Stop the Rot!

Arsenal have crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City following a tumultuous week which saw Gallas sacked as Arsenal captain.

The team's performance today was woeful and the point was hammered home once again that we are badly lacking leadership skills on the pitch.

Several signings are needed and no amount of talking-up by Mr Wenger of our current group of players can change that fact.

Watching today's game has compelled me to return to Goonertimes.com to make a suggestion about two potential short-term signings who I honestly believe would be a tremendous influence on the undoubtedly talented but inconsistent youngsters at Arsenal.

Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Two former captains returning to the club they both love.




Ok - I know you're laughing; but think about it - they'd be dirt cheap and how many times have they said they wanted to return? What a morale boost it would be for the club! Their egos would love the idea of returning to rescue the club from potential UEFA Cup standard mediocrity. Who knows - it could even be a positive influence on a reprimanded Gallas!

I know Wenger's hardly going to listen... but I can dream can't I? Or maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic after an utterly crap week!!!

Clichy's a Gooner; Penalties not tailor-made for Croatia

Gael Clichy committed his long-term future to Arsenal today. This is a nice bit of business by the club which will hopefully shoot those Italian vultures out of the sky who thought that the recent departure of Flamini and rumours surrounding Adebayor may have unsettled the rest of Wenger's young squad.

An intelligent and talented young footballer signalling his desire to stay with the club can do nothing but show any potential signings and current Arsenal players -who are weighing up their options- that Wenger's project is on track.

In non-Arsenal news, one might wonder if the man who manufactures the goal-frames for Croatia to practice their penalties on, is the same guy who measures Slaven Bilic for his suits...

The Return

Today sees the return of 'The Gooner Times'. After a stint teaching in Viet Nam, and a lot of laziness since, I have decided that it's time to get this show back on the road.

The silence is deafening. Let's pretend that some of you actually care... Actually, let's pretend that somebody is actually reading this.

"The season's over", I hear you say. "What's the point?" some of you yell. "Is this not a site about purchasing weaponry and my right to bear arms?" says the slightly scary guy with a twitch.

Well, think of this as a warm-up for the re-launch of the site scheduled for the new season.
Let this new season be a season in which our beloved Arsenal will finally live up to its potential. Let it be a season that will see the team play from August to May with the same flair, style, vision and mental strength that we all witnessed and enjoyed up until February 2007. Let it be a season that will end with a cabinet full of trophies. And finally, let it be a season that won't involve the author of this website tanked up to the gills on Saigon Beer.

Actually scratch that last part - I'd love another season of booze in Viet Nam...

So what have you all been up to since June '07? In fact, is there anybody still out there?

Closed for Business

Mr Gooner Times is currently in Vietnam.

The site relaunch date is scheduled for 10 December 2007.

So long Thierry, thanks for the memories!

Thierry Henry's reign at Arsenal Football Club has ended; and there are a lot of people out there who are very bitter with the manner of his exit from the club.

Why all the negativity? The timing of his exit was right for all parties. Thierry needed a new challenge and I feel Henry's best years at Arsenal were behind him. (I'll be honest, it's taken me a few days to come to that conclusion!!!)

Don't get me wrong - there's every chance that Henry will be outstanding at the Nou Camp. I just feel that he was going a little stale at Arsenal and would not have enjoyed adapting into a provider -in the manner Dennis Bergkamp did from about 2000 onwards.

The style of Arsenal's play -when they're at their best- requires one super-fit, lightning fast striker. I'm not sure if Thierry will be able to perform that role for a full season and I don't think that he would enjoy playing the role of a support act.

That's not a criticism of Thierry's personality - many of the greats of football have a desire to be the 'main man' in his team. That desire mixed with talent and intelligence is what makes them great. Bergkamp is the only player I can think of who successfully switched to a supporting role when he began to lose his edge.

At Barcelona, Eto'o will be able share the duties with Henry -so I don't think a season will take as much of a toll on Henry's body as it did in his final two seasons with Arsenal.

Whether that works from a team perspective for Barcelona -who also have to accommodate Ronaldinho and Messi... and Giuly- is anybody's guess. Anybody remember the Galacticos of Real Madrid?

So let's not taint the memory of having arguably greatest player of his time wear an Arsenal shirt for eight glorious years. I hope he does well at Barca. I also hope that the Catalonian club put on some great footballing entertainment with its glittering array of talent - as long as it's not at the expense of Arsenal.

Let's not forget however, that the future at Arsenal is very bright - and with two or three signings, the club will become a dominant force again. I certainly think the best is yet to come from Wenger's Arsenal:Mark III.

The Return; Denilson Love; Lonely Hleb

Fear not! Darzinho has returned from a few weeks of bluffing in exams; all in a desperate attempt to cover up his lack of knowledge.

Unfortunately the season has ended, so I may have to transfer my bluffing skills to this website in order to give you people something half-decent to read!

Anyway, after a year's hiatus from work in which I studied the fields of Journalism and Media Studies, I have to give a serious thumbs down to the Sun newspaper for this headline- supposedly from the words of double-winning Arsenal captain, Frank McLintock:

"I fear Thierry will walk away" the headline screams! And yet, - as pointed out by Arseblogger- not once does this, ahem, 'journal of choice' attribute the quotation to Mr McLintock.

Feel free to tar and feather the writer of said piece - Gavin Glicksman.

"I fear Glicksman will get fired": How's that for a headline?

Annual Members Magazine
I received a copy of the annual members magazine and after a quick flick through it, a couple of things struck me:

Two of Arsenal's midfielders are spending far too much time together. Denilson is quoted in the magazine as saying:

"Sometimes when I'm in bed going to sleep I wonder how this has all happened. I'm here with this bloke, who is from my country, who in 2002 won the World Cup, who now is a huge success at Arsenal."

I suggest that all Arsenal fans write a letter to the club, suggesting that they shell out for a room with two beds; or better still, two rooms for the Brazilian men on away trips in future.

Also, if you turn to page 42, you'll see a picture of the "Players relax[ing] in the Player's Lounge." You'll notice a sad looking Alex Hleb sitting at a table on his own.

Trust me Alex, if I was your team-mate, I wouldn't want to sit with you either after the season you've just had.

Keane, but not very intelligent

Robbie Keane believes that Spurs' season was "just as good" as Arsenal's.

Dear Robbie,

I hope you're keeping well. I'm glad you're happy with yet another productive season. As usual that productivity doesn't extend past a personal level. Maybe one day you'll get a medal for your efforts.

Arsenal's season was very disappointing by our very high standards but I certainly don't feel as if there are any storm clouds gathering on our horizon. Both Thierry Henry and RVP were injured for prolonged periods of the season - and yet they have 23 goals between them . The transfer window was closed by the time the injuries got the better of Henry. Yes, it's a squad game but it's hard to factor in the possibility of both your main goalscorers being out.

How would Man Utd fare with both Ronaldo and Rooney out?

Chelsea without Drogba and certainly to a lesser extent, Shevchenko?

Or Liverpool without Crouch and Kuyt?

Dare I say it, would your beloved Spurs be facing relegation if Berbatov had missed a chunk of games before Xmas and bowed out again in February, with your good self out of actionfrom late January?

You seem happy with Spurs' season. Indeed, you performed well in the UEFA Cup. However, I would suspect that deep down you realise how important Champion's League football is - in terms of team development and financially. You are way off the pace compared to last season. I'm also not sure if you are guaranteed any form of European football next year. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Robbie signing for his 38th club

A pedantic person would point out that Arsenal are closer to the top two than they were last season. However, I won't deny that we went backwards in many regards, especially Champions League Football. Luckily, we'll have the opportunity to play in it next season and hopefully improve. Will Spurs? No.

So whilst Arsenal have taken a dip in some regards this season, we also have improved in other ways. Our league form has improved since last year, we have beaten Man U twice, Liverpool three times (forgetting the hammering) and taken four points from a team who views every match against us as a Cup Final. We are also no longer out-muscled by the likes of Bolton.

Let us not forget that only 13 years ago, Spurs were splashing out on world cup superstars such as Jurgen Klinsmann. Arsenal and Spurs were approximately the same size at that time.I tend to view my club with a medium to long term perspective and have very high hopes for the next couple of years. Your club appears to still value cup runs above long term development.

I do not understand the compulsion to compare yourself to Arsenal using what must be some some bizarre form of handicap method to justify how we have performed this season. To compare your run in the UEFA cup to competing in the Champion's League, is utter lunacy.

Considering your delight at Spurs cup runs, you must have conveniently forgotten that we beat you in the Carling Cup.

A few cup runs with no end rewards don't cut it with me as a good season. I'll take that Champion's League spot any day!

Kind Regards,
Darzinho

P.S. You have a rather large head.

Pub-Team Substitutions; The Dein Saga III

It was back to the business of football yesterday after a week of boardroom turmoil. Arsenal will be bitterly disappointed to take only a point away from White Hart Lane after allowing Jermaine Jenas to put away a long range strike in injury time.

I only managed to catch the second-half*, and that was in a pub surrounded by Liverpool and Manchester United supporters so if you want to read a decent match report, trek on through to Arseblog.

*Ed. - After getting a sarky comment on this yesterday, I better clarify that I had college that morning!

The only thing I would have to add to the Arseblog match report is my dismay at the pub-team football decision that Wenger made in injury time. I always feel that bringing an extra defender -Senderos- on for a midfielder that late in the game does nothing else but unsettle the defence.

In the good old days, we would have brought on Kanu, or in later years - Bergkamp- to intelligently hold up the ball; or Grimandi to kick lumps out of anybody who looked creative. Yesterday we threw on a centre-half and nobody, including himself, seemed to know where he was playing. A central defensive partnership does not need tinkering with at such a late stage in the game. To me, that was a contributing factor in not getting all three points.

Having said that, there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game, not least Diaby's performance, so if we can keep the boardroom turmoil to an absolute minimum and bring in a few fresh faces, we'll have a good season ahead of us.

Anyhow, back to the turmoil: there's an excellent piece by Amy Lawrence in today's Observer in which she suggests some very interesting replacements for David Dein. I don't want to ruin the surprise, so go and read it!

And finally, there was a interesting article on the Arsenal website about what players, if any, will be departing the club during the close season.

“We have no basic situation where players would be free to transfer,” said Wenger. “That is apart from Jens Lehmann, who of course has his own
destiny in his hands, and Julio Baptista. But apart from that, all the
other players are under contract. The only other one who can move out
is Mathieu Flamini, but that is it. We have only three players where
they have a situation to decide about.”

So where does that leave Jeremie Aliadiere, who wasn't even in yesterday's match day squad? Surely he'll be allowed leave? Or is Arsene only alluding to players who have a say in the matter? Confusing to say the least... unless Aliadiere is getting Dein's job!!!!! CUE: DRAMATIC MUSIC

That's enough for today. I have to shave my back or something...

Dein fallout continues

The Independent reports that Wenger will be consulted on who, if anyone, will fulfill Dein's role at the club. Ken Edelman is the hot favourite to take up the reins.

As I spoke about in yesterday blog, Arsenal's future largely lies in Arsene Wenger's hands; any decisions taken by the board or prospective bidders will be taken with Arsene Wenger's satisfaction in mind at all times. Nobody will want to upset the Frenchman - especially when his contract is so close to its expiry date in 2008.

While speaking about his 'strong links' to Arsenal yesterday, Wenger came very close to hoisting up a flag with Dein's face emblazoned on it:




“It is a sad day for Arsenal Football Club,” Wenger said. “It is a huge disappointment because we worked very closely together. David has contributed highly to the success of the club in the last ten years and even before that as well. Red and white are the colours of his heart.”

I'm perplexed by one thing about this whole situation: If Edelman was against a takeover by Kroenke, why was he so keen for the link up with Colorado Rapids to happen?

"This is a very important step for Arsenal as this becomes our first venture into the US marketplace," said Edelman of the link-up with Colorado Rapids.

Surely he had an inkling of what was going on? You would expect that he would have known something- especially if you were to believe all the reports suggesting that he was the power broker and Dein had become an isolated figure on the Arsenal board.

Something doesn't quite add up. Either Edelman hadn't a clue what was going or more worryingly, not everybody on the Board is being entirely truthful about their motives...

Who to support?
Make no mistake, we -the fans- do not know everything that is going on behind the scenes.

It's hard to know who to trust:

On one side there's the power-crazed, profit-hungry, Machivellian-like David Dein. He's also the man who was an obsessive fan to begin with; attended several games a week; took an interest in all the players - including the youths; and had a vision of Arsenal becoming a massive football club with style.

Arsenal were a dead club when he bought into it. He took a massive gamble on Wenger in '96. However, he did not support the move to the Emirates.

On the other side are the Arsenal traditionalists. People who represent Arsenal's history stretching back to the 20's... the good ol' Arsenal.

Or are they aristocrats whose only interest in the club is that their shareholding has passed from generation to generation into their hands? Did they care about the club as much in the early 80's? Peter Hill-Wood's motives are honourable. However, he only holds a small shareholding with 0.8% But what of Richard Carr, grandson of former chairmanSir Bracewell Smith? And what of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith who married into the Bracewell-Smith family? What are their motives?

And then there's Danny Fiszman - a former diamond trader who ironically bought shares from David Dein in 1992. He controls the largest share-bloc at 24%. He sold 1%, apparently in ignorance to Kroenke last month. He sides with the traditionalists, for now...

Capitalism v Tradition;

Footballing Vision v Aristocracy;

or is it;

Profit Method A v Profit Method B

I'll support Wenger in what ever he decides to do. He has has his flaws -who doesn't?- but he's essentially a good man who loves football.

If he leaves over this, it'll never be the same again...

Takeover Bid Dein-ied

I was going to write a match report on our 3-1 victory over Manchester City... but I doubt you would be interested in reading it. In the last 24 hours the club has been thrown in to turmoil with the shock resignation/sacking of Arsenal Vice-Chairman David Dein.

For a while I've had an inkling that something was afoot behind the scenes at Arsenal football club. In recent months, Arsene Wenger has made some decisions which are the mark of a man who was not keeping his eye on the proverbial ball - dodgy selections; bizarre substitutions; and explosions of temper on the side of the pitch. It was all very out of character for the Frenchman; it was like something was distracting him.

In February, an intriguing game of power-broking chess at Arsenal began to filter in to the public domain: starting with the club's link-up with KSE's Colorado Rapids. Rest assured that the first pawn was moved long before that.

"This is a very important step for Arsenal as this becomes our first venture into the US marketplace," said managing director Keith Edelman.

"Unless I'm completely naive it's not a takeover," said Wenger.

"I've never heard about a possible takeover and I don't think that is at all behind our partnership."

Intriguing. Not least because somebody other than Dein was involved in opening the door to a potential hostile take-over.

Dial 9.99%

Next came the sale by Danny Fiszman of 1% of his shares. I was concerned to read that David Dein apparently didn't know about Fiszman's sale of 1% of his shares until two days after the
transaction. That 1% might sound small but the sale took Fiszman under the 25% threshold needed to maintain a veto on any changes to the club's statutes.

Something was definitely up. Somebody was telling lies.

Then the rumours of the sale of ITV's shareholding to Stan Kroenke's 'Kroenke Sports Enterprise' (KSE) started to filter out. The rumours were met with vehement denials from KSE:

"There is no interest from KSE in buying any shares of Arsenal or any Premier League club."

That didn't put my mind at ease:

My first instinct was that they were trying to cool the share price. They might not have wanted to announce their intentions until they had purchased their first block in order to calm the speculation which would cause the share price to rise.

I did think it was unlikely, however, that they would make such a definite statement and thought it more likely that an individual in the family or one of the companies that KSE were involved in might make a bid.

You should always trust your first instincts. This followed:

ITV plc have announced they have unconditionally sold
their 9.99% shareholding in Arsenal Holdings plc to American Stan
Kroenke's KSE UK Inc: link

KSE had blatantly lied about their intentions, although I'm sure they would say something along the lines of: "We never said that there wouldn't be any interest from our UK branch."

The Gordon Gekko phrase "Greed is good" just won't stop echoing in my mind.

Dein's final days

Over a week ago we learnt -from this Arsenal statement- that Kroenke owned approximately 1.3% more shares than we thought. We can only speculate on the nefarious reasoning of purchasing the shares in his name as opposed to KSE's.

Ed. Mysteriously, this statement has been removed from the Arsenal website...
Ed. again.... it's back now.

Last night, things came to a head when Dein, who brought Wenger to Arsenal in 1996, quit because of "irreconcilable differences" with fellow board members.




The Times, noting that 63-year-old Dein holds 14.5 percent of the club's shares, said there was an "intriguing possibility" that he could sell to American businessman Stan Kroenke, who recently bought an 11 percent share. That could force a hostile takeover bid, said the paper.

The Sun's business editor said Dein's departure almost certainly means that in financial jargon Arsenal are "in play".

What next?

One can only speculate on the goings-on in the Arsenal board room. According to Paul Kelso, of the Guardian, Dein has become more and more isolated in recent years. Apparently he was vehemently opposed to the move to The Emirates - possibly preferring the option of moving to Wembley.

One thing that seems to have slipped the media's attention is that Dein certainly wasn't the only man who was behind the original link-up with Kroenke's Colarado Rapids back in February... Edelman and Wenger were certainly involved. Whether they knew more of what was going on is anybody's guess.

And what exactly was Fizsman doing selling those shares over a month ago?

I think the whole thing may have reached a stalemate for the immediate future. The board's pact not to dispose of their shares for at least one year, effectively blocking a takeover will depress the share price so I can't see Dein just selling his shares to Kroenke just yet.

One possibility that everybody seems to have ignored in all the media
clamour is that Kroenke may still just see himself as an investor in
the club, who wants to see the 9.99% he owns make a profit without
actually wanting control. He may have offered a 'no-strings-attached' cash injection which Dein might have supported- only for the rest of the Board to clam up at the thought of accepting the American's money.

If it was a simple cash injection that Kroenke offered without wanting control, we may as well say goodbye to Arsene now.

The general consensus, however, is that Dein was backing a Kroenke bid. Whether he actually comes back with Kroenke to mount a takeover remains to be seen. I don't think he knows himself yet. I would certainly imagine that Dein is kicking himself over relinquishing control of 28% of the shares in the early 90's!

My gut feeling is that nothing will happen for the next six or seven months... and then all will be dependent on Arsene Wenger's take on the situation. The Frenchman will soon have to decide on his future- his contact is up for renewal in summer 2008.

Wenger certainly is good friends with Dein. He also respects Dein professionally and said this recently: “In ten years, David Dein revolutionised not only Arsenal but the whole of English football.”

On the other hand, Wenger has been rather outspoken on the club's ownership remaining in England and since '98 he has been a major supporter of a move to a bigger stadium... so even if they were seen clinking beers in a restaurant in Islington on Tuesday, it appears they had different points of view on the club's future.

Expect many twists and turns and reams of copy on this story in the coming months. Who will get to utter the words 'checkmate' is anybody's guess.

Man City tonight; Meet the Oracle

Arsenal's bid to guarantee the fourth Champion's League spot continues tonight with Manchester City visiting the Emirates Stadium.

There will have to be one change to the starting line-up as Freddie Ljunberg is out with a hamstring injury. Rumours that his injury were caused by overexerting himself at his latest Calvin Klein underpants modelling-shoot have been vehemently denied by the club. Well no, not really... I just made that last sentence up.

Arsene will select what will hopefully be a match-winning team from this group of gentlemen:

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Ljungberg, Adebayor, Almunia, Diaby, Baptista, Senderos, Aliadiere, Denilson, Djourou.

I think it will look something like this:

GK Lehmann
RB Eboue
LB Clichy
CD Toure
CD Gallas
LM Rosicky
RM Hleb
CM Fabregas
CM Diaby
CM Gilberto
CF Adebayor

Subs: Poom (ed. that should have read Almunia); Senderos; Djourou; Denilson and Baptista

This is what I think Wenger will plump for. I don't think Baptista has done anything to warrant a place ahead of Aliadiere but after the latter sat out the whole game against Bolton, I think that he is slipping further down the pecking order.

This Blogger still has high hopes for the Frenchman, so I hope I'm wrong.

Another man who seems to have drifted out of the first team squad is Justin Hoyte. I must admit that I feel a little sorry for Hoyte -who played for the reserves the other night.

While he may not have the skill of Eboue, his certainly has a far better attitude and I don't think he's let the side down once when he has played at his natural position of right back.

In other news, Cesc Fabregas has been nominated for both the PFA Player of the Year and the Young Player of the Year which is no mean feat as he hasn't performed as well as he can this season - which can be partly explained by some of the swamp donkey performances of the players around him.

Meanwhile, Arsene spoke about how he might have signed Drogba for Arsenal when the striker was playing in the French lower divisions. Pointless talk really, I'm sure the winning lotto numbers have passed through my mind at some stage of my life. It doesn't mean that I ever filled out a winning lotto slip.

Well that's it really...

Oh, hang on... my brother has asked for his opinions to be entered on to this blog. So welcome to a new regular feature of The Gooner Times.


On Theo Walcott's appearance against Everton:
"That Walcock [sic] fella is fuckin' shite. What the fuck is he doin' on the pitch with a broken shoulder..."

On Sol Campbell:
"Sol's got a lovely set of teeth..."
I have no idea what the hell that meant.

On Freddie Ljungberg and Sylvain Wiltord:
"I don't care what any of you fuckin' say. Freddie's shite. Wiltord's a far better player."

"Look at the state of Freddie wearin' that hat. He's always fuckin' lookin' for attention.

On Roy Keane
"Keane's always lookin' for attention. He's like bleedin' Geri Halliwell."

On Cesc Fabregas
"What the fuck did I tell you? Once Fabregas starts scorin', we'll be all right. Put that in your fuckin' blog. I want to be known as The Oracle."

More from 'The Oracle' next week. Or sooner, if he decides to impart any more pearls of wisdom.

Newcastle v Arsenal... a quickie!

Okeydoke, let's take a quick look at my prediction for today's line-up.

I think Arsene will return to 4-4-2 today as 4-5-1 did not work on Saturday. I actually would like to see Cesc Fabregas given a run behind a main striker (like RVP) in a 4-5-1, but I doubt that will happen today.

Mr Wenger will select a line-up from this group of extraordinay gentlemen:

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Ljungberg, Adebayor, Almunia, Denilson, Diaby, Aliadiere, Baptista, Senderos, Randall.

I think he'll go for something like this:

GK Lehmann
RB Hoyte (I think AW may be a little tired of Eboue's attitude)
LB Clichy
CD Gallas
CD Senderos (like Arseblog, I'm not sure the Touré/ Gallas partnership works. I also think Touré needs a rest.

RM Rosicky
CM Gilberto
CM Fabregas
LM Ljungberg

(Goodbye Hleb)

CF Adebayor
CF Aliadiere (His last chance. I think there's a slight chance that IF they play 4-5-1, he might be on the wing, with Rosicky occupying a more central position)

Subs: Almunia, Touré, Diaby, Baptista, Eboue.

No doubt my prediction will be completely wrong...

Arsenal 0 West Ham 1

The club are in a serious spot of bother now...

That's three very dodgy first-team selections that Wenger has made in row. Quite frankly it pisses me off.

Freddie Ljungberg never will be a centre forward and selecting him there is just crazy.

On the other hand, if that was a 4-5-1 selection against West Ham... well, then we deserved to be beaten.

Two defeats to West Ham this season and three in a row if you count last season. That's just fucking awful.

SORT IT OUT ARSENE!

And so ends a very short rant...

Flamini Exit; Bould love for Merida; Arsene's Reserve Wish

A disapointing piece of news to hit the wires yesterday was that Mathieu Flamini wants to leave Arsenal due to a lack of opportunities -and explanations- at the club.

Apparently, the French midfielder is ready to buy out the last year of his contract for £1.1million.

As usual with midfielder transfer rumours , Juventus are said to want to buy him. By my reckoning, if all these reports are to be believed, Juventus will have over 40 midfielders next season. Whilst interested in a move abroad,  Flamini is also believed to be more than willing to stay in the Premiership.




All the more worrying is that Flamini's camp insist that Wenger will not give him an explanation as to why he's not being selected. Without hearing Arsenal's point of view, I can only express my dismay that a player who has more spirit and battling skills than most of the current midfield, would be allowed leave.

I feel this situation may lie with his refusal to play at left-back at the start of the season. As much as I like Flamini, if you're a professional you have to play where you are selected. Having said that, it's never nice to work in a situation where you're not happy (although, some may say that the huge wage and the fact you're playing football for a living should be more than a comfort). One can only speculate on how resolute Flamini was about not playing left-back. Maybe Wenger thought that Flamini had a great future as a full-back but the French midfieder didn't want his career to go down the 'Lauren route'. However, I don't think it's ever a good idea to go to the papers with your tales of woe. Let's hope this situation can be resolved as Flamini is a great asset to the club.

Merida
Steve Bould has been praising Fran Merida's talents. Bould told Arsenal.com "His feet are fantastic. Everything can go through Fran. He's very left footed but he still receives on his right side and likes to put people in. He wants to receive off the back players too and gets them playing which really keeps the team ticking over."

Personally, I'd like to see this guy given a run between now and the end of the season. What I do not want to see is Arsenal depending on him next season as has so often been the case with young places in recent seasons at the club.

Reserve Teams
And finally, Arsene has declared his support for Reserve sides to be allowed play in the Football League. Whilst it would be good for Arsenal, I don't think such a move would be good for football. I think it devalues the lower divisions and takes away league places from smaller clubs with a smaller budget, but a more loyal core support than a reserve side would ever hope to have. I think the answer to the bigger clubs is to be not so greedy in stockpiling players.

The case for Aliadiere

It's been a dark, depressing period of time since the thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Saturday. The Arsenal performances was simply horrendous. The only time that I can recall during Wenger's reign that they were as bad was when they were thrashed 6-1 by Man Utd in 00/01. At least we had Igors Stepanovs to blame that day; and we didn't have a team then that will supposedly dominate the future of football.

The very thought of Saturday sickens me, so I'm not going to dwell on it. If you're a sadist and want more analysis or dissection, click on any of the excellent Arsenal links on the side bar.

However, one thought did occur to me during the game that I would like to expand on - the dire performances of Baptista - or more specifically howthey have affected the performances of Aliadiere in recent times. (Aliadiere was injured for the game on Saturday.)

The high point of Baptista's season was his four goals in Anfield in the Carling cup - which seems like a lifetime ago. On that occasion, Aliadiere was the outstanding player in the match as he created 4 goals game and also scored himself.



On the occasions that they played together in the Premiership, they looked as if they had forgotten that the objective of football was to score goals. There's no doubting that Aliadiere looked nervous and lacking confidence. I feel that it doesn't help a player like that when he's playing alongside a guy who doesn't look like he has any first, second or third touch. (I think I may have stolen that description of Baptista from Arseblogger!) I also think that in Aliadiere's recent run in the team, the midfield have been awful - and have created very little opportunities for the striker.

Anyhow, to get to my point... many bloggers, including Arseblogger, think that Wenger should play a 4-5-1 against West Ham on Saturday. I disagree completely. Whilst taking the point that we are by no means guaranteed of 4th place, I think we should also be building for next season. 4-5-1 takes us backwards in the evolution of this team.

For me, it generally has to be 4-4-2 for Arsenal.
(unless we're playing Barcelona in the Nou Camp or something similar!)
I think Aliadiere - if fit- should start up front against West Ham. Before you all start chucking rotten tomatoes at me, let's look at the Frenchman's performances this season when he had more than 20 minutes and did not play as Julio 'The Beast' Baptista's partner up front.

October, West Brom v Arsenal 0-2, Carling Cup
Not the greatest of opposition.The Frenchman started and scored two goals as he played most of the game alongside Walcott.

November, Everton v Arsenal 0-1, Carling Cup
Aliadiere started alongside Adebayor in a roaming role. Here's how the Guardian described him:
Arsenal's oldest outfield starter here was the excellent Jérémie Aliadière, the 23-year-old a constant menace when charging from deep, with some of their slick interplay and passing taking the breath.

December, Arsenal v Portsmouth 2-2, Premiership
Not a great game for the Frenchman who started alongside RVP. Adebayor came on for him when we were 2-0 down and rescued the day.

December, Sheff Utd v Arsenal 0-1, Premiership
Another poor game for Aliadiere alongside RVP. Having said that, did anybody play well?

January, Arsenal v Spurs 3-1, Carling Cup
Aliadiere started alongside Adebayor for this one and had a stormer. He also scored the goal in extra-time that sealed the win for Arsenal.

February, Arsenal v Wigan 2-1, Premiership
Aliadiere came on with the Gunners trailing by a goal with 23 minutes to spare. Ok, Baptista was on the pitch; but so was Henry and Adebayor.Aliadiere played as winger when he came on. He was involved in the build-up to the equaliser. Overall, he was an important factor in the comeback with some good passes and dribbles against a tiring defence.

February, Bolton v Arsenal 1-3 FA Cup
Aliadiere came on for extra-time.Baptista was also on the pitch for this one but was partnered by Adebayor. Aliadiere, playing more as a winger, dribbled and carved out the opening for Ljungberg, who controlled before flashing a left-foot finish across Jaaskelainen to make it 2-1 Arsenal.

February, Arsenal v Blackburn 0-0 FA Cup
A rarity, in that Aliadiere started alongside Henry. Most of the team were a little bit flat on this occasion. Aliadiere deserved a penalty when Stephen Warnock brought him down but the ref played on.

M'lud, I think that I have shown you that when Aliadiere has played alongside Adebayor he's done well.
You may not agree with me on the Frenchman's qualities but I all I ask is that you think about his performances disconnected from Baptista's performances for Arsenal this season. He's not done too well with RVP either, but some say that even the great Henry struggles with RVP. I think Aliadiere deserves a chance alongside the man from Togo on Saturday. To play 4-5-1 against the likes of West Ham would be a step backwards for the team.

And remember... the slough of despondency is the birthplace of hope. Let us not forget that we won the double the season after the 6-1 mauling at Old Trafford.

See you all tomorrow.

A swift look...

It's back up to Anfield for the third time this season where Liverpool will be looking for revenge for the defeats in the Carling and FA Cups.

Adebayor returns for the Gunners after his four-match ban for his part in the Great Handbags Brawl of Cardiff.

Clichy and Eboue also return to the squad after injury. New additions to the injury list are Gilberto -with a dodgy hip- and Aliadiere - with a foot injury.

John Arne Riise is set to make his 200th league appearance for Liverpool just a day after he was bizarrely declared bankrupt!

Mr.Wenger will select a team from this League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Gallas, Toure,
Clichy, Ljungberg, Fabregas, Rosicky, Baptista, Adebayor,
Almunia, Senderos, Hoyte, Diaby, Hleb, Denilson

I think the starting-eleven will look a little like this:

GK Lehmann
RB Hoyte
LB Clichy
CD Gallas
CD Toure
RM Ljungberg
LM Rosicky
CM Fabregas
CM Diaby
CF Baptista
CF Adebayor

Subs: Almunia; Eboue; Senderos; Denilson; Hleb.

Let's hope the strikers don't pick up any injuries or we might have to get on the phone to somebody like Les Ferdinand or Lee Chapman to plead with them to come out of retirement...

Or hang on.... what's Dennis up to these days???

P.S. Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of David 'Rocky' Rocastle. Head on over to Arseblog to watch a video of the great man in action.

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Cows, Finance, Bullets, Fines; and Jermaine Pennant

Ok, a very swift one today as I have to travel to Ballyhaunis to buy a heifer at a mart... well no, not really... what I have to do is far less interesting.

Today, I shall be using the Lazy Blogger's best friend: Bullet Points!

• Arsenal were fined £100,000 for their part in the Great Handbags Brawl of Cardiff.

• Ex-Gunner Jermaine Pennant will be answering some questions on the Liverpool website. Let's hope he borrows Ashley Cole's car to make that appointment.

• Arseblogger has being doing some snooping on more Arsenal shares transactions.

And that's it really. I suppose you're dying to know where I'm really going. Well, I will be attending the Ireland v Slovakia match in Croke Park.

Yes... it is far less interesting than buying a heifer at some local mart...

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Arsenal for sale?

Just a quick one today as I...eh... have to get a haircut!

The Arsenal for sale rumours rumble on, prompting the The Arsenal Supporters' Trust to make a rare public pronouncements that, while not against a buyout per se, they opposed a 'Malcolm Glazer-style' takeover of their team whose "principle objective is taking profits out of the club".

Whilst a few days ago I thought this was all paper talk, I was concerned to read that apparently, David Dein didn't know about Fiszman's sale of 1% of his shares until two days after the transaction. That 1% might sound small but the sale took Fiszman under the 25% threshold needed to maintain a veto on any changes to the club's statutes. I would have thought that Fiszman would have had the courtesy of informing Dein of such a move - unless he was up to something.

Meanwhile, Arseblogger has this to say:

"I’m told from two well placed sources that ITV have been in discussions with this group regarding the 9.9% of the club they own."

Several bloggers, such as Gunnerblog were calmed by this statement from Kroenke Sports Enterprise (KSE)- who were rumoured to be prospective buyers and already have a link up with Arsenal via their Colorado Rapids 'sawker' club:

"There is no interest from KSE in buying any shares of Arsenal or any Premier League club."

Unfortunately, it doesn't put my mind completely at ease:
A) They could be trying to cool the share price. They don't have to announce their intentions until they have purchased 30% and would want to calm the speculation which is causing the share price to rise: It's unlikely that they would make such a definite statement, however.

B) The statement was made by the KSE organisation ; not by any individual in the family or even any companies that KSE have an interest in. What's to stop them investing?

C) There's plenty of other prospective buyers out there.

What is it about Arsenal? Every summer, there's something that impedes our pre-season planning. Vieira's future; Anelka's future; Reyes' Future; Newsnight did their best to drag the club into controversy over Beveren (but failed). I have a feeling that the club's ownership is going to be the hindrence for next pre-season

Arsenal Ladies & Garforth Town
It's nice to see one Arsenal team doing well: the ladies team trashed their Leeds counterparts 8-1 to remain on top of the Women's Premier League.

Here's an interesting fact, trivia fans: The match was played at Garforth Town AFC, which is the last club the great Socrates played for. The club's owner, Simon Clifford, has a vision of getting Garforth Town into the top flight using modern training methods based on traditional Brazilian skills. You may remember that Clifford was Clive Woodward's assistant when the Rugby World Cup winning coach was the Director of Football at Southampton.

That's all for today. I'll be a much better blogger when I get my hair cut.

Adebayor axed by Togo; Fallout continues from Gallas comments

International football makes for a very poor Arsenal blog, but I'll give it a go.

The major news is that Adebayor has been axed from the Togo national squad along with two of his team mates following a row over bonus payments.

Adebayor revealed on Friday that Togolese internationals, who threatened to boycott last year's World Cup over a bonus row, are still waiting to receive their payments for reaching the finals in Germany.

"The bonus problem is still there. We were given promises but still nothing has been done," said Adebayor.

"We're still waiting to see the management and it's in their interest to meet with us as soon as possible.

"Whatever happens, we're not going to let this go. If they don't pay up, I don't know what will happen."

The players are still waiting to be paid roughly a third of the US$162,000 they were promised for reaching the World Cup finals.

I can only hope that Adebayor is taking this stance on behalf of lesser paid players in the Togo National squad. I may be old-fashioned but I always believe that pros, especially at the level of Adebayor, should not expect to be paid to play for their national team.

Obviously, you don't want the money lining the pockets of administrators but the profits from international football should go back into the national game or to a charitable cause. Perhaps the players could have a say in the matter.

But for players to be concerned about lining their already their already bulging pockets when representing their country leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I must reiterate that I don't know all the circumstances of this dispute; maybe these players were fighting on behalf of players with much lower earnings. Perhaps somebody could fill me in?

William Gallas
Gunnerblog and Arseblog have equally interesting but completely contrasting opinions on Willam Gallas' recent comments to the French Media. If he actually said what he is reported to have said, I'm with Arseblogger on this one. In previous blogs, I stated my concerns about how Gallas' dislike for playing in the left-back role may have effected Wenger's defensive selection for the Everton game.

Roy Keane's constant moaning about his fellow employees and employers -especially in the latter years of his career- caused a bad vibe at club and international level. I just don't think you should air those grievances in public.

We need experienced players in the camp, not moaners, so sort it out Billy!

Share Speculation Continues
And finally, the media are hopping on the bandwagon of the 'Arsenal for Sale' story. Expect this one to run for a few weeks.

Tune in tomorrow for a more inspired blog.

Reminiscent of a 1994 Graham team; Did Arsene forget about Theo's injury?; Don't blame Aliadiere

I'm really not in mood to write too much today. I'm still sickened by our dire performance yesterday. It was like a performance from a George Graham team in 1994.

Wenger said this of the performance : "We are jaded physically and, although we created plenty of opportunities, the final ball was not good enough. This month has been mentally very hard because we lost against Blackburn in the FA Cup in the last minute, we lost against Eindhoven in the Champions League in the last minute and we have lost here in the last minute."

Indeed, the final ball was horrendous. It also doesn't help when in reality your full backs are playing like extra centre-halfs, your wingers are playing as full-backs, and as a consequence your strikers are playing in midfield. In effect, your strikers are looking to play a ball to... well, nobody really!

The Irish Independent reports that Walcott is out for the season:"You can see that now. He was on for only 10 minutes and his shoulder popped out, you cannot play football like that."

Two things bother me about that report. Firstly, we all knew Theo's shoulder liked to pop out: So why is this news? Secondly: Why was he playing? Didn't Arsene know?

In yesterday's blog, I ranted about the defensive selection.

Goodplaya, on the other hand, gives an accurate assessment of the midfield and forward selection:

"Wenger’s front six at Goodison had three goals from 69 Premiership starts."

That would be a shocking statistic even for a team content with 17th place.

And before the rest of us hop on the already crowded 'Blame Aliadiere' bandwagon , we should perhaps reflect on Goodplaya's assessment of the much-maligned striker's performance.

Aliadiere: Missed one good chance, which contrary to what Andy Gray claimed, did appear to skip up. In a struggling side, Aliadiere has hardly set the world on fire when given his chance. But equally, his general play has not been so bad. 6

I normally dread an upcoming international-break as it usually interrupts the purr of a smoothly running Arsenal engine. On this occasion, I'm hoping Arsene remembers how to start the damn thing... or buys some petrol or something. Whatever it is mechanics do on those occasions

Ah, that's a bloody awful analogy. I'm off to Paris for a few days. See you all this weekend.