Well , well ,well have to say i told you so .
that sneaky arsene !..
It Seems like chelsea is our defensive french connection again .We Scored 1

‘Lassana Diarra’
from chelsea, at the death knock of the transfer season window.I think arsene is just getting the boy in for RB-M cover during the ANC , It frees Sanga up to float across the back 4 to fill in for possible injuries(and why not). It makes sence to me , Make the defence rock solid, rely on your 4/5 man midfeild to create chances,and hope the strikers/midfeilders bury the chances into the net ,whilst having a’ solid back 4′.That was something that was missing last year ; a solid defence, and diarra is good cover …
Here’s what le boss had to say …..
“Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad. Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right-back.”
The 22 year old wc 2008 international seems excited to be joining us , (or probably more like Arsene&Co.FC ) but at least the spirit is there !
Diarra’s reaction below..
“I have great respect for the manager Arsene Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays. “Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies.”
He was rifled as a ‘great future player’ some years ago ,but has been hung out to dry at chelsea .So hopefully arsene will get his potential out of him … Then we can gauge him a little better.All in all ,not very happy about our big bang signing for 2m.. nothing against the kid ,im sure he will fit in well with the team,& is good cover , but it wasnt really a ETO, MESSI or KAKA .. Infact i thought anelka would have changed shirts at the last minute (not with us ) but it just shows you how much the media drum it up ,anelka was probably sitting infront of the bbc news when he found out who was after him … And has been sitting there ever since
Well i suppose you can sum up that transfer window as lose a few frenchies , gain a few more .. but nothing ‘earth shattering’ took place other than henry leaving , which in my opinion was a huge blow ‘BLOW OF THE SEASON’infact .. Well with Diarra atleast arsene had the common sence to sign someone who is versitile,but im sure youll see him play in more of a midfeild holding role , unless sanga is injured .
He was probably the dead business in between signing sanga (when the negotiations broke down on price,it led arsene to try his luck with chelsea). In the hunt for a RB earlier.. but who knows ?, hes french and unhappy at the chev’s camp so maybe thats reason enough to flee the chevz
.
No point in talking anymore about him as you probably wont see him feature for a few weeks , even when he does it will be ‘the last 10 minutes of the game’, 2 – nil up.In with song and bentner, you know the drill .. So enough said on that front ..Time will tell ..
Im not even going to start into the DD affair , Im sure the board and their stance on ‘not selling ANY SHARES for a year’ will come to its fruition,its a interesting chess game , but really not on this seasons adgenda.However something note worthy,DD did state for ‘arsene to RE-SIGN’ now!, in his comments!. So NOW i expect arsene to hold out another week or 2 just so it doesnt look like he’s obeyed DD’s word … But i feel he is the most important signing to make this season and he must do it quickly!. Because without his commitment , you know these young players will buckle under the pressure.If this does become an issue , i hope for arsenals sake he does what DD asked, and get in and SIGN then we can play football ! And end this media circus..
one last ”tit-bit of info is the completed transfer dealings for this current transfer window
Arsenal £20m spent
IN Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw, £2m), Havard Nordtveit (new reserve captain)(FK Haugesund, £2m), Bacary Sagna (Auxerre, £6m), Eduardo Da Silva (Dynamo Zagreb, £8m) Lassana Diarra (Chelsea, £2m).
OUT Jérémie Aliadière (Middlesbrough, £2m), Matthew Connolly (Colchester United, season loan), Johan Djourou (Birmingham City, loan till Jan), Ryan Garry (Bournemouth, free), Kerrea Gilbert (Southend, loan till Jan), Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £16.1m), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m), Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina, free), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City, £4m), Mart Poom (Watford, free), José Antonio Reyes (Atlético Madrid, undisc), Jay Simpson (Millwall, loan till Jan).
Ok
Arsenal Vs Portsmouth at 13:30 on Sunday 2nd September 2007
This will be a good tester,portsmouth has given us problems recently,the match stats are better to arsenal than they recently suggest,The Gunners are clearly on top, having won 16 and lost only 6 of the 31 games in the EPL. But in our past 3 outings together with portsmouth we have only managed 3 draws , the lastest being 2-2 in dec 2006. So its a hoo-doo team , to say the least . I also read somewhere before redknapp signed diop & glen johnson. Great just intime to play us ! #### !
possible line ups would be
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Toure, Clichy, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Van Persie, Fabianski, Eduardo, Bendtner, Walcott, Senderos, Traore, Hoyte, Song, Gilberto, Denilson, Rosicky, Adebayor.
Portsmouth (from): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Pamarot, Hreidarsson, Traore, Lauren, Muntari, Davis, Pedro Mendes, Benjani, Taylor, Kranjcar, Hughes, Kanu, Nugent, Ashdown.diop
A few familar names in that line up for portsmouth, infact if you got in a time machine from 5 years ago and arrived today , you would swear portsmouth was arsenal !
Tough game , portsmouth are desperate for a win , and to make a mark for 4th spot.. redknapp will be pushing for points with full force . after 3 draws, (and one hell of a game against man’ure). They will be a similar test to blackburn or possibly our greatest this season to date, my prediction is to break the draw – hoo-doo 3-1 or 2-1 . But im only pipping our boys due to playing at home, i think this will be a tough team to beat at their home ground.. I think redknapp spent 25 mil this season in transfers , im sure he will want a good preformance against arsenal . It should be a game not to miss . so where every you are enojoy the game come sunday…
la gone..