I have never quite adapted to Gallas’ decision to choose Dennis Bergkamp’s magical number, I would go as far as to say that I felt a little uncomfortable with it but now it is free I think Van Persie is a worthy candidate for the number 10, if not then it should go to Emmanuel Eboue

The Dutch gear box is still stuck in 2nd gear yet they continue to motor past the opposition. Certainly a predictable cagey affair with Uruguay continuing to apply plenty of hard work and rely on the abilities of Diego Forlan. Imagine saying that of the striker when he was plying his trade oop’n’Manchester.

I have to say, I often hate when players shoot from stupid angles from 40 yards out when they have team mates busting a gut to get forward….. unless of course they arrow into the top corner. What a strike!

Gio Van Bronckhorst, take a bow son as Andy Gray would say. I know I may and perhaps should be questioned for quoting Andy Gray but a strike like that is worth making yourself look a little silly wouldn’t you say?

Wesley Sneijder has been doing for Holland what Cesc Fabregas was hoping to do for Spain. Please excuse the tired clichés but he is the player who pulls the strings in the midfield. His array of attacking passes are better than I thought. The licence to get into the opposition box and score has lifted him to joint top scorer in the tournament. Why Real Madrid let him go is just anyone’s guess. Most people would rather Sneijder in their team than Kaka these days.

I feel really sorry for Robin Van Persie, you can almost sense that he is desperately frustrated that he is not standing out as the best forward in the world, a label that I am sure Van Persie would want and believes that is within his grasp. Even if he is not winning games on his own he has played the role very well. Producing some great little reverse passes that almost led to goals on more than one occasion last night.

I have a theory though. perhaps the number 9 shirt doesn’t quite suit him, perhaps he would produce more in a number 10 shirt or something. Oh look, what a coincidence. Rumours doing the rounds twitter and now newsnow is that Robin will sneak into the Arsenal club shop and start reprinting his shirts to number 10. William Gallas has already left the building and has left the very sacred number 10 shirt behind. I have never quite adapted to Gallas’ decision to choose Dennis Bergkamp’s magical number, I would go as far as to say that I felt a little uncomfortable with it but now it is free I think Van Persie is a worthy candidate for the number 10, if not then it should go to Emmanuel Eboue. That would catapult his cult status through the roof.

But seriously though, I had a reading done the other day. Some type of tea leaf and horse placenta reading. The woman said that the number 10 shirt would give Robin the missing ingredients to make him the worlds best. His injuries would vanish, he would gain enough extra speed to challenge Walcott to a race, every strike off the woodwork would go in, so that is another 15 to his season tally. All jokes aside for a couple of seconds, I think the number 10 shirt would suit Robin Van Persie and I could not think of a better player in our squad to hand that shirt to. Perhaps Jack Wilshere can be next on the list but for now, Robin deserves his upgrade if the rumours are true.

Those crazy lot at Barcelona have outdone even themselves this time. They remind me of that person on the bus who is not aware that they are dribbling and snoring on the train whilst everyone looks at each other and smirk that the sleeping person is not aware of how ridiculous they are making themselves look.

I was hoping that a new president would bring some reality to the whole Cesc debate but I was so wrong. Sandra Rosell is giving Joanne Laporta a good run for his money.

Rosell said:

“We will never pay 50 or 60 million (euros) for Cesc, The whole world knows he wants to come and that we want to sign him,”

“It’s a topic that has become so public and that’s the worst thing you can do with a transfer, because it makes the selling club raise their expectations and you end up paying over the odds,”

*Sighing at the thought of having to write about this same crap again.. *

Firstly, if you will never pay 50 or 60 million Euros then can you kindly leave us alone. It really is that simple. I do not understand the mentality of the club. It is almost as if they expect us to package up Cesc with a pretty pink bow and send him to Barcelona with a bottle of the finest wine with a card attached saying ‘Thank you for lending us Cesc, apologies for the late return here is some free wine as a kind gesture’

The whole world knows that you want to sign him? I wonder why that is. Is it perhaps because your pathetic club keep instructing your current players to talk about how much you would like Cesc at Barcelona? Is that because Laporta, Xavi, Valdez, Pique and now yourself cannot help but mention his name in every 3-4 words you say.

Then he has the cheek to complain about how public the whole saga has been. Excuse me?

“It’s a topic that has become so public and that’s the worst thing you can do with a transfer, because it makes the selling club raise their expectations and you end up paying over the odds,”

I am expecting the boom boom of the drum followed by the canned laughter. It just isn’t coming. But surely they cannot be serious with a statement like that. Especially as Arsenal have said just about nothing about the whole thing.

Before I change the topic, let me just remind ourselves what Arsenal’s public statement was in regards to our captain.

Arsenal Football Club:

“Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is under contract with the Club until the summer of 2015. He is a highly-valued member of the team and part of our future plans.

“We have followed recent speculation linking Cesc with a move away from the Club but as there has never been any official approach for him, only two informal exchanges, in which we made it abundantly clear that we have no interest in transferring Cesc, we have refrained from publicly passing comment. However, yesterday evening we received an offer from Barcelona for Cesc and in response, we immediately and resolutely told them once again that we have no intention of selling our captain.

“To be clear, we will not make any kind of counterproposal or enter into any discussion. Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word.”

After re-reading that, it still sounds pretty certain to me. I would be pretty unhappy if we go against that for the sake of the club and not just Cesc Fabregas’ ability.

We are busy in the market again today. Plenty going on like the last few weeks. Man of the moment Mesut Ozil will be joining Arsenal after the club launched (much better to launch rather than fax you see) a bid of £20 million big ones. Ozil is just the player we need as Arsene attempts to add the missing ingredient to the squad. A creative attacking player to go with Cesc, Nasri, Arshavin, Rosicky, Wilshere, Ramsey etc

Arsenal do not plan to stop there though. One is not enough, Arsene wants Ger-many more *ahem* sorry *ahem* players to add to his squad. Stuttgart defender Serdar Tasci is coming for a cool £10 mil. Sorted.

Arsenal and Juventus are talking about a swap deal between Felipe Melo and Gael Clichy. Apparently Gael has watched Flamini closely and is very interested in taking a backwards step in his career. A source close to Clichy said ‘Clichy is bored of Champions League football and cannot wait to play in half empty stadiums’

Interesting stuff, of course I cannot name the source. That would be rather unprofessional and also because I made it up.

One, two, three.. we are back in the room.

Many fans including myself wondered what the deal was with Koscielny being a lefty like Vermaelen but it appears that he is not a lefty after all. He is apparently right footed but has a very good left foot. So it could be a straight fight between Djourou and Koscielny for a starting spot alongside Tommy V.

I am not sure that Arsene would spend almost £10 million on a backup defender. He has been bought to play if needed and perhaps even start the season, we shall see.

It was great to see some of the players back in training yesterday. The likes of Gibbs returning after his break last season. Wilshere and Sczesny back from their loan spells. You would imagine that those players who didn’t take part in the world cup will play a bigger role in the early pre season friendlies.

You could create a decent side from those players. How about this…

Not bad considering we had so many players at the world cup. It was nice writing a line up of some sort again though. Bring on the new season.

Back tomorrow.

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