Arsenal-Aston Villa Preview

Morning all. Been a busy last couple days. On Wednesday I turned 21 and over here in the States that is a big deal, legal drinking age. So of course that kept me busy and there hasn't really been much for news anyway, but I had to write before another league game. This time it's home against Aston Villa, and it HAS to be three points for us. Now Villa are a good side, don't get me wrong, but at home, when everyone is saying we're going to collapse, we really have to make a statement with this game. Remember we still have trips to Stamford Shite Hole and Old Trafford this season to go, so we need to get the maximum points from all of our home matches.

For injury news, it's getting a bit better for us than it has been. Kolo Toure is still out with his calf problem or knee or something like that, but he could be back as soon as Milan next Tuesday. Of course Eduardo is out, as well as the forever injured Robin van Persie. Tomas Rosicky, who likes to keep Robin company in his absence, will also still be out. Emmanuel Eboue is suspended, but no loss there. We do have Diaby back though so that is good news.

I'll take a quick stab at the lineup, think it will look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Senderos-Clichy
Hleb-Cesc-Flamini-Diaby
Adebayor-Bendtner

I wouldn't be surprised if Walcott got the run out over Bendtner or Diaby but this is what my Arsene Wenger-sensitive gut is telling me.

So my prediction for this one: 2-1 to the Arsenal. Both goals by Adebayor, and one of them will be from a Clichy cross.

So on with a bit of news then.

There have been a lot of rumors suggesting that Flamini had already reached a deal with Juventus and was going to go there on a free transfer at the end of this season. This would have been terrible news but Juventus came out and put this story to rest. This is great news for us. I don't know what the hold up is for resigning him but if we lose him on a free transfer that will be very upsetting.

First Barcelona and now Inter have been linked with Alexander Hleb. Supposedly they are going to make a £14million pound offer for him. No deal. Hleb is worth more than that to our team right now. I don't think Arsene would sell him. He stays healthy, he is a great dribbler and brings a lot to the side.

Young Guns posts a nice article about the top 5 youth players to watch in 2008. It's a good read.

And lastly, Arsene Wenger spoke of how important it was for Theo Walcott to get his first Premiership goals. It definitely should improve the boy's confidence in front of goal, something you could tell he was lacking. I wouldn't mind seeing him play against Villa and hopefully keep scoring for us. We're all behind you lad!

Cheers to three points tomorrow.

Eduardo Update, Response to Gallas' Behavior

“I forgive Martin. It hurt like hell but I'm fine now. I know he didn't do it on purpose. I was horrified when I saw how my leg looked at first and wondered how it would all end. But I will be back."

-Eduardo Da Silva

Now that is one brave man with the right attitude. Just a few days after his leg is completely split and he's already forgiving the man that did it and saying he's going to be back. Eduardo has truly shown what a nice, classy player he is throughout this whole ordeal. He didn't come out and bash Taylor like I, and loads of other people did. He just started his recovery and thanked everyone for the support. Get well soon Eddy.

It appears the one time Adebayor didn't make a pass to Bendtner when he should have has caused a stir in the media, and they are already questioning if Adebayor will ever pass to Bendtner. This is the most ridiculous nonsense I've ever heard. Everyone on this team wants to win titles, and by God if Adebayor had to pass to Robbie Keane to somehow win the title he would do it.

Kolo Toure, originally feared to be out for a month after his injury against Milan, says he's hopeful he'll get to return for the return trip to Milan. Honestly if he's not 100% I'd like to see Big Phil stay in the side as he has been superb lately. By the way, at the beginning of the season I did say that I thought he was a quality player for us. People sometimes forget he was in that Champion's League run when we didn't concede any goals up until the final. He's a good player he just needs games to get going.

I really, really liked this article I read on InsideArsenal about William Gallas. Read it if you get the chance.

So now I've had a couple days to think about it and I'm going to agree with InsideArsenal. I am very surprised at how many Gooners and Gooner blogs have given Gallas lots of stick for his actions in the Birmingham game. Some of them are calling for him to be removed as captain, others just say he should have never been appointed to the post. Well I say it was a brilliant choice. Let's recap the week Gallas had: First, one of his French and Arsenal teammates, Bakary Sagna, lost a brother and he spent some time with him to comfort him. Then we lost 4-0 to United, followed by a frustrating game against Milan where we failed to score despite our complete dominance throughout. Then against Birmingham he witnesses one of the worst injuries anyone has witnessed in football for a long time before the referee gives the game away by making a terrible penalty call in the 94th minute. Now would all this not upset you? Should he have pulled a Cantona and kicked a fan? Should he have maybe retaliated against an opposing player and gotten a red card and been banned for three matches? Gallas did what he had to do. Everyone needs to vent frustration sometimes and he did it in a way that was not damaging to anyone. Everyone that has watched him play knows that he gives his all for this team and wants us to win trophies. I'm proud of having you as our captain William, keep it up mate.

Cheers

Also, read this from the Telegraph. It says the way for Eduardo to come back is,

"You just have to be brave, determined, focused, hard-working - and certifiably mad."

If it pisses you off like it pisses me off, feel free to send them an email and let them know how you feel.

Eduardo's Leg is Broken By a Huge Twat

Follow this link to see how you can send Eduardo an email.

Well the match finished 2-2, was bollocks all the way around, and we shouldn't have dropped points. The good news is that Theo Walcott scored his first two Premiership goals for us. But I will get to all that later. First up what must be talked about is Martin Taylor breaking Eduardo's leg. And this wasn't just any break. He went in high and you could see his leg pretty much split in half. It took the medical team 8 minutes just go get him on the stretcher and get him off the field. Taylor was immediately sent on and fully deserved. After he did it he just sat there chatting it up with one of his mates like it was no big deal that Eduardo's leg was in shambles. I'm going to enclose a picture at the bottom of the page but it is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart so if you do look, don't say I didn't warn you. So he is going to miss the rest of the season and Arsene feels he may miss part of next season as well. He went on a bit of a rant about Taylor's tackle, which he very well should have.

"I think this guy should never play football again. What's he doing on the pitch?"

"I've gone along with the idea for a long time that to stop Arsenal, you have to kick Arsenal. I knew that was coming for a long time now."

"The season is over for him and it's very, very bad. More than the season is over."

Well we know what he's doing on the pitch...Birmingham are too poor and shite to sign good players so they have to sign barbarians from the Championship that do these sort of things. Moral of the story is that Martin Taylor moves up a whole lot on my current most hated players list.

Ok so now for the picture...I'll do the match report tomorrow but I have to go to work now. Here it is...

Update: Eduardo told Arsenal's official website, 'I don't remember the incident very well and it is not something that I want to see again on television or in the newspapers. 'All I remember is that when I fell, I looked down at my foot and it had turned the other way. The rest is just a blank. It was an unfortunate situation but these things can happen in football. 'I am unsure at the moment of the extent of the injury and how long I will be out of action for but I know that I won't be able to play for Arsenal for the rest of the season or be ready in time for the Euros this summer. 'But I'm not worried about that. My concentration and determination is on making as quick a recovery as possible. I am determined to overcome this injury.'

Players Speak About Milan, But Should Worry About Birmingham First...

Morning all. So I guess by now everyone knows that we drew 0-0 home to AC Milan. We pretty much dominated the game from start to finish. We passed much better than them, we had more chances and better chances, but we could not convert any of them. Our best chance came in the 94th minute when Adebayor got his head on a cross from Theo. I would have put my house on him to score but somehow he managed to hit the bar with it and game over. He was probably kicking himself after that one.

Almost everyone on the team had an exceptional game, so it's hard to pick stand outs really. However, since that is what I do here I will say I think Hleb, Flamini, Sagna, and Clichy were all excellent even compared to the rest of the team who were great. Hleb's dribbling and passing were good. He has amazed me this season. Flamini kept Kaka completely out of the game. I think Kaka's first shot was in about the 75th minute. You really didn't hear about him at all. Sagna and Clichy...what more can you say about those two? They are just great players. I think Sagna's addition has really helped us so much this year.

So we have the return leg in the San Siro in a fortnight, and all of the players are talking about how they are ready for it. Here's a quick quote montage:

Flamini: "We have no choice now - we have to go over there and win the second leg. We have the quality to go over there and win the game to qualify."

Fabregas: "I am sure we can win. We are a positive side, we are young - but even that having seen what we have seen we can cope with their pace, their experience and we can create chances."

Adebayor: "We know it is going to be very difficult in Milan, but we are ready for it. We just have to fight for the team, and maybe then one ball will go into the net. A score draw will do, but it is important to think about winning. The belief is very high."

Alright, now the confidence is great guys, and I like to hear it, but I feel like they forget we have a match tomorrow. We've got to go to Birmingham in the league and we really NEED a win there. They already took two points off of us when they got a draw at the Emirates a month or so ago. That can't happen again. I'm sure Arsene Wenger knows all of this of course but he has to make sure the players have their mind's on this match and not just the Milan one. You'll have plenty of time to think about that in a week or so lads.

In other news, Kolo Toure, originally feared to be out for about a month, is now looking to be back in two weeks, which is great news. We're a bit short of depth at the back with Kolo and Djourou out so we'll need him back as soon as possible.

Red and White Holdings, led by Alisher Usmanov, is now the largest shareholder in the club. Is it time to have a protest yet? If you would like to tell the FA that you do not want a crook running Arsenal, you can drop them a quick line right here. Make sure you do it in a polite manner or it will accomplish nothing. If enough people right in maybe they will finally have a look at this man's history.

And last for today, Robin van Persie is nearing his return...finally. Arsene talked about it to the press today.

"No. Robin is not a very long away from being fit at all, but he lacks match-practice."

"Could he be in the squad for Milan? Maybe - but don’t forget he has not played regularly for five months now."

So that's some good news to go out on. Here's to three points tomorrow. Cheers.

Early Arsenal-Milan Preview

Morning everyone. As you all know by now we play AC Milan at home tomorrow night. Should be a cracker. A good news story for us is that William Gallas will receive no punishment for his kick out at Nani during the match Saturday. My guess would be the FA like to watch that little prick get kicked. Next time aim for his head William.

I should have time to write tomorrow but I figured I'd do the preview today just in case. So to start off, as usual we'll go with the injury news.

We really have loads of great news on the injury front. Remember against United Arsene said we only had fourteen players that were healthy? Well now we've got most of them back. Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor, Denilson, Mathieu Flamini, and Bacary Sagna are all available again. This is brilliant news, especially at the two full back positions because Sagna and Clichy are infinitely better than Hoyte and Traore at this point. Their added attacking threat should really keep Milan's defense at bay as well.

Johan Djourou, Abou Diaby, Robin van Persie, and Tomas Rosicky are still out of the squad with injuries and there was no timetable for their return given by Arsene.

Mad Jens will stay in goal. Almunia is said to be "close, very close" to returning to action but Jens will be starting this one.

So I think the line-up will look like this:

Lehmann
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Walcott?-Cesc-Flamini-Hleb
Adebayor-Eduardo

Hmmm don't really know who he'll play at the wing opposite Hleb, just hope to God it's not Eboue.

Cesc Fabregas says he would love to have Samuel Eto'o on his team. Yeah me too Cesc, probably could've gotten him for Henry too (Yes still a bit bitter.)

"If I was asked which one player I would like to see at Arsenal, it would be Samuel Eto'o."

See he has to clarify that he wants him on his team at Arsenal so the Catalan press don't piss themselves with glee at the thought of Cesc coming to their scummy team.

Confidence is always important in Champion's League ties like this one, and Arsene Wenger has shown it, saying that we can be the team to beat Milan.

Great News! AC Milan and Juventus are still somehow interested in buying Emmanuel Eboue from us! I don't know how because he is complete shite but who cares! Sell him right now! I can't wait to get him out of the club. He has probably been my least favorite player at the club...right up there with Ashley Cole. That's pretty bad.

And I've gotta go. Enjoy that lot and I'll get back with you tomorrow. Later

A Pathetic Showing

A 4-0 drubbing by some lads you can't stand will really piss you off. What will piss you off more is a lack of effort from some of your favorite players from your favorite club. The match yesterday started badly, going 2-0 down in sixteen minutes, and at that point almost everyone on the pitch stopped caring. If they did care you certainly couldn't tell.

The first goal was scored by Wayne Rooney. They had a corner that was headed around to that long haired twat Anderson who headed forward to the fat scouser who jumped above Hoyte and past Lehmann. Hoyte probably should have and could have done better but it was pretty bad defending by the whole team to let them head it so many times. So one nil down straight off the mark and it was looking bad for us already. Still, it wasn't as though we couldn't come back from 1 down early on, so I wasn't really worried.

The second goal has to be put squarely on William Gallas' shoulders. Now I've given him credit this whole year for his change in attitude and his solid performances, so he has to take more heat when he has a bad game as well. Nani dribbled into the box from the left, Hoyte sort of stayed with him, not expert defending by any means but decent. Nani then crossed and who should get right in front of Gallas than Darren Fletcher. Yes, I'm serious. Darren Fletcher. When I saw he was in the side for Ronaldo I about celebrated, and somehow we let this twat score TWO goals on us. Gallas didn't mark him at all on this one really, just stood there and watched Nani dribble and cross without moving the whole time. 2-0 after 16 minutes. Here's where the giving up took place.

Poor defending on the third goal as well. Nani got in behind Gallas to latch onto a deep cross and simply side-footed into the opposite corner past Lehmann. No idea what our defence was doing on that one. I'll give credit where it is due, United were well on top of their game even if we had played our best, but we were complete shite. I know two of our starting defenders were out and Toure was just back from International duty but this was really hard to watch. We were lucky to go in only 3-0 down at the half.

Things got worse in the 52nd minute. Emmanuel Eboue went into an aerial challenge looking like he was auditioning for the next matrix with his foot aimed right at the midsection of Evra and was immediately sent off. I've been saying for ages that Eboue brings nothing to the team and should never play and is a cheating cunt but nobody ever listened until now apparently. Now Arseblog, Goodplaya, The Cannon, and others are saying he shouldn't play for us again, which is what I've said for months. He's a cheating, diving, fouling twat who can't do anything for our team that someone else can't do better. I can name a ridiculous number of right wingers who are much higher quality. Try me.

The fourth goal was very much like the second, Nani dribbles into the box, crosses, Fletcher heads it in. Nobody at all marked him this time. There was no hope or inspiration in the team at all and it was miserable for anyone who is a real fan to take. Nobody ever wants to lose to anyone, much less to your title rivals by this score.

Later on Adebayor got booked for diving in the box, which was well deserved. Didn't like seeing that out of him one bit. I've loved what he's done this season but please Ade don't take that out of the Eboue football handbook.

And that's really all I've got to say on this one. No effort, no passion, no quality. Simple as that. Hopefully the boys can rebound for Milan on Wednesday. See you all tomorrow.

3-0 Down At the Half

And I'm done watching. It's been bloody terrible so far. The lineup I predicted yesterday was the exact one chosen by Arsene, although in my imagination they played much better than this. We have two shots to United's eight, and Fletcher, Rooney, and Nani have already scored. They were 2-0 up in the first sixteen minutes. If there was a hope we could come back it was pretty much destroyed when Nani scored later in the half. I can't even bring myself to watch the second half. Too depressing. I know we're more focused on the league and the Champion's League, but I still really wanted to beat United, as always.

United didn't even start Ronaldo or Tevez, yet they've been running us ragged all over the pitch. Maybe this will be a bit of a wake up call. We have to play better than this if we want to win the title. Remember we still have to go to Old Trafford again in April.

So that about sums up the first half. For those of you watching the second half, let me know if it's any better.

More Injuries...Or Are There?

Morning everyone, another great day to be a Gooner. Tomorrow we have the FA Cup against the red cunts from the north. Now you know there's been lots of injuries throughout the past couple of weeks, and the list keeps on piling up. RvP of course is always injured, and he's out. Manuel Almunia is out because he is "sick." He's not playing FA Cup games anyway but he's still definitely out. Abou Diaby got hurt a few weeks back and he is still out with a calf problem. Djourou, Walcott, and Rosicky are also all definitely out. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna are both major doubts, Sagna with "personal issues" and Clichy has a hamstring problem. Adebayor, Flamini, and Senderos are also listed as doubtful but will be in the squad due to the fact that we have fourteen healthy players at the moment.

Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue will both be back from the African Nations Cup so they will play. If I was picking the starting eleven it would have to be something like this:

Lehmann
Hoyte-Toure-Gallas-Traore
Eboue-Gilberto-Cesc-Hleb
Eduardo-Bendtner

Now I'd say while most of these injuries are legitimate, I think some are just mind games or just wanting to have an excuse to rest some players for Wednesday against AC Milan. Clichy and Sagna I'd say will 99% be back in the squad Wednesday, along with Flamini and Adebayor. I think the boss is just wanting to rest them because it really doesn't matter if we win. Everyone hopes we beat them, but if we don't then no big deal. Wouldn't you much rather stuff Milan Wednesday?

So yesterday I told you that Cesc is already receiving an extension to his deal. Well Arsene Wenger has said this isn't the case. I think Cesc was really saying that after his contract runs out then he'll get another contract. I don't think he was saying he'll get another one in the near future. And it appears now with the comments from Arsene that he won't be anytime soon.

In other news, Alisher Usmanov's Red and White Holdings have increased their stake in Arsenal to 24%. It looks like he hasn't given up on owning our beloved club, so if you don't want this man running the club, speak up and voice your dissent. As we all know from my post that made a brief appearance on the London news, Alisher Usmanov is a crook with connections to the mafia. Yeah, sounds like a chap you want out running your club. You can read that post with his criminal allegations here.

And that's all there is today. Enjoy the match tomorrow. Up the Gunners!

Arsenal Near the Top of the World

Do you like the new site layout? I thought it was quite nice.

The numbers for the top twenty richest teams in the world were released today and Arsenal have moved from ninth spot last year to 5th spot this year, making 177.6 million pounds last year alone. Chelsea are fourth and ManUre are second, but as I showed in this entry here, are revenue is only going to go up due to the new stadium. Arsenal took £177.6m, mainly from corporate revenue which doubled to £91m in their first season at the Emirates Stadium. See how the money is coming in already?

There were many who said that we simply couldn't afford our new stadium, that we would have no transfer funds and be paying it off for thousands of years, but none of that has been the case. The board made wonderful decisions about the paying off of the loan and for moving to the stadium. The money is rolling in, we're attracting new sponsors, and Arsene has had transfer funds available to him should he decide to use them.

Ryan Giggs as usual won't shut his yap. He rambles about how Arsenal will just try to ease towards the title and that United are great at stealing titles at the end of the year by "winning ugly." Well Ryan, we have only lost one game this season and most of the fans couldn't give a piss about the FA Cup this weekend. We'll still be five points clear in the league even if we get smashed on Saturday. Talk all you want about how Arsenal can't hang on but we have been far more consistent than anything United has done th is year.

There is a rumor of sorts going around saying that Lilian Thuram may join the club next season on a player/coach type of deal to learn from Arsene Wenger. I don't even know what to think of that really. I think he could be a good coach but even as a backup player, isn't he about fifty years old now? Should be interesting if it has really been talked about by the club and I will keep you updated.

Cesc, fresh off a new eight year deal signed two years ago, says they are working to renegotiate his deal already. That's bloody crazy if you ask me. You have to re-work a deal two years into an eight year one? Don't get me wrong though I love Cesc so maybe this time we'll sign him to a twelve year deal or something.

And lastly, Gael Clichy spoke about his hopes for playing for France. He got called up to the squad for the last set of friendlies but only got to play for the "B" team. His goal is to work his way up for the European Championships this summer and if Raymond Domenech isn't a complete knob he'll pick him for his squad.

That's all I've got for today. I'll try to get a preview up tomorrow but I have a date with the missus for Valentine's Day tonight so we'll see. I'll leave you with this picture.

Barca Want Wenger, My 100th Post

It's almost like managing Arsenal for 100 games, except paid slightly less and being about a million times less stressful. But yeah I'm happy to reach the century mark, especially in such a good season. Here's to the next 100.

So we start off today with a story about how Arsene Wenger is the top target for Barcelona. Now this is a bit odd because they still have Frank Rijkaard there. They are saying if Barca doesn't win the league then he will be sacked and they will make their move for Wenger. Doesn't that seem like a waste of time? I can't think of any amount of money that the Arsenal board wouldn't pay to keep him, and I don't think his main motivation is money so I don't think that would even be the sticking point. He just got a contract extension and I think he really wants to see the young players come through. He's been working with players like Clichy, Fabregas, Flamini, Toure, and others for years now. The place to be is at Arsenal. I don't think Barcelona have got a chance in hell of signing him. So piss off.

Next up is Emmanuel Adebayor saying he has respect for the whining twat Cristiano Ronaldo. He said watching him is like playing on Playstation. He also said that if he had half a chance he'd saw his legs off and feed them to rhinoceros's. Not really but he was thinking it.

Phil Senderos talked about how we've spent a lot more time this year working on Set Pieces, and I'd say it's worked. We have been scoring from corners and free kicks with Gallas, Toure, Senderos, and Adebayor, and have defended them much better as well. I remember when we'd play Bolton or Blackburn or a team like that and I just knew we'd give up a goal off of a corner that match. Not so much anymore.

Ireland just hired their new manager, and Young Guns reports that they want to add our own Liam Brady to the coaching staff. He's currently in charge of our youth development and I think he's done quite a good job. I hope he stays.

We've got United at the weekend in the FA Cup, and I really don't care that much about the result honestly. If we win of course I'll be thrilled and be looking forward to the next round, but don't we all want to win the league more? If we could win both though that would be the very best. Hopefully we'll have more news tomorrow, until then.

Five Points Up and Feeling Fantastic

Hello everyone. What a great day it is to be a Gooner! We're at the top of the league five points ahead of United after yesterday's 2-0 win over Blackburn. Even though our lineup was pretty much selected for us because of injuries the team came through and made it the perfect weekend, footballistically speaking. Chelsea are now eight points back with only twelve games to go. That is a tough position for them to be in. We still have to go to that shite hole they call Stamford Bridge and to Old Trafford but I think we can hold off both Chelsea and United if we keep playing with the same strength and passion we have this year up until now.


Our lineup wasn't our best but it wasn't our weakest either. Jens started in goal and had a decent game even though I can remember maybe two saves he had to make all game. Blackburn never really looked like threatening. Best chance was from a Bentley cross that McCarthey should have done better with but he must have remembered that he is a cunt because he didn't hit it anywhere near the goal. By the way, if you watched that game, what on earth was with his hair? It looked like he was trying to copy Gallas' haircut but longer, less-mohawky, and curlier. It was terrible.


In defense we had Sagna, Gallas, Senderos (playing with an injury), and Clichy. So a pretty strong defensive lineup and I think they old had a pretty good game. Senderos of all people opened the scoring in the fifth minute. We won a corner and he was marked by Benni McCarthey for some reason. All he had to do was run in front of him and Eduardo put it right onto his head and he didn't disappoint. 1-0 to the Arsenal. Clichy spent most of his day marking David Bentley, the twat, so his runs forward weren't as frequent. It certainly wasn't his best game but it was solid. Sagna I thought had a really good game. On several occasions he out ran the entire Blackburn team to balls and sent in some decent crosses. He was also solid in defense. Gallas of course did very well and I have to say my next kit will probably be a Gallas one. Either that or Adebayor...who should I pick?


Midfield we had Flamini on the right, Gilberto and Cesc in the middle, and Hleb on the left. I thought Flamini was good, but would have been better in the middle where he belongs. Cesc wasn't at his best. His passing was on and off, but he did have a decent shot at goal that just went wide. Gilberto should just go ahead and pack his bags. He doesn't really bring anything to the team anymore from my perspective. He used to excel in the holding roll, but I couldn't tell we had a holding midfielder most of the time this game. Hleb was magnificent. His dribbling was top class as usual but he even shot the ball! He had one rocket come back off the post when it would have been a goal and a left footed attempt that forced a save. Man of the match for me.


Up front we had Eduardo and Adebayor. Neither really had their best game, but of course Adebayor got his goal, which makes 12 in the last 9 games. That is just ridiculous. Keep it up big man. The goal came in the 90th minute to put the game beyond doubt. Hleb crossed from the right and Ade controlled and finished low into the left corner. That makes 19 League goals for him this year. Remember when a lot of people said he could never be a big scorer?


Here's a little stat that Arseblogger dug up, pretty interesting:

On Feb 10 2004, Arsenal won 2-0 at home (v So’ton), TH14 scored his 19th of the season in the League; on the 11th, United lost at home (3-2 to Boro), and Arsenal went 5 points clear.

On Feb 11 2008, Arsenal won 2-0 at home, Adebayor scored his 19th of the season in the League, the day after United had lost at home, and Arsenal went 5 points clear.

After the match, ex-Gunner Frank Stapleton said Adebayor has become the "perfect striker." He's been so brilliant this year you just dread when his run of poor form will come but it hasn't yet. He is such an important player for us now. Let's just hope he can keep it up.


Adebayor says he is thankful to Thierry Henry for helping him in his development. Me too. Henry is busy pissing around in Spain and we now have the best striker in the Premiership.


Arsene Wenger spoke about how this squad is able to handle pressure and that is why we are at the top of the league.


Lastly, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue both may be included in the squad for the trip to Old Cuntford this Saturday. Glad to hear it.

Until tomorrow, later all.

Arsenal-Blackburn Preview

'Ello everyone. Just got done watching Manchester City beat Manchester United which made my day. That means if we win tomorrow we'll go five points up which would be incredible. I've got a quick little preview for the match against Blackburn tomorrow and then a bit of news, so here goes.

The injury list is extensive. Robin van Persie is still out with his thigh injury. Who knows if he'll ever come back. I can't remember the last time he played ninety minutes. Djourou is out again with a groin injury. Senderos, Gilberto, and Flamini are both major doubts. Denilson, Almunia, Diaby, and Rosicky are also all out.

So the lineup pretty much sets itself with all of the injuries and I really can't even think of who will play in the midfield. Lehmann will be in goal, then Sagna, Gallas, Toure, and Clichy I'd guess. Arsene said he's hoping to get Kolo back from the African Nations Cup in time for the match so I'd think he'll have to play. If not it will be Justin Hoyte. Midfield will have Hleb, Cesc, hopefully Flamini, and maybe Theo or Eboue. I don't know what options we have in central midfield if Flamini can't go. I would guess Arsene would move Hleb into the center with Cesc and play Theo and Eboue on the wings.

The international games really killed us with injuries. I think we should still have enough to beat Blackburn at home, but we will see.

Last time we played Blackburn was the second match of the year when Jens let one go through his hands and we drew 1-1. Well Lehmann will be in goal again so let's hope he has his head on straight. Blackburn really are complete, utter cunts. I hope we destroy them.

Prediction: 2-0 to the Arsenal.

In a bit of other news, Mathieu Flamini talked about his contract situation, and says he is hoping to get something worked out soon.

"There are talks with the club and I hope everything will work out because I am happy here,"

"I like English football and I love Arsenal."

So that's good news because we all want him to stay.

That's about it, here's to 3 points tomorrow.

Update: Chelsea just drew 0-0 with the Scousers. So they aren't making up any ground either.

Put the Premiership on the Map

As you know if you read this often, I am an American. I have to work very hard to watch matches because they are not on TV or radio often, and it clearly is too expensive to fly from Florida to London every week. I'm mentioning all of this because the Premier League governing body or whatever it's called have proposed that by 2011 there would be one weekend in January where every team would go somewhere different abroad and play a league game. I can't tell if I'm completely for or against this (and I really don't think I could fully be either one), so I'm going to lay out two different viewpoints of why people are for or against this. Arsene Wenger says he is open to the idea, because you have to be innovative, which is true. If football had been the same for the last 100 years it would be far, far behind the times these days.

So first I'll go over why I think it would be a good idea. First, as Mr. Wenger said in the story above, 90% of fans of a club will never get to see them play simply because of location or because of lack of funds. I have to watch my beloved Arsenal on a shoddy stream twice a week but I do anyways because I love the team. I can't afford to go to London all the time and would give my left arm to be able to go see Arsenal. Contrary to what a lot of people think, mostly Englishman i suspect, there are fans that love Arsenal just as much or not more in other parts of the world than they do. I don't think it would be a ridiculous notion to go and play one game out of the year in another country so that other people can finally do something they have dreamed of.

The first thing that pops into my head when I hear about this potential situation is the NFL. Last season, the New York Giants (now Super Bowl Champions) and Miami Dolphins played a regular season game in London. The game was successful because of a couple of reasons, which I think could also apply in this case. First off, the teams had a bye week the week after the game abroad in which to recover and get back on their normal schedules. This could be accomplished with the Premier League season as well. Maybe not a full two weeks off but if a match was on a Saturday they could have the next game the following Saturday back in England. Secondly, there is support for other sports abroad. If there were no NFL fans in England then the NFL would not have gone. Same thing goes for the Premier League. There are die-hard Arsenal fans in America I am sure, including my circle of friends who I know would pay and travel just to see the Gunners once.

Another reason it would work, and everyone seems to hate this reason, is it would provide more money in the long run. Not only would the teams be able to over-price tickets for the one match, but seeing a team play in person usually increases your likelihood to become a fully fledged fan if you are not already. This means more club memberships, more sold merchandise, and more people flying to England to see the rest of the matches. Money runs football these days, so we may as well get used to it. The best teams make the most money and get the best players. That's just how it works.

So now I'll go over the only real problem I see with this plan, and that is the whole idea of a 39th league game. First off, do you know how many matches Arsenal plays every year? I'm not sure either but I think depending on where you get to in the Cups its 60 games or so. One more is just not necessary. You already see injuries and fatigue setting in by the halfway point in the season, and to cram another game into January is ridiculous. Also, determining opponents would be a real problem. There is supposedly some system which would make the "Big Four" not have to play each other, but how would you feel if you're Fulham, fighting against relegation and get drawn against Man United in Australia and have to play them three times that season instead of two?

Point is, if they want to make this work, the way to do it is to take one of the current games and take it abroad, don't add another. Teams have enough of a work load over the course of the season to have to deal with long travel for another game. I would love to see Arsenal come to America, but if they are going to make it a 39th league game, I'd just prefer to see a friendly here.

Tell me what ya think.

I Hate International Weeks, Still

This morning I woke up, hoping that there would be loads and loads of news to write about. Frank Lampard being hit by a bus, Robbie Keane being hit by a bus, Flamini signing a new deal...something great like that. Then I remembered it was international week and I was instantly uninterested in writing today's blog. Just being honest, there is never anything to write about during these weeks, and on top of that half of our players always end up hurt. It's a fackin' friendly for shite's sake. Take France vs Spain for instance. There is no way we can win here. No doubt Cesc will run into Gallas and they will both break each other's legs and we'll be missing two key players. I wish they would just ban internationals during the season. A week without Arsenal is like a week without pizza and chicken nuggets, and that is a very bad week indeed.

Mathieu Flamini played for France last night and sure enough, he went off in the 15th minute with an injury. It's looking like an ankle injury so I'm really hoping he'll be back soon as opposed to the 4-6 week type ankle injuries. Clichy, Sagna, and Diaby all also played for this France "B" team and Diaby apparently played with an injury so he'll probably be out for four years or something. Luckily the other two made it through unscathed.

Also last night, Theo Walcott actually scored. No not for Arsenal of course but for the England Under 21's. He then went on to say he's "unfazed by his critics." Well as for right now I'm one of his critics so I guess he isn't listening to me. I'm not saying he can't be a great player, I'm just saying right now I don't think he brings much to the team. Disagree if you will but he has not been good this season. He needs time.

Gilberto pretty much said that he is going to have to move on from Arsenal at the end of this season. He's not getting many games and is getting a bit sick of it. But really Gil, who should we bench? You can't attack like Cesc and you haven't been as good of a holding player as Flamini. It's just how football works. If Flamini is out I'd expect him to get a run in the side. His experience would really help in the FA Cup and Champion's League games although if Flamini is fit I'd fully expect him to be the one starting.

Alexander Hleb has been linked with Barcelona, and told them to piss off and he'd rather play for a Cameroonian B League Side.

"I can understand why Barcelona would be interested in Alex."

"But Alex loves life at Arsenal. He feels he is at the best club in the world.

"He has the ideal manager, he loves his team-mates and loves London. Why would he want to leave?"

Also Sportingo has linked us with Charles N'Zogbia. I actually think he's a good player but he was complete shite against us. It's Sportingo though so take it for what it's worth.

I guess that was a bit of a long one today but I really hate international weeks so I had to have that rant at the beginning. Until we see what tomorrow's injuries are...cheers.

Cesc, Kolo, Wenger, and Jens

Morning all. Almost no news today so we're just working with the little bit we have. I had to take down the Manchester City Highlights as apparently they were violating some law or another. I'm sure you can find them somewhere if you look hard enough.

First off is Jens Lehmann, who is still speaking about his starting opportunities. For once however, he is actually kind of positive. Instead of throwing Almunia and the team and manager under the bus, he speaks highly of them.

"I like the club, I like how we play, I like the fans and the team and I feel I can still win something with Arsenal," Lehmann enthused.

"Why should I give up? There is still a chance of becoming No1 again. At this stage of the season the pressure is increasing and I know that experience will be very important later on."

This is the most sense he has made yet in an interview this season. I personally don't think he'll get many more opportunities if Almunia is healthy, he didn't have a bad game at all against Manchester City and it's good to have him as cover should Almunia have another injury like this past week.

Cesc Fabregas talked about how the team would be "gutted" if they didn't win the title this year. So would I.

'We would be very disappointed if we didn't win it. That's certain.'

'Everyone is happy, everyone is working hard, we are consistent and that's really important for a team like us.'

That's absolutely the right attitude Cesc. You have to want it more than all the other cunty teams trying to win it. I think Cesc dreams about the title every night honestly. It should help us keep this run going.

The Ivory Cost won 5-0 over Guinea in the African Cup of Nations even without Kolo Toure at the back, who says he is fearing burnout at the end of the season.

"It is a concern that if we get to the final or the third-place match I will go back to London after being involved in five games in about 18 days."

"I have done this before but these are tough and physical games in a knockout competition."

Is Kolo complaining about maybe winning the trophy for his country? It seems like it almost. We've played a lot of games in a short span as well so he would be just as tired playing for us. I want him back soon too but come on Kolo if you have a chance to win the tournament just keep your head down and keep playing mate.

Arsene Wenger says it will take 90 points to win the league this season. We already have sixty so it looks like we're in good shape.

This is quite funny, have a look.

There's really nothing else to talk about today. No match till next Monday against Blackburn, who i hate by the way. Till tomorrow then.

Wenger and Clichy Talk and Almunia is Out

Hello all, bit of a brief one today as there isn't all that much news ahead of the match against Man City tomorrow.

First off, Gael Clichy spoke about getting his first call up to the France national team. As I wrote yesterday, his play definitely warranted his first call up and hopefully he gets into one of the two games France will play. Evra and Abidal both also got called up so it'll be a fight but if Domenech has any brains at all he'll play him ahead of those cunts.

"Of course it is a big surprise, even if for some time I heard about it," he said.

"I was paying more and more attention to the last calls.

"I knew after the training session when I had a message from my sister. It was a mix of joy, emotion and pride."

Then he went on to thank Arsene Wenger and to say that he's ready to play for France and hopes he gets to kick the shite out of Fernando Torres when they play Spain.

Arsene Wenger spoke about how he almost signed Cristiano Ronaldo before he joined ManUre. Now wouldn't that have been something? Would we still hate him as much if he played for Arsenal? My head says no but my heart says yes because he is such a whiny twat.

"I knew about him, yes. We were very close," Wenger said.

"One day I will tell you more about that story and you will be surprised.

"You will have to ask him how close it was."

Wenger added: "He was here much earlier - he could tell you that if he wants."

Bit of mystery there from Arsene...doubt that prick Ronaldo will ever say anything about it though. What a sack of shite.

As for news for the match it looks like Djourou, RvP, Rosicky, Gilberto and Manuel Almunia are out for the match. I guess it'll be Mad Jens in goal then. Let's see how he handles it. We also of course have Song, Toure, and Eboue out at the African Cup of Nations, so quite a depleted squad for this one. Senderos has done well though and Diaby looked good last game so hopefully they can keep it up.

Here's to three points and a Man U loss.