The Goon Blog

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.

I think it is fair to say that the difference between Arsenal and Tottenham is getting more slight by the season – there is no one reason. On the pitch Arsenal are still going through a never-ending transitional period that has been emphasised by falling short when it really matters, the fact that the club are laying the foundations for the generations to come has been stressed to the fans to the point of rhetoric. The less noticeable development of Spurs hint that the North London clubs may just be leading the way in building the clubs up for sustainable and financially stable future.

Arsenal have the advantage. The revenue generated by the club is nearly three times higher than that of Spurs, there is far more money to play with and support the debt repayments that are needed to pay for the Emirates stadium. In the case of Spurs, it is not clear where all their money comes from, there is the opinion that Levy has offshore bank accounts and the club is financed this way but there is no proof and I’m certainly no expert on stuff like this. What is clear is that they are thinking of the future – the desire to build a stadium to rival ours in capacity (albeit with less corporate facilities) and the fact that they have a very large fan base enables them to use this to secure their financial future.

In the clubs rich list, Tottenham are always ranked between the 15th and 10th richest clubs in the world, some achievement for a club who only qualified for the Champions League qualifying stages in the season just gone, it is said that Spurs have the highest revenue out of the non-Champions League teams (before last season), impressive given some of the teams in Europe that fail to qualify.

Investment in the team is where the main difference is. Arsene Wenger is frugal. When he spends big most of the time the players turn out to be a success, the signing of Thomas Vermaelen for just less than 10 million last summer shows that you can buy class on a budget whilst still having funds to add a player of proven class to mix things up eg. Andrey Arshavin. Spurs are one of the top three spenders over the past three seasons and some say they have paid over the odds, their ambition has stayed the same though and finally they have achieved that so you can say that to a degree, the spending has worked out. The extra revenue generated from the Champions League is the next stage of their development, then the stadium. Its fair to say they are a club that is growing.

Compared to Arsenal, the whole financial situation is complex, the delve into the property development market was a wise move to supplement income and bring in a load of money in to lift the bank account even more; massive chunks of the debt have been paid off and now some money can be released to invest in the squad, whether it is spent is another matter. The money is there and despite having debts, they are the most serviceable out there. It was planned to such a degree that even if the club didn’t achieve Champions League qualification for two or three years the future will still be stable.

There are new kids on the block though, and they don’t have to build or plan, they can just bulldoze their way through the hard work and write a cheque for hundreds of millions without thinking about it. Manchester City.

Their current first team costs over 200 million. Over half of what the development of the Emirates cost to put it into perspective.

They can pay the highest wages, buy the best players and get the best managers. The only way to stop them is with FIFA legislation allowing only funds that have been received in revenue to be spent in the transfer market.

Chelsea are the other club with a big financial backer, though Roman Abramovic is no longer the big spender he used to be – he will invest to ensure success but is more reluctant to pay over the odds on wages and go over the top on transfer fees. He wants them to break even.

Then there are United and Liverpool, United are in real danger and the Glazers record in business is shocking – Panorama revealing that their ’self-investment’ was actually just another loan based on a bunch of currently empty shopping malls in the USA. Liverpool have had their loan extended by RBS so have to make re-payments and sharpish.

On the pitch the gap between Arsenal and Spurs has got a lot smaller, in the financial stakes Arsenal are still in a different league but that will start shortening at some point too. As an Arsenal fan it doesn’t daunt me, I can only think of it as a good thing. We are leading the way, and going in the right direction.

I have learned from a reliable source that Arsenal are expected to be re-sign one of William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre or Sol Campbell for the upcoming season.

There is currently an offer on the table to William Gallas, wearer of the number ten shirt wanted by Robin van Persie. The reasoning behind Arsenal not sanctioning the approval of that shirt number is because there is an offer on the table to William Gallas. With Sol Campbell looking more and more likely to sign for Sunderland after speaking with them in great detail (rumour is they have only offered a one year contract), and Mikael Silvestre voicing numerous times over the past two seasons how he wants regular football – if one is going to re-sign as expected, it looks most likely to be Gallas.

Quite honestly, I would be disgusted. Since when do Arsenal settle for being second choice? The reasoning behind it is said to be that we are ’short at the back’… Yes, we are short at the back but why not sign another player rather than just go for the old cheap alternative? It really worked well with Silvestre didn’t it? We need another partner for Vermaelen – it doesn’t look like Koscielny is going to go straight into the first team so we need a class player to fill that void because sloppy goals being conceded have cost us so many points over the past few years.

We will still be in the market for another ‘defensive’ player as the boss said, but do you think Gallas would accept a place on the bench week in week out? I doubt that very much. We know he can be disruptive and risking that would be negligent in my book. And, the chance of last seasons center back pairing being reunited after we conceded so many goals would show that even the strongest of messages is not getting into Arsene Wenger’s skull.

There is news on the Mark Schwarzer front – a decision will be made during the next couple of days regarding to whether we sign him or not. The medical has been done, personal terms agreed and Fulham are holding out for £4 million, I have a hunch the deal will go through despite still looking at other players for the goalkeeping slot that looks certain to be filled with a new signing.

There are Joe Cole rumours popping up again – some believing a deal has been agreed but this coming just a day or so after the comments from Wenger about being happy with his midfield. I don’t see it happening.

It seems as though the summer business is far from being done, there are rumours of Carlos Vela being on his way to Spain, something not coming as much of a surprise. If Eduardo’s ever present link to Aston Villa ever materialises the boss may be pressed into the market for a new forward, despite the signing of Chamakh. We have Nicklas Bendtner with a significant and niggling groin problem along with Robin van Persie who will not have a proper pre-season which will likely result in another injury hit season. We just can’t rely on him to be fit.

It is going to be an interesting final couple of months in the summer transfer window, thats for sure.

So it is World Cup Final day in South Africa and whatever happens tonight we will have a new winner of the famous trophy, its set to be a pretty decent game too.

I’m siding with the Dutch – I can’t stand the Spanish team as you know, it is full of Ba*ca players who I want to see crying tears of devastation after being caned 13-0 in the final. The only other outcome I would accept is Xavi skying the deciding penalty in a shoot-out John Terry style, then getting struck by a 20 billion volt bolt of lightening.

I’m expecting a pretty cagey opening half-hour with neither team really wanting to test their luck with being caught on the break, there is every chance it could be an encounter of very few goals though I hope I have just jynxed that outcome. Two of our finest are in the final tonight – I will be rooting for Robin van Persie, as I’m sure are many Arsenal fans who are pretty annoyed with Cesc and the Spanish team. If Cesc stays I wouldn’t be surprised to see fans not reacting to him in the same way they were before this summer – we could see a rather sheepish face come the start of the season.

I love World Cup finals, I remember cheering on France in the last one – then Zidane (one of my very favourite players, I rate him in my top three all time best footballers), went and smashed Materazzi right in the chest with his big baldy head. One hell of a way to go out of the game.

Hup Holland Hup!

Arsene Wenger is due to meet Ba*ca president Sandro Rosell today according to a TV station in France (via – Arseblog), the station he has been commentating for all summer. It is said that the boss will tell Rosell in no uncertain terms where to get off after the Spanish club have treated his club with such arrogance and contempt over the past couple of months – possibly even years. Wenger is determined not to sell him and rightly so, Cesc signed that contract knowing the length of it and has been paid handsomely for that. Good.

We know how stubborn he can be, we have seen it with our very eyes in the transfer market but in this case – I love the stubborness. There can’t be a more arrogant club in the world than Barcelona – at least United have reason to be arrogant – City just flutter their cash and the players come running but they at least have a little respect. Madrid are the better of the two Spanish evils, not by much though. They don’t seem as arrogant as they once were.

No team I have ever known in the past has bleated on about a player they don’t have in the way Xavi, Puyol, Pique, Messi et. at. have about our captain. Yes, Cesc could have ended this all with one statement and his silence has spoke volumes but he signed that document – its not Arsenal’s fault.

The way Arsenal have dealt with Barcelona makes me proud. The class in the carefully worded statement they released was something we have gotten used to now – we do set an example as to how teams should deal with transfers.

“The job is yours, providing you work on Saturdays…”

“*weeping* yeah, ok. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do”

Is there anything worse than sitting at work, knowing your team is playing but being unable to follow it, record it or generally have any idea what is going on? One incident really sticks in my mind – the game away at Stoke last season… It was one of the very first times I had to work through a football match, I was on a quick break and glanced at a text from the hardcore Sp*rs supporting missus: “Ramsey just been carried off the pitch with a nasty injury, looks similar to Eduardo’s. Poor guy”.

I had no access to the TV, little phone signal and we were in the title race.. plus one of our youngest and best players was probably out the game for a long long time. You couldn’t make it up. Complete and utter torture.

During this experience I contemplated asking randomers if they knew the scores… I never did in the end, knowing that my luck would mean I ask the person who would probably try to wind me up and give me the completely wrong score. Where I work there is a tv right at the back on display, sometimes SSN is on. There must have only been a couple of minutes left in every game and the score read Arsenal 0-0 Wolves – Despite not watching the game I felt all the frustration I would surely have felt watching it, on the way home there was a desperate attempt to follow the final few seconds of the game on Twitter. I lost the signal and didn’t bother trying to check again. It was all over.

Came home. Switched on the computer.

Arsenal 1-0 Wolves (Bendtner).

How the hell did I miss that?

Those were the only two main fixtures I missed last season – but this season coming up, every Saturday we play it looks like being a similar scenario. It would be so, so much easier if the game was recorded but with no Sky or Sky + it is an impossibility.

Over the past three seasons I can probably count the games I have missed on one hand – nearly all of those have been due to my education or family commitments.

However, I think I may have found a solution.

Any Saturday game is a write-off with a nine hour working day guaranteed, no point even trying to work anything out there. The solution? Go to as many home games as humanly possible, yes it isnt easy to buy the football tickets but it is probably the only solution to replacing not watching all the games – yes, it may be expensive sometimes but if it is viable financially and traveling wise – its on. Starting with the Emirates Cup on Sunday the 1st against August, nothing like seeing it live to kick-start the season.

October and November look like being particularly friendly months viewing wise – Chelsea, City, Newcastle, Everton and Sp*rs games are all occurring on a Sunday afternoon. I can’t stand Rupert Murdoch but Sky are the ones that have nudged these games onto a Sunday and I am grateful for that, believe me.

I guess there is also a need to hope that we progress as far into the Champions League as possible – the weekday fixtures, especially on a Wednesday mean matches are sometimes moved to a Sunday lunchtime kick off for logistic and recovery reasons. Brilliant.

All this bodes a question though, what if, say Sky offered a complete 90 minute re-run of a football game for a fee, monthly annual or otherwise? How many people would there be signing up to that if it wasn’t ridiculously expensive… as far as I’m aware it wouldn’t infringe on highlights rights as that isn’t what they would be showing. An interesting thought all the same.

The chance is there are thousands of Arsenal fans who go through this every week, possibly millions of them taking into account the loyal overseas fans – have you got any stories?

Oh to be a Gooner

As you may know, Coral are running an ‘Ask a Pro’ series – where you get to ask former players and people involved in the game at the highest level, your questions.

Because I am supporting their feature, I got granted permission to ask a question direct to Graham Poll about the standard of refereeing and the implementation of video technology.

The issue of video technology has come to the fore again after the Lampard goal that never was against Germany and quite a few other issues that have occurred during the World Cup in South Africa. Graham seems to think that a stronger FA would help improve the standard of refereeing – I believe that is true, and it would only do good for the current football system in this country which clearly needs modernising and improving.

I wish to thank Coral, and the people working on the Coral Dugout project for giving me the opportunity to put my question to Graham Poll. I fully reccomend you keep up to date with their interviews on Facebook and Twitter.

I received no payment for this post.