The Goon Blog

If we win the games at home to United this weekend, and Liverpool after, the draw at Villa Park will pale into insignificance.

It will be a stronger side taking the field at the weekend, Song is the one notable returnee whilst Vermaelen’s injury isn’t a leg break and will be in contention, even though at this stage Sol is more likely to play. Bendtner got minutes under his belt and looked very lively. Certain blogs have criticised him for not reacting quicker to that half-chance but you would react slow if you’d been out for nearly 4 months and had only had one full on training session !!

We do really have to make our home games count though, it reflects the closeness of the title race that one day you can be top, a few days later you are third.

We can beat United, we can beat Liverpool, we can get something at Chelsea too. I was annoyed as the whistle went at 0-0. I’ll be more annoyed if it was 0-0 at full time on Sunday.

More later

The news that Jack Wilshere has gone off to Bolton on loan for the rest of the season is hardly unexpected, he needs game-time, Owen Coyle and the boss get on well and it is a deal in which everyone is a winner.

Jack probably needs to experience the rough and tumble he probably never has at Arsenal as he has been taught the ‘Arsenal way’ at every level, it will be a very worthwhile education for him in the world of football and the experience of a relegation dogfight should galvanise him a little bit.

I can’t stand Bolton but it could be a useful partnership developing between the two clubs, contrasting styles, different ends of the league, different methods, a good experience for any youngster to realise what side his bread is buttered on.

The fact that Martin O’Neill is called one of the very best British managers is laughable, his comments the other night showed his petulance and the pressure he is currently under. Arsene Wenger actually complimented his team but O’Neill, in a way only he could, took it as some kind of insult.

Despite some members of the press twisting the words he said, these are his exact comments:

“They play a very efficient English game, with long balls and it is very physical. They are a good side at counter attacking. When we took the gamble to go forward and they won the ball, they are quick and that is why it was always us managing to create chances and score, or them catching us on the counter attack or playing on Agbonlahor or Heskey with long balls.”

Insult? What insult? Get a grip O’Neill, if you concentrated on your teams lack of goals you might actually have scored more than a big fat zero in your last four games.

He chats as much bollocks as Bakary Sagna’s agent who, for the second time, is trying to get his clients name out into the press. Firstly it was him subtly hinting that Sagna was off to Real Madrid, this time he is saying IF Macion moves to Real Madrid, Inter Milan MIGHT be interested in Sagna. On this logic Lionel Messi MIGHT move to Arsenal, IF that happens and I soil myself in excitement I MIGHT have to wipe my arse afterwards.

There is a lot to be said of getting players agents and representatives out of the game all together but it will never happen, there is just too much money involved. All you have to do is send a text to a reporter and a rumour to generate interest in their client is all over the press, job done, interest gained, price risen, commission increased, happy holidays … bastards.

None of our players are going anywhere, at least, not permanently.

Til next time.

This could be a really, really, costly game.

We should know about the state of Thomas Vermaelen’s leg tomorrow, and whilst Sol Campbell filled in admirably, you can’t help but worry. What a massive loss it would be, the end of his season for sure.

Eduardo has done another muscle in and I would put money on it being around three weeks before he is ready again, putting pressure on Nicklas Bendtner who understandably lacked match sharpness but impressed me with his determination and clear skill.

Comment on the game tomorrow, I need a little time to clear my thoughts up.

Judging by the news appearing from Arsene’s press conference today it was a pretty interesting one; transfers, Campbell, ‘keepers, Walcott’s development, the return of Nasri & Bendtner and the FA Cup exit were all discussed before tomorrows game away at Villa.

One of the biggest developments concerns the immediate future of Jack Wilshere who will go out on loan in the next 48 hours, the official site list Burnley, Bolton and West Ham as the likely destinations for the eighteen year old. My hunch is that he will move on loan to West Ham for the rest of the season, not far to move, thats if he has to move at all. It will do him some good going out and getting regular games. His staggered run-outs for us have not been doing him any good, at this stage of his career he needs consistency. Im sure he will do very well there and get some opportunities to show off his clear talent. Plus, he can learn from Zola.

On Sol Campbell, the boss has said he will have to fight like any other player to get into the side, and rightly so. Better start getting injured then Sol !!! In all seriousness, he impressed me, and lots of others, at the weekend. Keep up the good work Sol, we will be seeing more of him I’m sure.

The boss has also given his weekly ‘big up’ of his goal keepers, the ‘keeper of the week is Szczesny. It really does show the dire options we have when he talks of a 19 year old being capable of becoming the Arsenal number 1, especially after he described Fabianski as potentially world class and Almunia as one of the best goalies in the Premiership. It is an area that needs addressing. I will keep dreaming that we will see Igor Akinfeev in an Arsenal jersey. Chances of that happening are about 0.00000000001%. Still a chance then.

There is some good news on the injury front though as Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner are now back in full training, we still have a lengthy long term injury list but lets hope the medical room door isn’t revolving so quickly in a few weeks time. I am a big fan of Bendtner and am convinced he will become a real top class striker, his goals to starts ratio is fantastic for a player of his age and he has a real knack of scoring important goals. I wouldn’t bet against him getting an important goal in the next few weeks in our crunch run of games.

Arsene Wenger obviously saw my criticism of Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott the other day (read a few posts below). He came out in defence of Theo in particular today declaring that we won’t see the best of him for at least six weeks. The cynic in me says he will be back in the medical room by then, sadly. Lets hope not.

The boss on the FA Cup exit. Lets just move on now please. More important things lay ahead …

There is more comment by Wenger on other matters to be found on the official site, the news that Smalling has pretty much sealed a move to Man United shows that our business this transfer window is as good as over, barring a change of heart from the boss, but Bendtner’s return means we will not sign a striker.

Quick updates here: http://twitter.com/thegoonblog

The headline is strong, I know, but it is about time they started pulling their weight and contributing.

The boss decided to go with Coquelin at right back, Campbell and Silvestre in the middle with Traore on the left, out of that back four one was out of position, two were hapless and the one player who had a decent game at the back, Campbell, was left with little support on an impressive return to top level football.

Behind them Lucaz Fabianski was awful, flapping around like some kind of retarded Chicken with a poker shoved up its arse. It is clear Arsene Wenger has to buy there in the summer but after describing Fabianski as close to world class just a couple of days ago (I think he did, but I also might have dreamt it… ), the chances of us buying seem slim to non existent.

All three of the goals conceded were down to awful defending. Silvestre has the turning circle of a bus with no steering wheel, Coquelin was hopeless but he isn’t to blame, we had no right back at all. Armand Traore has suffered a pretty dire slump in form in the past few games so whilst Clichy is still calamitous as far as I’m concerned, he is still better than Traore.

Moving onto midfield, Eastmond was out of his depth and quite frankly, when you are up against a team of Stoke’s stature you need someone in there who can match them on a physical level, even though Arsenal could run rings around them at a technical level. Denilson and Cesc battled hard, combined for the goal but just couldn’t work with what was around them, Emmanuel-Thomas showed plenty of application but the two that flanked him were diabolical.

So…Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott, the young prodigies, pretenders or whatever you want to call them. I prefer to call them the gruesome twosome after that shocker of a performance.

The main thing I noted was that it seemed they just didn’t fancy the game, there was little application and when they had the ball they did nothing with it what so ever. Out of the two Carlos Vela is the most gifted, of that there is no question, but whilst only young you do have to wonder if he would be better suited elsewhere and we could do with a more experienced and complete player in his place. Theo Walcott is an athlete that is trying to learn football, he has not got that footballing know-how naturally engrained into his brain, Vela has this but isn’t using it. We know Theo has potential but he seems to be backpedaling faster than he ever went forwards.

Harsh words I know, but what is to be expected? This team was fighting on three fronts before, now that is down to two and there is a real, real possibility of finishing trophy-less once again. It will take a monumental effort to lift the Premier League with the squad as decimated as it is, I hope and pray this defeat doesn’t affect the upcoming games because they are season deciders.

There is still the Champions League but I have said many times now, we simply concede to many goals to win it. I’d love to be proven wrong though.

I would genuinely like to hear your opinions on Theo Walcott and Carlos Vela … I will have angered people with what I have said. Its just how I feel today, maybe I will be more forgiving tomorrow?

If you are shy you can drop me an e-mail at goonblogger@[removethisbeforesending]googlemail.com

’til next time.

He was sat next to Garrincha, to the left of Pele and below Eusabio.

Get a grip people ….