Olympiacos 1 Arsenal 0

As the progress to the second round as group winners is already secured, Arsene Wenger decides to field the youngest ever team in the Champs League led by the oldest veteran Mikhael Silvestre, a grand daddy at 32.

From the report it would seem that the boys fared well but again lacked the lethal touch in front of the goal. The defence is understandably shaky given that this is the first time the back 4 is playing together.

A good experience for the guys, some of which are actually making their debut in the first team.

The future actually augers well for the team.

Arsenal 2 Stoke 0

This is the first game i have missed the entire season due to house moving. Nevertheless I recorded the game and only caught glimpses of it due to lack of time.

Arsenal is currently suffering a striker crisis, as opposed to same time last year when we have a defender crisis. Arshavin was pushed forward to play as lone striker and supported by attacking midfielders such as Rosicky, Nasri & Fabregas. The passing and play was definitely ok save that the finishing should have been better.

A goal by Arshavin in the first half was still not enough to ease the nerves, knowing that we have let slip a number of late goals this season. A second by Ramsay helped to settle the side in the last 20 minutes. Credit to Ramsay, he is certainly looking more like a class player lately, compared to when i first watched him played last season. Passing was more incisive and his runs were timed quite well. His decision making should however still have to be worked on, but he is definitely improving. The problem is that I do not see he and Fabregas playing together in the middle of the park, rather more like a replacement as their playing style are fairly similar.

Overall, a good weekend with 3 points collected expectedly.

Arsenal 2 Standard Liege 0

A win in the Champs League to secure top spot. Glad to see Denilson making a come back as well as Nasri. Hoping for better news this Sunday against Chelsea. Still reeling from the loss of RVP & Gibbs.

And worries over Gallas too.

It seems that injuries are coming back to haunt us. Hopefully the fringe players can perform.

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 0

A heartbreak weekend with RVP and Gibbs injured during the international break followed by a heartbreak performance against Sunderland. I have not seen the team played so badly and hope this is just a one off incident.

Shall not comment too much and hope for a better performance against Chelsea after losing ground to Man U & Chelsea.

Wolves 1 Arsenal 4

I remembered that Wolves approached this game very well, not giving the Gunners any space in the midfield. They were playing a pressing style even on the backs, and our fluency and passing game was adversely affected.

Somehow, we still managed to go 2-0 up at half-time, thanks to 2 own goals.

In the second half, we were also very nervous and still managed to further the lead through Arshavin. The fourth goal was a gem by Fabregas after some good passing from RVP.

Wolves though pulled back a late consolation goal and the knack of conceding soft late goals is starting to worry me. So long as we are in free scoring mode, this should not be an issue.

Still the score seemed generous to us as we did not play as well as the scoreline suggested. I am happy with the 3 points in the bag and leapfrog over Man U to 2nd place.

Now for the top of the table clash with Chelsea in a fortnight's time.

Arsenal 4 AZ Alkmaar 1

What a week. We are on a winning streak again and secure 3 important points in Europe. The team seem to click well and judging by the performance, we have lots of attach options in Arshavin, Rosicky, Fabregas, Walcott, Nasri, Diaby etc. These are midfielders who can create and/or score. So as and when the strikes are man marked, the movement and creativity of the midfielders can make up for it.

2 goals from Fabregas certainly make this one of his best season so far. What is missing from his CV is a prolific goal scoring record, and this season he has hit gold.

1 goal from Diaby and another from Nasri, who is back from injury. Though I did not watch the game, I wathced the goals in Youtube. The 4th goal created by the cheeky backflick of Eduardo followed by a fantastic pass to Diaby by Arshavin summed up the quality of the pass and football that evening. No wonder Wenger is delighted and started talking about a title challenge.

Our weakness over the pas seasons is a lack of consistency. Lets hope we stop dropping points like we did against West Ham a couple of weeks ago and start getting 3 points against lesser side. This is how Man U laboured to a title last season and this will ensure that we will not be hurt even if we were to drop points against the other big 3.

Looking forward to this Saturday's game against Wolves. 3 points in the bag, I pray.

Arsenal 3 Tottenham 0

What a derby! Robbie Keane has inflamed the Gunners during the pre-match press interview by claiming that the present Spurs squad is a tad stronger than Arsenal. What a load of bollocks. It was certainly great to see him eat his humble pie when we dismantle their fragile defence and scored 3 in front of the home fans.

The initial 42 minutes do not however hint at a comprehensive win. Arsenal's passing looked nervous and frequently misplaced, with Spurs squeezing out the space in the midfield by deploying Keanne in a 4-5-1 formation, leaving Crotch as the lone striker. As the game went on, Arsenal gradually looked the more convincing team with a couple of goal attempts.

The first goal from RVP arose from Ledley King's failure to pick him up. It was a cross from the right flank and King should have cleared the cross. To RVP's credit, he came from a very deep position to outrun King, who may be short of fitness due to his persistent injuries, and scored with a good touch from his right feet. In terms of technique and first touch, RVP is up there among the best and he has a stinging left shoot with almost no backlift.

Before the dust had even settled, Spurs lost the ball right from the kick off and RVP passed the ball to Fabregas who finished off a fine solo run with Arsenal's second goal. Talk about being Fabregasted with the first goal. Tottenham were sucker punched twice on the face without any reply. Game set and match practically at this stage, after playing reasonably well for 42 minutes.

The second half started with Redknapp switching to a 4-4-2 format with the hope to pull one back. Memories of the West Ham and Birmingham games do cross my mind, knowing that once Spurs pull one back, the match will be very edgy and close. To Arsenal's credit, they defended well and another great cross from Sagna saw RVP adding his goal tally in the game, again from the keeper and King's mistake. Once that went in, the 3 points are firmly in the bag.

I am proud of the team's performance. Indeed the effort and results speak louder than Keanne's boast that Spurs are already in the big 4. No Robbie, Spurs are still some distance off. Their record against the big 4 in the previous season speaks for itself. They have over-performed. This season, they lost to Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal, while beating Liverpool. But then, Liverpool has been looking extremely vulnerable this season with 7 defeats in the last 8 games.

:D.....

Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1

This game was played at insane hours and I did not watch the game.

Once again the results showed that the youth players at Arsenal were a class above that of Liverpool. It was good to see Nasri back in action although Rosicky is still injured. I fear that we played better whenever Rosicky is playing as he has a telepathic relationship with Fabregas on and off the pitch. We have more creativity and goals whenever the pair are playing together.

The game belongs to Merida who bossed the midfield. The funny thing is that Merida has not matured as quickly as Fabregas despite the press often comparing the two together. This is Merida's last season and lets hope that he does not leave on a free, just like a couple of youngsters. His lack of playing time may be a reason to leave, but who knows, maybe a couple of silverware this season may persuade him to stay.

The draw has kept the big 3 apart.

Now bring on Man C & Adebayor in the Q-final.

West Ham 2 Arsenal 2

After Liverpool has beaten Man U, I thought this would be a golden opportunity to climb over Man U in the leaderboard.

What I witnessed was a poor game which saw us once again, throwing away a lead by conceding late goals. This time we let in 2 goals, inexcusable when you consider that this is 2 points lost.

The game started well when RVP and Gallas both scored to give us a 2-0 lead.

Then in the last 15 minutes, we conceded stupid goals. The first one came from a mistake by Mannone, and the second from a careless foul by Song. Carlton Cole was a constant tormentor to the defence and credit to Zola, who made substitutions which turned the game around for West Ham. No wonder Arsene was furious.

A number of players were simply not performing. Diaby, Arshavin, just to name a couple of them. These players must raise their game, even if the opposite is not one of the big 4.

I do not wish to dwell in this game too much as I spent an entire weekend wondering why we threw away a golden opportunity to go level with Chelsea on points.

A Alkmaar 1 Arsenal 1

This game saw the ugly Arsenal rearing its head again. We were leading by 1-0 through a Cesc Fabregas goal until the dying minutes when they equalised.

How many times have we led the game and not killed it off with clinical finishing, only to regret it when we concede late goals. This showed either a lack of fitness on the part of the players, or concentration. The focus must always be there 100% otherwise you will be caught out at this level. If we continue to play like this, making careless mistakes, we can kiss the EPL and Champs League goodbye.

My only regret is that we could have secured our qualifications by a win, but alas, we will have to wait for another couple of weeks until the next game.

Arsenal 3 Birmingham 1

The match against Birmingham brought back some memories and unanswered questions. The terrible challenge on Eduardo and Gallas throwing his tantrums at the team for conceding a late penalty. Questions asked at the end of that season included what if we had not lost that game? The draw in that game saw us snap a winning streak and lost the title to ManU.

Forward to 2 seasons later. Eduardo has recovered and still playing. The young players have matured after that significant draw 2 seasons ago.

The game started well which saw us grabbing a 2 goal lead. Van Persie and Diaby grabbed a goal a-piece within the space of 2 minutes. The only downside was the injury of Walcott after a strong challenge by one of Birmingham's defendersalbeit without any malice. The Birmingham pulled one back through former Leeds' player Lee Bowyer after an awful mistake by the young stand-in keeper Mannone.

After the break, we looked nervous as the players seem to recall the gamer 2 seasons ago. The attack was not as fluid although Van Persie has the chance to restore the lead. The entire game is one of nail biting and not easy to watch if you are a Gunners fan, and it was not until Arshavin scored that the 3 points are firmly secured.

Conclusion : a nervous 3 points in the bag despite not playing particularly well.

Arsenal 6 Blackburn Rovers 2

This is a classic performance to celebrate Arsene's 13th anniversary as manager. The game was watched by legend Thierry Henry and what a display the team put up. Despite falling behind twice to defensive mistakes by Manonne and Gallas, we managed to come back with Vermaelen, who can strike a ball as well as any striker, as well as RVP, who took the slide rule pass from Fabregas and smashed the ball into the net. I am happy to see RVP slowly getting back his lethal finishing as confidence is important for a striker. We managed to go into the lead with a goal from Arshavin created by Capt Fab. What a glorius pass leading to a first time shot into the bottom right hand corner of the goal past former England no. 1 keeper Robinson.

The second half resumed with pretty much the eye candy football played by the home team. Fabregas added a fourth with a left footed volley and set up a fifth for Walcott, making his first appearance in the season. Fabregas dedicated his goals to Henry & the fans and his badge kissing antic showed his love for the club.

Fabregas was then substituted with a standing ovation accorded to the great performance he had - 4 assists and 1 goal. Bendtner then added a cracker after missing an earlier sitter.

What a fabulous performance. Some of the passing reminds me of the LA Lakers style of play in the NBA. For sheer entertainment, you cannot find a better game to watch and the quality of the goals are all contenders for the goals of the week. It is befitting that the performance was watched by Henry from the stands.

I am made happier seeing Man U dropping 2 points. We are now only 6 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

Next week, I am making an overseas trip and fortunately there is no game to be played. Therefore I am glad that I will not miss much. Till then, I shall have nothing to post till 2 weeks later when we take on Birmingham. Cheers!!!

Arsenal 2 Olympiacos CFP 0

An away win that put us in good stake to qualify for the next round.

We only managed to wrap up the points in the last 10 mins. Well done Arsene who instilled confidence in the players to continue with their passing game and be patient as the goals would come sooner or later.

Fulham 0 Arsenal 1

It is always going to be tough to get 3 points at Craven Cottage. We have dropped many points there in the past.

This game was an indication why we had dropped points previously. We met a Fulham side playing the game like a cup-tie. They will physical, well organised and try to play their own passing game. Credit to their manager Roy Hodgson.

This game was uncomfortable to watch as we looked as if we are going to concede a late goal despite being 1-0 with a classic RVP goal from a pass by Fabregas. I was nail bitting all the way to the end and was relieved to hear the final whistle.

The fluid passing game was not there as Fulham makes it tough for us to play in our usual manner. The marking was tight and they played a pressing game right from the start. Arshavin looked tired and did not get into the game. Oh yes, we would not have won without the heroics of Mannone, the keeper. He managed to post at least 4 good saves from point blank to give us all 3 points to Arsenal. We did not deserve all the 3 points, but then again, we did not deserve the defeat at Man U either. That's football....

All in all, a poor performance but a good result.

Arsenal 2 WBA 0

The kids managed to come up with a 2-0 win courtesy of Vela and Watt. Noted that Wilshere played well. Wanted to record this game but could not find listing in the SCV. Oh well, a win is expected for the kids.

Now bring on Liverpool in the next game....

Arsenal 4 Wigan 0

After 2 defeats at Manchester, the next few games (starting from this one) will see us pitting us the minnows and we are expected to collect full points from these games if we intend to have a chance in the title.

This is a home game against Wigan, which is an average side and whipping boys for the big 4.

We have the 3rd choice keeper Vito Manonne standing in for the injured Almunia. Vermaelen continued to impress me with his brace of goals. At the rate he is going, he may end up as one of the top scorers at the end of the season. Another goal by Eduardo and the final by Fabregas summed up an emphatic win for Arsenal.

At this stage, I suspect that goal difference will be important and it is vital that we do try to score as many as possible. RVP had an awful game as he fluffed many of his chances. In fact, he could have notched a hattrick had his finishing been any better. But again, you cannot complain when your team wins 4-0.

Finally, 3 points in the bag after failing to get any during the last 2 games.

Standard Liege 2 Arsenal 3

This is a game which we are expected to win. Did not get to watch it again as I do not subscribe to the damn Mio package.

According to the reports, we were down by 2 goals early in the game and yet managed to have the character to snatch a win in the last 10 mins.

Goals came from Bendtner, Vermaelen & Eduardo sealed the win. I must say something about Vermaelen and Eduardo.

Vermaelen has been a good buy as he has been scoring goals as well as formed a strong partnership with Gallas. Like Gallas, he likes to surge forward to have a crack at the goal. He has a sweet left foot and being trained in the Ajax Academy, his technique is good.

As for Eduardo, I would like to see more air time for him. He is a natural finisher and I feel that he is more suited to the central position than RVP. Perhaps RVP was favoured in the central position due to his speed & mobility, but nothing beats Eduardo when he is on song.

With this win, and the other 2 teams in the same group getting a draw, a win in the next game will almost certainly send us into the 2nd round of the Champs League. Hopefully this is the season where we will be crowned Euro champs, but sucks, got no Mio to watch it on......

Man C 4 Arsenal 2

This game is certainly painful to watch as I find that Man C played with greater enthusiasm and determination than Arsenal. Maybe it is because Toure and Adebayor both have a point to prove to their old club.

Whatever it is, Adebayor played very well to deny Arsenal a goal thru his goal lin clearance as well as scored a trademark header. During the spell when Arsenal equalised thru a RVP goal, they played well and almost scored on a few occasion. I still feel that we missed Arshavin & Walcott to create chances which our strikers so solely missed. On the plus point, we saw Rosicky playing a EPL game after 18 months of layoff and he even scored one.

On the downside, Almuni looked extremely ordinary in this game. The last 2 goals were the result of Arsenal sending all their players to the opposite end and Man C catching us on the break with their pacy players like Shaun Wright Phillips.

Overall I feel that we deserve to lose this match compared to the loss to Man U 2 weeks ago.

To lose to both Manchester clubs in 2 weeks is a hard pill to swallow.

Lets hope we put things right during Wed's game against Standard Liege in the Champs League.

O, btw, Eduardo's 2 match ban was overturned upon appeal by Arsenal.

After all the talk by the English players on diving by foreign players, we see Rooney doing a dive against Slovia. What hypocrites.

Man U 2 Arsenal 1

It certainly took me a while to update this blog after a bruising weekend watching Arsenal after being a goal up to end with a defeat with arch rivals Man U. The defeat would have been palatable if Arsenal had played badly. But the sheer dominance of the game and yet without any points to show at the end of the game made it all the more frustrating.

The goal by Arshavin was sheer beauty. It was voted goal of the week in UK and showed what an important player he is. I half suspect that he is not fully fit and we have yet to see the best of him.

The Rooney goal was a bit suspect and he seemed to have fallen onto the ground all too easily.

The own goal by Diaby was totally uncalled for. There is no danger and Almuni should have called for the ball.

Then there is the last gasp equaliser which was quite correctly disallowed by the linesman.

And of course the sending off of Arsene which later invited an apology from the Referee Association.

All these add to the high drama if not hard & physical game plan by Man U, who certainly are no where at their peak and no match for Arsenal slick play.

Still there are no points to show after the game and Arsene must have been extremely disappointed.

Arsenal 3 Celtic 1

The 3-1 win at Emirates was tainted by the controversy of the first goal, result of a dubious "foul" by the Celtic keeper. The English press today came out in full force to say that it was not a penalty and the usually myopic AW was also quoted to say that he did not think it was a penalty either.

However, a win is a win. Shame to the Celtics player crying for a ban on Eduardo for "diving". He is not the first and definitely will not be the last to "dive". Remember CR7, who is now in Real Madrid?? It is a continental culture and until they introduced video replays, it is part of the game to stay.

Other than Eduardo, Eboue and Arshavin also scored. I am happy to see that Eboue is playing well again after the treatment last season. I somehow feel that defence is his best position although he has frequently been deployed as a midfielder ever since Sagna arrived. Arshavin can be a player who gives us 10 to 15 goals a season and I am surprised to see that Robin VP has yet to get himself on the scoresheet. Maybe next game but it is not hurting us as the other players are chipping in their bit in scoring.

15 goals in 4 games and that is almost 4 goals a game. If we can maintain the scoring stats, then conceding one per game seem ok.

Now lets bring on Man U!!!

Arsenal 4 Portsmouth 1

Any high scoring game on Saturday. Playing at home for the first time against struggling Portsmouth. Did not watch entire game as I was out for dinner and caught glimpses of it at my fren's place. I am glad that Abou Diaby is fit and running. I always think that he is wasted on the wings and his position should be a central one. He put on a good show, scoring a brace in the first half with his runs and positioning.

The other goals were scored by Gallas & Ramsey. I am hoping that Ramsey be given more air time as it will hasten his maturity as well as give him some needed experience. If you wish to rely on youth (read no money), then AW should allow him to play more often.

On a sour note, Fabregas was taken off at half time as a precaution due to a pull on his hamstring. Just hope that injuries will not come back to haunt us this season.

Stats show that goals are coming from many players. Gallas has already "scored" 3 and is currently top scorer. AW remarked that he has regained his form and I am happy to see him form a new & solid partnership with new boy Vermalaen.

This has been a good weekend and let's hope we continue our winning start against Man U this coming weekend.

Celtic 0 Arsenal 2

It is never easy playing at Parkhead with a full capacity crowd cheering the home team on. The young Gunners have done what no other Brit team had done in many years - achieve a win there against Celtic in a Euro tie. The last team that did so was Notts Forest - and I believed they went on to win the cup with big ears. Omen???

I did not catch the game due to the insane hours. Anyway, even if I had wanted to, the damn bidding war between SingTel and Starhub have left football fans worse off. One will need to subscribe to SCV to watch EPL and Mio to watch Champs League. Nowadays, the fans will need to have deep pockets to watch live football.

I did however watch the goals from Youtube after the game. It was a good reason and a fortuitous win, one is a deflected goal and the other own goal. Nevertheless, a goal is a goal no matter how they are conceded and based on the first 2 games, Arsenal have achieved a 100% record, with 8 goals for and 1 against. Liverpool & Man U have lost one game each, and had Chelsea not scored in injury time against Hull, Arsenal would have been the only time with a 100% record so far.

The days are still early to be making any predictions. I reserve my assessment until after the games with Man U and Man C, then we will have a clearer picture of the potential of this time.

Until then, we should be good enough for a win against Portsmouth at the Emirates. Portsmouth is currently a club in some crisis and ownership change and the boys should be too strong for them.

My prediction? A 3-0 win.

Tiger tamed by Korean Kim Chee

On a different sports, last Sunday saw Tiger winning streak in the Majors with a 54 holes lead coming to a halt by a relatively unknown South Korean YE Yang.

I didn't expect the result as Tiger was usually so strong in his mental play. He is quite unstoppable when he is in the final pairing on the last day of a major. Like what I always say, there will always be a first for everything. This defeat shows the human side of Tiger and that he can be beaten. To think that what Mickelson, Harrington & Ors cannot do, Yang managed to achieve it in clutch time makes the victory even sweeter.

Congrats to Yang. Noticed that he is using Taylor Made clubs and Odyssey putter. Hmm, same as what I am using. Will take it as a good omen and will play more golf to test that theory...

Everton 1 Arsenal 6

It was a good weekend for the young Gunners. I expected a win but not a windfall. I was treated to a feast of goals from defenders, midfielders & strikers galore.

This season, Arsenal played a 4-3-3 formation (or a somewhat modified 4-5-1 or 4-1-2-2-1. Vermalaen was drafted in as a centre-back partnering Gallas in a new look pairing. The left & right backs are occupied by the usually reliable Clichy and Sagna. Song is playing as a DM with Denilson & Fabregas pushed upfront. The front three are Arshavin, Bendtner & Van Persie.

After a scrapping opening 20 minutes, Arsenal slowly took control of the game. A good dribble down the right side saw Bendtner passing the ball to Fabregas, who then laid it off for the oncoming Denilson. Denilson took a first time shot and saw the ball swerving towards the left top corner of the goalpost, beating Howard completely. It was a good goal and hopefully we will see Denilson's name on the scoreboard more often. The second and third goals also came in the first half from set pieces. We are not known to profit from set pieces in the past (unlike Chelsea) and hopeful these are signs of things to come. Both goals came from the heads of Vermelaen and Gallas, who capitalised on some sloppy defending by the Toffees to notch up the goals. What a debut by Vermelaen. whom I took looked solid all afternoon with his positional play. Although not particularly tall, he looked assured and comfortable alongside Gallas.

The second half belongs to Cesc who bagged a brace of goals from some very goof runs from the deep. Last season, he did not score too many goals, partly due to his injury layoff. This season, we hope that he will add more to his goal telly as this is an aspect of his game which is still lacking, compared to someone like CR7. The last goal came from Eduardo after an opportunistic toe-poke from Arshavin. In stoppage time, we let in a goal unfortunately. Well if you had told me before the game that we will nick the game at 2-0 I will be more than happy to take it then nitpicking on conceding a goal from Everton in stoppage time by Saha.

The 6-1 win sees us sitting nicely on top of the table with a goal difference of 5. What pleased me particularly is that we see defenders & midfielders chipping in with goals. I always think that it is not the responsibilities of strikers to score. Their team mates must be able to contribute to the goal tally and looking at this young side, I must say that goals can come from anywhere.

I should not get too excited as after all this is the first game. The next game against Celtics is more important as we need to qualify for the Champions League. My prediction is that I see us coming away with a 2-1 win. Let's hope that I am correct.

Here we go again

I missed last Saturday's warm up game against Valencia as the game was not screened over cable. It was no big loss anyway as the Arse chalked up their first loss in pre-season warm ups by going down 2-0 in Spain.

The Champions League draw has been made and we are going to face Celtics in the 3rd round. Celtics is a team I support in the Scottish league although my allegiance lies with the Arse when they meet sometime this month. We should be able to clear this leg and proceed to the league stage.

On the transfer front, all is quiet after some links suggesting that the club is going to re-sign big PV. I greeted this with some skepticism as AW is not known to re-sign players he allowed to leave the club years ago. Further PV is now 33 years old and may not be suited to the more physical and robust side of EPL football. I am still hoping that we sign a big defender who will assist us in set pieces defensively & offensively. We will also need another DM as I do not think the current crop of players have the potential to fulfill the role which was filled so effectively by PV and Gilberto, and perhaps Flamini albeit for one season only. We need a big guy who bully other teams when it comes to defending and breaking up other team's play as and when we lose possession in the upper third of the opponent's half.

We believe we will be in the top 2 with a shout provided we do not run into injury problems. I am not too sure whether Rosicky and Eduardo will last the entire season without injuries. I hope AW will play Wilshere and Walcott more often on the wings to give us width and I dare to venture that Arshavin will finally show us his worth this season, after having half a season to get adjusted to EPL football and Arse playing culture.

So come on you Gunners! Go for it. The title is up for grabs.

Arsenal 3 Rangers 0

After last night's cracker, I make sure that I stayed at home for this one.

The first half was entertaining enough. Jack Wilshere justified his faith in him by his man of the match display by scoring a brace. What i like about this lad is his similarities to Liam Brady with his silky skills. He has the confidence to take on defenders and like to get past them. I was disappointed that I did not get to see him on a more frequent basis last season as I understand he went through a dip in his form. Hopefully we will see more of him, and I can certainly seer him occupy Walcott's right wing position, thereby freeing Walcott to play as a centre forward. My complaint is that due to his small built, he can be bullied by big defenders and he will also be weak in the air. What he lacks in size, he can make it up by his lower centre of gravity (kind of like Owen) and this will help him to change his acceleration and direction when he has the ball, thereby adding some unpredictability in his play. I think it is still too early for him to be touted as a full England international, after only 2 games in the new season; but he will certainly be someone to look out for. I think Wenger will use him mainly as a substitute to gain some experience.

Overall, I am happy to see Eduardo and Rosicky back in action. The former showed how good a finisher he was when he slotted in the second goal from the tiniest of angle pass the Ranger's keeper.

I was however surprised to see the man of the torunament award going to Arshavin. It is not that Arshavin does not deserve the award, especially after his brace of goals against Atletico Madrid, but rather that Jack has turned out a more consistent performance over 2 games than Arshavin. But who cares so long as someone from Arsenal receives the award.

Now I am looking forward to the last warm up game against Valencia, and hopefully by then we will get to see some new signings.

Arsenal 2 A. Madrid 1

I came home late on Saturday night and by the time I watched on the cable, the match is already an hour old. However, I did not miss anything as the score was then still 0-0. Saw some splendid play on the wings from Wilshere which underlines his potential as an attacking midfielder. Everytime he as the ball, it seems that he can take defenders on and beat them for pace and wizardry. Then Wenger made some substitutions which saw Ashavin, Fabregas and Eduardo. Initially, I was of the view that Arshavin seem anonymous as he hardly touched the ball for almost 10 minutes since he came on. However, his first time shot gave us the lead on the 86th min which I thought was the winner. Some sloppy defending saw us conceding the equaliser by A Madrid. The goal came about as the Arsenal defenders were defending very high up and failed to catch Maxi Rodrigues offside with the perfect through pass for him. Then when everything seem to head for a draw, Arshavin gave us a good display of magic as he conjured up a goal out of nothing, slotting in the ball from the tightest angle, akin to the winner scored by Kanu against Chelsea in a memorable game many seasons ago. Well done Arsavin.

In & Outs so far

In

Out

Toure

Adebayor

Maybe ???

New Season, New Hope

I have been an ardent supporter of Arsenal FC for more than 30 years. I cherished the fond memories of the George Graham days where I was watching the infamous finale in the 1989/90 season where we scored in the last minute of the game to clinched the then Division One League title from arch rivals Liverpool. I recalled that I was then watching the game from a old CRT TV in the living room while my siblings and parents were asleep in their bedrooms. I had almost given up hope and when the goal came from Michael Thomas, I was jumping & screaming for joy. That gave me bragging rights when I went to work that same morning and met my colleagues who were mainly Liverpool supporters.

How times have changed. George Graham moved on, Bruce Rioch came and went, followed by Arsene "Le Professor" Wenger.

Arsene ushered in a new era of football never ever seen in Arsenal before. Arsenal was built on the tradition of "if you do not concede, you cannot lose". Most of the games were won on a 1-0 score. With Arsene, the word "entertainment" was added to the Arsenal's football vocabulary. He brought in foreign players, albeit strongly Gallic flavour, into the team. Players like Overmars, Petit, Vieira, Anelka, Henry, Fabregas etc have all graced the stage at one time or another. The supporters were also spoilt with success, with 3 titles & 4 FA cup wins.

The successful period was then succeeded by a drought lasting for 5 seasons where we came close but like the Americans would say, no cigars. There were times where the fans were tearing their hairs out wondering why Arsene failed to see weaknesses in the team which were blatantly visible to those fans who were virtual managers by sitting by their goggle boxes at home. Together with Man U, we used to be the top 2 team in the EPL. Now, we are fighting to stay within the top 4 so that we can qualify for the Champions League the following season.

We all know the weakness of the team. Weak defence, no height, midfield has no muscle, cannot play with teams who refuse to play football, no plan B...and so the list goes on. But does Arsene know?

Every season comes and go, with the club selling one of their prized assets, apparently to raise monies to pay off the mortgages on the new stadium. The finance people seem to be running the club instead of the football guys. We sell more than we buy. In all fairness, most of the players whom the club released did not fare too well at their clubs. Look at Hleb and Flamini who both moved on and did not start in the first 11 for their respective clubs.

In any event, the rant here is not about the past. Every season brings new hope. What happens last season is long forgotten. It is akin to buying a lottery. You know it is not likely for you to win, but still there is a hope, however minute or remote the possibility is.

I have been watching the transfer movements closely. Arsene has brought in a relatively unknown Belgian defender. He had sold Adebayor & Toure to Man C. I am in fact quite happy to see Adebayor go. Despite a strong showing 2 seasons ago, he has been rubbished last season and it does not help when he was openly flirting with the other clubs for a move. Nothing irritates the fans more than a complete lack of loyalty. Of course, we do not expect the players to play for peanuts nowadays and everyone is entitled to look after their own welfare, but in a passionate game like football, you have to be seen to return something back to the fans who backed the club and its players thru good and bad times. As for Toure, I was kind of sad to see him go. He was after all, the last remnant of the Invincibles and have been a loyal servant to the club. His personality clashes with Gallas forced him out and I wished him all the best.

Now the club is flushed with almost 40M pounds of cash from Man C. Surely Arsene will be looking at reinforcements? I hope he would go for Huntaleer, a player I liked. At a reported 15M, I think he is a bargain. He should also get a defensive midfielder, someone like Alonso or Eissen. Names linked include Velosso, Blassi, Melo, De Rossi. As for centrebacks, I hope he goes for someone who is good in the air and defends set pieces well.

It will be interesting to see how Arsene spends that 40M. In the meanwhile, I am looking forward to the Emirates Cup being screened on my cable channel. Hopefully, by the time I blog again, there is someone who is joining the club I can speak of.