Arsenal moved to the top of The Premier League with a 3-1 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday  thanks to superb goals from Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor.

In a game full of nail biting moments and a score line that kept you on the edge of your seat up until the final minutes. Arsenal recovered from an early  Bale free kick to hit back through Adebayor (twice) and Fabregas as they took the drivers seat in the second half pummeling against their  rivals . That makes it 9 games that jols endured sitting through winless. Another beating,which rightly ends the 3 draw drought that  has plagued us in the past since 2005.

Both teams had numerous chances which could have seen the scoreline turn out much different, but a long-range effort from Fabregas and a superb spike and volley from Adebayor in the dying moments ensured Arsenal left The Lane with all three points.

And left me with a 1-3 goal difference, when i predicted only 1-2 ! blast it ade !  Stop making me look bad son ! Oh oh well ill take it anyhow !

now down to individual efforts , I will state that the spuds best player was definitely Dawson , but there strikers let them down and i can honestly say Keane pretty much was kept quiet all afternoon, speaking of quiet RVP hardly made an impact running around arms flailing like a Darlek to no avail. One wonders why dudu didn’t see any minutes, i didn’t hear any news to say he was injured ,but ade played well in a game that demanded presence upfront and today he didn’t disappoint. Almunia  came off his line and gave arsenal fans a scary moment, one person who  was watching  the game might of been cheering for spurs and that was jens.. He probably got up off his seat only to sit down quickly again !

Not sure if that constitutes a jens recall , but im sure you might not hear the last of that slip up !

Well all in all a great result . and that puts us on top of the ladder , im sure we will all be watching the Liverpool game with baited breath !

At Wengers pre-match press conference today he was asked a question directed at jens and his future with the club, if ‘fit’ would he have been a starter for Saturdays game which kicks off at 1.30 pm at white heart lane. he offered the NON-committal comment below….

“At the moment I have not really wondered(who will start),” said Wenger. “I knew yesterday that Jens could not play so we go for continuity at the moment.

“ Alumina will play on Saturday, Lehmann is injured. He had to pull out of the second match because of his shoulder. He has bone bruising from that game at Blackburn.

“We’ll see what happens [when he comes back] but this is not the only difficult decision I have to make right now. We have Lassana Diarra coming in. Mathieu Flamini doing well at right back but we have Sagna coming back. Also do I play Gilberto who is only coming back on Friday? So it is all very open.”

I ‘ll point out the hint that flamini is doing well at right back if you missed it !, with eboue injured and gallas 20%-80% of starting , there is a certain amount of defensive turmoil in the club currently.And to guess tomorrows defense personnel is almost like winning lotto.

Gilberto should play, and i do expect him to start and be subbed out early .This game is definitely our toughest test yet, and I’m sure that Gilberto will have a few days off after the match, but to leave him out would be quite unforgiving a move to make when i’m sure Gallas will probably not feature at all.

Also quickly regarding jens , i’m sure his days are numbered, and with Arsene’s non-committal stance on the subject matter of who owns the ‘keepers gloves’ , i’m sure unless Alumina trips over his own shoe laces the German might have a longer stint on the bench when he comes back from injury.

Now down to formation:- 4-4-2

————Alumina————–

-Flamini- Toure-Sanga-Clich’y-

-Hleb -Fabrigas-Gilberto(diarra)-Rosicky-

——–RVP—- DUDU———

on the bench would be fabianski-ade-diarra-denilson-diaby

(if Gallas did return, Sanga could go back to RB and the defense would look more settled) which then means flamini could start with fabs in the middle and gilberto is bench bound !

If one was a betting man a draw would be the most likely result at white-heart lane, the last 3 games where all draws brought on by last minute goals by various parties, but im sure like i expect & your also expecting the hoodoo to be broken tomorrow.Why?           The factors that surround my theory  are…..

-spuds enormous spending spree this year , – martin jols job is under fire and needs results desperately . And on the flip side Arsenes Fresh belief in his side and contract commitments to the club,.AND the BIG FACT! that spurs really havnt started the season well and to ‘get the boots’ into them whilst they are rattled and down.Both teams have injury problems , and depending who returns ,or does not ! will change the outcome of this game . I can speak for a few fellow gunners that its not an ‘unbeliever’s ‘ comment to suggest that spurs every year try to model themselves on us , and have been slowly reducing the gap, in fact Jol at his press conference today spoke in admiration of Arsene , and the way he works with arsenal , in fact jol admitted he has tried to model Arsene in mirroring his actions with regards to spurs.

Im sure Arsene is flattered with jols comments ,but the facts remain that from 8 starts he has never won against us with 4 draws and 4 loses to his name ! 4 draws !hmmmm ,there is still room for improvement , im sure we will see tomorrow !

Lennon is rumored to return tomorrow ,ledley and dawson still out !and with berbatov and keane upfront at home , spurs always look to be in for some goals it must be said!

I think this game will be won or lost in the Midfield and defensive continuity of either team. Dudu is returning from a 3 goal bag from his international duties with the Croats, and i’m piping him to have a pivotal game for us .Starting him is a MUST Arsene !

Looking at the injuries its very hard to predict a starting line up and sanga isnt tested as a CB , but i’m sure he would play ‘well’ anywhere across the back, he is ‘all class’! and at the start of the season was purchased due to his flexibility across the back .

Pascal Chimbonda is connected to a money laundering racket , and was arrested on charges of ‘conspiracy to defraud’. Jol declined to comment on the charges but did state football-wise he is turning up for training and he will assess if he is FIT to play tomorrow. Not sure whats going on there , but if it unsettles their camp , all the better for us !

Well my score prediction is 1-2 , but im expecting it to be a ‘NAIL BITER’ ! They could either flop like pancakes or shock us ! Id rather like the Pancake theory myself, but with key injuries AND NO cover in key positions(like i have been stating all pre-season on A Uncultured right middle finger ) ,OH ! incidentally that blog’s sooo off the mark with football formations,predictions and delusional views of grandeur,it must be up there with Brad pitts performance in the ‘12 monkeys’. WELL.. all i can say is Hoyte would come in handy now defensively, also will Bendtner miss out again ?

Join me again for the spurs postmortem…

games on at 1.30 GMT . so have Guinness for me !

(im on antibiotic s ) BLAST!

ethan.

Well fabrigas was named arsenals player of the month , i suppose it could of only been him or hleb in the running for this months accolade ,I was rather impressed with sanga actually, i suppose its because its been such a long time since anyone has commanded that position for arsenal , it stood out like a sore thumb for me that sanga also must of been a close 3rd in the running for player of the month.

I think its too soon to comment on the spuds game .Gallas could be in or could be rested until 100% fit, gilberto has international duties 72 hours before the spuds game which will probably see him make way for flamini in the holding role again .But truthfully anything could happen in between that time so i will cover it all then the time ticks closer .

Jens has fired out a few bullets recently some of his comments are below ( have a laugh ! ) i did

“I am without a doubt mentally the strongest player at Arsenal because I have more experience,” Lehmann claimed in The People.

(even if you do say so yourself !)

“There will always be a keeper who will play better for two or three matches but I have never seen anyone do this for ten games.

“I know that I have an advantage at Arsenal and that I can keep it. I don’t see any young supermen keeping me out.”
“I know I will be playing again at Arsenal. The coach will let me play.
“He knows it, and I know it – it doesn’t matter if I have another week out.“I have read that Almunia said he deserves to be the No 1 but until now he has not won a single important game.”

Well dont hold back jens ,tell us what you really feel ! Some might call it a fighting spirit ,others would call it MAD JENS at it again . Sure some of his points might be valid ones (if you omit the fact that he has had 2 ROBINSON style games on the trot in the EPL ) and in my opinion deserves to be benched until Alumina does something as horridly wrong as he has. In all fairness due to longevity Alumina NEEDS to step up if he is to remain at Arsenal .Jens on the other hand is 64 and waiting for his pension check anyhow.

Back to fabrigas , I’m not sure quite what to make of fabrigas’s latest statements with regards to Real Madrid . Its all a bit unsettling to me ..
heres what the young Spaniard had to say ..

“The president, Ramon Calderon, and sport director Predrag Mijatovic have spoken to me,(who gave him the OK for that?) but finally I decided to follow on with my commitment to Arsenal. It is not true that I have given them my word [to join] for next season. The meeting was pleasant and I believe that they are good and very sincere people. I am very happy at Arsenal and I go 100 per cent with the decision I took, although I praise the interest of Real in me” .

With Arsene currently just signing his extension
one would feel for now Cesc will remain at the club, but honor his 8 year deal ?. I think not ..
Also isn’t talking to Real Madrid in the off season about as close as the tapping up of Cashly Cole by Chelsea a few years ago ????

This is not the first time I’ve seen this story , its a re-hash of a story about 2 months ago..

I passed it off as rumors with no substance but here we go again,Nothing club wise was really commented upon the issue then either .
I can only presume Arsene gave cesc the GREEN LIGHT to talk direct with RMFC . If anyone has the inside scoop on this scenario please feel free to share your knowledge.

Other news has arsene rambling on about how he has matured as a manager in the 11 years at Arsenal, and he has learned to control the RAGING BEAST within him . I had to raise my eyebrows a number of times reading this beauty ..

Wenger believes he has “matured” since first arriving at Highbury as a virtual unknown coach.
The Gunners boss is in no doubt he has only been able to develop into such a highly-respected coach though the ongoing support of those he works with.
“They helped me mature because of the huge responsibility that I have,” Wenger said.
“It also strengthened my belief in what is important in the game.
“I could check my beliefs because the club gave me that kind of freedom. That is very important in the life of a manager.”
but he admits it has taken years of self-discipline to keep his fiery temper in check. Even now he says he fears the dark side of his nature and the consequences of losing his cool.

“Is it anger, is it aggression, or is it a desire to be successful? Would I compromise my principles? On occasions, yes, as first and foremost, I am a winner. But long-term, that’s not my attitude,” he explains. “Where does the anger come from? My father and my mother were both quite excitable, but the postwar world in which they lived was quite a rough world. The football world is also quite rough. You have to assert your personality and you need a high level of motivation. I control it now by thinking about the consequences of what I do. I didn’t always have the ‘off’ switch. I have seen very talented players and managers lose themselves to anger. A lot of things disturb me, but it is not a fear to lose. It is for you to master this fear. I was always concerned about dominating my animal feeling – not really dominating, I mean, knowing myself better.

“You can sometimes be surprised by your bad side. I have a dark side. You want to win so much that sometimes you forget that it is as well that you respect the rules. When you don’t win, you have to acknowledge the respect of your opponents as well. Sometimes I can’t do that. It is a dark side because the perfect side would be to say, ‘Well done. You played better’. You never know, in 50 years I might achieve it.”

I have images of Arsene turning green and bending tank turrets with his bare hands in the managers box. Not sure why he decided to share that with us . He sounds like Anakin Skywalker more than the Arsenal football manager. Give in to the Darkside wenger. Use the force..

Speculation has raised its ugly head with regards to Hoytes future at the club come January, Aston villa is knocking on the door , and with all our defensive issues around the time of the ANC i would think its highly unlikely Arsene will sell the defender.Also given the lack of English talent at the club it might also be impossible for arsene to ever consider selling him .And now enter STAGE LEFT ,West Ham trying to poach bendtner the daily mirror reports

the Arsenal striker is on top of West Ham United’s transfer wish-list after he impressed last season on-loan at Birmingham City.
Bendtner signed a new contract with the Gunners this summer after his form caught the eye of some of Europe’s top clubs.

However, it is reported that the striker is un-happy after being overlooked at Arsenal so far this season.

This has obviously raised its ugly head due to bendtners earlier comments (on my previous post) Hopefully Arsene will give the boy a run shortly ,
but with liverpool and spurs on the horizon next month im sure if anyone will TURN GREEN, it will be bendtner.

The international weekend showed Mad Jens can still keep a clean sheet(just not for us) and Walcott has the skills and confidence at the highest level assisting in a U21 goal.Whilst our strikers showed that goals come naturally for them with RVP having had a solid game for the orange shirts and DUDU blasting 2 goals for the Croatians. So far no real injury concerns, lets hope i will be saying that again , come my Spurs
lead up report.

until then come back and visit and BE more vocal,
CHAT among yourselves

Mi casa es su casa

ethan

In the lead up to international weekend , jens was at a german team press conference in which reporters asked him about his form and current status at arsenal .Needless to say jens or ‘MAD JENS’ as he’s known throughout the arsenal faithful ,was less than happy with the questions directed at him …

Its not like him to lose his cool is it ?

Well currently on form almunia is definitely in the drivers seat, the big question on gunners fans minds is how long before the spaniard SCREWS IT UP FOR HIMSELF ? Well time will tell on that one , but rumors have it that arsene will be playing the german goal keeper against spurs mid september, im sure alot will depend on the preformance he coughs up for germany,but my stance on the matter is why drop almunia when he’s been very solid so far?! and more importantly MISTAKE FREE !

A lot of gunners are backing jens in this dark time ,but really how many more easy goals do you want our oppositions to score against us before you feel at ease with almunia?And before you ask me , NO i don’t think almunia is our permanent number one keeper, but with the transfer window closed ,almunia is better than nothing ..

(or Fabianski?)

Arsene signed until 2011, no big surprises there , for success this season it was VITAL that wenger did, and more importantly it stops this media circus on the shadows of wengers future .It can only be beneficial to the club and the future of his young gunners.

arsene says

“My heart is tied to this football club so signing a new deal was always my intention. Arsenal is the club of my life,”

Also since the signing of diarra and the captaincy changing hands to gallas, gilberto’s future is the next matter at hand, one of the last invincibles seems to be attracting interest from inter milan and media speculation points towards inter making a bid upto 8 million for the midfeilder in the january transfer window. Hopefully its all speculation, but one can’t help but think maybe there is some truths to these rumors. time will tell but with the captaincy going to gallas whilst gilberto was on international duties , and the betrayal he obviously felt at loosing the captaincy role ,which most of us presumed he would be the next captain of arsenal this season , you might think that these rumors are more than plausible.

Meanwhile Nicklas Bendtner last night demanded showdown talks with manager Arsene Wenger after being axed by Arsenal.The Danish striker Bendtner is unhappy after being left out of the 16-man squad for Sunday’s win over Portsmouth.

The Gunners turned down several offers to let him go on loan this season after he signed a new five-year deal.

Bendtner says…

‘ he was promised more regular games‘

and Sunday’s exclusion has left him very upset and this outburst is unlikely to impress Wenger one would think !.He goes on to say:

“I didn’t get any explanation. I don’t know why he did that and I’ll demand to know why and have a talk with Arsene Wenger when I get back. But what is said will stay between us.“

He turned down advances this transfer window from ac milan , as he’s rated as one of Europe’s tops future prospects, electing to stay at arsenal , one thing for sure is he’s getting a reputation for being outspoken and his latest outburst is likely to get him into hot water with Arsenal and more importantly wenger ..

Well 3-1 was the score line,

in a game we never looked like loosing .Even after senderos was shown RED in 49th minute for a suspect challenge it was all a formality until the End whistle blew.

I think it is fine if a team trys to match us for skill , instead of thuggery tactics like blackburn, but really was portsmouth that effective?

Maybe they need to resort to the same brutality as blackburn , because on paper i think they have stronger players(than blackburn). Yet trying to compete with free flowing passing style game they definately looked 2nd best So it proves WE ARE GOOD ! … we are now sitting behind liverpool in 2nd spot, with chelsea on the same points with 1 more game played !

As i did predict after raffa started his spending spree, i knew they would be pushing this season for the title . And definately going on form they are the ones we should be conserned about . Dont rule out the others however the season is only in its infancy . And whilst on the subject of ‘big spending clubs’ gilberto pretty much personifies my feelings during the off -season ,GILBERTO had this to say …

“It’s a big gamble when clubs spend big money for each new season but we do not spend.”But while we haven’t spent a lot of money, we have been playing together for a few years now.”That makes a difference in the game because we all know each other – if I pass to Cesc Fabregas he knows exactly where the forwards will be. That’s important.”We must keep focused because other clubs have made some very good signings.
“Arsene has his policy of signing players and he does what he believes is right for the club.”He spends as little as possible and that helps the club when they do need to spend money.”
Wenger’s belief that his young side is ready to flourish has been given credibility by their fine start to the Premier League.But still dont think the seasons in the bag ! Its simply a good start to the season , and thats reflected in the ‘leader board’. To stay consistant and not give too much away is vital to our success . Take a strangle hold on the top 2 spots , and cement our place in the top 2 is what is needed. Step on the gas and get as many points between us liverpool ,man’ure & the chevs as possible. Common sence stuff really ,we need to sit back and enjoy the football. And let it unfold ..

International weekend comming up and that gives us a rest ahead of our next game. its on saturday 15th of sept SPUDS Vs ARSENAL. It should be an intersting one .More on the spuds Vs Us in a week (injuries permitting).. But for those of you who arnt aware, this is who we are placed with in the CL .

UEFA Champions League : Group H Table

Sevilla
Arsenal
Slavia Prague
Steaua Bucuresti

Our 1st game is Vs sevilla at home on the 19th … Thats all from me for a while unless something biblical happens to the club .

enjoy the football this weekend .

Oh PS : rumours have jens pleading with arsene to let him go back to germany  just prior to the end of the transfer window, as arsene couldnt find a 9th hour replacement for jens, and the transfer was blocked to Schalke. We will see some movement on this issue on the 1st of january.Have fun sitting on the bench jens..

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..

as rick in the young ones would say…’ boooooooaaaaarrrrrrr-RRRRInnngggggg’ ….

Yes we got the 2nd leg of CL Rugby , but AT HOME 2- nil up .. WALK in the park .No more needed to be said ..

However its rare le boss comes out and blurts info such as…

“I was offered Adriano on loan and I said no,” he said. “We do not need him and it was an easy decision to make because we’re not out there to sign another striker.

“The agreement was for a loan. Adriano has qualities we don’t need. They wanted to give us a player but wanted one back in return.

“I won’t say who it was. I didn’t want to lose the player they requested. I didn’t necessarily think Adriano would upset the balance of the squad.

“I have bought Eduardo Da Silva. I already had Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie and I brought Nicklas Bendtner back.

“I still have Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby can play through the middle. Why should I bring more forwards in?

(WHY BECAUSE NOW YOUVE OPENED THE DOOR TO SPURS, MAN U,WEST HAM AND JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE.. )

“I have big faith in my squad and they’ve proved me right so far this season.”

Ill pose 1 question to you …are any of you against a

‘TOP LINE STRIKER JOINING THE CLUB’ ?

Could be the competition dudu and RVP need to ensure they are upto par …The key to it all was fabrigas i presume … Sounded like the deal was only good in a player swap.. ( A-LA -REYES-BAPITSTA ) Asta – la vista to that baby !

We need players not swap them .. Ok if it was ade or bentner , could of been RVP WHO WAS REQUESTED ….

hmmmm …

It would be good to get more on this subject as wenger seemed humbled when asked who the ’swaped player’ was to be … But surely wenger will pull some brilliance out of the hat(OR TRIED) in recent years at the last minute to sign a couple of fringe super stars…

I think 99% are in the SAME LINE OF THINKING WITH REGARDS TO the squad needs more players to compete in all cups and forms of the games..

the other 1% are in A CULTURED LEFT FOOT who are PRO-WENGERISTS

who HE will probably show them up and buy a player at the last moment ,them passing it off as if wenger requires it he must have did it because of….. (insert word here ) (anc?)

Yes we are all very aware what is going on and it is a SLIGHTLY improved team with HLEB played in the right position and sagna being the quality we should have had there all along .

And you could all say .. buying all these players doesnt gaurentee success . NO but buying these world class tevez’s and nani’s etc.. ENHANCE and average club to be on par with us and a role of a dice. A CLICK .could see our CL spot gone. Can we all afford to turn a blind eye to it ? It stares me in the face every time i look at our squad .. we are 2 or 3 players – plus a new goalie off being where we need too …

so staying ahead of them would mean getting todays talent NOW. not trying to whip these TOMORROWS CHILDREN INTO A SQUAD .. Some are up for the challenge , i know but nothing truely beats experience in the EPL to get results.. hopefully soon one day wenger will see it ..

Dont really want to talk about the Manc’s victory.. it was to be expected and we are ‘on par’ currently , we are on course and in the right direction , i dont want to HOO-DOO it up , but i will say wenger isnt a god and he has made mistakes, such as the purchase of Song,and verbally abusing managers on the sidelines, fines for various reasons and statements. But he has had great moments too .. Its rather like watching an aging striker, you hope those FLASHES of BRILLIANCE will return when needed and pull out an Ace.

Because i’d say we need about 2 of them atleast ! before the window slams shut !

FRiDAY

Well contrary to the heading i was going to breeze over transfers ..

Or lack of transfers really..modric has been linked to us recently and man Ure is
being linked with all the same players we were 6 weeks ago , so no surprise there
with the media speculation. However I’ve always taken anelka for a bit of a mercenary

,so if the red devils went for anyone, it might be him, quality and a reasonable price- or martins.. Cant be owen or he
would look like a hypocrite … so at-least the media still has some smarts left in them ..

I would hate anelka to go to man ure , it surely would be a ‘boot in the face’ for most arsenal fans, even if you still cannot forgive him for the past , he would definitely rise to the challenge in a team with more class than bolton (wouldnt be hard!)
So in short who would you like to see in the squad bearing in mind we still have 15 million +reyes in capital! i did do a breakdown 3 or 4 weeks ago on A CULTURED LEFT FOOT .

i worked it all out at 13 mil but since then freddy and reyes has gone .. putting up the kitty to around 23 million even conservatively speaking ! So why the big bank role ?and why hang off spending when we are patching up our team now like a boat taking on water .after 2 EPL GAMES !. surely if people like gilberto and rosicky knew they needed to lift their preformances to get regular football would it be so bad!? and having more options ? Extra players , Experience even!

Let me know your thoughts because id rather read a ‘fans speculation‘ than the media’s! ,Arsene loves keeping ‘the covers ‘on things until a deal is done transferwise , he’s shrewed !If the media gets onto it , the price might rise through other clubs bidding. (malouda) So lets just say one day soon we will hear SOME NEWS !

Arsene seen talking to becks .. Even hard for the press to make up tails about this one ..

But they try ….

The pair took time out during England’s training session at London Colney yesterday to chat and appeared very comfortable in each other’s company. They even shared a warm handshake at the end of their meeting as if agreeing on something.

Oh yeah sure ! thats not my caption above but im sure he would rather be on a year to year deal with arsenal for 1/2 the money he’s on in america … Crap weather and away from the wife …

well i can sort of understand the last one .. but the rest , NO CHANCE !

Also just quickly wenger has made megaphoned waves about theos inclusion into the international arena , echos of things like he should be included in the friendly against germany..

here’s pearces veiw ..

“He caught the eye and gets you off your seat,” Pearce, the England Under-21 manager, said. “He can be pleased with his input. If you’re asking me whether he’s better off being in the seniors and coming off the bench for 15 minutes [at Wembley tonight] or getting 90 minutes here, I’d say it’s more useful for him to be getting a full game with us.”

whatever the squad, it should be a good one ..Classic encounter, it means little but

it would be good to pound up on the germans.

Enjoy the game! owen is starting .. hopefully he will do more than he did for newcastle .

Or maybe not

PS: any truth to the gilberto leaving ‘ crisis talks’ rumours?? 6m to juve .. ?? ring any bells

caio ethan_goon

Well 1-1 score line could have been different if a certain goalkeeper didn’t FUMBLE the ball.

But it was a game of halves and it pretty much worked out that way.. Im not consumed by playing the beautiful game , as long as its entertaining, the psychical style of English football

is just as good to watch to me , crunching tackles ,pulling on shirts, it just part of some differing clubs styles .. and maybe we do need a few more TOUGH GUYS in our squad ..

Pederson would fit in , i think arsenal would refine him , and he already has the skill set, that can been seen in past games. I still would prefer wenger to wave the magic wand and get a left winger ‘A-LA -SANGA’ style signing … Im not really Pro active on any players name, or race , creed ,all isnt important , what is important is the positions are filled .. STRIKER OF QUALITY – WINGER- PREFERABLY VERSATILE one with style , and foot speed and good crossing ability(both wings or across the middle would be ideal) And after gallas was injured A DEFENDER IS NEEDED WITH EXPERIENCE (and toure will be gone!! ) yes you forgot didnt you .. well it gives no time for toure /gallas to bond .. Well until the title race might be over … Its a shame because that has been the difference lately. Since sanga joined it has put the back line up ‘a class’ ! id like to think senderos is ready, but just sometimes he makes a lehmann type error and then his class is exposed ! Hes looked REAL solid in some games – he needs to prove consistancy to me .. But im sure he will get his chance soon enough as our defenders start getting LESS SOLID after the starting 4,lets hope its 2 weeks out only for gallas , im sure other players are carrying bumps from blackburn! all in all , like i said we end up second best .We dont play for survival every season like boltons and blackburns , we actually miss our players more ,as it affects our points indirectly .. but enough on their

thugery, and thugery it was .. it made for an interesting game . but jens did let us down and fabrigas today has stood behind the goalie saying

‘He does not have to apologise,’ says cesc. ‘This is a team. We are together now and we are strong’

Positive stuff from the midfeilder.. But really its a ass kissing exercise as , wenger has benched jens before and , i think if he is to play another game for us , he needs that soul searching time on the sidelines to realize this will be the last BIG season of his life ,and not wanting to go out like this ,we MIGHT see his form return .. it happened world cup time and it just might happen again .. But in the mean time give fabinski a go…

or almunia , but really i think he’s best kept as our second, unfairly so , i think he never had the REAL class to be above jens or buffon ,castellas chec etc… But maybe arsene thinks this fabinski has it … so lets see it .. but what ever the goal keeper solution is , it comes at a bad time with gallas out .. and hoyte or senderos as backup.

You also have wenger quoting

“I am very happy with the team and their resilience. I must say we battled very hard. We had good chances to score the second goal many times. Unfortunately we conceded a bad goal ourselves. Overall I felt we dealt with set-pieces and the main threat from Blackburn was long balls. We dealt well with it. The players are of course frustrated because we should have come home with three points but let’s just keep that attitude in the future.”

and a bit on the jens goal

“Of course Jens is really unhappy with it. He is really down in the dressing room. I don’t need to tell him he made a mistake, he is an intelligent boy and he knows that. We do not want to blame him today. We just want to take the positives from our behaviour.”

sometimes when you say the word blame in a sentance that you dont want to’ blame’ anyone for , then why say BLAME in the first place?!

savvy

Welcome to my gooner world where freedom of speech will be upheld to its maximum.

After 2 successful games to the start of a new season we are embarking To E-wood park to face our toughest game to date, Blackburn in the past has Put us through a rough and aggressive physical style of game, where in all honesty In the past we have came out second best.Also to say we have held our own would also be true statement, but with new acquisitions like Gunnar Nielsen ,Maceo Rigters and more importantly santa cruz who has scored 2 times already for Blackburn.We will now see if arsenes young squad has the mustard to dispatch these cretins to the middle of the table where they belong.

To say that a win is paramount would be an understatement, to stop our winning ways now , might undo all the hard grinding work of our young squad . I for one still think that arsenes needs to dabble in the transfer market whilst the window is still ajar , but more on that on another post.

In the wake of Sundays challenge mark Hughes (Blackburn manager) is trying a bit
Of reverse psychology on us by stating how RVP MIGHT step up into henrys shoes.
I think in the wake of Sundays challenge all eyes will probably be on dudu if you support the guns.

Here is what he has to say below ..

MARK HUGHES
“Thierry Henry was an outstanding player for them for many, many years and you always feared an Arsenal side with him in the line-up.

“But they have got other young players that can come to the fore and start to flourish and be the main guys for Arsenal for many years.

“If you look at the likes of van Persie who has been a thorn in our side in recent years, he is an outstanding talent and maybe it’s time for him to step up to the mark and be the main man.

Now to formation,
with eboue out and rosicky also on the list unable to partake In Sundays fixture
a possible and likely formation would be .. 4-4-2

mad jens
sagna – toure-gallas-clichy
Walcott-fabs-flamini-hleb
RVP-dudu

I’m sure there is possibly other tweaks that might take place according to
How the game progresses , bentner with his height might well play a part
In the game ,also diaby might play some minutes also.

I am sure as this is our most stern test of the season so far, and wenger will
Take no chances with tactics , and might even be happy with a point on Sunday.
Also gamst ( a known arsenal target 8 million dollar+ man ) has stated it will not affect his level of play knowing that interest from the gunners camp might very well
Be watching his performances with a microscope, in fact I rate him to be a thorn in our side on Sunday, He will probably want to show wenger that he is ‘well worth the money’ . I for one think he and benni mcarthy are the 2 best players at mark Hughes disposal . Well where ever you are, enjoy the game on Sunday ..
This will be a test to end all tests to date , I for one would like to see a positive result 1-0,but Even a negative result might have a favorable outcome on our club by forcing wenger to open up his wallet for some much needed re-enforcements .

Caio . Ethan_gooner