“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.

Just to be straight with you, i am a massive fan of Arsene Wenger, i admire him and its not too often i criticize him but today is one of those days I’m afraid. I think he cocked up.

For those of you that don’t know, we had a goal-less draw with Cardiff City of the Championship. The damn Championship. We played poorly and the only player i saw with intent was Van Persie who really did not want to face another game, or to put it another way, he didn’t want another game to drag this team through.

Arsene Wenger has a big problem in the motivation department if im honest with you,it seems the players are never up for the games against opposition that isn’t fellow top four or Tottenham.

Do you remember the days where we could come out of the tunnel trying to finish the game in the first twenty minutes? The times we did that we had someone like Tony Adams or Patrick Vieira who were a massive presence and were very, very motivational players. We lack that kind of player now, and the emphasis of motivating the side now falls on Arsene Wenger because at the moment we really lack that motivation and drive at times we really need to nick wins, save games and end potential bannana skins early.

Another point that i have spoken about before is the decision to give the captaincy to Kolo Toure, i think it was a massive mistake.

The reason is Kolo is not assured of his team place, yes he is one of the most experienced players out there but he has been crap over the past year. Gallas has a big shout to be in the team instead of him as much as i hate to say it. I have covered this before so I’m not going to go over old ground but its just my opinion on the matter.

Today i thought Wenger made a mistake by not giving Adebayor a start today. He has not played as many games as Van Persie recently and he is in desperate need of games, but for some reason Adebayor was on the bench and Bendtner was partnered with Van Persie. I really don’t see Wengers logic here because i accept we need creativity but why not stick Nasri behind the strikers?

If Van Persie gets injured we are royally fucked and we really need him for the next two games that come in quick succession.

Yesterday – and today so far – have been rather silent on the Arshavin front as he gets his inevitable mention here.

I take it two ways – no not like that you dirty minded arsebandits- either the deal is over, kaput, done, dusted and having had a big F slapped on the documents or negotiations are so intense nobody has managed to shout their mouth off. I think it might be the latter as Zenit would have inevitably been mouthing off if the deal was kaput.

Right im sorry its been such a negative blog today, i really do admire the big man Wenger but i do feel he has made a few mistakes recently.

But on the plus side we are still on this unbeaten run, we kept a clean sheet and… and… and… and…

We still look rather tepid, like a wine that has been corked, like a tea bag left in the cup for too long. Like a saggy carrot. We are looking rather anemic.

Just one thing that has rather pissed me off this weekend is the FA are an English association for English clubs. Why are we playing a Welsh side in an English competition? That also play under Welsh FA rules? What do you think of that? Let me know because I’m not so sure i support it.

If they want to play in our competition they should bloody well play under our crappy associations rules!

Thats your lot today from the rambling git i am. Why you read this i don’t know.

Well, ’til next time.

Sorry, i really could not resist.

Advocaat wants the deal done, Arsenal want the deal done but it seems Zenit want to take their time. They issued a deadline of last night but it seems they have broken their own curfew as the saying goes.

I really am sick to the back teeth of the Arsh-a-go-round, the sooner a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is said the better? Maybe Noel Edmonds could be brought in to sort this deal out?

Advocaat is running out of patience, saying here

“I hope that, with regard to Arshavin we will have finally taken some action. The whole story takes too long – It is time to give a final answer, clearly say – yes or no. I hope that the club would say. It would be better for Andrey, and for the team.”

I think it would be better for everyone.

Onto Cardiff tomorrow and i think we will win this one and rest a few key players. Wenger hinted that Gibbs will start at left back,

“Maybe Gibbs [will play at left back],”

And with Gallas in contention we could see either Toure or Djourou rested. I would also not be supised to see Denilson rested as he has made the most appearances this season and the more tired he gets the greater chance he has of picking up a knock.

Bendtner will probably start up front with Van Persie getting a rest because, quite frankly if he is injured, we are fucked.

Arsene has been generous of Aaron Ramsey’s praise recently, and Friday he again spoke of the youngsters talent,

“I’m very happy with Aaron and I believe he will be a very important player for the Club. He is ahead of schedule and I’m impressed by what he has done by now but he is only 18.”

Whilst he also pointed out, he won’t let sentiment interfere with his selection,

“We go there to qualify, the most important thing is that the team goes out on Sunday and plays to win the game.

“I love Aaron Ramsey and I believe he will be a great player for Arsenal Football Club but we don’t go there for a testimonial.”

I think he will get some part to play in the game, hopefully he can grab a goal.

The NOTW is again chugging out articles printed months ago, this one about Robin Van Persie’s contract renewal, he will get a contract, and probably a big pay rise on his 65,000 a week. God, what do they do with all their money?

We have also been linked to Micah Richards, even if this is true its a bad bad move. He is not a patch on the player of two seasons, or even a season ago. He has loads of potential but he is regressing rather than progressing at the moment.

On the line up, im expecting something along the lines of this;

Fabianski, Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Gibbs, Nasri, Song, Diaby, Eboue, Bendtner, Adebayor

Back to Owly-Russian and Gooner Talk says that he is due to arrive within two days, i think its all guess work at the moment. The Russian press come up with a story, the English regurgitate it with a few amendments and its just one big game of Chinese Russian whispers.

Right, im sadly going to miss the game i think, i will do my utmost to get some highlights down my throat for my next post.

Til Then Arshfans.