I'm Sol Excited To Have Campbell Back

Mornin all, it's been a while. I've really just been enjoying the season lately, and didn't feel the need to write about how splendidly it's been going for us so far (Knock on wood.) There is a news story worth mentioning though, and so here I am to get on with the mention. Sol Campbell has rejoined Arsenal, and I have to say I'm thrilled to have him back in the fold. Maybe it's because he is a reminder of the Invincibles, who have all departed in the past few years, but something about resigning a player that won so much with the club really makes me smile every time I think about it. And besides that, he can't possibly be anything but a good influence on the other defenders at the club. Immediately I think of the impact he could have on the reserves, such as Kyle Bartley, who he partnered at West Ham. And while it may not be a profound impact, he can also help out players such as Thomas Vermaelen for instance, who hasn't gone through the rigors of a title challenge or a cup final with Arsenal. His attitude and quotes have been brilliant since his return, and he seems genuinely fired up to come back and help out the team and Arsene Wenger.

I'll say it up front, I don't know how well Sol can still play. What I do know is that Arsene Wenger has watched him train for the past three months or so and Arsene wouldn't sign him unless he thought Sol could get into the team and do a job for us. I don't know how much he'll end up playing the rest of the year, and I hope it isn't a lot because that would mean Gallas or Vermaelen were out injured, but I like idea of having him ahead of Silvestre as a second choice center back. Not to mention he scored our only goal in our history in Champions League Finals. Good signing, good player, welcome back Sol.

So we play at Bolton tomorrow, and unless I'm mistaken, I believe it's Owen Croyle's first game in charge of Bolton. I think he must be a pretty good manager to have done what he's done so far with Burnley this year, but at the same time, Bolton are absolute shite and three points will be expected, especially with the return of our captain, Cesc Fabregas, who has recovered from his injury. Denilson and Bendtner are both out with injuries, but Gael Clichy is back after a really long injury layoff. Wenger says he may be in the squad because he's training well but I would guess that if he plays it'll only be a cameo appearance. To reiterate, three points must be earned in this match, and when we play them again next week we'll need three points there as well. Bolton are tossers, and if we want to maintain our title challenge then we need maximum points heading into our tough stretch against Villa, United, Liverpool, and Chelsea. If we get through those matches and are still in with a shout, then look out for the mighty Arsenal, because it's all downhill from there :).

Phillipe Senderos is wanting to leave Arsenal, and I can't blame him. Phil is a player I've always felt a bit sorry for. No he's certainly not a brilliant player, but I've always thought he put in a good shift when he got games. He's not gotten a chance since he came back from his loan spell so it's really no surprise he wants to go. I with him the best of luck and wouldn't mind seeing him go to Everton in exchange for Saha if Everton are up for it. Yeah he can't stay fit worth a damn but if he manages to stay a bit fit he can certainly put the goals in.

My last point for the day is on Arsenal TV Online, which has recently lost a lot of it's usefulness and attraction. One of the best features of the service had been that you could watch reserve games live online in full. So naturally I was thrilled that I'd be able to watch Sol Campbell's reserve debut against West Ham. I was mistaken, however. Upon arriving at the Arsenal.com website, I saw a post that said ATVO would no longer be showing live reserve games or full length matches. They said they would have an improved highlight system, but that really isn't the case because I watched the highlights the next day and they were the same as always. It's a crock of shit and I honestly would recommend that nobody sign up for the service until they fix it, because that was the best feature of the station. Now you really only get random interviews and press conferences, and not much else. I used to be able to turn on ATVO and watch a full day almost of Arsenal coverage. Now I can't find 10 minutes worth of good video I want to see. Write to the club and complain if you're pissed. It's a joke.

Alright that's all I've got for today. Leave your thoughts on Sol or Phil or Bolton or whatever. Cheers and come on Arsenal!

Arshavin's Brilliance Gives Arsenal Vital Win

We're back in it. This past weekend was just about as good of a weekend as we could have asked for in the Premiership. Chelsea dropped points at home to Everton, Man City drew with Bolton, and best of all, United lost at home to Aston Villa. Meanwhile, we played on Sunday, and it was a rough match up at Anfield vs Liverpool. Arsenal came out on top, and really showed some grit and character in the process. Down 1-0 at halftime, and inspired by a special Arsene Wenger team talk, the team fought back through an own goal from Glen Johnson and an absolute cracker from Arshavin gave us all three points and effectively put Liverpool in a position where they have a real uphill battle just to get fourth. So now we're only 3 points back of United and only 6 points behind Chelsea, with a game in hand. After we lost to Chelsea not many people would have put us in such a good position right now, but here we are and we're looking fantastic.

Arshavin's goal was really something special. This is the only link I could find for it now that hasn't been removed from YouTube. If you're really lucky, like me, you'll be a member of ArsenalTV Online and can just watch it over and over in high quality. It really was amazing though.

One of the main talking points for the match was Arsene Wenger's team talk at half time. Apparently it was a lot more harsh than it normally is, because Cesc had this to say about it:

"The boss screamed. I've never seen him like that before. He was really disappointed in the first half and said we didn't deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt if we played like that. And I think he was right. In the second half we turned it around."

Arsene Wenger gettin nice with it. I like that, even though I couldn't picture yelling saying that the players don't deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt. I think it's probably what the team needed though, as they turned around the result at a place where it's hard to get any result at all. He's normally a calm guy all the time, so you can see where this would have gotten a reaction from the players in this case, and that was exactly what was needed. He can't pull this out all the time, but he chose the time carefully and it paid off. There's only one Arsene Wenger!

After the match, Arsene had this to say:

"We were a bit lucky with our first goal, but the fear was in the Liverpool camp in the second half. It was an outstanding second goal and from then on Liverpool's pace dropped. Afterwards we were not under any real threat. For us, it gets us back into it. Mathematically we're in a good position again, especially with our game in hand. We knew with what happened with the results yesterday (Saturday), that we needed to win here. We did so and that's something very positive. Now it is down to consistency."

Consistency is exactly what it is down to. Beating Liverpool means nothing if we lose other matches that we should win. There are more losses by the top teams in the Premier League this year than I can remember in quite some time, so it's going to be all about who can stay consistent and beat the teams that they should beat.

So looking ahead to the next few league matches, we have Burnley away, home to Hull, home to Villa, and away to Pompey to close out the month. So three teams near the bottom of the table, and Villa, who just beat United at home. Burnley all really tough at Turf Moor so that one certainly won't be easy, just ask Alex Ferguson. It's a stretch of games that worries me honestly, but on paper you'd say it's easier than the last month we've had. We just seem to have most of our problems against the "weaker" sides in the league and we have three of them out of the next four matches.

It's a good time to be an Arsenal supporter. We play the best football, our players aren't cunts, and we're in with a shout in the title hunt. Raise your banners high, and come on you Gunners!

Arsenal Looking For Strong Draw In Champions League

Hello everyone. So the Champions League group stage finished up yesterday, and Arsenal comfortably topped their group even though we lost 1-0 yesterday to Olimpiakos. We played almost all youngsters because the match didn't matter and we were looking ahead to Liverpool this weekend. So today I wanted to talk about the possibilities for who we can draw in the next round, and they are as follows:

AC Milan, Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Porto, Lyon, Inter, and Stuttgart.

My theory on this (which is not really a theory but a well known fact) is that you have to beat the best teams to win the competition anyway, so it doesn't really matter who you face when, because eventually you have to beat them all. But in this case, I think I'd rather leave the work of knocking out Bayern and Inter to somebody else, like Chelsea or United or Barca. They're both strong teams when they're playing well, which is often for Inter and not nearly as often for Bayern, and could give us a rough time.

The only other team I'd like to avoid in the next round is CSKA Moscow. Not because it's an especially tough match up for us, but because I don't want the team to have to travel to Russia in the middle of the week. It doesn't bode well for the weekend fixture if you're traveling thousands of miles Tuesday or Wednesday.

As for AC Milan, Porto, Lyon, or Stuttgart...bring it on. I think we would beat any of those teams over two legs quite comfortably. Stuttgart looked good yesterday, but I would still fancy us to beat them after two legs. Lyon can be tough on their day, and they do have the keeper I'd like to have at Arsenal (Hugo Lloris), but we'd beat them as well.

As for the match yesterday, I thought Ramsey was exceptional, Merida had a very good first half, and Song was as solid as ever. Biggest disappointments for me were certainly Theo Walcott and Carlos Vela (who just signed a new contract today.) Walcott especially is starting to worry me. He's been in the first team for over three years now and has regressed if anything. I know he's had a bad run of injuries but yesterday he looked awful. First touch was especially bad, and he consistently seems to make poor decisions on the pitch. Hopefully he'll come around with more playing time, but I'm starting to wonder if Theo will ever make it at Arsenal.

Overall though I was impressed with the Young Goons, going to Greece and playing well for most of the match. The average age of the squad was 20, and that was WITH a 32 year old Silvestre playing. Now that's a young team. They should all feel happy about their performance, even if they aren't happy about the result. Many bright futures are on the way.

Alright, that's enough for today. Let me know your thoughts on who you want in the draw.

"Smoke weed talk sh*t like Lane Kiffin."

Tiger Woods' wife is a gold digger.

Thierry Henry Reaction, World Cup Better Off With France In It

Long, long ago, when the world was still new, there was once an Arsenal blog, written by an American. It was updated daily with all the latest news, transfer stories, and thoughts on Arsenal. It was called The ArseNole. And now, The ArseNole is back. That's right, after a shocking absence of over a month, I've made a return to the blogging realm, since there is finally a lot to talk about. Sure, I could have written a lot the past month of how well we have played and how I think we're going to win the league this season, but that would probably have just jinxed us and I'm very superstitious about Arsenal. But as I said, today I have quite a lot of things to burn on, so we'll start with what seems to be one of the most controversial topics in quite some time, and that is Thierry Henry's hand ball that put Ireland out of the World Cup and France in it.

Let me first clarify, that I am not Irish, and I am not French, and if this had happened to the USA I would have been pissed, but I would still not show the hate to Thierry that he has been getting from every corner of the globe. My loyalties lie with Arsenal first and foremost, so in that game I was hoping for a France win due to this simple math:

French:
Arsene Wenger
William Gallas
Gael Clichy
Thierry Henry
Bacary Sagna
Patrick Vieira
Robert Pires

Irish:
Robbie Keane

Yes, I know there have been other Arsenal players that were Irish, but the one that stands out is captain cunttastic, Robbie Keane, the cartwheeling cunt himself. Keeping him as far away from the World Cup as possible is just fine with me. And personally, I'd rather watch the French play all summer next summer than have to watch just one Ireland match. So yeah, it was a hand ball by Thierry, but I think it was mostly instinctual. The play happened so fast that I don't think he thought, "Oh shite I better stick out my hand here to keep this ball in play." I think he just had it as a natural reaction in the spur of the moment. It's the referee's job to make the call, not Thierry's, so why should he have to be the one taking the heat for it? Did you all expect Eboue to tell the ref he dove for that free kick in the Champions League Final? No, because it was Arsenal. And you shouldn't expect Thierry to do it either because at the end of the day, he got his country into the World Cup, and all the Irish can do about it is bitch for four years while they watch.

To me, the fans that say Henry is no longer thought of as a good person, or as an Arsenal legend, or they see him as a cheater now, are ridiculous and stupid. That one millisecond play made you forget about all the things he did for Arsenal, all 226 goals, countless moments of magic, and some of the best teams this club has ever had? Bollocks I say. Thierry Henry is the greatest Arsenal player of all time, and if you want to bitch about him and say his legacy is tarnished because of that one hand ball, then you're full of shit. He didn't launch a terrorist attack, he didn't molest his daughter, or set his ex-wife's house on fire. He fucking hand balled. Get over it. Do I feel bad for the Irish as a whole? Sure I do. Just not for the ones that act like Thierry Henry is no longer an Arsenal legend and instead is the scum of the earth.

Right, so that's about covered, so it's on to other matters.

Eduardo signed a new long-term deal with the club. Solid move. He's going to have to start quite a lot while Bendtner and more importantly RvP are out injured, so we need him to stay fit and start pounding in the goals. I think he's perfectly capable of doing everything that RvP has done for us this season, in terms of goal scoring and making assists. Arshavin, Theo, Nasri, Rosicky, and Cesc are going to all have to step up their games though to make it through this period. First big test for us is this weekend when we play away to Sunderland, who are a tricky opponent. They're playing well this year under Steve Bruce, and Darren Bent has been banging in the goals. We'll probably have Silvestre in at left back, which is a worry, but hopefully our attacking play will be able to put a few past them. This is the type of game you have to win to be Champions. No slip ups allowed just because we have some injuries. Let's get it done boys.

We also have good news on the injury front. Fabianski, Carlos Vela, Armand Traore, and Denilson are all back, and Denilson will definitely be making the trip up to Sunderland this weekend, which is great news. I'd expect he may have to start right away with Diaby being out, although Arsene could opt to use Rosicky next to Cesc in the midfield. Traore could possibly slot in at left back with Clichy and Gibbs out, and honestly I'd prefer that to having Silvestre in there, but I reckon the boss will pick the experience over the youth.

I'm really quite happy to have Denilson back, even though he seems to not get much love from the majority of Arsenal fans. He's clearly better than Diaby, that is for certain. He can pick out a pass almost as well as Cesc, can hit the long shots, and is solid defensively. I think he'll be a real boost to the squad over the next few months.

Ok, that's about it for the day. Leave your reactions about Thierry and Ireland, or Arsenal, or whatever you want to in the comments. I'm expecting a lot of angry Irish folk mostly. Also, if anyone plays Football Manager Live, let me know so we can play a match on there. My keeper is Fabianski, woohoo! That's about all I've got. Vive Les Bleus, hehe.

France Away Kit and Adidas Copa Edge Backpack

Morning everyone. A fantastic Tuesday to you all. Hope you all enjoyed the win over Birmingham at the weekend, which I missed because I was out of town at my cousin's first birthday party. Good result though, and we're right back in the title race with Chelsea losing. But on to other things.

A while back I talked about receiving an offer from SoccerPro.com when they allowed me to review a pair of Nike Talaria IV's. Well their generosity knows no bounds because they have given me the opportunity to yet again use some of their fantastic products, including an Adidas France away jersey and an Adidas Copa Edge backpack. I've gotten the privelage of using both of these products for the past week and a half or so and I want to share with you all my opinions on them.

I'll start with the France kit first because that was what I tried on right away as soon as the package came in the mail. I had never gotten an Adidas kit before so this was my first experience with the brand, and it's probably already one of my favorites now. The shirt feels great when you put it on, whether it's for playing a match or just wearing it to watch a match on tv. The embroidery is perfect and if you saw me wearing it you would most likely mistake me for being William Gallas or Thierry Henry, that's how authentic it looks. The shirt has Adidas' Clima365 technology so it is perfect for any weather, hot or cold, rain or shine. It really looks great and if you're a fan of France or any other nation, I highly recommend you check out the wide variety of club and country soccer jerseys they have available at SoccerPro.com.


The other product they let me use was the Adidas Copa Edge Backpack, which I was extremely excited about. As you know if you read the blog regularly, I coach a team of Under-9 year old boys, and it is a real hassle carrying my ball, cleats, socks, keeper gloves, keeper shirt, cones, whistle, and other stuff to practice and to the games. Well with this backpack, I can fit everything I'm carrying all into this one bag. It's got a pocket with ventilation for your ball and cleats, a large pocket for carrying any other stuff you have like your jersey, shorts, or shinguards, or for coaches like me your cones, keeper gloves, and anything else you need. It even has a cell phone pocket on the inside to keep your phone safe while you're out on the pitch. I really don't know how I ever lived without it now, it really is an amazing product. And on top of that, for all you Arsenal supporters, it's available in a variety of colors, including red and white, which I got of course. It makes transporting all of your soccer gear extremely easy and I highly recommend it to anyone that plays or coaches. You will not be dissapointed and I guarantee that this product will make your life easier and less hectic when you're trying to get ready on match day.


SoccerPro.com has been good to me, and they will be good to you. They have great prices on a variety of soccer gear, including cleats, balls, soccer jerseys, and anything else you could possibly need. They also give out regular discounts and clearance sales where you can find great products for real bargains. I recommend you conduct all your football related business with them, as you will not ever be dissapointed. Cheers!