There isn’t a great deal happening in the wonderful world of Arsenal Football Club per se but today does in fact mark the beginning of an exciting yet equal testing week ahead for the club. Despite the upcoming games against Celtic midweek followed by those foul mancs, all talk still seems to be revolving around the Portsmouth Game (Rightly So).

John Utaka, claims to have been tripped by Gallas and our number ten then admitted to have committed the foul as well. He says:

“I asked Gallas and he said to me it was a foul. What can you say to that? It’s like everything is going against us. He was smiling, he knew it was a foul but it wasn’t his decision. It could have been 2-2, the game could have gone either way, but he then scored at the other end.”

“It was a foul because he pulled me from behind after I ran past him – he pulled me back. It was unfortunate the linesman didn’t raise his flag. I was shocked because on a good day it would have been given. We were unlucky and nothing was given.”

I’m not at all convinced, TV replays show Utaka clearly tripped over himself and both the linesman and the referee got it spot on, I can quite honestly label this the rant of a “skittish” klutz and nothing more.

I was reading around and I’d fancy we’d be finding out about the extent of Cesc’s injury either by today or by tomorrow. Senor Cesc has been speaking about his injury and blames Celtic for his predicament, he had the following to say:

“You never expect someone will kick you three or four times in the same place, which was my right ankle, but sometimes that happens. You have to accept it and all you can do is stand up to it, refuse to let it affect you and keep playing football. But I did have quite a few bruises after that game in Glasgow.”

You can’t argue with that, the overly physical approach by Celtic was poor and we’re lucky it isn’t anything more serious than I already is. The need for Fabregas at this critical juncture is immense and especially seeing as we’re a little light when it comes to replacing such a player, we’re really at odds. After such an impressive start to the season, we need to maintain it and that means taking those mancs down and doing it in style. It’s not an easy task but you can’t also argue with the fact that we’re fully capable of doing so and how important fabregas is to this cause. Fingers crossed our captain fantabolous can make it back as soon as possible, we are really going to miss him should this injury prolong.

Meanwhile, Arshavin has been talking about the dressing room talks Wenger had with the team during the half time team talk in the game against Portsmouth. Arshavin had this to say:

“We started the meeting well. I think that our two quick goals went a long way in deciding the game. Arsenal’s possession advantage allowed us to enjoy the game … Perhaps, after the second goal, we relaxed a bit. Arsène in the locker room told us about this. He reminded us that in the Premier League you cannot afford to be relaxed, because if you prematurely stop to fully concentrate on the game, this will immediately be followed by retaliation by the opponents.”

There isn’t any denying this fact that complacency has been the death of us in seasons past and it is alarming to see the signs of it so early in the season, but I’m hopeful the boss can sort them out.

Speaking of sorting out, we have roughly 7 days to go before the close of the transfer window. There isn’t a secret that we need to dip into the transfer kitty and buy us a player and there’s no secret where we need reinforcing either. We have had a few defensive scares in the games we’ve played so far and you can only imagine what better teams could do to us in that area. The boss has to sort it out and there aren’t any excuses not to either.

Finally, Tony Mowbray has been talking about the upcoming game against us and says he’s already picked his team;

“But I am pretty clear in my mind what my team will be next Wednesday. I understand that if we lose 2-0 again, I will be judged to have got the team wrong again but if we win 3-0 then hopefully everyone will be pretty happy.”

Kudos to you then, the article goes on and if you feel like reading it, here’s where you can do it.

Right then, thats the lot

Until tomorrow,

All Hail Arsenal.

You will know by now that we have made our first first-team signing of the summer, and at 10 million euros, you would have to say he will probably be a starter next term. That of course leaves the question, who will partner him. Gallas is probably our best center back and if he was to leave we would definitely need a replacement, Toure just isnt as good as him and it saddens me to say it, but is in decline. If we got a big offer from El Arabi City I would bite their hand off and use the money towards a better defender with experience.

I don’t think our defensive options now will remain the same for the start of the season, one would expect Silvestre to be long gone by then *please God, please get rid of this hapless monstrosity* and the rest of the summer is going to be very interesting indeed. Another move probably isnt expected in the immediate future because that isnt really Wenger’s style, but as shown with this and Arshavin’s transfers recently, he is willing to break out of his own style.

I’m looking forward to seeing the state of the squad on the first couple of days in September.

One interesting point that has come to my attention is that Vermaelen’s position is left of center in the defence, which is of course Gallas’s preferred position. Could it mean Gallas is on his way out? If that was the case I wouldn’t consider Arsene’s defensive work on the team as actually diminishing the quality we have, and we don’t have that much quality anyway. Wenger’s work is still far from done.

Yohan Cabaye, the Lille midfielder is linked – The chances of that happening are 1084586y3946532044365-9365-9345-1

Right, thats all today.

More tomorrow, might be later than usual again.

‘Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Belgian international defender Thomas Vermaelen has joined the Gunners from Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.’

Arsene Wenger said:

“Thomas is a great signing for Arsenal Football Club, and we are all delighted that he is joining us. Thomas is a solid performer with good experience of Champions League and UEFA Cup football and is also a regular with the Belgium national team.

Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre back, but he’s multi-functional and can also play at left back. He is strong technically with a positive winner’s attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team. Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal.”

Thomas himself has said:

“Firstly, I have to say that I’m sad to be leaving Ajax and I would just like to thank everyone for their help and friendship towards me over the past eight years.

“I’m just so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a great Club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium. Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this Club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.

“I have had a good taste of the Champions League during my time with Ajax and this is something I am looking forward to experiencing again with Arsenal. I’m also looking forward to playing in the English Premier League, which for me, is the best league in the world. Also, I just want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club and I hope we can enjoy winning some trophies together next season.”

Welcome to Arsenal, Thomas.

Oh, and for the record, he is 6ft.

More tomorrow, but later than usual.