Morning Gooners….

Bit of gossip from the red tops.

According to The Sun, Wenger is ready toΒ offer Liverpool Theo Walcott plus Β£8 million for their super-kid Raheem Sterling. I’m sure that is just The Sun playingΒ Fantasy football transfers.

The Daily Mirror are running a story in which Wenger has stressed how fed up he is about our better players leaving:

You think I’m not fed up? I want them to stay, he [Walcott] was fantastic last year in this game. He will certainly be again.

It’s always important to keep your best players. If that should happen we’ll replace him with someone – another big name. Or make another big name.

Anyway, enough of all that, onto today, a fixture that ‘really’ matters!

Every time we face our NorthΒ LondonΒ rivals, the game is huge, massive beyond all proportions. It’s them, we have to beat them Β and we have to keep the pride on our side of North London!! I have to remainΒ courteous about neighbour, otherwise someone may text 67777 and shop me to the club.Β 

Keep the Pride

So, at 12.45hrs today, home at the Emirates and a fixture that brings out the largest number of supporters from London – two clubs go head to head, both with a wealth of history, we just have a lot more than them.

We have won only two home games so far this season: the 6-1 demolition of Southampton and the 1-0 win over QPR and that really is something that needs changing.

Thomas Vermaelen:

This isn’t a normal game – it’s a special one.Β Practically, we need to get three points on the board, but I think it would give both the fans and the team a massive boost if we won.Β Last season we came back from 2-0 down, working really hard for a memorable turnaround. We want to create the same impetus this time and it’s a big opportunity to do so.

If you look at the league table, we’re not too far behind third and fourth places. Nothing is lost yet – a win against Spurs would be a big step.

If we want to be getting into the top four and stand any chance of winning a trophy this season, our homeΒ performancesΒ and results have to vastly improve, starting today!

If we want to stop surrendering leads our defence needs to be more organised, our midfield have to work a lot harder and whoever starts between the posts today has to be far more focussed and committed to the cause, starting today.

Our chances on goal have to be buried hard into the back of the net, time and time again, starting today.

Today matters, today means so much to all Gooners, much more than just three points.

Arsene Wenger and Steve Bould have a huge part to play, Bould with the history lesson, Wenger with his tactics. Both need to get it spot on!

The players, who over the last few weeks, months even have looked lethargic and all too often out of ideas, well that needs to change, today! They need to be ready to take on the neighbours who are getting tooΒ noisyΒ these days and put them in their place.

Sir Bobby Pires wasn’t a born and bred Gooner, he wasn’t even English, but he knew what a NLD was all about:

Q: Robert, it’s the north London derby against Tottenham on Saturday. Did you really look forward to these gamesΒ when you were at Arsenal?

Yes, very much so, simply because it’s the derby and it’s the big one. It’s always a tough game with a cracking atmosphere. But above all it’s a match you can’t afford to lose, plain and simple. Over the years a great rivalry has developed between the two clubs and that’s why when you play at home it’s a must-win for the fans.

How confident are you that Arsenal will win against Tottenham on Saturday?

It’s always hard in derby games, but you have to fight right until the end. The players know that it will be tough so you need good team spirit and a high level of motivation, which is always vital. If that’s there, anyone can be beaten.

TheyΒ shouldn’tΒ need to be reminded about what today means to Arsenal fans, if our boys are not up for this game they should not be in the red and white that represents OUR club, our history and just what days like today mean to us!

Come on you Gunners, fight for your lives and give us the win we all want and so desperately need!