The Goon Blog

Morning, does it feel a bit like Groundhog Day to you?

I apologise profusely for having to go back to this subject, again, but something just has to be said about the latest in the incessant tapping up of our captain by Barcelona. Just days after Pep Guardiola said that Cesc should be left alone, one of his senior players has come out and publically undermined him and disrespected Arsenal for the 223473th time.

‘We know where Cesc wants to be this coming season, but perhaps there is not enough time for Barcelona and Arsenal to agree a deal. Arsenal need to understand they are only delaying the inevitable. If we don’t manage to get his signature this season then Arsenal only really have him on loan for a year – because there is nothing they can do to stop him joining next summer.

‘I haven’t given up on him joining us this season but, if he doesn’t, it won’t be more than a year before he is back home. His people will have a whole season to sort out the deal between the two clubs and it will happen at the very latest next summer.

We were all with him for five weeks in South Africa and we know he wants to be at Barcelona, he made it very clear but he will under no circumstances do anything that will upset the Arsenal fans. And that’s probably why we are going to have to wait for him for another year.’

Source: arseblog.oleole.com

Congratulations, Xavi. Not only have you succeeded in undermining your boss, disrespected one of England’s biggest clubs and shown a complete disregard for Cesc Fabregas’ right to speak his own mind – you have also broke the rules for the umpteenth time.

Just to rub it in, FIFA displayed his comments on their website… the rule-makers of football are giving coverage to the rule breakers ?? Something is very wrong here, it stinks and just shows what a hypocritical bunch of corrupt, spineless, useless money-grabbers they are. That is all they are interested in at the end of the day, they put a few pennies in site revenue ahead of the rule books and principles … well, what principles?

This organisation is killing the game, much like UEFA is doing so in Europe, they are a whole lot of talk and no action. It is rotten from the very top to the bottom, starting with Sepp Blatter right down to the suits at the lower levels. I guess it isn’t good to make accusations in a public forum so I will refrain from doing that, all I’ll say that until the day FIFA are amended, cleaned out and turned into a straight faced, fair, rule-enforcing body they will continue to be mocked, ridiculed and the Xavi’s and Barcelona’s of this footballing world will continue to run riot; not on the pitch but in the disgraceful, continuous, monotonous and quite frankly annoying tapping up of another teams captain. I’ll leave that topic there for now.

Over the last 24 hours rumours surrounding one of the standout players of the World Cup, Keisuke Honda, and a move to us have started to take off. The fact is, there is nothing in them at all. The Boss is known to like him and his style of play but the fee he would demand, coupled with the fact he has never played in a top league in his career so far means that any gamble would be unnecessary and the money could be spent on an area of the team that needs the investment. The failure of Junichi Inamoto would be a pretty good reason to ignore him too.

The Sun are also running a story today about Mark Schwarzer being offered a player/coaching role at the club. You may remember on the 5th I mentioned it in passing after receiving some infomation from a source. If this is the case it is clear that he is clearly being brought in with Chesney in mind, mentoring him them retiring to give him his chance. There is just the matter of the fee to sort out and I sense that there is going to be one more chance to get him and that will be when Fulham’s new boss is announced.

The players will be on Arsenal TV Online later on against Sturm Graz, kick off is at 6pm.

Expect Eduardo’s departure to be officially announced today.

Laters.

Afternoon,

so with every minute ticking by we are getting closer and closer to Eduardo Da Silva being officially unveiled as a Shakhtar Donetsk player, the fee is agreed and the personal terms are the same as they currently are at Arsenal, he was in Colney yesterday undergoing a medical with four members of the Shakhtar medical team and there is a lot of noise suggesting that everything was fine and he passed with no problems at all.

Judging by that there is only the paperwork that needs sorting out and I’d estimate that in the next 24 hours there will be an official announcement on the website that he has signed for the Ukrainians. There will be a lot more about what has happened to him when the signing is official but lets just say this; the fact his career has been severely affected by that tackle at Birmingham a few years ago – that only merited a two game ban according to the FA – is a travesty.

The squad are out in Austria and you can see them being put through their paces, it seems that a couple of players may be on their way out after Eduardo, Jay Simpson missed out on the Austria trip even after his brace against Barnet and Nacer Barazite also missed out leaving his place in Arsene’s plans open to question – he has to do something sooner rather than later because he has been nowhere near the first team so far despite all the hype around him a few years back. It is interesting to see Henri Lansbury, J. Thomas and Frimpong traveling along with Nordveit too, we will almost certainly see them in the Carling Cup at least, injury’s permitting of course.

Robin van Persie has been named the number ten for next season, following in the footsteps of Dennis Bergkamp, his idol. As a result Carlos Vela has been confirmed as our number eleven for next season which almost certainly means he is staying and being given one more chance. It is an opening created by the sale of Eduardo so he really needs to take his chance and show his talent is not wasted in this league, and all the time the club have invested in him has been worthwhile. He has talent, we all know that, I just happen to think he has just taken it too easy and not worked as hard as he should have. His professionalism has been called into question after he lost his passport before the Barcelona game so couldn’t travel, he needs to buck his ideas up if he is going to make it. I really wouldn’t be bothered if he had moved this summer.

After all it seems that this summer is the sellers market, Manchester City are single handedly inflating the market for both transfer fees and wages, its a complete and utter joke. Nobody can compete, they can easily blow Chelsea out the water in both stakes and are miles ahead of us in financial dominance. The fact they are signing a temperamental 19 year old (if all goes to plan) for well over £25 million just shows how silly this has got. Some sort of regulation is a must, as Blatter said once (yes he actually said something sensible), its ‘financial doping’. Cheating.

And if the rumours that Man City are in discussions with Didier Drogba’s agent are true – we may be in a little bit of trouble come next season.

The club announced today that Vuvuzela’s are banned in the stadium, the miserable gits. What is wrong with them? You are hardly going to get 60,000 people in the stadium with them are you. It’s fully understandable how people are divided over them but the fact health and safety grounds are being used as an excuse is frankly hilarious. It is to keep the corporates happy. They like their silence you see.

We all know the atmosphere can be pretty poor at times, the stewards are like little fluorescent Hitlers who think they own the place and the fact you get moaned at if you stand up all adds up to a poor atmosphere at times. Yes, there have been the occasions where the atmosphere has been top notch but anything that can improve it is fine by me. They are not all that bad.

Evening,

been a rather hot day again, better than the usual rubbish weather the so called British summer brings.

Respected BBC journalist Phil McNulty has said that Everton turned down a bid for defender Phil Jagielka six weeks ago from Arsenal, he did not mention the price; only saying that the amount offered is said to be lower than the weekends media various reports that Everton have rejected a bid of £14 million and will up our bid to around £16 million.

It’s interesting that it was around that length of time ago rumours of our interest in Laurent Koscielny started to surface, was he a back-up option to the signing of Jagielka or was he already targeted? It remains to be seen whether we will return with a higher bid but he is just the kind of player we should be after, he has experience and is of proven quality and will really appreciate playing for the club – he hasn’t had it easy like other players have, working his way up from the bottom… well, Sheffield United.

Its an area where we need another player, a good player too. We are seriously lacking quality in goal and a good partner for Thomas Vermaelen and the longer this runs the more nervy I am getting, if there are not two arrivals it is down to pure negligence and misplaced faith, we have had enough of Almunia and Fabianski, there is only so long you can persevere with a player before you have to put the team first. No matter how close player and manager are.

In defence we can’t afford to place any faith in Johann Djourou, he has never really caught my eye as a brilliant defender and whilst he may have age on his side, he doesn’t have a clean bill of health to look back on. How can you rely on a player who has spent decent chunks of the last two seasons (last season only making an appearance or two) out injured?

Keeping on the topic of defenders it seems that if one is going to re-sign, as I was told was very likely, it will be Sol Campbell after it was pretty much confirmed that Gallas and Silvestre will go elsewhere after being released by the club. There will only be a club announcement after they have signed for new clubs. Sol is due back at the club for talks with Wenger and there is an offer still on the table for him… lets just see whether he takes it or not.

Joe Cole signed for Liverpool today. There were a lot of people who claimed his transfer to Arsenal was a done deal but there was only very little interest – some people say there was an offer there, others say that there was no approach at all. Its all irrelevant now but in my book we have dodged a very expensive bullet there, 90 grand a week he is going to be on… ludicrous. Good to see he still has high standards, he claimed so many times that he was seeking Champions League football but has shown that his main interest is just lining his pocket, not that there is anything wrong with that but it shows nothing can beat the attraction of money.

It means that Jack Wilshere is probably going to be staying with us this season, hopefully he will be given chances to break through and establish himself very much in the first team plans for the present and future because he is one hell of a talent. Its important not to much is expected of him though, just let him do his thing without getting on his back.

So thats it for me, lets see what happens on the keeper/defender front.

More tomorrow.

Reports this afternoon suggest that Eduardo is in Ukraine and is on the verge of signing for Shakhtar Donetsk for around €7 million.

A fee has been agreed and so have personal terms, I’ve heard his wages will be somewhere in the region of three million Euros per year. Captain Dario Srna recommended Eduardo to the Donetsk hierarchy and it seems they have approached Arsenal and the club were willing to do business.

It all makes sense, Its understood that he was pulled out of yesterdays squad for the Barnet game at late notice.  Strangely enough it comes soon after the boss claimed that he was in his plans for the upcoming season and also begs a few questions about arrivals… will Joe Cole now come in? Are we in the market for another striker? … or does it give Carlos Vela one last chance?

In hindsight it has looked inevitable since January, where appearances in the team became more and more scarce – to the point where he wasn’t even named in match-day squads at the end of the season, its a sad disappointing way for such a talented player to leave.

A Croatian newspaper has reported it in his adopted country and News of the World journalist Dan King has also claimed that ‘his man in the Balkans’ has confirmed that he will sign for the club very soon.

Keep an eye on Gunnerblog (who is seeking confirmation) and the news feeds over the next few hours.

If true, It’s a sad way for him to go, sneaking out the exit door with barely a whimper after a few injury ravaged seasons. He is a player who at his best is lethal, we saw that in the Emirates Cup last season when he took that goal brilliantly against Rangers, I thought he was back.

After the Barnet game there was the usual media scramble for a few words from the Boss about his transfer targets and who may be leaving – possibly the first chance to ask him questions of this nature all summer, and there were some interesting answers by all accounts.

It seems any deal for Mark Schwarzer is dead in the water, he has been priced out of a move by Fulham, and priced out of a chance to play regular Champions League football. Fulham want 4 million, Arsenal won’t pay it. There won’t be any grumblings from within the Highbury House walls. (Watch and learn, Ba*ca).

His comments on the Schwarzer situation were along the lines of this:

“Not really (interested). We are still looking at various situations, but I would not like to come out on any individuals.

“At the moment, in pre-season, there is no number one – you have to give a chance to everyone to show how good he is. You cannot decide that today.”

There has to be some movement on this front soon, you can’t just throw a new keeper into a new season with no relationship with his defence. We need a new goalkeeper, its as simple as that. Anything other than a new signing there is negligence.

It also looks like that out of the three out of contract defenders, Old Sol is the most likely to stay but even that doesn’t mean he will… the boss said his situation was ‘in no mans land’. He is neither here or there, he was one of two Arsenal players to wed yesterday too, so congrats Sol.

All Barca affiliated people need to take note of these next few sentences.

Arsene sent a message to Barcelona, telling them to end their pursuit of Cesc, and quickly:

“There was a lot of unneeded talk. It is not pleasant to read that every day. Now, the story has to stop.

“Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us and we want to keep him, that is why we were not listening to any offers.

“It was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club.”

So Cesc will be an Arsenal player next season. Sweet.

So.. we are one game closer to the start of the season and yesterday we turned the mighty Barnet over to the tune of four goals to nil. Not bad.

You can’t look into these games too much though, there was a decent mix of youth and experience with the chance for a player or two to seal a move away, and a couple of others to persuade the boss to integrate them into the first team in the season coming.

Here is what I took from the game, I watched a full re-run on Arsenal TV last night:

• Jack Wilshere is an unbelievable talent. We have known this for quite some time but he is getting better and better, the praise has to be in moderation though. The last two pre-season’s he has arguably been the star and looked every bit a first team player, this form hasn’t always been carried into the games he has been given a chance in which admittedly, have been few and far between. I see him staying and getting games.
• Emmanuel Frimpong has bulked up and looks a player – aggressive, quick and snapping at heels, the sort of powerful player I have been crying out for in midfield. I wonder if we could see him alongside Alex Song in a few games this season, those two could provide a hell of a shield to the defence (which I’ll come to later) in games where we have to be wary of counter-attacks and teams taking the game to us.
• Andrey Arshavin looked more interested, which is definitely a positive sign. The first goal was nonchalant but the main aspect of his play was his willingness to run at the defence, he opened up the opportunities for players to break ahead of him and make runs across, the third goal is a good example. His passing was more assured too. Its good to know that he is challenged by his younger team-mates though. Jack Wilshere tore a strip off him for not tracking back at one point – good to see the audacity and confidence of someone so young to challenge a much senior player but it is needed.
• I don’t believe Almunia was ‘ill’, and the absence of Eduardo said to me that they will be off pretty soon, maybe both to Spain.
• Chamakh is a decent player from what we saw yesterday, especially in the second half when the service was parched. He seems like one of those players who makes the football look like a pinball, the ball comes into him and all you see it the ball accelerating in another direction as he moves it on straight away without hesitation. Looked quite powerful too, definitely has the physique for the Premiership.
• Which brings me on to Laurent Koscielny, he needs to bulk up – he admitted it is his weakness and he isn’t wrong. He looks about as strong as a sweet wrapper in a hurricane – get him on the protein, creatine, steak breakfasts – everything Arsene. That is not saying he looked a bad player though, he was nervous but he was by no means bad.
• Jay Simpson will demand a respectable fee – two goals and a good performance, he might be in the Premiership next season.
• Worryingly, there was no change in defensive strategy, the long ball over the top still seems to panic our defence and we will not get anywhere with no defensive improvement. Even the finest defender in the world would struggle where there is not much focus on defensive drills and partnership building. Defenders need to improve tackling, heading and reading of the game, not so much emphasis on playing the ball out of defence.

Those are just the thoughts that pop into my head immediately – the players are now in Austria and play again on Wednesday. Catch it on TV Online.

What did you think?

Come around quick ain’t it!

The annual pre-season friendly against Barnet kicks off tomorrow afternoon as the players stop running laps and start to get back into the swing of things. Sadly though these days that means getting treatment on their various injuries.

The squad for the game has been released on the official website and whilst there are the usual youngsters in there, it has a slightly senior look to it than usual. The likes of Arshavin, Vermaelen, Rosicky, Nasri, Almunia, Eduardo and Walcott all provide more experience than usual so hopefully they get a decent run out and steer clear of those injuries.

Denilson has had the dubious honour of becoming the first player to pick up a knock in training and he will miss tomorrows game and must be a doubt for the next friendly that takes place on Wednesday. If there is any chance of winning something next season our players must stay fit. The club have started fitting the players with GPS trackers so they can tell how far they have ran and are starting to tire, meaning they can alter the training regime to stop any un-necessary strain that may cause injury. It better work.

We will already start the season light on players. Cesc Fabregas will be given a longer break along with Robin van Persie after their World Cup exploits and with the latter a notoriously slow starter we have to have one of Arshavin, Chamakh or Walcott firing right from the start. Given that Chamakh needs to adapt to English football theres going to a be a lot of pressure on Andrey to fire straight from the off, and where better to start than Anfield? Some of you may be saying Nicklas Bendtner can fill that void – he can, but he is having continuous problems with his groin, stemming from his nasty car crash last season. Another explanation might be that he has a little Nicklas on the way with his partner, who happens to be Danish royalty too.

Down the years Barnet, especially recently, have given us a decent game. There have been a couple of draws and ignoring a 10-1 victory a few years ago there haven’t been too many beatings handed out, its an ideal starting point and hopefully we will bang in some goals to build up the spirit and confidence. Its commonly said that pre-season is for managers, but building a head of steam up ahead of the first league game can only do us good.

The players will be off to Austria after the game for the real hard yards to be put in, its where Samir Nasri got his leg broken by Abou Diaby last year so hopefully there is no repeat of that this time round. Keep friendly fire for the Americans.

It seems that Cesc is set to stay:- Barca have some money, its not enough – Arsenal won’t even talk to them – Barca have a strop and go off in a sulk. Happy days.

Seriously, if you can’t afford a player you are not going to get him! No matter where he is from.

Cesc should have thought about returning home before signing his lucrative new contract. It is worth saying though that I have full faith in Cesc behaving like a true professional next season, not sulking and getting down to business and back to the form we saw last time out. I can’t see there being a problem with the fans unless his form dips, then I could see problems but the chances of that are reasonably small thankfully.

Kevin Doyle to Arsenal ? Errr, no thanks.

Enjoy the game tomorrow if your there, I can only catch the highlights.

Laters.