tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447239010584816742008-05-07T14:19:51.264-07:00Phatricknoreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-34290570407120168332008-05-07T06:21:00.001-07:002008-05-07T06:24:57.901-07:00

In anticipation of the summer, I'm starting a list of most wanted signings for anyone who is bored of the usual crap we get from the press. I'll start at the top.

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-84188870174588516152008-04-20T05:42:00.001-07:002008-04-20T05:42:21.005-07:00

We must get a full time contract negotiator - it is getting silly now. Since D Dein left, we've lacked someone to help Wenger in this respect. This is one of the major reasons we failed to sign the players we needed this season.I'm sure this will be put right in the summer.Then onto who to sign?Well our defence needs a truely commanding centerback. We've needed this since Sol Campbell left - I've

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-4788397055413896742008-03-29T10:26:00.001-07:002008-04-20T05:48:05.362-07:00

I think Walcott was also trying to send a message to Eboue and the manager? Think how many of those draws could have been turned into wins? Just a thought... There are question marks about his capability to defend for a whole match, if started on the right wing; but going forward there is no question he offers what Arsenal have lack pace, directness and width. His crossing is also arguably

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-2811571451707514462008-03-29T06:57:00.001-07:002008-03-29T07:00:49.087-07:00

Adebayorcould be more effective if he left the wide play and looked to his best attributes - size, pace, and aerial ability. I seriously thought when he scored that spate of headded goals he was finally learning where his strengths lie. But you have to feel sorry for the big man, theservice from out wide has been poor for two seasons (since thecole-pires-henry partnership was broken up). I can

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-25843346355754793032008-01-11T10:10:00.000-08:002008-01-11T10:28:08.852-08:00

So Arsenal sign Luke Freeman from Gillingham for a fee of 250,000 Million pounds up front possibly rising to 2 million on appearances. On the player Arsene Wenger had to say: “Yes, we will be pushing it through,” said the manager when asked about the Freeman deal. “I want to buy English,” he added with a smile. “I met the boy and I like him. He has personality and he looks alert. He’s a

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-64141827116110110722008-01-04T08:26:00.000-08:002008-01-04T08:49:54.303-08:00

The dearth of good technical players in England was pointed out to me by a friend as we recently watched a footsal game. I know this topic has been done, dusted with only the Alan Shearers of this world to be convinced. But the technical level of the game in this country is in a shocking state. I never played footsal, but heard about it around 1999 - a game developed in South America which

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-33822377577388929672007-12-20T06:48:00.000-08:002007-12-20T06:49:45.715-08:00

Karim Benzema, the French teenager who thrilled in Lyon's Champions League victory at Ibrox last week, says he will stay with the club until they win the elite tournament. The 19-year-old striker, likened in style to Thierry Henry has taken Ligue 1 by storm this season, and alerted Europe's top clubs to one of football's most exciting new talents. Arsenal, AC Milan and Real Madrid are all

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-53818683281562032352007-12-06T05:20:00.000-08:002007-12-06T05:38:59.310-08:00

The squad is facing testing times, with a fixtures blitz that would rock even the first team. Arsenal are looking likely to face most of the first half of December without several key players. Wenger does not expect to have his injured players back for Sunday's trip to Middlesbrough. Mathieu Flamini (thigh), Alex Hleb (hamstring), Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Robin van Persie (knee) all missed

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-22738550949138189572007-11-30T01:38:00.000-08:002007-11-30T02:18:13.892-08:00

December is going to be a long slog.. And injuries are coming thick and fast and to key personnel. Robin van Persie is still injured (despite the manager saying he was very close to a return last week), Fabregas is almost certain to be rested, and the ever present Clichy is out too. On the upshot, Flamini returns, so does Gallas and Adebayor will lead the attack. Villa are also without key

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-4290490658709595132007-11-29T02:12:00.000-08:002007-11-29T02:38:29.860-08:00

Arsène Wenger expects young Mexican Carlos Vela to be a part of his first-team squad next season. The Mexican, who starred in the Under-17s World Cup in 2005, signed from Guadalajara in January and is spending this season on loan at Spanish side Osasuna. He has one goal and one assist in three La Liga starts so far. But although he is out of sight the youngster - who hit eight goals for

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-19086204938606342007-11-26T09:14:00.000-08:002007-11-26T09:21:21.994-08:00

Tresor Mputu's goal, but that's not the funniest bit, have a look at the goalie's celebration...so funny...surly that must hurt your arse? Wenger seems impressed, and although the Congolese is not yet signed, experience shows that most signings published onto the website usually get offered a contract. The question is at 20, Mputu is clearly being signed with the first team in mind, which

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-86867774897727184082007-11-23T06:49:00.000-08:002007-11-30T03:36:19.805-08:00

I must confess, I laughed when I saw this. Arsene on the FA's predicament: “I am always happy to help if I can,” he told Arsenal.com. “I am not sure I am really gifted for that but if they want to know my opinion - and it is a confidential one - then I am always happy.” “If I was English then of course [I’d be interested],” he said. “But I am not so it is a ‘no’. That is in line with what I

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-65101567359977519282007-11-22T10:21:00.000-08:002007-11-22T10:32:28.746-08:00

Man alive!! I was mildly annoyed when I wasted 90mins of my life watching a Sunday league team take on Croatia on a Sunday league pitch! But I'm down right f****d off now to hear that Arsenal have six players out - six!! Still Wigan at home but we can't be taking anything for granted at the moment. The leaders are likely to have five midfielders unavailable - Alex Hleb (hamstring), Mathieu

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-5099196402579471912007-11-21T02:37:00.000-08:002007-11-21T03:28:11.051-08:00

Stuart Pearce was proud of his players after seeing them come from a goal behind on Tuesday night to take a well-earned point in Portugal. Within three minutes, their 100% record this qualifying campaign was in jeopardy as Vieirinha converted a penalty. But the England then went on to dominate large parts of the game, found themselves level through Adam Johnson's strike early in the second half

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-8639552194228519132007-11-14T02:13:00.000-08:002007-11-14T02:19:46.047-08:00

Arsenal’s Abou Diaby has declared that he will start to think about a move if he continues to warm the bench. Clearly in need of games, Diaby has taken a note out of his friend and teammate Lassana Diarra, by having a little moan about first team opportunities. However with the large number of games comming up in the league and with the manager likely to chop an change in the Champions league

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-69584242632832547872007-11-13T08:32:00.000-08:002007-11-14T01:42:08.354-08:00

Hamburg have pulled off a major coup after announcing the capture of Nigerian Macauley Chrisantus. Chrisanthus reminds me of something of a half-way-house between Yakabu of Everton and Arsenal's own Adebayor. The 17-year-old having won the U-17 world cup, winning the golden boot had looked to be on his way to the Premier League with Arsenal,Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-26539968436370079792007-11-13T01:39:00.001-08:002007-11-13T02:39:42.521-08:00

So Reading beat 1-3 (Shorey - Flamini, Adebayor, Hleb), top of the table, Ferguson ranting like the mad ol' drunk that he is, Arsene smiling and quietly confident. After a series of three draws, it was nice to have a clear win. However, despite Adebayor getting disallowed goal, I felt we never really got out of second gear, and with a bit of concentration in the final third of the pitch, the

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-76499735337748760432007-11-09T01:44:00.000-08:002007-11-09T03:27:08.874-08:00

With Arsenal not playing till Monday, there is little happening this weekend football wise. Some build-up for the game can be found here. Despite our thrashing of Reading last season, Martin Lawrenson (in his usual biased BBC column) says we will draw, well it's lucky he isn't particularly good at picking results..take note of his ever optimistic Liverpool predictions..eh! In other news,

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-16201645233272160212007-11-08T03:57:00.000-08:002007-11-08T14:08:08.107-08:00

Before the Manu game, balloons were released as a protest by Arsenal supporters, I realise this for some reason didn't make many headlines so I thought I'd post the images here.. Fat&Orange balloon protest...orange baloons....geddit? As in float away you horrible fat c*nt.. Arsenal played Slavia Prague yesterday in a largely forgettable game which Arseblogger summarises well. Basically with

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-76636890866095050022007-11-07T06:43:00.000-08:002007-11-07T08:02:29.487-08:00

Arsenal and France international Lassana Diarra, 22, explained his reasons for leaving Chelsea to join Arsene Wenger's Arsenal - and described the difficulties he faced as a youngster in France. Midfielder Diarra revealed how the coaching staff at Nantes and Le Mans felt his height and physique (5'8" and 9 stone) would prevent him from making the grade in top-flight football.Speaking to the

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-14484257649008847962007-11-06T09:20:00.000-08:002007-11-06T09:38:59.064-08:00

Yes, sometimes the system works...The EU Commission Gun Down Blatter Fifa president Sepp Blatter's hopes of reducing the number of foreign players competing in European leagues appear unlikely to materialise. The European Commission is considering imposing a quota on clubs to ensure they employ a minimum number of 'home-grown' players. But provided these players are permitted to work in the

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-75149671590474488542007-11-06T00:53:00.000-08:002007-11-06T01:15:35.723-08:00

The 18-year-old marksman, previously on loan at second division Spanish side Salamanca (scoring 8 goals last season and 15 assists in 31 appearances) is now currently parked at the top division side Osasuna. The pass and move build up for the goal is right out of the Arsenal style book. Vela dribbles forward with pace, passes the ball swiftly forward to a team-mate, and immediately sprints into

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-87115383718078144892007-11-01T06:39:00.000-07:002007-11-07T08:32:52.584-08:00

Firstly, apologies for not providing an update of the blog in recent times, I was a little carried away on some other projects, anyway I'm back now. With the Transfer Window closed I'm going to broaden the scope of the site to discuss more general footballing stuff - but as ever from an Arsenal slant... Again feel free to join in the debate. ------ Since my last post, it's been all guns blazing

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-72325301653291637792007-10-04T04:39:00.000-07:002007-11-07T08:31:20.060-08:00

Arsenal hit back on Wednesday at Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire metals magnate, saying his demands for an independent board and dividend payments were unacceptable. Football club officials were understood to be dismayed at Mr Usmanov’s decision to hold a press briefing in Moscow on Tuesday about his 23 per cent stake in Arsenal, and at his tone. Mr Usmanov, who owns Metalloinvest and

Phatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1144723901058481674.post-6591627555405426472007-10-03T08:02:00.000-07:002007-10-03T08:31:06.008-07:00

IF going into the last international break felt good, how sweet will things feel if we can dispatch Sunderland on Sunday? It would mean a perfect seven out of seven from the second segment of the season. Reading the teamsheet just before the match - My concern was for Fabregas and Flamini both players had run their socks off just four days before at West Ham. Faced with an equally tricky tie on

Phatricknoreply@blogger.com