Carlota Will Be Supporting Arsenal vs Barca, but Birmingham Comes First

Being a blogger is like working as a web designer or a fashion designer. You really only work when you feel like it and if you don't work then nobody is really going to notice or care. Every once in a while you'll have a really great article and get a few comments, and other times you'll be lucky enough to piss off a whole group of people who will leave you angry comments, (just look at this post) but most of the time you're pretty much writing for yourself and a few other people who stumble upon your page and have nothing better to do. So for those of you who have accidentally rolled onto this page, here are a couple thoughts about Birmingham, Barcelona, and whatever else I think of.

Barcelona is the match everyone is talking about, but I'd argue that Birmingham is the more important one. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the Barcelona match as much as anyone, but it's dangerous to overlook Birmingham just because Barcelona is a more attractive club. This weekend we'll be without Thomas Vermaelen, because of his suspension for a red card that should have never been, and without William Gallas, still out with injury. That leaves us with Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre. Not exactly a top class center back pairing for a big club. While Sol has done well, Silvestre should never be in the starting lineup for a team trying to win the league. The boss has indicated that he may rest Campbell for this match, which leaves us with Song and Silvestre in the back, which not only gives us a weak center back pairing but weakens our strength in midfield too, against a team that haven't lost at home since September. It's a scary possibility, and for a team that needs to win every match for the rest of the season, it's really making me nervous. The focus of the team needs to be 100% on Birmingham, and we can leave Barcelona until next Wednesday. Anything less than 100% will see us lose at St. Andrews and be out of the title race.

I have to give some thoughts on Eboue while I'm writing since I haven't given him his proper due since I've been out so long. I was one of the ones criticizing him last year for his poor (and sometimes completely dire) performances. Well this year he has completely changed his attitude, his performances, and my opinion of him. He's been nothing short of brilliant for us this year, whether he's in the front three or playing right back. His runs, his movement, and his work rate have made him one of my favorite players to see in the team. I'll go far enough as to say that without him, we wouldn't be where we are in the league right now this season. So fair play to Emmanuel Eboue, maybe my player of the season to this point.

The West Ham match last Saturday really gave me hope for the title challenge. We could have crumbled after Vemaelen's red card. It was a BS call, and we could have gone down to a team that is fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table, but we didn't. Almunia pulled out a moment of brilliance to save Diamanti's penalty, and the team stayed strong with Song and Campbell in defense. Then Cesc completed the victory by nailing that penalty after his strong run (aided by Eboue, who again was excellent.)

Speaking of Cesc, you'll remember that about seven months ago I had a post about marrying Cesc's sister, Carlota. Well as it turns out, she finally found that I had written that and I ended up talking to her a bit on twitter. She's a very nice young lady and said that Florida is a beautiful place. I'd have to agree with her. So cheers to you Carlota and if you're ever back in Florida dinner is on me.

Speaking of Carlota, and Cesc, and Arsenal...we play Barcelona in the Champions League! It's got to be one of the most exciting matchups in the history of, well, history. The best club in the world at the moment versus the team we all love and the team that plays by far the best football in England, if not the world. I like our chances, I have to say. Xavi and Iniesta versus Cesc and Nasri/Diaby/Denilson, Clichy versus Messi...the prospects are mouthwatering. I'll get into breaking it down more next Monday or Tuesday, but I will say that I think it will be one for the ages. Get your DVR's and your TiVo's ready to record, because these two matches should be ones you'll want to show to your grandkids one day. For the record, Carlota will be supporting Arsenal.

CarlotaFabregas @ArseNole I'll go to the two match and I'll support Arsenal, so don't hesitate it

That's about all I've got for today. Let's focus on that Birmingham match and the Barcelona match can wait until next week. Come on Arsenal, let's get it done!

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.

Celtic 0-2 Arsenal Thoughts

Hello all, two posts in two days, bit crazy isn't it? It's lucky I'm in a good mood, probably because Arsenal has put me in a constant good mood with their performances. We had another win yesterday, 2-0 over Celtic in Glasgow, which is a great result. We've been to two very tough venues this year already, and we've won both fairly easily. It's fantastic. Today I'm just going to give you all my thoughts on the match yesterday, and my thoughts on whatever else pops into my head as I'm writing, because I can't very well write just about the Celtic match for thirty minutes.

I thought we controlled the game for the most part. Song was once again fantastic, winning the ball back over and over without fouling, and his distribution was pretty good as well. He'll never be a passer like Cesc, but he's good at getting the ball to the attackers quickly and winning it back when we lose it. Vermaelen was once again immense in defense, and I think almost 100% of the Arsenal supporters have already fallen in love with him. When he tracked back for that Celtic counter attack when it could have been an easy goal for Scott Brown and made the tackle, I cheered out loud I'll admit. He looks like a great signing and like Wenger said, it's interesting having someone left footed back there and it really makes a nice contrast to William Gallas. I also really love the way he isn't scared to smoke fools and light up chumps in the tackle. He's all business when he's going for the ball. I wanted someone on the team that kills people, and he sure does that. Love the Verminator already.

On the attacking side, we weren't great. RvP, Arshy, and Bendtner did ok at times, but I didn't think any of them really stood out today. Arshy eventually came off for Diaby, who didn't really have a great game when he came on, except for one shining moment of brilliance where he evaded the defender and fed the ball to Clichy who crossed for the own goal. It's typical Diaby, he has a rare moment of brilliance then he loses the ball because he dwells on it too long. I think he's one of the weakest players in our squad honestly.

The weirdest thing this season so far (yes it's still really bloody early, but still) was the goal from William Gallas off of Cesc's free kick. He tried to duck to get out of the way of it, it hit off of his ass and into the net. But nobody complained, the away goal was important and the second was even more so. It means Celtic have to score at least 2 goals without reply to even force extra time at the Emirates. It's a great position to be in, and I'm supremely confident that we'll be going through to the group stages. That was crucial, and we got the job done.

Bakary Sagna had thoughts on the atmosphere, saying:

"I think the atmosphere is one of the most amazing in Europe and it was great to play in front of those fans. It was hard to stay focused on the pitch. It's difficult to play against this kind of atmosphere."

"It is one of the most amazing I have ever witnessed. But we did quite well with it. The danger was to come here after such a good win and take it easy but we stayed focused and defended as a team and played as a team."

And that's the bottom line, is that our defense is playing well and we're playing as a team. We look dangerous. It's early and I don't wanna set my expectations too high yet, but God it's exciting to look this good so early in the season isn't it? When you think of how we still have Walcott, Nasri, and Rosicky still to return, it's just scary.

That's about all I've got for the day. If you have a facebook and you like the blog, click here to become a fan of it. I'd appreciate that. Cheers all.

Thoughts on the Everton Match, Celtic Preview

Morning all, hope you're well. Been a bit busy over the last week or so so I haven't had much of a chance to write quality articles, and in my opinion it's better to post a few quality articles than post shite ones all the time.

What a start to the season we've had then, eh? I'll admit I was worried that we might draw or even lose at Everton to start the season. It's a tricky fixture every year and I'd say by far the toughest first match of the season out of the big four clubs. Some would argue that Liverpool had it tougher but since we haven't lost to Sp*rs in the league since about 2000 I don't really think of them as being any good. What a performance though by the Gunners. 6-1, and the 1 was in the 90th minute. I will say that I was a bit pissed off when we allowed that goal right at the end, because 6-0 looks just ridiculously good and a clean sheet would have given Almunia and the defense a lot of confidence going forward. But 6-1 is still bloody good and we're top of the league!

Just a couple of thoughts from the match then. I thought Alex Song was absolutely terrific, his work rate exceptional, his passing good, and his closing down extremely good. Something happened to Alex last year that completely turned him around and now he's become almost essential to the team. The problem is, he'll be leaving for the African Nations Cup in January...

I love the 4-3-3 system that we're using now. While I'd maybe consider putting Bendtner up top and RvP on one of the wings, I'm not Arsene Wenger so I have no say. I thought having Denilson and Song in there as defensive players behind Cesc was fantastic, because you saw what Cesc can really do when he can play openly and not worry about tracking back quite so much to cover in front of the back four. Cesc was immense, as he always is when we play well, and it's amazing to think that we scored 6 goals yet none of them came from RvP, Bendtner, or Arshavin. 2 from Cesc, 1 each from Gallas and Vermaelen (who had a very solid debut), an absolute gem from Denilson, and a late one from Eduardo who came on as a sub. That's what we've been missing the past few years is goals from players other than our strikers, and we really got it done against Everton.

Everton were clearly not at their best, and yes it was only one match, but it's just what we needed to start off the season. It should raise the squad's morale and confidence in the team, and push us going forward. Top of the league is a nice place to be, so let's keep it that way lads.

So in just over two hours we play Celtic in Glasgow. An intimidating place to go for sure, but you'd have to say that we are the better team if each team was playing their best on a given day. Injury worries are for Sagna, Denilson, and Cesc, who are all questionable according to Arsene Wenger. It's a problem if both Denilson and Cesc aren't able to go, although I suspect that Cesc at least will be out there. If neither one of them are able to go, who plays in the center of midfield? Song and Diaby, most likely with Aaron Ramsey, who looked good in the preseason but Celtic Park is a tough place to play for anyone, especially someone as young as Ramsey. He and Jack Wilshere exude the same confidence though in almost any situation you see them in, so if he is in there I have all the faith in the world in him to get the job done.

Walcott, Rosicky, Nasri, Djourou, and Fabianski are all still out for sure. The best news of all though is that Andrey Arshavin can finally make his Arsenal debut in the Champions League. Of course last year he was cup-tied after playing in the CL for Zenit St Petersburg, so this will be his first taste of contenental action for the Gunners. I'm going to go ahead and pick Andrey and RvP to score goals as Arsenal win 2-1. Looking forward to the match immensely, and I'll try to get a match report up tomorrow.

Cheers all!

Arsenal Draw Celtic, Arsenal Ratings By Position

Morning all. Let's get right to it then. Yesterday was the Champions League 3rd Round Qualifier draw. The general consensus was we wanted to avoid Atletico, Fiorentina, and Celtics. Well, two out of three's not bad, we drew Celtic. Seems to me that a lot of people are worrying when I don't really think they need to. Yeah Celtic are a decent team but with fresh legs, another year of experience under our belts and a good preseason, we should be able to beat any Scottish team. Atletico and Fiorentina would have been much worse draws than Celtic in my opinion, and I do think that we'll get through Celtic fairly easily. If we don't, then you can blame it on me for being so confident, but I just don't see us struggling that much.

The first leg is supposed to take place in Glasgow on Tuesday, August 18th, but due to a U2 concert there on the same night, they may have to move the match to Wednesday the 19th. Isn't that just wonderful, we have a match later in the week because of f'ing Bono.

So we've got seven days, just one week, until the Premier League season kicks off away to Everton. How we got that as our first match I haven't the slightest idea, because that's a pretty tough one. So while a lot of the transfer talk has died down, yeah we still may sign Chamakh or maybe someone else out of the blue, we pretty much know the squad we're going to have for the new season. So I wanted to try and break it down a little bit and see where we think our strongest/weakest areas are heading into the new year.

Goalkeepers: Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski - I'd give us an 7 out of 10 here. I think Almunia is pretty solid. He's shown over the past two seasons that he is an above average Premier League goalkeeper who generally makes the saves he's supposed to make. If you were ranking him among Premiership goalkeepers, where would Almunia rank for you? I think I'd have him behind Reina, Van der Sar, and possibly Robert Green and Petr Cech, but nobody else. That's not that bad considering for a long time he was a career backup for us. Fabianski is a good backup, who with some playing time can be good for us down the road.

Right Backs: Bakary Sagna, Emmanuel Eboue - 9/10 for me. Sagna is clearly one of the best if not THE best right back in the league. Solid defensively and good going forward, even if his crosses are sometimes a bit lacking. Eboue is also a much more effective right back than anywhere else on the pitch.

Center Backs: William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Mikael Silvestre, Johann Djourou - I'm going to go with a 7/10 here, although I'll say it's still an incomplete judgement on this group. We haven't gotten to see enough of Vermaelen to know how he'll do when he's up against players like Drogba and Torres. Without Toure on the team, Djourou needs to make this be his breakout year, and Gallas needs to really step up and be a leader on the back line. I just hope they glue together and we find a good partnership in there.

Left Backs: Gael Clichy, Armand Traore, Kieran Gibbs - Before last year I would have said this was a 9, but this year I'll say it's an 8. Clichy had some sketchy moments last year, but I still think he's a great player for Arsenal. He's great getting forward (even if he hasn't ever scored for Arsenal yet) and he's pretty good defensively, not to mention he's still definitely young enough to improve. Gibbs and Traore are both super pacey players who are in the same mold as Clichy and Cole before him. I think they can both be great, although Traore may be moved up to the left wing.

I'll get to the midfield tomorrow, so we can make this process last through this week that will undoubtedly be full of anticipation for next weekend, and it'll culminate with my season preview, which will probably come on Thursday.

Just one more thing today. I went to see Green Day in Orlando this past Wednesday, and we had tickets in the pit. Amazingly, I ended up right next to a fellow Gooner, Dan from London. So it was great to be able to talk Arsenal in such a random place so far away from London. He even wore an Arsenal wrist band, so I have to give him a shout out. Cheers Dan, and up the Gunners!

ArseNole Podcast Episode 6 Now Available

In this podcast, I talk about the Semi-Final exits in the Champions League and the FA Cup to United and Chelsea, along with the team selection for those matches. I go over what could possibly be upcoming in the transfer window, and talk about Kolo Toure's new contract, Stan Kroenke's eventual takeover of Arsenal, and more. Let me know what you think of it because I need feedback. Try to get better each time, ya know? Cheers


You can listen to the podcast here or download the podcast here, or you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking here. Or you can even just listen to it right here in your browser by clicking play below.

Arsenal-Manchester United Reaction

Morning all. Well, it was pretty bloody awful wasn't it? This match is like Chlamydia, it's awful and disgusting and yet it just will not go away. While I'll admit to not being confident heading into yesterday, I was at least hopeful. I thought maybe we could at least get the first goal and give ourselves a chance to prove we could hold them off, but I was wrong. Most of the match, I sat in my chair, not making a sound, just kind of absent-mindedly gazing at the screen in hopes that maybe an Arsenal goal would snap me out of my trance.

We did start brightly, holding the ball for just about the whole first five minutes of the match and flowing well. No real end product though meant it all went to waste, and it only took United one attack to deal a hammering blow to us. Ronaldo crossed into the box low, Gibbs tripped and fell, and Park finished. The crowd was stunned, I was stunned, I think everyone in the world was stunned. Nobody had envisioned it going like that. Three minutes later, Ronaldo went down from a soft foul, rolled around like a girl, then got up, took the free-kick from 30 yards out and of course sent it right into the net.

The tie was pretty much over after just 11 minutes in the second leg. Watching the rest of it was like sitting through torture. We couldn't get a goal back and we really went off of our game after that second goal. It sucked the life out of the players, the fans, and even Arsene Wenger, who was visibly shocked. I have never seen him with his hands over his face so many times in one match. To the fans' credit, they did keep singing a few times even though we were dead men walking. That always makes me proud to be a Gooner.

The second half wasn't really any better. They scored another on a ridiculously good counter attack while we were pushing everyone forward to try and score four goals in 45 minutes. That one really put it to bed. We managed a consolation goal from an RvP penalty, but it didn't matter. I didn't cheer when it went in or anything. I was just too downhearted. In our biggest match ever played at the Emirates, we failed miserably.

I felt bad for Kieran Gibbs. While he's certainly at fault for the first goal, he's so young and inexperienced and was forced into the match by a lack of cover for injuries to our defenders. With experienced players like Gallas and Clichy out, we have to turn to Gibbs against a team with Ronaldo in it, and that's a tough matchup for anyone in the world, and certainly for an 18 year old. I hope he recovers from this one. Mentally it can be a huge blow when you make such a big mistake so early in a huge match.

Nobody really had standout performances for us, but if I had to pick two players that I thought did well I'd take Nasri and Song. Nasri was running everywhere chasing the ball, and when he got on the ball he made some really crafty runs with it. Sure, the end product could have been better but that's a given when you look at the scoreline. Song did pretty well breaking up play in the middle and worked really hard again. He's definitely having the best few months of his career lately.

Although it's unpopular to say, Cesc had a pretty bad game. He didn't get on the ball much, and when he did, a lot of his passes missed their targets. I said yesterday that he would be the key to the match, and he never really got into it. I'm definitely not blaming him for the loss, because that would be incorrect. I'm only pointing out what I saw in the match, and I didn't see a lot of Cesc Fabregas.

So it's another season without silverware. That makes four straight years. It is what it is. When you have a manager like Arsene Wenger, you can always expect a few things, including beatiful football and stubborness. The board have backed the youth project, and that's how it's going to be. We have to remember that Cesc, Theo, Clichy, Bendtner, Song, Nasri, Denilson, and Djourou are all under the age of 23, so it's not like the window to win trophies is closing. We need to be able to keep our players though and also add some more. We've seen the impact that Arshavin has had on this team, so why not add a few more players with his type of experience in the summer?

Remember Gooners, we're all Arsenal supporters. Some people are mad at Wenger, some are mad at the players, but nobody should be mad at the other supporters. We're all one club, and we all want them to win everything every year. Sometimes it just doesn't go that way. Arsenal have gone a lot longer that four years without a trophy before, so let's be patient. Manchester United were a much better team this year, but we've seen that we can beat them on our day, and I think we're only going to get better. So while it feels miserable right now (and believe me, it bloody well does) tomorrow is another day. They'll be giving away trophies again next year, so let's all hang in there and be ready to back the team again next year, hopefully to many finals and championships.

Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal-Manchester United Prediction Contest/Preview

Morning all. Going to be a quick one this morning as I've got some stuff to get done today to make sure I have my afternoon clear for tomorrow's match. Everyone getting excited yet? I've been thinking about it since last week's match on and off but I think it's just now setting in that the game of the season is tomorrow.

Today I want predictions, thoughts, and everything else to go along with the match tomorrow. If you've got what you think is the score, share it with us, and if you think you can guess Arsene Wenger's lineup then go for it.

I think the match really depends a lot on the first 20 minutes. If we come out and we're playing well and controlling the ball, even if we haven't scored I think that will give us a huge boost for the rest of the match. If we could get an early goal that would be immense because theoretically we could win the match 1-0 and still go through on penalties but that is leaving too much to chance and I don't know that any team can shut out United when they need a goal in a match this big. It's all down to how our midfield and defense can stifile players like Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, and Berbacunt and control the ball. Against Portsmouth we had a lot of possession and the game turned out like you'd want any game to. The last United match though we were pressured and couldn't hold onto it like we needed to and well, we were awful going forward.

The key to the day is yet again Cesc Fabregas. Wenger needs to play him in his central midfield role and not as a support striker. His passing, vision, and control, not to mention his cool, are just what we need in midfield. He dictates our tempo and sets the table for players like Walcott, Adebayor, etc. Speaking of Adebayor, I'm not sure if he'll get to start or not tomorrow, with Bendtner having a good match against Pompey Saturday and Robin van Persie training today. A player like van Persie is important to have because he has a dimension that Adebayor and Bendtner don't really have, and that is some trickiness and cleverness with the ball. I don't know if he will start or not but I'd expect to see him at some point for sure.

Obviously if United score the task becomes a lot more difficult a lot more quickly. Clichy and Gallas are still both out but Silvestre is back training so he should start. Eboue could play at left back again or Gibbs could slot in there. Either way they have a rough task on their hands. United aren't going to sit back with just a one goal lead, nor do they every just sit back and defend. Ronaldo and Rooney are real game changers, who even if United aren't playing well can score a goal on their own that puts us in a really tough spot of having to score three goals. Almunia needs to have another top notch day but he really needs some quality help from his defenders.

Theo Walcott will be important down the right-hand side. Patrice Evra hasn't had his best season for sure at left back and we'll need to try to get him into some space where he can use his pace and quickness. I hope to see Nasri on the left instead of that awful central midfield role that Wenger had him in last week which was really not playing to his abilities. And I'd like to see Alex Song continue in the team in the holding midfield role. Of all our players, I think he's improved the most this year and his work ethic in trying to shut down the other teams attack is one to be admired. He's certainly not the prettiest out there, but he has been effective and we need him in there for such a big match.

So like I said, I want to hear from all of you today. I want score predictions, lineup predictions, and how you think the match will go as a whole. I'm going to make it into a little bit of a contest, with the winner getting a £10 gift card from Arsenal.com. All you have to do to win is predict the match score along with the scorers. I'll even pay for the shipping. So submit your predictions either to my email, which is ArseNole[at]arsenole[dot]com or just leave it in the comments with your name. Remember, you have to be IN the contest to WIN the contest, so you might as well get your name in! Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal-Red Cunts From the North Preview

That's right bitches, I have a new computer and I'm back just in time for the most important match of the season, and possibly of my life. As some of you may know, my brother is a United supporter (only to spite me, I might add) so sitting in the same room with him watching this match is going to be difficult. Personally I don't see how someone could possibly cheer for fat scousers and diving, cheating Portuguese while players such as Cesc Fabregas are on the same pitch, but that's for him to decide. Like I said though, it is by far the most important match of our season to date, and a good result is of the upmost importance. It doesn't have to be a win, but an away goal is so crucial in these ties and we certainly need at least one facing a team like United.

Injury news sees Robin van Persie, William Gallas, and Gael Clichy all ruled out, and Silvestre and Gibbs both have fitness tests this morning. Hopefully they'll both make it through those fine, because we need all the defensive help we can get. Assuming they pass, I think the lineup will look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Djourou-Gibbs
Walcott-Denilson-Song-Nasri
Fabregas
Adebayor

Hopefully Wenger doesn't do like he did in the FA Cup against Chelsea and throw Diaby out there, because I've come to the opinion that he's pretty much useless. How nice would it be to have Arshavin in the Champions League? Sure wish we had bought him in the summer.

I was nervous before we played Chelsea in the FA Cup. I was nervous playing Villareal. Oddly though, the nerves have not set in for the match today. Is it confidence? I'm not sure. I definitely think we have the ability to win, certainly. I think what it really is though is I'm trying to enjoy the moment. If we win it'll be one of the best moment of my Arsenal-supporting life. If we lose though, there's still hope with the return leg.

I am going to be wearing my Cesc Fabregas away kit, the current year's of course. I find it is more important to be wearing the correct home/away kit than any of my other superstitions, although I will of course be going through my entire library of Arsenal songs (over a hundred) on my iTunes. My brother doesn't have any United songs, so he just walks around saying how they are European Champions and some other shite like that. Cunt.

I think the key to this match is in the midfield. We've seen how our controlling the midfield wins and loses us matches this year. When we can hold the ball and get some decent service to Adebayor, we generally do well. When we can't get the ball and don't have any good service to him, we usually don't get any goals at all. So Denilson and Song will be the key. How they match up with Carrick/Anderson/Scholes/Giggs/some other cunts will determine the way this tie goes. I think that United are going to get goals, they usually do, but it's how we respond to those goals. I don't think this is the time to sit back and try to defend. We need to be at our attacking best, and get that crucial away goal.

I watched the Chelsea/Barca match yesterday, and Chelsea really put on a clinic of how to shut down an attacking team. But even though they held Barca to no goals, they didn't score any either, and I think that will be their downfall. When they have to open it up and try to score at home, they're going to give Barca space as well, and that is never good. That's why I don't want us to play like Chelsea. While it shackled the other team well, it doesn't give them any real advantage going home. I'd rather lose 2-1 today than go home 0-0.

Alright, it's 3 1/2 hours until match time. Time to start the Arsenal playlist. I think all of you should as well. Let's give these northern cunts a beating. Come on you Gunners!

Adebayor's Wonder Goal vs Villareal

Adebayor scored one of the best goals I have seen in a long, long time. If you didn't get the chance to see it, please enjoy this video to the fullest. I know I did.

RvP Out For Villareal, Adebayor Fiending For Trophies

Morning all. Getting pretty stoked for the Champions League match tomorrow I must say. Unfortunately, they will definitely show the Manchester United match on tv here so I'll be stuck watching it on my computer while I watch the scum on tv.

I watched WrestleMania 25 last night. I have to say that Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels was a great match, classic even, but I was mad that Undertaker won because I think Michaels was better and more entertaining. The tombstone though is a rough move and even though I know it's fake I'd hate to even have to go through a fake one of those.

On to Arsenal though, and we have a lot of players out for the first leg tomorrow in Spain. Robin van Persie is out with his groin injury, while Nasri and Walcott are also nursing injuries. Andrey Arshavin of course, cannot play in the Champions League due to being cup-tied from his time at Zenit. So that multitude of attacking talent we had is very depleted for this one, and I'd guess the lineup will look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Song-Denilson
Walcott-Fabregas-Nasri
Adebayor

So I'm really hoping that Nasri and Walcott are ready to go because I don't know who else we would play in the attacking midfield roles if they are out. We could of course always go back to a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 but I think we'll probably stick with what has been working.

Villareal have suffered some blows as well, with Santi Cazorla getting his leg broken and being out for the season, so they aren't at full strength either.

I'm going to say that I think the final score will be 1-0 to the Arsenal. I just have a hunch.

Emmanuel Adebayor says he is hungry for trophies, and I'm pretty sure everyone one of us fans is hungry for them too.

"When I joined this club, I was told by most of my friends and team-mates that I had a great chance of winning something. But for the last three years I have gone on holiday having not won a trophy and with an empty heart. Now it's the time to achieve things. Maybe I want it more than the others, I don't know. We all have a desire to achieve things and that's the most important thing."

If you go by the effort showed in Saturday's match, then I'm going to say that Ade is backing up his words with action, which is what you always want to see. If the players can give their all every match for the full 90 minutes, we can beat any team we come up against.

Is there a Gooner out there that doesn't have a special feeling about the Champions League this year? I think we all feel like this is our year to win it all, and with all the players wanting to win as badly as we want them to, I think maybe we can do it. It'd be one of the greatest days of my life and certainly one of the greatest days in the history of Arsenal.

I don't have much else to write as there is very little in the way of news today. Looking forward to the match tomorrow. Make sure you follow me on twitter so we can chat during the match. Cheers all and Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal Are Getting Me Hot And Bothered

That's right, they get me all hot and bothered. Why you ask? Well if you saw how we played against Manchester City yesterday then they would be making you wet as well. Remember when I was talking about that 4-2-3-1 formation? Well we went with it and it worked incredibly well. The lineup looked like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Song-Denilson
Walcott-Cesc-Arshavin
Adebayor

Adebayor and Cesc were both making their returns from long term injury absences and neither one of them was the least bit disappointing. Two assists for Fabregas, two goals for Adebayor. The first was from a free kick that Adebayor headed in, and the second was a nice ball from Cesc over the top that Ade controlled, dribbled around the keeper and finished easily. It was great work from them both and it showed just how much potential our team has on their day. With Cesc, Nasri, and Arshy working those attacking midfield roles it presents a scary proposition for opposing defenses. Adebayor was back to the Ade of old, running hard, scoring goals, and putting in maximum effort the whole time he was out there. One instance particularly stands out to me, when he gave the ball away in their half just a little outside of the box, and ran the full length of the field to track down the ball and help in defense. It made me really happy to see that kind of effort and if we could get all of our players to show that kind of effort then I think we could honestly win every match we played.


Song and Denilson were pretty good in the holding roles, and they really allowed Cesc to have a much more attacking role, which was great. In the second half we completely dominated the game, with City barely seeing the ball and having approximately zero scoring chances. So while we were great, it must be said as well that City were horrendous. They couldn't hold on to the ball, they wasted the few chances they had, and didn't look at all like contenders for anything except relegation. Money doesn't solve everything City.

So up next we have the Champions League vs Villareal in Spain. They had an awful result this weekend, losing 3-0 and Robert Pires got sent off. Not the best match leading up to the Champions League, but all the better for us. I tell you, if we don't get any weird injuries and play like we played yesterday, we'll win in Spain. Not just score an away goal, but win outright. I fancy us to go through to the next round, and I think you'll see a good performance from us on Tuesday.

So we're seventeen league matches unbeaten which is quite an impressive streak. We still have to face Liverpool, United, and Chelsea this season though, and we also play Chelsea in the FA Cup and United if they beat Porto and we beat Villareal, so it is a tough road ahead. On current form though, would you argue that those teams would beat us? Liverpool are playing really well, but we've shown ability to break them down and score some goals against them. Chelsea and United both seem to be in a bit of a slump, so I certainly am not counting out three points against either of those teams.

The season seems so much brighter now than it did just a few short months ago. We're headed to Wembley for the FA Cup Semi-Finals, we're in the quarter finals of the Champions League, and we're playing loads better in the league and almost have our Champions League spot cemented for next year. It's much more fun to watch football when your team is winning, and that time is now.

Come on you Arsenal!

PS: Yesterday I bought the website www.ArsenalYouth.com. If you have any ideas for what you think should go on there relating to Arsenal's youth and reserve teams, feel free to let me know!

Arsenal Draw Villareal, Then Man United

Morning all. The Champions League draw was this morning for the next two rounds, and would you believe it, we've avoided another English team and drawn Villareal. I don't think it could have happened much better for us. Barca get drawn with a tough team in Bayern Munich, either Chelsea or Liverpool HAVE to go out since they are drawn against each other, and we won't have to face the Mancunian scum until next round as long as we both get through!

I have to say that I'm thrilled with the draw. I think Villareal are a team we should be able to beat if we're playing at our best, plus it means the return of Robert Pires to Arsenal! Everyone loves Robert Pires, so it should be just look Henry or Vieira returning in terms of the warm reception he'll get.

Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, who remember is somewhat newly arrived, said this could be our year in the Champions League after he saw the draw this morning, and although this quote from his is really long, it's really good so I want to include the whole thing.

"We are laser-focused on the next round. We think we can get a result, but when we played them in 2006 we only just squeaked by. It will be a difficult test.

"The one thing we do believe in is not just the quality of the team, but also the character of our team. I think we saw that in the really difficult environment in Rome.

"Young player after young player made their penalty kicks when they had to. And we will have to draw on those reserves of character to get past Villarreal.

"We have never lost belief in ourselves. We have a superb group of young players. We still believe there is a potential for a really great season for us.

"We can beat anybody on our day. But we can't think beyond Villarreal. We will worry about the next step if we can get by the Yellow Submarine.

"In 2006 we missed out on this trophy by a nose. It might be our year this year. But it is not going to happen just because we want it to. Don't underestimate the depth of character we have."

He's absolutely right I think. The draw sets up favorably for us, and Roma I think really did give our players a leap of confidence. Remember Theo after we won the shootout said it was like celebrating winning the World Cup in the dressing room. I'm getting really f'ing excited about the chances of winning the FA Cup or the Champions League this year. Obviously I want the Champions League more but just winning a trophy again would be magnificent.

Liverpool vs Chelsea for the 5th straight year is really a worry for me. Don't they know that these ties between these two teams are the most boring ties in the history of football? What's worse, I'm sure these will be the matches choosen for television coverage here, because they always favor Liverpool, Chelsea, and United over here in the states. So with two of them in the same match it's a given, which leaves me watching Arsenal on my computer. I'll live through it though, because I think we have a good chance to make it through to the semi-finals for the first time in...I think ever, since 2005.

In other great news, Cesc Fabregas was back in training for the first time yesterday. That's the most welcome news I've heard in months. Imagine him back playing with Arshavin. Won't that just be amazing? I hope we have room for Arshy, Nasri, Cesc, and Theo though once they're all healthy. It would be a crying shame to have to leave any of those magicians out.

There is however, some bad news today, as Theo Walcott suffered a knee injury in training. Arsene Wenger says it locked up while walking back from training, and thinks it could be a cartilage problem. He said he is "surprised and worried" which is never good, and it makes me surprised and worried as well. Theo has been great since we got him back from injury and he brings a whole new dimension to our attack when he's able to go on the right side. They are scanning the knee to see how long he'll be out but fingers crossed that it's only minor.

That's all I've got. I'll try to get a match preview up for Newcastle tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the fact that we got a good draw and Cesc's return! Cheers

Phil Brown vs Cesc Fabregas

Morning all. After our great comeback against Hull all the talk has been about Cesc Fabregas' alleged spitting instead of our comeback win to get us to Wembley. It's a shame but that's just how the media is. I wanted to be a journalist once, then I realized that if I ever had to write bad things about the Jaguars or the Seminoles or the All Blacks or Arsenal then I'd want to stick my head in a fryer, so I decided I'd rather be a chef. Maybe Phil Brown should have stuck his head in a fryer at a young age too so we would never have to listen to his horrible lies.

Vs.

So the story is as follows, apparently as the teams were walking down the tunnel, Phil Brown says that Cesc Fabregas came and spit at his assistant manager's feet. Cesc of course denies any such incident occured.

"I will leave it in the FA's hands for the time being - I will wait to see what they say," he told The Sun. I've absolutely nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. The simple fact is I did not spit at the assistant manager of Hull City."

And of course Cesc is completely right. Phil Brown was just pissed off that his team can't win a match to save their lives or their season and so he made up a story that he knew would be damaging because it's our captain, even though he didn't play in the match.

Phil Brown's story, on the other hand, went like this:

"The pictures in the national papers verify the aggression he was showing towards players and staff after the game."

"I could go on but I am not one for crying over spilt milk.

"I then witnessed him going down the tunnel and turning around and spitting at my assistant manager's feet.

"Whichever way you want to look at it, he addressed that spitting incident at my assistant manager, who has managed probably 1,200 games in his career. Disgraceful act.

"I am not going to report it, I am not going tittle-tattling to the FA - if they want to investigate that is their decision, and if Brian Horton wants to take it further he will get the full support of Hull City."

The problem is that he DID go report it and the FA IS investigating the incident, or lack thereof. He's spent the last two days moping about telling anyone who will listen how terrible Arsenal is and how they need to be punished for doing nothing wrong. If Cesc had spit at Phil Brown he's still be right, because Phil Brown clearly deserves it, the cunt.

Brown also claimed that Arsene Wenger refused to shake his hand after both of the matches against Hull in the league this year, even though there is video and pictorial evidence showing that handshakes did indeed take place. He also decided criticizing Cesc's attire would help his case, which is totally unfair because I think, in a non-gay way of course, that Cesc looked quite good in his jacket and jeans, while Phil Brown looks more like Vince with ShamWOW.


The headset really makes the resemblance there. In fact that's possibly the only thing they have in common, but whenever I see Phil Brown and his queer headset I think of Vince with ShamWOW.

The moral of the story is that Phil Brown is a cunt, who's charges will not lead to any punishment against Arsenal or our beloved captain, and it would be nice if he would just do the world a huge favor and pour meat all over him and jump into a tank full of sharks.

Champions League draw is tomorrow morning. I'm hoping for Barcelona but I think most of you want Porto or Villareal. I want to see Henry come home though. Plus I think we can take Barca. Maybe I'm just hoping, but I can see it happening. Cheers all.

Arsenal - Roma Wrap Up, With Video Highlights/Shootout

Morning all. That was some match yesterday huh? Well, not really the first 120 minutes or so but the shootout was good for us. We played pretty much like complete shite throughout the match, with rare moments of good build up play and the occasional half decent chance.

Roma got their equalizing goal early on, in the 9th minute from Juan, who had just right before that gotten himself injured. Somehow he managed to get all the way up the field, then convince Gallas to not even touch the ball as it went all the way across the box in front of the goal, and finish past Almunia. I was astounded how Gallas and also Toure could just leave a ball rolling in front of our goal like that. It's defending 101 and it's one of the first things I teach my 8 years olds, that you have to clear the ball from in front of your own net. I don't know what they were thinking and we're really lucky they got their heads on straight after that. The defending was just awful and it didn't look good for the rest of the night, but I think it was a bit of a wake up call for the defence because Roma didn't look all that threatening for much more of the match. The odd chance here and there, but nothing Almunia couldn't deal with. He actually is a good keeper regardless of what some of you say.

There was a chance Roma could have had a penalty right before half time for what looked like a foul from Clichy on Marco Motta, but after watching the replay Clichy didn't even touch him. I think diving should be a red card. It just makes the game sissier. Stand on your feet and try to score a damn goal.

The match wasn't very exciting after that. Eboue was crap, Bendtner was crap, it wasn't Nasri's best day, or van Persie's for that matter, but we managed to keep Roma from scoring again, and that was the main task. Eventually we got through to extra time, at which point I had to leave for class, but I brought my lap top you see! Luckily my professor is an Aston Villa supporter and understands how important this was to me and let me have the match on my computer in class.

So right when I plugged it in and got everything up and running we were preparing for the penalty shootout, and boy was that nerve wracking. I'm sitting there, right in the middle of a test on viruses, bacteria, and sanitation, and meanwhile Eduardo is missing the first penalty of the night! It was awful, and I hated it. Right up until the point where I loved it. The video tells the story better than my words can.




Vucinic's penalty was just awful wasn't it? I'll admit, I wasn't the most confident to see Denilson, Diaby, and Theo taking a penalty. I've seen Kolo take plenty, and RvP, and I knew Nasri could handle it, but for some reason when I saw Theo and Denilson stepping up I was nervous. So brilliant work by them to convert those penalties, and the joy the squad showed after it was a great breath of fresh air. You haven't always seen that from this squad but you could tell this win really meant a lot to them. Penalty shootouts will do that to you. I was elated of course and put my test to the side so I could celebrate in my chair for a couple of minutes. And I still got the best grade in the class. Boom, Outta here.

So it's on to the quarter finals, where we'll face either Porto, Bayern, Barca, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United, or Villareal. I don't want any of the English teams next round really. I want Barca but I suppose it's safer to get Porto or Villareal. We'll probably get United or Liverpool though.

That's all I've got for the day. Enjoy that video of the shootout and leave me your thoughts. Cheers.

Oh yeah, and apparently an Arsenal fan got stabbed by some Roma fan that jumped on a bus of Arsenal supporters. Yeah, that's a good way to get over your loss Roma. "Hey, we just blew our chances in the Champions League, let's go stab a guy!" Apparently it's not a match in Rome until someone gets stabbed! That is the best solution by far Roma, anytime you can't win just stab people until you feel better, because that makes football much better. You really are presenting a good image for your city before the Champions League final. I hope you all kill yourselves.

Follow me on Twitter. Out.

Champions League Preview - Second Leg v Roma

Morning all. I am still sick as a dog. Not cool, not cool. What is pretty cool is that I went to WWE Raw last night and it was awesome. Not only did my friend mark hit on a fat girl and two 13 year olds, by favorite wrestlers, R Truth and Shawn Michaels, were both in attendance. Add that to the fact that we get Champions League today and tomorrow and it makes for pretty good times.

We have a 1-0 lead from the home leg, which is a good spot to be in but certainly not one that can't be overcome. Getting an away goal will still be important and we're going to need to come out and play to win, not play for the draw. Arsene Wenger agrees:

''We need to go there and play our game - it is very important for us to focus on scoring and going forward,'' said the Gunners boss. ''Roma are a very good team offensively, so if we allow them to spend 90 per cent of the time doing what they like to do, we will expose ourselves."

If we are able to get that away goal that will pretty much put the tie to bed, because they'd have to score three goals then. So it is an all important goal.

Injury news is good, with Kolo Toure expected to be back, and Eduardo and Theo will both be in the squad. Things are looking better every day for Arsenal aren't they? We keep getting players back and we're managing to at least not lose even if we have drawn a lot.

The full squad list for the match can be seen here.

Arsenal has warned the fans going to the match in Rome to avoid certain areas of Rome due to the Roma supporters being absolute cunts. Remember 2 years back when United played Roma they had a bunch of fights in Roma and in Manchester. They're probably just pissed that they'll never win a big match like this and they can't win the league either. But seriously, stay away from those Italian bastards.

Last thing is Theo saying that he'll need time to get back to his form he had before his injury, and he's right. We can't be expecting too much from him and I'm sure I'll be guilty of this too. When you know how good a player can be, anything less than great performances and we all jump on them. Theo will be a big player for us the rest of this season, so let's give him some time. He's been out for 4 months, poor guy, so let's just be glad to have him back.

That's about all I've got for the day. Time for some coffee and some homework. Cheers.

Villa Lose, And The World Is Bright Again - Man's Game Time

Morning all. I could lead into this post with a headline like "It's funny how things change" or "Football really is a funny game" or something else, but apparently all the other blogs beat me to that one so we'll just go without. I did predict Villa losing and us winning on Tuesday, so boom, outta here, correct. We're now within 3 points of Villa after their loss to City and our injured players are all going to be coming back at just the right time to really give us that boost.

Aston Villa aren't a team who are used to fighting for the Champions League places near the end of the season, and maybe the pressure is getting to them a little bit. They have a good team to be sure but none of those players have ever been locked in a battle to get into Europe like this and all that comes with that honor. They don't have it easy the rest of the way either.

Tottenham - Home
Liverpool - Away
Man United - Away
Everton - Home
West Ham - Home

I figure they probably lose to United and Liverpool away and probably either Everton or Sp*rs will take some points off of them. That's a lot of chances we have to take that 4th spot from them. While we still have to go to United and Liverpool, I'd take our schedule the rest of the way over theirs any day. Ten games left in the season, it's Man's Game time.

Theo Walcott and Eduardo are back in the squad Sunday for the match against Burnley. I can't wait to see Theo back. I feel like he's been out about ten months and it'll be great to not see Eboue out there and to have someone that is actually a cool guy that has skill, pace, and ability, unlike Eboue.

"I will see how they (Walcott and Eduardo) look tomorrow and Saturday but they will certainly be in the squad, especially Theo. We have to wait and see how Eduardo reacts and responds to his injury."

On the defensive front, Arsene Wenger says that Gallas should be back for Sunday and Kolo should be back for Roma next week, which is great news. Djourou had been playing well earlier in the year but last match he was a bit shaky. It's probably just because he hasn't gotten many matches lately but for the Champions League I'd prefer to have Gallas and Toure, who have been doing well together. Never thought I'd say that.

The next league match isn't until the 14th against Blackburn, so we have to wait a while for that. Maybe by then we could have Adebayor back as well, and who knows what Rosicky's status is. (By the way, calling him Rosicknote or some variation like Rosick List is not funny or imaginitive, so please come up with something original or just call him by his name) Cesc could be back in April for the stretch run against the other big guns so all is looking up.

Optimisim is the key now! Remember 2005-2006? Sp*rs thought they were going to be Aston Villa that year and steal our Champions League spot. But the lasagna saved the day then, and the lasagna will find a way to infect Villa as well. 4th place here we come!

Arsenal - Roma Champions League Preview

It's finally back. The Champions League if finally back! It seems like it's been ages since the group stages but it's finally time to resume and it starts off tonight against Roma. Is it a big match? Huge. Is it a match we can win? Certainly. It's one of our only chances for silverware this season, along with the FA Cup, so this should be taking a high priority right now. We haven't won in four league matches but hopefully we come out fighting tonight and go for the win.

The injury list is long yet again: Eduardo, Cesc, Adebayor, Theo, Rosicky, and Silvestre are all out with injuries. Andrey Arshavin is ineligible for the rest of this year's competition, but Abou Diaby is fit and could make a start. Arsenal.com says he may play as a deep lying striker, but I hope not.

Arsene Wenger confirmed we'll be going all out for the win though, saying:

“We will play with two strikers,” Wenger confirmed. “I haven’t decided if we play 4-4-2 or not but we will play with two strikers. We go for it. It is as simple as that.

Roma are a strange team, capable of getting very good results at times and other times looking like the worst team to make the Champions League. If anyone watched that 7-1 beating that Man United put on them a couple of years ago you'll know what I mean. I wouldn't mind a 7-1 victory for us tonight but in the grand scheme of things I'd take a 1-1 probably. We just need to get a bloody goal.

My guess at the formation would be this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Eboue-Denilson-Song-Nasri
Diaby-----
--RvP

So I'm thinking a 4-5-1 even though Wenger said a 4-4-2, although this is kind of like a 4-4-2 since Diaby will sort of be in the Bergkamp role.

The match is in two hours or so. I have 2 hours and 10 minutes of Arsenal music on my computer. If I start playing it now I'll get properly done just before match time. I also have to rock every piece of Arsenal clothing I have. It's just matchday routine. I'll take us to draw 1-1, but a 0-0 wouldn't surprise me in the least. I'd love to pick us to win, but I just haven't seen it lately. I hope I am proven wrong though. Come on you Gunners!

Champions League Draw, And a Youngster Could Be Leaving

Morning all. 2-0 loss to Porto yesterday with a sub-par side shows us finishing second in the group. It really was an abject performance and I'm pretty sick of seeing a midfield of poor players (Song) and out of position players (Ramsey, Diaby). It didn't help that we had Clichy and Sagna out in defense either but the fact of the matter is the game didn't mean a whole lot since we were already qualified. Being in second though gives us an option of Roma, Panathanaikos, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Juventus in the first knockout round. Obviously you'd think the easiest draw out of all of those would be Panathanaikos, and it would also see a return for Gilberto Silva, who would certainly get a good reception. I'd like to see us draw them but I really wouldn't mind Roma or Juventus. Panathanikos finished top of their group over Inter Milan and looked really good throughout the group stages, so it wouldn't be an easy tie for certain but I think we are the better team there. Plus, I want to see Gilberto back. If we HAD finished top of the group, the possible opponents would have been Inter, Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Lyon. Probably a bit easier as a whole considering you have the second leg at home then but that's what happens when you play a below par squad in a Champions League match, you lose.

So the draw for that knockout round will be made next Friday, and I'll try to get the results of that up right after they come out if possible. Who would you all like to see us face?

Johann Djourou says it doesn't matter to him that we finished second in the group.

"I don't think it matters.

"When you get through to the last 16 they're all great teams, so I don't think there's anyone in particular we want to avoid."

Right you are Johann and the moral of the story is to win the competition you have to get all the other teams out at some point anyway, so it doesn't really make much difference who you beat first.

In some young gunner news today, it appears Jay Simpson will be allowed to go out on loan, and it will probably be to a Premiership club. Hull and West Brom are thought to be the favorites to sign him for the rest of the season according to Sky Sports. I think it would be fantastic if he could go out and get some playing time for either of those teams, particularly Hull. Playing time at a young age is very valuable especially in a side that is overachieving and willing to go and attack like Hull is. If they put the offer in I really think Arsene should accept it. He won't play here so we might as well let him go somewhere and play in the same league to really see how he does.

And last but not least, Mike Silvestre says there is still time for the squad to "grow up" before the end of the season and win some silverware. Maybe if Silvestre was a better defender then it would help contribute to that hypothesis. Still though, his point is valid. There is still a lot of season left to go and we can still win the FA Cup, the League, or the Champions League.

C'mon you Gunners!

One more thing, if you are into theme parks then please do check out the link at the right for Amusement Life. They are a great up and coming hub for all amusement news, reviews, reports, and information. It's being run by my best friend, so please do check out his website. Cheers.

Toure Out Until November, Almunia Made Captain

Morning all. Just a few hours till match day 3 of the Champions League. Just a couple of things to run through this morning before the match.

First of all we do have some bad news regarding Kolo Toure, who will be out until November. He injured his shoulder against Everton and had to come off, and now he's going to miss at least two weeks. While this isn't anywhere close to our toughest 2 weeks of the season, you never want one of your starting defenders out of the squad, unless it's William Gallas. Speaking of which, I was hoping while Gallas was injured that Djourou and Silvestre would get more time to work with Toure so we could see just how bad Gallas is, but this totally blows that whole plan.

"I hurt my shoulder badly, it was very painful but it is a job of a defender to take pain."

"And we won the game after going behind in our own stadium, and the injury is not too bad as we think I should be fine in ten to 15 days and ready to make a challenge."

Yes, it is your job to take pain. And to kill people. People such as Dimitar Berbatov. Get well soon though Toure.

So our back four for the match today will be Eboue, Song, Silvestre, and Clichy. Not the ideal back four but it is servicable. Fenerbache has a lot of skilled players and they aren't as much of a "score from corner kicks over William Gallas" team, so I think we'll be ok. We're top of the group right now on 4 points so a win would take us to seven points with two home games still to go, which you would expect us to win. A draw wouldn't be awful, especially with the amount of injuries we have at the moment, but I'd like to see us go out that and take the game. I think it's certainly a winnable one.

The captain for tonight's game will be Manuel Almunia. Good for him too. I like Almunia and think he takes way too much stick for nothing. He's played well for us last year and so far this year and if he is the captain while Gallas is out I have no problem with it. In fact I'd rather him be captain than Gallas all the time. Actually I'd rather anyone else be the captain. But that's neither here nor there. Almunia says he'll feel "nothing but pride" while wearing the armband for Arsenal. Don't really know what else he would feel but there you go.

Luis Aragones, the little shit who called our beloved Henry a couple of awful things very similar to what I just called him except with more racism involved, says he's not worried about facing Arsenal. He's a terrible person and I hope we run them into the ground. The only thing better would be if Thierry Henry was here to do it. Don't get me wrong, I was cheering for Spain in the Euro's but it was in spite of Aragones, not because of him. I can't stand the man.

Andy Gray writes an article about how bad Sp*rs are and it pretty much says what everyone else says, that they're moronic for letting their two best strikers leave and not replacing them. I just can't resist laughing at the cunts though.

That's about all I have. We're getting some good emails in for the next podcast in so keep them coming, ArseNole@arsenole.com. Anything funny, informative, inventive, or anything else that would be interesting to read on the podcast this Friday, get it in to me. The best emailer will receive a $10 gift certificate for soccerpro.com, and maybe a little something else from me. Also I still want to hear more feedback as to what you think of the podcast, so those comments are appreciated too. Enjoy the Fenerbache match, and cheers!