Cazorla suffers problem in training. Villa deal takes a turn for the worse & beware of the wounded….

January 30, 2013

Morning all,

A ‘light’ post this morning, well the start of it…..

Just what is Santi up to and why is David Beckham laughing so much?

Wouldn’t you love to know?

What is it?

I can’t find it Becks..!

Whatever his problem, it didn’t go away!

It's still there, whatever it is....

It’s there, I know it is, it’s just tiny like me….

And nor will the rest of the problems go away by the sound of it.

According to reports, we are going to have one last try at signing David Villa and that’s it. Well I wouldn’t bother personally, not if it’s true that Manchester City now want him to replace Balotelli. We can’t compete with them for wages and at his age, I suspect Villa wants a bumper salary.

Oh well, the dream was nice while it lasted!

If Walcott had left, everybody would have said, ‘You lost a top striker.’

“Giroud is getting there, I believe. He has started 11 Premier League games and scored eight goals. In all competitions he has 14 goals. Overall, he is slowly getting there.

“If you look at the Africa Cup of Nations, the best striker is Gervinho and after [him] we have one or two good young players who will get a chance.

Then Podolski! I forgot Podolski, who we bought to play as a central striker, so we have quality strikers.

Walcott has been with us a long time now and after a handful of games playing centrally, Wenger suggests he’s considered to be a top striker. He says he signed Podolski to play to play as a striker too, so why has he been sticking him out wide on the left and watch his struggle?

Gervinho, well it will take me and suspect most fans more than a goal or two at the ACON’s to convince he is a quality striker.

Anyway, let’s hope the three we do have right now find the back of the net tonight, we need a win, for no other reason than we all want to see an Arsenal side win. Top four, well what will be will be and if we don’t get there in May, then blame Kroenke and his cronies below him, including Wenger.

Thomas Vermaelen is fit for selection tonight so he should slot straight back into the side, Coquelin, Arteta and Fabianski remain on the sidelines although the latter is ready for a couple of matches for the reserves now..

Whisper it, but Diaby is still fit too……

Wenger needs to get his team focused for tonight, Liverpool will still be seething from their FA Cup exit and of course from earlier in the season when we beat them at Anfield.

I’ll end on some positive news, the club have announced that they won’t be increasing tickets prices next season.

I’m surprised they didn’t keep that bit of news up their sleeve, or maybe it’s an attempt to appease fans for no transfers this month…

If so, it won’t work!

Have a good day all….

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Edinson Cavani linked as Arsenal reported to be set to break the bank……

January 17, 2013

Morning all,

According to the author of Ashburton Grove, two things are set to take place real soon. The first is the conclusion to the Theo Walcott deal and it’s expected he will commit to Arsenal for a few years and the second is that the club are about to make a signing. It must be a good one too as the amount we are reported to be paying will break any previous record in spending.

I think the Walcott one is probably true, the record signing, well if that comes true then it will quite interesting to see who this guy is. Edinson Cavani is the favourite on the ‘Rumour site’.

Whoever he turns out to be if anyone does sign, I hope he’s got as much passion as this little fella……..

Passion!!

Passion!!

That’s the face of a man who cares about Arsenal…….

Last night, especially in the second half, he was everywhere and involved in everything good about the way we played.

He was simply on fire and boy are we lucky that he’s a Gooner through and through. If ever a player deserved a goal it was him and what a stunning finish it was too. Cazorla to Giroud, Giroud to Jack and wallop, no messing with his left foot. What a beauty!!

To be fair, both Walcott and Giroud deserved goals too. Not for the same reason as Jack but they both got themselves in the right place on a number of occasions but neither could make them count. In fact Theo’s finishing last night was atrocious! How he didn’t score with his head I just don’t know, that cross only needed the faintest of touches but he couldn’t even manage that.

He did see another hit the post though towards the end so it’s not afraid to muck up his hair!

We looked better though didn’t we. From the off we were defending from the front, even Walcott did a bit of defending which is so unlike him! We were closing Swansea down a bit quicker, we looked like we wanted to win and that’s something which has been missing of late.

The unexpected start of Coquelin and Diaby looked good at times but what a difference Capoue or someone similar in there would make. We know we can’t rely on Diaby.

Sagna and Gibbs looked a lot more assured and Thomas Vermaelen looked happier with Mertesacker back by his side.

Arsene Wenger after the game:

On the performance…

We had a better team balance tonight and created chance after chance, especially in the second half but even in the first half we created chances. It was unbelievable that we couldn’t score, but we got it in the end. We persevered and were rewarded and we had a good performance. It gives you a lot of regrets that we played with 10 men on Sunday when you see our second half and our game tonight. It is important that we continue to develop like that as a team.

On Jack Wilshere…

Yes, he was outstanding tonight. I felt many players played well. As a team we played well and he was in a different position, he was high up and it suits him well. I have no experience of player being out for 17 months in my whole career, but honestly I always said that if we got Jack on January 1, then we would have done well. But he is ahead of what I could imagine.

On whether he considered taking him off…

No, I did not envisage that at all. I would love to have done it, but I was never in a position to do it because you could feel he was a threat. Even as a left winger he was a threat. We combined well, Gibbs had a great second half on the left side, also on the right side – we were dangerous everywhere.

On whether No 10 is his true position…

He is at the complete midfielder, he can play anywhere. He is a guy who can dribble and give a final ball, so the closer he is to goal, the better it is. He has quality and enthusiasm, and love for the game. That is the most important thing to me.

On Coquelin and Diaby…

We try to put a but more power in to defend better and it looked tonight  like it worked well. Diaby responded well, I should maybe have taken him off a bit earlier but he looked alright.

Good ending to the night and an away trip to Brighton in the next round is our reward.

Now that will be even tougher that last night……..

For now though, it’s back to the Premier League and a trip to Chelsea on Sunday……

Have a good day all….

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Usmanov talks about Arsenal, Left back ‘heavily tipped’ to join us & Champions League Draw today…

December 20, 2012

According to the local newspaper in Southampton, Luke Shaw is “heavily tipped” to leave the club in January and his expected destination is Arsenal. This story has been rumbling since the summer and it wouldn’t surprise me if this turn out to be true.

Having just tied down five British players to long-term contracts, Wenger seems keen to add Luke Shaw to this list. Rumour is we have had scouts watching him but then again, so have Chelsea but surely a player of his age would rather join a club which doesn’t swap its manager every five minutes and play under a manager who would give play him and not just pay him?

I doubt Kieran Gibbs would mind a bit of healthy competition and our current left-back does struggle with his fitness but the bigger bonus would be that should this rumour become true it will surely spell the end of Santos…

The Famous Five?

The Famous Five?

In case anyone was asleep all day yesterday, the above five have signed new long-term contracts with the club. One of course caused a few ripples and that was Aaron Ramsey. Some suggest he should go, some just think ‘give him a chance’ after his long injury lay off, some say he’s our hardest worker and if he could convert the chances he gets in front of goal he’d be so much better.

Regardless of what we all think, he’s here to stay or at least if he does go, it won’t be for free. The Welshman has been talking about himself and his return from injury:

At the beginning, I was really excited to have an opportunity to have a full season and to be involved in everything, I played 44 times and that was quite a shock to the system at the time, having been out for so long. I haven’t had a full season before in my professional career so it was a shock and definitely took its toll towards the end. Hopefully this one will be different and the form towards the end of the season will be better. I’ll be more used to dealing with that.

Next year I want to progress as a player and turn into the player that I know I am capable of turning into. I know I still have a few things to learn. My aim  is hopefully to show what I’m capable of doing on a more regular basis, and to get more goals as well. Last season I had quite a few opportunities, and looking back, I could easily have got into double figures with the amount of chances that I had. That’s something I need to improve on. I need to be a bit more composed in those final situations.

The contract signings will ensure that none of five will be leaving for free in the near future and having moaned so much about our players being allowed to run down their contracts, this has to be a good move by the club.

It’s the Champions League draw today and we could draw:

Paris Saint-Germain

Malaga

Borussia Dortmund

Juventus

Bayern Munich

Barcelona

Surely we won’t get Barcelona again?

I wouldn’t bet against it but I quite fancy us to draw Malaga.

Finally, Alisher Usmanov has spoken in an interview about Arsenal and what he would do should he ever have a say. The Daily Mail have covered the story with quotes so click HERE to read more.

That’s it for another day, only five more sleeps…….

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Arsenal open talks with Walcott and Huntelaar & Five new contracts set to be announced…….

December 19, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, all five are expected to sign new contracts within days. Theo Walcott’s contract obviously needs sorting out and seeing Wenger finally playing him in a central role against Reading, that could mean all sorts of things. The main one of course is a compromise in negotiations of his position.

Each of the above are British, something we haven’t witnessed for a while and Five are English, even more unheard of for Wenger.

We could actually see Arsene Wenger fielding an Arsenal starting XI in the EPL containing five English players.

That’s right, FIVE… Heady stuff eh?

When did our esteemed manager last have the luxury of so many talented Englishmen to pick from in the Premier League…

A quick check, not scientific you understand, and (I think) the last occasion was during the 2002-03 season. Ten years ago…

The game in question was towards the end of a season that should have seen Arsenal crowned champions.
March 2nd against Charlton Athletic.

Those five Englishmen were:

David Seaman, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown, Razor Parlour and Francis Jeffers.

That season, Arsene used Ten English players in the English Premier League, the others being:

Ashley Cole,  Steven Taylor,  Jermaine Pennant,  Justin Hoyte and the unlucky Ryan Garry.

But if you know better, then don’t be shy, let me know, but remember, Premier League….

I might be mistake or even wildly optimistic, but I think that English clubs are gradually improving the techniques and development of their youngsters. We might not be quite up to the standard in Germany, France, Spain and Holland yet, but the gap is closing a little. Not as quickly as we’d like, but any progress, is in itself, progress…

Over the last few years, Arsene Wenger has not automatically been looking across the English Channel to his homeland and beyond for younger players, instead it seems that he is closely monitoring the Academy products of other English clubs.

It’s well known that Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were both on Arsene’s radar, before the Ogre of Old Toilet snapped them up. Of course, the ‘home-made’ product is preferable, those with Arsenal DNA and there’s a lot of talented and promising English youngsters coming along nicely in our own Academy.

Notwithstanding the five Englishman in the 1st team squad, we have a clutch of promising English youngsters on the brink of the senior squad.

Nico Yennaris is highly rated among Arsenal circle’s, closely followed by Benik Afobe and Chuks Aneke, both showing promise at Bolton Wanderers and Crewe Alexandra respectively. Behind that trio is Jernade Meade, Chuba Akpom and Jordan Wynter, they all have 1st team potential.

Whether of not Theo Walcott stays and keeps the number of English at five remains to be seen of course but many reports suggest that further talks have taken place. Let’s hope for a positive conclusion.

Let’s not forget, our five are all internationals too so those who once suggested Wenger was to blame for the demise of the English side, may just have rewrite their story but with a new twist!

Gossip as the transfer window draws nears:

The Times suggest that Arsenal have begun talks with Schalke over signing Klass-Jan Huntelaar!

The Metro suggest we are ready to swap Andre Santos for a River Plate midfielder Ezequiel Cirigliano, a 20-year-old Argentine who has been compared with Barcelona star Javier Mascherano!

The Daily Express reckon we are after Ajax defender Toby Alderweirel in January and let’s not forget that Zambia’s Stopila Sunza is soon on his way to Arsenal for talks about a move to us!!

Written by Allezkev

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Which Christmas Arsene? Djourou looking to leave as five ready to stay.

December 16, 2012

Morning all,

Seems I missed the ‘Johan Djourou want’s Napoli’ story yesterday…

According to his agent, Djourou is surplus to requirements at Arsenal and was close to moving away before this current season started, now it seems he could be gone in January with Italy his preferred destination.

Djourou has been with us a long time now and surely if he was going to ever truly ‘make it’ with us, he would have done by now. He’s 25 years old and he should be playing football. Staying at Arsenal is not good for him or the club and having been the loyal servant he has, the club should now do the decent thing. That of course is to sell him. But don’t try and price another club out of the market, let him go for a sensible price and one that will ensure another club can pay him a good salary.

The same can be said for all our ‘deadwood’. Take Arshavin out of the equation, most we need to move on were signed either very cheaply or for free so the club won’t be losing much if any money when they go. What that will do of course, is save on the ridiculous wages they have been earning just for training and watching the others play.

I feel sorry for Djourou. Not because I feel is should be playing more often, mind you sometimes our defence have been so poor maybe he’d do no worse, but more because he has stayed loyal, he’s never knocked his manager or team-mates in the press and when he had a chance to play in the Champions League, Squillaci was selected ahead of him. Even when he did play last season, he was mainly shoved out at right back where he struggled and of course, what came next was criticism but he’s not a right back, and never will be.

In fact he’d a defensive midfielder really and maybe Wenger has missed a trick not playing him there instead of Coquelin when things have got pretty desperate. In my opinion, neither are good enough to be at the heart of our midfield but maybe Djourou could have given us a bit more stability.

Not as much as signing Capoue or similar would though!

Talking of signing, reports are rife that Jack Wilshere has agreed, and will soon sign a new £20 million, five-year contract. The 20-year-old England midfielder will be among five British players to agree new Arsenal contracts. Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Ramsey being the others.

Maybe even Theo Walcott will join in as the BBC report that talks are set to begin again and go into the New year.

Wenger’s update on the team news ahead of tomorrows game:

It’s difficult because some players are still not practising so I can still not tell you exactly who will be available on Monday. Koscielny should come into the training group today, with Walcott we don’t know but Giroud is back.

On Abou Diaby’s injury…

Slow progress. I cannot give you any fixed date because we are a bit in no man’s land on that front. He is working. We are waiting for him to come back but he is not ready.

On him playing over Christmas…

Over Christmas? Certainly not.

Which Christmas Arsene, he hasn’t played over one yet has he??

That’s it for another day, have a good one…..

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Midfielder wants out in January! Sloppy and not good enough! Touchline ban for Lambert.!

November 22, 2012

Morning folks,

Here’s how we lined up, with substitutions included:

Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Arteta, Wilshere; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Ramsey 69), Cazorla ((Coquelin 84), Podolski; Giroud (Gervinho 84). Booked: Cazorla, Giroud, Koscielny. Goals: Wilshere 49, Podolski 63.

We started off sloppily. But we still have one game left. We need to finish top.

The first half was hard. We gave the ball away and weren’t ourselves so needed to come and get an early goal after the break. We have to step it up. That just wasn’t good enough, especially in the opening period.

Those are the words of Jack Wilshere after the game.

During that opening 45 minutes, watching on, anyone would think that we had qualified already and we’d send the reserve reserves out we were so off the pace. Passes were going everywhere but to a team-mate and any shot towards goal seemed more likely to hit the corner flag than the target.

As much as we controlled the midfield in the first half, we created just three chances, the best coming from Laurent Koscielny, whose header hit the bar.

So let’s just forget it shall we and fast forward to the interval.

0-0 at half time and it was clear to see the worried look on Arsene Wenger’s face. What would he say at half time, what could he say to inspire the team to victory?

Goodness knows is my answer but whatever he did say, worked!

Two moments of magic killed the game off, the first was finished by a wonderful touch from Jack Wilshere for his first goal since 2010 and the second was a thunderbolt volley reminiscent of another footballer whose name escapes me right now!

Our first came soon into the second half, Podolski played the ball to Vermaelen on the left, he fired in a cross with his right foot which looked to be far too high but Giroud jumped, headed the ball down and there was Jack to chip the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net.

In celebration, Wilshere ran off to find club physio Declan Lynch and gave him a big ‘thank you’ hug for helping him throughout his long return to fitness.

Around fifteen minutes later, Podolski put the game to bed and it was quite safe to believe that, even with only a two goal lead as Montpellier really were awful. They had nothing to play for but pride and it seemed as if they weren’t fussed with that either.

Podolski’s strike was simply stunning, having played the ball into the feet of Giroud, he carried on into the penalty area. Giroud flicked the ball into the Germans path and our number nine fired home a thunderbolt volley. Had the goalkeeper tried to stop it, I am sure he would have broken his wrists.

After the game, Sky Sports showed a clip of Wilshere’s play in the second half and he was simply on fire, he was here, there and everywhere. When this little fella is back to full fitness he’ll be playing ninety minutes like he did forty-five last night and what a joy that will be.

Montpellier didn’t offer a lot but to be fair, we didn’t let them and getting a clean sheet after ninety minutes is another huge confidence boost. Especially for the defence..

If the French side can get a victory against Schalke and we win, then we will top the group and Wenger has hinted that’ll he will be out to beat Olympiacos…..

If we do, that’ll be a first I believe? I certainly hope we get a better set of officials in Greece, those who turned up at The Emirates last night were shocking. Offsides given when they clearly weren’t, naughty tackles that were allowed to pass and we should have had a free kick on the edge of the penalty area but the fool in yellow allowed advantage when really there wasn’t. Thankfully, it didn’t have an impact on the result.

Aston Villa up next and their manager, Paul Lambert has been fined by the FA, he’s also been given a touch-line ban so he’ll be up in the stands on Saturday.

Another bit of news in Francis Coquelin says he will look to leave in January if he’s not played more.

Well best he pack his bags then, how many times have we heard this from the 21 year old?

That’s about it really, a good night all round, it will get even better once we start to play well for ninety minutes and not just forty-five…

Have a good day all…..

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Attendance: 60,103 – Are they sure? Bacary & Jack’s return the bright light on a dull Saturday…

October 28, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Well the best part of yesterday was the return of our proper number 10, Jack Wilshere and what a return it was. No matter how many times Qpr tried to kick him or foul him, up he got and onwards he went. He was always at the heart of our midfield.

Bacary Sagna also made his long awaited comeback as Carl Jenkinson was given a well-earned rest. He too had a very good game. Finally we have two quality right backs in the squad, shame we can’t say that about the left side of defence!

One thing that struck from the beginning of the coverage of our game was the red in the crowds. Sadly though, this was not from the Arsenal shirts and scarves on display, it was from all the empty seats.

These are not good times…..

We got the three points in the end, but yet again, we huffed and puffed, lacked width and pace and but for a late strike, which there was more than a hint of offside to, we would have come away from The Emirates with just a point.

Mark Hughes said after the game:

The referee has absolutely killed it to allow their winning goal because Arteta was clearly offside on two occasions. I’ve been to see the referee and he has created some cock-and-bull story about Ryan Nelsen being off the pitch. I’ve no idea what he is on about because Ryan Nelsen at no stage went off the field of play. It has cost us the point.

Knowing that goal really narked him, makes it even sweeter!

Santos was one of the first to have a shot for us, and soon after, Cesar was beaten all ends up by what appeared to be a goal bound header by Aaron Ramsey, but the ball dropped onto the crossbar and off to safety. So unlucky.

Lukas Podolski shot wide and Wilshere nearly marked his return with a goal from distance but it wasn’t to be as Cesar saved.

Qpr target our left hand side as expected with Jose Bosingwa and Shaun Wright-Phillips both finding space but their final ball was nearly as bad as ours!

Giroud had a ‘shot’ on goal too and had someone been following in, they would have been able to capitalise on a fumble by Cesar, but we don’t do that do we?

After the break, Cesar made a quality save to prevent Per Mertesacker from breaking the deadlock.

Moments later, a huge scare as Junior Hoillet burst through and chipped the ball over Mannone. Thankfully, and rightly so, the offside flag was raised.

As said earlier, Wilshere was as the heart of everything, including the rough tackles committed by Qpr but nearly everything we did through the middle involved our little man.

Despite all of our possession, we failed to make it count again and Qpr had a few chances to hit on on the break. Thomas Vermaelen intercepted a Wright-Phillips cross which was Zamora bound and Sagna dropped into the middle to clear a dangerous ball away from Hoilett who was ready and waiting to pounce.

Same time as usual, Wenger made his first change, Wilshere, who had run his little legs off, was replaced by Theo Walcott and shortly after, Podolski was replaced by Gervinho. At last, some pace on the right, something which Aaron Ramsey hadn’t given us all afternoon, but he’s not a winger is he, so not much point in berating him is there? Blame the man who played him there! Podolski had a quiet game too.

Walcott soon made an impact by whipping in a cross to the near post where Giroud was waiting but he missed his chance, possibly the best chance of the afternoon so far. The ball found its way back to the near the penalty spot and there was Santi Cazorla who had all the time in the world to pick his spot. Rather annoyingly, that spot was Row Z behind the goal.

A truly dreadful miss!

Then a moment of madness by Qpr’s Mbia, after a little tussle with Thomas Vermaelen, which Mbia lost, he decided to kick out at our captain. Linesman’s flag was straight up and M’bia was straight off for an early bath!

At last, a decision went our way! Long before him, Granero should have been off the field, he made a number of late/bad tackles which on another day with a referee who could see, would have ended his involvement in the game a lot earlier.

The match finally came to life.

Cesar made another superb save after Jamie Mackie’s clearance bounced back off Nedum Onuoha towards goal and then shortly after, Gervinho exited on a stretcher after an innocuous tackle and was replaced by Arshavin.

Finally we broke the deadlock and our little Russian was heavily involved, playing a wonderful cross in from the left. Giroud met the ball with a good, strong header which Cesar saved but the ball rebounded to Arteta who  the ball onto the bar. The ball came straight back to the Spaniard who made no mistake from very close range.

Phew, at last!!

Now then, could we hold on for the remaining minutes?

Ramsey had a chance to make it 2-0 but yet again, Cesar saved well and he made another great save moments later from a super curled shot which looked to be creeping inside the post.

But it was no way comfortable in the dying moments. Abel Taarabt sent Esteban Granero off down the right but he shot wide. Mackie  tricked his way past THREE players but Mannone saved well from point-blank range. (ok, I know Mackie hit his shot straight at our keeper)

We did hold on.

Just!

Three much-needed points chalked up but we still have a way to go……..

Next up Reading in the Cup…

Have a good day all…..

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Five set to leave in January & Time to turn the snakes into ladders!!

October 27, 2012

Morning Gooners,

A bit of gossip from the ever unreliable Daily Mail. They report that FIVE players are heading for the exit in January and they are, Theo Walcott Johan Djourou, Sebastien Squillaci, Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh. Arsenal are believed to want to keep Theo but a contract agreement is yet to be reached.

Apparently the sales are to boost the coffers, ready to spend big!! Really?

Onto today.

Last Saturday we faced one of the few sides in the league who had won a single game all season, ninety minutes after kick off, Norwich had changed that statistic and deservedly so.

Midweek we faced Schalke 04 in the Champions League, a side who I believe had never been victorious on English soil. Ninety minutes later, they had broken that duck.

Today we face a Qpr side, who like Norwich, haven’t won a fixture this season!

Heard the old expression that ‘things always happen in three’s'?

Well for sake of all of us, that better hadn’t come true today. We have a trip to Old Trafford in a couple of weeks and we want revenge for last season’s mauling and to have any chance of that we need to start building up our confidence, not go further down the snakes on a snakes and ladders board!! We need to be climbing the ladders and jump-start our season!

Bacary Sagna, Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong could all be back in the squad today, if I had to pick one to start it would be Frimpong. Him alongside Arteta. Qpr have a few quality players these days who could create chances if we don’t stop them and we need to stop them if we to stop the rot.

Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hip) faces a late fitness test, but defender Kieran Gibbs (thigh) and forward Theo Walcott (chest) remain sidelined, along with first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (ankle), midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) and Czech winger Tomas Rosicky (hamstring).

Here’s the statistics from Opta:

  • Mark Hughes has lost all five of the Premier League games as coach away from home against Arsenal.
  • QPR have gone 20 Premier League games on the road without a clean sheet.
  • The Gunners have conceded a league high 83% of their goals in the first half of matches.

Mark Hughes is not one of my favourite managers and a high scoring battering of his side today would pleasing on the eye but to do that we really need to perform a lot better than we did in the week.

Sadly though, none of us know what kind of ‘mood’ our players will be in, if they are up for this, put pressure on Qpr from the off then we know they are after a win.

If they start with the same old tippy tappy passing around just to keep possession, then we are all in for a long and dismal afternoon.

That’s it for today, fingers and toes crossed…..

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Finally a Cup in the bag! Barcelona can happily take this defender!!

July 15, 2012

Surely not!

If it’s not Manchester City making waves for our players, it’s bloody Barcelona – I hate them both with a passion.

Having done nothing to stop the persistent association with them and Thomas Vermaelen, they now seem quite willing to sit back and watch us all suffer as Laurent Koscielny become the latest defender of ours linked to the Catalan club and let’s not forget that suggestion is they want Miquel back for a miserly £300,000!!

They can take a hike on all three accounts, but….

If they really need a central defender, and they need one of ours, they can make a sensible offer offer for Sebastian Squillaci – do that and I am sure Arsene Wenger would be happy to come to an agreement!!

Pfffff!!

So yesterday go the pre-season off with a bang, a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht was enough to ensure that the players picked up The Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup at St Marys, despite losing on penalties to Southampton in the second 45 minute game.

What did yesterday show Arsene Wenger and his management though? Possibly nothing, other than Henri Lansbury knows where the goal is and surely if he continues to have a good pre-season he deserves a chance to be part of this coming seasons squad?

I’m not suggesting that that decision should be made on the back of yesterdays display though, not for one minute, this lad has never really had a chance with the first team has he, yet we have seen other players in the past be given chance after chance yet turn in very average performances.

Henri is a Londoner, he’s a Gooner and he has the clubs blood running through his veins, just like the player who set him up for his goal, Carl Jenkinson.

We lack a bit of that, a bit of ‘roll up your sleeves’ when things get tough, a bit of ‘ over my dead body will you beat us’ attitude, and it’s something which money can’t often buy, but something Henri would probably give us.

Ok, he missed a chance in the second game of the day, but it’s early days…

It’s time for Henri Lansbury to get his chance at the club he loves and it’s time for him to take it…

That’s it for today, have a good one….

178 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

What next for Jack Wilshere as his fitness raises questions??

July 2, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Boy am I browned off with football at the moment, England taking an early exit in the Euro’s has sucked any enthusiasm I had.

I knew we weren’t good enough and although I expected them to be knocked out early, they surprised me by winning their group but now its over and the reality has sunk in, my enthusiasm for the game is pretty low.

Having looked around the blogs, I have read that Jack Wilshere may not be fit to start the new season and someone has even suggested  that he has had further surgery on his knee and  had minor surgery on his ankle too!

Wilshire was out for all of last season and now his chances of starting the coming one is in doubt and I am now wondering why we are pussy footing around strengthening the midfield, after all we have attackers in abundance.

In other blogs I read that Wenger wants to keep Denilson!!

As John McEnroe once said: ” You cannot be serious”?

Denilson! I thought and hoped I had seen the last of him.

I’m struggling to understand why we are still persevering with the Denilsons of this world!

When he signed for us back in goodness knows when, he looked a good prospect but sadly we have now witnessed that he looks better on paper than he does on the pitch!

Many will say that Wenger may just be trying to get the best price for him and if the club that have had him on loan want to keep him, they will have to come up with asking price, but I ask you, it’s Denilson, just give him away, if need be, get him away from the club…

Getting back to Jack….

Many fans I know see Jack as a future great, he started his first season with us very well, a great prospect and was confident in his midfield role. He was strong in the tackle with his bulldog attitude and he also looked very comfortable and composed on the ball.

He certainly seems to have a natural footballing brain and he always appears to look as if he would run through walls if he needed to for his club.

I’ve had a long think about Jack and no doubt others will be of the same opinion that when he finally returns, he will just take up his regular position and carry on as nothing has happened..

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Reality is though, that a full season out of the game can change many youngsters and Jack has been through a few changes to his life.

Since he’s has been injured he has become a father, had a year of being on crutches and needing help to get around, back to walking normally  and then back to being on crutches again, all which must affect the mental side of his comeback into the game.

He’s also had to suffer the setback of not being able to play country in the Euros and of course the upcoming Olympics. Both must have been a huge disappointment.

I’m not sure Jack will come back and be the player he was before he suffered an injury.

I’m an Arsenal fan and I don’t really care about Jack and his family, I don’t care about how the setbacks are going to affect his life either and I certainly don’t care if his heart is broken because he missed the Euro’s and the Olympics!

All I care about, and maybe I am selfish, is Arsenal and our up and coming new season and whether or not Jack Wilshere will be fit, ready and able to make his return and I doubt he will….

Much has happened since Jack last played and many changes have taken place since he last graced the field – Fabregas and Nasri have gone, both who were no doubt a big influence on the young man and maybe a few more could leave by the time he finally laces up his boots.

I am wondering if Jack should either be moved on or put out on loan for six months?

Find out if he still has it in him to fight for his place.

Personally I don’t want us to take a chance on him and I believe he should be loaned out, get him away from our medical bays and let him show that he has got what it takes to prove himself, if he wants to stay.

It’s my belief that we can do great things next season and that we have started to build the team – we have quality players in Podolski, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho, Campbell and Park – players Jack has not played/trained with and maybe more to come, will Jack be up to the challenge to compete for his place?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Written by Steve Palmer

177 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

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