LONDON – ARSENAL captain Cesc Fabregas has brushed off recent speculation linking him with a move back to Spain, saying he is determined to play a role in the Gunners’ future successes.

Reports from Spain last week said Real Madrid and European champions Barcelona will battle to sign Fabregas at the end of the season.

However the Spaniard has reiterated his commitment to the Gunners and says he is fully behind the long-term strategy put in place by French manager Arsene Wenger.

‘I am so happy here,’ Fabregas told the Daily Mail. ‘And I want to continue to be part of what is happening here. Definitely. If not I would have left when I had the opportunity, three years ago, two years ago or last year.

‘I believe in this team and I feel we can achieve things. The boss believes in us more than anyone, and I feel I am part of it. He makes me see that as well. And I don’t want to fail here.’ Arsenal welcome league leaders Chelsea to the Emirates stadium on Sunday, where a win for Carlo Ancelotti’s side would move them 11 points clear of the Gunners.

Arsenal have been ravaged by injuries in recent weeks and Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran Gibbs and Abou Diaby will all miss the weekend clash. — AFP

Source: Straits Times, 2009

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Arsène held his usual pre-game press conference today ahead of our Champions League tie against Standard Liege on Tuesday night. The initial news from the press conference was on the player availability, it will be the same group of players who faced Sunderland with the addition of Kieran Gibbs who has surprised Arsène with the speed of his return. I think it is also good that Gallas did not pick up an injury despite limping for some of the game on Saturday. Arsène also talked about some longer term injuries; Bendtner and van Persie are both “some time away”, Gael Clichy is 2-3 weeks, he then said “have I forgotten somebody” only to be reminded of Abou Diaby who has 3 weeks out due to another calf injury.

I would expect some rotation to take place, Gibbs is likely to get the nod ahead of Traore and perhaps Senderos will join Vermaelen and Eboue in a back four. I suspect Theo might get the nod to start, perhaps through the middle. Attacking wise though it is very hard to predict who might start given the wealth of options in the team.

The mood in the squad is one of disappointment following the defeat at Sunderland, however a win would not only turn this round but also help us finish top of the group. Which should be what the players are focussed on at this juncture, Sunday can be thought about from Wednesday. We need to be focussed against Liege, they scored 2 quick goals in the away tie and a repeat of which is something which I don’t want to even comprehend.

Arsène said a top of the group finish would feel like a job well done, and despite only needing a point from the next two games to qualify there is no temptation to be defensive. I suspect this might be linked to the fact the team don’t understand such a concept, as enjoying as flowing attacking football is to watch it does not help calm this supporter’s nerves in tight games (or even those when we are a few goals up).

A win tomorrow would be a nice response from the players, not only to their disappointment but that of the fans as well. Defeats hurt, we as fans want to be back to winning ways and hopefully that will resume tomorrow night and carry on into the weekend.

Late news tomorrow either here or on twitter if any arrives.

Obviously, no player is irreplaceable. We have the squad to cover our injury problems, but the truth remains that certain players are harder to replace in the starting XI than others.

Kieran Gibbs suffered an injury yesterday. Our first and second choice LB are now injured. Silently, Clichy has been projected for a longer spell on the sidelines. The same thing happened to us last year, where Clichy was only supposed to be out for a month and subsequently became a season ending injury. Clichy’s back is suspect. But even with Gibbs’ injury, we have options. The hardest thing for clubs to acquire seems to be a LB. There really aren’t too many elite LB’s out there, but we have the luxury of having three bona fide LB’s. Armand Traore could deputize there, and we also have Pedro Botehlo out on loan. If that’s not enough, we could easily use Silvestre and even Senderos there. Neither offer an attacking option, but defensively, they should be sound enough.

So, while other teams suffer when their LB’s go down, we actually have it reasonably covered.

Now, Robin going down on the other hand, that injury made me consider this post.

The three hardest players to replace in the starting XI are:

1) William Gallas – As a right-sided central defender, his backup was Johan Djourou. He’s out until March, at least that’s what the Arsenal website says. Of course, we can plug in Silvestre or Senderos there. Wenger would probably choose that route, but there’s still an unbalance. Neither Silvestre nor Senderos play the type of defense that Gallas provides. It would make more sense to play Sagna in central defense, but again I stress that what would occur is that Silvestre would get the first crack. The bottom line is, for as much heat he took last year, Gallas is the most natural right-sided recovery defender that we possess. Nobody else can do that job nearly as well, except possibly Sagna, until Djourou returns.

2) Alex Song – From Arsenal forum whipping boy to irreplaceable member of the starting XI. Such is the fear of the ACN that Arsenal fans are wondering already what we’ll do. My guess would be that Denilson gets the first crack. For any Denilson haters, I won’t use stats to support him. Instead, I’ll just point out that Denilson played the role last year, he played it while we used a far more attacking formation and without Vermaelen. That being said, it’s something he’ll need to adjust to, as nobody has really played that position since Song has been a stalwart. Diaby could also do a job there, as could Nasri, although Wenger today suggested otherwise. You cannot argue against the power of Alex Song’s appearance in the Wolves game, something fundamentally changed the game in our favor. And that had nothing to do with attack and more with the idea of balance.

3) Robin van Persie – He’s been electric. Off to a slow start, he’s been on fire. He’s been dynamite. He’d won over nearly everybody, even Myles Palmer. Then, of course, he gets injured. Robin is one of the only false nines in world football today, a false nine being a player who seems to play as a forward but drops deep to help link up play. Robin, in the first few weeks, learned the valuable skill of leading a line. Eduardo could try to do the things that Robin does, but again, the adaptation to the role is not something anybody can pick up quickly. I’ve heard calls for Andrey to be fielded there, but methinks that may not work, unless we deployed strikers on both wings to supplement his positioning. Regardless, van Persie’s loss on the offensive end will be felt.

This post isn’t to suggest that these three players are the best players at Arsenal. They may or may not be, but it’s to suggest they’re hardest to replace in our optimal system. Cesc is also playing extremely well right now, but we have Ramsey, Rosicky, and even Nasri to deputize.

Arsenal tend to pick up injuries frequently. That’s something to think about, but it’s nothing to fret about. We have the squad depth needed to push through times like this.

So last night saw us face a team we managed to throw a 1 goal lead away to not a fortnight earlier. The advantage we had in our own stadium was of course going to play a part in this encounter. Sadly I was not present, I have a cold and my shoulder is painful beyond belief so I decided not to travel but to stay at home and watch on Sky.

We started the game well and our passing looked fluid, Eboue came in for Sagna, Nasri started in place of Bendtner and Gibbs replaced Clichy. Yet the team looked no different, our bench weak? we lack depth in our squad? get to fuck. Our team plays like the same unit no matter who out of our top 16 or so players starts, which is no mean feat and a great compliment to Arsène and his coaching staff.

Our first goal arrived on 26 minutes, Cesc fired a shot at goal and it managed to beat the Alkmaar keeper. I was shocked it went in, and I suspect so was Cesc (he did look a bit pissed off after he scored, not sure why). Alkmaar responded to the goal by upping their game a little, but this only allowed us to expose them a bit more.

Just before half time, in a goal reminiscent of the second in the NLD, Nasri was clean through and rifled a shot into the bottom corner. Our 17th goalscorer of the season I think, wow! We were 2 up and pretty comfortable, but having been in that same position in other games at half time I suspect the team talk reminded the players of that fact.

Arshavin, who looked a bit more involved that in previous games, helped set up Cesc for our third of the night. A lovely through ball allowed Cesc to run clear and rifle a shot into the net. He ran over to the fans and looked a lot happier at this goal, 8 now this season for Captain Fantastic.

With resting players in mind Cesc and van Persie came off not long after to allow Eduardo and Ramsey to get in on the action. And get in on the action Eduardo did, an audacious backheel set Arshavin free who hit a ball across the area to Diaby, who controlled the overhit pass well and rifled into the net. 4 goals, again.

Rosicky made a return to action coming on for Arshavin and it was good to see him return from injury as I was worried he might miss a lengthy period again.

A few words on Diaby, he played pretty well last night. Looked interested, looked to be trying hard. Why can he not do that all the time? Unlike Alex Song, who again tried really hard and put in another excellent performance in the DM role in front of the back 4.

Alkmaar got a late consolation goal, which I think will annoy Almunia as he went the wrong way for the ball. But it was a resounding victory for Arsenal, and as I said in the title of the post sometimes we make it look so easy.

Qualification is almost guarenteed form the group barring some freak results in the last 2 games we are in the knock out stages. I am away this weekend so will probably only give a brief blog update or some twitter action on the game against Wolves.

Gael Clichy has been struck down with another back injury. At the end of last year, Clichy sustained a back injury which was initially forecasted as a four week injury. That eventually sidelined him for the entire season. Kieran Gibbs stepped in to secure the breach, and while he did the best he could, he ultimately will be remembered for slipping in the Champions League semi, allowing United to walk into the Final.

So, here we are again. Clichy with another back injury, and Arsene saying he’ll be out for one or two months. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out for longer; we just cannot be sure with those pesky back injuries (remember Gilberto Silva in 04-05).

Wenger seems a bit unnerved by this, if only because he wants a full squad so he can rotate in the upcoming weeks.

That being said, we do have left backs as cover, Wenger pointedly saying that we do not lack left backs in the club. That in itself is a boon, considering that the left back position is amongst the most scouted across the world. It is quite simply a hard position to recruit.

And here comes Kieran Gibbs. With the knowledge that Capello is watching his development, if Gibbs performs to his potential, he could play well enough to permanently dislodge Clichy.

I love Gael, but he’s not without his flaws. He was a fantastic player until the slip against Tottenham, and after that, a combination of nerves and injuries has made him look, at times, unspectacular. With rumors of Real Madrid hovering, perhaps if Gibbs plays well enough, Clichy may be sold. I would miss him, but Gibbs has the potential to be better.

Clichy will never possess an attacking mind. His crosses are below average, and he’s been put on a leash by Wenger recently. Kieran Gibbs has been solid, and he’s a converted winger, the same as Ashley Cole.

I could care less about the England factor, but a more important thing to keep in mind is that Gibbs would be an Arsenal Academy player.

Today, against AZ, Gibbs will be given the chance of a lifetime, for oftentimes Arsenal players make their way into the starting XI by way of injuries.

We must show that we have learned our lesson. And Gibbs must show that he has learned his.

Arsène held his pre-match press conference today ahead of the Alkmaar game tomorrow. Most noteworthy from it was the injury news; Nicklas Bendtner has quite a serious groin injury which will keep him out for a few weeks (some press reports say surgery is required, but no official confirmation on that as yet), Tomas Rosicky however will be in the squad having recovered from a knee injury but will not start, lastly and possibly most seriously is the loss of Clichy to a stress fracture of the back. I am fairly sure he had this injury last year when Gibbs deputised for him. Not a good thing to lose Gael when his form was almost back to his best but we have able cover in Kieran Gibbs.

If we win tomorrow night against Alkmaar we will have qualified from the group stage of the Champions League, I suspect it will be a win. Partly due to us being at home and also due to the late equaliser Alkmaar got in the away fixture. I would expect a full strength team to start against Alkmaar to ensure that a win occurs, but there is always the chance of an earlier than usual cameo from the likes of Aaron Ramsey if things are going our way in the game.

In other Arsenal news Stan Kroenke purchased another 427 shares to bring his holding to 29.6% of the club. The Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) had the following to say on the matter:

“The AST’s own assessment of today’s development is that a takeover is not imminent and that today’s purchase is the consolidation of an existing position”.

We will see how all that pans out.

Anyway here’s to another win for the Gunners tomorrow night, qualification will mean that the last two games give the chance for some rest for more established players and the opportunity for the younger members of the team to show their worth. Come on Arsenal!

What you missed while killer jellyfish were striking back against mankind for daring to eat them…

• Hull City received only £2.8 million for the sale of £12 million rated Michael Turner to Sunderland, which is probably a big part of why Paul Duffen’s now unemployed.
• Liverpool’s injuries are in double figures, but Lyon’s got problems all their own (including like ten groin injuries, a drunk captain, and a midfielder who tried to kick the manager’s ass at halftime on Saturday).
• To be honest, I lost focus on this article when I found out that the new CSKA Moscow coach’s name is Leonid Slutsky.
• Gael Clichy’s out for a month with a broken back.
• David Beckham will return to AC Milan in January.
• Maicon’s not going to Manchester City.
• Esteban Cambiasso has been called up for the first time by Diego Maradona.

Highlights and an interview with Arsene Wenger below.

I am still walking on air following our demolition of Spurs yesterday. With a glorious 3-nil victory at the Emirates we were able to put some breathing space between us and the four clubs trailing us at the moment. The weekend ends with us remaining 5 points behind Chelsea and 3 behind United, albeit with a game in hand, as well as 3 points ahead of Spurs and 4 over Liverpool, Money City, and Villa, with a game in hand on all except City and Villa.

After the match, Harry Redknapp felt that, of Arsenal’s three goals, “there wasn’t a good goal among them.” Nevermind that, the gulf between the clubs was on display for all, including Harry and Robbie Keane, to see. Yes, Spurs were missing Defoe, Lennon, and Modric but we also were missing Rosicky, Walcott, Vela, Wilshere, and Denilson.

If Spurs want to find the culprits for their heavy defeat, they need look no further than their own lack of concentration and Ledley King. King’s performance yesterday showed the dangers of playing a CB in a derby match who does not train and hadn’t played in weeks. King couldn’t deal with van Persie at all, and also struggled to contain Eduardo after he came on for an injured Nicklas Bendtner, who now looks to be out for four weeks with a groin injury.

For the throw-in which led to the first goal, Spurs defense looked like they were all asleep. When Sagna delivered the cross, it was obvious that van Persie wanted to score more than King, or the rest of the Spurs defense, wanted to keep him out. The second goal was made possible by their lack of focus. Depsite having gone down 1-nil, rather than regroup and refocus, Spurs took the kickoff in much the same way they had defended the throw-in and cross just seconds before; flat-footed and uninterested.

Spurs uninterestedness allowed Fabregas the opportunity to express his brilliance once again. Telegraph writer, Henry Winter, is not one who is regularly overcome with a severe case of hyperbole, but Fabregas’s performance on Saturday led to a fantastic article, which lyrically sang his praises. And it was totally justified. Fabregas was magnificent.

Most importantly, the game showed the devastating nature of Arsenal’s attacking potential. Despite coming out strong in the first 5-10 minutes, Spurs were able to keep us from gaining our usual midfield rhythm for much of the rest of the half. A great chance by Fabregas was saved by the outstretched palm of Gomes. But this Arsenal side has become the type of team that can punish defenses for even the most momentary of lapses. You cannot switch off for even a few seconds against Arsenal and expect to not be punished for it.

After the past week, I’m sure most Gooners remained on the edge of their seats as the second half began with a 2-nil lead. However, Arsenal learned their lesson well from West Ham, and on the hour mark, after Mark Clattenburg rightly played advantage following a crunching tackle on Eduardo on the left wing, Robin van Persie got his second of the day.

The third goal was indicative of Spurs performance. Sagna’s cross got through Gomes and King before van Persie deflected it into the net. Gomes, despite making two great saves on Fabregas and Eduardo, remains a train wreck waiting to happen. He failed to get down quick enough to cover his near post on the first goal and, on the third, he pulled a Cudicini/Barthez.

Ledley King is supposed to be a central defender who is so valuable that he doesn’t have to train and can’t play two matches in a row. Well, King looked totally out of his depth on Saturday. He looked slow and lethargic as he was beaten on all three of Arsenal’s goals. He also couldn’t hold or recover from Spurs’ high offside trap when it was exposed twice by Eduardo, who could’ve had a hat-trick if he had finished like his usual self.

From the other side, one of the most impressive things to come from the match was the performance of the defense. When Spurs came out in the second half, they looked determined to exploit Arsenal’s aerial vulnerability by pumping balls up to Peter Crouch. However, the defense, mostly Vermaelen, denied Crouch regularly. At one point, even Clichy won a header off Crouch. The clean sheet was important for a defense that had kept only 2 clean sheets in 9 previous league matches.

The net result of this victory is that the press has returned to grudgingly acknowledging Arsenal as contenders for the league title. Ever since the two defeats at Man City, and including the draw at West Ham, all of which were evidence, said the pundits, that Arsenal are not true challengers, Arsenal have the best record in the league since then. Over the last six games in the league, following the second trip to Manchester, Arsenal have secured 16 out of a possible 18 points; United and Chelsea have 13 and 12, respectively.

The only downside to the day was the fact that just before kickoff Arsenal were drawn away to Money City in the Carling Cup quarterfinals. For me, this was the worst draw we could’ve gotten. Not because I don’t think we can win at City, even though they treat the Carling Cup like the Champions League, but because of all the ridiculous media hoopla that will now surround the match.

Adebayor continues to spout off at the mouth, months later, claiming Cesc will leave if we finish outside the top four, while claiming with a straight face in the very same sentence, “…but my focus is all on City now.” He has also claimed that he apologized to van Persie after kicking him in the face, yet van Persie insists it is not true. He also said that his former teammates ignored him when he tried to say hello to them in the tunnel. But if you watch the match video again, you see all the players shaking his hand and some hugging them after lining up. His stories are more full of more than a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch jeans.

Adebayor’s “focus” is obviously not “all on City now.” Quite the contrary, he just can’t seem to shut up about the Arsenal. The man is obviously obsessed with the club that didn’t need him anymore and that has improved significantly since he left. Perhaps it’s the fact that Arsenal look much stronger without him, or that Arsenal look much better than a City side which struggled for a draw last week against Scunthorpe and has won only 2 of their last 6 league matches. Either way, he’s a jealous cunt.

Manuel Almunia returned to goal and an article in the Mirror suggests that Almunia wasn’t dropped from the team due to his performances, and nor did he have a 6 week chest infection. Rather, Almunia’s mother-in-law was involved in a fatal car crash and Wenger was giving him time to deal with the situation at home. Almunia’s performance yesterday, despite not really being tested, was a good sign and I expect him to keep the number one spot.

All in all, it was another dominant performance at home, where Arsenal secured maximum points, and reasserted our claim as legitimate title contenders along with the lucky United and the soon-to-be thin Chelsea.

I want to see the SCUM obliterated tomorrow. I want them to be put in their place. I want them murdered on the pitch.

Almost exactly a year ago, we all witnessed one of the most sickening matches in recent history. While we can still rightfully claimed that they had not beaten us in ten years, it sure felt something like it. Certainly a loss would have been even worse, but that was bad enough.

That game singlehandedly stunted Gael Clichy and our Premier League season. We went into a vicious tail spin that made people wonder if Aston Villa was going to finish above us.

And one year on, a lot has changed.

Tottenham were on the verge of crumbling, but that draw saw their fortunes take an upturn and Harry Redknapp be proclaimed a savior. Now, they are seen as candidates to overtake us for one of the top four places in the Premier League.

Things have changed for us as well. We steadied the ship. Players like Alex Song have established themselves. We bought Arshavin and Thomas Vermaelen.

But the last two weeks were subtle reminders of the match from a year ago, and that kind of stuff must be stamped out of our team.

Three days ago, our Reserve/Youth team held onto a 2-1 lead against Liverpool and finished them off. What the youngsters know, the senior side must recognize.

Over the past week, I’ve had the misfortune of reading crap quotes from Redknapp and Robbie Keane. The media has gone into overdrive, because they think a sea change may happen. To which, Wenger merely said that once Tottenham achieved the type of consistency we’ve had over the past twelve years, we’ll talk.

Last year, we went into the North London Derby expecting three points and bury Tottenham six feet deep. We did not.

This year, we go into the derby with vivid memories from last year in our heads. This year, we’re in the thick of a title race that looks incredibly open. Arshavin, who has a tendency to drift out of small games, will be up for it tomorrow, knowing that God placed him in our squad instead of theirs. And Thomas Vermaelen is furious that we’ve thrown away points in the past two weeks.

On Halloween, our fangs are out and we seek Scum blood.

Almost exactly a year since the teams last met at the grove, the wounds are still there from that 4-4 defeat. Yes I did say defeat because that’s pretty much what it was in all honesty. I remember being stunned by their fourth goal, I rolled my scarf up and put it in my pocket. The walk back from the ground to the tube was a quiet one.

This season the wheels are yet to fall off roflenham’s campaign, but the better they think they are the funnier it is when they fall to their rightful position in the league.

Our line up should pick itself provided we don’t have any injuries overnight, a back four of Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy is likely but I would not object to Gibbs starting on the left. In the middle I expect Song, Cesc, Diaby, but Nasri could be used or come on as a sub later in the game. Our front line of Arshavin, van Persie, Eboue is likely, but Eduardo may feature in that three. Which ever way the outfield 10 goes I feel confident.

What I am concerned with though is who plays in goal. Fabianski is out, so it’s down to Mannone or Almunia. Arsène says he has chosen his keeper for Sp*rs, I hope it’s Almunia. No disrespect to Vito but this is a big big game, we cannot lose this one. A win is pretty much a must otherwise that lot will be world champions all over again, like they think they have been so many times in the past. We need a strong keeper at the back, whilst it can be debated Almunia is not all that, he is the best we have.

This, it goes without saying, is a massive game. A result here must take precedence over everything else that has happened recently. Forget throwing away the lead in two games. Forget what some former player might be saying. Think only about beating them by a number of goals. I hope Arshavin has a brilliant game, he knows how much this derby means to us fans. I want to see him with his finger on his lips as he waddles to the corner flag after scoring a couple of screamers.

Come on you Gunners, do this for the fans!

Picture from Arsenal.com

With the imminent return of Samir Nasri, the prospect of a fully fit forward line was too much to bear for the Arsenal squad.

It was confirmed today that Theo Walcott will miss 3 to 4 weeks after suffering damage to his medial knee ligament in the challenge pictured above in Saturday’s game. Whilst we have not seen much action from the young Englishman this season, his return to fitness was anticipated by some as yet another option for an attacking outlet either from the start of the game or as an impact sub.

In other injury news; Gael Clichy will return to the squad for Tuesday’s game against Alkmaar but Tomas Rosicky will miss out with a knee problem.

Back to our injured best?

Tomorrow sees the first visit of Birmingham to the ‘grove since Eduardo’s feet were too quick for honest pro Martin Taylor. I understand that both players are unavailable for tomorrow’s game due injury. I can still recall when it happened, I was sat in my lounge watching the game on sky, when the tackle went in it looked a tough challenge but I will never forget Cesc stood over Eduardo with his hand covering his mouth with a look of shock on his face. I said at the time “that is bad” and I was right. Eduardo had a very serious injury which had the physios from both teams not been so quick in attendance and given their assistance he might not be playing today, let alone be able to stand on two feet. That game changed our season. There was the shock of the Eduardo injury, that did have an impact on the squad, then there was the Clichy slip (in truth has he really recovered since that and the slip in the NLD) followed by the Gallas sit down. All these events conspired against our then push for the title. We drew so many games after that, the momentum was gone. I genuinely think that had the Eduardo injury not been so severe and the result been different we would have won the league.

But that is in the past now, we have moved on. This team seems to have a stronger mental attitude than that of 2 seasons ago. Whilst no-one can say what effect such a freak injury would have on this, or indeed any, team what we can say is the team spirit seems much stronger this season.

Tomorrow we face another poor Birmingham team. The Championship is their level, no doubt about it. They have been poor defensively all season and I understand they have not scored a goal before the 75th minute. We need a strong attacking performance like we saw against Blackburn, put the game to bed before the hour mark and we can continue our confident run. We will win tomorrow’s game, it will be fitting to do so with a number of goals which will hopefully exercise some demons as well.

In an update on team news Almunia “could” return, but Nicklas Bendtner is out and Carlos Vela has (at the time of Arsène’s press conference) not returned from international duty. Abou Diaby “should be ok” but Clichy will definitely not feature. Andrey Arshavin however has returned ok and is expected to feature tomorrow.

I will hopefully give a few updates on twitter before the game and during half time. An Arsenal win would be a great tonic to two weeks without any interesting football. Come on you gunners!!

On the Thursday and Friday following an international break, the club generally goes into damage assessment mode. The question is never, “Is anyone hurt?” But, rather, “Who is hurt, and for how long?” Last month, I posted my recurring international break nightmare. It is also the time to forgot all the “Cesc-to-anywhere-but-Arsenal” stories, which for some reason continue to get Gooners all worked up.

Gael Clichy is out due to an ankle problem sustained while playing for France as is Abou Diaby. Also, Eduardo’s long trip back from Kazakhstan rules him out for Saturday. But, strangely enough, we have more good news than bad at the end of this interlull… strange days, indeed.

Fabianski is available after corrective knee surgery and “will be in the squad.” Manuel Almunia is “50-50″ for Birmingham, according to Wenger. Samir Nasri was finally back in full training this past week and he has been tentatively scheduled to make his return in the 4th Round of the Carling Cup at home to Liverpool on the 28th.

The return of the keepers is probably the most welcome news. Mannone has done well and I think we can all feel a bit more confident in our 3rd keeper but Almunia and, especially, Fabianski are absolutely essential to the club and we are lucky to have had Mannone take his chance and show the Boss and us his potential.

His shot-stopping was great but like most young keepers, he needs to work on his decision-making; his failure to come for the ball on the first Blackburn goal being the most glaring example. But I have faith that he will have learned alot in his brief spell in the first team and should a recurrence of the situation happen again, I would not be overly concerned about Mannone getting a run of games.

In other news, Arsenal has released an official iPhone app. It costs £2.99 or $4.99 and is available now in the iTunes store. It includes match and interview videos as well as full player profiles and the official news feed from the website.

Also, Arsenal are restarting their Friday night programming which was originally available on ArsenalTV before the Setanta debacle. It will now be seen on ArsenalTV Online live every Friday night and includes the usual “Arsenal Live” with Dan Roebuck, Stewart Robson, and Ray Parlour at 7pm GMT. That will be followed by a 15-minute “Spotlight.” And then it is capped off with the “Fans’ Forum,” hosted by Tom Watt. For those of us in the States who are not at home at the time of the live broadcast, I think I can say that it would be fantastic if the club archived the episodes so they could be watched later.

Arsenal Station would also like to congratulate Robin van Persie and his wife on their new baby. And, finally, Stan Kroenke has increased his shareholding this past week to 28.9%. Arsenal Station will comment on this development later on in the week.

That’s pretty much it. This post is the equivalent of coming back from a layoff with a light practice session. Arsenal Station had a couple of very interesting guest articles from Ted Harwood and Brett Chase and it’s now time to get back down to business. So it’s Birmingham on Saturday and then off to Holland for the Champions League fixture with Ronald Koeman’s AZ Alkmaar on Tuesday evening. Up the Arsenal!

]]> http://block6gooner.com/2009/10/15/return-from-internationals-injury-news-and-kroenke-shares/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:09:29 +0000 block6gooner http://block6gooner.com/2009/10/15/return-from-internationals-injury-news-and-kroenke-shares/

So the players are back from the international break, not sure why it’s a break as 20 of our squad were involved in some form or another. Perhaps international disruption is a more apt term?

On the injury front there has been some good and, as is par for the course with Arsenal, some not so good. Goalkeeping wise Lukasz Fabianski can be included in the squad but Almunia is 50:50, what sort of chest infection did he have? TB?? Gael Clichy and Abou Diaby both picked up ankle knocks and are doubts but the latter is more likely to be able to feature, so I would expect to see Kieran Gibbs play left back at the weekend. Cesc will play following his return to Spain for personal reasons. Samir Nasri is also on his way back and may feature in a few weeks in the Carling Cup game against Liverpool. Bendtner and Arshavin are yet to return so there is no definite news on them, but there are currently no reports of problems with them anyway. Eduardo is still out with his thigh injury, but in a way that is good given our opposition on Saturday.

In financial news Stan Kroenke has increased his share holding today, he bought a further 90 shares and now holds 28.9% of the club. I suspect he will either continue up to the non-takeover limit or he will just go for the full blown takeover. There was a story, in The Times I think, last week about him not having paid for all of the shares yet (something that I previously blogged about following a Private Eye article) but I can’t find that story at the moment. I think the gist of it was he simply took control of the shares from other shareholders on the promise to pay them at a later date, rather than borrowing the money. Interesting times ahead I guess…..

More on the Birmingham game tomorrow.

France defeated Faroe Islands Saturday as their fragile World Cup qualifying campaign continued in Guingamp. Domenech and Henry have talked about qualifying by any means possible – big teams have made big tournaments and done well after qualifying via playoffs so there can still be a happy ending. The French team was a mixture of regulars and some emerging players, but it did not contain Arsenal left back Gael Clichy. He didn’t even make the bench. Unless his form improves dramatically very soon, he could miss out on S. Africa if France get there.

He has talked about needing to break away from Kieran Gibbs in the competition for Left Back. He acknowledges that he is first choice now but that it can change quickly. Judging by his form last season (which hasn’t improved very much so far to be honest), he has a long way to go in creating distance between himself and the younger Gibbs. The mental lapses that he’s become famous for cannot continue.

Clichy needs to strive to displace Patrice Evra in the French national team. Evra, for all his anti-Arsenal comments, is a very good player. Worse is that he excels against us. It’s clear to me that Ryan Giggs has passed on his hatred of Arsenal to players like Evra. That creates an extra bit of intensity in their game. United are always up for a game against Arsenal.

We haven’t had that little bit extra recently when we’ve played United. We haven’t had enough of that burning desire to beat them the way they’ve had it for us. If we have had it, they’ve had a bit more of it. Players like Clichy need to turn that around. His Arsenal place and obviously his World Cup dreams depend on big performances when they really matter. He hinted recently in an interview at confusing instructions from Wenger. I don’t buy it. Wenger’s instructions are not confusing. And if they leave Clichy wondering whether to attack or to defend, he certainly should know what to do and when to do it by now.

He has been better and he must know that. There’s no time for more excuses. He is now a senior member of our squad. It’s time Gael bigs up or steps aside.

Since all the papers are quoting this interview with Gael Clichy by Martin Keown on BBC’s Football Focus, I am posting the video here so those who haven’t been able to see it can have a look. Keown interviews Clichy at Highbury Square and talks about the difference between the Invincibles and this Arsenal side as well as his experience and Arsene Wenger.

]]> http://block6gooner.com/2009/09/30/arsenal-2-0-olympiakos/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:21:19 +0000 block6gooner http://block6gooner.com/2009/09/30/arsenal-2-0-olympiakos/

Whilst not totally unexpected, Arsenal recorded their second victory in the group stages of the Champions League last night. I missed some of the game, no not the end, but the start due to transport issues so my report does not include the first few minutes.

The first half saw Arsenal passing the ball around with ease, some fine moves from midfield resulted in multiple chances for goals but none of the players had their shooting boots on early in the game. Van Persie had a few chances, but the best of the half was from Cesc who rattled the bar having beaten the goalie with a fine shot. Olympiakos were limited, a combination of their overtly defensive playing style and the pressure we put them under, to very few chances with their only real opening coming just before halftime when the ball fizzed across the goalmouth.

The second half started with high tempo as Arsenal sought that elusive goal. But we had to wait. More fine moves were shown

Picture from Arsenal.com

and this was Arsenal approaching their best again. Cesc looked a lot more comfortable than I have seen him in a long time. Andrey Arshavin started to look more and more frustrated as the half went on but a lecture from the father-like figure of Arsène Wenger spurred him on and he was back to his terrier like best hustling players when he lost the ball and stealing it from improbable positions a good number of times. Eduardo was introduced as a substitute and provided an injection of pace to our game, a pass from Fabregas saw Eduardo released down our left side beating a defender he entered the box to cross for van Persie who cooly slotted home. The goal was there we were finally 1-0 up. Olympiakos looked gutted, I think they thought the longer the game went on they might get a point or even a lucky goal. Our second came from a Fabregas cross, a cheeky backheel move from Arshavin was reward for his performance which was probably his best of the season so far. There have been reports that this goal was offside but I have yet to see a replay.

Credit must go to a few players in particular, Gael Clichy had a lot of confidence and was bombing down the left all night long. His performance was perhaps helped by Tomas Rosicky playing infront of him, Rosciky adds a massive dimension to our attacking game and his long absence has made me forget just how great a player he is. It’s great to have him back in the team.

The atmosphere in the ground was pretty good last night, perhaps spurned on by the vociferous Greek fans, but there was plenty of positive support for the team. No slating of players from the block 6 area and there was little frustration as we waited for the goal, it was almost as if we knew it was coming and there was no need to worry. There was also plenty of renditions of:

He’s five foot four, he’s five foot four. We’ve got Arshavin, fuck Adebayor.

Last night was vintage Wenger Arsenal. Slick passing the backbone of a strong performance. It was a joy to watch. Consider we still have some skilled players to return things can only get better. Maybe, just maybe, it is falling into place.

Following last night’s 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion in the Carling Cup, Arsenal’s youth players are once again being hailed as the young future of this football club. As many will know by now, Arsene Wenger uses the Carling Cup as a competitive stage for his youthful Gunners to play professional opposition, and they have not failed to make it to the quarter finals in the last seven years, having lost 3-2 at home to Sunderland in the 3rd round in the 2002/2003 competition. So while Wenger’s youths have impressed year on year in the competition, just how many of them live up to the plaudits and break into the big league? If we look back at the team that drew 1-1 with Rotherham in the third round and then reached the Carling Cup Semi Final in 2004, which has given them just over five seasons to develop, we can have a look.

Of the 11 players in the starting lineup that day, there are 3 who were aged 25 or older at the time (Cygan, Wiltord and Kanu) and so cannot be considered for analysis on how likely a Carling Cup player for Arsenal is to become a first team regular. This leaves 8, of whom only two are left at Arsenal today. One of those is Gael Clichy, who has made 191 appearances in all competitions for the club and is considered first choice in his position at left back. He has excelled with the club, being selected in the PFA Team of the Year for 2008, and captaining the club in a pre-season game against Barnet earlier this year. The other is Cesc Fabregas, who is considered to be one of the best midfielders in Europe by many, and has made 44 appearances for Spain, winning Euro 2008 with them and being selected to start in the Final having started on the bench for all other games. He has been repeatedly linked with a move back to Spain at club level having left Barcelona to join Arsenal as a youngster.

Of the six remaining, none of whom are still at Arsenal, there is only one success story. Stathis Tavlaridis left Arsenal to play for French side Lille with whom he managed to finish second in the French Ligue 1 in 2005 and played in the Champions League for two successive years. At current club St-Etienne, he has played in the UEFA Cup, although they struggled last season with league form, narrowly avoiding relegation.

The five remaining players have not developed as well as they may have hoped having once played for Arsenal in the League Cup. The goalkeeper of the day, Graham Stack, has not played regular football since his 26 appearances in a season on loan at Millwall, but this may change with new club Hibernians who he joined this season. Middlesbrough pair Justin Hoyte and Jeremie Aliadiere are both now playing in the Championship, where the latter has been booed by his own fans. Jerome Thomas had a taste of where he used to be this week, playing in the West Brom team who lost 2-0 to Arsenal, and compounding the loss by being sent off after a clash with 17 year old Jack Wilshere. The final member of the team that faced Rotherham was Brazilian Edu, who went on to Valencia but suffered severe career setbacks through injury, and never played for his country again.

So are the Arsenal youth players all they’re cracked up to be? Only two of the eight youth players from that day became Arsenal regulars, although one is now considered among the elite in Europe.

Kolejną pozycją, którą postaramy się obsadzić w ramach plebiscytu na najlepszą jedenastkę złożoną z obecnie grających zawodników ligi angielskiej będzie lewa obrona. Przed nami drugie głosowanie…

Tym razem postaramy się obsadzić, wg fachowców, najbardziej niewdzięczną pozycję na boisku – lewą obronę. Pozycję, na której największe tryumfy odnosił niezapomniany Roberto Carlos, który teraz zmierza do zakończenia kariery w lidze tureckiej. Zobaczmy, jak prezentują się obecni lewi obrońcy broniący barw różnych angielskich klubów.

1. Ashley Cole (Chelsea Londyn FC)

Na dobry początek piłkarz The Blues, Ashley Cole. Urodził się on 20 grudnia 1981 roku w Whitechapel, czyli w jednej z dzielnic Londynu. Ash jest wychowankiem Arsenalu, podstawowym zawodnikiem The Gunners został w 2000 roku, gdy kontuzję złapał Brazylijczyk Silvinho. W 2005 roku Ashley spotkał się z włodarzami Chelsea, by porozmawiać z nimi o ewentualnym transferze. Całe spotkanie odbyło się bez wiedzy szefostwa Arsenalu. Później Cole w swojej biografii skrytykował działaczy Arsenalu, zarzucając im zrobienie z niego „kozła ofiarnego”. Transfer do Niebieskich doszedł do skutku 31 sierpnia, Arsenal otrzymał wtedy 5 mln. funtów oraz Williama Gallasa. Ash zagrał w 71 meczach reprezentacji Anglii.

2. Patrice Evra (Manchester United FC)

Nasza kolejna propozycja to francuski obrońca Czerwonych Diabłów, czyli Patrice Evra. Urodził się on 15 maja 1981 w Afyce. Dokładniej – w Dakarze (Senegal). Ma 24 rodzeństwa. Karierę piłkarską zaczynał już w Europie, we francuskim Paris Saint – Germain. Przez kilka lat grał w słabszych klubach z Francji, w końcu w 2002 roku trafił do AS Monaco. Po świetnym meczu z FC Porto w finale Ligi Mistrzów (porażka 0:3) zaczęły interesować się nim najlepsze kluby. Pat wybrał Manchester United. Na lewej stronie obrony zastąpił kontuzjowanego Gabriela Heinze. Do dziś jest podstawowym obrońcą United. W reprezentacji zagrał 20 meczy.

3. Gael Clichy (Arsenal Londyn FC)

Trzecia kandydatura na pozycję lewego obrońcy to piłkarz Arsenalu Londyn. Mowa o Gaelu Clichy z Francji. Ten 24 letni chłopak mierzący 175 cm wzrostu urodził się na południu Francji (Tuluza) 26 lipca 1985 roku. W 2001 roku podpisał swój pierwszy profesjonalny kontrakt z drużyną AS Cannes. Jednak jego pierwszy sezon w tej francuskiej ekipie nie przyniósł mu ligowego debiutu. Musiał czekać do sezonu 2002/03. Poczekał, i zagrał wtedy w 15 spotkaniach. Po sezonie odszedł do ekipy prowadzonej przez Arsene Wengera za ćwierć miliona funtów. W angielskiej najwyższej klasie rozgrywkowej zadebiutował w meczu z Birmingham City. W reprezentacji trójkolorowych wystąpił dotychczas tylko dwa razy.

4. Fabio Aurelio (Liverpool FC)

Pierwszy Brazylijczyk w naszym głosowaniu. Fabio Aurelio Rodrigues. Urodził się on 24 września 1979 roku w Sao Carlos. Jest znany z tego, że może grać zarówno na środku i na lewej flance obrony. Bieganie w pomocy także nie jest mu obce. Słynie także z wykonywania rzutów wolnych. Jest to pierwszy Brazylijczyk grający w klubie z miasta Beatlesów. Jest wychowankiem Sao Paulo FC. W 2000 roku trafił do Valencii, gdzie grał przez 6 lat. W 2006 roku na zasadzie wolnego transferu trafił do The Reds. Oprócz brazylijskiego posiada także włoski paszport.

5. Leighton Baines (Everton FC)

Nasza ostatnia propozycja to Leighton Baines z Evertonu. Urodził się on 11 grudnia 1984 roku w Kirkby. Mierzy 170 cm wzrostu. Pierwsze piłkarskie kroki stawiał w Wigan Athletic. Do seniorskiej drużyny trafił w 2002 roku i grał w niej przez 5 lat. W letnim okienku transferowym roku 2007 Leighton otrzymał 3 propozycje zmiany klubu. Pochodziły one z Evertonu, Newcastle i Sunderlandu. Wybrał tę pierwszą. Wigan zarobiło wtedy 5 mln. funtów.

PS Jeśli macie propozycje, kogo możemy dodać do głosowania na kolejne pozycje, piszcie w komentarzach. Następna pozycja nad jaką się zastanowimy to lewa obrona.

Autor: damians10

The score could have been even more lopsided. What looked like clear handballs by Eboue and Gallas had very little effect on the outcome of the match. Eboue’s was at the Wigan end and he got his yellow for it, and even if Gallas had been penalized, a yellow, a penalty, and a goal against were surely the worst we would have deserved. In theory anyway.

Arsenal had enough chances in the First Half to put the game beyond reach. The only thing that outnumbered our opportunities were the number of fouls committed by Wigan. Arsene has referred to conversations he’s had with the FA regarding repeated fouls. It is an interesting thought to consider if “professional fouls” need to be punished more for the sake of positive, attacking football.

Arsene said that winning so emphatically after an away CL fixture in midweek is an added bonus. Yes, indeed. Standard Liege was quite a result. The boys worked very hard for those three points on Wednesday. We can look forward to seeing an entirely different team in the Carling Cup Tuesday. We certainly won’t see Cesc. There were times when he looked a step behind the game yesterday but late on he was still making runs and got his reward to show for it. It’ll be interesting to hear if he carried a knock into the Wigan match or got one during.

Silent Stan and Spike Lee were among the Yanks in the seats on a beautiful sunny day. Stan was spotted seated next to Mr. Hill-Wood. How times have changed!

Vito Mannone had very little to do that challenged his abilities. The jury will remain out on him for a while yet but I am not afraid to give him time in the team to build confidence. How else will he develop?

Eboue was lively.

Gallas and Song have played better but were good value nonetheless.

Rosicky wasn’t injured and looked good while he was on. The comeback continues.

Robin was frustrated by his poor display – we all know he’s better than what we saw.

Sagna and Clichy were safe – the latter especially as compared to last week.

Credit due to Clichy for getting into Wigan’s box to deliver a fine cross for Eduardo.

Diaby has lost the form displayed earlier this season but he wasn’t terrible.

It was our summer signing who stole the show. He is now our leading scorer.

Picture from arsenal.com

What should have been an easy home win for Arsenal turned out to be. From the kick-off Arsenal came out with the fast pace we are all so used to seeing, Clichy in particular played well with a number of attacks down the left wing. I don’t think this new formation completely suits him, the lack of an obvious defensive cover when he attacks is probably playing on his mind, but with a weaker team like Wigan he had the opportunity to put in some attacks and played the best I have seen him play all season – hopefully the sign of things to come.

The first half saw a number of chances, mainly for Emmanuel Eboue and Robin van Persie. Eboue played very very well yesterday, I’m not his biggest fan but he showed pace, good ball control and an eye for goal during the game and was one of our more notable players. Our opening goal came on 25 minutes, a corner fired in from van Persie was met by the head of the jumping Thomas Vermaelen. The goal had been coming for most of the half and was a reward for our attacking pressure we had displayed for most of the game. Wigan had one attack in the half which had a nervous looking Mannone get assistance from Gallas, and then the Italian later made a fine save on the line to deny Wigan again. We were unlucky to end the half only one goal in front, even my girlfriend commented on the number of chances we had whilst I made her watch Match of the Day.

Vermaelen has really impressed me since his arrival, ignoring the goals for a minute, his defensive play is no-nonsence. I can recall a number of hard tackles (some judged illegal, but mostly legal) which is something we have lacked at the back. A lot was made of his height but he can jump pretty high and loves a header, both defending and attacking. This has been a real coup for Arsène, in an area he usually has little success. Arsène himself says Vermaelen has adapted quickly and we haven’t had a centrehalf like him. Big words for what will be a big player for us this year. I cannot go unnoticed the impact his arrival has had on Gallas’ game as well, a much more assured and confident player now who is probably in his best ever Arsenal form.

As if to confirm Vermaelen’s attacking credentials the second half opened with another Vermaelen goal, some good play down the middle layed off to Eboue who gave it back to the Belgian who then volleyed into the top left corner. A goal a striker would have been proud of let alone a defender. Wigan sat back and really looked like they knew they could not come into the game now. Two more goals were to come; an Eduardo/Eboue combo gave us our third and the fourth was scored in the 90th minute by Cesc following good work by Bendtner on the right. However our captain did not look happy after his goal, I suspect perhaps his form is on his mind?

Other notable performances came from Rosicky who looks very much like the player we used to know, he gives us an extra attacking edge and another outlet in midfield. When he is fully match fit I think it will allow some rotation in the squad or the chance for Cesc to relax a bit more as the burden on attack will not be solely down to him. Abou Diaby again flattered to deceive, the number of passes that went astray (he was not the only one guilty of that) and the number of times such a big player was brushed off the ball was frustrating. Our midfield did lack steel today, Cesc, Song and Diaby all gave the ball away cheaply too many times, a stronger team would have ripped them apart and this is something that needs work on or the introduction of some of our younger players to see if they can bring something to the squad.

A win was what we needed though, 4 goals and a clean sheet will give the team confidence whoever the opposition was. Another 3 points chalked up and the team can keep growing and moving forward. Our next first team game is next Saturday away to Fulham, hopefully the ghosts of last season can be banished there. However our second string will feature in the Carling Cup on Tuesday and tickets are still available if anyone fancies good football for £20.

One final mention on the Arsenalisation of the stadium, it is coming along in earnest and here are two photos from the wall behind block 6; (if anyone has any others please send them to block6gooner AT gmail DOT com and I will include them here)