Vieira Coming, Senderos Going, Toure and Wilshere

Morning all. I'll be the first to admit I haven't been posting nearly enough this Summer, but I've been reinvigorated by the upcoming start of the season and so I'm back and I wanted to give my thoughts on everything that has happened in the past week or so while I've been in New Hampshire.

So first off we had the Kolo Toure transfer to Manchester City. My thoughts on this are that, while it's a shame that Toure left after all these years, he hadn't been at his best ever since he contracted Malaria on that African Nations trip. So I think it was good business to sell him. When you look at our center back situation now, do you feel that it is a strong enough area without him? Arsene is clearly convinced that Thomas Vermaelen is the real deal and is ready to go right away, and he also must have a lot of faith in Johann Djourou as a back up for both him and Gallas. After that I think it's a little weak, as Silvestre is just terrible and Senderos looks to be on his way out. (more on that later) Of course Alex Song can cover at the back if need be but that isn't ideal. So while in terms of numbers I don't think we have a lot of cover at the back, but I think in terms of quality, losing Toure isn't a huge deal. He's been a great servant to the club and always had the right attitude, but it was time for him to go. I wish him the best of luck when he's playing United, Sp*rs, the scousers, and Chelsea, and of course horrible luck when he plays us.


Speaking of great servants for the club, there's been a lot of talk in the past week about Patrick Vieira returning to Arsenal! This one is a really tough one for me, because I love Patrick Vieira. He's probably in my top three players of all time. But didn't we sell him 4 years ago because he was getting older and wouldn't be able to play at the same level much longer? And now he's 32 years old, has a lot of trouble staying fit, and Arsene is saying he may bring him back. No offense to the legend that is Patrick Vieira, but is he good enough at this point? Even on a pay as you play deal, surely we should be able to find someone younger, healthier, and better to play as a defensive midfielder? Maybe Wenger thinks Vieira can still get it done, or he just wants him to play sparingly in some of the big matches, which I'd love. To clarify, I would love to see Patty back at Arsenal, I just wouldn't want to leave the midfield too thin if Vieira gets injured or isn't up to the level we need to compete for honors.

So earlier I mentioned Philippe Senderos, and it looks like he may be on the way to Everton. There have been lots of reports that the deal has already been done, but I won't believe it until it's on Arsenal.com. I kind of think we'd be better off keeping him, but if we can get 7 or 8 million quid for him I wouldn't be too upset about it. I do think he's always gotten a bad rap though even though he's a pretty decent player, but it doesn't look like he'll be an Arsenal player much longer.


So on to what everyone is talking about at the moment, and that's Jack Wilshere, who's performances in the Emirates Cup were nothing short of magical. And they would still have been magical if he was 27 instead of 17. The guy is just so far ahead of his time it's ridiculous. Arsene Wenger has moved to calm everyone's expectations about Jack, seeing as he hasn't even made it onto the pitch in many first team matches yet. At the same time though, you've got to wonder how long we can afford to keep this boy off of the pitch. He brings so much to the table, that especially with Nasri out early on, I think we need to get him on the field. His composure and skill on the ball rivals that of Cesc and Arshavin already, and frankly I'm obsessed with him. I've already put in my order for a Wilshere kit for this year. At the same time, we need to not do like we did with Theo Walcott, and put unneccessary and unrealistic expectations on Jack at a young age. He's not always going to have fantastic games and score crazy goals and make much more experienced pros look like schoolboys. We can still be excited for one of our home-grown talents though!

That's about it for the day. I'll probably post again tomorrow, amazingly, and I intend to keep that going too. A couple more quick things, make sure you sign up to win tickets to World Cup 2010! It's really easy so don't pass up that chance. Also, I recommend you all have a look at ThirdGen's Portal e-mag. It's good already and it's only going to get better. Alright everyone, have a good one. Cheers!

Vermaelen Officially Signs for Arsenal

Hello all. I've been on a bit of a hiatus since June 2nd. Why, you ask? Well simply because there's been absolutely nothing to write about. I don't want to write about how we might sign a 16 year old Frenchman, or about how Cesc might leave, then the next day he might not leave. It's just boring. Besides that, I've been kind of busy, so that's my excuse. But I'm back now and I'll be posting every day just like I did before. Now on to Arsenal.

I suppose there's pretty big news today. Thomas Vermaelen was introduced officially as an Arsenal player. We've been trailing him for a couple of weeks now and we've landed our man. We've all known that we need a center back for a while now so it's good that we've locked one up. Problem is, as is with most of the players we sign, I haven't seen much of him at all since I don't ever watch the Dutch league or the Belgian national team.

Arsene Wenger had this to say about him:

“Thomas is a great signing for Arsenal Football Club, and we are all delighted that he is joining us. Thomas is a solid performer with good experience of Champions League and UEFA Cup football and is also a regular with the Belgium national team. Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre back, but he’s multi-functional and can also play at left back. He is strong technically with a positive winner’s attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team. Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal.”

Vermaelen responded with these quotes:

“I’m just so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a great Club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium. Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this Club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.

“I have had a good taste of the Champions League during my time with Ajax and this is something I am looking forward to experiencing again with Arsenal. I’m also looking forward to playing in the English Premier League, which for me, is the best league in the world. Also, I just want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club and I hope we can enjoy winning some trophies together next season.”

I like him already. I know everyone goes on and on about how great a club Arsenal is and how they are going to give their best for the club and the fans, but it still never gets old. If every player actually stuck to that mentality life would be wonderful.

While I can't comment all that much on the actual player we've signed, I can say that I'm pleased with the way this deal got done. We didn't wait until August 30th to start negotiating like we did for Xabi Alonso last year, we identified a target and went and got him, which is how it should be. This will allow him to get a full pre-season camp in with us and get accustomed to the style and to all of his team mates.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to not only Kolo Toure and William Gallas but also Phillippe Senderos. I forsee at least two of them being sold with Vermaelen coming in, and the only question is which two. If Milan want to keep Senderos, I'm absolutely sure we'll let them, but that is a big if. Then it comes down to Toure and Gallas. Gallas has played better than Toure as of late, but he's also older and is a bit of a cunt. We also have Djourou coming up who I think is going to be an exceptional player. Who do you think will be our first choice pairing at center back next year? It's really hard to predict.

Last but not least for today, I'm seriously considering getting an Arsenal tattoo. I haven't decided exactly what or where though yet. I may just get Arsenal down the inside of my forearm, or across my back. Anyone got any sweet ideas that I can steal from you? Let me know. Thanks. Peace.

Arsenal Linked With Matuidi, Madrid Want Alonso

Hello everyone. Not a lot happening in the world of Arsenal today but I'm posting anyway. I'm pretty much starving by the way, but that does tend to happen at lunch time. I'll probably make some coffee and have a microwave pizza, because that's clearly a good combo.

First off today is Arsenal have been linked with St. Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi. He's 22, plays as a DM, and really wants to join Arsenal.

“I asked myself questions at the end of August after Arsenal showed their interest. An opportunity to join them is not something ordinary. It gives you great self-esteem, it is Arsenal."

I tell you, it is REALLY hard to find any videos or anything on this guy, but I did find this one of a really nice goal he scored this season. If anyone knows more about him, feel free to fill us all in.

If Xabi Alonso is really a target again this summer for Arsene Wenger, then the competition for his signature just got a lot tougher. Real Madrid are interested in signing him, and since they'll pay just about anything to get the players they want, it could price us out of the picture. I've given you my views on this subject. Xabi Alonso is a good player, one who I would certainly like to have at Arsenal, but I'd rather have someone who will knock some dudes out. The only dude I remember seeing Xabi Alonso knock out is...well, Cesc...last season. Not nice. Still, if that's the way Arsene wants to go with it I'll be quite happy to have him because he really is an excellent passer with mounds of Premier League experience.

Kolo Toure has called for the squad to stay together this summer, and says it is the key to really improving.

"I think keeping the team together is the most important thing. When you stay with your team-mate for three or four years you start to learn how he plays. That helps you for the games and I think we have been together for a while now. It's important for our improvement next season. Sometimes when you bring somebody else, these players have to settle and that can take a year sometimes. The Premier League is already difficult so if you play six months badly it's difficult to come back."

That's a really long quote but it all needed to be shown. While I agree in principle with Kolo on this, and would like to keep most of the squad together, there is no doubt in my mind that we need additions to it like Andrey Arshavin was last year. The impact he made was unquestionable, and it didn't take him six months to adjust to the league. So yes, keep the squad together, but add to it as well. Depth never hurts any team.

And last but not least today, good ol' Jens Lehmann is getting set to make his film debut. He's apparently going to play a talent scout in the movie Themba, which is a pretty weird title to me but fair play to Jens.

So yeah, that's about it. Join the forums and start talking, because it makes the world a better place. Follow me on Twitter too. Man's game. Cheers.

Villa Lose, And The World Is Bright Again - Man's Game Time

Morning all. I could lead into this post with a headline like "It's funny how things change" or "Football really is a funny game" or something else, but apparently all the other blogs beat me to that one so we'll just go without. I did predict Villa losing and us winning on Tuesday, so boom, outta here, correct. We're now within 3 points of Villa after their loss to City and our injured players are all going to be coming back at just the right time to really give us that boost.

Aston Villa aren't a team who are used to fighting for the Champions League places near the end of the season, and maybe the pressure is getting to them a little bit. They have a good team to be sure but none of those players have ever been locked in a battle to get into Europe like this and all that comes with that honor. They don't have it easy the rest of the way either.

Tottenham - Home
Liverpool - Away
Man United - Away
Everton - Home
West Ham - Home

I figure they probably lose to United and Liverpool away and probably either Everton or Sp*rs will take some points off of them. That's a lot of chances we have to take that 4th spot from them. While we still have to go to United and Liverpool, I'd take our schedule the rest of the way over theirs any day. Ten games left in the season, it's Man's Game time.

Theo Walcott and Eduardo are back in the squad Sunday for the match against Burnley. I can't wait to see Theo back. I feel like he's been out about ten months and it'll be great to not see Eboue out there and to have someone that is actually a cool guy that has skill, pace, and ability, unlike Eboue.

"I will see how they (Walcott and Eduardo) look tomorrow and Saturday but they will certainly be in the squad, especially Theo. We have to wait and see how Eduardo reacts and responds to his injury."

On the defensive front, Arsene Wenger says that Gallas should be back for Sunday and Kolo should be back for Roma next week, which is great news. Djourou had been playing well earlier in the year but last match he was a bit shaky. It's probably just because he hasn't gotten many matches lately but for the Champions League I'd prefer to have Gallas and Toure, who have been doing well together. Never thought I'd say that.

The next league match isn't until the 14th against Blackburn, so we have to wait a while for that. Maybe by then we could have Adebayor back as well, and who knows what Rosicky's status is. (By the way, calling him Rosicknote or some variation like Rosick List is not funny or imaginitive, so please come up with something original or just call him by his name) Cesc could be back in April for the stretch run against the other big guns so all is looking up.

Optimisim is the key now! Remember 2005-2006? Sp*rs thought they were going to be Aston Villa that year and steal our Champions League spot. But the lasagna saved the day then, and the lasagna will find a way to infect Villa as well. 4th place here we come!

An Optimistic Outlook on the End of the Season

Morning all. We're going full out optimism today. It's a good day so far. I just got my final roster for my team of Under 8's which start Saturday, I'm making baked ziti for lunch as I write this, and my six pack abs are looking nice. So those are all good things. What would really top it off though is a win today against bottom club West Brom.

The good news going into the match is that Arsenal have a thirteen game unbeaten streak going in the league! The bad news is that we have drawn five league matches in a row, including four 0-0's in a row. That is all going to change today. You know why? Because West Brom are shite. You know what else? I'm going to take Man City to beat Aston Villa on Wednesday too. That would put us within three points of them and I'm feeling confident.

I can't see us not winning this match today. If you can't get up for a "must-win" like this, then none of these players should be playing for the club. I can get myself up for coaching an Under 8's match, so these guys should be able to get up to play in Europe next season. Theo, Cesc, Eduardo, Adebayor, Rosicky...all of them need to be at their best when they get back, and I think they will.

Adebayor said just today that we need to win every game the rest of the season to get into the Champions League. He's probably right. While we've been counting on Villa to drop points, they haven't dropped many at all and when they have we haven't been able to capitalize. And unlike most of you, I actually DO think Adebayor cares about the team and wants to win. All of you that hate on him every day should piss off. He's way better than Bendtner, he pretty much made our entire season last year, and he's still potentially our best striker along with van Persie.

He also spoke about the booing that came after the Fulham match, saying:

"It is difficult for the boss, difficult for us as players, for them as fans - so they just have to keep doing what they love the most which is keep pushing us on."

Maybe the fans should actually try that. I live in Florida, so I don't get to go to all the matches obviously, and nothing makes me feel worse than watching games on TV when the Emirates is completely silent. We have 60,000 bloody supporters in the building and we can't sing a few songs? Come on you guys. I know it isn't the difference between winning the league and getting fifth place but it could at least push a team on to a winning goal against a team like Fulham.

Andrey Arshavin says he's still finding his fitness in the English game. That was certainly clear in the second half of the Fulham match, where he pretty much couldn't move at all. I don't blame him, I don't think I would have put him out there for 90 minutes so soon, but it isn't my call.

"Even before the end of the first half I felt as if I had spat my lungs out. It was a hard match for me. In the second half my legs simply refused to serve me."

Hopefully he'll find his fitness soon or it'll be a waste of a signing. We signed him to help us this season, and if he can never play 90 minutes then what's the use? But I'm sure he'll get it together soon.

But on to the match today. Injury news is Gallas, Eduardo, Walcott, Rosicky, Fabregas, Adebayor, Silvestre all out. Arshavin could also be rested, which leaves us a little bare.

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Djourou-Clichy
Eboue-Denilson-Song-Nasri
RvP-Bendtner

It's not a great lineup when you look at it but we'll win. Trust me. We just will. I can feel it. I'm going to use a different coffee cup and wear my Kolo away kit today. It will definitely change our fortunes.

2-0 to the Arsenal. Still rockin the clean sheet, and getting the win too. You heard it hear first.

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.

Arshavin Deadline Today, Who Cares?

Morning all. Today is a big day for Arsenal and for me. I just got my copy of the Official Illustrated History of Arsenal and I am facking stoked. I'll probably read through it a good seven or eight times this weekend. For Arsenal though, it's the last day (supposedly) for us to work out a deal for Andrey Arshavin. Zenit say if there isn't something worked out today then he won't be coming to Arsenal.

I'm just going to come out right now and say, to quote John Leard, "Fuck 'em." If they won't take 15 million for a 27 year old who is probably not any better than Nasri, who is younger than him by six years and only cost 12 million, then why would we want him? He's not worth as much as they want to our team, and I'm sick of this story over and over with him. Zenit should be nutting themselves over 15 million for someone who is going to buy out his contract in a couple months. Then we can get him for free and laugh in their faces. Arsene Wenger has been asked if Arshavin was the only player he was targetting, and Arsene Wenger said no, so there are other options. This isn't the end of the world.

I don't see why everyone cares about us signing him anyway. He's played in the Russian league, doesn't really fit into our team once Cesc is healthy, and he'll have no resale value. If I asked people who they WOULDN'T like to see leave the club, I think two answers I'd get for sure would be Theo and Nasri. Both are young, they keep getting better, and they bring something special to the team. Of course Cesc will always have his place at Arsenal, so where does Arshavin fit into that team? Does he take Nasri's spot on the left? Then we've wasted 12 million in the summer buying him. Does he take Theo's place on the right? I think we need Theo's pace down that wing, which Arshavin can't match. And while Theo and Carlos Vela may one day be strikers, right now I think they are at their best on the wings and I'd sure as hell rather have them than Arshavin's whiny ass. Wenger says it takes most foreign players six months to adjust to the English game, so would he help us this season anyway? I don't think so. In 8 months his contract can be bought out for free, so why pay 15 million now for a player who is free in 8 months if you want him.

So my question is what would Arsenal get for the 15 million? A player we don't need in a position where we do actually have some semblance of depth. Let's move on to what we really need, which is defense and defensive midfield! Maybe instead of ignoring the obvious holes in the team and signing an attacker, we could actually address the team needs and get someone defensive minded! What a novel idea.

I think us losing out on Arshavin would be just about the best thing that could happen to Arsenal right now. If we make NO signings just because we can't get him then that would make me upset, but I think us signing Arshavin would make me even more upset than that. It just isn't good business.

Everyone, including me, Joaquin, you, Kolo Toure, my mom, my dog, your dog, Samir Nasri, and Samir's mom, knows we need help defensively, so that is where the money needs to be spent. I like goals as much as everyone else but it doesn't matter how many you score if the other team scores more! Gallas and Toure can't play together, and Silvestre is shit. Djourou has been a bright spot but for the love of God can we just bring in a quality, established defender for once in history? Arsene has worked with Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, and other great ones, so he does know what a good defender is, he just seems to have forgotten we need them. As for defensive midfield, when you lose Flamini, Diarra, and Gilberto all within six months, you probably need a replacement for at least one of them!

If you can't tell, I'm a bit pissed off and it's led to a bit of a rant this morning. I want your opinion. Do you agree about Arshavin not being needed or are you a part of the Arshavin blow-fest that a lot of the Arsenal community has become this month? Do you think defense is the more pressing need? Leave your thoughts. FA Cup tomorrow, get excited. I think Little Jack Wilshere might get a run out. Fingers crossed. Cheers.

No Defense for This Type of Defense

Well if you forgot we had a match yesterday, woke up knowing we didn't have Cesc or Adebayor, and saw that we had drawn 2-2 at Aston Villa, you would have thought it was a good result for us. However, if you actually watched the match, then you realize that we should have been able to hold on for a win. Was it our best performance? Hardly. But anytime you are up 2-0 in the second half you need to be stout enough to hold on for a win. Gallas brought down Agbonlahor for a penalty that Gareth Barry converted, and then our ultimate failure came in extra time. A cross came in from the right side to the left of the box and a simple one touch back in to the middle of the box for Zat Knight spelled our demise. He took the chance well and hit it right into the back of the net as the clock was about to run out.

Looking at the replay just makes you feel sick. It's the 92nd minute in a match that you are leading and we only have three defenders in our box when they are sending crosses in. Why are we so far up the pitch when there is so little time left while defending a lead? It's coming down to the wire and we're letting them pass it around in our box like they're on a damn training pitch. Can anyone really argue now that Senderos is not as good as Silvestre? What was the purpose of buying him? Did Wenger really still think he was a quality player or did he just want an extra body to put in defense? I can only imagine, but he just isn't very good.

While Arsene Wenger is still talking about winning the title, I think our goals must now change. Liverpool are ten points up on us halfway through the season, and are playing much better than us. And while we have shown that we can play with the best teams on our day, our consistency has been awful this year and a realistic expectation needs to be just qualification for the Champions League next season. We are three points behind Aston Villa and Manchester United now, with United having two games in hand. We have only nine wins and five losses so far, which is hardly a statistic to brag about. It will be an uphill battle with Villa playing so well, and I am hoping that a couple of buys in January will strengthen our squad enough to overtake them. In the end I still think we are the better team with better players, but it is the mental side of the game that we must adapt to in order to take back our Champions League spot.

While a lot of the fault does reside in our defence, our midfielders must also be back helping to close down and defend. When we only had three in the box on that last goal they were all defenders. You would hope that you would have some of your midfielders coming back to help in that situation but none of them are even close to the ball.

We've all been over who we think we need to bring in. Some have said Arteta, some have said Xabi Alonso, and still others have been wanting a defender. I think we could probably use all three, but I still want a defender more than anything. Gallas is very incosistent, Toure has not been at his best all year, and Silvestre is just not very good. The problem is, which defender would you buy? I'll leave that up to Arsene Wenger, because he is one of the best at finding talents from abroad. But let there be no doubt that we cannot continue like this.

I must have a little bit today on Bacary Sagna, who was truly inspired yesterday. I've always loved Sagna and he put on one of his best performances for Arsenal yesterday. He was brilliant from start to finish and definitely was man of the match for me. I also will give some credit to Denilson for taking the advantage when a little opening was given to him in the first half. Against the run of play, he struck and we took advantage of it. Credit to him.

So it's on to Portsmouth next, who have been pretty dreadful since Tony Adams took over, unfortunately for him. It is however, a chance we need to take to get three points. The January transfer window is only days away, and we may, for the first time in awhile, see some new players coming in in that window. We need to fight on. The Champions League is not far out of our reach and we have to want it more than Aston Villa wants it. Let's go Arsenal, Come on you Gunners!

Rosicky Out Until At Least March, Eduardo Back Soon

Morning all. Bad news today. Coming off our 1-0 win over Wigan we find out today that Tomas Rosicky will be out until at least March. He's been out since last January so it'll be at least a 14 month recovery (longer than Eduardo's broken leg) for a hamstring injury. I think it is fairly safe to say that Tomas' career is in serious jeopardy. They have set dates for his return before now and each time they have pushed it back so we really can't even hold our breath for march. It's a shame that he's injured, but he's had a habit of that since coming to Arsenal and honestly I'm more worried about the health of Arsenal as a whole than the health of Rosicky's hamstring. Being injured really messed us up last year as we were short of wide players going into the title stretch. It's also forced us to buy Samir Nasri (who I think is a great player) when we maybe could and would have normally used it to buy a defender or central midfielder. If he doesn't make it back before the end of the season, then I can't see him ever playing another match for Arsenal. His constant injury problems make him not worth the quality he provides when healthy. So for his sake and the team's, let's hope he can make it back by March.


In better injury news though, Eduardo will be playing in only eight days! Arsene Wenger says he'll play December 16th against the Portsmouth reserves. I'm pretty excited about watching it (thanks ArsenalTV Online) and I'm really really hoping he comes through with flying colors. He's been out so long with such a devastating injury and you don't really know how he'll react to being out in a competitive situation again. The best analogy I could come up with was Top Gun. In Top Gun, when Goose and Maverick eject from the plane and Goose slams into the canopy and is killed, it really rattles Maverick, just like Eduardo's injury will have undoubtebly rattled him. Viper gets him back in the air though as soon as possible but Maverick is still a little tentative and not at his best, but with time he becomes more comfortable being back where he belongs and succeeds in battle. Eduardo, too, will be a bit nervous about his leg and how it will react to playing a match. With time though he'll feel comfortable on it and make a full recovery, and return to top goal-scoring form. Good luck Eddy, can't wait to have you back. I put in the great clip from Top Gun here in case you haven't seen it.

One last thing, Kolo Toure wants the fans to lay off the "heckling" of Eboue. In all fairness, it was his first game back in six weeks but when you play badly then people are well within their rights to boo you. If you pay for a ticket to the match you should be able to boo someone for a poor performance. Eboue was absoultely awful on Saturday and the boos were warranted. You never see a player substituted on and then back off later in the match, and he was. That just shows you how bad he was. If he can't handle a few boos then he is in the wrong proffession. Man up Eboue and play better, and try harder, and then you won't hear the boos. If you keep playing how you have played for us for the last year or so though, it will continue.


That's about all I've got. Maybe I'll do a podcast at the end of the week but I haven't decided yet. We'll see if I get enough emails from you all. ArseNole{@}arsenole.com. Cheers.

Toure Out Until November, Almunia Made Captain

Morning all. Just a few hours till match day 3 of the Champions League. Just a couple of things to run through this morning before the match.

First of all we do have some bad news regarding Kolo Toure, who will be out until November. He injured his shoulder against Everton and had to come off, and now he's going to miss at least two weeks. While this isn't anywhere close to our toughest 2 weeks of the season, you never want one of your starting defenders out of the squad, unless it's William Gallas. Speaking of which, I was hoping while Gallas was injured that Djourou and Silvestre would get more time to work with Toure so we could see just how bad Gallas is, but this totally blows that whole plan.

"I hurt my shoulder badly, it was very painful but it is a job of a defender to take pain."

"And we won the game after going behind in our own stadium, and the injury is not too bad as we think I should be fine in ten to 15 days and ready to make a challenge."

Yes, it is your job to take pain. And to kill people. People such as Dimitar Berbatov. Get well soon though Toure.

So our back four for the match today will be Eboue, Song, Silvestre, and Clichy. Not the ideal back four but it is servicable. Fenerbache has a lot of skilled players and they aren't as much of a "score from corner kicks over William Gallas" team, so I think we'll be ok. We're top of the group right now on 4 points so a win would take us to seven points with two home games still to go, which you would expect us to win. A draw wouldn't be awful, especially with the amount of injuries we have at the moment, but I'd like to see us go out that and take the game. I think it's certainly a winnable one.

The captain for tonight's game will be Manuel Almunia. Good for him too. I like Almunia and think he takes way too much stick for nothing. He's played well for us last year and so far this year and if he is the captain while Gallas is out I have no problem with it. In fact I'd rather him be captain than Gallas all the time. Actually I'd rather anyone else be the captain. But that's neither here nor there. Almunia says he'll feel "nothing but pride" while wearing the armband for Arsenal. Don't really know what else he would feel but there you go.

Luis Aragones, the little shit who called our beloved Henry a couple of awful things very similar to what I just called him except with more racism involved, says he's not worried about facing Arsenal. He's a terrible person and I hope we run them into the ground. The only thing better would be if Thierry Henry was here to do it. Don't get me wrong, I was cheering for Spain in the Euro's but it was in spite of Aragones, not because of him. I can't stand the man.

Andy Gray writes an article about how bad Sp*rs are and it pretty much says what everyone else says, that they're moronic for letting their two best strikers leave and not replacing them. I just can't resist laughing at the cunts though.

That's about all I have. We're getting some good emails in for the next podcast in so keep them coming, ArseNole@arsenole.com. Anything funny, informative, inventive, or anything else that would be interesting to read on the podcast this Friday, get it in to me. The best emailer will receive a $10 gift certificate for soccerpro.com, and maybe a little something else from me. Also I still want to hear more feedback as to what you think of the podcast, so those comments are appreciated too. Enjoy the Fenerbache match, and cheers!

Arsene Wenger Has F***ing Lost It

Ok that is just about enough Arsene. I'm one of your biggest supporters and have stuck by you through the summer and every summer before when you have sold and let players leave without sufficiently replacing them, but this is the final straw. Letting Phillippe Senderos go to Milan on loan for the season is absolutely ridiculous. The Kolo-Gallas partnership DOES NOT WORK! And what have we been saying we need next to one of them (Kolo is by far the better choice), a big, strong defender who can handle long balls and headers! That's what Senderos does!

Signing Mikael Silvestre is supposed to be defensive cover, but that doesn't mean you let all the other defenders leave on loan! I wonder what Arsene is thinking...

"Hmmmm...you know our squad does seem a little thin, and our defense is shite, so we might as well let Djourou and Senderos go out on loan."

You've lost your mind Arsene. Big Phil gets a bad rap from a lot of Arsenal fans but he's a competent defender that certainly wouldn't be any worse than the awful William Gallas is doing right now. No, he isn't the fastest player on the pitch and he isn't that assured on the ball, but he can play the high balls and he's the only one strong enough to handle strikers like Drogba, etc. Kolo Toure is there to partner him and provide the speed for cover that Senderos doesn't have. That's why it is called a partnership, and the one we are using now doesn't work. It just doesn't. You can say they are both world class defenders, and some of the insane ones will even say that Gallas is better than Kolo (which he isn't), but they aren't a good pairing. So the candidate that would be the best replacement for Gallas in our squad is now being sent away for the year. Is that going to help his confidence? Certainly not. How much will he even get to play at Milan? I can't see how this benefits Arsenal or Senderos at all.

I'm freaking pissed off. I can deal with having to wait until the deadline to sign a midfielder but this is the last straw for me. Something needs to change. Arsene isn't running this club like he used to when we won things. Give me Tony Adams. This is shite.

Exactly my feelings Phil.

To clarify this post since nobody seems to understand it...I am not saying Arsenal will never win again. I am not saying that I will not support them because even if Arsenal was relegated to the Conference I'd still support them. I'm also not discrediting anything that Arsene Wenger has done for this club. The point of the article is that our defense has been consistently bad and now we are loaning out one of our best four defenders. It isn't a smart move.

Arsenal Need A New Defender - Eduardo Returns

Hola. I'm writing this during half time of the Arsenal-Real Madrid match and it's still 0-0. Yesterday we lost 1-0 to Juventus on a goal that was CLEARLY offside by David Trezeguet. Referee is clearly in preseason form as well. I'm not going to bother with a match report but if you want to read one I'm sure you can find one somewhere.

What I am going to talk about is the defense, which has looked shaky at best against Stuttgart, Juve, and Madrid at times. Going forward we have looked fairly strong. I think Denilson, Wilshere, and Ramsey have all had exceptional preseasons along with Vela and Bendtner. Adebayor and RvP don't have their full match sharpness yet so we haven't put goals in yet in this tournament but they will come with more games. The chances we have created will be put in the back of the net during the real season. Offensively is not where my concerns lie, however.

There have been several cases this preseason where the defensive marking has been questionable. I realize that several of the center back pairings haven't played with each other much and it is only preseason, but they are mistakes that you don't often see from solid defenses at this level. Too much space has been given to opposing strikers, and I remember especially against Stuttgart they had several good chances with strikers getting free behind the defense because of poor marking. Our problem last year was our inability to cope with long balls and pick up the strikers when the ball was on the way in, and that vulnerability seems to remain. I don't know if it is a communication error or just not having the familiarity, but it is something that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.

At the start of the transfer season Arsene Wenger was asked about his targets for the summer and his answer was that we would sign "A playmaker and a powerful defender." Well we have our playmaker in Samir Nasri but it appears that Wenger has forgotten about the defender. Djourou and Senderos have never been convincing over an extended period of time and the Gallas/Toure partnership hasn't ever been as successful as it should be with two players of their caliber. We need a new defender. It's as simple as that. More than we need any holding midfielder, our first priority HAS to be a defender. There are loads of good ones, who have been solid consistently, that can play at high levels, and one of them needs to be brought in. Another season of leaking long balls that turn into goals is unacceptable. If it happens again than Wenger has to be blamed. He said himself that we need a defender and he has failed to bring one in. I'm a Wenger guy 100% but after watching the defense in these matches and having the same problems as we had all last year, I realize that a change has to be made.

Some other observations...As I said earlier, I think Denilson has been great this preseason. He has looked strong in the tackle, comfortable on the ball and with his distribution, and not afraid to take a shot when he has a sight of goal. We haven't gotten to see a whole lot of Diaby, but I think Denilson has made the most of his run in the team. Do you think he could be up to the job of playing beside Cesc? Judging by his play so far I'd say he can.

Last, I wanna talk about Eduardo, who returned today to a massive reception. It was great to see him walking around and they interviewed him as well. Great to hear from him and especially great to hear the roaring of the crowd when they saw him. Big ups from myself to all the fans who showed him how much we are all rooting for him. Get well soon mate, we're all praying for you.

Let me know what you think about everything. Hope Arsenal go out and win in this 2nd half. Cheers.

Boats 'N Hoes

Morning all. That video is hilarious. If you don't know what it's from it's from the movie Step Brothers that just came out. I saw it last night and I didn't stop laughing.

So it's been a quiet few days in the world of Arsenal. No matches till Monday so I suppose they've just been training away. One bright spot however is that Kolo Toure appears to have made a miraculous recovery from his malaria. It's the Sun reporting so take it for what it's worth but they say he could start light training as early as next week. That would definitely be a boost for the team and hopefully he'll be ready by the beginning of the season and fully fit. Now that 's recovering I can start my "Sell Gallas" campaign again!

Samir Nasri, as expected, will be playing out wide this season. I thin we all knew he was a replacement for Hleb but now Nasri himself is talking about playing out wide in the coming year:

"I've spoken with Arsene Wenger and I'm going to play on the wing, because that's where the playmakers evolve, overlapping with the fullbacks," Nasri told French sports daily L'Equipe. "That system suits me, I played that way for four years with the French youth team and at the last European Championship. Either on the left or the right, it hasn't been defined yet."

He went on to talking about how he needs to improve his game to succeed in England and pretty much said all the general things that new players arriving say. He seems genuinely excited to play for Arsenal, and I really don't think you can ask for much more from him in the way of how to act and what to say so far.

Manuel Almunia had some nice things to say about Aaron Ramsey, saying he could be the New Cesc. He has looked pretty decent in preseason so far, but it's preseason against much weaker clubs than ours. So let's keep it all in perspective for now, but yes he does look a very good player and Wenger wouldn't have signed him and promised him that he could be in the first team at age 17 if he wasn't special.

There really isn't that much else. Go see Step Brothers. I still haven't seen Batman, but I'll be doing that at some point. Cheers.

Kolo Toure Has Malaria

Just what we needed. The man I've been wanting to captain this team for the new season contracted malaria over the summer in the Ivory Coast. He was feeling a little weakness during the training camp in Austria and was taken to the hospital for a check up, and they discovered...wait for it...that he has contracted the deadly disease. He stayed in the hotel during the match yesterday, which finished 1-1.

He's said to be "in good spirits" and "not too concerned" about the illness, which by the way can kill you. A couple of other African players have gotten Malaria in the past few years, and Yakubu and Lomana LuaLua are still living so that is a good sign.

It does look though that he'll miss the beginning of the Premier League season, which means we are even more in dire straights than we were before all of this. Arsene really is going to have to look into bringing in a defender now. Depending on how long Toure is out, we'll only have three central defenders going into the season, Gallas, Senderos, and Djourou. So now is the time to spend some money and go find a defender.

The other main news of the day is that Arsene wants to buy a midfielder. It's not really surprising since Flamini is gone but he hadn't confirmed that this was his intent until now.

“We will need one more body in there,” said Wenger when asked about his midfield. “At the moment we do not have Alex Song who is going to the Olympic games, Abou Diaby was not here tonight and nor was Fabregas.

“If we find a reasonable target then we will do it. But there is no special name on the list.

“We have some time. We have until August 31. We left 11 players back in Austria for this game. They will play in Stuttgart [on July 30].”

I think the comment about it being "no special name" may be a hint that it isn't going to be Xabi Alonso or Gareth Barry. It could be though, who knows with Arsene?

Sorry it's so short. Had work early today but I'll get something together tomorrow. Cheers!

Ade, Do You Want To Stay Or Not?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Fiszman Talks Arsenal

Morning all. Today we're going to be continuing our non-Samir Nasri coverage, so let's see what other news we've got.

A lot of the post today we're going to talk about Danny Fiszman's question and answer session he had last week. Fiszman is the Arsenal director and is at the center of most of what Arsenal Football Club does.

So here are some of the questions he was asked and how he answered:

Are you pleased with the progress the team has made this season?

"Yes, I am pleased. If we look back where we were last year and what the fans would have settled for we have taken great strides. The critics wrote us off and gave us no chance of qualifying for the Champions League but the team proved itself competitive. Four points is a lot but in the context of the season we came very close and we are disappointed we didn’t win it but we have made a constant improvement and that is what we seek always."

He makes a fair point here. Remember last summer we had the departure of Henry, which led everyone and their mother to predict that we wouldn't finish in the top four. Shite even Tottenham thought they would finish above us, and that never happens. The team really did do more than was expected of them. Topping the table for over half a season raised expectations to where it was such a horrible blow when we didn't win it, but would you have taken 83 points before the season started? I know I would have. I'm as disappointed as anyone that we didn't win anything, but I do think the team made a lot of progress this year.

There have been a number of matches where the team have played beautifully, is there a particular highlight for you this season?

The big highlight was beating Milan. It is one game that got our players to believe they were a team to be proud of, a team who could beat anybody and I was sure, having beaten Milan, that would see us through to beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to win the Premier League. I think, very much in the way we beat Real Madrid, it reinforced the belief the youngsters had in themselves.

Again, I have to agree with him. The Milan match really looked like it could be a key turning point for the squad. Unfortunately the momentum didn't carry on from that match into the Premier League, but it still was a memorable night.

Are you confident for next season? What are your hopes?

To win four competitions, for the Ladies to win four and for the youth team to win too. We have great belief in our manager and his methods. There is great belief in the boys that we have. No doubt the manager will strengthen the team and we will improve again.

Now THAT is optimism. It's what you want to hear though from someone so heavily involved in the club. Wouldn't that be something to win four competitions in a single season? I think I would have to stop watching football after that, because it could never get any better. But really think about how close we were to winning the league, how close we were to advancing in the Champion's League, and think back to our Carling Cup run to the final the season before this past one. We've been doing well in the competitions and we're keeping that team together and adding to it. The future of the club is bright.

Does the manager have a specific budget available? Is there a set amount?

There is no set amount. But as I said we have always supported Arsène, we have never said no to him and have no intention of saying no to him.

So as it has been said, the manager does have money to spend. Remember though that Arsene is a realist. He's never going to go spend money that will put the club in financial difficulty. So just because there is no set limit doesn't mean that he's going to go out and spend Chelsea or ManUre money to keep everyone happy. It is good to know that money is available though.

Keith Edelman left the Club a few weeks ago. To clear something up, there have been suggestions his departure was linked with disagreements with the manager over players’ wages, transfer budgets and the like. Was this the case?

Absolutely not. Keith was not involved with Arsène in any way. As I have said before we supported Arsène with everything he wanted. Keith Edelman was in no way involved with the discussions with Flamini or Arsène. That was Ken Friar’s responsibility. So the speculation is absolutely incorrect.

So that whole rumor about Edelman not allowing Arsene to spend money is apparently bollocks. He wasn't fired for not giving Arsene money, he wasn't fired for not re-signing Flamini, they just decided to go in another direction.

You can read the rest of the article here but I think those are most of the main points.

So now on to some quick other news, Wrighty7 thinks Barcelona signing Keita could lead to Yaya Toure heading to Arsenal. You already know I love Yaya and would definitely want him at the club. We'll see what happens.

Johann Djourou says he could fill the gap left by Matt Flamini. I think it's a possibility too. He says he plays at his best in the holding role and that even Arsene Wenger tells him that too. I'd like to see him get a try there at least in the pre-season or something and see how it goes. Good luck to Johann.

Well that's all I've got today. Hopefully it didn't bore the shite out of you. Comments, forums, all that good stuff. Cheers.

Is Kolo Mad at Gallas?

Morning all. Still sick so not doing so hot. Not much in the news today but we'll get through most of it.

We'll start off with a story involving Kolo Toure. The Sun (yes I realize it's the Sun) reports that Kolo is fed up because he thinks Arsene Wenger is giving preferential treatment to William Gallas. This could very well be true and I have often thought of this myself. Let's look at the details. Gallas comes in well after Toure, yet is handed the Captain's armband. Gallas makes much more than any player on the team currently. Gallas has been able to continue at center back for the whole season even while Kolo has been forced to play at right back for the last month of the season. Kolo has been here for some six years, and I might be a little upset about all the treatment Gallas has gotten too. I for one was all for Kolo getting the captaincy last year if Gilberto didn't, but for some strange reason it went to Gallas. Kolo doesn't ever say much so nobody really knew if it bothered him or not but this story could show that he isn't all that happy with the way things are going.


We know Arsene is going to bring in another central defender. What I personally hope is that it's someone who is brought in to partner Toure and not to partner Gallas. Toure loves this club and has proven his value for years now, and shouldn't just be thrown to the curb. If Gallas is removed from the captaincy, I think he'll get all pissy and want to leave anyway so we could sell him if we have to. I just don't want to see Kolo replaced by an older and not any better William Gallas.

As I reported two days ago, all the signs are looking like Arsenal will sign Samir Nasri very soon. I'm putting together this link list of all the articles linking us so if you want to check them out you can, or you can just take heart that I told you about it two days ago.

Fans FC
Arsenal Analysis
The Guardian
Football Corner
BBC Sport

And there are a bunch more as well but I don't have time to list them all. It does look like he's coming though so that'll be the first big signing in a while. He's not a natural wide player though so who knows if Wenger will bring in another winger or not.

In other transfer news we've been linked with Miguel Veloso of Sporting Lisbon. He's a 21 year old defender who we've been linked with before. He's valued at 24 million pounds though, which Arsene would never pay especially as that would be almost all of our transfer funds for the summer. I've seen the guy play a couple times in the Champion's League and that's about it, so if you know more about him feel free to share.

And yet again we've been linked with Sebastian Frey of Fiorentina. He's a goalkeeper that we are linked with about every six months but we never seem to really go after. I don't expect us to sign him but maybe this year will be the one.

That's really all I feel well enough to write at the moment so sorry it's so short and crap but when I'm better I'll get something good up. Cheers.

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.