Written by Fab4.

Arsenal could be set to lose winger Theo Walcott for far longer than first expected after The Times has reported this morning that he will now be ruled out for six weeks.

England manager Fabio Capello announced after the game that the injury was not thought to be serious and initial reports claimed Walcott would only miss two weeks. But now fresh reports claim that x-rays found ligament damage meaning he will now miss five Premier league games, including next month’s trip to Chelsea, as well as Arsenal’s opening three Champions League games.

So now both Theo and RVP will miss six weeks after initially being ruled out for two, same old story. I’ve already written an article on Arsenal’s injuries and wont bore you with it all again.

Apparently this is Theo’s eighteenth significant injury since he has been an Arsenal player. Eighteen injuries in four years!

Written by Fab4.

The new season is barely three weeks old and already Arsenal players are dropping like flies. Yes, Arsenal’s nemesis is once again threatening to hamper our search for glory. If you don’t know what i’m talking about yet let me spell it out for you I-N-J-U-R-I-E-S.

Firstly Emmanuel Frimpong did his crucial knee ligament after looking like he was breaking into the first team squad, then Samir Nasri did his knee in and was originally ruled out for a month, serial injury-victim RVP then twisted his ankle after just 30 minutes of his first start this season and was ruled out for at least a month, now Theo Walcott, who has easily been Arsenal’s best player so far this term, has also twisted his ankle while on international duty with England.

Three weeks and four injuries, and this doesn’t even take into account the fact that Bendtner is already out with a serious groin injury, Denilson hasn’t featured yet this term and of course Ramsey is still out with his leg brake. If it wasn’t Arsenal it would be unbelievable but us Gooners are used to it by now. I had hoped this year would be different but it seems we’re in for more of the same.

Arsenal.com have provided us with some good news in that Nasri is expected back in full training this week and might be in contention for Saturday’s game against Bolton. But the bad news is that RVP has predictably been ruled out for slightly longer than expected and is now not due back until mid October. Sigh.

Now on to Walcott. Theo went over on his ankle early on in England’s game against Switzerland, looked in some pain and had to be stretchered off the field and went to hospital for x-rays. At the time of writing this article, there is no official news yet on the severity of his injury. After the game Capello said “It’s a little problem or not so big problem,”  so the early signs are good, and Sky Sports News are reporting that the x-rays were positive and he should be back within 2 weeks.

Fingers crossed because Walcott has been ridiculously unlucky with injuries so far in his short career and just when he started to look like the player we all hoped he could be, another long lay-off would be a bitter blow for all concerned.

But one thing i know is, Arsenal really need to take a serious look at why we keep getting these injuries. I know, I know, these injuries were all accidents and could have happened to anyone. But they didn’t, they happened to Arsenal players and is anyone surprised it’s RVP and Walcott in particular who are injured so early in the season? Not me.

Written by : armourysquare

Emmanuel Adebayor’s comments on The Arsenal :

“With the great new players we’ve got we have a wonderful chance to make history.

“But it’s all about results. If we can win ten games in a row, people will class Manchester City as bigger than Arsenal.”

Later on, he went on to say why he loves Shitty so much :

“It’s because I showed the fans my hunger, passion and I showed my love for the club,” he added.
“Ultimately, the fans just want to see that and feel it inside their bodies.”

Dear Mr. Adebayor,

You must really have no shame. Is this the way you talk about a club which has brought you so much fame and popularity? It’s just sad that no sooner do players reach their stage of ‘fame’  than they scorn the path they took to reach it. In the season you had with Shitty, you managed around 14 goals after making 31 appearances. And honestly, it’s quite sad for you,given the amount of opportunities you have had. But you probably over-achieved, so its fine by me…..I notice that every time you talk about Arsenal, you blame the fans. But my question to you is, what have the fans done wrong? If you pay to watch a player, and the player does not play well, then what do you expect. We fans love our players, and we show immense respect for them. All we ask is for good performance, and moreover an effort on the pitch, to make the club progress. In your case, you gave neither to Arsenal, so that’s why we booed you. .

Frankly every Gooner wants an effort to be put in by the Gunners on the pitch. Why were we so pissed at Arsenal when we were thrown out of the Champions league by Manchester United? The reason is because they never tried in that match. Lets be honest here, a player like Eduardo couldn’t give the same to Arsenal after February 2008, but why do we love him so much? Its because when that Croatian dude stepped onto the pitch, he gave all he could. This is what you said about us before the match in which you gave your famous Usain Bolt sprint :

What is good at City is the fans. They love you. Arsenal have a lot of fans who are not fans,” Adebayor said. “Arsenal have fans from America and Jamaica. Today they are Arsenal fans, tomorrow they will be Liverpool fans, after tomorrow they will be Manchester United fans.

“If you boo your player every weekend, I am very sorry, you are not true fans. It hurt me a lot. That was the most difficult moment of my career.”

In other words you are calling us all whores. That we change our support every single day of the week. But correct me if I am wrong here, are you not the one who went from London to  Manchester? And as far as I can remember, clubs in Manchester whether the Blue or Red half, are our rivals, aren’t they?…so you get why I am dumbstruck that you call us whores. I mean here you say that one day we support Arsenal and next Liverpool or United, and then you switch clubs to Manchester City…what an inspiration!

Another thing that I wanted to ask you is the sudden mention of the words ‘bigger than Arsenal’ in your quote. I’m a bit confused. Manchester City has become a very good club, that we all know, (even a poor kid on the road can buy a Mercedes if you gave him the money) but why does the above ”phrase” have to be included in your quote. I mean, there are 18 other teams in the Premier League to choose from and many more in the world, but why Arsenal. Do you miss the club, and wish to have a dig at it constantly to convince yourself that you did not make a mistake when going to City or  do you feel insecure, that you wont start in City and that you shall spend majority of the season ‘warming’ the bench…

You kicked RVP in the face. And not only that, in the same match, after scoring against us, you actually ran all the way to the stand where the Gooner’s were sitting. I bet you never ran that much  in your life when you were an Arsenal player.

Either you have some issues with us or Mr.Wenger, because you seriously don’t know how to show respect for a club. Respect for ones former club does show a footballers calibre you know. Why don’t you learn to be like Henry i.e the attitude he has towards Arsenal as an ex-gunner.

Whenever there is a draw for Champions League (sighs), I’m in pain, I’m in pain. Some of the guys are like, Thierry, what about playing Arsenal?! I’m like, yeh, yeh, yeh..it’ll be great..riiight.

I’m not saying I won’t try to fight or whatever because that’s the way the game is. But I don’t want to play against Arsenal, it would be weird for me to step on the pitch even if it’s the Emirates and not Highbury with another shirt on. Psshh.

On asked if he would CELEBRATE IF HE SCORED, the master said :

Oh, forget about it. No. I told you, when there is a draw, I’m in pain. I do not want to play against Arsenal, it’s as simple as that.

The bond that I have with the Arsenal fans I will never get anywhere else because I don’t think i will ever play for another team for that long.

Lastly, I do not ask for an apology but just request you to refrain from saying all this crap in the future. People may take you to be mad for some reason or the other. City greater than the Arsenal, is truly a nice joke to tell children. At least thank you for that, guess you’re not that useless after all…

Regards,

DKD

PS: I wait for you on 4th Jan at the Emirates, lets just see the ”bigger” club.

Written by Sean Oakes.

Just as everyone was thinking that AW had changed his transfer policy I have news that will please some and infuriate others. The signings of Chamakh, Squillaci and Koscielny seemed to have taken Arsene Wenger into another direction. This however is not the case!

Arsene Wenger seems to have taken a u turn and gone back to what he has become famous for, signing youngsters and turning them into superstars. Maksym Koval is quite possibly the best under 17 goalkeeper in the whole of Europe. He has already played in the CL for his club Dynamo Kiev and is expected to become Ukraine number 1 within two years.

At 17 he is already 6ft 1″ and has excellant reflexes and positional sense. A move for Koval seems a certainty in the january transfer window.

With all of the hype of young Belgium players it is of no suprise that Arsenal are leading the race to sign Anderlecht superstarlet Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku is an absolute bull of a centre forward in the mould of Didier Drogba. It seemed as though Chelsea and Inter were leading the race but Arsenal have suddenly jumped to the top with a clear lead. This maybe because Wenger is also interested in signing Romelu’s 15yr old brother Joradan at the same time?

Jordan is a left back but is certain to grow into a centre half with time. Mr and Mrs Lukaku would love their sons to go to the same club and Arsene Wenger seems to have given them their wish.

Written by : armourysquare

When your were small, either your mom or dad must have told you this, ” Son, hurry up and finish your work and later you can go out and play. ” Now we were very fortunate that our parents told us these things. But unfortunately I don’t think Wenger’s parents ever told him this or, and it is a possibility, may be the guy just refused to listen…

He (apparently) bids for Hugo Lloris, the only guy who actually tried to do something for France in South Africa on the last day of the Transfer Window..can you believe this ***t?. I mean, ok, we did not get Schwarzer, but at least keep a back-up transfer target. Now lets be real, the only way Fulham were going to let Mark go was if they got Given. Now when you can see that there is only a week left for the window to close, and no reports say that Given is flying to London, then WHY CAN YOU NOT MAKE A DAMN BID FOR ANOTHER GOAL-KEEPER.

Now lets observe the results of this blunder from this perspective. Supposing Almunia gets the spark of his life and keeps like Joe Hart’s great gran-daddy, then no problem….but supposing he make’s silly mistakes and we lose out on points, then who the hell will we blame ?Ourselves for supporting a club like Arsenal, that stubborn guy who’s lone mission on earth is to rid Arsenal of its debts, his parents for not teaching him good habits, or the Spanish Raccoon. Out of the 2 above situations, we know what is more likely.. (and don’t say the latter isn’t.)

Now in no way have I said we wont win the title. That belief will never die out in me. But come on Mr.Wenger, this has got to be the biggest mistake of your life, even before signing the 2 Great Walls of Arsenal. In my opinion, its going 2 steps backward after so much promise. I am not swearing here because probably I am use to it, but seriously, are you just testing the patience of Gooners around the world or do you have fun in doing this to us…..knowing fully well that we are helpless. Personally hope its none of them and that you have a ‘perfect’ reason for not signing a keeper. But just in case it is one of them, please do me a favour and talk to Christopher Nolan to appear in Batman 3 as the Joker, it fits you completely. No Gooner can ever doubt what you have done for this club, but on transfer dead-line day I did predict millions of Gooners with their palms on their faces, and I was right…(unfortunately, even I was one of them..)

So what now ? Should we cry and make plans to detonate Wenger’s house. Of course not. Whats done is done, and we can’t change it. So, lets live with it.

Come on you Gunners, lets go for the Title…..

**Thanks to armourysquare for submitting this article. Please note that these are the views of the writer and not Football-Talk.co.uk**

Written by Fab4.

After Arsene Wengers questionable performance in this summers transfer window Arsenal fans all over the world have been having their say, particularly about the fact Le Boss failed to sign a goalkeeper before the 6pm deadline.

I decided to run a poll over the past 2 days asking Gooners if they still had faith in Arsene Wengers judgement and the results were interesting. Only 52% of voters still had faith in Wenger, with 39% saying they no longer backed the boss feeling he was a stingy old fool! 9% were undecided. Think about that, 39% of Gooners don’t think Wenger is making the right calls anymore. It’s worrying.

Of course this poll was conducted just after the close of a relatively disappointing transfer window and their feelings may change throughout the course of the coming weeks, but it’s still interesting. Does this 39% account for the ‘fans’ who boo and moan at home games? Are they the unrealistic ‘championship manager’ who expect Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo to be signed every summer? We will never know.

I have already provided my personal opinion on Arsenal’s transfer activity and received some negative comments for my criticism of Wenger. Having had a couple of days to calm down and reflect, i will have my final say on the subject. I am still of the opinion that Wenger unnecessarily dithered in his pursuit of Schwarzer and if he really wanted him, he should have submitted the £4m bid in june and got the transfer done early doors.

But the situation is what it is…. not ideal. Would i prefer someone other than Almunia to be in goal? Most certainly, but i’m still an Arsenal fan and will support the players that walk out on the pitch every week. I also feel Arsene Wenger is still the man to take the club forward. No other manager could do what he has done and continues to do for the club. BUT, he did make a serious misjudgement by failing to sign a new goalkeeper this summer.

Much speculation has filled the back pages over the past 3 months with players from all over the globe linked with a move to the premier league’s top sides. But now the dust has settled, are you happy with your clubs business in the transfer window or do you feel your manager should have done more?

Here is a run through of the ins and outs at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham this summer, then please submit your vote below:

Arsenal:

Players In:

Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux, free), Laurent Koscielny (Lorient, undisclosed), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla, undisclosed)

Players Out:

Luke Ayling (Yeovil, free), Nacer Barazite (Vitesse, loan), Sol Campbell (Newcastle, free), Eduardo (Shakhtar Donetsk, undisclosed), Luke Freeman (Yeovil, loan), William Gallas (Tottenham, free), Fran Merida (Atletico Madrid, free), Philippe Senderos (Fulham, undisclosed), Mikael Silvestre (Werder Bremen, free), Jay Simpson (Hull, undisclosed), Armand Traore (Juventus, loan), Sanchez Watt (Leeds, loan)

Chelsea

Players In:

Nascimento Ramires (Benfica, £16.3m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, £5m), Matej Delac (Inter Zapresic, £2.7m), Tomas Kalac, Sigma Olomouc, undisclosed)

Players Out:

Michael Mancienne (Wolves, loan), Joe Cole (Liverpool, free), Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen, free), Juliano Belletti (Fluminese, free), Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahce, £2.5m), Tomas Kalas (Sigma Olomouc, loan), Ryan Bertrand (Nottingham Forest, loan), Scott Sinclair (Swansea, £1m), Jack Cork (Burnley, loan), Nemanja Matic (Vitesse Arnhem, loan), Slobodan Rajkovic (Vitesse Arnhem, loan), Franco di Santo (Wigan, undisclosed)

Liverpool

Players In:

Joe Cole (Chelsea, free), Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton, £1.7m), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege, free), Danny Wilson (Rangers, £5m), Christian Poulsen (Juventus, £4.5m), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough, £2.3m), Raul Meireles (Porto £11.5m), Paul Konchesky (Fulham, undislosed), Emiliano Insua (Galatasaray, loan)

Players Out:

Alberto Aquilani (Juventus, loan), David Martin (MK Dons, free), Mikel San Jose (Atletico Bilbao, undisclosed),  Robbie Threlfall (Bradford, free), Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea, £6m), Albert Riera (Olympiakos, undisclosed), Krisztian Nemeth (Olympiakos, undisclosed), Diego Cavalieri (Cesena, undisclosed)

Manchester United

Players in:

Chris Smalling (Fulham, £10m), Javier Hernandez (Guadalajara, £10m), Marnick Vermijl (Standard Liege, undisclosed), Bebe (Vitoria Guimaraes, £7.4m)

Players Out:

Ben Foster (Birmingham, £6m), Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow, £8m), Tom Heaton (Cardiff, free), Danny Drinkwater (Cardiff, loan), Danny Welbeck (Sunderland, loan), Craig Cathcart (Blackpool, undisclosed), Mame Biram Diouf (Blackburn, loan), Rodrigo Possebon (Sao Paulo, undisclosed), Tom Cleverley (Wigan, loan)

Tottenham hotspur

Players In:

William Gallas (Arsenal, free), Sandro (Internacional, £6m), Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow, loan), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid £8m)

Players out:

Jimmy Walker (released), David Button (Plymouth, loan), Adel Taarabt (QPR, £1m), John Bostock (Hull, loan)

Written by Fab4.

Arsene Wenger failed to sign a goalkeeper this summer despite calls from fans and pundits alike. Everyone called for a new GK at the Emirates and it seems we were close to capturing Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer. But Wenger will have to chose between Almunia and Fabianski this season, who both made costly errors last term.

How do Arsenal fans feel about this? Have you finally lost patience with Arsene Wenger? Are Gooners fed up with broken promises by club management? Or is it no big deal and are you confident that Arsene Wenger knows what he’s doing? Please vote below…

Written by Fab4.

Well, that’s that then. Who’s surprised? Another transfer window slams shut and yet again millions of Gooners around the world are left deflated and wanting more.

It all started on the 27th March 2010, Birmingham away at St Andrews when Almunia threw away 2 vital points and with it Arsenal’s title hopes, when he palmed a routine save into his own net. I said at that point this summer was the most important in Arsene Wengers reign. The simple fact is you can’t win things without a top goalkeeper and a new No.1 had to be top priority in the summer transfer window.

Fabianski was given a few end of season games to prove he was the man to save Arsene some cash and was ready to be Arsenal’s main man between the sticks. He blew it and errors against Wigan and Blackburn showed everyone, including the boss, that he wasn’t up to the task. So a new goalkeeper was on the cards this summer.

The early signs were promising and it seemed that interest in Fulhams Mark Schwarzer meant the penny had finally dropped and Le Boss had realised what everyone else had known for 2 years.

Suddenly Cesc-gate took over and Arsene had to shift his priority to convincing his captain to stay put. Then we lost four centre backs meaning we had to go and find replacements, on top of this there was a World Cup where Arsene took a month off to work as a commentator for Castrol. But surely he would still have time to tie up a relatively simple purchase of a 37-year-old from just down the road in Fulham?

As the speculation grew Arsenal were linked with pretty much every goalkeeper on the planet but the Schwarzer rumours wouldn’t go away and chairman Peter Hill-Wood confirmed we had submitted a bid for the Aussie. YES! Finally we had confirmation we were after a goalkeeper. Schwarzer came out and expressed his desire to leave Fulham and join Arsenal to have one last crack at the big time. It was only a matter of time now before we had our man.

Suddenly things went quiet and transfer deadline day arrived. I, like many Arsenal fans, was 100% confident Wenger would sign a goalkeeper and 99% sure it would be Schwarzer. Shay Given was meant to be heading to the Cottage to replace the Arsenal-bound Schwarzer but mid-way through the day City confirmed Given was staying and in the end this proved to be a devastating blow to Arsenal’s pursuit of Schwarzer.

Big Ben sounded and time was up. Mark Hughes came out and showed his delight that Schwarzer had stayed and then shocked everyone by claiming Arsenal hadn’t even been in touch on deadline day regarding their goalkeeper. So in the end, Arsene didn’t even pick up the phone and try to sign Schwarzer. He was probably sitting in his office starring at the accounts and smiling at another successful transfer window of spending as little as possible.

We are now left with a goalkeeper in Almunia who knows his manager has lost faith in him. How can we expect him to perform under these circumstances? Our No.2 Fabianski is not ready to be first choice, he may be talented but he has shown time and time again he’s not up to it, so where do we go from here?

It’s nothing short of a disgrace, that a club like Arsenal couldn’t sign a player in 3 months. Arsene Wenger has known for over 3 months now, if not longer, that he had to sign a goalkeeper yet here we are with the window closed and no new No.1.

How many Gooners are happy with Arsenal’s transfer business this summer? The biggest positive was obviously Cesc staying, but what’s the point in that when we don’t have a goalkeeper who can lead us to a title or trophy? I would rather have sold Fabregas and used the £50m to buy a world class GK (Lloris and Buffon were available), a replacement CM (Ozil, Van Der Vaart or Arteta maybe) and a proper CB (Mertesacker, Subotic, or Zapata would have been good). Right now, who else would have sacrificed Fabregas if it meant we got Lloris, Ozil and Mertesacker in return. We could have done that and still had money to spare!

Instead we have Fabregas, but he’s playing alongside a goalkeeper who can’t get near his national team squad and is proven to be a liability. A new centre back in Squillaci who can’t get in his national team ahead of Gallas, a player we just let go to our rivals for nothing, and another centre back who has only played one year at the top level of French football! It’s almost laughable.

I’m not making snap judgements on Koscielny and Squillaci, I’m just giving the facts. To be honest, i hope Squillaci is ready to dive straight in because Kos doesn’t look like he’s ready just yet. But it’s all going to be irrelevant anyway, because Wenger has failed to address the major issue and come what may it will have once again cost us.

I will still support Arsenal, i will still be unbearable to live with after we get beaten by Chelsea and Man Utd at the Emirates again this year, and i will still be gutted when we end the season trophy-less. But for me, Arsene Wenger has let the club down, many of the players down, and most importantly the fans down. I fully respect everything he has done for the club in his 14 years and i’m sure Arsenal wouldn’t be half the side without him, but i have supported Arsenal far longer than Arsene Wengers reign, and i can see as well as anybody he has his faults. Failing to sign a goalkeeper this summer is one of his worst decisions ever.

How can we blame players for wanting to leave? Our club has no ambition anymore and the fact that we were pissing about for a deal to sign a 37-year-old for around £2-£4m shows it. If Arsene wanted him so badly why not just put in the £4m bid 2 weeks ago, so Fulham had time to find a replacement, and we wouldn’t be in this mess. It’s pathetic.

I honestly fell for all Arsene’s rubbish this time. We all know the story, at the end of the season he says he knows where we need strengthening, he’s identified his targets and wants to get the transfers done quickly. Then f-all comes of it. But this time i thought he was finally ready to spend the money we keep hearing about and on the players we needed in order to make us a real threat again. More fool me, it won’t happen again.

Simple facts: Arsene wanted to buy a keeper – we had the money – keepers were available to buy – he had 3 months to do it – he failed to deliver

Another transfer window full of broken promises.

Rant over.

Robin van Persie suffered yet another ankle injury at Ewood Park

Written by Basil James.

Bad times are back at the Emirates once again as the squad have been struck by the long and mighty arm of injury. The latest Gunner to board the surgeon’s table has been the mercurial striker Robin van Persie, who is scheduled to miss at least four weeks from now. Now that RvP is back in the familiar territory of injuries, Arsene Wenger would have to reassess his options in front of goal and may be even have to consider rejigging formations and tactics.

It is yet another ankle injury that will sideline the Dutch star for almost a month, although this time it is his left ankle that is under the scanner. Van Persie missed five months of the last season with a torn ligament in his right ankle, an injury which had a massive impact on Arsenal’s season. On Saturday, Van Persie twisted his ankle at Ewood Park after 35 minutes of the match against Blackburn and had to be substituted.

Arsenal’s next premier league game is against the physically intimidating Bolton Wanderers and Wenger has to plan ahead to earn the maximum points without the star striker. Meanwhile, Arsenal have drawn fierce rivals Tottenham in the third round of the League Cup and it does look like Arsenal will have to find alternate options in the striker’s role for that encounter, especially if Van Persie is out for four weeks. This period would also include the premier league game against Sunderland and a Champions League game against Braga .

Arsenal’s chief option might be to deploy Marouane Chamakh in the striker’s role while sticking with the same formation. Chamakh has already played in that position for Arsenal in the league when Arsenal was bereft of Van Persie’s services at the start of the league. Wenger might even consider deploying the young and talented Carlos Vela, especially as Nicklas Bendtner is still sidelined with injury.

Meanwhile, speculation has risen as to whether Wenger would dive in to the market hunting for a quality striker to fill in for Robin van Persie. Also, questions remain as to whether Wenger would consider drafting in some of the hot young talent he has in the reserves and youth teams to as a stop gap measure. However, these are more than likely to remain mere speculation as the purchase of Chamakh over the summer was in keeping in mind precisely the situation that has come up now. Moreover, the aforementioned options wold require Arsenal to change the current formation which has started to tick and promises to be a well oiled machine.

As of now, all that we can do is wish Robin a speedy recovery and hope that Arsenal keep rocking even without their Dutch star.

Written by Guest Blog : armourysquare

What is the ideal formation for any top class team? Now if you would be talking about a team like FC Barcelona, their ideal formation is 4-1-2-3. On the other hand a team like Real Madrid, shall tend to play the 4-1-4-1 formation. Now each formation is unique. If a team is defensive and it prefers to get a lead and hold on to it, then it prefers the 4-3-1-2 formation. Something like Inter vs Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Similarly if a team has the sole purpose to out-score their opponent by a huge-margin, such as a team like Barcelona, then they may not even play the holding midfielder.

Now lets come to Arsenal. Wenger this season has tended to go for the classic 4-3-3  formation, something like Barcelona. With the quality of players we have, this is, somewhat, the ideal formation for Arsenal. Now what is an “ideal formation ?” In my opinion, an ideal formation is that which is suited to each player, where each player performs the role he is most comfortable with. Jose Mourinho’s Internationale, was set up in this manner. And they are currently – ”Champions of Europe.” Now managers tend to swap formations according to needs. There is nothing wrong in this tactic. I mean if you are losing a crucial game, with 5 mins left, nobody will play 2 holding mid-fielders ! I mean that’s common sense.

But the starting formation for any game is crucial. I mean that sets up the game entirely. A team shall know what the other teams mentality is i.e whether it is to sit back or attack aggressively. Accordingly the team shall adjust. Now coming back to the core of the matter, in my opinion I say the best formation for Arsenal is the 4-1-1-1-3…confused, well hold on.

We have our back four, solid and firm (touch-wood). Then comes Alex Song. Up front the 3 attackers are the “usual suspects.” Marouane Chamakh will be in the middle. To his left will be the “Little Russian” and to his right, ”Theo.” After them will be the crux of the formation. Cesc is a world-class player, and last season he brought out the attacking mid-fielder instinct, to play behind a striker. Currently he is sitting back a bit, but that’s because he is not entirely fit. In the coming games, I’m sure the boss will bring out that instinct in him again. So Cesc can play that role behind Chamakh. This way he has a view of the entire attack force of the team and can easily pick out the killer cross or pass, as that’s his forte. For the past few seasons, Wenger has developed Abou to be a bit more defensive than attacking. And let’s be frank, that guy does defend well, he is big, strong and can hold of players. Compared to the Patrick Viera, he does fill in for Song when required. But his natural play is attacking, I mean if you notice him in the Blackburn and Blackpool games, he did make a significant amount of runs forward. So why not play him, not in the holding role but just a bit in front of Alex and behind Cesc. In this role, both his attributes are satisfied. It is something like the Bastian Schweinsteiger or the Sami Khedira role in the German team. Those 2 played the holding role along with each other, but occasionally bombarded forward alternatively. This exact tactic can be used by the team when starting a match. When each player is suited to his role perfectly then only can his efficiency increase and he can be completely utilised.

Now, just to be clear the formation we usually use i.e the 4-3-3 formation is very very similar to mine, but in this formation Diaby tends to partner Cesc more. In my opinion he should definitely partner the Spaniard, but  much less, and at the same time he should not be Songs new pal…otherwise we may have something like Liverpool, and one can see the state of that club. In this way, the counter-attack threat and chance of conceding are both reduced, and more cover is provided for the back-four. If the formation of the German team is adopted then we will just be unstoppable. The reason I am writing about tactics is because in the last game against Blackburn, I noticed that the goal we conceded was because there was a huge gap in the midfield, in front of the back four. Also, most of the back-four were high up the pitch (except Kosher and Gael). Even last season, we fell victim to the counterattack twice in 2 weeks. If we stand firm at the back, we shall concede less. That is the secret of a good defense and a confident team- To not concede.

A 2-0 win against a top-team, in my opinion is better than a 3-1 win. Because, that shows reluctance, stubbornness and firmness – NOT TO CONCEDE….the same-thing Inter Milan had last season in the champions League. In fantastical words, ” The Defence is a Fortress, it should never be breached “. If we get this mentality, Arsenal will be unstoppable. And as you know, our attack will always do their job…so no use talking about them (+7 goal difference is a result of their work, and it is impressive !).

Written by Football Talk.

The 3rd round of the 2010 Carling Cup was drawn this lunch-time and there is no doubt about the tie of the round; Tottenham face Arsenal at White Hart lane.

Other ties include Chelsea facing Newcastle united at Stamford Bridge, Scunthorpe face Manchester United and Liverpool play northampton at Anfield. But all eyes will be in North London when the great rivals go head-to-head.

With the close of the transfer window looming, newspapers are filling their back pages with transfer stories to get the fans excited. Managers are expected to be making some last ditch moves to strengthen their squads in the coming days so here is a round up of the latest transfer gossip doing the rounds.

Gunner’s defender deal delayed

Sebastien Squillaci has apparently flown back to Spain after undergoing his medical at the Emirates….don’t worry Gunners fans, he’s only gone back to tie up a few loose ends before completing his move to Arsenal. Squillaci will not be signed in time to make the trip to Ewood Park to face Blackburn on Saturday, with an official announcement not expected until Sunday at the earliest. The fee is in the region of £6m and some reports claim he will wear the number 18 shirt.

Spurs to miss out on Parker

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has said that although he remains interested in signing Scott Parker, a deal seems unlikely as the Hammers are refusing to do business according to the Guardian.

Spurs had a bid in the region of £8m rejected by West Ham earlier this month and when asked if he was still tracking the 29-year-old, Redknapp said:

“I am saying nothing. I don’t think anything is going to happen with Scott Parker. They don’t want to sell him so …”

Lassana Diarra is also a player on Redknapp’s radar but his wages may prove to be a sticking point.

United weighing up Defour move

Manchester United are considering making a late move for long-term target Steven Defour, according to Sky Sports News. Sir Alex Ferguson has tracked the Standard Liege midfielder for well over a year and even send him a letter of support when Defour suffered a serious foot injury.

Defour has been linked with several clubs across Europe but United are confident they can lure him to Old Trafford and sources at Sky Sports claim they are considering a late bid in order to secure his signature.

Liverpool make Konchesky move

Liverpool have contacted Fulham about the availability of left-back Paul Konchesky, manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed. Speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League tie against Trabzonspor, Hodgson said:

“We had discussions with Fulham about whether they were prepared to sell any of their players,” said Hodgson.

“I’d be lying if I said Paul was not a name we considered,”

“Whether or not there is a chance of business is very much up in the air,” added Hodgson.

Chelsea set to miss out on Argentine

Chelsea have made a £10m offer for Bayern Munich defender Martin Demichelis but are set to lose out on his signature as the player wants to join Sevilla, according to the Daily Mail.

The Argentine is currently at loggerheads with Bayern over a contract extension and apparently club sources claim Chelsea have made their move. As well as Sevilla, Juventus are also keen on the 29-year-old.

**remember these are only rumours and should be taken with a pinch of salt. these stories are taken from several newspapers and were not created by this website – Football-Talk.co.uk**

Written by Guest Blog : armourysquare

So it has been confirmed that Bill has gone to the Spuds. In his 4 year tenure here at the Emirates I have to admit I did see him as an influential player in the team. Lets look at the what he did for the club.

Among the highlights, he scored a vital goal against Chelsea and made us win one derby. Sometimes, he put in a cracker of a defensive performance, which frankly is worth applauding. Now, to the point. When Arsenal fans hear that  a guy like RVP will leave the club or Cesc shall be leaving , then a cloud of doubt begins to rise in their minds. Whether we can win a title this season or not ? Now, William Gallas has left the club, but I don’t think Gooners around the world will get the same feeling. Its not that we didn’t respect the man as a player, but the fact that he screwed up the morale of players in the dressing room, made public comments criticising the team, began questioning the team, was what pissed us off. ( I mean that is what we do, when the team plays badly ).

Now lets take a few incidents in which Gallas really pissed me off. Last season, in the mauling we got against Man Utd, he played behind the front 2 strikers more often rather than in the heart of the defence, as a result of which, we got the 3rd goal by Park – ‘a fantastic counter-attack.’You know as a matter of fact, he did the same-thing for France, and look what where that got them. In February 2008, he sat down on the pitch after Gael gave a penalty away against Birmingham and cried. And 8 months later, this is what he said :

“We are not brave enough in battle. I think we need to be soldiers. To be champions, you have to play big matches every weekend and fight,”

“We are coming up against teams who are not scared to play football against us, who are not scared to take us on at our place, and this is becoming dangerous for Arsenal.

“We have to be warriors. That is how the team will forge their character and experience.”

You know, the above comments from him would have been useful to pep-up a squad, but why was it seen as disturbance. Well, actually its quite simple. The answer is that the man had no idea of timing, no idea when to say what and when to do what. Consider Birmingham in February of 2008. The same day Dudu got that sick tackle. After Gael gave the penalty away, why did he have to sit down and weep ? That day our title challenge ended. The same fixture, same place, 2 years later, we drew…and guess what, our title ‘coincidently’ ended, but did you see any Arsenal player on the pitch, depressed?

Yeah, I am sure whatever the team had to feel or do was sorted out in the dressing room, but not in front of millions of people watching. Why ? Because that would disturb the confidence of the team, and it could get screwed. If the captain of your club reacts in that way, then would you expect the young players of the team to emanate confidence. Moreover, because of that, we did get screwed at the end of the 2007-2008 season…

Later, he was pictured smoking after coming out of a night club and at this point of time he ticked off the boss.

Wenger told the club’s Friday news conference. “I didn’t see the picture but I don’t like that.

“He does have a bigger responsibility as captain and I believe that is completely true. It is a public job with a public responsibility and therefore it is for everybody exactly the same.

Thus young Cesc Fabregas on 24th November became Arsenal captain, succeeding William Gallas. Now, lets not forget that Bill did play brilliantly on some occasions, but frankly, his cons outweigh his pros….( and we both know it )

Lastly, he moved to the Spuds, I mean why would you move to a team like that? Was he high on meth, or just goddamn desperate, or better did he think he was going to win a trophy with them? That answers to those questions I will never know, and frankly I’m not bothered.

Best of luck to you Bill. Really appreciate whatever you did for the club. Hope you find peace in a place which resembles a morgue. We wait for your arrival at the Emirates on 21st November 2010, and here’s a free-tip from an Arsenal fan  - “Get a pair of earphones, will you?”

***Thanks to armourysquare for submitting this article. Please be aware these are the views of the guest contributor and not those of Football-talk.co.uk***

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Sebastien Squillaci after Sevilla announced on their website that the defender was due to arrive in London today to undergo a medical.

The statement confirms that a deal has been struck and Squillaci will be an Arsenal player as long as he passes a medical. Media reports in Spain are suggesting the fee is in the region of £5.3m and a 3-year contract has been agreed.

Here is a translation of the statement on Sevilla’s website:

Defender Sebastien Squillaci in the night travel to London today in order to pass Monday a medical with Arsenal, the club they will be traded after the agreement reached by both clubs, which is at the expense of those physical evidence.

Squillaci argued last Wednesday, not feeling well from the standpoint of mind for not playing the first leg of the qualifying round of play offs against Sporting Braga at the tempo that Arsenal made an offer to Seville for the player. Sevilla FC Squillaci came two seasons ago, from Olympique Lyon.

I have to admit that i haven’t seen much of Squallici and the games i have seen him in, he hasn’t stood out but if Wenger is willing to give him a 3-year deal at the age of 30 then he must be decent. Either way, it looks odds-on that Arsenal will have another CB in their ranks within the coming days and Squillaci will provide welcome competition to Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou.

Just a GK and we’re set. Although i wouldn’t rule out a surprise midfield move by Wenger either! After the Emirates Cup Arsene claimed he was considering signing a central midfielder but the form of Frimpong had changed him mind. Now Frimpong is out for the season, perhaps Arsene will snap-up a central midfielder as well before deadline day.

Written by Basil James.

As the league moves into its second week, Arsenal has been kicked in the crotch by a familiar nemesis- injuries. The latest players to find a place on the surgeon’s table has been two midfielders who could potentially have played a huge role in this season’s campaign- Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Frimpong.

Samir Nasri has been Arsenal’s linchpin in midfield for the past two seasons, scoring and setting up goals as well as helping out in the defence. Nasri’s importance to the Arsenal squad cannot be overstated, despite the Frenchman’s tendency to be slightly on the inconsistent side. Nasri is an anchor in the midfield that allows players like Fabregas and Arshavin to display their creativity and go forward relentlessly.

Nasri is scheduled to be out for a month with a knee problem. The Arsenal squad already nurses a few injuries and the Nasri situation further quagmires the Gunners. Nasri underwent a knee surgery following a meniscal injury and will be out of action for at least a month.

Meanwhile, the young Emmanuel Frimpong is set to miss up to nine months following a ligament rupture in his knee. The 18 year old midfielder damaged his cruciate ligament on Wednesday and is expected to miss most of the current season. Frimpong had a major presence in Arsenal’s pre-season games though he did not make the cut to face Liverpool in Arsenal’s first league match last week.

Frimpong suffered the injury in a reserves’ game in Dublin, where the team is competing in a tournament. The highly rated youngster was born in Ghana but has represented England in various youth levels. The defensive midfielder would have served as a quite good cover for Alex Song, who too is injured. Song is expected to be fit for the game against Blackpool though question marks do linger about his fitness.

Arsenal desperately missed Fabregas in the match against Liverpool and would be given a huge boost if Robin van Persie too did not start, though he came on as a late substitute for Diaby.

The Arsenal squad is in a slight disarray due to injuries and Wenger is once again unable to assemble a full strength squad in a premier league match. After the draw in the first match, Arsenal desperately need to rain on the Blackpool parade if they are to put some pressure on the traditional rivals Chelsea and United, who coasted to easy victories last week.

Let us hope the Gunners fire on all cylinders.

Written by Sean Oakes.

Arsene Wengers search for a new centre back and goalkeeper looks certain to continue after Fulham turned down Arsenals latest move for the Australian stopper. Mark Hughes is keen to keep Schwarzer at Craven Cottage and with Manchester City announcing that they would not sell Shay Given to Arsenal.

It now seems as though the Arsenal boss will turn his attention to Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.Ajax have already said that with their financial troubles Stekelenburg along with Gregory van der Weil and Luis Suarez could well be sold.

Talks about Arsenal signing Sebastien Squillaci are a long way wide of the mark.Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that the French international is beig watched by the Gunners but that is as far as it has gone.

A centre back is needed at the Emirates but my money would be on a move for Germany and stuttgart centre back Serdar Tasci.Tasci has already issued a come and get me plea to Arsenal and it seems as though Arsene Wenger is waiting to take the young German at a cheaper price nearer to the end of the transfer window….

Written by Minal Vachheta

Arsenal’s ex- central defender William Gallas is close to making his move to Tottenham Hotspurs. Gallas left Chelsea four years ago to join Arsenal, this gained a lot of attention seeing as both teams are London rivals.

Gallas is now making the headlines once again by considering a move to Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham. He was the Arsenal captain after Thierry Henry left for Barcelona; the 33 year old has agreed a one year deal which will be sealed once he has passed a medical.

William left the Arsenal camp in the summer when his contract ran out after rejecting a pay cut and a shorter contract, but has now accepted a one year contract with a lower salary than he received with the Gunners. Admittedly he would have had to have fought for the first team spot with the new signing of Koscielny, but what was the point of fighting of demanding more at Arsenal then going on to settling for less at Tottenham?

Gallas is a very temperamental player, he had his fair share of strops on the pitch during and after games, which was often frowned upon by the manager and the fans. This left him in a sort of 50/50 position with the fan base, not all fans here huge lovers of him but others thought he was brilliant.

It is likely Gallas will be playing at White Hart Lane sooner rather than later. The rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham fans is known throughout the Premier league, the clubs are strong north London rivals, this move is bound to illicit a strong reaction among many fans. Especially seeing as he has already played for Chelsea too. The question that remains to be answered is; is there any stadium in London where Gallas won’t be booed off the pitch?

Are Tottenham fans going to accept a former Gooner captain?

Is Gallas’ move to Tottenham a brave or reckless one?

Written by Premiership Tips.

Arsenal v Blackpool

Arsenal made a slow start in their season opener at Liverpool; fortunate to come away with a point at 10 man Liverpool. Without Cesc Fabregas they lacked invention, until the late arrival of Tomas Rosicky. Even then, Liverpool’s closing down and positional discipline saw Arsenal have limited chances. But for a Jose Reina howler, Arsenal would be entering this game without a point. Blackpool caused a big shock when they beat Wigan Athletic 4-0 on the opening day. In truth, Wigan were woeful that day and I still believe Blackpool will be heading for the drop this season. Defensively they weren’t tested by Wigan. Arsenal, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie, to name just a few, have too much quality for this Blackpool side and should undo their defence at ease. Anything but a big victory for the Gunners on Saturday will be classed as a disappointment to sections of the Arsenal support. I am confident they won’t disappoint and will beat Blackpool by 2 goals or more.

Wigan Athletic vs Chelsea

Chelsea won the Premier League title for the third time on the final day of last season, defeating Wigan 8-0. Didier Drogba scored his only hat trick of last season in that game and started this campaign with another hat trick against West Brom on Saturday. After his claims of playing at less than 100% for the past six seasons, Drogba looked as sharp as ever to start this season and would become the first player in Premier League history to score hat tricks in three consecutive games should he hit three past Chris Kirkland, who was hapless in conceding two to Marlon Harewood last weekend. At 12/1, Didier Drogba is a good bet for a hat trick in this game. Ultimately though, it’s Chelsea who are going to be coming away from this fixture with the three points. The question is, how many will they score? The aggregate score of their last four Premier League games is a staggering 23-0. 8 of those came against Wigan. Playing a side who conceded 4 at home to Blackpool last weekend, it’s scary to think how many Chelsea will put past them if they don’t improve. Wigan were an unpredictable side last season and they did beat 10 man Chelsea in this fixture last season too. But there were too many mistakes from this Wigan side to think they can pull off a result this weekend. Chelsea are flying and will be looking for another crushing victory to add more fear into their title rivals this season. A big victory is on the cards this weekend and I like the price of Chelsea winning this game by 2 or more.

Manchester City v Liverpool

Monday night football this week stays in Manchester. After Manchester United dismissed Newcastle 3-0 last time, it leaves this week’s two sides 2 points behind their title rivals. This will be a game neither manager will want to lose so early in the season. And for that reason, I expect both Roberto Mancini and Roy Hodgson to play very cautiously and potentially make for a dull affair on Monday night, despite the bags of talent between the two sides. Manchester City have new signings in Mario Balotelli and James Milner to introduce, while the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng are still settling in. I expect Hodgson to set his team up in a similar style as he did against Arsenal, by keeping most of his players behind the ball and not giving City players much time or space on the ball. There’s several players in Mancini’s side who will get frustrated by their failures to break Liverpool down, which could end up with Fernando Torres and/or David N’Gog having chances at the other end. With neither side wanting to lose this game, I think it will end that way. Good price for the draw.

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal’s search for a new GK and a new CB continues after having bids turned down for both Mark Schwarzer and Sebastien Squallaci yesterday.

Fulham seem to be playing hard-ball over Schwarzer which is understandable as they don’t want to lose one of their best players, but it baffles me how a transfer like this can drag on for so long. We are talking about £2-£4million here, it’s hardly going to break the bank for either club to meet in the middle.

The player has clearly stated he would like the opportunity to leave Fulham and join Arsenal to have a crack at Champions League football. Arsenal’s first bid was £2m which was rejected by the Cottagers, who are believed to have asked for at least £4m. Arsenal’s second offer was most likely around £2.5m – £2.75m. So lets just be sensible here and do a deal for around the £3.25m mark. I’m all for trying to get a good deal, but if it means getting Schwarzer in asap then pay the extra £500,000 and get the deal done for crying out loud!

Next is the interesting news that Sevilla have claimed Arsenal’s offer for defender Squillaci is ‘insufficient’ and that the player himself asked to be left out of their Champions League tie on Tuesday. Sevilla sporting director Ramon Rodriguez confirmed the news on Tuesday after the game:

“The player asked not to play because of the offer from such a big team but, for the moment, we believe the offer is insufficient and Squillaci is still a Sevilla player,” said Rodriguez

The La Liga outfit also posted on their website that:

“Sebastien Squillaci’s future is in the air.

“As was confirmed by sporting director Ramon Rodriguez at the airport in Porto, the club have received an offer from Arsenal.

“The player asked coaches not to play him in the match.”

I don’t know too much about Squillaci but if Arsene thinks he’s the man for the job then that’s good enough for me. Only time will tell if we can finally make a breakthrough in their search for a GK or CB but time is running out and with the way our midfielders are dropping, we may need to be adding a CM to the wish-list!

Written by Football talk.

Ex-Arsenal captain William Gallas is set to have a medical with Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, according to Sky Sports News.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has already confirmed him interest in bringing Gallas to White Hart Lane this summer but it now seems the deal have moved a step closer.

Gallas is available on a free transfer after leaving Arsenal at the end of last season after failing to agree a contract extension. The Gunners were sticking to their over 30’s policy by only offering the defender a one-year deal, while Gallas is looking for at least a two-year contract.

If Sky Sports reports are accurate, it may prove to be a controversial move for the 33-year-old France international. Although he was hardly held in Arsenal legendary status, the gunners faithful may still vent their anger at a former captain joining their bitter rivals.

It will also be interesting to see how the tottenham fans welcome Gallas should he make the move. Will they be happy to sign what may be seen as an Arsenal ‘reject’ or will they see this as getting one over their foes?

Written by Guest Blog : armourysquare

You know, it just is not fair that a club with such a stature as Arsenal has not won a trophy since the FA Cup in 2005. Since 2006, Arsenal have managed a mere top 4 finish. Lets not take away the fact that a top 4 finish in the Barclays Premier League is something which is seriously difficult to do, and is indeed worth applauding, but seriously as an Arsenal Fan is that what I would want to see? A team which plays “Beautiful Football,” which a neutral would love to watch deserves a bit more , don’t you think?

Now lets see what Arsene Wenger has done for the club. Yes, he gave the green light to build the massive 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium, knowing fully that the club would be restricted in the finance department in years to come. And quite frankly it did :

Lets take a look at the transfers Wenger has done in 2006 :

PLAYER       FROM          FEE
Song         Bastia       £1,000,000
Denilson     Sao Paulo    £3,400,000

PLAYER       TO            FEE
Cygan       Villareal         £2,000,000
Stokes       Sunderland   £2,000,000
Lauren      Portsmouth   £500,000
Larsson     Birmingham   £1,000,000
Muamba   Birmingham   £4,000,000
Aliadiere   Middlesbrough.   £1,500,000
Henry        Barcelona    £16,100,000

Now just consider this year. He has brought in players worth 4.4 ml pounds and let go of players worth 27.1 ml pounds. Now that is a massive difference of 22.7 ml pounds. So eventually he saved, season per season, slowly working his way through the debts of Arsenal and brought it to this stage.

In the forthcoming years, he let go Hleb, Flamini e.t.c (although these 2 wanted to leave ) and he brought in players like Sagna, Nasri, Arshavin, Eduardo e.t.c. What did he sacrifice, he sacrificed that thing which all Arsenal Fans want and desire most : T-R-O-P-H-I-E-S. By seeing neighbours Chelsea, rivals Manchester United year-after- year take away the competition of the Premier League, we fans probably feel depressed. Now it is true that Wenger has really acted like a miser these past few years (well we can’t blame him can we ? ), and we can’t do much about it. But this summer, after Mr Gazidis has stated :

“When I spoke to you last year we had about £120million of debt on Highbury Square and I remember a lot of the questions revolved around that and our property development activity,” he said.

“We have put a lot of focus behind that and I am pleased to announce that Highbury Square is now debt-free. So now every sale of an apartment at Highbury Square is generating profits for the Club that come back in and are available for reinvestment.

“The other thing that has happened has been Queensland Road on the south side of the Stadium. The affordable housing part of that development has been sold to a developer so we are entirely debt-free on the property side.

“It means that sales on the remaining property developments that we have in and around the south side of the stadium will be pure profit to the Club that will come into the group and be available for use.”

More – over he has also stated, as it is in Arsenal.com :

“We’re now coming to a period, with Highbury Square coming to its completion and some of our other property developments bearing fruit, where the financial health of the Club is secure,” explained the Chief Executive.

“That does not mean we have unlimited resources, but it does mean we have sufficient funds to invest. As always we’ll only do this on our timescale, on the basis of our manager’s assessments and not those of the media.

“We have the youngest squad in the Premier League and we need to translate that potential into results. To the extent that the manager thinks it’s necessary, we will use our resources to supplement the squad intelligently so that we can take that vital step forward.

“For the most part we’re now in the healthy position that almost all of our young players are under long-term contracts and their futures are secure, as well as their possible transfer values being protected. One or two players are coming to the end of their contracts – William Gallas, for example.

“Whatever happens, Arsène has identified the fact that the defence has been an issue for us this year, so it’s not difficult to imagine that that’s an area we’re focused on in this transfer window.”

Now Mr. Gazidis, has actually stated that Arsene Wenger admits that the defence is an issue to be looked into. So my simple question to him is, why has he not strengthened the defence? It is really sad to see that we are just a few players away from a Treble-winning team. And no, I am not exaggerating! Lets face it, we have a superb attack, with the new addition of Chamakh, and the original quality of Robin Van Persie. Our midfield is of a high stature and quality – Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song e.t.c  And even our defense is strong, provided all our players are fit. But simple, they are not, they just can’t always be fit! They are human-beings also, so it is not exactly logical that each of them shall be fit for every single match of the season.

Now many Arsenal fans shall say that there is nobody available in the market, who can improve the quality of our defence. But let me point out 2 things to you. Firstly, the reason nobody is there in the market is that Arsenal are too slow to react to transfer situations. I mean, take our own Koscielny for example. His transfer was known to us well before it was completed, yet it took the club over a month to sign him. Consider if Koscielny got injured after Joe Cole tackled him, then we would be back to square 1, wouldn’t we? Secondly, the defence as a whole includes the goalkeeper, are you telling me that there is nobody in the world who can improve the quality of the current stock of ‘keepers’ we have?

You know, I ask you readers to consider something. Why am I writing this article? I could be better off playing some video-game, watching sportscentre, improving my knowledge about other stuff. But why am I writing this article? Simply, because I am sad that a club with so much potential, quality, sound financial planning and ethics does not win a single – damn trophy because of some simple, basic decisions.

I had read in an article that Mesut Ozil is linked with Arsenal, before the World Cup. Why couldn’t Wenger sign him? Today as of now, Samir Nasri is injured, he is out for a month with a knee-problem. Honestly would Ozil not be a good-option? After reports and reports coming everyday that Werder Bremen are ready to sell Ozil, could the club not bid £17 ml pounds, even though they were asking for £15 to assure us this deal! We signed Arshavin for £17 ml, and that took over a month. By this time, he would be an Arsenal player, and we would not have a hole in the midfield. Also, he could persuade Mertersacker to come over to North-London. Frankly, I will never know this answer, and that will make me even more pissed off at the club.

So, basically what I want to propose is that the club should come out and answer to the fans, what is its target. Every year you will hear either Gazidis or Wenger say that we want to win Trophies. But they never do, that is their target, but they never achieve it. On the other hand, to reduce the debt is also a target, and that is achieved. The latter is in no way a bad -thing. But for 5 years we have been reducing our debt, at least now let us spend on some quality players, especially in the goalie zone, and then again ’start the curtailing our finance process.’ This way, all of us are happy. Its not that the club by spending £10-22 ml pounds more shall take a step backwards.

I got this article from uk.reuters.com, look at what it stated about our club debt, on February 26th, 2010 :

The club said on Friday pretax profit rose to 35.2 million pounds ($54 million) in the six months to November 30 from 24.5 million a year ago, boosted by proceeds from apartment sales at its Highbury Square development, where the club’s previous stadium was situated.

The club said the sale of 261 apartments during the period generated revenue of 96.6 million. 524 of the 655 apartments on the site have now been sold and the proceeds from the sales has been used to pay down debt, it added.

Arsenal said it cut its total net debt from 332.8 million pounds a year ago to 203.6 million pounds.

Arsenal said revenues in its football business also rose to 100.2 million pounds from 98.4 million on higher UEFA Champions League broadcasting payments.

The club said it would consider investing future surplus cash in club projects and infrastructure both in and around the Emirates Stadium.

Everything is in order, but then it isn’t. Every thing seems right, but they are not . Why ? If life was so simple, we would be leagues ahead of our rivals, but Wenger should understand that life is not that simple. Winning the league, he says is his priority, but honestly, you tell me has he taken any “great step” towards this so called objective. I completely respect that man, and sometimes out of pity, that he does not win anything I feel sorry and think he should resign. But he deserves something, at least 1 trophy. Sadly the limiting factor is “Arsene Wengers ego”, and until he takes care of it, it shall affect Gooners all around the globe….how much we beg, how much we shout , that man calls the cards, we can just talk…….just talk.

I shall end my article with  ”In Arsene we Trust”, but I ask you, do you think I mean it…do I actually mean it ?

***Thanks to armourysquare for submitting this article. Please be aware these are the views of the guest contributor and not those of Football-talk.co.uk***

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/7208/arsenal/feed/ 12 http://football-talk.co.uk/7221/french-media-arsenal-talks-french-international/ http://football-talk.co.uk/7221/french-media-arsenal-talks-french-international/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:43:01 +0000 Fab4 http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=7221 More >]]>

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal are believed to be in talks with Sevilla over the transfer of defender Sebastien Squillaci, according to French source Canal+. Young Guns also picked up on the story and suggest that should the transfer go through, Havard Nordveit will be made available for loan.

Squillaci was left out of the Sevilla squad for last night’s Champions League tie with Sporting Braga, adding fuel to the fire that Arsenal are set to sign the Frenchman.

Don’t know about you, but i can believe this one. We all know Arsene Wenger loves nothing more than to sign a French player! The report doesn’t state how much the proposed deal is worth, but it’s safe to say Arsene wont be breaking the bank.

I’m not sure whether Young Guns are correct in saying Nordveit will be loaned out if the deal goes through, but i would be disappointed to see it happen. He has looked decent in pre-season and can offer us cover at centre-back, right-back and defensive midfield. I hope Arsene keeps hold of him and gives him a run out in the cups as well.

Written by Fab4.

Manuel Almunia has claimed he would seek talks with Arsene Wenger about his future should Arsenal bring in a new No.1 this summer. Really Manu…..is that a promise?!

Everyone knows Arsenal need a reliable goalkeeper and despite what some Gooners think, Arsene Wenger knows this fact more than anyone. The problem is Arsene can’t break the habit of a life-time and push the boat out to sign someone, he always wants to get the very best deal possible and will wait until deadline day to make his move.

Now while you may say “what’s wrong with that?”, but it becomes a problem when we’re stuck with a player who is low on confidence as he knows his days at the club are numbered and we have to play important premier league games with an unreliable stopper.

Either Schwarzer or Given would be a huge improvement on our current crop, but given the fact Arsene has already stated his reluctance to deal with Man City (and the fact Schwarzer would be cheaper!), i think the most realistic choice will be the 37-year-old Aussie. Either way, i think you’ll see Almunia move on deadline day, most likely back to Spain with Arsenal snapping up Schwarzer for around £3m. Fabianski will then be back-up once more. (lets hope Schwarzer can stay fit!!!)

My only question is….WHY WAIT?!?!? We could easily get around £2-3m for Almunia so it’s not like we would be out of pocket, so just get the deal’s done this week Arsene.

Now i have no inside knowledge here, it’s just my opinion that Arsene will sell Almunia and sign Schwarzer. I have nothing against Manu, I’m sure he’s a great bloke and he is a decent keeper. The problem is he can’t handle the big games and is simply not up to being No.1 at a club like Arsenal.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen it already, here is what Almunia had to say:

“To be honest, it is so difficult to concentrate because Arsenal is a big club and speculation is always in the news and everywhere,” he said.

“The only thing I can do is keep working because I have a contract here and I have to do what the manager wants from me.

“I have not spoken to him. If somebody comes in, I will have to talk about my future at Arsenal. That is it.”

“I cannot talk now, because the talking would be for nothing,” he continued.

“I have to work and if one day I am not good for Arsenal, I will talk. That is no problem. I am very happy here.

“The only news I have is from third parties — people at the training ground. When I go out and when I come back from training, I switch off.

“I try to live in a bubble and give all my attention to my wife. Every morning when I go out training, it is the time to think about football. But the rest of the day is the time to switch off.

“It is not easy, though. Every time you go out, people are around you who are football fans. But you have to be polite to everybody and smile.”

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/7173/bye-bye-almuniahello-schwarzer/feed/ 15 http://football-talk.co.uk/7142/title-keepers/ http://football-talk.co.uk/7142/title-keepers/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:16:00 +0000 Sean Oakes http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=7142 More >]]>

Written by Sean Oakes.

Although i hate to say it but watching through pre season and another horror by Manual Almunia against Liverpool i am tending to agree with The Merse on this one.

The current set of keepers at The Arsenal are simply not good enough for a whole campaign. When you look back at Arsenals recent title winners they all had very good keepers such as Bob Wilson, John Lukic, David Seamen and Jens Lehmann! Almunia is a second choice keeper at best and the other three are to young and experienced to do the job.

I do understand however that buying a top quality goalkeeper is not like buying a Mars Bar from your local shop as there are not that many around at the moment. But as luck would have it maybe the sun has decided to shine on Arsenal for once. Shay Given is almost certain to want out of Middle Eastlands after being snubbed for Joe Hart in Saturdays game at White Hart Lane. Hart put in a fantastic performance and basically claimed the #1 shirt at City.

Given who is now 34 years old has not won anything in his career and is desperate to get his hands on some silverware before his career ends. A move to Arsenal would be ideal for two of the three parties! The only sticking point would be his parent club Manchester City. Would they really sell to Arsenal? I am not sure but if Given wants this move then I’m sure he could force it through!

So come on Mr Wenger get Given and end the long wait for a trophy at The Emirates..

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal grabbed a point at Anfield after Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina spilled into his own net under pressure form Marouanne Chamakh with only minutes remaining, as both sides ended the game with 10 men.

It was a familiar game that all Arsenal fans have seem a million times over the last few years. Plenty of possession, no cutting edge in the final third and dodgy goalkeeping.

Match report

The first chance of the match fell to Thomas Vermaelen who fired in a powerful long-range free-kick which Reina did well to palm behind for a corner.

It took Liverpool until the 15th minute to cause the Gunners defence any real trouble when Johnsen’s cross almost found Joe Cole in the area. Arsenal were taking charge of the first half and having the lion’s shares of possession but few clear-cut chances were being made.

The nearest the Gunners came was when Nasri played in Eboue but Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard got back to intercept before the Ivorian could get his shot away.

Nasri was seeing a lot of the ball and sent a couple of free-kicks straight at the Liverpool wall. The home side were struggling to create and lone striker Ngog found himself off-side on more than one occasion.

Liverpool finished the half the stronger and debutant Jovanovic found some space in the Arsenal area but blasted his shot high and wide from a tight angle. Shortly after Glen Johnson drew a decent save from Almunia and from the resulting corner Ngog saw his goal-bound header cleared off the line by Clichy.

Then came the first moment of controversy in the match when Joe Cole got a straight red card for a late challenge on Koscielny. My view of the tackle was reckless but without intent, but watching it at normal speed i can understand why the ref had to give Cole a red. Harsh but fair.

Whatever Roy Hodgson said during his half-time team talk paid dividends within minutes of the restart as the home side took the lead. Arsenal tried to play their way out from the edge of their own area but Wilshere failed to gather Arshavin’s pass and Mascherano seized on the mistake and played in Ngog who smashed home from a tight angle. Almunia managed to get his finger tips on it but many will question the keeper as he really shouldn’t have been beaten on his near post from that angle.

Skrtel almost made it two after Almunia completely missed a Gerrard in-swinging free-kick but the Reds defender glanced his header wide. Despite the man advantage Arsenal were struggling to create and Walcott and Rosicky were brought on for Eboue and Wilshre.

Walcott almost made an immediate impact but Reina did well to tip his free-kick round the post. Liverpool brought on Torres for the tired Ngog and the Spanish striker almost burst away from Koscielny but the defender did well to out-muscle the forward and clear the danger.

Rosicky then drew a great save from Reina after some good work on the edge of the area, the Czech midfielder’s effort was tipped over for a corner. Arsenal were getting closer to the equalizer and substitute Van Persie did well to keep the ball alive but his headed cut-back didn’t fall for Walcott with the goal gaping.

With 5 minutes of injury time announced Arsenal pushed for the equalizing goal and finally found it through an unlikely source. The usually reliable Reina failed to deal with a Rosicky cross and under pressure from Chamakh, the Spaniard dropped the ball into his own net.

That wasn’t the last moment of drama as with seconds left, Koscielny was sent off for a second yellow card. The defender was adjudged to have committed intentional handball despite the ball striking him from close range. A very harsh decision considering the foul was committed on the half way line, and Ngog had committed an even more blatant case of deliberate handball during the second half right in front of the assistant referee but no yellow was produced.

Conclusions from the game

- Almunia is clearly not up to it. The goal was not THAT bad, it was a great shot from Ngog, but his positioning has to be questioned. Came and missed at least three crosses.

- Why would Arsene pick Almunia when he has made it clear he doesn’t trust him anymore and he has no future at the club? The Spanish waiter was hardly going to be in the right mind-frame for a big match.

- Koscielny looked good. Very decent start from him and unlucky to be sent off. Only a one-game ban though.

- Arsenal still have the same old problem of over-playing at times and lacked urgency in the final third. Hopefully the return of RVP and Fabregas will go some way to solving this problem.

- New GK and CB asap please Arsene. We were lucky to get away with it at Anfield so lets stop messing around and bring in the players we need to make this squad title winners.

Arsenal Player Ratings

Almunia – 4 – All over the place at crosses and questionable positioning for the goal.

Clichy – 6.5 – Ok from Clichy, nothing spectacular.

Sagna – 6 – See above. Still hasn’t worked on his crosses.

Vermaelen – 8 – Commanding and powerful at the back. Hard to imagine the team without him. Captain material.

Koscielny – 7.5 - Great debut and handled himself very well. Unlucky to be sent off.

Diaby – 6 – Average stuff, held on to the ball for too long at times…..again!

Wilshere – 6 - Looked comfortable on the ball, lost concentration for the goal.

Nasri – 7.5 – Arsenal’s best attacking figure in the first half but faded in the second.

Eboue – 5 - Did very little.

Arshavin – 4 – Did less than Eboue. No Anfield heroics this time.

Chamakh – 6.5 – Worked hard and made his presence felt.

Subs:

Walcott – 5 – Tried his best but fell over a lot.

Van Persie – 5 – Looked hungry but little time to make an impact.

Rosicky – 6.5 - Did well but should maybe have scored when he danced through the Liverpool defence.

Video Highlights

Written by Football Talk.

Mesut ozil has disappointed a host of premier league clubs after expressing his desire to join Real Madrid. Ozil was one of the stars of this summers World Cup and was nominated for the Golden Ball after putting in some fine performances for Germany.

Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal have all been linked with the 21-year-old in recent weeks after it emerged Ozil only had one year left on his contract and had no intention of signing an extension.

A move to Old Trafford seemed on the cards after Sir Alex Ferguson was spotted at Craven Cottage two weeks ago watching Ozil play for Werder Bremen against Fulham and it was believed he had held talks with Bremen officials.

Real Madrid were the first club to table a bid but their £8m offer was rejected, but after learning of the Spanish giants interest Ozil has his heart set on a move to the Bernabeau.

“When you have such an opportunity like this, then you want to take it,” he said after his side’s 4-0 win over Ahlen in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.

“It is any footballer’s dream to play for the biggest teams in Europe.”

The attacking midfielder learned of Real’s offer while watching TV and has expressed his disappointment that his club failed to inform him of the bid.

“I was very sad about that,” he said.

“I have said that to (director of sport) Mr (Klaus) Allofs.”

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/7133/premiership-clubs-left-disappointed-ozil-seeks-madrid-move/feed/ 4 http://football-talk.co.uk/7105/letter-arsene-wenger/ http://football-talk.co.uk/7105/letter-arsene-wenger/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:06:47 +0000 armourysquare http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=7105 More >]]>

Written by guest blog armourysquare

Dear Mr. Wenger,

If chance ever provides me and you meeting together there is something I would wish to give you so badly, that my heart craves for. A nice hard sucker punch right on your face. You are manager of Arsenal Football Club and have been one of the most successful managers for this club. But personally, I really don’t think you give a damn for “our” club. Why? Well simply because you are the biggest liar on the planet and I applaud the way you can blatantly lie on T.V. This is what you said on 18th April, 2010.Go check it, its on Arsenal.com.

“I think we can overcome [Chelsea],” he said. “For a while we were not investing maybe because we had built the stadium but I think our financial situation is now becoming much stronger and we will be capable to buy the players we need to buy.”

“No we cannot [compete] on wages with Chelsea. That is simple. I believe what is not normal is not our wage bill but their wage bill because that should not be allowed.

“However they cannot all go to Chelsea, it is as simple as that. There are top players outside of the ones Chelsea want to buy who are good enough for us.”

The Barclays Premier League season has ended for about 3 months now. You promised you would “strengthen” the squad this summer. Lets take a look of what you have done:

1. You release 3 defenders – Sol Campbell, William Galls and Mikael Silvestre .

2. You get 1 – Laurient Koscielny.

3. We currently have 3 defenders, ( I am talking only about CB’s) – Thomas Vermaelen, Johann Djourou and Laurient Koscielny.

4. In general we require 5 defenders, but because you are such a miser, lets say we require 4.

So, according to maths, originally we have 6 ( including our latest summer signing ), but now we have : 6 – 3 = 3.

Let me spell this out for you ” T-H-R-E-E “, thus we require 1 more CB. But no, you will not buy because we don’t have finanaces, our stadium is too small to accomodate 1 more defender…”oh the horror.”

Also, I have noticed that the newspapers link everybody to our club. This is a request to them, the only way we will believe you is that if this french-man tells us that ” we are interested and lets see what happens”. So, please don’t report to us a host of players linked as it always gets our hopes up and when we end up not signing anyone we all get pissed-off.

Then there is the goal-keeper, our beloved shot-stopper. Yes, I know you love him and want to give the “dynamic-duo” chances, but give them chances in another club you manage. Yes, go to another club, pay Arsenal and sign these two guys and have all the fun you want. We are sick and tired of watching their “play” over and over on “Youtubes funniest football videos.”

You go on saying these 2 words “I believe”, but let me ask you something, what do you believe in? That our team, sorry let me correct myself…our defense is good enough to tackle attacks of upgraded Manchester City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spuds…you are probably dreaming…

You probably think that one day “when” you win a trophy for Arsenal, you will come and tell all the Arsenal fans and media, “look I was right and you all were wrong..”. But trust me that day will only come when the sun stops shining and the earth starts shining! The reason for our club not doing so well is simple – its your ego, you think you are always right. Guess what? You’re not. 47 pounds for 1 match ticket, so logically an Arsenal fan will spend (only for home-games) 19×47=893 pounds each season to watch “beautiful football”…wonderful.

Reports have recently emerged that Shay Given is ready to leave Manchester City….and yet I have not seen any transfer movement on our keeper issue. Are you telling me that you are willing to spend 2 ml pounds on Mark Schwarzer but can’t spend 4 ml more and get a better quality keeper in Shay Given? Lets have a look at what you said when you were asked about transfers..( your mortal enemy ! )

Speaking in his first pre-game press conference of the season, the Arsenal coach stressed that his only focus at the moment was selecting a goalkeeper from within his current squad for the opening game against Liverpool.

“No,” was the Frenchman’s simple response when it was put to him that bids could be placed for Given and Hart.

“No.No,” he continued when asked a second and third time, before stressing, “I just told you that transfers are my secondary worry; my only focus is to get the team ready to start on Sunday. We do not need to buy to play well on Sunday. We have quite a strong squad.

Look man, we all are scared about Liverpool. They have a good team, they have made good transfers. All you have done is that you have brought in another striker and a defender. You have not addressed the areas in which we were weak, then when we won’t win anything, you will probably say “next season we will contest, blah blah…”, and we will find an excuse to give ourselves as to why we did not win anything for the 6th year in a row. Success is equivalent to titles, not about building your team and showing “beautiful football” to the world. A top team is one which can do both- FC Barcelona, Manchester United etc but somehow I don’t see our names in that list…

Before I end my letter let me tell you something. I love my club, and I do not want to see it get beaten down so badly even though it is financially completely stable. My request to you is that, if you have any doubts that you will not be able to give us a trophy this year, please give in your resignation to the board. There is still time and a new manager can be appointed. We as Arsenal fans can never doubt what a man like you has done for the club so far as the debts are concerned. But at the end of the day, as fans, we want trophies, not balanced books. So please check yourself before you start managing this season, not only in your hands do you manage a top-class club but also in your hands rests the happiness of a million Gooners around the globe…

Regards,

DKD

***Thank you to armourysquare for providing this article. Let it be clear that these are the views of the guest writer and not Football-talk.co.uk***

Written by Fab4.

Arsene Wenger has committed his future to Arsenal after officially signing a 3-year contract extension, the club has announced this morning. Wenger is now tied to Arsenal until 2014 and has expressed his desire to win trophies as a contributing factor behind his decision.

Arsène Wenger told Arsenal.com: “My heart belongs to Arsenal and my desire is to see this team win silverware.

“My commitment and drive are as strong and fresh as ever.  Signing a new deal means that I can see this talented group of players reach their potential.  Trust me, they are ready to deliver.

“With my staff and players we are in front of an exciting challenge and we are looking forward to achieving much success.”

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood expressed him delight at Wenger extending his contract:

“We are thrilled that Arsène has signed an extension to his contract. He has masterfully transformed this football club over the last 14 years and the exciting and compelling football we play under his stewardship is admired the world over.
“Arsène is a very talented man and we believe the young, exciting team he has nurtured over the past five years will reward his and the fans’ patience with silverware.”

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/7106/official-arsene-wenger-extends-arsenal-contract/feed/ 1 http://football-talk.co.uk/7098/arsenal-20102011-preview/ http://football-talk.co.uk/7098/arsenal-20102011-preview/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:07:54 +0000 Minal Vachheta http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=7098 More >]]>

By Minal Vachheta

Arsenal finished the 2009/2010 season third in the league table, meaning they automatically qualified for the Champions League for the new season. This is a slight improvement on the previous season when they finished fourth, but is this enough?

Last season Arsenal scored 83 goals but conceded 41, this was a lot more than league winners Chelsea who only let in 32 and runners up Manchester United’s 28. It is safe to say the Arsenal defence wasn’t the strongest in the league. The gunners’ lack of defence also resulted in them throwing away vital points by losing nine games and drawing six. I don’t think any Arsenal fan will forget the Wigan Athletic game in a hurry where they were 2-0 up with ten minutes to go and ended up losing 3-2. Was this the game that summed up their season?

They began the season with three wins until Manchester United beat them 2-1 at Old Trafford, this knocked their confidence somewhat and resulted in them suffering a hammering at the hands of Manchester City. Important points were dropped throughout the season against teams like West Ham, Sunderland, Chelsea and Burnley. There was hope that things would improve in the second half of the campaign but these were soon dashed after a draw with Everton and repeated defeat with Manchester United. After a losing spell, the Gunners picked themselves up and started getting the wins they needed to maintain their challenge for the title. They looked very strong during this winning spell but soon all dreams of winning the league were destroyed after they lost three games in April, one defeat was to North London rivals Tottenham which had to have hurt the most.

So what does 2010/2011 hold?

Arsenal lost some first team players from during the summer break; Sol Campbell and William Gallas departed from the defence. Campbell proved to be a valuable asset at times during his second short spell at the club but both players were not 100% strong. Gallas wasn’t solid in his central role alongside Vermealan, it was time to pair Vermealan with someone who could stand by his side without slipping up.   Philippe Senderos made his way to Fulham and to be honest this was not a huge loss, Senderos proved more than once that he can be a liability in defence. It was sad to see Eduardo go after everything he has been through but the truth is that after his injury he never fully regained his flair. He has never been the same player since the awful Birmingham game which is etched in every Arsenal fans mind.

The future is looking bright with the signing of Laurent Koscielny the central defender who has already looked strong in pre season friendlies; although some of the score lines still raise questions regarding the effectiveness of said defence. Arsene has added more fire power to his strike force with the addition of Marouane Chamakh. He has already scored in the Emirates Cup on his home debut at the Emirates earlier this month. With the signing of Chamakh this should increase the supply of goals, which are going to be vital in the upcoming season. Only fifteen league goals were contributed by strikers last season, twenty five came from the midfield and seven came from the defender Vermealan making him the fifth top scorer for the season. The strikers are called so for a reason, their role is to get up front and put the ball into the back of the net; hopefully with Chamakh this will be the case.

The final point to be raised regarding transfers would be the whether or not Arsenal need to purchase a goal keeper. My answer to that is yes. Arsene needs to invest in an experienced and proven goalkeeper before the transfer window closes, preferably even before season starts. Manuel Almunia can be fantastic in goal; he has put in some admirable performances in the past and has on occasion made saves that have been out of this world. However on the flip side he has also made some of the worst blunders in the history of goalkeeping and cost them many vital points last season. The odd admirable save is not enough to realistically challenge for the title, Arsenal need a confident goalkeeper that is solid and will not repeatedly make silly mistakes. Lukasz Fabianski is young but has some experience; he has played games for Arsenal in various tournaments. He has the idea of what goalkeeping should be but like Almunia he cannot implement this. Fabianski has also made horrendous errors not only last season but in pre season games in recent weeks too. He can’t be trusted to be Arsenal’s no.1.

With goalkeepers that have so many slip ups, this doesn’t help the defence with their confidence. The defence will always be second guessing the goalkeeper because they know the he is not strong enough. If Arsenal invest in a reliable keeper who knows what he is doing, the defence will perform better because they will only be concentrating on their job rather than the goalkeepers too. A new keeper will undoubtedly enhance Arsenal’s strength considerably.

Arsenal go into the new season knowing that Cesc Fabregas is staying for at least another season. This is what the club wanted as Cesc plays a major role in the team as the captain. He is also at the heart of the midfield and also a major goal provider, losing him would have dented the team’s attack significantly.

If Arsenal strengthen their back five with a rock solid goal keeper and the team as a whole plays with the confidence and determination that we all know they are capable of then there is nothing stopping them from being in the title race with Chelsea and Manchester United. They need to keep consistency in their performances rather than have yo- yo results.

Written by Basil James.

We are almost there. Just a couple of days more and we would be immersing ourselves in the rough, tough, slam-bang, every team for itself action of the Barclay’s Premier League. As the fittest get ready to survive and the weak contemplate relegation, a former heavyweight is quite literally pondering its fitness woes. Its back to square one for Arsenal.

Arsenal will start the 2010-11 season without a full strength squad as quite a few of the key players are still on the surgeon’s table or in their beds waiting for old and new scars to heal. The key duo of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie are in grave doubt of starting the opening game at Anfield as the two World Cup finalists are still to prove their fitness. The importance of the two players at Arsenal cannot be stressed enough, the last season being a more than good example to prove the point.

Johann Djourou, who is nursing a hamstring injury and Nicklas Bendtner, who has a groin problem are definitely out of the match. Djourou is expected to take up to four weeks to be fully fit, a particularly delicate proposition for Arsenal. Arsenal have only three center backs at present in the team. Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny are expected to start against Liverpool, but with the sort of injury record the Gunners have, three center backs would never be enough. Add to that Koscielny’s inexperience and the situation is particularly dicey for Mr. Wenger and the club. Wenger’s attempts to lure a quality defender to Arsenal have failed so far, as has his search for a goalkeeper.

Even if van Persie is unable to start, Arsenal can take heart from the fact that in Marouane Chamakh they have an experienced and quality forward who has already played and scored for the club. Chamakh is slowly but surely proving his mettle at the club and is tipped to be one of the stand out performers for the club this season. On the other hand, if Captain Fab is to miss the clash against Liverpool, Wenger may have no choice but to unleash the young Jack Wilshere on to the pitch. Wilshere earned his first England cap against Hungary on Thursday and should be upbeat and confident if he is expected to start at Anfield.

What should be most disheartening for Wenger and Arsenal fans should be the club’s failure to sign a good goalkeeper before the season kicks off. That wish appears to have gone down the drain and we can only hope that Wenger gets someone before the window is shut tightly in our faces. Almunia is expected to start between the posts in what would be a familiar and all together not a comfortable sight for the Arsenal faithful.

Meanwhile Alex Song and Abou Diaby too are uncertain for the first match as Arsenal does appear to be rather short of options, especially in the midfield. Speculation is rife as to whether Wenger would throw in Emmanuel Frimpong to the mix to compensate for the absence of Song or whether he would stick with the more experienced Denilson. The Brazilian has not been exactly the favourite with Arsenal fans and this could be his season to shine and win a few hearts at stands.

Arsenal certainly does not appear to be fully equipped to mount a convincing title challenge this year, especially at the back. If injuries fade away soon, our attack force could be back to its best soon, especially if Fabregas and RVP can replicate their forms from last season. Arsenal would be well aware that a resurgent Liverpool would pose a stiff challenge, strengthened by a slew of signings they have made this transfer window. Arsenal will have to be at the top of their game if we are to get off to a winning start this season.

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal target Mark Schwarzer has spoken of his desire to leave Fulham and move to the Emirates this summer. The Gunners have been linked with Schwarzer heavily during this transfer window and had a £2m bid turned down several weeks ago.

Arsene Wenger was put off by Fulham’s £4m asking price but the 37-year-old goalkeeper has his heart set on the move and is due to hold talks with Mark Hughes when he returns from international duty with Australia. Schwarzer has even rescheduled his flight back to the UK from Slovenia to meet with Hughes and will make it clear he wants to move to Arsenal.

“I need it to happen,” Schwarzer told the Australian Daily Telegraph. “I’ve had a couple of chats with Mark. It’s delicately poised. Who wouldn’t be keen to go to Arsenal?

“At this stage in my career it’s an amazing opportunity to play at that level and one I really want to take. Only time will tell whether that happens or not.”

Despite his eagerness to join the Gunners, Schwarzer has denied he will refuse to play this weekend for Fulham against Bolton, but revealed he may miss the game through injury.

“I have never sat out a game [to prove a point] and never would,” Schwarzer said. “But it needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. I’m not sure whether I’ll play [for Fulham] on the weekend. I’ve got a few little injury problems but we’ll have to wait and see how I pull up when I return to London.”

So the ‘Schwarzer to Arsenal’ transfer gathers pace and it seems highly likely this one will go through shortly. So far, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-wood has confirmed a £2m bid was rejected so we know our interest is concrete, now the player himself has expressed his desire to join, plus the fact we are hardly talking about a huge transfer fee here….it’s £2-£4m, so a compromise at around £3m seems a sensible solution.

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/7077/schwarzer-arsenal-transfer-happen/feed/ 3 http://football-talk.co.uk/7054/arsenal-move-step-closer-signing-goalkeeper/ http://football-talk.co.uk/7054/arsenal-move-step-closer-signing-goalkeeper/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:57:29 +0000 Football Talk http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=7054 More >]]>

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal could be set to end their long-running search for a goalkeeper after Mark Schwarzer handed in a transfer request, according to the Sun.

The report claims Schwarzer has handed the request to new Fulham boss Mark Hughes in order to force a move to the Gunners, who had a £2m bid turned down for the Australian stopper before the World Cup.

However, Hughes isn’t prepared to let his No.1 go without a fight and will either turn down the request or demand £4m for Schwarzer’ services.

Although the Sun is hardly the most reliable of sources, it’s believable that Schwarzer would hand in a transfer request in order to play Champions League football for Arsenal. He is 37-years-old and could feel this is his last chance to play at the very top level.

He couldn’t be considered a long-term solution to our goalkeeping situation, but Schwarzer would be a decent stop-gap until Sczesny is ready to take over first team duties. I fully expect this transfer to go through before the window slams shut.

Written by Fab4.

Arsenal have been boosted in their search for a new No.1 as Manchester City’s Shay Given has revealed he will look for a move elsewhere if he doesn’t start against Tottenham this weekend, and the same goes for Joe Hart.

City are in the privileged position of having two outstanding goalkeepers to choose from, something Arsenal can only dream about, and both Given and Hart have been linked with a move to the Gunners in recent weeks as Arsene Wenger looks for a new goalkeeper.

Given was first choice at Eastlands last season but now faces stiff competition from Joe Hart who excelled while on loan at Birmingham last term. But 34-year-old Given has stated he wouldn’t be content with settling for a place on the subs bench, should Roberto Mancini opt for Hart on Saturday.

“Yeah, we’re both at a stage when we need to be playing football. If i don’t start then I’ll sit down with the club next week and see where my future is and maybe vice versa with Joe as we both feel we should be playing.

I’m 34 and I’m at a stage where i need to be playing, I’ll hopefully play on Saturday but whatever decision the manager makes I’ll respect that and maybe sit down with the club next week.

I hope it’s going to be me, but if it’s not we’ll see what happens.

A loan move could be an option for Given, should he lose his place to Hart this weekend:

He added: “Ideally I would like to stay at the club because it’s a big club and an ambitious club, with fantastic owners and I want to be part of that, that’s why I joined in the first place.

“Possibly, if I didn’t start, then there could be a loan and then I’d come back and see where that takes me.”

It’s interesting that Shay suggests he and Joe have talked about the situation and that whichever one is on the bench on Saturday will look for talks with the manager about their future. So it could be that either Hart or Given are available for transfer (or loan) this time next week. To be honest, i would take either Hart or Given so i don’t care too much who starts, but if one of them is available then Arsene should jump at the chance with both hands!

It’s about time Arsenal stopped having to worry about the troublesome goalkeeping position, which seems to have been a talking point for years now, and gets a reliable No.1 between the sticks.

Written by armourysquare.

I had felt that we are missing something for the upcoming season, that we have something unmarked or rather unchecked in our “Check List.” Then, suddenly it all “clicked” and I found the missing piece of the puzzle.

I do not know what has been wrong with Mr. Wenger this summer. We have sold 3 defenders and brought in only 1. After Saturday’s show against Legia Warsaw, I seriously think we require at least 1 more defender, and 1 more goalkeeper. But in this post, I am going to be talking about the latter.

You know, our defensive crisis, pertaining only to defenders can still be solved in the short-term. For instance, if Tommy V is injured, we can bring in players like Song to fill in and Diaby or Denilson can take up the CDM role. I am quite vocal about this approach, but it can still be done. But, what are we going to do about the entire goal-keeping issue? You know, when I look at Manchester City, I say that there is not much difference between Goalie choice #1 and Goalie choice # 2 (I mean Joe Hart and Shay Given are both in the same league of top-class goalies).

Now, when you look at Arsenal, we certainly have the same condition. After 15 rounds of intense fighting, Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski end up giving each other a double K.O. So, we can’t even decide who is worse……Its a TIE!

I didn’t realise something, almost 3 months have past since the season ended. Why have the club not bought a decent goal-keeper yet? A good goal-keeper can even pep-up the defence, thus increasing it’s confidence. We conceded 41 goals last season. Technically speaking, each game we concede at least 1.08 goals per match. Now, I am not saying all these goals are the keepers fault, but they are  to blame for many.

I mean, look at Almunia against Manchester United, both at Old Trafford and the Emirates. He screwed up by giving away the penalty against Rooney, and he put the ball into his own net after Nani ripped through majority of our defence. Look at him in the Champions League against Barcelona. In the 1st half, he was on steroids….but in the second half, he decided to be his own self-again…charging to early, getting caught in no-mans land and watching the ball chipped over his abnormally large head….and it goes on. Recently,  in a crucial tie against Birmingham, in the dying minutes instead of catching the ball or punching it upwards, he put it into his own net…and that cost us badly in the title race.

His partner in crime, Robi….I mean “Flappy” is no different. FA cup semi-final against Chelsea, on his birthday, he charged early, giving Drogba enough time to “round-him” and give Chelsea the winning goal. Last season, against Porto, he gave the ball back, so that they could start and score against us, against Wigan, his flappers could not catch the ball, and we lost our lead. Against Blackburn he got thrown around here and there…we lost! Against Legia Warshaw, we concede the 2nd goal because of him. I mean it is a series of mistakes.

How much should you spend on decent goal-keeper? Igor Akinfeev has shown an interest to come to Arsenal. He is a top-class keeper, who has champions league experience-investing in him would not be a bad option. Mark Stekelenburg, for the Netherlands is also not a bad-choice. Infact, anybody who can seriously boost up the quality of our goalies will do. What do you think, should we stick to our old goalies, the “Dynamic-duo” or should the club invest in some new keepers? Feel free to post your comments.

Please Mr.Wenger, buy a keeper who can give us confidence and satisfy us that he is good enough to be the “Last Defender.” Because, in my opinion if we don’t change our keepers soon, we are probably going to contribute most of “Football’s Funniest Moments” on Youtube , in May 2011. And that, be it funny, is going to be very ‘painful’ and very ‘disturbing,’ to watch.

]]> http://football-talk.co.uk/6938/great-walls-arsenal/feed/ 11 http://football-talk.co.uk/6945/video-goals-arsenal-64-legia-warsaw/ http://football-talk.co.uk/6945/video-goals-arsenal-64-legia-warsaw/#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:33:31 +0000 Fab4 http://football-talk.co.uk/?p=6945 More >]]> Written by Fab4.

Arsenal beat Legia Warsaw 6-5 in their final pre-season friendly yesterday. As the scoreline suggests, it was a hugely entertaining game and it looked like Arsenal were on course for their first defeat of pre-season when they went 3-0 down after just 36 minutes. However, Chamakh pulled one back  before half-time to give the Gunners hope.

Arsenal were a different animal during the second half and an Emmanuel Eboue double pulled them level before a fine strike from Gibbs gave the Reds the lead for the first time in the match. Warsaw drew level once-more before substitute Jay Emmanuel-Thomas put Arsenal back in front, Nasri scored from a free-kick to make it 6-4 before poor defending from Arsenal let Legia score a fifth in injury-time.

Watch all the action below.

By Fab4.

Cesc Fabregas has ended speculation about his future after releasing a statement confirming he will be staying at Arsenal this season. The Gunners captain has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, with the Spanish champions having two bids turned down during the summer, but Fabregas returned to train with his team-mates yesterday and has now committed his immediate future to the Arsenal.

He tols sky spots news: ‘Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment,

‘I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me.

‘This was the club where I learned my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing.

‘There are not many players in the world who would not want to play for Barcelona.

‘I have had many conversations with Arsene Wenger both in person and over the phone over the last few months and although the content of those conversations will remain private, the conclusion is that Barcelona have had two formal offers rejected by Arsenal.

‘I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal’s perogative not to sell me.

‘I owe a lot to the club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal.

‘I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 per cent focused on playing for Arsenal.

‘I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about.

‘I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me.’

More to follow….

Written by armourysquare.

Alright,lets face it. Not many of us Arsenal fans have heard the name of Emir Spahic before he was linked to us. So,who is this new guy all of a sudden?

“Emir Spahic” is a Bosnian born Central defender, who currently plays for Ligue 1 side Montpellier HSC. He is a 29-year-old medium built, six foot tall player who happens to captain not only his club, but also his nation. Now, one would think that with such credentials, we will have a solid signing to bolster our “Unbreakable Defense.”

But on closer inspection it appears that Spahic has made a paltry 165 appearances in his entire career (which, if I may add, spans a decade). Now that averages out to roughly 18 games a season at low level Russian clubs. If you were to search for videos showing this man in action, the most notable one you would find is of him slapping a German, which hilarious in itself doesn’t do much for our defensive setup. I believe that “The Gaffer” has decided that the defensive setup will be as follows:(central-defenders)

1^st choice : Tommy-V

2^nd choice : Johan Djourou

3^rd choice : Laurient Koscielny

4^th choice : Alex Song

So in fact, all he is planning to do is, bring in a replacement for Arsenal Legend and Hall of Fame inductee-Mikael Silvestre.

Now is this enough ? I urge you, think twice over this? Should, a club that charges the highest amount in the league for its season tickets, not have greater ambitions than signing French rejects? As much as “The Gaffer” has done for the club, one cannot overlook the fact that if a player is not in his early twenties or does not play in the french league, he would not be signed.

Our managers shrewdness in the market is well know and often applauded with great signings such as Vermaelen, Arshavin and who can forget Anelka (bought for 500,000 pounds and sold for 22.5 million pounds 2yrs later), but I am of the opinion that this shrewdness has cost Arsenal far more than it has gained anything for the club. Why?

1) Cristiano Ronaldo was on the verge of signing with us before he signed with ManUtd and ”We missed him by a few million”

2) Arsenal refused to pay a few million more, that Atletico Madrid wanted for Fernando Torres before he signed for Liverpool.

3) Arsenal let Ashley Cole go for a mere £5000 a week raise.

Now these are but a few of Arsene’s transfer bloopers if you will, and I believe that Emir Spahić will soon be joining that list. Although I maybe proved wrong and I certainly hope for Arsenal’s sake that I am, but lets face facts people- Another season without a trophy and the loss of our best player will certainly mark the end of our era under Le boss. Do you think I am being a bit to harsh on the club and our probable new signing? Feel free to post your comments below. As far as I am concerned, I would be the happiest bloke on the planet if I am wrong, but lets face the facts- This season defines us, it certainly is “Make or Break” time for Arsenal Football Club.

Written by Basil James.

Less than a month remains for the transfer window to be shut tightly in our faces and Arsenal find themselves short of a few men. Promises of a new number 1 is still just that- a promise. The Gunners are ‘defenceless’ with only three center-backs available in the whole squad, definitely short of requirement in a the world’s most physically demanding league. Names continue to be associated with the club, only for rumours to be denied later by the parties concerned or for the players and clubs to have second thoughts.

Manuel Almunia was the number 1 last season largely because the second choice, Lukasz Fabianski was worse than the Spaniard. The knowledge that we need a new face between the posts is now so old that it is now classified along with the paleolithic age. Federico Marchetti has been the latest name linked to the club and all seemed set for the Italian to move to British shores until Cagliari, who currently employs Marchetti, surprised Arsenal and the goalkeeper by asking for an exorbitant £12.5 million. Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer too does not appear to be on his way to Ashburton Grove. As the search continues, time and options appear to be dwindling down for Wenger. As a new goalkeeper is a vital cog if the Gunners are to put in a mighty challenge for the title, one would have expected the club to make that acquisition a top priority and snap up a good shot stopper before August. As the window swings towards its sill, we are still short.

Unless Wenger has plans of making making Mannone or Szczesny the number 1 by the end of the season, Arsenal are seriously lagging behind schedule. Assuming that we can dig up a decent goalie by the second week of August, will that time be enough for the new recruit to gel with the squad and start thinking the Arsenal way? The new man would have to be vastly experienced and mature to dive into the league and hit the ground running. The season kicks of on August 15th and if we do not land someone by then would Almunia start our game against Liverpool?

Rumours are afloat about Emir Spahic (who?) joining to bolster the defence line up but now that too appears to be yet another red herring. Spahic’s club, Montpellier as well as Arsenal have denied that any moves have been made for the 29 year old defender. Spahic, at least on paper, would appear to be an excellent addition to the Arsenal squad. The Bosnian central defender captains his country and has 50 caps for his country. He played 34 games for Montpellier last season, scoring twice.

Montpellier themselves have said that they expect a huge transfer fee if the defender wants to move, even going on to say that Spahic is worth three times as much as Koscielny. Arsenal payed £12 million for Koscielny.

Arsenal appear to be getting nowhere in their attempts to land a goalkeeper and at least one central defender before this season, or at least the transfer window, ends. Arsenal desperately needs these players and the footballing world knows that. Arsenal may have to cough up some serious cash to land them in such a short space time. Let us hope Arsene knows.

Before the 2009/2010 football season finished speculation began as to whether or not certain  players would remain at their teams. Cesc Fabregas has been hitting the headlines all summer because of the uncertainty over his future. The 23-year-old central midfielder has been with Arsenal since he was 16 and is now the team captain but has been linked with a move to Barcelona repeatedly. Cesc has been a driving force in the Arsenal midfield and played a major role in the 09/10 campaign until he got injured in April.

Along with Fabregas, a lot of rumours have been thrown around regarding Fernando Torres and his future at Anfield. Liverpool did not have the strongest season and failed to qualify for the Champions League after finishing 7^th in the league. This resulted in Rafael Benitez being replaced by Fulham’s Roy Hodgson as manager. Torres joined Liverpool in July 2007 from Atletico but has been linked with a move to Chelsea or Manchester City this summer.

It was never a secret that one of the main things that drew Fernando to Liverpool was Rafael Benitez and now that he has gone, the rumour mill went into overdrive that he would not remain either especially considering there would be no Champions League football. However, Fernando has today publicly spoken and committed his future to the Reds for the foreseeable future. He is still recovering from the abductor injury he picked up during the world cup final against the Netherlands but says he is dedicated to the club and the fans and is looking forward to the challenges which the new season brings.

Fabregas is yet to publicly pledge his allegiance to either Arsenal or Barcelona. The rumours are still as strong as ever, Cesc has just returned to England and will face his Arsenal team-mates and fans today. Arsene Wenger has said it is up to Cesc himself to end all the speculation and decide what he wants to do. Is it not time that Cesc follows his fellow Spanish colleague Torres’ example and ends all this uncertainty once and for all?

Is it right that Cesc has let this go on for so long? Is it fair that he has put Arsenal fans and the club through so much indecision?