The North Bank – “It’s got va-va-voom” (An Arsenal blog)

Saturday saw us run out 4-1 winners over Bolton with goals from Koscielny, Chamakh, Song and Vela, the Vela goal coming at the end of a twenty-four pass move. Song’s goal was the thousandth scored in the Premier League under Arsene Wenger’s reign. It was a big result for the team as we are traditionally a bit slow to get back into things after an international break, so to get the three points was very important for the team’s confidence and to keep its title challenge on track.

The defence did well overall, although there were some shaky moments, but that is to be expected when you consider that it was comprised of Eboue, Koscielny, Squillaci and Gibbs, with both centre backs being new to the English game. It was a bit of a gamble for the manager to take with that selection but it paid off and means that Clichy and Sagna will be rested and ready to go for the Braga game.

Fabregas made some fantastic passes and is showing signs of regaining his form, which is great to see and not a moment too soon. With the number of strikers we are currently missing, Cesc’s ability to pick and execute the perfect pass at the right time will be vital for us in the coming weeks. Speaking about Fabregas, the manager said:

"I have seen a few good performances from him and it is difficult to compare them. I don’t deny that there was a Barcelona story but I was always convinced he really loves Arsenal and he loves to play football. We play the game he loves to play and the game turns around him. He grew up in this team and to make this team win will be a bigger achievement than anything else for Fabregas."

The referee didn’t have the best of games, it must be said, and his sending off of Cahill was a bit harsh, to say the least and was made worse by the fact that it cost me three points with my fantasy football team. He could just have let play continue, with Arshavin surging forward and later book the player. Anyway, Bolton’s loss was our gain and from that point onwards we didn’t really look in any kind of serious danger.

Some people were blaming Almunia for the goal, but it was Koscielny’s header that put him in trouble and I don’t think that he did an awful lot wrong. I suppose the flak he took was directly linked to the ire still felt in some quarters that we didn’t sign a keeper in the summer. I think that we can expect similar outbursts by disgruntled fans towards our keepers each time a questionable goal is conceded, although I hope that won’t be the case.

Elsewhere, Wenger was talking about how the new financial regulations should benefit us as the club has been run in the right way, assuming of course that they are correctly implemented:

“It will be a massive advantage to Arsenal Football Club as soon as it’s applied if it’s well introduced. I don’t want to go into excuses but you want a business to be run properly and I believe that to lose £150 million a year you don’t deserve a lot of credit to win a competition. Meanwhile, we have balanced our books. Maybe some people think it’s right because they don’t care but if they had to run a business I don’t think it’s right.”

The News of the World again links us with Crewe’s 16yr old midfielder, Nick Powell. To be honest I am finding it harder and harder to get excited by the signing of a teenager. I’d prefer to see us linked with signing an established player.

Ahead of this week’s start of the Champions League group stages, Wenger said:

“For us a win next Wednesday night is vital, because I believe the group is much more difficult than people expect it to be. Braga finished in front of Porto last year – we played against Porto and know they are a good side. Also, they have just kicked Seville out in the play-offs.  Shakhtar Donetsk are one of the best European sides, that is why I believe it is very important we start well at home.

Belgrade is a good opportunity – if you want to well in the Champions League you need nine points from your home games and you need one result away from home. But let’s first start well against Braga and then we will see how far we can go.”

I am looking forward to the return of the Champions League but am not particularly looking forward to the 03:45 kick-offs. Lets hope that the team can hit the ground running and get three points against Braga.

That’s about all I have for today. Take it easy.

Saturday has finally arrived and we are just a few hours away from the return of football. Well, football that actually matters anyway.

Yesterday saw the announcement of yet another injury, that of Tomas Vermaelen, who is set to miss today’s game with an achilles injury. Let’s hope that he isn’t struck down by RvP Syndrome and that he returns for the game against Braga. My joy at us having a fully fit defense for the first time in bloody ages didn’t last very long! It was only about 6hrs after writing the post when the injury was announced.

I’m not sure why we seem to pick up more injuries than other teams, but I hope that it is something that the club can analyse and try to implement a fix for. Of course, not all injuries can be legislated for but, the muscular injuries we pick up may be because of something that is done on the training ground because we seem to pick up more of that kind of injury than other teams. I know that injuries like Walcott’s, and Van Persie’s last year, are just a bit unlucky but frustrating nonetheless.

The injury to Vermaelen should see us line up in defense with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, and Clichy. Midfield may be comprised of Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin and Eboue, with Chamakh being the sole striker up front. It will be interesting to see whether or not the manager starts with Eboue or if he decides to go with one of Rosicky or Vela instead. Perhaps Wilshere will get another chance to get a run-out.

Today’s game will be a big test for our central defenders as they will have to deal with the aerial fouling of Kevin Davies. It will be a baptism of fire for Squillaci on his debut for the first team. Fingers crossed he can deal with Davies’s elbows and all-round c*ntiness.

It’s interesting to see the amount of recent Eboue-related Tweets, I can only assume that there is still a bit of guilt floating around after the hammering that he took before. Yes, he has done really well to fight back from the low of the Wigan game but he hasn’t turned into the new Pires. Though it does seem that there is now a kind of Cult of Eboue picking up, which is kind of funny, I suppose, and if it helps boost the player’s confidence and helps him to improve even more, then that’s great. If you compare what Eboue went through with us and yet had the character to stay and fight his way back into the hearts and minds of the fans versus the likes of Diarra, who buggered off after just a few months because he wasn’t getting enough games, then you must admit that Eboue deserves whatever adulation he gets.

Elsewhere, I almost swerved off the road when hearing that Tottenham may be about to make Gallas their captain. Oh, how funny that would be. Please let it be true.

Hleb has been talking about his regret about leaving us for Barcelona and that he has been in contact with Cesc since returning to England. Let’s hope that he was telling Cesc how Xavi et al are a bunch of w*nkers with c*nt DNA.

The manager has also been talking about Jack Wilshere and his dropping for an u21 game:

“I was surprised and I don’t think it needs any more comment. Jack is quite focused on training and he wants to do well. From what I’ve heard Jack hasn’t done a lot wrong. If I go out with you and you have a problem, do you want me to run away?

If I have a friend with me and I’m in trouble I prefer that he stays. Sometimes for me a guy who goes out is not a footballer only. He’s a friend of a man who is there – why is it just the footballer who is completely different in that kind of situation? If I go out with you and you have a problem with somebody else I am not a footballer, I am somebody who is just trying to sort something out.

Ideally, footballers should be at home in bed at 3am…none of us were angels when we were 20 … we all made mistakes…you don’t make a career at the top level if you don’t know how to behave, it’s impossible.”

Just like he did with Walcott, I think Pearce has made a bit of a c*nt out of Wilshere and the way he treats our players really annoys me. Either a player is an u21 or a full international, they shouldn’t be d*cked around by being moved between the two squads. That is more so the case with Walcott, given his age. The dropping of Wilshere for the u21s last week and the reason given was a bit weak, to say the least, especially when you consider that Rooney played in both of the full squad’s qualifiers.

Although the game is an 11pm JST kick-off, the TV Gods are being a bunch of sh*tbags this week and the game won’t be shown until 1:24am on J-Sports Plus (J-Sports and Sky Perfect channel listings) I’ll be streaming this one, methinks.

That’s about all I have for today. Here’s hoping for a good result against Bolton today to help us forget about our injury worries. Fingers crossed that those journeymen cloggers don’t injure any of our players.

Take it easy.

Friday is here, at last. That means one thing, Arsenal are back tomorrow. I bloody hate international weeks, especially as the games involving European teams are never shown on TV here in Japan.

Since my last post, Theo has succumbed to RvP Syndrome and is now out for about 6wks. Though, after applying the revolutionary RvP Syndrome Theorem, I think it will probably be closer to 8wks before we see him playing again. What is it with our players and long-term injuries? Whatever happened to picking up a knock or a dead leg and just being out for a few days or a week or so? We don’t seem to do that kind of injury anymore. Strange and frustrating. The manager had this to say about it:

“The tackle looked quite bad. When you saw how it turned his ankle I thought it would be three or four days or four to six weeks. Unfortunately it will be four to six weeks. We had some good news about the scan because we were scared it could be worse. Overall it is a question of patience and rehabilitation. At the start we were optimistic, thinking it would be one or two weeks. But the damage was bigger than expected and he will be out for four to six weeks.”

I don’t know about you, but there is quite a difference between a few days and 6wks, especially given that they feared it could be a lot worse of an injury than it is. Maybe our medical team, and former staff, are just blind optimists. After the England game we were told that it would be less than two weeks before Theo would return, a prognosis probably given to Theo by Gary Lewin. It’s either gross incompetence or Helen Keller levels of blind optimism, but something just doesn’t add up with our current and former medical team. The whole thing is made all the more infuriating because Theo was really showing signs that he was actually beginning to improve. Like RvP, I don’t think that we will ever get a full season of fitness out of Theo.

Samir Nasri is recovering well and is in line for possible involvement against Bolton tomorrow, if needed. But, he is more likely to be held back for the game against Braga. The last thing we need now is to try and rush Nasri back only for him to have a recurrence of the same injury, another one of our fortes. But, good news all the same that he is available should the situation warrant it.

Squillaci, Djourou are available and that will leave the manager with a choice to make as to who will play alongside Vermaelen at the heart of the defense. It’s been a while since all four of our central defenders have been fit and available for selection at the same time. Denilson is also available for selection. I have a feeling that Koscielny will keep his place alongside Vermaelen. Which would see us start with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Clichy at the back. Midfield will probably be Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, Rosicky, with Chamakh playing up front.

The referee for tomorrow’s game is the inconsistent Stuart Atwell, so let’s hope that he has one of his good days. It’s a big ask, I know, but no harm in hoping.

More good news is that Ramsey is now running again and so at least he is properly back on the road to building up his strength and fitness again. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t have any major setbacks and avoids the kind of niggling injuries that Eduardo and Diaby picked up after their respective injuries.

That’s about all I have for you today. There should be more team news on tomorrow’s post once the manager’s weekly interview and press conference appear on ATVO.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Thankfully the exceptionally dull international week is over and all that remains to be seen is whether or not our players that were away on international duty have picked up any injuries while away with their national teams.

One player set to miss the weekend’s game against Bolton is Theo Walcott who was injured in the Switzerland vs England game. At first it was feared that he may be out for a while, but it seems that it is just bruising and that he may be in contention for the end of next week, fingers crossed.

Theo’s partner in injury crime, RvP, now looks set to be out until at least mid-October. It’s frustrating for us fans to see Robin get injured so much, so it must be infuriating for the player himself. I read somewhere, possibly the ever reliable Twitter…, that RvP has only managed a maximum of fourteen consecutives games for us before breaking down with some injury or another. It’s a shame, but it is up to the club to have enough strength in depth to deal with his annual absences because it isn’t as if his injuries are a surprise, they are an inevitability. I think the next time Robin gets injured, we should just double whatever recovery time the club announce and expect that to be the earliest possible return date for him. I’d be willing to wager that we won’t see him playing this side of November.

Squillaci played the full game for our reserves this week and it is good to see him get a bit of playing time under his belt before being included in the first team’s match day squad. He played alongside Djourou in central defense and it’s good to see Djourou get some playing time and fitness too. Fingers crossed the latter won’t be struck down by the highly contagious RvP Syndrome.

Also set to begin his road to full fitness is Samir Nasri, who is set to return to training in the coming days. Good news.

Reports suggest that Mark Schwarzer will quit Fulham on a Bosman next summer. I will not be impressed if he signs for us. Regardless of whether he is free or not, he will be 38yrs old next summer and we really should have a better goalkeeping transfer option than a 38yr old that has never played at a top club.

Wellington Silva is set to join us on a permanent basis in January, when he will be 18yrs old. It’s a shame he isn’t here now as we currently need all of the forwards that we can get. Though, at 18, it will be a while before we see the best of him and it will take him time to adapt to English football. The player himself had this to say:

“The experience in London was perfect. I can now dream of playing in the Premier League and I don’t think it will be hard for me to adapt. Mr Wenger has spoken with me and has helped me with my work and training. I am really looking forward to this challenge. It’s a great opportunity for me in my career.”

That’s about all for today. At least we can now all forget the internationals and start looking forward to our game against Bolton this weekend.

There is a lull in the typhoon rain now, so I’d best be getting myself home. Take it easy.

Not a lot going on this week, as you would expect given that the international break is just beginning to crank into gear.

The club announced their 25-man squad for the season, but like many other clubs it doesn’t actually contain the full quota of 25 players. Instead, the club announced a 20-man Premier League squad. Make of that what you will, but looking on the bright side it means that there is still room in the squad for a few more experienced players, preferably in January rather than next summer.

The full squad is as follows:

It’s interesting to see Armand Traore included in our list of selected u21 players given that he has joined Juventus on a season-long loan, likewise for Nacer Barazite who joined Vitesse Arnhem on loan. One can only assume that there is a recall clause included as part of those deals should our customary injury crisis strike.

Looking at the attackers listed in the first 25, it is a bit depressing to see that we are already down to just having Chamakh fully fit. Fingers crossed that he stays in one piece until we can get both Van Persie and Bendtner back to full fitness. It’s also interesting to see Mannone picked ahead of Szczesny. Granted, both are relatively inexperienced but I would have thought that the latter’s spell out on loan last season would have helped him edge ahead of Mannone for the third choice keeper birth. Though I suppose it doesn’t really matter all that much as he can be selected as an u21 anyway.

Apart from the announcement of the official squad for the season, there isn’t a lot going on. For those interested, Cesc is now on Twitter and you can follow him at @cesc4official

That’s about that. News is painfully slow in international weeks, particularly when the transfer window is also closed. Still, at least there is no more speculation on who we won’t sign.

Take it easy.