I do not really share the excitement or the desire for someone like Shay Given who has been a great shot stopper (especially against us) over the years but fans who have seen him first hand will say that he isn’t the most dominant from high balls

I can now understand why Sol Campbell couldn’t hack two games a week. I played a 45 minute five a-side match on Monday then played my usual 11 a-side last night and I tell you what my legs feel like they are about to disconnect from my body and crawl back into bed.

I scored a diving header at the far post to make it 5 goals in my last 5 games so I am pretty chuffed about that.

One of the guys who played last night is an Egyptian in his late forties and about three times fitter than myself and very skilful, apparently he played at quite a high level in his younger years. Anyway he is a Fulham fan and we spoke about Mark Schwarzer. He said that Schwarzer’s greatest strength was his ability to come and catch crosses. Apparently Fulham fans always felt safe when the ball was crossed in as they knew Mark would come and pluck it out from the sky. I thought back to the David Seaman days when the whole stadium knew that the cross that was about to be floated into the box was going to be big Dave’s ball.

I do not share much of the negativity towards Almunia as many around the blogosphere do but at the same time I do not share that same confidence from crosses that I used to with David Seaman in goal. If this Schwarzer deal comes off before the window closes then I hope to have that same feeling again, perhaps the Arsenal back four will also feel that confidence again.

I do not really share the excitement or the desire for someone like Shay Given who has been a great shot stopper (especially against us) over the years but fans who have seen him first hand will say that he isn’t the most dominant from high balls. He is small for a goalkeeper and often flaps from crosses. Surely we do not want another goalkeeper in that mould. I think many are thinking of his name before anything else.

I have been reading the reaction to the draw up at Anfield and I am utterly amazed by some of the comments by Gooners about the result and performance.

It is like we ought to be winning every game 7-0 otherwise it is a shambles. A draw away from home against Liverpool is a very good place to start especially when the likes of Cesc and Song were not involved and Van Persie came on late.

As I mentioned in my Match Thoughts, I thought blaming Manuel Almunia for the Liverpool goal was a bit harsh. It seems as if our keeper is feeling the pressure from all the speculation. Almunia has said that he has found it difficult to concentrate due to all the repeated talks about his future at the club.

As I have said, I would like to him to stick around and continue to be part of the squad regardless about what happens. He is currently the best goalkeeper we have at our disposal. We cannot count the inexperienced Wojciech Szczesny as he is erm.. inexperienced and hasn’t played enough first team games to make a proper judgement. The problem is, I do not see Almunia wanting to sit on the bench as second choice, that is unlikely to happen, so if a new keeper comes in then I expect Almunia to seek pastures new and all that.

And so it all begins! *SIGH*

Samir Nasri is out for a month with knee problem sustained at Anfield on Sunday. I suppose it is wishful thinking to assume that all of our players can get through a league game without a bloody injury. Apparently Nasri will undergo minor surgery to correct the problem.

We haven’t even had the chance to get all our players together yet and they are already dropping. Djourou is just coming back, Song and Denilson haven’t played a minute since the world cup, Diaby has just come back. How many will hobble off against Blackpool on Saturday?

So what happens now? Samir heals and comes back in 4-6 weeks while player x already broke down two days before with a hamstring?

Forget lack of trophies, forget not playing our strongest teams in the FA Cup, Forget buying players. The one thing that has frustrated me more than anything else over the last few years has been injuries. I always start the season with hope that we will see the back of injuries but every season I end up being frustrated.

Perhaps I am overreacting and these injuries will clear up in the next few weeks and everyone will be fit together but even an optimist such as myself, struggles heavily with that.

All I wish for is our squad to have a run together so they can gel and all play at their best for a number of games before one of those players get struck down.

What infuriates me is when I speak to other team supporters and when I express my frustration about our problems I hear the ‘every club gets injuries’ of course they bloody do. But no club gets Arsenal injuries apart from bloody Arsenal oh and perhaps Everton for a period last season.

The one thing that it may well do is give Arsene the option of playing Chamakh and Van Persie in the same side. I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to be possible before but now a door has been opened for the pair of them to start against Blackpool. We shall see what Le boss does with his options.

On a brighter note, Arsenal are introducing the new fanshare which allows fans to purchase a small percentage of one share. The payment of the shares can be broken down into a monthly fee from as little as a tenner a month. It allows you plenty of flexibility as well. You can sell your shares on, or increase your investment.

It is a great way to get fans involved and also so us fans can have some sort of influence in the running of our club. Not much I would imagine but some.

I do not know very much about it as yet and I have tried to go to www.arsenalfanshare.com which appears to be down at this moment in time. You can bet a few people are trying to get on at the same time.

Right, it is time for soak my legs in the bath and get on with the day.

Back tomorrow.

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