Reaction to the Loss Versus Chelsea And More

Morning all. Yesterday was tough wasn't it? I felt like we had been building up to that match for quite awhile, and I was so excited for it just to be let down. A promising start gave way to a pretty miserable ending. There aren't many things worse than watching your team lose in a cup semi-final, but one of the things that is worse is watching the Chelsea cunts celebrate after beating your team.

When I saw the team selection yesterday, I have to say I was a little bit disturbed. Why Arshavin wouldn't play when he hasn't been able to play in the Champions League was really something I questioned. He's brought a lot to the team since his arrival and I think he could have done the same yesterday. Alex Song has been playing the best football of his life in the past few weeks yet he was left on the bench in favor of Diaby, who hasn't been playing much and I don't think many people would argue the point that he is superior to Song anyway. I didn't like the selection, I have to say. I expected to see Song in the lone holding role, with Arshy, Walcott, and Cesc as the attacking mids and RvP and Ade up front together.

I think the formation we decided to use caused us more problems than it was worth. Diaby and Denilson weren't very good with their distribution and while I thought Denilson did ok shadowing Lampard in the first half, I think Arshavin would have proved a better option instead, by creating space and helping out Adebayor up top. I thought Diaby had a pretty terrible game and Song, for me, would have proved a much better option.

The overriding feeling I guess is just disappointment and bewilderment. I just can't understand why he decided to play the players he did, but mostly I feel bad for the team, especially Lukasz Fabianski. He played a dreadful game, and for someone on that huge stage for the first time, it might affect his confidence for a long time. Unfortunately, we don't have any other options at keeper right now so he is going to have to rebound right away. He's definitely had some problems though thinking he needs to come out of his box for balls that he can't win. Sometimes you have to just trust your defenders to do their jobs adequately enough so that you can do yours, and he just doesn't seem to have the right mentality on those balls right now. Adebayor didn't have a great game, but I think a lot of that had to do with the lack of service he receieved. Theo's crosses often found nobody and van Persie didn't have close to his best game either. It must also be said that Sylvestre was just awful on the second goal and when he stopped chasing the ball it showed a real lack of passion for the team and the game.

Arsene Wenger was complaining about the pitch after the game, but I really didn't want to hear about it. Yeah the pitch was pretty bad but everyone plays on the same one so that can't be used as an excuse, and the fact is we were just outplayed on the day. So we're out of the FA Cup and we've only got one chance left at a trophy, and that's the Champions League. We've got a league match against Liverpool this week too, so there's still a lot of crucial games coming up, but in reality the big ones are the ones against United in the Champions League. Villa have been awful in the league lately and 4th spot seems pretty well secure.

I don't really have much else to talk about today because it's just so hard to take, so I'll get something up tomorrow to preview the Liverpool match. Leave your thoughts on the match, the team selection, or whatever else you feel like talking about. I'll talk to you all tomorrow. Cheers.

International Injuries and Kroenke Ups His Stake

First post in like a week or so, and you know what? The break has been good for everyone I think. You don't have to read posts about nothing, since there is nothing going on, and I don't have to try to think of anything interesting to tell you when there is nothing interesting to tell at all. Be right back I need to start the coffee pot. Alrighty the coffee is on it's way. I effing love me some coffee. So today we actually have a bit of Arsenal news, which is mostly bad, actually. Internationals have been going on, and of course, where there are internationals there are injuries for us. Such is the case this week.

First of all, Robin van Persie has managed to get injured while playing for Holland. It's a groin injury that has forced him to withdraw from the squad, and what a bloody awful time to get hurt it is. He's been healthier this year than in any of the last few, and now right at the end, when we need him the most, he's gotten injured when he's not even playing for us. I don't know how long he'll be out but hopefully he is back fit soon and this isn't an injury that will linger for a long time.

Robin also has been talking about a new contract, saying he would be willing to sign an extension as long as the club "match his ambitions."

"Financially Arsenal's last offer is fine, but that isn't everything for me. It's about my ambitions and how they can be fulfilled. The club and I want the same, and it's our intention to achieve that. We have all the other factors in place - fantastic stadium, dedicated support and money in the bank. Now it's about making that final push. In the last four years, I've only won one prize, the FA Cup - and that is too little. I want to push through to achieve more."

I think that's about the dumbest argument I've ever heard from any player. It seems to be a more and more common one lately though. The problem with is is this. EVERY PLAYER WANTS TO WIN TROPHIES! And how do teams win trophies? By keeping their best players with the club. So if van Persie wants to win things at Arsenal, then it sure seems to me like he needs to stay to help us accomplish that. It doesn't work out for players that leave Arsenal. Just ask Anelka, Vieira, etc. Keep that in mind Van Persie.

Stan Kroenke, Arsenal board member AND American (I am proud there is an American on the Arsenal board, yep), increased his stake in the club to 20.5% after he purchased 8 percent more from Danny Fiszman. That makes him the second largest shareholder next to Alisher Cuntmanov. Ivan Gazidis spoke highly of the Stan Man:

"Stan really is a model owner. I think the fact that Danny has felt comfortable selling his shares to Stan speaks volumes."

And he's absolutely right. If Danny (who is a long serving Arsenal board member himself) is comfortable selling his shares to Stan, then they are convinced he only has the best interest of the club at heart. Inviting him to join the board was the first sign of trust and now this.

I have this envisioned as sort of a scene from the movie Gladiator. The board are building up Maximus (Stan Kroenke), who is a fan favorite, well liked and battle tested (Stan has owned several other sports teams), and on the opposing side is the fat, ogre looking cunt Alisher Usmanov, who nobody cheers for but he bullies his way through most opposition. We all know that Maximus wins this battle so hopefully Stan will overcome that Usbeki wanker who should spend less time stuffing his pork hole and supporting Man United.


And more injury news, Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner have also suffered injuries. I don't even know how Diaby gets called up to the France squad honestly, but he's been forced to withdraw. You'd think with a guy as big as him he wouldn't get so many little niggly injuries, but maybe he's just a pussy. Suck it up Diaby and play through the pain. Bendtner has injured his knee with Denmark, and there is no word on how long he will be out.

That's about all I've got today. Hope it was exciting and that you liked the Gladiator movie reference. Maybe a Die Hard reference tomorrow. Cheers.

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!

More Injuries On The Internationals, And Diaby is Back!

Is anything more frustrating then playing two shite games against Hull and Sunderland, then going into an international break and having a bunch of you starting eleven get injured? No, there isn't. No Gallas, no Sagna, and no Bendtner for the match tomorrow, not to mention that Cesc has a broken nose and Djourou has a concussion. What is it with internationals and players getting injured? When they play for Arsenal Gallas, Sagna and Bendtner don't get hurt. Go off for a week and a half or so and they all come back set to miss games. As if our squad isn't thin enough, we now have a probable back 4 of Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, and Clichy. Not the worst defense I've ever seen, I think my Under 7's defense is probably worse but it's not ideal. And who will be on the bench as a defender? Justin Hoyte and Phillippe Senderos? Oh damn, they aren't on the team anymore, so that means we'll get Havard Nordtveit and the concussed Djourou probably.

The good news is Abou Diaby is finally back in the squad. Do we even know what injury he had? It took him about as long to recover as Eduardo and I know who's injury was worse. Arsene Wenger said he may have to go straight into the team because of injuries, which will be interesting to see. I thought Diaby could be the answer next to Cesc, but I think now he's more of the answer of "Who can keep Tomas Rosicky company?"

Arseblogger says Tomas Rosicky is practicing yoga now to try to qwell his injuries. I tried to figure out how that would look like and in my head it looked like this:

It's kind of scary and I don't know how that's going to help his injury, but hey if that's his thing then more power to him.

Arsene Wenger says we can still challenge for the title:

"If you ask me how many games you think we can lose, I would say zero because I always start a season thinking you cannot lose a game, but we have lost two already and we are in a position where we have given ourselves a handicap," he said.

"However, I still think it is manageable to get back to the top and I want to lead this team knowing that there is not a lot of margin of error left - but I still think we can do that."

Yeah, we have given ourselves a handicap. Problem is it's against teams that we are supposed to be able to beat like Fulham and Hull. Not to mention dropping points at Sunderland. It won't cut it. Now we have injuries and we already have a thin squad. It's going to be a real test for us in the next month or so. Will the team be like Cesc and rise to the challenge and refust to lose, or will they kick and scream on the pitch like Captain William Gallas.

Craig Bellamy says he is keen to guide Aaron Ramsey. Now you might think "Oh shite, what's that cunt Craig Bellamy said about our player now?" In fact though, he says some good things. He says Aaron has the ability to "glide and show balance." Wouldn't that be nice if we were all special like Aaron and glide? I don't think we'd worry as much about gas prices if we could all glide around. Except maybe in the rain. No gliding in the rain to work. Bellamy goes on to say that Arsene Wenger is "the best manager in the world" for him and that if Aaron ever needs anything he just has to ask. Surprisingly nice words from Craig and it made me hate him a few points less, but only a few.

That's all the news for the day pretty much. The rest of it is all made up, unimportant, or irrelevant. I'm actually going to do a podcast today. I want to hear what you have to say about the start to the season, international breaks, or just anything you want to rant about. Email me or post it as a comment. Best comment we get for every podcast episode will win some sort of prize that I'm still working out but it will of course be awesome. Almost as good as "Changes" by Tupac. That's really f'ing good. So get your emails in to ArseNole{at}arsenole.com and keep them coming. I'll read it on the podcast and you'll be famous. Cheers all.

Denilson Should Start In Midfield

Morning all. I'm taking a break from watching the Olympics because they are showing rowing right now. Is that even a sport? Rowing. Some of these sports are just awful...beach volleyball, handball, synchronized diving/swimming, fencing...I love the Olympics but some things just should not have medals given for them.

So what happened over the weekend? Well we won the Amsterdam Cup, so that was good. I've honestly only seen highlights and read match reports so I can't go into detail over the performances, but I can tell a few things. Both of Ajax's goals were bloody outstanding. I know we should have closed down better but how can you stop shots like those two? Adebayor looked fantastic in his two goals and with his assist. He's going to be great again this year and everyone will forget what a wanker he was during this summer. In the second match we got a draw with Sevilla with Carlos Vela on the score sheet for Arsenal. He's looked good every time I've seen him this preseason and I'm looking forward to seeing him get into some real games.

So those are our last preseason games for the first teamers, as we start Champions League football on Wednesday and the Premiership on Saturday. Isn't that exciting? We pretty much know what we have to work with for this week's matches because I think even if we made a new signing they probably wouldn't be ready to play right away. Besides, Arsene Wenger says he is much too busy to sign a midfielder. So who's starting then? If you're Arsene Wenger to you try to go full strength on Wednesday and on Saturday? And what is the full strength lineup anyway? If I had to pick a lineup Wednesday I think I try to leave Cesc out until Saturday. Mine would look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Denilson-Ramsey-Nasri
Adebayor-Vela

I can explain leaving out Cesc and RvP, so don't bite my head off just yet. Cesc has been in training the least out of anyone that is healthy, as he came back just over a week ago. I think we should (should) be a far superior team to FC Twente and should wait to have Cesc ready to go for Saturday. Ramsey has looked capable next to Denilson and I don't see why that partnership couldn't make it through the away leg of this tie with a good result. A scoring draw or a win almost certainly sees us through to the group stages. RvP I think could be another player who could wait until Saturday and wouldn't cause us too much trouble. I'd rather have him fit for the league opener than risk him against a team we should be able to beat without him. Vela has looked very capable as well as Bendtner and I think either of them with Adebayor should be more than enough to score a goal or two.

But now it's getting a bit late in the transfer window and it hasn't looked like we're bringing in a new partner for Cesc, so if not, then who's it going to be? Has Denilson won himself the job with Diaby being out injured (as always)? I know not a lot of people have faith in him to do the job but he's looked good so far and maybe it's his time to shine. I really thought Diaby would be the guy but he just can't stay healthy and we can't rely on any more of those type of players. I'm not sure what will happen but if we don't sign anyone else, Denilson gets my vote.

Piers Morgan actually writes an article about how much he hates Alex Ferguson, and I actually kind of liked it. I didn't even know he was a Gooner.

I don't really know what else to write, I'm just looking forward to the matches this week. Almost time for the start of the season so you better sign up for the Fantasy Football League now. Go USA in the Olympics and I'll see you all tomorrow. Cheers.

Why Arsenal Will Win The Title This Year

Morning all. Not a lot of news following the demolition of Burgenland yesterday. Cesc Fabregas came out and killed off anyone saying that he was going to Real Madrid, in fact saying that he made no statement about Madrid at all. Good work from Cesc yet again. I think he does everything well, football, handling the press, his hair, etc.

Now since there is no news today I want to go on a bit of a rant. Bear with me. I'm going to go over a few things I have learned this summer and in the season past.

Football is a tough game. The English Premier League is a tough league. There are twenty teams and no matter how well all the teams play, only one is going to win the trophy at the end of the year. Over 38 games in a year, you have to be the best and most consistent team. So you have to ask yourself, is Arsenal ready to make that step up with the likes of Chelsea and Man United out there? I think we can be. Arsenal will never be a club like Chelsea that goes out and buys every player that has a good season or superstars that are past their primes. We probably won't be like Man United either, spending money that will knowingly increase the club's debt. So we have a manager that majored in economics, and his job is to keep the ship afloat, WHILE managing our club. Arsenal are the smallest spenders of the big four teams, yet have we ever been considered the least successful? Liverpool haven't won the title since 1990 and Chelsea just started winning win Abramovich came.

The transfer market has changed, but Arsenal Football Club will not. As long as Wenger is our manager, we will be shrewd spenders, with a focus on the future and youth. Has this not been successful in the past though? Tony Adams was made the club's youngest ever captain back in 1988 at age 21, did anyone say he was too young and inexperienced to win a title? Cesc Fabregas is that same age, maybe he is the right man to lead us in that same way.

Do we need a lot of major signings to make sure we win a trophy? Will a Gareth Barry or a Miguel Veloso really be a huge improvement over Abou Diaby? Maybe they are somewhat better right now, but Wenger is one of the very, very best at getting the most out of his players' potential. Imagine if Diaby got a lot of games in the holding midfield role under Wenger's tutelage. I think he could easily be at that level.

Is it a crisis to lose Gilberto, Flamini, and Hleb? I don't think so. Nasri has been brought in to be a new and hopefully improved Hleb, and as I said I think Diaby can fill in next to Fabregas admirably. Who thought Flamini was going to be the player he was before last year? Not one person, I guarantee it. The summer before last season everyone thought he was going to be off to Birmingham for a couple hundred thousand pounds, and now he's playing for Milan. It just shows what the boss' guidance and a run in the team can do for a player.

What is so wrong with Manuel Almunia? I see loads of comments saying he is a rubbish keeper and we need to bring in someone else, but when did he make these awful mistakes that you base these claims on? He played well throughout the entirety of last season. Every keeper allows some goals and he was no different, but he kept us in more games than he lost us. And if we did get a new keeper, who would you have brought in that is so much better? Don't give me Buffon or Casillas or Cech, because it isn't happening! We have a solid keeper right now that gets too much stick and I'm sick of it. Keep up the good work Manuel.

Emmanuel Adebayor is probably staying. While he's messed up badly this summer, it does make us a better team with him staying. If van Persie is healthier and can properly partner with Adebayor all year, we have one of the most dangerous strike forces in the league, if not the world. Hate Ade all you want, but he is a good player. Some people say "well a proper forward would have scored 60 goals with the service he got this year." Remember that he was on his own up front for most of the season and he scored as many league goals as Fernando Torres, who is worshiped as a god almost. He scored a lot of important goals so I don't know why everything thinks he's a terrible player, because you're just dead wrong. Runs his mouth yes, bad player no.

My point in all this is that I never want Arsenal Football Club to be a huge spending club like Chelsea or United or Liverpool. I want my club and your club to stick with what has gotten it this far, dedication, intelligence, and passion. Give Arsene the chance to run the team. He has won lots of trophies before and he can do it again. Remember that Eduardo, van Persie, and Rosicky are all potential starters that were hurt a lot of last year, as well as Sagna's injury at the end of the year. If we can get all those players back and healthy it's like 2 1/2 singings that we didn't have at all last year, when we almost pulled off the title. We are not as far away as people think, we are not in a crisis, we are just Arsenal Football Club, and this is how we work.

So that's all I've got. I hope that made some sense. Agree or disagree, you can put it in the comments or the forums. Cheers.

Hleb Won't Do a Webster

Morning All. So I've decided to do something that I don't think any other sites really do at the end of the season, and that is to go through the whole squad and review each player, giving stats and thoughts on this year plus what to expect next year from them. I've decided to just go in order of squad number so since Jens has left us we'll start with Vasiriki Abou Diaby. You can read my report on him later on in this post.

The big news that has been reported today is that Alexander Hleb won't be doing a Webster move and buying out his contract to move to Inter Milan. His agent was quoted as saying:

“Hleb has been playing in London for three years now and isn’t sure whether in the future he can show the level of talent that he is showing currently. I can only confirm that some of the world’s biggest clubs are interested in him.

“In any case I can say simply that Alexander will not buy out the remaining part of his five-year contract for a fixed sum of his sale. Hleb is a gentleman and will not stoop to that level. Everything will be done properly.

“I am sure that the situation surrounding this issue will finally be resolved in the next 10 days.”

So it's good news there, that means Hleb is either staying or we'll at least get a transfer fee for him. If Hleb would have done that we would have hated him on Cashley Cole levels, because buying out your contract to leave with two years left on it as absolutely shite. I mentioned earlier that I didn't care if Hleb stayed or went, and I still don't, I just think it's a lot nicer that if he did leave we'd get some money for him.

And In other good news, Gael Clichy looks set to exted his stay at Arsenal as it has been revealed that he has just started talks about a new contract. This is great news because Clichy is one of our best young players. He played in every single Premiership match this season and did an outstanding job throughout the year. I hope he signs a lifetime contract but that's wishful thinking.

So now what everyone enjoys, transfer news and rumors!

First off, we've been linked with Crystal Palace wonderkid John Bostock. His contract recently expired and he has been stalling on signing a new one so he can leave for minimal compensation. All the big clubs and Sp*rs (because they are not a big club) are after him and they are reporting that Arsene could make a late move to try to bring him in.

David Villa has yet again been linked with us, this time by Setanta Sports. We know he likes the way Arsenal play, and we know Valencia are shite and he's looking to move, but for some reason I still don't see it. Let's just hope to God he doesn't end up at Liverpool with Torres or we'll be chasing 4th place.

Vincent Kompany has also been linked with us and was asked about a potential move. He gave the usual "I'm not saying anything" approach to the question but it seems that has only increased the speculation around him. He's a good player but can he stay healthy is the question. Also, 15 million seems a steep price for him.

So now on to our first player review, Abou Diaby.


In the past: Diaby came to us in January of 2006 from Auxerre for 2 million pounds. He was touted as "the next Vieira." We saw moments of what he could do, as he could certainly make a tackle and he also scored against Aston Villa. His season was ended by Dan Smith of Sunderland though on a tackle which broke his ankle and he missed the next 8 months. Since then he's had a lot of injuries that have hindered his playing time and not allowed him to really get in a groove.

This Season: This year Diaby made fifteen appearances for the club, scoring one goal and making one assist. He has played mostly on the wing, which is not his natural position, because of Tomas Rosicky's injury troubles. He had a brilliant goal against Derby from 25 yards out after beating three defenders, but unfortunately that was the only time he scored all year. I know he is not a natural winger but he should be providing more goals or more assists from out there. It doesn't seem like he has as many crunching tackles as he did when he first arrived either. It may be because of the tackle that broke his ankle and it's made him nervous about it or something or it could be because he's out on the wing but you'd like to see that come back into his game.

Looking Ahead: Diaby is now 22 years old. He hasn't been able to fulfill the label of new Vieira at this point. He is still young but he needs to be played and molded into the player we want him to be. We can't expect him to grow into the holding midfielder role by playing on the wing. Will Diaby be the guy Wenger tries to put into Flamini's place? It could very well be. We know he can tackle and he can shoot long range, what we need to see is more dribbling ability from him and better decision making. He is somewhat versatile and he is a decent, but not great, backup on the wing. The question is, if Arsene doesn't move him back to the center than does Diaby contribute enough to the team to be kept around? Wenger acknowledged that Diaby is a central midfielder, so you'd think he'll get more games there next year, but if we bring someone else in I wouldn't be surprised if Diaby is gone this year or next.

So that's all I've got for you today, that was a really long post I feel like so hopefully you made it through it all. Let me know what you think. Cheers