Arsenal Blog Have we learnt from the past?? If Gallas leaves we sign a new defender, Wenger

Arsene Wenger has now made it clear that he would be signing a new defender only if Gallas leaves Arsenal this summer.

Just when we all got excited about possible transfers which Arsenal would be making in the wake of 6th successive trophy less season, manager is back to his frugal ways of not spending and believing his current squad is good enough to win a trophy without spending. I personally feel that even with Gallas extending his stay we are one quality defender short if we want to seriously win anything next season.

If you were to ask me, defense is the first position where we need to buy. Remember how often we have conceded soft goals at the back this season. Lets assume even if Gallas stays with Arsenal, what is the probability of a 32 year old who has already been out injured for most of this season to remain fit for the entire duration of the next season. Even in Carling cups where Arsene has time and again groomed young players he has always preferred an experienced defender in all the matches. That would mean, Vermaelen will be playing bulk of the matches for Arsenal at the back and I am not sure how well he can cope up with so many matches. God forbid if he gets injured, we would again be facing same old problems which we have faced this season with all our injuries. With due respect to Djourou, he is still raw and like Song he is a makeshift central defender. I have no doubts about his potential however at the back he still needs exposure and just by letting him play odd school matches wont make him ready for the league and champions league. I hope Arsene is looking at Cambell and Silvestre only as back up option and not someone whom he would be playing often.

Sometimes in football as in life it is imperative that lessons are learned from your past mistakes. By not spending on new players and letting our important players leave time and again we have been deprived of glory and silverware. I hope Arsene realizes this now or otherwise it might be too late, for some fans it is already late!!!!!!!

Thoughts????

Arsenal Blog Sergio Romero, N'Zonzi, Phil Jones, Doni linked with Arsenal

Few reports claim that Steve Rowley, Arsene Wenger’s head talent spotter has been tracking Blackburn duo N'Zonzi and Phil Jones. I am not sure if Arsene would sign any midfielder this season also Zonzi has been a key player for Blackburn and not sure if Big Sam would let him go. Phil Jones on the other side is pretty raw and lacks enough first team football. I saw him play against Chelsea and for a young man playing his first game he did pretty well however what Arsenal needs is a proven talent who can hold up the defense alongside Verminator.

Same report claims that Arsene Wenger is pretty much interested in AZ Alkmaar’s £8million rated Argentina international goalkeeper, Sergio Romero. For me this is a interesting news as you guys would remember that Arsenal played Alkmaar in Champions league and we did draw 1-1 against them in Holland. In this match Sergio Romero made quite a few good saves against Van Persie and co to keep us at bay. In the past we have seen Arsene recruiting players who have played well against Arsenal (Eduardo, vermaelen...). I wont be surprised if we do see Sergio Romero at Emirates next season provided Alkmaar are ready to sell and price is
right.

Latest reports links us back with Lassana Diarra however I would be surprised if this ever happens as we are pretty much covered in the midfield. Fabregas, Nasri and Song have been phenomenal for us this season and manager has offered new long term contracts to Denilson, Rosicky and Diaby. Arsene himself never wanted Diarra to leave the club however Flamini's top form meant that fellow French man was left on bench for majority of the season which eventually led to his exit.

Elsewhere Roma want to offload Doni and looks like Arsenal could be in contention with Spurs for his signature. I wont be surprised if by the end of the season we are linked with all professionally registered goalkeepers as long as they are playing for some club or the other.

Coming back to Arshavin shit. How often have we seen this, a player initially gives signs of being unhappy at his club by his open admiration for another club and subsequently his agent takes it a step ahead by letting out the actual truth. Not long before Arshavin made his desire to play for Barcelona, Dennis Lachter (Arshavins agent)has mentioned that there is no guarantee if Arshavin would be playing for Arsenal next season. This can easily be seen as a foreplay to increase Arshavins wages and get him a new contract or as a first step towards Arshavins exit. I have always loved Arshavin for his game but sooner does he realise his role and duty towards the club better it will be for his own career. We all know what has happened to Henrys, Hlebs, Flaminis...once they left Arsenal for bigger clubs and fatter wages.

Leaving you guys with Sergio Romeros compilation, till then keep gunning.....

Arsenal Blog Arshavin snubs Arsenal/Wenger

Little Russian has never been short of words and this time may be he has gone too far. Latest reports claim that Arshavin has openly admitted his desire to play for Barcelona at some point in his career. I personally see no issues with a player admiring another club however sometimes there is a thin line between admiring a club and desiring to play for that club. Not sure how well such things can go with fans. I always believe that good players should do the talking on the pitch rather then off it. Prior to this, Arshavin had openly admitted that Arsenal were 2-3 players short and did require reinforcements. Yes, we all agree to the fact that we should have signed 1-2 players last summer however as a player playing for the club, I am not sure if you are supposed to speak openly in media. For me its like openly criticizing your team/manager.

We all know what Arshavin is capable off and fans would appreciate if he can show his skills which made him an instant hit in Euro 2008 on the pitch rather then off it. Not sure how Arsene would react to this news as time and again Arshavin has got away with his comments. Had he made such comments against Fergie, Benitez & co... I am sure he would have repented.......Time for Arsene to be a bad boy so that this does not happen in future....

Thoughts?????

Arsenal Blog Arsenal Linked with Bojan Krkic and Loic Remy: Latest Transfer speculation

Latest news confirms Fabregas wages have been increased by almost 50% to lure him away from any possible Barcelona interest. As per this report he will be paid 3m pounds as a compensation for last two years where he was underpaid. This makes him the highest paid footballer at the club with a weekly paycheck of £110,000. Wowwwwww, we definitely need to reward our better players with a good deal so as to ward away the cunts. For me, Fabregas deserves every inch of this just for his commitment. Its players like him which make me believe that football still is a "beautiful game" where players play for club, fans & above all passion rather then for money. If Cashley Cunt Cole and Adecuntbayor are examples of gold diggers then Fabregas, Clichy's are examples of commitment and football passion.


Martin Keown has requested Arsene to buy proven players rather then giving timeless oppurtunities to young players. Not sure if we can get proven players however a player or two with Keown'S heart would definitely help us out. What we need is strong characters on the pitch like Adam's/Keowns rather then having mercurial players who after playing few good matches start cribbing about lacking dept in the squad.

One of the reports links us with France/Nice forward Loic Remy. Not sure how true this news is as Arsenal are already linked with Chamakh this season. Unlike Chamakh, Remy can play upfront or on the wings making him more versatile then Bordeaux man. Remy idolises Thiery Henry and averages 1 goal in every 3 matches. He has also been linked with a possible move to
his old club Lyon and with Bordeaux as a replacement for Chamakh.

Barcelona have reaffirmed their interest in Clichy this time reports suggesting that they could offer Bojan Krkic in return. Not sure how true this is however I would be more then glad to have Bojan Krkic join Arsenal. I once got an opportunity to see this young lad when Barcelona played against LA Galaxy when they toured US in 2009. God this kid is lively & no wonder he is highly rated in Spain.

More on other news and transfer speculation tomorrow till then keep gunning.....

Arsenal Blog Best Moments of Arsenal v Man City

In otherwise a dull match, few stand out moments of this match were Persie tackle on
Addy Cunt Bayor and Duel between Song and jackass Bellamy......

Van Persie Tackle on Adebayor

Song Bellamy Duel

Arsenal Blog Arsenal 0 Manchester City 0: Bore Dull & Sour

With Arsenal already out of championship race it was a well know fact that players dint have anything else to play for but for pride. Having already lost to city 2 times this season it was important that we got the records straight. Playing at home we had an opportunity to redeem ourself from the pain inflicted on us at Wigan.

Surprisingly Wenger left Bendtner on the bench and started with Van Persie all alone upfront. This is not the first time that Wenger has surprised me with his team selection. For once I forgot that we were playing at home. I know Bendtner has his critics but lets face it, guy has scored 9 goals in his last 12 matches for Arsenal and thanks to him we were still in the race untill last Sunday. For me he should have started upfront with Persie supporting him on the right especially considering the fact that we were playing at home. However for me this was too negative and just explains managers state of mind after 3 back to back losses. Alex Song back from injury replaced Craig Eastmond from the team which started against Wigan. Alex Song has been a revelation this season and work ethics were pretty much visible once again. With him back in the midfield, De Jong & Patrick Vieira had their work cut out.

As always we had plenty of possession in the first half but lacked enough creativity in the final third. Song played a nice through ball to Persie in the center who was well blocked by Toure. I loved Toure when he was at Arsenal. Never understood why Arsene sold him, considering the fact that how many soft goals we have conceded this season. He had a solid game at the back and was clearly their man of the match.

Our best chance in the first half came when Van Persie played a delightful throughball to Samir Nasri who was surprisingly called offside. Replays showed that Frenchman had timed his run excellently and for me would have scored however linesman got it completely wrong. Manchester city had their best chance when Vieira burst into the box from Tevez pass and almost scored but for Sol Cambells tackle. Old wily fox has showed time and again that age doesn't matter as long as you have the desire and commitment to excel. I would be really disappointed if I don't see him at Arsenal next season.

Second half was as boring as the first one and I could not see either team likely to score. For me the best part of the match was when Adebayor replaced Vieira and was met with jeers all around. Guy has been a c**t and Arsenal fans booed him whenever he was on the ball. He deserved what he got from the crowd and I just hope I don't see him again as he just brings a fury to me and fellow Arsenal fans for what he has done by leaving us for few extra pennies and also by his behavior when we played Man city earlier this season. With his introduction, City were more threatening going forward. It was clear Mancini and Manchester city wanted to win the game more then Arsene and Arsenal. He brought Adebayor immediately in the 2nd half whereas Arsene left it too to late to bring in Bendtner.

Game eventually finished in a tame draw and too be honest we deserved what we got.
No positive intent, lack of desire and commitment and nothing to play for more then anything else meant that we drew the match. For once Crapianski had a decent game just for the fact that he dint commit any mistakes. Diaby played well alongside Song and ensured Vieira/Jong dint have enough of the ball. He had a decent shot in the 2nd half which was well saved by Given. While saving Given injured himself and looks like his season might well be over.

Leaving you all with the extended highlights of the match, good bye untill next time...

Arsenal Blog Arsenal Transfer news: Arsenal interested in signing Rene Alder

As per one of the news, Juventus are intrested in Van Persie. Its a known fact that last season too they openly admitted their interest in Arsenal forward. If we want to win anything next season we would want Persie to fire on all cylinders and remain fit throughout the season. To be honest that's a big question mark, time and again Dutch forward has been found wanting in terms of his fitness. As per the report Italian giants are considering a swap deal for Buffon/Melo in return of Persie.

Arshavin is expected to be fit for Manchester City game. Not sure manager would play him from the start. If he his fit, he should start on bench as Rosicky played well in the last match and has started looking sharp. Arshavin can replace him for the last 20 minutes if need be. Arshavin feels that our season could have been different if we had all players fit. Again all of us know that if we had all players fit this season, we could have won something. My way of looking at it is a bit different, considering the fact that we have a long season we need to have a big squad so that when needed we are not found wanting. With due respect to Cambell and Sylvestre under no situation you can have both of them playing against the likes of Barcelona...

As per one of the reports, Arsenal is interested in signing Bayern Lverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler. He is currently Germany's no 1 goalkeeper and under all circumstances is expected to keep for Germany in world cup.

That's all for today, see you all tomorrow with more on Arsenal Manchester City preview.....

Arsenal Blog Arsenal Manchester City Preview

Arsenal plays Manchester city on Saturday and all players have to be on top of their game for more than one reason..

- We need to come back strong after back to back defeats against Spurs and Wigan.
- Avenge our loss against Man city earlier this season.
- Prevent Man City from finishing 4th in the league.
- Make Adebayor realise what a cunt he is....

Mercenary he always was however by celebrating his goal against us he has proved what a jackass he has been. For me Sylvestre can redeem himself of all his mistakes by hitting Addy right on the center and make him impotent for rest of his life.

Addy's more sensible teammate Toure has asked him to keep cool against Arsenal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1267718/Emmanuel-Adebayor-lose-fiery-Arsenal-return-warns-Manchester-City-pal-Kolo-Toure.html


Elsewhere Nasri has backed Chamakh to join Arsenal. If someone knows a thing or two about Chamakh then it has to be Nasri as before joining Arsenal while in Marseille he would have played against Bordeaux star. Chamakh averages 1 goal in every 3 matches in his career. Fact that he is 6'2' adds to our favour as he can play as a lone striker away from home and can be a good target in the centre from crosses.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1267761/Samir-Nasri-relishes-Marouane-Chamakh-link-Arsenal.html


Nothing much happening elsewhere, Ill leave you guys with some Chamakh compilation. More on team news and latest transfers tomorrow, till then have fun.......

Arsenal Blog Fabregas Leaving Arsenal, ohh no not again....

As soon as our title hopes came to an abrupt end, news of Fabregas leaving
Arsenal this summer have started appearing in spanish media circus. Its really funny
the way spanish media operates. Time and again we have seen this happening to Fabregas. For me Fabregas is our captain and time and again he has assured his future to Arsenal, end of the story. Latest news being, Fabregas senior met Real madrid Director general "Jorge Valdano".

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/fabregas-senior-denies-real-madrid-reports-1949197.html

Not long before we hear, Fabregas house maid meets Barcelonas director general house maid and confirms that Fabregas is going to leave Arsenal this summer.....blah blah blahhhhh....shut the fcuk up cunts....

Both Barcelona and Real madrid are keen on signing Gael Clichy. Barcelona did show an intrest in signing Clichy last summer as well to replace Abibal however I cant imagine Clichy leaving Arsenal any time soon as he has reiterated time and again that he loves playing for Arsenal.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-rumours-Barcelona-set-to-swoop-for-Arsenal-star-Gael-Glichy-article398615.html

As per some reports, Arsenal are also keen on a double swoop for Rodallega and N'Zogbia. Personally I liked N'Zogbia against Arsenal however he likes to play on the left or as an attacking midfielder. Not sure Arsene would be too keen to sign him considering the fact that we need a forward, center half and a Keeper to start with.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/arsenal-linked-with-pound21m-swoop-for-rodallega-and-nzogbia-1946767.html

One of the reports confirm that Arsene has a transfer kitty in the range of 60m pounds. Its obvious from his recent comments that Arsenal will buy 2-3 new players this season.

http://www.espnstar.com/football/premier-league/news/detail/item429903/Wenger-could-raid-Real-Madrid/

Thats all for today, elsewhere Inter showed what a team can do if you have desirer and hunger to win. Not only they came from behind to win 3-1 against Barcelona but they also defended well as a team and frustated Barcelona. More then once I could see Xavi raise his arms in frustation such was the grit with which Inter defended. If they can hold on at Nou camp, it would be Inter Milans first CL final and I wont be surprised if they go on to win this years champions league.

More Arsenal news tomorrow till then keep gunning......

Arsenal Blog Arsenal Wigan Afterthought: Should Wenger be sacked??

Disheartening would be an understatement if we talk about our performance against Wigan.

I dont care if this loss means we are out of the title race this year as for me we were out on the day when we lost to Chelsea home and away. As fans we always want our team to do well against all odds however we are the first ones to get behind our team in case we loose to a better opposition. Its a known fact that it is not possible for the best teams in the world to play eye catching, one touch football throughout the year as its practically not viable however as a fan you always expect all 11 players to know their responsibilities and give more than 100% whenever they play.

I would be lying if I say players dint get complacent, lost focus, lacked application & above all

dint show heart. Yes Fabianski had butter fingers, Diaby was erratic, Sylvestre buckled under pressure...list goes on.....At the end of the day all players are collectively responsible for the defeat as its a team game. What matters at this level is the attitude of the players and unless we have all the players ready to die for the club and for each other on the field we as fans would always be let down. One can easily pick out 3-4 players who dint give their best yesterday, time and again got caught off positions..For once you can pardon players who lack skills however players who don't show heart and attitude needs to go out. No way these players can be given an opportunity time and again at this level.

Wenger missed a trick by not bringing in Persie untill 89th minute. For me he should have started the match considering the fact that we were still in with a chance in the league. Understood we were leading 2-0 untill 80th minute however Persie needs some match fitness before Manchester city game at home, no reason why he dint bring him on for at least last 30 mins or so.

Its astonishing how some people want manager to quit the club in the wake of this defeat. Just

shows how fickle fans and supporters can be. I understand the fact that 6 years is a long enough time without a trophy for a club as big as Arsenal. Yes I personally feel that we should have brought in couple of players in January considering the fact that Van Persie was injured. Had we signed good players then, would we have won the league?? I dont know and no one knows that....we can just speculate... What I know for sure is, manager has a vision to build a squad of youngsters with a good mix of experience who are not mercenaries but players who play good attractive football & are ready to fight every time they play. I would say we are almost there and with few new experienced players we will once again achieve what our invincible's once did. Lets not loose hope, not yet......

Here's leaving you all with a wonderful goal from a wonderful team, team in which we trust...

Arsenal Blog Arsenal 2 Wigan 3: Season over by all means

Till yesterday we were in with a chance, atleast mathematically.With todays loss that slim chance of winning the title has gone. To lead the match 2-0 up to 80th minute and then concede 3 goals in space of 10 mins sums up this season for us. Soft goals, Loss of focus, school boy goalkeeping, lack of application.......
Each one of us would be really frustrated by todays loss...I can rant on and on about our missed chances and what went wrong however I know what each one of us feel at this point of time so I will rather end my post on a sour note....Yes "Its end of our season by all means".....
More on match report and match highlights tomorrow till then have a good weekend.
Post your comments and I will try and publish it in the blog for fans response.....

Leaving you guys with the agony, highlights of the match...

Arsenal Blog Its not over untill its over - Arsenal still in with a chance

It has been a busy day which started at 5am in the morning with ManU-Mancity match. Just when it was heading for a tame draw, "Scholes" the old warrior rose above everyone and headed home a winner in the last minute of extra time. What an important goal this could well be for Manchester United. No wonder Fergie has extended Scholes contract by one more year. Its just his presence which makes a difference in the United squad. All the more reason why Arsene needs to do a Fergie and extend Sol Cambells contract after his amazing work against Spurs. From an Arsenal point of view, I was dissapointed that Man city could not hold on as that would have made a perfect day for us.

In another important match for us, for once our neighbours dint dissapoint us.
Spurs carried on from where they had left and did beat Chelsea 2-1 at home. Defoe & Bale did the honours for Spurs and to thier credit Spurs played attacking football from the on set. Everyone knows Spurs & Manchester citys could well determine who would win the league this season. For once in my life I would be supporting cunts from North London when they take on Manchester United next week at Old Trafford.

Todays results showed the significance of our match against Spurs. Had we won, we would have leaped passed ManU and would have levelled with Chelsea. None the less we still have a chance in the league. As always we cant loose any of our matches from now on and at the same time expect Manu & Chelsea to loose.

With Song, Denilson, Fabregas out, manager will have little choice but to rely on Diaby in the midfield. Merida could well be brought in to replace Denilson. Now that we need to win, it wont be a bad idea to play Bandtner upfront and Persie supporting him just behind on the right. Rosicky had a bad game at Spurs however with manager not having any option, he could well be retained in the starting line up.My team for tomorrow would be

Alumnia
Sagna Cambell Silvestre Clichy
Walcott Nasri Diaby Rosicky
Persie
Bendtner

Eboue, Merida, Vela, Eduardo, Fabianski on bench....

Wigan cant be taken lightly at home. They have won against Chelsea and Liverpool this season. They havent beaten Arsenal from the time they have been promoted in 2006.Having said that we all know these stats dont count for anything in football and thats what makes it all the more intresting and exciting.

No matter where we end up at the end of the seasaon, we want our team to finish strong & fight till the last minute. Time and again we have seen, this season has been full of surprises and I personally feel Chelsea can further drop points against Liverpool at Anfield and Stoke at home. Come on Gunners lets put in the last ditch effort.....Gunners Forever.....!!!!!!!

Arsenal Blog Arsenal 1 - Spurs 2: Season Over for Arsenal

Just when we all got excited about our chances on winning the league we are
pegged back to reality. Worst performance by miles if we think of ourself as title
contenders. Loss to Barcelona though bitter was acceptable as we lost to a better
team however performance against spurs leaves Arsene nothing short of soul searching.

Time and again we have conceded some soft goals and this time too after dominating
the possession we gave a goal to Spurs against the run of play. Almunia was found napping again when his punched ball from a spurs corner found youngster Danny Rose whose volley whizzed passed Almunia before he could realize. Time and again Spaniards decision making has left us baffled to say the least.
- For starters a decent goal keeper forget about quality goal keepers would have caught the ball instead of punching it straight to the Spurs player when he was in no real pressure. Even when you punch out a ball when you are unsure, thumb rule is to punch it out for a corner or an outside.
- Rose shot went at Cannons pace however it just went above Almunias head who was too late to react.

As an Arsenal fan I would be really dissapointed if I see Almunia keeping for us again. We need a quality keeper who if not brilliant needs to be consistent atleast.

Inspite of dominating the possesion we lacked the creativity in the final third which cost us dearly. Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson & Eboue at their best can be good supporting players but on basis of performances this season they cant win matches for us. They will need Fabregass and Songs & Arshavins for providing the spark.

Our best chances came with the introduction of Persie and Walcott. Surprisingly Persie looked sharp from the outset and I could not make out that he was out for 5 months. He forced Gomes to make couple of reaction saves which on any other day could have easily found the back of the net.

Sol Cambell had the match of his season and did everything right. More than talent it was his desire to do well for Arsenal and win matches that has been seen missing among fellow Arsenal players. Arsene definately needs to keep him for one more season. He may not start in most of the matches for us however it is his desire and approach which gets rubbed on to to his team mates.

Silvestre has well passed his best. Arsene got him as a cover up to our original back four. Unfortunately for him and Arsenal he had to play him in more then few occasions. He was at blame for Bales goal. For me he has to go. We cant have players who repeatedly make mistakes and get away with it.

Sorry to say but our season is over. We definitely have lots of positives this season. I always have been a staunch supporter of Arsenes belief in youngsters however he needs to realize for any team to do well it needs a good mix of youngsters with experienced players who have won things before. Unfortunately this team has no experience which has cost us severely. Hope we get this sorted out as soon as possible and get back to winning ways.
Season is over, I know mathematically we still have a chance however I just dont expect Chelsea to drop any more points then Manchester United and Arsenal. We still need to play for pride and finishing 2nd in the league.
Common Arsenal!!!!!

You can watch extended highlights of Arsenal v Spurs match below......

Arsenal Blog Arsenal to win the league 2010??

Sure Arsenal can win the league if Chelsea whines against Bolton, Manchester city & Liverpool. Good thing that has happened to us is MANU drew against Rovers which definately puts them out of contention. They now lead us by 2 points having played an extra match. Things looked so rosy for them 3 weeks back however no one can deny the fact that they look an ordinary side without Wayne Rooney.

First things first, we cant afford to loose a single game from now on and our biggest challenge comes against the cunts from Spurs. This north london Derby will be even bigger with Spurs fighting for the 4th champions league spot and we are gunning down for the pole position in the league. Spurs subsequently play
Chelsea and MANU in the league and they definately know loosing against Arsenal at home would more then seal their hope of finishing 4th in the league.

I personally feel Man city has good chance of finishing 4th this season.
Boy they have been playing well right now having netted 14 goals in last 3 matches.
Good news for Arsenal fans is Persie is back to fitness and if reports are to be believed he would be in the starting line up against Spurs. As an Arsenal fan you would want him to hit top form right on as he does not have much time to get into
his stride. He definately provides the class and top finishing up front which we have lacked since the time he has been injured. 8 goals in 11 matches for him before the injury tells a story in itself. Fact that inspite of missing 30 odd games since the time he has been injured, he still is 3rd highest scorer for us in the league.
Coincidently he scored 2 goals against Spurs when we met them at home in October. I am sure Arsene would be wary of this fact and would be delighted to have him atleast on bench.

Way this season has been, I wont be surprised if we see some topsy-turvey in the coming weeks. With all top 5 teams playing against each other their are bound to be few surprises. I cant imagine us loosing against spurs as that has not happned for past 100 seasons & definately its not going to happen this season.

My prediction for Arsenal in upcoming 5 games

1. 2-1 against spurs in favour of Arsenal (Away)
2. 2-0 against wigan in favour of Arsenal (Home)
3. 3-2 against Man City in favour of Arsenal (Home)
4. 2-1 against Rovers in favour of Arsenal (Away)
5. 2-1 against Fulham in Favour of Arsenal (Home)

My prediction for Chelsea in upcoming 5 matches

1. 2-0 against bolton in favour of Chelsea (Home)
2. 2-2 against Spurs (Away)
3. 1-0 against Stoke in favour of Chelsea (Home)
4. 1-1 against Liverpool (Away)
5. 3-0 against wigan in favour of Chelsea (Home)

With Chelsea drawing 2 times we will leap frog them and win th league.
I am not worried about Manchester united as without Rooney they are a group of scums.

More on match report and players update against spurs, tomorrow....till then keep Gunning....

Arsenal Blog Persie, Djourou back in Training, Fabregas fit for world cup

Not much happening today in the wake of defeat against Barcelona. I am sure players are jaded & defeat usally means one will take a lot longer to recover physically and mentally. Vermaelon accepts it was too difficult to defend against Barcelona. With Sylvester in side, he had to play in as a central defender and even though he tried his best, it was quite visible he dint cherish the role but then who does against Messi anyways. He was quoted ....

" We knew before the game that we wanted to put some pressure on them but we couldn't because of their quality - they have so much pace. I think they were great as well today, they played well, they had good possession of the ball as well and for us it was difficult to defend. We came here to get a good result, we wanted to get through and the first goal was good for us, but we couldn't keep the score on our side for too long. "

Walcott, Sagna echoes Verminators thoughts and feel Barca has it in them to go all the way and win the Champions league. Sagna was quoted...

" I think they are one of the best teams I have ever played against. Tonight they showed they are top class. I think they will go to the Final."

From Arsenal perspective all players need to bounce back immidiately from this loss. At the end of the day we lost to a better team so sit back & take a bow as we saw one of the modern days great at work & lets appreciate the fact that we lost to a better team. Good news for players and fans is we have Persie, Djourou & Gibbs back in training. Personally I am big fan of Djourou. His loss was not initially felt as we had Gallas and Verminator going great guns at the start of the season. For me he has the potential to become one of the greats at club if he bounces back well from his injury. Even Fabregas is recovering well and though he will miss rest of the season he will definately be a part of Spains world cup squad. Arsenal Physio Colin Lewin was quoted saying...

"Robin will be joining the squad for full training imminently. Johan [Djourou] and Kieran [Gibbs] will start training with the team in the next fortnight. Cesc Fábregas "will comfortably make the World Cup".

I think with players coming back from injury we will get a good lift and we definately need some positive energy if we want to do well in remaining 5 league games. Else where Manchester United lost a close game to Bayern and are out of CL. In all fairness they should have won the match after leading 3-0 just before the half time. As in 1st leg Olic gave Bayern the life line and 2nd half was a different ball game all together. Goal from Robben sealed the match for Bayern & they won on away goals rule. This leaves english teams out of champions league semis for first time since 2003. Inter Milan faces Barcelona & Lyon faces Bayern Munich.

More on Team news, possible transfers & pre match against spurs tomorrow.....Till then, have fun.....

Arsenal Blog Arsenal Barcelona - Post Match Agony

Day after the Barcelona match and I am sure Arsenal fans are still not able to swallow the bitter pill. Yes the dream is over & we are out of the elite european competition. Most of us thought that this team could redeem themself by winning the tie not to mention the cup & there by reinstate Arsene's belief/vision that he has encompassed on young players.

Scoreline of 4-1 may not reflect the way we played but thats how football is, If you dont take your half chances against big teams more often then not you will end up loosing by a big margin. As an observer it is always easy to to come up with a post match analysis and things which we could have done well to win the game however I am not going to do that as we all know what has been our problem over the past few years.

We cant give an excuse for 6 years that we are a selling club, this team is building up, this team has lots of youngsters & it always takes some time to build a team with so many youngsters.......All fans including ardent Arsene fans knows this fact that somehow Arsene's vision is not working and 6 years without a trophy is a testimony to that. Arsene himself recognises this fact and was quoted saying he will spend this season - http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=767284&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5901

I personally feel Arsene needs to look at below things if we want to do well in coming seasons:

1. Spend on quality players. Not necessary spend loads of money like Real Madrid but spend sensible and get big match players in the team who can stay fit and help our cause

2. I hate saying this but we cant have too many liabilities in our team. Players like Persie, Rosicky, Diaby... either need to work on their fitness or need to be shown a way out as we need players who can stay fit throughout the season.

3. With strikers like Bendtner in the team we need to ensure we have quality wingers who can deliver quality crosses in the box. Lets not forget all our important goals this season have been through headers. We need to develop more on this aspect as playing eye catching football is one thing and winning matches is another.

4. Almunia can be a superb blocker on his day however we need someone who is more consistent. Some of his decisions under pressure have been abysmal to say the least. Even his goal kicks have not been up to the mark which eventually sets up our attack.

We have a lot of potential just that we need to instill a winning mentality in this team and with few new players we should be back in contention. Common Arsenal, In Arsene we trust!!!!

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Arsenal Blog Arsenal 1 Barcelona 4 - Dream Over

Well not a great day for Arsenal fans. So much was expected in this return leg but then deep inside we all knew what was lying in store for us at Nou Camp. Barcelona started the proceedings in the same manner they did against us in the first leg at Emirates. All half chances went their way for the first 15 minutes & they did have 85% possesion untill then. Messi showed glimses of what was to follow with his first real effort on goal from the left hand side just missed the target, Almunia did well to get a hand on this. His second effort was a curling shot from the center which just ended above the net. Inspite the fact that he was given very less time on both these occassions, he managed to hit his shots with great power and precision which is a sign of a great footballer.

Just when things were appearing gloomy for us, we managed to get the first goal against the run of play. Diaby after winning the ball in the midfield, beautifully passed it down the right to Walcott whose pace got him behind Abidal. He galloped passed the defenders and passed it to Bendtner in the center. Bendtner's initial effort was parried away by Valdes however he followed up well with a rebound.

This was our big moment and unlike big teams who would have consolidated after getting the 1st goal we immidiately lost focus. Silvestre, in the side instead of Sol Campbell who was not fully fit, failed to clear the ball on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area and Messi needed no second invitation, lashing his shot into the top right corner.

Messi continued to dazzle Arsenal as he collected the ball on the right touchline before weaving into the box and drilling a shot into the side netting. Inability of our defenders to clear the ball was again at core when Abidals cross from left was not dealt with at first place which eventually resulted in Messi's 2nd goal.

Messi completed his hat-trick in 42nd minute when he latched onto a header from Abidal to race clear before dispatching a brilliant chip over the Arsenal keeper. It was half time and score read 3-1 and all Arsenals hope were put to an end by a virtuoso display by the Argentinian.

In 2nd half we had no options but to attack which left open gaps in the back. On one occasion Clichys cross from the left did find Bendtner in the center and his header did hit the post however flag was up against the Dane. He had one more good oppurtunity when Diaby passed the ball to him however his first touch let him down and he was immidiately hustled out of possesion.

Just minutes before time, Messi completed the formalities by getting his 4th goal of the night.
Eboeue got caught out of position and Messi capitilised by picking the ball up, he beat the challenge of Vermaelen. His initial shot was saved by Almunia however Messi had a second bite with a rebound shot from a close range which went between Almunias leg.

Arsenal v Barcelona 2nd Leg highlights:

http://justarsenal.com/barcelona-v-arsenal-highlights-the-messi-show/3554


Post Match Analysis & more to follow tomorrow....