At the start of the new season, however, I was right back in the pub screaming at the television. That was the moment that I knew this club would be with me my entire life. I love Arsenal. I did while Henry was here; I do still after Henry has gone. Players come and go but the fans remain. We
The team visit a ground that has left such a mental scar for many fans around the world and probably some of the players and given the negativity surrounding the club with unsettled players it could be one of the worst grounds to have to visit on an opening day. But that depends on which glasses you are peering through. A solid and convincing team display and victory could wipe the slate clean for the players to take part, a chance to unlock the shackles that are attached to certain players who will not
Which is half-true, in that there wasn’t any news this morning. But it sure broke a few hours later that a deal had indeed been struck for €40 million, comprising €34 million in cash up-front and €6 million in add-ons dependent on performance. It’s definitely lower than his worth, but such is the price we pay (no pun intended) for having a selling market with only one club and a player
I am disappointed in his lack of ambition to succeed at Arsenal, who are also the club that offered him regular first team football at such a young age and nurtured him and educated him a lot over the last 8 years. Not to mention one that bumped up his wages a few times too and handed him the captaincy. That only adds to his responsibility and commitment levels at the club, which stregthens
The likes of Rooney and Ferdinand went to Manchester United for huge sums, sums that we simply could not compete with while the likes of Gerrard and Scholes and co were developed from young at their clubs. The club have been working on doing just that. Developing future British players and it is
Given his position on the pitch, age and footballing upbringing, it is difficult not to elicit comparisons with a certain Theo Walcott. The similarities are there. Having heard his first interview he seems to be softly spoken and lacking in the brash, brazen attitude that befalls many young footballers these days – a character trait shared by our Theo. The difference however seems to be that he is more natural a footballer than Theo, whose formative were less with a ball at his feet but more with sprinting spikes
The only time I see this formation workin' defensively and offensively thereby relievin' us from the creativity burden Cesc leaves us with when he eventually joins Barcelona is if we defend from the front. RVP, Theo, Gervinho, Arshavin are going to be Key in our Defensive/Creative structure. Closing down the opposition in their own half will free up spaces where we can plug gaps easily without the
So onto the important news of the day: the draw for the Champions League qualifier. We all wanted to avoid Rubin Kazan and we did. But we got lumped with the second-worst option in Udinese. First-leg is at home (sans the suspended RvP and Nasri) and as is always the case with home ties
It winds me right up that after two and a half months, Arsenal still haven't achieved anything in improving their weaknesses and there's an obvious solution staring them in the face at Blackburn. I'm not saying that Samba will be a guarenteed success and that Arsenal will be invincible if they sign him but, in my opinion, he would improve Arsenal. And now Tottenham have supposedly made a bid for him. If they are to over-take us in the near future it will be because of things like this. Wenger sitting with his thumb up his arse while Arsenal's rivals buy players and, as a result, get better than them
Juan Mata and Phil Jagielka are names that have been on fans lips over the past few weeks and it was those two names that were brought up at the press conference from digging journo's. Wenger seemed more certain about Jagielka explaining that it is down to clubs to agree a deal before talking about a player where as when it came to Mata he said that liking a player doesn't mean that you want