The goalkeepers were an area that we needed strengthening, Arsene pretty much confirmed it with comments like “the number 1 is up in the air” and the resfusal to rule out Schwarzer. Perhaps it was all left too late, yes I think Arsene has to field much of the criticism for this but when Hughes joined Fulham I pretty much knew he wouldn’t sell to us – he hates Arsene. Couple that with the injury to Fulham’s second choice keeper and Schwarzer was going nowhere. So we are left with Almunia as number one, his confidence must be shot to pieces knowing that Arsene was looking to replace him right until the window closed. Fabianski has shown himself to be a very weak backup keeper as well. It is a massive worry for us this position, and might cost us silverware, but only one person will carry the can for this. Verdict – no change from last season

We had issues in defence last term, the reality of only having two centrebacks hurt us at times. Sylvestre was not Premier League quality and not Arsenal quality. Sol Campbell was a great signing for the second half of the season, which timed well with the routine Gallas injury so again we were back down to two centrebacks. But all three of those players have left the club. Two replacements have arrived, Sebastian Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny the former brings experience but has yet to feature so no further comment can be given and the latter looks promising but needs to adapt to the league. Johan Djourou also returns from long term injury, but there are concerns he will stay fit for the season so he will be fourth choice I feel. But we now start the season with what appears four decent central defenders, that gives more confidence than last year did. No change in the left/right back positions but I don’t think we had issues there and the return to fitness of Gibbs will provide some competition for the at times lacklustre Clichy. Verdict – stronger than last season

In midfield we have not added, however the emergence of Wilshere is a bonus. A year older and with half a season of loan experience with Bolton seems to have made him more of a player. The early season form of Rosicky is promising too. But in reality we were pretty strong in midfield anyway, and there have been no major changes so, Verdict – no change from last season

Our forward line was going strong, banging goals in until van Persie got injured. But no issues like that this seaso…oh hang on. Bendtner can cover, ahh but he is injured too. At least we have Chamakh, he looks promising and has a high work rate. A player who offers something different to what we saw from the dwindling Eduardo last season. Provided we can keep van Persie fit for most of the season and have Bendtner back at some point we will have competition for the front position. Walcott looks transformed too, he could even be given a shot in the middle if we fancied it. Goals were not a problem last season, and I doubt they will be this. Verdict – stronger than last season

So overall I think we have a stronger squad than last year, not more depth but certainly more quality in the depth we have. The 25 man squad rule wont hurt us too much either as we have a long list of under 21s we can add at any point in the season. As I said before goals being scored wont be an issue for us, it’s the conceding goals that will be the problem – just like it was las season. While Arsene has strengthened in the central defensive positions I do still worry about the keepers. Schwarzer would not have offered an improvement compared to Almunia, but he would have been a far more confident player and that is something that I think many gooners are worried about.

A trip to Anfield is not the way you would want to get things started, couple that with the worries we have defensively it could be a nightmare. There are rumours that Djourou is out “for the more than the short term” which surely must push us to signing at least one centre back, but I think two are really required. I know that Arsene has said it’s not easy, and that I don’t doubt, but there must be some players out there who can do a solid job for us.

You then turn to the keepers, Arsene says “The guy who plays on Sunday will be No 1. It is never for definite but it will be a consequence of what I have seen in pre-season.” Which in my eyes rules out Fabianski, however he hasn’t seen much of Almunia so can he draw conclusions there? My hope is for Almunia to start, he is the best of what we have and a jittery Fabianski is not something I can comprehend this afternoon. But we still have to move for a keeper; Schwarzer would be a marginal improvement but will probably give us a boost, Given would be decent but I don’t see it happening – either way both of those seem to be press made rumours following previous enquiries and not much appears to be happening in reality.

So to the result today, I suspect a draw will be in the offing. Neither club wants to start with a defeat in what is likely to be defining seasons for both managers (despite the contract extension I think serious questions will be asked if we are out of the top 4). But if we lose? I won’t be surprised, yes it will hurt and there will be disappointment but it might serve as a wake-up call that the deficiencies really need addressing and they need addressing now. But lets move away from that, a good performance, hopefully with the inclusion of Cesc and van Persie with some goals from Arshavin and Chamakh will get our season underway in the best possible manner.

Updates on twitter might be a bit sparse as I am at work this afternoon, but enjoy the game wherever you are watching. Come on Arsenal!!!!!!

Looking at that scoreline you would think it was Lukasz Fabianski’s testemonial game.

Sadly it wasn’t, although it may concentrate the minds of Arsene and the board if they really think going into the season with the Pole in contention for the number 1 spot is a good idea. I haven’t seen any of the game but from the reaction on twitter the way arsenal.com describe the game as an “11 goal thriller” with an “audacious comeback” is someway wide of the mark.

Errors from “potential number 1″ Fabianski and the defensive line in front of him are a massive worry. If Legia can rip us apart what on earth are Chelsea and Utd going to do? They will tare us new arses but they won’t be as generous at their end.

Back in the close season Arsene said the defence needed strengthening, it hasn’t been. It has been weakened. 4 centre backs left, 2 of whom were top class and the other two could do a decent enough job when called upon. We have only signed one centre back, and with the greatest of respect to all those involved he is not in the bracket of top class centre back but more akin to Senderos or Sylvestre on current viewing. There are 7 days until Liverpool, I suspect they will attack from the off and if we set out like we did today I suspect we will be languishing in the bottom half of the table after the first week of games are played in the new season.

Arsene needs to act, and he needs to do it quickly.

picture from arsenal.com

So we won the Emirates Cup. Whilst as fans we will joke later in the season about defending this trophy, I worry Arsene may point to it in some of the darker moments of the forthcoming season. Pre-season tournaments do not a season make, but some of the signs were there both good and bad for us all to see.

The positives were the return of Jack Wilshere, I think he was the only player to play the whole 180 minutes of the weekend, he looked as good as ever and was very keen to impress. And that he did with a man of the match award yesterday against Celtic. His passing, running and tackling were all great – I fully expect him to play a more increasing role in the starting 11 as the season goes on. Chamakh also looked good, his goal on Saturday was well taken and he adds a slightly different dimension to our attack, the signs are good there. Nasri continued his pre-season form and I have high hopes for him this season, a central role seems to suit him.

But it wasn’t all positive, defensively we are still not great. Yes it was pre-season, yes we were trying new centreback partnerships but the signs were still there. Koscielny looked good against Milan, but was not great against Celtic being a stride behind the attacker when chasing back (granted that might be due to coming on for the second half and not getting in the game) but I think there are concerns having him as the first option with Vermaelen, but equally Djourou does not inspire confidence to a high extent either. Had Samaras not taken a rugby conversion whilst trying to take a penalty the result would have been different.

So yes it is pre-season, we cannot be too harsh but there is only one game to go until we face Liverpool in the season opener. We need more cover and quality at centreback, a goalkeeper is a must as neither Almunia or Fabianski had inspiring performances. But there is still time to sort that we hope. I’m not totally downcast about our seasons hopes, but I’m hardly jumping for joy either.

I sat in Club Level yesterday, I was with a group of work mates and for the extra £5 over a regular ticket I thought why not. So what was it like? Well it’s very plush compared to the “cheap” seats. An escalator takes you up to club level and you are met with carpeted floors in the bar areas, very small queues at the bar even during peak time (Kronenbourg is also sold up there alongside Fosters and John Smiths, I wonder if that is new this year or a club level exclusive?) and the toilets have tiled floors rather than the bare concrete we get in the other areas. The seats were the same as everywhere else, the view pretty good, not too high an angle compared to the Upper. But is it worth the premium? (£1500 extra compared to my lower tier Season Ticket) No, I don’t think so. It is a luxurious brand of football viewing, not what I am looking for in a match. Nice to entertain people or if you are in a group, but it’s not something I want to do week in week out. I prefer my seat in the lower tier thanks very much.

At the start of the match I was impressed with the noise the Celtic fans made (I was sat directly above them). Noise clearly travels upwards at the stadium, you cannot hear much of what the other parts of the stadium are doing noise wise. The sang and chanted even when the went a goal down. I was impressed, but it was totally ruined by the attitude to the members of the armed forces when they brought the podium onto the pitch for the trophy presentation. Booing them was not on in my opinion, I know exactly why they did it (I, by birth should be a Celtic fan but am not as I moved away from the city when I was young) but I wasn’t impressed by that at all. Took away any respect I had for them immediately.

So I was sat in the Clock End (cock up caused by the map for Club Level being reversed to the normal seating map on the ticket purchasing webpage) I had hoped to be able to see the clock, but you can’t from the seats unless I think you are in the front few rows of the lower, caused by where the clock is on the roof. That’s a shame, but it’s still nice to have a Clock End and the other three Highbury stands in our home.

So a week of no football, but some transfers might spark some life into us. We live in hope! Thanks for reading.

Our pre-season kicked off on Saturday with the trip to Barnet. We ran away 4-0 winners with Arshavin, Jay Simpson (2) and Nasri on the score sheet. The game also saw debuts for Chamakh and Koscielny, for the former Arsene said “Chamakh was very good at bringing players in. With our creative midfielders, that will be suited to our game” and he added “Koscielny adjusted slowly to the required challenges in the air”. Only 45 minutes each but at least they are starting to get involved in things. Hopefully they will both progress well in the early season.

Cesc is still being talked about by Barca, but Arsene has asked for this all to stop. I’m not convinced that they will listen, but we can all hope. I’m still not sure this saga is over, even if he does remain at the club I worry what reaction the fans and players will have to the want away captain. Time will tell, and no doubt there will be more on that in the coming weeks as well.

One final bit of intrigue was on the keeper situation; Almunia was “unwell” for Barnet, so Fabianski, Mannone and Szczesny all played a part. After the game Arsene said this;

“At the moment, in pre-season, there is no No 1 – you have to give a chance to everyone to show how good he is. You cannot decide that today.”

Interesting, surely our best keeper would be number one. I doubt Casillas or  Stekelenburg will be fighting for their number one spots when they return to their clubs. I would hope a transfer move takes place for this position. On the subject of which rumours are that Eduardo is off, to Shaktar Donetsk, more on that as it comes.

Also there will be a competition on here over the next few days, more to come soon. Thanks for reading.

picture from arsenal.com

Very much an end of season feel to yesterday; quite a few empty seats, a subdued crowd, a few goals in what was an easy run-out for Arsenal. Fulham to be fair had other things on their mind, I hope they win on Wednesday, and the team they fielded showed that. In the end it was a comfortable result which ensured 3rd place, but that was not to be an issue following Spurs hillarious 4-2 defeat to relegated Burnley.

A nice individual effort from Arshavin opened the scoring, something I thought at the time I would liked to have seen more of this season but today I read that was his 12th of the season so perhaps his lack of effort at times masks the higher points of his game? Robin van Persie was again prevalent in attack, a goal and a number of chances for our main striker. An own goal capped the first half scoring in what was admittedly a one way affair.

The second half saw much of the same, but only one goal this time. Another Carlos Vela chip, a la Carling Cup, makes you wonder if he can only play for us when the pressure is completely off. He joins the ranks of players who I wonder if they will be with us next season, along with the Mexican is Eduardo who did not feature even on the bench yesterday. I wonder if we have already seen his last game in an Arsenal shirt?

Manuel Almunia was still afflicted by wankers wrist (many think it’s a convenient injury) so Fabianski again started in goal. Much groaning came from the crowd when he mis-punched the first cross into the box, this later turned to ironic cheers when he caught or kicked a ball – probably does nothing to help matters but there is frustration amongst the fans with the keeper situation. Much talk in block 6 was about Buffon, a great signing but I doubt we could afford the wages.

It was also good to see the return of Johan Djourou following his season long injury. Hopefully he can form a key part to our defence next season.

But the questions still remain; is Arsene the right man for the job? – at the moment I think yes, but this summer will be key. He must know we need 3 or 4 signings to allow us to try and get near the top two, but the thing we all want to know is will he make them.

A few more blogs over the next week or so to review our season. Thanks for reading.

There were also questions on Arsene’s future; he said it will be decided by how well he does and secondly if he enjoys what he is doing. There was the usual “what if another club came in for you” but this was rebuffed with the “I will honour my contract” line. I think we will get to early in 2011 before Arsene commits to any more years as manager.

There was also the transfer rumour mill, started by the suggestion of Joe Hart. The response from Arsene was “all the rumours are wrong, any name you give me (today) they are wrong” citing the market not yet being open. I will leave the transfer merry-go-round to another day as well.

On the keeper subject there was the question of Fabianski starting, Arsene said “come to the game, you will see who starts in goal”. I am worried if he does start, but I’m not sure we have any other option. In other team news Arshavin will not return for this game but should be back for Blackburn. Eduardo missed Wigan with a broken toe but will be in the squad tomorrow, Alex Song also makes a welcome return to the side.

I’m not feeling that upbeat about the game at the moment, the recent poor results combined with facing a Citeh side chasing 4th (or possibly 3rd) place means I doubt it will be a comfortable afternoon in the stands. Perhaps the Adebayor factor can distract us from the pain of recent games.

Thanks for reading.

2-0 up with less than 10 minutes to go, and we fucked it up. The title was never really within our grasp but 2nd place was a possibility, now we should be worried about coming 4th. Capitulation, not just in this game but at season end.

This is NOT all down to Arsene (if you are part of the “Arsene out” mob that appeared again yesterday stop reading this post) he cannot take the blame if players make errors late in a game. He sent them out 1 up after half time, then we got another goal. A team of our quality, even playing an injury depleted starting 11, should be able to contain Wigan and get the win. But we didn’t. “Poor discipline” was the cause according to Arsene, throw in another massive error by Fabianski and Wigan were level, the impetus was theirs. The winner came for them.

Arsene in his Friday press conference, without actually saying it alluded to the fact that Almunia was not his number 1 keeper for next season. Cue the press going mad with rumours on who we might sign, but curiously little of the Sebastian Frey rumours, but we have 4 keepers. Too many perhaps? Fabianski started yesterday due to a “wrist injury” for Manuel. The Pole, having made a number of high profile cock-ups could show us and Arsene that he might be the one to take up the mantle of our first choice keeper for next season. But he fucked up again. At 25 he should be set for a starting position, but not in this team, he has shown again and again he is too error prone and simply not good enough. We perhaps have the poorest set of keepers in the league.

We have to seriously worry that 3rd might be an issue. Yes Citeh face Spurs so one of them will not get 12 points from their last 4 games, but we play City next and I am worried about that game now. We have to win, if not I worry the belief and “mental strength” that has been so evident might start to dwindle just when we need it most.

I will be there on Saturday, I will cheer the team on just as I have all season. But I will be annoyed that some of the players in our squad simply have not turned out for some games this season, I think a few need to be moved on – I wonder if Arsene feels the same this morning?

Our two goals were somewhat fortuitous, both deflected efforts, but I will take them. Our equaliser, initially hit by Rosicky  came late in injury time and saved our blushes and cruelly robbed Everton of 3 points. We were lucky yesterday to come away with something from that game. Whilst no player can be singled out as being the reason we did not win the game; Manuel Almunia was very poor, his distribution was again sub standard, he rushed out a number of times and near the end of the game clattered Traore when there was no need to come to clear the ball. I really do wonder when Fabianski will get his chance this season.

Diaby on the other hand continued his recent good form, and hopefully this run of games he is getting will be the making of him. He has become a real asset of late, something we need with the absence of Fabregas and Song. Denilson would provide us with something but he worrying collapsed yesterday with no player around him, the fact that happened and play continued is not something any player or fan should wish to see give the recent tragedies that have hit young players in the game. I can’t yet find any news on what caused him to collapse or his condition.

The optimist inside me will argue this was a point gained rather than two lost, yes we didn’t capitalise on Chelsea not playing but Utd didn’t pull any further away from us either. We need Fabregas back, but only when he is fully ready as I don’t want him risked. Bendtner is due back in two weeks “probably” but the addition of a striker in the transfer window would not be a bad thing. However cover at centre back must be far more pressing, and perhaps getting a keeper should be on Arsene’s mind at the moment. We are by no means any worse off after yesterday, but it could have been better had we not performed poorly.

I was watching the game delayed by about an hour, I had been out for lunch and Sky+ was set. Around about the time when the final whistle was blowing my phone started getting texts, I was fearing the worst.

The first half was all Liverpool, we look so poor. There was little real defending done, out passing game was again all over the place. I think Nasri’s long range shot was about our only real chance on goal. At our end Torres had a golden opportunity that he shot straight at Almunia, perhaps showing his lack of match practice.

Liverpool should have had a penalty, Gerrard was felled by Gallas. If he had the ball or not is irrelevant to me, had that happened to one of our players I would have been furious with Howard Webb. But the problem is when you cry penalty so many times like Mr Gerrard does, sometimes you won’t get the genuine ones. Even Andy “I love Stevie Gee” Gray said on first viewing that Gerrard “went down a bit easily”, although he did later change his opinion. It wasn’t a turning point in the game as such, but it would have given Liverpool an earlier lead.

But the Liverpool goal did come, call it a lack of defensive play if you will but I think the blame has to lie at Almunia’s door. The freekick came in, and instead of catching it Almunia palmed it away, right into the path of Kuyt who fired home. Earlier in the week Lukasz Fabianski was saying he wants to push for the number one spot, he has a great chance. Yes he makes rash decisions coming out of the area, but so did Jens, but his command of catching and coming for crosses, corners and freekicks is, in my opinion, better than Almunias.

Liverpool finished the first half on top of the game, one goal up, and set to gain some points back on the 4th place spot they so desire. Our league challenge was further fading. But at halftime I was not too disconsolate, perhaps it was the alcohol inside me giving me confidence, or maybe our goals from last year. I just felt, or probably hoped, that Arsenal were not finished.

In the second half Arsenal looked to have stepped up the pace somewhat. They were harrying for balls in midfield, Cesc and Song looked much more effective as we started to penetrate Liverpool more. About five minutes after half time Samir Nasri whipped a ball in from the right, Carragher fell on his arse trying to clear it and Glenn Johnson kindly put it into his own net. It was 1-1, game on!

We built on this goal and it appeared that we had the confidence now and Liverpool were on the ropes. Not much seemed to be going their way as they went to attack the Kop end. Enjoying the mainstay of possession the ball was played, by Cesc I think, to Arshavin who was stood on the left of the Liverpool box. The Russian wrong footed Johnson and lashed a right foot shot in off the post, past a motionless Reina. Another stunning goal for Arshavin.

It was now 58 minutes into the game and I was really worried we could hold onto this lead. Liverpool had a few chances, but we did something we have rarely done this season, we defended as a team and looked comfortable with it. A few more chances came our way, but in the end we didn’t need them. We weathered the storm and won 2-1. The only concerns were the removal of Traore and right at the very end Arshavin coming off – more on those injuries when we hear it.

However the drama was not over, in his post match interview with Sky Cesc had the following to say on the manager’s half time team talk:

“He said none of us were fit to wear the Arsenal shirt. I have never seen him like that”

It clearly worked. Arsène after the game was a bit coy and hinted at saying that but wanted to keep things in the dressing room, however when the Sky reporter asked if we were back in the title race the boss had this to say, I will leave it as the last words on today’s blog:

“Mathematically yes, and mentally, certainly”