Who sits, Nasri, Theo, or Arshy? Should Arsenal Play 4-2-3-1?

Morning all. Not a whole lot going on this week. I really wish I had a lot to write about but there just isn't anything to write about. Everyone is away on international duty for the next week plus, so stories are few and far between, but I'll try to come up with something mildly entertaining as I drink my morning coffee.

First off we may as well start with some transfer rumors, and the first one is Raul Albiol of Valencia saying he would be interested in a move to one of the "big clubs in the Premiership." While I don't watch him week in and week out I do think he's at least the type of defender that would be a good addition to our squad, and with Gallas not getting any younger and Valencia being cash strapped, it could maybe happen.

Gael Clichy has been linked with a move to AC Milan, and was asked about it by a reporter.

"I don't know anything.

"I am very happy at Arsenal. It is true AC Milan are a great club. It is flattering to know you are followed by such a team."

I think Clichy is the type (hopefully) that would like to stay at Arsenal for a long time so I don't really see a lot to this story. Hopefully we'll secure our Champions League spot for next year pretty soon and that should kill off some of these transfer rumors of our big players leaving. Clichy hasn't been at his best this year but there is a reason that AC Milan are following him and a reason he was in the team of the year last year, and that's because he's absolute quality. Not only that but he's a perfect team player, never runs his mouth, and always has a great attitude. He's the type of player great teams are made of.

Alright so on to my main topic today, and that is one I have been discussing with Joaquin over the last few days. With the return of Cesc soon after the international break, where do all of our attacking midfielders play? Obviously Cesc, being the captain and being brilliant and amazing, gets in the side no question. But what about Theo, Nasri, and Arshavin? While Theo was out and Cesc was out there was lots of space to move Nasri and Arshy around, but with all of them healthy, as well as having Adebayor back up front, it does give you lots of options.

Of course this is a good problem to have, much better than having everyone injured like we did, but I really want to know what you all think. What is your ideal first eleven for Arsenal with everyone healthy? I suppose mine would look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Nasri-Denilson-Cesc-Arshavin
RvP-Adebayor

But Joaquin had an interesting idea that I'd like to throw out there now. What if Arsenal switched it up and ran a 4-2-3-1? I know 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 are Arsene's ideal formations but with the players we have a 4-2-3-1 could work effectively. Have a look at this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Denilson-Cesc
Walcott-Nasri-Arshavin
Ade/Nik/RvP/Eddy

Obviously RvP and Eddy at least have the ability to play in that line of 3 instead of Theo, Nasri, or Arshy too if needed and Ade and Nik can both play a lone striker role fairly well. I think it's something that should be considered maybe because the possibilities are endless. Imagine what all of those guys on the pitch at the same time could create. I'm actually about to try it out on football manager now and see if they can pull it off. Not that that is a good sign or anything but its still fun for me.

So I want to know your opinions on this one. If we stick with 4-4-2, where does everyone get into the team, and what do you think of at least the IDEA of the 4-2-3-1? It gives you something to think about over the international break at very least.

Hope you all have a good day. Cheers.

Nasri Confirmed, Hleb is a Cunt

Ok I have not been into following the Nasri story every single waking second like many sites seem to be but I have been keeping everyone someone updated so now I can officially confirm that Samir Nasri will sign for Arsenal in the coming week, most likely on Tuesday. Monday is a bank holiday in the UK and so it may happen then but most likely not.

Even Arsene Wenger said the signing was highly likely, and said it would happen before the Euros start on June 7th.

So that is one signing we have down, and he could definitely be classified as our "creative player" signing that Wenger said would happen this summer. However, we don't know if he is a replacement for Hleb, who appears to be on the way out, or if this is another player and Arsene will sign another to replace Hleb. Arsene has said on countless occasions that he does not plan on having Hleb leave because he has not received any transfer bids for him, and from what I hear that is still the case. As it has been said on the forums, I think Wenger's first choice for the creative player was Niko Kranjcar, but it looks like he is set to stay at Portsmouth, which probably led to Wenger going for Nasri, his second choice. I think there is still a possibility, but not a probability, that Wenger will look for another player to replace Hleb. If Hleb does go it will not be without receiving a transfer fee, and I think another signing would depend on how much we received for Hleb. If we make up a good bit of the 11.2 million pounds we paid for him, I think another signing could be likely. If it is less than that I would expect Wenger to keep his faith in Walcott and, sadly, Eboue.

On to Hleb, I have to say that he is a complete and utter cunt. He is leaving strictly for money, not because he can't settle in London. Madrid, Barcelona, and Milan are not small quiet towns. He is 27 and wants to get a huge payday before he is past his prime. Granted, his prime has not seen all that much production out of him. We have all talked about his lack of goals, but we have only even talked about him being quality for just this past season. Before that all we talked about was how he gave the ball away too much. If you don't believe me then read my season review from last summer, which was my very first post on this website. I said he was a waste of money then because he never shot and gave the ball away too much. So should we really be upset about him leaving? Hell no. We should be happy someone is willing to take him off our hands, give us money for him and then waste their own money paying him wages. I can't be the least bit upset if he leaves.

So that's my rant on Hleb and good riddance to him.

Now on to what I think Arsenal will do next. I think after Nasri defender is the next target. My personal feeling is that it will be Kompany or Albiol, but I could be completely wrong and it could be someone we have never heard of. Whenever a team finds out Arsenal is interested in one of their players, the price for that player skyrockets and usually causes us to have to go in a different direction, and this could turn out to be the case here. Kompany at least I've heard is valued at 15 million, which a shiteload for a defender, I don't care who it is.

But I've done enough rambling so now I'll try to go over a little bit of news. Oh wait, there isn't any bloody news because every single site spends hours nutting over the Nasri story.

For all the idiots saying that Wenger should be sacked and that Arsenal should let Usmanov take over so we can spend billions of dollars you should read this article and realize just how stupid you are. I'm being kind of harsh today aren't I?

The Man from East Lower agrees with me that Diaby could develop into the new Vieira, or something like a replacement for Flamini at least, in the new season.

And that's really all there is for today. I'm so over the Nasri stories, so unless there is a picture of him holding an Arsenal shirt tomorrow then there will be no mention of him in my post. If you really need to hear about how Nasri likes his croissants baked or something then you can read about it on 823,508 other sites. I know it seems like I'm in a pissy mood this morning but really I just am sick of every news story being about him. So yeah, more to come tomorrow, hopefully there will be news about something else. Until then, join the forums, talk on em, leave a comment, or do something useful other than waiting for Nasri to sign. Cheers.

Arsenal to Sign a Powerful Defender

Well thank Christ for that. Arsene Wenger had a question and answer session with the shareholders today and said he's looking to add two players, a creative player and a powerful defender. He said our defensive problems were not from set pieces or from open play but only from long balls through the middle, which Gallas and Toure seem not to be able to deal with. I personally disagree with him as I've seen more than a few goals come from open play that were very, very shoddy defending against. And as for set pieces just think of the Derby match as an example. That was absolutely terrible defending off of that free kick, and it was Derby!

So the defenders we have been linked with are the usual suspects, Raul Albiol of Valencia (who are shit this year, check the Spanish table) and Micah Richards of Manchester City. I've always been a fan of Richards and I think his play belies his young age. Unfortunately he is English which means his price will be 5 million more than it should be. Albiol is another good player but he'd also probably be at least 10 million pounds and I really don't think Wenger is going to pay that much for one defender. I guess it comes down to how much his "creative playmaker" ends up costing so we'll be able to see how much he has left. You can see pictures of Wenger meeting with the shareholders here.

I've heard from several sources that David Villa is close to signing for Real Madrid. I never had all that much hope of him being brought into Arsenal but it was worth dreaming about. Wenger hasn't mentioned signing a striker though anyway so I guess he feels that Adebayor, Bendtner, hopefully a fully recovered Eduardo and Rvp and Theo can do it.

Yet again Real Madrid is trying to tap up Cesc Fabregas, with Ramon Calderon, the club's president, actually telling Cesc to just request a transfer from Arsenal so he could join the Spanish twats. However, Cesc has again put these rumors to rest and said he is happy at Arsenal.

"I am young and happy at Arsenal. I regard them as one of the biggest clubs and (Arsene) Wenger is like a father to me on the pitch."

It's getting really annoying with this whole situation because this is the third straight summer that they have tried to take Cesc from us by tapping him up essentially and nothing is ever done about it because they do it through the newspapers and Spanish media will print anything just to blow bubbles up Madrid and Barca's arses. It seems that Cesc's future is very much tied to Arsene Wenger though, and if he were ever to leave Cesc would surely leave Arsenal as well.

Petr Cech lets us know how much of a cunt he is by saying that nobody will remember that we played good football ten years from now.

Freddie Ljungberg has been asked by West Ham to tear up his contract after only one year there. He makes 75,000 quid a week which is a ridiculous salary for a player well past his prime. It's sad to see him going through all the injuries and stuff though so I wish him the best. If I was him I'd take the 3 million and go play in Spain or Italy. That'd be a new place for him to try out his skills and he could still make good money. Plus those leagues generally aren't as physical. But good luck Freddie.
So that's about it today. Tomorrow we may start looking forward to the Sunderland match at the weekend or we may have our Youth Squad and Reserve overview from YoungGuns ready. We shall see. Cheers all! And last Arsenal.com is having a countdown of the 50 greatest Arsenal players of all time. You can click here to vote.