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Morning all…

Sometimes I just don’t have a clue how to cram in all that has happened in the previous day into a summary and give you guys all the comments and opinions I have on all the stories that are happening. But nevertheless, I will try and try and try. I often sit back after writing a blog and wonder how I failed to touch upon this subject and that subject – alas, the WOA readers always come to the rescue and there were some very interesting comments on yesterday’s blog about a few players.

The ongoing WOA debate of the merits of Diaby and Denilson continued and having read the comments by regular commentators, RVP, Kodjo, Flamez and Berth amongst others were in the thick of the action. We have two players whom have showed at times that they can be very good. Denilson topped Xabi Alonso the season before last in the passing accuracy charts, but failed to live up to the form he showed the previous season with some lacklustre performances last season, where that stat went up in smoke. Denilson joined us in August 2006, so it’s been 4 years now, and he’s had roughly 2 and a half seasons in the first team. There is a debate that if he hasn’t performed at the level required so far, what is giving him another season in the first team going to acheive? The flip-side is that if we have put so much time and effort into playing Denilson, then we should be the ones reaping the benefits when he eventually turns into an Alex Song and makes the position his own.

The same synopsis applies for Diaby, who – when he arrived – did look the part. I think we all know he can be immense going forward, can dribble well – but he makes a lot of mistakes in his decision making and defensively, he isn’t consistent. But what would you do with either of them? They do both seem like they’re on the verge of greatness and that this could be their season, but have they lost the confidence of the fans? I for one, would prefer Nasri or Ramsey in next to Song and Cesc – Nasri has definitely been more consistent and I fear that his natural position is inside, so when he’s on the wings, he does drift in more than he should. With Ramsey, he was hitting top form before he got injured and could be the one for the future. In this day and age, you do need a squad of players and Denilson and Diaby do add something to the squad – neither should be first choice right now though.

Onto another topic and Eduardo is virtually gone now with the deal with Shakhtar Donetsk agreed and it should be announced in the next couple of days. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t make it at Arsenal, and before his injury, I do believe we had one hell of a player on our hands. Good luck to him over in Donetsk and me, like all Gooners, I’m sure will always keep an eye out for him. That leaves us with a striking berth of 1) our new number ten, Van Persie, 2) our new number 11, Carlos Vela 3) Our new signing Maroune Chamakh and of course, then 4) our Danish star, Niklas Bendtner. Are these 4 strikers enough for us to go into the season with? Considering we play with one up top and have the likes of Arshavin, Nasri and Walcott supporting – on paper, it sounds like it should.

We have been linked with Loric Remy and if you consider Vela a winger in the 4-3-3, then the fourth striking berth is still to be filled – as is the number 9 shirt and the number 12 shirt. Could Remy be on his way to the Emirates? Liverpool and West Ham have been fighting it out for Remy with the fee around £12m. But Remy’s agent revealed this yesterday:

“A major club from the Premier League have contacted me about Loic. I have a meeting with the club tomorrow [Wednesday] and we will see what happens. Whatever happens Loic will be leaving Nice this summer and he has his heart set on England.”

Sky Sports New reckon that that mystery club is Arsenal, especially with Eduardo leaving. There have been some comments about reverting to the 4-4-2 formation, especially with the expectation to see 2 strikers play – but I really don’t see it happening after the 4-3-3 has been played throughout the club, through the academy and of course the reserves. We will see through the friendlies, starting later today what formation and who will play where.

There are also rumours that Juventus prospect Sebastian Giovinco is on the way out of Turin revealing that his agent will reveal his destination in the next couple of days – the boy is now 23 and he’s been linked with a move to us on several previous occasions.

We’re starting to get into the groove of things as far as pre-season is concerned and let’s hope Arsene can wrap up his involvement in the transfer window sooner rather than later – he has said that he is planning on strengthening further…

Tonight’s game kicks off at 6pm and is on ATVO – of course, I’ll be tweeting away as normal throughout the day, if you’re not already following, do so!

http://www.twitter.com/worldofarsenal

Til later…

Evening All…

In the last week or so, we’ve talked about Thierry Henry’s move from Barcelona to the New York Red Bulls. The Arsenal legend was on Fox’s morning tv show and it’s quite a funny interview to say the least… It’s obvious that the guys in the US don’t know much about football, sorry, soccer… nor had done any research.

They even thought Henry was Spanish and had just won the World cup!

Kudos to Thierry for keeping his cool… his debut could be on Thursday against Sp*rs in their much publicised friendly…

Back later…

Morning fellow Gooners…

Firstly a massive thank you to Debs and JAT for their blogs in my absence, covering the lead up and aftermath of the Barnet game. An interesting game, which saw Jack Wilshere back in action and the friendly debuts of Koscielny and Chamakh. We also saw the return of Djourou and Gibbs, so overall, quite promising. Outside of the game there has been so much news, I don’t know where to start… but start somewhere I will have to, so let’s get straight onto Eduardo.

Eduardo about to sign for Shakhtar Donetsk

Yes, it’s now on the verge of happening – our much loved striker, Eduardo, could very much be on his way out. It’s a strange one, because he is on the verge of coming back to full fitness (or so I think), but is now moving on. Of course, with the signing of Chamakh, we now have five out and out forwards (RvP, Bendtner and Vela ahead of Eduardo in the pecking order), so it was always possible that one of them would leave – to be honest, I thought Vela would go on loan to another Premiership team, but it looks like Eduardo is on the way out.

Arsene did say at the end of last season that he’d sit down with the player and let him decide:

“We extended his contract because we believe in him. He is very important but I will assess that situation and sit down with him before the end of the season, you want to see as well how he feels. He is 27 years old he wants to play.”

It’s unfortunate that things between Eduardo and Arsenal didn’t work out – when he got into the first team, he was so impressive, and his injury was so unlucky. At the time of writing this, the news was that he had signed a contract and the club has agreed a £6m deal. Further news has also emerged that he’s passed a medical in London last night. After the Taylor incident and of course, the Shawcross repeat on Ramsey, Eduardo may feel his time is up… If he does go, then I’d like to thank him for his performances and desire to perform and wear the Arsenal shirt and of course, wish him luck…

Henry craves return to Arsenal

If you ask 100 people who their favourite Premiership player was, I’d be surprised if at least half of them didn’t name Thierry Henry as the man that captured their hearts, their imagination and was a joy to watch. We were all upset to see Henry leave, but we all understood that due to personal reasons and the desire to win the Champions League, he felt he had to move. His tenure at Barcelona wasn’t exactly covered in glory despite his achievement of finally winning the CL… he’s recently signed for the New York Red Bulls and retired from France – but there is one thing that Thierry wants more than anything.

“When I retire, I don’t know how, I want to come back to Arsenal. I have just come to New York to play and to compete and win another title,” added Henry, who left Arsenal in 2007 for Barcelona. After everything is done then I will think about it. But whatever it is, I want to come back to Arsenal – maybe as a water boy – just love this club.”

And I do hope that Henry blossoms into a coach and eventually does come back to Arsenal. His aura oozes what Arsenal is all about and he’s a Gooner through and through…

A Cescy Update

It’s incredible that before the world cup, we were talking about Cesc and even now after the World Cup, we are still talking about Cesc. Barcelona manager Guardiola (for the first time) came out and said that it may not be possible for Barcelona to sign Cesc  - the words “duh” and “duh” come to mind. It’s funny because, coupled with Cesc’s statements over the summer and of course Arsene’s recent statement, why don’t Barcelona just leave us alone?

Arsene spoke on the situation and it’s pretty clear:

“There was too much talk. I always said that we are really, really wanting him to stay as he is such an important player for us. He’s our captain, we want to keep him and that’s why we are not listening to any offers. It just was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club. It is stopped (the talk). We never wanted to start anyway.”

Arsene also added that he had spoken to Cesc and how big a club Arsenal are…

“I have spoken to him, of course, but I never come out publicly with what we talk about. There was a lot of unneeded talk that was not helpful for Arsenal Football Club and that’s why I don’t think we have to add anything to that. I know what is important for us. Arsenal Football Club is a massive club and what is important is that everybody focuses on being successful next season.”

It’s funny… because the papers are now running with the story of “Cesc puts in transfer request” as Arsenal won’t let him go… the media hey?

The Rest of the Rest

In other news, the team have left for the Austrian tour now and will be playing SK Sturm Graz tomorrow (live on ATVO if you’ve got it)… and our prodigy goalkeeper Szczesny is very much touting himself for the number one shirt down at the Arsenal despite his tender age…

My internet connection seems to be affected by the flyng ants we’re seeing all over the place now, so I will post what I’ve written now and continue tomorrow… til then mes amigos… til then…

I’m sure we’ve all been looking forward to this day, ever since the final whistle went at the last game against Fulham, all those months ago. Arsenal are back at last, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s missed them dearly!

So it was our usual pre-season curtain-raiser against Barnet, and the original squad list for the trip included:

Almunia (GK), Arshavin, Nacer Barazite, Chamakh, Djourou, Craig Eastmond, Eduardo, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Fabianski (GK), Emmanuel Frimpong, Kieran Gibbs, Conor Henderson,  Laurent Koscielny, Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel, Nasri, Havard Nordtveit, Rosicky, Traore, Vermaelen, Walcott and Wilshere.

But thanks to an apparently genuine injury to Almunia, he was replaced by both Vito Mannone and Wojciech Szczesny, and for reasons unknown to me, Eduardo wasn’t part of the team that travelled down, and was replaced by Jay Simpson. Make of that, whatever you will.

Anyways, kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes, and the 11 that took to the field in the first half were:

Fabianski

Nordtveit     Vermaelen     Koscielny     Traore

Frimpong     Rosicky     Wilshere

Arshavin     Jay Simpson     Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

Rosicky was our stand-in captain, and there was the opportunity to get a first look at new signing, Laurent Koscielny, and youngsters like Simpson, Frimpong and J.E.T. We got off to the best start really, scoring a goal inside 2 minutes, settling any nerves that there might have been. Lovely inter-play between Arshavin and Rosicky on the edge of the box, and with the ‘keeper falling for his dummy, Arshavin had the simple task of rounding the ‘keeper and scoring. Fabulous start! And two minutes later, J.E.T. hit a shot from outside the box which the ‘keeper did well to punch clear.

The second goal came shortly after with 16 minutes on the clock, after some lovely build up play, with Wilshere  teasing, before feeding Jay Simpson to slot past the ‘keeper into the bottom right corner. Vermaelen then had an effort cleared off the line. A few more chances in the first half, with Arshavin curling a beauty from just inside the box on the right, onto the crossbar with the ‘keeper beaten. Great effort.

Fabianski had a free ride really, and just before half time, Simpson added a third, his second, Wilshere again with the assist. It was a counter-attack goal, with Arshavin starting it down the right, feeding Wilshere who squared to Simpson for an easy tap-in.

Second half as expected, saw the 11 changed, so the new line-up was:

Mannone

Ignasi Miquel     Djourou     Gibbs Craig Eastmond

Nasri     Conor Henderson     Henri Lansbury

Nacer Barazite     Walcott     Chamakh

Opportunity to see Chamakh especially, in action for the first time (in an Arsenal shirt). Theo had a great chance to make it four, after a quick burst down the middle, but his chip was only just saved by the ‘keeper. Chamakh had the chance to score his first Arsenal goal, after Barazite (I think it was)’s delightful ball over the top from the left hand side found Theo, who played in Chamakh, but his effort was saved by the ‘keeper. The second half was largely uneventful, but Nasri added the fourth after a mistake by a defender let him in, and with only the ‘keeper to beat, his finish was composed. A few more half chances, Theo threatening as usual with his pace, but we’d done enough anyways, and with everyone (including all 2 ‘keepers) getting a run out, it was just what the doctor ordered.

It’s hard judging the players who played, it being just the first game back, so taking negatives from it would be pointless, but there were a few positives to take from it. J.E.T looks a really good player, and his physical strength is impressive, and he’s not shy to use it. It seems Jack loan spell was beneficial as he looks a better player and he set up two of the goals. Simpson was impressive, scoring twice. Nice to see Rosicky play45 minutes, and I really hope his season doesn’t get curtailed again by injuries. Oh, another positive, none of the players picked up any injuries, it seems, which is a great start! It’s too early to judge the likes of Chamakh and Koscielny, it being just their first game. Theo seems to have beefed up and I was struggling to recognise him a few times, but maybe it’s just the new kit (which is fabulous, by the way)! Still needs to work on his final ball, but give him a break, it’s just the first game back!

A few more pre-season matches will probably give us an idea as to which players one would expect to be definites in the first team, and those who might need to go on loan, but we do have a strong squad, that’s for sure. Arsene said he’s still on the look-out for a goalkeeper, so hopefully we’ll be getting one or two more signings before the transfer window closes- a goalkeeper and defender, hopefully.

As for expectations from the new season, not sure I can handle anything other than a top 2 finish, which 1st being the priority, ofcourse. There haven’t been any high profile departures in any of the top clubs (yet), but neither have there been any high profile additions (except Manchester City as usual), but one would expect teams to be stronger than they were last season, including ours, especially with the addition of Chamakh and with it looking like Cesc is staying.

Hopefully when the first round of league games are over, we’d have established ourselves as real contenders. The Liverpool games is really massive, as a win serves as a marker to others, and ourselves! As usual, the Carling Cup and FA Cup will be taken as seriously as we can, if we can bag one of them, that’ll be great! I’ll wait until the Champions League draw is out, before getting my hopes high, but hopefully we’ll do better than we did last season.

But anyways, let’s enjoy pre-season without any downers, before the really serious stuff begins. I for one, can’t wait to see Arsene back on the touchline- I’ve missed his dramatics! Hopefully it’s mainly positive reactions this season!

Welcome back, Arsenal!

Barcelona have given up on signing Cesc Fabregas…for now. Joan Laporta’s successor, Sandra Rossell, has conceded on Catalan TV that we are not prepared to entertain an offer for our captain, certainly not in their ideal price range. Apparently we were upset about the way the negotiations were handled – go figure. And so ends the conveyor belt of quotes from every single player in the Barca squad about Cesc going back to his boyhood club. I wonder if Thierry was next in line and that his real motivation for moving to New York was based on that. Well it wasn’t for the football was it?

Anyway, we can all safely return to our favourite footy sites without having to bang our heads on the keyboard over the incessant ramblings from Puyol, Xavi, Pique and co (I won’t name all 22 players who have commented on it). There was a limited doubt that he would go from an Arsenal perspective, but the constant and, frankly, insulting words coming from Barca turned the whole thing in to a shambles. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Cesc had to spend the summer with those schemers in South Africa. Who else saw the clip of Pique spitting at one of his national team coaches for the giggles of it? Class act huh?

I was talking to a good friend of mine yesterday who is also a sp*rs season ticket holder (give him a break, nobody’s perfect). He was asking me how I thought the Arsenal faithful would treat Cesc next year after everything that’s happened. I put it to him like this – being as passionate about Arsenal as I am, if I went through our youth academy and somehow ended up in another country, playing for a great team that made me into a great player, I would always have a soft spot for them. My dream would be to play for Arsenal because they are my team but I would feel indebted to the team that made me into the player I became. I would feel no shame in admitting I would one day want to return to Arsenal but this would not change my feelings about the club that took me on at 15 and turned me into a World Cup winner.

We’re not talking about an Adebayor scenario where he basically tried to ditch us for Milan or Barca after having one decent season. The Cesc situation is completely different and it has never crossed my mind that he would play with less commitment or passion for the shirt than before. And when the same person dedicates his World Cup win to Arsenal and its fans, you know you’re dealing with a gem of a player. In short, I am sure that Cesc’s excellent relationship with the fans will remain intact next season.

Today is the first day of what will be a long season stretching right through until May 2011 – the traditional curtain-raiser against Barnet. Those who have ATVO will be able to tune in live and should hopefully see first glimpses of Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny. All the first team players, save Ramsey and those at the World Cup, were named in the squad. I think there are still tickets available so if you need your Arsenal fix and don’t have ATVO head down to Underhill for the 3p.m. kick off.

No fresh transfer news since yesterday. I really hope Arsene’s not planning on keeping us waiting until 23.59 on 31st August for one or more of his classic bargain basement deals. Here’s hoping for a complete squad come August 15th at Anfield.

Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Friday to you.

I have to say I’m always delighted to write for Dev when he goes away. However I’m really struggling to bring you any news as there isn’t any. If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know I’m not the type to go on about far-fetched transfer rumours because they rarely materialise. There’s clearly something going on with Mark Schwarzer but the last I heard was that Fulham rejected a £3m bid. As far as I’m concerned that’s where our interest should end as it’s not worth paying any more than that for a 37 year old.

In one of my World Cup posts I addressed the ‘keeper situation at the club and the bottom line was that we really need a new one. Heaven help us if we go for another season with Almunia and Fabianski as our 1 and 2. I’m also very concerned about our defensive line-up. Are we happy with Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou, and a relatively unknown Nordveidt as our CB’s? I don’t think we are.

I don’t expect us to sign any players in other positions (even though I’d like us to) but a new goalkeeper and a CB are absolutely vital if we are to mount a serious challenge on all fronts next season. I’ve always defended Manuel Almunia but his chance to prove his worth has been and gone and some of the crucial goals we conceded last season were so painfully weak that we really need to address the obvious goalkeeping frailties. Our defence has very limited Premier League experience in it – Vermaelen 1 year, Djourou the occassional bit-part role when fit, and Nordveidt and Koscielny have nothing. Quite terrifying when you break it down like that but if I’ve managed to work that out then surely Arsene has also. We can only assume/pray that he has a few ideas in mind.

Barcelona declared their remaining transfer kitty this summer as being little over £40m. That ends the Cesc saga then.

We play Barnet tomorrow in our first pre-season friendly. I’ve been to-ing and fro-ing all week about whether to head down to Underhill for this one. Ultimately I reckon my disliking of non-competitive Arsenal games will prevail but there are usually a few first-teamers who feature in this fixture and at the very least it will be good to have commenced the programme for the 2010-2011 season. The World Cup was a total saviour in terms of withdrawal and I’m sure I’m not the only one to feel this way. But now we’re back to what matters most – the mighty Arsenal. It’s good to have ‘em back.

That’s pretty much it for today, if anyone finds anything interesting please keep us all in the loop in the comments section below. Til tomorrow…

It’s that time of year when it’s no longer time to look back and indeed time to look forward… look forward to a great season ahead and what’s in store.

Our season starts this Saturday against Barnet before our Austrian tour kicks off next week. We’ve got the Emirates Cup in 2 weeks and a friendly against Liege Warsaw the weekend after the Cup and of course – that’s a week before we play Liverpool at Anfield in the Premiership. Of course, Liverpool is a tough start for any team – in any season. As much as any person says that Arsenal are “under performing” or “under achieving” (considering our investment and responsibilities, I think we’re doing very well)… Liverpool are a club in big trouble.

I mean BIG trouble… Debts are increasing daily, interest, loans, more loans, more interest – a genuine inability to finance themselves. A squad in decline, with a mish mash of a few very good players, a few decent others and a bunch of random players filling in gaps. Benetiz was sacked at the end of last season and they finished a lowly 7th. That kind of puts into perspective how we’ve done comparably – yes, we have spent less,  much less than Liverpool.

However, Liverpool vs Arsenal is just that, Liverpool vs Arsenal – and if anything, the perils going on at the club will act and their resolve to do well. Believe me it will be a tough opening. The rest of August has two other games – Blackpool at home and then Blackburn away. If we beat Liverpool, we could end August with a series of wins. And yes, for the first time in a while, we don’t have a Champions League qualifier, as when we finished third, we automatically qualified for the competition, which means that we really only have 3 games in August. And the transfer windows closes at the end of August, so we’ll see how well we’ve started with a chance to strengthen…

Our first big four battle (well after Liverpool) will be Chelsea away, which is in October… as in Man City away… We entertain Sp*rs at home in November – who will all but be knocked out of the Champions League by then… we play Man United at Old Trafford and then Chelsea at the Emirates in December in quick succession with Stoke sandwiched in between. As usual it’s the winter months that have some hard tests – but if you want to win the league, then you’ve got to play everyone twice, don’t you?

We entertain Man City at home in early January, and then have a series of cup games until we take on Sp*rs away, with a few tricky away ties, aka West Ham and Newcastle also in February – we have a pretty straightforward March, maybe because there are International friendlies… but April could be a nightmare, with a potential semi final in the FA cup, then Liverpool at home and then a Champions League game and another home game, this time to Man United – all in the space of two weeks. Oh, with one of our favourite grounds Bolton, away, in there too…

My advice? Let’s wrap it up by March.

In the last couple of days, I’ve been pondering the formations we’ll play and with so many attackers and midfielders at the club, will Chamakh play up top, on the right, on the left? Let’s take a look at who’s on the books:

Goalkeepers

Almunia, Fabianski, Mannone, Szczesny

Defenders

Eboue, Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Nordtveit, Clichy, Gibbs, Traore

Midfielders

Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Denilson, Diaby, Wilshere, Ramsey, Eastmond, Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin

Strikers

Van Persie, Niklas Bendtner, Maroune Chamakh, Eduardo, Carlos Vela

Now, there is a fairly big squad of players, there is some serious strengthen in depth. But there are some considerations to be made about the quality of the first team. There are no doubts that we have a lot of decent players. A lot of players,who, on their day, can be very very good players, but let’s take a look at the squad and look at what our first XI would be and what positions could better it. There are some areas to me that look like we could do with better – and the goalkeeping position stands out – but if rumours are to be known, then we’re looking to strengthen in that area. The centre backs look light, and I say that only because I don’t really know how Nordtveit will do, neither do I know much about Koscielny nor do I know the fitness of Djourou. There is always a question mark over who will partner Cesc and Song in the middle of the park in our 4-3-3, but it does like we have enough options, and unless one or two go, I doubt Arsene will bring in anyone else.

We have 6 weeks until the transfer window closes, approximately 4 weeks until we travel to Anfield for the opening day of the season and just 2 days until our first friendly…

Just before I sign off, a word directed in the favour of Thierry Henry – who has finally left Barcelona after being treated abysmally – what else would you expect? And joined MLS side “New York Red Bulls”… I hope he does well and rumours are that he may be joined by Freddie Ljungberg too… someone should tell the MLS side that Silvestre, Gallas and Sol Campbell are available on a free…

But in all seriousness, Good Luck Thierry… we’ll all become secret New York fans too now…

In between yesterdays and today’s blog… here’s an interesting image that I found on one of those Way Back In Time Thumbnail sites…

If you’ve read “About WOA“, they you’ll know that I was blogging about Arsenal as early as 1999… Here’s a picture of my old old old site, the original arsenaltalk.com (which someone else owns and does nothing with now)… the full story of that incident in the about us page!

This screen was grabbed in 2002…

Wow, it’s been over 10 years since my very first blog….

Memories…!

Accommodating Chamakh

I’ve sectioned today’s blog into headlines – yep, I do that now and again, when pretty much all the topics aren’t connected and I have a lot to review. I’ll start the article with a quick review of Maroune Chamakh and how to accommodate him into the team. Looking at his game time last season, he was deployed as a lone striker with 5 midfielders behind him – 2 defensive and help from the full backs. Remind you of something? Pretty much the same formula as down at the Emirates. He had Gourcuff behind him – we have Cesc behind our main striker.

The good thing is that Chamakh knows the system well – the bad thing, I suppose is that he’s rival our first choice Van Persie and his stand in from last year Niklas Bendtner for one position. Is it wise to move Van Persie to a wing position? Will Chamakh play “out of position” on the right? Will be revert to 4-4-2?

Possible Choices (presuming we know our back four):

The 4-4-2

Nasri – Song – Cesc – Arshavin

Van Persie – Chamakh

This looks like a winning formula, reminiscent of the days we had Bergkamp and Henry. But it means a few things – Cesc goes deeper – a role that he’s already said takes a lot out of him – if we lose the 20+ goals a season, then can we gain this from Chamakh?

The 4-3-3

Nasri – Song

Arshavin – Cesc – Van Persie

Chamakh

This formation moves Arshavin to the right, Van Persie to the left and Chamakh up top and maybe it’s a bit more true the essence of a 4-3-3. Is it too attacking for us to adopt? Is Nasri effective deeper? Can Van Persie be effective from the left? Can Arshavin be effective from the right?

I’m not actually giving you answers here, but instead posing you more questions…

More On Diaby

Yesterday I mentioned that Jack Wilshere could come in and do a job instead of Diaby / Denilson next to the two immovable objects – Cesc and Song. First time commentor, Zaheer Shah spoke out about his views:

No offense but it seems to me that your the type to only give credit to those who show up in the spotlight, what i am referring to is your incredibly harsh statement on Diaby, not good enough? Did you see how he played in the middle of the season? He was incredible, he compliments our midfield so much in the sense that he combines the attributes of Song and Fabregas, he works hard and the stats show he covers a lot of ground. He is one of our best counter attackers, he has his faults but he has worked really hard over the summer and this season has been his best due to it, he will continue to improve next season and I would start him over Denilson most weeks.

Now, I don’t know if we’re talking about the same Diaby – but the Diaby I saw last season was a) very inconsistent b) gave away possession more than any other player c) constantly made the wrong decisions and d) statistically covered less ground than Denilson, Song or Cesc.

Diaby had a very bad world cup, with the exception of one excellent run – his final ball is just too inaccurate. Of course, he has potential, and of course, he has moments of brilliance, but where is the consistency? His performances last year started better but finished worse than the season before and when you look at our team for improvements, it’s impossible for me to believe that you think he is world class and is the best we can do next to Song and Cesc. Nasri for me is better choice, but bringing in a Melo or a similar player would be the missing part of the jigsaw. I don’t think we need two full time defensive midfielders and that’s why Nasri, Ramsey and Wilshere in my eyes – being more dynamic and more consistent – are better choices in midfield than Diaby.

Let’s hope you’re right and he continues to improves and proves us wrong next season… although I am now wondering if I made that statement last season….

Gallas Back

There were rumours yesterday that Arsene is still hopeful of Gallas agreeing his new contract and staying at the club… Now how would you feel about that? I am not a fan of William Gallas – he’s too egotistical and too outspoken for my liking. I’m personally glad to see the back of him. Yes, he is a quality footballer but he has too much baggage and doesn’t inspire anyone – remember Nasri saying that no-one actually like Gallas. Let’s hope they stay as rumours and we spend the majority of his wage packet on a new defender!

We Don’t Need Joe Cole!

Personally I don’t think we need Joe Cole – one thing Arsenal have is an abundance of attacking midfielders – look at the two formations above, we haven’t included the likes of Theo Walcott, Thomas Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby, Wilshere or Ramsey – how on earth would Joe Cole get into our team? Now if Chelsea release Alex on a free, that would be a different story!

And Cesc in a Barcelona shirt? Ouch.

Yes, you’ve seen it for real… moments after winning the World Cup, the team, whilst celebrating, donned Cesc in a Barcelona shirt. Looking at Cesc’s face – he does look a little embarrassed, but nevertheless, it happened. For me, I’d put it down to the two “forceful” members of the squad, Puyol and Pique, whom you can see in front and behind him. Puyol looks to have put it on him and Pique’s arm is still pulling it down – with Cesc pushing it up with one arm. Those two (Pique and Puyol) are really nasty pieces of work. It shows a massive disrespect to Arsenal.

Obviously, this would have happened on Sunday night, and it was apt that Cesc did say this yesterday:

“I am an Arsenal player and I am really proud to be able to give this trophy to all the fans. It is for all of them – they deserve it and they have a world famous club. All I can say now is that this is for the Arsenal players, for the Arsenal fans, for the manager and for all of the staff. I have had lots of texts and Blackberry messages. My phone is full. I had a text from Arsene Wenger. He said congratulations, you deserve it. I replied thanks you very much and said this is for all the Arsenal club, manager and players who have helped me be where I am today. I am, really proud. I will never take this medal off, I have two now!”

Whether that was said in worry that the picture would get out or that he really meant it – am I being cynical that I can actually believe the first? I think maybe. But the fact that a) he came out with that statement yesterday is shows a good respect to Arsenal b) the fact he looks embarrassed shows a good respect to Arsenal c) the fact he’s trying to get it off shows a good respect to Arsenal.

Quick update (thanks to @IrishGooner)… This “prank” / photo was taken yesterday in Madrid NOT on Sunday. It means the statement for the love of Arsenal was genuinely before. Changes the overview of what happened and what he said in relation to the picture!

His sister said on Twitter yesterday:

Eieii!!! C’mon! It was JUST A JOKE from his friends and he didnt know what they were doing! Not all in this live is an offens!

And couple that little statement may soften the blow – but the debate on whether or not Cesc is staying or going won’t be closed until September 1st – that is for sure.

Finally, congratulations to Niklas Bendtner who announced that his wife to be is pregnant – maybe he has recovered from that groin injury.

Til tomorrow.

Morning Fellow Gooners,

Today is a historic moment in the World of Football, and of course The World of Arsenal. It’s the first time we’ve had a captain and a vice-captain play the World Cup final against each other. Most Arsenal fans I’ve spoken to are supporting Holland today, favouring the loyal Gooner, Robin Van Persie and double Arsenal connection with ex Gooner Gio  Van Bronckhorst captaining the side. With Spain filled with so many Barcelona players, it is quite easy to hope they lose… of course, it would be different is a) Barcelona weren’t stalking Cesc b) Cesc would actually start! Even though we’d all probably like to see Holland win, Spain have to be the favourites – especially after their demolition of Germany.

Onto Arsenal news, and there is renewed speculation that Eduardo could be on his way out of the club – either permanently or on loan, after coach Boro Primorac spoke about the possibility of him leaving,s saying:

“I do not know what will happen to Dudu. Preparations are just beginning and I do not know whether he will go or stay. He just has to decide.”

It’s clear that Van Persie, Maroune Chamakh and Niklas Bendter will be the first three strikers in the pecking order and Carlos Vela seems to edge it ahead of Eduardo for the 4th choice striker, so it may be a good idea for Eduardo to go out on loan – at least until December. It will give him some time to try and get back to full fitness and form, and then come back for the run in?

Talking about strikers, Van Persie has been in the news and declared his intentions on remaining fit next season and to start showing the world that Arsene was right to have so much faith in him – Arsene did talk about Van Persie at the end of the season in regards to his potential and that he could be as good as the likes of Ronaldo and Messi… but it’s all about keeping fit and that fact that Van Persie has made it through so many games in the World Cup is a good sign!

“When I came back from my long injury back in the spring, Arsene Wenger told me that people will soon be talking about me in the same breath as they speak about Messi. I’m sure that would already be the case if I was not injured so often. I can feel that the manager has faith in me, but I must remain lucid. I am clearly not in the same league as Leo. Moreover, I am injured too often. I’m dreaming about a season with 30 goals and 20 assists. Wenger knows that I can do it, but my body will have to hold on. My final objective is to be in the same class as Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney, but Leo above all because he is a giant.”

With Van Persie leading the line and Cesc in midfield, with new recruit Maroune Chamakh and maybe Jack Wilshere coming back, we do have a busy midfield but despite that, the papers have linked us with both Yohan Gourcuff (whose birthday it is today) and the German wonderkid, Ozil – maybe they have in case Cesc goes, but reports coming out of the Ozil camp is that he will honour his contract at Weder Bremen and I think that’s a good thing for Ozil and Bremen. You really shouldn’t sign a player based on a decent World Cup, Ozil will have the eyes of all the top clubs on him for the next season and be available on a free next summer, should he maintain his excellent showing. The Gourcuff rumours have been scuppered by Arsene’s recent comments about not being interested in him, despite thinking he is an attractive proposition:

“We are not interested. I like Gourcuff a lot, but we already have sufficient cover in midfield.”

There is still a massive debate going on whether Jack Wilshere should return to Arsenal. Many people think if he says at Bolton then he will get more playing time, and don’ t think he should come back to Arsenal unless Cesc leaves. Jack’s best position is behind the striker, in front of a midfield, similarly to how Cesc plays. If Arsene did want him back, then would he dispose Nasri, Walcott or Arshavin whom would all seem to be ahead of him in the pecking order. But then again, there are rumours that Walcott should go on loan too, to get some experience, as he’s not cutting it down at the Emirates at the moment. Personally, I’d like to see Cesc, Wilshere and Song as the midfield trio and see Van Persie, Arshavin and Nasri deployed in the three attacking roles – if we stick to 433. I don’t see why Wilshere couldn’t come in instead of Denilson or Diaby who lack consistency. I do prefer Nasri over Walcott to start and Walcott as an impact sub and also think Ramsey is a future first teamer. We saw when Diaby marshalled the France midfield, that he just isn’t good enough – how many chances can Arsene give him?

There are also massive rumours circulating that Almunia is off to Athletico Madrid in a £4m deal – I thought originally that the noise was purely paper talk but the noise is increasing – as is the noise linking us with taking Mark Schwarzer to the Emirates for a year with Fabianski as second choice and Almunia moving on. The two younger keepers to be promoted in and around the first team. No concrete noise yet, but Athletico could be on the verge of selling David De Gea, their young keeper, meaning backup would be needed. The rumours regarding Schwarzer actually make it sound like a done deal, but at 37, I’m not sure if it’s a good option, considering the mistakes he’s made for Fulham and Australia recently. There are a lot of people talking about Shay Given be demoted to second choice behind Joe Hart and if that’s the case, I’d rather spend £5m on him that Schwarzer – let’s see what happens on that one…

Finally, Sol Campbell has now apparently talked to Celtic, Sunderland and West Ham – all three clubs willing to offer him a 2 year contract, which means we probably won’t any more of him in an Arsenal shirt – raising questions about whether we need another central defender…

Okay, time to get in the zone for the World Cup… come on Van Persie, do it for the Arsenal (and the millions of Dutch fans)…

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It is officially 7 days until our annual trip to Barnet – a game in which we may see one of our two new signings – Maroune Chamakh or Laurent Koscielny – both bought from the French league, Bordeaux and Lorient respectively. There will be some bedding in and some adapting to life in the premiership for both players and the pre-season friendlies will give us a glimpse of what they’re both made of. With Johan Djourou recovered and having beefed up to a decent level since last season, there are noises that it will be Djourou and Vermaelen who get the nod for the two centre back positions with Koscielny as third choice, and youngster Nordtveit in at fourth choice.

Koscielny has publicly admitted that he will need time to adapt and advocates his main aim is to get into the team:

“I will need time to adapt. I have to earn a position in the team and play. Nothing is for sure so far. I believe I will have to work hard, doing a lot of bodybuilding exercises to resist Premier League forwards. I am not strongly built, but I make up for it with some cleverness, positioning and anticipation. I believe the manager has appreciated my state of mind, my concentration on the game.”

Part of Koscielny’s game is to play the ball to feet and start an attack from defence – something that both Djourou and Vermaelen also have. It’s Arsene’s style – his imprint. Everyone at the club should be ball playing. Anyone, anywhere – and that’s why players like Senderos didn’t end up having a future. The boy Koscielny looks good, but of course, we don’t know enough about him to comment either way. Arsene has been in the press and has been talking about signing “one more defensive” players.

Most of us probably think that it’s another central defender, especially in the context of the answer – but of course, “one more defensive player” could be a defensive midfielder or a goalkeeper. The underwhelming signing of 37 year old Mark Schwarzer could be the signing, but I’m hoping for something a little better.

Rumours about Joe Cole haven’t yet ceased and despite “ongoing talks” with Sp*rs, the ex-Chelsea player is still heavily linked with us. With Sp*rs able to offer first team football, willing to pay his astronomic wages and kind of in the Champions League – it does look like his ideal destination. As a club, we’d be unwilling to fork out sums around the £115k mark (as being touted in the press) and couldn’t possibly offer first team football with Rosicky, Nasri, Cesc and Ramsey all very similar in their style as well as other attacking midfielders such as Arshavin and Walcott on the wings.

Things are starting to hotten up in the transfer market – we’ve signed two players, and have a few loan returnees. Man United welcome Smalling and Hernandez. Chelsea have signed Benayoun and a few other players here and there and City have snapped up three in Boateng, Silva and Toure Junior. On top of that, in Europe, we’ve seen Real Madrid and Barcelona make big signings as well as movement for the likes of Eduardo the goalkeeper and other impressive players. If we are to sign more players this summer, I’d hazard a guess that it will be wrapped up by the end of July – which is good, because we’re already 10 days into the month!

Bolton boss Owen Coyle has re-iterated his desire to see Jack Wilshere at the Lancashire club next season, but personally, I’d love to see him back at the Arsenal. He’s Arsenal through and through and after his performances at Bolton next season, think he could make an immediate impact – of course, at minimum, I’d like him to be around for the friendlies to see how he could fit in if he were in and around the first team next year.

Tonight is the penultimate game of the World Cup and sees Germany take on Uruguay in what looks to be quite an exciting game.

As I write this, I understand Raoul Moat has been captured by police, but by the time you read this, we’ll have some clarity…

Til tomorrow…

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