure is back to take up his place in the squad. Clichy should also return and should start against Bolton and Song should return to the squad, albeit to the bench...

It is too early for Eduardo, so very unlikely we will see him tomorrow, so here is the proposed line up:

With the bench entertaining the likes of Fabianski, Gibbs, Song, Wilshere, Ramsey, Vela and Bendtner.

Arsene spoke on the squad news:

“Kolo and Denilson will be back available. However unfortunately we have lost William Gallas with a hamstring problem. We lost Silvestre too with a thigh problem last week as well. So we have lost two players from the game on Saturday but we have gained two back. I think Gallas and Silvestre will be out for three weeks.”

I’m sure there will be more team news later today and maybe, just maybe, some transfer news?

On a separate note, congratulations to Adebayor for winning the African Player of the Year Award. Unfortunately, the Ivorian had to fly to Abu Dhabi to accept the award, so he’ll probably be too knackered to put a good performance.

Til tomorrow…]]>

There has been much debate about the fans response to Eboue's performance and tomorrow the Ivorian will have a chance to win back the fans with an outstanding display and a few goals (not own goals) against a Porto side looking to finish top of the group.

Injuries news has been pouring in today. We're of course, without Rosicky, Eduardo, Walcott and Nasri. Four attacking players who'd add so much to our team, but four attacking players who seem to be in the wars a lot.

In addition, Gael Clichy has pulled a hamstring and Cesc Fabregas has got a bit of knee trouble - nothing that a squeeze of WD40 couldn't cure. Kolo Toure has had a recurrence of his calf injury that kept him out of the side for a while, whilst Robin Van Persie has got a thigh strain. Adebayor needs rest as he's not yet recovered from the International travel for his recent country match.

As a result, it's a reprieve for some of the Carling Cup regulars as well as a re-introduction to the squad for William Gallas and injury-prone French midfielder, Abou Diaby.

The squad has recently been announced and some of the following players will be chosen to play tomorrow:

1. Manuel Almunia
21. Lukasz Fabianski
10. William Gallas
18. Mikael Silvestre
40. Kieran Gibbs
41. Gavin Hoyte
27. Emmanuel Eboue
20. Johan Djourou
17. Alex Song
15. Denilson
16. Aaron Ramsey
47. Mark Randall
2. Abou Diaby
43. Fran Merida
19. Jack Wilshere
26. Nicklas Bendtner
12. Carlos Vela
50. Jay Simpson

This team includes Randall, Ramsey, Merida, Wilshere, Simpson and Gibbs, so it’s going to be a tough one.

So out of these players, who do we think will start against Porto. Well, here goes…

]]>

This weekend was the wedding of one of my cousin's and the first out of our generation on my mum's side. I have to say, it was an amazing experience to see the people you love do something as big as get married and the time spent with family was absolutely amazing, considering how rare it becomes now adays.

Big news this weekend for Sp*rs sees their manager sacked and Harry Redknapp (someone I previously liked) taking over as their new manager. Another highlight out of the chapter of "how to mess up a football club and waste money" by Mr. D. Levy. It's amazing how they treat their managers, it's amazing how the want of sucess means they waste money, time, energy and managers to acheive something which ultimately they never achieve. Calm and consistency will give you the base to work with.

Thank God, things are different down at the 'Grove.

Onto today's game, it's the first of a double whammy of London derbies. Today we take a West Ham team desperate for the three points, but with our bad start to the season, we're also in desperate need of the three points.

Today we've got Toure and Gallas back in the squad and after the crazy performance of Fenerbahce, it would be a welcomed return to the central of defence. Arsene has been speaking about our defensive performance in Turkey...

“I do not deny we did not look very sound defensively in our last game.

“Ideally you want to be fantastic going forwards and fantastic defending. But sometimes you have a price to pay. When you incite your team to go forwards, like we did against Fenerbahce, then you will also be a bit vulnerable defensively as well. If you encourage your team to never get out of their position, it is easier to be sound defensively.”

So let’s take a look at the squad and first XI today:

With Fabianski, Song, Silvestre, Diaby, Vela, Ramsey, Bendtner on the bench.

Our squad is at one of it’s strongest with the return of Diaby and our central defenders, and looking at the bench, you can see that we have quality in all areas…

Arsene’s hoping we can kick on after the Hull defeat and we’ve shown glimpses of ability recently – Arsene said:

“It is always a good atmosphere when you play against West Ham. The supporters always get behind their team when you go there. It is always committed and interesting. But we have created a momentum after the Hull game. We beat Porto and Fenerbahce in a convincing way, had a draw with Sunderland then beat Everton. We just want to keep that going now.”

Come on you Gooners!!]]>

Tomorrow we take on Fenerbahce in the "Sukru Saracoglu Stadium" stadium and will expect a tough reception from the home side as the Turkish supporters are known for their passionate support, especially when a big team come to town.

The squad for tomorrow's game has been released and here it is:

Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner, Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby, Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Samir Nasri, Kieran Gibbs, Gael Clichy, Mikael Silvestre, Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue, Johan Djourou

From this squad, it’s clear to see that we will be without 3 of our first choice defence in Sagna, Toure and Gallas, but a timely return for Johan Djourou increases our options in that department.

Arsene has often adopted a 4-5-1 in European away games, and I reluctantly expect him to do the same thing tomorrow. It’s a hard one to know who will play, as both Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie and Ade are our first choice wingers and strikers, not all of them can play if we go for a 4-5-1 unless Nasri plays more centrally along side Cesc and Denilson fills in the holding midfield role. With Song available and Nasri having a little niggle, we may see the following line up:

Subs: Fabianksi, Hoyte, Gibbs, Walcott, Bendtner, Nasri and Vela.

In this line up, I think Arsene may give Diaby a full run out in midfield as well as resting Walcott and Nasri. I would be tempted to throw in Bendtner instead of Ade, but maybe too many changes aren’t good…

Arsene has been speaking ahead of the game and has focused on the “UEFA is watching you” stance warning Fenerbache not to do anything untoward and stating that the fans will not affect the players. The boss said:

“They have the most passionate fans in Europe. Especially in Istanbul where you have Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

“It is a unique place and for me it is a special city. But it is very, very tough.

“However it will not affect the players. It could have done 20 years ago but one of the good things done by Uefa is that they protect the players and the competitions so much they know if [the teams] do too much they will be kicked out.

“Every simple thing is filmed. That was not the case 20 or 30 years ago. You had a little more freedom to express your aggressiveness then. But that has gone.”

It’s a game that I can’t wait for, it should be a good game, and will be good to see Diaby and Djourou back in the squad and first XI…

Don’t forget to participate in the World of Arsenal’s first poll, which asks Should Bendtner replace Adebayor in the first XI? At the time of writing, 65% of readers agreed that it was time for a change up top…

Til tomorrow…]]>

I saw the following picture in the newspaper yesterday and managed to track it down on the Times' website.

This shows the “closeness” that the two forwards enjoyed midweek. They were like distant relatives last weekend, and I hope they can be like blood brothers this weekend. I thought the picture above would be a good “choose the caption”, so feel free to comment on what you’d write.

Anyway, back to today’s game!

We travel to the north again for the third time this season and will be playing a decent side in Sunderland - in order to win, we have to be at our best. We have no “new” injury worries, so we will most probably line up as:

Subs: Fabianksi, Silvestre, Djourou, Eboue, Song, Vela and Bendtner.

This is the same team that lined up against Porto and I’d expect the consistency of the team selection, considering we have no midweek game. There are some thoughts that Alex Song could come in for Denilson to add some more “bite” to the midfield, but I’ll be quite happy if Denilson started in midfield, he’s been one of my favourite players this season. Some people have insisted that he’s a weak, and yes, he’s had the odd missed pass, but so has everyone. Our defeats have been down to individual errors and a bad “team” performance. A little stat that could change your mind of Denilson’s performances can be illustrated right here:

* Stats are based on the players with the most long pass attempts in the Premier League this season. Source: James Ducker, The Times on Saturday

When you look at these stats, Denilson topping the long pass accuracy table, it’s food for thought.

Back to today’s game… let’s hear what the manager had to say:

“The pain was big but the response was good. It was important to show that Saturday was an accident.  Looking at the League table I do not think [the Hull defeat] has too much of an impact, but it is damaging. You do not want to lose at home against anybody. But I believe we have a healthy attitude in the squad and that has been shown against Porto. We want to show we have learned from the defeat against Hull. We gave the first half of the response on Tuesday night and we want to give the other half on Saturday at Sunderland. When you go there, you want your team to be completely at its best and focused. I believe what happened last week will help us to do that.”

So, today, is the second half of the response! It’s a fact that its been a while since we lost two successive league games in a row, but we shouldn’t take that fact for granted.

I expect to see the same determination and desire that we saw against Porto, Bolton and Blackburn…

Come on you Gooners, bring back the 3 points boys!

‘Til tomorrow..]]>

Anyway, let’s look forward to the game, and hope that we’ll be on the top of our game.

Arsenal v FC Porto
UEFA Champions League, Emirates Stadium
Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 19:45

Team News sees the welcomed return of Samir Nasri. Of course Diaby, Eduardo and Rosicky are all out injured. Song has yet to return so it looks like we’ll have to field the only two fit central midfielders who’ve got any experience, of course, Cesc and Denilson. Even though Arsene said there would be changes, I think this is masked in the fact that Nasri is coming back, so inevitably would return to the starting XI.

As much as I’d like Ade dropped and Bendtner and Vela start, I don’t Arsene will do this. If anything, he’ll drop Van Persie and play Bendtner. I’d be in favour of this as Van Persie was very much ineffective on Saturday.

Apart from those two changes, can you really see Arsene changing much else? He should drop Gallas and play Djourou, but will he really? I sincerely doubt it.

Subs: Fabianksi, Silvestre, Djourou, Eboue, Ramsey, Vela, Van Persie.

We really do need to make amends for Saturday’s abysmal performance. Toure seems ready to make things right.

“We can’t just think about Hull. It’s true we lost and didn’t play well. But we didn’t play very well against Fulham and then we came back well in the next game when we beat Twente in the Champions League (qualifiers). For a team like Arsenal it’s always good to have a good reaction. Any team can fall down but it’s about how they react to defeat that matters. Tomorrow is a really good test and we will see if we can show another face. We are lucky we can play a match so soon after that and change everything in the minds of our fans. We want to show everyone we are still a good side. The manager, like everyone at the club, was very upset after Hull. If you want to be champions you need to win every game, especially when you play at home. We didn’t perform well. We’re professional and we know that when we play for Arsenal we can’t afford to lose like that. The manager didn’t have to say anything to us but he still had a few words. Every player was very sad and disappointed.”

Damn right. You play for Arsenal. You cannot afford to lose like that.

Jesualdo Ferreira, the Porto coach says he doesn’t need to worry about a backlash from us and also isn’t going to change his tactics.

“In the Champions League teams always play differently. Arsenal use different tactics to the ones they use in the Premier League. Arsenal losing at the weekend will not have an effect on Tuesday night. If Arsenal conceded a goal from the set-piece against Hull it doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t suddenly become something we look at.”

On reflecting on the game between the two sides 2 years ago, Ferreira said:

“There have been many changes since then. Arsenal have big players still but only Thierry Henry is missing who was there.  Most of their players are bigger, older, better and more experienced. Porto weren’t able to keep up with Arsenal in that game but we were able to qualify from the group. Now we have different players, some left and some have come. At the moment the only thing we can say is that Arsenal have more experience and that could affect the outcome.”

And in the other game, Fenerbahce take on Dynamo Kiev and a draw would probably be the best result.

I’ll be at the game tonight, and despite the result on Saturday, I am still very excited and really can’t wait…

Til tomorrow…]]>

Okay, well how cold? Let’s take a look…

So, 10 degrees, a little colder than average, but should be okay… not in the minus degrees. And who is scared of the weather anyway? Arsene Wenger isn’t scared of the weather, he’s not scared of the stadium, he’s not scared of their mascot or what’s in store.

In fact, what is Arsene scared of…

“We are happy to play football – we are afraid of nobody in the world. But we respect Dynamo Kiev because I feel mainly their strength is that they are very efficient as a team. They are a very hard working team with good discipline, and they can score goals. In that kind of game you want to defend well. But as well we are an attacking team so we are only happy when we score goals. I believe we have learnt that any place in the world is difficult and I believe mentally we can cope with that better now.”

And of course, with Nasri confirmed as not in the squad, Arsene will unleash the young England pretender, Theo Walcott on the Ukrainians. The squad has been confirmed…

1 Manuel ALMUNIA (GK)
3 Bacary SAGNA
4 Cesc FABREGAS
5 Kolo TOURE
10 William GALLAS (c)
11 Robin VAN PERSIE
12 Carlos VELA
14 Theo WALCOTT
15 DENILSON
16 Aaron RAMSEY
17 Alex SONG
19 Jack WILSHERE
20 Johan DJOUROU
21 Lukasz FABIANSKI (GK)
22 Gael CLICHY
25 Emmanuel ADEBAYOR
26 Nicklas BENDTNER
27 Emmanuel EBOUE

Which means the probable line up should be:

As I said yesterday, I’d expect Van Persie to be rested as well as Denilson, with Bendtner and Song coming in. The bench should comprise of Fabianksi, Silvestre, Djourou, Denilson, Ramsey, Vela and Van Persie.

It should be a cracker of a game tonight and Ade believe the team has real desire to win this competition…

“We have every chance to win the Champions League with Arsenal. I had the chance to be in the final with Monaco, but I was on the bench and I could see all these special things going on. Then with Arsenal, I could not play because I was cup-tied and in my head it was difficult – but now I have a chance to play so there is an argument for me to be more hungry than most of my team-mates. However, I am not the only one. Cesc [Fabregas] and Kolo [Toure] lost in the [2006] final as well and so all these players would like to win it in their career. These are the things that we are going to pin together as brothers and help each other on the pitch and off the pitch and try to achieve something this season.”

Read an interview with Adebayor on the official Arsenal site… it’s quite interesting.

Well, good luck boys, let’s put on a display and get three points on the board tonight!

‘Til tomorrow…]]>

Talking about this season, tomorrow night is the first game in the group stage of the Champions League as we take on Dynamo Kyiv (not Kiev, that's chicken) in the Valeri Lobanovski Stadium. Yes, try saying that ten times.

FC Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal
UEFA Champions League, Valeri Lobanovski Stadium
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 19:45

The game will be shown live on SKY Sports and coverage will start at 7pm.

After the 4-0 demolition of Blackburn on the weekend, I’m quite exciting about taking on Kyiv now. It’s going to be a real test. It’s kind of a free test where people will not really over-react if we lose, but if we win, it will put us in good stead to qualify with three home games to come…

Arsene Wenger of course is being he usual cautious self and partly to re-focus and bring our players back to earth after a few good wins on the trot, he spoke to Arsenal TV and said:

“It is a tough place for us to go. It is maybe a little bit better for us to play earlier but I am convinced it will still be a massive challenge. We’ll go there and try to win the game but even if we take a point then for me it will be a good start.

“Dynamo Kyiv knocked out Spartak Moscow 4-1, 4-1 [in each leg of their qualifying game]. When you know Spartak Moscow and how strong the Russian League is at the moment that means it is a tough draw. I saw the first game at Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv were really impressive.

“Our group has four teams who are all used to playing in the Champions League – Fenerbache, Porto, Dynamo and us. Anyone can take points off anyone that’s why for me it’s very important we start well in this game.”

And I think he’s got a point. Dynamo are not a “bad” team. If both teams play to their maximum, yes, we are better, much better, but we must not be complacent, otherwise, like last season’s game against Sevilla, away from home, it can be harder than we think.

First team coach at Kyiv, Yuri Semin, was highly talkative about Adebayor:

“We knew very well prior to this the capabilities of the Arsenal forward. But we will not be putting a man-marker on him. Adebayor plays all over the pitch, and in every zone there will be one of our players to meet him.”

It’s clear to see that Ade has a growing reputational in Europe, and his hattrick against Blackburn would surely have caused some fear in the defenders.

Onto team news and the doubts for the game are Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue and Samir Nasri. I think all three will be fit and Arsene may try and use all three as he attempts to rest Theo Walcott. Arsene has talked about resting his midfield, so here’s my expected line up:

As you can see, I’d also expect Van Persie to be rested as well as Denilson, with Bendtner and Song coming in. I may be wrong, but with a game every three days including the internationals, we have to adjust here and there. On the bench, I’d expect Fabianksi, Djourou, Denilson, Walcott, Ramsey, Vela and Van Persie. With Djourou the only defender on the bench, Ramsey may not be included with Silvestre appearing on the bench after injury.

There will probably be more official news tomorrow… we should have landed in Kyiv by now and be on the training ground…

More tomorrow…]]>

Blackburn Rovers vs Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, September 13, 2008, 15:00

So onto the big weekend game and it’s a must win game, even so early on in the same. Arsene believes that we’re going into the games with a good vibe considering Theo’s hattrick, France and Spain and Denmark wins. He’s confident and I hope he’s right…

“Many players had positive experiences on international duty. We have spoken about Theo Walcott, and France won also, where we had three players [Clichy, William Gallas and Bacary Sagna]. Spain won also. Overall the confidence our players got from international games will help, and also that we responded well to defeat at Fulham, with four goals against Twente and three against Newcastle. We have a very good basis to think we can do well [at Blackburn].”

After the Fulham game, we have responded, but to win a title consistency is key and winning away from home is also key. On the injury front, Diaby is still out, possibly for another week or two. Rosicky is stil out despite claims that he would be back in the squad for this weekend. Eduardo may not be back until Christmasnow despite earlier claim he’d also be back sooner. And finally young Nasri is recovering from the injury that kept him out of France’s game midweek. Ooooo and finally summer

With Nasri, Rosicky, Diaby and Eduardo all out, the midfield will virtually pick itself and I can’t see past a foursome of Walcott, Cesc, Denilson and Eboue. At the back, the fivesome of Almunia, Clichy, Sagna, Toure and Gallas would also make sense. Finally up front, Adebayor will surely start after his midweek rest and Van Persie should be fit and raring to go. With Dynamo coming quickly midweek and then Bolton away next weekend, we may need Bendtner start against Blackburn with Van Persie on the bench. If Nasri is back by the Champions League game, he may feature midweek. A little bit of rotation may be required to keep everyone fresh.

Arsene spoke about his team selection and whether Theo would start:

“Will Walcott play? I don’t know. I will have to rotate the squad now. You can’t expect the players who have played for their national teams to play three times in a week. We have a very compact squad and people are interchangeable. I believe he is hungry and he is intelligent. You can be very optimistic. I don’t set any limitations on how far he can go as a player. However, when I arrived in England 11 years ago there were fantastic strikers like Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen and their careers have certainly been damaged by injuries. You always need protection from bad tackles. You never get easier treatment when you’re dangerous.”

So based on all of the above… the predicted line up is…

And on the bench, I’d expect Fabianksi, Djourou, Song, either Nasri or Walcott, Ramsey, Vela and either Bendtner or Van Persie.

Come on you Gunners!

And before I go, here’s a round up of non match related news… We’ve been linked with a player called Mineiro who is a free agent after he left Hertha Berlin this summer. Apparently he’s 33 and a defensive midfielder and apparently we’ve offered him a trial… Arsene has been talking about the money in football and how ludicrous it is, take a read on the BBC web site here.

Here’s a classic quote from the article:

“Football is not a supermarket, we have to all understand that.”

Well, folks, I’m off to Birmingham for the weekend, so will be somehow catching the game up north… have a good weekend, and I should be back tomorrow for a summary of the game…

Til then…]]>

Match Details:
Arsenal v Newcastle United
Barclays Premier League, Emirates Stadium
Saturday, August 30, 2008, 17:30

Cesc Fabregas is back in the squad now, having player over an hour in midweek, he should be the architext of Newcastle’s downfall – and he should be paired with Denilson after their decent combination against Twente midweek.

The back line is a difficult one, so far even time Djourou has played, he has looked solid and we’ve kept a clean sheet – not to say that it’s Toure fault that we lost, of course we know it was Gallas… but this means we’re not 100% sure who will start at the back.

Ade should be restored to the line up after his midweek break and hopefully will score his first premier league goal of the season, and he should be paired with Van Persie, despite his inability to hit the net on Wednesday.

This is the line up, I expect tomorrow:

And on the bench, I’d expect Fabianksi, one of Toure or Djourou, Song, Eboue, Ramsey, Vela and Bendtner.

Luckily for us, Martins is injured and Damien Duff and Mark Viduka have groin injuries so Newcastle may choose the following team, Given, Beye, Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique, Gutierrez, Butt, Guthrie, N’Zogbia, Ameobi, Owen.

It’s a far better team than last season, with Owen back and new signings Coloccini and Gutierrez impressive.

Okay, that’s a rap for today – til tomorrow…

Come on you reds!]]>