Lots of Carlos Vela

Morning all. Decent amount of stuff to cover today so let's get right to it because I've got to mow the grass. I don't know how the weather is over in London but right here in Florida my thermometer currently says 99 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know what that is in Celsius but let me tell you it is way too hot to be mowing the grass. End of story.

As you know Carlos Vela is an Arsenal player, and he's also Mexican. Giovanni dos Santos is now a Sp*rs player, and is Vela's friend from the Mexican team. So when the press asked Carlos about his friend moving to Tottenham, he had the absolute perfect answer:

"I am happy for him, he is a very good player and let's hope he can then move on to a better team."

That's just what we need to here from you Carlos, truly a legend in the making. Clearly he knows that Tottenham is a second (or maybe third or fourth) rate club and he's hoping his mate can get out of that scum pit as fast as possible.

In other Carlos news, he's apparently been arrested in Chicago for listening to his music too loudly in the hotel. It was after their 4-0 victory over Peru in the early hours of the morning when they were jamming to Julieta Venegas. They were asked to turn the music down twice but they didn't so the police were called. Oswaldo Sanchez argued with the police and they were taken into custody. Vela was released without any charges this morning while Sanchez was given a $1,000 fine and a court date. Oh and if you didn't see Vela's goal against Peru you can see it here. It's the third one for Mexico in the game and it reminds me a lot of Adebayor's third versus Derby at the end of this last season.

There's another link saying that Adebayor is going to AC Milan but I won't even cover that. I've already said that I think he's staying. He's already come out twice and said that he loves the club and wants to win trophies here next season. We might as well take him at his word. I don't think Ade has met with AC Milan representatives at all. Maybe his agent has or something because that's just what agents do, but I'd imagine that Adebayor is sipping Togolese cocktails somewhere and enjoying the time off. Nobody deserves it more.

There is a follow up to yesterday's Aaron Ramsey story, with Ramsey explaining why he chose Arsenal instead of ManUre. It followed up with some good quotes from him about having to work hard to break into the first team and all of that. Cardiff seems pretty pissed about him not going to United, I guess they really wanted him back for next season on loan. I know I said I don't go by Youtube videos to rate players, but honestly I want to see SOMETHING on this kid. Does anyone honestly know anything about him? I have no idea what he can bring to the table and even a highlight clip right now would suit me. So if you are a youtube master go ahead and make a video. Thanks.

Udinese have told Arsene Wenger that if he really wants Cristian Zapata he's really going to have to bring the pain. Or at least 16 million quid. That's a lot for a defender, I don't care who it is. Can't we fing some 21 year old that nobody knows about that will only cost about 5 million quid? That's way more of the Wenger mold plus it leaves us more money to sign a really brilliant player. No I'm not talking about Samir Nasri, who I'm not all that excited about, I'm talking about the brilliant David Villa. If we let Liverpool get him, I'm going to have to kill someone. Possibly Fernando Torres. Imagine those two playing together every week though. It's a potential nightmare. I couldn't tell you if Liverpool can afford Villa or not, but the rumors say that he'd like to go play with Torres and that would be a scary, scary proposition. Cesc wants him though, and you know how the boss likes to keep his star players happy, so maybe, just maybe...


Alright that's about it. I can't find much else that is of any significance or relevance. Phillipe Senderos plays for Switzerland today. Let's hope he does better than he did last game. Congratulations to Cesc Fabregas for getting his first goal for Spain, and we'll hope for many more to come. I've got a new thing just for fun. On the right you'll see the funny picture of the day. I'll try to find a new one to put up every day. If you like it then chuckle a bit and if you don't tell me to piss off. And another quick thing, since Barca is doing a clear-out...what about Andres Iniesta? Cheers.

Adebayor to Recieve Footballer of the Year!

Morning all. Still no signings, but try not to panic. This morning brings the news that David McNally, who has been Fulham's managing director for the past three years, has left the club. This has of course sparked speculation that he could be heading for the same job at Arsenal, which was vacated by Keith Edelman's departure. McNally was responsible for both the employments of Lawrie Sanchez, who made a bunch of buys that appeased the fans (hmmmm...Arsenal fans?) and was shite, and also for Roy Hodgesen, who saved the club from relegation.

This article also links us with Sevilla's managing director, Ramon Monchi. Too bad managing directors aren't like players where you can just watch them every week and see how good or bad they are. You have to just go by what you here and what you know about the clubs. I couldn't tell you much about either of those men but I do know the board did appoint headhunters to find the right man for the job so it does seem they are taking this very seriously. Whoever we do end up getting will be the very best for the job.


The BBC reports that Emmanuel Adebayor will be given the African Footballer of the Year trophy in Lome tonight. He got 42 percent of the public vote, so even though a lot of the Arsenal fans want to get rid of him, at least the African public realizes what a good player he has become for us. Thirty goals in all competitions...wow. Keep it up Ade, you deserve that award!

Sky Sports says that Arsenal target Aaron Ramsey has agreed a deal with Manchester United. This will undoubtedly lead to several blogs and fans calling for Wenger's departure. It doesn't seem all that big a loss honestly to me. First fans say they want established players and now they have a cow over this 17 year old. I just am going to wait until we get some signings in and not worry until then.

Update: Apparently there have been two bids accepted for Ramsey, one from Man U and one from who is believed to be Arsenal or Liverpool. We'll keep you updated.

To fuel your transfer rumor fire, I have this one for you. Tribal Football says that David Villa is officially for sale for 17 million quid. Not a bad price for Villa huh?


And for the last thing, Jens Lehmann has officially agreed a one year deal with Stuttgart. That means he has at least one more year to do some crazy mad things that we can all laugh about.

Sorry so short today. Not much going on really. Oh and if you didn't read Arseblog today he provides the perfect example of how Arsenal fans are acting this summer. Be patient you crazy bastards. 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.