The return of the orange moustachioed villain to the Arsenal pantomime

It was with a sigh last night, that I remembered today's kick off is a late one. I hate late kick offs. Those extra two and a half hours are the generally the worst two and a half hours of my life. I'm not even sure why it's a 5.30 kick off today. The only other match in London today is all the way at Fulham, so it's not like it's been delayed to avoid having two busy events at the same part of town. Perhaps, after all Wenger's complaining about fixture congestion, the FA took pity on him, and moved the match back two and a half hours to give Arsenal some vital power nap time.
The two and a half hour tedium is intensified today due to it being against the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t and his bunch of little Tigers. You remember the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t? The one who's story had more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. And I don't mean those swiss cheeses which are mainly cheese, with only a few holes, I mean those swiss cheeses where it is mainly air with only a bit of cheese. One of those cheeses you could inflate with a bicycle pump. In my eyes, after his, and his assistant's, ridiculous antics, Hull were turned from a plucky newly promoted side punching above their weight (the way I feel about Burnley now) to a bunch of dicks who I wanted to get relegated and die.

So it truly is a shame that Cesc can't play today and run the game. But look on the bright side, if we do win, Cesc has the opportunity to come on the pitch afterwards to celebrate again, and that would really piss Brown off. Also, I want to keep a close eye on Brown. I want to see if he trots away down the tunnel, immediately after the final whistle, waving his hands in the air shouting "Even if I run away, it still counts as Wenger not shaking hands with me!" Just so this time, if he does say Wenger didn't shake his hand, he technically won't be lying.

On to the team news, and as mentioned above, Cesc is unavailable. Don't worry though, Denilson is back, and that could mean us fielding the midfield three of Denilson, Diaby and Song. Otherwise known as the most boring midfield three of all time, ever. Now don't get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Song, and I appreciate Denilson, but when you see those three names together on the team sheet it doesn't exactly invite you to think "wow......creative!". Hopefully Wenger will address this by playing Ramsey or Nasri in the middle. However, the prospect of playing his two love childs with Song in the middle may be overpowering, and for good measure he'll probably chuck Eboue into the midfield somewhere. Having said that, I wouldn't be upset at all if Eboue stood in at right back today instead of Sagna.

Tonight it may not be a bad idea if Wenger rotated slightly, although not completely. Giving Fabianski a chance over the rapidly deteriorating Spaniard would be nice and not entirely undeserved. Allowing Ramsey to play in the middle (perhaps even alongside Nasri, as this is a home game) would be nice, and maybe Vela and Eduardo together up front. Last time those two played together up front was against Burnley in the FA cup, and they ran wild. Merida must be cursing Fabian Delph that he is suspended, for this may have been a match where he featured briefly, what with all the injuries to the first team. For those of you who don't know what happened with Fabian Delph, allow me to explain. In a recent reserve match against Aston Villa, in an off-the-ball incident, cameras clearly showed Fabian Delph grabbing Merida round the face and taking a swing at him. Eventually after a five minute discussion with the nearest linesman, the referee proceeded to ludicrously send the young Spaniard off whilst only booking the angry little Villa midfielder. Anyway I digress, this is 3rd of Merida's three match suspension, so he won't be on the bench, chances are however that Wilshere will.

So this is the team that I want to play today:

Fabianski

Eboue Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre(only due to no other options)

Song

Ramsey Nasri

Arshavin Eduardo Vela

However, I am fully aware that this is not the team that will play. I am merely indulging in fantasies. Regarding a score prediction....God knows. Who knows what Arsenal team will turn up? If Brown continues his recent trend of having Geovanni on the bench in away matches, it should be immeasurably easier. If not, we should still win, although I can see our defence leaking a goal. I'll get behind the Arse and say a 3-0 victory today.

Right, I think that'll be all for today.
See you after the match Gooners.

Burnley's defending from the front frightened Arsenal into general dreadfulness.

A quite embarrassing performance tonight saw Arsenal draw 1-1 with Burnley. As stated in the match preview, Turfmoor is a difficult place to come, so the result in itself wasn't embarrassing. It was the manner in which we played. Apart from a period between the 5th minute and the 20th, we could not keep possession at all. Part of that would be down to Burnley's excellent defensive play all over the pitch, but part is also down to Arsenal's dreadfulness on the few occassions we did have time on the ball. There was no penetration or composure, and the defending was quite frankly schoolboy. And that's being kind. Cesc took his goal very well, and perhaps should have had another (or at least got it on target). Having him come off just before half time was a massive blow, as he was our only player who showed class, composure and intelligence. We also madly missed Robin van Persie. As well as envious intelligence and goal scoring ability, van Persie is also a physical presence, and Arshavin (and Eduardo when we came on) could not compete with Burnley's centre backs.

On to the player ratings:
Almunia - 4. Unbelievably dreadful. His insane positioning almost led to a Vermaelen own goal in the opening stages before an admittedly good recovery by the Spaniard stopped this. The disallowed Burnley goal (which was a very iffy decision) should never have been allowed to present itself in the first place as Almunia inexplicably let the ball dribble through his fingers. His kicking was also way off tonight, slicing every ball he could into touch about 20 yards outside his goal area.
Sagna - 5. Rubbish. Found it difficult to go forward and was troubled all night by Chris Eagles (really Sagna?!). On this evidence Tyrone Mears is a better right back than he is.
Vermaelen - 5. Awful start, almost scoring an own goal. He later gave away a penalty with a dreadful challenge. He grew into the game as it went on, and this stopped him getting a lower rating.
Gallas - 5.5. Played slightly better than his centre back partner, but still looked panicked and liable to mistakes.
Silvestre - 5.5. Thankfully for us, not as much went down Burnley's right as it did their left. So Silvestre didn't have the chance to cost us the game. Still managed to be a liability, and showed he has the pace of a Slug being held down by heavy shopping.
Song - 7. Had the most difficult job of the team tonight, trying to compete with Burnley's physical midfield, and he did a goodish job. Him and Bikey were at it all night, eventually coming out about equal. In the second half Song took it upon himself to become the playmaker, as Cesc's absence was becoming increasingly notable, which he did fairly well.
Diaby - 5. Perhaps our worst player in the first half. Responsible for 80% of the times that we couldn't keep possession. As the game went on he became slightly better, and showed he has a physical side as long as he is in possession of the ball.
Fabregas - 7.5. Our best player when he was on. Took his goal very well. Almost managed to manifacture a second with a delightful piece of skill, and looked dangerous when probing forward. Showed some fantastic pieces of skill. Fingers crossed his injury isn't too bad.
Nasri - 6. Found it very hard to compete with the physical nature of Burnley. He showed some very nice touches and glimpses of vision though.
Walcott - 4. Absolutely disastrous. He is obviously still not quite up to pace with the game, but even so, he should have been so much better than he was. In the first half he was isolated on the right, and did nothing with the ball on the few occassions it did come to him. In the second half, he saw a lot of the more coming towards him, and then past him as it (almost with fail) bounced away from him following an abysmal touch. When he did eventually find himself in a dangerous position, he proceeded to blast the ball both high and wide, when a low cross, shot or pass would have been easier.
Arshavin - 6. He was ok. After Cesc, he was our most dangerous player. Again he made good runs, but too often his touch would let him down. Also found it difficult against Burnley's physical centre backs.
Subs:
Ramsey - 6. Came on to be the natural replacement for Cesc, but showed he still has a tiny bit more to learn and develop. Couldn't influence the game nearly as well as the captain. He battled very well though, and showed an excellent physical determination.
Eduardo - 5.5. Eddie came on for Theo and really didn't have much to do. Was put through on a couple of occassions by Song but didn't look sharp enough. His confidence really has taken a knock this season.

Well there we have it. We knew this would be a difficult game, but still it should be one of those that we win. We're going to have to play so much better against Aston Villa on the 27th. Credit must go to Burnley though for their indefatigable defending all over the pitch. However next time, when we're not being closed down, we have to use the ball better.

'Til next time Gooners.

Who knew that the media jumps on bandwagons? The arrival of the Arse at Turfmoor.

By now I am well aware that those of you who have stumbled across this blog in the past have now given up on it, but Play the Gooner Way is back after a lengthy absence. Allow me to explain the circumstances. I was very busy. I realise that is a poor excuse, so I apologise.

Recently there have been numerous instances of the press finding a particular scenario and then bumping it up to garner higher viewings, readings, comments etc. This form of lowest common denominator publishings has seen intense hyperbole of: the Eduardo 'dive', the Henry handball, for some reason the Wenger rant at half time at Anfield, and many more. Today, the media are taking a swipe at poor old Mick McCarthy. It is well known by now that McCarthy made 10 changes to his side that went to Old Trafford last night. On Sunday, it will be the third time in 8 days that Wolves will play a match. McCarthy obviously knew his best team didn't have a cat's chance in hell of winning at Old Trafford, and it was best to save his team for Sunday when they play host to Burnley. A match where they are far more likely to get a result. As it was, the second choice Wolves team only lost 3-0 against the Mancs, which ain't half bad.

Now, I can fully understand the travelling supporters being thoroughly pissed off by splashing out on a trip to Manchester, travelling there, and then not seeing the first team. But to 'brand' (along with other painful mental images such as 'label') McCarthy disrepectful is shortsighted in the extreme. To make matters worse for the Wolves boss, the media have built it up so much that now the Premier League has formally written (oooh I bet McCarthy's scared) to Wolves to ask them to explain their team selection against Old Trafford. Presumably, McCarthy will explain what is written above, the Premier League fat cats will realise they are stupid and the whole thing will blow over. I don't know why there is all this speculation anyway. Ferguson was happy with the team Wolves put out yesterday, and what he says goes.

Yes I realise this is an Arsenal blog.

Arsenal travel to Turfmoor tonight, the home of Burnley. For those of you who think it will be a walkover, think again. For those who think 'well we won at Anfield, we will trounce Burnley', you lot can also think again. Make no mistake, at the moment Turfmoor is a more difficult place to win than Anfield. Burnley have only lost once at home, and have beaten ManUre there. Even so, it must not be forgotten that we are Arsenal, and these are the kind of games that we should be winning. In injury knews, Denilson and Traore are out. Eboue is back. Thus my predited line up is:

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre

Song

Diaby Fabregas(c)

Nasri Arshavin Eduardo

I reckon Wenger will decide on Arshavin in the middle of the front three because of all the talk about how good he was against Stoke and Liverpool there. Am I the only one who wasn't particularly impressed by him? Yes he makes good runs, yes he took his goals well against Stoke and Liverpool, and for his size he competes fairly well physically. But against Stoke, his touch was absolutely dreadful. The worst on the park. It let him down on every instance except his goal. Liverpool wasn't much different, although his increased work rate in the second half was commendable.
I would much prefer for Eduardo to play in the middle of the front three, and Arshavin to play alongside him where he seems to have better control but, as I said, I have a feeling this isn't going to happen. Speaking of preferences, I would infact prefer to see Nasri play alongside Cesc as he did against Stoke where he was magnificent (and in my opinion the best player on the pitch) with Walcott, Vela or even little Jack being the final player of the triumverate upfront. Failing that, Ramsey in midfield, with Nasri part of the front three. Whatever means Diaby doesn't start. Anyway, I will say it will be an Arsenal victory...3-1.

Finally, Wenger has said he will 'sort out Silvestre's contact', as it expires at the end of the season. The dot com say it in such a way as to suggest le Boss was just playing with us all along when he didn't think about renewing Silvestre's contract till now. In a kind of 'Ahh got you there guys. It's ok don't worry guys, it's ok, I'll sort his contract out. I had you worried there though didn't I? You thought I was just gonna let him go at the end of the season. Haha good times.' God I want Silvestre to go at the end of the season.

'Til tomorrow Gooners.

Arsenal 6 - 2 Blackburn Rovers

I have long since resigned myself that this is going to be a rather futile post simply because I have run out of superlatives. Nevertheless I'll have a go.

I don't think I have ever seen a team attack so well. I don't think I've ever seen a keeper have such a good game yet still concede six. I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen Fabregas play so well. And I've never seen a team win six nil where each goal would be a serious candidate for Match of the Day's goal of the month. All of this in front of Thierry Henry who must be fairly upset that he now plays for a team who's football, quite frankly, pales in comparison.

Through all of the genial attacking play though, we must not forget the defensive side of the game. Although individually each of the back four had a good game, together they weren't so reassuring. The understanding establised between Vermaelen and Gallas seemed to have diminished ever so slightly, hopefully not permanently. One underlying moment was just after David Dunn had been felled in the box (I still say no penalty, but I would) the ball was sitting in between Vermaelen, Gallas and two other Arsenal players none of whom could decide who to take the ball. Eventually Dunn almost had time to get up and retake possession of the ball before Diaby managed to bundle clear with it. Worrying moments indeed, however this kind of school boy defending happened only once. Nevertheless, Blackburn's first scrappy goal should have been dealt with, if not by a defence that was not struggling and back pedalling, at least by a non-stranded Vito Mannone. As it was the Arsenal line were struggling and back pedalling, and Mannone was stranded. It was almost as if the back line had underestimated how far Robinson could kick it, and Mannone had overestimated.

Enough of that, it's almost taking away the glory of a sensational pure footballing victory. Something which Sam Allardyce seems intent on doing. It was hardly a turning point you fat toad. The way which Arsenal came back from the first two goals, would have happened again should Blackburn have got a penalty, and scored from it.

Each goal was sensational. Whether it was an individual effort from Vermaelen, Fabregas or Bendtner or the goals occuring from sumptuous approach play a la van Persie, Arshavin or Walcott, each goal was from out the very top drawer. And each goal deserved to be watched again and again today by myself. Which they will.

Onto the player ratings.
Mannone - 6.5. For the first goal I think he either should have come for the ball or stayed on his line. In the end, he did neither, and was stranded. Something I remember happening to him against Stoke reserves last year. However he made up for it somewhat with good stops from Olsson and Dunn.
Sagna - 6.5. I've said before that at home against easy opposition (yes Allardyce your team are shit), Eboue should start instead of Sagna at right back. And I maintain that. Although Sagna didn't really do anything wrong, Eboue would have offered a lot more in this match. Also, I've noticed Sagna side-foots a lot of crosses instead of whipping them in. Something for the training ground Arsene? Please?
Clichy - 7. Clichy is excellent at closing down high up the field, but recently has been known to allow a lot of space in behind him. He had a fairly good game today and joined in with the attacking more than the other wing back, but I think it's time Gibbs was given a chance, especially at home against a rubbish team. At the moment, he's just sitting on the bench, neither playing for the firsts not the reserves.
Gallas - 7. Gallas was ok. Can't really think of much else.
Vermaelen - 8. Well, as an allround football player, I honestly think Vermaelen is the best defender in the league. He may not be the best defensively (although he's close) but as a complete football player he's incredible. His goal was stunning, although at the back he was slightly more patchy than we're used to seeing from our consistent Belgian. That's right, I've labelled him consistent already.
Song - 8. He had a tough job, which must have required a lot of will power. Whilst everyone else was attacking (even the players who seemingly play behind him) he had to stay in the defensive midfield position all day. Which he did.
Diaby - 6.5. He didn't do anything wrong. Ramsey would have offered more in this match though. Still, he didn't do anything wrong.
Fabregas - 10. Man of the match. 4 assists, one goal. Forced three good saves from Robinson, and should have had a couple more assists, if only for better finishing (that's right, 6 is not good enough!). An absolutely mind-boggling performance.
Rosicky - 8.5. We've missed him. More importantly, Fabregas has missed him. They both play so well together. It was also evident that Rosicky is getting more and more up to speed with the game with every match. Offered a simply stunning cross with the outside of the boot for Fabregas.
Arshavin - 8.5. He really has now fused with all the other Arsenal players. Offers a different type of creativity than Fabregas, and with those different types, any defence in the world will struggle to cope. Didn't track back as much as he did against Olympiakos however, which was a shame.
van Persie - 9. A very underrated and subtle performance from boy wonder. He led the line exceptionally well, especially considering the physical and illegal play of the Blackburn defence. His goal was excellent, and his first touch and vision throughout the match were also exquisite.
Subs:
Walcott. He immediately added yet another dimension to Arsenal's attacking play, which Blackburn already couldn't cope with. His goal was born out of a masterful team effort.
Bendtner. Nik B came on and looked hungry for a goal straight away. He played somewhere in the front 3, although he was drifting to very good effect. His goal was an absolutely incredible strike, reminiscent of Pires against Liverpool all those years ago.
Ramsey. Looked very neat and tidy when he came on, and sent a few balls over the top that worried the Blackburn back line. Also managed to pick up the assist for Bendtner's goal.

So all in all, a splendid game. The best game I've seen in a very long time. Some praise must go to Blackburn for getting Arsenal going, although not much. Against a better team, Arsenal may not be able to score six (don't tell Everton that though), so we must work on the defending.

Next game isn't until the 17th. Yes that's right, we have to grin and bear another England match. Oh well, we have a win against Birmingham at the Grove to look forward to.
'Til next time Gooners.

Wow

Well that was the best attacking display I think I've ever seen from team in any football match ever. Scored 6, if wasn't for an impressive Robinson, it could easily have been 12. I need to compose myself somewhat, before writing a match report later.
'Til then Gooners.

Arsenal 2 - 0 West Brom

A really spirited performance by the kids saw them deservedly triumph against West Brom last night. The game may not have had the same air of quality about it that a first team match does, but they showed grit and determination to overcome a physical West Brom, who more often than not had 10 men behind the ball at all times.

The starting line up was:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre(c) Gibbs

Coquelin

Ramsey

Wilshere

Sunu Watt Traore

The referee (Lee Mason) tried his very best to ruin a good game of football, but in the end just embarrassed himself. Apart from the sending off of Jerome Thomas, there was nothing else he managed to get right. On several occasions, blatant fouls by West Brom players would end up as a free kick to the away side, and the he also managed not to give Arsenal a stone wall penalty.

No matter, in the end the Ref was nothing more than an annoying little mosquito on a beautiful summer's day. The kids went about their job patiently without trying to force an opening. This took slightly longer than usual, due to not having the same quality of movement as the firsts, but the introduction of Carlos Vela soon changed that. His introduction meant a game that was in danger of going slightly stale was freshened up. His movement and acceleration was too much for a tiring West Brom defence and, in the end, he became the difference.

So on to the player ratings:
Szczesny - 6. Showed signs of being a top shot stopper, however came flapping for corners and without fail missed the ball everytime.
Gilbert - 7. Fairly impressive by the now 22 year old. He tentatively probed forwards, without fully committing himself to attacks, but did very well defensively.
Gibbs - 7. See report for Gilbert.
Senderos - 8. Brilliant performance by Big Phil. I would still be slightly wary against better class opposition because, on the turn, he is still very slow. But his positioning was excellent, good composure on the ball, and good distribution as well.
Silvestre - 7.5. Similar to Big Phil, I would be wary about Silvestre in matches against better teams. However Silvestre had a very good performance today. One slide interception to prevent a through ball to Luke Moore comes straight to mind.
Coquelin - 7.5. The young defensive midfielder showed positioning whch belied his tender age. His passing would occasionally, and only very occasionally be sloppy, but I'm knit-picking there. Deservedly received a massive standing ovation for an impressive first start for the club.
Ramsey - 8.5 My man of the match. It was very difficult to slice open to the West Brom defence, but out of anyone Ramsey looked like the one to do it. But more than that, it was a composed game which saw Ramsey a quite obvious step above the rest in terms of quality. His work rate was also excellent, especially whilst defending, he never panicked, and always seemed to play the right ball.
Wilshere - 7. Ok, but not great by little Jack. He played most of the match in the centre, where he found it very difficult to compete. He underhit a fair few passes, but the team did look like it had more energy whenever he was on the ball.
Sunu - 7. He looked like he easily had the measure of the West Brom left back, but unfortunately had a quiet evening, which meant we never saw that happen. Gilles is by a trade a more out an out striker than wide man, so he wasn't playing in his best position.
Traore - 7.5. A lot more seemed to come down the left than the right. Traore looked dangerous with his pace and experience against this calibre os opposition, however disappointingly never really managed to get a cross in.
Watt - 7.5. Sanchez Watt had a difficult game today. He was in the centre of the front three which meant balls were often played to his feet, and he would have to compete physically with Jonas Olsson. However he kept trying, and kept working hard, and eventually his goal came. In that respect, a good attitude for a striker to have.
Subs:
Vela - 8. Was the difference. After he came on the team had more of a spring in their step. Took his goal well, he was obivously under huge amounts of pressure as he dawdled on the goal line in front of a completely open goal, stopping for a few seconds, and then lofting the ball into the roof of the net.
Randall - 7.5. Surprised me with a composed and skilfull game when he came on. West Brom were in fairness struggling at that time because of being down to 10 men for so long, so there were big gaps appearing. Nevertheless, Randall looked like the Randall with confidence that we saw a few years ago. A stunning chip against the cross bar from 25 odd yards out, which had it have been Rooney would have had commentators and sports journalists all over England purring and running to their typewriters to write a piece on the art of a Rooney chip, led to Vela's goal.
Barazite. It was nice to see Nacer play. He wasn't on long enough for me to give him a rating. But he looked intelligent on the ball, and often would come in field to help dictate play. In that respect, coupled with his hair, he is very reminiscent of Bobby Pires.

So there we are. West Brom tried to intimidate the kids by leaving trailing legs everywhere, but it didn't work. The kids showed the kind of grit the first team could do with from time to time. There's some rubbish this morning about Di Matteo blaming Wilshere for Thomas being sent off. Di Matteo admits Thomas came clattering into Wilshere late (also with a high and vicious looking elbow), but then is surprised that Wilshere didn't accept Thomas' hand. Aparrently, this is what Thomas reacted to (if it was only this that caused a slap, I don't think I would want to hang around with Jerome Thomas). Whatever the case, it was a blatant red card, and it's not exactly like Wilshere asked Thomas to slap him, so I really can't see how Wilshere was responsible. By not reacting to being fouled, he's to blame for getting the person who fouled him in the first place to get sent off for reacting to him. Work that one out. It is probably more likely little Jack said a few words of disgruntlement that most players say when they've just been fouled, and for some reason Thomas overreacted to that.

Anyway, a great performance by the kids. As of today, I shall be away again, so there will be no articles for the next week and a bit.
'Til later Gooners.

Arsenal - West Bromwich Albion, Carling Cup Preview

Ok so tomorrow is our first, and hopefully not last, chance to see the kids take the carling cup by storm. West Brom are perhaps slightly better opposition than Sheffield Utd were at this stage last season, but not nearly as good as Wigan, who we easily defeated 3-0 in the next round.

Of course, Wenger has started a tradition that a few managers have followed, in playing a mixture between firsts, reserves, and youth players in the carling cup. Regardless of the fact that no established first teamers will be playing, or even in the squad, we will still be a bit weaker than we wanted to be. Fran Merida and Gavin Hoyte have been called up to the infinitely pointless Euro U20s tournament. Henri Lansbury is on loan at Watford, Jay Emmanuel Thomas at Blackpool and Jay Simpson at QPR.

My predicted starting XI therefore is as follows:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre Gibbs

Coquelin

Randall Ramsey

Wilshere Watt Barazite

or if it's 4-4-2:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre Gibbs

Wilshere Randall Ramsey Traore

Watt Barazite

It is difficult to see where Traore will fit in if Wenger will play the talented duo of Wilshere and Barazite as well as one of his new favourites Sanchez Watt. On the bench there will be a few of Kyle Bartley, Francis Coquelin/Armand Traore, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Luke Freeman, Ignasi Miquel, Emmanuel Frimpong, Rhys Murphy, Connor Henderson, perhaps even extreme youngsters Benik Afobe and Chuks Aneke...who knows.

Whatever the teams, it'll be an interesting watch, apart from whenever the ball goes near the left side of the central defence, or to Randall. I hope Silvestre and Randall both play well of course, but past performances indicate they probably won't.

Right that's all for now. I'll be back on Wednesday me thinks.
'Til then Gooners.

Arsenal 4 - 0 Wigan Athletic

Wenger has become all too predictable in his apparent want for unpredictability when it comes to choosing his starting XI every match. Consider the fact of Abou Diaby's inclusion. The man has played abysmally, and I mean abysmally, in every match this season bar the home game against Portsmouth. What happens when a player plays rubbish for several games in a row? Wenger selects him for the next game. And the next game. And the game after that. Then we come to a player who had a shocker midweek in his natural position. What does Wenger do? He plays Eboue in the next game too, except this time out of position. What I'm saying is, most managers would look to players on the bench who can play in similar positions but offer something different. Wenger is different that way, but only because he has his favourites.

When I looked at the starting line-up I was yet again disappointed. I don't know why I get so excited 45 minutes before each kick-off, because I know I'm only building myself up for the inevitable disappointment when I see Diaby's name instead of Ramsey, Wilshere, Merida (although Merida was unavailable yesterday) or even the exceptionally promising Barazite. With the exception of Ramsey, it'll be difficult for these kids to integrate themselves, not only because the midfielders ahead of them are more established, and used to playing at the physical level of the Premier league, but also because of the sheer numbers of midfielders who can play in the central position that Arsenal have. And it is in this way that it is clear Wenger has his favourites, because week in, week out the same players play, despite the previous 'n' matches where they've played crap.

The starting line-up was as follows:

Mannone

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Fabregas(c) Diaby

Eboue v.Persie Eduardo

A very established team, yet not the most talented AW could have put out. Rosicky has only just returned from a decade on the treatment table, so understandbly he needs time, but there were so many talented youngsters on the bench. The case could be argued that Wenger was resting them for Tuesday's match in the Carling Cup, but be that as it may, the premier league is the priority. Is Wenger more concerned about the development of players who may or may not make the grade at Arsenal than immediate team success? That question swam through my head prior to kick-off but in the end it had some degree of futility about it as Arsenal strolled to a comfortable 4-0 win.

Arsenal were good, but Wigan were worse. Giving the ball away, allowing the Arsenal players huge amounts of space, and mindlessly crunching into tackles just outside the box. The stats at the end were mind bloggling. 18 fouls commited by Wigan to Arsenal's meagre 6. The possession stats were also heavily leaning towards Arsenal, yet they needed several goes to eventually break the deadlock. No absolute clear cut opportunites, but perhaps some that should have been taken better. No matter, after a while the best defender in the Premier league rose like a salmon and powered a ferocious header past Kirkland. The header made all the more impressive by the fact he was challenged by two burly Wigan players. Towards the end of the half RvP should perhaps have done better from a wonderful scooped Cesc ball.

The second half saw more of the same. Eventually we got our second. Vermaelen curling an absolute beauty into the top corner, after trotting out of defence and swapping passes with Eboue. Thereafter Wigan, slightly desperate to not let the game end there, pushed forward. This began to leave them exposed and our third soon arrived. Eduardo cleverly directing his shot towards the inside of Eboue's right leg so it would ricochet into the far corner beyond the reach of Kirkland. All this was done purposefully you understand. Wigan then gave up, apart from a brief spell which saw them have a goal correctly ruled out for offside. Song took advantage of the diminishing will power of the Wigan players buy going on the meandering run that allowed him to score in the reverse fixture last year. Unfortunately for him, his classy run ended when his low shot clipped the outside of the post. After Cesc's delicate finish from a good low Bendtner cross, there was just time for Rosicky to sting the hands of Kirkland before the full time whistle blew.

A good comfortable win, that could and perhaps should have been more. Nevertheless, after the previous 3 tense and hypertension causing games, a match where we were allowed to dictate and strut our stuff (without going into full swing) was just what we needed. Here are my player ratings:

Mannone - 6. Once again, he came racing for a ball half way inside our half that ordinarily Gallas would have easily dealt with. This put us under a spot of bother for a while before a combination of Gallas, Song and Cesc managed to clear. He made one good reaction save, that looks less impressive everytime you see it, and one save at the feet of Rodallega. Other than, a quiet afternoon for the young Italian. Which after midweek, is exactly what he needed.
Sagna - 6. Good without being excellent. Made some probing runs that worried the left side of Wigan, but didn't see too much of the ball offensively. Didn't get a chance to show off the defensive and best side of his game today.
Clichy - 7. Miles better than Wednesday. Probing runs, but also with backtracking, something that was lacking against Standard. Found Eduardo very well for Eboue's goal.
Gallas - 8. Again much better than midweek. Didn't have much to do, but what he did, he did very well.
Vermaelen - 9. Not content to show he doesn't have a weekness defensively, he also wants to show he can play anywhere on the park. Popped up with two maginificent goals at one end, and did the little he had to do very well at the other.
Song - 8. Broke up everything. Deserved a goal.
Fabregas - 7. Looked a little slap-dash at times, but these were interspersed with the usual passes that noone else could do. Took his goal nicely.
Diaby - 6. Not a bad game by Diaby, but that's because he wasn't influencing the game. Drifted in and out. He drives at defenses very well but the problem is that's all he does. It works when there's not a better option, but there so often is. Would have preferred to see someone more fresh though.
Eboue - 9. It doesn't matter that it was this fixture last year that he got booed off, because he has long since made up for that in his work ethic, and it's not like he's got some allergic reaction to playing Wigan. Nevertheless, the antics of last year did help to highlight his performance, which was full of powerful running and great tracking back. Man of the Match for sentimental reasons.
Eduardo - 7. Looks a bit shaken up. There's no doubting his outrageous kill and enviable talent, but he needs a bit of belief back. Played out on the left, when he deserves to be playing down the middle.
van Persie - 7. Not quite sharp. But to be honest, I still don't think he's reached his potential. Should have been subbed off in the second half, as he was recovering from a knock, and we don't want that to come back around. Still a good performance by the Boy Wonder who is becoming absolutely essential to Arsenal.

Subs:
Ramsey - Got half an hour and presumably will get a full 90 on Tuesday. Always very impressive.
Rosicky - I love his relationship with Cesc. Whenever Rosicky plays you can see Cesc's ears perk up. A lovely bit of interplay between the two little maestros led to a tricky defensive situation change almost immediately to a potential goal scoring opportunity which Sagna duly wasted with an awful cross.
Bendtner - Immediately became a handful for the already tiring Wigan defence. Got an assist with a nice low hard cross for Cesc to divert in.

Well, that result should have got a lot more smiles on the fans' faces, but more importantly on the players' faces. They do play so much better when they're enjoying it. This result would have done wonders despite the fact that in reality they were gifted it by Wigan's poor play.

Next match is on Tuesday. I'll be at the Emirates enjoying the kids beat fairly good class opposition. I've got a feeling it'll be a very young team this time round with the likes of Coquelin and Watt added to the more established yet very young Ramsey, Wilshere and (sigh) Randall. No Merida though, which I'm still very pissed off about.
Oh well, 'til Tuesday Gooners.

Arsenal - Wigan Athletic Match Preview

Hopefully today will see a return to winning ways. Yes I know we won on Wednesday, but that doesn't count. I mean a nice win that was earned out of playing well, outplaying the opposition, and not letting in stupid goals. Arguably we have been the better team in every game this season, however the last 3 have seen us concede sloppily where quite clearly we should have dealt better. One excuse, albeit an exceptionally weak on, could be to say that we were away in those 3 matches. This excuse will not stand today. We are at home for the first time since the 26th of last month. The fact we are at home will hopefully mean Wenger will put out a slightly offensively minded and exciting first eleven.

There are still copious injuries. Walcott, Arshavin and Vela are 'days away', but will all miss out today. I find it slightly worrying that Wenger has been saying Walcott is 'days away' since the Man Utd match, but I hope that is more down to our Boss' notoriously bad judgement on sideline length rather than the injury itself being one of those nasty recurring ones. Denilson continues to be out, although again this is said to be for only a brief stint. Apparently Almunia is recovering from his illness but isn't match fit(?!) so he won't feature either, but should be back soon. Other than these, Fabianski, Djourou and Nasri are the ones we've got used to seeing on the sideline, and should expect to stay there for some while longer. Fran Merida is also unavailable, and annoyingly will be unavailable for the Carling Cup match on tuesday, because he's off to meet up with the Spain squad for the Euro Under 20s tournament. The most pointless international tournament in football, including the Confederations Cup. There are both an U19s and an U21s tournament (incidently both of which are more prestigious) so why on earth should there be an U20s? Merida's absence made even more ridiculous by the fact that only a few months ago, he competed in the Euro U19s tournament. Give the poor lad a break. With all these 'rising star' tournaments, he'll struggle to ever get into his squad's first team.

I've decided today, instead of predicting what the starting XI will be, I will choose what I want it to be. And, what I think will work best. As stated earlier, the fact we're at home, coupled with the fact that we've been the better team in all our away matches, I've gone for an attacking side that'll hopefully rip Wigan to shreds.

Mannone

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Gibbs

Song

Fabregas (c) Rosicky

v.Persie Bendtner Eduardo

Now the first thing that may stand out to you is the inclusion of Gibbs rather than Clichy. I felt that Clichy played so utterly dreadfully on Wednesday (the worst I think I've ever seen him play) and to be honest hasn't been that great since I don't know when, the inclusion of Gibbs should give him a right kick up his posterior. And what better game to include young Gibbsy, than a home game against a team who are clearly weaker than we are.

Secondly, you'll notice there's no Diaby. Yes, I can hear you cheering, but remember this is only my fantasy XI from who we've got available, not who I think will actually play. Regrettably I think Diaby will play. Maybe either instead of the potentially not match fit Rosicky, or maybe the recovering van Persie. Wenger will see Diaby's assist on Wednesday and applaud him for it, but conveniently miss everything else he did in that match, and thus reward him with a start against Wigan.

Lastly, I have van Persie and Bendtner on the same team, but this time Nik B playing in the centre. Bendtner's massive frame will do well against the likes of Bramble, and this way we should see a return to what seemed to be the weekly delight of RvP cutting in off the right and whipping in a ferocious curling left footed effort into the far corner. However, should RvP start (and there's no knowing, as he has only just been passed fit), Nik B will surely play on the right of the front 3.

Well that's all. Let's hope Wenger's comment of 'the Liege match will underline our season' was only for the press, and in reality he gave the players a right old bollocking after the match. A nice fired up team, wanting to score loads, but keeping a clean sheet will be much appreciated. I think Gooners deserve it after what we've been put through these last 3 weeks.

All that's left to say is check out the Guardian football page where they've predicted Arsenal's starting XI (they've gone for a 4-4-2), and also what now seems like the weekly link to Dara O'Briain's column.

Right, here's to a 4-0 win Gooners.

Standard Liege 2 - 3 Arsenal

Only match ratings today.

Mannone - 5. Not much to do, even with the two goals. Could perhaps have been positioned better for their first goal. There is something very wrong with our goalkeeping training though, teaching our keepers to rush out for balls our defence should easily cope with. Mannone did it today, Almunia has recently started doing it, we all know Fabianski does it. Even Szcezsny did it for the reserves on Monday.
Eboue - 4. Dreadful.
Clichy - 3. Even more dreadful.
Gallas - 4. Dreadful.
Vermaelen - 7. Thank god for Vermaelen. I don't know how many goals we would have conceded without him.
Song - 6. Ok
Diaby - 3. Dreadful. Worst player on the pitch despite bagging an assist. Should have been replaced by Wilshere at half time instead of being rewarded for an awful performance by being played the full 90 minutes.
Rosicky - 7. Pretty good. Not quite up to scratch yet in terms of the physical aspect of the game, but that will come.
Fabregas - 6. Ok
Eduardo - 5. Early shocker, and thereafter never really got into his stride.
Bendtner - 6. Ok. Took his goal well.

Shocking performance, mainly defensively. Should never have got into a position where we had to chase the game. And in that respect, despite dominating the whole game, we were lucky to win.
I may write something more constructive tomorrow, but if not, 'til the weekend Gooners.

Manchester City 4 - 2 Arsenal

Unbelievable. How can a team who dominate the game from start to finish end up losing 4-2? City had 3 shots and a freak header on target the whole game and ended up scoring 4, whilst Arsenal waited patiently, worked the ball into wide areas, and stood there as Toure and Lescott would without fail clear Sagna's abysmal cross. The patient build up was to no avail as Hughes parked 10 men behind the ball at all times. Arsenal would work players forward, a City player would come crunching in and win the ball and off they would go and score. Matters weren't helped by the fact that Clattenburg was refereeing the game. A ref who Man City have never failed to lose under. This was evident as he was soon booking Arsenal players for nothing whilst letting Man City players off after stamping on Arsenal's players faces, or handballing in their own penalty area thus denying a goalscoring opportunity.

The bad dream became nightmare when Adebayor scored. A goal he hardly deserved. The only thing he was doing right was clearing weak Fabregas corners away from the near post. A point the commentators picked up on with delight, and failing to notice that whenever the ball landed at his feet or head further up the field he constantly gave it away. Adebayor's petty and immature celebration clearly showed he feels hard done by, by the Arsenal support. If he honestly thinks that we were harsh on him for no reason, then he's more stupid than I thought.

It was good to see Rosicky score on his first competetive match for us in 16 or so months. And RvP's goal was superbly taken, making Lescott look a fool when it was the City player's main intention to take out boy wonder. Apart from that, it was a dreadful afternoon.

No player ratings, as they'll all be pretty much the same. No player had a bad game, but nobody was good either. Let's just say everyone got a 6. Apart from Diaby who got a 5. The Diaby experiment as one of the attacking 3 just doesn't work, unless he comes on as an impact sub. Arsenal can't get into any controlling rhythm when there's a player who's just not on the same wavelength as everyone else. Eduardo should have started instead so we could have had some creativity on the left side of the pitch. A big mistake by Wenger.

Man City hardly deserved to win, especially not to score 4, but that's football.
'Til midweek gooners.

Manchester City - Arsenal Preview

We should really try and win this game. Not just because Man City are sitting 3 points above us in the league, but also to wipe the smug grin of Mark Hughes' face. Ever since midweek when Adebayor started banging on about how he feels loved again, coupled with the fact he's scored 3 goals in 3 games, Hughes has presumably been grinning innanely to himself whilst going about doing every day things. This obviously needs to stop. Although the period of congratulations Hughes is giving himself will come to a natural end when Adebayor decides he wants to go to Real Madrid (also the fans don't love me anymore, I don't understand why....all I said is that I don't want to play for them anymore, and thus have stopped working hard), I'd rather we finished it for them.

We could have had a tougher test than we are already going to have. Robinho is doubtful, whilst Tevez, Santa Cruz and tough-tackling Kompany are all out. But then again, it's not like we've got all our players sprightly and niggle-free. News came a week or so ago that Djourou will be out for half the season, if not more. Now that's ok if both our first choice centre backs stay injury free, but we know that's not going to happen. Otherwise we'll have to play Song or (shudders) Silvestre at centre back unless Wenger plans on making an ubrupt U-turn and start playing Senderos. Walcott is still a slight doubt, although could return sooner rather than later. And Vela, Nasri and Fabianski will carry on working on the butt-groove they've established in their seats on the sidelines. However the most worrying news is that Arshavin is out for 3 games. Wenger was slightly moody after Arshavin played for Russia midweek, as apparently he shouldn't have. Russia manager Hiddink had said that it was up to Arshavin whether he'd play or not midweek, which was stupid 'cause a player will always choose to play. Especially if he's captain of his country. What is worrying about his injury is that it was his addition that rejuvenated us from our slump last season, and said slump involved that 3-0 loss at Eastlands. However there is no doubting the new spring in our step this year, and hopefully that will be enough to compensate for the loss of our pint sized Russian. Captain Fabulous should also be back after playing a full 90 midweek for Spain (and bagging a very well taken goal), however he may be seen as a slight doubt, and Rosicky returned midweek, playing precisely 56 minutes for the Czech Republic.

As we are away, I think Wenger will choose a slightly more stable side. In other words Diaby may be left on the bench only to be used as a potential impact sub. Wenger may revert to his questionable tactic of playing Eboue in away games also, and although Nik B scored twice in the interlull for Denmark, Eboue has been preferred recently. So I reckon the line-up will be this:

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Denilson Fabregas(c)

Eboue v.Persie Eduardo

I hope Bendtner does play instead of Eboue, but I just can't shake that funny feeling. We'll need all the help we can get up front, as Man City are the only team in the league not to have conceded a goal this season. We should also count ourselves lucky that they don't have their full strength strike force, as we haven't kept a clean sheat yet this season, although keeping one today may also be an uphill battle.

Righto. I'm unbelievably happy that Arsenal are back, so I don't have to hear anymore about England and the World cup, and read about overrated performances by Lampard and Rooney....until the 10th of October that is.
Enjoy the match Gooners, and I'll see you here afterwards.

Arsenal 3(5) - 1(1) Celtic

Despite the impressive scoreline of a 5-1 win on aggregate, I came away from the 2nd leg in a relatively bad mood. The standard of play was poor despite all the goals being constructed in a good way. The main reason for the downswing of my mood was the big talking point of the game, the Eduardo dive. Yes, it was a dive, but that should not take anything away from the build-up play which was quite frankly excellent, and then a mind boggling bit of quick thinking by Eduardo to slip the ball by two defenders. Did the carefully and skilfully constructed build-up get a mention? Not a jot. According to the commentators and analysers in the studio, had Eduardo not dived, Celtic would have got their way back into the match and would have gone on to win overall. As if Arsenal wouldn't have found other ways to score. And that goes for the two goals in the first leg, yes they were fortunate goals, but do you really think that if they hadn't gone in, Arsenal wouldn't have found another way to score?

My bad mood continued when Donati scored a consolation for Celtic. The commentators again insinuating that Celtic deserved more, when in reality, that was their first shot on target. Not only does that mean again no clean sheat (which looks like it'll be a challenge for us this year), but it gives reason for Celtic fans to think their team are good again. Which clearly they aren't. Luckily Arsenal scored two nice goals to finish with, because at 3-0 on aggregate, it was clear the excuse was their for Celtic fans to say Arsenal fluked their way through the tie (and conveniently ignoring the hugh gulf of quality between the two teams).

Then we get on to Dalgleish who was unbelievably biased towards Celtic especially at half time. The disallowed goal for Celtic which saw McDonald loiter about a yard and a half offside before sticking the ball in the net, was apparently 'tight' according to the slow-talking scotsman. And the reason for the difference in ability in the two sides is not because Arsenal are miles better, but because Celtic don't play teams of the kind of quality that Arsenal do week-in, week-out.

The bad mood actually started half an hour before kick-off when I saw the starting line-up which was woefully uninspired. There was no creative central midfielder (I was rather hoping one of either Ramsey or Merida would start), and then there was Eboue and Sagna in the same eleven. Indicating that Eboue would be playing out of position, normally never a good sign. As it was, Eboue turned out to be one our better players, and thoroughly deserved our goal. In fact, the highlight of the match for me was to see Eboue chase the ball the whole width of the pitch, forcing the Celtic players not to go forward but to go back. Eboue very much deserved the cheer he got from the home crowd. A cheer that co-commentator Jim Beglin managed to mistake as a goodwill cheer from the Arsenal fans to the Celtic players for managing to keep the ball...retard.

Anyway, despite all the negatives, which in retrospect I may have overreacted to, there were a few positives. Fantastic performances by Vermaelen and Song complemented by the aforementioned Eboue. The second goal was wonderful. Started by a piercing ball down the left by Clichy, Bendtner flicked a delightful backheel into the path of Diaby who gave it to Eboue. The Ivorian side stepped whichever woeful Celtic player was in the way and drilled it low past the rather chubby Boruc. The third goal involved neat play by Denilson, Arshavin and Ramsey, with the Russian finishing off with aplomb.

No match ratings today 'cause I'm pissed off. 10 for Vermaelen though and 8 for both Eboue and Song.

Ok I guess that's all for now. I'm going on holiday on saturday which means I'll miss the Man Utd match, something I was seriously considering scrapping my holiday plans for. So I'll be back when I get back.
'Til then.

p.s. Vermaelen is the best defender in the league.
p.p.s I'm now sitting with two wannabe ManUre fans, a QPR fan, and a nothing. God help me.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Portsmouth

10 goals in 2 games, can't say fairer than that. Add to that the fact that we've already seen goal of the season. You know which one I'm talking about. Instead of choosing the easier option of smashing the ball into a virtually empty net when it landed to him, William Gallas showed his glass by letting the ball role up his body before calmly tucking it away with his face into the corner where David James couldn't reach it.

In terms of match ratings, everyone got a 10. Well done for Ramsey, hugely impressive. I was also very impressed with Denilson, sure he may underhit a few (hundred) passes but his defensive anticipation is incredible, especially for someone of his age. I often lose count of the number of interceptions he makes during a match.

Oh and Diaby. He was playing as a kind of impact central midfielder, as opposed to the likes of Fabregas and Denilson who control the midfield. It worked very well, and he had a very good game.

Cesc faces tests today concerning a slight hamstring injury, but as I stated in my pre-match blog, he probably should have been rested anyway.

Celtic on Wednesday. Can't wait.
'Til then Gooners.

Arsenal - Portsmouth, and more....

To be blunt, this is a game we should win, and in fact a game we need to win. It may sound silly that after only one game in the premier league, we encounter a must-win game, but it is so. ManUre lost midweek against Burnley (good old Burnley). Our next match in the league, after this one, is against Man Utd, therefore we must maintain a 3 point gap in case (heaven forbid) we lose against them. Portsmouth haven't got a point yet, and more importantly, haven't scored yet in the new premier league season. Coming to the Grove can't be doing much for the confidence. Nevertheless, we musn't let it slip, not that our defence have looked beatable yet this year.

In terms of Arsenal news, the usual suspects are still injured: Nasri, Fabianski, Djourou, Rosicky and Walcott. Eduardo has recovered from a scare mid-week to be available for todays match. Whether he'll start or not remains to be seen. The Guardian team predictors have plumped for Arsenal's strongest eleven for this match, in other words, the starting line-ups of the last two games. However, in my opinion, it's better that we rest a couple of players sooner rather than later when they may start suffering from fatigue. Cesc and Denilson for example, both came back from slight strains to play a full 90 minutes midweek. Perhaps Wenger would seize the opportunity of playing Portsmouth at home to rest these two. This would be a danger, as they have both been pivotal so far in the new season, so he may wish to bring them off when the points are safe. Whatever.....as long as he doesn't play Diaby and Denilson together in the centre of midfield.

Speaking of the Guardian, last week Dara O'Briain became the new guest columnist for Guardian Sport, and he happens to be an Arsenal season-ticket holder (yeah, cause he doesn't make it obvious). His second column is in todays Guardian, and I very much recommend it. Gael Clichy has also been interviewed in the Guardian, but it's all stuff we've heard before about the team wanting to win trophies, and why Arsenal are performing better without Kolo and Adewantssomemore etc. etc...

Elsewhere, there's some drivel about Patrick Vieira, and how Wenger still hasn't ruled a move out for him. I can't help but feel this is Wenger stringing along the press for a laugh, a point shown by the fact AW can hardly keep a straight face when someone asks him about it at a press conference. "Yes-snigger, yes we're definately-snigger-not ruling out a move-snigger-for Patrick Vieira-snigger." If this is so, I find it quite endearing that our manager is so nerdy, that he finds that to be amusing.

Right, well it may be a belated Match Report tomorrow, but the win will make up for that.
'Til later Gooners.

Celtic 0 - 2 Arsenal

It is a measure of how poor the standard is in the Scottish league these days that Arsenal could come to a place, where history shows is a difficult place for the best of teams to play, and come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory without having played outstandingly well. Make no mistake, we were in control the whole game, and the difference of quality between the two teams was frankly embarrassing at times. Arsenal played almost better defensively than offensively in this match. So poor was the ability of the Celtic players that all Arsenal needed to do was close them down all over the park, and the Celtic players would panic and give the ball away. Arsenal lined up with exactly the same formation and players as the game against Everton at the weekend, with Denilson being passed fit at the last second. Of course that didn't prevent him from playing a full 90 minutes. Nothing could prevent that. It was strange to see only one substitute used (Diaby for Arshavin) especially as a couple of players were coming back from some slight niggles.

Both goals had an element of luck about them, but that's not to say we didn't deserve them. The first goal came from Gallas who was desperately trying to get out of the way of a Fabregas freekick that looked like it was heading for the top corner. As it was, the ball skimmed Gallas' back and deflected into the far corner, completely fooling Boruc. The second goal came from Diaby who had only just come on (a future role as an impact sub potentially?), he fed the ball to Clichy who whipped in a low ball into the six yard box that Caldwell deflected into his own net. In all fairness to Caldwell, he had to get something on it, otherwise Bendtner would have been on hand to tuck it home.

On the subject of Bendtner, this match showed his importance to the team, especially in this 4-3-3 formation. I believe the team plays better when he is on the pitch, and that is because of all the front 3 players, Bendtner works the hardest and tracks back the most. Therefore it is very useful playing him on one of the wings, as well as the fact he towers over every full-back in the country. Another players who impressed was Fabregas, who ran his socks off the whole game. His passing was a bit sloppy at times, but he must have covered more ground than the rest of the team put together. I would have liked to have seen Cesc replaced by Ramsey to give him a rest, but this didn't happen. Vermaelen has continued his excellent start for Arsenal. He reads the game so brilliantly, to cover behind the other defender or to make interceptions. He's also not afraid of a good hard challenge. Excellent. Gallas also excelled, and it's nice to see the two first choice defenders building a good partnership. We haven't had a good central defensive partnership since Toure and Campbell. My man of the match however was Alex Song. Who said we needed a new defensive midfielder? (Seriously though, another DM would do nicely, even if Song is first choice).

What has impressed me so much about these opening two games is Arsenal closing down the opposition players, not just in defence, but all over the pitch. The lads are displaying levels of fitness I'm not sure I was aware of this soon after pre-season. Wenger, Rice and Colbert must really have put them through their paces in Austria. Arsenal also proved that they're working hard at adding a physical dimension to the game. In a match where Celtic were coming in late to challenges so much it looked purposeful, Arsenal never got intimidated and always held their own and got stuck back in.

I can't think of many negatives from the game. Perhaps a little note just to say Denilson was back to his old tricks of woefully underhit passes, the rest of his game though was impressive enough. That's it really. As indicated earlier, Arsenal didn't need to play that impressive a game. Continually closing down the Celtic players was enough to win us the first leg. It was hard to pick out a low point for Celtic, but in the end I've plumped for Donati (who seems to have the aura of one of Celtic's star players just because he arrived from Italy). I don't think I can remember a pass of his reaching the target destination. He should also have been booked for a challenge on Cesc right in front of their area, but unfortnately the Ref missed it.

Right that's all for now. We play and will win against Portsmouth on Saturday. Something to look forward to.
'Til then Gooners.

Celtic - Arsenal

Tonight, we play the first leg, the away leg, of the European champions league qualifiers against Celtic. Not the easiest draw we could have got, but by far not the hardest. What makes me laugh about the fans of Celtic and Rangers is that they think their teams are fantastic, up there with the best in the world. In reality Rangers and Celtic would struggle not to get relegated after a season in the premiership. Having said that, in the past few seasons Celtic have had good results against teams like ManU, AC Milan and Villarreal at Parkhead. We have to be on our guard, but the difference between talent in the two teams is huge, and should we lose, it's because we have thrown it away. Arsene highlights Aiden McGeady as the biggest threat eminating from the green and white of Celtic. I have to say I agree with him, the Irish wideman does have an inkling of talent, other than that Giorgos Samaras will be out to prove the point against an English side that he isn't a total failure.

On to Arsenal news. Abou Diaby is once again fully fit, although for how long remains to be seen. Fabregas is a slight doubt although Wenger rates his chances of playing as much more than 50%. Denilson is a bigger problem, with a groin injury, and Walcott's return keeps getting delayed. Other than that, the usual suspects who weren't available for Everton once again won't be gracing the field of play: Fabianski, Djourou, Nasri and Rosicky. Wenger promises to play the strongest team that is available to him, as he keeps pressing that this is a tricky clash. Thus the team may be very similar to that which played against Everton:

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Fabregas(c) Diaby

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

We'll have to wait and see. Enjoy the game Gooners, and after this it's only a few days til we annihilate Portsmouth at home. I'll be back after the match.
'Til then.

Everton 1 - 6 Arsenal

It says a lot about Arsenal fans' reputation of moaning and whining when at 3-0 up at half time, the only thought that was going through my head was "we better not f*** this up". The point exemplified when at full time I was pissed off that we hadn't kept a clean sheat. In all honesty though, it was a stunning display by everyone. The starting line-up was exactly as I had predicted, showing the 4-3-3 we've become accustomed to during pre-season.

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Denilson Fabregas(c)

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

Everton started as you would expect from the home side, on the offensive and looking like the home side. However things soon changed. Overall the first half was pretty equal in terms of possession and chances, but Arsenal were formidable and clinical in front of goal. Something that perhaps has been lacking in previous seasons despite the many created chances. The first goal was something particularly splendid. And actually something I certainly did not expect from Denilson. No disrespect to Denilson intended, I mean we have seen him score a right stonker in the past in the Carling Cup, but it's not something you see often and especially not from our tidy defensive midfielder. The goal's main highlight obviously was the strike, but the build up play (neat work by both Nik B and Cesc) was also worthy of note. Arguably another aspect of football that has been lacking from Arsenal's play is good delivery from set pieces. Luckily, two stunning deliveries from van Persie and Fabregas respectively led to two great finishes by our two centre-backs, Vermaelen and Gallas respectively.

The 4th goal came a few minutes into the second half, and was a simply breathtaking counter-attack. Breathtaking maybe not the word as it had started and was finished in less time than it took to draw breath. Denilson strolled out of defence after a period of sustained pressure by the home side. The Brazillian fed van Persie, who slipped it into the path of a typical late Cesc run out of nowhere and the skipper duly slotted home through the legs of Tim Howard. There was just about time for the inevitable Eboue appearance as he came on for the impressive Bendtner before Cesc scored again. It was good to see the side mix it up as the 5th goal came about purely by intelligent distribution by Almunia, once again Cesc duly obliged with a nice driven finish from around 20 yards out. Eduardo was on hand for the sixth, with a typical poachers finish.

Although it was a tad annoying that the scoreline was tarnished by a late Evertonian consolation goal, the defence could not be blamed at all throughout the match. Vermaelen's debut was mightly impressive, not only because of his goal. It was our first time to see him in a testing game and he did not disappoint. During the match he showed the uncanny knack of reading the game as easily as if it were a child's book. Vermaelen was also impressive aerially, more than making up for the fact he's by far not the tallest centre back in the premier league. The reason I'm singling Vermaelen out is for the mere fact that he was our summer signing, but that shouldn't take anything away from the fact that everyone in the defence was incredibly robust throughout. The midfield was tidy, creative and more than willing to join in with the offensive play, but the forwards today were simply phenomenal. Arshavin, van Persie and Bendtner showed sublime movement on, and off the ball as well as wonderful understanding of each other. It is easy to say that Everton were bad, and they were, but most of the time Arsenal made them play badly by harrying every Everton player and constantly closing down giving them no time on the ball. All in all, a brilliant performance therefore defensively as well as going forward.

And so on to the player ratings:
Almunia - 7. 7 is a tad harsh, but he did not have too much to do in particular in the second half. What was impressive though was, that when called upon during the rare Everton opportunities, he didn't make up for the fact that he had little to do by coming for a cross that should never have been his et.c. He was exceptionally dominant during crosses and free-kicks and, as an Arsenal fan who has seen a few too many goals conceded from set-pieces, for that I am very grateful.
Sagna - 8. My skeptical eye did spy a few embarrassing crosses but as whole they were better than any Sagna cross I can remember. Defensively solid as ever.
Clichy - 8. Was involved throughout the game, not only offensively but defensively. He showed today that he is the best left-back in the premier league.
Gallas - 9. Unbelievably impressive and composed. Always had the Everton front-line in his pocket. Supplemented with a well taken goal.
Vermaelen - 9. See above, in addition to added Kudos due to it being his premier league debut.
Song - 9. Strong, composed and solid but unremarkable. Exactly what a good defensive midfielder should be.
Denilson - 8. A slightly shaky start saw the usual underhit Denilson passes, but he grew massively in confidence after his goal and bossed the midfield. The first of many full 90 minutes to be expected from Denilson this season.
Fabregas - 10. Was relieved of some pressure due to playing with two more defensively minded players. This however didn't stop him from dropping deep to collect the ball, but did allow him to arrive late in the area, to great effect. He needed some time to grow into the game, but when it arrived, what a performance. 2 goals and 2 assists from the captain.
Arshavin - 8. Lovely intricate performance from the talented and gifted Russian. He has grown a great understanding between him and van Persie, and it was evident a similar connection has occured between him and Eduardo.
Bendtner - 9. Leighton Baines (a fairly talented left-back) just could not cope with with Nik B at all. Everything good, especially in the first half, came through Nik B. Shame he didn't get the goal he so thoroughly deserved (and perhaps needs for his confidence to stay high).
v.Persie - 8.5. It is evident that he will be the pivotal player this year for Arsenal. He will drop deep when the ball is at his feet and look to play in his fellow 2 forwards. We saw glimpses today from RvP in that role we all know he can play so effectively. Onwards and upwards now for our 2008/2009 player of the Season.
Subs:
Eboue - 6. Obviously Eboue had to come on at some point. He joined as a kind of wide man somewhere between midfield and attack. Didn't really have anything to do, which is a shame as he replaced the impressive Bendtner.
Ramsey - 7. Came on for Cesc so the skipper could be rested before the meeting midweek in Glasgow. Rambo looked nice and composed as well as showing some creative glimpses.
Eduardo - 7. 7 is obviously harsh for someone who scored a goal, but there wasn't too much other than that for Eddie to do. Still, lovely that his first premier league appearance for 18 months ended with a goal.

Right. Splendid. A wonderful game, and a wonderful performance, and let's hope it continues on Tuesday.
'Til then Gooners.

Everton - Arsenal

As we go in to the start of the premier league campaign tomorrow, it becomes apparent that old habits die hard. Before the season has started we already have a fairly substantial injury list. Rosicky has picked up the inevitable post-lengthy-injury-knock that only Arsenal players seem to get a severe case of; Fabianski appears to be having a little struggle getting back into his stride after some surgery; Djourou picked up a little muscle pull whilst training for the Swiss national team; Diaby....well Diaby always has something or another; Walcott for some reason isn't available; and there's obviously Nasri. It must be stated that Wenger believes Diaby could be available, although whether that's a good thing I'm still not sure.

Don't get me wrong, I really hope Diaby wins me over this year, because it is obvious he's got a fair bit of talent there. At the moment however, his mentality is completely off. As well as always looking intimidated by the opposition (despite his size), Diaby also manages to look like he doesn't have to be there, and could have been somewhere else should that have taken his fancy. But the problem isn't all mental. His passing isn't quite up to scratch, and this is something which oddly has got worse during his Arsenal career. If Arsenal are on the counter attack and the ball falls to Diaby, he will spend too long looking for a pass, and when the opportunity does arise he'll pass the ball 10 yards behind the path of an on-rushing support player. If I'm absolutely honest I see Merida as a more effective player for Arsenal, not because he's a better all-round player (although that is debatable) but because he fits perfectly with the Arsenal style of play. An argument could be made that Diaby is useful because he gives us diversity. Well, diversity is only good if effective, and at the moment, it isn't effective enough of the time.

Speaking of Merida, there has been no conformation as of yet about his loan move. And according to Jeorge Bird, a list of players eligible to play in Europe has just been submitted, and his name is on it. It is my feeling that Wenger has just held back in releasing Merida on loan because of the sudden shortage of truly attacking central players (Nasri, Rosicky, Diaby et.c). Similarly I have a sneaky suspision that AW has also held back on selling Senderos to Everton until after we play them. I don't have any evidence for this, it's just the cynic in me speaking.

Anyway, back to the imminent league campaign. After all the pre-season friendlies I go into the season extremely excited due to the wonderful football we've been playing (on and off). I think the team have the cohesion to finish second this year, and we're only another centre back and defensive midfield beast away from dominating the world. We do have an exceptionally tricky start to the campaign, with Everton, ManUre and Citeh all coming in the first four matches, but after that we have a nice run all the way to late November when we meet the Chavs. Hopefully that will mean a nice build up of momentum and by Christmas we will still be up there within a shout of winning overall despite having played the rest of the top 3 plus Citeh and the Spuds.

We shouldn't underestimate tomorrows game. The first game of the season rarely goes by the rule book. Arsenal are obviously the better team, but everyone's second favourite manager (apart from Sir Bobby Robson (RIP)) Moyes has built a dynasty at Everton, and they are difficult to break down at all times, especially at Goodison park. Due to the fact it's away, I believe Arsene will have a slightly more defensive look to his side. Despite Denilson not being in the squad at all for the friendly against Valencia with no explanation (perhaps Wenger realised at last that his love child needed a break), I do expect him to start tomorrow, potentially alongside Song. Out of all the injury palava there has been some good news in that Vermaelen has returned from a slight muscle strain. And that means no Silvestre at centre-back (touch wood). So this means the Starting Line-up for Everton vs. Arsenal will be (probably, but maybe not):

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song Denilson

Fabregas(c)

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

I think Arsenal will sneak the win in the end, surviving a tough battle from the home side. I cannot wait. The match is a late kick-off at 17.30, presumably to extend my anguish and angst.

Elsewhere, there is no news on any potential signings. Everything has gone cold with the Chamakh case, presumably because Bordeaux are being short-sighted stubborn gits and not realising that £6million now is better than nothing in a years time. Hodgson and Hangeland are going on about being focussed on the game, and not thinking about Arsenal speculation. Although amidst all this fuss it's been forgotten that there haven't really been any rumours surrounding Hangeland to Arsenal for some time. Hodgson and Hangeland are making all the noise about it, thus they are creating all the trouble for themselves.

Well, I thought I'd end this article as I started it. With an example of old habits dying hard. Interviewed before their match against Man City tomorrow, Blackburn player David Dunn said: "It's important we do our best and kick lumps out of them". It's not hard to see why Sam Allardyce was such a natural choice as Blackburn manager.

It's time to be optimistic Gooners. I'll be back tomorrow for a report on our win against Everton.
'Til then.

Valencia 2 - 0 Arsenal

Let me just get this straight first. Valencia are the biggest bunch of cheating diving scum outside of Italy. And the Ref fell for their pathetic play-acting everytime. Primary cheating diving scum (née Michel) scored their first, and David Villa got their second. Arsenal's starting line up was:

Almunia

Eboue Gallas Djourou Clichy

Song

Fabregas(c) Diaby

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

The match was played at an awful standard of play by both teams throughout the match, apart from a 5 minute spell just after half time by Arsenal. In this case, Walcott's impact was exciting but it soon petered out to nothing. The second half was notable due to the fact that Primary Cheating Diving Scum lived up to his name and unashamedly dived in the box after a fair tackle by Silvestre. The dunce of a Referee fell for it, and Fabianski produced a splendid save to deny David Villa. Valencia should really have got a penalty late on after Traore felled Joaquin. However the Ref, perhaps informed by the 4th official that he had been made a fool out of for the first penalty, decided against awarding a spot kick for the home side.

I can't really be arsed to talk anymore about a match that was hideous throughout, save for the fact that I hope to dear God that Djourou and Silvestre never have a chance to play in the centre of defence together this season. There was obviously absolutely zero communication between the two of them, and I lost count on the number of times a Valencia attacker got in behind them.

The season starts in a week. Let's hope we perform better away from home then than we did today. I'll be back either in a weeks time or before, if anything occurs which could be considered noteworthy.
'Til then Gooners.

Pre-Match chat, and some other stuff.

So, the day after we get the news that we are to face Celtic in the champions league qualifiers, we play a far better european team in a friendly. Pretty good preparation. I think Wenger is likely to play 10 if not 11 of the starting line up he'll choose a week from today at Goodison Park. Then the lads will get a weeks rest, and BAM! straight into the premiership with a win away at Everton. Therefore my predicted starting XI is:

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song Denilson

Fabregas(c)

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

I hope Vermaelen has regained fitness, if not Djourou will cover. Rosicky obviously has picked up the standard return-from-lengthy-injury-hamstring-pull, and will be out for up to 6 weeks. Although it is not unexpected that Rosicky has such a niggle, I am still slightly wary, as this is what Arsenal told us that Rosicky had last time he got injured. And we know how that turned out. Walcott may play instead of Bendtner if the boss thinks that he's had enough training time since he came back from his prolonged holiday. As far as a prediction goes: despite this friendly being organised so cash-strapped Valencia can rake in a great deal of income (they played ManUre at home on wednesday aswell), Valencia will still give a tough battle and it'll be close. But I'll plump for a 1-0 win to the Gunners.

Elsewhere, it looks like Fran Merida will spend a year on loan to Spanish Valencia-based second division side Levante. If this is true, it is the most unbelievably pointless loan move possibly ever. It would have been far better for Merida's development should he play for a lower premier division club. We know now that he is premier league standard. Plus, the English league and the Spanish leagues have very different styles of play. How is someone meant to adapt to one league if, during a critical stage in his development, he's shipped out on loan to another league. Two years ago, Merida was loaned out to Real Sociedad (of the Spanish second division) for half a season. Are we really saying that in two years Merida hasn't progressed at all? I hope that this is just Sky Sports getting the wrong end of the stick, and Merida is in fact only in Valencia for the friendly today, and in a few days time it turns out he's signed a year long-loan at Birmingham.

In other loan news, Nordtveit has been loaned out to FC Nurnburg, but we've known that for a while, and it doesn't look like Traore is going on loan...yet.

Right, only a short one at the mo, but I'll be back after the match.
'Til then.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Rangers, and more...

Yesterday saw a really comfortable 3-0 win to the Arsenal following a Wilshere brace plus a fine finish by Eduardo. The starting line-up was as follows:

Almunia

Eboue Gallas Silvestre Clichy

Song

Fabregas(c) Merida

Wilshere Eduardo Arshavin

I thought the two main stand-out players were Jack Wilshere and Eduardo. The performances of Wilshere have been talked about substantially already. Almost to the extent of actually overstating how good his performance was. Yes, it was absolutely amazing, but exaggerating the performance will not do well for Little Jack's progression. Eduardo was incredible yesterday. On numerous occasions pulling nutmegs out of the bag just because he could. Honorable mentions should also go to Fabregas, Arshavin (who in my opinion had his first good game of pre-season yesterday) and Merida (who popped up with a sublime assist).

Speaking of Merida, he is eager to learn his future. Whilst no doubts linger over his long term future, there are doubts concerning whether he'll go on loan next season, or conversely start playing with the first team. My initial feeling was to have him stay, as he proved so emphatically at the weekend that he is good enough to be in the first team on a semi-regular basis. However when I thought about it, I realised ahead of him in the central midfield pecking order are: Fabregas, Denilson, Song, Diaby, Rosicky, Nasri and Ramsey. That covers all but the worst injury crisis one could imagine. Perhaps sending him on loan to a lower premiership club with the option to recall him would be the best scenario.

In other loan news, Armand Traore has spoken of his desire to stay at Arsenal despite a season long loan spell at Birmingham being mooted and Scunthorpe want Lansbury on again. That wouldn't be a bad idea as Lansbury is now too old for the Youth Cup (he didn't play in the academy league anyway), and the reserves don't play often enough. As we know he had a very impressive loan spell there at the end of last season, and almost became a fans' favourite, thus I'm sure no one at Scunthorpe would object to Henri returning for another spell. Lansbury incidently played as England unfortunately lost to Ukraine in the Euro u19 championship final. Lansbury had been inspirational throughout the tournament as well as bagging 3 goals (including a right stonker against France).

Wenger has had a £5million bid for Chamakh turned down. That doesn't surprise me. After all the rumours concerning Chamakh having been bandied about for quite some time now, I can understand the Bordeaux management and board wanting more, especially for a player they consider to be integral to their defence of Ligue 1. However considering Chamakh has now just entered the final year of his contract, they can't really ask for that much more as Wenger would just laugh, say 'ok, we'll get him on a free next summer then', and put down the phone. There is no news on other transfer rumours (apart from the Vieira stuff which is still holding divided opinion as to whether it is actually true, or if Ian Wright just made it up). If Wenger is only going to spend one on person, I (along with all Gooners) would really rather prefer it to be on a defensive midfielder. Having said that, Song has been impressive pre-season, and Denilson's tackling and interceptions are excellent. Though his passing has really deteriorated.

Right, that's all for now. I'll be back when there's news.

'Til then Gooners.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Atletico Madrid

Arsenal headed to the top of the Emirates Cup after their victory over Atletico Madrid. I'm sure they're speechless with unparalleled joy over this. In all honesty though the first half was ok. We kept possession well but lacked penetration. The second half was excellent, not only because the football was superb, but also because most of the Rangers fans had already gone back to their hotels, and that means I didn't have to travel back on the tube with them. Scary bastards. Jose Reyes made his return to Arsenal in the black of A.Madrid's away kit. The dot com said he was cheered. Don't let that fool you, he was booed the hell out of. Anywho, the starting line-up was this:

Mannone

Sagna Djourou Gallas Traore

Denilson

Ramsey Rosicky

Eboue v.Persie(c) Bendtner

Unfortunately Vermaelen had picked up a slight muscular niggle and therefore has been dropped from both days, but should return against Valencia. Nothing of great note happened in the first half. Rosicky thought he had scored, but was ruled offside. Fantastic finish though. Eboue really doesn't work as one of the wide three. He really struggled to adapt to the position save for a good cut inside and shot, which was straight at the keeper.

The second half was much better, and this was down to the introduction of two people. Fran Merida and Jack Wilshere. These two were utterly superb, the best two players on the pitch, putting the more established players to shame. You can see why the would play well though. They are both exciting offensive players, who added huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm. They really wanted to impress and you can't really get more of a competetive friendly than at the Emirates cup. They really shined on the semi-big stage. The great thing was, they both impressed in different ways. Wilshere came on for Eboue and stayed in his role as the right side of the attacking three. He had so much dynamism in his running off the ball and dribbling ability on the ball. His link up with Sagna was also superb. Merida on the other hand came in for Rosicky in the centre of the park. He has exceptional close control, the vision was superb, and he really has the Cesc knack for finding the space between midfield and defence, where he can really do damage with his incredible creativity.

With 25 minutes to go Cesc, Arshavin and Eduardo came on, and this only added to our attacking impetus. Our XI was now:

Mannone

Sagna Djourou Gallas Clichy

Denilson

Fabregas(c) Merida

Wilshere Eduardo Arshavin

The goals were bound to come and eventually they did, with Cesc showing his experience and guile to calmly find Arshavin who prodded home. Most fans were still celebrating, however it was with a groan that I could see what was about to happen. A nice through ball by a Madrid player threw our defence into incredible confusion, and Pacheco slotted home. Arshavin would have the last laugh though, as he latched onto a soft back header by a defender, rounded the keeper and somehow, somehow managed to squeeze home from the tightest of angles.

So all in all there were a lot of positives for the fans to take out of this match. We certainly have two of the biggest talents in England with Merida and Wilshere, and two who have shown that they are of the ability to be in the first team. Whether they can yet handle the pressures of the premier league is another matter, but I have faith that they will soon. Our attacking play was excellent, however this seemed to have an inversely proportional affect on our defence. As our attacking got better, our defence got worse. Denilson also managed to quietly slip under the radar and get himself another 90 minutes. If Wenger had rang me up and told me yesterday that he was going to play Denilson for the full 90 minutes in both matches, I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. Apart from the fact that Wenger was ringing me. As it is though, the non-appearance of Song yesterday makes me think he'll give Denilson a much warranted rest.

Right, Arsenal play Rangers today. I'll be back with more post-match chit chat after the game.
'Til then Gooners.

Hannover 0 -1 Arsenal, and Bye Bye Kolo, thanks for the memories.

An absolutely flawless first half by Arsenal was matched by an embarrassingly poor second half. The team started off in a 4-3-3 formation.

Mannone

Eboue Gallas Vermaelen Traore

Song Denilson

Fabregas (c)

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

The game was marred by some incredibly dirty and malicious play by the German team, especially considering this is pre-season, as well as some shameless diving. The worst culprit was some angry guy called Haggui, and unfortunately his inability to make a tackle, and apparent want to hurt people frustrated RvP in particular, thus forcing the Boy Wonder into a bit of retribution. The Arsenal goal came from a delicious lob by Nik B followed by an equally sumptious through ball by van Persie. Cesc got there before the keeper, rounded him cooly and slotted home.

The first half was absolutely flawless. Literally nothing went wrong. Apart from a Bendtner miss, which was tricky as he was stretching for it anyway. Everything was amazing. Then came the second half, which was literally the worst thing I've ever seen. Hannover were crunching into everything, and Arsenal missed the guile of Cesc who came off at half-time. All in all though, a good test for Arsenal, and le Boss would have been encouraged by what he saw in the first half.

Onto to Kolo, who has now officially left the club for surprise-surprise an undisclosed fee. It is thought to be around £16million. When you consider he was bought for £250,000, this is absolutely amazing business by Wenger. Fans will understandably want the money to be spent on strengthening the squad. As do I. Unfortunately though as I've said in a previous article, I honestly don't expect AW to buy in anybody else, unless it is a Diarra or Silvestre situation, where a player he wants becomes available on the cheap. By the way, whisper it quietly, but Silvestre may not be a bad left back. Awful centre back. Let's hope Wenger plays Silvestre as a backup left back, and backup left back only. But anyway I digress. All the chat about Kolo has already been bandied about. So all I will say is, he was the only player left from the invincibles, his work rate was incredible, his grin was amazing and he was Mr. Professional. I understand why the boss has sold him, he honestly has not been the same since the last African cup of nations. I think his best years are behind him. Still, it'll only be really worth it if we strengthen.

So bye bye Kolo, thanks for the memories, and we wish you luck on international duty in the future (not for Man City though).

Next game is on saturday against Atletico Madrid, I'll be there. Can't wait.
'Til then Gooners.

Szombathelyi 0 - 5 Arsenal

Despite the scoreline, it was a tougher test today than it has been so far in this pre-season campaign. Szombathelyi (from now on I will say 'the other team') were quite tough in the tackle, perhaps more so than they should have been in this stage of the season. In fact Wenger was seen on an occasion chatting to the referee, most probably to keep an eye on the tackles. The other team did start the better team but tired themselves out almost immediately. The first 4 goals all came in the first half. The first goal came about from excellent play by Armand Traore who continued to impress throughout the first half, not only offensively but also defensively. Traore's whipped cross to the near post was met by a wonderful glancing header by Nik B. More good play by Bendtner ended with a great finish by Eduardo into the bottom far corner. Eduardo's second was a nicely taken low freekick, although you would expect a premiership keeper to save it. The fourth, a lovely reverse pass by Wilshere offered Bendtner a chance to shoot from just outside the area, and he did so with aplomb, placing it around the keeper into the corner.

The second half brought many many changes. One sub who came on was van Persie, and he bagged our fifth from the spot. Throughout the game Wenger was playing a 4-3-3 formation, and I think it worked well once we settled into our game. In this particular game the stand-out players for me were Bendtner, Traore, Senderos and Ramsey. Despite looking lost in the previous game, today Senderos revelled in the defensive midfield position. He didn't do much offensively, but he was always there to cover and collect stray passes. Ramsey played with a maturity the belies his tender age. His passing range was phenemonal, his driving runs caused havoc in the opposition's defence, and the defensive aspect of his game also stood out (as this was a game in which he had less freedom than he did against SC Columbia). Honourable mentions should also go out to Eduardo, Vermaelen, Song and Szczesny. Vermaelen has an eye for the incisive pass out of defence as well as tracking runners behind Gallas superbly. A couple of his tackles were Bobby Mooreesque. He may well be the best defender in the premier league. Nothing like a bit of hyperbole. Song played a slightly more offensive version of the second half Senderos, and just as good. His anticipation was superb, as was his calmness in front of the back foor. Szczesny managed to unravel his massive frame to make a couple of wonder saves. Although he appears to be another one of those 'rush out off your line keepers' of which we have enough. It would seem that aspect of goalkeeping is very much a part of the training rota.

Arshavin was exceptionally disappointing as he has been all pre-season. To me, he looks like a big-game player, so perhaps he will be better against Hannover in two days time. That's my excuse anyway. He still looks unfit but there's plenty of time to work on that. It was also a shame and a surprise not to see Rosicky, but there's no point in rushing. It was also good to see Denilson not play the whole game for once. Although that did not seem to stop Wenger from bringing back on again in the second half after being subbed at half-time.

Well that's all for today. Only two days to Hannover where we'll get a better idea of where Arsenal are at.
'Til then Gooners.