Va Va Poom

I would be gladly surprised if by the end of this transfer window period we happen to pull off late transfer deal and bring anyone with genuine quality into the squad bar Mart Poom. Mart Poom's deal looked certain and I rate him as a decent backup for Lehmann. When it comes to consistency I even think Matt Poom can slightly better Lehmann. People always argue that Lehmann is a good goalie because he is challenging for the no.1 spot with Kahn. But I can also say that David James was once England no.1 and is (or was) he a good goalie then? I am not sure. German and England may be two giant footballing country but I don't think both Lehmann and James are much better than say, Thomas Sorensen. That said, Lehmann's form has been encouraging lately and Poom's arrival would only bring out the best of Lehmann.

We have been linked with Adebayor, Kette, and even Cisse. They are all forwards. Forwards???!! What happen to the disturbing sight of Lauren being outpaced by Ronaldo times and again during our encounter with Man Utd last season? Or that of Senderos being outmuscled by Drogba? Or the memory of us being the victim of Gilberto's injury last season?

Tony Adams did some scouting for potential PV's replacement but I don't think we will be getting the man today.

The Final Three Days

We've got three days remaining to get somebody in and so far Poom seems to be the most likely candidate. It's reported that we would most likely swap Poom for Hoyte in a six months loan deal. This will give us temporary solution for goalie back up while Wenger is hopefully still looking for a quality goalie to become our real number 1. I think Lehmann has ben solid but even if he plays like Schmeichel at the moment (which he isn't of course), his age means he could begin to lose his sharpness sooner than later.

Aliadiere didn't feature for West Ham's last match but hopefully the boy will get his chance as he is a very talented player. Bentley, meanwhile, looks very likely to part from us which is a shame considering the fact that he is among the last young English players with real talent within the Arsenal's rank. I think even Hoyte will follow suit in the future. I've got no grudge against foreign players and I am itching to see a talented Asian playing for Arsenal but Arsenal being an English club, it is always exciting to see some good English players within the squad. I am still hoping that Wenger will snatch Jenas during the January transfer window and I couldn't help wondering why we did not try to get Scott Parker. Or maybe Chelsea wouldn't want to sell him to us?

Having watched Newcastle Utd match last night, I have to say that the Magpies were really unlucky given their promising squad and play. In Luque, Parker, Dyer, Emre and Jenas they probably have one of the best midfield lineup in the league. How Wenger did not attempt to bring Luque and Emre in is beyond me. At times I feel that Wenger has been the victim of his own reputation and excellent record of bringing in unknown players and making them stars. He always seems reluctant to bring in established and widely known players unless they are young players with huge potential or old players with bargain price.

During the last match against Fulham, I realized that Cesc made A LOT of dangerous runs into the box, much like Freddie. At times he misjudged his timing but overall he looked like scoring goals for us this season. He won the Golden Boot in the Youth Championship that made him famous. So there is every reason to believe in his potential in the final third.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Fulham

I may have sounded negative in my postings lately but I do give credits where it is due. Firstly though, thumbs up to Fulham for not playing 10 men behind ball once they were leading. They played football and our four goals reply was their reward. I hope this team will stay up. Not because of the 6 points we could get each season but because I respect this kind of team. The struggling team I support this season is Westham though, especially with Aliadiere now playing for them

I didn't get to watch the game so I couldn't really tell how good we were. We were criticized for still trying too much to walk the ball into the net. Had we been more direct and clinical we could have put another 2 or 3 in. But I think we just have to accept that we would remain that way for two reasons. Wenger encourages his players to attempt for perfect goals to begin with. And also we don't have a predator forward in the box apart from probably the up and coming Aliadiere and Lupoli. Thanks God we still have Freddie.

Thierry was back in business with his two goals. Whether he will go missing yet again in the next big game remains to be seen. I couldn't be bothered with Wrighty's record. Hleb put on another nifty display and Reyes was a constant threat. Cesc and Gilberto also did well although Fulham's midfield was hardly a real test to be honest. Dennis was instrumental in some of our goals and I am still amazed at how our no 10 remains such an influential figure in our squad despite his age. Welcome to Bergkamp wonderland!!

Lauren missed penalty for the first time in his career while Cygan, probably played his best game for Arsenal, scoring two goals and defended well. 'Welcome to Cygan wonderland' chant was his reward. Senderos didn't make the bench. Wenger probably gave him time to reflect and regain his confidence. Poor kid he is just 20. To be beaten three times by Drogba in two weeks must have hurt his pride. That's why I said we need reinforcement in that area.
Is Senderos ready to replace Cygan as our third centre back? Yes, very much so.
Is Senderos ready to be our first choice centre back throughout the season? No, not quite yet.

That being said, I don't think we will see Wenger signing another centreback until at least the next transfer window. Fingers crossed Sol will regain his fitness and sharpness fast enough before Cygan screws things up. I hope Wenger fulfill his promise to sign another keeper but then you know Wenger.

As we can almost guarantee that there will be no more signing, here is my team for the season given that everyone is fit, with some rotation option.

GK: Lehmann
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RB: Lauren
CB: Toure
CB: Campbell (Senderos)
LB: Cole
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RW: Ljungberg (Hleb)
CM: Gilberto (Flamini)
CM: Hleb (Cesc, Flamini)
LW: Reyes (Hleb, Pires)
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FW: van Persie (Bergkamp)
FW: Henry

Subs
Almunia
Senderos (Cygan)
Clichy
Flamini (Song)
Bergkamp (Quincy)

Chelsea 1 - 0 Arsenal

Wenger's gameplan was to get a draw apparently. Apart from the FA cup final, Wenger's team were never good at keeping the score 0-0 against top teams. Not with that kind of defense, not against that kind of Chelsea. To be honest Chelsea expect a draw either. They got lucky with Drogba's goal. But title is earned through this kind of luck. I've criticized our defense enough previously and I don't think it's Senderos' fault either this time. It's the team's fault. Thierry Henry and Robert Pires were virtually missing for most part of the game and we could hardly had shot on target until Drobga scored. I don't like it when we up the tempo only after we are behind.

Robert Pires will never make it in the middle of the park. I hope Wenger learns his lesson. Cesc Fabregas made some mistakes but everybody does. Even Gilberto did. The Brazilian looked uncertain at times. Despite playing 4-5-1, we were effectively eaten by Chelsea's midfield. Only Hleb managed to trouble Chelsea last night. He was easily the only threat once Freddie was substituted. I hope Freddie is alright. We can lose Pires and even Henry but we can't lose Freddie at the moment.

I don' want to get too negative here. There are few positives we can take. Jens Lehmann has been solid in the last 2 games. Hleb adapted into the team amazingly and that is a big plus. van Persie will get better and we haven't seen Jose Antonio Reyes. I have a feeling that the Spaniard will have a good season this time around. We still have some time before transfer window closes. Let's hope last night result will trigger Wenger to add some quality into the squad. And if he doesn't, don't be surprised. That is so Wenger.

On Newcastle Utd win, Chelsea, and Arsene Wenger

Many has been said with regards to our first Premiership match. Many claim that Arsenal don't have enough quality to challenge Chelsea or Man Utd for the title this season. Many would rather to focus on Jenas' sending off than to look at how Arsenal have improved on their attacking variety. The two goals scored were contribution of Arsenal's right flank attack. When was the last time Arsenal's right flank pose serious threat? Before Wiltord left I believe. The second goal, though looked simple, was a fine goal by our super sub van Persie thanks to a fine cross from the man of the match, our number 8.

By the way, a very well written article on Arsenal Mania, check it out. Considering Chelsea's determination to sign all the great players, it really amazes me how they failed to see Hleb and how Hleb refuse to be tempted by Roman's bank. Seems that we've gotten ourselves a great player. Alexander Hleb can be the key to our title challenge this season.

England just lost 4-1 to Denmark, not a surprise considering the timing of the friendlies. The players would rather to reserve their energy for the upcoming league matches. Still, a poor performance by England standard.

Going to Stamford Bridge this Sunday, I expect Arsenal to draw. But I reckon Arsenal can win by one goal margin. Against Chelsea, the most important thing is to nullify their long ball assaults.

I said before and I will say this again. Arsenal need to improve on their defense quality. They are much better in defending against set pieces. That's good. But Lauren's lack of pace and Senderos' lack of maturity is no secret. I love Lauren's work ethic but we should get a better replacement if we are serious in challenging for the best. Senderos can take his time to learn. Ashley Cole is great when he is at his best. But he can be really bad and badly exposed time and again in some matches. Still, I can wait till we settle in the Emirates Stadium when it comes to better fullbacks. I still regard our fullbacks as among the best. But as for centerbacks, we seriously need to get someone in. The fact that Cygan is part of Wenger's option has turned from joke to horror. Having said that, our Cygan has had some solid matches lately, though some are friendlies.

When it comes to transfer activity, Wenger seldom make mistakes. This season he did. A major one. He never thought of Real Madrid's factor and Spanish citizenship factor when he moved for Julio Baptista for Patrick Vieira's replacement. Julio Baptista, a fiery player who could play as a defensive midfielder and could definitely score goals when going forward is Wenger's most important preparation for his Highbury final assault. Pairing Baptista with Gilberto in the midfield would certainly see us scaring the hell out of most opponents when it comes to midfield battle.

He could have moved for Jenas but Jenas is nowhere near Baptista's quality. He knows that Baptista is as good as Gerrard or Essien. When Baptista moved to Madrid Wenger was left devastated. He had no plan B. Nor would I. You don't easily find player of such quality. But Wenger might probably have someone in mind as his plan B. That person could be Flamini. None of us have seen enough of Flamini's contribution to understand why Wenger praised this boy so highly. But when the Boss said so, he could probably be right. The boy fear no one and never run out of engine. He is useful in attacking although he still needs to be more aggresive and strong in tackle to shield our defense.

Last season's most impressive young players were Cesc and Senderos. This season it could be Flamini and van Persie.

So where are you Reyes?

Final Preparation

We just had our final friendly against Boreham Wood last night where an Arsenal XI won 6-2 thanks to Reyes' hattrick (seriously dude, when are you going to play well in meaningful matches?), van Persie's brace (now this is more like a real deal), and Pires' one goal. Now that we are about to play our first Premiership game, I believe Wenger would have sorted out his starting XI for this season. I wanted to write my opinion on our final season at Highbury but I would prefer to do that after August 31st.

Not that I think Wenger would buy anyone else before the end of transfer window. But let's just hope he would. Sebastian Viera won't be joining us as our coaching staff aren't convinced with his height. In the past we have also rejected Paul Robinson who failed our reflex test. Now I am not saying that I am smarter than those coaches but seriously do you think Lehmann, for all his height and fitness, is better than Robinson? And talking about height, I believe Iker Casillas isn't that tall either and frankly speaking, I wouldn't even dare to compare him with Mad Jens. So there we go, we have just rejected the South American' best young goalkeeper because he isn't tall enough.

Things aren't all gloomy as we have apparently secured Alex Song's service by paying 2 millions to Bastia. Considering this boy has attracted Man Utd he must be a decent player. Most importantly he is a defensive midfielder.

Next on the card is the rumours of us pursuing Vincent Kompany, the Belgian centrehalf. I mentioned previously that this boy is a real gem and should Wenger get him this season, we are in for a damn thrilling season defined by our young and talented gunners.
Jermaine Jenas is still a possibility despite Wenger persisting with his cautious approach. I understand that our manager would love to push the price down to less than 10 millions, which is the player's true value in my opinion. Ten millions is the highest we should pay for him.

Elsewhere, Wenger is set for contract talk with our new captain and Gilberto.

That's all for today.

Arsenal 1 - 2 Chelsea

One and probably two reasons why we lost

The first and most obvious reason being our defense. The way we play, both our fullback Lauren and Cole would most of the times join the attack and we let our left and right flank totally unguarded, with only two centrebacks staying behind. Even those two centrebacks are sitting rather high up the pitch, thus providing enough space between them and Lehmann to be exploited. Sure they try to play offside trap. But you can't count on offside trap.
With Chelsea's expertise in long ball, we are just inviting them into our goal. When we are attacked, only Cole and Toure have the speed to track back and clear. Senderos and Lauren are too slow for that. I don't believe Lauren is effective at attacking and as such, he'd better stay behind.
Senderos is a slow starter and I agree. However I also believe that we can't afford the time for him to get into rhytm if we were to beat Chelsea this season. WE NEED A QUALITY CENTREBACK NOW!!!
Another aspect that worry me is Senderos' inability to mark or stop players with great physical aggresion such as Drogba. Either he needs to improve on that or he needs a partner with enough strength to do that. Of course Sol Campbell has what it takes to do the job but the man's future is uncertain at the moment.
In any case, Cygan isn't a solution and if we were to play like we did yesterday, leaving everything to the two centrebacks, WENGER NEEDS ANOTHER QUALITY CENTREBACK!!
Alrite I am frustated. I am frustated at how we were so easily exposed by long ball tactic. Having said that, Kolo Toure was particularly having a good game yesterday.

The second reason, which I am not that sure of, is our sophisticated attacking play. There were many occasions last night where we could have attempt a shot and probably scored but instead, as usual, we passed. Chelsea have solid defense and they are quick to cover their area. The only way to score against them is to hit them fast. We can't afford the luxury of constructing perfect goals. We need to do what Lupoli did against Ajax. Simple goal. I love it when we play our beautiful football, scoring after series of glorious moves. But there are times when you should just take the chance and bombard them. That's how you gonna beat Petr Cech.

As expected, no news on Viera, let alone Christanval and Song. When it comes to Wenger's transfer rumours, the best attitude is just to wait and see until they report it in the club's website. Otherwise you gonna get disappointed, often.

And I shall end here with my plead to Wenger : JUST GET ME A QUALITY CENTREBACK!!!

Cardiff, It Is

It's remarkable that Arsenal had almost never missed out on the Charity Shield ever since Wenger came. But some of us would prefer not playing for the infamous competition between the Premiership champion and FA Cup holder. It's said that whichever club win the Charity Shield will, most likely, fail to win the Premiership title that season. The last 20 years statistic definitely support this argument. Do you prefer us to lose then?

I'd personally want us to go to Cardiff and teach Chelsea some footballing lesson. I'd want to see us winning the Charity Shield and come May next year, crowned as the Premiership champion. I don't care about all those stupid belief. Before us, there has never been other team who won the FA Cup Final through penalty shoot-out anyway. If we could do it against the Mancunian, we could certainly do it against the Russian toys.

Anyway, a very nice article on Guardian regarding Arsenal's youth.

The Guardian has also reported on Jenas' situation. Apparently the midfielder feels playing for Newcastle United is like living in a goldfish bowl. I think Jenas is a player Wenger should go for and Newcastle seems prepared to sell him. So what are you waiting for Arsene?

As expected, we are not reading any news regarding Viera or other keeper's bought yesterday. But I am sure we will sign Viera in these few days.

Back to the Chelsea game. Seeing how Ronaldo toyed with Lauren and tortured the Cameronian in the FA Cup final, I fear we will see this repeated tomorrow. Everyone know now that Lauren is our weakest link. With Del Horno now in Chelsea's lineup, expect to see them focusing their attack from their left flank. How Wenger deal with this, I don't know. I do love Lauren for always giving his 100% in every match. But his 100% is not good enough at times. I am sure that Wenger need a better right back if we were to challenge for the top position.

Finally, A New Keeper

Wenger has explicitly revealed that he would sign a new keeper by Friday. Having missed out on Silvio Proto, Sebastian Viera would most likely be the keeper we sign. He promised to decide on Song and Christanval by last week so be prepared for some delay in this case also. Here's hoping for an eventual proper replacement for David Seaman.

van Persie who scored twice against Beveren XI on Tuesday is in contention to play against Chelsea in Charity Shield. I reckon he will feature as 75th minute substitute at most. I hope Wenger will start with this lineup

--Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Cole, Ljungberg, Flamini, Cesc, Hleb, Bergkamp, Henry--

Although he would most probably pick Cygan ahead of Senderos considering the kid's poor performance in friendlies. Should he start with Pires alongside Flamini again, Lampard would turn our midfield upside down.

I don't personally care whether we win the Charity Shield or not. But should we win, it would give us morale boost for the coming campaign. Should we lose badly, it would alarm Wenger to strenghten his squad, and we would be motivated to make sure they get our sweet revenge. So either way, it can be good for us depending on how we react. Let's hope we don't react the way we did last season. Moaning over Rooney's dive for months is what cost us the title last season.

After raiding French and Spanish league's best young talent, Bundesliga is Wenger's target this year apparently. Dortmund have just revealed that they have rejected Arsenal bid for their young prodigy, Nuri Sahin. The 16 years old Turk has been labelled the up and coming best player in Europe. Dortmund seem determined to keep him and unless Wenger come up with extremely good bid, which he wouldn't normally, I would expect Nuri Sahin to end up playing for clubs such as Real or Chelsea instead.

The Decisive Month

Having watched Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Porto, which result won us the Amsterdam Tournament for the first time, I felt there is nothing much to report really. The first half was, as everyone agree, nothing. Bentley didn't play well, Reyes was terrible as usual, and Pires was lost in the middle of the park. Senderos also had another bad game by the way. The second half substitutes of Dennis and Freddie proved decisive as we suddenly transformed into the usual Arsenal side. We bombarded Porto and Freddie had a superb match with two well taken goals as a result of his well-timed run into the box. If there is one player who had really mastered the art of finishing in Arsenal first XI, it gotta be Freddie.

Flamini was busy as usual and his cross made the second goal. As I said before, this kid is good when he joins the attack. Alex Hleb was the most eye-catching player on the field. He was easily one of the best dribblers and passers that night. Most importantly, he made the right decision every time he got the ball. Even if you got an excellent technique (read: Reyes), if you got a poor judgement it's useless.

Off field, Viera, Uruguay no.1, has claimed that we had signed him although Wenger later on denied that. The deal was far from done, according to the manager. Sometime ago, FIFA magazine run an article on the 22 years old, touted him as the best young goalie in South America. He gotta be good then. Let's hope we get him. A Viera for a Vieira. I can take that.

Michael Owen is most likely moving to Old Trafford although, despite everyone's doubt, I feel he can do the job for us. Enough said.

Dennis, tactful in interviews as usual, believed that we got what it takes to cope with Chelsea. Henry agreed. I don't believe in rushing for a replacement but a temporary solution such as Dacourt would do the team morale good. I don't think signing Alex Song would do coz he is just another youngster.

Whatever Wenger's plans are, he got to execute them before the 31st of this month. Personally I hope the terms centerback and holding midfielder are part of his plan. Goalie isn't my biggest concern now coz when we are that exposed defensively, as in Ajax and Porto game, even Peter Schmeichel won't be able to save the day.

Excite me, Arsene.