International Injuries and Kroenke Ups His Stake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Questions Remain About Arsenal

Morning all, or afternoon, depending where you are and when you read this. I really need to write more on here. I'm still trying to get the new site ready for it's debut and it's taking much longer than expected so I'm going to be sticking with this one for awhile.

So what has happened in the past week? Well, we played Chelsea last Sunday. It was one of the rare Sunday matches I got to see and I even got my girlfriend to watch it with me. And the match was stressful and fantastic all at once. Coming off defeats to Villa and Man City I'll admit I wasn't too optimistic going into the match and when Djourou was unlucky with the own goal I figured there wasn't much of a way back considering the opposition. I was wrong however and we got a gift to make it 1-1 on a goal where RvP was clearly offside but I haven't heard one Arsenal fan complain about it. Just a minute later we scored again and this time nobody could have any complaints about the referrees or anything else, it was just brilliant. RvP acted out of instinct I think and just sent it in the far corner and I got a rug burn from sliding on the carpet when it went in. We held on pretty easily after that and it was another great result which brought about yet more questions.

Why is it that we can lose 2-0 at home to Aston Villa and 3-0 away to Manchester City but win 2-1 against United and Chelsea? It's frustrating to no end and there isn't a clear answer in sight. Is it a lack of effort against the "smaller" teams or is it only being able to really get themselves up for a match against the top top clubs? When your losses on the season are mostly against teams from the bottom half of the table you really have to question a lot. It's wonderful beating all our big rivals but when you are losing to Stoke and Fulham it doesn't mean nearly as much.

We know that our squad isn't deep enough, certainly, but we've had lineups like the ones that beat Chelsea all season. It was lucky to have Sagna and Adebayor back for sure, but we should have a large enough squad to make up for their absences when they do get injured. January I think will probably see us buy a couple of players, although the victories against Chelsea and United I fear may lead Arsene Wenger to vindication for his experiment and say that no changes are needed. But two wins do not make a season. Sylvestre was a useless buy, and we still need another defender. I think if an offer comes in for Gallas, we should probably take it. Djourou should be starting every game for us now. We need a new midfielder or two as well. Song isn't good enough to play for Arsenal consistently and while I love Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, having a 16 year old on the bench isn't a good sign. I think with Eduardo coming back we will be set at striker, as Vela has shown his quality plus we have Ade and RvP. I think Bendtner is a terribly frustrating player who looks lazy every time he comes on the pitch, but he does have his moments. His pink boots though, are awful.


So to sum it up I suppose, is that the team needs to be able to get itself up for matches against the lower teams just like it has for the top 4 teams. Cesc is undefeated as captain and may his reign be long and prosperous. May the footballing Gods shine on Arsenal through this busy christmas season and January transfer window, and let's hope we keep playing like we did against Chelsea! Up the Gunners!

Manuel Almunia Takes Too Much Shite

Good morning everyone. Not a whole lot going on today so a quick news round-up I think? Yes, sounds good.

Remember yesterday when I said Almunia takes too much crap and he's actually a good keeper? Well today he came out and spoke about being the Arsenal number 1 and says he's growing into the role.

"I'm very happy to wear this fantastic number for Arsenal and I'm pleased with how things are going; I'm feeling very well and we have not conceded too many goals, although we always need to improve.

"I think this season I am growing as a goalkeeper and hope I can grow more as the season progresses."

You've got to hand it to the man. He's always had a good attitude about everything in his time here, even when Lehmann was giving him stick for nothing all last season. I think he improves really with almost every game. Really though is there a better option for us? I think he is one of the top three goalkeepers in the Premiership right now at the very least. He made another great save against Porto and his reactions are excellent. Keep it up Manuel and I for one will be rooting hard for you!

Emmanuel Adebayor talked about his and Robin van Persie's partnership, and said he hopes it will lead to winning trophies. It's weird with those two. Sometimes, like yesterday, they look like they are the best of friends and play together wonderfully, but then other times they seem completely lost out there with eachother. But with more games comes better understanding so the longer RvP is healthy and they are able to play together, the better off we will be. Adebayor said exactly the same thing:

"If Robin is fit for the whole season we have a chance to do something special, that's for sure.

"We talk off the pitch about the way we play.

"You must discuss what you have done well and what you have done badly."

Their partnership really could be the key to our season. Remember last year Adebayor was scoring for fun but when he finally did go through a drought there was nobody to pick up the slack because RvP was injured. Now it seems like we have a lot more options. RvP is healthy (knock on wood), we have Vela and Bendtner that can go in, and Eduardo will be back by the second half of the season. So let's hope van Persie can keep up his fitness and keep this partnership going.


And to put a smile on everyone's face, Tottenham are still the only team in the league without a win. Yes, even West Brom and Stoke have wins before Sp*rs. Isn't it absolutely wonderful? Good job spending all that money you cunts. You're the worst "top 4 contenders" in history.

Adebayor vs. Van Persie

Morning everyone. I woke up early this morning unintentionally and can't go back to sleep even though its now 3 1/2 hours until the Stuttgart game starts...I think. I hate all these time changes when they travel all around Europe.

So as I was thinking last night I thought of a question that really puzzled me; why does Emmanuel Adebayor take so much stick while Robin van Persie always gets the benefit of the doubt? We know that Robin is a quality player that can be a game changer when he is fit, but he is hardly ever capable of playing a slate of several games in a row. Adebayor, on the other hand, played almost every game for us last season, yet he takes the blame from several sectors of Arsenal "fans" for the fall from the top of the table.

Maybe it's because people say you can't blame someone for an injury, but doesn't being reliable come into play at some point? Playing football matches, not watching from the stands, is the players' job. If I constantly missed work because of being sick, I wouldn't have a job much longer. If I was an important piece of the process at that job, then it is very feasible that the company's product as a whole would suffer. Robin is supposed to be a key player for Arsenal, one that can win matches singlehandedly, yet when he cannot even make the squad because of a "thigh strain," we lost a lot of that ability in the squad.

I will get lambasted for this, but the Adebayor/van Persie strike force is in some ways like that of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. Was Thierry Henry ever as effective on his own up front as he was when Dennis was in there as his strike partner? No he wasn't, you couldn't expect him to be. His game was played off of Dennis who created space for him and could lay on some passes as well as score goals. Yet when Adebayor is in the game all year scoring thirty goals, well then he should have scored more by God. Before you say that Adebayor is no Thierry Henry, please see that I have said this myself before. I am just saying that to score goals like he has this past season is a remarkable feat. Playing on his own up front, after never being a proven goal scorer in his previous time at Arsenal or Monaco, it was nothing short of fantastic. Meanwhile van Persie gets all the credit in the world for being a "great player" but when did we see that talent last season? In a sports world of "What have you done for me lately?" it appears that the question does not apply to these two. Robin van Persie is lauded for his past accomplishments, (which by the way include zero 30 goal seasons) while Adebayor is blasted for squandering chances.

I'm not saying Adebayor is a better player. I'm not saying van Persie isn't a brilliant player, because I think he is. What I AM saying however is that if you want to point blame, point the blame where it is due. At some point van Persie has to have the toughness to play through slight injuries or Arsenal need to realize that they will never be able to count on him. Adebayor may be a twat, but at least he plays every match for us.

Robin says he's looking forward to the new season and says he hopes he can be injury free. That's what we are all hoping for, because it would help out the team immensely.

"Last year I played 16 games and scored seven goals - that is nearly one in two.

Sixteen games. Sixteen games from our star striker. And you blame Adebayor, who played 36 of 38 league matches and scored 24.

I know you Adebayor bashers out there (and there are many of you!) are taking this as an insult. "Van Persie is clearly the much better player!" you'll say, and "If Robin had had the chances Adebayor had he would have had 50 goals!." But the fact is, he doesn't. He had seven goals. And he only had eleven the year before. At some point van Persie has to put his talent to use for the club. Touches of brilliance yes, but otherwise, I must say there has been a lot of disappointment.

I think Robin is a fantastic player, don't get me wrong. I just think the fans' attitude toward the two strikers is so misguided and I cannot understand why. Maybe it's just the style of play, or the way van Persie's goals seem to always be fantastic while Adebayor's finishes seem ordinary. It certainly didn't help these opinions with what Adebayor has said this summer, but looking strictly from a footballing point of few...who has been more productive for Arsenal?

That's all I've got for the day. Try to take it easy on me and take a logical approach to your comments. Stuttgart match today, so we could hopefully see Mad Jens again. Cheers.

Gallas Could Be Sold, So Let's Make It Happen

Morning all. Today is July 21st which means that all the players that played in the Euros, including Samir Nasri, report for training today. So welcome to Samir, welcome back to van Persie, and not welcome back to Emmanuel Adebayor.

So we'll start with the boss talking about Theo Walcott. He improved dramatically at the end of last season, sparked some might say by that amazing run against Liverpool in the Champion's League. (Great run but tough memories right after the conclusion of that goal.) However, he wants to play striker, not on the wing, and Arsene has said he intends for him to be moved up front down the road. Arsene had this to say about him:

“Theo made a step forward last season and you expect him to improve again,” said Wenger after the 2-1 win over Barnet on Saturday. “The target last year was for him to play 15 to 20 games and show quality. The target this year is to become a regular player.

“What position he’ll play in I don’t know. At the moment he looks more at ease wide than as a central striker. But we have to wait through the preparation games and see how ready he will be. The Barnet game was not a good opportunity to judge him.”

And I agree with him whole heatedly. I think if he continues to improve on the way he played near the end of last year he can certainly win the starting spot on the right side of midfield and if he pushes on from there he can get some games as a striker as well. Think about what options we have on the right, Walcott, Eboue (no comment), and maybe Rosicky or Nasri if the other is playing on the opposite side. Not exactly an impossible spot for Theo to lock down as his own. I'm looking forward to seeing more of what Theo can do this season. He didn't look good at all up front in the Barnet match but that's to be expected as he hardly ever plays in that role plus it was the first game back. I have grown out my facial hair to match Walcott's chin-strap style beard and have dubbed it "The Theo." It's actually quite nice.

I hope the boss doesn't persist with Eboue. Surely he realizes that the man brings nothing to the table. It's been a lingering thought in the back of my mind all summer, that of having to deal with another full season of Eboue starting on the wing. But I think the boss may finally realize that Theo can bring much more to the team playing in that spot. Eboue is no more than a backup right back and it should be kept that way. The farther away from the pitch he is kept, the better. We should just get him a cage that he can be locked in to watch all the matches, so that Arsene isn't ever tempted to play him. Have I mentioned I'm not an Eboue fan?

Theo Walcott Run Box To Box - 8 4 08
Uploaded by yuksel7

It took me ages to find this video so I hope you enjoyed it. Not the best quality video but if you watched it live it'll still be amazing to relive it; it was for me.

As far as transfer news, The Telegraph reports that PSG and Barcelona are interested in William Gallas for 6 million pounds and that Juventus could put in a 15 million pound bid for Robin van Persie. For once that actually sounds like a player Arsene Wenger might not mind losing. I wouldn't be upset at all to see us sell William Gallas for 6 million pounds. He's 31, he shouldn't be captain and this would be a great way to make sure we bring in a new defender and keep Kolo Toure in the starting lineup. There's not a bad way to look at it. Then Kolo would get the captaincy, we'd get our powerful defender and we have no whining from Gallas. I don't know if the interest from PSG is real or not but if it is then I'm begging Arsene to sell him. It would just take care of a bunch of problems all at once. Anyone disagree?

As for Robin van Persie, I don't think Arsene would let him go, especially with the fragile state of Emmanuel Adebayor's relationship with the club at this point. So I don't think we have anything to worry about there. I'd probably take 20 million for him though, if they offered that.

Bakary Sagna spoke about his injury and how well he's recovered from it, saying that there is still some pain but he can play normally.

"I needed to find my performance level again and be prepared to give more than I have before.

"I do think, though, that I will be fit for the start of the season.

"I want to focus on my own game, perform for Arsenal and see what the season brings. Hopefully it will be some cups."

I love Bakary. He always has a great attitude and works hard, not to mention he's the best damn right back in the league. Here's to your full recovery mate! Cheers!

Adebayor Not For Sale For Money Or Gold

Morning all. Today is an absolutely fantastic day. The Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship last night for the first time in my lifetime. It was a real massacre of the Lakers, and it couldn't have happened to a bigger set of cunts. So here's to the Celtics, and hoping for another one next year.

But now on to Arsenal. We've got an update on Emmanuel Adebayor today. Reports say that AC Milan received a fax directly from Arsene Wenger warning them off of Adebayor.

“It was quite bizarre," a club official has been quoted as saying.

"A fax arrived signed by Wenger in which he warned us against any bid for Adebayor.

“It went on to say that the player is not for sale - not for money or gold.”

I had quite a laugh about that one. Can't you just see pissed off Arsene sending that to Milan? Hilarious. It's good news though, Arsene said that Ade wouldn't be going anywhere and now he's backing it up. As I said on the podcast, I think I'd let Adebayor leave for the 32 million that's been reported. I think that's enough money to find a replacement and more. But on the other hand I do love Ade and am glad he's going to be staying. Anyone that can score thirty goals in a season would have a starting place in my team, and Arsene Wenger seems to feel the same way.

You've got to be f'ing kidding...somehow Cuntley Cole was voted in at number 25 on the Arsenal 50 greatest players poll. Number 25! He shouldn't even be ranked! Whoever voted for him should have their voting privileges taken away.

It's Sagna week at Arsenal.com and they have some interesting statistics about the year Bacary had this season. He has some amazing numbers, like how he only lost 1 tackle every 4.8 Premiership matches. He won over 80% of his total tackles, while Wes Brown was at 69% for ManUre. He also had a dribble completion rate of almost 80% along with 4 assists and that great goal against Chelsea. What a great year Sagna had. Can't wait to see him back next year.

A short while ago it was reported that Barcelona were getting frustrated at the inability to get a deal done with Arsenal for Alexander Hleb. It looks like they are proceeding with negotiations though, with this coming from a Barcelona spokesperson:

“The negotiation with Hleb is still in progress and despite him being a player with special qualities, if his club are not ready [to sell him], we have other options in mind.”

Again, as I said on the podcast, which if you haven't listened to then you should, I want Hleb gone. I'm sick of him and this whole transfer saga. If someone gave Arsenal 8-10 million quid for him, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

In Euro 2008 news, Robin van Persie played 90 minutes for Holland yesterday and managed to score a pretty good goal. Italy beat France 2-0 so the Italians got through and the French are out, which could speed up the official signing of Samir Nasri. Today we've got Spain vs Greece and Russia vs Sweden. Spain already won the group but the winner of Russia vs Sweden will be who joins them in the quarterfinals.

As I said, make sure you listen to the podcast and tell me what you think and what you want to hear on it. If you want to contribute on one in the future you can email me or leave a comment and let me know what you have in mind. That's all I've got today. Have a good one. Cheers!

You can subscribe to the podcast using iTunes by clicking here

Arsenal To Start Year With West Brom

Morning all. The fixture list for the new season came out today and we've got West Brom at home to start the new year. Could we have asked for anything better really? Our first game is at home and against a newly promoted team. That's exactly what I like to have to start the year, because it gives you a good chance to work out any kinks in your system and if you don't play that well then you can hopefully still pull out a win.

After West Brom we've got Fulham away which should hopefully be a win and then we have Newcastle at home to complete the month of August. If all goes well you'd like to think that would be nine points for us out of the gate but you never know with football. Our second to last game of the year is May 16th away to United, so if we're going to win the league then that will most likely be our most important match of the entire year. I like the schedule they gave us. We don't have stretches like this past season with Liverpool, United, and Chelsea all in a row.

In not so good news, Tomas Rosicky says he probably won't be fully fit for preseason training. He said hopefully he'll be able to start training again when the new season starts. I was really hoping we'd get Rosicky back to start the new year, and this news really disappoints me. From everything I heard it sounded like he was going to come back on time and just fine but clearly he won't be. We can't count on him to ever be in the squad. Maybe we ought to think about trying to sell him. I've always liked him as a player and defended him through his injuries but he got hurt a long, long time ago and still won't even be back for the start of the new season. I'm sick of it.

Apparently Barcelona are getting fed up with negotiating for Alexander Hleb, and they may pull the plug on the deal soon if a deal is not done. I'm fed up with it too. I really wish they'd buy him and take him away as soon as possible. I never want to see Hleb in an Arsenal kit again, not even for pre-season, so please take him away Barca. There is still hope though even if they don't sign him because Bayern Munich are still interested and Hleb always talks about how much he loves Germany. Cross your fingers someone pays for him.


Johann Djourou is not at all happy with Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn in the wake of their exit from the Euros. He had some harsh quotes after he didn't get on the field in the tournament and said there is no competition for places in the Swiss team.

“We knew four months in advance who were going to play. With Switzerland, no need to give the best of yourself, you already know the team."

Switzerland really didn't look good at all in the tournament to me. Once Frei got injured they really didn't have much in attack at all. I didn't get to see them play yesterday against Portugal because I had work but in the other two games they never looked like they would make it through the group stages. You would think though that Djourou should have gotten a chance in a meaningless game as they were already out of the tournament. I don't like to hear player criticizing coaches but maybe he's got a point here.

And in BS transfer rumors for the day we see Robin van Persie linked with Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan. I can't see any truth at all in this. He doesn't seem like a Jose type of player for one and he's been injured almost all year for two. The story says he's stalling on new contract talks because he wants Arsenal to change it's wage structure, but even if they did chance it I wouldn't give Robin any more money. Stay healthy for a year you shite licker and then we might give you more money.

That's about it. Euro matches are starting at the same time today which sucks because i liked being able to watch both individually but oh well. Enjoy the final round of the group stage. Cheers!

Arsenal Off To Amsterdam

Morning all. I was woken up way to early this morning so I'm sort of as useless as Eboue right now.

The first topic today is that Arsenal have been confirmed for Ajax's annual Amsterdam Cup, which Arsenal won last season. The other teams in the tournament are Ajax, Sevilla, and Inter Milan, who are now managed by Jose Mourinho. Arsenal will play Ajax August 8th and Sevilla on August 9th.

I like these friendly cups like the Emirates Cup and the Amsterdam Cup. We get to see the squad early on against other top sides who we could end up playing in the Champions League. I think it's great for some of the young players to get time in these matches against big teams. It's really good for their development. Plus it'll give us a good chance to see Carlos Vela against top class clubs. He's one I'm really excited about so we'll get to see what all he can do.

In Euro 2008 news, Robin van Persie is going to miss Holland's first game against Italy on Monday through injury. Marco Van Basten says he is training normally but he's just not ready to go yet. I cringe every time I see van Persie take the slightest hit, and you know we are cursed by international competitions. I just hope RvP can make it through this thing healthy.

Following up on the story yesterday about Adebayor agreeing a move to Milan, he's come out today and completely rubbished that notion.

"I am very happy here. Reports which suggest I have threatened to quit are rubbish," he said. "I love the club and the fans.

"We have a great set of players here with a fantastic team spirit.

"We have had a good season, but next year we want to go one better by winning a trophy."

Now to me that story is pretty much done and dusted because he's said several times that he doesn't want to go anywhere, and I for one am glad. I was astounded yesterday by how many people wanted Adebayor to be sold after he just had a thirty goal season at the age of 24! What more do you want from a guy who played almost every game the entire season without a steady strike partner next to him? RvP was injured, Eduardo was injured, a lot of the time he was on his own up front and yet people are apparently not happy with thirty goals. Spend more time on Championship Manager and stop trying to make decisions for Arsenal, because they are clearly terrible ones.

Apparently Giovanni Dos Santos has signed for Sp*rs. I know some fans really wanted him at Arsenal but I didn't. I don't really think he's that much quality, and going by his transfer fee (4.7 million) and the team he is signing with, a lot of people agree with me.

So you all know what tomorrow is...the start of the 2008 European Championships. If you haven't entered the contest then today is the last day you have to do so. You can visit the main page and see everyone's prediction's here. You can also email me your prediction or post it on the comments or forums. So now that I've heard everyone's predictions I suppose it's time for me to give mine. I'm going to go with Germany over France 3-1.


Well I'm going to take my time and enjoy the Euros. I'm not going to worry about transfers, and I'll probably even write about some of the Euro matches on here. If you want bollocks transfer rumors, you know where to go to find that. Till tomorrow...Cheers.

And oh yeah, Go Celtics.

Eduardo Back Soon, Yaya Toure a Possibility?

Caught Offside has to post more bollocks per day than any other site. If there was a ratio, and somewhere a statistic for the ratio like, "Who posts the most made up shite per day?" I'm pretty sure Caught Offside would win. Yet continually they are the top Arsenal story on NewsNow.

Today however they actually post something that makes sense, and something a lot of us have been calling for, which is a swap deal with Alexander Hleb and Yaya Toure. Yaya is the ideal replacement for Flamini, already capable of playing in a similar style of play to ours at Barcelona, and Hleb is of course, a complete and utter cunt. I don't want Hleb back next season or any other season, so I'm hoping if he does piss off to Barcelona that we actually do get Toure in return. I would personally love to see the brothers Toure destroying Cristiano Ronaldo by kicking him repeatedly in the throat.


Arsene Wenger spoke about the transfer market, and how soon it will end as we know it. Due to the Webster ruling, players age 28 or older can buy out the last two years of their contracts and move clubs. Arsene spoke very accurately about what this could lead to, saying that soon people will say you should be able to do it at an even younger age and should be able to buy out more than two years. This would virtually eliminate transfer fees as you could just buy out the rest of a player's contract for much cheaper. More importantly even, for a club like ours, is you couldn't build a team over time. You'd pretty much just have to build for one season and maybe hope all of your players didn't leave. It's looking like it could be a bad situation if something is not done about it.

William Gallas talked about how he'd love to kick the shite out of the Italians at the Euros to get revenge for the World Cup 2006 final. Everyone remembers what happened then, Materazzi called Zidane's mother a whore or something and Zidane placed an incredible head butt right into his chest. France lost of course but it was good stuff to watch as a neutral.


There is great news regarding Eduardo Da Silva, who now looks set to come back as soon as August or September! There is a video here shot in Brazil that shows Eduardo walking, working out, and even kicking around a ball. He's really looking great and I can't believe the progress he appears to be making. It's got to be really good for his confidence as well that he has recovered so fast thus far when it looked like he'd be out until at least December. While he certainly shouldn't be rushed back, it is great that we could have him back sooner and that everything is on track and going well. Get well soon Eduardo!

Robin van Persie is set to begin talks on a new contract. Hopefully it has a clause that says if he misses half the season again he has to give back half of his wages. It's a shame RvP has to play in the Euros because I feel like if he just worked on fitness and getting some rest this summer he could come back a lot healthier. He's a great player but he's as bad as Rosicky when it comes to injuries. Keep your fingers crossed whenever he's playing this summer.

That's about all I have today. The entries are coming in for the Euro 2008 contest which is great, keep them coming. Remember all entries have to be in by the time we start matches on June 7th. Also, register for the forums and all that good stuff. And that's about it. Off to work now. Have a good one all, cheers!

Hleb Off To Spain, Euro 2008 contest.

Morning all. Nasri has again not been confirmed today in case you were wondering, but this is most likely due to the fact that he was playing for France last night. Awful hard to be in London when you're playing for France. Try it. Arsenal News Review says he played well. Le Grove said he didn't play all that well. I didn't watch it so take your pick of the reviews of his performance if you're that into it.

Nasri's agent did however confirm that the deal will be done in the coming days and it will be to Arsenal. Read this.

Biggest news we have today is about Alexander Hleb and if it is anything it's confusing. Apparently Hleb's agent met with Txiki Begiristain (nice name), the Barcelona director, yesterday in Germany. They reportedly reached a verbal agreement on the player's terms and now an agreement must be struck with Arsenal to complete the move.

At the same time, Real Madrid have declared their interest in Hleb, with coach Bernd Schuster saying this:

"Over the past two months we have had a plan and we know what we want, but now Hleb has been added. We did not know he could leave Arsenal but in recent days it has been more positive. We were surprised that he might leave there."

Remember also that Inter Milan was thought to be leading the race to sign him for ages until the Spanish gians got involved. Personally I couldn't give a shite where he goes to, I'm just ready for him to be off. This reminds me of the Jose Antonio Reyes story last year, where we didn't know where he was going to go we just knew we didn't want him back. It took weeks of him being linked with Real, Atletico, and Sevilla before the move finally went through. There are some people that may still want Hleb in the team, but I'd take 10 million quid for him right now in a heartbeat.


If you're looking for a laugh you can laugh at Mathieu Flamini, who was dropped from the France squad for Euro 2008. A lot of people probably feel sorry for him, but not me. I like ex Arsenal players this is true, but I only like ones who were great players here for years, like Pires, Henry, Vieira, etc, not money grubbers who leave after one good year. Flamini deserves all the hardship he gets in my book. If you disagree, please name your reason why.

Robin van Persie has said that Arsenal need to raise their wage limit to keep players happy and make them stay at Arsenal. Of course he wants the wage limit raised, he's a player and he wants more money. I like van Persie and all but he can talk about all this when he becomes club director, or at least stays healthy for a whole season.

As you probably all know, Cesc Fabregas' new agent is Darren Dein, David Dein's son. With Cesc getting ready to go into contract negotiations with Arsenal, the talk is that he's going to play some hardball with the club. Cesc is going to re-sign, trust me on this one. There is no need to worry that just because Dein is his agent he is going to go to Barcelona this summer. He'll probably get a deal about 100,000 quid a week. This story is meant to get all the Arsenal supporters nervous but don't worry about it.

And in other news Mad Jens made the final cut for the German squad for the Euros. Good job Jens.

That's about all I've got for the day. I'm pretty stoked for the Euro's so if you want to give me your prediction on the finals, give me the two teams that will play in the finals and the final score and I'll give the winner a free ArseNole stein mug and maybe some other stuff too. It's used to drink excesses of beer, like Yuengling. So post your prediction on the forums or the comments and I'll write em all down and the winner will get that. Or you can email your prediction to me at ArseNole[at]arsenole(dot)com. They have to be in before June 7th.

Walcott Picked For England

'Eyyyyyyyyyyyy. That's my greeting today in true Fonz style. Anyways, got some news and lots and lots of rumors to go through today so let's get right to it. We'll start with the Sunderland match yesterday, the last of the season, which we won 1-0 through a goal from Theo Walcott. It was a beautiful through ball from Gilberto that Walcott ran on to and finished easily.

Mark Randall also had a goal but it was ruled out for offside. While it was by no means our best performance, it was good to finish the season with three straight wins especially while sitting some top players out. The pass from Gilberto really was wonderful and I have to tell you I hope he stays for next season. He's still got something to give even at this age and he does have experience and leadership that you need in a club. He spoke to Arsenal TV yesterday, saying his future will be sorted out soon. Let's cross our fingers and hope he stays.

Theo Walcott has been putting in some great performances since he has gotten into the starting lineup and has been rewarded by being called up to Fabio Capello's England squad to face the United States. Arsene Wenger even revealed that he thinks Walcott can be a regular starter for Arsenal. I think he could be just what England needs, some pace and freshness and I hope they keep selecting him as well as Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Lennon, etc if they want England to improve their teams instead of having the last few years of mediocrity. Hopefully Theo gets a run out in the match but obviously I'll be hoping for a US win.


Robin van Persie says Arsenal will be back to getting silverware soon. He goes on to say that it will create a lasting memory in people's minds if we win trophies with the style of football we play. If van Persie could stay healthy next season it would definitely be a big boost for us as we have missed him for large portions of the last two seasons now. It's a shame he has to go play the Euro's this summer because I would much prefer him getting some rest. Let's just hope he can work out a better fitness plan and stay in the squad next year.

Tomas Rosicky has said that he is going through "the worst time of his career." No, it's not another player wanting out of Arsenal, he's speaking about his injury. He has an operation tomorrow to try to see what is wrong with his hamstring and there is no timetable for his return at this point. The ligament has apparently separated from the bone and it's going to take a minimum of two months to recover from it but it could be more depending on what they have to do to repair it. You have to feel bad for the guy. He's had injury troubles since he got to Arsenal and if he could just put together a whole season of play I think he definitely has the quality to help us out. Get well soon Tomas.

And now time for all the transfer rumors:

Lyon's Hatem Ben Arfa has said that he has spoken "about" Arsenal. He did not say he spoke to Arsenal, just about them. It was reported by many sites that we had signed Ben Arfa already but the deal is not done and it appears no contact specifically with Ben Arfa has been made by Arsenal.

The new name today (there is a new one every day) is Mario Gomez of Stuttgart. Some in the media are now linking us with him because someone updated his Wikipedia page saying that he was moving to Arsenal for 20 million Euros. This has since been removed from his page and I find this story to be just a rumor. I don't see Wenger buying a striker as he said he wanted a defender and a creative player (midfielder by my estimation) and I don't think he would spend that kind of money on him either.

Sky Sports has linked us with Jean II Makoun of Cameroon. Sorry I would have put his club team but it rhymed so that was too tempting. He plays for Lille and is a defensive midfielder that looks very good in my opinion. Can anyone tell me what his middle name is? Is it the number two or something? Ridiculous. Apparently Tottenham are also interested so they'll probably pay him 20 million just to go there or something. The article also says we could bid for Sevilla's Seydou Keita.

I need your help! I've been trying to think of what to do for the end of the season and I have thought up a few ideas. Please let me know which one(s) sound good and I'll do it.

1. Player reviews - I thought it might be good to do a review of each player, one per day complete with stats and analysis going into the new season. I'd do pros and cons for each player, etc.

2. A Season review - Just a one time season review where I wrap everything up in one post, quick player grades, etc.

3. Transfer news/rumors - This one is pretty obvious

Just let me know what you want to read and I'll do it. I want input to make this as good as it can possibly be! Also, if you read the site often, think about registering for the forums by clicking the link in the top right of the page. It'd be nice to get a community going on there that can talk Arsenal 24/7 between posts.

And that's about all I've got today, I'm sure it'll be another day packed full of a bunch of nonsense and rumors tomorrow so you have that to look forward to. Cheers.