Which is worse - the supposed new kit or Kuyt?

First up we have pictures of our supposed Third Kit for next season. As we only had our redcurrant shirt for one season, the very nice yellow kit is continuing for another season as our primary away shirt, albeit with the new sponsors logo on it. It appears however that, like the Black kit we were meant to wear in the CL final, the alleged third kit currently doing the rounds on the net is a fake, photoshopped from the new Barca kit. Either way, its hideous, so I sincerely hope it is fake. No more Blue shirts nike! We've told you we don't want them! Have a look.

In troubling news, Arsene also came out and praised Dirk 'where's the barn door' Kuyt. Now, it actually seems that all Arsene's done is come out and said he thinks he's an OK player, but the mill has already spun this into an 'Arsenal ponder bid for Dutch superstar' esque headlines. Given his performances against Argentina and Portugal, and that I could probably score 30+ goals in the Dutch league, I hope he comes no-where near our plush new stadium. Also, given the nature of Arsene's comment - Kuyt's a 'generous' player [to the opposition?] -and that he only admitted he had considered buying him, I don't think much more will come of this. Well, I hope not.

Talking of the Emirates, here's a photo special from the official site. Looking very good. I've been blown away by the quality - well at least the aesthetic quality from the TV pictures - of the stadiums in Germany, and I hope our new pad is in the same league as grounds such as Munich. [I remember Alex Hleb saying our new stadium is better than Munich's new one. Here's hoping.]

Little Cesc has also, hopefully, dismissed rumours that he's going anywhere. I have a real concern with Cesc that we're going to have a Vieira-esque transfer debacle with him every summer because he will become one of the top five midfielders in the world very soon. Especially as Barca and Madrid assume that there's almost nothing in the way aside from their own reticence in getting him. He's looked even more awesome than usual recently, and the club has to step up a gear in its achivements if it wants to keep players of his calibre indefinitely.

World Cup

It seems my decision to take the game off was a wise one, as Switzerland and Ukraine struggled toward a penalty shoot-out in what was, by all accounts, an utterly dire game. Commiserations to the Swiss.

Unfortunately this leaves the door open for the Italians to get to at least the semi-finals, a team I despise more than any other left in the competition.

It's odd in a way, because when i was young, Italian football, and especially Serie A, was the league and style to which others aspired. I remember when AC Milan were seemingly unstoppable. Nowadays their league is in turmoil, and their national team play awful, cynical, almost hateful football, based on little more than a strong defence, the odd bit of flair, and lots and lots of gamesmanship. I know this is a generalisation, and I know that players like Gattuso, Totti and Toni are class, but the Italian team as a whole do approach the game with more cynicism than I can bear, and have played even more boring football than England.

There's been a lot of debate regarding Materazzi's red card, with the consensus emerging that it was harsh. Unless I was very much mistaken, Materazzi flew in with a double-footed challenge, all studs showing. That he missed the Ozzy, and indeed almost impailed his own player, is inconsequential. It was violent, dangerous play and he deserved to go. There have been far too many cards in the competition, but that one was entirely justified.

I watched the game with a bunch of Ozzies, many of whom were just getting into football for the first time. To lose to a last minute penalty must have been a indescribably harsh for them and I hope it hasn't put them off the game. Especially as while Lucas Neill shouldn't have gone to ground, the Italian forward showed world class cheating abilities to win the penalty - purposely falling over Neill, and sticking out his foot to catch him as he went over to make it look like a foul. That Totti then did that ridiculous thumb-sucking celebration afterward made my blood boil. Given their route to final - Ukraine, then one team from today - there's a real chance the Italians could get there. For my faith in football to not be overly shattered, may one of the nations left in the competition please prevent this.

Til later

Gb