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.

Thoughts on the Everton Match, Celtic Preview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers all!

Arsenal-Manchester United Reaction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal Leaves A Sour Taste Yet Again

Our third 0-0 draw in a row in the Premiership. First time it's happened in ten and a half years. The last time that happened, I was only eleven years old. I cant remember anything more frustrating in my entire life than watching this season's Arsenal team play. When a match is at home to Sunderland, you expect Arsenal to take care of business. You know they are only going to defend, so you should be prepared for that, but in the past we've been able to beat teams like this and that is how we have won titles. Our inability to break down opponents seriously has to be right up there with shooting yourself in the leg like Plaxico Burress. It's painful and ridiculous.

Let me first start with the good. Is it just me or did Kolo and Gallas magically become the partnership that we have all hoped they could be when Gallas first got here? I know it's Sunderland and they barely attacked but three clean sheets in a row is impressive no matter who it's against. They looked comfortable with each other at the back and while they are still shaky on high balls they are still both very good defenders.

The frustrating thing, as I said, is in attack. It's bloody Sunderland. It's not Barcelona, Milan, Man United, or Chelsea. It's Sunderland, and it's a game where you have to be able to score. Vela, RvP, and Bendtner all had decent or good chances, yet none really looked like scoring. Vela especially was poor in his short cameo. I feel for him because he doesn't get to play very much but when you are paid like these players are you expect him to convert some of his chances. I thought van Persie was going to score for sure when he had his chance in the 94th minute but even he kicked it straight at the keeper. I'm not sure what the team needs really. We had Arshavin, Vela, Nasri, RvP, Bendtner all in the game as attacking players, and on paper that seems like a group that should be able to create one goal. Alex Song is certainly no help to all that, because I can pick out a pass better than he can.

I think one of the real problems is our lack of a player who can just create that magical moment like Thierry could. RvP is the closest thing we have but Thierry was someone who could get the ball anywhere on the field and take it for a goal. I can't ever see Bendtner or Adebayor having a moment like that, and I think it hurts us. We rely too much on the creativity of Cesc Fabregas for goals, and while he's been out, they have dried up.

I don't really know what else to say, just a bit frustrated again. We needed to make up ground after Villa lost today, and yet we couldn't even manage it against a weak side at home. Fifth place is starting to look like a real possibility if something doesn't click into place soon.

Leave thoughts. Cheers.

Edddduardo! Edddduardo! A Magical Arsenal Moment

What up dudes? Yesterday was a pretty awesome match wouldn't you say? I won't bore everyone with a match review that includes a minute by minute rundown of all the action, but I will just go over what I think are some of the most awesome parts of it.

Obviously the important thing of the day was Eduardo's return to first team action. And what a return it was. Eddy scored the first goal as well as the third goal from the penalty spot. The response from the first goal was immense. The roar from the crowd was deafening, and the joy shown by Eduardo and the rest of the team made it even more special. I've got the clip right here.



The most amazing thing happened when the whole stadium started chanting Eduardo, Eduardo. It was the first time in a long time I've heard the Emirates sound like that. What I also noticed about the third goal that Eduardo scored was when he was fouled in the box he picked the ball up with resolve, almost as if he was going to prove a point right then and there with that one kick that he was back. When you saw the look on his face you knew there was no chance he was missing that kick, and once again the crowd broke into chanting of his name. It gave me shivers hearing it like that, and I wish it was like that all the time, but we all know there are some fans there that just aren't going to chant and sing no matter what. It does make me very proud to be a fan though when we see someone so deserving get such a warm response. I was singing along way over here in Florida.

I think Eduardo may be just the inspiration this team needs to get the season back on track, in the same way that his injury sucked the life out of the squad last season. He certainly looks like he's fully recovered and ready to roll, and he's already scored half as many goals as Bendtner has scored the entire season, in only one appearance! Keep it up Eddy, we all wish you the best.

There weren't many downsides to the performance yesterday, as it was pretty much vintage Arsenal, but I thought Song in particular was pretty bad. His passing was miserable, it seemed like every time he tried to pass it went straight to a Cardiff player. The good news of course is that we kept the clean sheet, so it didn't hurt us too much. After having such a good performance against Sp*rs though, I was hoping for much more from Song.

Man of the match, for me, without being too sentimental and giving it to Eduardo, goes to Bakary Sagna, who I thought was immense. His forward runs drove Cardiff mad all game and he was on top of every defensive situation on his side. What I like just as much as his play though is his attitude. I'm pretty sure if you looked at the statistics I bet he's played more matches in the past two years for us besides anyone but maybe Gael Clichy, and that is only because he was injured for the end of last year. He never runs his mouth, rarely even gets carded, and is one of our top players. I love the guy, and he played a great game.

Kieran Gibbs, Eduardo, Nasri, and Fabianski were the other players who I thought did quite well. Nasri is a real creative force and I really liked him up in front of Sagna. It will be nice to maybe see Nasri and Arshavin being able to switch flanks when needed to switch things up. Fabiasnki looked very comfortable and confident in goal all game, and while there weren't a whole lot of saves he had to make, he did what he had to do easily.

So hats off to the team, and specifically Eduardo, and let's hope his return is just the boost we need to really kick this team into high gear. Cheers all. Podcast to come soon hopefully. Maybe Thursday.

Tottenham 0-0 Arsenal, Eboue Costs Arsenal Again

Another North London Derby, and another draw. While not nearly as traumatic as the first match against Sp*rs this season at the grove, this one was no more fun to watch. Eboue is once again to blame, as he was sent off for two yellow cards in the first half. The second one was just a stupid, stupid thing to do, as he tried to trip Modric when Modric tripped him. They were both booked and Eboue was sent off. He's a clueless cunt that has no place in top flight football, and I really wish he would never play for Arsenal again. Every time I see him in the lineup I know it's going to be almost like playing like ten men, and this time I guess he just wanted an early bath or just wasn't feeling like playing a match at all. I can't stand him. He's a diving, cheating, mindless wanker who I wish had never stepped foot into Arsenal Football Club. It's hard enough to win derbies as it is, and having ten men for an hour of the match doesn't make it any easier.

Adebayor went off injured as well in the first half which meant Bendtner had to come on. While Adebayor hasn't been in great form, he still scores a ton of goals (8 in 8 matches) against the scum. Clichy later went off injured when that cunt Darren Bent thought Clichy's head was the ball and smashed his head into it. He went off bleeding and Kieran Gibbs came on for his Premier League debut.

I don't have time to spell out everything that happened in the match line by line, but I will point out a few things.

I thought Almunia was fantastic today. After the collapse of the defense and the goalkeeping last time against Sp*rs it was great to see such a good performance from Almunia today. I've been saying that we don't need to buy a keeper and I still don't think we need to. I think Almunia has earned his spot and see no reason why he shouldn't keep it. He hasn't gotten to play behind a great defence since he began starting between the posts, and yet he has a pretty good record. Big ups to Manuel.

I thought the defense was good in general as well. While Tottenham certainly had some chances, they were mostly long shots or half chances. We also defended the corners pretty well, which as we know is our weakest spot. Any time you keep a clean sheet after being down a man for so long, you have to say it's a good defensive performance. Kolo and Gallas may have finally found some kind of a working system because it seems to have worked well the last two matches. Let's hope it continues.

Alexandre Song, for me, stood out. When I saw him starting in the midfield next to Denilson, I'll admit I was a little bummed to see him in there. Our options in the center were limited though, so Song it was, and he did not disappoint. I thought he broke up a lot of attacks well and generally did a good job protecting the back four, but I was most impressed with his work rate. Every time I saw him he was running try to make a play, and it's something we haven't seen enough of from this team this season. If you've read my blog very often, you know that I have not been the biggest fan of Alex, but if he continues to play the way he did today, then I will be more than appreciative of his services. I think without him today we would maybe not have been able to hold on to the clean sheet, so full credit to Mr. Song.


While our attacking was certainly not what you would hope for, it's understandable in a way seeing as we are without our best player in Cesc, our true right midfielder in Theo, Adebayor went off injured in the first half, Eboue gets himself sent off, and Arshavin was not match fit yet. At eleven on eleven, we probably score the goal that gets us three points today. With Theo or Cesc in, you certainly would have liked our chances. Even if Arshavin had been ready to come on I think we may have scraped it. Nasri was good today, but there just wasn't a lot in our attacking and it's somewhat easy to see why. I think as Eduardo (who was on the bench today, woohoo!), Theo, Cesc, and Arshavin work back into the squad you'll see those goals start to pile up for us. Let's just hope the defense can stay solid when that happens.

I think, due to Eboue's absolute retardedness, that we have to count this as a point gained instead of two points lost. We're four points back of Chelsea with thirteen games to go, so it is certainly not an insurmountable deficit to get to 4th spot. That 4th spot is absolutely critical.

Leave your thoughts on the game, Eboue, or anything else. Cheers.

Arsenal Transfer Window Preview Part 2- January 2009

Morning all. Last day of 2008 has come and I'm still alive and if you're reading this so are you so congratulations on making it through another year. Yesterday I ran down the first half of our January transfer preview for Arsenal and today I'm going to finish that off with the second half of who we should buy and maybe even a little who we should sell. We did central defenders and central midfielders yesterday, so that leaves us our wide and attacking players for today.

Let's look at what we have so far out wide. We have Nasri, who is certainly a quality player as long as he can stay healthy, which hasn't been as much as you'd like. There is Eboue, who is really a right back and has been forced onto the wing and really isn't very effective out there. Rosicky is ALWAYS hurt and probably won't play for us anymore barring a miraculous recovery from his injury that has kept him out for a year. And of course we have Theo, who is out for a couple more months but he really looked great at the start of this year until the time of his injury. Diaby is also used out wide occasionally but he is a central midfielder and we really shouldn't accept having to play someone out of position so much.


So it is clear that we really could use a wide player, at least to add some depth while Theo is out and hopefully to create some competition for places with say, Eboue. There has been a ton of talk about Andrei Arshavin ever since Russia's run at Euro 2008. He was good at the Euro's, yes I'll give you that, but do we really know how he would adapt to the Premiership? He's 27 years old and would command a huge fee, yet he hasn't been tested in a top flight league. I'm going to come right out and say that I don't want Arsenal to buy Arshavin. Sp*rs bought Pavlyuchenko because of his performances in the Euro's alongside Arshavin and he hasn't worked out great for them. I just don't see him as the best option and I hope we look somewhere else. That somewhere else could be Mikel Arteta of Everton. Reports are in already that we will make a 12 million pound bid for him, which could be enough to get him from Everton. He's a huge player for them who they won't want to part with but for the right price they would have to accept, especially since the player would most likely want to come play for Arsenal. He's been playing in the Premiership for a long time so he has that needed experience which would hopefully mean he could make an immeadiate impact. He is very versatile as well meaning that he could play in Cesc's role while he is injured and move out wide or alongside him when Cesc returns. He's also good on set pieces and he really just looks like a better option to me. Another option I could think of hasn't had as much talk as the other two but as I said yesterday, Valencia are strapped for cash and a very good player on their team just happens to play on the wing. I'm talking about Silva, who plays with Cesc for Spain. I have no idea what kind of fee he would command but he is a great player and would surely benefit any team he was in.

Moving on to the strikers and you'd have to say that if we were totally set for players in a posititon then it would be at striker. We have two good strikers in RvP and Adebayor who can get the job done at the top flight as well as Eduardo, plus some youngsters like Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner in waiting. I'll admit though that I'm not a big Bendtner fan. I think he gives off the impression that he is not trying hard a lot of times when he is on the pitch and it really bothers me. A lot of times when he plays it is up front by himself and when you're up top by yourself it really requires a lot of movement from you, which he doesn't seem to have. Sure he scores the odd good goal sometimes but I think his attitude of entitlement is a problem and if we received a decent offer for him I suggest we take it. If we were to bring in a striker, which we won't, then my personal choice would be Sergio "Kun" Aguero.

Last but not least we need to talk about which players we want leaving if we had our choice. Players that are not Arsenal calibre who are playing for Arsenal and should not be. Alex Song immeadiately springs to mind. He's not good enough in midfield or in defense to ever be a first eleven player and really makes me nervous even when he comes on in reserve or as a sub. When you look at other top clubs do you see players of Alex Song's skill level? Not really, and if there is one, then they don't play nearly as much as Song does for us. I also think Eboue would do well with a change of scenery. He hasn't really improved on the wing ever since he was moved there and he certainly won't ever be better than Sagna at right back. He's decent cover but even when Sagna has been out the boss has chosen to use other people instead of him at right back, which should tell you something. As I mentioned, I don't think Bendtner has much of a future here at Arsenal and I think an offer for him would see him gone.

Now by point behind this is that we can't afford to sell ANY players without having signed or having every intention of signing quality replacements for them. Our squad has shown that it is too then and we really need to grow it not sell more. We sold Hleb, Gilberto, and Flamini (I know, he left, he wasn't sold) without really bringing in any replacements and we can't have that again.


So that's about it. The transfer window opens in 12 hours, while we'll all be ringing in the New Year. I hope all of you have a fantastic 2009 and that Arsenal do as well. Everyone drink up, hook up, do drugs if that is your thing, just make it a great start to the New Year! Make sure you check out the forums if you never have or leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are! Cheers! I'll leave you with this video to go into the New Year. Warning: Semi-offensive and also hilarious material.

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!

Song Signs New Deal, Euro 2008 Stuff

Hello all. Sorry I haven't gotten to you all in the past 2 days but I've been watching the Euro's and couldn't really be arsed to write that much considering there has been almost no news at all.
Have you been enjoying the Euros so far? I thought the Italy-Netherlands match today was fantastic, but the rest of the matches have been pretty dull. Croatia's penalty they got was never a penalty to me, and while I was rooting for Croatia, I still wish someone other than that Sp*rs twat had taken it. France looked awful against Romania. Without Thierry they couldn't do anything at all, and Nasri didn't do anything of any significance when he came on. Germany looks fantastic, full of pace and movement. They, along with the Dutch, have been leagues ahead of every other team in these first few days.

As far as Gunners and ex-Gunners in the tournament, William Gallas was ok for France. Romania never really looked like threatening but France's defense did well enough anyway. Patrick Vieira was injured and didn't play, and as I said Henry was hurt as well. Mathieu Flamini didn't play either. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was excellent for Holland, and RvP got a run out near the end and did well. Cesc plays tomorrow so that'll be fun to watch.

So give me your thoughts on the Euros. Predictions for the next round of the group stages are fun too. Netherlands and France should be fun to watch.

So on to some Arsenal news, Alexander Song has signed a new deal with Arsenal. It's a "long term deal" according to reports, but I haven't seen a definitive length. I don't really know what to think about Song. Every time I saw him play for us in midfield I thought he was never going to be good enough for Arsenal. In defense he looks a lot better but I'm still not convinced. Arsene Wenger has said he thinks Song can be a great defender so I'm guessing that's why he signed him long term.

Gilberto Silva has warned Arsenal's team that leaving isn't always the best choice, saying they could develop and win a lot together at Arsenal. He's absolutely right and while I hope Hleb leaves I want everyone else (besides Eboue) to stay.

Carlos Vela scored for Mexico against Peru and looked really good in the half I got to watch. I can't wait to see him playing for Arsenal.

Alright that's all I've got time for at the moment. I'll try to get something together tomorrow. Cheers and Go Cesc!

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.