NEW DESTINATION

From today MrArsenalBlog will be resuming at http://mrarsenalblog.wordpress.com/ catch me there folks

Pre Season Review

Welcome back to Mr Arsenal Blog for the new season. I have been away for from the blogging scene for the past month or so but now I'm back with a bang. With just 4 days until the trip to Anfield, I still have many concerns over how capable we are of mounting a challenge this season. With just two signings made this season, the squad is looking very fragile and susceptible to the same problems we had last year.

Pre Season this season has seen the great form of Samir Nasri, goals from Marouane Chamakh, as well as Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong stating their claim for a first team spot. How ever we have also seen defensively we are far from solid. We are still conceding far too many goals. The young lad Koscielny at the back looks like a very capable defender but I have major doubts over whether him and Vermaelen can form a partnership that is capable of playing week in week out in the Premier League this season. I feel Koscielny still has a lot to learn and a lot of bulking up to do in order to deal with physical side of the Premiership. An experienced centre back is definitely needed. Per Mertesacker looked like he was a prime candidate, but that looks unlikely now that he has committed his future to Werder Bremen. Many names have been thrown into the hat but as a spectator you can never tell what is true or not, all we can do is just hope and pray Wenger doesn't have a mad moment and sign Titus Bramble, like he did with Mikael Sylvester.

The goalkeeping situation is particularly worrying, waking up to see Fabianski claiming he believes he will be our number one this season, has pretty much messed up my whole day. I'm sorry but no matter how much the kid believes he is a good keeper, he will never be good enough for this club. I would sooner take my chances with the other young pole Wojciech Szczesny. Rumours circulating Schwarzer's future at Fulham seem to be on a stop start basis. Reports suggested that Mark had handed in a transfer request, but Fulham moved quickly to deny these rumours, and illustrated their ambitions to keep hold of the Aussie keeper. Almunia seems to have been frozen out of the scene, but I would still say he is the best keeper available to us at this point in time. Personally I would do all that is possible to sign Shay Given, Joe Hart seems to be the favourite to claim the number 1 jersey at Man City, and Shay has made it very clear he does not wish to be a bench warmer. Shay Given should have been an Arsenal keeper 5 years ago, why on earth we did not save him from his Newcastle nightmare I have no clue, but his quality is unquestionable and he has been without a doubt one of the best keepers in the world in recent years.

Going forward however we don't seem to have a problem, I'm convinced we have enough fire power, with Van Persie, Chamakh and Bendtner. This season will be a very big season for Carlos Vela, its about time he stepped up to the plate and started showing his potential on a consistent level. Its going to be a big season for many players, we need to see more from Arshavin and Rosicky than we have seen over the past 2 seasons. I believe this season will belong to Samir Nasri, not going to The World Cup may well have been a blessing in disguise for the silky Frenchman. Samir's form in pre season has been magnificent, of course you cant look too much into pre season, but you can always tell when someone is bang on form. I also believe this season Abou Diaby will have a big part to play and its time he started showing consistently that he is one of the best centre mid fielders around. Abou showed at the World Cup that he is a force to be reckoned with and was probably the only silver lining to a very dark cloud for the French World Cup campaign.

Whether this is Fabregas's last season or not, I have the utmost faith in the little Spaniard to perform and lead us to success this season. The critics of course will be waiting for Cesc to have a below par game so they can write their article about Fabregas not wanting to be at the club, but his honesty and loyalty has shone through. I think Cesc completely understands the situation and will do his best for the club as he has done since he first signed for us. However I don't suppose that will stop Barcelona from their usual antics, I think it is remarkable that FIFA have not got involved and punished Barca for their behaviour. It will just be great to see Fabregas in an Arsenal shirt for another season.

Well its been a long time coming but that's all for today folks, catch my next one tomorrow, please lets all pray that we don't hear the story line of 'Titus Bramble signs for Arsenal' Thanks for reading.

Joe Cole Exclusive

Good Afternoon, I've heard some news this morning that could either leave me extremely happy with my credibility in tact, or extremely disappointed with my credibility somewhat diminished, along with a punch in the bollocks to my source.

Without sounding like a transfer rumour website or an article in The News Of The World, I've heard a rather interesting story over Joe Cole's future. It has been well publicised that Joe Cole will be leaving Chelsea when his contract is up at the end of June. A host of clubs have been heavily linked with him, including us, Spurs, United, City and even Real Madrid. One of my more recent blogs commented upon this Joe Cole story, and although I would love to sign Joe Cole, I believed the chances to be very small, my favourites to sign him were Spurs. I now emphasis the word 'were', because the story I have now heard has made me believe otherwise.

My source is a friend of a friend of Joe Cole's and they are adamant that Joe Cole has signed a deal in principle to join Arsenal after the World Cup. Now I know what your thinking, because I normally hate these sort of rumours, the rumours like 'my daughter goes to school with Cristiano Ronaldo's nephew, and he said Ronaldo will sign for Blackpool next season'. Whilst rather humorous, they are ridiculous. Now I'm not telling you to believe me, because you are free to think what ever you want to think, but I am telling you to watch this space over the next few weeks and remember where you heard it first. I've read quite a few Joe Cole exclusive stories, all claiming Joe Cole has signed for Arsenal, Spurs, Real, Liverpool, United and even West Ham, so I'm not expecting anyone to believe this source, we shall just wait and see what happens.

My confidence is also supported by the bookies making Arsenal clear favourites to sign Joe, Sky Bet has us at 4/11 to sign Joe Cole by the end of the summer. If those odds get any shorter they will stop taking bets. Now if the bookies have got us at such clear favourites then I don't know what else to believe, you will never find a poor bookie, so they know what they are talking about.

I have been told Joe has already agreed a deal to join the club, everything has been agreed and that the only thing left to be organised is the medical, which could take place after the World Cup has finished. However I am quite a sceptical person, and until Wenger announces the fact Joe has signed I will still be a little resigned to believing it 100%. Put it this way however I'm very confident that he will sign, but lets just wait for Wenger to give us the confirmation. I would like to give a shout out to my source, who shall remain anonymous, unless this deal turns out to go tits up or to be a load of rubbish, then I shall give you his name, telephone number and bank details.

Thanks for reading, and remember where you heard it first!

Take a step into my dream world

Nothing really to talk about today, unless you want to spend the rest of the day talking about Rob Greens howler last night. It just had to be the goalkeeper Arsenal are linked with didn't it. Personally I don't know why Joe Hart wasn't picked to start, he has been the in form keeper this season, everyone keeps throwing around this whole 'well he ain't experienced enough'. Well how do you expect him to gain experience if you don't play him. My favourite goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been a Spain and Real Madrid regular since he was 18 or 19, if you ask me Joe Hart is more than ready.

Anyway this is an Arsenal Blog, so I want to come off the England topic for today and let you enter my dream world. I've been thinking a lot about who I would like Arsene to sign and I have a team in my head that realistically speaking could be an Arsenal starting line up next season. I did say dream world, but I did take into account that we aren't going to spend £900m on players. So below is the Arsenal team I would like to see next year.

GK- Hart
LB- Clichy
RB- Sagna
CB- Vermalean
CB- Hangelaand
LAM- Nasri
RAM- Gourcuff
DM- Song
CM- Fabregas
CM- Y. Toure
CF- Van Persie


I look at that team and think wow. I would be so happy with that team, and in my opinion it is do-able. I mean of course if is purely speculation but to buy Hart, Hangelaand, Toure and Gourcuff wouldn't cost a ridiculous amount of money. Hart would cost about £10-£12m, Hangelaand about the same. Yaya Toure would be the most complicated to sign because as you can see he lines up along side Fabregas, so I doubt Barca would do business with us if we didn't allow them to sign Fab. Gourcuff would probably be the most expensive, about £25m would capture him, but I've said before it would be money well spent.

Now I've let you enter my dream world its time to take a step back out in to reality, and expect Wenger to sign a few players from this Slovenia and Algeria match I'm currently watching.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

World Cup Predictions

Watching the football on ITV has made me want to write a blog about Arsenal's representatives at the World Cup. Ten gunners have been included in their respective national squads, none of whom however are representing England.

As per usual out French contingent is very strong with Abou Diaby, William Gallas, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy all included. It could well have been five players included but the omission of Samir Nasri put a stop to that. With three of our first choice defence included in the French team, I cant see France being the most solid team at the tournament, but I predict they will meet England in the Quarter Finals and beat us but lose to the Brazilians in the Semi Finals.

Alex Song will be participating in his first world cup for Cameroon and will come up against The Big Dane Nicklas Bendtner. It will be tough for both Cameroon and Denmark with Japan and the small problem of Robin Van Persie's Holland in their group. So we will have 3 players playing against each other in the same group. I'm afraid I see the competition ending very quickly for both Alex and Nicklas, I just cant see them getting out of the group stages. Holland look good as always but they are just like England, I would love for Holland to win it if England don't but I predict they will fall at the Quarter Final stage to Brazil.

Our little Mexican Carlos Vela will be in action against his French team mates, so that should prove to be an interesting game. I back Mexico to get out of the group along with France but they could face a very difficult game against Argentina in the second round and I think that could be just one game to many for Carlos Vela's side. Emanuel Eboue will be in action for Ivory Coast and will face Portugal, Brazil and North Korea in the group of death of this years World Cup. I think Ivory Coast will have their work cut out this year and will do well to even get out of their group.

My favourites for the competition will be Spain. Of course our little Spanish magician Cesc Fabregas. Spain have the best individuals as well as the best team and I predict it will be a Brazil v Spain final, and I can see Spain just pipping Brazil to become World Champions. The great thing however about this World Cup is that any number of teams can win it, there are so many great teams with fantastic players, as well as teams that will be looking to cause an upset or two, such as the hosts South Africa.

Winners- Spain
Finalists- Brazil
England- Quarter Finals
Surprise Team- South Africa
Most Disappointing Team- Argentina
Don't Count Out- Germany
Golden Boot Winner- David Villa
Arsenal's Star Player- Robin van Persie

Thanks for reading guys, lets hope this World Cup is everything we hope for and maybe, just maybe we can see an England success.

Sorry guys I'm back

I'm back folks, after a few weeks off the ball I'm back for good now. To be honest not much has happened since I have been away. The biggest news is that we rejected a quite embarrassing reported offer of £29m for Cesc. Other news has been surrounding Theo's omission from the England team, as well as Big Phil's departure from the club, and also potentially Campbell and Gallas also next to walk out the door. I will touch on all of these subjects today, as well as the rumours surrounding Joe Cole's future.

Lets start with the Fabregas topic, now I know its a bit late, but since I didn't get a chance to put my opinion out there I will do now. I'm still a bit in shock over the valuation put on the head of Fabregas by Barca. For a team that has been trying their up most to unsettle and sign Cesc for the last 3 or 4 seasons, the £29m reported offer comes across as a bit of a joke. 5 years left on his contract, one of the top 5 centre midfielders in the world currently, still only 23, they could sell Cesc for that much in another 5 or 6 years, but right now surely that isn't the market valuation for a player of Cesc's quality. Barcelona are one of the clubs that have set the ridiculously high bar for transfer fees. The acquisition of Ibrahimovic from Inter for £40m with Eto'o also going the other way is ridiculous in itself. So if Ibrahimovic is worth at least £50m then so is Fabregas. Its time to play some hard ball with Barca, if they want Cesc so bad, then they have to come out all guns blazing. We are not in financial position where we have to sell, so we shouldn't be bullied into accepting a sub standard bid. If they don't want to or don't have the money to match our valuation then Fabregas should play for Arsenal next season, there's no rush to sell him, another great season from him could raise his value even more. I don't think there is the worry of Cesc not wanting to play for us any more, he is a great professional and I'm sure is smart enough to understand the politics behind the move, after all its inevitable he will be play for the Catalan's one day.

Theo's omission from the England team raised a few eyebrows across the nation, I personally cant remember the last time England have failed to have an Arsenal representative at the World Cup. Arguments can be made from both sides of whether Theo should have gone to the World Cup. Personally I felt we should have taken Theo. Yes, he can be inconsistent, unpredictable and lacking a final ball, but it is precisely those reasons why I would have taken Theo. You never know what is going to happen when Theo has the ball. His pace scares defenders to death, and offers a threat that no other England player possesses. Of course you can argue that Theo has done nothing to warrant a place in the England team, statistically he hasn't, but neither has Shaun Wright Phillips and Aaron Lennon is still questionable to me. I wouldn't have taken Theo as a starter, I would have merely taken him as an impact player, someone to take off the bench when we are in a bit of sticky position. However Mr Capello decided against taking Theo and you can understand why, Theo simply just hasn't progressed at the rate he has needed to.

Speculation surrounding Philip Senderos' future at the club has been going on for a while. I've never been a fan of Big Phil, too lackadaisical and slow. Very prone to make mistakes and another one who has not progressed at the rate he has needed to. It may be harsh but I felt the only reason he was kept at the club was because he was a nice lad and got on very well with everyone. Well Senderos this morning left the club to join Fulham on a free. It may not be the biggest news coming out of the club, but if you look at futures of other players at Centre Back we are left worryingly thin. I have spoke about this before, what would we do if Senderos, Gallas and Campbell left. We would then be left with Vermaelan, Silvestre, Djorou and Bartley. Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it. Newspaper reports have linked us with Laurent Koscielny. A French centre back with polish descent from Lorient (no not Leyton Orient, well I hope not anyway), is about as much as I know about him. It is reported that we have a bid turned down for him already, so we shall see in the near future how that pans out. I've never seen the lad play before, so for all I know he could be the greatest centre back in the world, but if we were only to sign him at centre back and we lost both Campbell and Gallas I would not be happy. We must sign an established name to sit at the back. I'm not sure whether Wenger has plans to partner Vermaelan with Djorou at the back, that could be the plan but until I see how that works out I wouldn't be too confident in that pairing. Reports have linked us with Per Mertesacker and Brede Hangelaand, one of those two names would go a long way to giving me an ounce of confidence with our back line. I would expect a lot of activity both in and out defensively this summer.

So Joe Cole will leave Chelsea this season....I can't see us pulling it off but what a great move that would be. Joe Cole is a world class player with Premier League and Champions League experience in abundance. He is exactly the sort of player we need, he is a winner and has experienced winning trophies. Extremely gifted and a real footballer, he would fit in well at Arsenal, but with stiff opposition from Tottenham, Man Utd, Man City and even Real Madrid have been thrown in the hat, a successful move for him seems unlikely. His wages could prove a stumbling block, I'm not sure whether he would want to take a wage cut to come to us. The only thing we could have in our favour would be his desire to stay in London, but with Joe being very well acquainted with Harry just across the road, even though Harry was resigned to defeat in signing him last week, I'm sure Tottenham are favourites to sign him.

Well that about sums it up, I've been away for two weeks, lets hope that things start to hot up in regards to transfers and hopefully sooner rather than later we will see how this Arsenal team will look next season

Thanks for reading, be sure to leave a comment or feedback.

Fab speaks out over future

A short but very intense interview with Cesc on Sky Sports News this morning, almost had my heart pounding over what he was going to say next. Cesc stated his love for Arsenal and pretty much said the situation is out of his hands. So we are now left in a situation where the ball is in our court, if we want to play ball with Barcelona then so be it, if not then we can keep the ball to ourselves and I Think Cesc would still love to be at Arsenal next season. It all depends on our desire to keep hold of Fabregas. Personally I think its time to show a bit of backbone and show we are no push-overs, but if they do come in with an extravagant bid then we shouldn't be fools. If I was the Arsenal board, I would accept nothing less than £50m, reports of Barca only offering £30m are scandalous and are way under value.

Another thing to look at will be Barcelona's finances. How the hell can they afford Cesc, or anyone else for that matter. I'm not sure how they managed to find the capital to sign Villa because of their current financial position. Reportedly £420m in debt, one wonders how they can afford to push themselves further into debt, because Barca's profits are not exactly mesmerizing. Reports suggest that Barcelona only made an £8m profit last year. Put that in comparison to Arsenal who last year made a profit of £35m. It almost seems like Barca are spending money that they don't have, I feel sorry for their bank manager.

Coming off of the Fabregas stories though, lets start with the news that another Spanish wonder kid is making his way to Spain. Fran Merida's long unresolved future at the club as finally been resolved. Fran will leave Arsenal to join Athletico Madrid on a free transfer. I feel sorry for Fran because he has played well when he has played but just hasn't been able to break into the first team. I would like to wish him the best of luck in Madrid.

Now to today's transfer rumour mill. Speculation is surrounding a new centre back after Sol Campbell issued his interest in a move to Celtic and William Gallas still hasn't signed a new contract. So names such as Pape Diakhate and Per Mertesacker have been thrown into the mix. It is Diakhate I'm going to blog about today.

Name – Pape Diakhate
Age – 25
Position – Centre Back
Nationality – Senegalese
Club – Dynamo Kiev

We played against Diakhate a few seasons ago in the Champions League, he impressed me and we have been linked with him for the past few seasons. He is a relative unknown, but from what I have seen from him he is very strong, quick and good in the air. He is a very strong tackler, but I personally doubt he will be good enough to partner Thomas Vermaelan at the back. Pape has never really played at the top level or for a top club, he has a couple of stints in the French Ligue One and a few seasons in the Champions League, but nothing that shouts great experience. Reports suggest an offer of £8m would see him come to Arsenal, I would much prefer to sign Per Mertesacker with that money personally.

Mr Arsenal Blog Prediction

Likeliness to come – 8/10
Value for money – 6/10
Chance of a deal – 5/10

Thanks for reading guys, have a good one.

Barca finally make contact over Fab

Good Morning Folks, First thing I do this morning is turn the TV on and switch it to Sky Sports News and what do I see, Barcelona make Cesc contact. Well its about time isn't it. Personally I hate the way Barcelona do business with other clubs. Barca and Real are constantly coming out to the media and declaring their interest in players, this not only unsettles the player they are declaring interest in, but it also creates a bad atmosphere. After Barcelona's last antics with Fabregas, coming out saying they had made a bid, I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal are very reluctant to even do business with Barcelona.

So now Cesc's dad has supposedly come out and said on Radio Marca that he expects the move to go through, and Cesc definitely wants to leave. Misquoted, Misunderstood or maybe even talking about the relationship with his wife, we have no clue what was said because Marca as a media source in general are somewhat unreliable. So I wouldn't look too much into what Cesc's dad comes out and supposedly says. Until Barcelona actually make a bid and this is confirmed by Peter Hill Wood himself, my ears are still going to be covered to this media frenzied circus act by Barcelona.

Now lets look at the rumour mill today, there isn't much activity today surprisingly, so I'm going to look into more depth into the Joe Hart rumour.

Name – Joe Hart
Age – 23
Position – Goalkeeper
Nationality – English
Club – Man City

After several loan spells away from Eastlands and with Shay Given above him in the pecking order, Joe Hart could well be looking for a move away from City. A superb shot stopper, who has an outstanding season at Birmingham this year, which has earned him a place in the England squad, and is my personal choice to wear the number 1 shirt in South Africa. At only 23 Joe Hart is still young and yet to hit his prime. Joe has had somewhat of a fairytale career already after getting the big move from Shrewsbury Town to Manchester City in 2006. I think signing Joe Hart would be a good move on our behalf, he is a reliable keeper, young and eager to make an impression, very commanding and has a great knack of keeping the ball out of the net. You would be looking at £10m plus for the him, which would be great value for money, considering he has at least another 15 years left at the top level.

Mr Arsenal Blog Prediction

Likeliness to come – 8/10
Value for money – 9/10
Chance of a deal – 6/10

Well that's it for today guys, stay tuned for tomorrows post. Thanks for reading

Linked with every player under the sun, literally

Yet another sunny day in London, however despite the sun shining the same cannot be said for news surrounding Arsenal FC today. I've been taking a look at the rumour mill today and I see a name pop up that I've wanted at the club for years. A certain Yoann Gourcouff. So as I promised yesterday I'm going to kick off my daily rumour mill fact file with him.

Name – Yoann Gourcuff
Age – 23
Position – Attacking Midfielder
Nationality – French
Club – Bordeaux

Yoann is an extremely gifted player, and some of you may have seen me blog about him before. He is an Arsenal style player. He is very similar to Nasri, but in my personal opinion Yoann possesses a touch more quality than Samir does. Samir and Yoann were both likened to Zinedine Zidane in their styles of football. Goal.com states that Bordeaux want £25m for him, and personally I feel in this financial climate, where £25m could land you your very own Alberto Aquilani, it would be money well spent. With Arsene Wengers french persuasion and the recent acquisition of Chamakh from Bordeaux, you never know maybe he could well be wearing the Arsenal shirt next year.

Check him out in the link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66dF4pxlrkU

Mr Arsenal Blog Prediction

Likeliness to come – 7/10
Value for money – 7/10
Chance of a deal – 6/10

Other transfer rumours circulating about are surrounding Mark Schwarzer, Bafetimbi Gomis, Gai Assulin, Robert Green and Steven Pienaar.

Other news from yesterday were the rumours that Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangito is lining up a potential purchase of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith shares in the club for a reported £160m. Let me repeat that again £160m for 16% shares in the club. If my maths is correct that puts a value on the club at about a billion pounds. This could spark a takeover battle between Usmanov, Kroenke and Dangito. However being a realist I wouldn't read too much into these reports, he probably only said to his mate that he 'likes London' and newspapers and the rest of the sporting press see this an ideal story to keep life interesting at The Emirates, and start a dodgy rumour.

Thanks for reading

Trip down memory lane

As the scene is so dead at the moment, I mean all we are hearing about are random transfer rumours, that seem to be computer generated or pulled out of a hat, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and make a comparison to the Invincible's team that famously went unbeaten throughout the whole season in 2003/2004. The contrast in individual talent, depth, drive and determination is sort of like the contrast between black and white.

Lets start with the keepers. Now I know Jens Lehmann wasn't exactly a fans favourite, and rarely filled fans with confidence, but there is no question that Jens was a great keeper for us. He was a leader with unquestionable desire to win football matches, whilst calling him slightly eccentric maybe an understatement, he commanded the area and showed authority in the box. This is something Almunia and Fabianski has failed to provide us with this season, countless errors and the distinct lack of leadership and presence whilst defending in our own box has definitely been a remote problem to us this season.

Invincible's - 8/10
Now - 5/10

The defence of the invincible season was probably the best back line we have had since the days of Adams, Bould, Winterburn and Dixon. We only conceded 26 goals throughout that season, compared to the 42 goals conceded this season. Toure and Campbell formed a rock solid partnership at the back, with Ashley Cole and Lauren playing full backs. Defensive cover was provided by defenders with experience such as Keown and Cygan. The mental strength to hang onto leads and actually win games 1-0 was fundamental to us winning the league and going unbeaten. This season we've found it very hard to hold on to leads, sometimes even our leads have been overturned to result in defeat. The defence as a unit this season has not been as solid as that of the Invincible's.

Invincible's - 8/10
Now - 6/10

Our midfield during the Invincible's season was nothing short of amazing. In my opinion probably the best midfield we have had, certainly in my generation anyway. The central midfield partnership of Vieira and Gilberto shook fear into any team we faced, great experience and an incredible drive to win games. Although we play a different formation now, as the 4-4-2 formation has slowly lost its purpose and has become very unfavourable in today's modern game, we still try to play the same way, however defensively we are not as astute. With Pires and Ljungberg on the wings, goals were easy to find, whereas Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky haven't really found their feet in the goalscoring department. Song has been great this season, Diaby has shone in parts and who can forget Fabregas' magnificent season. In terms of personnel the midfield we have now is still a pretty decent midfield. However in terms of depth, we cant compare. The Invincible's could turn to players such as Parlour, Edu, Wiltord and Reyes to bring off the bench. Whereas we have players like Denilson and Walcott, the depth in quality is very different.

Invincible's - 8.5/10
Now - 7/10

Bergkamp and Henry. Probably the two greatest players ever to play for Arsenal, both in the same team. Looking back at it now, I am astonished. That strike force could be compared to any team in the world in the past, and even currently. The attacking line up was guaranteed goals, with Pires and Ljungberg also chipping in and Henry scoring 30 goals a season for fun. You look at this season and our centre midfielder was our top scorer. Granted Robin van Persie was injured for most of the season, but even still we shouldn't be relying on Fabregas to be our top scorer as well as our play maker. Comparing Van Persie, Bendtner, Arshavin and Eduardo to Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Kanu, speaks for itself. Van Persie is probably the only person named who would have challenged to break into the Invincible's squad.

Invincible's - 9/10
Now - 7/10

As you can see the contrast between the two squads are massive. Fair enough we had to rebuild the squad, but it has now been 6 years since the invincible and all we seem to be doing is going further and further back. We have turned into a selling club, and buying average Joe's who aren't improving the team and taking us back to the heights we were once at.

Invincible's - 8.5
Now - 6.5

Seeing is believing over Fabs future

My last post stressed my confidence that Cesc will be an Arsenal player next season, my views have slightly changed following the reports of yesterday morning and today. The reports of Cesc telling Wenger he wants to leave and join Barcelona have flooded the back pages, websites, blog sites, everything you can think of, the topic of Cesc leaving Arsenal has been raised. Everywhere except Arsenal.com, which is my point. Until I see some sort of proof that these things were said, and that Cesc is ready to leave us then I will have my doubts. Does anyone know where these reports came from? The credibility of this source is non existent, it just sounds like another media frenzied craze to sell newspapers. People are mistaken into believing this is a direct quote from Fabregas. Cesc has not come out to the public and said 'I want to leave Arsenal and join Barcelona'. The only time where he may of said this is to Arsene Wenger himself, and if that is the case how do we no this? The simple facts are that Fabregas will one day leave Arsenal, whether it is this season or not remains to be seen.

If Fabregas does decide to leave, then who can blame him? I certainly don't blame him for wanting to leave. I see some fans saying that Cesc is being disloyal and should stay for the rest of his contract, as he has four years left still. Are we oblivious to the fact that it is inevitable that Cesc will leave. If anything we gave him a long contract to make sure his value sustains, rather than letting him go for cheap in the final year of his contract. We should have been prepared for one day Cesc leaving us, he is a Barcelona born and bred footballer, all his friends and family live there and play there. Barcelona are winning trophies, we aren't, the only reason Fabregas has stayed as long as he has is because he wanted to win trophies with Arsenal before he returned home. The problem is that this has not happened, and Cesc surely must think that it is not going to happen next season, or the season after, so maybe it is time to leave. However until this becomes material I will assume that Arsenal have no intention of selling, and Cesc still wants to play for Arsenal Football Club.

Maybe I am in denial, and just cant see what is in front of me, but I'm a firm believer in seeing is believing, and until I see this in the flesh, I will merely brush this off as media speculation. However lets just say this does become fact and Fabregas does decide to leave. What would we be happy with? I've seen some speculation with a part exchange for Yaya Toure, or even Zlatan Ibrahimovic. What would be an acceptable fee? Would we look for £30m or is that too cheap? Personally I would except nothing less than £45m in a one off fee, or £35m plus Toure. They are the only 2 plausible deals I would accept. Anything else and I would say, sorry try again next year.

I suppose only time will tell, but I do expect this to be sorted out before the World Cup starts, I wouldn't like Cesc going on international duty with all the Barcelona players in the Spanish squad, and them egging him on to join. The next up and coming few weeks should be quite interesting.

Thank you for reading, comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

The future of Fab

Season after season our best players get linked with a move away from North London. So it isn't surprising that once again we have speculation surrounding Cesc Fabregas. The little spanish magician has been linked with moves to Barcelona and Real ever since he has come to the club. Speculation has been fuelled in the past couple of days after Cesc came out and said he would love a move to Barcelona. Sitting here as an Arsenal fan, this is the last thing I want to hear, as I'm sure is the case with the majority of other Arsenal fans. However despite this fact I'm still quietly confident that Cesc will stay atleast to the end of next season.

Year after year, Cesc reiterates his desire to return back home. We have to understand that Cesc has been at Arsenal since he was 16 years old, that is 7 years away from his homeland, his parents, his friends and his culture. He is still very young and sometimes i feel we forget that. We look at his mature head on the pitch and seem to think we are looking at a 30 year old. This is why I don't look too much into what Fabregas says to the media, I take it merely as an expression to return to the homeland at some point in his career. People seem to forget that Cesc reiterates his happiness at Arsenal week in, and week out. Controversy will always sell newspaper stories and produce a media field day.

I fully expect to see Fabregas wearing an Arsenal shirt next season, leading us out on the opening day of the season, hopefully with a few new signings following behind. It is inevitable however that Cesc will leave one day, we are powerless to stop that and it would be unreasonable to expect him to stay for the rest of his career. One day Barcelona will come in with a mammoth bid and Cesc will tell the club and the fans that it is time to leave, and we will wish him the best and move on like Arsenal Football Club should.

Comments and feedback would be appreciated

Marouane Chamakh - Signing all but confirmed

This morning the moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh pretty much all but confirmed that he will be playing at The Emirates next season. The 26 year old Moroccan has been heavily linked with Arsenal for the last few years. It is thought that we have beaten off interest from Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham and numerous other clubs. Chamakh helped Bordeaux to the title last year, and has also been part of the Bordeaux squad that exceeded expectations in this years Champions League. He has scored 81 goals in 293 games for Bordeaux, and a further 27 goals in 57 games for Morocco. He has spent 10 years at the French club, and his contract is up at the end of the season, which paves way for him to leave on a free transfer.

Chamakh may however just look like a skinny, skillfull striker that may struggle with the physical side of The Premier League, but do not be fooled. At 6'2 he is a decent sized boy and he can hold his own. He is a dominating presence in the air, and is able to hold the ball up. After spending the last 10 years in the French Ligue One, he will be no stranger to the physical side of football. French football is very similar to The Premier League, and rarely does a player from a French club come to England and struggle to make an impact. He will also be used to the way Arsenal play football as Bordeaux play decent football themselves. Bordeaux have players that pass the ball around such as Gourcuff, who I would also like to see follow suit and join Arsenal. Chamakh is quick, strong, good in the air and has a great work ethic. These attributes are very much needed in todays game, he will certainly bring something new to the plate.

You may however look at his goalscoring record for Bordeaux and think that it is pretty dismal for a striker. It is true, he is not a 30 goal a season striker, but he will bring goals to the table, whether it be by him scoring them or assisting others. He also has a great knack of rising to the big matches. He has scored in 3 of the last matches against Lyon, along with a further 14 goals this season. If we can keep Van Persie fit, I'm confident that the dutchman and Chamakh will be able to form a formidable partnership upfront. They would compliment each others styles and it would allow Van Persie to play football rather than be competiting for balls in the air, which Chamakh loves to do.

This season we were left very thin up front with injuries to Van Persie and Bendtner, and also with Eduardo struggling with form, we were left with Arshavin to lead the line. Personally I would have signed Chamakh in January, because its evident from yesterdays blog that the decline we have had at the end of this season has simply been because we havent been able to score goals to win games. Eduardo has chipped in with 3 goals in 30 odd appearances this season, which is far from good enough. We could have done with an extra face up front to bag a few vital goals. However this was not the case, so hopefully if all goes well Chamakh will be an Arsenal player next season.

Thanks for reading, comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Excuses will get us nowhere

A very worrying sign hit me yesterday after the defeat at Ewood Park, after a very lacklustre performance where we all but dismissed our whole season as irrelevant, Arsene Wenger once again tried to conjur up a defence of why we lost. To be quite frank, we lost because we aren't good enough, and we were tactically and physically outclassed. I find it very worrying at the amount of times this season that tactically we have been found wanting, and with Wengers excuses in the post match interview, I don't see any change in his mentality.

I personally dont understand why we have come away from the way we was playing on earlier in the season, we pressed very well, we hustled in midfield, we were a nuisance all over the pitch and won the ball back in the oppositions half. All of these elements were key to our success in the early parts of the season. It seems as though however, that we have tried to do something new. Yesterdays game was a prime example of how we have been playing since the turn of the year. We showed no physical presence, no urgency, no hustle in our play. For a team that is 2-1 down with 25 minutes to go, you would expect them to try and throw the kitchen sink at the oppositions goal, but I don't remember us even having a shot after Samba scored the winner. Its embarrasing watching us lose games like we do, we don't even look dignified in defeat. Instead of Wenger taking responsibilty for the defeat, he makes half hearted excuses about the refereeing, and the tactical ploys of Sam Allardyce. Arsene needs to get over this because he has been dealing with this issue for the last 13 years and he still has not found a way to overcome it. I commend Sam Allardyce for how he plays, football is about winning, and using your strengths to combat their weaknesses, and Big Sam does this season in, and season out against us, when will we ever learn?

In the first half of the season we scored 51 goals in 19 games and conceded 21, we conjured up 19 wins in that period of time with 4 defeats. You may look at that stat and think 21 goals conceded is still a bit too much, but because we were scoring so many goals you tend to look past it, plus there was a 3-0 thrashing by Chelsea and a 4-2 loss to Man City, so that accounts for 7 of them. Now take a look at the stats for the second half of the season, we have scored 28 goals in 18 games and have still conceded 20 goals in 18 games. We have only managed to secure 9 victories and have suffered 5 defeats, along with 4 draws. Our season really has been a story of two halfs. We went to the team with 'the easiest run in' to now fighting to keep hold of that automatic champions league place. In our last 9 premier league games we have only taken 14 points out of a possible 27, that by top four standards is absolutly shocking. Normally you would regard Arsenal as a team, that finishes strong, but we have faded away into the darkness and now find ourselves 11 points off the top.

Our away form has not been good enough either this year. We have scored many goals away from the emirates but have conceded far too many. 7 defeats on the road, along with 4 draws, accumalates to 29 points lost in the race. Compared to Man united who only dropped 21 points away and Chelsea who has dropped 23 points away from home. Our form up North has also been nothing short of dismal also, 5 of our 9 defeats this term have been up North, against Man Utd, Man City, Sunderland, Wigan and Blackburn. Its the curse of the North once again that seems to haunt us once again.
Its time Arsene Wenger realises that the world is not always against us, we need to start grinding out victories away from home and holding onto leads, we don't seem to be able to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. These are the stats that have cost us the title this season, not teams cheating or referees performing poorly.

Thanks for reading, comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated

New Centre Back Pairing Next Season?

There is continued speculation over William Gallas' future as his contract expires on the 30th June. Arsene Wenger claims he is in talks over a new deal with the Frenchman, but as an outsider looking in, no progress seems to have been made. Arsene Wenger has a strict policy over players over 30 years of age, the same policy that has made us lose players such as Pires and Gilberto. William Gallas has played 142 games for Arsenal scoring 17 goals. This season William and Thomas Vermaelen have formed a decent pairing in defence, despite conceding 39 goals in the league this season. However I feel very comfortable with Gallas and Vermaelen sitting in the heart of our defence, and it should be a partnership that continues through to next season.

Since William Gallas came to the club as part of a swap deal with Chelsea for Ashley Cole in 2006, William has had a somewhat roller coaster ride at the club. However despite the tantrums and silly mistakes, William has been a very solid defender on the whole, and for the first half of this season proved to be in great form. Since losing the captaincy Gallas has stepped his game up this season, it looks like he has had a weight removed from his shoulders and he can just play football, which is what he loves to do. William is a player we need to keep around the club, he gives us great experience, a drive to win games and a winning mentality that at sometimes this season has been missing throughout the club.

If we were to lose William, we would be left very bare at centre back. Despite Johan Djourou coming back to fitness which is a great boost, we are still left with hardly any cover. Of course we have Sol Campbell, but even he is not 100% certain to be here next year. We have Silvestre and then Senderos, who is another one who's future at the club is far from clear, and then u start looking at the youngsters such as Kyle Bartley and Harvard Nordveit. Out of the names just mentioned, none of them hardly fill you with profound confidence to partner Thomas Vermaelen at the heart of a problem stricken defensive team. If Gallas were to go we would definitely have to go in to the market for a Centre Back. We have been linked with PSG captain Mamadou Sakho in the past, at just 20 years of age he is a great prospect, but do we really need another player who is set to blossom in a few years? What we would need is a starting centre back. Of course these players don't come cheap and aren't exactly easy to find. There has been continued speculation of bringing Brede Hangelaand to the club, which in my eyes would be an absolutely fantastic signing. Names such as Kamil Zayatte, Neven Subotic and Steven Jones have also been thrown in to the mix.

However before we put the cart before the horse, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, I personally would love William to stay and I hope he does, he shows a lot of passion on the pitch, and clearly enjoys wearing the Arsenal shirt, but if he was to leave then we must sign someone to not only replace him but to form a partnership with Vermaelen in defence.

Thanks for reading, be sure to leave your feedback

Wenger Looking To Sign Before World Cup

Personally, I think its great that Wenger has identified the need to strengthen, some may say a few years too late, but at least now Wenger understands that the squad we have is not good enough. In the 13 seasons Arsene Wenger has been at the club, we have witnessed some great players with the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira, Petit, Overmars, the list is endless. However if you look at the Arsenal line up this season, how many of these players would you regard as world class players. I would count Fabregas and Van Persie as probably the only two players that would get into any other team in the world. We have good players but other than the two mentioned, I don't think we have anyone else that is a truly outstanding talent.

In my last post I identified the areas that i felt we needed to strengthen. I said we need a keeper, an extra creative midfielder, as well as a defensive midfielder and a striker. I would also add a centre back to that list. The problem Wenger will face in trying to land world class players is that, no-one who is remotely good enough is available to sign. The bigger clubs in Europe are no fools, they understand that they must keep hold of their best players and will only sell them for an absolutely ridiculous price, that only maybe Real Madrid and Man City could afford. Why would a player playing for Bayern, Real, Barca, Inter or any other big team around Europe want to come to Arsenal. We don't pay as much and were not exactly winning trophies every season are we. Arsenal have lost their appeal to players. For example if we wanted to sign David Villa from Valencia, we would face stern competition from many clubs. We would not be able to cope with a bidding war because although funds are available, we cannot cope with the financial power of the competing clubs. We don't stand out of the crowd anymore either, players would much rather take the money and go sign for Man City, I mean who can blame them, Man City are definitely a team on the up.

It will be interesting to find out who Wenger's targets actually are, and how he intends on luring them to the club. Wenger said he would like to sign them preferably before the World Cup starts, so maybe we should expect some activity within the next few months or so. The signing of Chamakh is almost a done deal, and from what I have seen of him, he should be a very decent acquisition. One thing I no however is that whoever Wenger wants to bring in, he is going to have to work extremely hard to bring them to the club.

Maybe Next Year...Where have we heard this before?

Things were looking bright for the club heading into the final games of the season, with a quarter final against Barcelona to look forward to. How quickly things can change though. Before we could even blink an eye we are sitting third in the league 6 points behind Chelsea, with 3 games remaining and smashed out of the champions league by a rampant Barcelona. I hope these last few weeks have taught Arsene Wenger a few lessons, because I certainly have learnt a lot from them.

First of all I would like to look at the positives from this season. Lets face it, know one expected us to be in with a shout this season, but we were almost there. The form of players such as Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and the signing of Thomas Vermaelan also shed light on a mixed season. We have shown lots of character throughout the season, scoring many last minute winners to gain vital points in title race. I suppose another good thing coming out of this season is realising that we are not good enough. I think Arsene Wenger has seen now that improvement must be made, or else we may find ourselves going on a downward spiral.

Its evident from this season the defence was not good enough. We have conceded 39 goals in the league this season so far, that is the 8th best record in the premier league, with teams such as Tottenham, Fulham and even Stoke having a better defensive record against us. There is a saying that 'offense sells tickets, defence wins championships'. I'm not just saying that the back four has been poor, because that wouldn't be true. In Clichy, Sagna, Gallas and Vermaelan, we have four of the best defenders in the world. However just because you have the best defenders doesn't mean to say you will have a great defence. Defending is a an art and takes the whole team to create a great defensive team. For example Man Utd, they have the best defensive record this season. The difference between United and Arsenal defensively is huge. The way Uniteds midfield close down, and intercept crucial passes is a joy to behold. Defence is not only just about stopping the attacking team, its about being disciplined and creating a brick wall. Arsenal instead of having a brick wall seem to have a bit of tape. Its not just against the big teams our defence has been found wanting, but even against some of the smaller teams, we have struggled to keep a clean sheet, and concede silly goals. We have kept 12 clean sheet this season compared to Man Utd's 17. Those 5 clean sheets could well be the reason why the title has been taken away from us.

In my opinion we must find a new keeper, Almunia has made some great saves this season, but i find it no coincidence that we have Almunia in goal and we concede far too many goals. I have been watching Hugo Lloris of Lyon, and he I believe would be a great signing. Also being linked with Joe Hart has bought a smile to my face, he is England's future number one, and i thoroughly believe that he has the ability to be a top keeper. Another name to throw into the mix is Igor Akinfeev of CSKA Moscow, highly regarded as one of the best young keepers in the world. Of course it would be harsh to just lay the blame on Almunia himself, but he certainly is a huge factor. Another factor is that we just cant defend as a team. There is a problem tactically with how we defend and I think that problem can be addressed on the training pitch rather than bringing in new personnel. Man Utd still defend better than us even with Vidic and Ferdinand out injured, and I'm pretty sure we have better defenders than Stoke and Fulham do. This in itself shows that you can have the best defenders in the world but if you don't defend as a team, then you are going to be in big trouble, and we have learnt this the hard way this season.

Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and even Abou Diaby have been great this season, but even still i would like us to bring a new face in midfield. I think it has been unfair on Alex Song to play as many times as he has this season, its no wonder why he is now out injured for the games we really needed him to be fit for. I have been a long term fan of Yaya Toure. He could give us something different to what we have, and you don't just have to play either him or song, you can play them both. Against teams like Chelsea and Man Utd, I think it could actually help us playing two holding men, just to give us that extra strength in the midfield. He could be a few bricks in the wall i was talking about creating earlier on in the article. If we could secure the signing of Yaya Toure then I would be extremely happy.

Despite scoring 78 goals already this season, which is not bad at all, i still think in some games we have lacked a certain spark, especially without Van Persie. We need another striker, and after watching Chamakh, i feel he may give us something that we have been missing. However the issue doesn't just stem from the strikers. I feel sometimes that we run out of ideas in midfield and end up leaving all the creating down to fabregas. We still need another player that can create something out of the blue, we have to compensate for the fact that players like Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky are going to have off games, we need someone who can come in and be effective from the off. I personally would like to see Gourcouff at the club. He is an Arsenal player through and through and i think he would thrive in the Premier league.

A lot of improvement must be made for next season, not only to win the title, but also to compete. Teams such as Tottenham, Man City and Villa are very close to penetrating the top four, as Liverpool have found out this season already. We must improve our personnel, our tactics, our mentality and we must start to create this winning attitude. I'm fed up of being satisfied with 'we were nearly there'. That attitude will never secure as a Premier League title. Personally I'm very offended that people don't expect Arsenal to challenge anymore, and 'nearly there' is seen as an accomplishment by the outside world. Arsenal Football Club should be winning trophies like they always have done, not bottling out of title races and throwing away opportunities to win trophies. We should be out to win every trophy we enter in for whether it be the Carling Cup of The Champions League. Until this attitude can be established in this Arsenal team then we will be going nowhere fast.

Be sure to leave your comments and feedback.

We're back!!

After a long Christmas period, Mr Arsenal Blog is finally back. A lot has happened since I have been away on and off the pitch. First things first I suppose, I would like to welcome Sol Campbell back to the club. I personally feel that he will be a great signing for us. I would feel miles more comfortable having him fill in at the back rather than silvestre. After watching him in the reserves the other night against The Hammers he looked like he could still cut it with the best. Of course he will be lacking that match fitness, but class and experience is priceless in the world of football and Sol will give us that in abundance. In regards to fitness concerns over Sol, I am not worried. Arsene Wenger would not take a player on if he felt that he was unfit to wear the shirt, so i trust Arsene in hes judgement. Just going back to the West Ham reserve game I would like to congratulate young Jay Emmanuel Thomas on a superb hat trick, I'm sure there will be many bright times ahead for him.

In my last blog I discussed concern over Eduardo's ability to still play at a top level. I still bare those concerns, despite him scoring a few goals recently. He still looks half the player he was two years ago and I hold no confidence in hes ability to finish a chance. I hate to criticise Arsenal players, but I am running out of excuses for Eduardo. This leads me on to my next point on whether we need to buy a striker in this transfer window. So far transfer activity throughout the Premier League has been few and far between. Only £7m has been spent this January compared to nearly £60m at this point last year. Arsene Wenger quite clearly is out in the market for a striker, however the financial figures as stated above, prove to me that unless a bargain can be struck then we will be unlikely to sign a striker this January. To be honest be have been linked with every striker under the sun. Any body that scores a goal we are linked with. I found the rumours about Carlton Cole particularly interesting. Is Carlton what we really need? I'm not sure. Without a doubt we lack a physical presence up front, and Carlton Cole will definitely provide us with that, but I am still not convinced. Despite Wenger ruling out signing Carlton Cole the bookies still see Arsenal in the hunt for the West Ham front man. My thoughts are unless Wenger can strike a fantastic deal with a club for a striker then we may have to just rely on what we have because I cant see Wenger splashing out £45m to bring David Villa to the club.

In my previous blog I feel i undermined Alex Songs importance to the club, he will be sorely missed for the month he is in Angola. Hopefully Cameroon will lose their next game and he will be with us much sooner. Alex Song has grown in stature supremely to become one of the key figures at the club, him and Fabregas have held strong and look to have formed a formidable partnership in the middle. Another player who has impressed me has been Abou Diaby. The quality of this guy is immense, he is strong, quick, technically very astute and an all round very gifted player. The problem with Abou Diaby has always been his inconsistency, but this season he seems to have found his feet and every time he plays, he provides endless excitement and works tremendously hard for the team, and at times is virtually impossible to defend and play against.

Thanks for reading folks, hope you enjoy what u read, comments and feedback would be appreciated.