The Goon Blog

There really is little else around so I thought I’d reflect on the start to the season, and one player in particular who looks re-born -Tomas Rosicky

This summer he was close to leaving, not of his own will I hastily add, but there has always been big interest from Germany in him but Werder Bremen and Everton both inquired over his availability as Arsenal were pursuing defenders from both the clubs, Phil Jagielka and Per Mertesacker were the targets on the Arsenal side.

I’m told the club seriously thought about letting him move in part-exchange, his form had been patchy since his come back from injury and he didn’t look the player he once really threatened to be for us. Then again, just seeing him on the field again was a blessing in itself after two years of injuries where he hardly played a game as he battled a hamstring injury.

As it turned out, Arsenal have decided to give him one more season and from the first look it looks an inspired decision. Against Liverpool at Anfield he was exquisite when he came on and looked much improved on last season, then he ran the show at home against Blackpool and backed that up with a good cameo against Blackburn last weekend. It really looks like we have the Rosicky of old back – the player that caused such excitement when we announced a deal in the summer of 2006 to bring him here, then in his first game of the world Cup rifled in two brilliant goals against the USA.

What I really like about Rosicky is his attitude, he isn’t afraid to get involved in the nitty gritty stuff, he will fly into tackles and not take the kicks his predecessors did – an example being Alex Hleb, a fantastic player who wouldn’t give the treatment back.

One moment that sticks in my mind is when we played Bolton away last season and About Diaby was taken out after the Bolton players get annoyed at not getting the ball off him. Rosicky noted that then as Klasnic – the player that felled Diaby – ran off, Rosicky sent him falling flat on his face. Hilarious stuff, luckily he only got a yellow for it. (3.30 on this video)

The form of Rosicky will be important this season, the chances of games getting pushed back to the business end of the season means that we will need a lot of depth in the squad, even with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri preferring to operate in the same position as him. At their best I prefer Tomas to Nasri, I think he is a more industrious player with a better passing range, both need to work on their consistency though. It will be interesting to see how Wenger is going to incorporate all three into his plans. It’s four players for one position if you think of Jack Wilshere too.

I don’t think there is much left to talk about really, there has been some stuff said about Andrey Arshavin by some nobody ex-Everton player who basically said he is not a very good player at all, I’d like to see him try to score four at Anfield and important goals throughout the season. You see, thats the thing about Arshavin, he does score important goals in big games when it really look as though we are not going to score. Mercurial – yes. Lazy – at times. Talented – beyond belief.

Also, the FA have decided against acting against Arsene Wenger after his ‘rugby’ comments. The day he gets punished for an opinion because some cap-wearing, loudmouth, naked headbutting idiot gets offended is the day that organisation gets laughed out of office.

Til tomorrow

The boss hates the new squad limit rules – it has been well publicised and I agree with him. But, how brilliantly has he stuffed their new rules down their throats – it is rather spectacular…

Arsenal have named seventy players in their squad list to the FA, and none of the 20 are English:

Manuel Almunia, Andrey Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Vassiriki Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, Lukasz Fabianski, Cesc Fabregas, Laurent Koscielny, Vito Mannone, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, Robin Van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Sebastien Squillaci.

The new rules are a joke for a start, it is far more important that the issue of mega-spending is addressed, AKA – financial doping. At Man City you have a whole host of English players but they are probably just going to be bumped down the pecking order and make up the numbers. What is more important, allowing clubs to buy in player after player at stupid prices, which will prevent English players getting a game anyway – or implement a pointless rule which is a waste of time and effort. I don’t see what it will achieve as we have already shown a way round it.

For people that have strayed onto this blog looking to kick up a stink; in Arsenal’s 76, yeah that is seventy-six players (not 25), over 30 of them are young English players aged 21 or under – that includes Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Just to show we have the homegrown players in the 25, they are highlighted in the list above.

What another stupid set of rules… The FA really are a waste of time and money.

No doubt Arsenal are going to be ripped in the press for some sort of cheating or rule dodging, but this is the same press that champion Owen Hargreaves for England yet say if Arteta is selected it is a travesty. Owen Hargreaves wasn’t born in England and didn’t even play in the country until after the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. The fact is that most countries have players born abroad that qualify for citizenship and can therefore play for that country – Miroslav Klose, Lucas Podolski, Senna, Higuain, Ryan Giggs and all the way down to Chris Birchall who is the first white guy to represent Trinidad and Tobago since god knows when.

In fact, Owen Hargreaves does not even get classed as a homegrown player in the FA’s new set of rules!

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For those of you who have Twitter, you can now follow our captain who has just joined up. Its an official account and has been confirmed by his sister. Follow him @cesc4official and there are a few other player accounts too though none are 100% confirmed … there is @_denilson15 and new boy @SEBSQUILLACI – this Chamakh account may be real as well…  @vrai_chamakh.

How long it will be before Xavi joins and starts chatting him up we just don’t know, it shouldn’t be long I expect before we hear his endless ‘DNA’ comments.

Hello @cesc4official this is Xavi. How is your DNA coming along?

Oh @xavibarca how are you.

I am fine @cesc4official so when are you joining us

you know you have Barca DNA @cesc4official

please @cesc4official please please please please join

You probably see what a mean already..

You can follow me on Twitter for non-DNA stuff, just Arsenal chat really and the like so if you want your timeline filled with endless crap you know what to do.

Thats about it for today. Wonder if the FA are cooking up another stupid rule? Maybe they are setting up a player association to count the moon or how to overload your hair with gel so it looks like you have just been caught up in an explosion at the nearest Brylcreem factory? I’m sure Chamakh would be chairman of that one.

Right, more soon.

I was approached by a writer who works for a popular travel comparison site wanting to give Arsenal fans information ahead of their ventures into Europe for the Champions League. I thought it would be a good idea and something quite unique. Your feedback is appreciated and I hope this is of help..

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Arsenal travel to Partizan Belgrade in the Champion’s League group stages on September 28^th, and to save you spending time looking for flights and local information, we’ve done it for you!

Most people’s knowledge of Belgrade will extend as far as knowing it is in Serbia, but not much else. Luckily, there are flights direct from Heathrow to Belgrade on a daily basis, if however you are flying from elsewhere in the country; there are only direct flights from Heathrow airport so you may have to make your way to Heathrow first, or look into flying to a another major European city.

There was the option to fly to cities Moscow, Kiev, Bucharest or Munich and jump on a train to Belgrade, but it costs around £120-150 for the flights, which starts becoming expensive when you add on your train tickets which can range from € 40-€ 120, along with the increased travelling time.

Depending on which day you fly out on (and how soon you book); you can get return flights for under £100. Flying out on Sunday 26/9, and returning on Wednesday 29/9 is currently around £99 (at time of writing), whilst the flights on September 27^th and 28^th can be booked for under £200 return. Below is a list of flight details from Heathrow to Belgrade:

Heathrow to Belgrade

Accommodation

There are many hostels and hotels in Belgrade, using a price comparison site such as travelsupermarket.com can help you find deals on your stay in Serbia. Prices can start at around £30 per night, depending on what star accommodation you require; if you’re after something a bit more luxurious you could be paying around £75 per night.

Additional Information

Tap water in Belgrade is perfectly safe to drink; so there’s no need to spend money buying bottled water.

Nightlife – Belgrade is recognised as having a decent nightlife, and is renowned for having barges on the banks of the Sava and Danube rivers. The main clubs are Akademija and KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike), whilst the liveliest street is Strahinjića Bana which is home to many trendy bars and cafes.

Should you want to get a taxi in the area, please be aware all licensed taxis are required to have two signs on their roof: a company specific sign, and a blue one with a 4 digit number on.

Any taxi without the smaller sign on is probably an illegal driver trying to rip you off. Your best bet is to ask at your hotel reception to book a taxi for you, or use a reputable company such as:

• Pink Taxi
• Beogradski Taxi
• Lux Taxi
• Plavi Taxi
• Beo Taxi

Always look for the 2 signs on the top of the car before agreeing any fare. Please be aware, some drivers may try it on and ask for the fare on the meter per person; refuse this as this is an illegal practice, however charging extra for luggage is not illegal.

Average temperatures in September – High: 23°C, low 13°C

People in Belgrade can speak English as they learn it in school a young age, so you shouldn’t struggle when ordering food & drink, but don’t start swearing at hotel/bar staff – they will understand you.

UK Embassy contact details: Resavska 46 11000 Belgrade, +(381)(11)2645 055,

Finally, the Serbian currency is Serbian Diners (RSD), below is a brief comparison between RSD and GBP

• £5 – 627.157 RSD
• £10 – 1,254.19 RSD
• £25 – 3,135.78 RSD
• £50 – 6,271.57 RSD

Written by Tony, part of the car rentals team at travelsupermarket.com

Let me set my stall out straight away; I was convinced that Mark Schwarzer was going to sign. I thought both sides had reached the point of no return, there was no way it could not happen. Well, not for the first time I was wrong and a lot of fans were very angry, despite knowing yesterday that the deal was in effect hanging by the tiniest of threads.

The Mark Schwarzer saga has been the subject of a lot of column inches with this particular blog – a mixture of information received from a well-placed source and using media articles to try and establish what was really going on. It seems that everyone with a decent contact (and there aren’t many), and even journalists, were unsure themselves. There has been a lot of stick dished out recently to people who have used a lot of their time off their own back to establish quite what has been going on – using time to research and talk to people who know their stuff – the insults these people have had to put up with from respectable and in some cases pioneering bloggers is quite astounding, and sad.

There have been accusations of people just spouting pure fiction, and in some cases that is quite true, but there are people out there who do know their stuff and have good connections with the club, and whilst they will get the odd duffer I am sure that sometimes they can get information that is priceless. Accusations of part-time journalism have been slung as an insult but in some cases its a compliment – dedication and hard work for scant reward other than maybe a few more followers on Twitter… whats that going to get you eh? A lot more spam in your inbox probably.

There are different styles of writing – evolving styles for an evolving type of exciting new media, an era that is growing with every day, to me it just shows bitterness and jealousy. The spotlight is drifting away, maybe they need to change their style too. Don’t get me wrong people, this is not something I am writing aimed at one writer in particular, its just one writer trying to explain what has been happening behind the scenes in the Arsenal world this summer. More than ever, our fanbase has some serious divisions and thats sad, its dividing a group of people that all have one great thing in common. Opinion is a right – its what helps make football so great, its just a shame that its the very same thing thats pushing the people that make football football what it is apart.

There is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest football blog around in Arseblog – there is the best writer in Goonerholic, the memories that make you just wish you were there. The brilliantly informative Young Guns, unique among clubs and massively popular. We have by far the best blogs out there – why not use them… disagree with one site, find another. Anyway, moving on….

I can understand why fans are angry we didn’t sign a goalkeeper – it isnt the goalkeepers fault though so if Almunia makes a mistake we should not jump on his back and give him grief. You can see the stress he has been under written on his face, he just looked a defeated man in the majority of pre-season but now, hopefully, will give him the boost needed to regain the confidence he had in 2008/09 because that Manuel Almunia was a good one.

Overall it has been a good summer, we have brought in Laurent Koscielny, Sebastian Squillaci and Marouane Chamakh  all of whom bring something different to the table, Chamakh in particular. Some frustrated individuals have already started rounding on these players claiming they are not good enough or too injury prone… lets just see them play first!!

However – behind the players there have been plenty of mistakes. I said at one point this summer that the goalkeeping and defensive situations were a disgrace, that they had been neglected. They have been, one part was rectified the other part showed appalling man-management, to the degree that if it happened in an office, the manager would have been ousted long ago.

Manuel Almunia has been treated badly – all summer his place has been under threat and he has known that the club are casting their eyes elsewhere but never go through with any of the targets, its a strange situation and this sort of bad management is happening too much of late, last season it was Phillipe Senderos who got the bad treatment.

Now though it is time to look at the positives, Squillaci is a winner of seven major honours, probably more than the rest of the first team put together – koscielny has looked very able in his first two games, if a little raw and Marouane Chamakh has already shown his qualities, one goal and the main factor in another that got us an important draw at Anfield.

The madness is over and the football can now take center stage once again.

Bring on Bolton a week on Saturday.

Welcome to transfer deadline day 2010. Arsenal are still on the market for new players and there looks set to be some outs, with some of the club’s younger players hoping to seal experience building loan moves.

You can follow live real time updates right here on The Goon Blog brought to you by editor Martin Cafferty, along with Young Guns editor Jamie Sanderson who will look to guide you through and give expert opinion on the young players who could leave.

Feel free to get in touch with the guys by leaving a comment in the live updates section. They’ll read out the best and hope to answer all your questions. Alternatively you can tweet Jamie at @YoungGunsBlog and Martin at @thegoonblog Enjoy!

Yesterday, it is said an agreement was close between Man City goalkeeper Shay given and Fulham – if this goes through Mark Schwarzer will make the short move across London to join Arsenal. It looks like it will be a loan deal, not a permanent one.

The Daily Mail ran with a somewhat unsubstantiated story about the possible transfer and with people in the football world, journalists and former players alike, saying Mark is on his way to Arsenal it makes you think that the likelihood of it happening is more likely than not. Someone also said to me Sky Sports ran a similar story but I can’t confirm this, I was working all day.

I received a mail early on yesterday claiming that a deal between Man City and Shay Given was very close and in its final stages before completion, Mark Hughes comments after the Fulham draw on Saturday did little to dispel noises that Given was indeed on his way: -

‘Mark Schwarzer has made it clear that he would like to go to Arsenal so we are trying to look at other options. I’m always interested in quality players and Shay Given is a quality player. Make of that what you will. But I have said that if we can’t get anyone else in, Schwarzer will have to stay.’

Speaking yesterday, Arsene Wenger said:

“It is dead at the moment, but maybe not finished”

I would think, and I’m speculating on this bit, that the only issue would be wages – Fulham probably couldn’t afford the wages that Shay is on now at Man City so some sort of compromise; AKA a pay-cut, will have to take place. Alternatively City would have to subsidize the wages so Fulham don’t turn themselves bankrupt by trying to pay wages they can’t afford.

One thing that might hurry this along is that the keeper who looked able to fill Schwarzer’s sizable shoes, the young David Stockdale, has suffered ankle ligament damage and looks like spending up to two months on the sidelines – Fulham have no other goalkeeping option with the quality to play in goal in the Premier League so they have to look elsewhere, if they can’t find a goalkeeper, or the Shay Given deal somehow manages to fall through then as Mark Hughes said; no move will happen.

However like I said, it seems that a deal is very close for Given to move to Fulham on loan – I’m expecting a bit of news tomorrow that hinges on an event in the morning. I’m working so won’t be able to update the site if this event happens (and no, its not a medical), I will probably come back with an update in the late afternoon.

Now choose to believe this or not – this is not being ‘reported’ as fact and this is just me passing you something that has been made available to me. It does fit with what seems to be happening, so I thought it might be of interest.

For a deal to materialise I do think that steps have to be made today so it might get quite interesting, one thing I do not buy is the notion of Manuel Almunia leaving the club now – he was the last to leave the pitch at Blackburn and he did throw his shirt/gloves/armband into the crowd but its most likely he was just thanking them for their support. He had a very good game.

So with less than 48 hours left in the transfer window lets see what happens….

Blackburn 1-2 Arsenal

Yesterdays game against Blackburn showed why defensive coaching is so important, and thankfully a week of intense preparation for the aerial bombardment from our opponents paid off. There was a strange assurance about the defence that has been absent for a long time – there was still the time for the defensive cock-up that would lead to a goal – but that aside it was a very promising performance which many positives can be taken from.

Theo Walcott is on fire and bursting with confidence, I would stretch so far as to say that the goal yesterday is more important than the three he scored against Blackpool, it shows that he has built on last week and kept up the same quality of performance which is fantastic to see. He might well be finally coming of age and whilst I am making no comparison in the quality stakes here, it was a similar age to where Cristiano Ronaldo started to come into his own. For any stray Mancs or Madrid fans who are lost and ended up on this site, let me make myself abundantly clear: I am not comparing Theo to Ronaldo, just the stages where they have seemingly both started to improve.

Manuel Almunia also had a fine game, he made his mind up quickly and it looked like there was much better communication between goalkeeper and center-backs. They knew that job they each had to do and it worked very well. For the Blackburn goal the core of the team were a little lackadaisical and far more than just Laurent Koscielny were to blame for Diouf getting into the position he did and the other Diouf doing the same, and scoring. Two runs were not picked up on and Gael Clichy had a bit of an up and down game, the marking side of his game is clearly a weakness that needs work but hopefully that will improve and it doesn’t prove to be our downfall again. Both Alex Song and Robin van Persie had chances to stop the run for the Blackburn goal and latterly, Koscielny should have gone to ground or, I hate to say it, clattered Diouf to stop him getting any further. Hadj Diouf is a tosser and a kick would do him no harm.

The main concern from the game will be over van Persie’s brilliant ability to get injuries.  Both his ankles were heavily strapped before the game and it was only two very innocuous incidents of contact that left him on the floor – you do have to wonder if his career will end up being one of what might have been, he has all the quality and talent in the world but just can’t stay fit. The two incidents in question were not even tackles, just light taps on the ankle.

Overall, we dealt with Blackburn’s physical game very well I thought – didn’t give away many cheap free-kicks and importantly the players did not panic – even when Dunne had a clear shot on goal in the final ten minutes there was no rush of blood to the head, it was all dealt with confidence and coolness. All in all, very impressive.

Its a great start to the season, earning a point at Liverpool in the dying minutes, smashing six past Blackpool at home and now away at a team where we always struggle a bit, we win and defend with conviction. Nine goals in three games with two conceded is not to shabby at all and after drawing Spurs in the League Cup yesterday there is an early chance for revenge after our loss at WHL at the end of last season – things are looking up.

Just as we are getting a decent bit of momentum going we have to pause for a poxy little international break, whilst it is annoying it also gives players a chance to gain a bit more match fitness and the ones who are not on international duty can prepare for the home game against Bolton in a couple of weeks time.

It has been a very encouraging start to the season.

Wilshere arrest… release on bail & statement…..

In the early hours of this morning 18 year old Jack Wilshere was arrested after an altercation in the street that has left a woman with a broken arm and a man with minor face injuries, according to the Police. It is said that Jack was acting as a ‘peacemaker’ and is only helping the Police with their inquiries as to what actually happened.

“The police have made it very clear that he is an important witness to the incident and played the role of peacemaker and is unlikely to face any charges as a result. Jack has made it very clear he will co-operate fully with the police investigation.”

Whatever the case the fact that he was out at quarter to three in the morning is not going to sit well with the boss but it has to be said there are two sides to every story so we will just have to see what occurs. It could be far worse, he could have actually been involved in the confrontation which is not exactly rare with certain England footballers. He does have an attitude and it does show sometimes but he is a kid with good secure family background so that will help keep him grounded which isn’t easy when you have already made your full England debut whilst many people of that age are still in school education.

Right, enough of that.

Enjoy your Sunday