Cescual Chocolate, Barcelona are Cunts (Still)

Hello there everyone. A fine Monday to you all. Hope everyone had a good weekend even though there was no Arsenal. Mine was pretty good. My Under-9 boys team got their first win of the season in our third match of the year. We won 6-1 after losing 8-0 and 7-0 in our first two matches. So it was a big victory for us and we'll be looking to keep that run going.

I didn't really watch any of the internationals this weekend. Why? Because the USA match wasn't on tv and I was watching American football most of the weekend honestly. International Qualifiers interest me about as much as Cesc to Barcelona stories, which is not at all really. But seeing as there isn't shite to write about at all besides Cesc to Barcelona stories, that's what I'll be writing about today.

In a week where Cesc had to leave the Spain squad to be with his seriously ill grandfather, Barcelona thought it would be a prime opportunity to reiterate their desire to sign Fabregas in January. Stay classy, eh Barca? Check out these quotes from the cunt Txiki Begiristain:

"He's a player who fits the Barca profile. He was born suckling on football here and one day he will end up playing at the Camp Nou. I am sure."

What in the hell does that mean? I don't want to picture Cesc suckling on anything, much less Barcelona football. I'd think he could do a bit better than that honestly. I have some advice for Txiki, laid out in a few steps.

1. Get a real name. I cannot pronounce Txiki, nor have I ever met anyone else who would name their son that.

2. Stop talking about Cesc Fabregas. He's said at least one hundred billion times that he's happy at Arsenal. If he does go to Barcelona one day, then it will be when he and Arsene both decide that it's that time, and when it is you'll fork over about a kajillion dollars to us for him. So until then, just leave him alone.

3. When someone's grandfather is really sick, sick enough that you have to leave your team to go be with him, it's probably not the best time to talk about a transfer bid for him. It makes you look like the piece of shit that we all know you are.

4. Next time you think about opening your mouth, shoot yourself in the leg instead. That will probably make you reconsider, because I'd imagine that would really hurt.

Follow those steps and life will be better for all of us. I promise.

In other news, Senderos, Fabregas, Gallas, Vela and Gibbs all scored for their countries this past weekend, and the injury front isn't looking too bad either. Theo Walcott suffered a dead leg but hopefully he'll be back soon enough. Also, Alex Song's Cameroon beat Togo 3-0 so they only need one win to reach the World Cup and Adebayor's team lost which makes it even better. So a good weekend for the Gunners on the whole.

I haven't heard any more news about Samir Nasri's recovery, but hopefully he'll be back before the Sp*rs match at the end of the month.

That's about all I've got for the day, so I'll talk to you tomorrow or Wednesday. Thank God the international break is almost over. Cheers.

Thoughts on the Season So Far

Hello all. It's been a bloody month since I last posted, and I'm quite ashamed of it actually. Sometimes, when you write every day, you just get burnt out and feel like what you write isn't that interesting anymore and just don't really get in the mood to write very much. That's what happened to me, and I feel like I'm not doing my job as an Arsenal blogger when I go that long without writing. So I apologize and I'll try to get back to it. So for today I'm just going to write a bit about what I've noticed from the season so far.

I really like the 4-3-3 formation, I'm just not sure we have the right players to run it at the moment. I think ideally we'd have Theo as the forward on the right and Arshy on the left with RvP or Bendtner as the center forward. I don't think Bendtner is good as a wide player and I don't think he ever will be. He's a center forward, and he's the second or third best center forward at that, so I don't like seeing him start on the right. Theo can't get back soon enough for me. It's a bit weird how long he's been out. Same with Vela. I worry that they were supposed to have little injuries and now they've been out for quite a while. Hopefully they get back soon because we could use the depth. When you look at the bench we've had for some of these matches, it's just pathetic. I think when we get Nasri back, he should probably start next to Cesc to add some more creativity in the midfield.

Thomas Vermaelen is a fucking beast. The guy is a strong defender who spends most of his time smoking fools and lighting up chumps, while also making time to get up the field and score goals to the point that right now he's our leading scorer. Now it's not really good that a central defender is our leading scorer mind you, but it just accentuates the fact of how brilliant a signing he was. I can't get enough of the guy. Keep it up Verminator.

Alex Song needs some help. He was good the first few games but against both Manchester teams he looked like he was in a little bit over his head. It'd be nice if we could rest him every once in a while without having a drop off. And also, what has happened to Manuel Almunia? He's been pretty terrible this season so far in my opinion, and Clichy, even though he's one of my favorites, has also been sub-par.

I worry a little bit about Cesc. I think sometimes his head is in Barcelona. We really, really need to win something this year. Other than the Manchester games though, you'd say the season is looking pretty decent. We're beating the teams that are weaker than us, which has been a problem in the past, so maybe we're on the right track. Remember that we still get City and United at home to make up for those losses, and we still have a lot of players coming back from injury. I think the season still is looking bright. Keep the faith Gooners.

Cheers.

PS: Adebayor is a cunt.

My Arsenal Christmas List

Today is Christmas Eve, and I will be departing in an hour to go spend it with my entire family, but I figured I'd do a quick Christmas post before all the festivities begin. I think an Arsenal Christmas list is in order so I've put one together for the rest of the season. If you think of any fun additions go ahead and leave them in the comments. These are in no particular order by the way.

1. Someone who can play in place of Cesc while he is out. Diaby is not Cesc, nor is Denilson, Ramsey, Song, or anyone else on our team. We need to buy someone to play the rest of this year in Cesc's spot while he is out. I could think of a couple of names but Arsene never buys anyone that we've heard of so I think it's best to just say we need SOMEONE there.

2. To stay undeafeated against the rest of the "Big Four." We've done it so far, with 2 wins and a draw, and I think it'd be great to be able to keep it that way the rest of the year. It will obviously be tougher without our captain but at least we would be able to say we didn't lose to any of them even once.

3. To beat Tottenham Hotspur at Shite Hart Lane. They screwed us over at the Emirates and we really owe them a beating. The only thing better than destroying them at home is destroying them on the road.

4. To stay in the Top Four. We've struggled this year, and fallen out of the top four, with Villa slipping in our spot. We NEED to make it into the Champions League next year, and so we really need to get back into at least 4th spot.

5. A new defender. I think that goes without saying. Djourou has turned in some good performances but since I think Gallas' time at Arsenal is nearing it's in we could use a good, tall, strong defender.

6. A holding midfielder better than Alex Song. Sorry, but Alex is just not good enough to be playing this much for Arsenal. Give us somebody better please. Again, not going to name names but a quality DM is just what we need.

7. Keep Usmanov out of Arsenal. There has been some drama within the Arsenal boardroom lately and it may be an opening for Alisher "As Large As Russia Itself" Usmanov to buy his way into the boardroom. We can't have it. He's a wanker who knows nothing about football or Arsenal or how to not be a cunt. Please Arsenal, do not let him in, at any cost.

8. A Trophy. It's going to be tough without our captain, but we still have at least two chances for silverware in the FA Cup and the Champions League. We'd all love a trophy, so let's do it Arsenal!

That's my Arsenal Christmas list. If we could get half of those things it'd be awesome but all of them would make it the best Christmas ever.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you enjoy spending time with your family and I hope you all have wonderful times! Cheers!

Fabregas Named Captain, And Rightfully So

Morning all. I told you I was redesigning the site and everything, and that is still the case, but it is taking longer than expected so I'm going to continue posting on this one for a while. Today it was confirmed that Cesc Fabregas, one of the greatest people to ever live, is the new captain of Arsenal Football Club. And I don't really think anyone can argue with that appointment. If you look at the potential benefits compared to the potential problems the benefits far outweigh them. He's young and could potentially be the captain of the club for a long time, granted he stays at Arsenal. I think this will encourage him to stay at Arsenal and give him the spotlight that he was going to eventually want anyway. He's fiery and can not only lead by example but is also not afraid to yell at someone when they need it and praise someone when they deserve it. He won't ever do what Gallas did and bitch to the press about a dressing room squabble, and, perhaps most importantly, he loves Arsenal Football Club in the same way that Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira do.

Arsene Wenger confirmed the decision, stating that William Gallas would still play for the club (unfortunately) but that he has been permanently removed as captain:

''William will play against Kiev, but the captain of the team will be Fabregas.'' I do not think I have to especially explain why I make the decisions, but it is a permanent thing.''

Wenger also spoke about how we still need to have a team full of leaders even though Cesc will be the voice of the club:

''I believe the captain is the voice of the club towards the outside, and is one of the leaders of the team. However, I do not believe in just one man in the dressing room who sorts out all of the problems. A successful team is a shared leadership inside the dressing room. He (Fabregas) will be one of the leaders, but not the only one.''

I feel like there has been a huge weight lifted off mine and a lot of other people's shoulders this morning upon reading this news. The Gallas captaincy was marred by the Birmingham game last year, the ensuing results which cost us the title, and a terrible start to this season. With a new captain, and the new captain being Cesc at that, it really feels like a whole new era for Arsenal, one that will lead us to glory.

Gael Clichy supported the decision to give Cesc the armband:

"It is a new start and I am sure Cesc will do well."

"He has been fantastic for us over the last couple of seasons. I think it is a good choice from the boss and I am sure all the players will give all their support.

"When we were losing 1-0 to Sunderland this season and he scored to get us the draw, that showed his character.

Now the rest of the playing staff is still a problem, don't get me wrong, there will have to be changes. Players need to be brought in to improve our depth and talent as well as to show Cesc our ambition because his quality far outweighs the majority of the rest of the squad's. We most certainly need another center back, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Gallas sold in January if a decent offer comes in. He's a team cancer and isn't good enough to play in the team anyway.

Another midfielder and another wide player certainly wouldn't hurt either. With Eboue and Walcott injured, it really exposed our lack of depth on the right with us having to play Diaby out wide and Song and Denilson in the middle. That midfield couldn't start for Wigan at the moment, so it certainly shouldn't be starting for Arsenal. It would be nice if we still had good old Gilberto, because he could certainly be useful during this trying time for the club.

But the fact is that it is now a new era of Arsenal Football Club and it's up to Arsene Wenger which way we go with it. He's changed the captain, but his next move is the most important one. Does he strengthen the squad in January and make the additions neccessary to be competitive, or does he "keep faith in his youngsters" and "try not to hurt their development" by refusing to buy yet again. The wise choice would be the former, because the latter could put his position at Arsenal in serious jeopardy.

Come on Cesc and come on you Gunners!

Will Arsenal Win Trophies Under Arsene Wenger?

Just the title alone will bring out the morons who think "true fans" can't question anything about the club, but I'm willing to risk it in hopes that we get some real, honest, thoughtful, opinions. I really want to know what people think in regards to if we will ever win another trophy under the management of Arsene Wenger. I don't feel like I need to reiterate the fact that I am thankful for what Arsene Wenger has done for this club and acknowledge that he has made us a more attractive and succesful club.

Having said that, Arsenal, for the last few years, has been on the decline. In my last post I compared our current squad to the one from a few years ago and it wasn't even close. We are much worse off now than we were a few years ago. Our best player, Cesc Fabregas, will not stick around and battle for 4th spot in the league every year when he could make more money and win trophies somewhere else. He's been very loyal since he came to Arsenal but we can't expect that to last forever without winning.

We've had some seriously confusing dealings in the transfer market, like selling Gilberto Silva because of his age and then buying Mikael Silvestre who is the same age. Arsene Wenger has ignored our deficiencies in defense and midfield, as well as overall depth, and it has hurt our squad. Now yet again our depth will be tested, with Adebayor out for three weeks, RvP suspended for an act of abject stupidity, Walcott out and Sagna out as well. Gallas and Eboue are out this match as well and who really knows what sort of squad we'll have out there. A midfield of Nasri-Denilson-Cesc-Diaby is not acceptable at a top club in the best league in the world. While other clubs improve their squad year after year we settle for letting players leave. I'm not saying spend as much money as Chelsea or Sp*rs but it's no excuse for sticking with a weakened team. It should be common sense that when a key player leaves you should replace them with another key player. FFS we could've gotten Senna to replace Flamini for pretty cheap, and what was wrong with that? He was too old? Silvestre apparently wasn't, and Senna is a much better player than Silvestre.

Arsene Wenger's stubbornness is causing him to continually stick with a youth policy that isn't working. Yes, some of the youth players will one day become good key players in the squad, but not all of them are going to be great players and we shouldn't assume that. He seems determined to prove that you can win without spending any money at all, but it isn't going to happen. When Cesc Fabregas leaves, what do we have left then? Is that going to get other players to want to come play for Arsenal when our best player is leaving? We need to adjust this problem now, yet I can't see Arsene going out and really spending in January to try to help our cause either.

Wenger has lost the plot. Instead of saying "yeah we fucked up and lost to Stoke and Fulham" he blames them for trying to injure our players intentionally, which is absolute BS. Just because they try to play tough doesn't mean they're trying to injure us. Even with my Under 8's team that I coach, before every match I tell them to "Man up!" I think a lot of the current Arsenal squad could use someone telling them to man up. Beautiful football is wonderful and I love it as much as the next guy but it makes little difference when you don't win anything. A state of decline for Arsenal is not acceptable.

Somebody needs to tell Arsene Wenger that he isn't guaranteed a job forever. If bad results continue then something has to be fixed. If players can be sacked, then managers can be too. This isn't a call for his head, but it's a call for the board to tell him to wake up and realize that this isn't cutting it.

So I ask you all the question, will Arsenal win anything while Arsene Wenger is still the manager?

Working With What We Have

First things first my fellow gunners, Don’t Panic. There is no need for some of this in-fighting that I have witnessed on different blogs and message boards between those of us who truly love the sport and are passionate about the Arsenal. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, regardless or not if it questions the wisdom of our fearless leader Mr. Wenger. He has been doing this a long time and our season is just getting started. Remember if you will last season, Chelski and ManUre both got off to rocky starts and finished above us in the table whereas we shot out from the gates untouched and did not falter until the second half of the season. Perhaps we need some perspective on the fact that this is a really long season with plenty of opportunity to right the ship.

That being said, I do not think that I have EVER seen the Gunners play so poorly in my life as they did against Fulham. We should give credit to Hodgeson and his squad, they came out and put pressure on our inexperienced midfield, causing havoc on any and all attempts to play out of the back, and forcing our boys to play the same kind of calamity football that we make other teams play.

The most disturbing thing about Saturday was the passing completion rate, only Nasri’s 81% (53 passes) was of the level that we were used to seeing last year whereas Walcott’s 81% (16 passes) was basically a waste of space on the field. He is still not in form yet this season and I am not sure when and if he is going to be able to cut it at this level day in and day out. I think he adds a great spark off the bench but as a starter he just does not have the muscle.

I must agree with Arsenole about one of his latest posts, Gallas is shit. Why he has the armband I will never know. I wonder what it must be like on the practice pitch everyday. From all of my days of playing football, the captain must be the engine on the team, the one least likely to make mistakes, and the one who inspires greatness. Gallas is none of those things. Toure should have the band but I also feel that Cesc could also carry that weight especially since in his absence the wheels have come off the bus. He should be back soon so… DEEP THOUGHT #1- Cesc is coming back! I know that we should not be so dependent on one player but shit ya’ll, he is Cesc-fucking-Fabregas! This is a player who can change games and get everyone on the pitch involved in a positive way.

Keeping up with the positives, Adebayor can still play and he will get goals when he gets the service. We all know how good he is, we all know how fast he can change a game. So here it comes…DEEP THOUGHT #2- Our target man up front is still of the highest quality! Let Cesc give him a few well placed balls and watch him blow up the back of the net. We can put the off season drama behind us and get behind him despite his greed. Not all of our players can be like Cesc and we must accept that.

Of all of the points I could make to lift the spirits of those who still get goosebumps when Arsenal take the field, this is my favorite… DEEP THOUGHT #3- We got NASRI!

This kid is good. He has almost made me forget about Hleb leaving us (although I almost cried when I heard he was leaving, he is a remarkable player). The way that Nasri cuts and attacks will be such an asset once we get our midfield sorted and I have a really good feeling about the partnership between him and Clichy. One would be hard pressed to find a better left side of the pitch than when those two are firing on all cylinders.

For my final ray of sunshine, DEEP THOUGHT #4- We have two of the best outside defenders in the world. Sagna and Clichy are still stunning players. Their ability to defend, their speed, and their attacking skills are second to none. Again, once the center of the field is fixed we can go back to dominating our opponents.

So the question is what do we do in the meantime?

The problem is our soft gooey center. Denilson is not ready but he did show signs of quality against Twente in the Champions League. Putting Eboue in the center was Arsene’s biggest mistake. With Cesc back on Wednesday, Denilson will do behind him supporting the attacks. Eboue can sit out wide with Nasri on the other side and Walcott can come on in the 70^th min. I would like to see Adebayor up front with Carlos Vela. Let’s see what this kid has got. Van Persie looks terrible and if he gets one more chance for a free kick and blows it, he must turn in his boots and sit the fuck down. In the center of defense, Toure and Silvestre could be good together, so let’s get a good look during Champions League play when we are up on aggregate and playing at home.

-Contributed by fellow Gooner Paul

Cesc Makes Me Forget About Fulham...Well, Almost

Morning all, or afternoon or whatever it is where you are. Yesterday was a miserable day for us. I'm sure you read my rant about Captain Gallas, and that about summed up my feelings for the day. Gallas shouldn't be playing at all and Eboue shouldn't have to play central midfield. Robin van Persie seems to have forgotten how to score and overall the whole thing was bloody awful. But today something made me smile, and who else could it be but Cesc Fabregas.


Cesc gave an interview to The Guardian's Amy Lawrence and it really was wonderful to read. Regarding the current state of the squad, he said:

“We have to accept we have lost some big players who are difficult to replace but the boss knows what he’s doing. For me, Arsenal is Arsenal and this club has something special that no others have. We have to take care of it, that’s why you have to be intelligent in your decisions.”

But the best part was when he spoke about himself and his love for Arsenal Football Club:

“I have friends in Spain, in Italy — and they speak to me about other clubs and I know that I’m privileged to be where I am and I don’t want to lose it. I’m still young, I want to win things for the club, I want to get experience and I want to compete. Because when you see football around the world you see very few teams that play the way that we play. And I just enjoy the way we play."

“I came here when I was 16 and I feel it’s my home now. I think I will be lucky to be here as long as I can, to play for Arsenal. I don’t even want to think about whether I would find a similar environment elsewhere because I’m happy where I am. Whenever people say another team is the best in the world, I know where I am and how I feel here — which is the most important thing.”

Is there anything you could hear that sounds sweeter to your ears? You want club loyalty, well there it is. He knows his place, he loves the club, and he wants to do the best he can to bring trophies home to OUR club, not to whichever club will pay him the most. A lot of other players would do well to learn a lesson from our young prodigy. Gallas could learn from his dedication to work hard for the club, and Adebayor, Hleb, and Flamini could do with a lesson on not always just going for the most money.

He also spoke about the possibility of Arsenal signing Xabi Alonso:

'I'd love it!. What can I say. He is my friend and apart from that he is a great professional, a great passer of the ball, he works hard defensively, he's scoring goals now, he's experienced and he's only 26. For me he would be perfect.'

If Cesc wants him, everyone should want him. Let's get him in here. Obviously I wanted Alonso even before Cesc mentioned him but let's think about it, who would possibly be better for us? They play together in the same national team, they are friends, he has Premiership experience at a top club, and he can play the Arsenal way. Sounds like the perfect signing doesn't it? Let's make it happen. You know Marseille fans tried to raise money for the club to buy Didier Drogba from Chelsea...maybe we could put together something similar for Xabi Alonso! Seriously imagine all the Arsenal fans that could pitch in and then we could just give Liverpool a check courtesy of Arsenal since Arsene Wenger doesn't seem to want to do it. Just an idea.

Lastly he spoke about the possibility of becoming Arsenal captain:

'I would love it. I respect all decisions. I am a player that accepts nearly everything. I am happy with everything, my No 4, playing for Arsenal in centre midfield and giving 100 per cent every, every game. But if the boss thinks in one or two years I am ready to be captain, I will take the armband.'

I wanted Kolo to be captain this season, but I have to say at this point I'm convinced that it has to be Cesc. While Kolo also loves the club and gives his all, I just think Cesc has the raging fire within him to lead the team with passion and fervor. How about we just sit Gallas the rest of the season and give Cesc the armband today? Sounds good to me.


In other news, Arsenal legend Tony Adams talked about how he would love to succeed Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Arsene quite possibly has lost his mind recently, and while Tony Adams hasn't been the most successful manager in the past, I think he has probably learned a lot from his time under Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth and maybe when Arsene does end up leaving he could be a possibility.

Alright that's a lot for one day, I'll get back to you tomorrow. Let me know what you think. Cheers!

Why I Love Arsenal and Hate Fake Fans

Sometimes when I write the blog, I scour the internet for news on arsenal.com, NewsNow, a bunch of other Arsenal blogs, etc. trying to find the latest Arsenal stuff to present to you all. Sometimes something just comes to me that I think I should write. This is one of those times.

I live in Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States of America. I have never been to the Emirates Stadium, or indeed to Highbury, the home of football. In fact, I've never even made it to anywhere in Europe at this point. So why do I write this blog about a team I've never even seen? Because I love this club with all my heart, much more than some who get to go to matches every single week. When I read the shite that's been posted all summer on some sites it makes me wonder why these people ever started watching Arsenal or any football at all. Isn't football supposed to make you excited for new seasons to start and happy even if your team only scrapes a 1-0 win over West Brom on opening day? Arsenal used to be a team with seasons full of 1-0 wins, yet now to many it seems more like a loss. No, we haven't won a trophy in the past three seasons, but isn't trying to achieve that trophy the whole point of it? Everyone says they don't want to be Chelsea and buy a title, yet when the squad isn't exactly as they think it should be then the solution is to buy, buy, buy. My enjoyment from Arsenal comes from winning yes, but also from watching players like Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, and Cesc Fabregas develop from school boys to what they have become now.

Is complaining all summer about the lack of new signings really going to make people loathe the new season as much as it seems by what some write? Yes, there is a very real chance that Arsenal will not win the title this season. In fact, only one out of twenty teams will win it. I'm an optimistic supporter though so I think we have a good chance to pull it out. I don't think we've gotten any worse than we were last year and we did pretty well then didn't we? If van Persie can stay healthy, Eduardo can come back, and Rosicky can play a couple of matches in a row it's like three new signings that we didn't have at the end of last year. Xabi Alonso is a great player, no doubt, and he'd be great at Arsenal, but if we don't get him it isn't going to make me dread every match day. When you read daily batches of shit from sites like Le-Grove and other blogs that clearly hate themselves as well as just watching football for the fun of it then it is sometimes hard to be optimistic about anything with the club, but we must push on.

Maybe the reason the noise in the stadium is an issue is because too many fans don't really look forward to being there. As someone who hasn't ever gotten to go, I can tell you that when I do get there I'll be fully dressed in red and white and will be signing every Arsenal song I know the whole match, because that's how I support this team, not by bitching about off season transfers and complaining about an incompetent manager. Instead of singing about how greedy Adebayor is, maybe we should try cheering our own players to encourage them to perform for the club? What a novel idea! At the end of the day we all (supposedly) support Arsenal, and should always support Arsenal. I'm not a fan of Arsene Wenger, or Cesc Fabregas, or Gael Clichy, or Kolo Toure ahead of being an Arsenal fan. If any of those guys ever left the club, I'd still be here supporting Arsenal. So why are we getting oh so upset about our team instead of looking forward to another successful season?

My point is that I'm sick of everyone being down on Arsenal and feeling like the season is a wash already. Are you supporters or not? If so, then you should be happy the season has arrived, happy we won the first match 1-0, and thinking that with a little bit of luck, maybe we can bring home that title to the Emirates. And for those of you that continue on with your downtrodden attitudes about the club you "support," I know for a fact that Chelsea still has lots of tickets available, so please go park yourself in one of those seats.

Cheers.

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 On The Way Out...Finally

Morning all, or afternoon depending where you are. Amazingly, I have been struck by illness yet again and so decided to sleep for a very long time indeed. So when I awoke, I was surprised to see that Alexander Hleb appears to have been sold. Now this has not been confirmed on Arsenal.com but Barcelona seem to feel like the deal is done and dusted.

Apparently the offer is 12.5 million pounds plus an additional 2.5 million in add ons if he meets the incentives. Setanta Sports says that Hleb will likely take a medical this weekend and sign during next week to make it official.

Honestly if/when he does go I'll be quite happy. That'll give us more money than we spent on him originally and we're getting a player in Samir Nasri that can score more goals and hopefully will do all the things that Hleb hasn't done, like pass and shoot. It's a good bit of business by Arsenal here, because the player clearly wanted to go, so getting back all that we paid for him is great work by the club. Is anyone really too sad to see Hleb go for 12 million? I don't know how you could be. 10 goals in 3 years is not good enough. We need wingers that can score at Arsenal a la Pires, Ljungburg, etc. Nasri can hopefully be that man.

As for Adebayor, we'll throw out one interesting bit if true...Arsenal News Review says the club have stopped printing Adebayor shirts. I have no information that will tell me if that's true or not but take it for what you will.

Kerrea Gilbert has joined Leicester City on loan for the whole upcoming season. I remember him playing in the first team a couple of years ago when we had loads of injuries but not much has been heard of him since. I guess the club still regards him as a good upcoming player though or I don't think they'd bother loaning him out, they would just release him.

Arsenal Analysis keeps us up to date on the Gilberto Silva transfer situation, and it looks like he may indeed leave the club this summer. The question is, where will he go? It looked like he may head to Greece but now Ajax appear to have entered the picture. I think it would be a big loss for us if we sold Gilberto this summer. I think this must mean that we have a holding midfielder lined up to come in or else Wenger is really convinced that Diaby or Denilson can do the job. Guess we'll wait and see.

Alright that's all I've got. Cesc Fabregas was named the Arsenal.com player of the season, not surprisingly. And if you didn't see the post yesterday we're having a Premier League Fantasy League competition. The winner will probably receive a home Arsenal shirt or something similar, so join now!

1: Go to http://premierfantasy.soccernet.com/

2: Click on Register and go through the registration and team selection process - it's totally free to play

3: Once you are on your team line-up page click on Mini League and type the following information in the Join A Mini League boxes:

League Name: ArseNole Premier League
Password: arsenal

Cheers folks!

Cesc Speaks About Hleb and Adebayor, Senna Linked

Morning all. Sorry I haven't been updating as recently as I'd like, I've just been really busy lately.

So Samir Nasri hasn't been officially signed yet, which makes my prediction from two days ago wrong. I'm positive he will sign though, but I am going to stop predicting when. I would assume it will be this week but every other time anyone has guessed it's turned out to be wrong so I'll just wait until it's officially announced. Marseille's president seems to agree with me.

Setanta Sports reports that Pascal Cygan has heard about Arsenal's interest in his team mate Marcos Senna of Villareal. I wouldn't understand that move at all. People say Gilberto is too old at 32 but Marcos Senna is 31. That's certainly not a typical Arsenal signing. He's a good player and all but how much do you shell out for a 31 year old? He was sensational in Euro 2008 but in my opinion he's too old and I can't imagine that Arsene is really interested in him.


In other BS stories, Adebayor's agent says that his client is not greedy. HA! You're having a laugh.

“Emmanuel is a man of heart, not of money. He is not greedy. He is a kid from the street, has sensibilities and is humble.

“If this was a money problem, then he would have asked to leave. I know that Arsenal’s political position is that they don’t pay high salaries.”

“It is important for Emmanuel that Arsenal show their motivation to keep him,” Courbis said. “Whatever they will decide, the decision will be taken with respect.”

Well if this isn't about money, then what were all those statements a few days ago about how he deserves to be compensated the same as Thierry Henry was at Arsenal? Why would he be interested in a move to Milan (who have pulled out of the race to sign him) who aren't even in the Champion's League next year? I think he's all about the money. He pretty much said that when he said he needed to start thinking about his retirement already. His agent is a twat.

Cesc spoke about Adebayor and Hleb and said he hopes to see them both when he arrives for preseason training. It's tempting for me to say, well since Cesc wants them both to stay I should want them to stay too, but I just can't. I think it would be awkward for them to come back at this point. When you make all the statements that Hleb and Ade's agents made you don't just walk back all happy into the locker room and everyone think the same about you. Players want to know that all the other players are just as committed to giving 100% as they are. You think Kolo Toure or Gilberto, who never complain about money, are going to be really happy with these two? They won't say anything about it because it's not their style but I can't see Kolo especially being thrilled with them. Kolo remember came to Arsenal in very much the same way as Ade. The both were born in Africa and ended up at Arsenal for fairly small transfer fees because they were not developed players. Arsene made them into what they are now. Kolo has been here since 2002 and not looked for a move, Ade has been here for 2 years and now he's ready to bail when people finally think he's a good player.

All I can say is if they do stay I hope it doesn't really upset the locker room chemistry, because that would be a far worse problem than not bringing in Samir Nasri on time or losing Mathieu Flamini.

Goonerholic's article is great today. I think the transfer season would still be a lot better without newsnow honestly. People just sitting there watching it all day, waiting for Nasri to sign, it's terrible.

That's all I've got today because I've got to go prepare for the second podcast which we should be doing today! So look forward to that, and remember that we have arrived in the month where we start the preseason, so we have something to look forward to! Cheers!

Nasri Finally Signs, The ArseNole Turns One

Ok so it took a lot longer than we all expected, but Samir Nasri is finally an Arsenal player. Sky Sports is reporting the fee at a massive 15.8 million quid, which is a lot more than I expected, and also makes me wonder if they really know what they are talking about. Arsenal almost always signs people on "undisclosed fees."

However, this signing has not yet been confirmed on Arsenal.com. I'm basing this headline on the fact that generally Sky Sports is a respectable news source who doesn't usually make things up just to get people to read. For those of you that are skeptical, I have heard from several sources that he will be taking pictures with his Arsenal shirt this week. It was also confirmed on Nasri's official website, but it seems that the site has now been taken offline...interesting.

Are you all really excited and satisfied that Wenger knows how to manage a football club now? For all of you out there giving him shite about taking a holiday and not signing anyone, well we've now signed two players in less than 2 weeks, even while the Euro's are going on, so piss off. I can't even get that excited about the Nasri signing because of all these wankers that bitch and moan every day about how this club is going down the tube. Go support Chelsea you glory hunting arseclowns. Here's a story for your type about us trying to sign Messi and Henry. It's completely made up so you'll probably like it.

Yeah I don't know where that rant came from. I know it's so terrible of me to think that our manager knows what he's doing. But I'll lay off the coffee.

Disclaimer - For those of you that actually think Wenger does know what he's doing and realize we won't sign every player on the planet, that rant does not apply to you.

As for the Euros yesterday, it was supposed to be a great one with Spain vs Italy. It wasn't great at all. Luca Toni started the whole tournament for Italy and couldn't get one goal. Great return from "one of the best target men in the world." Italy never really had any attacks, and Spain were mostly limited to long range attempts that weren't ever really going to cause Buffon any problems. The one part of the match I did enjoy (other than the ending) was seeing the two best keepers in the world in the same game. They are both absolutely fantastic keepers. It would be nice if we could somehow discover the next Buffon in our youth academy.

But anyways, the match ended 0-0 and had to go to penalties. Spain won 4-2, with Cesc Fabregas netting the winning penalty against Buffon. It was incredible and I honestly cheered. I hope Spain win it all. It'd be great to see Cesc get that trophy. I think he may get to start next match but you know how Aragones is, the old twat. We'll have to wait and see.


The new Arsenal squad numbers are out for this coming season, and there are only a few new ones so far. Aaron Ramsey will be wearing number 16, so it does indeed like he'll immediately be a part of the first team. Manuel Almunia has moved up and taken the number 1 shirt from Mad Jens, who of course has signed with Stuttgart. Carlos Vela, the Mexican prodigy and future Arsenal hero, has chosen number 12. That was Lauren's number. I miss Lauren. He was my favorite. Other than that everyone has stayed the same, which means Samir Nasri can choose between numbers 8, 14, 18, 23, 28, and 29. I'm betting on him picking number 8. You watch.

Speaking of numbers you can pre-order the new kit now. I actually just pre-ordered mine right now. I got Bacary Sagna on it. Are you getting a new kit? If so, who are you getting on it? Vela or Ramsey would be a nice one...although I wouldn't get Alexander Hleb or Adebayor just yet...

Last for today is a nice article on Vito Mannone, who has just been promoted to the first team squad. Congrats Vito, be that next Buffon.


Now is my moment to talk about my website's birthday.

I missed it while I was out of town but on June 18th the ArseNole turned one year old. How crazy is that? When I first wrote I had no contacts and no readers, I just wanted to write about Arsenal. Now a year later we have some frequent readers, some up and coming forums, a podcast, and loads more. If that same kind of improvement happens in this next year then who knows what this site can become. I want to thank you all. Those who read, who comment, who post in the forums, who tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, who clearly know more about it than I do, and those who have made the past year of writing this fun. Everyone have a Guiness to celebrate, and here's to many more years of The ArseNole!

Lots of Carlos Vela

Morning all. Decent amount of stuff to cover today so let's get right to it because I've got to mow the grass. I don't know how the weather is over in London but right here in Florida my thermometer currently says 99 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know what that is in Celsius but let me tell you it is way too hot to be mowing the grass. End of story.

As you know Carlos Vela is an Arsenal player, and he's also Mexican. Giovanni dos Santos is now a Sp*rs player, and is Vela's friend from the Mexican team. So when the press asked Carlos about his friend moving to Tottenham, he had the absolute perfect answer:

"I am happy for him, he is a very good player and let's hope he can then move on to a better team."

That's just what we need to here from you Carlos, truly a legend in the making. Clearly he knows that Tottenham is a second (or maybe third or fourth) rate club and he's hoping his mate can get out of that scum pit as fast as possible.

In other Carlos news, he's apparently been arrested in Chicago for listening to his music too loudly in the hotel. It was after their 4-0 victory over Peru in the early hours of the morning when they were jamming to Julieta Venegas. They were asked to turn the music down twice but they didn't so the police were called. Oswaldo Sanchez argued with the police and they were taken into custody. Vela was released without any charges this morning while Sanchez was given a $1,000 fine and a court date. Oh and if you didn't see Vela's goal against Peru you can see it here. It's the third one for Mexico in the game and it reminds me a lot of Adebayor's third versus Derby at the end of this last season.

There's another link saying that Adebayor is going to AC Milan but I won't even cover that. I've already said that I think he's staying. He's already come out twice and said that he loves the club and wants to win trophies here next season. We might as well take him at his word. I don't think Ade has met with AC Milan representatives at all. Maybe his agent has or something because that's just what agents do, but I'd imagine that Adebayor is sipping Togolese cocktails somewhere and enjoying the time off. Nobody deserves it more.

There is a follow up to yesterday's Aaron Ramsey story, with Ramsey explaining why he chose Arsenal instead of ManUre. It followed up with some good quotes from him about having to work hard to break into the first team and all of that. Cardiff seems pretty pissed about him not going to United, I guess they really wanted him back for next season on loan. I know I said I don't go by Youtube videos to rate players, but honestly I want to see SOMETHING on this kid. Does anyone honestly know anything about him? I have no idea what he can bring to the table and even a highlight clip right now would suit me. So if you are a youtube master go ahead and make a video. Thanks.

Udinese have told Arsene Wenger that if he really wants Cristian Zapata he's really going to have to bring the pain. Or at least 16 million quid. That's a lot for a defender, I don't care who it is. Can't we fing some 21 year old that nobody knows about that will only cost about 5 million quid? That's way more of the Wenger mold plus it leaves us more money to sign a really brilliant player. No I'm not talking about Samir Nasri, who I'm not all that excited about, I'm talking about the brilliant David Villa. If we let Liverpool get him, I'm going to have to kill someone. Possibly Fernando Torres. Imagine those two playing together every week though. It's a potential nightmare. I couldn't tell you if Liverpool can afford Villa or not, but the rumors say that he'd like to go play with Torres and that would be a scary, scary proposition. Cesc wants him though, and you know how the boss likes to keep his star players happy, so maybe, just maybe...


Alright that's about it. I can't find much else that is of any significance or relevance. Phillipe Senderos plays for Switzerland today. Let's hope he does better than he did last game. Congratulations to Cesc Fabregas for getting his first goal for Spain, and we'll hope for many more to come. I've got a new thing just for fun. On the right you'll see the funny picture of the day. I'll try to find a new one to put up every day. If you like it then chuckle a bit and if you don't tell me to piss off. And another quick thing, since Barca is doing a clear-out...what about Andres Iniesta? Cheers.

Arsenal Have Signed Aaron Ramsey

Morning all. Quite surprising news this morning tells us that we have signed Cardiff's Aaron Ramsey. I don't think the deal has been finalized but it is by the BBC and they don't usually completely make up stories like some other papers and websites. It's 5 million quid, straight up, according to reports and comments from Cardiff.

As you probably know, Arsenal flew out Aaron and his agent to Switzerland to meet with Arsene Wenger and they gave him the VIP treatment. He had the choice to sign with Everton, Manchester United or Arsenal and it looks now like he's chosen the Gunners.

Cardiff seems genuinely disappointed by the news, as they were clearly favoring him moving to Manchester United. This would have allowed him to be loaned back to Cardiff for next season. Check out some of these quotes:

"It is a very straightforward, no strings attached £5m cash offer - simple.

"We felt that Manchester United equalled it because it included a loan back option."

So that covers the cost of the player, which I thought would be higher honestly, based on appearances and the like, similar to Theo's deal when we signed him from Southampton. As for the confirmation that he is coming, Cardiff released a statement saying this:

"Cardiff City were informed on Tuesday morning that Aaron Ramsey's preferred destination this summer is the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal.

"We will now continue the dialogue with the Gunners with a view to Aaron's move being completed.

"The move, unlike other options, does not include a loan back period at Ninian Park for the 2008/09 season."

So it really looks like he's coming and I suppose now would be the time that I should start getting excited about him. I really thought he would be off to Man United but it appears he is not, in fact, a huge cunt. Ramsey's desire to move to the Emirates has even been put up on the Cardiff official website.

I'll admit right now that I've seen him play about 20 minutes in my entire life. I know he's 17 and he's obviously a huge prospect, but can someone that has seen him play (maybe a Cardiff supporter happens along here today?) tell us more about him? I don't trust YouTube videos but I haven't seen any for him anyway.

In other quick news, Spain and Russia are just now kicking off and Cesc Fabregas isn't in the starting lineup. I'm pissed. Go Russia.

And for Euro 2008, an Austrian Brewery has offered a lifetime of free beer to any Austrian player who scores the first goal for the country in the tournament. I think that would provide extra motivation for anybody! Cheers.

Cesc to Get New Deal, Kolo Toure Review

Morning all. Sorry I didn't get anything up yesterday but there was just about nothing for news and I just really wasn't up for it. My Under 7's finished our season today with a 5-1 win so that was good news, but the bad news is that now with no Arsenal and no team to coach football is officially over for a couple of months. But enough about that, we'll get on with the Arsenal.

Carlos Vela will be on his way to Arsenal for the start of next season, and Arsene Wenger says that they have applied for his work permit. Carlos has played at Osasuna all season, and he has played fairly well on the left wing, but Arsene says he will be used as a striker at Arsenal, and compared him to Eduardo. I wouldn't be surprised however, if Rosicky isn't healthy, to see Carlos get some games on the left wing.

Cesc Fabregas is set to sign a new deal, just 2 years after signing his 8 year contract. We don't want to take any chances after what happened with Flamini and what could happen with Hleb, and nobody deserves a new deal more than Cesc. He's going to be making the most money on the team, which he should, and it just shows that Arsene didn't think Flamini was so irreplaceable because he'll break the wage structure for Cesc just like he did with Thierry.

Arsene Wenger has tipped Alexander Song as the next great Arsenal centre-back. He did well in the last few games of the season but I hardly think he's at the level where we'd put him in against Man United or Chelsea and feel comfortable. Imagine Drogba versus Song...

There isn't that much else for news so we'll just get on with the transfer news/rumors.

Several sources are reporting that Diego would be the preferred target if Hleb were to leave this summer. He's a 23 year old attacking midfielder playing for Werder Bremen. He really is a quality player. However, he is not the answer to Hleb leaving. He is a central midfielder that plays behind the strikers, not a right winger. He is a great player but we want an out and out winger, not another player who is going to come inside and take away all of our width. If he is used the right way, I'm all for bringing Diego in, but if not then let's not bother.

Samir Nasri has also been linked with us as our "creative player" that Arsene said he wants to bring in this summer. He's a good player as well by what I have seen but since I do not watch the French league I only get to see highlights, which is what everyone is going by when they say he's amazing.

We've also been linked with Aaron Ramsey of Cardiff, who is playing today in the FA Cup Final. He's a young winger who people think very highly of. He's valued at 5 million pounds and supposedly Arsenal and Manchester United are both after him. Update: Portsmouth have just won the FA cup with former Gunner Kanu scoring the winner.

So now for our player review on Kolo Toure.


In the Past: Kolo is currently Arsenal's longest serving player, having joined the club in 2002 for only 150,000 pounds. What a buy that turned out to be. He started his career as an attacking midfielder but Arsene moved him to center back to partner Sol Campbell at the start of the 2004/2004 season. It turned out to be a great partnership because we ended up going unbeaten that season and won the league. Since Sol left our center back combinations have been missing the strength and height that Sol brought combined with the speed and agility Kolo has. The two were great together and Kolo became an essential part of the squad. He has started at center back ever since.

This Season: Toure has been partnering for a good part of the year with William Gallas. While they can both be considered elite defenders, they have not formed a good partnership in central defense. Most people think it is because the players are too similar as neither is especially good at marking the taller, stronger forwards in the league. Kolo has scored some goals this year, most notably against Middlesbrough to equalize late in the game and also on a free-kick against Bolton. He's had to play at right back for the last month of the season due to the injury to Bakary Sagna. He suffered an injury at the African Cup of Nations in January and seemed to be slow to find his feet upon his return, so Philippe Senderos took his place during that time.

Next Season: Kolo Toure to me should be the next Captain of Arsenal. I personally think he is a better option in the middle than Gallas is and with a taller, stronger back next to him I think we would be able to return to the defensive strength we had when he partnered Sol Campbell. Toure is one of most experienced players, and is a world class defender. I expect him to have a great season next year, and hopefully he is not removed from the starting eleven when a new center back is brought in.

That's about all I've got today. Remember to email or leave a comment if you have any ideas for the podcast, and I'll try to get something together tomorrow. Cheers.

Wenger Loves Eboue, Fabregas Review

Morning all. I'm right tired this morning honestly so this one may not be as long as usual. It sucks not having any matches to look forward to. Can you believe it thought this blog is almost one year old now. Next month will be one whole year. Ridiculous.

Arsene Wenger enlightened all of us who were baffled as to how he could keep playing Eboue on the wing. He said that you cannot only go by assists and goals but by how the team plays and how many team goals and chances there are. He said Eboue brings defensive balance to an offensive side, but I'd say he's lost his mind. He compared Eboue to Ray Parlour saying that Parlour didn't score many goals on the right side either. First of all, Parlour scored more than Eboue does for sure, plus he was just a better f'ing player Arsene! Also, Parlour was a central midfielder so I don't know what on Earth Wenger is talking about. Moral of the story is that now we know why Wenger plays Eboue, because he thinks that he's the new Ray Parlour. You're an idiot Arsene (in this case).

For those of you interested in what happened during the recording of The Cesc Fabregas Show, there is a good report on it here. Basically he won new kits for the enitre audience, answered questions, talked about his past, said the goal against AC Milan was his most important goal, and said he would like David Villa at Arsenal. Yes, he really said that. He was asked if he could bring back one player with him from the Euro's who would it be, and he said David Villa. Would be nice Cesc.

Gael Clichy is reportedly very close to signing a new 4 year extension on his contract, which is great news. Sagna and Clichy have both been reported to be getting new contracts and as we have seen with Hleb and Flamini, it's really important for us to tie down our best players for as long as possible.

"We're at the end of our discussions," Clichy told www.francefootball.fr. "Everything's going well because my intention is clear: I want to stay at Arsenal."

Now that attitude is just what we want to hear! Just one more reason of many to love Clichy. He continued to say that he'd love to stay at Arsenal for a long time and leave a mark on the club like Vieira and Henry.

There have been reports of Emmanuel Adebayor wanting to go to Milan and Madrid, and recently they have been Barcelona. Ade again shot those down with a response on Arsenal.com.

I don’t know why people want to put words in my mouth. As I said on Friday, I love Arsenal and I will be here next season. I am off to Togo tomorrow but will return to Arsenal for pre-season training in July.

I feel for the guy. I wish the Spanish press wasn't as bad every transfer season. We lose one star striker to Barcelona and the very next summer they're after another striker of ours. Ade wants to stay thought so we won't have any Henry-like departures for Barca this year.

Mad Jens is in the news again, and he's talking about Manuel Almunia yet again. This time it's actually nice though, telling him not to take anything personally and that the competition in the past year will help Manuel to improve. He said if he sees him in the summer or anytime after he can shake his hand and there will be no problem between them. That's good to hear because I was sure Jens wanted to murder Almunia last year.

Ok so now time for round three of player reviews, starring Cesc Fabregas.

In the Past: Fabregas came to Arsenal in 2003 after starting as a youth at Barcelona. Wenger snapped him up when he was sixteen and put him in the Youth Academy. He was something of a prodigy though and made his first appearance on October 23rd, 2003 in the League Cup versus Rotherham United. This made him Arsenal's youngest ever player at sixteen years, 177 days. He became the youngest goalscorer not long after in a win against Wolves that same season. Once Patrick Vieira left, Fabregas really got to shine in the first team, with the climax of the transition coming in the Champion's League when we were drawn against Juventus and Cesc completely out shined the former Gunners captain. In 2006/2007 he made 13 assists in the league which was good enough for second in that category. He was also named Arsenal's Player of the Season that year and was named in the UEFA Team of the Year.

This Season: This season Fabregas had, by most people's opinions, his best season as a footballer. He won the O2 Player of the Month award for the first three months of the season while chalking up many goals for a player that hadn't scored many for us in the past. He made 45 total appearances, scoring 13 goals and making 24 assists, 19 of those coming in the league, which is tops. He was at his best earlier in the season, when he was putting in goals almost every match. He stepped up in big moments as well, scoring the decisive goal in the San Siro to beat AC Milan in the Champion's League, the only English team to ever win against them there.


Next Season: Fabregas is the essential part of our team that we can't play without right now. If you watch matches where he isn't playing the movement seems to be off as well as the pace of the attacks. He dictates almost the entire game for Arsenal and his passing skill allows us to play our high pace, passing style. The day we lost Cesc Fabregas is a sad, sad day indeed. For now though, he is still only 21 years old and (scarily for other teams) he will keep on improving. I expect him yet again to be our best player in the coming season and to be the key in our drive for trophies. Keep it up Lord Fabregas.

One last note, I'm still looking for contributers for the upcoming ArseNole podcast. If you would like to co-host with me I am looking for one and if anyone can think of anything funny or interesting to put on there that would be great. Just add it on the comments, forums, or email me, ArseNole@arsenole.com