Having been away for a while in the depths of Sussex with no Internet and mobile reception I had expected to come back and turn over millions of rumours and be snowed under. This has not been the case. Just the usual suspects. With fab out it has come to Wenger’s attention that we need a central mid according to the papers. Personally I would buy a number of wingers.

Arsenal do not have a player signed to play on the wing in the first team squad. I realised this the other day. The closest we have are Theo (signed as a striker) and Rosicky (dead and prefers the middle). If we sign another central player to go with Cesc, Denilson, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, etc. I might just go mad. Nasri is Fabregas’ replacement! Is that not BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS?

Arse-shaving
Once again the chat with him has come up. I shall dispel this one for the final time.
1, He will cost at least £15m and Wenger has said he is broke (not sure if this is true)
2, He is not really proven to be a world class player. He is very inconsistent and has not proven himself to be as good as his agent seems to think. He has played in the UEFA Cup (along with Arsenal by the looks of things) and a couple of Euro 08 games where he was either good or ordinary.
3, Our wage structure would be massacred by his £90,000/week wages.
I think he probably would be a decent player but for under £10m and on less than half of the wages. There are questions about his temperament and I can’t see Arsene splashing out on a risk the size of Reyes (financial size – the boy is built like RvP’s right leg)
20%

Arteta
I haven’t really seen that much of him despite his high reputation – Everton bore me. He is obviously quite tidy in what I have seen of him but I just think another central player will be wasted money. But that seems to be what all the talk is of at the moment.
60%

Inler
He would be my first choice of the 3 because of his defencive nature but not for more than about £8m?
30%

Distin
Doesn’t want to come.
10%

Matuidi
A St Etienne central mid. French-African, 21...We have one called NASRI!
20%

Kitoko
WHO? Apparently he is being watched by our scouts frequently.

Mputu
A goal machine in Africa but that doesn’t mean much in the Prem but maybe the Democratic Republic of Congo is the new thing!
10%

Diakhate
The Kiev defender apparently impressed but I can’t actually remember him from our games against the chap. Man city are also interested according to reports.
30%

Toure – OUT
A friend of a friend of his pet badger said so it’s happening. Did they not think that with Gallas most likely leaving that Toure could stay? MORONS
0.5% unless Man City throw lots of cash and we accept that we are a selling club then its 90%

As Eduardo is set to make his first appearance for ages he feels like a new signing and I can't wait to see him. I am afraid that the building up hopes of him will mean that he might not be quite as we expect for a while. He might even get booed! Enough of the rubbish I speak and here are the rumours of today:-





Inler - Available in the Summer, all the superpowers of Italian football want him so I doubt it will happen but Wenger actually made an offer for him.

40%.





Hangeland - AGAIN! He apparently wants to stay at Fulham, can you blame him! I think he is blowing smoke and keeping the fans happy, he couldn't turn down an Arsenal shirt.

60%





Pato - Given the chat about the purse strings in football by Wenger he has more chance of going to Wolves than Arsenal.

2%





Mexes - A french defender, if he was going anywhere it would be Arsenal but he could be pricey.

30%





Upson - Apparently valued at £7m he is definitely affordable but I would guess that he might be a bit weary of coming back. His time at Arsenal was successful when he wasn't broken. I think it would be a good move to sign him and help give us the English backbone to the team that I would consider important

60%



Chiellini - Maybe in some sort of exchange for Gallas. If we managed a straight swap then it would all be good but would it be a step down for the 24 year old defender?

20%



van Bommel - On a free in the Summer? Probably not

10%

I have had the misfortune of having to put up with Rio Ferdinand's feeble existence for too long now. I am pretty sure the drug test avoiding (nothing dodgy there!) moron has somehow dodged the bullet with all the abuse Becks got for being thick. As a footballer I think he is pretty good but as soon as he opens his mouth I just want to eat my own ears. Given that footballers are famous for being pretty stupid I think this stereotype is giving the likes of Clichy a bad name. Ferdinand no doubt has advisers (for normal people these are called carers) coming out of his ears but yet still chooses to do the most moronic things possible. A good example of this is his world cup wind up show a year or 2 ago. If you watched it your IQ points would have been drained like mine were, if you enjoyed it you obviously had no IQ points to begin. So please avoid reading anything he says stupidity is contagious!

Like many football fans I enjoy the banter flying around the football world. I loved it because this time last season if you were a Gooner you were untouchable, playing beautiful football and winning.



I write this article pleased with the fact that I turned down a ticket to the Boro match. The prospect of a wet and miserable Teeside, watching passionless side being outplayed by the youngest team in the league, managed by the youngest manager in the league.

Arsenal fans are short of valid excuses for justifying our weak run. I shall give you a list of things that wont work!



We lack experience. It isn't as if we are broke like most of the other underachieving teams in this country, we could bring in experience. Experience is a funny thing. Our youthful side that played today managed to muster up 240 senior international caps. Statistics can be deceptive though, Almunia has none of those and is one of our most experienced players and Clichy only has 2 caps so add those to the experience bank and we are a very experienced side.

We have a lack of width, FACT. I refuse to understand how Arsene Wenger - who can only be considered a managerial master - can so easily choose to play a team that has about as much width as Rio Ferdinand's knowledge of literature. There are some things in life you have to accept and one of those is that Denilson, Song, Diaby, Ramsey and Cesc are all central players and cannot all start. It is a sign of lunacy to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

We lack depth. We only have ourselves to blame for that one with Wenger refusing to buy I can understand the difficulty of his position, Its like buying a load of stuff that is not worth much at the moment and saying soon they will be antiques and I will be rich. The assets of the squad are still not at their best and we cant just buy new people in for a year or 2 because that would be considered going back on ones self!

Defending corners is harder than it looks. Yes I'm sure it is that's why we could struggle in a set piece against Peter Kay Bolton Dwarfs team.

We are unlucky with injuries. We haven't been top of the injury table for more than a couple of days. The amount of niggling small injuries would suggest a problem with pre-training warm ups or something.



The Answer.....

If you are getting a hard time from pretty much anyone regarding the team you love just say "come back to me in 5 years" Weak but the best I have for you.

We still have the typical ones flying around:-

Alonso - great player but too expensive. Mascherano is probably more suited to what we need but I dont want to be associated with him it will be a world of pain!

Gallas - Going to Juve, PSG or AC. He and Senderos could be reunited for a bit!

Bendts - Going somewhere in Europe. Wenger has just said that he could be amazing so I think he might be staying

Hangeland - coming from Fulham - he might be nervous coming to a team with enough supporters and therefore not needing a neutrals stand!

Half of the kids - away on loan somewhere

There have been very few new stories so should we make up some new ones? City to bid £90m for Gallas and we use the money to buy the England rugby team for defensive duties? Borthwick to eat Rooney?

When Adebayor is fit, van Persie is fit, Eduardo comes back into first team fold and Vela continues to develop into the player I hope he becomes for us; does Bendtner have a first team future with us?

I will be honest here and express the views of the majority of Arsenal fans when it comes to our perceptions of our Danish Centre forward. I think he is a player with potential, a player who can offer the team something different and a player who is a winner. The arrogant Dane is not afraid of putting extremely high expectations on himself with his arrogant claims. This personality trait is not a bad characteristic of his in fact and let’s be honest, to play for a club like Arsenal takes a special kind of player. Look at Thierry Henry, and as much as we love him, we can admit his arrogance is a trait of his that we have become accustomed to, especially in his celebrations. This is something we all wouldn’t like to admit too but all posses in our own thoughts of how we conduct our lives. Arrogance is confidence, and confidence is belief in one’s own ability to perform consistently at a high standard. Bendtner has this in abundance and at times, he hasn’t lived up to the image he portrays of himself!

When we think of him, it is very easy to forget he actually is a very young player of 20 years of age. He has however been given valuable experience in the Championship with Birmingham who he helped gain promotion to the Premiership, and has been given the opportunity to play for Arsenal in first team matches. With impressive performances coming off the bench scoring crucial goals for us, he has been given more and more of a role in the stating 11 especially when Adebayor has been injured. He has given us glimpses of a player which has the vital ingredients to forge a career with us, and on more times than not; he has shown us he is still not ready and needs to be given more time. I am a great believer in giving young players time to progress and develop through carefully integrating and nurturing them over a period of time, but I for one sometimes look at Nic and think this player has not got what it takes to make a career at Arsenal.

Reports have been circulating that Spartak Moscow are interested in filling the void that has been made by the departure of Spurs summer signing of Roman Pavlyuchenko. Rumors suggest that Bendtner is ready to negotiate a move away from the Emirates and begin a loan spell of six months with the Moscow side. The idea is that after the six month, he could sign a contract that will cost the side up to five million. This is yet to be discussed between the two clubs but in my opinion, the option must be considered.

This situation in my opinion needs to be analyzed carefully before the club makes any decisions on the player’s future. Would a loan spell improve his chances of being a first team regular at Arsenal; and will it result in his all round game being improved? Will Bendtner be able to achieve this at Arsenal without a loan spell, and if so, will this benefit Arsenal in him doing so? If a loan spell will not improve him, and staying at Arsenal will not result in his game being improved, is he good enough to stay at Arsenal. If the answer is no to all the above questions, it might be a move that could be considered in the best interests for both Bendtner and Arsenal.
After saying this, I do not think Wenger would have kept him over the summer if he didn’t believe his player had the required quality to play for a team such as Arsenal. I also do not believe he would have been given the chance he has if he had not had the quality in his game. Time will tell if he makes it or not, but the if it gets clearer that he won’t have the cutting edge over other strikers at Arsenal, I want to see someone else be given the chance and for him to move on to another club.

The results of this therefore are clear for his immediate future, and this is that he should be kept at Arsenal. I think the manager believes he needs games to improve his all round game, but with injuries he has had to start him more times this season than I think he would have hoped for at the start of the campaign.

Despite my insistence that every Arsenal game should be on TV when I want it to be this one wasn't so I had to resort to my ATVO subscription. I can't make up my mind on this service, on the one hand its good that you can watch reserve games and match highlights but on the other hand most of the content is pretty weak. I sometimes enjoy the commentary but sometimes they just waffle on about things that are totally pointless and you have no idea what is happening and all of a sudden GOAL!

A quiet day for stories today, can't find anything new at all. Just the new versions of Martins and Yaya Toure coming to Arsenal and Gallas apparently going to AC again.

It would appear that the Yaya Toure story is one that is going to eat up a lot of inches. Despite only watching Spanish football if its Villarreal I saw 5 minutes of the Barca game at the weekend ( Freddie "the king prawn" Kanoute made me feel sick so I promptly turned to something less revolting like some second rate celebs eat unmentionables). Anyway Yaya was playing and I thought that this story would sink under the table but obviously not, shows what I know!

The not signing him after the trial seems to be an expensive mistake. I think that if we got him for The Sun's reported £6m that is pretty good going. If we signed him I would feel a lot more optimistic about our chances this season. He would be out of the CL but there is less call for a physical presence in the competition. There are questions to be asked about his big brother Kolo this season. I would say he has been weak hence his loss of his place when he hasn't had little injuries and his brother who is "a better footballer than me" might just give him the lift he needs to retain the crown of King Kolo.

It has been a quiet one for outrageous rumours today but some have been rekindled.

Martins from Newcastle (£13m get out clause) - This is pretty standard isn't it? I think he is pretty rubbish and so do my Geordie mates. The People (famous for being right about transfers) claim that he is worried given the uncertainty facing the club (and his wage packet) and wants to leave. Its a worrying time when a Nigerian wants to leave because the club is going to be run by Nigerians!

He is a quick striker with a lack of skill. We will not be signing a stiker and that is nailed on!

Diego Capel Trinidad from Sevilla (no price listed) - The skillful left winger looks like a good little player, another lad from the Barca youths.

He says that he would have to think about a move to Arsenal, this story has no future!

No1 to Chavski - Paul Kenyon has said that there is no money in the Chelski kitty (obviously the Russian is worried about going bust!). That will probably mean a one out one in policy.

Felipe Melo from Fiorentina (no price given) - Another hopeless speculation from an agent trying to improve the profile of a player.

He over 22 and therefore no chance. Oh and His team are dead set on him going nowhere!

Eljero Elia (£6m) - Has apparently been hunted down by Peter Clark and apparently Wenger went to watch him play at City last week along with several trips to see the Holland under-21s to watch him. This one is building momentum and looking like the most likely out of today's lot.

Brede Hangeland From Fulham (£6m) - Well he has been good this season for Fulham and we do need a big central defender don't we? The place I found this claimed that Gallas and Toure are going in Jan. I have a question, where is Kolo going? This could happen, but probably not!

Arsenal made the short journey across London to battle out the toughest of derbies at a ground we have not won at since 2003- 04 when Vieira and Edu sank the blues. In addition, only Liverpool earlier this campaign has won here since that win, and Chelsea have claimed a record long unbeaten run at home in all competition.

It would be fair to say to defeats on the trot meant Arsenal’s form prior to the match has been poor. In fact the last goal scored by an Arsenal player, in the opponent’s goal was against united when we beat them 2-1 and the run had reached 222 minutes of premiership football. Aston Villa came to the emirates and left with all three point, and Arsenal travelled to the City of Manchester Stadium and left there empty handed. Most importantly, the performances of late have been poor and a trip to Stanford Bridge is always going to be a tough call, and with our form being so dismal, optimism from the fans was low.

The match started with Chelsea pilling on the pressure. The defence had been strengthened by the return of Sagna, who had been a big miss for us. Chelsea however didn’t put together any meaningful attacks and our goal didn’t get threatened too much. After the 10 minutes of Chelsea domination, we managed to go through the gears and started gaining momentum. The passing became crisper and both teams played with the intent to win the match and play good football in doing so.

In the 14th minute of the match Arsenal probably created the clearest opportunity of the game when Adebayor made space for himself on the right and managed to put in a ball with real quality for Fabregas. Fabregas’s effort was saved well by Cech however the ball was so nearly presented to Gallas on the edge on the six yard box. The French international nearly connected with the ball, and had it been slightly more in his path Arsenal would have taken an early lead.
Disaster struck for Arsenal when Djourou netted an own goal. In all fairness the Swiss defender had to make contact with the cross otherwise Chelsea would have been presented with a tap in. The main cause for concern was the how Chelsea gained possession in the first place. Almunia gathered the ball for a Chelsea corner and instead of calming the tempo in our half and allowing are players to get back into position; he instead threw the ball aimlessly, trying to create a quick Arsenal counter. The ball was presented to straight to a Chelsea player.

Character is something Arsenal does not lack, and being 1-0 down at Stanford Bridge with current form stacked against you, it would take a mentally strong team to keep their heads up and continue playing with purpose and maturity. This is exactly what we did, and come of the hour, come of the man. Robin van Persie smashed home to give Arsenal fresh hope that the score could be turned around. Yes he was offside, however luck is something we have not been dealt much recently, and this finally went our way. Memories in football are short, the Dutchman has been on the other side of an offside ruling against Chelsea in 2005-06 when he had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled out. What comes around goes around is a phrase much used in football, and that is exactly what happened today in our favour on this occasion.

The second goal came quickly and no other than van Persie scored again to claim a brace against a side he has not previously scored against. A free kick by Fabregas who was making his 150th premiership appearance, found Adebayor who headed the ball down van Persie and he clinically finished from a slight angle, shooting the ball through the legs of the Chelsea centre back and past a diving Cech.

From the goal Arsenal looked like a team up for the fight and gave the home side very little to cheer about even though they began to dominate possession but Almunia did not have to make any real saves and the general display from Chelsea after they lost the game was poor and lacked any creativity and didn’t look as if they had the key to unlocked the Arsenal defence.
Van Persie was close to claiming a historic hat-trick at Stanford Bridge; Kanu being the last player to do so in a classic match when he completed a 3-2 comeback. The Dutchman had a free kick that didn’t miss by to big a margin.

Denilson was unlucky not to score too which affectively would have killed the match completely. The Brazilian received a good ball from Bendtner who made an impressive contribution from the bench replacing Adebayor. Denilson probably should have shot first time instead of taking a touch which narrowed the angle considerably. In the end Cech made a good save and the threat came to an end.

In all Arsenal had to dig deep to get any kind of result today, nether mind a victory. Going a goal down made the task even harder, so to manage to get three vital points todays must be used as a spring board to kick start our season. Is the title out of our grasps or are we now back in contention? In fairness time can only really tell but if results go our way and we can start getting points on the board, Arsenal may just have a bigger part to play in this seasons title race than many would have thought prior to kick off today.

Right its a month until the car boot sale of football starts and I have dedicated myself to some of the insane transfer rumours that we are subjected to in order to get hits or sell bad papers!

Sunday, always a good day for rubbish given that the papers obviously feel that Saturday is a good day for totally making things up.

Podolski to Arsenal (£12m) - I rate him and think he would be a great piece of business if....

Bendtner to Spartak Moskow (£5m) - I think Bendts is worth more than that given his potential

Gallas to Anywhere (£ever falling (by new year I could probably afford him)) - Apparently the board want him out with PSG and AC being the top calls at the moment. Oh and the spuds want him in some sort of Sol Campbell revenge, thing is Sol was an Arsenal legend but Gallas is pretty unpopular. I know Totts what you should do is sign Fab then we will be angry, good luck.

Cesc to Barca - Apparently Arsenal are worried about him signing a contract (his one that expires in 2014 is not good enough)

Fairly dull pickings but If you hear any leave them here and this will develop into the Heat Magazine for Men!

I give Bendtner a real slating then he scores the winner with what can only be described as a couple of good touches then....a good finish! On his current form who could have guessed that he was capable of that! To be fair that was about his only useful contribution after you consider all the blind alley runs and the bad passes.

1-0 was a good result in what would appear to have been a pretty dull match. so I don't want to dwell on it, It is all about the game on Sunday.

There will be a post regarding the new CEO, I have just seen the interview and am yet to really form a view on him but it looks like he might actually be a Gooner...new David Dein?

I have just seen that Arsenal have not managed to fill their away ticket allocation for the match against Chavski. I struggle to beleive that considering the noise our away fans make. I would kill to go to a games against the top four, It just seems a shame. We really do need to fill every games especially in the new era for the squad.

I don't know why the tickets haven't sold but it puts a lot of pressure on the team knowing they are underperforming to the extent that people will not travel across London to see them. Please fans make some noise for the empty seats, cheer every tackle, ole every pass, boo A cole, ummm don't do that I'm sure hes a lovely bloke who cheats on his boyhood club and wife. I have 40,000 places to wait for my season ticket and am hoping that I will get it soon but not at the cost of being the only person in the stadium!

BUT WAIT....

It says that the tickets are sold out on the Arsenal website? obviously there is some lying somewhere?

Chavs can't be trusted!

I am firmly of the opionion that Nick Bendtner has been weak this season. You could go as far as saying that he has been really dredful. Someone recently made a comment saying I was too hard on him.

I have decided to justify this with a list of reasons.

-He has made 7 starts and 3 sub appearances (he has had more than just injury time) this season in the league and only scored 1 goal.

-He looks really uncomfortable on the ball and his passing has been poor at 64% completion rate this is the lowest in the squad (other than Almunia and his goal kicks (not saying they are bad but no one always wins the headers)).

- Despite his size, massive, he has not been good in the air. the number of opportunities he totally misses is too high for a giant.

- There have been too many total fluffs, it would be OK if he was just unlucky but it isn't as if he has rattled the post 25 times, more a case of oh he should have done better.

- He has attempted to make 2 tackles this season, fair enough he is an attacking player but RvP has made 700% more and he is very slight.



He has had 2 assists (not exactly setting the world alight but better than nothing), I always think assists for a lot of stikers come from a lack of confidence unless they are playing the second striker role (RvP, Dennis type of players)> Bendtner is obviously running on empty at the moment. He has been decent in the Carling Cup and I think that he will develop into a decent player but I think a spell against lesser opposition (the reserves) would be good for him to build up his morale.

Dropping the age card is no excuse for poor form, he has played for Denmark 22 times. Age is only a number he is a year younger than our captain!

Lose the pink boots though unless they are for chariety or a bet!
Just to clarify I like the bloke I think he has potential and I hope he does get good but at the moment I would rather have Simpson or Vela up front. I think Vela and Bendtner work well together but that won't happen in the league unless there is an injury to RvP and Ade at the same time.

If I am wrong comment!

If he loves the club...Piers Moron should just cut all his ties to the club. To be honest I think he is more of a Chelski fan with his lack of morals. Having read a couple of his articals (and accepted that they are dump) I have come to the conclusion that he is looking to be Arsenal's next manager. He said that we have had a season of "awful performances" (obviously didn't see the Bolton, United and Porto games), I can accept that we have been embarrassing in a number of games and I have also been critical of Wenger this season but I have been objective and logical with my critisism unlike this ummm, there isn't even a word for him!

"Its Wengers fault for letting Gilberto, Hleb and Flamini go in the summer" Piers, they didn't want to stay, oh and Hleb and Gilberto were poor last season, Flamini was just stupid! He has also claimed that Cashely is a "real man", I think this is proof that Morgan really is the scum (someone who illegally speaks to a rival club, runs away purely for money and cheats on his wife is the life Moron wants!). If he was still at the Mirror (or what ever crap red top he was at(the more I know about him the more I hate)) I am convinced he would have sold out his love of the club to make up romours about Gallas and the in-fighting.

I think its time Arsenal and Piers parted company (Wenger can stay though!). I have heard the stories about Bin Laden being a fan but I think Moron is even more hated than him. If you have any self respect go and support Spurs.

You RAT.

Right we are playing the Ukrainians again and hoping for more than a draw. This is a game that is must win for so many reasons! Most importantly I want us to win the group so I can go on a European jolly for the first leg, the second leg just isn't as much fun!

It is the return of Gallas. This will be interesting to see how the fans respond to him. I think Arsene is going to be right in the end and it might just help him focus. If he does play badly he might get a hard time from both sets of fans against Chavski.

We really need a win for confidence leading to the game against the second scummiest team in London.

I think the lineup will be

Almunia
Hotye
Silvestre
Gallas
Clichy
Diaby (wasted on the right wing)
Denilson
Cesc "SKIPPER and NEW MR ARSENAL" Fabregas
Vela?
RvP
Bendtner (wasted on the pitch)

I am making a plea to get Nick to take his pink boots off, they are obviously dazzling him when he looks down at the ball, that's the best excuse I can come up with for him being filled with woe at the moment!

RED ARMY to win 3-1 but I would equally enjoy a defensive 1-0 masterclass.

I am not sure about the selection of our Spanish wonderkid as captain. On the one hand he loves the club even though a moronic tabaloid will every so often chuck out a story when Ronaldo stories are short. I think that Cesc will lead the club well but I also think that there are problems with this call. The role of captain is normally given to a senior player and I think it could have a bit of an effect on morale for players like Toure and maybe Almunia.

As Arsene said "there will be leaders all over the pitch". This is simalar to the Clive Woodward approach, where he selected about 4 leaders in the team. It could well be a good idea to adopt an almost military hierachy to give a number of players responsibility for their section of the team. For example having say a defence captain (Kolo) who is in charge of organising the defence as an expert and the defenders come to him with problems. This will take some of the burden of being a captain and help Cesc focus on his game.

Arsenal have a number of legends already from the 00's - Adams and Bergkamp are obviously the real club heroes with a slightly lower rank with players like Henry (he will never be as loved as Bergkamp). I think this is the opportunity for Cesc to prove that although he isn't exactly a North London boy he can still be one of the fans all time favourites.

A new start is going to be greatly appreciated. It is going to be interesting to hear the fans reaction to Gallas tomorrow night. Just remember he is volotile (chavski own-goal threat)! I don't know if Gooners will forgive him?

Good Luck Cesc!

I am not sure about the selection of our Spanish wonderkid as captain. On the one hand he loves the club even though a moronic tabaloid will every so often chuck out a story when Ronaldo stories are short. I think that Cesc will lead the club well but I also think that there are problems with this call. The role of captain is normally given to a senior player and I think it could have a bit of an effect on morale for players like Toure and maybe Almunia.

As Arsene said "there will be leaders all over the pitch". This is simalar to the Clive Woodward approach, where he selected about 4 leaders in the team. It could well be a good idea to adopt an almost military hierachy to give a number of players responsibility for their section of the team. For example having say a defence captain (Kolo) who is in charge of organising the defence as an expert and the defenders come to him with problems. This will take some of the burden of being a captain and help Cesc focus on his game.

Arsenal have a number of legends already from the 00's - Adams and Bergkamp are obviously the real club heroes with a slightly lower rank with players like Henry (he will never be as loved as Bergkamp). I think this is the opportunity for Cesc to prove that although he isn't exactly a North London boy he can still be one of the fans all time favourites.

A new start is going to be greatly appreciated. It is going to be interesting to hear the fans reaction to Gallas tomorrow night. Just remember he is volotile (chavski own-goal threat)! I don't know if Gooners will forgive him?

Good Luck Cesc!

Arsene agrees with the 37% percent of readers who voted for Cesc as leader - more proof that he reads the blog??

I am delighted for him and it will be interesting to see if he can turn his current form round and lead by example! Arsenals second youngest captain and lets just hope he can be just like the first...TONY ADAMS.

The question is was Cesp picked to keep him at the club?

If you told Manu at the beginning of last season by now he would have played almost every game and captained the team for a couple of the games, he would probably slapped you with his massive goal keeping hands. In this time of finger pointing and moaning it is important to take a step back and look at the things that are going right.



Almunia has been on of the top 5 goalkeepers in the last 2 seasons with only one real dodgy period (the spurs game) other than that he has been rock solid. Not only that he also seems to be a nice guy, Theo thinks he is wicked and I think he has taken the father figure role at the club. You know the one Gallas should have done!

Given the situation with him shining the pine for a couple of seasons, I also think he is a good role model to a number of players in the squad showing that there are chances to break into the first team and to be patient and force yourself into the team.

You can still sign the petition for naming the stands at http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/name-the-stands-of-the-emirates-stadium.html.
Cheers

I have been very hard on Denilson recently. I want this to be known that this is through no dislike of the wee Brazilian. Last season I had high hopes for him especially after watching him score a wondergoal against the Geordies in the Carling Cup. In an attempt to improve quality I am considering my abuse in what could be a total U-turn!

The foundation for my abuse was his horific performance against Fulham when he and Eboue played in the centre of the park both looking totally lost against a weak opposition. I also think that his relationship with Fabregas is not good enough due to the lack of size between the 2 of them and this means that neither of them can play their natural game.


Wenger discribed Denilson as a mix between Rosicky and Gilberto, personally I cannot see what elements of Gilberto's game he has. Although Flamini was not a giant he was a scrapper and Denilson just looks too small and not strong enough. He is undoubtedly a great young player, this is obvious when you look at his Brazilian international CV.


I think Denilson is a direct substitute for Fabregas. Having recently looked at the Actim player ratings he comes 6th overall, this was a massive surprise to me. I don't understand why I am watching every game I can and missing all of his good things?


In a genuine plea to help me understand why he is good can people leave comments explaining why he is good?

It has got to the stage where I am beginning to regret abusing Spurs fans (obviously just for their bottom of the league game). Call it what you will, a slump in form, a team who hate each other, a horrific spell for the Gunners. Who really cares what it is called they are just words. I'm afraid there are going to be more words.

GallasGate is obviously a massive excuse for what can only be described as a horrific loss to an under-par (never really understood that because under par is a good thing in golf!) City team. I listened to the game on ATVO so didn't have a chance to see the full 90 mins which I consider to be a good thing. I have just watched the online highlights and have come to the conclusion that there were none. It could have just been the final whistle.

I have been trying to look at things in a positive light and we may have had 9 players out for yesterdays game but 2 of those players we havent had all year, Eboue is rubbish and Toure has been on zero form, you can't use a suspension as an excuse either so that rules Cesc out, so effectively we were missing Ade and Theo from the line-up.

Ade has just been a big greedy goal hanger this season with his work ethic having gone out of the window and RvP's following but on how DREADFUL Bendtner has been this season I would have picked Luke Freeman, Eduardo 2 weeks after the legbreak crutches and cast, Jay Simpson, Carlos Vela, Wilshere out of position and maybe even Fabianski ahead of the dopey Dane. I could give a list like that one regarding players I would pick ahead of Denilson but I just don't have the energy. Even if we did so do Chavski and they aren't losing against poor teams, they might have a Russian billionaire but his chance to expand the team was there and he didn’t take it. There are so many areas that are bare-bones, if Clichy gets injured what happens? in an Arsene magic moment will he decide that Diaby can play at leftback as well? We have no obvious cover for Walcott and look naked without his pace and width that he offers.

I have been bitterly disappointed regarding Arsene Wenger's approach to this awful month. I would expect the Frenchman to respect Arsenal fans enough to keep them in the picture and not stick his head in the sand. I waited to hear his press conference only to hear him duck out of any questions and just the standard, "aaa we showed great spirit" that comes up every week, word in your ear Mr Wenger...we DIDN'T.

Although I think a slip in form is due for every team once in a while I wish it had been last season or next season, just not now! I think it will be good for the younger players in terms of building their experience, ONLY if it is handled well by the manager. There is a need to prove that there is enough competition for places, a complacent bad team would be a nightmare.

I am looking forward to Eduardo getting back. Judging by the picture of him used to advertise the personalised prints on the Arsenal website it looks like he has just smashed Paul Merson and David Platt in a pie eating contest!

Wenger has almost categorically said that he will not be bringing anyone in because of the economic situation. obviously I have interpreted this using my "Wenger Euphemism Degree" which I got from the lifetime school of Arsenal Supporting. It looks like a pretty frustrating season of nothingness. Will we turn into spurs?

I have been trying to keep up with this media frenzy and crisis we are under. However I don't have the ability to read every contradicting artical, there is just not enough time!

Apparently Gallas has been sacked from captain, apparently not who knows...Its a shame the game isn't on TV. I really want Arsene to put the Carling Cup side out against City just to prove to the squad that no one is safe and no one has the shirt guarenteed. I would pick Sagna in that team because he has been quietly going about his business and playing well.

I think the squad have lost their respect for Wenger and that is dangerous. No one thinks they will be dropped. There are going to be stories flying about about everything but the truth is nothing is going to happen. The transfer market will be stagnant and there could be some real bargains for man city picking off our good players!

Now as people have probably gathered I have very little time for Gallas, I think he is a bit of a corey. I think aspects of his leadership have been good like taking the under 18s to see 50 Cent (personally I would rather die but I'm not a brap footballer). I also thought he did well going around all the players the other day when there was an injury and I assume motivating them.

I am going to have to move to the negatives now. I shan't bore you with the standard crap about Bham and smoking cos its well, umm boring. I am going to focus on the greed and selfishness of the man. I have looked at the comments he made and I suspect it is purely based on his forthcoming "auto"biography written by someone like my mate Jamie's mum. I know how these books work, she told me. They are a load of rubbish. The way things go with sportsmen now I am surprised Gallas hasn't released 7 copies by now since he is in his 30s. I think it is disgraceful that he would rat out his team mates for a couple of copies. I also think its a joke because all the Arsenal fans just think he is a Chavski boy anyway since he goes out on the lash with them (see the smoking thing but beware its boring!).

I really miss the defensive glory days of Senderos and Toure. I don't know if we will ever see their glory like in the CL final reaching days. but I would pick Song and Djourourourou any day at the moment. They seem to actually want to protect us from conceding which is becoming increasingly important since our strikers refuse to score goals!

Things have been getting increasingly hard to swallow this season. I have decided to compile a list of what is upsetting me, just so you know I have started to use the blog to vent spleen.

1, Wengers "we have a big enough and strong enough squad" is WRONG! Not even close.

2, Our fans are fickle and just do the first thing the tabaloids tell them to do. It's madness people, these morons know how to sell papers and you are buying it. "Crisis at Arsenal"? ummm what about spurs being bottom of the league? That was a crisis!

3, Injuries keep occuring and it is deeply troubling me. We need more depth. Oh another thing...we are more suseptable to injuries if Wenger keeps moaning about people being too violent.

4, The selection policy is hopeless, it would seem that form is not something Arsene has heard about. If you have a reputation you are in and you ain't going nowhere! Bendtner has been the best case of this he has done nothing right in the last 3 games, his touch is dredful and he has no composure and it would appear that he isn't exactly popular in the squad, Vela on the other hand has been pretty special and will not play more than 30 mins in a real game.

5, Our youth team give more of a damn than our current team. Worrying signs.

6, RvP has just got a new massive contract for doing what exactly? I hardly think having to pay a lot over £50,000 a week to keep the physio chair warm is good money spent I shall do it for free!

I don't want Arsene to leave like a lot of the idiot but I do want him to buck up his ideas and strengthen the squad and actually help us acheive our potential. Oh and winning something would be nice too!

We have to avoid decent football for some micky mouse crap friendly that has about our only performing player injured for at least a month? it MENTAL...I HATE the England national team, the consistant losers are just ruining the game!

Oh and just quietly we are royally screwed. Arsene just play the kids they are the only ones who care

I remember the days of this dreaded formation last season. It made me think i wanted to stick things in my eyes as the only thing worse than a striker wasting chances is a striker wasting chances on his own. Admittedly we were only playing a 4-5 becase Bendtner didn't show up.

I don't think 4-5-1 is the best formation for us because a lot of our play relies on forward runs diverting defenders (Nasri's second goal). With only one upfront then it is going to be difficult to draw defenders out of the game unless midfielder make the runs. If we are to play the formation then I think it will work best with Eduardo playing as the striker because without a doubt he is the most clinical and it would appear that he reads the game well.

Click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/name-the-stands-of-the-emirates-stadium.html and be a hero!

I would just like to draw your attention to my last post where I said "2-1 Arsenal today...I promise". I would just like to say I wouldn't break that promise to you!

I was so nervous after we scored the first goal and the second goal didn't help (after the S**rs game we need a 3 goal cushion). I thought it was a great performance by 7 of our starting team. It is difficult to pick out players for praise but Nasri looked very good and more goals like that will have him being accused of being the new Pires. Clichy was getting into those good attacking areas something he has been somewhat reluctant to do the last couple of games. Fabregas looked sharp for about the first time in the season.

On a different note...I thought Denilson did very little and am begining to think he is a waste of a place in the team. I would rather have Ramsey because at least he is a fighter, I wasn't sure about him until the midweek match but now I say its nice, I like.

I thought Bendtner was hopeless, he did nothing. I have been trying to say that he could be a gem but it turns out what Ade said against Spurs was true! He wasted every chance he should have passed with half of them and I don't think I have seen a display as bad for Arsenal this season since Denilson against Fulham. We are dangerously short of strikers, I think we only have Ade, Bendt and Eduardo (RvP should be left mid).

I have to pick my mother up from the airport and will miss the Wigan match...got to love Sky + and cutting ones self off from all news throughout the evening. I forgot the death threats given to people who know the result!


Click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/name-the-stands-of-the-emirates-stadium.html and be a hero!

1Having had a look at Wikipedia the world source of everything. Its wicked for finding stuff out about players and stats! I have seen that Mr Flamini has blown it bigtime. I feel sorry for the lad. He was made by Wenger then ditched the team. I don't blame him thats football. It was obvious that he needed to be replaced and surely that must happen in Jan. From his point of view he has played a bit of a stinker because he has played 2 games and what he probably hasn't realised that his appearance fees for us would have probably meant that he was going to get paid more in London! Sorry Matt you blew it for everyone you could have been loved but now people just think your a sellout.

2-1 Arsenal today...I promise, sort of!


Click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/name-the-stands-of-the-emirates-stadium.html and be a hero!

I have always been a big fan of the BBC sport website even when they tried to fix it when it wasn't broken...bloody idiots. I have been reading their Arsenal articals and always thought that they were never very positive towards the Gooners. There has been a bomb dropped by the little man who wrote this pointless artical http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7715916.stm.

The line that upset me was "Arsenal used to play at Highbury and moved across north London to the Emirates Stadium". I like most Arsenal supporters have had to totally rethink my journey to see the Gooners since the days of Highbury (RIP). The 200 yards difference has meant choosing which tube stop to get off at has been a nightmare. Recently I have subscribed to Sky Sports and a temporary Setanta Internet subscription but my Internet is dire so I cancelled that and apart from the insufferable comments of Andy Gray (take a bow of my TV screen you moron) I am delighted to be rid of Alan Green and Mark Lawrenson. Although I think Alan Hansen is a good pundit he is definitely not on our side. The only Arsenal pundit is Lee Dixon who is REALLY REALLY BORING.

It is time for the BBC to make up their mind and explain to everyone why they support Man U even though their manager won't speak to you. Oh and why you dislike a club as fine as ours? I pay for your rubbish. Justify it. Oh and take some responsibility for your editing. Why should Ross, Brand and Clarkson take the heat for your lack of censorship.

Back to football - I really can't see the Arsenal pulling a result out of the bag tomorrow more on that later in the mean time click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/name-the-stands-of-the-emirates-stadium.html and be a hero!

Playing an attacking team will be a good test for the defence I just want a good team performance and not some awful hybrid team something good please Arsene. The fans are doubting him which is quick and foolish! he holds the answers he just wants to save them!

4-2 to the Gooners Bendtner and can't predict the others don't know who will play!!



KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history - instead of a generic colour!. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register. Cheers!

Last week was a real stinker and we all hope we can get a positive result against the stain on Manchester. This Champs league match is pretty much a free game in order to try and restore some confidence and some defensive normality. I think it is pivotal to the Arsenal team that two partnerships are forged rapidly. The first is that of Song and Djourou at centre back and equally important the partnership of Vela and Bendtner.

I think the RvP and Adebayor partnership is pretty hopeless. The key problem is why RvP is always pushed out onto the right which isn't great since he is one of the most one footed players in the world! I am convinced his best position for Arsenal would be on the left side of midfield - playing a Bobby Pires roll. More importantly I think Vela and Bendtner have real chemistry and work off each other very well and it would be great to see them against some decent opposition.

I think that if we are to make inroads Wenger needs to play players on form not reputation like he does so vermently

KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history - instead of a generic colour!. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register. Cheers!

I think the team for today is going to be quite young, I can see starts for Vela, Ramsey and in an ideal world Wilshere! I think a European start for these young players would be good for growth and also rest some of the key underperformers. I would like to see Song and Djourourourourou get a start at CB against an attacking team to see if they can cope. It could be looked at as a game to secure qualification and then Carling Cup it I don't know though, selection has been erratic!

KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register. Cheers!

Just for the record I would not wish an injury on any Arsenal play but I am trying to make the best of a horrific week. Adebayor has been pretty average this season. He has scored a couple of goals but other than that he has been lazy and wasteful, a bargain at what i predict has cost us this season £800,000 already this season.

It would appear that Wenger has some sort of mental block about dropping any of his key players (Eboue, Gallas, Denilson and Ade) who have been SHOCKING as of late. Bendtner has not really had much of a chance yet and I predict that he will have to score 80 goals to keep his place before Ade stroles back into the side.

Nikki B please prove your worth to us this week and put some positive pressure on Arsene!

KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register. Cheers!

Fair enough Stoke were pretty physical but what do you expect? newly promoted sides usually are. It has happened so many times before and will happen a number of time in future probably a lot this season. Physical strength is an Arsenal weakness its obvious but as soon as Wenger starts whinging about it in press conferences and interviews does he really think that will solve the problem? I think it might just build it up a bit more and teams will go in hard when they play us. I also think the injuries to Theo and Ade did not affect the result. Neither were making much of an impact. Arsene is coming under fire from some pretty fickle fans and I do support him but football is all about evolution and the Arsenal team needs to evolve rapidly or we are screwed.

The problem is that at the moment our Carling Cup side is probably better than our senior team. With defensive woes and midfield mediocrity a number of these players need a rocketing. If we don't defend properly against Man U we are going to be ruined.

KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register. Cheers!

When the team isn't firing and things are looking bleak (well inconsistent) and there is a lot of anger being thrown around it is easy to take for granted the amount of effort Arsenal FC do to keep the fans involved. Sadly one thing that has frustrated me was the long wait to hear about the fitness of Adebayor and more importantly Theo. apparently Walcott should be back for man u, Ade will be longer. It was really quite stressful not knowing about injuries and its something I feel that Arsenal could improve on.

On the positive side...I am really enjoying the live reserve games on Arsenal TV, I have the online package and it is a good service (even with my dodgey internet cutting out every 5 mins). I feel that the games are getting more publicity and it would be interesting to know how many people watch, The highlight of last nights game (other than Bischoffs belter) was the lone fan screaming chants for the whole game...good work!


KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register! Cheers!

I think the biggest problem with the Stoke match was that the team were trying to be something that they are not. I was surprised by the formation and not surprised it didn't work. I think the squad is so attack minded that playing a defensive team is just going to cause problems for the players. I am also surprised that the players who were "rotated" were the ones who were good against Spurs. This was lunacy. If we need such a dodgey rotation policy then surely the squad needs strengthening. I am a massive believer in the Arsene Wenger school of thought but it has got to the stage where he has made a rod for his own back with selection and transfers. I also think Denilson has to do something this week he hasn't been of late and it is deeply upsetting me when Diaby/Ramsey/Bischoff/Wilshere/Song could be playing his role significantly better, Denilson is not a defensive midfielder!


KEEP THE HISTORY GOING!
A petition to change the names of the Emirates stands to something meaningful and representative of our rich history. If you haven't already, have a click on http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html it takes under a minute to sign and you won't get pestered with emails or abused by spam, you don't even have to register! Cheers!

Right another go at plugging this. From the names I have so far we have people signing up from all over the world (Australia, Kenya) but some even as far as SCOTLAND! If this is the first time you are reading about this we are trying to get every self respecting Gooner to get the names of the stands changed to something more historic than a generic color, there isn't even a red quadrant! signing up takes about a minute and leave a comment if you want about stand names! We need to keep Gooner history or we will become as cultural as the Chavski!

Cheers

there is the link...

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html

Hello fine blog readers.

I'm pushing the petition for the naming of the stands again. It has been a disappointing start for what I consider to be a very valid cause. Unless your flatmate is downloading copious amounts of pornography (or videos of Dennis Bergkamp both have the same pleasing effect) it takes under a minute. The plan is to get the petition to the club by Christmas because it will be a long drawn out affair getting it all sorted out so the sooner the ball gets rolling the better. I hope people agree.

Cheers

there is the link!

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html

Lineup

Manuel Almunia
Bacary Sagna
Kolo Toure
Mikael Silvestre
Gael Clichy
Alexandre Song
Denilson
Cesc Fabregas
Abou Diaby
Emmanuel Adebayor
Nicklas Bendtner

Bench

Lukasz Fabianski
Carlos Vela
Aaron Ramsey
Johan Djourou
Theo Walcott
Robin Van Persie
Samir Nasri

Now I am pretty surpised by the lineup, it would appear that all of the players who had stinkers have managed to keep their places. The players who played well have been benched. On current form the sharpest midfielder is Diaby who has played about 90 mins in the last 4 months. I'm afraid Gooners we are not going to be scoring 20 goals. I really hoped Vela and Bendtner would start that is going to be exciting very soon.

Remember people sign the petition http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html you don't have to register or anything its easy it will take 1 minute absolute tops!

Cheers

We Need Your Help!

The Emirates Stadium is a spectacular football ground. It is what Arsenal FC deserves for a superb group of supporters and successful team. The trouble with a new stadium especially when moving from a ground such as Highbury is the loss of some of the history. Many Arsenal fans dislike the coloured quadrant system.

There have been questions asked about the atmosphere at the new ground and it could be linked with it not feeling like home yet. It is proposed that the stands/quadrants are named in order to celebrate the clubs glorious history. Where would you rather have your season ticket the Orange Quadrant or the Chapman End? This petition also asks that the fans (who make this great club what it is) have some sort of say in the naming of the stands. This could be done through a members vote from the clubs shortlist.

The fans need to speak up on this one. We can make a difference to the stadium and not be in the Violet Quadrant. It is really impersonal...you never know there might well be a new North Bank! I am going to plug this like mad and probably annoy people but as long as you all vote then it will all be good. Obviously its more for the real game going fans!

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/22991.html

Time for us to show the fight the Gooners have. It is important for us to show a united front for this game. What happens off the pitch should be left off the pitch. I hope Wenger does shake things up. I dont think it will be as groundbreaking as one hopes.

I think the most important thing is for us to win without conceding a goal - Even one nil is better than the leakiness of the recent games.


Sorry this is so short I am bloody knackered after the last couple of sleepless nights! - The thing is I wont be sleeping tonight because some nasty man called Anonymous (who I suspect is a gary glitter type (he wanted me to take off a school uniform for him, DIRTY!)) has been calling me some very naughty names. I have made an effort to avoid foul language in my blogs just in case it causes offence. However this person has decided that i have been in need of some C bombs, for everyones information I have had this treatment before...It doesnt hurt as much when its not your mother calling you a c**** 33 times in a 5 minute call. Apparently I am not a true fan.

To be honest mate you are probably spot on. I just travel across the country to watch my team as often as I can afford and spend most of my free time thinking about either how Arsenal can be better or what they are doing well. I don't want to appear to be high and mighty but I dont think someone who analyses an artical and comes to the conclusion that I love myself with my hand is going to win any sort of prize (other than maybe an extra star on his McBadge). I am sorry that I have upset this person - WAIT no I'm really not. Everything I say in this blog is my true feeling and there is a reason for the comment section is for grown up discussion, criticism or even a positive comment??! If you want to abuse someone go to White Heart Lane and give Sol some Racist abuse.

Just remember - sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me naa naa na naaaaa na. Man up pal...u just look pathetic.

Rant over!

RED ARMY 3 points tomorrow!

Now I have been a stern critic of Gallas in the past and am fully aware of the fact that it’s easy to blame him for the problems of the team. Having read that he doesn’t mind being blamed for it then it’s all good! I shall tear into him a bit more...

I am disgusted by the prospect of a fighting fit Gallas having picked up an injury somewhere between being fine while playing against Spurs and being informed that Arsene was partially blaming him for the loss. Wenger is due to make a number of changes for Stoke and I think the CAPTAIN of Arsenal FC ruling himself out is an attempt to dodge the being dropped bullet.

If you look at sport on the whole it is obvious that a player is picked to lead for 2 reasons. The first is because of strong leadership abilities and the second is because the player is consistent. It is rare that a player can meet both of these demands. For example Michael Vaughn captained England because he was a good leader and could read the game very well, he resigned because his form was letting him down and did not think he was worthy of a place in the team. Where as someone like Becks was picked because he was an outstanding player. Martin Johnston was picked because he was both. William Gallas is neither!

I am not saying he should stand down at Arsenal but I am saying the he needs to learn to lead the team or needs to become consistent quickly! The only player to be close to either is Almunia (even though he had a bit of a mare on Weds)

At the risk of alienating readers I'm going to have a go at Britains most popular newspaper (famous for changing sides in order to sell more copies).

Sick of this...the sun have been picking on us which is annoying. As far as I can see the players deserved to be humiliated by Wenger, obviously Clichy did screw up (I cant remember much of it because I repress things!) and according to an "Arsenal source (traitor SCUM)" he was almost in tears which is pretty harsh because he by no means had a rubbish game.

I think the arrogance of the team is to blame and Wenger has probably had to get stroppy more this season than in the last 2 years. I have said before that the Arsenal squad is too divided - there are obvious groups within...The African players, The French players, the Chelski players (with Gallas) etc. This would appear to be dangerous for the squad and I think that Cesc is the only player who seems to get on with everyone. Another reason to make him captain.

I have one major question - Why does Adebayor keep speaking to the press? Does anyone give a toss what he has to say?

I really do hate moaning about Arsenal but I can't help it these things need to be said, even if I do sound like Ade! On a positive note I shall quote my mate Rich (a Newcastle fan) "I love Spurs, no mater how s**t our season is they are always worse!"

Right here are a couple for you...

1, Our manager seems to see everything that goes against us but never sees anything that should go against us.

2, Our defence are bloody brilliant in the Opositions box (Gallas has scored 4 this season...same as Nikki B) but as soon as we have to defend they turn crap? maybe we should play Ade and RvP at centre back?


These arent really contradictions but they are really quite annoying...

It would seem that Clichy has stopped attacking the way he used to a few games ago. I think he is world class but still cant believe that he let Traore go to pompey, we have NO cover for an injury prone player, i think traore was kicking off about not getting enough pitch time.

We continue to play Denilson a player who I thought had a really bright future but has not made the grade at the moment and cant gel with Fabregas - when we have Diaby who was on fire last week but is now not getting a chance.

Right we got turned over through shear stupidity - I have struggled to recall being quite as angry as I was after the game. It just shows that the big derby games lose their importance to the foreign players. Do you really think the 1998 Gooners team would have thrown away the 2 goal lead in 6 minutes?

As I said previously that has killed our season, not so much from a points position but from a mental one. There is a strong possiblity that we could come from a distant third and catch the leaders but we won't win the league. I also don't think we have a strong enough team to do well in the Champions League and we are likely to meet a big 4 club in the FA cup earlier on. I hate to put the team down but I think they deserve it. I promise I will never complain about a team going into the corner again because you CAN get stung!!

There are some things that have started to annoy me in the post match ratings on other sites. It would appear that reputation plays a major role in what people say about a player - Fabregas always gets 1 or 2 points more than he deserves, last night he was pretty quiet but people were still giving him 7s this also plays out badly for the likes of Gallas, Ade (but he deserves it for being overated and rubbish) and Eboue.

Cesc's quote about the Ladies couldn't get beaten was the Sun twisting it he actually said something along the lines of the Ladies are so good that spurs would struggle to beat them. It was also said a while ago so it wasn't a prematch dig at the scum from the wrong end of North London.

I almost think it would be better for the team if they had shed another goal in the last seconds because drawing a game will not give a big enough kick up the backside. I really do feel that Arsenal need to stuff Stoke at least 4-0. A clean sheet is vital Considering we leaked 4 goals against a team bottom of the table (STILL) who were also playing a 4-5-1...VILLAGE

Right, it would appear that we have the full squad avaliable to face the Spurs (obviously not the 2 long termers). People have been writing the Tots off for good reason (mainly because they have been woeful...banter!) I am a bit more concerned they won their last game and have another Brilliant manager - I dont know what they do to them - Could Spurs turn Wenger rubbish? They have done it with Jol and Ramos.

I think its going to be a typical Derby game that we can win easily if we keep our shape and discipline. Spurs have lost their attacking options but dont let that fool you, they have a number of players who could spark into life and upset us.

Gooners do not count your eggs. I have been looking forward to this game for a long while and I just hope we can DESTROY THEM!

This is the biggest game of the season without a doubt and 3 points is critical, if we drop points we will not win silverware this season. Obviously they will defo ruin our season by playing on our pitch....

I was just wondering if anyone knew about the FA coaching badges ie the cost and how easy they are to get? I had a look and it was a nightmare!

i have been snowed under and have been bored by England but anyway...

We are a 2 man team we can only fire if Theo and Cesc are in the side! Walcott gives us so much more width and sucks players in!

Cesc has a contract til 2014 anyway so I wouldn't worry about these morons stirring up rubbish hes ours and it will stay that way unless there is a massive bid!

That is all!

Right, as we are all aware we thumped Porto. In saying that they didn't pose any problems that we cant cope with. So what I am trying to say is that there was no real challenge.

When we had to defend corners it was easy. I think Umpa Lumpas pose more of an attacking threat from crosses that Porto. Defensively they were pretty weak. we ran all over them. We wasted a number of chances.

Sunderland are going to be a big test. The Porto match achieved nothing at all, all I can see is that we categorically should have won 8 nil. The only real good thing from that match was that we will have built confidence (especially RvP).

There are not many teams who can be slated for winning 4-0 and I hate to do it but I only do it through a positive love of the club. My expectations of Arsenal are admittedly very high but this is only because I have seen what we can achieve but not if we keep making the same mistakes!

Not to be boring and go on about it but I am still convinced that Adebayor is average, he may score goals (admittedly most are easy) but he wastes so many chances. I was excited that Wenger said that there would be changes made (there was one and it was Nasri coming back). If Bendtner was given a chance and Arsene showed he trusted him the big Dane could really make his mark.

van Persie looked pretty good against Porto although I think our Carling cup side would have done them by the same score! I dont understand why he always finds himself on the right when he cannot hit the ball with his right...he needs to have a word with ade

Ade has come out wish some rubbish about wanting to score good goals, dont care. Just want goals and lots of them.

Apparently it looks like we are going to swoop for some young gun Juve boy...Geovinco http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjzDRmNJ644 he looks like quite a cool finisher but if he is whinging about money at Juve he doesnt have a chance at Arsenal!

I have got a ticket to the Sunderland match not that anyone cares but thought it was worth saying. Does anyone use the Supporters Clubs?

Right I don’t want to dwell on yesterday too much because I can’t stand thinking about it. My feelings about Adebayor are now known, live with it. I am going to focus on how to move on.

1, Several of the starting team are not playing on merit, they are playing because they are the most 'valuable'. This is not only massively unfair on the squad players who have been performing well but it is stupid and illogical. I have always considered this to be a Wenger weakness. You must pick players on form because if not it ruins squad moral. Look at things from Bendtners point of view, he has been by far our best striker this season, Ade and van Persie have been dour. He must be thinking there is no chance of him starting! There is no reward for playing well and that’s harsh.

2, Corners are not hard to defend, we have a number of players who are of a decent size. I can’t understand why Gallas is pretty good at attacking corners but as soon as he has to defend one he is hopeless. This is the area we leak most goals and we are a danger against any team (Hull, Fulham). Not only that it’s embarrassing!

3, Our strikers are lazy. Adebayor used to work his socks off in the first few games of last season but this season he sees himself more as the target man. When I watched the United Vs Chavski and Scouserpool games I was amazed by how much effort Rooney put into his defensive duties. I think it is the reason he is so good. van Persie looked pretty good but he is by no means a worker from the middle of the park. His shooting has been woeful and his trademark free kicks have been weak. So many times it just looks like we can’t be bothered to put the ball in the net. These players must be on goal bonuses, bag yourself a couple of grand and boost out goal difference!

4, Players are constantly played out of position. I fully accept that it is important to have your best team out (see point 1) but it’s not the best team out if they are not playing in their usual positions. People say to me "oh Arsenal don't have a rigid positional set up" but they need it. I think it is madness that we have a right midfielder/defender playing on the left. Eboue was pretty quiet by his standards and has been for a few games on the left. If I was manager I would have done the sensible thing and played van Persie on the left (I still think it is his best position) and that would have made a place for Nikki B. If not I would have played Vela there, he’s used to it.

5, This is sort of linked to 1 but it is the other way, the last player to actively be dropped by Wenger was Jens, that was over a year ago. It would appear to me that he is too nice. When was the last time Adebayor was subbed? When was the last time someone was kicked down to the reserves? Alex Song has been flirting with a first team place, I think he is a much better player than Denilson, but nothing. Does Arsene just have a concrete starting 11 and only changes if there is an injury? Toure needs to be dropped. That is my new campaign, he has not doing anything wrong per say just not doing enough right!

I do not want to be one of these people who just slates the club but I don’t see why I should have to put up with the same problems. We are not evolving we are revolving (thank you Alan Partridge!). Kiss good bye to any success this season. If you don’t fix the problems they get worse!

Arsenal have started selling club player badges because none of the players are wanting to play for their badge...we need to man up and show some fight. we were dredful SAME PROBLEMS AGAIN!!!!!

I am sick of saying this he is dredful, what can you say? obviously i am basing this on missed chances, stupid pointless offsides, laziness, bad decisions and he has the composure of a retarded squirrel

van Persie isnt setting the world alight really either

any1 with a good reason adebayor should stay in the team leave a comment and it i think its worthwhile I WILL send you the money

Although I'm a dedicated Arsenal TV viewer I sometimes find it difficult to keep my attention during some of these press conferences so I thought I would take notes for the rest of people. I am a giver!!


He is happy to be at the top of the table.

Hunger is the same.

Still sure we are strong enough.

Clichy and Silvestre are fit, Nasri is not.

Phil Brown is apparently wrong about the Clichy tackle. Arsene loves comitment and physical games. "a good tackle is as good as a good volley" - Excessive force is bad!

Hull are a surprise package - we need to be at our best.

Championship teams are different.

The Game isnt about money.

He wants Henry to be happy.


NB Bischoff is fit but not mentioned...what does this mean!!

I thought I would make use of my political knowledge; it’s something I know a surprising amount about! John Prescott is a pig of a man. The end!

We need to keep the momentum going and stay top of the table for the sake of moral. If I had my way I would want us to take an approach like Chavski did last season. Play the 3rd place quiet contenders card, it suits our young squad and keeps some of the pressure off but I suppose you take all the points you get don't you?! I expect us to stay at the top of the table for a wee while.

Prediction
4-1, Vela, Bendtner, Fabregas with 2.


Key Battle
Fab vs. Ashbee – we need to put pressure on their midfield and that will force openings.


Players to Watch
· Vela. MUST start after his performance against the Blades.
· Song, I would like to see him start and put Diaby under some pressure for that position.


Odds
Arsenal – 1/5
Draw – 5/1
Hull – 14/1


Probable XI
Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy
Eboue Fabregas Song Vela
Adebayor Bendtner

Watch Out For
Alex Song’s passing; it is surprisingly good for someone who looks like a borderline psychopath!


Missing Players

Eduardo,
Rosicky,
Diaby,
Nasri,


This is a game where we need to boss early on and not let Hull get into any sort of rhythm. They will try and block us out as long as they can but we need to open the flood gates.

I like the idea of a Song/Fabregas middle partnership, there is strength and someone to dictate tempo.

It is hard to predict the starting lineup because I think there are a number of players pushing for a starting place;

Bendtner - he has been really good, I didn’t expect to be saying that but it is a good thing! He is scoring a few this season and linking in well as a team player, this is his strength compared to Ade.

Vela – 3 in the Carling Cup and electric, we are short of players on the left he might get a start there, he played there while on loan.

Eboue – Had a blinder against Bolton, it’s about time I was sick of slating him!



There could be an influx of youth players or Arsene might just keep it the same as normal, it would be stupid to play a weakened side and drop points! We have a big month coming up and can’t let moral drop.