More Injuries On The Internationals, And Diaby is Back!

Is anything more frustrating then playing two shite games against Hull and Sunderland, then going into an international break and having a bunch of you starting eleven get injured? No, there isn't. No Gallas, no Sagna, and no Bendtner for the match tomorrow, not to mention that Cesc has a broken nose and Djourou has a concussion. What is it with internationals and players getting injured? When they play for Arsenal Gallas, Sagna and Bendtner don't get hurt. Go off for a week and a half or so and they all come back set to miss games. As if our squad isn't thin enough, we now have a probable back 4 of Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, and Clichy. Not the worst defense I've ever seen, I think my Under 7's defense is probably worse but it's not ideal. And who will be on the bench as a defender? Justin Hoyte and Phillippe Senderos? Oh damn, they aren't on the team anymore, so that means we'll get Havard Nordtveit and the concussed Djourou probably.

The good news is Abou Diaby is finally back in the squad. Do we even know what injury he had? It took him about as long to recover as Eduardo and I know who's injury was worse. Arsene Wenger said he may have to go straight into the team because of injuries, which will be interesting to see. I thought Diaby could be the answer next to Cesc, but I think now he's more of the answer of "Who can keep Tomas Rosicky company?"

Arseblogger says Tomas Rosicky is practicing yoga now to try to qwell his injuries. I tried to figure out how that would look like and in my head it looked like this:

It's kind of scary and I don't know how that's going to help his injury, but hey if that's his thing then more power to him.

Arsene Wenger says we can still challenge for the title:

"If you ask me how many games you think we can lose, I would say zero because I always start a season thinking you cannot lose a game, but we have lost two already and we are in a position where we have given ourselves a handicap," he said.

"However, I still think it is manageable to get back to the top and I want to lead this team knowing that there is not a lot of margin of error left - but I still think we can do that."

Yeah, we have given ourselves a handicap. Problem is it's against teams that we are supposed to be able to beat like Fulham and Hull. Not to mention dropping points at Sunderland. It won't cut it. Now we have injuries and we already have a thin squad. It's going to be a real test for us in the next month or so. Will the team be like Cesc and rise to the challenge and refust to lose, or will they kick and scream on the pitch like Captain William Gallas.

Craig Bellamy says he is keen to guide Aaron Ramsey. Now you might think "Oh shite, what's that cunt Craig Bellamy said about our player now?" In fact though, he says some good things. He says Aaron has the ability to "glide and show balance." Wouldn't that be nice if we were all special like Aaron and glide? I don't think we'd worry as much about gas prices if we could all glide around. Except maybe in the rain. No gliding in the rain to work. Bellamy goes on to say that Arsene Wenger is "the best manager in the world" for him and that if Aaron ever needs anything he just has to ask. Surprisingly nice words from Craig and it made me hate him a few points less, but only a few.

That's all the news for the day pretty much. The rest of it is all made up, unimportant, or irrelevant. I'm actually going to do a podcast today. I want to hear what you have to say about the start to the season, international breaks, or just anything you want to rant about. Email me or post it as a comment. Best comment we get for every podcast episode will win some sort of prize that I'm still working out but it will of course be awesome. Almost as good as "Changes" by Tupac. That's really f'ing good. So get your emails in to ArseNole{at}arsenole.com and keep them coming. I'll read it on the podcast and you'll be famous. Cheers all.

Why Arsenal Fans Should Hope For a Salary Cap

Morning all. After quite a busy week I am back. I haven't missed much though because Arsenal didn't have a game for the last week. So what's been going on you ask? No you probably didn't ask that at all because there are 75,235,298,235 other Arsenal sites out there for you to get your lack of news from. Due to the financial issues though, there has been quite a lot of talk lately about a salary cap in football, and a lot of debate on both sides. I for one think Arsenal fans should be supporting this, if not just because it will be better for football as a whole, but also because I think Arsenal would be one of the teams least affected by it.

First of all, I don't support any form of a salary cap that isn't worldwide or at least Europe-wide. If you have a cap only for England then players will just go to Spain or Italy or Uzbekistan or wherever they don't have a cap and can pay loads of money. So if that is the case then a salary cap is a restriction on where you can work and would hurt the business of English football. Not good. Our beloved Arsenal would go back to a team of all Englishmen, and I mean not even the best ones. It wouldn't be like Theo Walcott, it would be like Craig Alcock and Andre McCollin. Not many people have ever even heard of those guys. And that would be who was playing for Arsenal if there was only a cap in England. So forget about that point because it needs to be a worldwide cap.

So let's look at what would take place with a worldwide salary cap. We'll start with the big 4 of Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal. As of last season, before the re-working of some contracts, Arsenal had none of the top 50 earners in the world of football. Chelsea, on the other hand, had 8 of the top 50, and still have 7 since the departure of Shevchenko. Manchester United have 6 of the top 50, and Liverpool have 3 since the addition of Robbie Keane. So out of the big 4, Arsenal pay the least in total wages, and don't have any really exorbitant fees (with the exclusion of Fabregas who I believe makes quite a lot now, and rightly deserved). So if there was a salary cap, and I don't know exactly how it would work, set at 100 million quid per year, a lot of those players would have to take drastic pay cuts or need to move teams to get the team under the salary cap and wouldn't just go to the highest bidder. You want club loyalty back in football? If Arsenal can offer the same as any other club then why would they want to leave Arsenal, who play the best football in the Premiership?

The youth squad would also become more important because very high profile transfers would probably happen a lot less. Arsenal just happen to be developing a world-class youth squad that is just lying in wait. Players like Wilshere and others out of the academy are young, aren't paid too much yet and can already contribute, but they don't really get much of a chance because we're playing against the likes of Ronaldo, Deco, and Torres all the time. With a salary cap though all those players would be a big hit in salary for their teams, a home grown youth player like Wilshere would not.

One of the biggest benefits of a salary cap from a Premiership fan's point of view is that match day tickets could feasibly go down quite a lot in price. If you have a look at this chart from Sport-Magazine you can see the income of the big 4 for the 06-07 season.


Since this was published the Arsenal numbers have gone up for Match Day revenue and the revenue will go up again next season due to the Highbury Square Flats being sold and opened. So Arsenal already have the least in salary of these clubs, and are right up there near the lead as far as income is concerned. So if you take away some of the wage bill because of the salary cap, (you would hope) that Arsenal could afford to drop the ticket prices some. If you read this post, we were the richest club in all of Britain last season as far as total turnover.

So it is an interesting thing to think about, but with the financial outlook worsening it seems that this may become an issue. If you are an Arsenal fan I don't see why we would have any problem with it, because clubs like Arsenal who make a profit and run a good business model are not the reason it would be created. Clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham are the reason, and who wouldn't love to see them relegated?

One last little piece for you all, and if you don't watch American football you'll probably not enjoy this part but the NFL does have a salary cap, and the salary cap works. It promotes parity among the teams and keeps teams from going bankrupt. If you look at each team's salary you'll see a few notable things. The Chiefs have the most room under the cap and are terrible, but the Lions have the least room and are also terrible. So spending the most money doesn't mean you are always going to win. It shows the value of scouting talent and making shrewd business moves, which is exactly what Arsenal does. Let me know whether you agree or disagree. I'm sure there are many differing opinions on this subject, but it could become a critical decision for the football bodies to make in the upcoming years, so it's something that should be discussed. Cheers!

Give Me Goal-Line Technology!

We've just had a goal rules out because the referree called a ball out of bounds when it clearly wasn't. Theo beat his defender on the byline and last I checked the ball has to go completely over the line. It certainly didn't, and he turned and crossed and van Persie finished wonderfully. Where is the goal-line technology when you need it!? C'mon Arsenal!

Manuel Almunia Takes Too Much Shite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Hammering Porto, Just What The Doctor Ordered

Morning all. Happy times again. After being embarrassed by Hull we really needed a good performance and three points at home against Porto in the Champions League, and that is just what we got. A 4-0 and a great performance will lift everyone's spirits.

The changes Arsene Wenger said he was going to make didn't really materialize, and the only change ended up being Nasri in for Eboue. I was kindof hoping to see a more changed lineup I'll admit, but I certainly can't argue with the result this lineup produced.

Porto had us a couple of times early, and one I specifically remember was when they got us on the break and had a 5 on 3 and managed to hit the post. Luckily we were only bending and not breaking and managed to keep them out until we opened the scoring.

It was Robin van Persie who got on the scoresheet first, after some great work from Adebayor. Ade made a good run into the box with the ball that Cesc had played to him, made the keeper commit to coming out for him, then cut it back for the on-rushing van Persie who easily finished into the open net. A nice team goal from our strikers and they worked well together all night. It was good to see from them because I think there styles compliment eachother perfectly when they are both fit and on their games. 1-0 to the Arsenal.

Adebayor got one of his own next from a corner, taken of course by Robin van Persie. Adebayor rose up to meet it and headed into the ground and it bounced over the keeper's head and in. I think Adebayor does that almost better than anyone I've seen play the game. When he rises up to meet corners and free kicks it is like he can hang in the air for hours. Not to mention he is tall and gets higher than almost everyone. I really think we should use him more from set pieces because he is almost impossible to defend. 2-0 to the Arsenal was the score at the half.

The second half was all Arsenal. Porto definitely seemed to realize they weren't getting back into the match and Arsenal ran the ball up and down the field on them, creating chance after chance. Walcott had a good effort, RvP got another goal, Nasri had a chance and it really could have been about 6-0 at this point.

Some substitions were made, with Bendtner and Eboue coming on for RvP and Nasri. Bendtner won a penalty and Adebayor made it 4-0 to the Arsenal. Vela came on for Walcott after that and he really looked good I thought. Man he is an exciting player. Such quick feet and he's so skilled on the ball and with his runs that he will always be a thorn in any defenses side.

So I predicted 2-0 to Arsenal, but you have to double that to get the final, 4-0 to the Arsenal in a great performance.

Man of the Match: Emmanuel Adebayor - 2 goals and an assist make a pretty complete day for Ade. I thought he was brilliant and he really looks like he's getting back to the goals like last year now.

Needs Work: There isn't much you can say needed work in this particular game as I thought everyone played pretty well. So my needs work for this match will be the criticism of Manuel Almunia. I don't understand why this man takes so much shite. He's a bloody good keeper. People say he doesn't win us matches but I've seen him make several good saves this year and last that have either given us a win or at least kept us from losing. Keep it up Manuel!

So it's back to the league again but it's good to get a good performance and three points in. Cheers and up the Gunners!