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.