Sloppy goals against defensive teams could destroy Arsenal's title hopes.

Arsenal can cope with one of Henry and Fabregas having a poor game, but when both are afflicted by poor passing and an unsure touch, we find it difficult to play our preferred style of football. In Henry's case, blame cannot be entirely squared in his quarter. In an attempt to overcome the congested central routes into the goal mouth yesterday, too often we took to pumping long balls up to Thierry, or attempting to put crosses into the box. In both cases, Thierry is not enough of a target man to overcome the challenges of players like Yobo and Stubbs, and, with the crosses into the box, too often he was the only player waiting for the ball and easily outnumbered. Fabregas seemed oddly ponderous, and surprisingly unsure of himself. Everton successfully stifled him when he got onto the ball and he struggled to make an impact of the game; especially when his shooting was poor or easily charged down.

The two men who did most to try and overcome the dark blue mass which presented itself everytime Arsenal pushed forward, were Rosicky and Hleb. Hleb did much to carve out openings through skilful dribbling, if his final ball was sometimes poor. He was not aided in his endeavours by an Henry who had oddly poor reactions to the ball when it was played into space before him. Rosicky had a great game, and never stopped running for the ninety minutes. He deserved a goal, but he couldn't seem to beat Howard. It is a worry that he didn't score, because its games like that - when Henry and Fab are off the pace - that he needs to step up.

And so to Robin Van Persie. An abject first half was followed by an extremely pleasing second. On the right hand side he looked much more comfortable and linked up extremely well with Walcott, who played in some form of bizarre wing-back position. RvP's free kick was excellent and his passing was good in the second half. I would even forgive the schoolyard-esque volley he blazed wide towards the end because his choices when on the ball had otherwise been good in the second half.

Yesterday was a day when we needed a player like Baptista or Adebayor to beef up the team and/or to have a more convincing forward man to play the ball towards. We lacked a plan B yesterday, and with the introduction of Walcott, moved to a plan c of playing a, revolutionary, 2-6-1 formation. Indeed, it could almost have been an old fashioned 2-3-5 at times.

A serious cause for concern is continued sloppy defending. Boro, Villa and Everton have all come here and scored with virtually their only chance on goal. It's not good enough and we won't be challenging for anything if we keep on letting in soft goals. I'm not sure who exactly was at fault yesterday - it seemed to be a combination of Jens, Kolo, and Hleb - but Cahill should never have been allowed to get the ball where he did and to stroke it home. I also didn't realise what a wind-up merchant Cahill is: every decision, he'd be back chatting to Mike Riley.

Indeed, whilst whining about the referee is clichéd, Riley did have a poor game. He allowed Howard and the other Everton players to consistently waste time, whilst being incredibly officious at the same time. Every free-kick had to be taken in the exact spot where it was given. He had to have a word with every player after every foul. He stifled the game when it could have flowed, which is always the sign of a poor ref. I would say, we should have had a penalty in the first five minutes, but this was perhaps balanced out by refusing to give Johnson a penalty late on in the match, when he appeared to be knocked off the ball in our box.

So, Everton become the latest team to park the bus at Ashburton, and we're still struggling to find an answer. One thing seems certain though: by conceding these soft early goals we're making the solution even harder to find. The defence needs to get its act together, and we need to get the early goal, if we're serious about a title challenge. Especially when the Chel$ea juggernaut moves relentlessly forward, and Rooney shows signs that he's back to his best.

Sloppy goals against defensive teams could destroy Arsenal's title hopes.

Arsenal can cope with one of Henry and Fabregas having a poor game, but when both are afflicted by poor passing and an unsure touch, we find it difficult to play our preferred style of football. In Henry's case, blame cannot be entirely squared in his quarter. In an attempt to overcome the congested central routes into the goal mouth yesterday, too often we took to pumping long balls up to Thierry, or attempting to put crosses into the box. In both cases, Thierry is not enough of a target man to overcome the challenges of players like Yobo and Stubbs, and, with the crosses into the box, too often he was the only player waiting for the ball and easily outnumbered. Fabregas seemed oddly ponderous, and surprisingly unsure of himself. Everton successfully stifled him when he got onto the ball and he struggled to make an impact of the game; especially when his shooting was poor or easily charged down.

The two men who did most to try and overcome the dark blue mass which presented itself everytime Arsenal pushed forward, were Rosicky and Hleb. Hleb did much to carve out openings through skilful dribbling, if his final ball was sometimes poor. He was not aided in his endeavours by an Henry who had oddly poor reactions to the ball when it was played into space before him. Rosicky had a great game, and never stopped running for the ninety minutes. He deserved a goal, but he couldn't seem to beat Howard. It is a worry that he didn't score, because its games like that - when Henry and Fab are off the pace - that he needs to step up.

And so to Robin Van Persie. An abject first half was followed by an extremely pleasing second. On the right hand side he looked much more comfortable and linked up extremely well with Walcott, who played in some form of bizarre wing-back position. RvP's free kick was excellent and his passing was good in the second half. I would even forgive the schoolyard-esque volley he blazed wide towards the end because his choices when on the ball had otherwise been good in the second half.

Yesterday was a day when we needed a player like Baptista or Adebayor to beef up the team and/or to have a more convincing forward man to play the ball towards. We lacked a plan B yesterday, and with the introduction of Walcott, moved to a plan c of playing a, revolutionary, 2-6-1 formation. Indeed, it could almost have been an old fashioned 2-3-5 at times.

A serious cause for concern is continued sloppy defending. Boro, Villa and Everton have all come here and scored with virtually their only chance on goal. It's not good enough and we won't be challenging for anything if we keep on letting in soft goals. I'm not sure who exactly was at fault yesterday - it seemed to be a combination of Jens, Kolo, and Hleb - but Cahill should never have been allowed to get the ball where he did and to stroke it home. I also didn't realise what a wind-up merchant Cahill is: every decision, he'd be back chatting to Mike Riley.

Indeed, whilst whining about the referee is clichéd, Riley did have a poor game. He allowed Howard and the other Everton players to consistently waste time, whilst being incredibly officious at the same time. Every free-kick had to be taken in the exact spot where it was given. He had to have a word with every player after every foul. He stifled the game when it could have flowed, which is always the sign of a poor ref. I would say, we should have had a penalty in the first five minutes, but this was perhaps balanced out by refusing to give Johnson a penalty late on in the match, when he appeared to be knocked off the ball in our box.

So, Everton become the latest team to park the bus at Ashburton, and we're still struggling to find an answer. One thing seems certain though: by conceding these soft early goals we're making the solution even harder to find. The defence needs to get its act together, and we need to get the early goal, if we're serious about a title challenge. Especially when the Chel$ea juggernaut moves relentlessly forward, and Rooney shows signs that he's back to his best.

Joke about the Queen, Diaby, Adey, and Admin

Why did the Queen not open the Emirates Stadium?

Because we battered the royals on Sunday.

Awful, awful joke I know, but I couldn't resist it. Some of you may have seen me make this joke on EastLower earlier...

In seriousness, does it matter that the Queen didn't open the stadium? She doesn't like football, she's got nothing to do with the club - aside from being titular head of the UK - and she had nothing to do with its planning and realisation. Personally, I thought it might have been nice to have one of the board - such as Danny Fiszman or Edelman - who were the impetus behind the project to open it. Or even, Arsene. He pushed the board to open the stadium; might it not have been a nice way to say thanks? As it is, we had the Duke of Edinburgh, who probably couldn't distinguish between us and other top flight teams. I'm also amazed he didn't get through the occassion without making an un PC/borderline racist remark. Perhaps in future, those who mean something to the club should be its dignitaries?

On a more footballing front, Abou Diaby gave an interview yesterday. Its great that he's going to be back soon, because he should be pushing Gilberto for his place before too long. I think Gilbs is a great player, but, hopefully, Diaby could do his defensive work, and be a bit more adventurous. And accurate with the passing. Its amazing that Dan Smith only got a yellow card for that tackle - which the FA refuse to upgrade for fear of undermining refs - while people are regularly booked for overly emotional celebrations. Common sense, yet again, does not prevail.

Better news comes from the Adebayor injury story. Its not as serious as first feared and he should be back in the squad by the CSKA game. I would also say to any red members who are reading that tickets were available for you a few days ago for this, so snap them up - if you haven't already.

Finally, a little admin. I've added two RSS buttons in the right-hand toolbar to make it easier to add me if you wish. Also, I've tried to install Haloscan comments, which should cut down on spam. I hope. If the site starts running crushingly slowly as a result I'll wipe them off. I'm also considering, one day, switching to word press, because blogger is a bit rubbish. Any advice would be gratefully received.

til later.

Aliadiere, Kolo's new deal, Arsenal anthem/chant ideas

Good win in the Carling Cup last night for our extremely young gunners, or 'pistols' as one might call them. Indeed, Almunia was the only player over 23 in the team. I was dissapointed not to be able to watch the game, but it didn't seem to be on anywhere on TV. It was a shame because I was very interested to see which of our young uns seems to be showing the most promise, especially with players such as Connolly playing who I've haven't really seen in action. For a full report from someone who did get there, see Goodplaya. Theo apparently had an indifferent game, yet still popped up with an assist; Adebayor picked up a slightly worrying injury which different reports ascribe to different parts of his body; Aliadiere put two away to see us through.
And thus, the Aliadiere enigma re-emerges. Is he good enough to warrant a long-term first team, or even squad, place? He seems to impress in the short periods where he is given a chance, but then almost invariably slips back into the ether. I think that, at the moment, him, Lupoli and Bendtner are all fighting for the fourth/fifth striker position (as Theo grow into a striker over time). If any of them wants to snatch the position they have to start scoring and taking their opportunities. They all seem to be doing this at the moment, which must be giving Arsene one of those pleasant selection headaches. I can't see all three of them being here next year; perhaps only one will make the grade and I'm not sure who it will be.

Kolo signed a new 'long-term' deal yesterday which is also great news: The Times reported the length of the contract as four years, but I think there's a real chance that Kolo will stay at the club until he retires: he wants to and he clearly has the physical strength to maintain his presence as a top-level defender as he ages. He's also, surely, a contender for captain in the long-term.

Finally, what do people think of this? I'm not too sure, even if I would have to admit that I'm fairly desperate for the club to get some form of anthem. Also, a Tom Jones song would be nice. I think the key with anthems is not to change the words; keep them as they are, and eventually they become somehow mystically linked to the club. How this mystical link begins, however, is quite, er, mystical, and I don't think trying to force a solution is the best idea.

Still, new songs are needed, if only to end the ad nauseum 'stand up if you hate the spuds'/ 'oh ashley cole...' chants. Personally, and I've only heard it a few times recently, I like the 'you are my arsenal...' chant to the tune of 'you are my sunshine'. I would also appeal to any RedAction members to think of chants for Kolo, Hleb and Gilberto. I like the 'Alex hleb, wo-oh, Alex Hleb, wo-oh, he comes from Belarus, he sells cheap fags and booze', although I do worry he may be offended, slightly, by this....

Right, back to work. til later

Devastating Arsenal show they can win the league this year.

When you score in the first minute of a game it can sometimes destabilise a team, making them unsure whether to press on for further goals or to try and consolidate their advantage. There was never much chance of us sitting back after we took the lead, but the way we played out the rest of the game was little short of magnificent.

Is 4-5-1 our best formation? I'm gradually coming round to the possibility that it is. Arsenal are, essentially, a team of midfielders. Many, if not most, of our forwards and defenders started as midfielders before converting. We are, at least, a team of players who are supremely confident of passing and running with the ball. A 4-5-1 allows us to build on these strengths, and gives Henry even more freedom to roam at the front. Gilberto can play deeper, where he wants to be, and concentrate on breaking up and redistributing the play. Hleb, Rosicky and Fabregas can operate in, what was today, an awesome tandom of inventiveness, feedingThierry and playing quick pass and move football. I also noticed that, because it's becoming clearer that goals can come from our midfield, Thierry is dropping slightly deeper at times, allowing midfielders to run in front of him.

Reading just never seemed in it. They just couldn't contain a Fabregas who was undoubtedly buoyed by his new contract. More than ever, he seemed to pull the strings, as the team continues to mould itself around him as much, or even more, than Henry. Thierry took his first goal wonderfully, stroking the ball into the net rather than thrashing at it. Rosicky deserved a goal: his power, pace and passes have quickly turned him into a vital part of the team. He's as skilful as Pires, if not with the goals yet, but he's a true competitor, and I can't see us losing as many games this year with him in the midfield.

Alex Hleb also had a storming game. Many fans often vent their frustration about him because of his lack of shooting and his often understated role in proceedings. But he rose to these critics with aplomb today. His first goal stemmed from a majestic one-two with Rosicky, leading to a thundering, unstoppable finish. His second could, perhaps should, have followed. His unselfishness laid RvP's goal on a plate, and he, on at least one other opportunity, passed in the second half when he should have had the belief to shoot. A confident Hleb is one of the best midfielders in the premiership; a fact which has been criminally under recognised in his time at Arsenal hitherto.

I really believe that the triumvirate of Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky will be the key to our title chances this season. If Gilberto is solid behind them, and Thierry dangerous in front, they have the ability to dissect opposing teams and drive us to the title. 442, with Adebayor up front with Henry, could be used as an alternative against teams, such as Moscow on Wednesday, who successfully nullify our 'plan A' of using these three as the fulcrum for the team.

Elsewhere, I though Hoyte did excellently at r-b. The Cygan/Song comparisons are not justifiable, especially now he's on his favoured right side. Jens pulled off a few good saves, and also, amusingly, shook his finger at Hunt ( who seems to be a complete wind-up merchant). Djourou and Toure were also more than solid. At one point, Kolo tackled a Reading player, and chased the ball to the corner flag, in a clearly futile endeavour, to try and retain possesion. It was great to see that level of commitment.

Only two slight reasons for pause. Firstly, Gallas was a little too casual at times. On more than occasion he was dispossesed due to a lack of concentration , which a better team may have punished. He's been utterly superb so far for us this year, so I hope these were blips.

Secondly, Van Persie. Scoring a goal dosen't always mean a good perfomance - especially when its handed to you due to the quick thinking of a colleague. Indeed, Hleb and RvP are almost antithetical players. Hleb creates chances, makes things happen, and is often, and very unfairly, not given credit for his critical role in the team. RvP is a very 'flash' player; almost a luxury. He shoots rather than passes, and scores fantastic goals. He gives us an extra dimension, when so many of our players sometimes do pass the ball around a little too much. Yet, his goals can overshadow some worrying aspects of his play. Early in the first half, when it was only 1-0, he had runners either side of him as we heavily outnumbered the Reading defence in a counter attack. Instead of laying the ball off to a better placed team-mate, he shot weakly, wasting the opportunity. A few minutes later, he passed when he should have taken a shot. Towards the end of the half, he hopelessly sliced the ball when it was threaded through to him. He did not play well today, and he needs to learn how to balance his shooting/passing ratio. That he seems to have a desire to do this, should mean he will become a better player.

So, overall, we played sublime, devastating football in what many of us thought would be a difficult game. In doing so, our little heralded challenge for the title continues to gain pace. A final question to ponder: would 4-5-1 work at Stamford Bridge? The answer to that could decide the league.

Arsecast, Agm, Financial report, Lauren, Fabregas.

Right.

Firstly, if you haven't done so already, go to Arseblog and download the arsecast. There's a very enjoyable discussion between him and Goodplaya, which resembles an informed post-match-in-the-pub discussion. Although it did make me even more annoyed about missing the Moscow game. Some funny stuff on there as well.

The AGM was held this week and, justifiably, there seemed to much back-slapping all round. It rapidly seems to be becoming the case that if the fans had there way Arsene would sit on a throne in his dug-out. He probably deserves one, but being the guy he is, he'd turn it down. The annual report also came out, which I could analyse in depth [er, maybe] but thankfully someone's already done it. With a slightly misleading title, read this ANR article. I think most people - including myself - who clicked on it, probably thought a literal bridge was being built between Highbury and Ashburton. whoops. The key points seem to be: we have a large debt, but its managable, relatively low interest, and not dependent on us selling out every game or getting into the CL every year; the Highbury redevelopment is key to the paying off of initial debts; Paddy's sale was vital to giving us an overall profit, as was the Champions league run. The way you have to look at the debt, if you don't already, is as a massive mortgage. We've built a very expensive new house, but one which will vastly increase our revenues. Our large debt is stable and can be paid back without a hugely negative impact on the club. So, basically, don't worry. Our board isn't as stupid as Leeds's. I would say though, and I know others have said not to read into it but I have, where was Danny Fizman? Its great that the board are saying they won't sell the club to a foreign entrepreneur, but it would have been nice if they were all there to say it.

To get back to more direct footballing matters, it was announced that Lauren won't be returning until the new year. I always found his injury a bit odd: he must have been playing in considerable pain for some time before realising that an op was necessary. I suppose it shows that 'going through the pain barrier' isn't always the best idea. I also wonder if he'll actually get back in the team when he comes back. If the future is Eboue, which I think it is, then Ralphy may get his chances limited when he returns. I think Eboue offers more going forward, but he lacks the steel and defensive abilities of Lauren. However, I think it'd be better to continue train up Eboue than use Lauren; especially as Eboue and Hleb have actually given us a right flank for the first time in about ten years.

Finally I can't go without sharing in the general joy that is Cesc's 5,000 year long new deal. Ok, I exaggerate, its eight years. But, in footballing terms, the two aren't far apart. I don't think it will stop Real and Barca sniffing around him every season, but, especially if the seeds of doubt ever did come into his mind, the contract is a pretty hefty counter-weight to any move. I also think that a major reason in his decision to sign was the promise, if only perhaps tacit, of the team gradually becoming moulded round him as the central point. Thierry should remain the focus for the next two or three years, but gradually Fab will step up. He's good enough to warrant it and he deserves it. We are so lucky to have him and I can't even begin to conceive of how good he'll be when he's about 22 -23. Because, unlike Rooney, he has a manager who will develop and nurture his considerable talent; not just one who, as Rooney put it himself this morning, 'tells him to play how he likes'. Hmm, a possible reason for his dip in form? Just maybe?

Right, that's all. There shall be a post tomorrow, but I haven't decided whether to do a preview or a review of the game. It'll be a tough one and I hope Jens shows the reading boys that it would be unwise to try any shennanigans with him.

It's never nice to lose, but perspective is needed.

I had my doubts about yesterday's match before Kick off: we've never travelled well to Russia or ex-soviet union countries. So, when I saw Moscow had taken a relatively early lead, I feared the worst; justifiably, it would seem.

Due to my new working status [its lunchtime] I couldn't watch the match, which was dissapointing. I wanted to see how Arsenal would do in difficult conditions - the freezing cold, relatively hostile fans, and far, far from home. And from the highlights it was difficult to judge how well we played.

It appears Moscow were extremely effective in stifling Fabregas and Henry, nullifying much of our creative impetus. Gilberto, in the clips I saw, won a few tackles, yet also got caught in possession and gave the ball away a few times needlessly. These mistakes were only rectified by some, frankly, heroic back-tackling by Kolo. I also noted that RvP was preferred in a five man midfield, to a straight 442 with Adebayor. I think Adebayor would have relished a full 90 minutes last night, and his substitution, along with Theo, caused Moscow problems. I noted that RvP tried to take the ball round the keeper in a ridiculous piece of skill rather than square to Kolo. I was livid when I saw that. At best it showed indecision; at worst, the squandering of a golden opportunity due to vanity.

We seemed to pull ourselves back into it in the late second half and, perhaps, were worth a point by the end. Thierry's 'goal' was a goal, and I can see why he's so upset, the most upset I've seen him for a long time. Hopefully, he can use that anger positively in the return leg, instead of just moping about it and getting frustrated.

So, a loss is never palatable, but some defeats are, on balance, more acceptable than others. To go down one-nil in freezing Moscow after pulling out a reasonably battling performance is not the end of the world. Especially as we will beat Moscow and Hamburg at home in our next two CL matches. This should mean we'll have qualified before the tricky away match in Porto - whether as group winners or not, I'm not sure. The only real cause for concern was the effectiveness of Moscow's 3-5-2 formation in stifling our play; again, this is something we should overcome in the game at the Emirates.

I'm also slightly concerned that after yesterday's tough match, we've got another one on Sunday, away to Reading. Its good that we've got more recouperation time, but, I think Reading will take the game to us and I hope we have the strength not to sustain another defeat.

Tonight's games should be fascinating. I wish Peter Cech all the best after his awful, and I would say probably accidental, injury. His absence is a huge loss to the Chel$ea team: no Gallas and no Cech could expose defence frailities of the like we have barely seen under Mourinho, although Chel sea briefly showed how much they struggle without them in their defeat to Middlesborough earlier this season. I think Mourinho may play for a point and try to shield Hilario from too much responsibility [the headlines are already written for that guy]. I also have my suspicions that Bordeaux could cause Liverpool some grief tonight, with Gerrard and, perhaps more importantly, Sissoko both missing.

Gb.

Playtime at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsene's tenth anniversary celebrations dominated the pre-game build-up yesterday, but the game itself reminded me of the nickname of our former boss George Graham: 'The Stroller'.

Because, for all my fears that our tired legs would perhaps let Watford into this one, Arsenal ended up strolling to victory, almost at a canter, yesterday; Indeed, when people are leaving ten minutes early, you know the team is either doing very well or very badly.

That's not to say Watford didn't have their chances. They had at least 3 clear-cut chances when the score was 0-0 or 1-0 to get themselves back in the game, if only temporarily. Djourou made a superb block to stop one, he was the pick of the back four for me yesterday, but I do worry that there are a few too many lapses in concentration at the back. Still, we're not being punished yet, and I think they will lessen.

Going forward, we were sensational. Rosicky and Fabregas were full of running and ingenuity, while Walcott's presence on the left showed just how far we can improve when we have a genuine threat down that side instead of Freddie. Theo had an excellent debut, even if I did notice that some of the team were a little reticent to give him the ball. He was muscled off the ball once or twice, but he also sent Fabregas through with a sublime pass, cut past about three defenders and narrowly blazed over, and generally used his pace and confidence to make a nuisance of himself. His first goal surely can't be far away. What's more, Theo, in stark contrast to most English top-level players, seems a grounded, humble individual. I hope this stays with him, because it will improve his play.

Adebayor was excellent up front, winning the ball and holding up the play to produce space and opportunities for others. This allowed Henry to basically have an almost free reign up front. Thierry was just too much for the Watford defence to live with, and, if not for a string of fine saves from Ben Foster, the score could have been much higher.

The second half was almost comically one sided, Watford gaining chances through lapses of in our concentration caused by our near total dominance.

Hleb did well, aside from one blind alley-esque run, after he came on, with him and Adebayor almost falling over themselves to score the third. Clichy received a rapturous reception. I like Gael, but he still has it almost all to prove this year if he wants to cement his starting first XI place. I would also say, that Hoyte looked far more comforable at right back, and he should be able to fill in adequately until Eboue or Lauren come back.

So, a good win and the first stress free game for me at the Emirates. We were comfortable, played some good football, and were well worth the victory margin.

After the game, I caught intermittent highlights of the Chel£ea Reading match in a pub. It was one of the craziest games I've seen for a while: the clock stood at 102 minutes by the time full-time was finally called. The Chel$ea players indulged in their usual shirt throwing histironics, which, I must say, is becoming a little tiring. As someone pointed out to me as well, have you ever seen John Terry show that level of commitment for England? And I don't include having a cry at the world cup. Man U also got a good win at Wigan, with Rooney playing rather well.

Indeed, MOTD have already decided that the Premiership is a two horse race between Man U and Chelsea. I'm more than happy for them to under-estimate us, because I think our first year in the Emirates will end with some form of silverware to cap ten years of Arsene in charge.

Theo to start? No Eboue, No Baptista, and Watford could be tough.

Just got about 45 minutes before I head off to make a quick post, have some food, and to ponder today's game.

The big news this morning is that Theo is set to start. As far as this one goes, Arsene knows, I think. I'm slightly surprised he's staring him before the new year, but if Arsene thinks he's ready then I'll trust his judgement. The decision is probably heavily predicated on a lot of tired legs after the two internationals many will have played in the last week, and the prospect of our tough trip to Moscow on Wednesday. Theo's two sensational goals may also have helped.

Things have also been complicated by injuries to Eboue and Baptista, both of whom are, reportedly, now out for 4 weeks. Eboue is probably the bigger loss, given his great form at the moment, but Baptista's injury certainly won't have helped his already slow progression towards full fitness. It may not be until January now that we really begin to be seen what he's made of. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt, because he's going to need probably a season to settle in, but he could really help towards the tail end of this season in our, hopefully, push for trophies. Freddie is also out injured, but I think that's a loss we can more readily cover.

Indeed, it could be a tough game today, and I think I'd like it to be difficult. Walkovers are boring. Watford have been desperately unlucky not to pick up a win so far this season, and I think they'll certainly be a tougher proposition than Sheff Utd. Marlon King, in particular, is a quality player and, even if Watford do go down, I think he's good enough to get a transfer elsewhere in the premiership. Watford's players won't have been playing journey round the world this week, so they'll be fresh and hungry to cause an upset. Some of our boys could be tired and, while I hope not, perhaps a little complacent even. Watford will try and be patient, stifle us, and then hit us as we tire or grow frustrated.

I've also noticed that Arsene is a little reticent to start Rosicky and Hleb together. I think this may be part of Rosicky's integration, but it's denying us our most powerful midfield at the moment.

I'd love to see a midfiled of

l-r

rosicky-fab-gilbs-Hleb

Someone pointed out that if we bought Ribery we could have a five piece of

rosicky-fab-gilbs-hleb-ribery

Now that we be a pretty good midfield... as it is swapping ribery for Walcott's not too bad either.

My predicted team for today

Jens
Gallas-Kolo-Djourou-Hoyte
Theo-Gilbs-Fab-Hleb
RvP-Henry

I think that should be strong enough to deal with the matter at hand, especially with Rosicky and Adebayor as possible re-enforcements. Hopefully Clichy and Big Phil might get a chance to have a run around as well.

See you at the Emirates!

Gb

Can England sink any lower?

Probably.

I was struck whilst watching the Wales Cyprus match by something odd. Wales were neatly playing crisp one touch football, using pace to cut open Cyprus's defence, making deft runs off the ball to beat markers and get shots in on goal.

Why was this odd? Because I'd just finished watching the England match. There was nothing of this football in this encounter.

Instead, there was 3 central midfielders all trying to do the same thing and failing. Gary Neville and Ashley Cole playing as hopeless wing backs. Rooney shooting every time he got the ball, instead of looking for the pass or thinking about whether to take another touch, living in a fantasy land where he's still in the school-yard. Crouch being the lamp-post he is, a magnet for all England's futile endeavours, long-balls, and general lack of imagination.

England don't know how, or simply refuse to try, to play technical football. They are the antithesis of Wenger-ball. They get the ball, knock it around for a bit, and then hack it forward, or have a shot. They are either not being couched or they lack the discipline to wait and carve out proper opportunities.

And then the defence. I don't blame Robinson for the second goal. It was a freak occurance. One could criticise him for perhaps leaning too far over before he tried to take the kick, but bobbles like that can't be predicted. Even if he is a Spud, I feel for him, because that is probably just about the worse thing that can happen to an International footballer.

I would actually be more critical about his positioning and goalkeeping for the first goal; he should never have allowed the ball to loop over his head, yet the header should have been prevented. There were six English players, in a line, in the box, and only two Croatians. Without having to jump, one of the Croatians headed it into the net. A farce.

Where can England go from here? My one hope would be that McClaren will go and a manager of international calibre will come in. But that won't happen. Given that Theo looked better for the u21s than any of the England players did tonight [why is Richardson in the senior squad?] maybe he should get the call up. But then McClaren is still trying to pretend he's not Sven. Hence the tactical shambles tonight.

One would hope that England have reached a nadir; but perhaps there is further yet to fall. Maybe England need to fall further so the FA realise the extent of change that is needed to the current set up.

Hopeless, flabby England are almost out of ideas.

Ok. I hold my hands up. Some of my predicitions were a little off. Although not the one - albeit sarcastic - about yesterday's game being boring rubbish.

Macedonia were a far better team than I gave them credit for and were well worth their point; perhaps even more. I was especially impressed with their half-striker Pandev, who seemed to have far more spark and inventiveness about him than poor old Wayne. He's looking like a shadow of his former self at the moment. Suspended by the FA after a friendly, absorbing the blame for England's failure to beat Portugal, and having, almost literally, the weight of 50 million people's expectations on his shoulders finally seems to have got to him. I think he will return to form. But when?

England were poor. Ledley King's more than adequate job at centre-back would surely mean, if not for our celebrity obsessed culture, he'd be pushing Ferdinand for a starting position.

Carrick must go. I've tried to see what others do in him, and I struggle. He is good at receiving the ball up in midfield and picking out passes. That's it. Also, he usually needs time on the ball to do this. He can't tackle, so he's not a holding midfielder. He can't score, so he's not an attacking one. He gets the ball, and, given sufficient time, he might make a half-decent pass. A water-carrier. I still surprise myself every time I say it but, we need Hargreaves. In the short term, Parker must come in for Wednesday's game.

Although one could argue that Lampard's continued presence in the side is bordering on comical. I read Sam Allardyce state today that we should consider picking Phil Neville for centre-mid, given that Gerrard's suspended and Lampard is, well, 'out of sorts' shall we say. It says much about the real strength of English football, that, when our supposedly 'top players' our injured, these are the reserves we have in store. I think Phil has done well at Everton. But please. No.

Indeed that seems to be the story of England in our creative positions at the moment. Owen and Rooney - seemingly a good starting partnership. But with Owen injured and Rooney out of form, who do England have? Defoe, who lost his starting place at Spurs last season; Bent, who has done well for Charlton, but I don't think is really international standard. And Crouch. Want to know how good Crouch really is for an international player. Watch Koller [spelling?] for the Czechs and compare the two. Crouch is still shaky with his head, and needs too many chances for a top level player before he slots one away. Moreover, the Czechs don't just pump long-balls, to Koller. They have the technical skills to mix the play. Do England? The future, may lie with Andy Jonhnson and Dean Ashton, but they are completely untried at the top level.

Then we have Stuart 'I'm not only in the team because I'm mates with McClaren, honest' Downing, who needs a day before he can accurately pass the ball. Even Gerrard, who was for a long time my favourite England player [prior to his odious Walcott comments], seems to have become hopelessly selfish. Its not for nothing that Benitez feels he needs to play two defensive midfielders next to him. SWP was a brief, bright spark, but he needs to get out of Chelsea quick, before his potential is completely destroyed. I say, we bid for him and Ribery next summer and hope to get one of the two.

The conclusion to me is evident. Scratch the surface of the hype and hubris surrounding them, and you have a good, but not great England team; penetrate past the first eleven, and the actually depth of English talent is worrying.

I think England will lose in Croatia on Wednesday. Playing 3-5-2 might get us a draw but England won't be the first to record a qualifying victory out there.

What England don't do is play as a team. I think this has a lot to do with the Galactico-esque pride of a few players in the set up. Football is a team game; that's why Chelsea may not win the league this year. Its also why Scotland beat France yesterday. France played decent football, yet couldn't break the Scots' massed ranks. The scots took their chance and showed that eleven players on the same wave length, decently coached, and with a dash of luck can beat high quality opposition. My main concern was that our boys got through the game Ok- which they did. Even if Thierry is in a bit of a sulk.

Elsewhere, RvP scored again. I stand by my earlier statement that he plays better for the Dutch than us. Tommy Rosicky was in a Czech team that unexpectedly battered the titans of San Marino; Arsenal are preparing to sue Sweden for £20 million after Freddie got injured in their game. Just joking, but its still annoying.

Right, three days in which most of the press will analyse how England will bounce back. I don't think they will. Systemic change is needed to the set-up. And we can't blame Sven any more. Maybe, just maybe, and I'm sorry to burst the Daily Mail's bubble here, a foreign manager wasn' t the entire cause of England's problems...

Yes please to Ribery; no thanks to Hansen.

The only really significant piece of news I've read in the last few days regarding us, is that we've been given 'first option' on Franck Ribery. I think this may just be speculation stemming from agents, but I'd really like Franck to join the club. He's feisty, a goal-scorer, and a real winger; a long-term replacement for Freddie in my eyes. Whether he'll come or not, and whether we should ascribe any significance to this rumour is still anyone's guess however.

Speaking of Ribery, its Internationals day, and lots of Gooners are in action around Europe. However, I've just watched the Wales Slovakia game where there were none of our boys present. The 5-1 scoreline was a bit harsh on Wales, and largely seemed to stem from Paul Jones inability to catch anything that floated above his head. Gareth Bale played well at lb for Wales and scored a cracking free-kick: it's not hard to see why the 17 year old has been linked with us. I know we have Traore for the long term, but he'd definitely be worth monitoring.

I'm tempted to watch the Scotland France game as England Macedonia is going to be absolute rubbish. Especially due to the BBC's commentary team. Wait for Shearer to say: 'well, Rooney, he's er a good player', or some other wonderfully enlightened piece of commentary such as 'well, England did well to score so many goals.' Expect Wrighty to say, 'no disrespect to Macedonica, or whatever they're called, but we should be beating these teams easy coz we're England'. Please, please Ian, end you're media career before all my fond memories of you are gone. Expect Hansen to say 'well, the Macedonian defending was atrocious' about 49 times. Finally, expect them all to say, 'well, without getting carried away, the fact that England have beaten a series of teams who would be regularly beaten in the Championship, let alone the Premiership, means we all feel England are back on track under McClaren and can win Euro 2008'. A win today proves nothing and England will not win Euro 2008. But the BBC needs to hype the team to keep us watching. Moreover, I'm surprised the England team can all fit on the pitch given the size of their massive egos.

People wonder why England haven't won anything for forty years, and the answer is simple: we have not been good enough to win anything. We've had a couple of good players in the last twenty years - Beckham, Owen, Gascoigne, Rooney - but the first three burnt out after good starts and I have worries about Wayne 'I never dive' Rooney. It finally hit home to me when I watched France in the world cup. They had Henry up front, Zidane floating in the hole, Makelele and Vieira marshalling the midfield, Ribery roaming up the wings, Gallas and Thuram at the back. England don't have that quality, and we shouldn't pretend we do. Stuart Downing and Peter Crouch are starting today. Nuff said. [and if anyone says Crouch has an excellent international record....]

Speaking of Hansen he advised Scotland to 'give Henry a whack' if they wanted to contain him. Now, normally I'm a fan of Hansen; if perhaps only in a slightly ironic way. His continual ranting against all forms of defending - he probably considered this years Italian team 'sloppy' - is a constant source of amusement to me. But this is a disgraceful comment. He tried to dilute its potency by claiming that the 'whack' should be legitimate - but no commentator, especially one who was an ex-pro, should incite violence on another player. Grow up Alan.

Thats all for now. Time to settle down for the game of the century. Or sleep. Or, indeed, both.

International week means boredom, and managing is a 24 hour job.

Little of note floating around at the moment, as the nation holds its breath in preperation for the match on Saturday. I, for one, will remember where I was the day England played Macedonia. Sarcasm aside, the last time Macedonia were successful in international competitions was probably around 330 BBC when Alexander beat Darius's Persians in an away game. Sorry, I've wanted to make that joke since they were drawn in Englands group.

Goonerboy has also entered the world of 9-6 employment [boo!!] so updates could become slightly less frequent. I will endeavour to continue my posts; if only for my continued sanity.

News relating to Arsenal has been rather thin on the ground. A nice little story I saw was that Jens is auctioning a note he had stuffed down his sock in the Argentina Germany game, in which he had attempted to predict the Argentinian penalties. The Times derided this measure as rather pointless, which, considering England's record on penalties is a bit rich. If the cost was not likely to be astronomically high, I would definitely consider a bid. There also seems to be some news floating around at the moment that Jens is on the verge of staying for another year. Yay!, as long as he maintains his form.

Elsewhere, Thierry won Sky's best ever foreign player. Quite rightly too. Cantona was bloody good, but quit before the going got tough. Dennis and Paddy were also in the top ten. I can't really comment further as I didn't see the programme.

Double D, David Dein, has been elected chairman of the G14. Some poetry for you there. This confirms his position as one of the most powerful men in football. No doubt we'll be accused of having too much clout in the game, which might be justified, but the way G14 is going, its good for the club to have him in that position.

Finally, Arsene gave a pretty decent interview to Arsenal.com which, nicely, they put up a transcript for. My favourite part is this:

Can you describe a typical matchday?

Usually, I get up at 6.30am and go for a run, after that I come back and have breakfast and then prepare the team meeting. At 10.30 we meet with the players, have a walk, a stretch, and then a meeting where we sometimes watch what was good or bad in the last game. At 11 we have lunch, then most of the time we go back to our [hotel] rooms again. At 12.45 we go to the stadium... Afterwards I watch all kinds of matches, through the night until three or four o'clock I watch European football. I go to bed when I am dead tired, for managers it takes time to recover from a game and sometimes you don't sleep at all.

So Arsene works 24 hours a day. Well, on at least some days. That's a pretty decent level of commitment.

He also went on to admit that selling Paddy and Edu simultaneously was probably as mistake, that he missed out on Cech, Makelele and Eto'o, and that making Bobby play the day he broke his leg is the decision he wishs he could reverse the most. I know he's our manager and its easy to say it, but I've really begun to realise how much I admire Arsene recently - not just as a manager, but as a person. Few people in life, let alone football, admit their mistakes.

Finally, do read anti's post on Arsenal, WTF today. 'Twas the highlight of an otherwise day.

Right, thats all for now. Will post more when I can.

This year is make or break for Van Persie.

A good win yesterday. It was a funny game that we could have equally won 3 or 4-1 if our finsihing had been better, yet also perhaps have lost if Charlton had put away someof their chances, or been awarded a pretty stone-wall penalty.

We seem to be playing really good football again in terms of our passing and movement. Pin-ball football - or Wengerball - seemed to be happily pinging away. Indeed, some nice early passing created an opportunity for Fabregas, which he should have scored with a headed chance set up by Thierry. Instead, he skied his header from close range. It was a poor miss and you could tell he was dissapointed by the way he refused to meet Tel's eyes as he ran off.

Charlton then, against the run of play, took the lead. Hoyte, who continues to be a weak spot in the team, played Hasselbaink onside, allowing him to cross for a completely unmarked Bent. It was a really soft goal to concede and I did worry about our reaction.

Yet we've had to battle back from a goal down a few times already this season - the difference yesterday was that two of our chances actually went in.

Hleb was a constant hub of activity on the right hand side. Unfairly maligned by quite a few supporters for his reluctance to shoot, he is becoming a real creative dynamo. He holds on to the ball and more often than not makes an intelligent pass. I've said it before, but he really reminds me of Dennis sometimes - not in his scoring abilities [yet] but the way he always seems to be thinking when he's on the ball. Something always seems on the verge of happening with him, and very often does.

He was given too much time by the Charlton defence for RvP's first goal. He danced around enough to pull defenders towards him, before floating a perfect ball to RvP. Robin's finish was excellent, and at 1-1 I fancied us to win.

There are not enough superlatives in the dictionary for Robin's second. It was a stupidly good goal, the type you try when you're a kid in the playground and ends up in the road. Arsene got it right when he said it was technically perfect. A perfect goal, perhaps, already,the best of his career.

And after that we should have put the game to bed; but we fluffed our lines instead. Robin missed an easy chance for his hat-trick, while Thierry missed a fabulously easy chance when one on one with the keeper. Persistent tackling by Hleb gave Thierry the ball with only Carson to beat and, unusually for Thierry, he snatched at the opportunity.

So we then had to deal with a lot of Charlton pressure and three golden chances in particular. Jens pulled off a fantastic save low to his left to prevent an otherwise certain goal. At his present rate, he's pulling off on game-winning save a game. Then Willy hand-balled it in the box but a penalty wasn't given. I don't think he was fully fit yesterday but he's so good I want him in the team whenever possible at the moment. He's a real battler who can help us win games just by his presence. Finally Hasselbaink, who moaned all game, headed wide when he should have scored.

The headline might seem odd given his fantastic performance yesterday, but I really believe that this is the case. We've all known, since the Blackburn semi-final, that Robin is capable of scoring unbelievable goals - hence why he has a loyal fan club among many Arsenal fans. On his day he's as dangerous a striker as they come and its good to have a player in the team who's game is so focused on scoring goals. But, the worry remains that he isn't developing his wider game for us. For Holland, he gets to play on the wing, which, despite his desire for goal, he may actually prefer, and he seems to contribute more to the team. Unfortunately, I think he likes the spaces that Thierry occupies. When Robin's scoring, he's fulfilling his worth to the team and squad. Unfortunately, and unlike, say, Adebayor, or even Baptista in the flashes we've seen of him, when Robin isn't scoring, he often might as well not be on the pitch.

I think Arsene will give Robin another year to prove his worth to the squad. If he gets 15+ goals this year and isn't otherwise developing, he may get another year on top of this. But if Robin's game doesn't become more consistent or more productive in terms of his general team play, he may cash in and bank on one of Bendtner or Lupoli making it at Premiership level. Both are currently tearing up the Championship. Especially as I'm still not sure if Thierry likes playing with Robin.

Results elsewhere went for us yesterday, so, if we win our game in hand, we're only two points from the top. And our next home game is against Watford. Three good summer siginings, combined with a few youngsters and foreigners who have now adapted to the Premiership, have turned our squad into one that can genuinely compete for the title. Especially with Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool all looking fallible.

Arsene reaches his anniversary.

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. Has been a busy week and I've been incommunicado, or at least internet incommunicado, for much of it.

However, this week is Arsene's tenth anniversary and my blog really wouldn't be up to much if I failed to comment on this.

I started supporting Arsenal back in 1990 when I was just a little lad. England had just been knocked out of the world cup on penalties - a perhaps unauspicious start to my life as a supporter - and I needed a club. I saw the Cannons, Tony Adams and the rest, as they say, est histoire.

The first few years of me watching the Arse saw us play with an all English team in a semi-delapidated stadium. Still, I love Georgie G and I do disagree with the way that the club has tried to erase him from history a little bit. He won trophies, even if he did take a bung and consider Chris Kiwomya a world class player. But he left the club in a state of near meltdown. All our players seemed to be hooked on booze, drugs, gambling, women etc., and we'd been beaten in the last minute of the ECWC final by an ex-Spurs player with the most ridiculous goal of all time. That game still hurts me to this day.

And then along came Arsene. Or 'Arsene who?' as the wonderfully erudite Evening Standard put it. That would be Arsene 'I'll sign Patrick Vieira for £3.5m in one of my first deals' Wenger. I remember seeing Paddy play for the first time and it was like watching a completely new type of football. George's Arsenal had been 'boring, boring' Arsenal, '1-0 to the Arsenal'. Arsene turned our team into the most attractive - in terms of our footballing style - team in the league. I remember one season we scored in almost every game.

He's bought so many players on the cheap and turned them into world class players, there'd be too many to list. I think his net spending is something ridiculous like £45m in ten years. He modernised the club. The Emirates Stadium is his permanent legacy, a monument to his vision, yet so are the world class training facilities at London Colney. He turned the squad into a professional football team, not just a bunch of boozers who played footy on the weekends. Without Arsene, the premiership would not boast the hoardes of incredibly talented foreign players and managers, who have improved the league, and also helped cosmopolitanise [is that a word?] British culture.

But, and most importantly, he bought us success. 3 league titles and four FA cups. He produced the greatest side in the modern English game who went 49 games unbeaten. He deserved at least one of the European trophies, and had our players been able to convert penalties, or had Manny Almunia been able to defend his near post, he would have done. Now we've finally broken our hoodoo in the CL, I expect us to win it under Arsene. To see him leave the club without a CL trophy to his name would be an utter, unacceptable tragedy. I have a feeling this year, though, that we're definitiely going to exceed people's expectations.

So, I'm not sure how many other managers can boast success to a level of not just trophies, but of helping their club, and the league their club is in, postively progress forward. Anyone with any sense would recognise that, even if his an opponent, he is a truly great man. He has a job for life at Arsenal and I really hope he sees it through. It's a further measure of the man, however, that he has openly expressed his desire to go and coach kids in Africa as he still feels he needs to put something back into the game.

Merci Beaucoup Arsene, please stay until you retire.

Even at 50%, Arsenal were twice as good as Sheffield.

Not a great game yesterday it has to be said. One can't argue with the result, of course. It's great to get a home league win under our belts at the Emirates and for Thierry to get a goal. But we were far from convincing, and as late as the 65th minute, it could have plausibly been 'one of those days'.

At a base level, half our team didn't seem to click or be playing at anywhere near the top of their game. Rosicky didn't have any long range efforts, Fabregas's passes were going astray, and no-one seemed to want to give the ball to Freddie. Indeed, Freddie actually had a decent game yesterday, depsite the midfield's reluctance to try and use the right flank. He had a great header blocked with a reaction save, and even if his shooting continues to look slightly unconvincing, I thought he looked more of a threat than against Boro.

But the chief culprit of our woes was Henry. I would dismiss the charge that he was lazy yesterday, and ascribe it more to a odd form of overall malaise in his play. Neither his flicks, passes or shots seemed to be coming off, and when he had a very decent chance stopped with a fine save in the first half, it seemed to sum up his current difficulties.

It all added up to an insipid and lethargic first half. The players seemed to be running through treacle, and all our best play seemed to be coming from our back four, who were excellent all game. Although he comes in for some stick, I think Hleb is actually pretty much key to making our team click nowadays, and we missed his passing and overall ingenuity.

The second half started with a little bit more of a bang, which the crowd deserved. There was a great atmosphere in the stadium at kick off, and I was worried that our first half display might have squandered it. We continued to put on pressure, and eventually Sheffield's Championship nature shone through. Henry tried a rather speculative piece of skill, by flicking the ball over their defence - it worked, with Fab controlling and Gallas blasting home to get a deserved first goal. He was excellent yesterday, and the debate must surely now rage - should he continue at lb, with senderos or Djourou at cb, if Clichy isn't going to establish himself at lb? Or would this be a waste of one of the world's finest centre backs?

We quickly added a second from an own goal, stemming from an even more speculative cross, put in by Henry. United were coming apart at the seams, and Eboue found acres of time and space to put the ball on Tel's head for our third.

It was good to see a win, but I thought the scoreline slightly flattered us, if not United. They had no real spark, and didn't even seem capable of parking the bus. I talked to a very disgruntled United fan after the game who wanted Warnock out. One could almost feel that United didn't expect to take anything from the game. While this is a realistic attitude, it's not the right one for a team to take, who will undoubtedly find themselves in a relegation battle. I think they'll go down.

So, overall, some movement in the right direction, and a win is always a win. However, I don't think we've seen Arsenal put in a great performance at the Emirates yet.

Incredibly, building a new stadium = more debt, and Saturday preview

Our financial results are in, and, astoundingly, it seems building a fantastically expensive new stadium leaves us more in debt than before. Who'd have thought it. I for one am panicking.

Keith Edelman spelt it out in a short statement:

"It is like an individual buying a new bigger house into which you have put more equity - you will have a bigger mortgage, but overall be in a stronger financial position. The two things are completely separate and you do not say 'you have no money to spend because you have a mortgage'.

"A mortgage is something you pay off every month, X amount over a number of years then you look how much cash you have in your pocket to spend. Well, we ended the year with £36million of cash in the bank, in our pocket to spend now, so we are very cash-rich, although we have got high debts, which relate effectively to the mortgage on our stadium."

So effectively, we have a higher debt, but because we have a greater income from the stadium, and a greater amount of capital [surely?] the club will be in a healthier finanical situation, as long as revenues from the stadium remain high. Which they will as long as all us lot keep going. Regular Champions' League football is also important, but perhaps less vital than we once thought.

And, not all revenues go towards debt financing - a significant amount has been budgeted for us to sign new players, or for other cash-needy eventualities. Hence us being 'cash rich', whilst over £200m in debt. It is possible.

This was also significant - if already known by most:

"Previously we had a 14-year repayment schedule, on which the interest rate was quite high.

"Because we sold the stadium out and it was being delivered on time and on budget, we were able to go into the financial markets and get a deal which was very attractive for the club which moves the debt out to 25 years and reduces the interest rate by about 2 per cent.

"So we have lowered our debt repayments substantially every year. It is a good deal for the club and it means we have more money to invest in players and team development."

We have a longer term debt, but a more secure one at a lower rate of interest. Re-financing the debt was, to my mind, very important to our future financial security, and its a good sign that the city sees us in such a positive light. We're not the 'Bank of England club' for nothing.

I didn't see the Panorama last night, but the BBC havn't accused of anything - after the last fiasco - so I'm not too bothered. Seems old Sam Allardyce could be in hot water though. I did love one of the agent's subsequent defence, which amounted to - 'I knew it was a setup, so I lied to try and expose what was really going on'. A defence about as convincing as the legendary 'Chewbacca defence'. [google it].

This should be the last post before Saturday, and a game which will hopefully see the first win at the Emirates. Sheffield will have to 'park the bus' if they realistically want to get anything from the game, but, who knows, some post OldT hubris could affect our play. We've played SheffU a number of times in the past and prevailed over them each time - including the infamous Kanu incident - so this shouldn't be any different.

The only team news i can give so far, is that Arsene has said that Baptista is still a little unfit, and unlikely to start. I should imagine he'll get a half hour run about. The players should be fresh after nearly a full week off. I'm hoping Tel has a stormer to kick-start his season.

See you at the Emirates,

Gb.

If Jens did it, I understand.

A few stories floating around today which seem to be worth commenting on.

Firstly, Jens is facing a potential police investigation, following claims that he kicked a water bottle into the crowd at the end of the first half at Old Trafford. Now, I'm not fully defending Jens's actions, as I do think its wrong for players to take out their frustrations against crowd members. But, Arseblogger received an email which seems to put the incident in context. Apparently, the abuse Jens received from those darling Mancs ranged from calling him a Nazi - par de course for any German in the UK - to accusing him of perpetrating the holocaust and raping the victims. Charming.

If there's one thing that really annoys me about the UK, its the continuing practice of racially abusing Germans due to the events of sixty years ago. Really, get over it. Of course, we should remember the past, but it does not give us the right to act like this in the present. Its like English football fans going to the world cup and singing 'hilarious' songs about German bombers. If you say things like this to Germans you are at best a complete idiot, who brings shame on yourself and England; at worst you're a bona fide racist - the core component of being a Nazi. Moreover, I'd like to see you say it to Jens if it was just the two of you on your own.

On a lighter note, we've been linked with Welsh youngster Gareth Bale. Haven't heard much about him, except that he's knocked in a few storming free-kicks this year. Always good to have some Welsh lads about as well. He's a former room-mate of Theo.

There was a bit of a discussion on here yesterday about Thierry, and his role in the team. A good point was made that the three games Thierry has started in have been the three where the proverbial bus was parked. I would say that he's still a shoe-in to start for Saturday, and, given his performance on Sunday, Adey will surely start beside him. I think Adey and Tel is now our starting strike force, unless Adey suffers a cataclysmic loss of form, or we decide to play 451. RvP needs to start scoring some wonder goals, and also toughen up if he's going to get back in the side; especially with the Beast now breathing down his neck.

Finally, a word on the anti-Ashley chanting. Arsene has come out and said, 'arret'! Although, whether this is just because he's fundamentally opposed to it, or just because he doesn't like the pure filthiness of some of the chants, isn't clear. What I would say, is that Ash is no longer part of Arsenal. Unless you really think that it helps spur the team on by chanting about a former player, is it really worth it? We can't really claim the moral high ground if we chant obscenities about him every week. When he actually comes back in May, fair enough though.

Shades of Madrid in Manchester.

In more ways than one. As regular readers will know, I hadn't been overly optimistic about this match; yet I remember in early February feeling a touch of dread about our match in Spain, and, well, you know what happened then.

Quite simply, we played United off the park. It was a dazzling performance, all the more so for it being on the back of Liverpool Chelsea's dirty, attritional bore-fest.

4-5-1 or not 4-5-1? is that the question? With 4-5-1 Hleb, Fab, Rosicky, Gilbs, Freddie and Adey all clicked together and knew what they were doing. It was glorious, 'pinball' football, with the ball being zipped around the poor Scholes and O'Shea before they could work out what was going on.

It's really hard to fault any of the players when they play that well. Rosicky played like a more brutal Pires, combining Bobby's old elegance with a higher tackling rate, more bottle, and with a shot that's so hard he could market it to the US army. He was just about my M.O.M. due to his phenomenal work-rate. Hleb looked far more comfortable in a five man midfield as he could drift into the centre, yet also not have to worry about shooting. If you take away any expectations of Hleb regularly scoring you realise what a fantastic player he is. It was his pass that set up the penalty. He can take the ball past players through his dribbling and cut defences in two. He also tackled magnificently yesterday. If he has runners in front of him, he should push for the highest assists in the PL.

Gilberto despite, or perhaps because, of his missed penalty, did his job superbly. There were a few misplaced passes but he helped break up any linkage between United's midfield and attack, and anchored our midfield admirably. Freddie still doesn't look like scoring but he did look like a threat yesterday, and showed he still has the ability to play high quality football. Cesc also pulled out a huge performance. He, perhaps, did not reach the dizzy heights of his destruction of Juve, but he wasn't far off, and, most importantly, he pushed himself until the last moments of the game. Any player that can find the strength to win the ball, take it past two players and then set up a winning goal in the 86th minute is no featherweight.

Adebayor's performance was perhaps the most pleasing in many ways. Up until his goal he'd looked, to me, a great leader of the front line, who could hold the ball up and create space. However, with his rather tame miss when almost clean through in the second half, I wondered whether he was actually a goalscoring forward. It was great, therefore, to see him get a goal to complete the restoration of my early faith in him. I had started to waiver of late, but I'm now convinced he is a very decent player, and one who brings more to the team than RvP. If Rvp isn't scoring he doesn't really do a lot else; Adey does, and he could grow into a far mor complete player.

The only player I have any real criticism for is Eboue. His positional play at times was poor, and he has painful lapses of concentration that will cost us if not resolved. Yet he does seem to be learning, and he gets forward a lot better than Lauren. The other four in defence were awesome. Gallas looks like he's been a Gooner for years, not weeks, already. It was great to see him celebrate as he did at the end. Maybe he's beginning to realise what it's like to play for a team that actually try and play football. Djourou and Toure were superb, almost faultless, and I'm struggling to see how Phil can come back in for Djourou when he's fit again.

And Jens. He stood up, stared down Ronaldo and let him smash the ball into his face. Then he gets up and tells O'Shea not to come anywhere near him at a corner again or they'll be trouble. Then he pulls of a save from Solksjaer which equals his save - which i already consider the best I've seen - at Highbury against Madrid. Hero, legend, my favourite goalie ever...

On a more general note, several things were clear.

Firstly, we showed a tremendous team spirit which makes a mockery of Ash's book. For instance - Kolo, in the 89th/90th minute stretching out to make a tackle and pulling something in his hip. Instead of going off for treatment, and leaving us with only 10 men, he stays on and battles through. Jens and the aforementioned ball in face. Gilberto remarking how after he missed the penalty, the rest of the team rallied round him, which spurred him on.

Secondly, we can win the league. I think Chelsea are dangerously close to a Galactico state of affairs - as seen through their midfield of four central midfielders. They were average yesterday and we can beat them. The early hype surrounding United was destroyed yesterday. They couldn't live with us - indeed, I think any team that actually trys to play us [and not 'park the bus'] we can beat. Of more immediate concern - it'd be lovely for Arsenal to win next weekend, at the Emirates...

Thirdly, Henry's absence. This season, we've won four games. In each Thierry hasn't started. To me this says two possible things. Firstly, and most plausibly, he hasn't been fully fit. If not, Arsene needs to have more faith in his available players, and not exacerbate the problem by playing Tel. Secondly, the other players take more repsonsibility when he's not about; if so, they need to keep this and take it into games where he does play.

There's something almost uncomparibly sweet about beating United at Old Trafford, and I hope this victory goes some way to exorcising the ghosts of the buffet.What I do really feel, is that in the space of time between Madrid and Manchester, a new Arsenal side has been built. One that is capable of making a serious challenge for any honour in European and domestic football.

Arsenal must never sell out; United Preview.

Sorry for the site issues yesterday. 'twas not my fault - I logged on to find a blue screen and unhelpful messages from blogger, and I'm glad everything now seems resolved.

If I had been able to log on yesterday, I would have had a very clear message: Arsenal must never sell out or, to be more precise, sold out. Our club must never be whored to a random foreign investor. We have a board of directors who love and care about the club - who are, for all we are castigated for being a 'foreign club' - fans of the Arsenal, and whose attachment to the club is more than financial or capricious. Its only a rumour at the moment, but one of the major share-holders is apparently thinking of selling his shares. If he does, I would hope he sells it to the right type of investor[s].

We must never let a Glazer walk in and whore our logo around the world, while using the club as a sinking fund for his debts. We must never let an Abramovic turn our club into a yacht - a plaything that flaunts his wealth and inflates the hubristic ego of its obscenely rich owner, and that also makes a clubs successes hollow.

Several Russian oligarchs have been reported as sniffing round the club. This would be calamitous: at best they would use the club as a plaything; at worst they would use it as a symbol of their supposed legitimacy, in an attempt to mask the corruption of their other deals. I don't want the business practices of Russian oligarchs associated with the club, no matter what success they could bring us.

Clubs need to stop looking at the short term and think of the long-term future of the game. Alan Pardew's attitude - anyone remember his 'there are too many foreign players' rant now? - is typical of the selective and potentially dangerous myopia engulfing the premiership. His attitude seemed to be - 'well who cares about the future, these players will help us in the short-term'. That he's turned his club into a pimp's accomplice is seemingly lost on him; as are the more general ramifications of having players who aren't really owned by the clubs they play for; or the fact that the club is dealing with a man who has operated as a front for an oligarch who's banned from doing business in certain parts of the world.

I think I speak for most Arsenal fans - or at least i would hope I do - when I say that I'd rather our club won no trophies than tainted ones. The English premiership - with a stronger FA - needs to improve the financial clarity of football, and also consider the implications of the mass selling of our clubs to foreign investors, whose goals may be dangerously far-removed from the traditions of our game and the desires of its fans.

Right, rant over.

I've become slightly more optimistic - perhaps dangerously so - about tomorrow. I feel that something has to give: although whether it be United's flying start to the season, or our league hopes, I'm still not sure.

We're in a better situation than we were last time we visitied Old Trafford due to the presence of three classy, battling players: Gallas, Rosicky, and Baptista. The Neville entity will surely not try and kick those three about like they did to poor old Jose. Indeed, what I really want to see tomorrow is some bottle and battle. A 0-0 would do me, as long as we showed that we have the guts to make a real challenge for the Title this year, and that we're not going to be easily rolled over into submission.

It should be a fascinating match and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the 'paint-drying' competition that will be Liverpool Chelsea before it though. And I wish Sky would not so mercilessly hype everything up nowadays. It demeans us all.

Gb.

Rosicky takes a shot, but worries remain.

Firstly, regarding yesterday's headline, can I just point out that i do know that sponsor is spelt with an o not an e. My bad.

As I was at work last night, I didn't get to see the game. Despite my protests, the Man U Celtic game was put on instead. 'Twas a cracker, but meant I missed a great win for us.

Rosicky's goal was incredible, better than the one he hammered in against the US in the world cup. Only he could have scored that goal for us last night. Freddie and Bobby used to be able to knock in long-range curlers, but Pires is gone, and Freddie has lost the ability. Rvp and Fab might have the ability, but not the power, while Gilbs, Hleb, and Adey would never score from that position. Tomas looked excellent against Boro, and he seems to be making an excellent start to his Arsenal career.

From the general sounds of things, we didn't play too well, and largely relied on a RvP dive - it was a dive - to get their keeper sent off, and take an early lead. Its good to get the three points, but winning by diving is not the way i want to see our boys play. It also seems that we very much needed Tomas's goal, after a less than convincing performance. While the win should hopefully build some confidence, doubts must surely remain about Sunday.

Especially when Kolo is out - or very likely to be so. While Willy can obviously easily sidestep into cb, the prospect of Justin Hoyte facing Ronaldo is not a pleasant one. He's not looked convincing so far this year. Indeed, given Clichy's 'sicknote' tendencies, rumours are already abounding that we're looking at Woodgate - and making Gallas a permanent lb; I wouldn't be surprised if another lb is picked up in the next year, even if Traore is probably the ultimate successor to Ash.

Some good news for us is that Giggs is out of the match on Sunday, a player who's been re-invigorated so far this year. I also noted that Rooney looked completely off the pace last night. This is either a good sign, or a very, very bad sign for us. Indeed, given his past-performances against us, he's probably saving up some form of triumphal return for Sunday.

Elsewhere, The Queen will formally open the Emirates stadium sometime soon. Does this mean the league matches so far have only been 'informal' meetings? Hmm. Quite a result for the club though, and it shows our gravitas in UK sport.

Update: Kolo is fit, Henry and RvP aren't for Sunday. Eek.

Ashley Cole, Hamburg, 'new sponsers', and ANR.

I haven't deigned to comment on Ash's book over the last few days as there seems quite enough vitriol flying around the web at the moment to drown even the most happy-go-lucky of people in bile. As far as I can tell, Ash has never, ever done anything wrong. Take the supposed tapping up incident. He was just twiddling his thumbs in a hotel room when, out of nowhere, Jose turned up and they made 'chit-chat'. This 'chit-chat' was completely innocent. Apart from the minor matter of Jose telling him 1) we need a lb 2) you are the best lb in the world 3) are you happy at Arsenal? Y'know. The trivial matters in a footballer's life. Arsenal then had the disrespect to try and use this as a means of getting a points penalty inflicted on Chelsea, and 'hung him out to dry'. Poor Ashley.

When this is combined with 'its not about the money but Arsenal wouldn't give me the extra £1.3m I wanted [over 5 years]', the almost slavish devotion of Ash to the seemingly whiter-than-white Jonathon Barnett [boo!!], and the 'I'm not gay, how dare they call me gay, I'm a real man', which almost reads like the famous 'not that there's anything wrong with that' Seinfeld sketch, there is enough material in Ash's book to make it a true classic of comedic fiction.

Yet its not all bad reading. The part serialised in the Times today about the pizza-throwing culprit - apparently it was little Cesc - is actually quite touching. The moment when the pizza slid down Fergie's face and all our lot creased up, most almost have been the last hurrah of the invincibles. I feel that Ash partially left because a new type of team spirit was being built in the dressing room, which was notably different to then on he'd grown up with. Whilst his insinuations against big Phil are probably untrue, and I would hope that Rvp and Freddie do actually talk, his words do seem to hammer home that the belief and spirit of the invincibles did break down in the aftermath of the United game, and that this was far more fatal to the team's performances than any loss of footballing ability. It also seems that Ash was very much affected by Paddy's departure, with the lynchpin nature of Paddy's contribution to the team is further emphasised.

One almost feels with Ash, that there was a more interesting, and far more plausible book, within him and his ghost-writer - one that should have been written once he'd retired and had the benefit of cooling his temper somewhat. But instead, as Ash refuses to accept any blame for anything, and is also seeking to maximise profit from the publication, we've been served up a hotch-potch of fantasical stories with only the merest basis in reality. I'm sure Ash will regret the book in 10 years.

Ash's book has swamped a lot of far more interesting news that's emerged this week. Firstly Cesc is on the verge of signing an astonishing 8 year deal. As Gunnerblog has correctly pointed out, this will mean that the summer of 2013 - the year before it runs out - will now be unbearable, but I'm sure we all agree that this is fantastic news. And if he did leave we should be able to get about £500m for him, given inflation by the earlier 2010s.

For tonight's game against Hamburg, we'll be wearing a special one-off shirt with 'Dubai' on it, as Hamburg are also sponsored by Emirates. We'll also be without Thierry, which has led to a lot of speculation that Theo might start. I would hope that he or Rosicky start on the left, and that we play 4-5-1, with Baptista as a half-striker, and RvP or Adey up front. Hopefully will have overestimated our poor start to the season and we can rip them to pieces ce soir. We need a decent win before Sunday.

One interesting thing I noticed last night: Chel$ea had the second lowest Champions League attendence of all the CL games. Only 32K turned up [of a 42k capacity] for their game against Bremen - only Sporting Lisbon had less and even PSV and Olympiacos managed more. I'm not gloating, I just think the fact Chel£ struggle to sell out their matches say something fascinating about the current perception of the club.

Finally, if you're as slow on the uptake as me, you may not have realised that ANR has 'moved back to highbury', as they put it, as they're just so popular. I preferred the old site anyway.

Gb.

10% from perfection or disaster.

Its hard to stay optimistic after the start to the season we've had. 3 average teams, and 2 points is unacceptable - regardless of the new stadium. If we want to get anywhere in the league this season, we need to start improving fast.

And the most frustrating thing seems to be that we're only 10% from clicking. We're not playing awful football, and we're dominating games. But we're ponderous at the moment when we need to be decisive, whether this be making a quick break, or deciding when to shoot.

We're all used to Arsenal teams full of binding pace, with Jose, Thierry, Bobby, and Ash scampering up the wings. Now, we seem to take an age to formulate our attacks, which is allowing our opponents to get men behind the ball and stifle us. Because that's all Boro, City and Villa have done. Nicked a goal with virtually their only attack of the game and then held on to it through massed defence. And we've had no answer so far. We pass the ball when a speculative effort is needed, or we let them get back en masse before we really launch an attack.

I was surprised with the starting line-up. Rosicky, and perhaps even Walcott, should be starting in front of Ljunberg. I just don't think he has it anymore. He struggles to beat players, he didn't link up particularly well with Gallas, and he just didn't look like a goalscoring threat. He works his socks off but we need more from that position than he's giving. Rosicky caused an instant spark when he came on, with some lovely dummies, and a few attempts on goal. He needs to be starting to get used to the premiership.

RvP also dissapointed. For all his undoubted finesse, he's too leightweight, frequently being barged off the ball and looking for fouls when continuing play would have gained a greater advantage. I'd say to try Baptista in a half-striker role, because my doubts about RvP in the Premiership refuse to go away.

Especially when my worries about Adebayor are rising. I've defended him a lot on here, but yesterday he was hopeless and looked out of his depth. He needed too much time on the ball to control it, and then think about what to do with it, and he wasn't getting into the box to offer the aerial threat we needed. He causes panic in the opposing defence, but he needs to get a goal soon.

Indeed our entire aerial threat is quickly turning into a farce. We've had the best part of 50 corners in our three league games yet I don't think we've really looked like scoring from any of them.

But we did play some nice football yesterday, which could have resulted on a goal if we could find that final 10%. Hleb, Fabregas, and Henry linked up a few times to great effect, yet all three are just a little too far off their top level to turn good football into goals. Hleb, in particular, came in for a lot of unfair abuse yesterday, mostly stemming from a hatful of opportunities when he passed instead of shooting. He is not a goalscorer, and I'm not sure he can be turned into one, but he still forced a superb save from Schwarzer in our best chance in open play. Fans seem to be too keen to deride him when he gets caught in possession, and are quick to forget that TH squandered many of the lovely through balls Hleb played yesterday.

Indeed, the main problem for the team, it seems, is Thierry is 10% away, at least, from full fitness, and consequently he's playing awfully deep. We, at times, had no real forward line yesterday due to this. He, the lynchpin of our team, is not clicking with the rest of the players. It was important for him to get his first goal at the Emirates yesterday, and he needs to be rested if necessary to get himself back to full fitness as soon as possible.

Combined with a defence that looked shaky and uncommunicative - Eboue is painfuly unaware of wider goings on in defence sometimes, even if he's great getting forward - we have a team that aren't playing anywhere near their full potential. The new players need to integrate, and the entire team needs to get used to the Emirates pitch - with they all seem to be struggling with. They need to learn to up the speed and amount of passes necessary for clinical attacks as the pitch is bigger than at Highbury. Clichy and Rosicky need to form our left wing, with Gallas moving into the centre. Wenger needs to make substitutes earlier in the game if things aren't going well. The triple substiution should have happened at least ten minutes earlier - we might have won if this had happened. How Gilberto, Rvp, and Freddie remained on for so long is a mystery, and there was a strong case for taking off Fab and even Thierry.

But time to gel is not necessarily what we have if we want to challenge for the title, or even a top four place. While Spuds and Liverpool have started sluggishly, Chel£ea, and Man U even more so, have sprinted out the blocks. I don't think ManU have the squad or stamina to maintain their current performance levels. But they'll be red hot when we play them next Sunday, and I'm seriously worried that, without some considerable tactical adjustment, we could be looking at played 4, and 2 points. Hence, whilst we may be 10% from moulding our team into something special, the fact we haven't could lead to a disastrous week which could take us a while to get over. Especially as our next two premiership opponents at the Emirates are Sheff Utd and Watford who will undoubtedly play the 'eleven men behind the ball' game.

p.s. To the Stadium announcer at the Emirates 1) you didn't need to announce that many times about the traffic problems as 2) it negatively affected the atmosphere. and 3) the way you announced it made it sound like Arsenal were more interested in flogging us beer than our welfare.

p.p.s Why is club level always half-empty?

Roll on Saturday, and why more footballers should be like Lillian Thuram.

Lots of Arsenal players involved in last night's action. Thierry bagged a goal in a, no doubt, cathartic victory for the French over the Italians; RVP got two crackers against Al Hleb's Bielorussians; Fab set up a goal in Spain's, frankly, amazing defeat at the hands of Northern Ireland; while Jens probably had a quiet read whilst the Germans ruthlessly destroyed San Marino.

It seems that Johann Djourou has picked up an injury while playing for the Swiss, so Gallas's starting position at c-b is surely now assured for Saturday, with Hoyte probably continuing at l-b. RvP can't really be left out after his storming performance, but he could potentially lose his place to Baptista. However, I expect Baptista to start on the bench, and, if the chips are down, as we try and break our consecutive passes record, he'll come on. He certainly seems an 'impact player', who can instantly make an impression on the game due to his size. We haven't really had a sub like that for a while.

Indeed, I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the game on Saturday, and seeing Rosicky, Bappy, and Willy. If we hadn't bought anyone, and if Cash and Jose were still here, I'd be more than a little anxious, but the new signings seem to have brought a tide of optimism - despite Chel£'s efforts - to the club. We need to harness this feeling as a driving force behind our performance on the weekend.

I was forced to watch the England game at work and it was aw,aw,aw-ful. Stuart Downing is not international quality, and if it wern't for the damage done to his reputation by Sven, Theo - who scored again for the u-21s last night - would surely be pushing for at least sub appearances on the left wing. Indeed, the highlight of the match was Ashley attempting a goal-line clearance and missing the ball. hahaha.

Every time I watch England at the moment it just drives me to despair: the massive hubris and comically inflated egos that constantly surrounds the England camp is almost too painful to bear. A prime example of this is Peter Crouch. He's done well since entering the England set-up, but for all this talk of so many goals in so many games, he's only scored in two competitive matches against the footballing titans that are Trinidad and Tobago, and Macedonia. I expect him, and England to come apart at the seems again when we actually play a half-decent team, and everyone realises that England, whisper it quietly, aren't that good. England played reasonably last night- although Macedonia certainly deserved a point if they had scored - yet without any real suggestion that they have, or will, improve from the world cup. 1/4 finals exit at next Euro Championships anyone?

Finally a word in praise of Lililan Thuram, who gave away his ticket allocation - some 70 tickets - to homeless immigrangts for last nights match. This from a man who had also openly told Jean Marie La Pen, essentially, va te faire foutre. An example for other footballers to follow. Thuram pour President! Bit of a contrast to the 'wags' isn't it.

Class and respect are earned, not bought.

Chelsea have one objective alone with their statement concerning William Gallas: destabilisation. Destabilising Gallas as he tries to settle in at his new club; destabilising Arsenal fans by placing seeds of doubt in our mind regarding the type of player and man he is. Chel£ don't care one bit about giving their own fans the 'real reasons' why Gallas left. They are incidental. If Chel£ so have a watertight policy of openness concerning their club, lets get Abramovich to tell us how exactly he made his money. Or perhaps they could enlighten us on the Obi Mikel transfer. Or even divulge Abramovich's exact interests with Corinthians.

It's all a bit like a man whose lover's left him screaming she's a whore down the street while secretly sobbing to himself. Instead of confronting the reality of why Gallas wanted to leave the club, its easier to make up a string of defamatory allegations. And before anyone asks why Gallas doesnt just sue them for this: because it's not worth it. Only Ashley has the stamina to go through the enormous court process that will probably go to appeal then next appeal then infinitum. Chel£ have lawyers who could drag this out for months. It really is for the best if Gallas just laughs, and ignores it. Chel£ could have said that Gallas threatened Peter Kenyon with a sawn of shotgun, and he wouldn't receive libel damages until 2010.

It can't, realistically, be about money, because Chel£ have more than anyone put together. I don't want to overly speculate on the reasons why Gallas left Chel£, but I think a hefty part of it must come down to Mourinho's personality, and the way the club is presently being run.

My favourite bit was this:

"Chelsea has a wage structure in place that is valued not only on the contribution of the player to the manager and the team, but also on a player's respect for the club and contribution to the promotion and image of the club off the field. Every player is expected to play their part in this.

"William Gallas rarely recognised these responsibilities.

"He also failed to recognise the role Jose Mourinho and Chelsea played in helping him become a double Premiership champion for a player whose only league title prior to that had been in the French Second Division."

So he should remain at Chel£ forever, out of pure gratitude at the wonderousness of Chel£ and Mourinho? And surely the most important point: if Gallas is so awful, if he was capable and threatening to do all these things: why did Chelsea want to keep him so badly? For that is where Chel£'s logic machine stops judering to a halt and explodes. The simple truth of the matter is: they wanted to keep Gallas, he turned them down, so they now want to try and mentally destroy him.

It can all be, as it has been, easily contrasted with Arsene's reply regarding Ash's move in which he wished him well for the future and thanked him for his contribution to the team whilst at the club. Of course Arsene probably wanted to rant and rave at Ash for being an ungrateful money whore, but he didn't, because he has class. That's why Arsene is a respected manager, and why Jose still has to go on TV and berate people for not giving Chel£ any respect. It's also partly why Chel£ still have tickets for sale for their next home game in the premiership.

If you don't act respectfully and with class, you will not get these attributes attached to yourself. No matter how many times you win the league, or pathetically compare yourself to a mafioso 'family'. Success doesn't inherently earn respect, and that's what no one at Chel£ seems to have realised.

Still, you've gotta hand it to them - the statement's worked. Instead of focusing on our own mattters, we've been drawn into debating all this with them. Still, my advice to Willy: ignore it. Don't rise to it, as I have. In fact i'm so angry, I can't think of anything else to write about this afternoon. So, adieu.

Is the Baptista deal permanent?

While most news agencies seem to be claiming that the Baptista-Reyes switch is only, initially, for a season long loan, the Arsenal website and, er, wikipedia, are both claiming that the deal is a permanent one. The term 'undisclosed fee' not 'loan' are on the Arsenal website.

So is the move permanent immediately?

A triumphant end to the Transfer Window.

On somedays there is so little news that our media-hungry society is forced to create headlines to keep everyone sated. On other days there is so much news that, even if you wanted to, you would probably not be able to report everything that happened. Today is one of the latter. Indeed, if it were not for the plethora of stories and important events surrounding our club today, I would be very much still in bed nursing my hangover. I have no shoes on, but I do have them available, so I seem to have the upper hand on Arseblogger.

I stumbled in in the early hours of yesterday morning but was unable to remember how to use my computer, and sky sports seem to be intent on only discussing the cricket. But all has, albeit somewhat painfully, become clear.

Firstly, the big news. The departure of a true Arsenal legend. Pascal Cygan has joined Villareal for £2m. How our negotiators managed to keep a straight face as they concluded this deal is beyond me. I'd like to wish Pascal all the best. I think it'd be fair to say that he never really cut it in the premiership, despite the lying Opta statistics, but he almost always tried his best and that's all you can ask. Sail safe big man. You won't be forgotten.

The deal which kept most of London up all night was also concluded at 11.59 and 59 seconds. Cashley is joining the vapid, financially corrupting ranks of the King's road, while Willy Gallas has left Mourinho & Co., probably flicking him two fingers as he left. Bonjour et bienvenue Willy. A great signing, although I am slightly annoyed by only getting £5m on top of Ash. Still, we have shown Chelsea that we're no pushovers and that we got something from them they didn't want to give us.

The deal concludes one of the most sordid affairs in modern football. I wasn't one of those chanting abuse at Ash at the Villa game, but he has done himself no favours in this business. He may wake up in ten years and realise that, even if he does have medals from Chelsea, that sometimes morality and respect are more important than success and money. I don't actually believe that everyone has a price, but Ash seems to show that a lot do. Getting Gallas is a great boon for us, increasing the experience of our defence. It also leaves Chelsea with only 3 recognised centre-halves. Things could get interesting. I think they should have picked up a makeshift back-up for Wayne Bridge and kept Gallas, so I'm willing to ignore all the lazy journalism that will contend that they've done better out of this deal than us.

'The beast' is our other major signing of the day, albeit only on loan. Little Jose has fled back to Spain, no doubt in terror at the forthcoming English winter. I think he actually did well for us in the time he was here. In some ways he was a victim of his success - even though he actually did ok, he showed glimpses of a truly prodigious talent that he was never consistently able to maintain. All the best Jose, but you need to grow up a little and start being a man. As for Julio - harrah I say. He had a very poor season at Real last year, but this was largely due to Real playing him on the left wing as far as I can remember. A big, bruising midfielder and a goalscorer all in one. Just the player we needed? Do we have any wingers left?

It's unclear whether Ito has joined - please post if you know - while a Brazillian startlet named Denilson has joined. He could be promising? Qui sait.

The West Ham deals are even murkier than on first glance. They have 'bought' the players but not really as they probably haven't paid anything for them, with MSI then recouping their massive future fees. It's all very unseemly and I thought a club like West Ham would know better. Spuds have bought the massively overrated Chimbonda for about twice his worth, even if picking up Malbranque for only £2m is a good little move.

So,in my view, we've massively strengthened on the last day of the window. Baptista + Gallas are better for the squad than Jose and Ash. Cygan is no longer an option, and a few promising youngsters on top. And Rosicky, lest we forget. If nothin else we've got rid of players with a hugely negative connotations, and brought in some fresh blood which should invigorate everyone.

Lastly, I'd like to echo Vital Arsenal by wishing Sir Bobby Robson a speedy recovery. A real legend, and a completely genuine guy who embodies almost everything I love about football. If it wasn't for him and the England 1990 team I may never have started watching football, so thanks Bobby.

til later. Onwards and upwards!