No Signings for Arsenal? Wenger Says No To Inler

Don't you know about the bird? Everybody knows that the bird is the word. What's up everyone? Not a whole lot going on today. The main story is that Jack Wilshere signed a pro deal, but I already posted that three days ago so that isn't even news. The other big news is that it was my dad's birthday yesterday. So how could there possibly be any more news than those two stories?

Well, there isn't much, but in transfer news, Arsene Wenger is no longer interested in Udinese's Gokhan Inler. When asked if he was interested in him, Wenger responded with a pretty blunt, "Yes, in the summer. But not anymore." I don't think you can get more clear than that. I have no idea what has made him not want him anymore, but I think you can rule him out of the transfer targets.

Wenger's interview went on with a scary thought however.

"At the moment I feel that if we do add somebody, we need to add somebody who has a special class because we have good players.

"Take a player like (Aaron) Ramsey. They show that they grow. Of course they still show lapses, a lack of experience, but they have quality and they can grow quickly."

This is not good. It's showing yet again that Arsene thinks that signing ANYBODY would stunt the development of the young players. Aaron Ramsey is facking 17 though! Can't he develop in the reserves like all the rest of the 17 year olds? We clearly need a midfielder and he's kind of saying he won't buy one just because we have young players. It's completely ridiculous and while I love Ramsey and I think he'll be very good for us one day, today isn't that day. I suppose he won't buy a winger because that might stunt Little Jack's growth and he won't buy a defender because of course we have the defensive stalwart Havard Nordtveit coming through. It's nothing against all the young players it's just that right now they aren't good enough to play regularly for a team like Arsenal. How can we expect to win when it's Deco or Gerrard against Ramsey? Maybe that will work in 3-4 years but not right now.

We need to make some signings, and I think everyone with the possible exception of Arsene Wenger knows it. It's a scary proposition to think of no players coming in this transfer window, because nobody knows exactly what "special class" means to Wenger. We know he won't spend big so it isn't going to be an established world class player, so who could it be? Read the first sentence of his quote, it says "If we DO add somebody." If? There shouldn't be an if. With Cesc out, and Theo out, and the defense playing badly, how can you look at the team and say we shouldn't bring somebody in?

I love Arsene Wenger, but in the case that nobody is brought in during this transfer window, when Champions League qualification is really in jeapordy, then serious questions have to be asked about the direction he is leading this club. He has brought us to new heights but now we are falling from those heights because of a lack of quality in the squad. A squad that Wenger seems very reluctant to improve. Stubborness will get you nowhere in this business and sometimes you have to be able to admit that your plan has failed. Come on Wenger, bring in some new players and let's right this ship.

Champions League football for next year should be the paramount goal for the rest of the season. In order to do that we need Villa to slip and we have to be better than we have been so far this year. I think we can do it with a few of the right players brought in. Let's pull it together Arsenal and get the job done.

Cheers all.

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.

Arsenal-FC Twente Preview

Doomsday has arrived. At least that's what a lot of you seem to think, that the start of the season is a horrible time because Arsenal haven't strengthened enough and we'll never win another trophy. Personally though I'm really happy the real matches start tomorrow evening. We've got the 3rd round Champions League match versus FC Twente of the Dutch league, who are managed by Steve Mcclaren. And you know what? We'll probably win. Even if we don't, it isn't the end of the world. A draw on the road in your first match of the season wouldn't be a bad result at all. I have a feeling if that does happen though that everyone will come out and act like it's the worst result in the history of Arsenal Football Club.

A quick look at the injury situation and we've got Kolo Toure, Phillippe Senderos, Samir Nasri, Abou Diaby, Cesc Fabregas, and of course Rosicky and Eduardo all out of this match. It does leave us a bit short-handed for this match, but we'll make do.

Let's look at the probable lineup for Arsenal:

Almunia
Sagna-Djourou-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Denilson-Ramsey-Vela
RvP-Adebayor.

It's a very young midfield to be sure but Ramsey and Denilson have looked a decent pairing so far and I think Vela and Walcott will do a good job on the wings. Of course our two strikers are world class so that will help out the youngsters in the midfield. Djourou has looked decent in preseason, but not great. We'll get to see what he's made of in this match, but it's always good when you have full backs like Clichy and Sagna helping you out. The main thing with Johann is going to be his communication with Bill Gallas. When they played together in preseason the communication wasn't there and they didn't work well together. They need to talk and be on the same page and they are both capable of doing well.

I think Denilson will prove his doubters wrong tomorrow. A couple days ago I said he should be the one starting next to Cesc and got blasted for it of course because "he's not strong in the tackle." He'll show that he can tackle I think, and not only that but I wouldn't be surprised to see him lay on an assist as well. We bought Aaron Ramsey because Arsene intended to play him, and now he's getting his chance. You don't spend 5 million pounds on someone you don't think can play, so if Arsene thinks he can play then who are we to say he isn't ready to start?

Robin van Persie talks about how important this match is and how we must get into the Champions League. He's absolutely right, but it doesn't all have to be done this match. There are two legs to this fixture.

I think the final score will be 2-1 to Arsenal, and I think Adebayor and van Persie will both get one. We'll probably go down a goal but we'll fight back. I'm sure you will all be sure to tell me how wrong I am though if that isn't correct. You love doing that so much.

So that's about it. I'm really looking forward to the match and like I said, if we don't have a blinding performance, please remember it's on the road in the first match of the season against a team we hardly ever face. It's going to be fairly difficult. Keep the faith fans.

Oh to be a Gooner!

Arsenal.com got a makeover, it looks nice I have to say.

The ArseNole Podcast - Episode 3

Morning everyone. The ArseNole's 200th post is also the post for the third ArseNole Podcast. I know you're all so excited, and so am I. Joaquin and i recorded it during the first half of the Stuttgart match yesterday. The sound quality should be better than the last time but we're still trying to improve it every time we do it. Comments and feedback are much appreciated and you can send any comments or topics you want us to talk about to ArseNole@{removethis}arsenole.com. Thanks for listening and please comment!


You can listen to the podcast here, or you can download the podcast here, or you can subscribe using iTunes by clicking here. Or just visit the podcast page and catch up on the previous ones here.

Cheers!

Szombathelyi H. v Arsenal Match Preview

Morning all. It's hard to write up match previews for these friendlies because there isn't shite for news before them. You can't find starting lineups, you can't find anything on the other team, and the manager doesn't speak before them. But we're going to throw one out here anyway because I'm just that nice.

Today's game could possibly bring about the debut of Mr. Samir Nasri, who I am very excited about seeing. He just got into training yesterday so I can't be sure that he'll play but I would think he'll get some amount of time today. Depending on his injury status we could also get to see Carlos Vela make his friendly debut. I think it'd be cool to see Nasri on one wing and Vela on the other today at the same time. That would be an exciting combination. I think they both primarily play on the left though so that may not happen, along with the fact that Arsene Wenger said Vela is more of an Eduardo type forward than a winger.

The rest of the squad is also back in training (not sure about Cesc), so we could also see the return of Robin van Persie, Phillippe Senderos, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas and others. Cesc I think might have gotten a longer break because Spain going so far in the Euros, and I'm not sure what Adebayor's status is really.

I'd expect the lineups to be stronger overall than against Barnet but I think it'll probably be a game of two completely different halves again, since Arsene won't want to work the players for a full 90 minutes yet. I think Aaron Ramsey should get some more good playing time, which is good for him and us, because he's fun to watch.

Pat Rice spoke about the preseason in Austria and explained why Arsenal go to Austria instead of going on a long summer tour:

"What happens is whenever we get there, we have a block of about nine days," explained assistant manager Pat Rice earlier this summer.

"Obviously that is interspersed with a few games but this is when we can get some good, hard pre-season training into the players which will help them and make sure they are in good shape for all of the season. Not just the start of the season but the whole campaign.

"Some managers think there is no problem with that [long-distance summer tours] but we are not one of the clubs who go down that route.

"Our Austria training camp has proved very successful for us for the coming seasons because we have always been in the top four and we think the preparations we get there is good for our young players."

Thanks Pat for that quality information. If you want more information on Szombathelyi you can find out here.

And that's about it. That's probably the worst match preview I've ever written but I'm sorry there's really not much information about the match ahead of time. I'll go out on a limb and pick 3-0 to the Arsenal. Time to go watch the match. Cheers.

Arsenal 2-1 Barnet Match Report

Our first preseason friendly is done and dusted, and while it certainly wasn't Arsenal at their best, we did get the job done eventually. It was great to see so many youngsters along with some of the veterans, plus our new signings Ramsey and Coquelin on display. Carlos Vela was not included in the squad, presumably due to some type of injury.

In the first half we went with the more experienced lineup, and also saw Aaron Ramsey make his debut in midfield. The lineup looked like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Nordtveit-J. Hoyte-Clichy
Lansbury-Ramsey-Denilson-Traore
Bendtner-Walcott

It was good to see Sagna back after his injury and while he didn't have his best game he did get forward a lot and provided crosses but we just couldn't convert any of them.

At the start of the game Arsenal had a lot of the ball, and we had a chance pretty early when Ramsey played a great ball through to Bendtner who really should have done better with the chance. He took a bad touch and tried to play it back but couldn't get anything behind his pass.

This seemed to be a continuing theme throughout the first half, Bendtner getting chances and just not being able to put any of them away. His whole game really looked to be off as his passing wasn't very good either. Walcott didn't give him much help though as he seemed drift in and out of the game.

In the fifteenth minute Arsenal gave away a free kick in a dangerous position because of a foul I believe against Havard Nordtveit. Barnet took the kick brilliantly to beat the wall and Manuel Almunia to give Barnet a surprise 1-0 lead. They certainly hadn't had much of the possession and the goal was against the run of play, but they took advantage of the chances, which Arsenal hadn't done so far.

Aaron Ramsey looks to be a wonderful signing already. He completely controlled the midfield for the first half, showed great awareness and ability on the ball. He always seemed comfortable, even under pressure, and his passing was precise. He looks like he could be (forgive me for the reference) the new Cesc Fabregas. I'd say he was the best player on the park for the first half. After the game however, when asked about Ramsey's performance he said simply that Aaron "looked tired but works hard in training." He must not agree with my thoughts on his performance.

Unfortunately though Arsenal were unable to create much in the way of chances in the first half and went in at the half 1-0 down.

The start of the second half saw us make 11 substitutions, so I'll try to remember them all.

Mannone
Ogogo-Rodgers-G. Hoyte-Steer
Wilshere-Randall-Coquelin-Barazite
Simpson-Fonte

So it was a complete change to the side and it was a team full of youngsters, plus the debut of another new signing in Francis Coquelin.

The youngsters started a bit sloppily at the beginning of the half, giving some passes away and looking a bit shaky sometimes in possession but they got into form soon enough. Jay Simpson for me looked particularly impressive, making good runs and mixing his passes well.

It wasn't long before we had equalized. Jack Wilshere, who was brilliant (he's the type of player that I get excited every time he gets the ball) fed a beautiful pass to Jay Simpson, who was making a run into the box. Simpson hit it first time and sent it into the back of the net. It was a great shot that the keeper would have done very well to save. 1-1 was the score and Arsenal were looking for more.

The second goal also involved Wilshere. He fed Jay Simpson running through the middle who sent a perfect ball across to the left side of the box which Nacer Barazite met first time and sent into the bottom right corner of the net, past the onrushing Barnet keeper. 2-1 to the Arsenal and looking much better.

The rest of the match was pretty uneventful. Arsenal were content to keep the ball and Barnet didn't really have much going forward. They did have a free kick right outside of the box with about 8 minutes to go but they wasted it.

So the match ended 2-1 to Arsenal and while it wasn't the best performance by the regular starters, the youngsters came in and got the job done, which was great to see.

Man of the Match: Jack Wilshere, closely followed by Jay Simpson. Wilshere is already a master of the pass even though he is the youngest player on the pitch. His awareness going forward and willingness to run at defenders is exceptional and he's a player that is very exciting for the future. Hopefully Arsene will keep him grounded so his potential doesn't get to his head, but I'd expect to see him in some Carling Cup games this year.

Needs Work: Just the team's sharpness as a whole. Bendtner and Walcott looked extremely rusty but that will come with time.

Arsene's Post Game Comments: He is VERY adamant that Emmanuel Adebayor will not be leaving. He said after the match that his is a very different situation than Hleb's was and will not be leaving under any circumstances. So it would be a good time for Adebayor to start rebuilding the ties with the team. Arsene was asked about which players were likely to be included in the first team squad and would only say that "a few of them" would be included but gave no names.

I'm really looking forward to the next preseason game. It's quite exciting to see all the youngsters get to play. Lots to talk about so let's hear your comments about the match and Arsene's comments. Cheers!

Can't Wait For the Barnet Match!

It's now 12 minutes from kick off and I have to tell you that I am super excited. It's been far too long since I've gotten up and thrown on the Arsenal kit to watch a match. I'll have a match report up right after the match with full reports on young Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do! Ramsey and Denilson are starting in the midfield so we should get to see a lot of him.

Cheers

Update: It's 1-0 to Barnet after 15 minutes. They scored off a wonderful free kick. Carlos Vela has not been included in the squad for some reason, which I am not sure of. Francis Coquelin has been sent on for the start of the second half so I'll have a full report on his play, as well as Jack Wilshere. Ramsey has looked good, Hoyte and Bendtner have looked not so good.

Xabi Alonso To Arsenal, Hleb Confirmed By Barca

Morning all, how's it going? I'm super so that's good. Let's get right down to it. Did you see AC Milan finally signed Ronaldinho? Imagine two years ago if Ronaldinho and Kaka were in the same squad. How unfair would that have been? Now that Ronny has fallen off a bit though it's not as daunting. Still should be fun to watch though. The signing does mean that AC Milan will have no more signings, which means no chance for Adebayor to go there. Sucks for him as Barca haven't got any money left either.

So on to Arsenal where we have a couple of interesting bits today. First off is Alexander Hleb who is in Barcelona right now and will have his medical at 7 pm. He should be unveiled by the club officially tomorrow, but they have confirmed it already on their website. Looks like the fee is going to be 12 million pounds, which is more than we paid for him even though he's now 3 years older so I'm quite happy about that, it more than pays for Samir Nasri's transfer and leaves us with more money to spend. On the move, Hleb said:

'It is a dream. I love this team. I will give my best. I have spoken with (Barcelona coach Pep) Guardiola and for me it is very important that he wants me, and I will give my best for the team and I want to win everything with Barca.'

So did you hear? Hleb's going to give his best. He didn't say it enough times in that statement so I read between the lines and figured it out. I'm so happy Barcelona are wasting their money on Hleb, because the more I think about it, the more I realize just how useless he is and how I'd much rather have Nasri and Walcott on the wings. It'd be really nice if we played them in the Champion's League too. We would undoubtedly win and then we could laugh and laugh at how he still won't be winning any trophies. Wanker.


In the search for a new defensive midfielder we've seen Arsenal linked with a ton of names, but now a new one has cropped up: Xabi Alonso. And why not? Liverpool don't want Alonso and they need money to get the guy they do want, Gareth Barry. Juventus were supposed to sign Alonso but they've pulled out and Liverpool are left badly needing to sell him if they are to make the signing they've wanted all summer, which could mean we could get him for a discounted price. He's quite a good player for one, and he plays with Cesc for Spain as well. I had never thought about him as a possibility until this report came out, but it seems to make sense to me. There haven't been any official bids yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if one comes in this week or next.

The first preseason friendly comes up this Saturday and Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela have been included in the squad. I can't wait to see how Vela looks myself, and I'm sure Ramsey will put on a good display. With any luck they'll get to play at least a full half of the game so we can all get a good look at them. Remember that Samir Nasri is joining up for training on the 21st which is why he isn't in the squad. Young prodigy Jack Wilshere is also in the squad and could be involved.

And that's all I've got. Gilberto looks to be on his way to Greece but that's all for the news. Can't wait until Saturday. Until then, join our fantasy Premiership League to win an Arsenal kit, talk on the forums or the comments, and get ready for the new season!

Is Arsenal Destined To Be A Selling Club?

Morning all. I've been out of town all weekend so sorry for no blog but I had no computer. I'm sure you all survived. If you didn't, then you wouldn't be able to read this anyway.

So while I was away it doesn't appear I missed all that much, so today I've decided to cover possibly the most controversial comments of the whole transfer season (and that's saying something.) Many people are worried because Arsene Wenger reportedly said that Arsenal were going to have to be a selling club for the next seventeen years. The quote reported in the article (from News of the World) was as follows:

'The strategy of the club is to sell every year and to buy less expensive players. We manage at Arsenal to maintain all our football ambitions - national and European - while having to free up - for 17 more years - an annual surplus of £24million to pay for our stadium. 'The club's strategy is to favour the policy of youngsters ahead of stars and to count on the collective quality of our game.'

So if you go directly by the quote and don't go with what makes sense and read between the lines, you'd think Arsene meant he was going to sell Adebayor this year, Cesc next year, and Nasri in a few years from now. But I do read between the lines and this makes perfect sense to me what he's saying here. Arsenal have a 265 million pound debt that they want to pay off. They have a 20 year fixed interest rate on the loan they took out (thanks Arseblogger) that they want to pay off on time. The loan started two years ago and Wenger is saying we need that 24 million quid surplus each year to pay off the rest on time. That isn't unreasonable. While ManUre and Liverpool are sidled with debt we are trying to pay ours off. At the end of the day football is a business and a business needs to pay off their debts to be successful.

I don't think Arsene Wenger means we are going to be a selling club for the next seventeen years, I just think he means business will continue in the way it has at Arsenal for many years under his watch. Buying Anelka for 500 thousand pounds and selling him for 25 million, selling Vieira and Henry when they were past their primes and bringing in Eduardo for much cheaper. In this way, Arsenal under Wenger have always been a selling club. Our record transfer fee is still 14.5 million for Sylvain Wiltord as far as I can remember. Our transfer sales usually outweigh our transfer buys, that's just how the club has been run.

Just look at last year for an example, when we lost Thierry Henry. We sold Aliadiere, Henry, Reyes, Ljungburg, Muamba, and lost Lupoli on a free for a total of 31 million pounds. We brought in Eduardo, Sagna, Diarra, Nordtveit, and Fabianski for a total of 23 million pounds. Can anyone say that our team got worse? No, in fact the team did better statically. Yet the club made an 8 million pound profit on our transfers. Would you say that we were being a selling club or improving the team with those moves? I don't think many would. While nobody wanted to see Henry go, it was a shrewd business move to sell him because Arsene could tell (as most people can now) that his best days are past him.

So does it make a little more sense now? Arsenal have a debt and want to get it paid off. Does it mean we are going to sell all of our best players in their primes to pay it off and have a mid-table team for the next seventeen years? Not at all. We're going to be sticking with the same system that has worked for Arsene his whole career here. A lot of people are making this out to be worse than it is, but remember: 1: Arsenal is never been a club that spends more than everyone else, they are shrewd businessmen, and 2: The source of this article is News of the World. Not exactly the most respected of journalistic enterprises.

Hopefully this clears up what this all means, at least in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong and we'll sell Cesc tomorrow, but I certainly think I'm right on this one. It'll definitely give you all something to debate on the forums and comments at least, but I wouldn't let it worry you. Business at Arsenal will continue as usual.


The other main news of the day is Mr. Aaron Ramsey, who I call Mr. because he seems to deserve it. These quotes demonstrate that:

“Obviously the plan for me is to have a good pre-season and try my hardest to get up to the fitness levels the Premiership requires,” said Ramsey in the South Wales Echo

“I will try my best to get in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season against West Brom."

Perfect statement Mr. Ramsey. You have the right mentality exactly. He's been here two weeks at age 17 and is already talking about making the starting lineup for Arsenal in the first game of the season. Spectacular. I love it. I don't think there is much chance he makes it into the starting lineup for the very first game of the season but who knows? Maybe he really is that good. It's only 11 days until the first friendly of the season against Barnet. We get to see him in action on that day and I can't wait. Hopefully Nasri will be here by then too because I really want to see these new signings plus all the youngsters. Football is in the air again! I can't wait.

Cheers all, comments, forums, email (arsenole{@}arsenole(.)com), all that good stuff. Till tomorrow!

Also, in non-Arsenal related news, I have recently acquired a new domain name (http://worldcupUS.com). If anyone can put together a website idea for me I would be willing to pay someone to design a page to put on that domain. Please let me know if you can do anything for me.

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!

Ade, Do You Want To Stay Or Not?

Morning all. I'm excited about the Euros today. Should be some good matches, especially the Netherlands-France game. France was woeful last game but I think they'll step it up against the Dutch. I find myself hoping Romania beats Italy in the first game, which is starting as I write this. I've never been a fan of Italy and it's always fun to go for the underdog. So it should be a good day of matches. On to Arsenal though.

I suppose the main story has to be Emmanuel Adebayor, which I have mostly ignored until now because I haven't heard any concrete information about it. Today, however, there are reports that Adebayor has asked his agent to facilitate a move to AC Milan.

Now this is another one that confuses me, as Adebayor has already made not one, but two solid statements where he said that he loved being at Arsenal and would be here next season. All the reports I've read say that the price for Adebayor is 32 million quid, which I can't imagine anyone paying for him. If the offer was for that much, I would say we should take it of course. I like Adebayor and wouldn't want the team to lose him, but that is too much money to turn down. We could make a run at David Villa for the kind of money, or maybe even Benzema.

Is Ade just trying to get a bigger contract at Arsenal? I think he definitely deserves a better deal after the work he did last year, largely by himself. However, I don't think this is the way to go about it. If he really just wants a move to Milan, I wish he would come out and say it instead of acting like he wants to stay at Arsenal. He may actually want to stay at Arsenal though and these reports might all be false. It does seem like there are too many rumors to have no basis in fact at all though.

Del Piero almost just scored for Italy. Probably should have hit the back of the net.

The other Arsenal drama going on revolves of course around Alexander Hleb. Bayern Munich's chairman has stated that he's pretty sure Hleb will move to Barcelona or Bayern.

“If Bayern and Barcelona meet in the semi-finals of the Champions League next season, it is likely that he [Hleb] will be playing.”

As I've said I don't care if Hleb goes, and I'd really rather he did go. Cesc Fabregas wants Hleb to stay though. In an interview after the Spain-Russia game, he said he think Hleb is an incredible player and that he hopes they get to play many more games together. He also talks about playing for Spain and what his first goal meant to him.

Wow, Romania just had a great chance but that's why Buffon is one of the best keepers in the world.

Arsenal.com have finally confirmed the signing of Aaron Ramsey, complete with his picture in the red and white. Nice to see and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the pre-season. They had a good clip of him on Arsenal TV Online that I watched and it had some clips of him playing for Cardiff. He looks a nice player, good on the ball that can score goals and make a good pass. Of course a lot of the clips were against Reserves or in the Championship but he's so young that hopefully he'll get a lot better with age and experience in the Arsenal system. He spoke about his move, saying:

“I’m so happy to have signed for Arsenal. I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world and can’t wait to meet my new team mates. I recently met with Arsène Wenger and he was a big factor in my decision to join Arsenal. He talked to me for a long time about the Club and the plans for the future, which really excites me. Arsenal is a Club which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level of the game and I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes here.

Supposed Arsenal target Yaya Toure is not for sale, says Barcelona. What should happen here is we say, "If you want Hleb, you give us Yaya. If you won't then we'll ship him off to those German cunts." That will solve the problem. Then we have our holding midfielder we need and we lose a player that doesn't want to be here. Everyone wins.

Romania is really on top their game right now. Italy look nervous and have no cutting edge whatsoever. C'mon you Romanians!

That's all I've got for you today. Hope you enjoy the matches today. Cheers

No New Defender For Arsenal?

So Setanta Sports has a weird article this morning, and it's got quotes from Arsene Wenger about Hamburg's center back Vincent Kompany. Kompany has been linked with us this summer as he could be just the type of defender we need, but Wenger has for some reason completely ruled it out.

"I have known Kompany for a long time, since he was 16. I keep following him but the story that we want him for next season is wrong. I know him to be very, very good but I have decided that defenders are no longer necessarily needed for next season.

Therefore, he will not come."

WTH is all that about? Didn't Arsene say at the beginning of summer that we needed to sign a powerful center back? It isn't like Wenger at all to just go out and say, "Well actually we have no need to sign a defender, so now you all know Arsenal's transfer plans." I can't figure out if this quote is just taken out of context or if he really decided we don't need a defender for next season. Quick list of our center backs: Toure, Gallas, Senderos, Djourou, Song. Yes, we could use a center back. I don't think Senderos is good enough anymore. I was really a defender of the lad for a long time but I just can't do it anymore. He and Djourou both seem to have gotten worse as they have gotten older. Song...well it's Song, and while Wenger thinks he'll be a great defender I'm going to see a couple good performances other than the last two games of last season to be convinced.

Maybe Arsene just meant that Kompany personally wasn't someone who he was looking at. Or he could be planning some massive scheme where he wants Kompany's price lowered so he says he has no interest in signing a defender, especially Kompany, before going in late in the summer with a bid! Yes, that must be it. I can't figure out what else it would be really. I'd say the story was just completely made up but it's by Setanta and they're usually decent. Who knows, it's all very confusing.

Sylvain Wiltord made it in at number 33 on Arsenal.com's list of the the 50 greatest Arsenal players ever. I always liked Wiltord so I'm glad he made the list. I voted for him. I didn't vote for Mathieu Flamini, Ashley Cole, or Jose Antonio Reyes, for obvious reasons.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is going to be taking over at Chelsea, and this article says Arsenal, Man U, etc. should be worried. I don't think there's any reason to be all that worried. He's bringing in a bunch of Portuguese players and if Bosingwa is anything to go by, then they'll be spending a lot more money for them than they're worth.

If you're interested in learning more about Aaron Ramsey, Young Guns has done a wonderful biography of him, including an interview with a Cardiff fan. I'm still not excited about him but I'm sure I'll get there at some point. I'd really be a lot more excited about that defender we apparently aren't signing anymore!

For the Euros today we have Germany-Croatia in one game and the other is Austria-Poland. I can imagine having a nap during Austria-Poland as that sounds like quote the borefest. Germany Croatia though should be fun and if Germany looks like they did in their last match they certainly look quality to get to the finals from that side of the bracket. I'm taking Germany 3-1 and 0-1 to Poland in the other game. I put a new funny picture up on the side, we need more people to register for the forums, and I need everyone to cheer as much as possible for the Celtics to beat the Lakers tonight. Or Kobe Bryant to be hit by a bus, either way.

So that's it for the day. Enjoy the Euros and let me know what you think about all this defender business! Also, there is a new Arsenal news aggregator that you should check out. Arsenal Daily News. Cheers!

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.

New Kit Leaked and More!

Morning all. A special shout out to Dr Whiff today for being such a cunt. Thanks. Top bloke there.

To start off with we've got the new home kits for next season! I for one have to say that they're good looking kits. I know the sleeves aren't all white this time around but I think they still have enough white to keep them traditional. It seems like there's extra white down the sides too which is cool. I'm going to be getting one, just not sure if I want a Sagna one, a Cesc one, or a Clichy one. Or maybe even Adebayor. The away kit I've only seen low quality pictures but they go back to the yellow with a bit of blue. I'm not as much of a fan of those but I haven't seen any really good pictures. What do you guys think?


Sky Sports reports that Arsenal had a 10 million pound bid rejected for Cristian Zapata of Udinese. He's their star defender and captain even though he's only 21 years old. He could be just the type of defender we need to bring in and if we really did bid for him then that is great news to hear. He's 6' 2" (I don't know metrics well enough to convert, sorry) and is big and strong enough to challenge for the long balls, which has been what we couldn't do in the past seasons.

This morning one of our readers, Joshua, and myself were talking about if you could sign ONE defender in the whole world, who would it be? He said Per Mertesacker and I said Sergio Ramos. Who do you think our best defensive option would be if you could choose one from anywhere?

Everton have also joined the race to sign Aaron Ramsey, and have had a bid accepted. So it's really up to him to decide where he wants to go now, but I think he'll probably end up and Man United. I don't really care though. We have 17 year olds that are coming up that could probably do most of what Ramsey has done in the Championship. This article says that he will wait until he is able to speak to Arsene Wenger though.T

Bacary Sagna signed a new deal, so my favorite player gets to stick around longer.

"I love Arsenal, they are a great club," Sagna stated.

"The manager is also very good and next season we will be fighting for all the trophies."

Sounds like he actually enjoys it here, who would have thought? If you read other stories you'd think everyone hated Arsenal.

Here's a story that Gilberto washed his Visa in the laundry and that made him late for training. Sounds like Gilberto needs to come up with better excuses.

There have been several reports such as this one in the Telegraph saying that Emmanuel Adebayor has agreed personal terms with AC Milan. I think it's probably all bollocks. He just said he loves the club and will be back next year a few days ago. It's all sources from Italy saying it so it's probably just trying to unsettle our best striker. I think he'll be here though.

Alright that's a wrap on this one. Apparently posts are only good if they get comments but if you actually have a life and are too busy I understand. Till tomorrow, cheers!

Adebayor to Recieve Footballer of the Year!

Morning all. Still no signings, but try not to panic. This morning brings the news that David McNally, who has been Fulham's managing director for the past three years, has left the club. This has of course sparked speculation that he could be heading for the same job at Arsenal, which was vacated by Keith Edelman's departure. McNally was responsible for both the employments of Lawrie Sanchez, who made a bunch of buys that appeased the fans (hmmmm...Arsenal fans?) and was shite, and also for Roy Hodgesen, who saved the club from relegation.

This article also links us with Sevilla's managing director, Ramon Monchi. Too bad managing directors aren't like players where you can just watch them every week and see how good or bad they are. You have to just go by what you here and what you know about the clubs. I couldn't tell you much about either of those men but I do know the board did appoint headhunters to find the right man for the job so it does seem they are taking this very seriously. Whoever we do end up getting will be the very best for the job.


The BBC reports that Emmanuel Adebayor will be given the African Footballer of the Year trophy in Lome tonight. He got 42 percent of the public vote, so even though a lot of the Arsenal fans want to get rid of him, at least the African public realizes what a good player he has become for us. Thirty goals in all competitions...wow. Keep it up Ade, you deserve that award!

Sky Sports says that Arsenal target Aaron Ramsey has agreed a deal with Manchester United. This will undoubtedly lead to several blogs and fans calling for Wenger's departure. It doesn't seem all that big a loss honestly to me. First fans say they want established players and now they have a cow over this 17 year old. I just am going to wait until we get some signings in and not worry until then.

Update: Apparently there have been two bids accepted for Ramsey, one from Man U and one from who is believed to be Arsenal or Liverpool. We'll keep you updated.

To fuel your transfer rumor fire, I have this one for you. Tribal Football says that David Villa is officially for sale for 17 million quid. Not a bad price for Villa huh?


And for the last thing, Jens Lehmann has officially agreed a one year deal with Stuttgart. That means he has at least one more year to do some crazy mad things that we can all laugh about.

Sorry so short today. Not much going on really. Oh and if you didn't read Arseblog today he provides the perfect example of how Arsenal fans are acting this summer. Be patient you crazy bastards. Cheers.

Arsenal In Bid for Ramsey

Morning all. There isn't much for news today honestly so this may be a short one. If you haven't joined the Euro 2008 contest, you can do so here. Just pick the two teams to make the Finals at Euro2008 and the final score and you win.

We'll start with the England-USA friendly which if you don't live in England or the States you probably don't care about but I do and I watched it yesterday. A couple of observations from the game: Is Jermain Defoe really the best option to be leading the English strike force? There have to be better options than that. I don't know who exactly but I think maybe Young, Agbonlahor, Ashton, or maybe even Theo would be better than Defoe. The fat scouser Rooney and Gerrard were both great behind him though. As far as the USA goes they couldn't manage shite. I hate saying it because I'm no fan of Landon Donovan but we missed him yesterday. Our strikers looked lost all match and while part of that is because of good defending, some was just because it wasn't the first choice strikers. Oh and one other thing on England, why is Wes Brown playing at all? He is absolutely terrible. Hope he gets hit by a bus.

Ok enough of that, now on to Arsenal. According to reports Arsenal have put in a £5million offer to Cardiff for Aaron Ramsey. Cardiff rejected the offer because they want more money up front. Arsenal's offer was based on incentives for appearances and the like, similar to how we got Theo Walcott from Southampton. Ramsey is a good young player, and this was shown as he just got his first call up to the Wales squad for the friendlies this week. They say we'll go back with an improved offer but I'm not so sure how highly Wenger rates him. It may just be a, "Well if we can get him for this much we might as well." But I guess as always we'll have to wait and see.


Alex Mcleish of Birmingham says he hopes to keep up the relationship with Arsenal so they can keep loaning our players. I'm not sure Alex, but that relationship may have been hurt a little bit by that cunt Martin Taylor breaking our striker's leg.

Goonertalk is having a poll of sorts to see who everyone's all time best Arsenal players are and is going to put them in a book. So if you're into books and voting for things then go ahead and do that.

Alexander Hleb says that he's never said he wants to leave Arsenal. Very crafty there Alex...but we know that you told your agents to find you a way out and they have been essentially begging for it for the past month. I'm so sick of Hleb honestly, I hope he's gone sooner rather than later and I couldn't really care where he goes. Be nice if he went to play for Tottenham. Then when we kicked the shite out of him all the time he'd not think it was so bad at Arsenal.

Jose Mourinho is just about in as manager of Inter Milan, and I can't see Hleb playing for him, so I think if he's going it's going to have to be Madrid or Barcelona. Hopefully the report is true and he's agreed personal terms with Barca and all that needs to be worked out is a transfer fee. Like I said yesterday, I'd take 10 million quid for him. What would be your selling price for Hleb?

That's about all I've got today. Remember the Euro 2008 prediction contest! We had a great start to it yesterday with people getting their predictions in so let's keep it up. Remember all you have to do is pick the two teams that will be in the finals and the final score. The winner gets a free ArseNole Stein Mug. That way you can drink Newcastle Brown Ale, which along with Yuengling are my top two beers! Sign up by posting your prediction in the comments, the forums, or emailing me at ArseNole@arsenole.com.