In an exact reverse of yesterday, there is sod all around today.

There will be some team news later but i can’t really look forward in time. I guess the news about Eduardo’s latest injury should be first in line, it was bound to happen i suppose, two more weeks out for that man. He was in a way a victim of his own brilliance because if he had not have netted that penalty im sure Arsene would have had him off the pitch earlier than he did, i expect it to be a bit stop start with Eduardo for a good six months whilst his body adapts to the rigors of football at the highest level again. Wenger had this to say about the injury:

“Eduardo is out for two weeks, he picked up a hamstring injury two minutes before I took him off. What a nightmare. Nobody knows how it happened but I knew straight away after the game it would be a two-week job. It is nothing like he had before but I do know that little set-backs like this are part of being nine months out. After that long out, nobody plays six months on the trot. It is impossible. But at the same time it is a blow because, of course, he can score goals. He had shown that on Monday night.”

He will be back, i am sure.

The bad news is balanced out by good news though; Andrey Arshavin will play against Sunderland, i think i speak for every Arsenal fan when i say

PLEASE START HIM AHEAD OF EBOUE!

It will be good to see him on the pitch and it will be when i am 100% sure he is now our player! Wenger was coy when asked if he will start Andrey, i have a feeling he will though its more than possible Vela could be given another start after an impressive display against Cardiff on Monday night;

“He will be involved, but I have not decided what I will do with him yet. Of course, any new signing needs an adaption period in English football. The only question mark over Arshavin is whether he can have a positive influence on Arsenal’s quest for a Champions League spot in the final three months of the season. But, despite being in pre-season training with Zenit when he signed, his physical fitness should not be a problem. He is still working on preparation and he is not qualified for the game against Roma so we can give him another week of hard work, at the end of next week, that will be three weeks with us and one week with Zenit, that should be enough.”

So he starts then right? He will only adapt to the English game by playing week in week out so start him….please?

Don’t you realise Arsene that Eboue has driven us to madness?

Really.. do you understand that Arsene?

On the injury front the list reads; Eduardo, Abou Diaby, Mikael Silvestre, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky.

Despicable for a club of Arsenal’s stature, they should have the medical team to keep our key players fit. I don’t think there is another team as big as Arsenal that has an injury list of this size, with players of this importance anyway. FIVE of our first eleven are in the medical room, thats five of our most influential players.

Truly awful.

Right, team news tomorrow, til then, up the Gunners.

Alright you lot, fair bit today, makes a change eh?

This has actually taken ages to write because i think my computer has contracted a very fucking annoying virus. If i ever find anyone that has ever sent me a virus i will actually stick a red hot poker up their anal passage, then insert their penis into a food blender. Anyway,

First up the speculation linking us to French ‘keeper Yoann Pele, this has surfaced due to comments from him saying he would like to play for Laurent Blanc or Arsene Wenger when his contract runs out at the end of the season. His words were;

“Working with Laurent Blanc and Arsene Wenger would be pleasant.”

Cue the headlines ‘PELE SET FOR ARSENAL!’ and the likes, quite humorous actually. For what its worth i don’t think we will be in for him because Almunia is firmly our number one, and i don’t think Fabianski will be given up on yet by Wenger, very, very unlikely in my book.

Ivan Gazidis has spoken with confidence about the club not being affected much by the big fat recession we are in the middle of at the moment, he says that our ‘unbelievable assets’ will see us though comfortably in the next few difficult years and put a very positive spin on all things Arsenal before moving on to the Alisher Usmanov issue, here are a few quotes picked out from the waffle of the actual interview conducted by Reuters.

On the club’s assets and future in the current economic climate:

“I believe we are going to be very successful. We have some unbelievable assets that are going to mean that in the environment that we are heading into, which is challenging for everybody over the next few years, we are going to be very successful,”

This may be a hint at dropping ticket prices?:

“We have an incredibly solid fan base, a long waiting list for season tickets. We’ve got our own stadium that holds 60,000 people, so we are very well positioned in relative terms, but that doesn’t mean that we can sail along as if nothing has changed economically because that’s unrealistic,”

Highlighting that we probably DO need to be in the Champions League next season:

“This club has to be in the Champions League, regardless of the business model. Any year that we are not in it is a major disappointment. There is always this short-term pressure, which is right and is part of being in football — we should want to be champions every single year. I think one of the things we believe is that money isn’t the only driver of success on the field,”

How long before a tabloid picks up on that first nine words?

On the job as a whole he had this to say:

“It is not just a job. You have the hopes and expectations of not only so many people, but also history. I feel that on my shoulders. It is a responsibility I take very seriously. If I can walk away someday, hopefully a long time from now, and say I did not let the club down, then I will feel pretty good about myself.”

After the first month of him being at the club it seems he knows how important his job is, and the importance of doing it right. He has talked the talk, i think he will do well. He does not seem like a bullshitter – so far.

On the Usmanov front he was pretty cagey, he was keen to point out that both on and off field affairs are separate, something you would expect him to say in such a situation. What is worrying is that he did leave the Usmanov takeover subject fairly open, saying;

“It is very important to this club that it is run on a self-sustaining basis,” he said. What that does is release you from the day-to-day pressures of anything that may be happening at board level. The club effectively functions as a club independent of what ownership changes may take place.”

That certainly does not say ‘Usmanov will not be taking over the club anytime soon’ or likewise, ‘Usmanov will take over’. Its an answer open to interpretation and interpret it how you will.

The Arsenal PR team are really working hard at the moment, first there was all that Eboue stuff before the Spurs game during which he succeeded in blowing it all apart, now its Nasri’s turn. In his interview with the Independent he comes across as very positive and firmly believing that The comebacks of our injured players will give the team a ‘new face’;

“I don’t think it is a central midfielder that Arsenal have been lacking. What we have really been missing is the injured players and when they come back you’ll see a different face to this Arsenal team.”

He also talks about his ‘celebrity’ status back in France and the bust up between him and Gallas after he sat in Thierry Henry’s seat on the Euro 2008 team coach. Its a pretty good read and worth a peek.

Adebayor has also been in the media after saying Arsenal need to win something, nothing new there then? We all acknowledge we really do need a trophy and in my opinion, it would be the making of this side. Surprisingly to some of the cynics out there, he also says that team achievement as a whole are far more important than his personal goal tally on what has been a stop start season for him with injuries and that ludicrous suspension he picked up unfairly.

The Mirror have run a NOTW style article on us moving for ‘fed up Real star Huntelaar’. It borders on stupidity, it really does. The guy moved in January and they claim he wants out because he was not in the revised Champions League squad list, the actual reason he is not on the list is because they had to choose between him and Dolphin head.

They then have the cheek to run a ‘10 things you need to know about the Arsenal summer target’. Jesus fucking christ! They really are desperate aren’t they? Its based on nothing and is total and utter bollocks, it will remain so until they have some evidence.

Brazillian striker ‘Nene’ has dismissed speculation linking him to us. Nothing new there then?

Right thats your lot.

Take it easy, up the Gunners.

Welcome, on what seems a fairly quiet day.

First up, and something that has really annoyed me is the Da*ly Ma*l playing the ‘Martin Taylor is innocent’ game again. Now we know he probably did not aim to hurt Eduardo in the way he did, he almost certainly wanted to shake him up a bit and let Eddy know he was there. The injury was not deliberate, but the tackle was. This is what the scummy press have said,

“When Eduardo fell one year ago, the finger of blame was pointed at Taylor for a mistimed challenge that left the striker with a double compound fracture of his right leg.

Arsenal’s Premier League aspirations were crushed. Croatia’s Euro 2008 dreams had similarly been dashed and a footballer’s career was on the line.

The graphic pictures of the incident only cast Taylor further in the role of the bad guy. Arsene Wenger’s scathing comments condemned him still further.“

Oh for fuck sake. Right, I’m going to take issue with the first bit of text highlighted in red.

‘When Eduardo fell” – You fucking what? He didn’t just fall over, for Christ’s sake his leg was in little bits and his foot was poking the wrong way, he didn’t just trip over a fucking mole hill! What do you expect him to do? Get back up on his feet (or foot), and give the poor innocent defender a hug and a kiss? Taylor’s foot was planted half-way up Eduardo’s leg as you can see here.

Oh poor Taylor! Eduardo just 'fell'

I sure as hell don’t call it ‘falling’. I call it an accident, but an accident that could and should have been prevented, and then Taylor should have been used to discourage the ‘roughing up’ tackles of the kind that caused it. I’m still livid he got a three game ban, but i might take that issue up in the future if we are ever faced with such an issue. I really hope we don’t. Now onto the last sentence.

“Arsene Wenger’s scathing comments condemned him still further” – Get the fuck outta here! How would you expect a manager to react after seeing his most in-form player with a snapped leg and dislocated ankle?

Press: ‘What do you think of Eduardo’s injury then?

Wenger: ‘Oh I’m sure the poor Taylor lad did not mean it at all, he might never play again, or be the same player but all that matters is Taylor’s state of mind right now. He might lose his foot as well but i all i want to do is say sorry to Taylor on Eduardo’s behalf for denting his confidence.’

Just imagine if it had just happened to Ronaldo, Fergie would not just have gone mental he would have been on the phone to Al Capone to send over a hit-man to hunt the player down. Wenger retracted his comments less than an hour after he said them, why make a fuss out of something that is totally irrelevant?

I am surprised Wenger did not explode and call Taylor a fucking cunt, i sure as well did at the time. If Eduardo was an English citizen there would have been outcry, but because it was the Englishman at fault, Taylor is the victim.

It sickens me.

So do articles like this piece of shit. This worthless idiot has since left his job but he basically says ‘Eduardo will be back but Taylor will always have the mental scars’. What a prick.

I have no problem with Martin Taylor at all, i really don’t. I don’t think he meant to hurt him at all, he wanted to make his presence knows which, sadly, is part of the game. The death threats he received were out or order and Taylor thanked Arsenal fans that supported him, and condemned those other fans that told him they wanted him dead;

‘I had an incredible amount of support from Arsenal’s fans. I’d like to thank them publicly for that.’

Right, that cast aside lets move on.

The Times have spoken to Eduardo about his recovery, he has said that Tony Colbert is like his ’second father’ after developing a close bond with him through his recovery, its a decent read.

The Da*il Ma*l are not done yet though and have proceeded to shit stir once again running an story saying that Theo Walcott is moving because we are only offering him 50K a week. Really, why do they hate us so bloody much and create shit article after shit article after total and utter wank article?

Shit paper

Shit story

Shit ‘journalist’

Its just total shit.

I’m not even going to link to it, it really is that bad, they are on the same level as the NOTW who aren’t half good at making shit up.

What do all you make of the Eduardo/Taylor ‘innocent’ story? I would love to know your thoughts.

Til Tomorrow – up the Gunners.

Don’t forget you can follow me and chat to me on twitter here.

“He always wanted more and this guy is small but has the mental strength of a mountain.”

Our man is back, and what a statement he put out last night. Mr Cool, Mr Clinical. I don’t know about you but his return almost put a tear in my eye, the crowd were the loudest ive ever heard and his second goal celebration summed up the man. He is a legend. And in his words, ‘it was the best day of my life’.

It was written in the stars, i did not think he would start but his return gave the team a massive lift by the looks of things, Bendtner was very lively, Nasri was livley, Gibbs was superb as was Sagna and Gallas is in the best form of his Arsenal career. Eduardo picked up where he left off.

I really, really admire him as a player and the personal aspect. The fact that he must have been in such unbearable physical pain when his leg broken, never mind the mental scars he must have. I myself broke my arm badly when i was playing football a few years ago, i still wake up at night and don’t move it as im scared it will hurt, the mental strength to overcome that, and the fear going into tackles is a massive massive thing. His determination and will to come back is truly inspirational and not just to Arsenal fans, not just to football fans but ordinary everyday people around the world. Arsene Wenger spoke especially about him after the game saying,

“I am not surprised he played well tonight. I didn’t play him as a reward for his excellent work; it was because in training over the past few weeks he has done extremely well. He made a big step forward two weeks ago when he found sharpness in front of goal and in his runs and he got rid of his apprehension in the tackles.

Wenger is not a man for the token appearance, he would not have put Eduardo onto that pitch if he did not think he was 100%. He continues,

“Of course it is nearly 12 months out and he has been extremely strong mentally during that time, I could never see one minute of doubt in his mind or one minute where he said ‘no, I don’t want to do it’.

Just highlights what i was saying a minute ago, a truly inspirational bloke and a role model for everyone out there, he is quiet, never speaks out of turn, never turns on his team mates, he has handled this situation with great elegance and dignity.

I would just like to draw attention to the missiles thrown onto the pitch, aimed at Fabianski. I saw a phone and a shoe thrown at him, hopefully they will find the bastards and force them to bow down to Fabianski and lick his shoes clean. Idiots

On a fantastic performance Wenger was proud of his side, and so was i. I have not seen us play like that since the game against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup and boy its good to see. Denilson and Song were strong in the middle and not one single player performed below par. When Van Persie came on we just saw how good he is, a fantasticaly taken goal and he almost set up Bendtner with a ball that is the ultimate strikers wet dream, it was that good. Wenger was in his element,

“We played the kind of football we love to play and it is good to see us play with handbrake off. We are now consistent, we are stable defensively, and we added tonight our drive going forward.”

It looked like it was all coming together and what a selection headache Wenger will have next weekend, its a very nice one all the same!

But our fantastic performance has overshadowed some slightly….darker, news.

Alisher Usmanov has aquired a quarter of Arsenal Football Club, its not good news, does he not get the message?

A statement from Shit and Piss read,

“We are pleased to have now secured over a quarter of the shares of Arsenal.

“We are committed long-term investors and supporters of the club and are comfortable that we are now in a protected position.

“We also welcome the strengthening of the squad and look forward to a successful conclusion to the season.”

Why can’t they go away?? Please, please, please just leave this club alone and stop wasting your money. Whilst you are at it increase the production of oil again so we can have our good prices back.

P.S. – You will not get a seat on the board.

Back to the good news and it looks like Cesc will be back with us very soon, though i doubt he will play against Roma, in the first leg at least. He has said,

“Over the last couple of weeks I have been going up into the mountains to work and it’s been hard but good for my muscles, I’m really happy with how it’s going, it’s looking good and hopefully in 10 days I can start to train with the ball, so it’s going a bit quicker than I thought it would. I can’t wait until I can touch the ball again, because it’s about eight weeks since I’ve kicked a ball and I think that’s the longest time of my whole life!”

He will be back in the changing room from now on as his recovery is in its final stages, its really starting to look like there may be some bright months ahead!

Just a note to you readers; you may have read some of Bendtners ‘comments‘ early on yesterday. If you read them you may have been buggered by some gutter journalism, its really sad isnt it, how they feel the need to screw over youngsters. For the record, Bendtner has denied the comments.

Right thats it, fuck off Usmanov, fuck off crappy journalists and most of all

Well done Eduardo.

Til Tomorrow – Up the gunners.

Its a conundrum that I’m sure will have crossed most Gooner’s minds.

Its one likely outcome, i would rather not contemplate another trophyless season to be honest as much for the weight that would be thrown onto Arsene Wengers shoulders than the fifth season since we last saw a trophy in the hands of an Arsenal captain.

Honestly, i don’t know how i would react, i dont know what i would prefer, a trophy? or the Champions League next season?

I guess i will only know how i feel if it happens.

If we progress tonight our path to the Semi’s is mapped out, after Cardiff it will be Burnley at home, and potentially after that either Sheffield United or Hull – now that would be revenge eh?

We have to win tomorrow and the team will most likely be Fabianski, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Gibbs, Nasri, Song, Denilson, Merida/Wilshere, Bendtner, Vela

Thats what i think it will be as we have tons on injuries, i am probably mistaken though, Wenger will want to rest Van Persie and give Bendtner a chance with Ade out injured. Im thinking that Merida or Wilshere will start because Diaby is out, Eboue is suspended, Vela is needed up front, Denilson is needed in the middle and all our other players that can play there are crocked. Eduardo will play at some point i am sure, i doubt he will start though. And if he does appear, IM GOING TO MISS IT!

How crap is that? I’m going to be really sad if i do i can tell you.

You never know, Bischoff could get a game in the centre and Denilson can play out wide? Doubt it.

We need to get at them straight away, get an early goal to settle the players as it has been a long time without getting a goal, since Everton away i believe, it will get the fans going and be a bit blow to Cardiff. If we score in the first 20 minutes we will win comfortably.

The team wants this trophy, we can’t throw it away, we just can’t afford it, probably literally as well. Sagna has said he really, really wants to win this one:

“I won the French Cup with Auxerre and I know how great an achievement that is. Every game was a fight, a war on the pitch.”

Our other french full back has spoken about how important it is for the fans, and the players too:

“The FA Cup is really important for the fans and for the club and for us. It is one of the competitions we can win, along with the Champions League.”

Right then get out there, want every ball more than Cardiff do, show your hunger ad determination to the fans because they are not really seeing it at the moment and it is very, very frustrating. Its funny how just a couple of weeks after every Arsenal fan was lifted by the Arshavin signing, they are now as downbeat as they were before. I still can’t believe that we have him as we have not seen him on the pitch yet for one season or another.

When he is on the pitch in the Arsenal shirt, i will then believe it.

I will be missing the game tonight as i actually have a football game myself, its really pissed me off and i bet we will trounce them just to rub more salt into my wounds. I have not seen an easy Arsenal win since the Blackburn game. God, that feels like years ago right now.

Finally, let me know how you think you would react to winning the FA Cup and finishing in fifth place in the league? Im sure it will create some interesting debate amongst you readers.

Right,

UP THE GUNNERS!

Til Tomorrow.

Alright you lot, lets begin.

The Shite Of The World have released their latest weekly load of bollocks starting with the headline ‘YAYA TOURE FOR ARSENAL’. They have put two and two together and came up with 2000, seriously.

Its all based on this quote, taken about two years ago:

“It would be great to play in the Premier League and to team up with my brother would be just fantastic.”

I think he said that before he went to Barca a couple of seasons ago whilst he was still at Monaco if im not mistaken, its these kinds of articles that really, really piss me off. They have based it on a quote covered in dust and made the wildest accusation without the slightest bit of knowledge. As a matter of fact Yaya said this just a month or so ago:

“There has been talk of money and a longer deal, but at the moment I am just concentrating on working. I feel happy here and what is important is that I want to stay here for many years,”

Do your research you useless bunch of mongrel hacks. Bastards.

Arsene Wenger seems to like the latest few Chelsea managers, first he came out glowing with praise for Scolari, now he has done the same for Guus Hiddink, he said:

“Hiddink has a strong knowledge of the game and strong personality, he has big experience and he always gets his teams to play the kind of football he wants to play. This is the real art of a good manager.”

Maybe its some kind of unlucky vibe he is sending, could be black magic you know. I suppose if its accounted for Scolari why should it not account for Hiddink?

Wenger has also been talking about Andrey Arshavin and how this period of matches he is ineligible to play in could be a blessing in disguise, i suppose it does give him a while longer to get match fit and sharp again after not playing a competitive match since November. He is going to have to be fit to make an impact in the team, especially as the league change may take time to adapt, the climate however will make him feel at home. Apparently he will be ready for the Sunderland game and Wenger has said he was somewhat ‘handcuffed’ when it came to playing him against Sp*rs last weekend:

“I was a little bit handcuffed against Tottenham because we were down to 10 men and if we had sustained an injury then you couldn’t bring on a player who lacks fitness when you are down to 10 men.”

It was a shame he could not play but it was really not worth the risk of injury, can’t wait to see what all the fuss is about though, fuss that i did partake in i hastily add.

William Gallas’ form has also been put under the microscope by the Boss, there is no doubt that of late, Gallas has been a rock in our defence and his form is reflected in our clean sheets of late. Against Sp*rs he was rock solid and at his true best, i have been critical of him in the past but i can say that he has always been a quality player and the removal of the captaincy has let the pressure off, and the sulking period is now over.

“I have said many times that after a major incident he has responded like a real professional and has dealt well with the situation and that is what we want.”

Only conceding three goals in eight games really shows how we have shored up our defence, it is by no means solid, but its not as leaky as it was earlier in the season. Now, we just have to put the ball in the back of the net.

Phil Wilson has written an interesting piece in The Observer chatting about how the top four is no longer. At the moment its a top one, Manchester United, with four followers being Liverpool, Villa, Chelsea and us. The Manc’s im afraid to say, are miles out in front. To think we are the last team that scored against them, its a fantastic achivement.

Not to score against them, to go that long without conceding! No, i do not have my rose tinted specs on this time.

Right, thats the lot.

Til Tomorrow

The week is over at last, but alas, we are not playing until Monday evening so we have a weekend of watching other teams on telly, that means i curse every goal the team i hate most scores. My way of finding out what team i want to win is by deciding which team i hate most, and the team i hate least, has the privilege of my armchair support.

Just thought you might like to know. Anyway onto Denilson and Ive been pretty creative this time round, i will be going through why Denilson is the most under-rated player at our club.

He has had a few shockers but at the age of twenty one in a midfield with an average age of about twenty one it is not surprising, remember he is playing in probably the most important position in the team.

He is the master of the short pass, as shown here,

This is from the West Ham game and you can see that he plays a hell of a lot of passes, more than Flamini did last season, however Flamini was more disciplined in his positioning,

Flamini picked up the ball more on the edge of the penalty area and built attacks, whereas Denilson tends to contribute more further up the pitch, lessening his defensive effectiveness.

One factor that has to be accounted for is the emission of Cesc Fabregas in Denilson’s stats . This means that Denilson is partnered by Alex Song who, and you will certainly agree with me, is not the worlds most creative player.

Denilson is great at the simple things and is the type of player that will not give the ball away trying a stupid pass or flick, he will probably turn out to be a Mr reliable and a workman and a team like this needs that kind of player, he has the potential certainly to become a more tenacious midfielder like Flamini who was 24 when he left if my facts are right.

He is one of those players that some fans have decided they don’t like before they have seen him properly, this season particularly with the poor results. What people don’t realise is that the all round creativity of the team is poor, but with the players it has it should be much better. Now, the reason for this i dont know but you can see where the midfielders sit and just tap the ball to each other, look at this against West Ham,

You can see the red failed passes around the box and the area we just did our ‘tip tappy’ bit from side to side. In fact we nearly misplaced one in five passes in that game and that is a poor ratio, our passing was not even that adventurous at all. Note – Abou Diaby did a very good holding job in this game, check the number 2’s passing inside his own half, he was definitely more restrained. In contast, this game at home against Derby shows that in the final third we were more potent, and had much better passing,

In my view Denilson puts in a hell of a lot of work, keeps it simple and does it well, at 21 he is no Flamini but given time he could be more than a match for him. Wenger has always eyed him up in this role once describing him as ‘a mix between Gilberto and Rosicky’, now that player would be perfect. The shielding, tackling and interceptions of Gilberto with the intelligence, shooting and passing of Rosicky would be the perfect holding payer. Denilson has time on his hands to learn his trade, he has no mentor or older player to learn from and he is doing well, he will be a fantastic player for us.

There has been all the usual match build up stuff today but i will save that for Sunday or Monday, the only non match related news is the confirmation that Emmanuel Frimpong has signed personal terms. I have not really taken a shine to his personality for a few reasons i will not broadly publish but he seems a decent prospect.

Right, Til Tomorrow.

Up the Gunners