Kroenke Leapfrogs Usmanov, Melo Goes to Juve

Morning everyone. A couple of things have been happening in the world of Arsenal in the past few days so I figured I'd keep everyone up to date.

First of all, it's only 8 days until the first preseason match! We'll get to see that annual match vs Barnet, which while not an overly competitive match usually, it is the return of football each year and that is something to be celebrated. I'll get more into a preview for that match in a couple of days.

The big news I guess this morning revolves once again around one Alisher "The fat Uzbeki money grubbing cunt" Usamanov and one Stanley Kroenke. A few days ago, Usmanov offered to inject 60 million pounds into Arsenal's coffers for transfer activity. Mind you, all this money is questionable and sketchy at best. Needless to say, Arsenal rejected the offer. Ivan Gazidis had this to say:

With regard to players, the Board decided not to issue permanent capital in the hopes of signing one or two players in an inflated transfer market. Instead, the focus continues to be on securing the services of talented young players we have on long-term contracts and making very selective acquisitions, only where a new signing will add real value to our already strong squad.

Some of you will say, "Shite, why would you turn down 60 million quid to spend on the team?" Well because it's not how Arsenal does business. It never has been that way, and I hope it never will be that way. The club is built on a sound business model that, while sometimes is frustrating, is crucial to the club's long term success.


Along these same lines, Stan Kroenke has today increased his shares by 1,600 shares to now own 28.5% of the club, making him the club's largest shareholder, passing Usmanov. Some people are still skeptical of Kroenke, but I personally place my faith in the Arsenal board, who have been around Arsenal for decades. There's a reason they invited Kroenke to join the board and continue to reject Usmanov. Kroenke, they feel, is someone who has the club's interest at heart, while Usmanov is a horrible person who eats kittens for lunch and baby seals for dinner.

This increase does put Kroenke awfully close to the limit of 30% before you are obligated to make a full takeover bid. It seems almost inevitable that there will be an eventual bidding war between Kroenke and Usmanov, and I'm fairly sure the board is doing their damndest to make sure Kroenke wins that war. And I'm backing him too. While I'd rather have the ownership split up like it is right now, if it's going to be one of these two it's not even a question.

In other news, Arsenal target Felipe Melo has signed for Juventus, effectively ending that transfer saga. I did think he would be a perfect fit for us, but I guess we didn't want to spend as much as Juve did. The question is who do we look at for that holding role now? There's Inler of course, and Veloso, but my guess is that Arsene will go for someone totally off the wall that we've never heard of. Your thoughts?

That's about all I've got today. Thoughts on Kroenke, Usmanov, Melo, and Barnet are all acceptable, as well as anything else you want to say. Have at it. Cheers.

Arsenal 2-1 Barnet Match Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can't Wait For the Barnet Match!

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

Cheers

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