Hangovers; Wenger invited for tea with FA; Hangovers; Platini Talks; More Hangovers

Hi all,

Only a short post today as I'm suffering from a hangover. Having said that, I only had four pints last night so I must be losing my drinking powers!

One bit of good news for tomorrow's game against Everton is that Kolo Toure returns from his one match suspension. Eboue and Adebayor are still banned for their Carling Cup handbags fight with Chelsea.

Hleb returns from his injury (i.e. solitary confinement punishment from Wenger for some crap performanaces of late). Thomas Rosicky didn't start for the match against Villa but is pushing for a start tomorrow.

Manwhile, any hopes of Van Persie making any real contribution at the tail-end of this season are fading fast, with Wenger saying: "I hope we will see him again this season but it could be very short."

I think Arsene may be taking a similar approach to RVP's fitness as he is taking with Thierry Henry. It's important that Arsenal finish as high up the table as possible but, more importantly, lets get every player back to their top physical and mental levels for a title push next season.

Charges
The FA love having Arsene around for a cup of tea so they've invited him around for more disciplinary procedures and scones.

Wenger has been asked by the governing body to explain his comments after the Carling Cup final that “the whole system is not honest”, referring to the disciplinary procedures of the FA.

The Arsenal manager also suggested the assistant whom referee Howard Webb consulted before sending off striker Emmanuel Adebayor in the Carling Cup Final was a “liar”.

The FA have released a statement which read: “Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been charged with improper conduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute.

“The charge relates to his media comments about one of the assistant referees in the Carling Cup final.

Wenger will be expected to bring around one of Pat Rice's lovely sponge cakes when he makes yet another appearance at the FA over a charge of improper conduct after a confrontation with referee Steve Bennett during the Portsmouth match at the Emirates Stadium in December while the Frenchman .

On a particularly cranky day, Wenger reflected sarcastically on his relationship with the FA: "I am not subtle enough maybe to master it completely, but when the truth does not come out you call it as you want. A mistake, a lie, I do not know.

"It is not the truth. The FA have one responsibility, it is to respect football.

"If you tomorrow are manager of Arsenal and you can prove Adebayor intended not to punch [Frank] Lampard would you say 'yes he intended that, thank you very much, the FA are so big, three games, no six? Okay'.

"I can say what I think. They can put me up on the wall and shoot me down, but it still does not make that decision right.

"If they do not like my words, then they do not like it. I will never change.

"Would you like to see me with a dictionary after the game and think 'oh no, that is a little bit too strong, what is the synonym of that word because I could be punished by the FA?"

Maybe Arsene won't bring that sponge cake after all? A shame really, Pat Rice was looking forward to using those oven gloves that Mart Poom bought him for Christmas.

N.B. As Mart Poom never plays, he has a dual role of goalkeeper/canteen chef.

Platini speaks
Michel Platini has waded into the Wenger/ Domenech dispute by sticking up for Mr Domenech.

"I don't understand how Thierry Henry was injured in March due to a match he played in Bosnia in August,"said Platini, in reference to Wenger's accusations of Domenech being a major cause of the striker's recent injury problems..

"I am not a physiotherapist, but I can't understand how he can be injured because of a match six months ago."

Yes, you're right, Platini: Playing an utterly exhausted man for 90 minutes in meaningless friendlies won't have a cumulative effect on the state of his body at all. Is that why you're working in administration instead of football management now?

Well that's all for today. If you're looking for something else to read, pop over to Arsenal Land for a decent article on Wenger's potential midfield selection problems.

Tally-ho!

Wenger gets into fight with tramp; Walcott's appendege 'pops out'

France
The feud between Domenech and Wenger continued last night as Domenech -who looked like he had slept on the streets the night before- lashed out at the Arsenal boss.

"Wenger is saying that a match in August can explain an injury in March," said Domenech. "But it has to be known that every time Henry has played for France, he was playing for Arsenal three days later."



"We have a clear conscience because we have never made our players take risks," Domenech said.

"I'm seriously starting to get tired of Mr Wenger.

"Wenger does not know everything and is not the only one with the right to exist in football.

"Even Uefa president Michel Platini has noted that his remarks were stupid."

BBC point out an interesting statistic, however: Domenech has used Henry in seven international matches this season - including three friendlies - and played him for 90 minutes in all but one of the games.

That's very interesting if you consider how much of the season Henry has missed for Arsenal.

On a side note, Eurosport says that Henry will resume training in June. Is it just me, or is that really early? Methinks Mr Wenger has some cunning plan to get Henry back to his very best.

Meanwhile, the feud hasn't stopped Domenech recruiting Arsenal players as Diaby has been called into the French squad for the Euro 2008 qualifier against Lithuania and a friendly against Austria later this month.

Rumours that Raymond Domenech has requested that the games be extended to a length of 1500 minutes each -so he can get a good look at Diaby- have proven unfounded.

Youth Team

I had a look at the highlights from the other night of the FA Youth Cup game and I must say that Fran Merida looks rather tasty. (In a footballing sense, of course!) Kieran Gibbs scored a cracker but, from the brief highlights I saw, the night belonged to the young Spaniard.

He played some exceptional, visionary passes which were very reminiscent of Glenn Hoddle. Let's hope the lad's development continues.

Theo Walcott
One man who was eligible to play in the youth cup game was Theo Walcott. Instead he's getting a new cybernetic shoulder - or something like that:

"It is my left shoulder, and I have had the problem since I joined, it was from my Southampton days.

"Basically there are loose parts floating about in there, and so it needs to be 'locked' back together."

He added: "I have been playing with it and it has been fine, but it has been getting worse the last couple of months.

"I think the best thing for me in the long run is to have the operation, but it has been postponed while we have these injuries in the squad.

Of the youngster, Wenger said:"He was very, very promising before his shoulder injury.

"Sometimes it pops out now in training. Now, he wants to get it done.

"I feel he will be a great player, and you have seen glimpses of him - but first he needs to get his shoulder right."

I can only hope that Wenger is referring to Walcott's shoulder popping out..

Well that's all for today really, but on a final note, I urge you to have a read of Arseblog's alternative to Arsenal News Review. It's bloody hilarious and better than the real thing!

Back to business against Villa; Wenger's suits get washed

It was back to business for the Arsenal as they took all three points against Aston Villa last night. Arsenal have climbed above Liverpool in the table and, according to Cesc Fabregas, are aiming for higher: "...we can still fight for second place... so let's see what happens until the end as you can never say never in football." That's fightin' talk from the young Catalan!

I only saw brief highlights of the game so here are a few equally brief thoughts on the performance:

Arsenal's only goal came from what can only be described as a fluke from Diaby (which can be seen here).
I think he deserves credit, however, for his powerful dribble from the wing and -dare I use such a clichéd comparison- a very-young-Vieira-type run into the box

Aliadiere has received a lot of criticism from the media and bloggers for his missed chances during the game. From what I saw, his first major chance required a good save from Sorenson. As for the second: Ok he really should have scored but I still think he did well to get into a good position. I certainly don't think he deserves the flak he got over the last 24 hours.

What people seem to forget about Aliadiere, is that he has only made six premiership starts for the club. Indeed, he has been involved in the last six or seven games, but I think all his critics should reserve judgement on him until he has a run of at least three starts in a row. I also ask you this: How many uninterrupted starts did it take for Henry and Bergkamp to get into the rhythm of scoring? I would say it was nine or ten starts for each of them. They didn't do too badly in the end either!

As for Aston Villa they had quite a few chances to equalise but the Gods were with us - for a change.

Preparation for next season has already begun at Arsenal as Wenger took the opportunity to send all his suits to the dry cleaners. I don't think I've ever seen him in a tracksuit for a competitive game! I can only hope that he didn't try and go clubbing in Birmingham afterwards:

"Oui, Monsier Bouncer ... I know that I am wearing trainers but I left my shoes on ze bus. I promise I won't cause any trouble.

"Non, Monsieur Bouncer.. I don't care if Pat Rice doesn't get in. He never buys a round anyway."

Arseblogger has a piece worth checking out on Baptista's reaction to Wenger after the Brazilian was substiuted last night. It's amazing how things can change in 24 hours. Yesterday, Baptista looked all set to stay. Today, speculation is rife that we may not see much more of 'The Beast'.

I must admit that this was a strange comment from Arsene Wenger:
I felt he had a bad back. We have checked that and he’s really badly injured.

For some reason, that looks like a really bad line? I really wish somebody had asked him to elaborate. His response might have sounded something like this:

"Em well, yes... it is a... em you know, backitus rudimenterus... it's really bad..em yes... can we talk about the team spirit again?"

Maybe Arsene can only lie when he's in one of his suits, all of which were in the dry cleaners? Maybe it was Baptista's job to get all bar one of his suits cleaned, hence the squabble? Maybe we'll never find out?

Congratulations to the Arsenal Youth-Team on their 1-0 first-leg victory over the Man U Youth-Team in the FA Youth Cup Semi-Final last night. What makes it even sweeter is that it was in front of a whopping 38,187 people at the Emirates last night. Well done lads!

The Guardian has a good article on Henry in which he talks about his injury-ridden season.
"Just look at the number of goals I scored with my head - four!" exclaims the man himself in an interview with France Football. "That's a sure sign. Injuries meant I spent more time waiting in the box than doing the things I normally love doing, such as sprinting, peeling off, making piercing runs and so on ... basically I was being more passive."

Good man Thierry. Just don't go sprinting and peeling off around any parks late at night. You can get arrested for that sort of thing.

In other news, Rijkaard has been wailing about his failure to capture Henry: "The truth is that it was a big blow," Rijkaard told RAC 1, "but that is only on a hypothetical level, as we don't know if he would have got injured, for example."

It serves ol' Frankie boy right if his plans depended on a player who he wasn't 100% sure of signing. That's poor management in my book.

And finally, Myles Palmer of Arsenal News Review has offended everybody once again according to InsideArsenal and Goonerblog. Personally, I think Palmer has a bad case of worms which causes his irratic blogging behaviour. Wouldn't you be cranky if you spent 22 hours on the crapper? I reckon that all those imaginary conversations he has with George Graham, Arsene Wenger etc. occur when his cheeks are perched on the porcelain of his throne.

See you all tomorrow for what will hopefully be a less disjointed blog.

For the disjointedness-type-thing, I apologise.

I really do.

I'm sorry.

No I am...

Rebuilding at Villa Park; Lehmann expected to stay

Ok, let's get down to business!

After a run of what Wenger called ''horrendous'' results, it's time for the team to pick themselves up and aim for second place in the Premiership. Without any other 'distractions' on our calendar, there's absolutely no point in aiming for anything less.

Everybody from the tabloid hack to the prison-bound blogger are talking about how Wenger has no other option but to focus on next season. Well, let it begin tonight; let's get as high up the table as possible so we can avoid those energy sapping and pre-season destroying Champion's League qualification games next season.

The team news for tonight does not make nice reading; Over to Arsene: “Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy are all suspended. Henry and Van Persie are injured." For some reason, he doesn't mention Hleb; who is out with a knee injury. I reckon he's been locked in a bin as punishment for his recent poor performances. Note how Arseblogger uses the word 'apparently'.

Tonight, however, does see the return of Flamini, Hoyte and Rosicky- but the Czech is only likely to make the bench.

Mr Wenger will select his team from this group of gentlemen:
Lehmann, Hoyte, Gilberto, Djourou, Gallas, Ljungberg, Fabregas, Denilson, Flamini, Baptista, Aliadiere, Almunia, Diaby, Senderos, Walcott, Traore, Connolly, Randall

I think the team will look something like this:
GK Lehmann
RB Hoyte
CD Djourou
CD Senderos
LB Gallas
RM Ljungberg
CM Fabregas
CM Gilberto
LM Walcott
CF Baptista
CF Aliadiere

Subs: Almunia; Connolly; Flamini; Denilson; Diaby

Christ, we're really low on attacking options. I can only presume that Walcott is the back-up striker. Wenger might start him on the bench just in case he needs an impact sub later on. It really is hard to believe that we have so many strikers on our books - if you include Bendtner and Lupoli.

I have €10 at 5-1 on Alidiere to score 5 goals in all competitions but the Carling Cup -(It was a good bet when he looked like he was on his way to 'Boro.) Please let him begin with two goals tonight!!!!

In other news, Wenger was talking about Lehmann's future: “Yes, I expect him to be here,” said Wenger. “But we have not gone into deeper discussions yet.”

The general consensus is that the German keeper is on his way. I've always had a suspicion that he will STILL be at the club next season. What sways it for me is that next season is a European Championship season: I think you'll see Jens at his best as he will be aiming to go out of international football on a high, especially now that his finally made the keeper's position his own. Sing with me: 'One more year, one more year, one more...'

In other blogs: Arseblogger has a interesting take on the feud between Wenger and Domenech over Henry; and Gunnerblog has a piece on how Wenger wants to buy 'super, super-class players' this summer. Oh, and congratulations to Arseblogger on winning the 'Bloggie' for best 2007 Sports Blog.

Right, that's enough ass-kissing. See you all tomorrow.

Who are ya? Who are ya?

Hello and welcome to yet another Arsenal Blog.

As usual, my timing is horrendous. Arsenal's quest for silverware has abruptly ended and I'm wading into an an already teeming ocean of Arsenal blogs.

On the other hand, I am fairly fed up at writing for other people's Arsenal blogs. I previously wrote for www.footballingworld.com and www.insidearsenal.co.uk. It was about time that I ventured out on my own to the big bad world of blogging!

Rumour has it that I had approximately three regular readers - two of whom were bitter Tottenham supporters; the other was a loon who kept inquiring if he would get a discount for purchasing more than two batches of AK-47's from my site.

Ok, from tomorrow on, I will provide a daily round-up of Arsenal news with my own unique brand of commentary.

Roll on tomorrow.