Schwadorf v Arsenal

Arsenal.com Schwadorf v Arsenal Mach Preview

Arsenal's 2nd and final friendly of their Austrian training camp sees the team face Schwadorf. Their name reminds me of a salad but lets hope they can provide a good work out for our boys.

Who could Arsenal face in the UEFA CL Third Qualifying Round?

Arsenal.com: Who could Arsenal face in the Third Qualifying Round?

Today at around 11am UK time Arsenal will find out who they'll be facing in the potentinal banana-skin which is the final qualifying round of the Champions League.

UEFA.com

SV Mattersburg 1 - 2 Arsenal

SV Mattersburg 1 - 2 Arsenal

Arsenal continued their pre-season with rather lucky win against SV Mattersburg.

"Tomas Rosicky made his Arsenal debut as Arsène Wenger’s side got their Austrian tour off to a winning start at SV Mattersburg on Tuesday night.

Goals from Jeremie Aliadiere and Justin Hoyte gave the visitors the advantage before Jurgen Patocka replied with 20 minutes of the match remaining."

The Austrians have already started their domestic compaign so this was a good test of fitness for the young gunners as well that those players returning from holidays. Hopefully an almost full strength side can line-up in the next game to really kick Arsenal's pre-season into gear.

On the transfer front it looks like Arsenal will be receiving £1.5m from Liverpool via Birmingham for Pennant. It'll be interesting to see how Pennant gets on if the move goes ahead.

Arsene Wenger has tried to cool talk of Cole leaving the club. You have to think though this he's just holding out for as much money as possible. This whole thing reminds me a lot of Anelka's move away from the club. It's clear to see which side benefitted most from that deal. I'm sure Arsenal will hold out for the same in any Cole deal.

SV Mattersburg vs. Arsenal

SV Mattersburg vs. Arsenal

Arsenal's regular pre-season schedule gathers pace tonight as Arsenal play the first match of their Austrian training camp. So far Arsenal have draw 0-0 with Barnet and lost 1-0 to Ajax (2-1 was after a mass of half-time special substitutions). Neither game featured anywhere near a full strength XI. Hopefully Arsenal will be able to field a stronger side tonight since a number of the players who were on holiday after the World Cup have now returned to training.

Bruce slaps £5m asking price on Pennant

ESPNsoccernet : Bruce slaps £5m asking price on Pennant

Arsenal will recieve 25% of any transfer fee. Hopefully they'll get the £5m fee and Arsenal can make use of the £1.25m they'd recieve.

Tribute to the Iceman

ESPNsoccernet - Europe - Tribute to the Iceman

An interesting tribute to The Iceman (No not Val Kilmer but our beloved Bergkamp)

'Hello, I am Dennis Bergkamp,' he said as he shook hands with his new teammates before coming on as a substitute in the second half. Though out of line with the Ajax tradition of the scoring debutant, he would make more than a century for them in the next six years before, via Inter, almost singlehandedly making Arsenal popular again.

Eleven years of Dennis Bergkamp - A picture special

Arsenal.com have posted Eleven years of Dennis Bergkamp - A picture special

This Saturday's curtain raiser for the Emirates Stadium will be a fitting send off for a player who's given the best years of his career to Arsenal. Surely Bergkamp will go down in history as one of the true Arsenal legends.

Arsenal announce 2006/07 squad numbers

Arsenal have announced the 2006/07 squad numbers. Confirming what I posted on here last week.

Mourinho to make one more signing (Cole?)

BBC SPORT : Mourinho to make one more signing

Chelsea are selling their 1st choice left-back Del Horno and they'll sign one more player. It doesn't take much to work out that there's a huge possibility of Ashley Cole making his desired move across London to Chelsea. Sadly it seems his heart left Arsenal sometime back. A real shame because he seems like a good guy who's followed bad advice.

Question is... How will Wenger invest the funds raised by this deal? Surely a centreback is a must. Also if we lost Cole do we rely on Hoyte, Clichy and Flamini at left-back? Probably. I trust Wenger on this one. If Cole goes it'll have to be at the right price.

Shoulder injury could sideline Senderos for three months

Arsenal.com: Shoulder injury could sideline Senderos for three months

Increasing the need to look for a player who can offer cover at centre-back.

Saviola not a target - Wenger

Seems that all the talk of Arsenal signing Javier Saviola was little more than just that... talk. Wenger has also confirmed an interest in Curtis Davies but as I expected the £10m price tag does come even close to being an acceptable Wenger bargain deal!

I now expect Wenger to work so transfer magic and bring in someone we've never heard of for some ridiculously small amount of money.

Spurs to sign Duff?

It certainly looks like Arsenal's arch rivals Tottenham are closing in on a deal to sign Duff from Chelsea. If this goes through then Spurs will have two very dangerous wingers in the form of Lennon and Duff. Interesting times at our near neighbours. I still think they need two world class full-backs if they're serious about becoming top 4 contenders.

Arsene Wenger: 'This boy has some promising talent'

Arsenal.com: Wenger: 'This boy has some promising talent'

Here's the most interesting part of what the manager said post match after Arsenal's 0-0 draw with Barnet:

"Joe O'Cearuill was a little bit committed. But a little bit short of fitness in the second half. Vincent van den Berg did well when he came on. He gave some great balls. We always go for the best and young and I feel that this boy has some promising talent."

With the senior players starting to return after July 20th it'll be interesting to see who plays this weekend in the Emirates Stadium Curtain Raiser/ Bergkamp Testimonial. My bet is a strongish side for the first 45 minutes then a side of ex-Gunners in the 2nd half. Should be a cracking event. If you've not got tickets then be sure to watch the match live on Channel 5 from 5pm this Saturday.

Also on the subject of transfers:

"We will sign one player or two maximum, but no more."

My guess is Saviola and a centre-back.

Vincent van den Berg in 19 man squad to face Barnet

Vincent van den Berg is one of two new faces in Arsenal's squad as they travel down the A1 to Barnet. The Dutch under-17 forward was signed from SC Heerenveen over the summer. The other player is Joe O’Cearuill a 19 year old defender signed from Watford.

It looks like Arsenal's starting line-up will be:

Almunia
Gilbert, Cygan, O'Cearuill, Hoyte
Hleb, Song, Flamini, Smith
Lupoli & Aliadiere
More or less the bare bones of the squad. I expect Hleb to play a key role and I'd love to see a couple of the youngsters play well. I suppose this is really a warm up for the big event next week; Bergkamp's testimonial & the opening of the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal Squad Statistics - 2005/6 Review

As Arsenal prepare to take on Barnet can kick of the pre-season for 2006/07 lets take a look at Arsenal's Squad Statistics to see if we can see how the squad performed this past season:

Goalkeeping:

In goal there really was no competition. Jens Lehmann started 48 games and Almunia had 7 games. Surely Arsenal will need to strengthen this position.

Defence:

Kolo Toure was the star man in defence this year. He only played one game less than our most played player, Gilberto. Bear in mind that Toure was away most of January and you begin to understand just how key he is now. He also contributed with 1 goal and 1 assist. Senderos got 2 goals as did Cygan (remember him!?). Campbell got 3 goals and 2 assists making him the most offensive of the centre backs, wouldn't of thought it at first look. This season was tough on our full-backs with Cole, Clichy and Lauren all being injured for long spells. Even so Lauren still played 30 games but only had one assist. Compare that to Eboue who in 23 games scored 1 goal and had 4 assists, it's not hard to see why he's seen as Arsenal's #1 right-back now. Cole had a duff season with only 13 starts and no goals or assists!

For next season Arsenal must hope that at least 1 of the first choice fullbacks can stay injury free.

Midfield:

Gilberto lead the team in games played with a total of 47 starts and 1 game as a substitute. Cesc Fabregas was the player with the most appearences throughout the season. He made 41 starts and come on as a substitute 9 times. 50 games in one season is an amazing feature for such a young player. Gilberto and Cesc were quite clearly the starting pair in centre midfield. They were the most constant feature during what was a rather up and down season.

Fabregas, Ljungberg and Pires were the most productive midfielders. Fabregas had 5 goals and 5 assists. Ljungberg had 4 goals and 5 assists while Pires had 11 goals and 4 assists. Ljungberg's performances this season represented a real down turn in his productivity. If he's going to be a regular starter he needs to be hitting double figures for goals. Pires' 11 goals certainly will need to be made up for this coming season by the newly signed Rosicky.

Attack:

Obviously Thierry Henry was the leading attacker with 33 goals and 6 assists. Although Reyes was unable to find the net very regularly this season with just 6 goals he led the team in assists with 14. Van Persie did well to get 11 goals in just 21 starts. Arsenal will need to get more of the forward players into the high teens low twenties for goals to remove some of the reliance on Thierry's goal scoring. I'd expect to see Van Persie scoring 20+ goals this coming season. Also Adebayor should be able to add a good number of goals. His 1 goal in 12 starts was offset by 4 decent assists for Henry.

Interestingly Reyes led the team in fouls suffered. He also led the team in yellow cards, no doubt testiment to his workrate and lack of finesse in the tackle. Gilberto led the team in fouls committed with 71 but only collected 5 yellow cards and 1 red (somewhat unfairly).

Vieira could feature in Arsenal’s friendly at Barnet

Arsenal.com Vieira could feature in Arsenal’s friendly at Barnet

"Arsenal fans could recognise two familiar names when the Barnet team-sheet is announced prior to the Gunners’ first pre-season friendly on Saturday."

Not the Vieira you were thinking of though! ;-)

Silly Season Update: Walcott's not off on loan, Fabregas still not going anywhere and Ribery not likely to come to Arsenal

ESPNsoccernet : Walcott's agent denies Arsenal loan plan SHOCK! I can't see any reason to loan out Walcott. He's got the talent to make it at Arsenal. I'd prefer to see him get games with the Gunners.

Another player not moving is Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas staying at Arsenal despite Real offer. Again no surprise there either. Cesc would have to be insane to join Madrid!

Finally Franck Ribery's agent has denied a £10m offer for his player from Arsenal.

Thank goodness tomorrow sees Arsenal actually take part in a proper football match. The transfer talk can stop for 90 mins at least. It'll be interesting to see who turns up for Arsenal considering that the World Cup only ended a week ago at least 16 of our players must still be on their summer holidays. Should give us a chance to see some of the young guns in action though. Their contribution could be especially important this year as the competitive games start a few weeks earlier.

Wenger is Raring to Go!

Arsene Wenger has set out his stool for this coming season:

"I cannot wait to start the season because I want to come back, to be strong and to continue the progression of the team."

I admit I feel a whole lot more positive about this season than I did at the start of last season. Arsenal transition is in full flow and the move to the Emirates Stadium is a vital step in the club's progression.

Harlow Town FC's Hammers clash called off

HEN Sport : Star Sport : Hammers clash off

Harlow Town's new Barrow Farm Stadium is not yet ready so the scheduled curtain raiser with West Ham has been called off. There are hopes that it can be rearranged to coincide with Marc Salmon's testimonial, ala Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial opening the Emirates Stadium (I had to get an Arsenal link in there somewhere!).

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

This make is quite clear why FIFA doesn't want to introduce video evidence! Cameras don't always 'never lie'...


Was it as it first looked?

Puxa Corinthians esta muito ruim! Corinthians 0x2 Cruzeiro

Gazeta Esportiva.Net - Futebol - Seu Time - Cruzeiro

"Apesar da pausa de 37 dias no Brasileirão, a Fiel não perdeu a conta e sim a paciência. Nesta quarta-feira, o Corinthians foi derrotado pela quinta vez consecutiva e desperdiçou a chance de acabar o jejum de gols que teve início no dia 21 de maio. Com o resultado (2 a 0), o Cruzeiro se manteve na liderança do Brasileirão (24 pontos) e deixou mais uma vez o adversário paulista na zona do rebaixamento (nove pontos)."

Vamos ver se a volta de Tevez, Mascherano e Ricardinho pode dar uma melhoradinha! Gente 5 derrotas seguidas!

Saviola & Adebayor, together again?

With Lehmann's former team mate at Dortmand, Rosicky, joining Arsenal it seems fitting that we should also sign Adebayor's former team mate at Monaco, Javier Saviola.

Paulo Wanchope to Corinthians!?

In the wacky world of russian oil money funded football all sorts of wierd transfers are taking place. Now there is talk in Brazil of MSI owned Corinthians signing former Derby County striker Paulo Wanchope. Wanchope alongside Tevez would be an interesting sight. The Brazilians are more worried by the inlux of foreign players into their domestic game. Ironically Corinthians had more Argentinian players at the World Cup than Brazilians.

Saviola's agent still talking up a move to Arsenal

The BBC are reporting that Saviola is setting his sights on a move to Arsenal.

If this report is true then it is very good news indeed. Let's hope Wenger can pull of a coup and bring Saviola to the Emirates Stadium. He's a very intelligent player who'd go some way to filling the Bergkamp void.

Gooner News: Senderos to wear the no.6 shirt

According to a report on Gooner News : Senderos to wear the no.6 shirt this coming season. Makes sense really considering that he's obviously our first choice centre back alongside Kolo Toure. He was also outstanding for Switzerland during the World Cup. Here's hoping he can continue to improve and wear the number 6 shirt in the manner of it's former occupant, Tony Adams.

Other squad number changes:

Fabregas will wear the number 4 shirt, Toure will be wearing number 5 from now on and new signing Tomas Rosicky will take the number 7 shirt previously worn by Robert Pires.

Wenger - Fabregas is not for sale, he is Arsenal’s future

Arsenal.com: Wenger - Fabregas is not for sale, he is Arsenal’s future: “At 19 years old, Cesc represents the future of Arsenal Football Club and we are looking forward to him being a major part of our plans for many years to come.”

That settles that then. It was obviously election talk from day one.

ANR: "My wish-list : Hargreaves, Saviola, Ribery, Davies"

ANR: "My wish-list : Hargreaves, Saviola, Ribery, Davies"

I totally agree with this list. Every one of these players would be a good fit at Arsenal. I think Saviola and Davies are the most likely. Hargreaves would be a very interesting signing. Ribery would surely become Arsenal's ugliest ever player!

One thing is for sure: Rosicky will not be Arsenal's only signing this summer!

"I've known Marco for a long time and I don't think he is capable of provoking a player. He is a good boy."

Who say's football agents aren't impartial!?

If there's any footballer in the world who deserved a world class headbutt in the chest it's hatchet boy Materazzi!

Check out Arsenal's Pre-Season training

Arsenal.com: Arsenal pre-season training - picture special

This is quite amusing. Basically check out pictures of Flamini, Cygan, Hoyte and Song training with the youth team. The rest of the squad are on post World Cup holidays.

Talking of which... What a bummer! 16 players at the World Cup and not one of them won the trophy.

Defending, The Roberto Carlos Way

Wenger asks for diving clampdown, Lyon NOT signing Gilberto & Rangers look at Bendtner

Arsene Wenger has suggested that diving should be looked at post match and those responsible punished. He say's that "this generation has grown up with Maradona's hand of god as an example". Can't say he's wrong there at all. Poor old Eboue had better watch out though!

Gotta love this. Lyon have dismissed links with Gilberto, surprise! Anyhow the real chuckle comes from this comment:

"Having ridden the speculation linking Gilberto with a move to Lyon, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is likely to be doubly determined to keep hold of his man."

Or in other words:

"Having read what was obviously a lie Gunners boss Arsene Wenger carried on with his breakfast."

Have quashed one rumour Sky now state that Nicklas Bendtner could be moving to Glasgow. He's a good kid and I'd be surprised if Wenger would sell him outright at this stage. He's a nice foil for Lupoli, Bendtner is very tall whereas Lupoli is rather small.

Wenger seeks defenders urgently

ANR have made a good point about the depth or lack of it in Arsenal's defence.

Let's take a quick look at Arsenal's defence:

Right Back:

Eboue
Lauren (injured)
Gilbert
Hoyte

Centre Back:

Toure
Senderos (injured)
Campbell (listed)
Cygan (listed)
Djourou

Left Back:

Cole (listed?)
Clichy (unfit)
Flamini
Larsson

It's quite clear that if Campbell and Cygan leave then Arsenal will need at least one experienced defender coming in and one very good youngster. If Cole leaves then Arsenal will be really exposed at left-back. Surely we cannot rely on Flamini to fill in there for another long stretch.

So who will Arsenal sign?

Trabelsi looks a certainty. He's on a free and would add experience and versatility. Curtis Davies would be a good addition too. Left back would be the hardest position to fill. There is a real lack of quality players in that position. It'll probably take some special Wenger magic to unearth the next Ashley Cole.

Take a look at the latest Emirates Stadium pictures

Arsenal.com: Take a look at the latest Emirates Stadium pictures

Simply Majestic!

Liverpool sign South American duo

BBC SPORT : Liverpool sign South American duo

It's always good to keep an eye on the competition so with that in mind lets talk a little about Liverpool. They've got a stronger attack now that Morientes is gone and Cisse is going! The signing of Bellamy will give them needed cutting edge. The addition of 3 South Americans to their squad will not hurt them at all. I've felt for a while that what Liverpool lacked was some South American flair. Certainly Gonzalez and Aurelio will bring that. Paleta will add some grit, he's a typical Argentinian centre back, the type Benitez is fond of. Will it be enough for Liverpool to over turn Chelsea? Don't think so, but as I've been saying all along Chelsea are their own worst enemy. I do think Liverpool could be strong contenders in the Champions League this coming season. I expect them to be top 3 in the league and at least in the last 8 of the Champions League.

Nilmar signs deal with Corinthians/MSI, Nilmar é do Timão

Corinthians have announced that MSI have struck a deal with Lyon for Nilmar. He's been on loan at Corinthians for the last year and has been a great success. Why is this of interest to Arsenal fans? Nilmar has been linked with Chelsea in the past and with MSI's connections with Chelsea there's a chance he could head to London one day.

A parceria Corinthians/MSI anuncia acordo sobre o jogador Nilmar. A negociação com o clube francês Lyon foi concluída com sucesso.

Gilberto is going to Lyon and Fabregas to Real Madrid

Sky Sports - The Transfer Dribble From Around The World

Yeah cuz Arsenal would love to sell Gilberto. Last summer he was moving to Villarreal. No chance of this happening.

Saviola to Arsenal is gaining speed though. Bolton, yes Bolton, seem to be the only competiton to Arsenal signing the tricky Argentinian playmaker. I'd love to see us sign Saviola since he's a player who has never quite fulfilled his potential. Wenger surely is the man to help his reach his potential.

Have a chuckle at the latest Real Madrid rubbish

Cesc, Robben, Kaká all keen on playing at the reality distortion zone that is the Bernabéu.

Edelman - Emirates Stadium almost ready

Edelman - Emirates Stadium almost ready

I for one cannot wait to see this stadium full of fans! Arsenal will have the best stadium in the country!

Arsenal announce three more pre-season friendlies

Arsenal have announced three more pre-season friendlies.

This brings Arsenal's preseason schedule to 6 friendlies.

With the Champions League qualifying rounds to worry about Arsenal's summer programme is slightly shorter this year. Arsenal's first friendly game is in ONLY 10 days time!

Summer Friendlies:

Barnet vs Arsenal
July 15th, 3pm

Arsenal vs Ajax - Bergkamp Testimonial
July 22nd, 4:15pm

SV Mattersburg vs Arsenal
July 25th, 7pm

Schwadorf vs Arsenal
July 31st, 5pm

AZ Alkmaar vs Arsenal
August 4th, 5pm

Boreham Wood vs Arsenal XI
August 4th, 7:30pm

The season kicks off on either August 8th or 9th when Arsenal play their CL qualification match 1st leg.

Jeremie Aliadiere - The forgotten man at Arsenal

Jeremie Aliadiere says he still has a future with the Gunners. He wasn't exacly setting the world alight during his loan spells with Celtic, West Ham and Wolves last season. He's got talent, there's no doubt about that. The question is at 23 years old how much longer can he be considered a prospect. Surely this season will be his last chance to make it at Arsenal.

Ricardinho é sondado pelo Manchester

Ricardinho é sondado pelo Manchester

Tadinho! Que sonho ruim! Eu acho que o Liverpool preciso dum jogador egual Ricardinho.

Poor old Ricardinho is dreaming of a move to Manchester United. What a duff dream! I think he'd be a perfect fit at Liverpool who need a player like him.

Roberto Carlos Retires from International Football

Roberto Carlos confirma aposentadoria da seleção / Carlos announces Brazil retirement

Roberto Carlos has announced his international retirement along with
Juninho Pernumbucano. What an idiot! As if he needed to announce it! The way he played showed he'd already quit mentally long before World Cup 2006. Roberto Carlos showed he was living in a dream world during this World Cup. He was quite clearly Brazil's worst player. The worst of the previous greats in the team. Worse than his mate Ronaldo who at least scored some goals. Worse than the pathetic shadow of his former self Emerson. Worse than the consumate professional Cafu. Plain awful. What will his next announcement be?

Roberto Carlos: "Real Madrid are a team of overpaid has beens who can't give more than 50% of their time to playing football."

Stating the obvious!

Ok rant over... ;-)

Is it Fernando Torres to Arsenal ?

ANR's Myles Palmer thinks there is a major chance that Arsenal will sign Fernando Torres for something in the region of £20m. Talk of a swap deal involving Reyes has me a little worried though. Reyes is one of my favourite Arsenal players. We'll see. Torres would be a totally awesome signing. Imagine how well he'd link up with Fabregas! Could he manage playing alongside Thierry though?

Also surely we need to invest some money in our defense too!? £20m is a lot of money for any team, other than Chelski! Let's hope the news is positive over the next few days.

Football has a new home - new kit - July 18

Arsenal.com Football has a new home - new kit - July 18

Nice kit!

Multiplex warns of yet further Wembley delay

Multiplex warns of yet further Wembley delay

Thank you THE FA for making Arsenal's stadium move look better and better each day. The New Wembley is a joke next to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

Come on Arsenal!

Spurs transfer policy: If Arsenal go for them...

Zokora spoke with Wenger then chose Spurs. Carrick, Jenas, Robinson, Davids, Keane... There are a number of Spurs players who moved to Spurs after a move to Arsenal didn't work out.

Spurs could rename themselves as Arsenal B. ;-)

Henry worry for Arsenal... Too right!!!

Henry worry for Arsenal

What Thierry needed was really a summer of rest but, of course, he is placing the tendon under further stress. This could affect his pre-season preparation and ultimately his ability to get ready for the start of the new season. Arsenal originally came to me because they were having trouble coming up with a solution for Thierry's problem. I was able to come up with a range of therapies to try and rehabilitate his ankle. My methods allowed him to return last season and return to his best form.

Add to that the fact that Arsenal's season starts early due to Champions League Qualifying. I'd prefer to see Henry miss the first games of the season than see him out for months during the middle of the season.

Arsenal release three youngsters

Arsenal release three youngsters

Goalkeepers:
Michael Jordan
Mark Howard

Defender:
Sean Kelly

Surely Arsenal will be looking to bring in a couple of young keepers now. That's 2 let go this summer and 2 last summer.

Eriksson's England time in photos

BBC SPORT | Football | Photo Galleries | Eriksson's England time in photos

5-1 against Germany was the high point of Sven's England. Just so happened to be the same week as my wedding and Sept 11 2001.

Goodbye Sven... Thanks a £25 million!

England will sack his successor. Thankfully Arsenal will save England in the form of Theo Walcott.