Carlos Vela has finally secured his loan move away from Arsenal and it was not to Bolton or Valencia as we expected but to West Brom. Well done lad, I am proud of ya. I am sure he wanted the move to Spain but playing in the Premier League will give him more beneficial experience

Happy Saturday to you,

It is FA Cup weekend, and I could have done with sitting in front of the telly this afternoon watching the Gooners strut their stuff but as it is, I will have to wait a further 24 hours for that privilege.

This weekend’s batch of matches is a little more interesting for me, I have put a quid on a weekend accumulator which will see my bank balance increase by £5,748.55p if my selected teams win their games oh and Rochdale and Charlton draw.

I thought I had cracked the system by checking the teams form and league positions until it became clear that it was never going to be that straight forward when many of the games are against teams very close to each other in the league, or have almost identical form.

I am probably going to get every single prediction wrong anyway.

Back to the Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has confirmed that his number one goalkeeper is now Wojciech Szczesny as he has not done anything wrong. What a jump up the queue ey? Arsene has practically flipped the pecking order upside down from the start of the season.

Manuel Almunia was the first choice at the start of the season with Szczesny third choice begging for his chance to show what he can do. Two injuries later and the young, confident stopper is now ruling the roost. I must say, I feel sorry for Lukasz Fabianski who had been through so much and then to turn it all around until injury struck and robs him of his top spot.

Personally I believe that Fabianski is probably the more polished Pole. Szczesny has the physical advantage and that is huge (literally) in goal but his distribution and reflexes are not as good as Fabianski’s, even though he still has top reflexes.

Szczesny has made misjudgments coming for crosses on a number of occasions but it hasn’t been punished but this would not be highlighted because he doesn’t come with the same preconceptions as Lukasz.

I am by no means trying to belittle such a massive talent as Wojciech, I am just worried about his early elevation to world class by many. What is great about Szczesny is his confidence and self belief. He will only continue to improve and develop as a keeper and I am sure Fabianski will get many games with Arsenal being in all four competitions still.

Carlos Vela has finally secured his loan move away from Arsenal and it was not to Bolton or Valencia as we expected but to West Brom. Well done lad, I am proud of ya. I am sure he wanted the move to Spain but playing in the Premier League will give him more beneficial experience.

I have adopted West Brom along with Blackpool as my other team’s this season so I couldn’t be happier with the selection. They play some lovely pass and move attacking football so this move suits him no end. He has from now until the end of the season to prove his worth. Let’s see if my views on Vela are correct or poppycock.

I have been on record in saying that all he needs is a chance to show his ability. He needs 3-5 games in a row before he starts to score plenty of goals. Quick, skilful and a very good finisher. There is no reason why he shouldn’t prove he has a future at Arsenal from the next month or so.

Speaking of loans, Arsene Wenger has once again suggested that the best possible solution for a new center back would be to get one in on loan and I would have to agree with that. The trouble with that is where to find a player good enough to play for Arsenal, in all competitions for a club who are willing to allow said player to join us on loan? It would be difficult but if Wenger does find someone then that would be the perfect solution.

I suspect that Alex Song will play in defence tomorrow alongside Squillaci so effectively we are looking for a player to replace Song as fifth choice, that would be fine for me as long as Vermaelen actually comes back this time and Djourou and Koscielny remain fit and continue at the superb level that they are currently playing at.

Right that is all for now, I have to work out what I am going to spend my winnings on.

Back tomorrow for the pre match thoughts and predictions.