Competitions, Tweets and Udinese

Morning to all the disgruntled and optimistic Gooners alike.

Today, there is a competition of sorts. You must find my tweet and ensure that it gets 300 retweets along with this blog to get 500 visitors in order to have the chance to win an Arsenal Retro Tee. I will pick someone from that has retweeted randomly and send them the T-shirt.

I know it isn't much but they are quite nice so I'd say it is a nice bonus to check out Arsenal news and views which you may do anyway.

Enough of that because I have a public service announcement. Everyone can now rest safe knowing the Spanish foreign minister is no longer going to force through the extradition of Arsene Wenger for holding a Spanish national hostage. I can confirm that the hostage situation has been resolved as they have paid the ransom. We have reduced our demands slightly but with around £35m to spend we have issued the safe release of the best treated hostage known to man.

Despite the negative spin by the Catalunya, it was refreshing that Cesc did stick up for Mr Wenger and the club, a little:

"I will never forget what he has done for me. I couldn’t even talk when I wanted to say how grateful I was for what he has done to me, so I had to send a message afterwards saying thanks for everything... The biggest regret I will have in my career will be not to be able to lift a trophy as Arsenal captain."

So with this finally to bed I hope we can all move on now. Of course I am upset but what I have heard and seen from some Arsenal fans goes way beyond the sadness I am feeling. It was like mass hysteria everywhere I turned to; Twitter, Facebook, you know, all the places that people hang around these days. I was, to be honest quite shocked at the fury this had caused amongst fans. Especially when we knew this was going to happen for quite some time. If the selling of Fabregas wasn’t enough, there was a series of incidents which worsened the mood, something which you wouldn’t think possible if you heard some comments.

First there was the BadgeGate scandal.

Then, came the return of the tweeter, who we all thought was lost forever in a web of deceit and treachery. Samir Nasri clearly took offence to the treatment that some of the fans dished out to him up at Newcastle. While I would not condone the chants, it is clear that seeing as his wages are essentially paid by the fans and he has disrespected us than we as fans are entitled to say what we want. In true hypocritical style from any self respecting footballer, I imagine he was inspired by Joey Barton, he tweeted:

"I heard what the fans were singing about me on Saturday and it is really disrespectful because I’m still a arsenal player."

This caused a barrage of abuse to be directed his way and am quite surprised it didn’t make bigger headlines. I personally was more offended by the use of “a arsenal player” instead of “an Arsenal player” but that’s just me.

Funny how he doesn’t find it disrespectful to agree a contract verbally and then refuse to sign it. Then to try to force your hand further in a tweet directed at the fans. Hmm. Maybe I am overly suspicious of the motives but it screams as "Let me out of here!"

Despite Wenger’s assertion that Nasri would stay, I expect this little outburst makes that all the more difficult. He is quickly becoming even more unpopular than our Togolese friend. Like I said yesterday we just need to get on with it and bring in quality to replace them. I cannot imagine Nasri being here by the end of this transfer window so let’s hope we can speed up the process and even get a replacement in by the weekend. Likely? I think not but as you saw from my post, I like to dream.

Which brings us to the most important matter of the day. Yes, more important than someone feeling upset because he has been sworn at; Udinese.

We are going into one of the most important games, one that if goes wrong could define us and how we are seen in the media, by players and manages for the coming season. Forget the financial implications, if we do not qualify for the Champions League proper than we are in a far shittier situation than any of us, even the ones screaming bloody murder, had ever envisaged. Let's face it; we are going into this game with a back drop of shit. Captain left, many suspensions, injuries and a set of fans almost sick to the stomach with the club.

I understand the frustrations and I know by me saying this it will make no difference to any of the fans going tonight but please get behind the team. They need us more than even. We are going to be without key players and I expect it will be frustrating at times but despite everything else we need to do our job which is support. Nothing else for that hour and a half come 7.45pm.

If we look at tonight, we are likely to start with

Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscienly, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Arshavin/Rosicky, Gervinho, Walcott, Chamakh.

There are murmurs that Bendtner could play a part so maybe either on the wing or as an impact sub if things aren't quite going to plan. Ideally we can get through this with ease but since when did we do that? If the defence continue their fine start to the season that should be enough to ensure we do not lose at a minimum. We may even go with two DMs which I hope isn't the case but with the injuries it may not be an option. I predict a 2-0 win today, not least because I feel the players will feel like they have something to prove.

Transfer news is a bit thin on the actual news front. Murmurs of a real bid for Cahil have resurfaced. I won’t hold my breath though. Joel Campbell has still not signed, neither has Jadson and nor can I see anything happening today. Here's hoping to a surprise.

With that, I am off. Feeling the start of season buzz all over as this is the first home game of the season. Good luck with the competition and I hope there is a winner.

Till tomorrow Gooners.

Goonerverse.

Finally... The Arsenal Preview

The Arsenal Preview

Just like I did a preview for our main rivals, I have been preparing a preview for the Arsenal in much the same way. I have held off on doing so for as long as possible in the hope that we may strengthen to some extent. This has not happened and I have had to delay it till the last possible moment. I was even going to include this in this mornings post but was hoping there would be some movement, somewhere, in or out, good or bad, just so that this preview would hold some meaning. It is almost pointless writing the preview as we stand as it will not reflect our season and chances.

It is for this reason that this preview is going to be based on some assumptions; these assumptions are based on logic and my knowledge of Arsenal Football Club. It does not mean that I am guessing or hoping for something better to happen and previewing our chances accordingly. In fact, if anything the assumptions I am to make will weaken us. They may not all happen but at this point it seems these assumptions are most likely. For the purpose of this preview I will be assuming we are going to sell Nasri, Fabregas, Bendtner and Eboue. I will also assume we will sign a centre back and a creative midfielder (there could potentially be more but I will leave it there as a worst case). As we write this, the first of the exiting players seems to be confirmed. Cesc Fabregas has left.

Last season: As mixed as it could have got. We started off slowly but then went on a really good run. Only to lose to Man United when all in the media wrote our season off. We then bounced back with a superb performance against Chelsea but then followed that with another poor performance. That was pretty much the entire season summed up. A great performance when the chips were down followed by an incredibly uninspired performance with no work ethic. Our best games came when you could see the fire in the team, they were pressing high up the pitch and they were as active off the ball as they were on it. In that lies the key for this season, but more on that later. After three quarters of a season of up and down performances with mostly good results we found ourselves in a good position to win the league as well as the League cup but in a Matrix style de ja vu we ended up collapsing spectacularly in an all too familiar fashion. What makes it harder to take was the manner of many of the defeats where the players looked uninterested. When they did look like they cared enough to try the performances were spectacular such as the win against United in the closing stages of the season. It seemed like we were finally able to beat the big teams again but we struggled against the smaller teams.

Playing Squad: I do not think we were as far off last season as many people think. Had Thomas Vermaelan not been injured for so long I think we may have been even closer to the top of the league. That is not including Fabregas’ form being blighted by injury as well as the standard injury crisis to the rest of the squad. I think our biggest target this year should be a new medical staff… Seriously though our biggest weakness was of course our defence and with the exit of Clichy you can say that it is weaker then last year. However with the arrival of new CB we should hopefully add a bit of solidity to our defence. The other issue is our defence of set pieces which has apparently been worked on extensively and is close to being sorted according to some at the club. Having Vermaelan back as well as the new addition makes our defence potentially better. The losses in midfield will play fairly similarly to last season just without our best player but that is quite similar to how we were last season. I know there is a lot of fear for this season but I don’t see us much weaker than last season and last season we could have won the league. I feel like I’m sounding a bit like Wenger but with a bit of luck and less injuries this season we may not be as far off as the world expect us to be. Along with a change in tactic and some players that actually want to play for Arsenal, although we may have less talent/technical ability than last season you may find we are more consistent this season as well as being more direct, faster and more ruthless. I can see Robin Van Persie scoring 30+ goals this season and that is why I think we are still going to have a great chance.

Threat to our rivals: We are a HUGE threat to our rivals. Not least of all because no one expects us to be. We have got rid of some deadwood as well as players that do not want to be at the club and replaced them with faster and hungrier players. You may not agree but even listening to Jenkinson you can see how much it means to him. We are going to be a threat but we will also have lots of poor games.

Verdict: Ideally I would have liked to know who our creative midfielder is when writing this as well as the defender that comes in. Either way I really do feel we have a great chance to challenge. I am not saying we will win the league but I am saying we are likely to have a season like last season. With a little bit more luck, less injuries and another breakthrough player (Miyachi?) we can still be right up there. I find it comical that people give us no chance of being in the top four. I am very confident we will be in the top four but I do not think that is good enough. With the money available to him we should have invested in two great defenders, two midfielders (replacements) as well as another striker, all of which we could easily afford. Here’s to hoping my assumptions really are a worst case.

That brings to an end my preview for the coming season. I write this whilst feeling sick listening to that prick Balague yap on about Barca’s disgusting behaviour, trying to sound human. Anyway, it is as expected.

Goonerverse.

Press Conferences, Lies and Craziness.. A day in the world of Arsenal

Morning to the entire Goonerverse,

Today we have a special Premiership Preview edition of the Goonervese which I will post later today after this short post.

We are only a day away from the season and whilst there are many issues unresolved and much business left to do, we have got to the stage where we have to go, “ready or not”. It reminds me of playing hide and seek when I was young and I had 15 great ideas where to hide but the time was ticking. The indecision cost me and meant I hadn’t hidden in any of those great places but the time had come and I just hid in the closest place, ending up being somewhere I didn’t want to be. “Ready or not, here I come”.

It is similar to where we are at the moment. We have had many things we need to sort out and the time has been ticking but we find ourselves in a position where it seems that we haven’t sorted any of these issues out. Cesc’s future is still unresolved, Nasri is in the same situation, we have no defensive reinforcements, no replacements for the departing players, never mind the potential departures to a number of squad players. That is before we look at integrating them into the team and finding a system that the new squad is comfortable with.

While there is still time to correct these issues we cannot do much to help us before kick off tomorrow. For now we must concentrate on the game tomorrow and ensure we have a winning start. We must realise that we cannot change anything for tomorrow so let’s get on with it. This was the backdrop to which Wenger infuriated many with his press conference this morning. We are all clearly upset about a number of things at the club right now and having Wenger almost belittle us by not really acknowledging anything, lying and ignoring issues surrounding the club has infuriated the masses.

It is however not as bad if you watch the full Press Conference instead of just looking at the one liners without any context but even still, there are glaring omissions, clear dishonesty and silly comments. This was in my opinion an attempt to deflect attention from these issues and just concentrate on the game. I fear this may have had the opposite effect though. It has got everyone even more anxious about the coming season.

The truth is we are where we are right now and we really need to get on with the game tomorrow. That is all. I understand the disappointment of many fans and the genuine embarrassment felt by others when hearing things such as:

“I expect nobody to leave the club”.

This sounds border line insane and was certainly not the only questionable quote. However, these are more understandable when placed into context.

“I expect nobody to leave the club. At the moment there is no news. What we want today is to focus on the players who can help”

Whilst he is still sounding out of touch, he is (I think) basically trying to say, that at the moment he expects no one to leave as there is no new news. He wants the focus on the match and to concentrate on the “players available”. It is important to not get too worked up over this as we have a whole season to get worked up, let’s not do it all before the season even starts!

Remember to sign up to my fantasy league for the chance to win an Arsenal T-shirt. fantasy.premierleague.com - 1304241-293592 to enter the league.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Make sure to check back later for the Premier league preview.

Goonerverse